In the midst of an exhaustive and ongoing tween & teen bedroom clean out this summer, I thought I was well placed to offer you, dear reader, some organizational advice on busting clutter for good. I’d gathered lists from ‘Uncluttering Your Space’, culled suggestions from ‘The Organized Home’ and collected every clear out tip from... Continue Reading →
’80s Week Continues: A Rock Playlist
So I set two small goals for myself this summer: to read Middlemarch and to watch the FOUR-hour, Peter Bogdanovich-directed Tom Petty documentary: Running Down A Dream. It's slow going on both fronts, but I am loving each one. Friends had warned me that George Eliot's writing wasn't quite as 'readable' as say Jane Austen,... Continue Reading →
Monday Morning Music – The War On Drugs
spotify:track:5oMFoh1uOsVzERQyAFe7M8 Sometimes, well a lot of times actually, you get a little obsessive about a song, listening to it over and over again. For me these days that song is 'Under the Pressure' from The War On Drugs. It's almost nine minutes of dreamy, moody pop, anchored by a simple piano-based melody. The ambient layers and clean guitar... Continue Reading →
Talking Rock, Writing & Darius Rucker with Author Suzanne Kamata
So one of the best things about being part of the 'Dragonfruit' anthology is getting to know the work of other expatriate women writers. Women such as award-winning author, Suzanne Kamata, who lives in Japan. Her anthology essay, 'Love and Polka Dots', tells of a museum trip with her daughter, who is a budding artist herself but disabled,... Continue Reading →
Monday Morning Music – YAZ
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QdV-5ivltkc You do realize that the '80s are to our children what the '60s were to us? A fascinating period of ancient history that produced a lot of good music, and fashion that was both embarrassing and strangely inspiring. I don't know how many Hong Kong boys I see around town these days dressed in their porkpie hats,... Continue Reading →
That Varjak, Paul feeling
Remember those scenes in Breakfast at Tiffany's where George Peppard (Paul) earns a bit of money from his writing and he takes Audrey Hepburn (Holly) out for the day? To do a bunch of things they've never done before, like visit the library (her) and steal something (him). Well, I haven't exactly cashed my cheque, but I... Continue Reading →
And then there was that moment…
When you heard it. Was it on the radio? Or in the middle of a mix tape? An album? A CD? Did you buy it yourself or borrow it from a friend? After you heard it, did you go out and get yourself a guitar or eyeliner or a preacher’s hat? Did you stick a... Continue Reading →
Attention All Campers!
Autumn is SCHOOL CAMP season in Hong Kong. The weather’s fine and dry, slightly cooler. It's the perfect time for our upper primary and secondary school students to kayak, rappel, gorge walk, team build, stay up late, eat white bread and mystery meats, and of course wear the same t-shirt for four days straight! But... Continue Reading →
Lost in Translation, but beautifully so…
Sometimes my blog gets hit by comments that inhabit this netherworld between actual advertising and crazy spam. A Japanese purse retailer called bagmutton.com commented on my Das Fluff piece by merely writing 'Prada Hermes' (the Prada was in Japanese, had to Google Translate that). Must be code for 'Das Fluff rock Tokyo on a regular... Continue Reading →
In The Land Of The Gun
Yesterday we flew in to Texas for our annual visit with family and friends. It's a trip I look forward to every year: reconnecting with everyone, shopping, eating Mexican food and barbecue, showing off the kids, the usual proud mom / dutiful daughter scenario. Yet within a few hours of landing I had to have... Continue Reading →
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