Last Impressions of Southwest China for now: The River

Imagine that you are travelling on holiday...why are you where you are? There are lots of reasons to travel somewhere, for beauty, for adventure, for the search for the exotic. Or what about all of those things, in a place that will soon not be there, or not be there in the same way. That's exactly why we chose to cruise the Yangtze river. It was a long time ago, but how to express that feeling that everything you're looking at, won't be there next time? Constant reminders keep this in focus, the building work to shore up large cities and towns, periodic tape measures to show how much of the scenery will be submerged in a few short years. Join me on a virtual review of these few days (3 days and 4 nights, to be exact) as we cruise slowly from Chongqing to Yichang.

Not our boat, but a similar type

Cabin, sweet cabin.

Watching the gorge.

Watching the people watching the gorge.

Measuring the effects of the dam.

More dam adjustments.

I believe this is already underwater.


The dam from the top...tilt head for best view.

The dam from below.

Darkness is just an absence of...?

This is a view out the window about 20 minutes ago, which is to say about 20 minutes before 5 in the afternoon. It could have been taken at midnight. It will stay this dark until well after 7 tomorrow morning. And the days will keep getting shorter and shorter for several more weeks. Something is seriously wrong with this latitude. Anyone looking for a reason to not move to Northern Europe, here you go.

A post about the neighbors

We hardly ever see any of the people who live in our building. Although, for the most part, I'm not sure I'd recognize them if I saw them. But our downstairs neighbor, he is everywhere. We go to the store, we find him shopping. Or we meet him on our way there or back. We leave the building, we pass him on the stairwell. We go to the basement to get our bikes, he's just coming in the other door. The working theory is he takes a lot of walks to escape his wife; however, often we see them together, or rather, we know they are together because, well, we know they are together, but if we didn't know, then we wouldn't know, as he is always several steps behind her, and they appear not to talk. She says hello, but is a bit grim and gruff. He's always very friendly and smiling, and sometimes chats to my boyfriend.

It's has gotten to the point where we take bets on whether we'll see him or not when one of us leaves the house. We talk about him, how he's always there, like he's stalking us, does he wait for us to leave the building and then run out so that we can run into him, and so on, as fun dinner party conversation. But then it hit me. What if they do talk to each other, when indoors away from the public eye? And, what if, when talking, they say the same things about us? Conversation would be as follows (translated from the Danish, of course):

Him: Hey, honey, I'm home...and guess who I saw?

Her: You're kidding. Again? They're everywhere!

Him: I know. Don't they have anything to do except to walk around town?

Her: Did you see them both? Cause I saw just him the other day.

Him: Presumably trying to get away from her. Do you see how she is? She's always talking. And in English...can you imagine?

Her: Yeah. If I were him, I'd take long walks, too!

Him: But no, actually I saw both of them. With shopping bags, of course.

Her: Figures. Do they do anything except shop for food?

And so on. It's making me a bit paranoid. Or does everyone have a neighbor like that, and I've just never noticed the ones where I've lived previously? Any stories to tell to ease my increasingly tense nerves would be greatly appreciated.

*The ceremonial last random China photo (there are some other non-random ones which will be posted shortly). This is a street in Chengdu, where we did not, to my knowledge, run into any neighbors.*

Unusual sex symbols

I'm sure I first saw it on one of your blogs. It's the 'celebrity affair list'. You know, it's where you think of famous people whom you are extremely unlikely to meet in your real life, and with whom, if you do meet them, and if they should happen to want to throw themselves at you, and offer you a night of unbridled passion, you could accept without it counting as an affair, because, well, they're on your list. I think there was supposed to be a set number only, like 5, I can't remember exactly. This came up at a Halloween party with a number of my school colleagues (actually I brought it up after having discussed it with Thor at a different event the night before). This generated list after list of members of the opposite sex, the same sex, dead people revived for the list, people whom we would not want on our list as they are now, but as they had been at some time in their past, and of course, anti-lists.

There were some common threads, of course. The number one person for the ladies (though he was on a couple of anti-lists as well) was George Clooney. Johnny Depp was also popular. There weren't as many men participating, so there were no women on more than one man's list. I seemed to be the only one, man or woman, with Angelina Jolie on my list, for some reason.

But, for all the people who made lists, all the people on our lists were actors. I suppose it makes sense. We think of the people who are marketed and known for their powers of attraction. When pressed, some of us could think of athletes (Ms. Mood, please don't laugh, but Rui Costa...definitely on my list). But that was the extent of our candidate pool. No captains of industry, no scientists, no academics, no intellectuals...I really wanted intellectuals for my list, but couldn't think of any. And no world leaders or other politicians. They may be charismatic, but not in a bedroom kind of way.

But, then I saw this from yesterday's front page of the free morning newspaper Metro x-Press...a picture of departing American secretary of defense Donald Rumsfeld, and the caption 'Goodbye to the older person's sex symbol'. And it makes me wonder. Donald Rumsfeld, sex symbol? Really? I know I have been living away from home for a long time...but really? The accompanying article said something about 'Rums-stud'...really? Politics aside, he's not a bad looking guy, especially for someone in his 70's, but he's not on my list at least. Is he on yours? Or would he be on the list of anyone you know?

And, while we're talking about it, who's on your list? Thor and I both had great difficulties generating lots of names for ours. Thor did instantly name Salma Hayek, which makes me very proud that I have a boyfriend with such good taste in women (I'd probably have to put her on my list too). I instantly named Adrien Brody. After that it was tough. Except for Angelina, of course. So, what about you...who is on your list? Extra bonus points if you can come up with any sexy intellectuals whom I can steal for my list.

Sunday morning meta-meme

What the House of Fortune might look like if it were a real house.
The always scintillating Scholiast has tagged me to answer the following questions about blogs. As I'm studying blogs, does this post count as qualitative research?

Do you like the look and contents of your blog?
I am much more pleased with the look of my blog now that I've removed that blue gunk around the edges...basically, I've decided that I want a clean space with a focus on content. With that in mind, it's o.k. The content itself is variable. When I went through all my posts to label them, I found that there was a time, around May of this year, where I was posting really cool stuff. I'm not on a roll like that now. On the other hand, there were only a handful of posts that made me cringe and consider deleting them...and nothing so cringeworthy that they were actually deleted. I'd say that's pretty good.

Does your family know about your blog?
The main ones, yes. Both my parents read my blog. That guy on the top of the link list (the one making the whole thing unalphabetical) is my brother. Other relatives, I'm not sure if they know about it, but I would imagine not.

Can you tell your friends about your blog? Do you consider it a private thing?
I tell all my friends about my blog. A couple read it. Most others don't, and I would imagine haven't.

Do you read the blogs of those who comment on your blog? Or do you try and discover new blogs?
Yes, and sometimes yes. I have been lax in following any blog which is not on my link list, which I have been too lazy to update, but I do try to visit commenters when I can. I also try and discover new blogs, when I feel I have the time, but that's not always. It occurs to me that I've gone completely off the 'next blog' button. I used to use it compulsively, but I haven't in months.

Did your blog positively affect your mind? Give an example...
Uh...I think it does, but an example? Well, I do like posting something which I feel is interesting and/or funny and/or well-written. And funny comments, or those which express just the right mood, or make just the right point, make my day.

What does the number of visitors to your blog mean? Do you have a traffic counter?
The number of visitors means something, but not so much. I like high numbers, but the number of comments means a lot more...what's the point of having visitors if they hide in a corner and don't add anything? I do have a counter, and I do check it regularly, but it doesn't say too much to me. Though it has confirmed my suspicion that people do not, as a general rule, read blogs at the weekends.

Do you imagine what other bloggers look like?
This is an interesting question. A lot of the people whose blogs I read have their photos on-line, so I don't have to imagine. Otherwise, I suppose I don't. If bloggers want me to know what they look like, they'll show me eventually. I do, however, wonder how other bloggers imagine I would look, based on the photos that are there of me. As in, 'Do I look big in this profile pic?'

Do you think blogging has any real benefits?
To whom? To me, yes, it's great fun. To the work I could be doing otherwise, no. To friends I could be spending time with instead, no. To the world as a whole, not sure. It depends on what action is taken as a result of blogging.

Do you think that the blogosphere is a stand alone world community separated from the real world?
No, I think it's part of the real world set somewhat apart from the rest of the real world by a large virtual Japanese folding screen. People may know each other, and then know each other's blogs. Or they may know each other as bloggers, and then meet. It's not a total distinction.

Do some political blogs scare you? Do you avoid them?
I don't read political blogs, but not because they scare me, or because I'm avoiding them, but because I get my political information from other sources. It could be that I just haven't found the right political blog, though. Any suggestions?

Do you think that criticizing your blog is useful?
Depends who's doing the criticizing. I criticize my blog regularly. Others criticizing my blog is o.k., if it's done in a polite way. Actually, I'd rather have a thought-out criticism than a non-thought-out compliment.

Have you ever thought about what would happen to your blog if you died?
Nope. I suppose that someone would update my blog in the comments, to inform those I only know through blog about my demise. The blog itself would just remain until deleted for whatever reason.

Which blogger has had the greatest impression on you?
Many, many, many, for different reasons. I couldn't possibly list them all. Perhaps the most salient one at the moment, as I'm trying to blog more often than I have been, is the person who mentioned, in his two year anniversary post, but sort of in passing, that he had written, and published, 'a little more than 3500 posts'. That impressed me. And intimidated me. And, to be honest, freaked me the hell out.

Which blogger do you think is the most similar to you?
None of them? Well, a lot of those I read I find connections with in little ways, but if someone was too similar then I wouldn't read them...difference is far more interesting.

Name a song you want to listen to.
The c.d. which is being overplayed in our house at the moment is Nikka Costa's 'can'tneverdidnothin''. She is the current household Rock Mama. I suppose I'd want to listen to the title track. Or most of the others.

Tag some people.
Do I have to? Oh, o.k., then. I'm tagging some bloggers I know in real life. Fourlegged, it's time you posted again. James, I eagerly await your answers. And Ms. Black Scorpio, you know this means you, too.

An open letter to the Danish weather gods

Greetings, with humble apologies for intruding upon the time of your holy holinesses: I am but a mere mortal, and a stranger to your abode, and yet I feel I must speak.

Salutations shall be yours for that glorious month of July of which I have heard so much. Though I passed that wonderous time in parts far away, and though your brethren Portuguese weather gods are also mighty and good, the tales of your particular Summer beneficence are reknowned and will live on in the hearts of your people. Of August also have legends already begun.

Praise be for the week of warm rain which greeted my homecoming, proof both of your greatness, and of the folly of my long absence from your realm. Blessed were the months of September and October, for their benign magnificence, where you quashed the three conjoined demons, cold, rain, and dark to give your loyal populace respite from the harsh times which have always been a part of the heavenly existence which you have created.

The holy month of November is now upon us, and it is here that protestations must be given to your eminences. You are great, you are good, and your blessings are eternal. Salutations are offered for the manner in which you change the seasons slowly, shortening each day, and refreshing each night. Reverence is given to your cyclical nature.

Yet, I fear the time for snow should not yet have arisen. Lamentations are given, together with sacrificial leverpostej, sild, and snaps, in order that the snow shall be no more during this blessed November month. I bow at the feet of your majesties, and tremble, afraid that this, my deepest desire shall be as a threat in Thine eyes. Let the white flaky coldness lift from the land, and let the people rejoice by your grace.