corvus

Wow, that's so cool! I have to get used to thinking of my home galaxy as a bar now. Maybe I should go have a few drinks? (haha)

I think these male impersonators can do what they want, it obviously doesn't really matter, since they can still lead productive, fulfilling lives. I'd probably be fooled. On the other hand, I don't think I'd eeever encounter such a situation, haha. (400th post, w00t!)

As far as I know, I'm the only one; and according to my dad, my family can be traced to the Eastern Zhou dynasty (~770 BC). But I guess that sort of information wasn't written in the family annals.

Meh, I can't imagine losing out on a position because you're "overqualified." That must really suck. I hope you figure something out soon!

I like this. Wimp. Just kidding. Amen to that. I'm skinny, and I look upon near-naked fatsos with amazement. Them, and girls. They can wear skimpy things even in 4

I miss Jamba Juice! ...though I hardly had any while I was still living in CA. I haven't seen one in Boston, but I think I did spot one in Berlin, of all places. Jamba Juice > Starbucks any day (except mornings, when you want coffee, and nights, when you want pastries).

I wonder what bitter-tempered is... For some reason, I think of a jalapeno that's been molested by a bell pepper. *cough* I'm annoyed by people who keep saying "What?" or "Huh?" (e.g. my middle brother), but I think I do that too. Sometimes I disguise it by pretending to know what the other person says. That usually leads to worse trouble. So maybe "Huh?" is not so bad a thing after all.

This one is easy as far as top-of-the-head answers go -- Maria Callas. To me, she's the ideal artist: disciplined, hard-working, un-ego-istic, ambitious, incredible strength of character, but with great concern about how art should also be something enjoyable and exciting. And she did it. There's no one in her league.

My flatmate is a vegetarian, which I think is highly unusual, because all Germans are supposed to eat wursts (sausages). Sadly, she makes me wash out the pan after I use it for meat. (Sadly, because, without the grease, things stick like mad. Grr.) But yeah, just so you know, Kevin, there are freaks of nature in Germany too.....

I know exactly what you're talking about. Yes, they are so good, and they are so un-Chinese. Interestingly I couldn't find it in any of the Chinese restaurants I've been in in Boston, not that I've been in many. Wow, that salmon sounds really good... And cooking jargon sounds, oddly, very beautiful. At home, my dad steams salmon with onions and garlic, which is pretty simple, but very effective. On the other hand I rather hate steamed version of other fish (shudder). A word about fisheries: I spent a year doing policy debate on conservation of marine natural resources, and New England fisheries popped up again in my social analysis class on collective action. I think we'll only be able to draw pictures of certain fish and describe their texture to the next generation.

I would do an engagement over dinner in restaurant. (The only reason I'd do an engagement is so my coworkers don't get shocked by the sudden appearance of a wedding band.) I'd sign the wedding papers, turn it in, and then share a glass of champagne while watching the sunset. We'd save our honeymoon for when we're both retired, because then we'd have something to look forward to and not get divorced after a few weeks.

Fondue sounds really good! I've had "real" French, German, English, Irish and Italian food, but I don't think I've had "authentic" Swiss food. It'd be great to try. I love a well-made dish, but I have a special fondness for Chinese food, because that's what I've eaten all my life. It also means I have a lot to say about it. First of all, there's really no such thing as Chinese food. It's like saying "European" food -- there are common themes, such as the usage of cheese, but each region is extremely distinct. Likewise in China, you have the wheat-based meals of the north and rice-based meals of the south; attention to lightness, freshness and delicacy in the Zhejiang and Guangdong provinces of the southeast; "hot" spiciness of Sichuan and "numbing" spiciness of Hunan; love of vinegar and garlic flavoring in the northeast; etc. The foods I've had most experience with are from the Jiangsu and Shaanxi provinces. If you ever go to Nanjing, the ancient capital of Jiangsu province, be sure to get the xiao long bao zi (little dragon buns), which are sold by street vendors first thing in the morning. The ideal xiao long bao zi is basically a precariously thin "bag" (from dough) of meat (usu pork) and soup. If you go to Shaanxi province, visit the Qinling Mtn Range, where you can get a bowl of mao'er -- "cat's ears" -- from one of the small restaurants on the road up. They're doughty little "nudlets" cooked in a broth of tomatoes and things I've forgotten, haha. Mm, this is a great topic, only it's dangerous to read when you're hungry...

I patched up bits of Latin to make my fanfiction pseudonym -- 'dius corvus,' which can mean 'divine raven.' That was half a decade ago. Then I thought the 'divine' bit was too much, and shortened it down to 'corvus.' I've been other things, too, from Tolkien's elvish to brain biology and Victor Hugo. But I won't list them here.

The 'top bottom' question was ... lol, I wouldn't have expected that. Morbid curiosity from the straight world. That last paragraph was very nice, btw.

I sit alone in a box and wait it out. Then I do this. Amen to that. ...lol!

Ah, this is the advantage of being a mother with sons. There's a Chinese saying: "sons never find their mothers to be ugly." In English it sounds really odd, but um... Basically the son will always say something complimentary, probably because he has no fashion / beauty taste or knowledge anyway.

In 2009 I will be in the New England area, except for a total of 3 weeks in mid June and late August / early September, during which I will be in North CA. Let's have a summit in Boston! That way I won't have to travel at all! We can have a walking tour of the city, which will take like 20 minutes because Boston is so small... And stop complaining about the weather peoples! We can always bundle indoors in a nice pub if it's too cold, and go to a museum if it's too hot.

I just finished reading Turn of the Screw, by none other than Henry James. (A month or two ago, I had just finished The Master, a

My stance towards blurbs, however well intentioned, is the same as that towards back-of-book descriptions: i.e., unfortunate necessity. They create false expectations, mislead, give away too much of the plot, blablabla. I don't think if it matters if it's the author writing the blurb or someone else. With longer stories in which the plot may not be immediately clear, they can be of great importance. With short stories, however, I think a better idea would simply to excerpt the first sentence of the work. It'd still be in the author's words, it'd give readers an idea of the author's tone and style and caliber, it wouldn't give too much away, and it'd be a lot less work.

The problem with this statement is that it easily becomes a lame excuse for bad writing. If I like it, since I wrote it and put thought into it, is it therefore good? No. The paradigm you espouse is only consistent if you also decide to embrace anarchy and abolish notions of good / bad writing altogether. I object to that. So I must disagree.

Yes, but the question is, is there such thing as good taste? There are certainly many people who enjoy tawdry, cheap romance novels. That's their taste; but I think that's bad taste. Should I be faulted for condemning such work, even though other people like it? I want it to be understood that 'condemned' in this situation is with regards to literary value, not enjoyment. I kind of, sort of enjoyed 'The Da Vinci Code' even though I thought it kind of, sort of, really sucked. So yeah. My appreciation of merit and measure of enjoyment aren't strictly aligned, i.e. I'm not 100% snob.

I think you've opened a very beautiful can of worms, FrenchCanadian. Let me first say that I greatly admire your spirit -- that you defend how you write, that you think when you write, etc. However, that's not enough. There's a reason there are teachers and students, masters and disciples. Those in the 'guild' guide the passionate, thinking pupils down the 'right path.' This sort of recognition, however, is getting scarce. There's no more 'tradition;' the 'guild' has dissipated. Everyone is better educated, everyone blogs, and everyone is a critic. This is cultural communism. You're encouraged to question teachers, think for yourself, etc. Of course what I just said is a load of bs, even though I do think there's some merit... But it points to the problem of breaking tradition. You no longer have normative values. But if you believe that art exists, then you have to believe in the existence of the artificial and artsy, which only imitates art. The critic is therefore justified; he separates the artificial from the artistic. I'm not being a cultural reactionary. Thank goodness people like Woolf and Joyce broke tradition into pieces! However, I am defending Nick Archer's right to write harsh reviews -- and not necessarily because I agree with his criticism. Actually, I'm not even sure if my logic works. I had some thoughts and I wanted to put them down. So yeah.

I used to be totally addicted to Age of Empires II. I actually didn't really care for the build-up-your-empire / slaughter-others thing, although that was actually very fun as well. I was more into creating your own scenarios / campaigns. Considering me, that's actually very unsurprising. There was something about the atmosphere of the game, forests and mediaeval things and stuff, that drew me in. Anyway I haven't played it in ages, but I have very fond memories.