Monday, 30 November 2009

  • Overparenting

    Last week on my way to work, I was read this article in TIME Magazine, concerning over-parenting. The article discussed how parents these days are putting their children in bubbles and shielding them from all possible harms in the world. We all know that it's not possible to do that and in my opinion, actually harmful to the growth of their children.

    In the article, they mentioned someone nicknamed, "The Worst Mother in America." Her name is Lenore Skenazy, a mother in New York who allowed her 9 year old son to ride the NYC subway home on his own, unsupervised. She wrote a column about it and when news got out, she received sharp criticisms for endangering the welfare of her son. After reading that part, I quickly googled her when I got to work and read for myself the story.

    Basically, what happened was that her son always wanted to try to go home by himself and one day, she decided to allow him to do that.  She gave him $20, some quarters and a metrocard.  She didn't leave him a cellphone.  She left him in Bloomingdales's on 59th and Lexington Ave and left.  She didn't tail him and waited till he got home safe. 

    Was it really that dangerous for her to allow her 9 year old son to ride the subway and bus alone in New York City?  Besides the risk of terrorist and nuclear attacks, New York City is probably one of the safest major cities in the world.  The chance of being kidnapped and abducted is extremely unlikely.  I grew up in Brooklyn and was able to ride the subway on my own when I was 10.  This was almost 18 years ago, during a time where it was definitely less safe.  Even in hindsight, I didn't think it was anything out of the ordinary.  All my friends rode the subway alone.

    When I was a kid, we always played outside--riding our bikes around and going to the parks to play ball.  I realized that kids don't play on the streets anymore these days.  Most kids usually just go over to each others' houses and play video games or surf the web together.  A couple of years ago, I lived in an apartment where the landlord did not allow her 15 year-old son to go to the movies with his friends.  When I was 15, I was all around New York City during the day and going to parties at night.  I grew up in a time where there were many gangs--where you couldn't even look at certain people directly in the eye because they would come over and cause trouble. 

    Anyway, I'm sure that if I lived in a dangerous area of Brooklyn, my parents wouldn't allow me to take the train unsupervised.  I'm sure Mrs. Skenazy knew that the route home was safe.  She was teaching her 9 year-old son how to be independent and in case of an emergency, how to take care of himself and get home.  Parenting is about being there and preparing your children for the outside world, not shielding them in a bubble and protecting them from it.  Like the example I used in my email to her, I think parents these days are like Purell.  People think using Purell is good, but in fact, it actually weakens your body's natural defenses against germs and bacteria.  Parents are weakening their childrens' natural ability to take care of themselves in the outside world, not protecting them from every possible harm.

    Obviously, I am just touching on the topic.  Read the TIME article I linked, Lenore Skenazy's original article on letting her son ride the MTA (which I also linked), her follow-up article on the Huffington Post and if curious, even her blog, Free Range Kids.  We might not all agree with allowing our children to ride public transportation alone, but I'm sure that if we took a step back, we would notice that children are not growing up the same way we did.  Generally speaking, kids are more emo, have a greater sense of entitlement and less sense of independence.  Can we blame them for this kind of behavior or should we direct the responsibility to their parents?

Monday, 23 November 2009

  • "Where's your girlfriend?"

    My sister had a dinner gathering on Saturday for her son Henrik at a local restaurant. It's to celebrate the baby's one-month and over forty people were in attendence--mostly relatives. Of course everyone turned to me and asked me where my girlfriend was. Everyone was anxious to see who the girl I came out if dating hibernation for.

    Coincidentally, my girlfriend already had plans with her friends for this weekend and couldn't make it. Her bestfriend was having a Thanksgiving get together, so I told all my relatives that. They were all disappointed and most of them would ask me for a picture of her. I quickly flipped out my iPhone and showed them a picture to quell their curiosity. After whatever comment about how she looked, they'd next ask when I was planning to get married.

    As it turns out, most of the conversation that night was about how cute my nephew was and then the topics of marriage and children. I was obviously the catalyst of it, but surprisingly, the discussion all strayed away and it became mostly about the kind of weddings my generation have nowadays.

    Most of the older folks agreed that it doesn't matter what kind of wedding it is. However, there were quite a few who still believed that Chinese people should have Chinese weddings. I was almost afraid to tell them that I had no intentions of having either Chinese or "America" style wedding. I started off explaining that I'd much prefer an informal setting of celebration and said I wanted to have a BBQ wedding.

    The reaction was mostly in agreement that weddings are too formal and thus expensive. It was best to not go too crazy and spend too much money. One person told me that whatever I do, never come out of a wedding in debt, because that's one of the stupidest things to waste money on. Spend only what I can afford and if I wanted something bigger, I should save more. Debt because of a wedding would not be the best way to start a marriage.

    Another relative suggested that I get married at City Hall first before putting a deposit down for the wedding. That way, "it's definite, because weddings can be called off." I found all this advice highly amusing and I just smiled at the thought of how my girlfriend would feel if she was here.

    What was really funny was how my mom was in total agreement with some of the things that were said and proudly added that my sister didn't have a wedding and was able to put a downpayment on her condo. This is the same person who was "embarrassed" and "disappointed" that her daughter didn't have a wedding four years ago. Funny how people change so quickly.

Wednesday, 18 November 2009

  • Addicted?

    My dad asked me yesterday if I was "addicted to alcohol." This question came when he watched me pour my single serving of Macallan, realizing that I had also poured myself one the night before. I told him that I wasn't, but I liked to drink, especially to relax--especially when there's nothing to do. He compared it to his addiction to cigarettes when he was younger--citing that he usually smoked because he had nothing to do.

    I assured him that I wasn't addicted and brought my glass upstairs to my room to finish Gran Torino. I don't know what it is, but there's nothing like a scotch and good movie to put the stresses of the world aside.

    Though as I sat down, I wondered if I was really addicted. Maybe I'm not, but I will be or maybe I am and I'm in denial. Being really honest with myself, I love the taste of scotch, ales and petite syrahs. At times, I even crave for them. Yet, I hate the feeling of being drunk and I never consume much--a serving or two if I'm just trying to relax, or a couple of more when I'm with people. Not enough to be a cause of concern. Besides, I'm trying to save money now and I have cut my consumption to about 3-4 drinks per week, down from about 20. That's at least 80%!

    I will admit though that I wish I was consuming more. I usually pour myself a double, but trying to keep things in moderation with only a single serving. The other day, I drove to seven liquor stores around Staten Island to try and find Macallan, 12 year. It took me over an hour and I don't know how much gas from my gas-guzzling SUV. But I finally found it and boy was it worth it.

    I think long-time readers know about my unquenchable thirst for alcoholic beverages. Contrary to popular belief, I don't pride myself to be someone who loves alcohol, but it's certainly not something I hide either. The bottle of scotch is placed in the living room, so it's not something I hide from my parents. I even offered my mom some Sunday night since she enjoys recreational drinking as well.

    My dad didn't lecture me or tell me that alcohol was bad for me. He was merely trying to gauge my level of desire to drink. I think it isn't to the point of concern yet. At least not until he signs for the 10 bottles of Stags Leap Petite Syrah (2006) that will be delievered today. We'll see how the discussion goes tonight.

    Do you think I'm addicted? What are your thoughts on alcohol? If you like it, is it for the feeling or the taste? What's your drink of choice?

Monday, 16 November 2009

  • Apocalypse

    I often ponder about my actions and choices in possible armegeddon/apocalyptic scenarios. If there was a nuclear war, New York City would be hit first and unless I'm making an unlikely impromptu trip to some small town in Wyoming, I'd probably die. If there was a zombie infestation, my chances of surviving might be a bit higher since I'm probably a bit more prepared for it. But what about events like a giant meteor the size of Texas crashing into Earth or if the Earth's crust decides to shift like in the movie 2012? Very few people would survive.

    Can you really expect the governments to try and save people? If I was responsible for trying to preserve the human race, priority would first go to the smartest, most intelligent people on the planet--mostly scientists and other people of extreme higher learning. I might try and save some of the animals like in Noah's Ark, but what about artifacts? Should we try and preserve the Mona Lisa? I think I would rather house more books than art pieces.

    One moral dilemma is whether the government is responsible of telling us that the end of the world is coming. And if I did have the priviledge to know such information could I keep it a secret? How can I look at all the people I love in the eye and not tell them? And if I could only save one or two people, who would I choose? It's not an easy choice since I love so many of my family and friends.

    But what if I wasn't one of the priviledged and found out about the end of the world too late? I think I'd get myself a front row seat on Coney Island, on the beach and watch the tidal wave come in. It sure beats falling in a pit of molten lava or being crushed by a building.

    What about you? What would you try and save? Who would you save if you could pick 1-2 people and if you knew the end was coming and there was no chance of survival, how would you spend your last moments.

Friday, 13 November 2009

  • Critics

    There are two types of people: those who are easily pleased and see the silver lining with almost everything. And then there are those who are critics, people who look and pick for flaws. Sure there are those who might consider themselves in between, but in my opinion, people usually lean a little towards one side or the other.

    Can one argue that those who are easily pleased don't have standards? Sure one can make such an argument, but the truth is, it's not always a lack of standards, but sometimes a personality trait of acceptance and satisfaction/contentment. In the greater sense of things, it's not really THAT important to nitpick. These people may or may not know what quality is, but that's not important. They only make their decisions based on whether something makes them happy or not. They don't try to quantify happiness.

    The exact opposite can be said about those who are hard to please. They have an opinion about everything and often have numerical 1-10 rating scales to properly apply a rating and compare two things, even if the two things happen to be apples and oranges.

    The extreme form of these people are considered snobs: people who shun anything but the best. Often educated and having a bit of money, they have unquenchable thirst for the finer things in life and they actively search for the best quality of their fancy.

    Of course there are many who seek the same kind of quality and not considered to be snobs. The difference is simply their lack of snobbery, and an understanding that things of below the best of quality are still acceptable.

    How do people become critics? I think it has a lot to do with their upbringing and who their role models were growing up. For example, my parents are completely different. My mom was taught to accept what was placed in front of her and not to be picky. She grew up into someone who didn't care if food was good or not. She would eat it as long as it's edible. My dad was really poor, but took after my grandfather who was nitpicky about things. If you're going to do something, it has to be done perfectly.

    My dad is extremely hard to please. Me being a straight-A student was never good enough for him. I had to be the best. It took like seven years for him to finally think ONE of the things I made for dinner was good. I wouldn't say I'm the best cook, but I think I can cook pretty well. In my dad's eyes, I'm okay at best. Wednesday night was the first time in probably half a year that he complimented my cooking again. When I was young, he would complain if something wasn't to his liking and then not eat it. Pretty frustrating to deal with, but it forced me to try harder to please him and thus I became someone who also seeker a certain kind of quality.

    My girlfriend told me that she was really happy when I complimented one of her entries. Apparently, compliments didn't come often from me. I never even really noticed. My friend Lizzie felt the same way when I complimented one of her entries.

    I always knew I was a critic, but who'd knew that I turned into someone like my dad. People like me must be annoying to be around--always having something to say about everything, not listening to the radio because I think contemporary music sucks, applying a rating on ever movie I've seen on Netflix, not drinking American lagers or cheap alcohol and prefers bespoke anything. I don't even want to mention about food because that's a whole another thing I'm anal about.

    Are you easily pleased or a critic? If in between, which side do you lean more towards? Do you dislike people who are on the other side? I ask that because honestly, I always have to quantify quality and it's annoying when people simply use two forms of expression: "I like it" or "I don't like it."

Monday, 09 November 2009

  • Dinner table discussions

    Growing up, it was always silent around the dinner table. It was rude to speak with food in your month and after a 14 hour day at work working for a fraction of minimum wage, the last thing my parents wanted to do was talk. Whenever there were talks at the table, it would be my grandmother complaining about how bad I was to my parents and I'd have to prepare myself for scolding or worse, being scolded and followered by an after meal serving of a beating. And people wonder why dessert isn't one of my favorite course of the meal.

    Times have changed of course and even back in 2005 when I temporarily moved home, there were actually talks at the dinner table, usually trivial things and stories of my father's past. Thinking back, I really wished my father would have talked more about his life growing up in communist China. His struggles really put things into perspective and it really makes me think about how small my problems have always been.

    How big can my problems be when his biggest problem was hunger? During the great famine from 1959-1961, the most conservative estimate of deaths by starvation is over 30 million people. Some people think as many as 75 million. The population of entire countries starved to death. My father and his family had to eat whatever that was in sight just to stay alive. Even when things got better, things never got that much better.

    He once asked his brother's friend who was a member of the communist party what the four great Chinese inventions were. The party member answered I'm an obvious tone, "Paper, printing, the compass and gunpowder." My dad asked, "if we invented gunpowder, how come we don't even have matches anymore?" the party member retorted that times in China were great now under Mao's leadership. There's electricity at homes now and people have bicycles. My dad said responded, "Electricity? The people in the west have had that for 100 years! We ride bicycles, but they drive luxuary cars."

    I asked my father how could he talk to a communist party member like that. Wasn't he afraid to get caught saying bad things about the party, which meant you would be tortured, then constantly harrassed throughout most of your existing life during the cultural revolution and labeled an enemy of the state. He told me he had to say those things in a hushed tone, with a smirk, as if he was just joking around. Life then was without satisfying meals, matches, soap to clean your clothes, and the freedom to express your disappointment.

    Times have changed and things are much better in China now. But it doesn't change the feelings my father had for te country which forced him to flee by risking his life and swimming seven hours to Hong Kong. Starvation and times of desparation leave scars that are only visible to yourself. People never see these scars. I never saw them from my father.

    Lately, these talks are happening all around the day. Even my mom chims in with her own stories about growing up with eight sibblings in Hong Kong and her struggles of working as a kid to make enough money so her brothers can have a decent education.

    I look forward to dinner everynight.

    Do you ever wonder how life was for your parents? Do you ever realize that no matter what, you'll never experience anything remotely close to what your parents went through, simply because it was a different time?

Thursday, 05 November 2009

  • Lucky No. 27

    Battling the NyQuil I took last night to relieve some of my cold symptoms, I managed to stay awake long enough to record the last out of the World Series, smile and then finally succumbing to the drowsiness. I woke up five hours later to turn the television off and in hindsight, the whole game felt like a dream.

    So many people shit on the Yankees and point to their $200M payroll, but they fail to remember that they won previous World Series without spending that much money. Besides, isn't it your team's responsibility to try and win championships? Last time I checked, food and drinks costs about the same in all the stadiums I've been to. Ticket prices are roughly the same as well so potential revenue should be very similar between all teams. Sure, the Yankees are way more marketable and successful, but they weren't like this all the time. In the early 90's, they were te worst team in baseball.

    Anyway, I've been a fan since '87 and these are definitely glorious times even though they haven't won it in so many years. Simply winning a lot of games will bring people to the park.

    Not to mention, the Yankees saved my life back in '96, which got me out of depression and back onto my feet. So I owe quite a bit of gratitude to them.

    I used to hate people who jumped on the Yankees bandwagon because I always wondered where they were when the team needed their support. But then again, everyone has to start somewhere right?

    I realized that these sports post never get any attention. If you've read this far, tell me, are you into sports at all and if you watch sports, what do you watch and who do you support?

    Go Yankees!

Monday, 02 November 2009

  • Flu shot


    I wouldn't call myself a paranoid person, but I have a bad feeling about the new H1N1 vaccine. Somehow, it reminds me of "I AM LEGEND," where they gave everyone the miracle cancer vaccine and then people either turned into zombies or got killed by them.

    Did you know that a lot of hospitals are requiring the personnel to be vaccinated and many of them don't want to? And this isn't just for the swine flu. Turns out that the flu shot you normally get every year doesn't protect you from every strain. Just three and it's determined by a group of people in the CDC who guess which three are likely to strike this year. A couple of years ago, they guessed wrong and many people still got sick.

    Maybe these medically trained personnel don't want to get it because there's mercury in it. Not enough to kill you of course, but why would anyone want mercury in their system? It's bad enough we ingest it in the fishes we eat.

    Of course mercury isn't the only thing that's harmful in the flu shots. There are other chemicals depending on which shot you get. Click here for more information concerning flu shots.

    I will try to stay healthy the old fashioned way by eating healthy, exercising, sleeping as much as I can, and keeping my hands clean.

    Always wash your hands thoroughly with soap and avoid touchig anything public with your hands. I always use a paper towel to open the bathroom doors on the way out. I also try not to touch the poles on the train. If I have to, I lean against it with the back/side of my hand or forearm.

    Anyway, if people begin turning into zombies, please use common sense. Pick up the Zombie Survival Guide. Hey, you never know right?

    Will you be getting the flu shot this year? If you are, you getting the regular one and/or H1N1?

Thursday, 29 October 2009

  • Halloween 2009 - Part 1

    My long time readers would know that Halloween is one of my favorite holidays. I always have so much fun dressing up. Last year, I was Ronald McJoker. I literally walked and talked like him, walking through Time Square and bar hopping in the LES. Every year, I try to come up with fun/creative costumes (click here to see my previous years' costume). This year, I am going to do a couple's thing with E and decided to tame it down a bit.

    I'm going to be Vincent Vega and she's going to be Mia Wallace. For all of you who don't have a clue who they are (and you should be ashamed of yourself for that), they are John Travolta's and Uma Thurman's characters in one of the greatest movies of all-time, Pulp Fiction! OF ALL TIME!

    Speaking of which, I suggested to a friend to do Kanye and his girlfriend would be Taylor Swift. In your opinion, would it really be tasteless to color his face black? I understand the historical context of coloring your face "to be black," and it's offensive. But what about Halloween, with no intentions of ridiculing African-Americans? Like if someone wanted to Bruce Lee for Halloween and wante to paint his face yellow, I would find it funny and inoffensive.

    Anyway, back to our costumes... We're going to try and learn the dance. Actually, I sort of know it already since I've seen the movie so many times, but my girlfriend apparently has two left feet. We'll see how that goes.

    She already has most of her costume already. She's going to be post-OD Mia, which means her make-up is going to be all smudged on her face, blood is coming out of her nose and she's going to be holding a giant syringe. She's not going to get a Cleopatra cut for the look, so she's wearing a wig.

    I'm getting a wig too and tying it into a ponytail. I'll use one of my black suits (probably an old one in case it gets messed up), and white shirt. I ordered a bola tie, which is what he wore on his "date" with Mia. It's the kind of ties that cowboys wear (google it if you have no idea what I'm talking about). I'm also thinking about packing his silver Desert Eagle that he carries around with him.

    At the moment, we don't have any plans. We're probably going to hit up the world's biggest Halloween parade in the Village and then go bar hopping. Last year, I realized how much fun it was to ride around on the train on Halloween. We're going to be doing a lot of that this year.

    What are you going to be for Halloween? Any fun plans? Say hi if you see me!

Monday, 26 October 2009

  • New moves


    I just moved back home this weekend. I never found an affordable two-bedroom that was close to a train station. Maybe I didn't look hard enough, but I had less than a month and time was really ticking.

    I'm sitting at one of the Staten Island stations to take me to the ferry. The ferry then takes me to Manhattan and from there, I have to catch the train to work. Total time is approximately an hour and twenty-five minutes. I don't live near any of the express buses that bring me to work, so this is the commute I will be dealing with for the next 10-12 months.

    I have to get to work early today because I start my new position. I stayed a little late last Friday trying to finish some last minute work and never had the chance to pack my things. I'm only moving three floors up so I have plenty of time.

    I'm the new Senior Financial Analyst in the International Finance group in the company (same company as before). I really don't know what to expect, but it's a new job so it should be really interesting.

    I think it's healthy to always have a new environment every couple of years. It keeps your mind occupied. It's constantly learning to adapt. Things definitely took a strange turn. I didn't expect to move to International Finance and I surely didn't expect to have my parents as roommates.

jigg

  • Visit jigg's Xanga Site
    • Name: Raymond Lee
    • Country: United States
    • State: New York
    • Metro: Brooklyn
    • Birthday: 3/30/1981
    • Gender: Male
    • Member Since: 3/12/2002
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Age: 28

Marital Status: Is in a committed and exclusive relationship

Current Location: Brooklyn, New York

Raised in: Sheepshead Bay, Brooklyn

Location of Residence: Brooklyn

Employment Status: Financial Analyst

Major: Modern European History

Favorite things to do: Sing, Read, Write, Listen to music, Fish, watching Anime, Rock climbing and bouldering...

Expert at: Carrying interesting conversations and sounding smart, but being otherwise.

Currently looking for: The love of my life. Someone who is smart, responsible, laidback, funny, and beautiful inside and out. If that describes you... hollah! Found her!

Primary Goals in life: Marriage, having children, PhD in History

Other Goals: Experience the maximum amount of experiences, see the world, become a writer and have some books published, run a marathon, climb a mountain...

Current location in life: In New York, just working my way up the corporate ladder.

Possible paths for the future: Masters Degree in History, NYC HS Teacher

Favorite sports: Baseball, Soccer, Hockey, Football

Favorite Teams: Yankees, Manchester United, Pittsburgh Penguins, 49ers

Favorite athletes: Don Mattingly, David Cone, Teddy Sheringham, David Beckham

Most Hated Teams: Boston Red Sox, Liverpool FC, Leeds United

Likes: Great conversations, good food, good people, bamboo paintings, Prada, tattoos, piercings...

Tattoos: 1

Located at: Upper left arm.

Piercings: 4

Located at: Two on each earlobe.

Things I like to do: Listen to music, chit chatting online, ponder about life, going to museums, any kind of site seeing, writing fiction, taking random pics of things, have long conversations at cafes or bars, watching and playing sports (baseball, soccer, football), surf the internet, read all kinds of books, reading magazines, give advice, watch movies, watch Broadway, eating out at good restaurants, shopping, travelling, road tripping, fishing, rock climbing, drinking, xanga

Favorite cuisine: Italian, American, French, Mexican, Vietnamese, Chinese

Favorite Junk Food: Chips (Salt and Vinegar, Sour Cream and Garlic), All kinds of Nachos, Tostitos with Salsa, Chocolate chip cookies with milk, dark chocolate -- especially with almonds

Addicted to: Ketchup and Soy Sauce. (Not at the same time!)

Favorite drinks: Pepsi, alchohol, OJ, black tea (especially strawberry black tea).

Preferred Alcoholic Beverages: Red wine - Preferably French, Dark beers (Newcastle Brown Ale, Boddingtons Ale, Guinness) Vodka (Grey Goose, Ketel one), Gin (Tanquerray ONLY), Whiskey (Macallan 12, JW Blue)

Favorite mixed drinks: Kamikaze, Bay Breeze, Whiskey or Bourbon on the Rocks, Tanquerray Martini (Slightly dry with lemon twist)

Hated Alcoholic Beverages: Cheap anything! Cheap alcohol sucks!

Favorite Music genre: Rock (Metal, Alternative, Punk, Hard), Classical (Mozart only), Chinese Rock, Chinese Pop, Japanese Rock

Favorite Bands/Singers: Aerosmith, Guns N Roses, Metallica, Pearl Jam, Beyond, Nirvana, Smashing Pumpkins, Bon Jovi, X Japan, Jacky Cheung, Jay Chou

Favorite Songs: Too many to name

Favorite Movie Genres: Drama, Romantic Comedies, Comedy, Thriller/Mystery, Sci-Fi, Action

Favorite Movies: Top Gun, Forrest Gump, Pulp Fiction, Usual Suspects, Jackass: The Movie, Die Hard Trilogy, Indiana Jones Trilogy, Lord of the Rings Trilogy, Terminator 2, Guns and Talks (Corean), Be with you (Japanese)

Favorite Actors: Jack Nicholson, Kevin Spacey, Ewan McGregor, Tom Hanks, Tom Cruise, Brad Pitt, Johnny Depp, Sir Sean Connery, Robin Williams, Bruce Willis, Edward Norton Jr., Sir Anthony Hopkins, David Duchovny, Tony Leung

Favorite Actresses: Helen Hunt, Gwyneth Palthrow, Julia Roberts, Nicole Kidman, Maggie Cheung

Favorite TV Shows: Law and Order (The Original), X-Files, Star Trek - TNG, Friends, Frasier, Seinfeld, Will and Grace

Favorite Characters from TV: Jack McCoy (Law and Order), Captain Jean-Luc Picard (Star Trek - TNG), Chandler (Friends), Fox Mulder and Dana Scully (X-Files), Niles Crane (Frasier), Jack Bauer (24)

Favorite Anime/Cartoon: DBZ, Naruto, Batman, Spiderman, Fullmetal Panic!, School Rumble

Favorite Cartoon Characters: Spiderman, Vegeta (DBZ), Batman, Kakashi (Naruto), Sabastien (Little Mermaid), Raphael (TMNT), Bugs Bunny

Favorite reads: Mainly classics, lots of non-fiction, detective novels, thrillers, biographies, general fiction

Favorite books: A Tree Grows in Brooklyn (Betty Smith), The Deer and the Cauldron (Louis Cha), Hamlet (William Shakespeare), Moby Dick (Herman Melville), Pride and Prejudice (Jane Austen), Harry Potter - Books 3 and 4 (J.K. Rowling), With Old Breed (E. B. Sledge), Fifth Chinese Daughter (Jade Snow Wong), Three Kingdoms (Translated by Robert Moss)




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Literature 101

jiggz Excellent Adventure!

Halfway Mag

Rice Bowl Journals


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