Category Archives: Writing

Viva le vélo

I wrote a novel for twelve year olds that features bicycles. The novel is set in China in 1902, when the bicycle was a fairly new technology. Many key features of the modern bicycle were present in the 1902 bicycle. … Continue reading

More Galleries | Comments Off on Viva le vélo

Chekhov’s Rabbits

The first time I fell in love with Anton Chekhov was when I read “The Darling” and other short stories. The second time was when I saw Wallace Shawn play Uncle Vanya in a movie. And the third time was … Continue reading

More Galleries | Comments Off on Chekhov’s Rabbits

Boost profits, analyze metrics

Once upon a time in math, I studied metric spaces, spaces for which there exists a way to measure distances between points. At first glance the non-mathematician might say: yuck, this is the genesis and justification of corporate bean counting … Continue reading

More Galleries | Comments Off on Boost profits, analyze metrics

says René Magritte

I despise the past, my own and everyone else’s. I despise resignation, patience, heroism and all the obligatory sentiments. This is a favorite quote from the Belgian surrealist painter René Magritte. As the author of a novel set in the … Continue reading

More Galleries | 2 Comments

Girl Mechanic Review: asianmommy.com

Yay, another blog review of the The Girl Mechanic of Wanzhou, at asianmommy.com Much appreciated!

Posted in Multiculturalism, Writing | Tagged , , , | Comments Off on Girl Mechanic Review: asianmommy.com

Gender and The Hobbit

This gallery contains 1 photo.

It’s time to come out of the closet. I love The Hobbit. I love it so much that I love the movie too. And while I usually agree with articles that deplore the absence of women in popular media and … Continue reading

More Galleries | Comments Off on Gender and The Hobbit

Girl Mechanic Review: dontmesswithmama.com

Great new year’s news: a review of The Girl Mechanic Of Wanzhou on Tracey Black’s wonderful blog, dontmesswithmama.com Check it out!

Posted in Writing | Tagged , , , | Comments Off on Girl Mechanic Review: dontmesswithmama.com

‘Ockey Night du Canada

When I was a child, ice hockey was the bane of my TV watching. It pre-empted everything, for hours. And I didn’t care for it. I knew nothing about it, which made me the worst sort of philistine. There were … Continue reading

More Galleries | 1 Comment

Make fifty pots

I don’t recall the exact reference for this story, so I’ll have to go by memory. A ceramics teacher did the following experiment, with two beginning classes. To the first class he said, “all you have to do to get … Continue reading

More Galleries | Comments Off on Make fifty pots

The zeroth rule

I recently saw the documentary Still Bill, about the songwriter Bill Withers. He wrote Ain’t No Sunshine When She’s Gone, Lean On Me, Lovely Day, and many others. He’s one of the greats, and still writes songs, very inspiring. One … Continue reading

More Galleries | Comments Off on The zeroth rule