Yeah, so I requested all of the books Corinna Ko-Tung tells Kitty Pong to read (in China Rich Girlfriend) from the library.
Boston to the Nth Power
Impounded scooters. (Pic from the WBUR article)
Bird Refuses To Back Down, As Somerville Seizes Electric Scooters
This is probably the most Boston story I’ve read in a while, containing both local government steadfastly refusing to alleviate the problems of overburdened public transit, and entitled tech bros turning up to DISRUPT!!! without communicating. No one looks good in this story, man.
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Crazy Rich Asians
I went to a screening of Crazy Rich Asians last night. It was so fun, so gorgeous, and although it was quite different from the books, it kept most of the beats and the reveals of the novel, in a very condensed form. Basically, the books are OTT manners novels with romcom elements, the movie is an OTT romcom with hints of a manners novel.
Some of my favorite characters, scenes, and subplots were cut, probably because it would have been a 4-hour movie. (Actually, that would have been fine by me.) I was a little disappointed that the movie abbreviated the new rich-old money contrast between the Gohs and the Young-Shang-Tsiens. I sort of saw Auntie Neenah as a Singaporean Beetelle Fabrikant, but in the movie the Gohs are all very much comic relief. I didn’t love every change but making Rachel a game theory teacher was an A+ decision.
Also, this song, 我要你的爱, has things I like in my dad’s big band kinda music and things I like in mandopop songs, and somehow the combination makes it pretty much impossible not to sing.
Not Finished, Just Done
So, I have one more session before I can graduate — Did you think I was finished? ME TOO! Turns out my adviser was mistaken! Turns out I have one more class to take!
You guys, I can’t describe how done I am with the whole program. I was already burning out on spending every weekend working for a Sunday deadline, and I was already tired of not writing anything for myself. Being told I had completed everything and then discovering my advisor gave me incorrect information has deeply changed how I feel about my program and my school. But let’s save that conversation for some place with beer. Let’s just talk about how done I am with my last class.
In every previous session, there’s been an obligatory student intro, where students are asked about their favorite book. This seems to be a gross misunderstanding of readers and the reading life — just ONE favorite book? — but pretty much every professor has opened their class this way, so probably I’m the weirdo.
So, the first assignment of every single class has been to write about your favorite book. The second week is usually to react to an essay about The Craft of Writing (I discovered, during this MFA, that I’m not particularly interested reading navel-gazing essays about one’s writing process, and when assigned to talk about my own, I bore myself). The final week of class writing a reflection on what one has learned over the course. So, 3 of the 12 weeks are the repetitive performance of learning that makes people hate formal education. But the other 9 weeks are usually pretty good.
There’s an annoying subtext on the obligatory intros: Sometimes there’s a contest to see who can claim the most obscure or famously difficult authors as their favorites, and while I’ve read plenty of showoff titles, I always say I like to read Candace Bushnell and Maeve Binchy. Because I do, and also, because that’s a stupid contest.
This favorite-book intro has been due on the first Thursday of the first week, every session. This final class is no exception. Except, the obligatory student intro was due yesterday, not tomorrow. Having it due earlier is definitely a better system for grading and attendance, but at the same time, seriously?!?!? There was probably a mention of this change in the avalanche of student spam that I skipped because I wasn’t expecting to be enrolled this session. Because I was specifically told I was graduating.
I’m very done with everything.
Essential Chinese: No Cilantro 不要香菜
I’ve been confusing 香菜 and 香草 since 2007, so I’m always worried that I’m asking for a cilantro latte or extra vanilla on my cool noodles.
The other day, a Chinese student asked me in Mandarin how to say No Cilantro because he keeps screwing up the English.
All Roads Lead To Yangzhou
We’re now selling enough Takeout that we’re moving from print-on-demand to a traditional printer. (Don’t get too excited, we’re still using our living room as the shipping and distribution center.) Harold found a print shop that could do small, high-quality print runs, and it happens to be in Yangzhou, China, right in the neighborhood where I taught in 2015. So my new game decks are being printed just a couple blocks away from an expat bar where I spent quite a few nights drinking and telling the Yangzhou lone wolves why I was giving up on game design.
I’m really glad I didn’t.
Posted in Boston, Yangzhou
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The Kids Are Alright
My 9-year-old student, after telling me all the things she’s read about Christopher Columbus and native Americans: Miss Meg, did you learn that Columbus was a good guy or a bad guy?
Me: When I was your age, we learned that he was a brave adventurer, but now most people know his actions were theft.
9-year-old: People didn’t know that when you were little?
Me: I think some people did, but school kids like me didn’t.
9-year-old, thinking carefully: That means you’re part of the older generation.
Posted in Boston, Teaching
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Takeout Review
Today we’re looking at Takeout, a fun little gem by Meg Stivison of Small Monster Games. In Takeout, players take on the role of foreigners visiting China. You and your companions are hungry for some local eats, but none of you know the language. You decide to try your luck anyways, and piece together a tasty meal with nothing but your Chinese phrase book and your appetite.
Takeout is packaged in a clever card box that looks suspiciously like Chinese take out. Aside from instructions, the box contains “food cards” and “action cards”. Food cards will display one (or two) of the five flavors of Chinese cuisine – Bitter, Sweet, Sour, Spicy, and Salty, or Cold, for a drink. Action cards will let players perform a variety of actions, most of which involve stealing food from other people. The goal of the game is to get all five flavors and a cold drink into your meal before anybody else manages to do the same.
via bestdadna
Consider Revising
This semester, I submitted a short story that is so “inspired” by the end of of a certain game company startup that it barely qualifies as fiction. The main workshop feedback I got on it was:
- Makes no sense for a tech founder to just give up and walk away like that, with no warning. His lack of concern really doesn’t match the beginning where he’s been such a kind mentor to the protagonist.
- This should end on a high note when she demands and receives her last check. Why is your protagonist still worried about being a waitress? It’s an unreasonable concern at this point in her career.
Did You Mean:
I usually check the interlibrary loan for my textbooks before I buy them. This time, I feel like the local public library knows me just a little too well.
No, I didn’t. But, now that you mention it…
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