Category: Uncategorized
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Exploring where you live. Have you done it?
You know the drill. How often do you act like a tourist in your own back yard? Not often. Since we are staying in Penang this summer, we decided to have a vacation day here. Why not pretend we are tourists visiting Georgetown and the surrounding area – because a lot of tourists come through…
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I break for lychee
Once every year. Late May – Early June. Lychee season. If you’ve never had them fresh, you are missing out on one of the earth’s best fruit. Incredibly juicy and sweet, with a small to medium size pit. Lychee is grown in sub-tropical, Asian climates like southern China and northern Vietnam, where I became acquainted…
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The Aftereffects of Stalin: An Essay (Part II)
The tragic scope of the Stalin era left virtually no one untouched. From the millions who died of starvation due to agricultural collectivization in the early 1930s, to the twenty million who died from the Great Terror of the late 1930s, to the twenty-seven million who died in World War II, nearly every family had…
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I get to live here
On this fine Sunday, I’d thought I’d post a few more pictures of beautiful Penang, where I live.
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A hope for my missing 1000 words
I hope my missing 1000 words which were swallowed by the welfare children of technocrats will become infused into the greater world of the sub-net which rules the awakening and sleeping cadences of our lives. I hope the electronic particles will become electro-fairy dust which will settle as a snow-dusting on my laptop keys, providing…
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Nothing as Bleak as a Writer’s Confidence
I just finished a short 1500 word dramatic sketch entitled “‘No’ in Spite of Itself”. Now I can’t seem to shake those mixed feelings I have about it. For a while, I had my doubts how effective it was going to be. It’s about a man, standing on the edge of a cliff, having a…
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A Lone Vietnamese Voice Far From Home
Some local friends here in Penang took us to a beef steamboat restaurant recently. The food was, of course, fantastic. As we were talking about the restaurant, our gracious hosts told us that if we wanted to ever come here, you have to call for reservations because its a small, family establishment with only six…
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The Artist’s Eye – I Don’t Have It
I was working with my artist yesterday (it sounds like I have my personal, resident artist! Well, maybe I do!) on the final layout and design for my next novel, The Recluse Storyteller. And can I just say, I hate fonts. They all look the same to me. I’ve already made font mistakes in my…
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Photos of GRANDPARENTS’ WAR
Here are a few photos of “Grandparents’ War” dress rehearsal. Photos courtesy of Jonathan Steffen.
Author Mark W Sasse 