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May 28 端午節的粽子回憶 我高中的時候沒有住在家裡,在台北跟幾個也是離鄉背井求學的朋友一起在學校附近租屋。 高三快畢業之前,六月份,正是準備大學入學考試最忙的時候,我也沒有時間回老家,理所當然地也沒有吃粽子的機會。 班上一些比較要好的同學知道我沒有回家過節,紛紛帶了他們自家手工粽子來跟我分享。於是乎,我得以嘗遍朋友們的媽媽的手藝,品味比較各家不同風味的粽子。大概平常人也不會有機會一次吃那麼多種不同的吧!想到這裡就很感激當時分我粽子吃的朋友們,雖然說我已經數不出來吃了哪幾家的,但是人情的溫暖現在想起來還是會令我微笑。 各家粽子裡頭,有個令我印象深刻的是海鮮風味的粽子。說真的,到現在這麼多年了我還是沒遇過有包一堆海鮮進去的粽子,可惜我已經不記得味道跟長相了,不然真的可以試試能不能複製出來。越說越令我想念海鮮粽,蕃茄(高中同學暱稱啦)你在哪裡?海鮮粽還有沒有啊? April 25 Breakfast at Tiffany'sI noticed that A-team is available on Hulu; one thing leads to another, reminded me the movie George Peppard (the leader of A-team) played -- Breakfast at Tiffany's. So I digged our the trailer from Youtube... the lines are cheesy, but man, Audrey is so~~in style even for today's fashion, and beautiful. On a scale of 1-10 and 10 being a goddess, I'll give her a 10. January 14 哪家店倒店大清倉的時候你會去搶購?這個標題可能下得有點過火了,好像在詛咒店家一樣。但我的意思是,我們多少都常會有那種"這家店的東西真不錯,不過未免太貴了吧"的想法(我對幾乎每家店都抱著這個想法),尤其是一些名品店啦高檔貨的,想要也下不了手,這個時候就會很希望他們能來個"一件都不留"的大清倉拍賣。這個月照理來說是美國換季拍賣最熱的時段(聖誕節後到一月中),我滿心期待會在不景氣中看到店家卯起來跳樓拍賣,結果不但折扣跟平時差不多,拍賣也有提早結束的趨勢。唯一的例外是我們家Eddie的愛店REI,最近開始了特價品再打五折的拍賣,不少貨都被降到"老海軍"等級的價碼;開賣的第一天就熱鬧滾滾,我們在上班途中去看了一下,排隊的地方像菜市場,一堆家庭主婦推著購物車把,我瞄了一眼,有些人連泳衣都買齊了;目前為止我最得意的戰利品之一是Teva原價80元左右的涼鞋,加稅20元到手,基本上跟地攤貨價錢很像了。Eddie得意品是我們兩個都買到質料相當不錯的Marmot fleece外套,也是原價四分之一的價錢到手。好了不用再數有甚麼品牌跟超級折扣了,我相信看到這篇文章的人大概95%都沒概念也沒興趣也不想研究。
於是在我昏昏欲睡的工作日午後三四點,我開始遐想,哪些店家有倒店拍賣的時候我會想去搶購呢?(當然只是想想,想想不用錢)
REI(沒錯,他們的好貨太多了,值得清倉)
Pottery Barn(我們家不缺家具但是有可以換好貨的話,何樂而不為)
J Crew(這個純粹是因為不能理解他們的料子跟設計有好到要賣那麼貴嗎?)
Apple Store(要等他們清倉,難度還蠻高的)
先降子,誰有想到其他店的,台灣的美國的大陸的哪裡的甚麼店都可以,來提供一點想法吧! November 12 多事之秋雖然說多事之秋多的都是別人家的事,但身為地球村的一員實在很難不受牽連。讓我細數一下,從美國的銀行們開始垮台(我用的銀行也被賠錢賣出了),股市跌個不停(退休金掰掰!),總統大選(被辦公室兩個共和黨同事轟炸弄得好煩啊!)的糾葛,台北鬧圍城的事件(各方都堅持自己有理的時候,只能沒完沒了了)牽扯出學運。剪不斷的理還亂,嘆一口氣,無解。
轉眼間這已經到了十一月中了,我得出一個結論,新聞還是少看一點點的好,Discovery頻道多美好啊! October 14 REI Garage Sale西雅圖最大的體育用品店大概就非REI(Recreational Equipment Inc. 另解:Really Expensive Items)莫屬,也是我們最常逛的店之一。關於這家店,除了東西的確賣得很貴之外(當然也不排除因為他們都賣一些有點貴的牌子),最深得人心的地方大概就是退貨的機制了。這個美國很多店家都有的"優良"傳統,近年來常被人濫用,所以很多店家都會限制說只有沒用過甚至沒開過的東西可以全額退,或著有一兩個禮拜的期限。不過少數幾家店,比如說REI,就一直守著他們顧客至上,沒有任何限制的退貨規則。
退了的貨都去哪裡了呢,有很多最後都會到Garage Sale區打折出清。
然後這就是我在Garage Sale的發現。(這個也不是最誇張的,有很多穿了兩年的鞋子被拿回來退,上面寫著:穿著腳會痛)
購於2005年,退貨原因:褲子的臀部有破洞
也許REI把這樣的褲子放在架上賣的目的是為了警惕大家別惡搞了?或想炫耀說你看連這種貨色我們都願意收?
不管如何,這家店的生意在經濟蕭條中仍然是欣欣向榮啊! October 07 詠秋難得秋高氣爽,我想也來補充一首詠秋的詩好了,不過腦子裡出現的只有這首詞。我還年少的時候拿來自嘲用的,年紀大後,只會越來越有味道。
辛棄疾的醜奴兒:
少年不識愁滋味 愛上層樓
愛上層樓 為賦新辭強說愁
而今識盡愁滋味 欲語還休
欲語還休 卻道天涼好個秋
July 16 Lizzie's Song of the weekHave you ever all of sudden falling in love with one song? It may be a song you've head many times but never paid attention to it, or just something like love at first sight. This kind of feeling comes and goes like a crush, not a big deal, but it cheers you up when you stayed up the night, or keeps you awake in a sleepy workday afternoon.
So here is my crush for this week. Viva La Vida by Coldplay
And also found other people cover this song, and i think this guy actually has better voice than Christ Martin. (Sorry Coldplayer fans!) July 08 多睡五分鐘的奢侈從學生時代到出社會工作,相信大家對於"讓我再多睡五分鐘"是再熟悉不過了。尤其是Eddie,幾乎每天都對我說這句話(趁機數落他一下)。
多睡五分鐘真的有差那麼多嗎?
我自己一直以來都是夜貓族的一份子,早五分鐘睡覺,實在是很難的事情,能夠多睡五分種,就感覺是一種很奢侈的享受,如果沒有多睡那五分鐘,帶著不滿足感起床,一個早上都會心有怨氣。但是其實那五分鐘,往往睡得不太安穩,因為總是怕睡過頭了,所以反而是處於淺眠的狀態,不過即便如此,還是堅持著非睡那五分鐘不可。
你今天早上有多睡五分鐘嗎? April 28 為何周末要補眠?我想五個人裡面可能有四個人會說,周末要補眠,因為平時上班太累了,沒睡飽。
我每天從起床出門到回家,大概佔去十一個小時到十二小時,有時更多,裡面包括了起床洗澡,開單程半個多小時的車(來回大概一個半小時)通勤。
回家之後要煮飯,然後就是逛逛網路,洗臉敷臉,看電視等等瑣碎事情,有時候還要洗衣服。
睡覺沒有六到七個小時以上我就會有點浮躁,所以我儘量每天都睡到七個小時。
到周末的時候因為平常已經早起了,所以無法真的睡到中午,平常該起床的時間就會起床。
大家平常都在做甚麼呢?都睡了多少時間呢?為什麼周末的時候還會感覺特別想要補眠呢?
我現在能想到的理由就是我住的地方太無聊了,所以"逛街"還有"唱歌"無法被排入我的行程裡。還有其他的嗎?
來聊聊吧! April 08 Hello, backcountry!Hello. backcountry!
This year we didn't go skiing as much as before, in fact, we went only once. Mainly bcoz of our December trip to China and unstable snowfalls in Jan-Feb. We did snowboard twice, fist time I was pretty frustrated bcoz Eddie was doing way better than me (and I thought he's not supposed to do that good so i was upset with him and my slow improvement too); second time I somehow picked it up and doing much better than first time and manage to come down blue trails several times.
Wait a minute. this is not about our snowboarding experiences from two+ months before. It snowed quite a lot during one weekend at the end of March (well this abnormal weather we blame global warming but kinda loving it when it's powdery enough to have a great final run for this season) so we decided to hit Alpental for skiing.
After couple runs on Armstrong Express, we joined the crowd to line up for Chair2. I bet 99% of the people waiting in line must think the same thing--"this can be the last Chair2 run for the season!" First run we came down from Edelweiss as a warm up, and second round we drag Michelle to Upper Inernational with us. It's just as powdery as it used to be, doesn't look like the end of March at all! One run and we decided we'll take our favorite run "Snake Dance." Since most likely there won't be too many people spending time reading this blog, I think it's ok simply to describe this run as "forestry and double-black," and it's hard for us to stay in exact same route each time (that's why it makes our favorite).
Upon entering Snake Dance, we just kept on going and followed other people's tracks, and it led us to a roped gate of backcountry. OK, backcountry is the only thing we haven't tried in Alpental mainly bcoz of many uncertainties and I am a chicken. But this time I know it's not far from the main trails and obviously many people have came down this route already, so we didn't hesitate.
In one word, powdery. Eddie soon sped up and went far ahead in front of me. I tend to take things slow, so when I saw a big slope in front of me, I immediately slowed down by instinct. It's the steepest I've ever encountered therefore I was a bit struggling. Then I saw Eddie sitting at the bottom of the slope trying to say something.
"Did you see my ski?" ski. not skis.
"No, what happened?" I yelled back. "Oh my skis came off" Alright, that means, he fell. So now I really have to go super slow and literally scratching snow downhill, in case I miss Eddie's ski or hit his ski. Less in one min I saw the ski, picked it up with right hand and put both my poles on left hand. Now I seriously have to scratching the snow down like a lot of snowboarders do. as I got closer and tried to take a breath, I noticed there's a ski patrol not too far from where Eddie sat.
"I have one of your skis, where's the other one?" I asked Eddie.
"It slides down passed by me, the ski patrol picked it up. Do you see my pole?" And then I saw his pole. "......" I paused and didn't know what to do for one minute, my hands are already full and I can't let go any of the stuff on my hands or they'll all slide into the woods (if it didn't hit Eddie first). "My hands are full, do you think you can climb up a bit to get some stuff out of my hands?" So Eddie started to "climb," with all his hands and feet, that's how steep the slope is. On his way climbing up, Eddie picked up one of his poles. And when he got close enough, I handed him his ski and picked the other pole for him too. With only one ski, there's no way he can ski down, so he went down the "tubing" way, looks pretty fun, but according to Eddie, he was a bit worried if he couldn't stop. And he was tubing until reaching his other ski.
During the whole time the ski patrol has been watching silently, we didn't know what does she do there, but we're guessing Eddie wasn't the only one who didn't noticed the steep slope and fell, so she's probably just to keep an eye on everybody.
Further down the area the trails merged with other "off-the-rope" areas we've been to, and finally reached the green run of Alpental. On our way to meet friends at Armstrong Express, Eddie asked me if I wanted to go snowboarding. No kidding, his original plan was to ski at Chair 2 until it closes (at 4:30pm) and then go to Summit Central to snowboard. I told him I felt pity if we didn't get to snowboard for the last time of the season, at the same time I am really exhausted, I want to just call it a day. Eddie agreed, to my surprise (he always wanted to ski til he's extremely tired and couldn't stop falling). After we got into the car he told me it was because he felt he shouldn't push his luck anymore, and he hurt his leg while falling down. it bleeds.
From this experience I came up with two conclusions:
1. Look before you leap 2. wear helmet Whoever really spends time reading the thing, I admire your patience, and be safe out there! March 12 燉牛肉今天有人問我說,為什麼上班時間老是想打瞌睡呢?我想了一下,大概是對工作沒甚麼熱情吧!再令人興奮的工作,日復一日相似的內容,到最後也是變成肌肉的習慣動作而已,要重拾熱情,就必須要有刺激。刺激從何而來?它可以是一項新的任務,新的人事,新的環境,甚至是新的八卦。要是天天有這些變化圍繞著,上班應該不容易打瞌睡吧?各位上班族,你們有何看法呢?
題外話,找到一道菜,材料真是落落長,不過改天要來試一下:
Beef and Butternut Squash Stew
3 tablespoon olive oil
1 onion, peeled and chopped 2 cloves garlic, chopped 1 tablespoon minced fresh rosemary 1 tablespoon chopped fresh thyme 2 pounds stew beef, cut into 2-inch cubes 1/2 teaspoon salt, plus more to taste 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper, plus more to taste 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour 1 cup Marsala wine 1 pound butternut squash, trimmed and cut into 2-inch cubes 1/4 cup chopped sun-dried tomatoes 3 to 4 cups beef broth 2 tablespoons fresh chopped flat-leaf parsley Crusty bread, for serving In a large soup pot heat 3 tablespoons of olive oil over medium heat. Add the onions, garlic, rosemary, and thyme and saute until the onions are tender, about 2 minutes. Toss the beef cubes in salt and pepper and flour. Turn up the heat to med-high and add the beef to the pot. Cook until the beef is browned and golden around the edges, about 5 minutes. Add the Marsala wine. Using a wooden spoon, gently stir up all the brown bits off the bottom of the pan. Add the butternut squash and sun-dried tomatoes and stir to combine. Add enough beef broth to just cover the beef and squash. Bring the stew to a boil over high heat, then reduce the heat to low and simmer, covered, for 1 hour. Season the stew with additional salt and pepper to taste. Sprinkle with the chopped parsley. Serve with crusty bread alongside. February 13 It's coffee time大學生涯裡我當過賣咖啡的小妹,因為自己賣過咖啡,很清楚要在外面的連鎖店喝到一杯好咖啡是多麼困難的事情,所以我也就從來不曾養成喝咖啡的習慣。但是身在西雅圖,咖啡的首善之都,街邊轉角到處都是各式各樣的大小咖啡店,從大家的連鎖店starbucks,tully's,seattle's best到小家的連鎖店Caffe Ladro,Caffe D'Arte,獨立經營的書店+咖啡店的組合到俯拾即是的drive through。讓人非常訝異,為何一杯平均要價$2-$6之間的咖啡加上9%的消費稅後,還是有人天天非買不可呢?
姑且不論要價,咖啡店還有多種其他功能:情侶約會,跟客戶見面,上網,K書,還是#1網路交易看貨的好地點。我們雖然沒有天天喝咖啡的習慣,但偶爾跟朋友見面,出去散步,還是可以來一杯的。我自己比較偏好獨立經營的小店或著本地的小連鎖店勝過Starbucks,一來店面沒有制式化的感覺,二來總覺得咖啡新鮮順口(考慮到大連鎖店的咖啡都是工廠大量炒豆,小店自己炒豆的確是比較新鮮)。只是西雅圖附近的咖啡店多半以義式咖啡為大宗,所以對於偏向以濾過式嘗遍各家名豆的愛好者來說,豆子的變化總覺得不夠多,這大概是美中不足之處吧!
在大家的想像裡,整天陰雨霾霾的西雅圖冬日,手上抱著一杯咖啡,暖著手看窗外的雨滴,打從心底湧上的幸福感,你是不是也覺得很浪漫呢?
我想,如果再配上濕了的鞋子與外套,看著報紙上寫說這是打破紀錄的連續一個月每天都有下雨,心情大概只會像外面的天空一樣灰色吧!
Anyway, it's coffee time.
(Photo taken in Bauhaus Coffee & Books,這篇文章是為回應Eddie不喜歡把有臉的照片放在網路上給人看的習慣,你越不喜歡放我就更想放啦!)
February 04 Carson in Man VS WildIf you are a fan of Bear Grylls, you can't miss this one. It's simply funny...
(well but you really have to watch Man VS Wild shows before, or it'll just be stupid)
January 28 The Conditions are Perfect!Alright I am gonna try to write this in English and then Chinese. Probably won't be word by word translation but you get the idea...
這篇打算先寫英文再寫成中文版,雖然不是逐字翻譯,但是大概就是這麼回事...
Because of our Beijing trip in December and serious jetlag/flu in early January, we didn't get to ski at all. Don't get me wrong, i said "ski," not "snowboarding." That's right! We started snowboarding this season!
Overall, the conditions are perfect, especially for beginners bcoz you'll have lots powder as a buffer when you fall. The first time i was a bit mad at Eddie coz it's his 2nd time snowboarding and he's already making a big progress and got onto Blue Trails (intermediate level) while i kept on struggling in Green Trails (beginner level). But Eddie tried to comfort me by saying "don't compare with me. it's good to be competitive, but if you always compare yourself to a genius, it'll only get yourself frustrated." Obviously this would only piss me off even more insteading of being comforting. (But i know he's joking, so i was more like angry and wanted to laugh at the same time)
This weekend we went snowboarding again, the conditions are perfect again! This time I made better progress, even though Eddie still improves more than me, but at least I can snowboard on Blue Trails now. Finally I felt better about it. I don't know if we'll get to ski much (or at all) this season, but snowboarding looks so far so good, I don't mind continuing this sport. This season's snow conditions are perfect as well, i think next time my goal will be learning to speed up and keep better balance of the board. Good luck to me and have fun!
由於十二月的北京之行加上回來後一月初都陷在嚴重時差跟感冒之中,我們一直沒有機會去滑雪(雙板,又名雪橇,又名ski)。嘿嘿,我說的是滑雪橇,不是滑雪板(單板,snowboard)噢!是的,從這一季開始,我們正式從ski轉向開始玩滑雪板了!
***英文版沒有的前情提要***
我們滑雪一開始學的是ski,但是看著越來越多玩滑雪板的人,有時也會心癢想試試,但是已經投入ski不少了,所以就給自己定個目標吧,能夠滑到double black的時候(雙黑鑽石等級,大概是高階以上到專業等級)再開始玩滑雪板,那這個目標上一季已經達成了,理所當然這一季就從滑雪板開始重新當個初學者。
******
整體而言,雪況算是相當不錯的,尤其對初學著來說,白棉棉的新鮮雪堆在摔倒的時候是極佳的緩衝。我第一次去玩滑雪板時,有點不爽Eddie,因為他在北京滑過一次了,跟我去的時候是第二次滑,滑得很像樣,還能上中級的滑雪道;而我還忙著前仆後繼的摔在初級的滑雪道上。不過Eddie安慰我說不要跟他比,因為"好強是好事,但是拿自己跟有天分的人比,只會一直覺得挫敗而已"。想當然耳,我聽完是更不爽他啦!這算甚麼安慰的話嘛!雖然我知道他是在逗我笑,但真的是又氣又好笑。
這週末我們又再去玩了一次滑雪板,雪況依然是完美狀態~這次我也進步比較多(不過Eddie也進步了,還是比我強),但是至少我現在也能上中級滑雪道去也平安地下來,總算是讓我心裡好過一點啦!這一季我們還不知道有沒有機會去玩到雪橇(ski),但是滑雪板目前看來還不算太難玩,我應該會繼續下去吧!這一季現在的雪況也不錯(有在穩定地下雪),下次的目標是希望可以加速並保持平衡,祝我成功,玩得愉快啦~
***寫翻譯版的感言***
好奇怪的中文噢!寫起來就是很彆扭!先寫英文再寫中文就是怪~
而且一直在想ski跟snowboard的差異要怎樣講,簡體中文的是單板跟雙版的差別(不過這種分法對我來說有點爭議,滑雪有很多種呢,兩條腿用滑雙版的姿勢並攏站在一個單板上的monoski怎麼叫呀?),繁體中文那更奇怪了,想都想不出來ski怎麼叫,雖然我最後稱呼為雪橇,但雪橇也可以是狗拖著往前拉的那種東西,所以又好像不是很合適的稱呼。有經驗又見識廣博的各位可以給我一點意見參考噢!
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tire track on the snow/雪地上的輪胎痕 January 22 Vegetarian FartIn search of the answer for the "special" flatulence produced by vegetarians (use your imagination to figure out why i would need an answer for this), i accidentally found a website hoested by a meat-lover against vegetarians. Here the main argument comes from the environmental activitist's point of view claiming the cow flatulence is one of the major sources for greenhouse effects (which is also proved by scientists).
Honestly, i really can't see myself becoming a total vegetarian. For two reasons: milk and steak. well, maybe fish and egg too.
Here's the website: http://www.heatem.com/ January 16 Joanna Wang?I happened to notice Joanna Wang simply because her hairstyle looks kinda like mine; except i have band while she doesn't, and she has hairstylist while i don't.
There are already quite some people commenting on her mature voice (as 19-year-old, she looks mature too). Few things confuse me, how come there are so many ABC (or kids who came to US at young age) releasing albums? I don't see any good KTV places here, where did you develope your sining talent, Joanna?
Anyway, i think her voice is good, kinda Norah Jones like, this style is quite popular these years. Hope in the future she get to build up more of her own style.
Ohoh, one last thing, even though the ad compares her to Ono Lisa of Japan and Norah Jones of US, i don't quite agree since they all have different field of expertise.
January 08 Trip to BeijingEver since we got back from our trip to Beijing, no matter I like it or not, my mind has already been fully occupied by the idea of living in Beijing. I am totally aware of the bad air quality (as well as Taipei's bad air quality) and hated the second hand smoke (it is wrong to think we should get used to this, according to my observation, 10 people on the table usually there are 3 people smoking at most. why should the other 7 smoke your leftover?)
As usual, my body gets used to the environment while my brain is overloaded by the information. So overloaded and man, Beijing is a big and complicated city that can bring all kinds of mixed feelings into my mind. Even until now, I couldn't come up with a simple conclusion for this trip.
Well, "unconcluded" wouldn't stop me from thinking of it. Here's what I noticed today on Seattle Times. I haven't read the whole thing, but looks like this guy has a comprehensive report about air pollution and recorded the worst polluted days in Beijing. Unfortunately, we were there during those days (I actually feel more unfortunate for those who have been living there and got used to it, since they didn't have a choice. If you can choose the city to be clean, who wouldn't; but the fact is it's dirty and life goes on).
Anyway, here's the blog.
September 23 Old songsEddie was listening to Akon's "Mr. Lonely" and i was surprised to hear this old melody. I first heard it when i was in middle school, but never really find out what this song is about. Therefre I looked up the lyrics online this time, and realized it is a very sad song! it mentioned soldier so i am guessing if it's related to vietnam war.
And from this song, my memories of listening to these old songs were all coming back to me. So I looked up another song that I liked and here it is, Mandy. apperantly it has been remixed to a modern style and sang by a boyband that i am not too familiar with. but oh well, it still sounds lovely!
August 24 First two men to summit Mt. EverestFirst two men to summit Mt. Everest would be Edmund Hilary (New Zealand) and Tenzing Norgay (Sherpa) -- in alphabetical order. Sherpa are people who live by Mt. Everest in generations; and the commercializing of summiting Mt. Everest changed their life forever. I didn't mean to sound like a textbook or documentary narrator, but after watching Natonal Geographic's 50 years of Mt. Everest (a documentary in honor of the first two men who summited Mt. Everest), I really don't know what to say except a deap sigh for people who devoted their lives to this mountain -- including mountaineers who came with determination and made it through, sherpas who risked their life so their kids don't have to, and people who ended up on the mounatin and never got to go home again.
Erik the first blind person to summit Mt. Everest was asked how he felt while standing at the top of Mt. Everest (since he couldn't see the stuning view as others did), he said summiting the mountain is more an internal feelings. And yes, I agree.
BTW Pete Sampras is going to have a game wth Federer at Venetian in Macau. Nov 24, happy thanksgiving. July 25 Flight of ConchordsIntrigued by someone I don't know much but on my G-talk list (we all have contacts like this, don't we), I started to watch Flight of Conchords clips once a while on Youtube. They are a duo comedians from New Zealand, now having their own shows on HBO, wich unfortunately we don't have. I am pretty lazy in terms of watching regularly broadcasted shows (thanks to MediaCenter PC, I don't have to) and probably won't keep up with every episodes, so it's ok, i'll just enjoy the convenient piracy life that Youtube brought us.
Here's one of their songs: Busness time
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