Essays on becoming by Chris Barclay
In last week’s post, I questioned the wisdom of buying into the “Baby Music” industry, when there is so much wonderful to choose from. So after some thorough consideration of music that we could all enjoy together, here’s baby’s first Top 50 pop playlist:
Continue ReadingWhile we are busily preparing for the birth of our daughter, I’ve been steadily creating playlists for her first musical experience. This has not been easy. Assembling the crib, setting up the nursery, even choosing her name has been relatively straightforward. But the first music our baby will hear has required much deliberation. The Mozart […]
Continue ReadingThis past week I was back in my old haunts around China and having been away for only a few months, I was still amazed at what had changed. It’s harder and harder to find a quiet back street where one can enjoy a few beers at a family restaurant. Every time I go back, […]
Continue Reading“Freedom is not something that anybody can be given. Freedom is something that people take. And people are as free as they want to be.” – James Baldwin This week’s online video from the National Organization for Marriage (NOM) as part of their crusade against gay marriage, was a perfect storm of bigotry, hypocracy and religious […]
Continue ReadingAs an American with a type-A personality that can border on crusading, I have sometimes found living in Asia frustrating. 18 years in China, with its stultifying bureaucracy and a cultural aversion to decision making, taught me a lot about the power of persistence, as opposed to being forceful. In Northern Thailand, where everything seems […]
Continue ReadingI am a huge fan of HBO’s The Wire, and like The Sopranos before it, I was sad to see it end. While The Sopranos reminded me of a Greek tragedy, The Wire unfolded like a sprawling Dickens novel set in present day Baltimore, portraying its broken social, political and economic institutions with artful precision […]
Continue ReadingIn recent weeks, I’ve noticed unprecedented public outrage directed at insurer AIG. I get that people are angry about how a group of morally bankrupt executives are rewarding themselves at taxpayer expense after selling the world economy down the river. AIG was just one participant in this race to the bottom, but I think there […]
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