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Author Archives: Betty Zhang

Max Errman, “Desperata: Prose for a Way Out of Life”

25 Tuesday Jul 2017

Posted by Betty Zhang in Petit Passages

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Tags

anxiety, desiderata, escape, life, max ehrmann, modernity, poet, poetry, prose, writer, writing

bear illustration.jpgWent to bed last night with the realisation that all the world’s a sham, except maybe the art of bread-making. Supplying fresh wholesome handmade loaves to the local community, donating what’s left at the end of the day to charity. Betty’s Bakery. No! That means Continue reading →

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A sound note on music’s unique, equalising ability to evoke human emotion

11 Tuesday Jul 2017

Posted by Betty Zhang in Opinion

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academia, arts, culture, emotion, human experience, music, Opinion, sociology, thoughts, writer, writing

How to begin a manifesto? Fiery-veined passion propelled me to grasp for words that equalled Chopin’s effect. Then, having failed that, I scrambled for pictures; moving pictures, still pictures, pictures of girls posing as dryads, twirling ballerinas—I even enlisted the help of one Joe Wright, filmmaker extraordinaire. All of this, to no avail. My folly, I realised with aching clarity on this cold winter afternoon with only his music for company, stems chiefly from the vain belief that Continue reading →

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Lo, lit! Ah.

26 Monday Jun 2017

Posted by Betty Zhang in Notes

≈ 2 Comments

Tags

books, english, english literature, lit, literature, writer, writing

lolita movieLiterature

Literature about literature

Literature about literature about literature

Lit of my life, fire of my lores!

My thing, my thought.

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On leaving the art gallery

16 Friday Jun 2017

Posted by Betty Zhang in Petit Passages

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art, art gallery, greek mythology, literature, prose, writer, writing

rodinI loathed to leave the gallery. In the darkening light of dusk its magnificence expanded outwards, casting an enchanted aura over its surroundings. Even the parklands opposite where I walked became magic at its touch. Still I walked, stopping every so often to glance backwards, whereupon I beheld with marvellous longing the architecture to which I could return time and again. The consequence of my backward glances, I am happy to announce, was that I was simply very late for supper. Had I been a hero in a love story and the art gallery my deceased beloved—I am sure you have all heard of the poor chap—it would have been lost to me forever.

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Prose arrest

12 Monday Jun 2017

Posted by Betty Zhang in Notes

≈ 1 Comment

Tags

literature, poem, poet, poetry, prose, writer, writing

calliope muse poetry greek

I wrote

a poem

and sentenced

myself

to prose

arrest.

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Dancing in the woods: a visual essay on the soundscape of Chopin

16 Tuesday May 2017

Posted by Betty Zhang in Beauty

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art, chopin, cinema, feelings, imagination, mood, mood board, movie, music, nature, romanticism

atonement.gif Continue reading →

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Good buy Greek deli

09 Tuesday May 2017

Posted by Betty Zhang in Uncategorized

≈ 3 Comments

Tags

business, change, childhood, food, growing up, life, memory, migrant, migration, nostalgia, prose, writer, writing

old deli.jpeg

There’s something incredibly comforting about Greek delis—the grubbier a deli is, the more homely I find it. This has everything to do with The Greek Deli being a permanent fixture of my Inner West upbringing and also says everything about mine being a creature of habit, in other words a lamenter of change. Continue reading →

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Flappers and fidelity

30 Sunday Apr 2017

Posted by Betty Zhang in Conversations

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Tags

1920s, dialogue, downton abbey, drama, england, flappers, humor, jazz age, screenplay, script, television, tv, tv show, uk

lady mary.jpg

LADY MARY (smugly, to a baffled Lord Grantham) Your niece is a flapper, accept it.

LADY ROSE (exquisitely thrilled by the fact that she is finally being recognised and accepted for what she is) I am not a flapper!

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Meatier than wursts: big long German words

19 Sunday Mar 2017

Posted by Betty Zhang in Beauty

≈ 3 Comments

Tags

book, education, english, german, high school, language, learning, literature, prose, sociology, university, words, writer, writing

liesel merminger.jpg

Linear, Germanic, and impressively gothic in appearance (it’s the ä, the scher and the unfamiliar arrangement of familiar alphabets), the italicised word at the bottom of the page enticed and incited in me what can only be described as a rush of desire accompanied by the urge to gratify it, like a neon sign that blinked Continue reading →

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The King Is Not Dead

05 Sunday Mar 2017

Posted by Betty Zhang in Notes, Opinion

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Tags

1950s, america, culture, elvis, elvis presley, icon, music, musings, Opinion, pop culture, rock, thoughts, twentieth century

elvis.jpg‘There’ll never be another Elvis,’ said the old man to the impersonator. But there needn’t be, not when he is survived and granted eternal life by his works, influence, and legacy. Why would we need another Elvis when he is the one and only? The king never died; he is unsurpassable; long live the king.

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