Running Away

My reading speed is explained fully by completing this book. I started this in the summer of 2011 and finished it yesterday. This means that I was reading on average 1 page in every 2 days. In fact, the original blog for this is actually completed when I was half way through the book during a trip to Hong Kong. The blessing from this is that I was able to see what I was thinking back then.
Coincidentally,  I am in a similar situation as I was then. I have just received my bachelor's degree and was taking a break in Asia in 2011. And now, I quit my job and am taking a break now.

I found that the act of reading a new book itself brings reflection about myself. At the very least, it brings myself back to intellectual honesty. And anything good can only start from being honest with yourself.  This is also a reason why I like to read non-fiction now. Because the real life experiences of a real person touches me in a way a made up character may not, and press me to think about the issues and problems this real person is talking about.

Running Away

"Have a Little Faith" by Mitch Albom surrounds two figures, one is his rabbi, and the other, a Christian pastor. One has been a rabbi all his life, the other was once a drug dealer who had a taste of his own poison. Unfortunately, both figures have now passed away.

A central theme  for the book, and one that I am interested in, would be our repeated attempts to run away; whether it'd be from God, or from that truth of which we must face. Mitch Albom became a renowned journalist and author, and is probably regarded as a successful person by many. But he has been running away from his roots ever since college, until when Rabbi Albert Lewis asked him to write his eulogy. Pastor Henry Covington was raised in a good family, but he chose to be a gang member and a drug dealer. In times of distress, he would call for the help of God. For many times God answered his prayers, but he kept his old life as God redeemed him again and again until one Easter, when he is fed up of the miserable life he has and was called to minister the poor.

Running away from God is like running away from our parents, whether we literally do so when we grow up, or when we run away subtly when we were only children. We run because our parents limit us in doing anything. We can't have fun, and it's not cool to hang around with our parents in front of our friends. They are always so strict with us, and quite frankly our parents can be annoying.But like your parents, or even more so, his faithfulness will rescue us every time, even if we don't notice it.

It seems so true, whether you believe in God or not. Sometimes reality is too big for us to bear, to face. Or simply, we are too ugly to be shone brightly by the light. Deep down we know what is good for us, but we are too proud to listen, and the temptations in front of us are too big to ignore.

Mitch Albom touched on this as well as many problems in the world today that I identified with. The only difference between him and I is that he brings them up so tactfully and with just the right description. If you can finally put down your textbook or mouse, do pick this book up and start reading.






 And here's a video of Mitch Albom and Pastor Henry Covington. It basically contains a summary of the book, and for Pastor Henry's powerful message, start from 33:00.

Dirty Politics: Suck it up?

I can't believe this blog has been dormant for 4 years already. And it's time to start my blog again, because writing about something is better than, say, doing nothing at all.

Dirty Politics: Suck it Up?

The BC Provincial Election is coming up. Of course, only federal elections make the headlines, but then again, the more "local" elections are the ones that in fact makes real difference in our lives. So if you don't think it's worth the time to go to the polls, think again.

But all in all, it is hard to trust politicians. They say a lot of things to make you feel good about them, make some promises, then forget them altogether after they are elected. And a few years later they make some more promises and forget them altogether again after they got your vote. Deals are being cut, friends are being favoured, and none of the programs they promote can help you. History repeats itself, because no matter who we vote for, they seem to be all the same. So our expectations of people who run the governments are reduced; we weigh them by judging who cuts less deals, favour less friends, with platforms that can help you a teeny bit while on their way of garnering more power, influence, and wealth. Slowly we give less and less expectations about politics, ie. we suck it up. Politics are dirty, and self serving. It becomes some sort of prerequisite in our conversation on politics, and we accept it as it is.

Is it stupid to expect more? Traveling 2400 years back in time, in ancient Greece, people already have a similar notion, that justice is the interest of the stronger, and rulers make laws that are favourable to themselves. But Socrates begs to differ, and says that just as a good physician is someone who can heal the patient, and a good ship captain takes care of the ship and the crew, a good "ruler" is someone who can take care of his "subjects." Fast forward to the present, the idea is just the same.

We are not talking about the ideal world of course, but from time to time we have to remind ourselves of what is "supposed to be." Because in some parts of the world, people have already forgotten about "the ideals," and injustice is as natural as the wind blowing against you where you know there is no way for you to stop or avoid it. Imagine when a doctor takes for granted that he is only there to make money off of his patients. With the same token, should we really accept that politics contains only self serving motives, and laws are made for the strong lobbyists?

Love at first sight, loving the first sight.

Ironic as it is, I often laugh at people's sentiments.

Sometimes my friends, or their friends write on their blog or facebook note saying how terrible they are feeling. How they broke up with a boyfriend, their hopelessness, complaining about their exams, you name it. And I think... get a grip! What you feel doesn't change anything, and you have food to eat, you've got a job, you've got an education, so stop whining. It's not the end of the world.

But I also wrote, and am still writing the similar things, like the following...

Have you ever considered that you are attracted to your crush because of the fact that she/he is your crush?

You like him because of what the distance you now have with him entails, and this distance does not allow you to know her much more. Thus is the chance for some fantasy to creep in. There is something about her that you really like, her looks perhaps. She isn't the most beautiful girl you've ever seen in your life, but she is realistically pretty. And wouldn't it just be great that she likes Jazz as well?

So your wishful thinking becomes more real, at least in your own mind. Perhaps it isn't something as specific as jazz, but something more blurry. Maybe it would be perfect if he can enjoy that long walk with you at twilight on the park, and embarking with your solitary and timeless trip is a soft summer wind.

However, the attraction for her is endless nights of dances, the drinks, and the fun. He likes tennis, rather than Pride and Prejudice. She loves the shopping and taking pictures on her trip in Tokyo, while you like to look at lake Louise in Banff, lying on a chair for hours, so you never have to take a picture with your camera. She loves the indie French band from Montreal, but rap is your thang.

Yes, perhaps he would really love the walk, the talk, and the occasional caffe latte with Andrea Bocelli singing Il Calmo Mare della Sera or one of your 80's favourite. She would love to do that because she is by then immensely in love with you, and this can happen only when you can understand her world. Sadly, you simply cannot take the deafening noise at the club playing what they call music. While at the same way, she can only enjoy the first 30 seconds of the 3rd movement of Sonata no. 8 Pathetique. That is, after you tell her what the piece is, and she can only remember "Pathetique," the same way she feels if she listens to it for more than two minutes without falling asleep.

You believe in love at first sight, and it's true, it exists. The love can only linger on that first sight.

And I hope this may be some consolation to you.

Why D-Day?

Saturday was June 6th, 2009, the 65th anniversary of the commencement of the Operation Overlord, otherwise known as the D-day landings during WWII. On the first day, at the Normandy Landings, 156,000 allied forces landed in France on a single day. The invasion continued with the eventual liberation of Paris, then advancing eastward into German soil. On May 8th, 1945, Nazi Germany surrendered, marking the Victory in Europe Day in WWII. Our press often dubbed it as the "turning point of the war."

Every year, there is extensive celebration of the day and there has been much press coverage. However a friend asked, why D-day? Why not V-E day? The answer is not about its significance in history, but its significance in politics and id
eology.

The real turning point to WWII in Europe is not June 6th, 1944, but February 2nd, 1943. The day marks the German surrender to the siege of Stalingrad, setting free a million troops and more. Stalin has always wanted his allies to open up a second front, by they delayed for a year. By then, the Soviet army already pushed the Nazi armies away from Russian soil. Eventually, Soviet troops captured Berlin and the European theatre of WWII was brought to an end. One may argue that the glory is more to the soviets than to the "western world."

The glory to the liberation of France however, is to "us." We, the fighters of democracy, liberating people from fascism and tyranny. The notion of those who defeated tyranny being communists is out of place, and it doesn't fit the west's persecution of communism at the time. Although we are through Cold War, and though the democratic capitalists prevail, we still like to view ourselves the good important guys.

Bookstore and Buffet

I like going to bookstores, bookstores like Chapters, or Page One in the context of my occasional readers from Hong Kong. The UBC bookstore obviously doesn't count, do you like somebody who is constantly trying to squeeze the last shoe out of you?

Bookstores are amusing (contrary to popular belief), I love the smell of (new) books. The pages carry a faint smell of wood that is somewhat hypnotizing, but not enough to make you sleep at the first tincture of the smell that enters your nose. I like that they are usually quiet and has just an enough number of people that does not make the room stuffy and makes me feel safe. I love all the different covers on the books, most of them colourful and catchy. It is sort of like going to a buffet, but only slightly like it.

Like a buffet, there are a lot of things to pick.
However, I don't want to try everything in a bookstore, but I pretty much like to try everything in a buffet. Most books are actually quite dull on the inside. For most books, I'd only want what I can acquire through the book. It is best I can have knowledge without reading the book. But as for the food, I would love to eat them but don't like the calories that I'll eventually get.

So books and food are somewhat opposites, and bookstores and buffets are like the two sides of the same coin.

Today is the 65th(?) anniversary of D-Day.

random no. 2

This is again a very random note.

The Question of the day is: How do we know if something is true?

random no. 1

My English essay is due 18 hours from now, it's on Paradise Lost, and I didn't finish it yet...
If this poem is written two or three hundred years later, it'll go on bookstore shelves under "Apologetics" in the "Religious" section rather than a fictional epic poem.

So I decided to write a completely random blog. It's May 28, six days from June 4th. It's been twenty years since what happened shook the world, the world except the place it happened on.

Anyways, the song of the day is Allegro, Opus 3.3 a.m. by Eason Chan. I think it's the first studio recorded Jazz song by him. Ciao!