Today is the third anniversary of the Asian tsunami that took hundreds of thousands of lives, including many in Sri Lanka. In remembrance of its victims, here is a link to a story by Seth Mydans of the International Herald Tribune). Part of the story is about young tsunami survivors using disposable cameras to photograph their lives now. The piece ends with a particularly poignant quote by one young Sri Lankan recalling the disaster’s aftermath. If only those responsible for managing tsunami aid were as clear and straightforward as this child!

“Our village was not as beautiful as it was before, and it was full of darkness,” he said.

*Correction: An earlier version of this post indicated that while the story ran in the IHT, Mydans worked for The New York Times. The two newspapers are affiliated and run each other’s content, but Mydans is on the staff of the IHT.

I’m about to become a guest blogger on one of my favorite online reads—Sepia Mutiny! I’m excited to get back to reporting and traveling, and thrilled to be working with a great photojournalist. We depart Friday and will be gone for a couple of weeks. I’ll also make sure to add links to our Mutiny posts on this site.

Back to packing! If you’re in Singapore or Kuala Lumpur, and have tips, please let me know.

To me, music and writing have always been entwined. Both involve ritual, instruments, art, practice. I sit down at my computer; I open my saxophone case. If you love something, you work at it. You try to perfect it. This is not a writing lesson. This is not a music lesson. This is a lesson about yourself. And I was lucky enough to learn it from one of the world’s best teachers.

Frankie Ball, Jr., who was one of my favorite childhood teachers, passed away Friday night after a long battle with cancer. Mr. Ball taught band at T.W. Pyle Middle School in Bethesda, Maryland, Read the rest of this entry »

Early in November, I did a reading at the Asian American Writers’ Workshop as part of the South Asian Women’s Creative Collective and its annual literary festival, which this year was called Electric Ladyland. It was a ton of fun—the first time I’ve read from the novel here in New York. T-minus four months to publication! Thanks to Preston Merchant for the photo. Ashok Vyas of iTV was also kind enough to send me a DVD of his program on literature, “Shabd Star,” which broadcast interviews and segments of the festival. I’ll be on the lookout to see if it gets re-aired.

Read the rest of this entry »

Thanks to a correspondent who sent this in. Nafeek is still awaiting her appeal. See my previous post on Nafeek here.