There is a wonderful quote in a book I otherwise think is fair-to-middling (if that – Edvard Radzinsky’s The Last Tsar: The Life and Death of Nicholas II): Nicholas kept a diary for thirty-six years without interruption. He began it at the age of fourteen, in 1882, in the palace at Gatchina, and ended...
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Research is a funny thing; you sometimes find connections where you least expect them. I’ve been trawling through the database Duxiu, checking up on a few things that have popped up in archival sources. I checked up on a common search (the dramatist Meng Chao – who really made his name as a poet...
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Another day, another disgruntled post on how breaking into games journalism is hard (well, more a post about how breaking into games journalism is hard and I QUIT). I was struck yet again about how similar it all is to academia – so many people wanting so few positions, the same advice given to...
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I’ve been trotting through the history of Chinese women in the 20th century in preparation for a course I’m teaching this coming winter. Unraveling these narratives that have been put in service to nation building has been both a trip down memory lane (recalling the early days of my fascination with Chinese history) and...
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I had a long post regarding the cancellation of the fiscal year 2011 Fulbright-Hays competition written up. It – mostly a ‘What winning the Fulbright-Hays has meant to me’ post – depressed me too much, so I’ve deleted most of it. I was recently told I was being “practically nihilistic” about the future of...
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After a delightful two week trip to Beijing, I returned home to (quoting myself from elsewhere) ”a horror scene of slug trails, dead and dying slugs all over the floor in my main room. Luckily I didn’t notice that one had been cruising around on my bed until the next morning. I had noticed...
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Immediately following on the heels of a family visit (and lots of Kindle reading!), I headed up to Beijing for a work-personal visit, which has actually been really great for work overall (and recharging my batteries in a different sort of way). Shanghai has been oddly isolating, particularly after coming off of three years...
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Some assorted musings that are far from complete, probably painting plenty of things with too broad a brush, and a bit kneejerk in reaction. Well, these things happen – it’s a start, and I’ll sort some of this out later. What shade of blue is the sky? A Killscreen piece has been making the...
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