Poetry 101

Among the classes I took purely for pleasure in college include several on poetry. I know that many people have been turned off poetry, depending in part on the way it was taught or what poems were selected. But I have fond memories of reading poetry both in high school and in college, where I took classes in creative writing poetry and read student poetry for a campus literary magazine. 


The Vintage Book of Contemporary American Poetry (edited by J.D. McClatchy) is one of the anthologies I read from. It covers selected works of 75 poets, from Robert Lowell to Yusef Komunyakaa. And what a delicious gamut of poetry there is! It makes me sad that people might be missing out on poetry because of preconceptions. For those who find poetry intimidating or obnoxious, the folks at Flavorwire have compiled a great list called 10 Poems Everyone Needs To Read. Put together in honor of National Poetry Day a couple weeks ago, the list covers poets from Pablo Neruda to Maya Angelou.


The introductory list represents a wide array of beautiful, notable works, and wonderfully illustrates the notion that poetry is - as defined an old English teacher of mine - "the ultimate distillation of language." Every single word has its purpose and deserves to be savored.

Side by Side

Here's a wonderfully sweet video by JW Griffiths that won the 2011 Nokia Shorts Competition. Shot entirely on a Nokia N8 mobile phone, it captures a transatlantic love story through parallel eyes. Love!

Off to the Races

About a week ago I was given the chance to attend the finals of the F1 race held in Singapore. It wasn't on my wish list of events to go to before I die like, say the Olympics or Fashion Week, but the F1 race was nonetheless an opportunity to take part in an unique event. 


Getting to experience the race live, versus on television, also helped me understand the appeal of the sport much better. Initially I couldn't understand the interest. As a person who prefers doing a sport over being a paying spectator, I wondered how the audience - most of which couldn't even fathom what driving an F1 vehicle would feel like - would relate, and thus enjoy the sport. 

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Paper Service

Although an article on the U.S. Open might be more timely in the current world of tennis, here's an amazing Wimbledon video by Bryan Ku circulating around the internet. It captures the 2008 Men's Final between Nadal and Federer in PAPER FORM, complete with audio and a visual play-by-play. Entertaining even for a non-sports fan like myself.

Fruits of Labor

Isn't there something so romantic about fruit trees? I think that sentiment might come from the sense of history and care that I imagine has gone into their planting, generations ago. The picture above is of a small mikan tree in my grandmother's garden in Japan. Mikan ripen in the late fall and early winter, and I remember being bundled up for the cold before going out and picking the tree clean of those sweet, juicy oranges.

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Don Quixote a la Mariinsky

The Mariinsky Ballet from St. Petersburg were in Singapore for a few nights to perform the Spanish classic, Don Quixote. I'd never seen the Miguel Cervantes tale in ballet form, but it was, excitingly, an explosion of color, grace and athleticism.

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100 Years of Style

This wonderful video has been circulating around the internet, and understandably so. It's a whimsical fashion retrospective of the past 100 years, and made to commemorate the opening of the Westfield Stratford City Shopping center in London.  Isn't it also interesting to note that the man leaves the frame as he goes off to war during the 1940s and 50s era? Enjoy.