Sorry-ology

One of my recent favorites: Japanese egg rolls. This is a variation of traditional egg rolls in Japanese cuisine: stuff boiled asparagus into chikuwa (竹輪 made of fish), and cook it as one does in traditional style.

On March 11 2012, the first anniversary of the triple disasters - earthquake, tsunami, and nuclear power plant meltdown - last year in Japan, we joined a demonstration in Tokyo in support of anti-nuclear campaign.  There were several events going on at the same time in commemoration of the earthquake in Hibiya park and across Japan. We marched on with other protestants, foreign and national alike, for a generally defined purpose of anti-nuclear policy in the country. Inevitably, in a big and crowded occasion like this, people came with a range of more specifically tuned sub-agendas. Some were more political than others, and some personal. It was impossible to agree with everyone on every single argument, but hopefully the general message for peace and a safe environment was carried through to the public.  There were other protests at the same time around the world, for instance, Taiwan, my home country, where people demanded a referendum on the on-going construction...

source Colm Toibin I started reading this book because of its title, The Empty Family , a topic in which an interest has been nourished and developed in me since my PhD days. And the title, as the combination of the words denotes, promises a heart-rending reading as I always like it, and so did it not fail my expectation. The short stories all develop around the theme of family, homecoming, home-leaving, home-abandoning, home-binding, home-seeking, etc., exploring every possible dimension of one's ambiguous feeling of attachment and detachment to the idea of and the place called 'home'.  I remember I was on the verge of tears several times on the train when I was reading it through.  It is the first time for me to read about same-sex love, too. I was ignorant about the fact that it is one of the featured themes in Toibin's stories, but the innocence has me  overwhelmed by the powerful emotion and unbearable afflictions contained in the author's m...