China is such an ancient country with billions of people cultivated by lots of old philosophies as well as radical new changes coming with the political system.
It maybe hard for others to fathom the contemporary Chinese romance. But from these love songs, you can see the Chinese vulnerability regarding love. Maybe even get some insight into the generation grew up with such influences.
These songs have melodramatic and romantic lyrics like:
"Don't tell him that you are afraid in the dark; that you like the roses he gave you the most; that you like him to wait in the rain ... because those are my most precious memories."
"I used my happiness as a wager (for you) ... losing you, I lost everything."
"I am a playful and free kite, everyday making you worry. If one day, you become a kite, how do I get back to you? ... Because I know you are a worrying little girl, so before the rain cloud comes, I come back to your arms ..."
Monday, June 13, 2011
What Melodramatic
If Shakespeare tragedies are dramatic, then Chinese contemporary dramas are melodramatic. My definition of melodramatic is, the story has a bad ending, but it is so depressing that you feel like you fell into the mud and stuck there forever, until you stop thinking about it.
I'm not saying only the Chinese dramas has the capability to be melodramatic, because I'm sure Japanese literature and art has the potential well exceed the Chinese. But my statement was just merely my observation of a couple Chinese contemporary dramas.
I'm not saying only the Chinese dramas has the capability to be melodramatic, because I'm sure Japanese literature and art has the potential well exceed the Chinese. But my statement was just merely my observation of a couple Chinese contemporary dramas.
Don't Read News
One thing that's hard to bear about the work week for me is the fact that I work at the computer all day, and it gives me plenty of opportunities to go on the online news media to check daily news. To me, most news are toxic in different ways.
Is news reality or reality check or distraction? Most news are negative. Someone's misfortune or misconduct stirred up interests of the mess, and every news agency starts chiming in on the latest development as well as detail breakdown analysis. The media grows on others' misfortune.
How about the readers like me. Am I encouraging the media? I would have to say guilty as charged. However, bad news is so draining and depressing. Why do I take it upon myself to endure such negativity?
The solution? Stop dwelling into news, and focus on the now and what's around me.
Is news reality or reality check or distraction? Most news are negative. Someone's misfortune or misconduct stirred up interests of the mess, and every news agency starts chiming in on the latest development as well as detail breakdown analysis. The media grows on others' misfortune.
How about the readers like me. Am I encouraging the media? I would have to say guilty as charged. However, bad news is so draining and depressing. Why do I take it upon myself to endure such negativity?
The solution? Stop dwelling into news, and focus on the now and what's around me.
Saturday, June 11, 2011
My Meditation
How do you meditate? How do you learn to do it? I have some Yoga and relaxation books that talk about meditation, but I don't think you can learn how to meditate by reading books. Just like it's hard to learn how to dance by reading a book, eventually you have to do it.
I've been to Yoga classes where the teacher teaches meditation. The idea is to keep the mind focus on one thing, one phrase or one idea. When you realize your mind drifts away, you catch yourself and put the mind back to the original thing. Slowly over time, your mind is calm and peaceful focusing on the one idea, without drifting away.
One night I was awake until late, because I played on the computer until late and had some strong tea at dinner. It kept my mind restless. I was tossing and turning thinking about many random things. When the clock showed 2 AM, I decided it was time to try falling asleep, so that I could have a normal work day tomorrow.
To calm down my mind, I lied on my back with Savasana pose, and started breathing deeply. In my mind I wrote the Chinese character date - 日 - and I breathed slowly once with every stroke. Every time when I finished writing the character in my head, my thought would already be wondered away from the writing, and thinking about plans or fantasies. So When I started writing the character again, I intentionally brought my thought back to the character. The first ten to fifteen times when I wrote the character 日, my mind continued to wonder away somewhere in the middle of the writing. However after a while, my mind slowed down, and I was able to stay with the character. Slowly, the character morphed into a donuts, then it morphed again into a piece of cloud. All the ideas became irrelevant for the moment, and I eventually fell asleep.
I've been to Yoga classes where the teacher teaches meditation. The idea is to keep the mind focus on one thing, one phrase or one idea. When you realize your mind drifts away, you catch yourself and put the mind back to the original thing. Slowly over time, your mind is calm and peaceful focusing on the one idea, without drifting away.
One night I was awake until late, because I played on the computer until late and had some strong tea at dinner. It kept my mind restless. I was tossing and turning thinking about many random things. When the clock showed 2 AM, I decided it was time to try falling asleep, so that I could have a normal work day tomorrow.
To calm down my mind, I lied on my back with Savasana pose, and started breathing deeply. In my mind I wrote the Chinese character date - 日 - and I breathed slowly once with every stroke. Every time when I finished writing the character in my head, my thought would already be wondered away from the writing, and thinking about plans or fantasies. So When I started writing the character again, I intentionally brought my thought back to the character. The first ten to fifteen times when I wrote the character 日, my mind continued to wonder away somewhere in the middle of the writing. However after a while, my mind slowed down, and I was able to stay with the character. Slowly, the character morphed into a donuts, then it morphed again into a piece of cloud. All the ideas became irrelevant for the moment, and I eventually fell asleep.
Monday, May 30, 2011
The Importance of Shoes
Are you a shoe person or a purse person? It's very sad but true, shoes and purses are my guilty pleasures. It's comforting to know, however, I'm not the only woman who possesses such obsession. In fact, it's probably quite normal for our population, except for a few outstanding individuals I know and admire, who have unsurpassed self discipline and self control to disregard material things. I continue to strive to become one of those exceptional people.
I try hard to reject the temptation of those things, but in my weaker moments, finding good pairs of shoes and a nice purse brighten my day. Until the next good find comes along, which haunts me at night.
I try hard to reject the temptation of those things, but in my weaker moments, finding good pairs of shoes and a nice purse brighten my day. Until the next good find comes along, which haunts me at night.
Creepy Things
#1 The two Tans
Jack's 3rd Ave. kiteboarding webcam was down for close to half a year now, because someone dropped it when moving it. As the kiteboarding season started this year, more and more people were noticing the absence of the webcam, and emails inquiries came to Jack's mailbox.
One day Jack told me Tan offered to donate his home computer to host the webcam server, so we wouldn't have to rely on the company hosting the webcam. Jack refused it a few times, because the hosting server was not the root cause of the problem. Jack just needed to get the webcam fixed and get it back on line. After a few times of unsuccessful engagement and many technical suggestions, Tan stopped emailing Jack with further offerings. Both Jack and I were quite amazed what a persistent person our friend Tan was.
Last week Jack came home and told me, "this guy walked up to me and said: it's good to finally meet you." It turned out it was the Tan who was emailing Jack, who was a different guy from our friend Tan.
#2 Confused about the singer
Finding out my favorite love song from high school was sung by a man rather than a woman.
#3 Are you alright?
One day I found Jack in the bed room lying on his belly. I was startled thinking he was fainting.
I screamed: "Are you alright?"
He looked up and said, "yes, I'm fine."
It turned out he was trying to deflate an inflated globe, and he was lying on it to squeeze the last bit of the air out of it.
Jack's 3rd Ave. kiteboarding webcam was down for close to half a year now, because someone dropped it when moving it. As the kiteboarding season started this year, more and more people were noticing the absence of the webcam, and emails inquiries came to Jack's mailbox.
One day Jack told me Tan offered to donate his home computer to host the webcam server, so we wouldn't have to rely on the company hosting the webcam. Jack refused it a few times, because the hosting server was not the root cause of the problem. Jack just needed to get the webcam fixed and get it back on line. After a few times of unsuccessful engagement and many technical suggestions, Tan stopped emailing Jack with further offerings. Both Jack and I were quite amazed what a persistent person our friend Tan was.
Last week Jack came home and told me, "this guy walked up to me and said: it's good to finally meet you." It turned out it was the Tan who was emailing Jack, who was a different guy from our friend Tan.
#2 Confused about the singer
Finding out my favorite love song from high school was sung by a man rather than a woman.
#3 Are you alright?
One day I found Jack in the bed room lying on his belly. I was startled thinking he was fainting.
I screamed: "Are you alright?"
He looked up and said, "yes, I'm fine."
It turned out he was trying to deflate an inflated globe, and he was lying on it to squeeze the last bit of the air out of it.
What Happened in the Car
One day Jack and I drove to 3rd Ave. I was holding a coffee, because there was no cup holder available in the car. As we talked, I made all kinds of hand gestures as my usual animated self.
At the red light, I turned to look into the blue truck next to us, and the driver was also looking at me. I looked away as Jack and I were still talking about an exciting topic. All of a sudden I lost grip of my coffee and it almost flew out of my hands. I spilled coffee all over me. In a hurry, I wiped myself and from the seat belt. I turned to look at the guy in the blue truck again, he was looking straight ahead, bouncing his head with the music from his radio, while shaving his mustache with an electric razor in a nonchalant kind of way.
Just the other day in the car, I saw the driver of an SUV pouring coffee from one Starbucks cup to another.
You'll be surprise what you found people doing in the car nowadays, and it is ever so amusing.
At the red light, I turned to look into the blue truck next to us, and the driver was also looking at me. I looked away as Jack and I were still talking about an exciting topic. All of a sudden I lost grip of my coffee and it almost flew out of my hands. I spilled coffee all over me. In a hurry, I wiped myself and from the seat belt. I turned to look at the guy in the blue truck again, he was looking straight ahead, bouncing his head with the music from his radio, while shaving his mustache with an electric razor in a nonchalant kind of way.
Just the other day in the car, I saw the driver of an SUV pouring coffee from one Starbucks cup to another.
You'll be surprise what you found people doing in the car nowadays, and it is ever so amusing.
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