February 7, 2011

1. Dan Murphy did a real good job of giving us Hai Zi (海子) in English with Over Autumn Rooftops (Host, 2010). Active in Beijing in the 80s until his suicide at age 25, Hai Zi wrote a lot about wheat, standing in for everything from homesickness to lust. Fluid translation, and an important work for anyone interested in contemporary Chinese poetry and poetics.

2. My company is somehow saying that a bill for my time in hospital isn't enough to excuse me for the days I had off. I have to go back and ask the doctor to write me a doctor's note.

3. I've been reading Popular Science. The near future could really be much better.

4. I've lost all contact with Eric King, an artist I knew in Oakland. I hope to remedy that.