Wherever I go, there’s another me.
I woke up in the middle of the night last night thinking about authenticity. That thought came on the tail of a dream in which I was in a pink kitchen telling someone about why it wasn’t ok for a white woman to dress up in Chinese clothes and be part of a Chinese...
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The Mask Divide
Yesterday Hong Kong recorded no new Covid 19 cases for the third time in a week while the United States was rocketing toward a million reported cases. Hong Kong people continue to go about their business while in the USA, many businesses are closed and people are...
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The Absence of Color
I hope you are all staying safe and sane. I am fortunate to be holed up on beautiful Whidbey Island. I'm here with my 94-year-old mother and my sister who is going through chemo, and while peeling myself away from the news and finding time and energy to write is...
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Bodies, Covid-19, and Cancer
I live in my head, as do many writers, but I’ve been thinking about bodies lately. This is partly because this month I am in a writing workshop where we are writing essays on what the body remembers. Not much, if I ask mine. My head knows that there were triumphs and...
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Off to a Ratty Start
I’m a bit late with this greeting, but Gung Hei Fat Choy! This is a Golden Rat year, and although it has started out with bad politics and a public health crisis, I’m holding out hope. Rats are often considered sly and dangerous, but in the Chinese zodiac, the rat is...
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Travel Re-Entry and the Seige of CUHK
Returning home from international traveling, I often wish for an airlock between coming and going. I envision a decompression chamber that looks something like the double sets of doors on fancy hotels. There would be a comfy sofa for the in-between, no transit rush,...
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