Clean Air [#20]
Annyeong!
I've just returned from a much-needed break in the United States, where I visited Seattle and its neighboring Orcas Island. I communioned with old friends and clean air. My heart and lungs are so happy!
What I Read
It's your patriotic duty to help with America's giant cheese surplus. A starving writer story, rebutted by the fact he's writing from the tony Hamptons, so maybe he's not so starving. The 'woman card' is worthless, even in mint condition. Grief is like a barnacle you can't scrape off. Constant texting signals a profound shift in the human experience.
Revisit the Cultural Revolution, 50 years later. Sixth graders in rich schools are FOUR GRADE LEVELS ahead of kids in poorer schools. Being too democratic can explain the rise of Donald Trump, who promises to 'make America great again' for the people who had it great already. We are a long way off from automation replacing journalists. Media companies should make better content instead of playing to pure scale.
What I Wrote/Made
The elusiveness of Kim Jong Il's voice. How South Korea is trying to be less homogenous. North Korea wants to expand its economy and nukes, but one undercuts the other. Daughter Eva's latest thing is practicing her NPR signoff.
What I'm Watching
Since I was on a plane for a gazillion hours, I ended up watching "movies you'd only watch on a plane." One of them was How to Be Single (meh). The other was Sisters, starring Tina Fey and Amy Poehler. There is a scene in there in which Amy tries to pronounce a Korean name and she and the Korean go back and forth, comically trying to pronounce it correctly, and it's basically every day of my life here in Seoul. RECOMMENDED.
Recommendations
Seattle
Everyone wins when you put your kids to bed super early.
If you're on too many messenger apps, maybe this will help.
Links worth sharing? Please send 'em my way.
Until next time,
Elise
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