Lelia S Pollett's Blog (42)

Jacob van Loon - Bureaucrat with Half Square (2011) - mixed media on canvas

  ' The greatness of a nation is judged by the way it treats its animals.' Gandhi. 

One of my favorite quotes.  In the country I was raised in there is huge animal rights movement.  Still animals suffer, but honestly I have seen more cruelty here in one year than I care for.  And I do not live in a rural area, I do not live in South China, I live right in Puxi.  Today I witnessed a man beating his dog with a stick over and over.  Nice.  I am completely amazed at how easy it is…

I am studying new media in a participatory culture, and remembered why I started this page.  It was the opportunity to blog about my experiences in Shanghai.  So I have been here now one year.  A little over a year.  I am more experienced as an ex-pat and my Mandarin is improving, but rather slowly.  



I teach mainly at an English training center, but have the ability to substitute at an International school.  

I am super busy though with school, pursuing my…

there was once

stillness speaks when least expected

the dark carried my truest friends

each caress was belief rendered truth beyond the fantasy

illusion has been the constant companion

I now tread the high wire of non existent reality

it is here my muse carries me into oblivion

and I can take another breath

the fire of fancy and the lure of pretense

I have no desire to entertain

my audience has already received me…

I trampled over the concrete shanghai street tonight discovering that I can easily run for an hour without noticing.  I am certain my limbs will tell me otherwise tomorrow.

Even so I feel as follows:…

will there be one

I am so tired of hurting

and now I hurt more than necessary

back to solidarity

I stay safe that way

it was nice to dream 

Oh well

at least this time the cut wont go too deep

Well it has been some time since I decided to 'foster' homeless kitties.  I have this amazing cat, Alaska.  He has always been super friendly to other cats, but since moving to Shanghai he has to be indoor kitty and became very lonely.  So lonely in fact he would climb in the window at night and cry when other kitties were outside being active.  So I made the decision to foster kitties and help them find homes.  The first kitty was named Lorenzo, and he was a  loud kitty, he would cry and…

So as I continue to adjust to life in Shanghai, the one thing that still continues to baffle me is the adaptation and adoration of all things I dislike in my own culture.  One main thing is the vast consumption of meat and dairy products.  I did not expect this from the land of tea, soy milk, and so many green vegetables I still cannot remember them all.  Plus there is the famous China study, a study done to find out why so many people were getting cancer, diabetes, and heart disease and it…

the thick black lines land silent yet deep on each vertebrae

unable to see the wavelengths until after the damage

words attempt or masque the approach

hands swim in the surreal daily chores

desire to believe in the innocence of every one

blankets the deadly poison of many

even they think the pain is delicate sugar

icing icing icing

the perimeter smells of rotting flesh and cream

a delight that we keep pretending to…

The weather has been amazing this weekend!  I was able to get to the gallery, meet with a friend, and attend two gallery openings!  Today I took it easy but still managed to get to Jing An for some shopping.  I am still on the hunt for Tamari, but I did find mushroom sauce, no meat, no wheat..whoo hoo!  Although when I got home I was too tired to cook, so I called Loving Hut, It is so nice that they deliver!  Now to finish up my Chinese lesson and then just relax.  My lover just brought me…

took down rant, put in journal...sometimes one has to get things off their mind, however one does not have to share it with the world. 

In retrospect

there is a black space

it seems to seep between the perspective and emotion that occurred

fading around the edges as if decaying

almost depicting a fuzzy television screen as if

as if we are some how wave lengths of red green and blue that

missed the capturing field

I try to seem the frames together like splicing film

attempting to remove the darkness that stares back at me in memory

each connection leaving gaps of…

This time it takes seven angles

to position just above the right vein

to take that rough breath slowly

to begin without noticing

I told you the sky would change

watching as others watch what was made to be seen

this is as false as what once was to be

we have cut in to look

and we dig in to find

only to know the barrier surrounds us still

shadow mock and we will sing by the fires of time

pretending the import is…

I brought Lorenzo home today.  He is a timid kitten.  But Alaska has responded well, they are both terrified of each other right now.  They are slowly sniffing, backing up, sniffing some more and mewing at each other.  No fights, whew. 

Alejandra was wonderful in assisting me with Lorenzo.  She even took care of getting food, a litter box and toys for him. 

Looks like there will be two very spoiled kitties in Shanghai today!

This is not me, but I am sharing, as I would love access to this video.

There are some things that can’t be adequately described in words: they have to be experienced. There’s sex, there’s skydiving, there’s the House on the Rock, and there’s Doggy Poo.

Doggy Poo is the title of a 1968 children’s book by Japanese-Korean author Kwon Jung-saeng. In 2003, the book was adapted into a stop-motion animation film—yes, for children—that I just experienced…

and say you are under 21

This time I was boss

Your shell overcome by fear and insecurity

It hit me slowly as a wave of Feathers moves over the white side in wind

this is the crevice

you can just get your finger tip around it

and pull if you must

I did not tug

but let it lay in my hand

feeling the soft caressing thread

as it curled in my palm

and in the last wake of evening disappearing 

I decided to run down the watery thresh hold

I…

I need your help. 

Every night while I am asleep, I flip my right eye lid over and perform microsurgery on it.  I wake up with nothing less than a morbid case of pink eye, some slight bruising, and a light head ache.  What has gone wrong with my DNA?  What triggers this phenomena? How do I switch the subconscious mind to stay on track and rest?  Was their a surgeon in my ancestry?  Is this fate telling me I needed to go into optometry? I want this to stop and yet I am entirely…