Toy story

Every piece of toy means a lot to a kid. I didn't have many toys when I grew up. Dad worked really hard at that time and Mom was busy, too. Besides teaching junior highs in school, she has three daughters at home waiting to be educated. :)

Every Christmas Day, we will get one toy from the Santa Claus. On birthday, we sometimes will get toys from Mom & Dad, too. But the Santa Claus one is always the most special one cuz it'd be exactly what I prayed for the night before!

I don't remember all the magic gifts but I remember the joy and surprise every year till I was 12.

One year, I saw a music box doll in the department store but it's out of budget. He smiles at me and plays beautiful tunes lightly. I looked at him for a long time. But I didn't ask for it.

Although it's what I'm dying to get for but I know it's too much for Santa to get. The next morning, I opened the box expecting the gift I prayed for last night would show up. Then I saw the doll standing in the box smiling at me. After that night, I let him to play the light tune every night before I fall in sleep.

Almost 20 years later, I still have him in my room in Taiwan and he still plays the same light tune gently, peacefully... Although his smile is gone from the time, it's still in my mind as well as all the other Christmas magics we had.

Good night, Charlie. It's another beautiful night here. Hope the night you have there is shinny with stars, too.

Portrait

人生有時會遇到一些人...讓你想停下腳步去看看自己在對方眼中是什麼模樣的人...
Sometimes in our life, we meet somebody who lets you want to stop and see what you're like in their eyes.

Things can go wrong...

Things don't always go well. Sometimes they look wrong and ridiculous.

But thinking too much or pushing too hard is not always the only or the best solution.

In a life this long, we all need to learn to let go eventually or sometimes just to trust others.

We all had bad experiences so it's not an excuse and we all had personalities.

Step back.

And you will see a bigger picture... Like using a prime lens...

Remember...

Herb。Life

認識我的人都知道我有多熱愛九層塔~

離開台灣後，住過深圳、墨西哥都跟這他沒緣。雖然也有人有取得的方法，但對於吃的我一直很隨緣，東奔西走，總得適應當地的大環境...

這次在Provigo超市，讓我遇到了.... :)

我們在看Fresh basil plant的時候，我看到旁邊一個寫Basilic-Thai' (法文)

泰國的羅勒? 手搓一片聞了一下... 就是九層塔的味道耶~

當場手舞足蹈的"旁"了一盆給哈你聞... "就是這個! 就是這個! Taiwan Basil!"

然後用史瑞克裡面pussinboots的眼睛望著他說 "可以買嗎?"

...結果想當然而~ e_<

不過還是有不同啦~ 台灣的葉片比較大，可是這節骨眼，誰管這個啊！

於是，我們家現在活著的生物除了我哈你和Coca還多了兩盆植物囉～ ^^

希望每一隻都健康啊~

A Serious Man- a Coen brother movie

I guess I shouldn't be too surprised of the ending after 'Burn after reading'.We all need to switch our brain to Coen brother movie mode while watching their movies.

The story is simple. A professor of mathematics who always do right things, live in life in routines, tries to be a serious man until one day that his wife wants to divorce. He can solve complex problems of mathematics but can't figure out why his wife all the sudden wants to leave him... And people's suggestions to him is to talk to Rabbi.

The structure of the movie is one of the interesting part. It starts with a Jewish folklore in Hebrew about a husband met this old man on the road and invited him home. But his wife heard that this guy was dead so she did futile things trying to find out if he is dybbuk* or not. Then the movie officially begins after...

There's always message that Coen brothers trying to send through the movies. However, when I saw their names showing on the screen and the ending theme started, I had no idea what the message is.

Then I think more and reviewed a little bit. There's one part in movie I found it very important.

It's when the Korean student sitting in Larry's office trying to tell him that he can not fail him for the midterm cuz he needs it for his physics scholarship. If he doesn't pass math, he will not get the scholarship and he will feel shame.

And Larry told him...

'You can't really understand the physics without understanding the math.

The math tells how it really works, that's the real thing.

The story I give you in class is just illustrative.

They're like fables, say, to help give you a picture.

I mean... Even I don't understand the dead cat. The math is how it really works.'

That's the key of the movie.

The visits of the Rabbis to find out what's the answer for the problem he is facing is using his match brain and attitude to handle his world. But when it comes about life, we need to switch our brains to physics way of thinking to know that things around the world sometimes could be totally random. Lots phenomenon doesn't have only one or any answer to explain.

Then while he changed the score of the Korean student to C- in the end, he got a phone call from his doctor about his x-ray result. Will you say that's Karma or just another random thing happens in life?

Like a lot of questions we would have in life, we don't know. And we probably will never know the answer or if there's one.

In the end, it's just like the fable in the beginning of the movie, nobody knows for sure if the guy is a dybbuk* or not.

Coen brothers didn't just give you an answer to believe. Instead, they just remind you and show you in a humorous way, 'Hey, this is life we are talking about...' with their special way of humour. I would say that's kinda humble. They didn't think they are that great to define anything that nobody could give answers in the real life. I respect that and think this is the best part about movie and any arts... to pass a message to the crowd and to cause thoughts or effects afterwards... like butterfly effects... bigger and bigger...

*dybbuk: In Jewish folklore, a dybbuk is a malicious possessing spirit, believed to be the dislocated soul of a dead person

經典

曾經有一個人說過 '經典 就是需要花很久的時間和精神才能完成會學會的...'

真的是在贊同不過了...

最近有很多時間瀏覽網路上的文章,書籍... 由衷的懂得了'Pop culture' 這個詞的意義...

隨身從台灣帶來的兩本書是年代久遠的文學作品 Die Verwandlug 和 Robert Capa二戰時期的回憶錄。

Die Verwandlug 意外的好讀且耐人尋味...書雖薄但震撼很大...

Slightly out of focus (失焦) 是Robert Capa在二戰時期 在各地戰場奔波時的手記整理和幾張照片分享... 戰爭 這個議題,向來不是我的菜... 但是在文字背後，我對"記者"這兩個字有了更深的認知和肅然起敬的感動... 他在一個空軍營中待了5天拍了軍人們 在休息室打牌、寫信...一些等待期間的活動照片，正覺得無趣時，他們接到指示出動了，最後一艘飛機回來時，裡面一名受傷的士兵被抬出來，然後一具屍體被抬出來，在他跑到旁邊照相的時候，駕駛飛機的士兵哭了 他問 "記者先生 這就是你這幾天一直等著拍的照片嗎？" 他關上相機馬上離開那座軍營... 心中的糾結和情緒，可想而知... 很有意思的一本書...讓我想再複習些傳記書了...

另外一樣最近常做的活動，是在wiki pedia上 研讀一些60-90年代的老樂團和樂史... 重新認識了 Paul Simon, Velvet underground, Nico, Belle& Sebastian...etc.這樣的人物和故事...

一向對歷史和地理一翹不通的我，在陌生的國度裡，發現了人文的樂趣，也發現了史地是帶領你對這門學問更了解的最佳工具。

高中時怎麼不懂這道理 悶著頭就選擇自然組了呢？

人生真的充滿太多的問號了...尤其是我的 呵呵

The Little Kitchen story

I guess every kitchen all has its own story.

If all the kitchen sit together to chat about their old days. It will be like this...

'I remember the day that the dad brought back a while little box from aboard. The whole family was around the little box watching a cup of water got boiled. How funny was that!'

'Do you remember the first time Peggy tried to bake a cake for her mom's bday? She got the cake burned and smoke all around the house. I was coughing so bad ...'

'My favorite time is always when Mrs. Forum cooks curry. It smells like heaven...'

.....

Looking around our little kitchen, I wonder what kind of food the previous resident was cooking here.

Yesterday I saw a commercial on TV. It's for Honda Civic. A technician finished a can of pop then throw the can to recycle ban. Then it shows how the can and other cans was recycled and remade to part of the engine parts. Then the technician puts the engine in a new Honda Civic. Then slogan shows up 'One car. A

million stories.'

What an outstanding line! A line that would cause you couldn't help to

Anyways, today the story is about the kitchen. The kitchen that might had thousands dishes cooked, maybe some French or poutine (wha la~)wonder... wonder about the stories happening around you. It

brings the unlimited imagination to my day. :)

The very few dishes that I can name it for certain are following... not that successful banana bread, 獅子頭白菜滷, salad, soy sauce and garlic baked pork chop, mashed potato, beef curry stew, rice (tons of them :D), noodle soup...etc. and so on...

The story belongs to my little kitchen is still growing... my little multi-cultured kitchen. :)

Curry Rice with Spinach salad night

Our dinner tonight....
Just to write it down here so I won't forget how to make it next time ;)

Beef Curry Stew

Ingredients:

Carrots *3 (Medium length)

Potatoes *3 (Medium large size)

Onion *1/3

Beef for stew * 1 lb (cut into one-bite sizes)

Curry paste brick *100g (S&B mild hot is my favorite)

Vegetable oil 2 table spoon

Pot A: boiling carrots and potatoes for roughly 10-15mins (medium fire)

Pan B: (frying pan)

Add vegetable oil in pot with big temp

Wait till the oil is warm

Add the Onions to fry for 1~2 mins

Add the beef to let the surfaces cooked so the juice will stay inside

Filter PotA to dry and add it to PanB

Add 2cups water till boil, turn the stove temp down to medium

Boiling for 10 mins or so till the potatoes and carrots are softened

Then add curry paste and stir properly till it's melted

Spinach Salad

Spinach 4-5 cups

Avocado 1/2

Tomato 1 cup

Spring onion *1

Raisins 1/4 cup

Spinach cut into one-bite sizes as well a

s tomato, avocado

Mix them all together then put raisins and spring onion on top at the last

(oh yeah, spring onion needs to be cut into small pieces)