Category Archives: North Carolina
Pokemon Detractors
We gave our students a practice verbal SAT test in class this week. “What does circumlocution mean?” asked one student, who wrote a hilarious career essay on becoming a successful Pokemon master. “I can’t tell you that,” I said, “I … Continue reading
The TurboTax Turing Test
Dear TurboTax, Thank you for making my taxes kind of annoying instead of a total nightmare. Sure, it cost most of my tax return to pay for the TurboTax version for under-employed freelancers, but that’s fine. You made it easier to turn … Continue reading
No Surprises
“Hey, Stick, do you know what the day after tomorrow is?!?” “The day after Ea—The day Cadbury eggs go on sale.” “Oh. Guess you already knew then.” “Meg, we’ve been dating for five years.” Related: Last year’s post on Cadbury … Continue reading
Disconnect
We found mangosteens in the supermarket today! I recognized them from the Yihai market, but I really didn’t expect to find them in such close proximity to drive-thru hush puppies.
Dirty Kitchen
A few years ago, my mom got me a magnetic poetry set. It was the seasons and celebrations collection, with haiku words like magic, flower, spring and rain. For Christmas, Andrea and Ian got us a sci-fi/pulp set. This one … Continue reading
Record-Breaking Uno
A few nights ago, we had our newish friends Monty and Lynn over to play Arkham Horror. Monty works with Stick, and I’ve hung out with his friend Lynn a few times outside of our D&D game. I guess they’re … Continue reading
Podcasts
I got into podcasts last year when I had the Beijing commute. I’d listen to Notes From Spain and ChinesePod.com, crammed with full bodycontact against other bus riders. Now I listen to them when I’m either at the gym or … Continue reading
Eight
When I started working on my happy post about all the new podcasts I love, I felt an elephant in the room. Eight years ago, a guy I knew jumped off a bridge. I remember hearing about it and thinking … Continue reading
Bosphorus
Bosphorus Restaurant 329 North Harrison Ave Cary, NC I drive past Bosphorus restaurant every week on my way to teach at Chinese school, but it was our first time eating there. Inside, Bosphorus is decorated with posters of Turkish landscapes … Continue reading
All Artichoked Up
It’s been years since I ruined dinner badly enough to scrap it and order take out. Look, I’m not saying I’ve never had trouble boiling water, and there was that time in college when I set off Eric’s smoke detector, … Continue reading
