The Rice Bowl

Learn To Sing.

This place seems to have run away from me.  I once had a very clear vision of what The Rice Bowl should be; a place for me to write what I write.  The problem quickly became that I was not comfortable sharing what I write.  My writing often feels entirely personal, yet at other times completely foreign.  In both cases, I seem to come face to face with the perpetual fear of sharing it.

It's time to grow up now.

As someone who wants to become a writer (published or not), I need to come to blows with the fact that my writing is there to be read.  A fact that I realised with sudden clarity when I was sitting in my Creative Non Fiction class and I suddenly found my pen-name staring back at me on the roster.  The possessed ink in my pen some how made its way out in the form of a name, foreign to my own, yet familiar to my head.

It's time for me to take my rightful place as writer.

So this is what it will be.  It will be me writing the things that write in a moment on the bus, in the cafeteria, in the middle of class, in the middle of my room, on the park bench in the middle of the city.  This is me, rough and raw.  Ready to meet the uncensored me?

I'm nervous.

FlyRice and All Its Meaning

I've been asked a few times what exactly 'The Rice Bowl' means, how I came up with it.  The same question has been asked about my comment name, 'FlyRice'.  I comment under a different name than my own, even though I use my own name on this blog, I think its part of habit.  When I'm asked about my bizarre names I guess I answer with a tinge of surprise.  I don't think I've actually ever gone into detail as to why those names were chosen.

My first blog was called 'The 8th Comment'.  I started the blog a few years back, when I was in my early years of High School.  I was searching for my voice.  Blogging was still new, however growing rapidly, and I had no idea what I should write.  I was interested in politics at the time.  I lived off of current affairs and would die if I didn't watch the news for at least 3 hours a day.  But at the same time, I used the blog to do my normal blitching about my life as a high school student in a place that I didn't fit in and didn't want to be.  Yes, it was used as a diary/blog.  I would rant about everything in my life and it really had no real grounding.  It was the '8th' because at the time I was playing Water-polo and that was my number.  Number 8.  It was lame...basically, I couldn't think of anything else and it just sounded good.

'The 8th Comment' disappeared after a while.  I forgot about it for a while and then my account disappeared.  After joining MySpace, and abusing the blogging feature, I decided to give blogging another try.  I used Blogger and started 'The Rice Bowl'.  At that point I had already invented the name 'FlyRice' which was originally, 'FlyRice817', combining my two favourite numbers for sports reasons and sentimental reasons as well.  Eventually, it was simplified.  I chose the name after I saw a shirt with a bowl of rice with wings.  I identified with it and made up my own little story about it.

I identify with Chinese culture since I've lived there most of my life.  I feel like an outsider when I'm not in an Asian atmosphere.  But at the same time, I love the thrill of being in new places and experiencing new things.  Sometimes I feel like I am one grain of rice in bowl, and that idea can terrify me and excite me all at once.  I like to stand out sometimes and I like to do things on my own a lot.  I'm not the most social creature and I've always liked working independently.  So, sometimes, I feel like that one piece of rice that gets stuck on the side of the bowl or manages to fly away from the rest of the grains.  With that I created 'FlyRice', my cyber identity.

What better place to live in than 'The Rice Bowl'.  I think the whole story suits my current situation and the situation that I've been anticipating my whole life.  I'm breaking away from the rest of the grains and finding my own way.  I'm making my own story and I'm finding my wings, but I'll always keep a part of my past with me.  I'll always be from 'The Rice Bowl' (China/Asia/Home) and I'll always be able to fly back to that and know that I'm welcomed somewhere.

As for the drawing, its a design that I've jotted down several times.  I'm not a great artist, I admit, but I stole my friend's drawing tablet for a couple hours and abused her Photo-Shop pretty good.  Its not the greatest thing in the world, but it's my expression...and now my mascot.  So if you look close, I have my Rice Bowl, and above it, there's me.  The one flying grain of rice, off to make her way through the world.  There's my philosophical answer to the history of 'Rice'.

'The Rice Bowl' has slowly started to find its feet.  Yes, I still use it as a diary, sometimes.  But its more of a way to let people look in on what's happening with me and my life.  I spew thoughts, events, stories and even song lyrics when I get bored.  'The Rice Bowl' moved to TypePad sometime in 2005 when my father (GZExpat) started his own tinkering in the art of blogging.  We both went 'corporate' and bought domains for our blogs as we both used them frequently.

So with the face-lift that the 'Bowl' has endured (and there might be more tinkering to come) I feel like I'm ready to fly on to my next adventure, whatever life may bring.

Slight Rennovation

I'm currently trying to rennovate The Rice Bowl.  I'm looking for a new look...something a little less dark.  Yes, this is a big step for me.  So bear with me while these changes occur.  I will keep posting during my rennovations, but I think they are long-awaited.

Thanks!