#135
During these most unusual of times, there has - despite the uncertainties - been many silver linings.
In my Summer vacation is finally here! post (June 20, 2019) and Summer vacation is almost over!, (July 25, 2019), I referenced and reflected upon the joys of the “having the time to …” list (see below).
(Jalan Kiara, the main road near my apartment).
This summer has, to say the least, been very different:
Rather than traveling and galavanting around visiting family and friends, I have been based here in KL.
Rather than spending most mornings responding to emails/keeping in touch with the office remotely for 60-90 minutes each morning, I have worked on-campus for 19 of the 30 days of my vacation...
I have, nevertheless, appreciated:
Having the time to be …
Having the time to decompress, relax, and rejuvenate …
Having the time to do nothing, do anything, do everything …
Having the time to be inspired …
Having the time to be creative …
Having the time to take care of the little things …
Having the time to be ambitious ..
Having the time to create memories …
Some things which have interested, intrigued or inspired me over the summer break and have been part of my “having the time to ...” include:
ARTICLES READ:
Barbara Demick’s July 2020 A Monk’s Life in Turmoil in Tibet in The New Yorker.
Rory Carroll’s May 2020 article, Irish support for Native American Covid-19 relief highlights historic bond in The Guardian
Dana Hooshmand’s July 2020 How Similar Are They? in Discover Discomfort
E. Alex Jung’s April 2020 article From Saigon to the Suburbs, A Vietnamese-American’s Struggle to Assimilate in The New York Times
Shira Telushkin’s May 2020 The Secret Language of Cairo’s Goldsmiths in Atlas Obscura
Christopher Wilton-Steer June 2020 Travel Photographer Documents Dazzling Ceilings of Uzbekistan’s Palaces and Mosques [Interview] in My Modern Met
BOOKS READ:
Paul Anthony Jones’ 2020 The Cabinet of Calm: Soothing Words for Troubled Times
Ibram X. Kendi’s 2019 How to be an Antiracist
Judith Meyer’s 2018 Arabic Script Hacking
Don Miguel Ruiz’s 1997 The Four Agreements
Elif Shafak’s 2009 The Forty Rules of Love
FILMS, SERIES & VIDEOS WATCHED:
Series:Tango [تانغو] and The Writer [الكاتب] (both in Lebanese Arabic) and The Stranger (A British series)
Films Caramel [سكر بنات ] and West Beirut [ بيروت الغربية] (both in Lebanese Arabic)
Max Joseph’s 2019 40 minute video entitled, Bookstores: How to Read More Books in the Golden Age of Content
LEARNING:
The Principals’ Training Center’s (PTC) Pearls of Wisdom webinar series (June 22 - July 10, 2020), See last week’s blogpost, Pearls of Wisdom, for an overview.
Futurelearn courses: Improve Your Intercultural Competence and Introduction to Intercultural Studies: Crossing Borders and I am planning to start Many Faces: Understanding the Complexities of Chinese Culture, Empire: the Controversies of British Imperialism and Start Writing Fiction in the near future.
MUSIC:
PODCASTS:
Michael Barbaro (host) The Life and Legacy of John Lewis in The New York Times
CNN’s Silence is not an option presented by Don Lemon. Episodes: (i) Finding Common Ground, (ii) Defining What Matters, (iii) Monumental Conversations, (iv) Schooling the System, (v) Beyond Mammy: Misrepresentation in Film, (vi) Why Not Being Not Racist is Not Enough, and (vii) There is No Going Back From This Moment
The New Yorker Radio Hour Who Gets to Be Italian? in The New Yorker
Simon Sinek’s new podcast series A Bit of Optimism. A particularly interesting episode was entitled Gratitude with Carolyn Adams
Over this most unusual of summer breaks, what have been the silver linings for you?
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