Some exotic experiences during social distance era
x/y/z I have been sick for a while now, so I tried to not respond to all these fights, like US-China “cold” wars, like protests, like any political fights in small groups … My world is much simpler, I only wish to be surrounded by mature, sweet, funny and/or inspiring friends 🙂 I hope people don’t read between the lines, as one of the sources of fighting is people don’t know each other and then misunderstand each other.
hospital visit: After locking inside for more than 2 months, I was so looking forward to going outside. I am even very excited about this whole day hospital visit. In this one of the best US hospitals, people handle things very professionally. Before I went, I received a book that describes when and where I can take exams, and what types of preparations needed for the exams.
After the temperature and the mask checks at the front desk, I entered this giant building that is more than 20 floors tall and has multiple connections to other buildings. It is so busy that people are running around with very fast paces. It is pretty much impossible to keep social distancing. Everybody wears a mask, many of them are home-made with interesting styles. I was laughing so hard when somebody looks like a “bank robber” walking towards me 😀 With the guide book in one hand, with the specimens in another, I got this feeling of exploring an amusement park :). My fear for covid-19 is truly reduced after I saw so many doctors and nurses (Thank you) working hard in the hospital.
attacked by a goose: One day I selected a less walked path for running to avoid people. On my way, I met a family of geese — a daddy goose, a mommy goose and two small goose babies. They were crossing the trail. I have stopped and patiently waited for them to pass. The daddy goose hissed at me with his long tongue. I sticked my tongue out and hissed back. I was trying to tell him that I just wanted to pass the trail. Apparently, my goose language is not correct. When I started running again, this goose daddy suddenly flied towards me. I was panic, and tried to run faster. Apparently, this was so dumb. “Don’t you know that geese can fly :D” This big goose caught me up, used his rough big wings slashed my back and then used his beak patted my head. ERR, they smell so bad … I then turned around and ran towards a different direction, BUT, there were another family of geese. In this apocalyptic era, geese took over the world 😀 So I stopped between two geese families for about 2 minutes, Then sneakly, I started running again …
This goose attack is fierce, I got the scratches on my shoulder and a giant bruise on my back …. In the next few days, when I sat at the porch and I saw hawks diving down, I have this illusion that he was going to attack me 😀 Well what heals me is that my son selected his favorite pink piglet and assigned him to protect me ever since then 😀
July
By chance, this picture I drew a few days ago aligned with the exciting launch happening this weekend. I am looking forward to seeing the international space stations set up on the moon (3-days travel) and on Mars (9-months travel) in my lifetime. I am so happy to work in STEM. Day by day I realize that it is for the human good, it is unlimited and it is romantic …
June
Tchaikovsky op 37, the seasons — June: it is a beautiful piece, like the summer streams in the mountains. I have caught it a couple of times while listening to Pandora, so I have to play it. Tchaikovsky is my favorite and his music is emotional but not those small whiny emotions; he can create music splendid like fireworks. (Bach is then my another favorite, he explores the limit of your logic thinking and I often fail :D)
Behind the scene, it is a fun one that exercises your fingers fully. It is g minor but with sharps and flats instead of regular cords. A lot of measures need three or four fingers down spanning the entire octave, and need paddle to make legato. There is also a section called arpeggiando/arpeggiato[It.]. The interesting thing about this technique is that it connects to bowing in the string instruments (a bouncing stoke played on broken chords in such a way that successive bounces fall on different strings). Guzheng, a Chinese instrument also uses a similar expression. My left hand is so clumsy that I have been stuck in this section for a while now, so today you only can hear 1.5 pages of June instead of 5 pages 🙂
May
Red and green
Bright and brighter
Clouds and rains
Light and lighter
Birds and bees
High and higher
Until
Ponds and hills
Crops and fields
Buildings and streets
Small and smaller
Until
Wins and losts
Rights and wrongs
Fames and prospects
Far and farther
Until
All become dusts
......
Only the warm and free wind
Chimes in the ears
a note about the pandemic
4/5/20 received the tenured letter at the April fool’s day, lol
I have read many sad stories and many touching stories lately. I found my words are so in vain compared to those. Here are some links to share.
- “…Then they came for me…”: the first confirmed case in Ames reported on March 20th. On March 21, the owner of the Lockwood cafe posted “the confirmed case is my close friend, and we were in contact lately. My family is currently under self-quarantine … “. Oh, noooooo, I was in the cafe a week ago and I was having sore-throat and cough … So you know, I have gone through the thought process. Luckily, it was not corona-virus.
- about the famous toilet papers
- about closed daycare: at some point my left hand was holding a 40 lb and my pants and shirt were covered with his warm pee, and my right hand was cheerfully writing the research questions on my laptop. Then he was sleeping soundly. That’s life.
Movies last year
2/23/20 think about how much I need to do in the next 2 weeks, I think I would rather be a pig … “OINK”
Every year Feb, the post Oscar season, I like to review the movies I watched last year.
Parasite: this is a hilarious movie like a surreal piece of art! it is dark, ridiculous and thus sarcastic as if it asks “don’t you think these differences between rich and poor people are ridiculous?” I saw some comments online asking why the guy killed the rich people at the end —- well, it is not a rational movie!
Joker: it is a touching movie! Todd Phillips was a comedy director. Yet, sometimes, comedy and tragedy are none-distinguishable. The Joker does not do anything wrong but rarely gets any sunshine in his life! He kept repeating “whether or not I exist does not matter” Joaquin Phoenix’s Oscar speech was equivalently touching. I suddenly understand that one of the missions of these Hollywood people is to speak for whom don’t have a voice.
Once upon a time on Hollywood: Old man can be hot! I was smiling big when watching Brad Pitt topless on the roof! 😀
Marriage story: some of my girl friends really like this movie. I just want to say “take it easy, people!” The most graceful divorce I know is the case of Warren Buffett and his wife. Warrent Buffett likes Omaha life while his wife Susan likes the city life. At their 50s, Warrent encourages Susan to pursue the life she wanted. So she moved to SF and they lived in two places and visited each other often. Later, Susan saw that the nurse who took care of Warren for many years can replace her to continue taking care of Warren. So they divorced and then Warren can marry his second wife. Warren and Susan were still very good friends after that. (added later: horrible! this story is not quite correct!! I am not that good at gossip!!! please read Internet for correction LOL)
Apollo 13: a powerful movie! It is a great example of human collaboration! I wish I could be a part of saving their lives …
Better days: it is a good Chinese movie! Two people do things for each other, don’t have to be for man and woman type of love
Russian five: I have a colleague who said “it is so touching, I cried when watched this movie” OMG, I was so bored after I watched it for 15 mins and had to turn it off, lol
Downtown Abby: a well-made movie! It is like a handsome and smart guy standing in front, it is pleasant to watch but have no chemistry.
Good boys: very funny 😀 The older I am, the more I like comedy and funny things
All about dance
2020/0202 last week, I felt my youth dies. “A generation lost in space”
This week, I hope it can rebirth!
“Well, I know that you’re in love with him
Cause I saw you dancin’ in the gym
You both kicked off your shoes”
……
Well, actually what I saw in the gym is those serious ladies very carefully follow instructor’s steps and dance into the music “give it to me, baby, give it to me …” I did not mean laughing at people, but it is just funny 🙂 Yeah, I am getting older and older, and I have to be a hot old lady 😀
Another note about dance —- have you read Haruki Murakami’s “dance dance dance”? Haruki Murakami was very popular in China long time ago. I started liking him until recently after I read his interview in Paris Review.
Rome, the unforgettable
1/19/20 here comes the snow tubing and skii season! the driving is challenging with snows, ices and cross winds. Sometimes, I pushed the break paddle all the way down and my car was still sliding, uh-oh! Drive safely, my fellow drivers 😀
Today, I start my blog with pictures. I feel my words are in vain when I try to say something about this. I have never been to a city like Rome. It is a living history museum and an archaeological cite. There are so many ruins, sculptures, basilica, plazas, fountains .. even from different periods of human history — the old Rome empire, the medieval, the renaissance, and the Baroque era .. When I stood on top of a hill watching the city, these buildings were shining under the early morning sun, I was touched by the human civilization!
How romantic it is that in the morning, when you wake up, you see St Peter’s Basilica on the horizon
or see some Michelangelo’s sculptures in an afternoon walk?!
The Roman history is very interesting to read. The Romans established a form of government, a republic, which was copied by countries for centuries. The Romans had great engineers and architects. Remember the saying “every road goes to Rome”? The Romans built many roads locally and across cities and military bases (the first highways?). The Romans also built many aqueducts that distribute the water. Of course, there is this one of the world 7 wonders the Colosseum that is still standing.
The Vatican city is the smallest country located in Rome. There are walls to separate Rome and the Vatican city. The pope and the church people live in the Vatican city and have their own laws and independent governance. Popes once had so much power —- they collected many treasures and stored in the Vatican museum. So many people come to visit here every day.
Of course, the most famous thing in Vatican museum is the Sistine chapel. It is still a function chapel used by the pope. So it is not open every day. The ceiling and “the last judgment” are indeed very astounding. You are not allowed to talk in the chapel as the vibration from the sound can cause the pixels fall from the ceiling. In fact, a large piece of painting had fallen. Unfortunately, we had no solutions yet how to preserve them.
Visiting Vatican and St Peter’s basilica , I have a lot of questions about Christianity. Please forgive my naiveness here. Was Jesus Christ a real person? must be, since there is a basilica where St Peter was buried. He is considered as a follower of Jesus. Stories in new testament sound like mythologies? How they are created? How Christian became so powerful in a relatively short period of time? Do people especially who major in marketing and politics study these? …
Rome is so big. You probably feel that I was stuttering when writing this blog and I cannot sort out the information in my brain. In this trip, I just quickly showed things around for my parents. I certainly will come back myself.