Miss Clueless

Ryan has been missing since yesterday. L got sick last night. Cold, blocked nose. Hardly any of us slept properly. Mom and I planned to go to this one cafe I've been telling her about. But a total shutdown is announced starting today ( 19th April 2026) . This is the thing. A normal, peaceful day is a rarity here. Anyway, I finished Stoner today. A novel by American author John Williams. Originally published in 1965. Genre: Campus novel.  Started reading it a few days ago. Took it slow.  This is probably the first time I've read this genre. It's unexpectedly good. Nothing special though. It's the simplicity I enjoyed.  An ordinary story about an ordinary, quiet man, born at the end of the 19th century, who became an English professor at Columbia University, Missouri. The book starts with his early life on a farm with his parents, his time at university, his married life, his life on campus as an English professor, his becoming a good teacher, and finding love, an...

Imagine the mother in the hospital. Her two children dead. Imagine her reaction when she found out. Can you? Think about it for a second. Before this, there was another news this month. About a seven-year-old girl. If you read about Manipur, you'll know what I'm talking about. Why must it be the children?  Why must it be anyone, for that matter? Why are we still killing each other? Do we really hate each other? The victims paying the price. Mostly ordinary citizens. Innocent children. Did they cause this? Did they deserve this? 

I'm back home after a month's holiday. Well, almost a month. Apparently, a single woman on vacation for a month, who is not a social media influencer, is a red flag with the immigration officer.😄 What did I read during my vacation? These: 1. Witches, Witch-Hunting, and Women by Silvia Federici I was looking for Caliban and the Witch and found this instead. Gave it a go. It is on similar themes anyway. "..because 'globalization' is a process of political recolonization intended to give capital uncontested control over the world's natural wealth and human labor, and this cannot be achieved without attacking women, who are directly responsible for the reproduction of their communities. The book serves as a reminder that reconstructing the memory of the past is crucial to the struggles of the present. 2. When I Hit You: Or, A Portrait of the Writer as a Young Wife by Meena Kandasamy A semi-autobiographical novel. Involves domestic violence and sexual abuse. Ugh! I...

I started reading A Strangeness in My Mind by Orhan Pamuk. It was going fine until Rayiha was introduced. A 13-year-old girl.  Something is disturbing in that.  I remember Natasha in War and Peace. She was only 13 years old when she was first introduced in the book. In a short story I read, by Fyodor Dostoyevsky, A Christmas Tree and a Wedding, a grown man approached and harassed a girl, literally a child, and eventually married her at 16. Not okay, not okay, not okay!!! I'm gonna have to pick another book.

 I left Da Nang on the 18th and reached Hanoi on the 19th. I stayed at 3 hotels in Da Nang. Looking back now, the first hotel was the best, price-wise, location-wise (very close to the beach), overall hotel service-wise. I booked that one long ago. That must be why it was cheaper than the others, which I booked only a few days before check-in. For food, I went to an Indian restaurant and a vegan restaurant called Loving Vegan. Sometimes I made noodle soup in the room, with the noodle packets I bought from Winmart. The second hotel was away from the beach but close to the Han River. I saw fewer Western tourists and more Asian tourists in this area. The Han Market is also very close. I went there only once to exchange currency. Since my useless forex card doesn't work for online payments, every time I booked a hotel, I had to choose the pay-at-hotel option. And it turns out, every hotel asks for cash payment.  This room was much bigger, but there was a musty smell. And sometimes...

On the 9th day, I went on a long walk by the Han River in the morning. I walked enough that I decided to rest in the room for the rest of the day. I walked and walked, went under the Dragon Bridge and on the other side, after a short distance, was the APEC Park. Seen images of its impressive white roof structure. On the walk up to that area with the white roof, I saw some people doing yoga. I guess they were recording, I saw a tripod, a camera and stuff. As I walked up, I could hear some noise getting louder and louder. Turned out it was full of school students doing some activities, or dancing or singing. I didn't get closer. I went away, around the park. Nothing much was there. I came out and sat for a while.  Time to eat something. I went to the same family place. I was greeted by a friendly uncle, the owner, I believe. He was patting a cat, must be their pet. I thought great. I love cats. Had sauteed rice noodles vegetables. Looked simple, but it tasted really good, and I was h...

 What did I do on 7th March? Woke up late. I was in the bathroom when housekeeping started knocking on my door. I said 10 minutes and closed the door. Got ready and off to the beach. Walked as usual. A lot of walking every day. Found myself a spot and read for a while. Ate some snacks. Always have snacks in my tote bag.  The Mountains Sing. A Vietnamese book. A multigenerational story set during the Vietnam War. "I wonder why foreign armies kept invading our country. First it was the Chinese, the Mongolians, the French, the Japanese, and now the American imperialist." "War isn't kindness or sympathy, Huong. War is death, sorrow, and misery."  As I was sitting and reading, from my peripheral vision, I saw a father take the seat next to me. He was watching his son play in front. I didn't even look at them, but I thought they were Koreans. I'm not sure why. After sometime a couple with a kid took the seat. They left their bag on the edge of my seat, and I ...