May 11, 2010
1. Watched a guy try to beat another in the head with a pipe at a small shop near where I work over the price of a shirt. The dozen odd security-looking guys stood by, no one calling the cops. I went on my way to Watson's to buy mints. When I came back, they were still arguing, but the pipe had been taken out of the equation.
2. Had to explain the concept of Karma to self-proclaimed practicing Buddhists in an advanced ESL class discussing various philosophies and world religions. Burning joss sticks (like incense) at the temple on the regular makes you a good Buddhist in China. Kinda like a Sunday Christian or an Easter Catholic, I suppose. I was just taken a little aback.
3. I ate 1.1 pounds (a jin, ie. half a kilogram) of strawberries for lunch. I bought them off a peasant from the outskirts of Beijing who rode into the city to sell them from a tricycle with a flatbed for 75 cents a jin. The strawberries are ripe in Beijing. Next come the watermelons.
4. Later today, I get to be a mock interview judge. Students will run through mock interviews and my Center Director and I will be the judges. She told me tonight over a beer that I am to be the snarky judge. A blessing and a curse.
5. A baby born with syph every hour in China according to the NY Times. Yikes, and a cheap antibiotics shot cures that as well.
6. Yesterday morning, I got up super early, like 4 am. I listened to an old radio drama, The Adventures of Nero Wolfe, and then around 6 or so, I went into the hutong to buy an apple. If you catch the hutong early enough, you see all the super early bird wives from the community trying to get the best of whatever the hutong stalls (fruit, meat, vegs) have to offer. It's a semi-controlled madhouse. It seems a little extreme, but it's true. On the weekends, I usually roll into the hutong looking for eggs, potatoes, and onions to do a fry up at around 10 and the onions that are left are always a little less than.
7. Thumbed through Carl Sandburg yesterday morning before work. I've always thought he needed a rethink, or at least a repositioning on the totem of American poets.
"Come on superstition, and get my goat.
I got mascots.
The stars of my birthday favor me.
The numbers from one to ten are with me."
Sandburg's Complete has now made the small roster of books I always move with: My family dictionary (which has amazing new words in its new word list like "nazi"), Leaves of Grass, The Cantos, and Spicer's Collected Books (maybe soon to be replaced by My Vocabulary).
This might answer that old stranded on a desert island what book would you bring question.
8. Not happy about retroactively DL-ing Duchscherer. According to the math, he can pitch on Saturday, which is his next scheduled start. According to his history of granny cripple hips, he's out for the season and needing surgery. So I'm trudging a DL pitcher till Saturday to see if he's taking another year off. Although, high-five Braden for a perfect game, even though he isn't on my team.
2. Had to explain the concept of Karma to self-proclaimed practicing Buddhists in an advanced ESL class discussing various philosophies and world religions. Burning joss sticks (like incense) at the temple on the regular makes you a good Buddhist in China. Kinda like a Sunday Christian or an Easter Catholic, I suppose. I was just taken a little aback.
3. I ate 1.1 pounds (a jin, ie. half a kilogram) of strawberries for lunch. I bought them off a peasant from the outskirts of Beijing who rode into the city to sell them from a tricycle with a flatbed for 75 cents a jin. The strawberries are ripe in Beijing. Next come the watermelons.
4. Later today, I get to be a mock interview judge. Students will run through mock interviews and my Center Director and I will be the judges. She told me tonight over a beer that I am to be the snarky judge. A blessing and a curse.
5. A baby born with syph every hour in China according to the NY Times. Yikes, and a cheap antibiotics shot cures that as well.
6. Yesterday morning, I got up super early, like 4 am. I listened to an old radio drama, The Adventures of Nero Wolfe, and then around 6 or so, I went into the hutong to buy an apple. If you catch the hutong early enough, you see all the super early bird wives from the community trying to get the best of whatever the hutong stalls (fruit, meat, vegs) have to offer. It's a semi-controlled madhouse. It seems a little extreme, but it's true. On the weekends, I usually roll into the hutong looking for eggs, potatoes, and onions to do a fry up at around 10 and the onions that are left are always a little less than.
7. Thumbed through Carl Sandburg yesterday morning before work. I've always thought he needed a rethink, or at least a repositioning on the totem of American poets.
"Come on superstition, and get my goat.
I got mascots.
The stars of my birthday favor me.
The numbers from one to ten are with me."
Sandburg's Complete has now made the small roster of books I always move with: My family dictionary (which has amazing new words in its new word list like "nazi"), Leaves of Grass, The Cantos, and Spicer's Collected Books (maybe soon to be replaced by My Vocabulary).
This might answer that old stranded on a desert island what book would you bring question.
8. Not happy about retroactively DL-ing Duchscherer. According to the math, he can pitch on Saturday, which is his next scheduled start. According to his history of granny cripple hips, he's out for the season and needing surgery. So I'm trudging a DL pitcher till Saturday to see if he's taking another year off. Although, high-five Braden for a perfect game, even though he isn't on my team.
posted by Mr. Horton at 5:06 AM
2 Comments:
"She told me tonight over a beer that I am to be the snarky judge"
I'm sure you'll have a hard time doing that . .
Strawberries and Watermellon. I hope you had your shots for Hepatitis.
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