Floating in a Coffee Cup

I'm floating in coffee on Saturday afternoon.

The red wine we drank last night at the hot pot feast delayed my exit from bed until 10:42 this morning. Remembering the heavy slumber that 3 glasses of red wine brings to my brain and sluggish limbs accompanied by the slow, unforced journey into consciousness sans an alarm clocks is the relish on the weekend hotdog.

Chinese films have been on my mind lately, and reading this article in The New York Times this morning encouraged me start a list of films I want to see.

From: "A Filmmaker Walks the Line Between Outsider Status and Official Approval"
Edward Wong in The New York Times on January 6, 2012

It is telling that when asked what films in his oeuvre were his favorites, Mr. Zhang first named five early ones, all independent features made outside the censorship system: “Red Sorghum”; “Ju Dou”; “Raise the Red Lantern”; “To Live”; and “The Story of Qiu Ju.” (“And, of course, this one, ‘The Flowers of War,’ ” he quickly added.)

Jim's suggestion: One amazingly good film I saw while in China was called Aftershocks. It's a drama about the lives of a family for years after an earthquake devastated the town and the daughter was believed dead. Pretty heavy, really good.

Creative Insight

Leo, Senior 2 Changzhou High School, commenting on the title of “And of Clay Are We Made” by Isabel Allende:

The title: Clay can’t stand up to stress and pressure. It is easy to break. Like the life of the girl, it is easy for her to die. [Some believe] God creates people with clay. The clay can mean us or any human being. All human beings are easy to break too. Our life needs be protected by ourselves and those who love us. This means we are born from earth and die or return into the clay and mud.

Writers on Writing: Students on Writing

My student in senior 3, Sun Yi, reminded me to slow the pace of my life. She recommends an unhurried and deliberate approach to the day. Working closely with her on the editing process, I recognized her philosophy of creating art emerging in this piece.


In Sun Yi's words, "The hot pot slowly reveals its attractive fragrance under the fire. The hot pot needs to be persistently and patiently cooked so that it becomes the symbol for the creativity and culture over thousands of years. I am also the cook, in the kitchen, in my life, slowly absorbing the knowledge, constantly putting effort into my pursuits and gradually displaying my talent. I bring happiness to others’ stomachs and hearts."

All art, therefore, appeals primarily to the senses, and the artistic aim when expressing itself in written words must also make its appeal through the senses, if its high desire is to reach the secret spring of responsive emotion. - Joseph Conrad

Poems and Interpreting Voice

MONDAY, FEBRUARY 14, 2011 - The Muse Daily Blog

[This is the perfect entry for Valentine's Day 2011. "The courage to have a self and to lose it too..." What could be more beautiful.]


Poems and interpreting voices

Our poems are conversations in every meaningful sense. They are an exchange between ourselves and those parts of ourselves that belong to other people [the dead as much as the living], that we owe to them. Intimate whisperings, productive tensions. They challenge and tease us, lead us to say things we have not thought to say. They give us the courage to have a self and to lose it too, which is surely the most we can ask of any conversation.

Where is your center?

I love the idea of restoring my life for balance and settling my day with meditation. I want to be aware of the powerful crouch of my cat while he waits for goldfinches to perch on dried coneflowers to nibble the seeds. I want to see the cotton candy gray clouds violating the blue optimism of the sky with threats of assault. I want to notice my world, rotate my tires and roll evenly through the world with eyes wide open.

November 14, 2008 - Tricycle's Daily Dharma

Settle Your Day

It is not merely enthusiasm that erodes when practice declines. Your body and mind can go out of tune. You are no longer a vessel of insight. The cardinal can sing; the wind can move the ironwood trees delicately; a child can ask a wise question--and where is your center? How can you respond? It is time to put yourself back in tune, to be ready for experiences that make life fulfilling. Take up the advice for beginners. Put your zazen pad somewhere between your bathroom and your kitchen. Sit down there in the morning after you use the bathroom and before you cook breakfast. You are sitting with everyone in the world. If you sit only briefly, you will have at least settled your day.

-Robert Aitken, Encouraging Words

from Everyday Mind, edited by Jean Smith, a Tricycle book