Outside in requires a determined professional for challenging work with low remuneration. Proven private investigation skills are essential. The sole responsibility attached to this (full-time) position will be to hunt the elusive James Goulding through the blogosphere. Our quarry was last spotted here. Applications gratefully received in the comments thread below.
Urumqi this time. I’ll fill things out a little when I get a chance (more for my own sake than under any pretence of communication).
That Baijiu holocaust problem I worried needlessly about in Kashgar? Urumqi is a very different city …
Over the next few days I’ll be in Guizhou, known for its karst landscapes, insanely spicy food, and comparative poverty. The computer is coming — but so are the kids, so blogging is likely to be erratic at best. It’s going to be a test of my Outside in addiction, and one that I’m already failing … digit tremors and threads of mild delirium are creeping in, and I haven’t left the house (or keyboard) yet.
The real (paying) job calls. For the last few days of March (and 1st April), I’m going to be ‘away’ on a research trip to Kashgar (Xinjiang). If connectivity isn’t a problem, ‘away’ might not mean much from the perspective of Cyberspace, but I’m expecting at least moderate disruption (most probably exacerbated by colorful ethnic distractions and horrible torrents of baijiu).
If anyone has any Kashgar questions, or information to offer, I’ll do my best to bend my investigations responsively. (I’m not thinking of using this blog as a platform for Xinjiang material, but that’s not a dogmatic commitment, if there’s any interest in the topic.)
[This short Kashgar profile by Ron Gluckman is over a decade old — it will be interesting to see how it has dated.]
It’s a little early to tell what this will turn into.
It begins as a ramshackle refugee camp, necessitated by the failure of Urban Future to provide:
(a) stability, (b) continuous scrolling, and (c) an adequate platform for comments. As things develop, other basics (such as a blogroll) can be expected.
For the moment, longer posts will go up on UF, with a link here for discussion. Is that sounding like a satisfactory medium-term solution? (Not to me either.)
In addition to this supportive role, Outside in will have a few specialized functions, as:
(1) A sandpit for unconsolidated thoughts on time-related topics
(2) A depository for brief commentary and links (from the perspective of harsh neo-reaction)
(3) A flotation chamber for fragments of morbid fiction
If that doesn’t look repulsive enough yet, we’ll see what we can do …