The dialogue between two Romantics

Hi. I've seen your video. It's really kind of meaning video ... definitely romantic and maybe a bit philosophic ...
It says more than the images and the words!
thank you
if you've heard America's NPR programs before, you'll probably notice I'm trying to mimic their way of speaking
... pointing towards something that can sometimes be so elusively called a inner Romance.... Ha.
Yeah. My testimonial that Elaine you're a true romantic person!
lol
I am, ain't I?
I remember telling you long time ago that I love the Romantic period
.. haa. According to my experience in watching your video.
guess this proves I am a romantic
No. I don't remember.
You said you like Shelley
or Byron
and I said I liked William Wordsworth
I only vaguely remember you detest poets like Byron and those belongs to the Santic schools ....
Oh.
Shelley eludes me
Well.. my memory fails. That's why I am now called a middle-aged man.
hahaha.
Glad that you like those guys.
They represent my fiery youth.

many a nights and many a days under some trees in some wild gardens, and eiher with some moonlight or some starlight, I just opened their verses and savored the joy and melancholy of being a ... what?
lol
wow did you just compose that out of your head?
i like it
But this fire will remain, believe me, if you're a true romantic, till the end of world... Ha.
I was really a Byron and Shelly fan and a big big Blake fan... Before I really knew Shakespeare.
it's so good to talk to someone who loves the romantics

Yeah. They are not shallow or just melancholy good-for-nothing.
They are the true spirit of this world.
btw, can i ask... what do you know about the interpretation and translation business in Taiwan? i'm graduating next year (next month i'll be a senior in XXX)
yes
but you know
i just heard a short philosophy discussion on ABC (Australia) and they were talking about the influence of the Romantic period on today's rock music
Yea.
and they mentioned how romantics who grow old tend to stray away from romanticism
because they realize romanticism can't take them much anywhere
and well... I think it can give me very good training.
that's why Nietzsche turned away from romanticism
but don't stick it out for too long.
Yeah
ok, back to the business thing
But look what does rationalism take us to? More Co2 and more dissolved ice shelf in the Arctic region...
i am taking some courses in interpretation and translation next semester
true
We don't need computer or car to accelerate human life up to 1000 x speed of what we ought to live.
and i've done both. and i don't know, wondering if i should make it my career
and also, what do you think of graduate schools in taiwan -- as an english major?
Well. yo can try to do that no prob, cuz yo've got the really good talent in language...
i totally suck in chinese
only that it might bore yo just 1 or 2 years maybe.
u mean i shouldn't do it long term?
Well... what i mean is that it is really sedentary.. unless you like this type of tranquility...
but really some would like this translation job very much... and stick to it for whole life and have good reputation and contribution to literary sector...
can be a meaningful career...
much better than a stock broker or a banker... or a lawyer...
these jobs has no value in God's eyes.
but translation can be really good to society.
hmm
i didn't know what to feel when i read that. i think i've secretly felt that translator/interpreter is a rather second-rate job
like, it's becos of my disability and becos i couldn't find other jobs that would accommodate my needs
Maybe, but really you don't have to feel any other way than whether you like it or not.. well just like I would love to be a classic painist.. but alas, when I found that out I was 30.
Ce'st la vie.
But don't have to judge yourself or your job according to worldly value.
Job is very simple - a job is a means to support your meaning in this life -
for me the meaning is to happiness in my own way.
No more and no less.
Mission and achievement... yes if they come in same direction with my happiness if not... come on... life is short and not everyone is a genius. let genius do his job and... if I am, let me do my job.
If I am not, let me have fun.

you think there's a market in Taiwan for this job?
and enough pay to sustain myself financially?
But well... you can never be wrong if start it out as a translator/interpreter... it's a good job... time frame is free, although maybe long... and efforts is hard yet can be more or less paced out by yourself..
Only that you have to manage your clients seriously...
so that you can have a constant source and wont' be worried about whether you can make the amount of money that can not only support your care person or even something more luxury like a trip or spa abroad something...
so, like, self-employed
self-managed
you can gradually cultivate your business and I believe... with diligence and also some business know-hows... you can do that.
or you can go into online tutor broker biz and well. that's even more lucrative.
huh
i really think i shouldn't go into business
not my cup of tea
Well. you come to know what you like or not like...
yup
well thanks a lot
that's very insightful for me
what you said
i shall ponder about my future as i spend my last year in college
hooray!
Yeah. Relax and let your heart speak.
then yo'll hear many beautiful voices you never heard.
i can totally see that as how a romantic mentors a romantic
lol
Only a romantic can know what a romantic talks and think.
lol
We know that without having to speak a word. Good.

The Man I Would Want to Marry

Watch my video on Youtube! Entitled "The Man I Would Want to Marry." Me revealing the long-kept secret of who I wanted to marry back in 2000.

Vlog: My Biggest Challenge

I have begun a weekly vlog on Youtube. This is my third vlog. Hope you enjoy it.

NYT excerpt on Iranian protests

Source: The Lede Blog, New York Times
Writer: Nazila Fathi (Tehran)

It was hot in the car, so the young woman and her singing instructor got out for a breath of fresh air on a quiet side street not far from the anti-government protests they had ventured out to attend. A gunshot rang out, and the woman, Neda Agha-Soltan, fell to the ground. “It burnt me,” she said before she died.

The bloody video of her death on Saturday –circulated in Iran and around the world — has made Ms. Agha-Soltan, a 26-year-old whom her relatives said was not political, an instant symbol of the anti-government movement. Her death is stirring wide outrage in a society that is infused with the culture of martyrdom — although the word itself has become discredited because the government has pointed to the martyrs’ death of Iranian soldiers to justify repressive measures.

Ms. Agha-Soltan’s fate resonates particularly with other women, who have been at the vanguard of many of the protests throughout Iran. “I am so worried that all the sacrifices that we made in the past week, the blood that was spilled, would be wasted,” said one woman today who came to mourn Ms. Agha-Soltan outside Niloofar mosque here. “ I cry every time I see Neda’s face on TV.”

Opposition Web sites and television channels, which Iranians view with satellite dishes, have repeatedly aired the video, which shows blood gushing from her body as she dies.

On the Web site The Daily Beast, an Iranian university student explains that, in his family, the video has exposed the deep rift in the way younger Iranians look outside the state-run media for the truth, while their parents and grandparents may not. Telmah Parsa writes:

After watching the video my brother’s eyes were full of tears. I was too incensed to cry. But not everyone was disturbed by the video.

“That’s what comes from pouring into the streets,” was my mother’s casual reaction when I showed her the clip. My mother is hardly a callous person. On Friday, when the Supreme Leader declared in his nationally broadcast sermon that he is willing to give his life for “upholding Islam,” my mother—like most people listening, including a prayer hall filled with grown men—wept.

She was not touched by the video of Neda because it was not compatible with her essential presumptions. [...] Her offhand reaction, however, offended me. She was quick to detect my indignation. “Son, you and your brother have been brainwashed by the Western media…Why do you believe everything they say?” This is our parents’ typical line when they encounter the deep chasm that separates our way of thinking. [...]

My brother and I often forget that the state-run TV is almost the only way our parents, like many Iranians of their generation, get information. The state knows this very well. [...]

As for the current protests, the state-run TV refers to the demonstrators as “mobs.” Broken shops and burned cars are the only parts of the protests the regime TV is prepared to air. Interviews show people in the street complaining that “mobs” have ruined their businesses and students who cannot study because of the noise the “mobs” make. What is never even implied in the TV is that hundreds of thousands of Iranians in major cities are marching peacefully in the streets to show their lack of trust in the state-announced election results. Nor will the clip of Neda’s murder ever make the airwaves.

Autobiography (for the Dr. Doris Brougham Scholarship)

When I look back at my life, I can hardly believe how many times I have had to literally pick myself up after a bad fall. As a child, my body was weak and fragile because of congenital muscular dystrophy. Although I could walk, I could not run, jump, or ride a bike. I fell down easily if I wasn’t watching my steps, and I needed someone to help me up after a fall.

When I was eight, I had a surgery performed near my right ankle to lengthen a contracting tendon, and that was when I got my first wheelchair, donated by the hospital. After spending two months with my leg in a cast, I was finally free of the cast and the wheelchair. The mischief of my eight-year-old mind, though, got the better of me.

One afternoon, I told my brother to tie a rope around the armrests of the wheelchair and pull me like a carriage up the road in front of our house in Nantou County. He did, but in no time we found out how dangerous our plan was. As my brother pulled me up the hill, my wheelchair suddenly tipped forward and I hit my forehead on the asphalt pavement. I started crying. Mother ran out of the house and pulled me out from between the tangled ropes, all the while scolding us for doing such a foolish thing. That incident, however, did not stop me from my experimentations.

In 1995, my family moved to Singapore because of my father's work as a church minister. By the time I entered secondary school in Singapore, muscular dystrophy had weakened my body so that I spent most of my waking hours in a wheelchair. My classmates in the girls' school took wonderful care of me--pushing me around campus, carrying books for me, and even bringing me to the bathroom. One day, a few weeks after school started, I asked my classmates to let go of my wheelchair on top of the gentle slope by the cafeteria. It was such a thrill! But a teacher saw us and informed our form teacher. During class later that day, the form teacher told us never to do that again. I sighed, and reluctantly agreed.

In those first few years of being confined to a wheelchair, I took a couple more falls before I finally gave up those thrilling rides. In 2000, when I was fourteen years old, I developed severe scoliosis that began affect my heart and lungs. The doctors said that surgery was necessary, but my congenital condition would complicate the process. After extensive research and support from family and friends, I finally had the operation in Loma Linda, California.

The surgery was a success. With two metal rods hooked around my spine, I no longer experienced back pain or breathing problems--and I was done with risky wheelchair tricks. After returning to Taiwan in 2001 and finishing my high school through distance learning, I went to Texas for my freshman year of college. The memories still bring smiles to my face.

Now in my junior year at Fu Jen University, I have grown to be a composed, studious young lady. My classmates and teachers sometimes describe me as being mature beyond my years, but I know better. Maybe I don't rush down slopes in my wheelchair anymore, but beneath the surface still lurks an insatiable desire for all things fun and crazy. After all, I've learnt this over the years: pick yourself up after a fall, and, really, it's going to be okay.

Nostalgia in "Poor Joanna" and "The Hermitage"

History comes alive through the process of remembrance. In the chapters "Poor Joanna" and "The Hermitage" in Sarah Orne Jewett's The Country of the Pointed Firs, the recollection of Joanna's life illustrates how nostalgia is experienced through storytelling between the women of Dunnet Landing.

There are several characteristics about nostalgia that can be gathered from the conversations between Mrs. Todd, Mrs. Fosdick, and the narrator. The most obvious is perhaps the setting where these stories were told.

The telling of the tale in "Poor Joanna" began when the narrator invited Mrs. Todd and her old friend Mrs. Fosdick into her room to keep her company. Mrs. Todd took to her knitting "because Mrs. Fosdick was busy with hers." When Mrs. Fosdick alluded to the name of Joanna for the first time, she said, "I was talking o' poor Joanna the other day… Mis’ Brayton an’ I recalled her as we sat together sewing." It seems that nostalgia and memory were evoked when women gathered in a house or a room, engaged in the quiet activity of clothe-making. It gave them the chance to talk, listen, and reminisce about the past.

Looking back together, these women might begin a conversation with a general memory of town in the past, but their retrospection often narrowed to a single focal person. In "Poor Joanna," as Mrs. Todd and Mrs. Fosdick sat knitting, each in their rocking-chairs, they began to talk about Shell-heap Island, first about the rumors of the "Old Indian times," which evoked a recollection of the day and age when whaling voyages existed and there were many "queer folks" and "a good many curiosities of human natur'" in their neighborhood. After lamenting the rise of "copy-cats" through the years, Mrs. Fosdick alluded to the name for the first time.

Both Mrs. Fosdick and Mrs. Todd knew Joanna, which gave them a deep sense of connection as they reflected on the life of this hermit. As Mrs. Fosdick puts it, "It does seem so pleasant to talk with an old acquaintance that knows what you know... Conversation’s got to have some root in the past." Thus, from Mrs. Fosdick's point of view, nostalgia is more than a lonely, imaginative journey to the past; it is joint visit to a historical time and place. It is as much about deepening the present relationship with each other as it is about recalling the past. As the narrator observed later, "The two women had drawn closer together, and were talking on, quite unconscious of a listener."

Talking about the past can be an emotional experience, yet the women were seldom afraid to show their feelings. The narrator noted that, at the mention of Joanna's name, Mrs. Todd lost "her sad reserve in the growing sympathy of these reminiscences." In other places, the narrator described how Mrs. Todd either "sadly shook her head as if there were things one could not speak about," was "confused by sudden affectionate feeling," or spoke "sorrowfully," "soberly," or "mournfully" about her contact with Joanna. As for Mrs. Fosdick, she fidgeted "with eagerness to speak" and "leaned back in her rocking-chair and gave a heavy sigh." Once, she asked Mrs. Todd what Joanna said, and the narrator described Mrs. Fosdick as "much moved." The visitor told her old friend: "Hearin' you tell about Joanna brings the time right back as if 't was yesterday."

Indeed, the women's conversations brought back memories of a time so long ago, but in their old age, these women have taken on new perspectives on old stories. In an earlier conversation, the narrator speculated that "by the polite absent-minded smile on Mrs. Todd’s face [the story Mrs. Fosdick was telling] was no new story." This was probably true, too, with the story of Joanna, but Mrs. Fosdick admitted a change of attitude towards Joanna: "I called her a great fool, but I pitied her then, and I pity her far more now… Her troubles hurt her more than she could bear. I see it all now as I couldn’t when I was young." Even though there were more peculiar personalities in Dunnet Landing in the past, the women were not necessarily very understanding of Joanna's situation and choice. Nevertheless, Mrs. Fosdick remarked that she could "see it all now," with a new comprehension that did not exist when she was younger.

All these features mentioned above characterize the experience of nostalgia among the women of Dunnet Landing. There are of course other aspects of nostalgia that can be explored, including the attention to details and the significance of objects and locations in evoking these memories. But they are secondary when we want to focus on how the women reminisce, rather than what. As exemplified in the entire work by Sarah Orne Jewett, human connection is at the heart of all stories. It is both the reason and the means through which we bring back the past.

A Question

Is it okay
to start the day
by crying?
For the way life is
and was
and what it may become tomorrow.

The night's sad sight
has long gone by,
but it overruns
into the sunlight.
And so I allow myself
to start the day

by crying.

Meeting Philip Glass

Last night I had the pleasure to attend the Taiwan debut of Philip Glass's work Book of Longings: Song Cycle Based on the Poetry and Artwork of Leonard Cohen at the National Concert Hall. It was a very pleasant evening, one of the most enjoyable performances I can remember, and it cast a wondrous spell on me by almost making me believe that I was watching the performance in a theater in New York City on a cold winter night.

Book of Longings is a sophisticated piece of art, featuring 22 songs in 90 minutes, integrating elements of poetry, music, visual art, and vocal performances. On the mostly darkened stage, the eight instrumentalists and a quartet resemble what you might see in a high-end bar in Chicago, New York, or Paris. Or more probably, a private performance for a group of fifty VIPs. It felt intimate, even from the 32nd row.

The first song made an especially strong impression on me. The song was called I Can't Make the Hills. The song set the tone for the rest of the night, but mostly it was Leonard Cohen's deep baritone voice reciting his poem, set to an eerily affecting music, that sent chills down my spine and made me fall in love with the work. At that instant, I felt an overwhelming gratefulness to have come to the performance. I knew I was going to enjoy the evening.

I had been looking forward to that particular evening for several weeks already ever since I listened to an interview with Philip and Leonard at the Aurora Forum at Stanford University, and became fascinated with the two men. Being a movie lover, I knew the name of Philip Glass and have heard some of his movie scores, but Leonard Cohen was a complete stranger to me. It was only through the interview that I realized how famous and prolific this Canadian singer-songwriter-poet-novelist had been all this while. The way Philip and Leonard talked in the interview---as incredibly talented collaborators would, but collaborators who respected each other so deeply they credited the success of their work on the brilliance of the other---their conversation immediately inspired in me an awe for the two men and their love of art.
At the concert, I felt like I was an ardent fan of Mr. Glass meeting him for the first time. I was so thrilled when I heard that Philip Glass was signing autographs at the ground floor after the performance. When the performers were giving their final bow before a cheering audience, my father and I slipped away to the ground floor and found ourselves in a mostly empty room in front of the ticketing booth. A lady handed us a small plastic card that read National Concert Hall, No. 1.

About 20 minutes later and with 40 more people lined up behind us, Philip Glass came out through a side door and everyone clapped. The staff ushered him to the autograph table, and another lady motioned me to come forward. I went up with my big coat on my lap and several program sheets in my left hand, and fumbled a bit as I handed him the DVD cover of the documentary about him, Glass: A Portrait of Philip in Twelve Parts. At close range, I took in his whole wrinkled face with his big eyes and slightly crazy hair. He could very well have been a passer-by I met in Paris, or perhaps my favorite uncle in an alternate life. But he is Philip Glass, and I was star-struck.

I thanked him for signing his autograph, and told him that I love his work. He said thank you, very kindly. "This is a wonderful crowd tonight," he said.

Meeting Philip Glass was one of those moments that, for ten minutes afterwards, you couldn't stop smiling, and which you had to remind yourself to wipe the smile off your face every time you thought of it for the next 24 hours. But it was quite an odd feeling too, that the morning after an evening enjoying the collaboration between a 71-year-old composer and a 74-year-old poet, I found myself in the hospital with my grandmother, my parents, and several aunts and uncles, discussing whether my frail 83-year-old grandfather should have a bypass heart surgery.


The sum of a man's life can be expressed so beautifully in poetry and music, but it seems to require a certain number of years in a man's life to gather the wisdom to do so.

By the way

I'll just put this on my blog as a Christmas special. My favorite West Wing characters... Da-dah!

Toby
C.J.
Josh
Leo
Donna
Sam

Toby is actually the first person I liked when I started watching the West Wing, followed by C.J., who is the coolest Press Secretary ever. Josh is wonderfully clever; Leo is practical and wise; Donna is sweet but capable; and Sam is handsomely naive and funny. Yup, that's my team. Probably the best ensemble cast ever.

For Your Consideration:

Do you think there is something fundamentally wrong with the society you live in?

Do you think there is something fundamentally wrong with your life right now?

Comment and share.

The Great Plagiarism Scandal!

Should I be outraged that my professor from the English Department repeatedly gave students essay topics taken directly from websites without telling us about it? I discovered this today while I was brainstorming for my argumentative essay and I typed in the words "argumentative essay" on Google. Imagine my surprise when I immediately recognized the third hit on the results page as something I've read before--in class. Turns out, this is a website from a Turkish university, and most of the second half of the webpage was included in a handout we were given two weeks ago, word for word, including the badly written sample at the end about Reiki and health. I thought, Why is my professor taking samples from Google's search results page?

I went back through my "Junior Composition" file and took out all the handouts we were given in class. Referring to those papers, I typed in their key words on Google and clicked on any suspicious results. When I typed in "sample literature review," the first hit was the sample we were given on Tuesday. Our handout included the sample and discussion questions at the top.

Next, I thought I'd try finding the four argumentative essay topics we were given this week, and guess what? They're all taken from the Internet! Well, first I was taken to Yahoo! Answers, where someone included three of our essay topics in his answer list(posted 4 weeks ago). The person gave a link at the bottom of his answer, and when I clicked on it, sure enough I found all four essay questions--on a website named Good Essay Topics.

For your reference, these are the four argumentative essay topics we were given, copied and pasted word for word (from my handout or from Good Essay Topics, take your pick):

1. We are becoming overwhelmingly dependent on computers. Is this dependence on computers a good thing or should we be more suspicious of their benefits?

2. Technology makes communication easier in today's world. Many people choose to work at home in front of a computer screen. What danger does the society face depending on computer screens rather than face-to-face contact as the main means of communication? Are we the prisoners of the progress?

3. Advertising: Information or Manipulation?

4. Should restrictions be placed on the use of mobile phones in public areas like restaurants and theaters?

By the way, when the professor handed out the essay topics on Tuesday, a classmate pointed out that in Taiwan, there are already restrictions placed on the use of mobile phones in public areas. The professor said he didn't know. Could it be that if he had in fact created his own topics for his students in Taipei, Taiwan, he would have come up with something more relevant and debatable?

I am seriously concerned about this because, first of all, the fact that our English professors are taking essay questions from these websites reveal something about us. Is 'Good Essay Topics' such a prestigious and credible website that our Department endorses using their data word-for-word in teaching and giving class assignments? Or perhaps it reveals something about the educational standard in our university where samples and questions are copied directly from the Internet?

We've all been told over and over again how plagiarism is illegal and how you should always cite your sources. Why is it then that my professor never told us our essay topics were taken from the Internet? I include the page 'Works Cited' at the end of all my essays and papers because we're supposed to give credits where it's due. Why then, does the professor not need to cite his sources as he hands out guidelines and samples week after week? Also, if all the material is online, what's the need to go to class? Just give me the damn topics and I can go figure myself!

This class, by the way, is the composition class required of all juniors in the English Department. No one graduates without taking this class. In other words, the Department thinks good composition skills are so necessary that it's making everyone take this class without exception! Which adds a lot to my bewilderment.

Maybe this explains why most of the samples we've read are really, quite frankly, in bad taste, and also why most students still don't know how to write a proper essay. I don't know if it is an ethical, acceptable practice among university professors, or just a long hidden secret that professors hope no one will ever discover. I wonder what the Department Chair thinks about this. Or perhaps the Ministry of Education. Is this proof that the quality of our university education has hit a new low? I wonder, I wonder, I wonder...

Elaine would like to work in the West Wing

It is true. Elaine found her idea of a perfect job and workplace in The West Wing. She would really like to work in such an environment, where every day is a challenge and every challenge a new dawn. Fast-paced, exciting, and confrontational--maybe that's the lifestyle she desires. But for now all this exists in a dream. She believes she'd drop dead if she ever has to endure such routines for more than three days.

The Question of Achieving

When the question of what I'm going to do after graduation came up during a chat with a friend, he commented that people probably wouldn't mind if I just stayed at home and did not work.

"That's just the public opinion of this small society," he said, referring to himself. I had told him how hard it was when I tried to find work during my year off from college. Then he asked, "Do your parents expect you to work? Are you pressured to find work?"

"No, I don't think I'm pressured." I said. "I understand why some people would accept me as a stay-at-home girl-with-severe-disability, but when you consider how my family pours in tens of thousands of dollars to hire a full-time caretaker for me, and how much it cost for all the special transportation and whatnot, wouldn't you feel a little guilty if you just stayed at home and not work, and have your parents take care of you for the rest of your life?"

"I didn't realize it cost so much to hire a caretaker." He said. "So yes. But still, I'm sure some people will still find it okay for you not to work."

Being Disabled

I agreed, because in Taiwan I know many people with physical disabilities who make a living making handicrafts from their homes or selling lottery tickets on the streets. Others simply do not work at all. Most live with their parents or siblings and receive meager subsidies each month from the government. In the eyes of the society, that is how disabled people live; there is no need to look surprised.

Later that night, I told my friend that, growing up, I have always had the urge to prove people wrong--to show them that I can do more and achieve more than just making the minimum wage and owning a bank account with the government's money in it. In a way, I truly believed I could. After all, I am a globetrotter who has lived in Singapore and America and who has communicated successfully with the French, Italians, Germans, Swiss, and the Spanish on at least one occasion. If and when I graduate, I will hold a degree from a well-known university in Taiwan, and my report card will confirm my status as cream of the crop. I should have many more doors opened to me than most people with disabilities, or even those without... But I have doubts--serious doubts--because I cannot imagine it; I cannot imagine what it's like to be successful because, quite frankly, I don't know if I want to be.

Achieving

Now, you have to understand: I have long struggled between achieving what I want and thanking people for helping me achieve. This is no small task, considering how dependent I am on other people and how much love I've received from my family and friends. I would describe myself as rather sensitive, and so when I have so many people loving me and helping me, I can easily feel overwhelmed. It's the emotions, you see. The only thing is, well, usually I get overwhelmed with guilt.

Some may not see the connection between guilt and a mediocre career, but I do. In an age like ours when marketing yourself is the first step to garnering a good spot in the workplace, a person with serious self-doubts simply do not sit well with the heads. Who wants a girl anyway who is always preoccupied with trying not to disturb her colleague in the next cubicle while all the while devising ways to pick up the sticky note with her toes? She hasn't learnt to draw the line between her needs and the needs of others, and that is the problem; I believe her overcompensation is the reason she does not achieve.

Fear

After all the analysis, I have to say that I still don't quite have the answer to whether I should be expected to work or not. There is of course the obvious question of whether a certain job or office would be able to accommodate my needs. But then the other question remains: Do I want and believe and choose to be competitive and responsible for my success? As Franklin D. Roosevelt famously said, "The only thing we have to fear is fear itself."

Am I hindered by my circumstances? Or am I just afraid to succeed? It is up to my choice, I guess, but it is a tough choice. I'll have to think more about it tonight. Good night.

Politics and Language

Perhaps because of my Intro to Linguistics class this year, I found myself beginning to pay close attention to the usage of language around me, and nothing has puzzled me more than the speech pattern of Republican vice president candidate, Alaskan governor Sarah Palin. Her body language has been analyzed by a body language expert on ABC, and of course her infamous interview with Katie Couric on CBS parodied into an opening skit on SNL. My greatest concern, though, is the fact that I have difficultly understanding her sentences.

I honestly think that Palin needs to brush up on her grammar and syntax, because her sentences are at best awkwardly structured. Look at this:

And as Ronald Reagan used to talk about, America being the beacon of light and hope for those who are seeking democratic values and tolerance and freedom. I see our country being able to represent those things that can be looked to... as that leadership, that light needed across the world. (with Katie Couric)

If I were to express those ideas, I would say it this way:

And as Ronald Reagan used to say, America is the beacon of light and hope for those who are seeking democratic values, tolerance, and freedom. I see our country as being able to represent those things that people can look to. We can be that leadership--that light that is needed around the world.

Another example comes from the often-quoted segment on CBS about Alaska's proximity to Russia:

That Alaska has a very narrow maritime border between a foreign country, Russia, and, on our other side, the land--boundary that we have with Canada...

That--as your English Compo teacher might have told you--is just poor sentence structure. Recall your lessons on "Clauses," "Avoiding Fragments," and "Fused Sentences," and you'll quickly realize that this very example would have gotten a very poor grade if it had been graded.

First of all, try to avoid starting a sentence (or a paragraph) with "that"--it will just mess up your structure later. I obviously broke this rule in the paragraph above ("That is just poor sentence structure"), but it's okay because the sentence makes perfect sense! To understand it better, consider the fact that "that" can be used as a demonstrative pronoun, or, as Palin used it, to introduce a restrictive clause. Palin's example is definitely not used as a pronoun. So what she did basically, was giving Couric the answer in a clause, rather than a sentence! 

As she should have known, linguistically, you don't have to start your answers with "that" simply because the question ended with the word, "that" (Couric: "What did you mean by that?"). Palin could have phrased it this way: "Well, because Alaska has a very narrow maritime border between Russia, a foreign country, and of course, on the other side, we have Canada." Again, the answer is lame, but at least it will score higher on the sentence structure.

My last example, and perhaps the most overt, is a sentence that ends with a preposition:

Our next-door neighbors are foreign countries, there in the state that I am the executive of.

Of course, everyday speech can be very different from, say, an essay. But still... "There in the state that I am the executive of"? Not only is that an awkward sentence, it's outright wrong! Those foreign countries are not in the state of which she is the executive commander! They are its neighboring countries!. She probably meant to say "beside the state"--not "in the state." 

Oh well, so this is about as much as I'm going to write on this topic. I understand perfectly that Palin's nervousness may have contributed to her messy sentences, but if she messes up this easily and this much, I think she is in a lot of trouble. People will have a hard time getting the gist of what she's saying, with all those long, compound sentences, and she will come off as foolish and incomprehensible. 

I'd like to see how she does in the debate on Friday, because I really want to hear her discourse. Maybe I'll find more gaffs, or maybe I won't. All I know is that if Palin has gotten a second-language speaker like me picking on her English, she better make improvements. Or it'll just go to show how America has fallen behind the rest of the world. English is your language, so please, speak English properly.

Book List for 2008-2009

1. ULYSSES by James Joyce
2. THE GREAT GATSBY by F. Scott Fitzgerald
3. A PORTRAIT OF THE ARTIST AS A YOUNG MAN by James Joyce
4. CATCH-22 by Joseph Heller
5. THE SOUND AND THE FURY by William Faulkner
6. 1984 by George Orwell
7. THE CATCHER IN THE RYE by J.D. Salinger
8. WAR AND PEACE by Leo Tolstoy

Elaine's Movie Picks

Top 10 Saturday Night Movies

• The Matrix
• Terminator 2: Judgment Day*
• Jerry Maguire
• Field of Dreams
• My Best Friend's Wedding
• Ocean's Eleven
• The Negotiator
• Batman Begins
• Ransom
• Deja Vu

Top 10 Movies That Yell "Quality" (Artistically)

• Atonement (I could watch this movie over and over again. And if there ever was an actress who made me feel like smoking was cool, it's Keira Knightley as Cecilia)
• Fur: An Imaginary Portrait of Diane Airbus*
• Pride and Prejudice
• The Remains of the Day
• The Godfather (One of the best films ever made that I actually understood why it was so good)
• A Beautiful Mind
• Citizen Kane
• The Wind that Shakes the Barley
• Dancer in the Dark
• American Beauty

Top 10 Best Comedy Movies, Dark or Normal

• The Royal Tenenbaums* (One of the best dramatic dark comedies I've seen)
• Spaceballs
• As Good As It Gets
• Stranger Than Fiction
• My Best Friend's Wedding
• Stop! Or My Mom Will Shoot (There couldn't be a worse movie if you didn't find it funny)
• Hot Shots
• Mrs. Doubtfire
• Over the Hedge ("Rosebud!")
• The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy

Top 12 Best Pop Culture Movies

• Ghostbusters
• E.T.
• Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade
• Terminator 2: Judgment Day
• Die Hard
• Jurassic Park
• The Matrix*
• Star Wars
• Edward Scissorhands
• 2001: Space Odyssey
• Citizen Kane
• Titanic

Top 12 Movies That Make You Think (About the World or Its People)

• Chance or Coincidence
• Dancer in the Dark
• The Wind that Shakes the Barley*
• The Pianist
• Hillary and Jackie
• Who's Eating Gilbert Grape?
• Mystic River
• The Bridges of Madison County
• Dead Poets Society
• In the Name of the Father
• To Kill a Mocking Bird
• The Pursuit of Happyness (It actually made me happy, more than it made me think)

Top 6 Best Disaster Movies

• Outbreak
• Titanic
• Apollo 13* (The mission was a disaster...)
• Armageddon
• Twister
• The Day After Tomorrow (The direction is so terrible this movie would never have made it on my list if not for the fact that it covered some of the most original, realistic, and relevant disaster topics known to my generation)

Top 8 Most Creative/Original Movies

• Kiss Kiss Bang Bang*
• The Royal Tenenbaums
• The Matrix
• Indiana Jones franchise
• Stranger Than Fiction
• Deja Vu
• Terminator 2: Judgment Day
• Moulin Rouge!

Top 8 Movies with Most Memorable Characters

• Indiana Jones franchise
• The Godfather (Al Pacino--an actor has never looked so good)
• Dog Day Afternoon (oh, is that Al again? I didn't realize that before)
• The Matrix (Neo--enough said)
• Fight Club(A great way to get acquainted with Edward Norton)
• Terminator 2: Judgment Day (Just by the way Arnold flip-cocks his gun)
• Kiss Kiss Bang Bang (Robert Downey Jr. at his funniest)
• Disturbia (A great way to get acquainted with the young Shia LaBeouf)

Back in Life - a video worth watching

Watching this video reminds me of my many friends who have helped me through different periods of my life. I thank them from the bottom of my heart, and I pray that I will come to know many more, because life is a lonely walk without companions. We need each other. We need to be loved.

For those of us who "cannot live without the help of others"... it's still important that we develop friendships that are not based on our neediness or the other person's pity for us. We like hanging out together because we love each other, and because it enriches our lives to understand and share each other's burdens. I hope Zach's life inspires you. As much as Zach does, however, I think Silas, the guy who directed this video, should inspire you too. Because it's not just about Zach. It's about Zach and his friends.

How to talk to me

Hey people! Read this CNN article. I can't resist giving a shout out to all my friends: "Hey! Stop saying 'It's behind you' to me!"

Like... really, please... start saying 'You're wonderful' whenever you see me. Thanks sooooo much.

LOL. Peace.

Can you link all the superhero actors together?

In the tradition of Six Degrees of Separation... try linking. You may use their co-stars and other movies to link everyone together.*

Christian Bale (Batman Begins/The Dark Knight)
George Clooney (Batman)
Val Kilmer (Batman)
Robert Downey Jr. (Ironman)
Tobey Maguire (Spider-man)
Christopher Reeves (Superman)
Brandon Routh (Superman Returns)
Edward Norton (The Incredible Hulk)
Eric Banner (The Hulk)
Hugh Jackman (X-Men)
Ben Affleck (Daredevil)

You're welcome to include other superheroes not listed here. HAVE FUN!!!!

* PS. I already did. You can too!

Diary entry

I found the following words in my diary, dated Wednesday, March 20, 2002. It says

Diary is never meant to be read by another person, because diary is a reflection, and it's not your life I'm reflecting on. Biographies, at their best, seeks to tell the truth. I wonder if I'll be able to do it. Because the truth always carries at least a pinch of shame. Both in the truth itself and the process and aftermath of telling it.

Man! So much wisdom and so much truth! I can't believe I wrote that when I was, what, seventeen?