Rice terraces in Yuanyang

The food is amazing. We have a guide and he orders for us, but our one day on our own we had an equally good experience. Dishes are quite spicy. The meat is not always of the highest quality, but usually seasoned well. The vegetables a another thing all together. Fresh, crisp, tender, unbelievably flavorful. In the US or in France, too often veggies are overcooked, soggy, and totally bland. Here they are cooked perfectly.

Meat market in Yuanyang.

Sanitation leaves a lot to be desired. The hotels have flush toilets, though often with a strange smell that suggests the composting variety. On the road it’s nothing short of disgusting. The best version is a tiled hole to a landing spot four feet below. It’s not an outhouse; in fact, it’s much dirtier than that. You can see sunshine and what others left before you. There is definitely no toilet paper. You squat over the hole and each hole might be separated by a 3 foot wall to protect your privacy. In the worst case, it’s a ten hole hall that you actually have to pay for. Instead of a hole, there’s a trough running the length of the hall, of a depth of a foot. The leavings just sit in this tiled trough for god knows how long. One assumes that said trough is sprayed down periodically and the waste washed into some sort of receptacle, but one doesn’t think this happens very regularly. Women’s bathrooms have the additionally lovely detail of used feminine hygiene products just sort of laying out in the open. The stench is overwhelming.

The conjunction of old and new is one of the most interesting and confounding things about China. On the one hand, there are spanking new highways, high speed rail systems, and a billion people with cell phones – including those living in primitive conditions. On the other hand, the water is not safe to drink, sewage systems are often nonexistent, and farmers graze their ox on the shoulder of the road. Nothing brings this home more clearly than the mess of driving. Sharing the road are brand new Toyotas, BMWs, and Fords; overloaded and unstable dump trucks that travel very, very slowly; motorcycles with helmetless riders (including two year olds gripping the handlebars); tractors or motorcycles that have been modified into three wheel vehicles with a covered bed that can carry goods or people; bicycles; and horses pulling carts. This on four lane roadways as well as smaller village streets. C’est un bordel, c’est clair.

Having the guide has been a life saver for travel. These no way we could have driven ourselves, and the bus ride to Yuanyang would have left me a trembling mess. The terraces were worth the voyage – hard to imagine the centuries work it took to transform mountain upon mountain into sculpted farmland. They are breathtakingly beautiful. We have also seen many interesting markets with the minority villagers doing their daily shopping, heavy baskets resting on their backs and tied around their foreheads. Our guide brought us to a lovely restored Qing house that is now a hotel that we never would have found otherwise. It had 42 courtyards, a gorgeous garden, and intricate carvings on all the doors and awnings. Unlike some other examples of Qing architecture, this house wasn’t destroyed by the Cultural Revolution, as the state used it as a hospital and government offices.

We are off to hike the Tiger Leaping Gorge, the deepest in the world. I think we’ll see a lot of European backpackers.

First impressions: Gleaming white skyscrapers leap out of jungle canopy. Verdant, steep hills rising out of the sea, Vancouver island transplanted to the tropics. I have never seen a city so in love with capitalism. On Hong King island, shiny steel towers proclaim their creators in 10 story letters: Philips, Samsung, HSBC. Giant LCD billboards play 30 second advertisements on a continuous loop. There are shopping malls everywhere, filled with familiar stores. The streets are packed with shop after shop, with even restaurants and bars hard to find. Kowloon stores advertise with signs suspended seven feet above the sidewalk and stretching across the street; it feels like a permanent street festival.

The heat is unbearable. I am envious of the tourists with hats, the locals with umbrellas. People slowly jog along the promenade at 7 am, completely covered in sweat. Locals practice tai chi, moving slowly in loose, flowing clothes.

The city wakes later and stays up later than Boston or Paris. The commute doesn’t pick up until 9 am. After dinner the stores are still open and people are still shopping. We go to the Kowloon markets at noon, mini-neighborhoods filled with flowers, birds, goldfish. The streets near our hotel are lined with food stalls, very similar to Paris except perhaps less refined – Paris in the 1800s. The smells are powerful and not entirely pleasant.

But elsewhere, the city is ultra-modern. The subway is speedy, quiet, and extremely well organized. Underground tunnels that are very clean, well-lit, and frigidly air-conditioned lead to numerous exits at every stop. It feels very safe; early in the morning, no one bothered an obviously confused tourist, and there are tons of police throughout the markets. Thus far I have seen only one person begging, which seems shocking in a city of this size and with so many tourists.

Today we’ll seek out the old Hong Kong, though it’s hard to find anything older than the colonial period. Then we go to China; I’m curious to see the differences, now that the mainland has embraced capitalism.

Glee mix

I made my Glee mix, actually buying some songs to fill out the list. Mostly I kept the real version of the song when I liked them better. Sometimes the Glee cast members don’t do much other than sing the same song note for note, and usually they lose in the comparison (very evident on Heart’s “Alone”). That said, Lea Michele’s version of “Jar of Hearts” and Darren Criss’s “When I Get You Alone” are both a thousand times better than the original. Enjoy!

1. Tik Tok by Ke$ha
2. Blame It (On the Alcohol) by Glee Cast
3. Thriller / Heads Will Roll by Glee Cast
4. Rolling In the Deep by ADELE
5. Alone by Heart
6. And I Am Telling You I’m Not Going by Glee Cast
7. Jar of Hearts by Glee Cast
8. I’m Not Gonna Teach You by Black Kids
9. Borderline / Open Your Heart by Glee Cast
10. When I Get You Alone by Glee Cast
11. I’ll Stand By You by Pretenders
12. Total Eclipse of the Heart by Bonnie Tyler
13. Defying Gravity by Glee Cast
14. Dog Days Are Over by Florence and the Machine
15. Faithfully by Glee Cast

Not really romantic, per se, but in time for that Hallmark-produced holiday. Mainly songs that missed the cut of my 2010 mix, or I hadn’t heard before the new year.

1. Go Outside by Cults
2. What’s My Name f. Drake by Rihanna
3. Acapella by Kelis
4. Cold War by Janelle Monae
5. Decisions f. Yuksel Arslan by How to Dress Well
6. A Case Of You (Joni Mitchell Cover) by James Blake
7. Blue Moon (Big Star cover) by Kendal Johansson
8. Baby Now by Nichole Alden
9. Glitter by No Age
10. Carolina by Girls
11. S&M by Rihanna
12. Burn Bridges by DOM
13. Desire Lines by Deerhunter
14. Mermaid by Okkervil River
15. I Only Know (What I Know Now) by James Blake

On the other hand, I’m reminded of Lawrence’s response to Peter’s dream of doing nothing in Office Space: “You don’t need a million bucks to do nothing. Take a look at my cousin, he’s broke, don’t do shit.” If I want to write, I can just write. It’s true that it takes time and energy, but it doesn’t take money or even any more education than I already have. I could take a class just to have the motivation to complete assignments, I suppose. Or look for writer’s workshops to join.

But this very career I’ve chosen, as far away it is from my love of reading and writing, is quite satisfying, and there’s no guarantee I would actually like being a journalist, or a freelance writer, or even a novelist. For one thing, it’s rare to make any money, and after years of grad school and postdocs, I’m a little tired of being poor. Moreover, money is a kind of proxy for recognition; I can’t imagine the frustration of putting tons of time and effort into a piece of work only to have it rejected over and over again. And perhaps most importantly, I know that my happiness is very driven by how productive I feel. I would have to be entirely self-motivated to write, without even the outside pressure of conference deadlines or DARPA site visits. Even Lina struggled with writer’s block. This was essentially why I decided to be a math major instead of an English major in college.

It’s sort of absurd that it took me 6.5 years of a PhD and 2+ more of a postdoc to decide that I actually like computer science research, that it’s engaging and fun, that I more often want to go to work than not, that it gives me a lot of freedom to keep learning about lots of different things and allows me to exchange interesting ideas with the smartest people in the world, not to mention that I get to read and write all the time and that my love of it makes me good at my job as a researcher. I’m even productive, most of the time.

Also, I get sent to places like this for important work meetings:

I have a lot to say and no time to say it, and even a minimal task like uploading and describing my best of 2010 list escapes me. But here we are, already one week into 2011 (it looks weird when you write it, doesn’t it), so I must get started. Though I certainly can’t hope to reproduce last year’s more poetic effort, here’s my mix. I am pleasantly surprised at how much I like it; I thought 2010 not nearly as good a year for music as 2009, let alone 2007. But there was definitely enough good stuff out there to make for some hard choices.

1. All of the Lights by Kanye West. I admit to feeling shocked and cynical about Pitchfork’s perfect 10 for Kanye West’s album. It’s very good, no doubt – but impeccable? Kanye has a tendency to be overwrought, all pomp and circumstance, and frankly, some of his songs are so long as to be boring. That said, All of the Lights is certainly not timid, and packed with personalities, and it still succeeds. Something about that gorgeous horn line repeated over and over throughout the song holds on and won’t let go.
2. my way by jj. The quote in the beginning is Charles Manson, I’ve discovered, and the rap is a sample of Lil Wayne’s Don’t Trip. He’s not usually my cup of tea, but here, his weird vocals contrast nicely with her sweet voice, lending the song character that it wouldn’t otherwise have. There’s a gorgeous moment after the rap that never fails to fill me nostalgia, when she sings in a voice clear and true, unadulterated by the electronic scrambling that came before: “I’m yours, you’re mine”
3. Tell Em by Sleigh Bells. Sleigh Bells is not everyone’s cup of tea, trafficking as they do in distortion, noise, and generally muddy, loud sounds. But her voice is quite distinctive and pretty, and their songs just fill me up with energy. This song makes me think of a deranged pep rally.
4. I Feel Better by Hot Chip. For weeks, I thought the middle of this song was sung by a woman (showing how much attention I pay to niceties like band members). My favorite Hot Chip songs are all like this, pulsing forward with sensations of loss and longing, a general happy/sad feeling that’s quite unique.
5. Madder Red by Yeasayer. There’s just something so dramatic about the drums and “oohs” that begin this song, and the quiet, spare end of the verses before the recommencement of the drums: it could be very cliched, but instead it’s well-crafted and works. The intelligent lyrics help, too: “It’s getting hard to keep pretending I’m worth your time”
6. Not in Love by Crystal Castles featuring Robert Smith. This is like a really good Cure song, but better, because it’s not cheesy. Crystal Castles is often a little much for me, too into the electronica for its own sake and not enough about constructing a good melody. But this song is the best of both worlds – a very real pop sensibility with completely new and interesting beats.
7. Tornado by Jonsi. I could have picked 2 other songs by Jonsi to go on this list, making that my favorite album this year. Best listened to on earphones on a train as you watch sheep and old farm buildings rush by.
8. I Think Ur A Contra by Vampire Weekend. It must be admitted that I absolutely detest the spelling of this song. But everything else about it is great – soft, sweet, romantic pop without sliding into triteness.
9. Afraid of Everyone by The National. I struggled a lot to choose my favorite off The National’s new album, but not for the same reason as for Jonsi’s. I am disappointed. I loved Boxer, loved nearly every song on it, and The National is probably my favorite living artist. But their songs on High Violet just mostly sound the same to me, and are not very interesting. I’ve fallen asleep more than once trying to listen to it. None really spoke to me the way “Slow Show” or half a dozen other songs on Boxer did. The album is still really, really good, just not up to my very high standards for the band. And Afraid of Everyone is as good an example as any other. (But the drums are amazing in this song.)
10. Call Your Girlfriend by Robyn. It’s just raw pop and so cheesy but I love it. Robyn’s trademark is danceable songs about longing and need and this one is quite sad, if you listen to lyrics: “Don’t you tell her how I give you something that you never even knew you missed / Don’t you even try and explain how it’s so different when we kiss”.
11. All I Want by LCD Soundsystem. Whenever I hear the opening bars of this song, it makes me want to cry and dance at the same time. I’ve never been a huge LCD Soundsystem fan, but this song just eats me up.
12. From the Mouth of Gabriel by Sufjan Stevens. What a beautiful song, what a beautiful album. He gets quite weird at times, and the strong religious overtones don’t always work for me, but this song is lovely. The second half just soars. “And what a mess I’ve made of you. You probably would, but I won’t let you run away. You probably should, but I won’t let you run away this time.”
13. Tightrope by Janelle Monae featuring Big Boi. I think she is so great, all bee-bop and swing, incredible voice and control (that minor stuff can’t be easy), making music with a pop sensibility but no over manufactured feel. I like Big Boi but not enough to put one of his songs on this mix, so this will have to do.
14. Fuck You by Cee-Lo Green. Best pop song of the year? The video was just amazing, as was the Gwyneth Paltrow cover on Glee. He’s so cheerful and I love his soul voice – in some of his other songs, it’s too R&B for me, but here it works beautifully.
15. On and On by Girl Talk. Girl Talk is always my go-to when I need to clean the apartment or pack. He’s really the master of the craft – the “Best of Bootie” mixes too often just combine the vocal track off one song with the backing track off the other (see Lady Gaga vs Nirvana). I like how he manages to combine short samples from numerous different songs in a seamless way that actually works. Thus far I prefer “Feed the Animals” but that’s probably just because I remember dancing to the whole damn album at the end of 2008’s Beaujolais party.

My blog was originally named for the last passage in A Movable Feast (Hemingway) about Paris in the early days. I’m no longer in Paris, but in Boston, and I found a nice passage from Thomas Wolfe’s Of Time and a River:

The train rushed on across the brown autumnal land, by wink of water and the rocky coasts, the small white towns and flaming colors and the lonely, tragic and elemental beauty of New England. It was the country of his heart’s desire, the dark Helen in his blood forever burning — and now the fast approach across October land, the engine smoke that streaked back on the sharp gray air that day!

The coming on of the great earth, the new lands, the enchanted city, the approach, so smoky, blind and stifled, to the ancient web, the old grimed thrilling barricades of Boston. The streets and buildings that slid past that day with such a haunting strange familiarity, the mighty engine steaming to its halt, and the great train-shed dense with smoke and acrid with its smell and full of the slow pantings of a dozen engines, now passive as great cats, the mighty station with the ceaseless throngings of its illimitable life, and all of the numerous, remote and mighty sounds of time forever held there in the station, together with a tart and nasal voice, a hand’s breadth off that said: “There’s hardly time, but try it if you want.”

He saw the narrow, twisted age-browned streets of Boston, then, with their sultry fragrance of fresh-roasted coffee, the sight of the man-swarm passing in its million-footed weft, the distant drone and murmur of the great mysterious city all about him, the shining water of the Basin, and the murmur of the harbor and its ships, the promise of glory and of a thousand secret, lovely and mysterious women that were waiting somewhere in the city’s web.

To me it’s about longing and familiarity and restlessness and finding what you want. I read a few pages more and I suppose I have to read the whole thing now.

But I need a new title. Any ideas?

Au revoir, Paris…ou plutôt à plus tard. Je déménage dans deux semaines, mais je vais passer une semaine à Crète avant pour ECCV. Frédo part même plus tôt, le 31 aôut, et je vais squatter chez Silvia pendant cinq ou six jours.

Je suis triste et heureuse. J´attends avec impatience mon nouveau travail, notre nouveau appartement, beaucoup de dîners sympas avec des potes anciens et nouveaux. Mais Paris va me manquer. C´est la plus belle ville dans le monde. J´adore la culture, les bons restos, les jolis jardins, les anciens bâtiments, les marchés plein de choses frais à manger…et surtout, mes amis ici. Les gens du labo vont éparpiller, et il serait dur de les voir tous ensemble (une conférence, peut-être). J´espère que je peux se rencontrer mon équipe plus facilement. Je vais revenir souvent à la France, et j´imagine que je passerais des jours à Paris. En tout case, je vous promets que je vais rester en contact.