Part of something I’m doing for work is reading books from loads of other publishers and reviewing them. I picked Bloodletting & Miraculous Cures by Vincent Lam because he wrote an introduction for another book the company I work for published, and I corresponded with him very briefly over email a number of months ago.
Yes, I’m a bit of a star-struck loser that way.
I’m glad I read it, in any case. I’m a recent convert to short story writing and perhaps this would be a gentle introduction to short stories for someone who’s never been into the format. It’s a great collection of inter-connected stories, stories of young adults looking to get into medical school through to their lives mid-career.
It was easy to relate to Ming, Fitz, Chen and Sri’s trials and tribulations. I’m not sure if it’s being part of the Chinese diaspora and its obsession with academic achievement that I felt I understood the most! I recommended the book to my rellies who’re in the medical profession (of which there are a fair few — I’m the under-achiever of the family), and my cousin in Canada told me that she also really enjoyed it and it’s been adapted into a teevee series — how cool!
Distinctly underwhelmed by all this chatter about the iPad. I reckon I’ll be carrying something ultra-portable like a smartphone and/or a work machine like a laptop. I don’t think a touchscreen keypad will ever be as good as a physical keyboard if you’re hoping to, you know, get some work done.
But if it’s purely for leisure and you don’t mind paying more for the brand, sure, why not? What they’re really launching is the iBooks store anyway — that’s the most important part of yesterday’s announcements.
How many people have already made Trigger Happy TV jokes?
Neil and I had secular wedding. It’s infuriating that some people don’t seem to understand that evolution can be social as well, and marriage is no longer a religious institution.
Why can’t any couple in a stable relationship choose to get married, same-sex or not?
While I’m complaining about it, using the term ‘partner’ is pretty ‘ugh’. If you’re married, you’re married. Calling your spouse / boyfriend / girlfriend your ‘partner’ makes them sound like someone you don’t have any deep feelings for.
A wee story about a wee girl who no one loves.
The production design of this is brilliant. It’s only a little book and the beauty of it is more how it’s presented, so this is a short entry.
It’s lovely. But a bit sad.
I thought there was going to be a Battle of the Armchair Criminal Profilers in the criminal psychology course I’m attending this term. The lecturer is aware that I’m a longtime fan of true crime (I’ve been reading about serial killers since 1983) and in the lecture last night, he mentioned a couple of names. Generally, it went like this:
“Anyone besides Andrea know who this is? No? Well, [brief description]… ”
Oh yeah. FTW!
(There’s an interview with Arthur Shawcross on on-demand teevee that I’m refusing to watch — it’s just ghoulish.)
Oh! Oh! And the most interesting person in history outlined in the lecture? Alphonse Bertillon, the French criminologist. Apparently he was the first person to solve a murder using fingerprint identification even though he didn’t like that method!
Holy fuck the casino development on Sentosa looks tacky (check out the uncles perusing the rules and regulations). Casino developments generally look tacky, so I’m not singling them out for criticism or anything. Via Twitter.
(Neil said this, I’m paraphrasing.)
If my neck exercises are anything to go by (I suffer non-debilitating but highly annoying pain and was ‘prescribed’ a book of exercises by the doctor I consulted), porn stars should have really strong neck muscles and never suffer from a sore neck or shoulders.