Babel

The multilingual, multicultural online journal and community of arts and ideas. There's a heaven above you, baby.

Babel

Archives for June 27th, 2008

Who am I and What am I Doing Here?

Posted by  on Friday, June 27th 2008     

Hi Folks, I guess it is time for a little self-introduction. Malcolm Lawrence, Founder/CEO & Editor-In-Chief of towerofbabel.com noticed that I had joined his Tower of Babel group on InterNations.com so he invited me to blog here. I am very new to blogging–my only experience being a travel blog I’ve been keeping for about 3 [...]

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To Be “Hapa” or Not to Be “Hapa”: What to Name Mixed Asian Americans?

Posted by  on Friday, June 27th 2008     

[lang_en]To Be “Hapa” or Not to Be “Hapa”: What to Name Mixed Asian Americans? Preface: I have been struggling for several years with this apparently un-resolvable issue: what to do about “Hapa”? I finally decided I had to start writing about it, had to start engaging the dialog. The essays and talks I have been [...]

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Stars and Fireflies in Umbria

Posted by  on Friday, June 27th 2008     

After going out onto the kitchen deck to view the moon hanging over Lago Trasimeno, with its little star companionably lurking over its shoulder, we were greeted by firelies dancing a mating dance and twinkling at us. This inspired a desire for star gazing, so we adjourned to the uppermost deck of the house, above [...]

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The Moon is an Apricot

Posted by  on Friday, June 27th 2008     

The moon tonight, the night of the longest day of the year (June 21st) is the size and color of a ripe apricot. I had resisted, at first, buying the apricots here in Umbria. I had only a memory of California’s apricots that looked ripe but were hard and never ripened, or ripened into a [...]

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Rubens

Posted by  on Friday, June 27th 2008     

On a whim today, after exploring the storybook cuteness of Brussel’s Grand Place (various winding cobblestone side streets, delightfully whimsical facades, etc.), I happened by the Royal Museums of the Beaux-Arts. I was thinking more about eating lunch at the Museum Cafe than anything else, but I was drawn in by the Rubens Room. It [...]

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