It started Monday. First it was just a little uncomfortable. Then it got worse and worse till midnight. I couldn't even sleep because of the pain. Finally I managed to fall asleep, only to wake up very early in the morning. Aside from the pain, I felt dizzy and very tired. I called in sick, looked up local dentist and made an appointment.
It took me whole morning to get a bottle of amoxicillin. I worked a little bit in the afternoon, but end up watching movies online. I couldn't eat much. The infection is so serious that it's even a little difficult for me to swallow.
However, the pain, somehow, makes me forget any other troubles or unpleasant things in my life. It happened to me a couple of time before. When I became sick, I started missing the healthy time, which I usually was not very grateful for. The pain is a good reminder. It's saying: look, now you see how worse the life could be. Daily life is very fragile. It could be broken anytime, even without any reason.
Thursday, May 27, 2010
Wednesday, April 28, 2010
Liangliang and The Tale of Two Cities
Next week Liangliang will go back to Beijing for the whole summer. Very much excited, she is planning a lot of things to do in Beijing. By splitting her time between New York and Beijing she leads a life of, in Charles Dichens' words, The Tale of Two Cities.
Maybe we all are yearning to travel back and forth. Life is elsewhere (for whomever read this book I will buy dinner). I guess people in New York are especially prone to such urge. After all, most of us came here to search for a different life in the first place. In Le Petit Prince, the Little Prince saw trains passing in front of him one after another from different directions. In the end he concluded that only children know what they are looking for. The rest of us, in his eyes, are not as lucky.
But Saint-Exupery wrote this story when he traveled to New York because of the war in European continent. The book was published in 1943 in New York. Incidentally the bookstore helped him to publish this book located right in Rockefeller Center. I didn't know this until the owner closed it last year. I was only able to catch a glimpse to its inside from the window. The writer returned to Europe later. He Like Liangliang and us, wanted to go after life elsewhere. New York is as much a destination as a new starting line.
Then we have J.D. Salinger, a New York native. For a while he lived in an apartment on East side several blocks away from where I work. From there he moved to New Hampshire and lived in recluse till his death. He gained his fame through his well-known tale staged in New York City. His eccentricity is puzzling. While another native New Yorker, Woody Allen, basically crystallized his deep love and admiration for New York City in movie "Manhattan". To him the only cultural advantage of Los Angels (hence the rest of the world) is one can "make a right turn on a red light". In his seventies he still plays clarinet in a Jazz band every Monday in Carlyle Hotel. Amazing. Nonetheless, in recent years he has been making movies in London, Barcelona and Paris. Sooner or later we grow out of New York City.
So does Liangliang. The spring term ends, along with her many Manhattan shopping sprees and late night parties. When she comes back in fall, she will tell us her version of The Tale of Two Cities. I am sure it will be fancinating.
Sunday, April 18, 2010
On a picture my friend took for me
Thanks to Chen Yuan for sharing my image out, - like everyone has not been fed up with it!
The last time I paid attention to my own appearance was many years ago, when the cutest girl in my kindergarten pushed me out of way for a nasty handsome boy much taller than me. Back then there was not much I could do about it. A fight with him ended seconds later with my walking away with a bleeding nose, and I had already given away all my favorite toys and candies to the girl. So with a broken heart of a four-year old I only watched from distance that they were savoring my milky candy. For the first time in my life, I vaguely realized that girls prefer certain type of appearance to my own...
Before long I left kindergarten for school. It turned out a more challenging place to win girls' favor, especially in our junior high school. For a while they all seemed to have a big crush for our P.E. teacher. Then the fervor expanded to those boys who were good at sports. Anyone who ran fastest, or jumped furthest was treated like hero. The girls always stood around the basketball court and cheered for the team. I was two-year younger than most of my classmates and in consequence was disqualified from the team every year. But I was not completely forgotten. I was ordered to hold the clothes and school bags for the players. Last year when I went back for class reunion, most of girls didn't remember me, but they still had vivid memory of the huge pile of clothes and bags on court side. They were very surprised to know that I was buried underneath it.
After school I came to New York City, I felt relieved that in this big city girls don't value running and jumping as much as the rest of world. I figured running and jumping are useful when you hunt animals in tropical jungle. But a lot of girls in New York are vegetarians, or at least feel shameful to admit they eat meat. So you see how the world changes over time. I was grown up too. I was cautious enough to ask what the girls want before I do anything. Most of them said man with depth. The moment I got the answer I went back to pick up Shakespeare and Kierkegaard and tried my best to learn how to pretend I understand them. After practice at home for months, i finally had the courage to ask a pretty girl from Department of Philosophy out. It went well except I mixed Plato with Pluto and spend great length of time on other cartoon characters. But she was fine with it. Years later when she married to a multi-millionaire and became a housewife, it finally dawned on me that they meant depth of one's pocket, not mind. Well, it is always good to know.
Thanks again to Chen Yuan. It's always nice to reminisce one's life while looking at oneself in picture. The most important thing is, I realize that I am not losing hairs or becoming bald or anything. I am just pro-hat now.
The last time I paid attention to my own appearance was many years ago, when the cutest girl in my kindergarten pushed me out of way for a nasty handsome boy much taller than me. Back then there was not much I could do about it. A fight with him ended seconds later with my walking away with a bleeding nose, and I had already given away all my favorite toys and candies to the girl. So with a broken heart of a four-year old I only watched from distance that they were savoring my milky candy. For the first time in my life, I vaguely realized that girls prefer certain type of appearance to my own...
Before long I left kindergarten for school. It turned out a more challenging place to win girls' favor, especially in our junior high school. For a while they all seemed to have a big crush for our P.E. teacher. Then the fervor expanded to those boys who were good at sports. Anyone who ran fastest, or jumped furthest was treated like hero. The girls always stood around the basketball court and cheered for the team. I was two-year younger than most of my classmates and in consequence was disqualified from the team every year. But I was not completely forgotten. I was ordered to hold the clothes and school bags for the players. Last year when I went back for class reunion, most of girls didn't remember me, but they still had vivid memory of the huge pile of clothes and bags on court side. They were very surprised to know that I was buried underneath it.
After school I came to New York City, I felt relieved that in this big city girls don't value running and jumping as much as the rest of world. I figured running and jumping are useful when you hunt animals in tropical jungle. But a lot of girls in New York are vegetarians, or at least feel shameful to admit they eat meat. So you see how the world changes over time. I was grown up too. I was cautious enough to ask what the girls want before I do anything. Most of them said man with depth. The moment I got the answer I went back to pick up Shakespeare and Kierkegaard and tried my best to learn how to pretend I understand them. After practice at home for months, i finally had the courage to ask a pretty girl from Department of Philosophy out. It went well except I mixed Plato with Pluto and spend great length of time on other cartoon characters. But she was fine with it. Years later when she married to a multi-millionaire and became a housewife, it finally dawned on me that they meant depth of one's pocket, not mind. Well, it is always good to know.
Thanks again to Chen Yuan. It's always nice to reminisce one's life while looking at oneself in picture. The most important thing is, I realize that I am not losing hairs or becoming bald or anything. I am just pro-hat now.
Tuesday, April 13, 2010
Written on my last year's birthday
Thank you all for coming to our birthday party for Kevin and me last night, accidentally or not. Actually yesterday morning Yaofei called me that he was going to hold a “surprise” party for us.
“But why do you tell me if it is a surprise party?” I asked.
“Oh, I invited many people,” he said, “but I will be surprised if any of them would show up…”
It turns out that Yaofei picked top ten people according to Chengdu Yinxiang’s secret mileage system. The system gives you points when you eat there, and when you order anything from previous night you get double bonus points. Unfortunately Yaofei himself didn’t have enough points. He had to have leftover for breakfast there three days in a row so he can invite himself to the party. Nancy didn’t earn enough points either. So she bought new glasses, got her hair done, dressed like Sara Palin, and then went to a Republican fund-raising event. Some donor gave her 1000 points on the condition that she will run for governor of New Jersey next year. But she is smart enough to carry a copy of recent New Yorker magazine around so she still can date young Democratic lawyer.
Mark gave each of us a cigar-shaped gift. I thought it was out of battery because it wouldn’t vibrate. But I couldn’t figure out how to reload battery until Mark told us it was real cigar. I and Kevin felt very relieved because at least we know how to enjoy a cigar. We lighted one immediately after dinner. Yuanyuan gave me a lovely plant, which was literally a small tree. When I carried it on the street a NYPD’s mounted police officer started chasing me. It turned out that his horse was trying to eat the leaves. Pang Ye gave me two books about Putin on how he courageously fought with his baldness and conquered Georgia without wearing a toupee.
The electricity went out mysteriously for several times. I was confused and thought I should blow the candles out every time. Yuan Yuan hit me hard with chop sticks because I was blowing at her face. Later I had to apologize and explain why I would think her face as round as the birthday cake, layered with cream, butter and chocolate on it. Nonetheless, the real cake was great.
Again, thanks to Yaofei for organizing the party and to all of you for coming. I really appreciate it.
“But why do you tell me if it is a surprise party?” I asked.
“Oh, I invited many people,” he said, “but I will be surprised if any of them would show up…”
It turns out that Yaofei picked top ten people according to Chengdu Yinxiang’s secret mileage system. The system gives you points when you eat there, and when you order anything from previous night you get double bonus points. Unfortunately Yaofei himself didn’t have enough points. He had to have leftover for breakfast there three days in a row so he can invite himself to the party. Nancy didn’t earn enough points either. So she bought new glasses, got her hair done, dressed like Sara Palin, and then went to a Republican fund-raising event. Some donor gave her 1000 points on the condition that she will run for governor of New Jersey next year. But she is smart enough to carry a copy of recent New Yorker magazine around so she still can date young Democratic lawyer.
Mark gave each of us a cigar-shaped gift. I thought it was out of battery because it wouldn’t vibrate. But I couldn’t figure out how to reload battery until Mark told us it was real cigar. I and Kevin felt very relieved because at least we know how to enjoy a cigar. We lighted one immediately after dinner. Yuanyuan gave me a lovely plant, which was literally a small tree. When I carried it on the street a NYPD’s mounted police officer started chasing me. It turned out that his horse was trying to eat the leaves. Pang Ye gave me two books about Putin on how he courageously fought with his baldness and conquered Georgia without wearing a toupee.
The electricity went out mysteriously for several times. I was confused and thought I should blow the candles out every time. Yuan Yuan hit me hard with chop sticks because I was blowing at her face. Later I had to apologize and explain why I would think her face as round as the birthday cake, layered with cream, butter and chocolate on it. Nonetheless, the real cake was great.
Again, thanks to Yaofei for organizing the party and to all of you for coming. I really appreciate it.
Sunday, April 11, 2010
Another impression on Lijiang, Yunnan
We did horseback riding this morning. Along the way we can see the
local people and their houses. The large mountains are beautiful.
Lijiang the town is at the bottom of basin surrounded by them, some are snow-covered, glistening white under the blue sky.
The town itself is a big theme park, full of stores for tourists.
Quickly one will find it actually a big shopping mall. The rest are
retaurants, bars and inns. Aside from local culture(Naxi), another
major theme here is some type of softcore hippie life style, or maybe
more of kistch belongs to petit bourgois. The most impressive part is
its commercial success, which is a result of good management, some
cultural escapism and, I have to include, nice weather. Nevertheless,
as any successful product of capitalism, it does not immune to
eventual excess. There is now a copy of Lijiang old town five miles
alway. Taxi driver is boasting that the value of his license
appraciates 20 percent every year. New construction sites are plenty.
At night bars are crowded. They all have live performance. I couldn't take the music and show. I am wondering how many of those who come here to run away from big city can live without big city night life.
Although a visitor can tell immediately that much of the town is rebuilt recently, it is big enough for one to find pockets of original streets and buildings. The style is similar to that of Sichuan small towns, like the place where I was born. Either due to the rapid devolopment in China, or the simple fact that I am old enough, now those buidings have become cultural curiosity and one has to come here to see them.
The food is disappointing in old town. I have not found anything impressive so far. There are many good restaurants with reasonable price in new town. Do ask the taxi driver for recommendation.
local people and their houses. The large mountains are beautiful.
Lijiang the town is at the bottom of basin surrounded by them, some are snow-covered, glistening white under the blue sky.
The town itself is a big theme park, full of stores for tourists.
Quickly one will find it actually a big shopping mall. The rest are
retaurants, bars and inns. Aside from local culture(Naxi), another
major theme here is some type of softcore hippie life style, or maybe
more of kistch belongs to petit bourgois. The most impressive part is
its commercial success, which is a result of good management, some
cultural escapism and, I have to include, nice weather. Nevertheless,
as any successful product of capitalism, it does not immune to
eventual excess. There is now a copy of Lijiang old town five miles
alway. Taxi driver is boasting that the value of his license
appraciates 20 percent every year. New construction sites are plenty.
At night bars are crowded. They all have live performance. I couldn't take the music and show. I am wondering how many of those who come here to run away from big city can live without big city night life.
Although a visitor can tell immediately that much of the town is rebuilt recently, it is big enough for one to find pockets of original streets and buildings. The style is similar to that of Sichuan small towns, like the place where I was born. Either due to the rapid devolopment in China, or the simple fact that I am old enough, now those buidings have become cultural curiosity and one has to come here to see them.
The food is disappointing in old town. I have not found anything impressive so far. There are many good restaurants with reasonable price in new town. Do ask the taxi driver for recommendation.
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