city angst

shanghai post-world expo is by no means living up to its slogan of "better city, better life." the price of everything has gone up - from property to garlic. meanwhile, air quality has gone down as factories are churning at top speed again, and traffic remains more or less (feels like more) atrocious.

the rise in property value and the onslaught of developers' greed is the worst. news that have reached my ears in the past 48 hours:

- several friends have been informed by their landlords that their monthly rent is being hiked up 1,000 rmb ($150 USD) per month, not open to negotiation.

- mesa/manifesto, a fixture in shanghai's dining and nightlife scene, is being evicted after 7 years in their location. never mind that they still have two more years on their lease. the landlord has sold the building and doesn't want anyone to occupy it. they have until the end of march to relocate.

- compassion for migrant children, a non-profit doing amazing work in the lives of migrant children and their families, has also been unceremoniously given walking papers by their landlord. informed last week that they would need to move their headquarters out of their beijing office building in a month's time, that time frame was adjusted to the end of this month, as they were notified yesterday. yeah, as in 2 days. happy new year to you, too, landlord.

- our shanghai arts community studio may be losing its home soon as well. rumors have been confirmed that 696 wei hai road, a popular enclave of artist studios and small galleries recently featured on artinfo, has been sold to developers and residents will be asked to evacuate in three months' time. the plan is to construct another glitzy bar-and-restaurant-area, catered to foreign tourists and those with deep pockets. apparently, we don't have enough of these entertaining districts in shanghai.

this one hits home and is hard to swallow, especially after the success of the urbanity project launch and the beautiful renovations to our space. not to mention we've befriended many of the artists in the compound, several of whom have been there for years. as property prices skyrocket and these artists are being chased out of their studios either by developers or by astronomically high rent, artists are moving to the outskirts of the city or suburbs, looking for places to create their work.

some of the artists who live and work at 696 wei hai gathered last night for a "town hall" type meeting, with plans in the works. we will not go quietly.....

oh, china. you're losing your soul. and robbing us of ours.


cups of coffee: 2 + 2 green tea

mood: c-c-cold

rules for living

inspired by this blog post based on robert's rules of order, i present my own 'rules of living,' gathered from 32 years on this planet and in no particular order:

1. always carry kleenex, mints and dental floss in your purse.
2. write thank-you notes. actual thank-you notes, not just e-cards.
3. take ten minutes a day to turn up the music and dance.
4. eat to nourish your body and spirit. don't scrimp for the sake of efficiency, but take the time to savor the process - from preparation to actual eating. don't worry about counting calories or proper intake from the food pyramid - eat good, delicious, healthy food for the well-being of your entire self.
5. cook to nourish others. don't just feed people - nourish them.
6. moisturize, moisturize, moisturize.
7. be in awe at least once a day. be awashed by childlike wonder, like the first time you saw a rainbow after a rainstorm or came in contact with a puppy. let yourself be amazed by something, and dwell in that moment a little longer than you think necessary.
8. remember people's names when you meet them. or at least try really hard.
9. say "i love you" to the people you love. it's good for them to hear it, it's good for you to say it.
10. write things down when you think of it. you might forget it ten minutes later.

there are plenty more, but i think that's a good list for now.
as i round the corner into my second decade as an adult post-collegiate life, i'm sure there will be plenty more rules of living to be discovered...

cups of coffee: 2

mood: like sands in the hourglass....

BAM!

a makeshift advent wreath: 5 tea lights, one plate and one muffin wrapper

while dishing the dirt about boys, love, and everything in between with the girls a few nights ago, i made the observation that life is, in fact, a series of waiting: "it's like waiting, waiting, waiting, then BAM!...then waiting, waiting, waiting, then BAM!"

to which my friend chelsea responded, "i can't wait for the next BAM!"

how appropriate to think of the BAM! that christmas celebrates - the ultimate BAM, if you will, of a people longing and looking for their savior. strip away the trappings that now adorn christmas: the giving, the warm fuzzies, even the "peace on earth, goodwill to men." strip away all the sugar-coated gatherings and the tinsel-and-glitter greetings. at the heart is this simple, radical event: God came to earth and enfleshed Himself among mortal men. thousands of years of bated breath and unanswered prophecies fulfilled in one moment - the impossible became very much a reality.

so if in fact, this is true - if God was not distant but instead very near and intimate, if God is not merely a empathic being but One who possesses complete understanding and even acts in substitutionary love - this changes everything. if God truly came and dwelt among us, then He is no longer a hypothesis - He was tangible.

this holiday is not just about celebrating a birth, ooohing and ahhing over some chubby-legged cherub bearing some incandescent, peaceful visage. it's about an incarnation. it's about this mind-boggling concept of God becoming man. and the further mind-stretching proclamation of His eventual return. if that is indeed what we celebrate, then that truth should rattle us to our very core. it changes everything.

BAM! and happy christmas.

cups of coffee: 2

mood:  joy!

i heart glee

LOVIN' glee's rendition of "hey, soul sister". something about an all-boys acappella group....*sigh*.


cups of coffee: working on 1

mood: good morning!

extra-extra-ordinary

the other night, i was walking to the supermarket when i happened upon two street sweepers in a moment of reverie. they were sitting on the curb of a dimly-lit street, in the shadow that straddled two staggered lampposts, while their sweeping carts were parked precisely, one behind the other, with the broom handles jaunting out like the masts on a ship. between them sat a small transistor radio, and the two middle-aged men, sitting at arm's length apart, were quiet except for the strains of chinese opera wailing from the shared radio. motionless, the men were turned towards each other but their gazes were directed upward, as if watching the performance unfold on some invisible stage suspended above the other's head. they didn't notice me passing by and pausing briefly to take in their scene; it was as if their entire beings were absorbed in that moment, in the music, in the story being played out by the characters on the radio.

in many ways, it was a mundane moment: two workers taking a break, two individuals sitting on a street where hundreds pass on any given day. yet there was also something so lovely, so poignant - sublime, even - about this moment, as if behind this very ordinary scene was something more wondrous being played out. it was as if those two men were connecting, through the music, with each other in a way beyond routine interaction, and connecting with the world, with their souls, with some greater sense of the spiritual, in a way that was transcendental. it was as if their gazes in the air caught a glimpse of eternity. 

this morning, some friends and i were dissecting a sermon we just listened to during church. part of the discussion revolved around this idea of the extraordinary vs. ordinary. we who are christians often enter the church expecting so much more than what reality offers. we expect christians to be better people, and when the foibles and flaws of our brothers and sisters hit us, they often hit us hard and we are left disappointed. we personally want to be special and when confronted with our own ordinariness, we respond with denial, discouragement or defiance. our hearts long for so much more.

i definitely struggle with this, to the point where i repel from anything that reeks of 'ordinary', almost by reflex. everything must be extraordinary: life is too short for the mundane. it really becomes an idolatry and idealization of a life less ordinary.

the reality of course is not an "either....or" situation. it is not valuing one over the other, but somehow seeing the integration and validity of both. we should expect and long for the extraordinary; after all, we were created to experience and be so much more. the fallenness of this world and of ourselves will result in frustration, but the frustration should fuel the flames of our hope and longing for the world redeemed with greater fervor. and if there exists a God who can part the seas and raise the dead, then those of us who follow Him and profess faith should expect nothing less than miracles and wonders. a stance of awe and eager anticipation should not be an anomaly; it should be the norm.

on the other hand, nothing is truly mundane. in every gesture, every moment, even in every daily chore, there lies the potential for an act of worship, for the sacred to pervade. work has purpose, relationships are rich, the patterns of our life are significant. nothing is without meaning. beauty is everywhere.

a life both extraordinary and ordinary. reveling in the ideal as well as the seemingly plain.

ah, the paradoxes of the life redeemed. i love it.


cups of coffee:  2

mood: chill

tweet tweet

for those of you who tweet, i've set up a personal twitter account:

http://twitter.com/cosmosnchaos

tweet away!


cups of coffee: 3

mood: brrrrr.....winter is upon us

the one with the lists

it's that time of year again, as one calendar year draws to a close and another begins, to reflect on highlights and predict upcoming trends and hits. from NPR music's 50 favorite albums from 2010 to the atlantic's 30 most dynamic cities in the world, everyone is compiling lists. i'm inspired to do no different.

so here we go, personal highlights of 2010, month-by-month:

january:
- party-hopping new year's eve with friends (and friends of friends). no better way to ring in the new year than cruising in a hired van with a box of krispy kreme donuts and a bottle of champagne.
- birth of the urbanity project!

february:
- one last fantastic rooftop party at the crosbys to ring in the chinese new year

march:
- new york! IAM conference! 'nuff said.
- hanneke comes to town again. we take kunming by storm and hang out with punk bluegrass musicians from quebec.

april:
- attended training in reaching out to ladies who work in the red light (er--pink lights, here) salons. going out and talking with some of the women, overcoming my own fears and prejudices in actually entering the salons.

may:
- incredibly successful exhibit opening for artist/duolun museum director chen jiu and artist jackson li. relief - whew!

june:
- delightful time with friends visiting from NYC
- soft launch of the urbanity project! amazed that it's all happening...
- bittersweet farewell bash for the crosbys. feeling like it's the end of an era.....

july:
- hanging out with abigail washburn and friends. karaoke until dawn.
- wonderful two-week visit to america. my brother gets hitched! and i get a lovely sister-in-law.

august:
- la boheme at the shanghai grand theater. my first live opera experience! *love*

september:
- whirlwind - shanghai art fair, solo exhibition by mako fujimura.
- trip to nanjing with mako and entourage. amazing conversations about art, faith and reconciliation.

october:
- fantastic week-long holiday in toronto. discover i have a new city-crush.
- ceramic art and folk music weekend in jingdezhen. dancing in a public square till the wee hours of the night!
- halloween!

november:
- hosting a delightful friend of a friend, who teaches me how to make indian food!
- week of feasting: 2 thanksgiving dinners, fun dinner with friends, and a pie-making-tree-trimming evening. time to detox.
- the urbanity project launch!

which brings us to december:
- so far off to a good start. laughter-filled night celebrating a friend's birthday at an italian restaurant and then hitting up a "festivus" party afterwards.
- looking forward to two big holiday charity events at the gallery and a christmas bash being thrown by the caribbean association in shanghai.
- christmas itself. :) o come, o come, emmanuel!

as i look at the blank pages of my 2011 muji planner (the only planner worth getting, in my book), i wonder what events, what people, what changes will fill those empty squares and lines. clean pages to be etched by future memories, words that represent moments and occasions both common and extraordinary.

what a great adventure we live. :)


cups of coffee: 2

mood: reflective-anticipatory