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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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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.

Tuesday, September 9, 2008

What is this "work-life balance" you speak of?

I know, I know, I've been a little quiet over here. Chalk it up to trying to figure out how to juggle being a teacher and student at the same time. Forget being a plain old citizen of the human race ...

Things sort of picked up rather rapidly after Labor Day, and D came to visit this past weekend. Less than optimal combination. But such is life -- D and I have learned just to work around my work. Sometimes I let things slide a little on my end, as I did this time, or we just treat the days together as if they're not going to run out any time soon (and I do what I have to do while he hangs out). That takes the pressure off most of the time. We learned last year that trying to use up every waking minute doing special things isn't realistic and that having a relaxed, "normal" weekend together is rejuvenating in itself.

Okay, so I do have some work-life balance.

But in terms of getting my own work done vs. getting work done for teaching, the teaching is winning out way more often. It's paying off in the classroom -- discussions and activities have gone really well -- but my writing has been sorely neglected. And my first workshop piece is due in a little over a week ...

D and I took Saturday afternoon to take a little road trip to a local German heritage historic site, which was fun. We ate ourselves silly on Wienerschnitzel and looked at local arts and crafts. One of our stops was at the Wine, Cheese and Jelly Haus (yep, that's what was over the door), where you could find everything you needed for a picnic, including baskets. We restrained ourselves and only picked up a summer sausage and some strawberry-rhubarb jam (D's favorite).

We also stopped at a historic church that had been converted into a studio and gallery, and we got to meet the primary artist who works there. Our biggest find, however, was at another gallery. We came across some whimsical prints by an artist named Laura Lee Junge, whose style (per art critics) can be described as "surrealistic expressionism." There's definitely some Dali in there, but it's softer, I think. In any case, D and I both fell in love with the same painting, something that has never happened before since we tend to have different tastes. We took it as a sign -- now the piece is at my place, waiting to be framed. I believe we have the last one ever printed; it's marked 500/500. You like?


Well, I had hoped to post a longer update, but I'm getting pointed looks from Hamlet. More soon, I promise, as long as I don't lose more sleep -- I'm still waking up way before I'm supposed to, and I wouldn't be surprised if nightmares about Kenneth Branagh gone mad were to visit me tonight!
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Tuesday, September 9, 2008

What is this "work-life balance" you speak of?

I know, I know, I've been a little quiet over here. Chalk it up to trying to figure out how to juggle being a teacher and student at the same time. Forget being a plain old citizen of the human race ...

Things sort of picked up rather rapidly after Labor Day, and D came to visit this past weekend. Less than optimal combination. But such is life -- D and I have learned just to work around my work. Sometimes I let things slide a little on my end, as I did this time, or we just treat the days together as if they're not going to run out any time soon (and I do what I have to do while he hangs out). That takes the pressure off most of the time. We learned last year that trying to use up every waking minute doing special things isn't realistic and that having a relaxed, "normal" weekend together is rejuvenating in itself.

Okay, so I do have some work-life balance.

But in terms of getting my own work done vs. getting work done for teaching, the teaching is winning out way more often. It's paying off in the classroom -- discussions and activities have gone really well -- but my writing has been sorely neglected. And my first workshop piece is due in a little over a week ...

D and I took Saturday afternoon to take a little road trip to a local German heritage historic site, which was fun. We ate ourselves silly on Wienerschnitzel and looked at local arts and crafts. One of our stops was at the Wine, Cheese and Jelly Haus (yep, that's what was over the door), where you could find everything you needed for a picnic, including baskets. We restrained ourselves and only picked up a summer sausage and some strawberry-rhubarb jam (D's favorite).

We also stopped at a historic church that had been converted into a studio and gallery, and we got to meet the primary artist who works there. Our biggest find, however, was at another gallery. We came across some whimsical prints by an artist named Laura Lee Junge, whose style (per art critics) can be described as "surrealistic expressionism." There's definitely some Dali in there, but it's softer, I think. In any case, D and I both fell in love with the same painting, something that has never happened before since we tend to have different tastes. We took it as a sign -- now the piece is at my place, waiting to be framed. I believe we have the last one ever printed; it's marked 500/500. You like?


Well, I had hoped to post a longer update, but I'm getting pointed looks from Hamlet. More soon, I promise, as long as I don't lose more sleep -- I'm still waking up way before I'm supposed to, and I wouldn't be surprised if nightmares about Kenneth Branagh gone mad were to visit me tonight!
Posted by This Ro(a)mantic Life at 11:13 PM
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