expats behaving badly

i’m addicted to short stories. i am. here are a couple CanLit stories that served as inspiration as i wrote and edited my short story collection, How to Pick Up a Maid in Statue Square. “Knife Party” and “Pompeii Book of the Dead,” by Mark A. Jarman, from Knife Party at the Hotel Europa a … Read more

bauhaus, the obscure

i dig Bauhaus. one of my favourite novels is by William Boyd titled THE BLUE AFTENOON and there’s a discussion of this architectural style, and it is from this novel that my interest in the Bauhaus School was born. i’m no expert. i just love the angles and an attempt at simplicity that’s harder than … Read more

867-5309/Jenny

in which a narcissistic teenaged girl named Jenny intuitively, emotionally manipulates Doris Lessing, a difficult woman with intimacy problems and an overly analytical nature. ultimately, they disappoint each other. The thing is you hadn’t met me when you wrote to me. It was incredibly kind of you … I’m really grateful … But now I’m … Read more

abandoned suitcases

an article/project about abandoned suitcases. http://www.collectorsweekly.com/articles/abandoned-suitcases-reveal-private-lives-of-insane-asylum-patients/ i’ve worked with mentally ill folks and the stuff they packed was fascinating. in my days in the ER doing psych assessments, i would ask to see their suitcases. you can tell a lot by the manner in which a bag is packed and, also, by who packed it. … Read more

good rejection

i received a great rejection letter today in which not only one, but two people gave me feedback in the letter.  i have to say that i enjoy this level of rejection, if that makes any sense, and it probably doesn’t, but what the hell.  it’s just that lately i’ve been thinking about submitting in … Read more

my diorama

if i were to create a diorama of the story i’m editing, it would contain: a flip up cityscape of Hong Kong two plainclothes policemen lurking around a corner a camera and a TV set a bowl of noodles and a couple bottles of Tsing Tao beer a copy of Rashomon, Kurasawa’s movie about relative … Read more

a giant eyeball

a giant eyeball washes ashore in Florida and i’m printing out the story and adding it to my file marked “stranger than fiction”. here’s the link:  http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/video/2012/oct/14/eyeball-florida-beach-swordfish-video?newsfeed=true you’re welcome.