A speculative mind

  What got me first was the cover: bright red with silver letters disclosing terrified eyes. Then there was the title:  Silver Nitrate . I was intrigued. Then I saw that the author was Silvia Moreno-Garcia and that sealed the deal. I had to buy it. I have read a couple of books by her: Mexican Gothic , and The Daughter of Doctor Moreau , both of which I enjoyed. I guess you would classify these books as horror, but I would not call them really frightening reads, more like disturbing with a side of horror, yet with well-developed characters and plot. Is there such a genre as “literary horror?” Probably. There is a genre for just about everything. But that is how I think of her books, sort of high-class horror. Silver nitrate was a type of movie film that was the standard until the 1950’s when safety film was introduced. Silver nitrate film was a superior product in many ways giving vivid projections to the screen. Unfortunately, silver nitrate film was extremely flammable and had a na

  I think it is a fallacy that to be a writer, you have to be an interesting person. After all, they always tell you: ‘write what you know.’ If all you have known is a boring life, how can you write about that? Who would want to read it? I have been doing this blog for six years now. While I do not fool myself that this is the New Yorker , I am reasonably pleased with the work I have done. Though I write it mainly for me, it has gotten some notice. This blog seems to be particularly popular in Hong Kong for some reason. I say all this because I am not an interesting person. Well, I am as interesting as the next guy, but I mean I am not especially interesting. I have not discovered any scientific breakthroughs, ridden a rocket to space, joined the Peace Corps to help people in some dark corner of the world. I have never been in the military, not a doctor, nor ridden the Deadliest Catch ice waves of Alaska. On the other hand, I have not had my city bombed or suffered unspeakable trage

  You sometimes hear people musing about the changes they have seen in their lifetimes. I know that in the scope of my life I have seen quite a few. When I was a child there was no internet, no cell phones. If you wanted to contact someone far away, you had to write them a letter, or, if it was urgent use a land line phone to make a long-distance call or a telegram. Both were discouraged because they cost money. For electronic entertainment we had radio and television. The television where I lived only had two channels until I was almost a teenager. Even so, many parents were worried that TV was rotting our brains. There was nothing akin to social media. You just hung out with your friends. Music has seen a lot of changes. No instant gratification in my childhood. If you wanted to hear a particular song and you didn’t own the record, you have to sit by your transistor radio tuned to your favorite station and wait for hours for them to get around to your song. I speak from experience. W