Dana's World

workshop

2008-11-05T13:27:00.000-08:00

uiuc workshop
It's fun!!

Are you happy?

2008-06-17T14:18:00.000-07:00

Happiness started to walk away from the time when we were born.
I have heard more than once that somebody says "life is so boring". Why don't we have a better life after all those education and struggling?
When I first got the chance to dance,I felt very happy. When the first time, I recited a poem my kindergarten teacher taught me, my mother felt very happy.
But later, those things just became routine. Gradually, my expectation of happiness became higher and higher. Everyone has similar experience. But in that way, I would miss the happy time all the way in my life. I would not feel happy when I should have and I would regret on the day when there's no tomorrow left for me.
Only compared to hardship could one really notices the existence of happiness.
I can feel happy everyday now because I know I would be very unhappy without my lover. But now he is with me all the time. Maybe sometimes we face difficulties or we have to work hard, the most important thing is that we are together.

Why they like food in restaurants?

2008-06-14T21:49:00.000-07:00

A Chinese couple like to eat out everyday in restaurants. Sometimes, they come to this one. They will order four or five dishes- even for three persons(they have a toddler), that's a lot. But the wife is a big person and she likes to eat more than her husband, I blieve. She has two big moles on her face--one at the beginning of the left eyebrow and another at the end of it. They are so big that everytime I look at her, I am attracted by the moles. So lets call her "Mrs. Mole".
Mr. Mole is a good husband. When the baby started to kick or cry, he will hug him and walk outside on the street to make the baby happy while Mrs. Mole is goggling at the table.
Another time, I saw Mrs. Mole walked on the street and her husband followed her one meter behind, with the baby in his arms. They like to change restaurants everyday. The restaurants are their kitchen. When getting bored in one, they try another one.
But they never cook food for themselves.
I cannot understand why people would like do that. Of course, when I was working, I'd like to go out with my colleagues or friends occasionally or maybe every noon. But I will still leave some time to prepare food by myself. If you eat out every meal, what will you do if you want to celebrate something? Another concern is that the food from restaurants not always as clean as they look.
The forks, plates and cups are washed by a man you will never have the chance to meet. They hide at the back of the kitchen and do all kinds of dirty jobs there. With a good chance, he may be a Mexican who never takes medical examination. He may get bored to wash dishes everyday and wash them in a careless way--just imagine how hard it is for you to wash your own plates cleanly. Therefore, some dirt or detergent may stay.The process to make a dish is so complex that any step may go wrong without noticed. The raw material may be put in the same cart that you ever throw your plates in after meals. The food may be fried in dirty oil. The cook may tasted or touched the food. The food may fell on the ground, be picked up to the plate and sent to the table. Even worse, they may not use a board to cut food. They may directly cut it on the table where they put dirty dishes.
The possibility to get diseases from restaurants is higher if you go to them too often. You can never trust those out-sourcings if you know exactly how they works.

Perfect Life

2008-06-02T16:20:00.000-07:00

My life appears full of conflicts. My parents never feel satisfied the way I am.

When I got my job, they thought the place is too far from home and the job itself does not include a social security or pension after my retirement, which would be 30 or 40 years later, of course.

My mother always feel anxious about the future and hopes everything would turn out better in the future, which, under most situations, is not the case. But she stubbornly chooses to live her life in the future. She always believe that if she says something to me, my life would be better than hers, which could in turn make her life more brilliant. That is why she always turns to those greedy and inorgrant fortune tellers, who will always tell her what she wants to hear or give her some bullshit advices. And I turn out to be the major victim of those endless bullshits since whenever my mother is not satisfied with something, she will spend some money on fortune tell. And when she returns, she prepares loads of suggestions for me.

For examply, just a few days ago, she told me that before I went to US, she consulted a fortune teller who said that it would be better I do not. "Now you lose your job and you cannot go to college for your F1 visa, what you gonna do with your future?" I answered her calmly:"Since when you started to miss my former job? Do you still remember what you used to say when I was in that position? " She used to say that I have no future in that job and earn much less compared to others.

She thinks her words makes my life better, however, if I could care her less and neglect what she said , I would not have to suffere so much pain everyday. But she is my mother and unfortunately, I partly inherited and partly adopted her philosophy of life. Deep in my heart, I want to reach her expectation for me, live the way she wants me to live. Nevertheless, when I grow older everyday, I realized that I can never reach her expectation. There is always something new pop up in her mind. Even if I am a super-woman, she can still have plenty of critics.

Besides the conflict between my parent and I , there's a new and more complicated one. When I engaged with my husband-to-be, I noticed something odds going on. The two families, where I and my husband respectively came from, rarely communicate with each other. There's no welcome, kind atmosphere when they gather together. To me, it is clear that they are together not because they like to be but because they must, because it is required by custom and tradition, and because if they don't, rumours would fly everywhere in the village. My father and his father did not like each other at all and they do not have one single common interest or topic, what's more, they never want to develop one. My mother-in-law cannot wait to raise her grandchildren and I am responsible to fulfill this dream for her. But I have no plan to rush to bear a baby. This leads to more tension.I should have thanked the heaven that they have not yet fight with each other for once. Every time when I call them seperately, I feel the deep indifference if not hatred between them. They rarely mentioned each other. Like two seperate circles, the single and delicate connect point of the two family is the love between my husband and I. That is not what I want.

Some people will say 'I am living a happy life', whether it is true or not. But I even do not have the strength to lie.

All about meat

2008-01-30T23:23:00.000-08:00

This is my first try of podcast.
So much fun:)

有朋自远方来

2007-09-27T10:11:00.000-07:00

Today, I received an email from one of my friends. She gave birth to a chubby boy and sent me some photos of her son. He is so lovely！
In the life, there are always so many things that are full of sorrow, but sometimes a spark of happiness will let you believe that in fact life is beautiful. Therefore, in China, I admire one sentence "难得糊涂", which means that under most occasions you should let it go,you should keep one eye open and another close. Otherwise, life is too hard and you will earn nothing from it. A typical example is one of the main characters Wang Xifeng in "the Dream of Red Mansion". She is too shrewd to win anything at last.

爱人

2007-08-19T09:33:00.000-07:00

如果没有爱人
这房间再小也是沼泽
没有一个窗子
那都是别人的风景

如果没有爱人
再精彩的路途也只是虚构
精灵们走不下去
空留半生回忆

椅子

2007-08-03T10:51:00.000-07:00

两张椅子的脚还靠在一起
那上面看见谁和谁的影子
但心已分离
浸入湖底
窒息了却不死
这破镜之日
来得瞬间来不及抹掉现实

有感于婚后的生活，实际也并没有那么糟糕。感情还是很好，只是我却能清晰地体会到大地某处正在分裂，一开始只是很小的一点罅隙，就如同一块厚玻璃的内部有了一点瑕疵，然后不知不觉，你再看时已经有了一长条内裂，如同内伤，不知道该怎么医治才好，心里却已经先感到了分明的伤怀。
这些伤痕都与感情无关，只是在琐事上，不停分裂。有时为一句话，有时为一件事。婚姻分成了两层，一层是伯拉图式的精神婚姻，这一层是根本，被维护得很好，因为它是结婚的原动力。还有一层是婚姻的实质——每一天的生活。我透过每天的纠纷去看到内在那一层的完好，就如同隔了一层破布看到一块美玉，是应该欣慰？还是应该伤心呢?
老公是很宽容的一个人，应该说是太宽容了。相比起来，我就太尖刻了。实际上，我本身就是一个极其尖刻和自私的人，不愿意让别人侵犯我的权利。但是老公经常能够容忍让别人骑在他头上，很多时候他都愿意委曲求全——当然是为了长远打算，克己容人，典型的儒家思想。而我并不是这样的人，如果受了委屈，我就立刻要求声辩自己的权利。有时候要和老公一起忍耐，我做不到，大多数情况下我都做不到，就生了许多埋怨。比如现在搬家，到了规定日子，房东连卫生间还没有给装好，我就埋怨老公不催着房东做事，老公就觉得我很烦。他觉得凡是有不如意的事情，我都归罪于他；而我觉得，作为一个男人，对家里的有些事情，他就应该有担当。我认为他在处理这些事情的时候，应该大大方方，和别人有什么说什么，但老公说话时很吝惜，也很腼腆，点到即止。即使道理在他这边，别人还不觉得难为情时，他倒先觉得不好意思起来了。
有的时候，我也觉得我们俩在争夺家里的话语权。有些事情到底谁来拍板更好，都在无意识地争夺。比如我们要买一件东西，买还是不买，谁来定夺？定夺了是不是就有责任了？如果不好，下次怎么办?
结了婚我才发现自己是一个很喜欢独来独往的人，并不擅长合作。但夫妻间真的需要合作。以前看到有人说，夫妻生活像打太极，但是这个太极要打得起来，两个人的手得先愿意放到一起才行啊。一个人的话，我可以想干什么就干什么。但是两个人就需要宽容和忍让。比如我听戏剧的时候，老公就会皱起眉头、塞上耳机，直到最后忍不住叫停，我只能停下来。
男人，女人，和婚姻。

About Time

2007-07-06T19:50:00.000-07:00

Digest from Of Time, Space and Other Things

The lunar month is roughly equal to 29.5days. More exactly,it is equal to 29 days, 12hours,44minutes,2.8seconds,or 29.5306days.
The lunar year built up out of twelve 29.5-day months is 354days long,,whereas twelve lunar months are actually 354.37days long.
Now it so happens that 30 true lunar years come out to be almost exactly an even number of days--10,631.016.Thirty year built up out of 29.5-day months come to 10,620dyas--just 11days short of keeping time with the Moon.For that reason,the Mohammedans scatter 11 days through the 30 years.
The Sun makes its complete cycle about the zodiac in roughly 365 days, so that the lunar year is about 11days shorter that the season-cycle,or "solar year".Three lunar years fall 33 days,or a little more than a full month behind the season-cycle.
19 solar years contain just about 235 lunar months...The Babylonians added that 7-month discrepancy through 19-year cycle...Each cycle had twelve 12-month years and seven 13-month years.
The solar year,however, is not exactly 365 days long...is about 365.25 days long.By 46 BC,the Roman calendar was 80 days behind the Sun...Julian Caesar let 46 BC continue for 445 days so that it was later known as "The Year of Confusion"...In order to take care of that extra 1/4 day, Caesar and Sosigenes established every fourth year with a length of 366 days. It is called Julian year.
The 365-day year is just 52 weeks and 1 day long. If a 366-day year is involved,and if February 6 is on Tues day that year,it is on Thursday the year after.It is for that reason that the 366-day year is called "leap year"and February 29 is "leap day".

Jin's Bureaucracy

2007-07-05T12:09:00.001-07:00

Digest from The Manchus:

The imperial bureaucracy of the Jin empire bore little similarity to that of the Kitans, and part of the reason is to be found in the basic socio-economic differences between nomadic and sedentary societies. The Kitans and Mongols retained, at least in official policy, a strong attachment to the principles of nomadic life among their peoples and a toleration for traditional segmented political structures. They appear to have been disinclined to effect drastic changes in their economic and social lives by linking status or achievement to time-consuming attainments in civil or literary pursuits. For this reason, they largely eschewed the Chinese institurion of using written examinations to select and promote bureaucrats. ... In the case of the jurchens, however, the establishment of bilingual examinations by the peoples in question are evidence of a very different state posture.Unlike the Kitans or the Mongols,the Jurchens were not given land grants in China proper,nor were they committed to cultural precepts or political structures that were characteristic of nomadism. Attempts to use the examinations for the promotion of commoners or for restricting aristocratic access to high office were consistent, in the Jin empire,with aggressive programs to limit the privileges and the influence of the nobility,to centralize the state,and to prepare the dynastic constituency for a very broad role in maintenance of a civil system. These practices were all forerunners of the bureaucracy of the Qing empire.
...Manchu emperors were avid readers of the history of the Jin empire,and repeatedly referred to the dilemma of Shizong(1161-89),who could neither force the Jurchens to return to their old ways,nor sanction the new culture they were developing for themselves in China.

低谷

2007-07-05T10:50:00.000-07:00

忙忙碌碌
只为爬出低谷
不忍心回望身后的荒芜
前方的墙碰了多少堵
什么时候它才结束？

问苍天无语
春秋几度
都辜负
也找不到归路
也寻不到去处

热干面和辣子鸡丁

2007-06-30T14:07:00.000-07:00

最近请Grayson教授夫妇吃饭。他们喜欢辣味中国美食，主要是蔬菜，Carol还喜欢吃鸡肉。
我的Menu是：
主食：热干面
主菜：辣子鸡丁，清蒸桂花鱼，鱼香茄子，干煸四季豆，梅菜扣肉
汤：青菜豆泡嵌肉汤
甜点：西米露

我最喜欢富有挑战性的热干面和辣子鸡丁，最后出来后都挺成功。在餐桌上，还跟他们讲了辣子鸡丁的别名“红灯区找鸡”的缘由。
Recipe:

热干面 Hot Dry Noodle:
我用的是精面粉和盐做成的面条，最简单那种，煮一次就可以。如果是鸡蛋面，可以煮两次，第一次断生，拌上麻油搁置一晚，要吃时再煮一下。
原料：榨菜、肉馅、花生酱、辣酱、豆瓣酱\麻酱、芝麻、酱油、鸡精、盐、香油、葱花、蒜蓉、白醋、花生碎（我用了BBQ花生，压碎）
Ingredients: Chinese noodle, chopped Sichuan preserved pickle, minced pork, peanut sauce, spicy sauce, sesame, soybean sauce, chicken powder, salt, sesame oil, minced scallion, minced garlic, vinegar, minced peanut

1、开始煮面。煮熟后捞起，不要带水。
Cook the noodle in boiled water and then take it out without water. Keep the noodle dry.
2、在面里加入麻油拌匀，把面放凉。
Put some vegetable oil and sesame oil in the noodle, stur it.
3、做调料。热锅加油，油热后放入榨菜、肉馅、葱花、芝麻、花生酱、辣酱、豆瓣酱一同煸炒熟，加入适量盐，鸡精。
Put some oil in the pan. Then fry chopped Sichuan preserved pickle, minced pork, peanut sauce, spicy sauce, sesame, soybean sauce, chicken powder and salt in it. It will become a kind of delicious sauce.
3. 将面条盛入盘中，淋上调料，撒上少许蒜蓉、白醋和花生碎即可。
Put the sauce, garlic, vinegar and peanut in noodle and stur.

辣子鸡丁 Hot Fried Chicken
原料: 整鸡一只或鸡腿一盒, 花椒和干辣椒(1:4), 葱, 熟芝麻, 盐, 味精, 料酒, 食用油, 姜, 蒜, 黑胡椒白糖

1. 将鸡切成小块，不需要鸡翅和鸡腿（可以留着煮别的）。鸡块先煮熟，洗净，沥干。鸡块上搓上盐，这步一定要细致，因为以后就不再放盐了。然后放入料酒、葱花、味精、姜、蒜、黑胡椒。
这里的鸡不放血所以有味道。我和劳公想了个办法，使得那味道消失无踪。秘诀就在这鸡块要在冰箱里冷藏一晚。第二天你再端出来就只有调料的香味了。

2、第二天就可以炸了，先把鸡块弄干。放入热油锅里将鸡块炸至外表变干成深黄色后捞起待用。油锅一定要热，不然鸡块容易炸老。

2. 锅里放油, 倒入姜蒜炒出香味后倒入干辣椒和花椒。干辣椒一定要足够多。翻炒至气味开始呛鼻后倒入炸好的鸡块, 稍微翻炒后撒入葱段, 味精, 白糖, 熟芝麻, 炒匀后起锅即可。

漫步

2007-06-28T10:58:00.000-07:00

漫步

在初夏时分
不知名的小鸟在嘴贫
芳草茵茵
你说下次要带上透明席子
那就可以躺在草地树荫
但它必须是ultra-thin

我忍不住笑吟吟
别人都不会相信
你的腼腆中藏着这样一颗坏坏的心
但我喜欢这独一无二的礼品
只有我才见识得到的机敏
管那世外的猛禽
还是时光的入侵
你永远是唯一的麒麟
让风儿稍个音信
到云端，诉说这相爱相亲

无题
为得君欢心
一生力气尽拼
一片真心
不必比金
不必比银

樽前美酒共饮
浅唱低吟
换你一笑一颦
还恐晴转阴
愁入两鬓

恋恋一生

2007-06-26T11:15:00.000-07:00

恋恋一生

又是一场风暴
谁的错不知道
有多少夫妻一生相好？
生活的琐事连绵萦绕
抛在了脑后
把那份逍遥

正年少
故宫一朝
心儿跳
殿宇阁楼
无心瞄
花花草草
竟见老
一管凤箫
我为君
君为我
多少个良宵煎熬?

日子过得悄悄
爱不再尖叫
它流进了饭碗汤瓢
却不再抵达神经末梢
寻找，寻找
我们在公园奔跑
萤火虫飞上了树梢
和星星一起闪耀
天空再高
月亮也够得到
我们再老
爱情也不要
跑了味道

影子 Shadow

2007-06-25T10:59:00.000-07:00

看最近的流行歌曲，很喜欢《你叫什么名字》中的一句歌词：对抗现实想要把日子都过成诗。这句话提点了我，不仅因我没有将自己的生活诗化，也因为我本身也很久不再尝试牙牙学语地写一些句子，一些有意思的句子，哪怕在别人眼中分文不值。
心里有诗，笔下有诗，眼中有诗，生活才是一首诗。

影子

我们之间的过去
谁曾经厘清每一缕
那些流言蜚语
有个影子一直没变虚
你说不足以挂齿
但我并不是与世隔绝的金鱼

有一种说法在此地盘踞
我以为爱情绽放如雏菊
谁知道它败谢成一段俗套的乐曲
他人眼中的怜悯种种
女人心里的故事句句
原来都隔着一层你编织的蒙蒙细雨

Nocturnal Channel

2007-06-20T09:35:00.000-07:00

My husband and I like to watch TV series or movies when we have dinner.
Now we are watching a Chinese TV series called "The Chinese Style Divorce". You can guess the content from the title. It is really interesting. Coz once a couple watch such kind of TV, it will remind you what and how you should do or not to do in order to maintain a perfect relationship with your lover.
The first important thing is to be honest and keep your relationship as transparent as it could be. Once there is a betrayal behavior or you did something inadvertently like you kiss another opposite sex after drunk, you should immediately confess and explain it to your lover.
If you just let it go, someday your lover may hear of this silly thing you did and have a deep misunderstanding with you. Further more, this misunderstanding will lead to deep and irradicable suspicion.
No matter what you did, once the trust is gone,your relationship is also over.
When you cannot build the trust by all means, it means he or she is not the right person for you. In China, it is said that 'a short pain is far better than a lasting one'. In that case, you should say bye to your lover rationally.

Turning Plants into Plastic

2007-06-15T14:56:00.000-07:00

Ubiquity
Chemist Conrad Zhang and colleagues at PNNL tested a variety of metal catalysts—compounds that speed chemical reactions—in their search for an efficient method of transforming glucose and other natural sugars into hydroxymethylfurfural (HMF), a molecule that can easily be manipulated into a variety of chemicals and plastics.
The research could become the basis of a process that turns biomass such as trees, cornstalks and algae into feedstock for chemicals, plastics and fuels at roughly 100 degrees Celsius (212 degrees Fahrenheit), which is a lot cooler than the 600 degrees C (1,112 degrees F) needed for oil refining or the high temperatures (as well as pressure) such oil must undergo when it is formed naturally.

"A number of steps, including process development and optimization, have to take place before full-scale commercialization," Zhang notes. "It may take several years to reach that stage."

Ultimately, the plastic in a fork used at a backyard barbeque may be as directly plant-based as charcoal in the grill and the chef's polyester apron. "Direct utilization of cellulosic biomass for chemicals and fuel production is a challenging goal," Zhang adds. "Our results point to a potential process for the production of HMF from the most abundant renewable sources."

Also: Antibacterial Products May Do More Harm Than Good

Arctic plants

2007-06-14T12:44:00.000-07:00

permafrost
Hence, the Svalbard Global Seed Vault that the Norwegian government is building deep in the permafrost as a last refuge for millions of seeds in case of global catastrophe—natural or man-made. The icy archipelago may prove to be a last resting place for many species beyond its native Arctic flora.
"Colonization by shrubs, for example willows, would have a cascade effect on the ecosystems in Svalbard as there are only very fragmented populations of shrubs [there] today," Alsos says.

流萤

2007-06-07T13:33:00.000-07:00

在这个小镇上，每一个小房子都被树木掩映。到了夏天，屋前的草坪流萤飞渡。
我和老公一时童心再起，在家门口抓了六只萤火虫。把这虫子放到塑料瓶里。塑料瓶周身都用针戳了孔。但是，虫子们却再不肯发亮，估计是不高兴了。
为了哄他们开心，我采了些青草放进去。萤火虫就顺着青草拼命往上爬，爬到瓶盖下面，估计以为是到天顶了，就开心地亮一亮屁股。还挺好骗。
其实在这里，抓野生动物是犯法的。据说有个家伙就因为偷偷抓了个野兔烤了吃，结果就被遣送回国了。
这萤火虫很小，还算不上真正的野生动物，但我一则担心违法，二则担心他们过一晚上就死菜，就嘱咐老公一会就放了他们。谁知老公专心学业，临睡前竟然忘了。
第二天早上，老公奉命前去勘查状况。谁知，那虫子生命力顽强，竟然还好好活着，只是到了白天，他们就成了懒蛋，只是偶尔在叶子上爬一爬，再不飞了。老公于是放飞了他们。当天晚上，我们看到窗外似乎有很多绿光在飘移，估计萤火虫还挺喜欢偶尔进屋小憩一晚。

Sweetheart 心太软

2007-06-04T15:30:00.000-07:00

这个小甜点名字好，好吃又好做。做成后，晶莹剔透，亮晶晶，色味俱全。
Recipe 菜谱：
1、取30颗红枣。每颗红枣在一侧用刀拉开，如果有核，去核。
Get 30 red dates. Split each red date by cutting, and remove the cores.
2、一个量杯的糯米粉，加水揉成面团。搓成细长条。按红枣的长度将面条切成小段。
Put water in one level cup of glutinous rice powder and make into dough. Roll the dough into long thin sticks, as thin as it can be put into the red dates. According to the red dates' length, cut the stick into short sects.
3、每个红枣内塞入一段糯米粉。
Stuff one sect in each red date.
4、锅内加水，放入红枣和白糖，煮半小时即可，直到红枣表面皱褶消失。
Put some water, the stuffed red dates and sugar in the pot. Cook for about half an hour till the surface of red date becomes smooth.

Bipedalism

2007-06-04T14:26:00.000-07:00

The researchers "present a plausible and elegant argument in favor of the emergence of bipedalism in an arboreal rather than terrestrial context," according to an accompanying commentary by researchers Paul O'Higgins and Sarah Elton, both of the Hull York Medical School in England.
It "reopens the debate," they write, "about the origins of our own peculiar commitment to bipedal locomotion."
Pliable Paleoanthropologist Chimp Bolster Trampoline Knuckle Flakey Lavender Aubergine
Plateau Amphibian Reptile perjury profane Bauxite

Fly

2007-06-03T20:57:00.000-07:00

Fly:n.A fold of cloth that covers a fastening of a garment, especially one on the front of trousers.
Huechero:looter. Name derived from the Maya word huech or armadillo, an animal who opens holes in the ground, according to popular knowledge. The name, however, emphasizes the act of excavating. The rest of the process is known as huechería.
The modern world has made the sacking (=looting)of archaeological sites even easier.
War and civil conflict leave ancient sites and museums unprotected. In the most vivid example, 14,000 pieces were ransacked from the Iraq Museum.
In recent years, the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York and the J. Paul Getty Museum of Art in Los Angeles agreed to return artworks believed stolen from Italian soil.
It has diverted the spoils of tomb raiding from the United States to markets in Europe and Japan, where enforcement is more lax.
Gangsta ceramics Gringo Slouch Gobble Curtail repatriate provenance excavate

后来与Future

2007-06-03T18:47:00.000-07:00

I am teaching Prof. Grayson Chinese. Once when we discuss how to say future in Chinese, he got confused.
English-speakers think that ' the future is ahead and the past is behind of us'. But in Chinese we sometimes use 以后,meaning 'time afterward', to represent future, and "以前"，meaning 'time forward', to represent past.
It is really an interesting difference. From this tiny differ, you can infer further-more interesting things.
First,why does it exist? Well, I think it shows the different philosophies behind different language users. Or, more properly, the different philosophies give the different, sometimes even contrary usages of the counterpart words in different languages.
Here,Chinese philosophy believes that man will always stay and wait the time to come near,go through and leave away, while English philosophy believes that man can chase the time and move together with the time.
This could lead to the second topic I'd like to discuss.
In China,there is a rooted superstitious concept. We think that man could be immortal. The same man's spirit can live and die for thousands of times. There is no beginnings, and no endings. You can see in this situation, time does not matter at all. The poor or the rich, the comely or the ugly, the king or the slave, all of us never really die. But if you live as a better man in this life, you will get a better fate in the next one. Vice versa.
This concept could lead to extremes. The typical representative of the extreme is Taoism, which thinks that the less the man does, the higher he achieves, and the better the world will be.In his life, Man just have to stay quietly and passively. He does not need to do anything to change the outside world. Because the inner world is the endless origin of one's spirit, the only thing he should do is to make his heart more strong and complete. .
Because of this, Chinese maybe are not as positive as Americans.But I think Chinese philosophy about time can lead to tranquility of man's mind. No matter you achieve something or not, time will never betray you. It will always come and leave.

The wings

2007-05-31T19:52:00.000-07:00

The sun is bright
The birds fly
The sky is too high
The wings too fragile

Not sighs
but hates are brought by the sunshine
How can you tell
who is dying,
who is alive?
Today or Tomorrow
Both like devil in endless night
No cry,
Or the devil leads you to another crime.

Homesick Cake　家常饼

2007-05-31T13:20:00.000-07:00

家常饼，也许翻译成home-made cake更确切。但是我之所以想做家常饼吃，却是因为怀念过去在国内的生活。
最近想家，总是想起自己一个人游荡在北京街头的情景。租的房子旁边就有一家宏状元。几乎每天傍晚，我都会路过，有时买菜，有时逛街。我最喜欢宏状元里面的手抓饼——事实上，我喜欢任何油炸食品。
我去宏状元的次数也不多，大多数情况下，我喜欢自己做饭吃。但是那情景却深深印在我的头脑里。也许这是当初外表风光、内心落寞的一个标志。
Recipe食谱:
1，适量面粉慢慢加水和盐，揉成面团。加水到大部分粉潮湿时即可。多揉一会更筋道。想做几个饼就把面团分成几份。稍饧．
Put some water salt in the flour. Roll out it untile it becomes dough with smooth surface.Devide the dough into the number of cakes that you want to make.Each cake needs dough big as a fist.Leave it for a while.
2，在面板上撒上一些干面粉，放上面团，将每个面团擀成５毫米厚的长方形．刷上香油，撒上椒盐．长边的一边开始叠抓，抓成一个长条，拉长．从两侧向中间卷，最后对叠在一起，压扁，就制成了生坯．
Dust some powder on the chopping board and put the dough on it.Roll each dough into a flat rectangle,as flat as you can.The thickness is about 5mm.Brush some sesame oil on it,and dust some pepper salt.Fold it with pleats（the more the better） along the longer side into a stick. Stretch the stick longer.Rolling from both ends,then fold the rolls together.Press it hard to a flat round.
3，锅内热油，油温低．放入生坯，炸至两面金黄．
Put some oil in the pan with low heat.Put the round dough in it. Fry it until both sids of the cake become golden.

Digest from The Memoir of Xin Fengxia

2007-05-31T13:06:00.000-07:00

*About life:People who rely on their fame or their position are nothing but empty shells.The real person is revealed in his work and personal life.
*About art:He(Qi Baishi)told me that the principle of art was that what you paint should be like the subject,yet not like it.When you paint plum blossom,you should concentrate on the branches:with wisteria the blossom should be profuse but not chaotic.'You must paint the inner character,the spirit the nature of the subject.When you paint a peony you need to express its serenity and splendor:for a plum blossom,it is the metallic rigidity of its trunk and branches,and for peaches their luxuriant warmth.Once you have spread out the paper,you must first plan the whole structure.Such things as lightness and heaviness and the degrees of density and sparseness should all be in your mind before you start.You are not making a photograph;with material object as your basis,you are using your brush to produce something new,formed in your imagination.This is the spirit of art.'

Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis

2007-05-31T12:52:00.000-07:00

Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis
suffocate
Waste away:to lose weight, strength, or vitality

Anesthesiologist

2007-05-30T09:52:00.001-07:00

Aboard:in or into a group, association, or organization aboard> Example:She recently completed her residency and is aboard certified Anesthesiologist.

Anesthesia
Curator
Waver
Trapping
Fray
Suture
Sag

Anesthesiologist

2007-05-30T09:52:00.000-07:00

Healthy Sesame Ball健康小麻球

2007-05-29T14:34:00.000-07:00

在这边，吃不到自己喜欢的麻球。东海渔村（Mandarin Wok）的麻球，往往都快炸焦了，不够地道。昨天一时兴起，自己动手做麻球。家里有汤圆粉、澄粉以及黑白芝麻。唯一少的是馅料红豆沙，于是我就是芝麻酱加黑芝麻及一点面粉作馅料。
The sesame ball in Mandarin Wok is always over-fried. Yesterday, I decided to make it on my own. I have Glutinous rice flour, wheat flour and white sesame. But I do not have the stuff,red bean paste,yet I think peanut sauce with sugar,black sesame and a little flour will be a good substitute.
最后炸出来的麻球很不错，淡淡的金黄色，皮薄中空，芝麻酱略咸，口味正好。而且，我不用整锅油炸，而用少量油翻炒，因此命名健康小麻球。
Actually,the six sesame balls I made was quite delicious. It is light golden outside.The skin is so thin that there is quite some space between the stuff and the skin.I did not use a pot of oil to fry the balls but just use a little. Thus I call it healthy sesame ball.
Recipe:
1、将适量汤圆粉和一点澄粉混合，加入5调羹白糖（依据口味及份量可加多或加少），慢慢加入冷水搅拌。可以加一点水，然后用一根筷子搅拌一下。到大部分粉都潮湿时，改用手揉，揉成不怎么粘手的长条。
Put glutinous rice powder and a little wheat flour together. Add 5 tsp sugar in it (sugar can be added or reduced according to the amount of flour). Every time put a little water in it, and stir with chopsticks until most of the flour became dampen. Then make it into a long stick of dough by hands.
2、把长条分成几等份。每一份用手搓成一个圆球。
Divide the stick into several equal ones. Make each one into a ball by hands.
3、将芝麻酱、白糖以及一点面粉搅拌均匀。
Put sesame sauce, 2 tsp sugar and a little wheat flour together and stir. This is the stuff.
4、用筷子从圆球顶部戳个洞，不要戳穿底部，然后转动筷子，使洞变大，圆球的四壁变薄。
Dig a hole in every ball by a chopstick. Then make the hole bigger enough to put the stuff in.
5、用调羹将馅料放入洞内，封口。将圆球搓圆，粘上白芝麻。
Use a tsp to put the stuff inside the ball and close it. Let some sesame stick all over the ball.
6、锅内放少许油，小火，依次放入麻球。因为油比较少，在炸的过程中，不断翻滚麻球，每一面都炸到泛黄为止。Pour some oil in the dry pan. Turn down the fire and Put the balls in the pan. Turn the balls frequently in order to make them completely fried. When the outside of the balls become hard and bright golden, it is done.

nastygram

2007-05-28T21:17:00.000-07:00

nastygram - /nas'tee-gram/
1. A protocol packet or item of e-mail (the latter is also called a letterbomb) that takes advantage of misfeatures or security holes on the target system to do untoward things.
2. Disapproving mail, especially from a net.god, pursuant to a violation of netiquette or a complaint about failure to correct some mail- or news-transmission problem. Compare shitogram, mailbomb.
3. A status report from an unhappy, and probably picky, customer. "What did Corporate say in today's nastygram?"
4. [deprecated] An error reply by mail from a daemon; in particular, a bounce message.
Other new words:
testy menial vicarious miscue wear off

Girl on swing

2007-05-28T10:39:00.000-07:00

现在正在和老公一起找房子，8月的时候我们准备搬家。现在住在Urbana,也许到时候会到Champaign.
有一个house，门口就对着一个小公园，里面有几个秋千。也许是小时候没有玩够，直到现在我还是很喜欢荡秋千时那种飞起来的幸福感。在等房东回来给我们看房子的期间，我就一直在那里荡啊荡。
现在住的地方旁边也有一个很大的公园。有的晚上，和老公一起在那里打完网球，就会到轮胎式的秋千上晃荡一会。
秋千给我很多安慰。有时候，我觉得心情很糟糕，或者一天没有出门，也会溜达过去，在那里荡悠荡悠，看看灯火通明的露天网球场地，树木在黑夜里深深浅浅的绿色，和那蓝紫色的天空。有时候，松鼠和兔子们都会过来相伴。记得有一次我们打网球，两只灰兔就在围网外蹲着观看。其中一只偶尔还站起来，前肢缩在雪白的胸前，好像很high的样子。
I always love swings. When swinging, you have the feeling that you are flying. Sometimes when I feel bad, I will go to the park and swing for a long time. Nobody will disturb me. I love the tranquil evenings on the swing in the park.
The trees will cover you with variety green colors.The sky is dark, yet you can find it is purple. At that time, you will feel yourself like a tree standing firmly on the earth or a tiny animal living in this big world. What you could do is to see how time pass through,outside and in your body, and how it changed everything. Yet there will be no endings,no stops.

Pork steamed with dried mustard梅菜扣肉

2007-05-28T09:15:00.000-07:00

上周六的时候，和老公实验室的两个同学——一个是台湾同学，携了太太Grace同行，另一个是印度女孩，去了芝加哥的Outlet。所谓Outlet,就是所有品牌过季服装大打折的集中地。5月28日是美国的Memorial Day,纪念所有战亡的美国士兵——老美在这方面的做法可圈可点。因这个节日，从上个周末开始，所有地方都开始折上加折。我们在Outlet收获颇丰，连Polo的T-shirt也只需要12美金而已。
回到正题，在去Outlet半路，我们到路边一个小镇的中餐馆吃了午饭。那里的小吃很不错，我点了咸豆浆、油条及韭菜盒子，口味正宗。餐馆隔壁是一家中国超市，名叫宏缘超市。我和老公在那里找到大块的五花肉。后来在煮的时候发现这肉是去了血污的，想来在杀猪的时候放了血。这是我来美国第一次闻到猪肉煮熟后的香味，一般这里的肉都有一股Stink的味道。
当时，我们约定次日到我家分享美食。我和老公做了一桌子的菜，菜单为：
凉菜：心太软，熏蛋
主食：米饭，皮蛋瘦肉粥
热菜：梅菜扣肉，红烧鸡翅，花菜香菇汤，大虾炒茄子以及Cheese烤芦笋（这个是Grace带来的）
今天，先跟大家分享梅菜扣肉。他们都说很有Restaurant的感觉，一气就全消灭光了。
Recipe:
1、大块五花肉放进冷水里（水要没过肉），大火将水煮沸，然后小火直到肉煮熟。
Put thick pieces of streaky pork in a pot with cold water. The pork should be submersed. Cook until the pork is completely cooked.
2、将肉捞出，用餐巾纸擦掉水和油，抹上一层酱油。
Pick up the pork,and put it on some tissues to remove the water and oil. Apply soy on the surface of the pork.
3、干锅里放入油，油温到放入切好的姜丝吱吱发响为妙。将猪肉肉皮朝下放入，火调小，盖上锅盖，一直炸到肉皮微微发焦为止（那时一般会听到肉爆的声音）。
Dry the pan and put some oil in it. Put sliced ginger in it.When you hear the hiss of the ginger, put the pork in with the pork's skin side down. Turn down the fire.Put the lid on the pan. Fry until the skin is slightly burnt(at that time, you will hear some explosion sound).
4、肉拿出，放凉，然后切成10厘米长、五厘米宽的薄片，越薄越好。干菜放到炸肉的油锅里，用勺子翻几下，但这时火是灭的。
Put the pork aside until it cools down. At the same time, you can put the dried mustard in the same pan with the oil that have fried the pork. Turn off the fire and stir the mustard a little. Then slice the pork thin. Make it into 10cm and 5cm rectangle slices.
5、取一个深碗，将肉片按鱼鳞状正齐地码好，上面放上干菜。我那天做肉很多，所以分了两层，一层肉，一层薄干菜，再一层肉，然后放上剩下的所有干菜，最后高高隆起碗口。在每一层肉上洒上姜末和大蒜末。最后，加调料。在最上面洒上3调羹糖、半调羹盐，淋上一点酱油，放上一点葱花。按口味可以用筷子兜一点老干妈或者豆瓣酱，不加也没关系。
Place the slices in a big bowl in a cascade way along the bowl's side. Put some minced ginger and onion on the slices. Then put the mustard on the slices. Add 3 tsp sugar,half tsp salt, some cutted shallot and some soy in it. You can also put some sauce that you like. It is alternative.

6、最后一步是蒸。我没有蒸架（在这里没有找到合适的），就把大碗直接放到装冷水的锅里，水略低于碗口。大火将水煮开，然后小火慢慢炖，保持锅里的水一直沸腾。这样蒸上一个半或者两个小时就好了。你会看到干菜因为浸油变成明亮的深色。最后出锅时将大碗倒扣与另一碗或盘上，肉层就会圆圆地在最表面了。
Put the bowl on the steamer. Steam it for about 2 hours. Take out the bowl from the steamer,put it up side down on another plate and take the bowl away. In that way, when you eat the dish, the meat is outside and the mustard is inside.

My foot

2007-05-25T13:27:00.000-07:00

做事情的时候应该脚踏实地，所以我画下自己的脚，看看几年以后，它是否一直都踩在那块土地上。
In China, we describe practice and diligency as "footstep on solid soil". I drew my foot. I hope my foot will always keep stepping on solid soil without slackening.

Girl in Botanic Garden

2007-05-23T14:15:00.000-07:00

上个周日，和老公一起去芝加哥的植物园玩了一圈。原本是打算在芝加哥过一晚上，好好玩两天。但是因为种种原因，最后没有达成。
那一天是5月以来最冷的一天。我埋怨老公没有事先看一下天气预报。芝加哥是著名的风城，那一天我们一早穿着短袖出门，还有阳光。到了半路，阴云开始聚起来。幸好带了外套，但还是冻得够呛。我们先去拜访了房东Sandy和Tony，他们是台湾人，热情好客，带着我们逛了植物园。之后，我们还去吃了那附近最著名的台湾牛肉面，那汤和牛肉真是熬得有功夫。
在植物园里，我第一次亲眼看到了中国的牡丹花，开得大方、自由。我觉得这满山遍野的鲜花如果都真正盛开在自己心里，那该多好。触目都是繁华，对比自己内心更为萧条。所以回来以后，画了这样一幅画。
这是我和老公第一次真正游芝加哥，没有尽兴而归，我非常伤心。按理，这也是结婚纪念日的一次小小旅行。前一天晚上我兴奋得彻夜未眠，第二天看到了芝加哥那些著名的建筑和博物馆、美术馆，却只能擦肩而过。因此，我陷进了失望的泥潭，加上最近做家庭主妇日益觉得厌烦，心里更加失落，和老公赌气了两天。
其实，来回六个小时的车程，老公开车很辛苦，半路还歇了一下打了个盹。可是我一到了气头上，就啥都不顾了。在第二天的晚上，老公主动提议好好谈一下，不仅是这一次旅行的问题。这是结婚以来第一次这样的谈话。平时我如果生气，总喜欢一声不吭，所以老公并不非常明白我为什么生气。
这一次谈话很有意思。男人和女人是真的不一样，或者，我老公是一个尤其不懂得女人的男人。我老公总是把我想象成一个和他自己一样坚强的人，其实我不是。老公也是个实在得不行的人，举个例子，比如他要送我什么东西或我们要去某个餐馆吃饭，他首先会问我喜不喜欢。如果我回答不，那就真的啥都没有了。他的逻辑是，他都已经问过了，得到的答案就是真正的答案。而我的逻辑是，女人有时候说不，那是因为她有很多其他的原因、别的顾虑，那既是她的真实想法，又不是她的真实想法。比如这次去芝加哥，原来他就问我，如果只能待一天好吗？我说好的，但是我没有料到天气这样糟糕，而且我还没有去过Museum，而且，其实我内心里一直认为老公会安排两天，所以我兴高采烈收拾了洗漱用品和衣物。
他说如果以后要送我什么东西或安排什么节目，事先没有问我，最后我不喜欢怎么办？我告诉他，自己心爱的人送的礼物，不管是什么，没有一个女人会不喜欢。至少，女人也会喜欢男人为了这个惊喜所付出的努力。这样说到最后，我们俩都忍不住大笑。夫妻间有时这样仔细聊一聊真的很受用。
Chicago Botanic Garden is quite large and beautiful. When I was there last Sunday, I had the feeling that I was a flower-fairy.
Because this trip to Chicago, I had a quarrel with my husband Ming. I thought we would stay there for at least two days, but it turned out only one day. I could not stand up with it.It is our marriage anniversary travel. I was so furious that I did not talk to Ming for almost two days.
At last, he gave in. We had the first serious talk since marriage. Actually it is an interesting and successful one. We discovered the huge difference between man and woman. As a graduate of Bio-Chemistry, Ming is very clever,that is one reason I love him so much, but he does not know how to read women's mind,which sometimes I like, sometimes I hate. He believes when I say yes, I really mean it, but in fact I don't.
At last, we had a compromise. Next time he asks me something, I will tell him the complete answer. If he wants to give me some surprise, he does not need to ask my opinion. All men should remember this: woman will never dislike the romantics from her Mr. Right.

Girl in Qi-pao

2007-05-19T15:17:00.000-07:00

This is my second girl. I dressed her in Qi-pao.
Ever since I was 5 or 6 years old, I had always liked to draw beautiful women. My father used to be a carpenter, and he really has genius in it. At the sixth year of my elementary school, Papa made a long squared table and 12 chairs. He asked me to draw 12 girls on the chairs. We both knew that in A Dream of Red Mansions, the author writes the doom of 12 beautiful and talented women. It is a tragedy and the story is very popular in China. Thus I drew those 12 women.
As to Qi-pao, I love Qi-pao very much. It makes women slim and elegant.
Now in Urbana, peony is bloomed. Peony is a traditional flower in China. It means wealth which I do not like much, but also means beautiful and gentle. Peony plays an important role in tradition Chinese paintings.

Drawing: My first girl

2007-05-17T22:58:00.000-07:00

I love drawing, although I am not quite good at it.

There is too much time.I have nothing else to do. Drawing is a good thing.

Here is the first girl I drawed since coming here. It is painted by a red ballpen, coz there is no other kind of pens in my husband's lab. Sometimes he will go to do experiment for like 20 or 30 minutes. I will go with him,read something, now I like drawing more.

I plan to draw ten girls. Then I will give them some color. They will turn into water colors.

About me

2007-05-17T22:50:00.000-07:00

I am a Chinese woman. I used to be a journalist of The Economic Observer in China. This year, I come US to accompany my husband who is a graduate here, exciting, but which also means I have to lose my job.
My former reports are here,which is still under-construction.My Chinese blog is in "Mindmeters"which is a poly-blog-website built by my former boss in the newspaper.
I am too sad about losing the job, and unfortunately I cannot find a new one in this new place. So now here I am, a full-time wife who tries to write something here. I hope I can make some friends through this blog and if there is any mistakes in the articles, welcome to point them out. I'd like to improve my English. I hope one day I can write news report in English.

Dana's World

workshop

Are you happy?

Why they like food in restaurants?

Perfect Life

All about meat

有朋自远方来

爱人

椅子

About Time

Jin's Bureaucracy

低谷

热干面和辣子鸡丁

漫步

恋恋一生

影子 Shadow

Nocturnal Channel

Turning Plants into Plastic

Arctic plants

流萤

Sweetheart 心太软

Bipedalism

Fly

后来与Future

The wings

Homesick Cake 家常饼

Digest from The Memoir of Xin Fengxia

Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis

Anesthesiologist

Anesthesiologist

Healthy Sesame Ball健康小 麻球

nastygram

Girl on swing

Pork steamed with dried mustard梅菜扣肉

My foot

Girl in Botanic Garden

Girl in Qi-pao

Drawing: My first girl

About me

Homesick Cake　家常饼

Healthy Sesame Ball健康小麻球