Sorry for this photo... I keep losing the link to it. We'll see how this works....

IJ continues...

"Infinite Jest" is progressing nicely, although I am trying to pace myself because it really does brighten up my day to open that book and I don't want it to end too soon. It is an excellent mix of humor and confusion and inspiring quotes. Here are a few of my favorite from yesterday. He says, "that you will become way less concerned with what other people think of you when you realize how seldom they do." And "that everybody is identical in their secret unspoken belief that deep down they are different from everyone else." Finally, "That trying to dance sober is a whole different kettle of fish." Hope that gets you thinking...

Maybe I should have made this its own number.

For Christmas, Ken "amazoned" (trying to make that into an acceptable verb and Word of the Year next year like "truthiness") me his life-changing book, "Infinite Jest" by David Foster Wallace. I started it on Monday and I would say I am "plugging" throught the 1000 pages+, but in actuality, I don't feel like "plugging" is accurate. In fact, I am loving this book. I spent over one hour yesterday afternoon lost in a 8 page footnote. I absolutely love looking up roots of words and connecting details in my mind. Maybe I should go for that PhD afterall. Lost in a library for hours once again. Sounds like a dream.

Here is my absolute favorite passage so far... found in a footnote. "The figure of Death presides over the front entrance of a carnival sideshow whose spectators watch performers undergo unspeakable degradations so grotesquely compelling that the spectators' eyes become larger and larger until the spectators themselves are transformed into gigantic eyeballs in chairs, while on the other side of the sideshow tent the figure of Life uses a megaphone to invite fairgoers to an exhibition in which, if the fairgoers consent to undergo unspeakable degradations, they can witness ordinary persons gradually turn into gigantic eyeballs."

As the foreword says, this book is "like a spaceship with no recognizable components, no rivets or bolts, no entry points, no way to take it apart. It is very shiny, and it has no discernible flaws. If you could somehow smash it into smaller pieces, there would be certainly no way to put it back together again. It simply is."

Thanks for the gift, Ken.

Book #1 - "The Good Women of China"

I finished the final chapter of "The Good Women of China" by Xinran during my last few hours at home. (Can't waste luggage room for one chapter)

Summary:
For eight groundbreaking years, Xinran presented a radio programme in China during which she invited women to call in and talk about themselves. Broadcast every evening, Words on the Night Breeze became famous throughout the country for its unflinching portrayal of what it meant to be a woman in modern China. This unforgettable book is the story of how Xinran negotiated the minefield of restrictions imposed on Chinese journalists to reach out to women across the country. The stories Xinran heard changed her understanding of China forever. The book will reveal the lives of Chinese women to the West as never before.

Each chapter focused on a caller or a random stranger that Xinran came across during her time of broadcasting her radio show. I was happy to read a reviewer that said he got tired of her boosting her own ego through her comments of how everyone knew her, but at the same time, the stories are unforgettable and disturbing. The stories of abuse and how abruptly many Chinese women were forced to grow up are vividly told. Having been in China and knowing a bit about Mao and the Cultural Revolution, I can appreciate the difficulties in getting stories from women. Xinran left China to be able to write this book and has since set up a charity for Chinese women and adopted children. Since I put that I will donate money for each uncompleted task, I have decided that this organization will benefit from my loftiness of goals. www.motherbridge.org

New Year's Resolutions are for wimps!

My two friends, Laura and Carly, tipped me off on a new trend to make a list of 101 things you want to complete in 1001 days (about 2.75 years). As I am facing some life changes, I figured now is as good a time as any to branch out and construct my own master list. (Plus, I tend to have a lot of time to spare at school.) So here it is! Most of these cannot be done until I leave Okinawa this summer, but I'm excited to start checking activities off. A sense of accomplishment. And from what I hear--- everyone begins making a second list for the next 1001 days.