Kurt R.A. Giambastiani's Blog, page 46
November 24, 2015
Found Time: Living Without Social Media
Update on my Social Media Detox: I’ve done a “cleanse” like this before, and asalways, I’m surprised by how much time suddenly appears in my day. But this time I’ve noticed something else. Iam thinkinglike a writer again. Seriously. This morning I was on my way to work, riding the bus, reading a book, and […]
November 19, 2015
Social Media Cleanse
Remember what I said about that first type of reaction to the Paris attacks? The xenophobic rants against Muslims specifically and refugees in general? Remember how, in Monday’s post, I said that thiskind of reaction had,“for the most part subsided from the social sphere“? Well, never mind. Tuesday and Wednesday saw a resurgence, and my […]
November 17, 2015
Grief Shaming: Social Media’s New Orthodoxy
Some folks are going to find this post offensive. I don’t frakking care. In the days following the attacks on Paris, social media had two major reactions. The first (and fastest) was thepredictable xenophobic rants against Islam, Muslims, and refugees. These are the now-standard spoutings of eentsy-minded fear-mongers who don’t like anyone unlike themselves and […]
November 9, 2015
Miyako and the Art of Mindfulness
I watch people. I observe, quietly and from a distance. Like a naturalist out in the wild, I do this so that I might better understand the behaviors of others—all y’all are often a mystery to me—and, in seeing what it is that makes them tick, take that knowledge and use it to create more […]
November 2, 2015
Stop! Thief! — For the Love of Books
This weekend I finished reading a book, the first one in a while. I enjoyed it a great deal, but it was an unusual read in that, from the book’s very first page, I felt a very real connection to it. You see, my library also includes a few stolen books. On my “old/rare books” […]
October 27, 2015
Godspeed, Harriet
Book lovers never die; they just get carried away by a story.” You may never have heard of her, but in the publishing world,Harriet Klausner was legendary. This week, she passed away, aged only 63. Harriet Klausner was the uncontested Queen of Book Reviews. A speed reader who easily consumed four to six novelsa day, […]
October 22, 2015
The Moon of Morning Mist
Seattle. It is late October, early November, whenDawn puts on her grey scarf and each day arrives in soft focus, born in muffled softness. The edge of the world is onlya stone’s throw away. Green needles and rusted leaves alike gleam in themoisture-laden air. Above, southbound geese call with muted trumpets, navigating the blanketed skies, […]
October 17, 2015
Fingersmith: A Surprise
“I didn’t see that coming.” That’s something you’ll rarely hear me say when watching a movie or video. Truth be told, seldom does a plot-line surprise me to the point where I sit back and blink. Here’s a movie/show that not only made me say that, but also made me pause the playback to understandwhy […]
October 10, 2015
The Original General Tso’s Chicken
You find it everywhere, on virtually every Chinese restaurant menu and behind just about every supermarket deli counter. It’s a staple of what Americans call Chinese food: General Tso’s Chicken. Recently, I watched The Search for General Tso, a documentary that searches for the origins of this ubiquitous dish. From it, I learned that this […]
October 1, 2015
In Which I Say ‘No’ to Freelance
Last Thursday, around midnight, my wife was hauled down a long, lonely corridor, knocked unconscious, and stabbed five times. At least that’s how her surgeon described it. It turns out that your gall bladder can become infected. My wife’s was, and the doctors removed it. She’s recovering now, building back her strength, getting her innards […]
