Category: Non-Fiction

On December 19, 2018, acclaimed Oscar and Grammy-winning songwriter, Norman Gimbel died. He was the versatile lyricist of standards that varied in genre from the bossa nova to folk-rock to jazz-tinged movie-theme ballads. The...

Teochew dialect is a general term for a southern Min dialect popularly spoken in the Minnan region of eastern Guangdong, which is located in the south of China. The language is also referred to as Min Chinese or Chaoshan...

I am back in time, camped on the banks of a turquoise loch beside the ruins of a small castle. Never did I expect to have a place like this to myself. But, after spotting it from a remote one-lane road, I left my rental car in a...

I was the devil’s bride in a black, shapeless, tank swimsuit, the standard costume for the Indian Creek swim team. My thin bathing cap just barely covered my horns. I was cheating. The coach said, “Hey Karen, come over here. We...

5. Breathe. I have to remember to breathe. The average human takes 30,000 breaths every day. Most of these we don’t even notice because breathing is controlled by our medulla, part of our autonomic nervous system. I normally...

After spending most of the day trekking through the breathtaking scenery of Milford Sound, we were exhausted, “I can’t wait to get home,” I sighed. The four-hour drive between the inlet — home to seal colonies, penguins,...

Mother, have you ever noticed how in the middle of a cornfield the land stops only to meet the horizon in the far distance? I cannot recall if you ever lived in the sunny countryside as a child, as I did with my grandparents...

1 Preface In the past four decades, China has made remarkable strides in athletic growth. The nation’s world-class athletes have grown into fruition. Recreational sports in particular, and an increasing variety of activities,...

Remember when we chewed fat off hides, stitched with sinew, Neanderthal fashion? Now shimmering animals swivel with uncomfortable charm—flanked by flourish, vehicle for reverie as their heels click across the trill of runway....

Childhood is measured out by sounds and smells and sights, before the dark hour of reason grows. -John Betjeman It all started when my mom said, ever so casually with the makings of lasagna sprawled on the counter behind her, “I...

In the summer of 2000, my brother got married in France, where he had lived since graduating college in 1981. He was marrying into a respectable bourgeois family who could afford to host a large celebration at their country...