Just for fun

My daughter "ordered" me to do art and crafts with her every Wednesday night. I was very reluctant because I have always been busy. But it turns out I enjoyed it very much. To sit down and concentrate on things like art is unexpectedly peaceful and heart-purifying. But what's really important is, I actually spent some quality time with my daughter.

Here is some of the "art work" produced during those "creative" nights...

The Virtual Laser Keyboard

Hate to type on your tiny PDA but yet hate even more to carry a heavy labtop? Problem solved - The Virtual Laser Keyboard (VLK) may be exactly what you want.

I can hardly tell the difference...

Highway in American


Highway in China




The difference is one (and guess which one) is only three or four years old, much younger - generations younger than the other!

Dan Brown and John Grisham

I read a few novels in a row in the past couple of months - Deception Point (by Dan Brown), The Broker (by John Grisham) and The King of Torts (by John Grisham as well).

Two authors, two different styles.

Dan Brown - His novels mainly belong to the fantasy category. He always writes gripping stories, always makes me want to turn the page and read on. Very intrigering, very fast-paced, and also informative (Not that I believe everything he wrote - remember, we are talking about novels here.).

John Grisham - a legal thriller writer. I liked "The Firm" the most, but these two books made me yawn a few times. For example, "The Broker" spent almost half of the book describes how Joe Backman adjusted himself to Italian living, how he learned the language, what is the history behind some of the famous churches, etc, etc. However, as I patiently read on, I started to like the little city that John Grisham elaborated about. I started to like the characters as well, so much so that I often thought about them long after I finished reading the book. There is some kind of sophisticated or romantic feeling that I didn't want to let go of. Strange, isn't it? While when I finished reading Dan Brown's fiction, I felt I enjoyed a great story, learned a few most advanced techical gadgets and some scientific or political info, but not too much about the characters. Dan's fictions are just very interesting, smart stories while John really owns a superior way with words.

Eat up the world in tiny chunks

I was surfing the Internet today and came across Keri Smith's personal blog. I like her way with words. She is ... quite inspiring...

What's my hometown like now?

往事越千年，
魏武挥鞭，
东临碣石有遗篇。
萧瑟秋风今又是，
换了人间。

Ok, maybe a little bit exaggeration here. But I heard it has changed a lot. I will be able to see it in just a few days!

Extreme Papercut

This is what I call creativity ...

Brady

The Consequence of Watching Movies

Certain movies are dangerous.

My family went to see "Eight Below" the other day. Afterwards everybody thought we must, I mean, must own a dog. Why not, they are adorable, sweet, protective and smart! That's right, they are smart. Even though we just got new furniture and put in new floor, the dog wouldn't touch them, because he would know the furniture is for the humans to sit on or put stuff on.

Two weeks later, my husband and I were visiting pet adoption places. Soon we found ourselves driving home with a 40-pound dog, Brady. The good thing about him is - he is already house broken! According to my husband, that's priceless. It would be a nightmare to have a puppy in the house.

My daughter was very happy about the new comer. She screamed with the weirdest high pitch when she opened the door for us, for a moment I was afraid Brady would attack her if she didn't stop. The only calm person in the house is our son, who, after a moment's pause, timidly asked, "who is going to take care of him?" A thin thread of worry crossed my mind when I heard that.

"Oh, no, you don't have to worry, he is a dog, not a baby!" My husband sounded very experienced. My confidence immediately swelled to the maximum again. I added, "That's right, not only you don't have to worry about taking care of him, he, is going to protect you!"

The joy was immense the first day. Brady seemed to understand a lot of things that we humans do. He was gentle and sweet. He followed us around all the time. There is no doubt that Brady loves his new home very much.

(To be continued.)

I Have Decided...

to end this blog. It is too far from my expectation. I wouldn't blame it all on my lack of talent - I am also too busy to create anything worth reading, as least by myself. After all, I want to write something nice about the things I love - my family, my friends, economics, religion, politics ..., but it turns out I am posting links to other's stuff most of the time. Maybe I should just call it free advertisement? So I have decided to quit. Right now I just have to focus on my family and my job.

Before I go, some updates for my dear friends:
We haven't moved yet. If we did not put your state in our wish list, that's because your state is too cold, too city-ish or too expensive to buy a large land (we love country dwelling). :) But still, we love you all!

L

Potty Mouths In IT

Only after I joined the IT industry did I start to realize how much swearing comes out of the mouths of the highly educated people each day.

Maybe they think swearing is the best way to release stress from the ever-approaching deadlines. Maybe they think it's the best way to separate themselves from "nerds" or "geeks". Maybe they feel cursing makes them more manly and more attractive to the ladies. Maybe they fancy they were fearless soldiers and sailors fighting enemies in the IT world...

I don't know. I just wish I could have my own company someday so I can freely implement my manner discriminative policy .....

Where Does The Energy Go

North America at Night

Europe at Night

Asia at Night

South America at Night

Australia at Night

Africa at Night

If you want a tattoo

and if you want it to be Chinese characters, these words can be good candidates:

神 Spirit
道 The Way
德 Virtue
安 Tranquility
平 Peace
气 Energy
清 Clarity
明 Enlightenment
美 Beauty
义 Righteousness
仁 Benevolence
慈 Compassion
恩 Grace
恕 Forgiveness

Based on the book: The Spirit of the Chinese Character

Pushing the Right Button

It's been a while that I haven't checked my daughter's homework. The report cards always looked good. After all, she is old enough to be responsible for her own schoolwork now.

Last night, I don't know what happened, my daughter voluntarily came to show me her latest homework - a composition. The teacher wanted them to write something most memorable. When I read the small piece of paper she handed to me, I almost jumped out of my seat! The thing she wrote was nothing worth remembering. It is one paragraph of words consisting of about 10 short sentences structured like "A is B" or "A did B". The "memorable" thing was so vague, so fuzzy, so empty, so dry, so boring, so... I couldn't believe my eyes - She was the one who was praised by every single teacher that taught her; she was the only student in her class who got an A in their big writing test. Now she seemed to have gone all the way back to the 2nd grade. Suddenly I couldn't think. I was totally distressed. I believe my daughter was ruined, by my negligence.

I don't remember everything that happened afterwards, but I do remember there was lot of my lecturing, lot of her tears, lot of my threatening, lot of her promising, but bottom line - she didn't want to rewrite it! She insisted her composition was just what her teacher wanted. Finally, exhausted, I said, "I don't care. From now on, I will keep your laptop, your stereo, and your CD player until you rewrite it!"

I think the last thing I said pushed the right button - this afternoon, on my desk, I found this brand new composition from her. Though it is not perfect, I was much relieved.

The Hills of Santa Fe

It was the summer of 2004, my family and I went on a trip to Santa Fe, New Mexico. We checked into a hotel and immediately went sight seeing. It was very cool. Later in the afternoon around 2:00, we went to one of the biggest hills there, where you ski during the winter. The hills were HUGE! They totally towered over us. I felt puny in their presence. My mother took some pictures of my brother Luke, my dad and me. Then we set out to the top.

The sun was hanging above our heads, but it was still chilly. As we advanced to the top, we stopped to admire the beauty of nature around us. The trees showed off their small green leaves, the wind blew gently around us. We had views of tall majestic trees, the obsolete ski lift hung over us and rocked gently as the wind danced around them. We even found a tiny patch of snow and ice silently and quickly melting into the soft and fertile soil, and the grass crunched beneath our feet as we marched on.

Luke and I hiked ahead. Soon I was in the lead, I felt like we had walked forever, and I was beginning to think we would never get to the top. I was tired, my feet ached, and beads of sweat covered my forehead. I stopped more often to rest, and the mountain became steeper. However, I was encouraged whenever I looked back to see how far we’ve come. To me I felt we’ve covered a great distance. We finally reached the top, and it felt great! The wind greeted us and my energy came back to me. The view was magnificent! Every direction I turned to, there were green grass. The hills’ massiveness decreased a bit, small trees and shrubs waved. The blue sky smiled down upon me. I felt like I could fly. I was very proud.

Though it took forever to climb to the top, in a matter of minutes I was at the bottom again, and all the way down I was all smiles.

天若有情天亦老

天若有情天亦老，月如无恨月常圆.

Tough Choice

My family has been talking about moving for a long time. A few states are in our minds:

Colorado: This one is my husband's favorite. He loves the hilly pastureland and snowy mountains there. When we were just friends (not dating yet), he told me he was moving there. It sounded as if he was packing up and leaving the very next day. But things never happened as planned - another "un-died" dream.

California: After two semesters of living in South Dakota, I stayed in Berkeley for about 4 months before I came to Texas. I loved it there! I loved the weather, the food, the China Town in SF and the people (they seemed not as plastic as Dallas people). But, there were too many houses, too little land. Where to put horses (I always wanted horses, what if I have a couple someday)? Ok, I will let this one go.

Tennessee: Gorgeous, gorgeous state, and, my young stepdaughter and her husband live there. We have driven to her place, Knoxville, quite a few times. Each time, the view of the mountains and forests simply took my breath away. Literally, my heart beat faster. Each time when we drove away from there, I felt something precious was slowly and cruelly taken away from me. The thing is, if we live there, where do we find jobs?

Alabama: We have driven to Mobile and Huntsville a few times. I loved both cities. The beauty of Alabama can compete with Tennessee, but so is the scarcity of job opportunities.

Georgia: Our good neighbor moved to a small town north of Atlanta last fall. They've called us pretty often since then - mainly to persuade us to be their neighbor again. Their propaganda: it is a beautiful place, and it is close to Atlanta so we should be able to find jobs. Oh, boy, we know nothing about Georgia, but, we can at least check it out!

One of the Midwest states: this one I don't know for sure. I am attracted to the kindness of the people based on my experience in South Dakota, but I am also intimidated by the severe winter!

Any help on the choices?

Religion Trail

It is extremely hard for a Chinese to convert to a Christian. The difficulty for him/her to overcome evolutionism is no less than moving a mountain.

I have been meadering on the road of religion for about ten years now. It had been a struggle, but I am much wiser than ever, I hope...

(This one is so heavy, I probably need days to finish this subject. Will continue later...)

Why blog?

Reason 1: My English

My husband once told me (after reading my email), "Dear, your English is great. Whenever you answer the phone, nobody can tell you are a Chinese. But, be careful with your writing, that's when you give it away." I know he was being gentle to me. Over these years he has developed strong skills of guessing what I mean to say in my writtings. If he still tries to caution me, I know it is about time for me to practice my written English. The blog is an excellent place to do so, because I have to be a little more responsible with the words I put on the Internet.


Reason 2: Family and Friends

Hopefully by coming to my blog, my parents, my brother and old friends in China will be able to trace my activities more easily. Of course, if any friends in the States are willing to bear with my writing and read my blog, that will be great too!


Reason 3: Memory

Interesting things happen everyday. We usually just let them pass easily. I think it might be a good idea to capture some of the moments that may bring great pleasure to read when we get old. For example, my husband is a very funny guy. If he wants to, he can always make a very boring trivial thing into a laughable drama. When he does that, his countenance is so animated, his tongue is so flexible that makes all sorts of sound effects, his mind is so quick in picking out the most unexpected words that make all of us burst into laughter. Sometimes I just want to get a soda and popcorn and sit there watching him like watching a show. The blog would be a good place to record those kind of moments, wouldn't it? *

These should be good enough reasons to start a blog, right?

* My husband doesn't agree with me. He said those things are indescribable because they happen so spontaneously, it would be dull to try to replay them with words.

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