Happy 4th of July to all who celebrate!For the last decade, I've spent the 4th of July in Chicago, my hometown. We usually barbecue, hang out with family, and sometimes go to the fireworks the night before.This year Chicago didn't have fireworks in Grant Park. The city … [Read more...]
Godown
When I lived in Hong Kong, I not only learned to adjust my vocabulary to British English, but also learned a slew of foreign words adopted into the English language there.Like godown. It's a Malay word for warehouse, preferably dock-side. And shroff, which comes from the … [Read more...]
Not my grandma’s Peninsula
If I'd seen this photo on its own, never in a million years would I have guessed it'd been in the basement of the Hong Kong Peninsula.When I took family and other out-of-towners to the Pen for tea, I certainly didn't see groovy kids dancing to Jimi Hendrix like they're doing … [Read more...]
Another postcard from Taiwan, 1965
My grandma has been staying with us this week, entertaining my two youngest kids and talking to me about vacations from decades ago. She sent this postcard to her two youngest children 45 years ago when she and my grandfather visited Taiwan. In the postcard, she wrote: We have … [Read more...]
Book of the week–Something Red
With all the news about Russian spies this week, it seems so a propos that I just finished Something Red by Jennifer Gilmore (Scribner, 2010). I certainly love a good Cold War story.The colder, the better.Set during the end of the Carter administration, Gilmore's story … [Read more...]
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