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May 4, 2007

自己看著辦

胚到沙龍去坐了一下(點選右欄的[女主人的沙龍]),那篇"請不要對我負責任(加長版)"讓我心有戚戚焉。

這半年來,有三個男性朋友突然跟我談心,我有點受寵若驚,即使我都說明了我不是心理醫生,我的專長是認知心理學,不是臨床心理學。換句話說,我不懂人格分析,我不懂心理諮詢,我的博士學位是專攻視覺注意力。所謂視覺注意力,跟學習障礙一點關係也沒有。三位朋友中的A試圖要我告訴他怎麼樣能幫助他專心。他告訴我他有多麼清楚自己的弱點,知道自己的極限,但是他不知道該怎麼突破。
那三十分鐘裡,我幾乎忘了我曾經對A有多反感,因為他追求過所有我認識的女性朋友(包括我在內),他有嚴重的[訊息解讀障礙]--不知道委婉的拒絕是拒絕的一種。

然後是B。
我跟B一點都不熟,兩年多前曾經一起修過一門課,課後也沒有 hang-out,只是偶爾在校園裡遇到打個招呼,連朋友恐怕都稱不上。
有一次在咖啡廳遇到他。他跟我當時都在寫論文,所以有公幹話題,於是聊了起來。談論文寫作的過程是多麼費心費神費時費力,談找工作的過程是多麼心力交瘁,談工作簽證的細節是多麼刁蠻。
然後一天之後突然 email給我說有重要事情要跟我當面談。
他跟我說他喜歡某人,他跟我說他們之間的互動,他們吵了一架,那女生要他不要再騷擾她,他問我他該怎麼辦。

接著是C。
認識C是在我學 salsa 那年夏天,一年後我轉戰 tango,他開始嘗試 tango、swing 和所有的國際標準舞,不過他沒有特別專精的舞。
跳了一晚的salsa,C堅持要我留在他車上半個小時直到凌晨三點,要我給他意見。
他暗戀他的國標舞舞伴,
他知道那女生並不對他傾心,他問我他該怎麼辦。

這些問題,他們真的需要我的意見嗎?
我不是很了解他們,我從未想要親近他們,他們知道問題在哪裡,他們幾乎可以脫口而出的回答那些問題,他們為什麼要我說什麼?

我一直是很好的聽眾,好到我討厭我自己--因為我不懂怎麼要對方閉嘴,我曾經對著電話點頭說嗯兩三個小時,只為了當時那個朋友莫名奇妙想太多的心事。
所以我不再乖乖的傾聽,我選擇定時的打岔,我總是先問:你只是想要我聽呢?還是你真的真的需要我的意見?
這對我來說是人生很大的一步,大到跟因此跟某朋友刻意亂了線。
我就是不能再繼續當無聲的支持者。

A、B、C三人都要我的意見,於是我給他們我的意見:

不要再蒐集意見了
不要再聽從任何人的意見了
我跟你不是很親,我不認識你的心上人,我看不透你的生活方式,我不能預測你的言行會造成的結果。
如果你需要我幫忙打氣,我說加油,你要對自己有信心。
如果你需要我的意見,我只能對你搖頭。

B不能接受我的表白,非要我說如果我是他,我會怎麼做。
問題是我不是他呀!
我不是男人,我不是印度人,我沒有收過[請不要來騷擾我]的email,我不認識那個褐髮美國女生。
我說:跟她攤開來好好講。
他說:不行,我沒有辦法接近她,她不接我電話不回我信。
我說:你知道她的辦公室在哪裡,選一個大白天,很多人走動的時間,你去找她。
他說:不行。我辦不到。
他說了幾次 "I can't" 之後,我無話可說,開始扯開話題。

A跟C就對我比較理性,點頭良久之後都給我一個擁抱。
即使是很要好很親的朋友,我都不給意見了,何況這幾個不熟的男生,亂給意見、自以為我是專家會造孽的。
尤其是感情的事情,太私人了,千言萬語都難盡,我聽我不多說。

我也不接受朋友給的意見,
因為感情的事情太私人了,千言萬語都難以描述事情的發生,難以表達今昔不定的情緒。
我自己看著辦就行了。
在 Helium寫了一篇 "When you love Mr. Wrong" ,因為我相信沒有人可以判定一段關係,甚至是一段還沒確定的關係,是好是壞是錯是對,只有當事人了解,當事人要學著不聽旁人的多嘴。




April 28, 2007

brilliant


South Orange is an old village.
The Town Hall is titled "South Orange Village Hall", written on an old entrance of an old cute movie-setting-like building.

When driving, one can feel the oldness of the town: roads are going different curving directions. That means I got lost many times. It could be as horrible as driving in downtown Boston.

It was raining when I arrived. The supervisor of my near-near-future apartment suggested me to walk around in "the village", naming downtown, which is the area including the town hall and the train station.
I walked in. I was suddenly placed into a romantic aura. The buildings were in earth tone. No neon commercialized billboards. Trees here and there. People looked friendly and casual.

My stomach asked for food. My eyes found a movie theater, first.
Turning to the other side of the train station, I found a bakery right beside Starbucks.
Great! I know where to get my coffee and good pastry. This bakery looks like sincerely producing good pastry.


I walked in. Music was playing in the background.
"My life is brilliant." James Blunt's voice filled the space. It is the first song "You're Beautiful" in his album.
I looked into the display. They had various sweets. The non-sweet pastry was on paper boards, which required my imagination to convince me which one I wanted. I picked tomato mushroom mozzarella quiche.
This choice took me about 5 minutes, during which James Blunt started singing his next song in the album. This indicated that it was not radio playing in the background. It was Blunt's album.

Oh no. I shook my head in my head. I told myself:
Calm down. You gotta to be out of this store before "Goodbye My Lover."

I was not calm. Even the thinking of avoiding "Goodbye My Lover" when waiting for the cashier, my eyes were wet.
But I had told the cashier that I was eating here, meaning I had to eat fast.

At the time I sat myself down, music stopped.
Voice of chatting, ordering, and... wait a moment... the rain stopped too, I looked out the window.
It was like someone sensed my anxiety and poured silence and calmness into the space.

I enjoyed my lunch.


I am gonna miss State College, the little town in Happy Valley.
I am gonna like South Orange, the cozy town in a timeless village.

Even though most of my State College friends are moving away (Marc, Zabeth, Rose, Yang, Bryan, Andrei, Florian, Cheng, Mohamed, etc.) and State College will not be the same in two months, the memory of it remains dear to me. I will miss my time being a graduate student, learning yoga, salsa, and tango, partying with Europeans and anthropologists, and transforming from a strong old soul to a childlike young spirit -- everything is possible.
I am excited to say goodbye.
Tears will tell a mixed feeling.

Today I discovered what I can do in South Orange:
There was a Cold Stone! There was a Japanese restaurant! There was a brewery (oh, I'll miss Marc & Zabeth a lot). There was a salon. There was an outdoor pool and picnicking park.
The train could take me into Manhattan in 30 minutes.

"My life is brilliant. " Blunt's voice singing in my head.

April 21, 2007

地球生病日

春天終於來了, 趕在今天的藍白大賽前, 春天的太陽春天的暖風和春天的花栗鼠.


適合練習走繩索的好天氣


停車場停滿車, 草地上都是人, 空氣裡瀰漫著大學生的興奮叫囂, 我已經過了看美式足球的歲月.

今天四月二十二是地球日, 胚胚很傷感.

六天前, 33人死於非戰區的美國校園.

八年前, 當趙承熙還是高中生的時候, 12人死於高中校園.
昨天, State College 市立高中停課, 因為在學校裡發現一封恐嚇信.

地球的氣候在詭變
人心也在詭變

酒吧又開始在戶外開桌, 大學生又開始在晚餐前喝醉, 拔掉滅音器的車
又開始在街上奔馳.
賣舊書的咖啡店裡展示著當地藝術家針對環保議題的創作, 路人的 T-shirts 上除了 Penn State 字樣外, 還可以看到 Virgina Tech 或是 "Penn State, We remember 04. 16. 07"
我只想閉上眼睛.

沒想到我早已經到了憂國憂民憂世界的年紀, 這禮拜卻強烈的想要表達, 在 Helium 上寫了幾篇文章. 人心, 壞了社會環境也壞了自然環境.


看著在街上 party 的大學生們, 和跟計程車司機互罵的男生, 和差點連續被兩輛車撞上的女生, 和在兄弟會前大鳴喇叭的車底螢光跑車, 我懷疑這一切所謂的教育都是浪費.

如果你是念教育的, 你的理想是什麼, 如今理想還在嗎? 還是嘴巴上說說而已?
如果你跟我一樣想著到底我們可以為社會為地球為自己為下一代做什麼, 你會跟我一樣開始在網路上宣導, 開始跟身邊的朋友討論你的憂心嗎?

(picture from www.vanityfair.com)

我要開始發表宣言, 希望你我在承認和自許之間, 漸漸的為這一切找到答案

我沒有槍
我不打算擁有槍
我反對槍支可以合法買賣

我回收可利用資源
我使用省電燈泡
我隨手關燈
我的車用油量低於美國平均
我的下一部車要是使用有機燃料的車

我儘可能的購買有機食品
我不吃連鎖速食店的食物

我不以膚色取人
我支持非異性戀者享有異性戀者的權利
我支持女性有選擇的權利

我尊重宗教
我不聽從任何宗教的教規

我要試著關心週遭的人
獨行俠的心只會越來越窄, 當大錯發生時, 覆水已難收


政客在玩弄的議題都是生活裡人與人之間相處的元素, 政客太遠了, 不如我自己開始做, 不如我試著勸你開始做.
這不是行善, 這是做對的事.
希望一年後的今天, 我會開心一點, 地球上的所有生命都開心一點.







the bread

As mentioned in my last post, I baked a bread.
The recipe came from http://www.thimble.ca/?p=132, and I modified a little.
Here are what I put in the mixing bowl:

1/2 cup butter
3/4 cup brown sugar
1/2 maple syrup
1/2 cup plain yogurt
3 ripe bananas
2 1/4 cups flour
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp allspice
3 Tbsp grated fresh ginger
some walnuts

mixed raw material


60 min later

This particular recipe is different than many others that I have tried. The difference is that this one requires both baking powder and baking soda but no eggs. Marc suggests that the amount of baking powder here is too much and gives the bread some bitter after-taste.

It turns out the 3 table spoons of grated ginger are not enough to bring out the ginger flavor. (According to the original recipe, 1 to 2 Tbsp would do)

So I am going to bake another one with more ginger and no baking soda and less baking powder and two eggs.

The bread itself, regardless of the above evaluation, is good. We almost finished it.
It is great by itself, or dipping into hot woo-long, or dipping into iced soy milk.


April 16, 2007

projects to kill time

As you may have known, I had been bored since my PhD defense until several new projects started in my new life routine.

1. Tango at least 3 days a week. This is why mama has difficulty reaching me these day. During her morning, I am always dancing and not hearing my phone ring. During my morning (meaning 10 am to noon), mama is not awake.

2. A follow-up line of research after my dissertation project. This is why I force myself to show up in school by 9:30am. Again, I found something interesting. Hopefully this will become a successful project and paper writing with Zabeth.

3. Movie catching up. I am seeing at least one movie every week, which was a standard before I started doing my dissertation 1.5 year ago. DVDs or film fests are usually better choices than what is in theaters now. What I really wanna see in a theater is almost always not playing in State College.

4. Writing a lot on various subjects excluding visual attention. You can find a link on the right side of this post. It is titled "pei's other writings". I write at Helium. It is quite fun for me. I write one to five articles a day there.

5.
Reading newspaper. It is an old interest of mine. When I was in Taipei, I loved to sit all day long with three different papers, reading page by page. Magazines are good too, but my favorites are issued monthly, meaning that they cannot fill my daily reading needs. Therefore, finally I take advantage of Penn State's reader-ship: free New York Times, USA Today, and Central Daily Time.

6. Baking. I do not cook, as you know and as I promote myself. But I like baking. My most proud baking products are banana bread and chocolate muffins. I just found a blog post on banana bread with ginger ( http://www.thimble.ca/?p=132 ). I am gonna make it on Wednesday. Stay tuned.

7. Doing laundry. I am not obsessed with laundry. It is hard labor. But I have to do it.