Hi everyone! You may have noticed a few posts missing from this blog. I’m in the middle of reorganizing my two blogs so that they are more tightly on topic. Going forward, this will be my blog for writing about Southwest China specifically and travel, reading, and writing more generally. I plan to write posts on particular destinations, reviews of restaurants–especially in Chengdu, tips on getting around, and much more. My poetry, short creative prose, and reading journal will continue to appear on this site. My essays that focus on social critique, philosophy, scholarly topics, and general reflection will appear on my other blog: stephenboyanton.com. If you’re looking for a piece that used to be here and can’t find it, that’s probably where it is. Thanks for your patience while I get everything sorted out and running!

Some of you may have noticed a new link on the main menu at the top of the page. “The Store” will take you to my new store on Bookshop.org. For me, it’s mostly a place to share lists of books that I like, but you can also buy those books there if you want. If you, I’ll receive a small commission on the sale, and another part of your purchase will go to a fund that supports local, independent bookstores. Bookshop.org is a new online bookseller that is working to help independent bookstores profit from the online book trade. You can search for your favorite indie bookshop and buy from them online, but even if you’re not buying from a specific bookstore, a portion of your purchase will be placed in a fund hat is divided among all participating independent bookstores. You can read about how it works here. I hope you enjoy browsing my store. I’ll be adding more books as I go along and adding links to my reading journal blog entries as well.

Shortly before I learned of Anthony Bourdain’s death, I watched the “Trinidad” episode of Parts Unknown. It’s a great episode all-around, but it was his interview with Calypso Rose, first Queen of Calypso, that really moved me. Later, when I heard about his suicide, that interview haunted me.

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If you check the top of the page, you’ll see that I’ve made a slight change in the sub-title of this blog. It is now “Ten Thousand Li: A Journal of Travel, Exploration, and Art.” As I explain on the updated “About this Blog’ page, I’m really just acknowledging what I’ve been doing here for some time, but often acknowledging what you’re really up to is an important way of moving forward with what you really want to do.

In that spirit, I’m going to be uploading some snippets of writing I’ve done lately. Short short stories (a.k.a. flash fiction), brief scenes, and more poetry of course. I also hope to continue sharing work by my artistic friends and relatives. I hope you will all enjoy this slightly new and a trifle more self-aware incarnation of the blog.

Stephen