Archive for March, 2011
Muammar: A note on my mother’s nickname
My mom’s name has been in the news a LOT lately. About six or seven years ago, at some point, she began referring to herself as “Muammar,” a take on Muammar Ghaddafi’s name, but we would most often spell it simply “Momar.” If you hadn’t guessed, this is more than anything a play on the [...]
March 30th, 2011Please excuse my protracted silences
It is unbelievable the kind of things that are unfolding right now in the world. We’ve started air strikes in Libya, and uprisings continue all across the Middle East and North Africa, most recently becoming violent in Syria. (It is rather jarring to think that the tipping point–or rather, the catalyst–for all of this was [...]
March 27th, 2011Trying to understand a boiling water reactor schematic diagram, to begin to understand Japan’s situation
This is the most unbelievable photo I’ve seen from the wreckage in Japan, because the mourning woman is so small compared to earth and its strength. We’re all so helpless in the face of that. Photograph from Asahi Shimbun, Reuters. I found it among National Geographic’s Japan earthquake/tsunami/nuclear coverage. If you’re like me, i.e. NOT [...]
March 15th, 2011Guilt, a luxury; and other emotions of someone watching Libya from afar
Many people have been caught in the crossfire in Libya, citizens and also foreigners who had been living and visiting. Photo AP / Hussein Malla As I listen to the newscasts each day on the radio, and watch from afar as the world changes abruptly across North Africa and the Middle East, two things have [...]
March 9th, 2011Ode to a great movie, in Kathleen Kelly’s tangent on books
AOL user Shopgirl writes to her online crush, ny152, on her trusty IBM circa 1998. Nora Ephron is exceedingly talented, and she writes some of the most charming movies in existence. Even when they aren’t box office hits, or even critically well-received, I usually enjoy them enormously. Of these, I have seen You’ve Got Mail [...]
March 5th, 2011Shaolin Temple in the spotlight, and its role in one of the best days of my life
This morning I was reading my copy of the current National Geographic, and the standout piece was the story and photographs of the Shaolin Temple, which stands in the midst of the Song Mountains in Henan Province, China. The temple is serving as both an important component of a resurgence of popularity of kung fu and martial [...]
March 4th, 2011Presenting my own research, and finding place in world history
Started off my spring break last weekend with a visit to Savannah, to attend my first history conference. It was a fairly small assembly, the Georgia Association of Historians annual conference, but I was fairly nervous because I was presenting my paper on Young J. Allen and his mission and education work in China. This [...]
March 3rd, 2011