The earliest theatrics must have happened in our heads, because our memories are just neat little stories. Some of us battle monsters, some ascend from rags to riches, some embark on heroic quests, some are on a long voyage home. Some live delightful, romantic lives, some come to tragic ends. We all began somewhere and … Continue reading On memories and selfies
Author: Peter Niu
I am red as you are green, but plants grow inside me.
On Writing
I’m trying to become a better writer. Consider it a mid-year resolution, or more appropriately a quarter-year aspiration, since it’s neither mid-year nor was there any resolve involved. I’ve been thinking about developing a hobby, and writing is a close as it comes – a craft, a thing, a time sink into which I happily … Continue reading On Writing
Lovestruck continued…
I’ve been quite preoccupied with thoughts of love and intimacy recently. I blame Spring time. ‘Love’ might be overstating it. What’s the word? Affection? A tenderness? The stirring ardor of a wild heart? Dickinthebraintitis? Remember when you met that person for the first time? It might have been a chance encounter in the aisles of … Continue reading Lovestruck continued…
Lovestruck
Oh. That was his thought when he met her. She was pretty, for sure. Frazzled, curly bleached blond hair streaked with strawberry, greyish blue eyes that refused to hold his gaze. She wore a looping white T with black squares. A massive scarf coiled around her and made her look fragile. She had a meandering … Continue reading Lovestruck
Death of a friend
It was lunch time. Izzy gave me half a BLT, I shared with him my French fries. We sat against the wall and braced the rain and chilly November air and became friends. We were kids then. Two stupid, broke and starving kids trying to survive London, scrambling from gig to gig making ends meet, … Continue reading Death of a friend
A case of toxic parenting
They fuck you up, your mum and dad. They may not mean to, but they do. --- This be the verse. Philip Larkin A kid came to our center today for emergency counseling. Within seconds, before they even left the car, it became apparent that the mum was the problem. Anger, bitterness and resentment radiated … Continue reading A case of toxic parenting
Confessions of a Workaholic
My brain pulsates. I feel a needle churning behind my eyes. My breath is shallow. The lights spin a little, settle, I find my footing and head towards the door. I’ve lost count of how many cups of coffee I’ve had this evening, but my heart is still beating, so I’m going to get my … Continue reading Confessions of a Workaholic
Happy Birthday to Baby P.
Frank coiled around his throne of dew. Around him stars bloom and fade. Each of his million arms cradled a bubble, in which new worlds were born and old ones decayed, each filled with billions of souls who lived and loved and dreamed and died. “Hello, child”. His form slithered and looped around Pip, a … Continue reading Happy Birthday to Baby P.
I really can’t think of a title.
He fell to his back, took in a large gulp of air, squeezing it out slowly with clenched chests to silence the wheezing. She rolled over to the side in a waft of thick, dizzying perfume. Their eyes never met. Not even when he leaned over awkwardly to kiss her. “No”, she said. He stopped … Continue reading I really can’t think of a title.
On Faith, Part 3 of Many
X, I don’t know why I am writing this to you. Perhaps it was the way you casually brought up your faith, giving me a glimpse of your utter devotion to an idea. I found it to be strange and exhilarating, because it was an emotional expression of which I am incapable. Emotion is the … Continue reading On Faith, Part 3 of Many
Memories of a childhood friend
I used to write to her. They were songs about stars and the midnight moon. Sometimes she was cast a spectral beauty, the shade of a Renaissance painting, the perpetually adolescent vampire queen (we were both Anne Rice fans those days). Those stories were invariably about her and her boyfriend. She thought I was mocking … Continue reading Memories of a childhood friend
Goodbye to Ghosts
In the days leading to a new year, some reflection is in order. I didn’t expect to last this long. Many things coincided in the past that brought me, at a very young age, to the realization that no matter what medications I took, what meditative practices I pursued, demons would haunt me forever, lest … Continue reading Goodbye to Ghosts
A Christmas Suicide
He died on Christmas Eve, 2016. It began many, many years ago, as the last dead twigs were swept away and a brittle chill filled the air, and the children chattered plans for winter. He joined their anticipation, and made up wonderful plans of noisy family dinners, lavish gifts and the sweet, annoying nag of … Continue reading A Christmas Suicide
Elsewhere: Schools Revisited
What should be the purpose of our public education system? That’s a question I’ve wrestled with for a long time. I work on the fringes of education – this is a deliberate depiction. In my former position, I sold ‘educational technology’ and ‘21st century science content’ and other nebulous buzzwords that all serve to allude … Continue reading Elsewhere: Schools Revisited
On truth, media, and why you should stop blaming or relying on Facebook for news
Oceans away, we the unenlightened masses of a repressive nation observe the US election drama with morbid curiosity and befuddlement. An egotistical, deceitful, pugnacious buffoon is crowned ‘leader’ of the ‘free world’, and somehow Facebook is to blame. Now that’s a universal problem: that which is popular is assumed and accepted to be true. Humans … Continue reading On truth, media, and why you should stop blaming or relying on Facebook for news
On sending young kids abroad
A child is born, a new subject of negligence and trauma of modern day parenting. But at the age of nine you toss him out of his native environment into a land far, far away, into a language so utterly alien and a heritage worlds apart from his own. The minds of children are malleable. … Continue reading On sending young kids abroad
Farewell to J
J and I met on one soggy afternoon at a charity networking event. She was there to represent her organization, I a creeping wallflower looking for new causes to attach myself. We struck up a conversation, thus beginning roughly two years of friendship. It was one of those relationships made up of long stretches of … Continue reading Farewell to J
On Career Planning (and my lack thereof)
There exists a subset of humanity who stumble onto enlightenment in their early teens. Inspired by some revelatory event or figure in their life, they embark on the lifelong pursuit of some career objective with frightening clarify (for a child). You know – the folks who so earnestly exclaim that “I’ve always wanted to be … Continue reading On Career Planning (and my lack thereof)
Elsewhere: Education
If you, visitor of Earth, followed a ‘normal’ education trajectory, you probably went to primary school around six or seven, pursued three to four years of further education, and may have event gone to graduate school. You ‘graduate’ in your early twenties, ready to start life. In the twelve to fifteen years of your education, … Continue reading Elsewhere: Education
On Usefulness
First day of my Coursera Philosophy course triggered an avalanche of questions. Why should I study philosophy? Does it serve any practical purpose? Is it ultimately a frivolous and self-indulgent goal insofar as I am able to pursue? There is a more utilitarian voice that demands I commit to more productive tasks, study subjects and … Continue reading On Usefulness
On Learning: My Education is Not a bottle of Whiskey
I’m doing the Learning how to Learn course on Coursera. One of the assignments called for more introspection on one’s learning journey than was allowed for, so I’ll continue here. Over the years I developed a rather misguided view on learning and personal development. I thought people were more like whiskey – only as good … Continue reading On Learning: My Education is Not a bottle of Whiskey
Part 2 of Many: On the search for God, Eternity, the One, the Flying Spaghetti Monster, a supernatural solution to all his earthly troubles…
For some years after meeting the bespectacled grape-eating finger-licking demigod, I became a devotedly religious child. I was a ‘somethingist’… or whatever that cult was called. For once in my life I felt a sense of serenity, knowing my life was secure, that though I walked alone on dark and foggy roads, a greater force … Continue reading Part 2 of Many: On the search for God, Eternity, the One, the Flying Spaghetti Monster, a supernatural solution to all his earthly troubles…
Part 1 of Many: On the search for God, Eternity, the One, the Flying Spagheti Monster, a supernatural solution to all his earthly troubles…
On his sixth birthday, the Mother took Peter to meet the oracle of her Sect. Peter remembers two things about that trip. One, that it was a restaurant which served fried scorpions as an exotic dish, and he spent most of lunch peering into a terrarium wondering what it'd be like to be stung by … Continue reading Part 1 of Many: On the search for God, Eternity, the One, the Flying Spagheti Monster, a supernatural solution to all his earthly troubles…
On the spectrum of life
Epicurean - Stoic Apollonian - Dionysian Gay - Straight Political Left - Right Blond - Dark Roast Introvert - Extrovert Good - Evil Ultraviolet - Infrared Death metal - Post rock Child to Adult Few things in life are black and white. It would be so much easier if we could plant our feet firmly … Continue reading On the spectrum of life
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