I’m mostly punting on this week’s post because I’ve enjoyed having a very lazy weekend after returning from Seattle late Friday night and don’t feel like raising the energy level around here now. (Aside, that is, from dealing with two suitcases full of laundry.) But I did stay on top of stories about the new security law that went into effect in Hong Kong yesterday, so here’s a mini reading round-up about that:
Joy Dong, “Why Mainland Chinese Flocked to Hong Kong’s New Global Visa”
David Pierson and Tiffany May, “In Hong Kong, China’s Grip Can Feel Like ‘Death by a Thousand Cuts’”
Today, spectacular protests with millions of participants on the streets of Hong Kong are unlikely. But the less “glamorous” yet steady and essential efforts to fight for Hong Kong will continue. The brave individuals behind them demonstrate remarkable resilience in the face of seemingly insurmountable repression.
Yaqiu Wang, “The Latest Security Legislation in Hong Kong Betrays Beijing’s Insecurity”
Elaine Yu and Selina Cheng, “Closed Book Stores, Canceled Shows: A Sad Silence Descends on Hong Kong”
Last week I wrote that I finally feel like I know how to handle working at the AAS conference, after seven years of doing so. This week I’m benefiting from something else I’ve finally figured out: when I get back from the conference, the last thing I feel like doing is cooking. So this year, between early January and late February I made a concerted effort to stock my freezer, stashing away a portion of whatever I made for dinner or buying enough ingredients to prepare two batches of something. By the beginning of March, this was the result:
I ate some of that food in the last hectic days before I left for Seattle and yesterday morning set about deciding what I’d want to defrost and eat in the week ahead. I can probably get by for several weeks, if I choose, on the chili and soups and tomato sauce and baked pastas that still crowd my freezer, with quick stops at Kroger for some fresh produce and yogurt to fill in the gaps. I know I’ll eventually recover my zest for cooking; in the meantime, I’m thanking Past Maura for giving me a post-conference cushion.
Featured photo: Victoria Harbor, Hong Kong, December 2013.
Maura Elizabeth Cunningham 
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