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

Tag: Writing

  • It’s a Strange Place, England by Jack Strange

    It's A Strange Place, EnglandIt’s A Strange Place, England by Jack Strange

    My rating: 5 of 5 stars

    Jack Strange’s England is never a bore; it is a mystifying country with its tempestuous history and colorful characters populated by the ever undead of the bygone eras still roaming their past abodes or workplaces among the quick. It is a quaint country where history meets myth and legend. This book will guide the reader to Strange England where fanciful folklores and historical facts are anchored in the traditions and customs.

    The author admits that England is perhaps arguably one of the most haunted countries in the world, thanks to its religiously and politically tempestuous pasts spanning the wheel of time from the Roman colonial period to the present. To illustrate, in Derbyshire a spectral Roman sentinel is often seen leading a parade of a circus comprising gladiators, chariots, and slaves, then all of them disappear into the mist. Another lovelorn Roman soldier is witnessed alongside Hadrian’s Wall in Northumberland, wandering in despair of his betrayed love for a fair English maiden. The phantom English residents also encompass the Benedictine monks led by St, Cuthbert in Lindisfarne, which was a target for frequent raiding by Norsemen who also threatened the cradle of English Christianity. It is said that the best time to see the saint or the monks is when the tides are high and a full moon lights the shore as a natural lantern.

    England is also a home of many interesting sports that are historically – and sometimes by happenstance – originated. The World Gurning Championship in Egremont in Cumbria was originated in 1267 when the Lord of the manor gave out crabapples to the locals. One can imagine without difficulty the consequence of tasting the apple, and thus can master the art of making as ugly face as possible. Hence this hilarious tournament comes to exist to this day. It’s open to everyone – yes, even to the fairest of all – , and it’s all about fun and participation. Also, there is Black Pudding Throwing Championship in Ridge, Lancashire. Originated in 1455, this tournament shows English humor mixed with historical irony, which makes it all the more convincing. It was during the period of “War of the Roses” elegantly referred by Sir Walter Scott (who was a Scot) to the feud between the House of York whose symbol was a white rose and the House of Lancashire a red rose. At the Battle of Stubbins in Lancashire in 1455, both forces decided to throw puddings at one another instead of lances. Believe it or not, the descendents still commemorate the incident by holding a championship every year with mirthful popularity.

    Subsequent to Strange Tales of the Sea, the author Jack Strange has done a marvelous job gleaning the extensive historical documents and cultural artifacts from his tireless research to provide his reader with interesting facts about his England. Strange is a gifted artificer who digs artifacts buried in the depths of forgotten times and lost folklores. Strange is also a mysteriously reclusive figure himself because there’s no personal information about him. Maybe that’s why his writings are so hauntingly attractive and oddly addictive. Strange is an excellent storyteller who weaves a tapestry  of legends and folklores imbued with his impressive knowledge of the history of England and his English humor permeated in his writings. This book is Strange’s winking invitation to his beloved England that spins a general image of the country with enchanting oddity and wide-eyed wonder that the readers will not tire of.

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  • Episode III: A Cozy Sunday Afternoon

    The Sato Family on a Sunday Afternoon (Click here.)

     

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    Although it was an icy Sunday with a frequent scatter of snow today, which was a typical climatic tendency on the east coast, the home of Mr. Sato’s young family was cozy and nice with a fireplace, a rocking chair, a comfy set of sofa, and a TV set.

    Meet the Sato family from Japan, who have recently arrived in Charlottestown, a neighboring town of Avonlea. In spite of a different cultural setting, the Sato family fit right into the lifestyle and cultural mode of a new environment thanks much to their civil decorum, playful nature, and diligence work ethics that are universal virtues transcending the subjectivity of time and territorial boundaries.

    The Sato are a young, budding family with Mr. Sato himself, Michiko, his pretty wife, and 2 adorable little sons, Hideo and Yuki who are the apples of their eyes. Perhaps they may reside in Chalottestown permanently after Mr. Sato completes his term in the office. However different decision Mr. Sato will make, the family bound by love, understanding, and support will not be deterred by any existential difficulties of life and remain strong and be a bedrock of what a family should be in times of trouble.

  • Episode II of the Sylvanians: Before the Weekend

    Click here for Thursday evening

    24879320_502678990099370_2033890894_oThis is an episode 2 of the Sylvanian Series I have written. Although the story might be deemed intent upon children because of the characters being anthromopoistic, it is actually intended for all ages, including the young at heart.

    The theme of the story goes thus: It’s a Thursday evening, when the the residents of Avonlea enjoy their mealtime after a hard day’s work. In fact, Thursdays are much pleasant than Fridays because the impending weekends are all the more enlivened by plans of cherished weekend activities as they deem enjoyable and rewarding on their own accord.

    It’s always heartening and relaxing to expect to do something rather than doing it in actuality. Meet Sally, Mr. Karl’s family, Mrs. Lompstrompf, Mathilda, and a band of little guys for their evening repast.

    *Sylvanians are the residents of Avonlea, the miniature figures that I have. I haven taken pictures thereof and written a few short episodic stories thereabout.

     

  • The Collie Family

    The Collie family (Click here)

    I have written some episodic short stories about my Sylvanian miniature figures I have collected. Today I am posting the first episode of the Collie family which I wrote when I got them for the first time. Just click on  “The Collie family”, and it will lead you to the story in PDF format.

    I wish my blog geared by WordPress would show the writing with the pictures in its entirety without clicking on the link as above, but it does not seem to have such convenient function unless I change my current free plan to premium with a certain charge fee. (Yes, we all know the power of money in the capitalist society because it is a carte blanche.) Someday in near future I may change it to premium for more options for my blog. (Yes, I cannot help but conform to the norms of the society, as Aristotle says that humans are by nature social animals…)

  • A License to Heal by Steven Bentley

    A License to Heal: Random Memories of an ER DoctorA License to Heal: Random Memories of an ER Doctor by Steven Bentley

    My rating: 5 of 5 stars

    Steven Bentley, M.D., an American Board of Emergency Medicine certified ED doctor and also the author of this book with a fabulously fitting title, began his medical vocation in the mid-1970s with a naive but noble cause to heal the wounded and save human lives. His reason for choice of the ER Medicine was that it consisted of Minor Surgery and Emergency Medicine and thus gave him opportunities to practice a wider scope of medical knowledge and administer it to a wider range of patients.

    Over 30 years until his retirement in 2000s, Dr. Bentley was a commendable doctor equipped with an arsenal of immense medical knowledge combined with a sea of compassion and kindness to treat all the patients he encountered in the ER of a hospital in North Carolina regardless of their social and economic statuses. Unlike most impersonal, officious doctors, Dr. Betley “listened” to his patients and oftentime went out of his way to help a patient whose medical need was repeatedly and cruelly rejected beyond a reasonable measure.

    Welcome an old veteran man whose doctor was out of town, so he had to get his prescription for blood pressure control refilled at a VA hospital. However, it was such a painful ordeal for the old man, for he had encountered frustrating runaround from one hospital to another because they did not want to take a responsibility for refilling his prescription without his primary care doctor’s consent. So when the man finally came to Dr. Bentley, he burst out crying saying, “All I need is to get my usual prescription refilled…” Thereupon, Dr. Bentley wrote him a refill prescription and told him not to come back to the hospital. And off the man went out of the hospital with a relieved mind.

    The world of the emergency medicine as experienced by the ER doctor himself was a variety of fragmented views of human frailty, both physically and mentally, but it was also the world of the most human medical practice where compassion, kindness, and charity were witnessed to the hopeful eyes and shared by the staff and the doctors in the name of humanity.

  • Strange Tales of the Sea by Jack Strange

    Strange Tales of the SeaStrange Tales of the Sea by Jack Strange

    My rating: 4 of 5 stars

    The sea is a mystery to wonder; one never knows when the placid sea will turn into a tempest of mad waves with gale force wind. The sea also brings with its spectral vessels manned by phantom crew and its uncanny creatures, all of which still exist in folktales, legends, and even some nautical documents. This book by Jack Strange consists of these tales of the sea he has gleaned from exhaustive research on such wondrous topics that are all the more entertaining and stimulating.

    As someone who is very keen on the tales of haunted ships and their phantom crew, I was immediately drawn to the chapters of the haunted ghosts and the ill-fated vessels that had been cursed to sail on until the end of the world. Take the case of the American Joshua Slocum, the first man who sailed around the world by himself on Spray in the 19th century. While he was struggling to fight with all his might against the furious tempest and high waves on Spray, he was helped by a spectral crew who introduced himself as a member of Pinta, one of the ships commanded by Christopher Columbus in expedition to the New World. After Spray got back on the track, then the benevolent ghost vanished into the air with a smile.

    Ghost vessels always pique people’s curiosity, such as Griffon & Edmund Fitzgerald haunting the Great Lakes between Canada and the U.S, not to mention the infamous “Flying Dutchman” and “Lady Lovibond ,” born of the death of jilted lovers. One might say that all these phantom ships are result of optical illusion, which is a reasonable speculation. However, the case of U-65, the Imperial German Navy submarine of the First World War is based on official naval documents in which a ghost of German officer on the deck of the submarine standing with his arms folded was frequently recorded both by the British and the U.S. naval forces during the war. I wonder if it was this optical illusion that made all of those soldiers, including the officers of high intellectual capacities and excellent health, spot the ghost German officer.

    The book also has a whole chapter devoted to “The Crimp,” a kind of boarding house where unscrupulous masters or mistresses supplied seamen to ships without their pay. Also, there are chapters about mermaids and various sea monsters reported by seamen. Mr. Strange also lets us know that in Scotland, Thursdays were regarded as a lucky day for launching a new ship.

    This book by Mr. Strange perks up the reader’s imaginations further to the realm of terra incognita on uncharted seas where mermaids are swimming merrily and the Octavious, the ghost ship with her frozen icy crew is adrift off the Western coast of Greenland. It bestows pleasure of being familiar with the peculiarities of the sea without scaring the reader with mind-boggling horrors or preposterous hyperbole of the absurdities. Hence, a heartfelt kudos to Mr. Strange’s extensive research of the maritime tales made possible by his passion for all things unique and strange -as it is by his name and nature.