Although I missed all the programming from KQED during Asian Pacific American Heritage month (May), I do appreciate KQED's KQED | Asian Pacific American Heritage: Resources 2003, which is described as "only a small portion of the many resources that serve the Asian Pacific American community in the Bay Area." This list should come in handy as I get increasingly involved with the Asian American/Canadian communities.
I’m looking forward to reading David Ledbetter’s book
Because I've been listening intently to Bach's Well-Tempered Clavier (Books I and II) for a year now, I was thrilled to see a new book on the subject: Bach's Well-Tempered Clavier: The 48 Preludes and Fugues. I was disappointed that someone beat me to putting it hold at the music library -- but I need to be patient! I'm hoping the book will explicate some of the wonders of the music and pinpoint the whys and hows of the power of the WTC.
(Hmmm...using the Amazon "see related items" feature, I found another book that is currently on the shelf and can therefore be in my impatient hands sooner: Bach: The Goldberg Variations.)
MT experiments on a Sunday afternoon
This afternoon, I was going to sit down to do some leisurely modification of
my new blog. It was supposed to be a low-stress activity -- but as I got into
it, I got sucked into an obsessive-must-figure-it-all-out-right-away-or-else-I'll-go-crazy
frenzy. That's when a nice walk helped me to break free from the infinite loop.
Now I feel free to move on to other matters more conducive to restful contemplation
on a Sunday afternoon. However, I also decided that I wante to write up what
I've looked at instead of just leaving my thoughts in a disorganized jumble.
Steven Winn on truth and truth-telling
From today's SF Chronicle, I read Lies are no longer damned lies / Americans reduced to expecting deceit, an article that comes at a good time for me, especially as I reflect on the challenges of getting at the "truth". The article calls for a more nuanced response than what I can give immediately -- but my off-the-cuff reaction is this: The fact that I'm not surprised by the great amount of deception half-truths, mistruths, failed attempts to convey the truth, delusions does not mean that I don't long for the truth to be told or for a system in which we can trust each other and our leaders to be truth-tellers (and perhaps, more importantly), truth-bearers. I am tired by the amount of effort it takes to figure out what's going on. It's hard enough when well-meaning people try to communicate. Add to the mix people who are struggling for power over each other and we start to get this incredible mix. I don't exempt myself from the class of people who add to the mess -- for I am deeply sinful too. Hence my dependence on a hermeneutic of self-suspicion in addition to skepticism of others. And to throw in something else I will want to elaborate as I go along -- even well-intentioned self-suspicion is insufficient!
[If I get back to revising this post soon, it would behoove me to deepen my understanding of the "hermeneutics of suspicion" -- an article on Paul Ricoeur might be a place to start for my own self-education.]
A day to be with friends
This morning, my housemate Ildi and Orsi -- one of her daughters -- came with me to experience the first of the monthly "Family Days" at the Asian Art Museum. As a member of the museum, I'm able to take some people with me for free -- in fact, I've been wanting to issue a more general invitation to friends to join me. Each time, I think that I want to go off on my own so that I see new things. Each time, I also want to hang out with my friends.
Today, I got to do a bit of both. In three previous trips, I never seem to get past the first of two floors on the tour. Today, I started in the Chinese galleries (at the end of the first floors of exhibits) and also checked out the resource center. I have been reading Art in China (Oxford History of Art) to help me better understand what I see. (It was gratifying that one of the videos I watched hit directly upon the issue of bronze work in non-Shang dominated China, an issue addressed in the book.) One of the real finds of my trip today was the "Educators' Guide to the Asian Art Museum" -- a booklet that is helpful to any student of Asian Art, and not just those who are trying to teach others about the subject.
Tonight, I got the special treat of seeing my friend Deborah for the first time in about a year. She just got back from China -- and it was great to see her. My housemates know her too and the kids in the house were especially excited to be with her. I'm thankful for email and the phone, which have helped us to stay in touch -- but there's nothing -- nothing at all -- like real life presence, is there? Tonight, she introduced me to the Red Sea Ethiopian restaurant in Oakland -- where there was tasty and filling food to be had. After talking for hours, we got the signal to leave the restaurant (the lights were being turned off -- hint, hint). I told her about my blog -- let me know, Deborah, if you read this item!
It's time to go to bed now for me. I'm finding it hard to imagine why my readers might care concerning what I just wrote. More precisely, I'm used to thinking that my readers might care about what I thought -- but maybe less so about what I did. Nevertheless, I felt the need to write something about the matters the mean most to me. In the byline of the blog, I mentioned friendship. I wanted to remember this day as one dedicated to spending time with my wonderful friends. That's it. Nothing grander or more abstract to say than that. (Perhaps this last paragraph is itself extraneous.)
One does not live by blogs alone….
Thanks to Lloyd for publishing a picture from our bloggers' lunch:
There is more I'd like to say -- but it's already 11:30pm and it's been a long day. Suffice it to say that I loved every moment of our lunch; I wish we could meet more often in "meatspace" or "IRL". [See other blogs for "coverage" of/reaction to this lunch: Isaac, Laura, Lynn
Music in The Connections archives
Because of a series of wonderful hours about Bach, I decided to tune in to the latest goings-ons at the WBUR interview show "The Connection". I'm listening to The Connection.org : The Fresh New Beat of Early Music right now through the wonders of streaming audio. Soothing and entertaining.
Jon Carroll — a columnist with whom I largely agree
As a subscriber to the San Francisco Chronicle, I have become an avid reader of Jon Carroll's column. I don't read it all the time and must admit that I don't get into his cat columns. However, I usually find myself in violent agreement with his politically-oriented columns.
I mention his columns today not to get into the specifics of what he has written (I hope to do so soon enough) but to write about how I'm attempting to ferret out the truth of what's happening in our world. In this blog and in my reflections, I have been adopting a type of hermeneutic of self-suspicion. I put the emphasis on self-suspicion because I feel the need to inspect my own prejudices and thought-processes with as much vigor as I do of others. Finding articles and commentary that largely agree with my own viewpoints and writing about them (and occasionally subjecting them to vigorous examination) is an indirect way of testing my own assumptions. By writing out in this public space, by drawing in different perspectives, and by inviting others to comment -- I hope to grow and learn and become increasingly free to avail myself of the truth, whatever that might be.
Continue reading
Some excellent (free) articles in the latest NYRB
I'm starting to get back into thinking about politics after a hiatus of sorts (between the declaration of the war in Iraq and a week or two ago -- the reason for the slow down should be a subject of a future post)
I'm very grateful for The New York Review of Books, which remains my favorite periodical. Two fine articles I can recommend: Which Way to Mecca? by Clifford Geertz and Stanley Hoffman's America Goes Backward
There is a lot to say that I cannot even begin to write out right now but I was really impressed with the fact that Geertz in preparing the article on Islam had read 50 books on the subject -- reflecting the obvious ferment around the topic. "50 books! And just to start to get a feel for how things relate...." Reading about the process and seeing how shallow my own understanding of Islam is (not surprising given how little I read or know in the concrete about Isalm) made me almost stop reading altogether on this topic.
Continue reading
What Nicholas Ray film(s) to see?
I'm finally sitting down to pick a film or two or three of Nicholas Ray's to see with my friends. (It seems that we've all been so swamped with life that we still haven't decided what to see.) Alas, as Ray Davis pointed out, many really interesting ones have already come and gone.
Continue reading