Vanity or Catharsis

Blogs have always seemed to me a sort of vanity project. Conceit and some sort of home-made fame? Then again, so many great men, charitable men, selfless men have, I found, wrote daily journals. Some describe it as a purging and others as a useful tool for self-criticism. And having said that - so it is a self-important habit. And here I am telling you what I do and say and suppose.

Advice: You have never noticed any brake problems or squealing sounds and suddenly one of your tires is screams horrifying metallic scraping sounds. Is it winter? Does your city use gravel on the roads? There is a good possibility a piece of that gravel got caught inside your disc brakes. Try to drive in reverse. Pump the brakes. If possible try and pressure wash right inside that housing.

Lost in translation. I was explaining to the new Chinese immigrant the purpose of a 'signature' and whether or not she could invent a new 'English Signature' rather than writing her name in proper Chinese characters. Somewhere between A and  诶 she decided this was the freedom to reinvent her name. That of her 'fire elements'. So in Chinese characters she draws triple fire characters as her 'new last name' but only appearing in signature form. The agreement was that her signature name was best translated (as the characters appear) as 'Sparkles'. If you see what I mean?

Duly note: Despite the story you heard about a Chinese restaurant caught serving cat meat instead of chicken - Chinese do not eat cats. Some eat dog meat. This is, in recent history, really a Korean dish but many Chinese may go out for Korean food. Dog. A type of cattle dog. Chinese and Koreans would be entirely horrified to eat a Pekingese, Shih Tzu or Terrier. These are not 'meat' dogs. The kind of dog they eat is a kind of 'yellow mongrel' not suitable for pets. They are actually called 'shit dogs' known for eating feces. Which, it seems to me, makes them the least appealing dog to breed for meat.

If you are interested in a good dog meat restaurant (and a legal one) I recommend Changchun China and aim for restaurants around the train station. dog meat, mule meat and if you get bold you can find the back-alley barbecues (zero regulation) where you can find roasted chicken fetus eggs, cow intestine and a dozen other mystery meats I dare not guess.

Vain Catharsis mmm