the yak occidental

Here is a selection of memorable quotes from Dinner on Monster Island: Essays by Tania De Rozario  There is nothing like a horror film to reveal the culture anxieties of one’s time and place. And if horror has taught me anything, it is that nothing has been as enduringly terrifying across time and place as women’s bodies, as the bodies of all marginalized genders.  p.6 This body is not yours. This flesh is not yours. Beauty not as invitation, but as warning. p.76 Hair - usually long, black, and unruly — is a common motif in Asian Horror. It pours out of faucets in deep, dark waves. It descends from the ceiling like a noose. It clogs drains and pipes, blankets children in their sleep, floats limp in cups of tea. p.77 The sweet shorthand of Singlish, every expression of which fills an empty place in my heart. The intimacy of never having to explain that which is untranslatable. The fact that I never feel as articulate as I do when I code-switch between the “proper” English I wa...

Here is a selection of memorable quotes from  Be Quick - But Don’t Hurry!: Finding Success in the Teachings of a Lifetime by Andrew Hill with John Wooden   […] I firmly believe that the youth of today need role models more than critics […] p.188 Managing creativity is a far tougher challenge that requires flexibility, the ability to react and change quickly as market conditions fluctuate, and the skill to empower and nurture fragile egos […] Everyone talks about the need to employ “out-of-the-box” thinkers, but managers must realize that most people with the capacity for original thought are not comfortable in tight and rigid structure. You need to find the balance between creativity and organization” p.59 Coach was a great believer in quickness, which he explained by telling me, “when you learn something, you must be quick in implementing it. It’s like driving the freeway. You may know what to do, but if you don’t do it quickly, you may not be around very long.” p.71 One oth...

Here are a couple short, sweet quotes that remind me of the other. I think of them often. I think of them with love. I think of us with love. - from "Conflict Circle" in Dinner on Monster Island: Essays by Tania de Rozario She was a good kid. We were all good kids. Amen. - from A Complicated Kindness by Miriam Toews

Here is a selection of memorable quotes from Every Rising Sun by Jamila Ahmed. “It is human to seek your destiny.  We angels follow the path He sets for us and do not deviate.” p.136 To think, I have traveled from Bam, but more of the world still stretches beyond. Is it greedy to want more? Baba’s voice tickles my ear: There is always more, Shaherazade, but a wise man knows when to be content . p.218 And I see: mountains and deserts and far-flung cities, the places in my tales, Cairo and Fez and Tashkent and Mecca, their bazaars and libraries, histories, holy places, and storytellers beneath long-branched trees, Atsiz at my side, easy and beloved. I suppress a shiver at this intoxicating and rare liberty that is mine, frightening, confusing, and heady, all at once. p. 410