PauseTalk Vol. 95

PauseTalk Vol. 95 was held on Thursday, March 20 at Bananafish Books, and it ended up being a bit of a strange one – attendance was low, with only five of us joining the session (and we were only four for a good chunk of it). After the fact it seems that a few regulars were not aware that it was taking place, which means I haven’t been doing a good enough job on communicating these. I’m also planning on taking the step of doing an attendance pre-check moving forward in our WeChat group, to gauge interest in attending (asking if anyone is definitely coming, likely to come, or would like to but it’s still up in the air). I’ve never done this in the past – part of the fun of doing the events was not knowing who will show up or how many – but it’s been two sessions in a row with a low group number, and I do feel like PauseTalk tends to be much more interesting when there’s a group of at least 10-12.

But that said, I still enjoyed my time with those in attendance, even if it meant the discussion going in directions we don’t normally go (jail experience, for example) – and I think a general theme that popped up was that of “uncertainty,” which certainly felt à propos considering how uncertain I was at the start of the session with almost no one in sight. Big thanks goes to Violet, who works at Bananafish Books, and who not only attended a PauseTalk for the second time, but always helps us in the use of the space, and making sure we close up properly (as we end after the store closes).

Below, a list of the participants:

• Henry (Translator)
• Jean Snow (Game Developer)
• Violet (Bookstore Employee)
• Wen Wen (Contemporary Artist)
• Yegor Ruzov (Physics Teacher)

What’s next? Vol. 96 would normally happen sometime in May, but I’ll first start by seeing with many of the regulars what timing works best in the coming weeks. When the date and place is confirmed, it will be shared here and in our WeChat group (contact me to be added).