Handicapped beauty

A pictures paints more than a thousand words

Recently, I've grown fond of photographing things around me. My foray into photography (albeit amateur at best) got jumpstarted by a request for photos of food from the The Taste of Chicago. Now I take pictures of whatever comes across as interesting. Well, I also take pictures of any information that I need to remember since I can just refer to the photo and zoom in on the detail that I'm looking for. This sure beats writing everything down!

Um, I don't actually have much to write about... Just wanted to promote my photostream on flickr.com

Here it is: Xin's photostream

Anybody can view and comment on the photos so be sure to check them out! All the photos were taken with my trusty K800i and are mostly untouched (spruced up pics will be tagged)
That's all for now.

Fantastic finding: fine-feathered friend foraging for food

I don't know who did it, but nice looking painting.

Palm Reading

Below is the letter I got from a website after I tried their "read your own palm" doohicky. I'm usually not one to put faith in this kind of fortune telling, but it seems surprisingly accurate in describing me. I have uploaded a picture of my left palm (I hear it's left for guys and right for girls) for those who have knowledge in this field of study. Anybody who has any knowledge of this kind of thing is welcome to email me at: xin_mei@hotmail.com

From : The OFE Palm Reader
To : xin_mei@hotmail.com
Subject : Your Palm Reading


Dear Xin,

Here is your personal palm reading! This will be a general reading of your
palm, and what it says about you and your personality. Enjoy.

First let's take a look at your Life Line. The wavey quality of your Life Line
does seem to indicate that you may experience variable health, and that you may
not always be very energetic. The cramped nature of your Life Line would also
seem to indicate a cautious life style, and perhaps a limited love life. The
break in your Life Line may be an indicator of an accident or serious illness.
This break is an indication of a sudden change in your life situation.

Now let's see what your Head Line had to say. The light and wavy quality of
your Head Line seems to mimic the way you think. While you don't necessarily
lack intellectuality, you don't always think about things in much depth, and
sometimes you may have problems concentrating on more than one thing at a time.
The joining of your Head Line and Life Line at the beginning indicates that your
strong sense of mind generally rules over your body. You also look at childhood
with a cautious and fearful outlook.

The last line we'll look at is your Heart Line. A slight disregard to the true
meaning of love and its responsibilities are indicated by a Heart Line like
yours that starts between the middle and index finger. You tend to easily give
your heart away. Your chained Heart Line is an indication that your life is
sometimes bothered by emotional tensions.

You have a spade-shaped hand. This is the hand of an inventor. You are
probably very good with all things mechanical. Often those who've forged new
paths in science and engineering have a spade-shaped hand. Women who have this
type of hand enjoy do-it-yourself projects (decorating and sewing). It also
gives these women a manual dexterity greater than most men have.

We hope that gives you a little more insight into your personality, and your
palm. Thanks for visiting us.

Your friend,
The OFE Palm Reader

Read my palm!

This is a picture of my left palm.

Lake michigan

Frog on shrooms

Can you see the image?

My fave green tea.

Where can i get this in chicago?

My Name is... 我叫做。。。 part 2

上文提要 - 我的名字：

在1980年， 有一名中國籍男生出生于，廣東，台山，端芬， 七家村。 呵呵， 在我的平生， 我父母沒有傳授什麽給我但是他們沒有讓我忘記我的來源。 那時候我的外公正在辦排期手續拉我父母和我一家三口移民到美國。 那時候我還沒有名字但是外公需要填我的名字在證件上。 否則， 我就不能跟我父母一起到美國去。 於是，我的外公就給我起 “新洽”這個名。 我的父親姓梅，所以我的全名就是“梅新洽。”

那個是我法律上的名 （是否這麽叫的？）但是我還有另外一個名字。 我的父親也有給我起個名字。 而這個名字就跟著中國人起名的傳統。 我有幾個堂表哥。 他們的名字都用“尚“來做頭。 e.g. 尚文,尚榮, etc. 我的父親就給我起了“尚洪“ 這個名字。 日後， 我的家人親戚就這麽叫我。 其實很少叫“尚洪"; 多數叫我"阿洪" 還是"洪仔." 呵呵, 有一個網友聽見"洪仔" 就覺得好笑. 皆因我根本沒有"熊仔" (teddy bear) 那麽可愛. 在廣東話裏面, 除了"洪" 是念 "hong" 之外, '熊' 和 '雄' 也是念 "hong."

問到我的名字有什麽意思呢， 我可答不了這個問題。 我問過我父母但是他們也不知道有什麽意思. '新洽' 這個名是我外公起的. 可是我從來沒有機會認識他. 我還沒有記憶的時候,他已經不在人世了. 我的外婆還在,可是她有時候連我的名字都忘記. 問她也沒用. 尚洪這個名字呢, 我也問過我父親. 他也有給我個答案, 可是我忘了... 呵呵, 也不重要了. 你若是會看這篇文章, 你可能也猜到什麽意思了.

説到念名字呢, 我們又要看看方言對字體的戲弄啦. 在拼音裏, 我兩個名字就是 "Mei Xin Qia" 以及 "Mei Shang Hong." 尚洪多數親戚叫的所以這裡不用説明了. 主要説明是'梅新洽' 這個名字.

由於我們是台山人我們的方言就叫"台山話". 台山話以太城的口音為標準. 我講的端芬話還不算標準的台山話呢. 端芬話比台城話接近廣東話. 有時候講廣東話或者台山話我會想起一些很煩的東西. 說台山話的時候, 我可能遇到一些我在台山話裏認識的概念但是不會用廣東話來表達. 那怎麽辦呢? 我把台山口音扭一扭就變成廣東口音. 這種翻譯法有時行, 有時不行. 我的名字就是最好的例子...

	台山口音	廣東口音	漢語口音
梅	Moy	Mui	Mei
新	Thun(接近)	Sun	Xin
洽	Dep	Hup	Qia

我一早就知道我的名字的台山口音念法. 可是我小的時候不知道廣東口音的念法. 當時我父親也不知道用廣話怎麽念, 所以他就把台山話扭一扭, 告訴我, 我的名字是念 "Sun Jip." 皆因為'洽' 與 '接' 在台山話裏都是同一個念法 - "dep." 在小學的時候有一些來自廣東的朋友但是他們像我也不會看中文字. 我就告訴他們我叫做"sun jip." 可是我的名字是寫 Xin Qia 喔. 怎麽會是Sun Jip, 呢? 不知道怎麽弄但是我的名字被弄成 "Sin ji." 在小學的時候, 人家就叫我 Sin ji. 如果不認識我的人聽到我的名字可能以爲我是日本人 (的確有 Sin ji 這個日本名).

我記得好像在五年班還是六年班的時候有一群剛剛從台山移民到美國來的學生加入我們班. 他們都有一些有趣的別名. 有個同學叫Wei Ying, 所以我們叫他 "乌蝇" - Which is a fly in Cantonese, but I don't know what you call a fly in Mandarin. 他的哥哥叫鹹魚. 鹹魚這個外號呢, 我就不知道有什麽來源. 我知道在廣東話裏面"鹹湿"代表好色. 他可能好色吧. 又或者他懶得像鹹魚呢. 最離譜的花名就是"屎缸." 不知道這個是否因爲他多粗口講呢. 還有一位叫"炒蝦," 只豬, yat 飯 (eat rice in colloquial cantonese). 而我呢, 就被稱爲"聖旨." 威風嗎? 呵呵, 由 Sin Ji 變成 Sing Ji (聖旨在廣東話口音裏).

我的名字的變化:

Sin Ji -> Kin Qi -> Shin Chi (pretty close)-> Zin Chi -> Xin Qia (Shin Chya)-> Zin -> Sin

The above is what my teachers and American classmates called me through the years. As you can see, there is a bit of variation.

有人說廣東人不會說出流利的普通話. 其實我父親也會普通話所以我以前問過他我的名字確實怎麽念. 他告訴我"Sin Cha." 我開始上中文課的時候才知道我的名字原來念 (in English phonetics) "Shin Chya." 那已經幾年前的事了. 現在我用"Sin" 這個名字. 寫就寫Xin. Sin 翻譯就是罪惡但是我不介意. 如果有人在這邊叫做Jesus, 爲何沒有Sin 呢?

阿, 我改入美國籍的時候也有機會改我的名字,可是我沒有改. 有什麽英文名適合我呢?
_____ Mei...

Croc

Before my arm came off.

Darkness

Riverbank

Genesis II

Hand-shaped heart

Just needs an arrow to complete the arrow- through-heart image.

My name is... 我叫做。。。 part 1

Who am I? To inquire at the most basic level of identification, what is my name? When it comes to my name(s), there is a bit of confusion - even on my part over the years. Yes, I have been puzzled by my very own name! Others may ponder the proverbial question of who they are in relation to the grand scheme of things i.e. the universe, but up until a few years ago, I couldn't even get past my own name.

The reasoning for this confusion has to do with the variety of dialects found in China and their respective pronunciations for the same characters. Well, they are considered "dialects," but differences in pronunciation may push some people to classify them as "languages."

As it stands, Cantonese and Mandarin are dialects of the Chinese language. Spanish and Italian are classified as separate languages altogether even though they sound very similar and are actually partially intelligible to speakers of each opposing language in question.

Actually, Cantonese is a sub-regional dialect that is part of the greater "Yue" (粵） dialect of the Chinese language which is comprised of Cantonese a.k.a. Guang Dong Hua (廣東話）and Tai Shan Hua (台山話）。

I can still recall a story from my old Chinese language teacher about an experiment that he did to determine once and for all if Tai Shan Hua and Guang Dong Hua (Cantonese) were the same. Apparently, he believed that they were the same dialect since they sounded so similar to him. He, of course, only knew one dialect of Chinese - Mandarin.

The experiment went as follows: What he did was he had one person who only knew how to speak Tai Shan Hua and one person who only knew Cantonese attempt a conversation using their native tongues to see if communication occurs and at what level of comprehension on each of their parts. The results proved him wrong. Each participant in the experiment wasn't able to make out what the other was saying at all. In other words, what came out of one person's mouth was unintelligible to the other.

This will serve to give one an idea of the differences between mere "dialects" in the Chinese language. Hm.. this is not even at the the dialectal level for disparity; such variety can be seen even in sub-regional dialects since both Tai Shan Hua and Cantonese are grouped under the Yue dialect.

With the above stated, I can go on to the topic at hand - my name. For all legal purposes, my name is (using American naming conventions and Mandarin pinyin) is Xin Qia Mei (新洽梅 - actually 梅新洽 using Chinese naming conventions). For familial matters, I am known as 梅尚洪 - Mei Shang Hong. Mei is the surname and the others are the given names.

For the sake of good taste in length and my Chinese studies, I will end this entry here and continue to explain my names, confusion in pronunciation and the various names that came about because of said confusion in my next entry using Chinese.

What's in a name? 一個名字會怎麽影響一個人的將來呢？

Shakespeare wrote "A Rose by any other name is still a rose." What I drew from this statement is that no matter what name has been bestowed upon an object, it will still be the same object - serve the same purpose, bear the same qualities, thrive in the same conditions, etc.

Now does such a statement apply to humans? If a person is labelled with a different moniker, s/he would surely live a different life, right? I believe this is so. If not, I wouldn't be able to see people going around with names like "President," "General," or my favorite - Corvette. Yes, there are people whom are named after sports cars! Maybe the parents wished for their children to grow up to be the president of something or a general in the military.

As cultures change, reactions towards such names change as well. Nevertheless, there will still be names that evoke knee-jerk reactions or inappropriate laughter. This couldn't be more evident than when watching "Meet the Fockers" which had a protagonist by the name of Gaylord Focker. I can remember a time when my cousin actually met a person named "Gaylord," he couldn't help from laughing...but he excused himself out of the room before doing so. Heh, at least he didn't laugh in front of the guy's face... Any way you look at it, a person's name has a huge effect on how others look at the person.

想起名字這個話題， 我忽然想起以前看過的日本動漫片,名為Ranma 1/2. Ranma 1/2 的世界裏面有一個好色的老伯。 他最愛做的就是到處偷村裏女士的絲襪。 我不記得那個故事的細節,但有一次那个好色的老伯帮了一位要临盆的孕妇顺利生下了孩子. 然後那個女士就讓他為剛出世的孩子起個名字。 你猜他為那個孩子起個什麽名字呢？ 你沒看過那部動漫片可能怎麽想也想不到他會為那個孩子取一個這麽有意義的名字 （對他來說有意義）。 好色老伯最喜歡女人的絲襪，所以就為那個孩子起了“絲襪太郎“ 這個名字。 是否很驚訝呢？ 是否一個万人敬佩的名字呢？ 哈哈。。。

帶着“絲襪太郎“ 這個名字，那個孩子的童年不好過 - 常常被人欺負。 他長大以後就不斷地找那位為他取一個那麽難聽的名。 而找那個老伯的原因就是要他改一個好一點的名字 （他們的風俗一定要原本起名的人幫他改名）。 最終他找到那個老伯但是那個老伯想的名字依然那麽奇怪的 - 想的名字都是“蟑螂太郎“ 類似的名字。

我原本想寫一些關於搞笑的名字的故事然後再詳細地寫關於我的名字以及我歷來認識過的相識的名字和外號但是后一半的文章要等到下次才可以寫。 <--- Would this be a run-on sentence in Chinese?

Edible decor 3

Edible decor 2

Edible decor

Looks good enough to eat

Deluxe toilet

Don't you want one?

回望球場：自稱可愛的男孩

阿， 很久沒有踏步入籃球場了。 很久沒有看啊芳（姓 "Fang" 的是否用“芳“這個字呢？） 的老前輩了。 他的歲數雖然過五十（可能過六十）但是他射的球還比球場的年輕人准。 還有啊才。 阿才説話有問題所以常常被別人欺負， 但人家只是跟他玩玩而已。 我也知道單純的阿才也沒放在心裏的。 每天到球場都帶着一份不能假裝的笑容。 我最欣賞他的絕招。 他用左手（他是慣用左手的）在籃板後面抛起到籃板正面進籃。 他射十球能入八球。 簡直無人能及阿！

但是我的標題是關於可愛的男孩喔。 我怎麽會寫一些關於別的東西呢？ 何謂“自稱可愛的男孩“呢？ 其實我寫的都是球場令我想起的東西. 至於可愛的男孩就是我在球場認識的一個朋友. 有人可能覺得阿才可愛,可是他並沒有說自己可愛. 我也沒有.

自稱可愛的男孩是一個我認識了...八年的姓"周" 的朋友. "周" 在廣東拼音裏念"Chow." 而Chow 在美國人的口語中是用來形容糧食的. 有時候想弄吃的就說"Time to get some chow." 狗糧就是"dog food" 或者 "dog chow." 我這位朋友自認可愛得像小狗(puppy) 所以叫自己 "puppy." 連姓的全名就是 "puppy chow" - 小狗的糧食.

"Puppy" 可以說是他的外號但是我從來沒有聼過別人這樣叫他. 多數聼到人家叫他"Chow" 但沒有叫他 Puppy (小狗).

我當初聼到他說自己可愛覺得有點奇怪. 哪裏有男孩說自己可愛的? 原來這裡就有. 一般的男孩會說自己帥或者 cool (廣東話裏 - 有形) 但不會說自己可愛. I guess to each, his own.

他雖然自稱可愛但我覺得他並不可愛. 這可能因爲我和他的性格不同. 他很好勝並喜歡說假話. 我就沒那麽好勝也不喜歡散荒. 其實他的性格很難捉摸的. 真的認識小狗的人都知道他說的話不可靠; 看不見證據就不能信他. 人家因爲沒有耐性查探虛實, 就在他面前信他但背後懷疑他. 我不知道他是否跟他所有認識的人都這樣但起碼跟我和我老表是這樣. 呵呵, 我的老表叫他 "Bullshit King" 說他是大話精(普通話裏有"大話" 的單詞嗎?).

阿,現在沒時間繼續寫但有時閒可能再回到關於小狗的話題. 現在就到此爲止...

Into the X-ray machine

What's on the other end?

標題之標題

我已經決定一個星期寫一次部落格。 我想， 我會記得寫可是話題就可能沒那麽多。 避免缺話題來寫，我就先想定幾個標題然後隨著我的想法來寫。 因爲我發覺看見一些東西或者感覺到一些東西就啓動我腦裏的機器令我記起一些回憶。 其實每個人都是這樣的。 我只是用這一點來幫助自己寫部落格。

我將會寫的部落格會包括以下標題背後的故事。

- 回望球場：自稱可愛的男孩

- 無產階級但還有一顆善良的心

- My Impressions of SE K800i

- 我的志願

- What's in a name? 一個名字會怎麽影響一個人的將來呢？

- 文盲的藝術： 紋身也不要紋一些連自己都不懂的東西吧！

Just so I don't completely lose my ability to write in English, I'll probably write in English as well.

Peering outside in

Raining on my parade

‘記’不可失

我知道那句本來是“機不可失，” 但我現在的話題是記憶。 我發覺我的記憶近來越來越差。 其實我本來就記性差， 但是這幾個星期覺得荒廢得比以前多。 有時候需要做件事但怕不記得就托朋友提醒我做。 他就回答叫我題他題我。 事實過後才發現忘記了做那件事。 其實也不是很重要的事情（要不然會寫下），但我常常這樣所以覺得無奈。

我也不懂我爲什麽有些東西一瞬間就把忘了但有些話和句子就深刻在記憶裏。 哈， 該記的記不了。 不該記的就偏記得。 會不會跟我小的時候撞倒（還是“踫到”？）頭的意外有關呢？

網友說吃核桃可以幫助我的記性。 呵呵， 以形補形！ 我以前也聼過這種理論。 要是腿筋有問題就吃吃牛腿。 肺不妥就吃豬肺？ 核桃像人的腦袋， 所以根據這種理論可以補腦。 大不了可以試試吃猴子的腦。 哈哈， 但想起來就令我反胃。 怎麽吃呢？

也許人的記性有限。 也許應該說我的記憶有限才對。 能夠釋放舊的或者不管用的記憶便可以吸收到需要記的東西。 我總是把沒用的東西聚集在我的記憶裏； 有用的東西卻是不記得。

或許多寫點blog 可以幫助我的記性。 一來可以釋放沉着腦裏的煩惱。 二來可以鍛煉我的語言技能。
那就決定了。 一個星期起碼寫一次部落各。 有沒有話題都好。 總之寫得就寫。 哈哈， 看一下這個決定能維持多久。。。

My friend's N95 in newly bought in-car cellphone/anything holder.

Beautiful, isn't it?

What is this?

Guess correctly and you'll be lucky for the rest of the year!!

自言自语

这是我首次使用中文来写博客（还是部落格？）。 差不多一年前我就通过myspace到sharedtalk而开始自行修炼中文的路途。 现在在讲的方面没有什么进步的感觉但听的方面也算有一点成绩吧。 如果这年来的修炼（不过是听歌，看电视剧，和上网聊天）也算的话，我已经学了三年的中文。 虽然学不好但是在途中认识了一些好朋友。 因为时间的差别和其他的因素，未能好好认识所有和我联系的人。 希望他们能顺利成就一口流利的英语。 中国的将来就靠他们啦！

呵呵，不知道我首次写的中文文章有没有瑕疵呢？ 有也没关系啦。 如果人可以所有操作都第一次做好的话，那就不用练啦。 如果孩子每次试探新活动都可以出人头地那个孩子就会骄傲。 骄傲不是不好，但过度就无畏啦。 而且还会害了那个孩子。 人生不能事事顺利的。 但求好的比坏的多点。 但也许最终也看个人观念了。 有时候，表面上坏的事情，过后可能成为好的事情。

我应该坚持学中文才对。 身为中国人（华侨也算吧）我应该多点了解中国的文化。 这样才能多点了解自己。 人生经历的漫漫长路只不过是寻找属于自己的空间。。。

"All knowledge ultimately leads to self-knowledge" - Bruce Lee 李小龙

Why did the ducks cross the road?

To get to burger king!

Getting more out of your phone

My previous cellphone was a Motorola V220 flip-phone and before that, SE T306. At the time (2 years ago) I was ecstatic to get a flip-phone with a color screen for free. I didn't even mind the 2-year contract that Cingular slapped on me after I migrated from AT&T (which had better plans and service than Cingular in my opinion). I didn't mind then, but I truly loathe 2-year contracts now. They only go to allow bad service and outrageous flat-rate early termination fees. If possible, avoid 2-year contracts like the plague!

What started with a simple, diminutive uprade turned into an interest in convergence that still holds now. After I got my V220, I looked into all its functions and capabilities. It was then that I found out that cell carriers such as Cingular modify the firmwares that run cellphones to their liking. On what grounds they carry out such modifications, I don't know, but I know that if they didn't do so, I wouldn't have had such a learning experience hacking my phone. So maybe I should thank them?

While looking for the usual items to spruce up my cellular experience - ringtones, videos, etc. - I happened upon Howardforums and it opened a whole new world of knowledge to my eager little brain. It turns out that Motorola phones are the most hackable among all cellphones out there. With the knowledge I gained from Howardforums about seem editing, flashing, and unlocking, I quickly got to work modifying my phone from the inside out. Well, I never changed the actual hardware; I just modified the firmware to allow it to function as Motorola intended.

It turns out that Cingular did quite a job on limiting my cellphone's functions. What originally came out of the factory as a quad-band phone arrived in my hands with only 3 of those 4 bands intact. The 4th band may be superfluous in the US, but if traveling, it would come in handy. My phone also came with its voice record and video viewing functions removed. Now video viewing's removal might be justified because of its small screen (128x128 pixels) and paltry memory allocation, but voice record can be a useful tool. The reasoning behind the removal of said tool eluded me at the time.

Along with the above mentioned limits on the phone, it was of course, also sim-locked and branded with Cingular logos and icons throughout the menus and the hardware itself. Short of removing the logo on the phone's body, I removed all traces of Cingular connections to my phone through flashing and unlocking with software found on the net. I even flashed its language pack to be able to read simplifed Chinese. I would've preferred traditional Chinese, but that particular language pack wasn't to be found by me.

But even after removing all the blocks on my phone, there was still a bit of fun to be had. From reading the forums, I found out that the keys and displays can be remapped and modified. Thus, I modified the outer display to my liking and reorganized the keys to allow for calling without the flip having to be opened. With a little more modification, I was able to take pictures without opening the phone either, albeit without knowing how the picture would come out.

I stopped my cellphone hacking endeavors at that. I read about people who compiled their own firmwares and fitted their phones with custom-made parts e.g. making your own antenna, but those ventures didn't interest me. It was time to move on to another phone. But I still had 1 year left on my contract before I could get a discounted price on a new phone! Not to mention the $175 early termination fee that I would have to tack on if I wanted to change carriers, which I did.

So I didn't think about about getting a new phone until my contract's end neared. During the months leading to the end of my Cingular contract, I started contemplating the purchase of a higher-end phone to satisfy my mobile needs. Now this is where my SE K800i comes in.....

Carbon at 300 w. 26th

Try the fish burrito!

Dragon & phoenix

Perfect match

To the left, to the left!

Mallard mambo

To the right!

Tree of mana

Snowscape2

Snowscape

Rainbow buddha

Rose maelstrom

Can this be considered art? If so, call me arteest Xin!

Familial imagery

Ideal family - hand in hand

Economics of the Mind

The world does not change; we are the ones that change... I don't remember where I first heard this saying (or something similar to it), but there is some truth to it.

We as humans persist on the notion that happiness can be attained, and thus continue to carry on in our lives. During our life-long endeavors and sidequests, we neglect and relinquish parts of ourselves only to replace them with newer, more refined constituents. We think that the world has changed in some way, but upon reminiscence, we come to realize that it is our own selves that change.

As the saying goes, "The more things change, the more they stay the same." We are bound to run ourselves into a stupor if we constantly ponder logical puzzles that have no definitive answer. Maybe that's why philosophy is thought of as something reserved for those at the end of their ropes, for they are the ones whom are served well by notions of letting bygones be bygones.

As for the young, they are to grasp onto whatever they can get their hands on and run with it for as long as their youth affords them, knowing in the back of their minds that there will come a day when they have to let go of everything. All the while, questioning whether their actions are justified or need justification in the first place.

I guess it is the nature of life for the young to take and the elderly to give. They give until they can give no more. Just when you think that they can no longer give, the young finally come to realize that the most important thing that the elderly can pass on - knowledge - was there for the taking all along, but was forsaken in favor of worldly objects.

It is these very objects that obstruct our paths to that elusive eudymonia state that each and every one of us long for. We long for that state of being, but lack the knowledge to attain it. We struggle only to find that happiness was always there with us, but we were just blind to the fact. It was present with every heartfelt conversation to be had, every friendly get-together, every family reunion (with much-loathed relatives no less), and every thought and emotion-filled moments of silence in between.

Feelings and emotions are renewed and amended, but we continue to seek the familiar. Once we have experienced it, it would be unjust to let go. Thus we reach out for familiarity but with a hint of the unfamiliar. We tire of the mundane so we seek the refreshing.

Cycling through my thoughts made me realize how a steady stream of interests and activities can bring about a joy that is not available with the occasional splurge or binge. It is always a goode idea to aim for the mean in everything we do, for too much or too little of something can only lead to negative consequences. It is negativity that we want to shy away from so we aim for the positive. Once we outgrow the positive, we start viewing that positive from a negative perspective and the cycle starts again.

It would seem then, that a healthy dose of opposing ideals would be in order to sustain eudymonia for the longest duration that we can handle. Trends change with the wind so we must follow or be left behind. Today's friend can very well turn out to be tomorrow's foe. The opposite is true as well.

Our monotonous existences rely on intermittent instances of chaos to give it balance. After all, how can we appreciate all the good in our lives without the bad? We can if we abandon the dualistic nature of our seemingly innate instincts. But that would only lead to a dogmatic existence that poses no real value to our current aims. Now if we ever achieve such an existence, would it still matter? Would this life of mine bear any significance if I am destined to be forgotten once my physical time is up? If there is no afterlife, would all that I've experienced in this life matter at all?

I long for answers, but I know that upon reception of said answers, I will only be left with more questions. And thus, the cycle continues.....

Snow up close

Oz

Winter wonderland

Snow!

One night's worth of snow

Feisty Fowl

Get your own sauce!

Chrysanthemum tea

One of my favorite types of tea

Taro puffs

No, they're not dinosaur eggs!

Green-eyed monster