My idea for this blog going forward is to feature the writing of Chinese writers working in English. The idea occurred to me when I taught a creative writing class at Sanya College. The students impressed me, so I would like to encourage them to continue. So going forward The Absurb Circle will become a lit mag for them… And I will probably publish articles on writing as well as a few things of my own… As examples only, of course!
Happy New Year From China
January 23rd, 2012 by Jeremy TrylchWow 2012! This year seems to hold a lot of promise. The beginning of a new era for humanity, which also indicates the end of an era for humanity, according to the Mayans, the year of the dragon for China, a year of prosperity and good fortune, and for me personally a year of accomplishing life goals. We moved into our apartment in Sanya… Pictures at some point, I will publish my first novel online, and I will launch a full on writing career one way or another…
I have discovered a love/hate relationship with Chinese new year. I hate it because there is so much going on, the kid is off from school, the city in which I live becomes clogged with mainlanders, and I often cannot find the time to write. This year that distressed me because my new year resolution was to write everyday and I blew it for three days! I tried getting up super early to write, but no matter how early I got up, Hunter got up too. I tried staying up late to write, but no matter how much coffee I drank I ended up face down in the notebook! But now, here comes another new year like a second chase at making the resolution work!
Postcards – Creative Writing Assignment
October 10th, 2011 by Jeremy TrylchIn my creative writing course, I asked my students to think about setting by writing a postcard. A few of them impressed me, so I thought I’d share.
The last one is mine… and it’s far from the best one! E.T. speaks French?! Who knew? I’m looking forward to more fun, and creative assignments with this class!
Reading Journal Example for my Students
September 14th, 2011 by Jeremy TrylchA Republican wins a New York House Seat!
This news shook me. How could this happen? Did Yahoo! News get this wrong? Nope, it came from Reuters. Amazing!
http://news.yahoo.com/republican-wins-york-democratic-stronghold-044027938.html
The voting district includes parts of Brooklyn and Queens? I’ve been to this area before. It’s a democratic stronghold. I remember being in Southampton when W. won his first election before I moved to Washington, and the people in this area wanted to riot over dangling chads and tattoo the word “Disinfranchized” on their foreheads. A dark cloud settled over New York as Bush took office.
It’s not even four years yet since their “Golden Boy” Obama took office. The article says Republican Turner, the winner, called the victory a “repudiation” of Obama. Meaning that the people of New York refuse to be associated with the President they elected. Considering the fact, according to Reuters, that this district has voted democratic in every election since the 1920′s, that’s a major slap in the face.
One note about the article itself and the difficulties of being a journalist in the high-speed, high-demand internet age. Edith Honan, the writer, missed spelled a simple word–”loud” as “laud.” Opps! The mistake stuck out all the more because it was “laud and clear.” I’m sure Edith and Reuters are embarrassed, being professionals, but what can they do? The mistake is out there.
Jeremy, ###, classes 0901 – 04
Journalism Reading Course Syllabus
September 13th, 2011 by Jeremy TrylchJournalism Reading
A course in American Print News
The objective of this course, according to the author of the book we have been given, is to learn something of the art of journalistic writing in the English language. The textbook, written by a newspaper reporter, focuses on newspaper writing. However, in the United States, the newspaper business is passing away. Newspapers don’t belong in a museum just yet, but we are rapidly advancing toward that day. So the Chinese student of English may never actually get to read real-live hold-it-in-your-hands American newspapers. So this class will focus instead on blogs and their role in current media.
Instructor
Jeremy Trylch
136.9896.3449
Course Requirements
This is a reading course, so students are required to read. Reading will be done in and out of the classroom. All students will read selected assigned articles from the required textbook as well as online blogs. A list of blogs is supplied in the further reading section of this syllabus.
Students are required to keep a reading journal. Each week the student will write a “blog style” article pondering their reading assignments. These articles are to appear online. Each student will keep an online blog of their reading assignment. Yes! This means you will write 100-300 word responses to the articles you read and their relationship to the class discussion.
All writing must be done in English, posted online somewhere accessible, and should contain links to the online articles referred to. Each student will email their URLs to the class monitor each week, who will then compile the links from the entire class into a single email and email it to me. These emails must reach me the day before class. That means I need to have an email from the class monitor every Tuesday containing links to your online posts. This is your homework assignment for the entire course.
In the case of internet failure, all reading journals must be typed, printed out, and handed into the monitor who will then hand them into me at the beginning of class. Let’s hope the Internet does not fail us!
Grading
There are seven weeks of reading assignments. Students are required to write seven reading journals. You will be graded on your best five, your top grade will count toward your final examine grade.
You will be graded on the thoughtfulness of your journal entries and your command of the English language. You will be graded on the presentation of your ideas, and yes! Grammar Counts!
Reading Assignments
Topics, Due Dates, and Textbook Reading Assignments
1. Blog journalism – In-class reading of blogs
2. News and Politics — Sept. 20 — 147-149
3. Health and Fitness — Sept. 27 — 246
4. Business & technology — Oct. 4 – 202-204
5. Fashion — Oct. 11 — 164-170
6. Entertainment — Oct. 18 — 265 or 205
7. Humor — Oct. 25 — 236
8. Green Living — Nov. 1 — 262
Further Reading by Topics with links to suggested online blogs.
News and Politics
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/the-blog/
http://www.washingtonpost.com/
http://www.thedailybeast.com/
Health and Fitness
http://www.onlinedegrees.org/top-100-health-and-fitness-blogs/
http://www.fitnesshealthzone.com/
http://www.glamour.com/health-fitness/blogs/vitamin-g
Business & Technology
http://www.informationweek.com/
http://technorati.com/blogs/directory/technology/
Fashion
http://www.fashionweekdaily.com/
http://www.stylelist.com/news/stylelist-fashion-week/
http://www.gq.com/
http://www.askmen.com/fashion/fashiontip/
http://www.fashionrenegade.com/
Entertainment
http://boingboing.net/
http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/
Humor
http://www.theonion.com/
http://thebloggess.com/
http://www.cracked.com/
Green Living
http://www.blogs.com/topten/10-popular-simple-green-living-blogs/
http://noimpactman.typepad.com/blog/
http://greenupgrader.com/
Trudering Outing
August 10th, 2011 by Jeremy Trylch
The weather has been very strange in Munich. At one point it’s summer and sunny, to warm even for a jacket. The next minute it’ll rain and be cool. So we opted for McDonald’s for breakfast so the kids to play in the indoor play area. They didn’t seem to mind.
Then Hunter and I braved walk to the nearby village of Trudering. It’s name comes from the fact that the town was built around a monastery of nuns who lived after the example of Saint Gertrude. Perhaps they called her Trudy for short? The village is very quaint. It reminded me of Frankenmuth in Michigan in style–but without the forced quaintness for commercial reasons.
I was surprised he let me take this picture. He was very protective of that flower. He even got mad at me when I didn’t put it in water after we returned to our host’s home.
This is a typical home for the area we’re staying in…. I grabbed this shot on the walk back. I noted the steep slope of the all the rooftops and the presence of a snow rail just above the gutter.
The professor potted the flowers we brought home from Trudering in his mother’s vase, and I set the gnomes about to guard it. Unfortunately the gnomes were mounted on stands of chocolate bars and were overwhelmed by greedy children. Though the gnomes were taken out, the flowers and pot survived the assault.
And then came a hail storm! I’m glad Hunter and I had made it back well before that. I was told by our hostess that it actually snowed in Munich!
Nymphenburg Castle
August 8th, 2011 by Jeremy TrylchThe day started out with Prof. Helle finishing the berry juice from the berries we picked the day before. He strained it and bottled it in a wine bottle… beautiful!
We got in the car and drove through Munich University Campus on our way. And I, I fell in love.
We drove less than an hour to the castle located near the center of Munich. I’m told it was built after the French and Bavarian Styles. And royalty still has a residence here.
This was only the small rear face of the castle. The castle sprawls through beautiful gardens and there are several smaller (mansion size) building for VIP guests.
I was impressed with the amount of paintings of beautiful young women decorating the interior of the castle. I’m told the king appreciated the beauty of women and had them specially painted. It’s good to be king! I made a joke that was why the castle was named Nymphenburg… Nymph meaning a beautiful young woman… But the Professor tells me that the word nymph in German means only a mythical fairy…. that worked for me too.
Food, Glorious Food!
August 7th, 2011 by Jeremy TrylchI’ve had two major culture shocks since arriving in Germany. One, Bavaria looks a lot like the areas in Michigan where the Bavarians settled. Maybe there’s a correlation. Two, THE FOOD! OMG! After two and half years eating rice and veggies, I’m finally eating MEAT! not to mention the liquified bread commonly known as BEER!
Yesterday, the weather broke and Hunter and I were privileged enough to cut the blackberries, raspberries, and Boysenberries in the Helle garden. There are some great pictures of Prof. Helle with Hunter.
And then there was a BBQ with a ton of MEAT!
And that's not half of it!
Today, the Professor and I were able to sink our teeth into the manuscript. For me it is an awesome experience to collaborate with such a brilliant sociologist. And it’s amazing what happens when we work together. Okay, the ideas are all his but some of the sentence structures and commas are mine! Anyway, after an exciting morning of revision we headed back to the Lindengarden for lunch… and what do you think I ate? Yep, you guessed it, MEAT!
Meat and mustard on a bed of Sauerkraut. I haven’t eaten sauerkraut since I left Michigan. And I’ve never eaten sauerkraut since good. We had a blueberry pancake for desert, but I didn’t recognize it as a pan cake other than the fact that it was actually served in a pan. I’ll have to plan a trip to Frankenmuth to get “authentic” German pancakes!
Jet Lagged
August 6th, 2011 by Jeremy TrylchThe first couple of days Hunter and I spent in Germany were marked with very early bedtimes and very early mornings. Our bodies thought we were still in China. But we still made it out to the LindenGarten for Lunch.
Schnitzel and Fries
But day three we were determined to beat the jet lag… we spent the entire day out with our friends. Rain dampened our choices so we did what any tourist would do… we went to the mall where we discovered a Lego store before sitting down to a sweet brunch.
Then the weather mostly cleared and we headed to a petting zoo…
Then we returned to our host’s home for Dinner, Play, Music, and Television.
Kind of like teenagers...
Summer Reading List–Scott Phillips, Scott Phillips
June 29th, 2011 by Jeremy TrylchI have to say I haven’t felt this excited about a new reading list in a long while. Scott Phillips has two new books…. And they’re ebooks! That’s perfect for me because it’s hard as hell to get new books in English in China. I’m as giddy as a crack junkie. Hook me up.
But I did pause long enough to write this post so you could get hooked up. I’m a bro like that.
Phillips books are Rum, Sodomy, and False Eyelashes, (that’s got a nice ring to it, don’t it?) and Rut.
And here’s his blog if you haven’t been reading it…. Pocketful of Ginch.
From the looks of it there are a number of good reads on that website to add to your summer reading list as well.
