【Midnight in Paris】

Nostalgia is denial - denial of the painful present ..... The name for this denial is golden age thinking - the erroneous notion that a different time period is better than the one ones living in. It's a flaw in the romantic imagination of those people who find it difficult to cope with the present.

I was so astonished by the remark on nostalgia in Woody Allen's new film 【Midnight in Paris】 (starring Owen Wilson and Rachel McAdams). To some extent, I have lived in the past, like Gil (played by Wilson) in the movie who thinks he would be happier if he lived in a different time. I somehow have had obsession with the 90s and have been reluctant to move on and grow up ever since the day of college graduation. To be more exact, I think that my spirit always lags a few years behind the present time. I was not aware of why and how my mind behaved in this way until the remark in the film waked me up. 

Sometimes those good old times are not as good as they feel like. They seem to be so good only because they have passed and we don't have to deal with them anymore.

Aaron Sorkin and Steve Job's Brief Crossover

http://www.thedailybeast.com/newsweek/2011/10/09/sorkin-on-jobs.html

Conan O'Brien's 2011 Commencement Speech at Dartmouth College

http://www.dartmouth.edu/~commence/speeches/2011/obrien-speech.html

It is our failure to become our perceived ideal that ultimately defines us and makes us unique. It's not easy, but if you accept your misfortune and handle it right, your perceived failure can become a catalyst for profound re-invention.

A Quote from Grey's Anatomy

We rely on superstitions because we're smart enough to know we don't have all the answers. And that life works in mysterious ways.

美味關係

剛剛在吃義大利麵的時候，突然想起之前在學校附近餐廳裡的牆上看到的一段文字：

在美味的料理中 

我們找到

情人 

朋友 

家人 

一起在餐桌上 

相聚的 

千百種理由

（圖中是 California Pizza Kitchen 去年剛推出的 Baby Clam Linguini with Imported Italian Tomatoes. Source: www.cpk.com）

20110418

We are haunted, more or less, for better or for worse, by our past.
People we met and things we experienced shape whom we are today.

三點一線

前些日子好友 LC 提到了三點一線的生活，對我來說，學校、住處和學校旁的餐廳街，就足以構成了一日的生活。三點有時簡單到發慌，換著地方繼續著我的發呆，但有的時候，三點也可以構成複雜的網絡。

Those Days

Shot on someday in 2010.

Flashback

很愛 Aaron Sorkin 在他的影集裡常使用的倒序片段（flashback），可能因為自己也常 spaced out 地回到過往的場景，突然回到過去的某個時刻，不過有時腦子會太混亂，雖然覺得場景和事物再熟悉不過，卻怎麼樣也想不起那是何時何地。Aaron Sorkin 的倒序片段中的場景常出現在雨天，‧【The West Wing】、【Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip】，還有最近的【The Social Network】，都有類似的片段，雨天的確是一個適合 soul-search 的好時機。

有時候會覺得，Being perceptive 不知道是好是壞，如果少一根筋會不會過得快活點。

Some Trivia in Memory

After moving back home for half a year, if I have to say what I miss about Seattle so far, I would say those coffee shops where I spent a lot of time hanging around. They included Starbucks and Barnes & Noble Starbucks at U Village, a few small cafes on the ave, UW Bookstore cafe, and even Suzzalo Expresso. Here in Taiwan, I seldom work or even hang around in coffee shops. I only buy a cup of coffee at 7-11 on the way to work. Why I miss them so much is not only because of the comfy scent I really enjoyed but also because there were so many stories inside them.

The other day when I was about to fall asleep on the bed, my mind suddenly flashed back to an old scene in Seattle: I walked from my apartment through two blocks to Chipotle Mexican Grill to buy a Burrito Bowl with GUACAMOLE (which I ate at least once a week during the last few years in Seattle)! The flashback was so vivid and just like real. Sometimes I miss the sashimi lunch special and the friendly chef at I Love Sushi of Lake Union too. Food was indeed one important support and inspiration of my life in Seattle.

I guess some of the things have been coined deeply inside my mind. Those things are now so far away from me that they seem intangible and seldom are thought of, but used to be a part of my life.

Obama's 2011 State of the Union

[Source] [Transcript]

Another great speech! I like the part about education and immigration law.
Really admire eloquent people, who actually can convince you of everything.

Btw, the visual aid is a cool accompaniment with the serious speech.

【午安憂鬱】by 柯裕棻

前幾天讀到了柯裕棻除了【行路難】之外另一篇關於留學生活的文章 --【午安憂鬱】，也是相當深刻。