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When I'm not here, you may find me wandering the pages below. (If I'm a regular visitor to your site and I've left your link off or mislinked to you, please let me know! And likewise, if you've blogrolled me, please check that my link is updated: thisroamanticlife.blogspot.com. The extra (a) makes all the difference!)

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For posts on frequently referenced topics, click the buttons to the right.

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Body: in sickness and in health

I won't lie; this body and I have had our issues with each other for many years. Body image -- sure. Physical and mental overextension -- comes with being a Type A kind of girl. I still struggle with these things, so they show up from time to time in my writing.

More recently, illness, pure but not simple, has added itself to the mix in a multi-system sort of way. And the challenges in figuring out exactly what's gone wrong are many. As problems have revealed themselves in the last few years, beginning with reactive hypoglycemia in late 2008, I've documented them here, partly to gain a little clarity on managing complex conditions but mostly to give voice to vulnerabilities I feel but don't normally share with anyone face to face. Better out than in, they say, right? (Oh yes, humor is one way I deal.)

The links below cover the different angles I've examined (and from which I've been examined) within that experience.

Travel: neither here nor there

When the person you're married to lives two time zones away, you log a fair number of frequent flier miles. And if you blog about commuter relationships, you log quite a few posts en route too.

Since we're no longer in separate places, I blog less often from airports. But we do travel -- together now! -- which is much more fun to write about. So in addition to thoughts on our years of commuting, the links below cover the places we've been as a pair and, in some cases, the adventures that have happened on the way.

Writing: the long and short of it

Why do I do it? Good question. Maybe it's not so much that I like to write but that I have to write, even when the words refuse to stick to the page. Believe me, I've tried doing other things like majoring in biochemistry (freshman fall, many semesters ago). Within a year, I'd switched to English with a concentration in creative writing and wasn't looking back.

After graduating, I taught English for a few years and then worked as an editor, which I still do freelance. In 2007, I applied and got into an MFA program at a place I like to call Little U. on the Prairie. I finished my degree in 2011 and have been balancing tutoring and writing on my own ever since.

The following links cover the writing I've done about writing: process, content, obstacles, you name it. It's not always pretty. But some part of me loves it, even when it's hard. And this is the result.

Heart: family and friends

I'd have a hard time explaining who I am without being able to talk about the family I grew up in as well as the people I've met beyond its bounds. But even with such context, it's not easy! In the simplest terms, I'm a first-generation Asian-American who has spent most of this life caught between cultures. That, of course, doesn't even begin to describe what I mean to, but there's my first stab at the heart of it all.

That's what this group of posts is reserved for -- heart. The essential parts of my life whose influences I carry with me, for better or worse. The links below cover what I've written as I've learned how these forces work within me, for me, against me, in spite of me. They anchor me even as they change me, and they keep life interesting.

Recommended reading

What do I do when there's too much on my mind and my words won't stick to the page? I escape into someone else's thoughts. Below is a collection of books and articles that have been sources of information, inspiration, and occasional insight for my own work.

Sunday, June 7, 2009

Déjà blues

What a crazy week.

I'm in Boston, getting in fifteen minutes of decompression time at a Starbucks in a hotel I just checked out of. I arrived Tuesday evening, spent the next three days celebrating my sister's college graduation (more on that when I have time to write at greater length), and then had a day with D before he had to leave for Seattle again. Now, I'm officially on my own once more in the city where I spent my college years.

D visited infrequently during that time since airline tickets were especially difficult to pay for on a student budget -- we worked various jobs to make the cash for a visit every few months -- and I had a jarring moment of involuntary recall when I put him on the train to the airport just now. Can't help feeling some of the same sadness that used to haunt me after his departures so many years ago.

I know I'm going to see him again in a week, so this goodbye was much, much easier. I'm also about to meet up with some old college friends I haven't spent time with since graduation -- and move in with them while I'm doing my thesis research -- so I'll be perked up shortly. Amazing, though, how history catches up with you even when you think you've laid the not so great memories to rest.

One thing D and I never did get to do while we were in school was eat lobster. To commemorate our return to Boston, we decided to do just that last night. I'll leave you with a picture of the fantastic one-pounder I got to enjoy. I'm proud to say I got all the meat out of the shell.


More as soon as I find another free internet connection ...
Posted by at
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2 comments:

Good Enough Woman said...

The lobster looks fantastic! Hope you are enjoying Boston, and glad it won't be too long before you see D.

June 8, 2009 at 12:34 AM
This Ro(a)mantic Life said...

It was a delicious lobster indeed, GEW. I'm doing all right here in Boston -- hoping I'll be able to fit in all the field site visits I need to make before I leave!

June 9, 2009 at 9:49 AM

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Sunday, June 7, 2009

Déjà blues

What a crazy week.

I'm in Boston, getting in fifteen minutes of decompression time at a Starbucks in a hotel I just checked out of. I arrived Tuesday evening, spent the next three days celebrating my sister's college graduation (more on that when I have time to write at greater length), and then had a day with D before he had to leave for Seattle again. Now, I'm officially on my own once more in the city where I spent my college years.

D visited infrequently during that time since airline tickets were especially difficult to pay for on a student budget -- we worked various jobs to make the cash for a visit every few months -- and I had a jarring moment of involuntary recall when I put him on the train to the airport just now. Can't help feeling some of the same sadness that used to haunt me after his departures so many years ago.

I know I'm going to see him again in a week, so this goodbye was much, much easier. I'm also about to meet up with some old college friends I haven't spent time with since graduation -- and move in with them while I'm doing my thesis research -- so I'll be perked up shortly. Amazing, though, how history catches up with you even when you think you've laid the not so great memories to rest.

One thing D and I never did get to do while we were in school was eat lobster. To commemorate our return to Boston, we decided to do just that last night. I'll leave you with a picture of the fantastic one-pounder I got to enjoy. I'm proud to say I got all the meat out of the shell.


More as soon as I find another free internet connection ...
Posted by This Ro(a)mantic Life at 1:43 PM
Labels: , ,

2 comments:

Good Enough Woman said...

The lobster looks fantastic! Hope you are enjoying Boston, and glad it won't be too long before you see D.

June 8, 2009 at 12:34 AM
This Ro(a)mantic Life said...

It was a delicious lobster indeed, GEW. I'm doing all right here in Boston -- hoping I'll be able to fit in all the field site visits I need to make before I leave!

June 9, 2009 at 9:49 AM

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