2024-04-23 19:13
Intractable! Divisive! Explosive! These are all ways in which people respond to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, a conflict born out of stateless peoples’ quest over thousands of… Read More
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Carole J. Garrison Blog
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CAROLE GARRISON is a roamer. During the course of her life she has wandered around the world several times, worked and lived in SE Asia. In Europe, she relived Western history and her familial past. In Asia, she was intensely attracted aesthetically and spiritually to the region. She is the author of two books, THE WANDERER (2020) and The Fourth Moment: Journeys From the Known to the Unknown (2017),
2024-04-16 13:24
“I don’t like the dry needling,” Ella complained to her mom. Samantha tried her best to comfort her, but a torn back muscle was playing havoc with Ella’s ability to t… Read More
2024-04-02 13:59
If you’re a fan of Googling your medical symptoms and sorting through the myriad of conflicting diagnoses till you find one you like, you’ll understand that there are a lot of &l&hell…Read More
2024-03-31 00:22
When my granddaughter turned 16, she went without delay to the county DMV for her driving test and license. Her father had found a used Volkswagen Passat months ago and had made it road read… Read More
2024-03-26 14:08
On my early morning walk through a south Miami neighborhood, past the herd of peacocks and new multi-million-dollar mansions that have replaced the nurseries and small cement block homes, th… Read More
2024-03-19 14:06
The other night was the State of the Union address. It followed the standard format of all past addresses: sound strong and virile, tell the base what they want to hear, try to add in a coup… Read More
2024-03-13 23:28
No voter ID? Really? If we go in this direction, we can kiss democratic processes goodbye. Courts will decide elections, and decisions will be tied up in litigation over voter fraud for mont… Read More
2024-03-03 19:15
I suppose it’s the age I am . . . but it seems that there have been a lot of goodbyes recently, not to mention new maladies for me and my friends. The birthdays get more precious and… Read More
2024-02-28 00:56
I don’t think people really like Trump, but I do believe they covet what he represents to them. The descendants of the Puritans, the believers in Manifest Destiny, and the white suprem… Read More
2024-02-20 23:29
Most of the people I have traveled with in this life are still in my life: friends, ex-lovers, students, and colleagues. But I, like Cambodia, am finally independent. I am as much the master… Read More
2024-02-14 03:48
COLUMBUS, Ohio—Summit County Council President Veronica Sims will be appointed by Ohio House Democrats on Wednesday, February 7, 2024, to finish ex-state Rep. Tavia Galonski’s te… Read More
2024-02-07 00:43
Beatrix’s mom was six months pregnant when she sold her house in Massachusetts and moved her husband and son to Denmark. She had vowed to leave the country if Trump won the 2016 electi… Read More
2024-02-01 00:24
Is it too early to wrap holiday presents? A local store (why they had so much in stock is a mystery, as there are only four Jewish families in the county) gave away free boxes of Hallmark Ha… Read More
2024-01-25 14:03
Satya and my former office cleaner, Huang, arrived at Sokha’s about 8:30 a.m. Her friend, Moniret Toy, a freelance photographer and documentarian, drove the big SUV. And we were off to… Read More
2024-01-20 02:18
The man is a crook, a fraud, a predator, and a would-be dictator. Iowa, what drugs are you taking?
The headlines today: Iceland Volcano; situation in Grindavik has “become very blea… Read More
2024-01-14 13:55
I swallowed the last of the Pepto Bismol and took two Nexium to hopefully get rid of the indigestion before my twenty-hour flight departed for the U.S. Saulee carried out my suitcase to the… Read More
2023-12-19 13:15
I pushed open the glass doors of the Nary dress shop on Street 240 behind the royal palace. The boutiques along this street are my second favorite place to shop in Phnom Penh, although I mos… Read More
2023-12-13 00:56
Ferrari, Lamborghini, McLaren, Aston Martin, and Maserati
As you travel slowly down the bustling, traffic-clogged, littered streets of Phnom Penh, you passeverything from food stalls sell… Read More
2023-12-07 16:08
There were three other Jewish women that I knew of in Cambodia besides me: a Canadian and two more Americans. When we accidentally discovered that Oleg, a Russian United Nations military obs… Read More
2023-12-06 01:08
I travel down the street of phone sellers in front of the Orosay market with my car windowopen…hoping that someone would recognize my Caucasian face or that I would recognize oneof th… Read More
2023-11-30 23:34
The little boy kept pushing the elevator button while his mother talked on her cell phone. I watched for a while. The mother did nothing. Initially the noise was annoying but it soon became… Read More
2023-11-29 23:38
Most Americans grow up with the mythic concept of happily ever after…but few of us actually experience it. Nan was a troubled Cambodian teenager. Undisciplined and uninterested i… Read More
2023-11-24 03:15
Angkor Wat is believed to be the dwelling place of the g-ds, and its mathematical construction is said to be a replica of the universe. The area is supposed to be inhabited by ghosts and an… Read More
2023-11-22 13:33
There are Tibetan and Theravada Buddhas in every room of my house and Mezuzahs on every door frame. I wear a Hamza on a chain around my neck and a small pendant with OM inscribed on it. I wh… Read More
2023-11-16 00:41
I recently turned 81. It’s a worrying number. It’s a number that is a harbinger of fewer years ahead. It’s a signal to get on with your bucket list (in my case—lists)… Read More
2023-11-08 00:41
I watch K-pop dramas, which are filled with interesting ideas, gorgeous actors, and beautiful clothes. Sometimes they are badly written or totally dependent on the Korean “hottie… Read More
2023-11-01 12:59
I was sure that anyone within ten feet of me could hear my heart pounding. The aisle at the big Woolworth’s five-and-dime store was empty, except for me. I was looking at the row of ti… Read More
2023-10-30 11:34
My Toronto cousin picked me up from my Tibetan friends in time for a family brunch with other cousins, the Catholic side of the family, who had driven over from Niagara to visit me. My diet… Read More
2023-10-23 12:22
It’s bad enough to admit to getting inspiration from watching K-Pop dramas, but I have to confess that I also find a lot to think about from reading Terry Prachett’s Discwo… Read More
2023-10-18 12:42
Stop now! Now, right now—not tomorrow, but now. I used to consider myself pretty far to the left, especially in contrast to the so-called American far right. Nope, not true. I am firml… Read More
2023-10-15 11:12
I’m horrified by the war between Israel and Hamas, the earthquake devastation in Afghanistan, the ongoing war in Ukraine, and the Democrats’ shortsighted offensive against third… Read More
2023-10-12 22:26
To be clear, it’s not just the Trumps or the Taylor Greenes. I don’t believe the Bidens and the Pelosis either. The GOP spread hate and hypocrisy, while the Dems spread deception… Read More
2023-10-05 23:33
September 23 was the most auspicious day for Karma Chonyi (Gayki) to marry Tsewang Tashi. This Tibetan Buddhist requirement meant that I could make plane reservations months in advance as th… Read More
2023-09-26 13:36
In 1990, I convened the National Women’s Studies Association annual conference on the campus of the University of Akron in a Palestinian nomad dress, proclaiming that the conference wa… Read More
2023-09-19 13:04
This blog is a follow-up to a recent blog. “Old Photos” was inspired by an invitation from a former colleague to attend the 40th anniversary of the Akron Women’s History Pr… Read More
2023-09-12 16:54
The air was summer air, not just warm and sunny, but the breezy sweet air of the lake shore that mixed the scents of sea, fish, barbecue, and summer grasses. The view from Grandma’s po… Read More
2023-09-05 11:52
Nica, Narya’s twenty-two-year- old daughter, coal black eyes shining with wonder and excitement, called our explorations into every nook and cranny of the Smithsonian D.C . Mall. &ldqu&hell…Read More
2023-08-29 13:30
It has always been a favorite motto of mine, when given only two choices—go for the third. Social media doesn’t give a third choice; not even streaming platforms provide a third… Read More
2023-08-24 13:22
It does no use to whine. Not a long established writer? Not a celebrity or politician? Not independently wealthy? Then unless you are an extremely brilliant writer, well connected to a distr… Read More
2023-08-22 22:28
Mental decline and physical fragility come to us all in time—some earlier than others. Nevertheless, it comes.
Visiting with life-long friends in various stages of their golden year… Read More
2023-08-15 18:43
Waiting for the 9:10 cross-town bus, I stood in front of the Starbucks and squinted in the early morning sun. Across the street were a small upscale art gallery and a boutique with over-pric… Read More
2023-08-08 19:07
We got there in plenty of time for our 3:00 p.m. flight, took a wheelchair through security to the gate, and settled in for an easy wait for early boarding. In Atlanta, you don’t… Read More
2023-08-02 00:32
“No wheelchair. I’m not going to be pushed around like a toddler,” mom said, her stooped frame silhouetted against the bright vista of mountains and blue skies of Window Ro… Read More
2023-07-19 01:18
“Hello,” I said into the phone, my voice full of expectation. I was waiting for a call from the police department telling me that it was finally my turn to report for work. I had… Read More
2023-07-11 18:00
Should auld acquaintance be forgot and never brought to mind? The lyrics, well actually only the first two lines, played in my head as I stood in the post office line waiting to mail a dozen… Read More
2023-07-04 13:20
I grew up in the only single-family house within a square block on the near-north side of Chicago. The neighborhood, shaded by huge catalpa trees, was predominantly Catholic and Jewish. My b… Read More
2023-06-28 16:50
One of the small joys of my life is when the sun begins to set and my two parakeets, Bob and Dave (gender unknown), cuddle up next to each other on a high perch and imitate a colony of roost… Read More
2023-06-20 20:57
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2023-06-13 13:40
There are tales of friendships and communities who, working together, can accomplish great deeds. One such tale is the Buddhist story of The Four Harmonious Friends. The moral of this fable… Read More
2023-06-06 12:26
Ugandan President Signs Anti-Gay Law That Includes Death Penalty as a Punishment: The legislation is among the most restrictive of its kind in the world and was condemned by Western leaders… Read More
2023-05-30 13:50
Hello, Senator,
There are many reasons to cherish our postal service, which is the best in the world, except when it isn’t. Our former president, Trump, and his henchmen did their b… Read More
2023-05-27 12:33
All good deeds get punished. Yes, I know. It’s a cliché—but true. What I don’t have in my bag of truisms is that recipients of good deeds also get punished—and… Read More
2023-05-23 16:57
According to the news magazine, The Week, arrau turtle moms talk to babies while they are still in the egg. Amazing, right? I mean, I know many pregnant women who sing, talk, and play music… Read More
2023-05-16 14:48
Mifepristone, Narcan, and the Politics of Hate in America 2023
The catastrophic climate change may not be the weather but the social climate—here in the U.S. and abroad… Read More
2023-05-09 15:10
The phrase “Bad Day at Black Rock” implies a fateful day that brings disaster. This particular day was a bad day at black rock. Ella has had a great throwing season, surpassing h… Read More
2023-05-02 23:29
The silly season has passed—starting with Thanksgiving and ending with New Year’s celebrations. In many parts of the country, it is also the hunting season, and everywhere it is… Read More
2023-04-26 13:02
Is AI the End of Human Art and Intellectual Creativity?Headline: U.S. Copyright Office: AI Generated Works Are Not Eligible for Copyright.
Wow! I wonder what the decision will be when the… Read More
2023-04-19 12:50
The ACLU’s debunking myths about transgendered girls in sports makes a good read. You can find it at https://www.aclu.org/news/lgbtq-rights/four-myths-about-trans-athletes-debunked… Read More
2023-04-12 18:23
It wasn’t too long ago that I considered Newt Gingrich a candidate for the worst of the worst. A little while later, my more progressive college students considered Dick Cheney to be t… Read More
2023-04-04 22:40
The navy blue rubber mat in front of my stove says, “Eat good, laugh often, live well.” The sign in the small silver frame above the stove says, “Did you remember to turn o… Read More
2023-04-01 11:31
“Can you dog sit while we take Ella to Myrtle Beach for her track meet?” What my daughter Samantha really meant was: Will you be in town next week while we go the shore? As it ha… Read More
2023-03-28 21:11
Many high school friends who have survived to celebrate their big 8-0 birthdays live in south Florida. It’s time to throw COVID caution to the wind and go visiting. Better to say hello… Read More
2023-03-23 23:35
I work in a vaccination outreach unit with three other women, all from diverse backgrounds and ethnicity. Black, Brown, Caucasian, Christian, Muslim, Jew, Buddhist, Sudanese, and Eastern Eur… Read More
2023-03-14 12:34
I’m generally walking on the beach walking by 7:00 a.m. Not too many people are out. The windsurfers are still sleeping off their boozy vacation night and the tide is washing up on the… Read More
2023-03-07 14:08
Just as I was contemplating leaving my job at the vaccine outreach clinic and planning my trip to Cambodia, the New York Times reported the devastating prognosis that another worldwide pande… Read More
2023-03-04 17:04
When I first met Meng, he was barely eighteen and poor, but by some stroke of luck, able to speak English. I hired him to be my interpreter. It was 1992, and I was working for the UN in Camb… Read More
2023-03-01 02:27
I hesitate to blog about this topic because I am no expert on climate. I am, however, an inhabitant of our planet, and I am quite aware that we are in trouble. So, consider this blog a… Read More
2023-02-21 19:32
The second season of Valhalla on Netflix started a couple of weeks ago. It has all the incredibly handsome, bloodthirsty men, and occasionally women—including the requisite bloody axes… Read More
2023-02-14 13:30
Recently Gha, the nephew of my g-d daughter Sok Keang, was married in Phnom Penh. The wedding was sumptuous, lavish, and pricey. No less than eight dresses, including a white Western-style w… Read More
2023-02-07 13:26
A few months ago, I blogged about the mysterious disappearance of my daughter Samantha’s pet chicken, Phyllis, leaving her slightly demented, years-long fellow chicken, Isabelle, wande… Read More
2023-02-04 14:32
“A brutal blast of dangerously cold winds is expected to sweep across the Northeast and New England on Friday, prompting officials to close schools and activate emergency plans as the… Read More
2023-01-31 13:11
The following is an excerpt from Maxwell Street, a narrative written about the people who lived on Maxwell Street in Chicago during the 1930s and ‘40s. One of these vignettes was about… Read More
2023-01-24 13:46
This year is the 40th anniversary of the Akron Women’s History Project (WHP), which started on my watch as the first director of the university’s women’s studies… Read More
2023-01-16 14:00
Signs and Wonders
A superstitious belief has the power to affect how people go about theireveryday lives and how they even go out of their way to protect or enhancetheir future. Although… Read More
2023-01-10 13:19
First, I have to admit that I have no recollection of who wrote this poem. I found it over the New Year’s holiday while rummaging through a stack of old papers. It is, however, written… Read More
2023-01-03 13:05
Imagine the shock to the Supreme Court justices—those staunch conservative protectors of the Constitution—when the last Republican president suggested that we abandon parts of it… Read More
2023-01-02 21:57
Ukrainians face a cold and deadly winter. Headlines report a new Russian missile offensive against Ukrainian infrastructure that is needed to heat and light the already suffering resistance… Read More
2022-12-24 12:13
I felt stomach punched. Not with physical pain, but with the kind of hurt you feel from fear and sudden grief. Metastatic liver cancer had its roots in an earlier bout with breast cancer… Read More
2022-12-20 13:50
HOW MANY APPLICANTS CAN WE REGISTER IN ONE DAY?
On the first day of voter registration in the market town of Skon, Cheong Prey District, Kampong Cham Provence, Cambodia, circa 1992, my te… Read More
2022-12-14 02:10
The average obituary is pretty standard and generally not very inspiring. People get a lot of credit for their progeny, dying while surrounded by family, and being a keen gardener. Alas, wha… Read More
2022-12-06 23:05
I had planned to blog about my recent trip to France—too much cheese, pastries, baguettes, and chocolate truffles. But then, it would be what everyone writes about Paris, Bordeaux, and… Read More
2022-11-30 00:46
“Ovoo, Grandfather, I want to hunt a bear.”
“You are too young, and the bear is too dangerous.”
“No, Ovoo, I can do it. You take me to hunt the bear.&rdqu&hell…Read More
2022-11-15 10:57
According to the New York Times headlines, Monkeypox is all but gone. Are there lessons to be learned? In the Atlanta area, there are two obvious reasons for the rapid decline of Monkeypox… Read More
2022-11-08 23:14
“They are boycotting the movie.” Brittany, my Black colleague, waved her hand in a gesture of helplessness—or maybe frustration. “What!” I exclaimed. “Wha… Read More
2022-11-01 12:37
I recently read this in The Week magazine: Today’s Democrats have a bit of a problem with patriotism. The essay went on to suggest that all this emphasis on America’s less… Read More
2022-10-31 10:51
I was in the final countdown to my 80th birthday when COVID struck. The Typhoid Mary in this case was my brother-in-law, who was convinced that he had a cold. I should have known better. I d… Read More
2022-10-26 02:09
I called my daughter to ask her what was wrong because her texts had not been “quite” right. Blubbering with sorrow, she told me that Phyllis had been carried off in the night an… Read More
2022-10-18 23:14
The two-hour Trailways bus trip from Portland to Bangor, Maine, would have been pleasant if not for the barrage of emails from my estranged adopted daughter wanting money so that she could m… Read More
2022-10-14 22:25
I’m going to reprint my earlier blog about the women’s protest in Iran, but first I’d like to ask: Where are the #MeToo voices? Are not Iranian women our sisters in the sam… Read More
2022-10-11 21:38
Just before COVID shut down travel, I spent three months circumnavigating the globe. When I returned home, I found mixed in with the mountain of junk mail a few birthday cards and several Am… Read More
2022-10-04 14:03
Village School in Fiji
Even before I boarded the plane for the ten-hour flight from Singapore, I had the distinct impression that Fiji was going to be strange. The ground crew wouldn&rsqu&helli…Read More
2022-09-29 18:19
Unrest has swept Iran since a young woman died in custody for failing to wear her hijab correctly. This is not a “ME TOO” movement where protesters may be scorned, booed or, at w… Read More
2022-09-27 13:23
I decided to stream GAMBIT on Starz. It’s the story of Margaret Mitchell and the Watergate break-in. The acting was excellent but, as the episodes continued, they took on a surreal, al… Read More
2022-09-23 22:25
For decades I have been part of the struggle for women’s rights. I have organized events and conferences dedicated to reaching across to sisters of every ethnicity and race to bu… Read More
2022-09-20 13:04
You know the kind of gently curving shady boulevard—houses so big they look like hotels or palaces, each one more ostentatious then the next. Some mimic French villas; others have a mo… Read More
2022-09-14 00:33
There is something called confirmation bias. That’s what Google is great for! You can word your search so that you get all kinds of advice that makes you feel supported, right, spot-on… Read More
2022-09-07 01:33
“Diet! You’re 80 for g-d’s sakes. Eat what you want.” My son-in-law managed to give me the look, while still watching the road as we drove home.
“I want to s… Read More
2022-08-30 22:26
“And we’ve been able to build in at least one shopping day at most visits,” the military director confided, clearly expecting a positive response from the women on the exec… Read More
2022-08-23 21:47
Google headlines: SF, NY declare health emergencies over monkeypox outbreak. More people are wearing masks again, hoping to protect against the newest COVID variant, BA.5, as others start li… Read More
2022-08-18 12:38
My friend Anne drove down from Richmond for a long weekend visit. I took off work to enjoy her company. Similar in age and worldview, Anne is always a treat. We are both academics, both well… Read More
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