CFP: Asian Literature at PAMLA 2014

[And now...a bit of shameless PA...!]

CFP: Asian Literature (Standing Session) at PAMLA 2014 (Oct. 31–Nov. 2) in Riverside, CA

Papers are sought for the Asian Literature standing session at the 112th Annual Conference of the Pacific Ancient and Modern Language Association, to take place from October 31 to November 2 at the Riverside Convention Center in Riverside, CA.

The session is open to papers that address a wide range of issues, including race, gender, sexuality, class, history, language, peace, war, etc.—you name it—in Asian cultural productions. It aims to explore how these issues arise in texts from various regions of Asia while questioning divisions such as Northeast, East, Southeast, and South. Papers from fields such as anthropology, art, history, ethnic studies, film studies, music, and sociology are also welcome. [Yes, the presiding officer likes lists.]

The special theme of this year's conference is "Familiar Spirits". Papers for the Asian Literature session are welcome to (though certainly not required to) explore the ideas of magic, conjuring, spirits, hauntings, Spiritualism, and manifestations, as well as to treat the familiar, familial, and the commonplace in relation to the paranormal, strange, and uncanny. [OK, that list is not the presiding officer's doing.]

For more information and to submit proposals, please visit the proposal submission page of PAMLA 2014 at http://www.pamla.org/2014/proposals. Deadline for submissions is Thursday, May 15, 2014. Questions can be directed to the presiding officer, whose email address is listed on the Session Topics page at http://www.pamla.org/2014/topic-areas.

Happy proposing!

Quaint Americana

Flying through Dulles may not be your best way to finding Quaint Americana, but if you're willing to withstand a cancelled flight (which does come with a free stay at Hyatt Regency Crystal City), then it's not such a bad stopover. (And there's a Dunkin' Donuts every 30 feet.)

OK, maybe not 30 feet, but close. And as incredible as this trip has been, it also has made me want to go back home—home to where my heart is. I just needed to remind myself that that's where I belong.

お誕生日おめでとう！ / Will there be cake?

It feels good to have a birthday where someone gets you actual balloons. Especially if they're accompanied by 1) good company, 2) gluten-free cake, and 3) pretty serious Italian spread including fiori di zucchini ripieni...

wisdom always.

It was love at first sight. I wasn't even looking to fall in love that day, really—it was just another thing to do, intellectual fodder for thought. Never did I expect to encounter someone who would change my life forever.

I'm talking about Kurt Vonnegut, of course—or more like his book, Slaughterhouse-Five. (I should really describe it as "love at first reading".) It was sophomore year in high school, and Mr. Hunter had assigned it for our class to read. And I read it, and I was hooked. Kurt Vonnegut, where had you been all my life?

But what I remember most from that first reading was the quote etched into the necklace of one of the characters. I was drawn to it because it contained the word "wisdom", which is what my name means. I didn't know it was the Serenity Prayer until a bit later. But when I read it, I felt like everything made sense.

Today I am repeating the full version in my heart, though with a few changes (forgive me Father, for I am not religious). The words are beautiful; I believe them.

Money Grows on Trees!

If you're looking for a way to earn money just by sitting there, look no further. Cash Grower can help you plan your finances, make investments, and grow your cash. You don't have to be a millionaire, and it's never too early or too late to start. You've got financial goals—let's talk about how you can achieve them.

Here's a brief background: Cash Grower is an online financial consultancy that offers advising on personal finance, investment, and retirement planning. Like Capital One 360 (an online baking service), we do away with the brick-and-mortar storefront to focus on providing you with prompt, online consulting.

Unlike our competitors, (like LearnVest, Plan & Act, and NestWise (which closed in September 2013)), we empower you to choose what kind of advising you need, and when. You don't have to tie yourself to a yearlong consulting package, and you can adjust the frequency of the advising to match your financial ups and downs. We have a clean, easy-to-use Website that offers tips and videos to help you learn more about growing your assets.

Our target customer segment includes people of all ages, with any level of net worth. We can assist you when you are starting out your new job, are managing a family, and are nearing retirement.

As an online financial consultancy, social media is key. We use LinkedIn, Facebook, YouTube, Twitter, and Google+ to connect with you. Don't worry, we won't bombard you with information. Our LinkedIn account connects you with other professionals interested in financial planning. Our Facebook page has you chatting with other "Cash Growers" so you can encourage each other to reach your goals. Our YouTube channel offers videos with experts on how to get into investing and more. Our Twitter feed alerts you when we post something new (or just read a cool news story). And our Google+ account lets you search for anything you thought you saw, but can't quite find because it's been a few weeks.

We've honed our SEO so that if you search for "online financial consulting" (or "personal finance" or "investment 101") we're sure to be among your top hits. Even though we don't have a storefront, we offer online troubleshooting in multiple languages—get this: English, Japanese, Chinese, Korean, Spanish, and Portuguese! Being online means we're here to work with you on your goals anywhere, any time. (Well, within reason—we go on vacation once in a while; we've got to do something with all that cash we've grown.)

If Not Here, Where? How InsideTrack Innovates

The "MOOC Revolution" has been a long and quiet one. New York Times columnist Thomas L. Friedman deemed it a good idea in a discussion of Andrew Ng's Coursera (#40 on Fast Company's list of 50 Most Innovative Companies of 2013) in his article "Come the Revolution" from May 2012. Of course, "online education" is nothing new—even when I was in college in the early 2000s, lectures were streamed and assignments submitted online, much to the delight of pajama-clad undergrads. So it's no surprise that companies like Coursera, Udacity, and EdX occupy the Top 3 positions for the 10 Most Innovative Companies of 2013 in the Education Industry. But what makes InsideTrack (#8 in Education Top 10) "innovative" is the company's aim itself: "motivating 350,000 students...to complete their education".

InsideTrack isn't a sexy company. You'll know that if you look at their homepage. Its use of social media tools isn't extensive, either—they have a blog (hosted on their own domain), a Twitter account, and a LinkedIn company page. (Their Twitter account follows 1,610 accounts, while only 735 accounts follow it in return.) So how does this 12-year-old company based in San Francisco manage to make it into the Top 10 in its industry in terms of innovation?

The answer is simple: The social media that it does use, it uses well—and appropriately for the goals of the company.

Their Twitter feed is comprised of links to articles related to education and professionalization. Its LinkedIn feed is pretty much the same. But InsideTrack isn't here to make friends with you or share cat photos online. Its goal is to get more people through college, so that they can have a college education under their belt. If the InsideTrack brand had a voice, it would be that of your supportive but stern guidance counselor. This, in fact, would be a case in point of a "boring" company benefiting from the use of social media by using it "well".

If you want a company that is innovative, have a goal and a vision and stick to them. InsideTrack offers one-on-one college counseling through its online platform to motivate students to finish their degrees and find employment. Not innovative enough for you? Try naming three people in your life who are actively engaged in doing that for you. Even with policies like the California DREAM Act, a college education is an unattainable goal for many, with a hefty price tag to boot—and the increase in the number of for-profit universities isn't making the situation any better, especially for student debt. MOOCs are great for making courses from elite universities accessible to more people around the world—and with projects like One Laptop Per Child, there is more value in that each day. Even without the $1,000 MBA, MOOCs and online courses offer flexibility to people with busy schedules or restrictions that make traditional universities inconvenient. But if your goal is to make a difference from the ground up, you might achieve more by getting coaches and counselors to listen to and talk with students, to help students achieve their goals—even if you don't set a up a Facebook page for your company.

言葉が出てこない時がある。

今みたいな時。あまりにも沢山の事を思いつめて、頭が割れそうになる。クラクラしてきて、息ができなくなって、仕舞には、言うべきだった言葉が涙になって出てくる。出てこない、出てこない。一体いつまで待てばいいんだろう・・・

人生って変だ。誰をどう信じていいのか分からない。何故信じられないのかも分からない。きっと何かがあるんだ。私の見えない、何かが。今はただ、じっとしてるべきなのかもしれない。でも怖い。

言葉が出てこない。ここから出たいのに。前に進みたいのに・・・