Leaving for LA

I will soon be departing for Los Angeles, California for a one week vacation. I should be able to catch up on blog posts there.

I'm back!

Visiting China was a very eye-opening experience, but it's good to be back home. I'll post more about what I found China's culture and politics to be like soon; 16 hour plane rides don't exactly aid the blog post brainstorming and writing process. As much as I loved China, I am glad to now be back in a country where I can speak my mind — for the most part — and access whatever news websites I want to (i.e. the US).

Greetings from China!

So it turns out I am able to access the web... (see post)

I arrived in China late last night. I am currently in Qinghuandao and the time here is 3:37 PM. While the culture differences are for the most part dramatic, many things are the same; I think a lot of people have misconseptions about this vast nation. Wherever one goes in the cities, one observes growth and development.

Hopefully I will be able to post more politically-relevant content later, although I don't know when I will be able to use the computer next. Search engines and news websites are hard to fully access due to government censorship; it's a wonder Blogger works!

Anyway, that's enough for now.

Oh, and Musharraf has worsened his dictatorial hold on Pakistan.

Two week hiatus!

My trip to China
Today, Friday, I leave for my two week long trip to the People's Republic of China. I cannot assure any posts until the 16th of November. I don't know whether I will have the time or the internet access to blog while I am in China. (Check back a couple times during the later part of the trip and I may have some posts up courtesy of Beijing's internet cafes.)

My visit comes as the country is experiencing extreme economic growth, but also continuing practices that lead to environmental degradation and the violation of human rights and political freedoms. In addition China will be hosting the Olympics next summer.

At first I will be in the coastal city of Qinhuangdao; then ancient capital Xi'an to see the Terracotta Army and climb a mountain; then current capital Beijing to do and see a number of things. I'll post some of my experiences — including photos and analysis of the country's change and what I observed — after the trip.

Zai jian (再见) for now!

Last trip of the summer

I'll be gone to Los Angeles (it's in California, for all you geography buffs) for the next seven days or so visiting family. I have no clue as to whether I will be able to connect to the internet, but I imagine I will be able to some time or another. This is my final vacation this summer; the next time I'll be away will be in November, when I take a two-week trip to China.

Happy first of August.

Back... again

I had a nice time in Canada but it's good to be back. At Stratford I saw the Shakespeare tragedy King Lear, the Harper Lee story To Kill a Mockingbird, and another Shakespeare, this time a comedy, The Comedy of Errors. Out of all of them I must say To Kill a Mockingbird was preformed the best.

Stratford

I will be in Stratford, Ontario, Canada for the next few days to relax in a B&B and see some plays. Expect posts on Friday, or at least Saturday, because I don't know whether I'll have internet access where I will be staying.

Note: republished at 12:45; originally posted at 12:02 but I had some free time so I posted an addition to the Ideas about Democracy series.

Back home

I will miss the sunsets,


the dunes,

the beach and its wildlife,

and the water,

though.

But it is nice to see mon gatos — that means my cats, for those of you who do not speak hybrid French/Spanish — again. Plus I'm not getting too much post-vacation let-down.

On a totally different note, but one probably not worthy of a post of its own, there's some frenzy about people getting married on 07/07/07 here in America — some stupid belief that the number seven is lucky, or unlucky for that matter. I thought it interesting that in every article I read about it (this phenomena made the front page of a number of newspapers), no mention was made about the fact that today is the anniversary of the 7/7 bombings in London. Of course the belief in luck is as irrational as it is stupid; and on top of that it's sad people have forgotten an important world event in an article one its anniversary. Stories like the 7/7/07 one belong in the Features section, not on A1. The media might do it's part in mixing in some relevant fact too, like "this day of weddings coincides with the third anniversary of the 7/7 terrorist attacks in London" instead of saying "this has left people to wonder why 06/06/06 did not get as much nuptial attention". After all, studies have shown that around a third of Americans do not even remember the year of when their "7/7" — but of course more influential and larger in scale of loss and operation — occurred: 11 Sept. 2001. All they remember is 9/11.

Gone vacationing

I'm off to the sandy beeches of Leelaau, Michigan for seven days of reading, creative writing, boating, philosophizing, and most of all, relaxing.

Be back in a week.

Blog notes

I have re-enabled comments for this blog. Your thoughts or suggestions are always welcome!

You can vote in an unofficial 2008 American election straw-poll set up by Pajamas Media at In Perspective's "precinct". If you have a favorite Republican and/or Democrat for the '08 presidential election, this is a great way to see how they're doing with the blog-reading demographic.

I'll be continuing my series of summer vacations with a trip lasting from this Saturday the 30th (last day of June!) to the 7th or 8th of July. I do not know if I will have internet access where I'm going and I hope to relax regardless — hence this will be my relaxation trip. I will continue on blog post series Ideas about Democracy (see here) and intend to pick up on How to Talk to a Closed-Minded Person (see here) after my vacation.

My vacation schedule

Seeing as its already June 3rd, I want to let readers know when to expect fewer postings during this busy summer travel season. I'll be making a trip to New York City and Washington, DC on 7 June or so to visit family and explore the cities; I'll get back on the 16th. Also throughout the season — till mid-August — I will make several trips to upper Michigan (my relaxation trip) and Los Angeles (my culturally-minded trip). On most of those trips I'll be able to post to the blog. And now that it's summer time, I'll have more time overall to devote to the blog.

Thanks to all the readers. I will be picking up again on "How to talk to a closed-minded person" soon, along with other essays and projects. Feel free to email me with questions or comments.

Fall vacation

I will be on vacation the next few days. Check the blog because I may be able to post, but do not be disappointed if I don't. Happy Thanksgiving to all those practicing it; happy fall all those in the northern hemisphere; happy spring to all those in the southern. I think I covered all my bases...

Keep an eye on my starred stories (see sidebar) if you want to know what I am looking at in the news and elsewhere.

technorati tags: thanksgiving, fall, vacation, autumn