Western Journey 2007-11-29 When I was a kid, one of my favorite TV shows was a genre show called Western Journey. Set in 1870, the show followed the...
Warning Signs 2007-10-03 If the documentation/HOWTO/helpfile/hint uses the word “simply” (as in: “mod_proxy should simply send the raw directory list up the filter stack to mod_autoindex, which in...
Ya Don’t Know What Ya Got... 2007-09-29 In the span of a week we went from Summer to Autumn, both astronomically and climatically. Weather crisp and wettish but not rainy. Leaves in...
Simple Solutions to Stupid Problems 2007-09-19 The Mercy Corps office is terrifically overcrowded. I share a 100 square foot room with two other people, for example. This office opens directly into...
Tender Nethers 2007-09-11 So the major point of friction, no pun intended, on my recent epic rides (91 miles this past Sunday) is a certain lack of rock...
Working at Home 2007-09-06 When you take a day off from the office to get work done you ask yourself a few questions. Questions like:Why is my home —...
A Nice Long Bike Ride 2007-08-28 Sunday I had my first “long” bike ride since our return. I rode to Iowa Hill, a total round-trip of 58.8 miles, which I finished...
Overcompensating 2007-08-24 Almost daily on my commute I have a brush that, a few years ago, would have outraged me. Right-hand-turners in the bike lane. Cut off...
A Year Ago 2007-08-09 Jenny hates this pictureSo was it only a year ago we arrived in Xiamen? (Was it only a month ago [+4 days] that we arrived...
Because I Can 2007-07-17 3 am, suffering the usual insomnia. Out of idle boredom I’m browsing Wikipedia, entirely because I can. Although, as Wikipedia itself helpfully notes, as of...
What It’s Like To Be Back 2007-07-11 Pretty much the first thing anyone says when we see them for the first time is “are you glad to be back?” This is surprisingly...
Oregon Again 2007-07-06 We’ve been back in Oregon for 24 hours now, most of them occupied by sleeping or running errands like crazy people. I’m too wiped to...
A Cowboy Never Says Goodbye 2007-06-30 I hate saying “goodbye.” I don’t mean that I never want to leave places I know I should leave, or part from friends I don’t...
Seven Days 2007-06-25 We’re entering the pre-move period, familiar from a year ago, when we are no longer excited about leaving but rather just want the whole damn...
My Post-Pubescent Life, in Pop Music Albums 2007-06-16 1983: Rhythm of Youth, Men Without Hats 1984: Unforgettable Fire, U2 1985: Fables of the Reconstruction, R.E.M. 1986: Evol, Sonic Youth 1987: Telephone Free Landslide...
Shit 2007-06-14 In the last year I generated a hypothesis about global attitudes toward shit:“A person’s aversion to fecal matter is inversely proportional to their cultural distance...
Beijing, Briefly 2007-06-10 My brother and mother have been visiting this past week. I took them to the usual Xiamen tourist sites: Gulangyu Island, Nanputuo Temple, Zhongshan Road....
Blogger; Protests; Skies and Cars 2007-06-01 In probable anticipation of the anniversary of the 1989 student protests, the gummint has clamped down tight on Blogger. For most of the year we’ve...
Choose Two 2007-05-30 Someone recently asked me for some businessy advice about working in China. Specifically, about team dynamics and the decision-making process. All four regular readers of...
Senioritis 2007-05-30 For most of my tenure in high school, I didn’t “get” high school. I didn’t get the cliques, the sports, the clothes, how to manage...
The Guy I Used to Be 2007-05-29 When I was in college, I used to have long hair. Not quite shoulder-length, but maybe 6 inches. It hung over my eyes in a...
GNEFGNOD 2007-05-25 Today at lunch I spotted a minivan with GNEFGNOD written on the side. You see some funny car names in China (“Freeca,” “Houda,” “BWM”) but...
Xiamen Love 2007-05-24 The weather has turned warm and damp and it’s hard not be a little in love with Xiamen. The plants are greener, the sky is...
The China Fantasy 2007-05-21 I’ve been struggling for a while to formulate a series of vague thoughts I’ve had about China. This is usually in response to a question...
I Learned a Lot from my Parents 2007-05-19 The Australian crawl The backstroke The Four-in-Hand The half-Windsor The non-necessity of training wheels If you’re bored, read a book Shake hands firmly and make...
Boredom and Solitude 2007-05-16 On today’s Dilbert Blog, Scott Adams hypothesizes that: “A person’s need for social interaction is inversely related to the quality of his or her imagination....
Enervating 2007-05-14 Working with a Chinese team (OK, my particular Chinese team) makes me long for a collaborative work environment like you wouldn’t believe. All my attempts...
And now...LINKS! 2007-05-10 AKA The Lazy Man’s Blog Post17 Hates 10 Commandments for Westerners in China American IPR hawks, remember the little people Welcome to Boomtown, PRC Beijing...
Brain Hack 2007-05-09 Reading over some posts from before our move to China I was reminded of how frequently I used to dream of being underwater. I’ve had...
Back from Taiwan 2007-05-04 We got back from Taiwan yesterday after utterly uneventful flights. Although the 777 (Cathay Pacific) we took from Taipei to Hong Kong had the coolest...
Afternoon with the Spidermans 2007-05-03 Today we saw Spiderman 3, the first movie we've seen in an actual theater since last August. Hell, it was the first non-pirated visual entertainment...
Taroko Gorge 2007-05-02 Jenny and I took the train (not, unfortunately, the High Speed Rail, although it was plenty fast) out to Taroko Gorge, Taiwan's world-famous National Park....
Bizarro-China 2007-04-29 We arrived in Taipei two nights ago after a 50 minute delay out of Xiamen, and a switched flight through Hong Kong. Even that switched...
Māma mà má mǎ ma? 2007-04-24 My mother asked me the other day, how exactly do you say “Did Mother scold the hemp horse?” Well, you say it like this:Māma mà...
Ersatz 2007-04-23 Much of what passes for “Western” in Xiamen would more accurately be called “Sinicized.” A good example is the local version of “coffee shops.” These...
Seven Irritations 2007-04-17 OK, so: here’s what made this past Sunday so damned irritating.First, taxes. This was actually not any more irritating than usual, and actually turned out...
Kurt Vonnegut Dead at 84 2007-04-12 “Hello, babies. Welcome to Earth. It’s hot in the summer and cold in the winter. It’s round and wet and crowded. At the outside, babies,...
3 Scenes, As Metaphors 2007-04-11 Exhibit A: A New Privacy Wall Commentary:(Pre-existing rebar-reinforced concrete railing) = (nearly forgotten yet deeply sublimated Confucian/Taoist/Buddhist patriarchical tradition) + (3000 year history)(Hastily piled, poorly...
“Dark and Dirty” 2007-04-11 The weather today has cleared, the first break of warm weather since the Marathon, almost two weeks ago. This after a couple days of heavy...
The Four to Five Stages of Culture Shock 2007-04-09 I’m having a lot of trouble lately coping with the depth of my homesickness. I’m amazed it can be so thoroughly consuming. Nothing I read...
The Shire 2007-04-04 During a conversation I had a week ago with a coworker contemplating a move to the US, and wondering what city would suit him best...
Back Posts and Our Purebred Portland Labrador Retriever 2007-04-03 Lately I’ve been adding some older bloggy-type stuff to 大黑狗. I started doing “something new every day” on axoplasm.com five years ago (when I didn’t...
Working Here 2007-04-03 ...is occasionally a challenge. The Chinese have not made cults of efficiency, quality, or service as in other countries (like Germany, Japan, and America, respectively)....
Xiamen International Marathon 2007-03-31 Jenny and I ran in the Xiamen International Marathon yesterday. I ran 10K and Jenny ran the half marathon. Altogether it was a good day....
Blogspot Blocked (Again) 2007-03-30 I can almost pinpoint the exact time this happened...I was updating the site before lunch (about two-three hours ago).At least they could make up their...
Big Ideas 2007-03-29 I resist talking too much on the blog about Big Ideas in regards to China vs. America (or anywhere else), in part because my thoughts...
Blogspot Back Up in China 2007-03-28 ...well, for the time being, at least. The same thing happened with Wikipedia last fall: it was unblocked for about one month then blammo! NO...
The Homesick-o-Meter 2007-03-26 Think you might be homesick? Unfortunately, expatriate life in China means living with constant homesickness, so gauging the severity of this emotion is essential to...
Things I’d Bring Back from China 2007-03-22 Post-lunch naps Palm-sized rice bowls held inches from your mouth Industrial-grade hot water dispensers (for copious quantities of loose green tea), in lieu of office...
Blogspot Blocked 2007-03-20 It appears that, some time in the last 24 hours, blogspot.com has been blocked by Chinese censors. What this means:People outside China can see blogspot-hosted...
American Dreams 2007-03-20 Long, languid, atmospheric dreams of American landscapes occupied my sleep last night. Shopping malls, brick houses on tree-lined streets, farmland under an autumn prairie sky,...
Internal Monologue: At the Expat Club 2007-03-19 I can’t believe this Kilkenny costs 50 kuai. I am gonna nurse the hell out of this beer. Why is every bar band in Xiamen...
Did Mother Scold the Hemp Horse? 2007-03-15 The crazy difficult thing about learning Mandarin are those devil tones. In Mandarin, the way you pronounce a vowel is often more important than the...
Hanzi Are Fun 2007-03-06 One of the small joys of living in China is learning Chinese. In a harsh blow to the Sapir-Whorf hypothesis, the Chinese language is simple,...
New Job 2007-03-01 Today is my fourth day at my new job as [Senior Web Architect | Senior E-Business Manager | Director of Web Services] at Ports, an...
Chinese Color Symbolism for Foreign Designers♥ 2007-02-26 Dear Honored Foreign Designer, The following is a guide to the use of color in Chinese graphic design. Unlike foreign color symbolism, in which colors...
This is a surprisingly hard habit to break 2007-02-24 When we were in Bali, we kept having to remind ourselves that most of the people around us could understand the catty stuff we were...
Some islands I have known 2007-02-23 Vancouver 32,134 km2 Hawai’i 10,458 km2 Bali 5632 km2 Nunivak 4400 km2 Kauai 1430 km2 Singapore 683 km2 Orcas 148 km2 San Juan 143 km2...
“Make your vacation your vocation”♥ 2007-02-18 I realized on this trip that I don’t particularly care for travel. For me this is a big admission, although in retrospect it’s kind of...
恭喜发财 2007-02-18 On the American West Coast we say “Gung Hay Fat Choy” but that’s apparently Cantonese. In Mandarin you say “Gong Xi Fa Cai.” You write...
Bali Bound 2007-02-11 Hey just a quick note: Jenny and I are leaving today for Bali. We’ll be back in a week (literally arriving on the day of...
I’m no longer above... 2007-02-06 Starbucks KFC clothing made in China Tabasco instant coffee TV cop shows cheering for the high school basketball team lite beer soda with calories Crest...
Madre de los Desaparecidos 2007-02-05 Seen in a distant land: a middle-aged woman holding a signboard with photos of her (presumably) two adult children, a daughter and a son. Only...
Shoulda Been Me 2007-01-31 I, for example, am good at washing dishes. I used to do it professionally and it’s still satisfying. You clear away the wreckage and run...
Pigs and Birds 2007-01-30 We’re about two weeks away from Chinese New Year, which is the largest (by American standards, only) holiday in China. The upcoming year is Year...
Proofread Study Interval Nation Door Mansion 2007-01-29 XIS buses have the name of the school, in Chinese, printed in large letters on the sides. On the driver side it’s printed in the...
Where Life is Cheap 2007-01-28 Last night, Jenny and I were in the kitchen washing dishes when we both smelled something burning. So we started looking around the kitchen: along...
The Tulsa of China 2007-01-25 Xiamen is wonderful and all but our visits to Hong Kong and Singapore make me wish we were in a larger city. We’re kind on...
Bio 101 2007-01-22 I was talking just now with a colleague about our experiences with Biology 101 when we were 18. This was 17 years ago now for...
Things I Miss About 1991 2007-01-19 Only building contractors and heart surgeons carry cell phones. My guidebook to the Pacific Northwest, in describing the burgeoning Seattle coffee culture, mentions in passing...
Better Than You Might Expect 2007-01-17 Piping hot corn smoothies Green tea toothpaste The emergency room Hocking loogies in public in front of God and everyone Sausage-filled donuts Public buses with...
My Three Favorite Purchases from Hong Kong 2007-01-15 were:A Parker ballpoint pen A new Seiko dive watch A plain black merino sweater These are the kinds of things that are impossible to find...
Down 2007-01-13 So there are two circumstances that must obtain before I get up the energy to post to the blog:Boredom An elevated sense of well-being Funnily...
日月谷 2007-01-11 Last night (Michelle’s final night in China) we went to Riyuegu hot springs, a shwanky resort in Xiamen’s outer suburbs. They have a bazillion little...
Revolution 2007-01-10 For Michelle’s pen-penultimate day in Xiamen, we had a big ol’ Chinese-o-rama. Jenny was “sick” and stayed home with Michelle, they visited the big local...
Hong Kong 2007-01-09 We spent a few days last week in Hong Kong. HK is, without a doubt, the most vibrant , happening city I’ve ever visited. It’s...
...Aaaaand We’re Back 2007-01-08 OK, so it's been, what, two weeks now? I have excuses.The day after Christmas Axoplasm.com stopped working. In China. Everyone else on Earth can see...
