I hear a lot of crazy things about China, some true, some not, but one thing many folks get wrong is this idea that the young people are repressed and boring, and not allowed to express themselves. Well, it’s the truth that you can’t criticize the government all that much, or talk about the military, Taiwan, and other hot-button issues (none of which are listed on a bulletin board, but are simply avoided as a matter of common sense—or, as the Chinese say, “self-censorship”) but you can still be yourself. Wildly so. 
Not that my 30 year old “uncle”, Zhaofei, is a wild child—but I suspect he is trying to kick start a career as a model. Fei-Fei might have a chance, I think.
Here’s a cool artistic endeavor: Sean Stiegemeier went over to Iceland and made a gorgeous stop-motion movie about the volcanic eruption. I found this via Spiral Unwinding, a great little blog by the artist, Sarah Frary, who is making her home now is Wyoming, working as Shreve Stockton’s assistant (another great blogger, who wrote the book, THE DAILY COYOTE).
Iceland, Eyjafjallajökull – May 1st and 2nd, 2010 from Sean Stiegemeier on Vimeo.
One last blog I enjoy (and there are many) is The Pioneer Woman by Ree Drummond, who published a great cookbook filled with recipes I will probably never make because the butter alone might kill me—but I love looking at her pictures, and it’s a “warm” book (and website), if you know what I mean. This, though? I WILL be making this.
Last, but not least…A BABY COW. This little one is not part of my neighbor’s herd—cows that I love, and find adorable and sweet and that make me want to become a vegetarian—but this punk and his family are still very friendly, and live just down the road.
