86. Another country
to the future
What I’m up to
Finally working on a newsletter after months of half-written drafts.
I just finished my eighth year of teaching, and now we’re on summer vacation!
We bought a car on our 17th anniversary, the first car that’s “mine” since college. It’s a Prius hatchback, basically as opposite of a vehicle you can get from our Land Rover.
I’m in Dubai! We’re here visiting our dear friends Casey and Steven (and their beautiful children, G and E). Dubai is wildly different from any place I’ve ever visited. It feels like the future… or the past, in a galaxy far, far away (on the planet Coruscant).
I started grad school yesterday. (I’m working on a dual MLIS/M.Ed degree.)
We’re heading to NJ next week to visit my relatives on my dad’s side, then to see our friends the Fs.
What I’m reading
Most recently:
Another Country by James Baldwin. I’m about halfway. It’s tough but quite beautiful.
Romantic Comedy by Curtis Sittenfeld. I’ve enjoyed Sittenfeld since college and Prep. This one was lighter. I liked the BTS look at an SNL-type sketch show.
I just promised a former student I’ll read The Three-Body Problem by Liu Cixin.
The first book I ordered this summer? Demon Copperhead by Barbara Kingsolver, this year’s winner for the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction.
What I’m thinking about
Changes. I opted to bow out of a leadership position at my school to take a role that many have told me seems like a demotion. As an Enneagram 3, I have surprised even myself by this choice, but I think in this case another facet of my personality won out: I love to learn, and I love a new challenge. I am really excited to take what I’ve learned as a teacher and a learning coach and apply those lessons in a way that will (hopefully!) benefit the whole school. We shall see. (Also, I’ve always said my dream job is any job that allows me to purchase books.)
What I’m learning
Did you know that there is no agreed-upon definition of information? I do now, after reading three hilariously dense articles about the history and meaning of “information science.”
What I’m really learning is being back in grad school is no joke.
I finished the week’s work for one class yesterday, but the second class has me watching four lectures, reading eight journal articles, and writing two pieces. The third class starts in July. It’s going to be a busy (BUT FUN) summer.
What I’m digging
Being in a new-to-me-country for the first time in a LONG time. Definitely digging this.
AirFly Pros - pricy but worth it for a long-haul flight.
I used this viral Uniqlo sling bag on our trip from TPE to Dubai and it worked great.
Metal hair claws (similar). They are so much stronger than the plastic ones, and they successfully hold my too-short hair out of my face.
Related - this Japanese hair stick that gets rid of flyaways.
Succession. What a satisfyingly unsatisfying ending.
What I’ve saved
This article sparked a whole activity to end our Gatsby unit.
Until next week (for real this time),
Kate
I read Three Body Problem last year after learning about “The Dark Forest” concept (as an answer to Fermi’s paradox) after spending way too much time of Reddit! It was the first fictional treatment of China I’d ever read from a Chinese author, so I can’t tell if it’s weird because Cixin Lou is writing from a different literary heritage, or because he’s just a super weird dude. It feels like it was written with emotions turned far down, almost to mute, and drowned under a buzz. A recitation of history by a distant and slightly confused observer...which in retrospect means maybe it was written by a Trisolaran? I just had that thought and now I need to re read, or read book three (I finished just the first two books, mostly driven by curiosity about the ending).
The emotional distance does give it some punch though. There’s a lot of sadness and poignancy.
The concept and exploration of ideas are very cool, and the insider perspective on the cultural revolution - that was wild. Don’t know if it’s accurate or not but that was the first piece of fiction I’ve read about that subject, and it very closely paralleled the life of Xi Jinping as recounted in the Economist podcast on that topic (The Prince).
I want a book review if you finish it!