Flame, Glass and Ink are Poems, essays, and reading notes by Stefania Joori Suh

Category: book review

  • Prompt 54

    List your top 5 grocery store items.

    My cart has bread too! 😆

    My staple grocery store items consist of these:

    1) Fat-free milk 🥛- I love a glass of ice-cold milk at lunch. It gives me a refreshing jolt and smooth relaxation during the day at work.

    2) strawberry 🍓 jam – of all the fruity jams, strawberry jam is my favorite because I like the sweetness that only strawberry can provide with the unique effect of the seeds that come with the flavor.

    3) Milka chocolate 🍫- I know dark chocolate is healthier, but I can’t resist the irresistible charm of the rich texture and smooth taste of milk chocolate. Milka chocolate is my favorite brand.

    4) Zero Coke 🥤- there’s something magical about zero Coke because while it tastes like regular Coke, it has no sugar or that stuffy feeling Diet Coke produces when taken inside. I know that it isn’t as healthy as water, but I don’t drink zero Coke as if it were water. 😅 And I love it.😂

    5) instant noodles or soup 🍲- I don’t cook. Maybe it’s because my mom cooks -still, yes! 😅-, and honestly, I am not a good cook. So, I take advantage of the modern convenience in food. It’s simple and tasty.😚

    In retrospect, I am not a healthy eater in the strictly puritanical sense, but I can’t forego the above items and adopt the Pythagorean healthy diet because then life will be Deb and dreary. 😑

  • Prompt 49

    Tell us one thing you hope people say about you.

    That which an ordinary good employee is a fit, I am described. And the good of me is reliability, punctuality, and diligence, which my boss highly regards.

    What with being the eldest child and having a natural tendency to attend to the needs of those in need, I am caring and sympathetic. Also, I can easily empathize with others, especially their sorrow, which brings tears to my eyes in one fell swoop.

    Thucydides, the ancient Greek soldier turned historian, defined hope as nothing more than an awareness of odds in your favor. Since I have heard the above-referenced compliments, I hope to hear from people that I am also outwardly beautiful with eyes of remarkable brilliance that rivet the whole countenance, beautifying even the slightest infelicity of other facial features. No, I wish no Helen of Troy with a face that launches a thousand ships, but I hope to hear that I am also outwardly beautiful. This hope is from the truth of my heart.

  • ‘Shakespeare on Toast: Getting a Taste for the Bard’ by Ben Crystal -book review

    Shakespeare on Toast: Getting a Taste for the Bard by Ben Crystal

    My rating: 5 of 5 stars

    During my undergraduate years as an English major at Rutgers, Shakespeare wasn’t my favorite figure of English literature. He seemed overly hyped and scholarly to tax the enjoyment of the simple pleasure of reading. The impression of the Bard has mellowed, but he’s in the upper caste in the constellation of writers. Crystal wrote the book with me and other kindred spirits in mind.


    Shakespeare wasn’t a stuffy academic writer whose ambition was to imprint indelible footprints in the path of humankind. Instead, he was a playwright, a modern-day screenwriter who was more interested in attracting audiences to his plays as much as possible. His characters are timeless and boundless, transpiring in every human face from all races and cultures because they are universal. The plays are dramatic portrayals of what it is to be human. King Lear, played by a Korean veteran actor, begets the same level of emotions as his English peer has demonstrated because it is the heart that spurs the mind to speak.


    Crystal is a knowledgeable writer who wears his knowledge on the subject from the studies lightly with the general public in mind. His endeavor to bring the figure of the literary giant is magnanimously noble and altruistic. Perhaps Crystal might have been the one who was disaffected with those elitist writers and pedantic academics claiming Shakespeare as one of their own, only to be appreciated by the literati. In sum, if you are interested in reading Shakespeare for the first time or discovering who he was, this book is a commendable read and a good primer for further reading about his plays and more.


    View all my reviews

  • On the Nancy’s Steps

    Photo Credit: Londonist
    Source: https://londonist.com/london/history/where-are-nancy-s-steps-and-why-do-they-lie-to-us

    There are stairs called “Nancy’s Steps”
    at the London Bridge on the Thames
    where Nancy used to walk up and down
    from her den to the world, back to the den
    to live a life God cared less with neglect
    with nothing more than her untainted heart
    flowing milk of kindness and compassion
    into the neverending faith of humanity alone
    Even if it betrayed her and bullied her in tatters;
    She pitied an orphaned boy named Oliver
    And protected himself from the world under
    Until the blindfolded Goddess Fortuna span
    The Wheel of Fortune to the fateful turn
    To which all her wishes were forefeited
    As her already wretched body was battered
    With the compass of the wheel bludgeoned
    Her life with the heart cherished with love;
    With the blows upon her still young head
    all her hopes for the beauty of life shattered
    and her tears rolling down her cold cheeks
    turned into liquid drops of pearls and crystals,
    and then, with a cry of the heart, she departed.
    or thought she, for she knew not what happened
    from dusk till dawn, wandering and waiting
    on the fateful steps, asking if you’d seen the boy.

  • Prompt 39

    What are your feelings about eating meat?

    Carnivorous is not necessarily vicious, as hervirous isn’t always peace-loving. But omnivorous is even better, with a tendency to lean more toward fruit and vegetables for facile digestive purposes.

    Yet, it is also unignorable to remark that people who eat more meat/poultry seem more extroverted than those who don’t. I prefer fish and vegetables to meat or poultry because it is more agreeable to my digestive system, which is why I may have a certain conception about meat consumption.

    Still, protein is the essential substance that contributes to one’s physical development, such as the increase in height and muscles. There’s reason humans are omnivrous, a concilation of Ying with Yang, Light with Dark, Fire and Water. The equilibrium of elements will be optimum.

  • Prompt 38

    What are your two favorite things to wear?

    Timeless classic
    Effortlessly chic

    My two favorite things I wear for all seasons are a knitted cardigan and a hairband with decorations. They are my staple wardrobe regime that does not sacrifice style for functionality and vice versa.

    The temperature of Southern California, where I live, is similar to a desert climate in which days are hot and nights are cold. So, I always wear a knitted cardigan early in the morning and evening to keep me warm and cozy. And for my thick and sleek hair that tends to lush forward when I write and type, I wear a hairband, preferably decorated with a ribbon or sparkling gemstones, creating a coco Chanel-inspired look. I think a hairband with decorations is a great accessory to vamp up a woman’s look effortlessly in a chic way, regardless of age.

    I want to thank James Brudenell, 7th Earl of Cardigan, who is credited for creating a Modern-day cardigan modeled after the military waistcoats British Army Officers wore during the Crimean War. My thanks also extend to Coco Chanel, who adorned cardigans with feminine beauty with a finishing touch of charming hairband. ✨🌸🧚‍♀️