One-Eyed Panda’s Journal

I want to escape

I don’t want to get on a plane and head off to warmer climes.

I’d rather bury myself in books and movies

I want to get on a train with Paul Theroux

I want to go through London with Robert Downey Jr as Sherlock Holmes

and I want to sleep in my own bed at night.

J.

That’s the title of Adam Minter’s latest article for Foreign Policy discussing China’s new proposed animal protection law. It’s an interesting debate that is dividing Chinese along generational and class lines.

As a dog owner I’m pretty passionate about protecting animals and to me that protection includes keeping your pet clean and walking animals outdoors on a leash.

Roger and I went for his regularly monthly bath today. He always enjoys the adventure that comes with the walk to our local animal hospital/spa. He’s usually not happy to stay there for a bath but that’s more because I have to leave him there and he’s always afraid I won’t come back but I always do. And he’s always thrilled to see me.

Right now, we’re waiting for the year of the tiger to arrive. We’re stay in this evening. Roger is afraid of fireworks – and rightly so – whereas I just want a night in. That means it’s a evening on the sofa with a book and a beer.

Happy Year of the Tiger.

J.

The People’s Republic of China turned 60 yesterday and the country celebrated in lavish style with a three-hour parade in Beijing, fireworks and – best of all – an eight-day long holiday.

Betty and I got out Shanghai and avoided the festivities – something I am very happy to do since the only thing I’d consider staying in town for was cancelled. We’re in LeShan in Sichuan province for the wedding of some of my best friends. The wedding is this evening and it’s going to be a blast, but we’re also enjoying being able to relax and just chilling out in the hotel.

I’m enjoying taking a break from the story on renewable energy that I’m working on for our November issue. I spent a lot of time on it over the last week and a half and I really need to recharge my batteries.  I’m going to be doing some work on it next week during the holiday but I am still going to make sure I give myself enough time to relax. 

And I’ve been pretty successful so far. I’ve finished Malcolm Gladwell’s Outliers and I’m really enjoying Sarah Rose’s For All the Tea in China - an account of how Scottish Bottanist, Robert Fortune, stole tea plants from China and transplanted them to India to guarantee a stable supply of the drink for British tea drinkers. 

Musically, I’ve been listening to NPR’s All Songs Considered Live Concerts podcast and filling my time with Yo Le Tengo, Raphael Saadiq and the Tallest Man on Earth – making it a great holiday so far, which is just what I need to recharge my batteries.

J.

We moved into the new place last Saturday & had a great housewarming party last night – I know this is going to look weird for anybody that reads this in the archives cause the last post was on us finding the house, but whatever. It has taken about a week but everything is finally in a state where I can say we’re settled and I can freely blog again.

It really felt that way after last night’s housewarming party, which we combined with the going-away party for our friend, Ray Shi, who’s heading back to the US on Wednesday. It was great cause we got to see a lot of people we hadn’t seen in a while and everybody loved the place. I need to take pictures as we made one or two small changes from the photos that the landlord posted for the classified. I’ll try to do that soon.

I’ve spent a lot of time exploring the area – most of it with Roger, who prefers to now do his business outside rather than using the diapers that he used as a puppy. That means more walks which means more exercise for me. There are lots of great little cafes and shops on Shaanxi Nan Lu and through out the French Concession and it just feels like a perfect combination of Western and Chinese side by side. It’s great to come home at night and just feel like you can relax here.

But other than that there isn’t a whole lot going on. Work is going at a steady pace. I’m busy but not getting overwhelmed. I’ve become addicted to Aric S. Queen’s Rough Sundays podcast and am really enjoying Pascal Mercier’s Night Train to Lisbon. I sat down today at Vienna Cafe today for brunch and ended up reading about 60 pages and probably will cover another 80 or so before I head to bed.

It’s been a perfect long-weekend.

J.

Well it’s after 10pm and I should probably be heading to bed, but I’ve had such a great last couple of days I had to blog about it first. 

First thing is that we’ll be moving by the end of the month to this apartment in the French Concession. It’s like something out of Lust Caution and I think we’ll really enjoy living there. There are cafes all around the building and it’s close to my office. I’m looking forward to walking Roger in the area.

Secondly things at work are going really well. I think things are finally coming together for me. My cover story in our April issue got a lot of great feedback (the link to the main story is here). The book review I wrote for the April issue was on James Fallows’ Postcards from Tomorrow’s Square. Today I woke up to find that James had linked to the review on his blog with some very flattering comments.

Finally I’ve been listening to a lot of good music recently. I went to the Battles show at the Dream Factory about two weeks ago and then to Hard Queen’s CD release party last week. Right now, I’m listening to the first of Aric S. Queen’s Rough Sunday shows and I can tell that this show will become a big part of my Sunday mornings.

That’s it for now. I’ll keep this space updated with new developments.

J.

Well I know it’s been a long time since I posted. Work has been taking up a lot of my time – I’m working on the cover story for the April issue and that’s going to involve a trip from Anhui. I leave tomorrow and return Wednesday.

The one thing I have been doing with my free time is reading a lot. I’m currently in the middle of James Fallows’ Postcards from Tomorrow’s Square but at the same time I’m also working on John Pomfret’s Chinese Lessons and I’ve just bought a few more books today.

Why I don’t know. They just seem to fill me with a lot of hope.  And I know that sounds silly but they’re helping me to chill out during a very busy time right now.

J.

Well it’s a rainy post-Christmas Sunday. For me that means spending the day with a book and iPod. But for those that want a bit more of sensory experience try these links from Adam Schokora’s 56minus1 blog:

• Adam is producing a series of videos of his 93-year-old Chinese teacher,  Teacher Gui as she recounts her life in Shanghai. Very interesting stuff.
• Adam also posted an interview that UVic’s radio station did with former Shanghai expat Aric S. Queen about his time and escape from Shanghai. It’s about 30 minutes but well worth the listen as Aric is just an amazing guy.

I hope these stories brighten up your Sunday.

J.

I ask this question and discuss it at a post on Lost Laowai.

J.

Last night I attended a CanCham event for the charity Free the Children. It was a talk by the group’s founder Craig Keilburger and to sum it up in one sentence it was simply inspiring.

Keiburger spoke about how he came to found the organization and how he came to develop his philosophy of reaching out to others that he entitled ”Me to We” and how that philosophy can be used in corporate CSR. But you could tell that the audience wasn’t thinking about CSR after Keilburger’s speech but more about how they could cause change themselves. Keilburger is like a short, white Barack Obama.  One lady was even crying after the speech and you could see that everyone else was really inspired.

For me, it was a good boost to my feelings that I should keep pursuing my personal goals. I find myself falling and rising emotionally minute-to-minute based on responses I get from prospective employers as well as just general fear about my unknown future after next Monday. Last night’s event was like a flat plateau that I could take a rest on for awhile and let myself know that I am still going on the right path. I’m making the right career choice for me and I should continue with it.

Me to We: the Book

I’ve also been reading Keilburger’s book Me to We: Finding Meaning in a Material World. And it’s helping me to maintain that calming plateau feeling.  I know it sounds corny, but I probably can do better on job interviews and go farther if I stay calm. If I let emotion take over then there is less chance for me to demonstrate what I am the best at and why I should be hired for a certain job.  So I’m going to do whatever I can to stay calm. Getting angry or letting depression take hold of me won’t do me any good at all. So I’m going to keep reading the book for however long it helps me.

But besides the calming and inspiring factors, Me to We is really well written and it’s just fun to read. When I finish next week, I’m going to try to relax at home and this is one of the books I am going to be spending a lot of time with.

Give the Me to We philosophy a try yourself.

J.

One of my favourite new followers on Twitter is the Canadian publisher, House of Anansi Press (@houseofanansi). What I like about this corporate tweeter is it isn’t just trying to drive people to buy their books. The publisher is actually adding value with its messages. 

An example is when they posted the link to the 2008 CBC Massey Lecture podcasts. Anansi publishes the transcripts of these lectures that are broadcast on CBC Radio every year. And since this year’s presenting is the Canadian author Margaret Atwood (probably the most famous of our female authors) and her lecture topic is the concept of debt in a year when we’re facing the greatest recession in 25 years, the book was already doing well. Anansi didn’t need to post up the free podcasts — you’d think this might actually undermine their sales (I for one won’t buy the book, if I can get the podcasts instead).

But the marketers at Anansi knew that if people could try out the book by listening to the lectures for free, they might invest money in something they enjoy. Those people who enjoy the book might try out other Anansi titles and maybe even spread the word to their friends. That’s good marketing as far as Anansi is concerned. 

Me, besides the links to some great lecturers, I’m just happy Anansi isn’t gumming up my twitter feed with crap.

J.