Busy

A couple of days ago, my ex-coworker Dan asked me how was my new job going. I told him: one word, busy. How busy? Believe it or not, I was so busy that I didn't even have time to complain till now! When I went home, my eyes were burning, my neck hurt, I barely had time to eat and went to gym (which I forced myself to do). I manage to blog now because I am too tired to write code. I am afraid the posts here will be very short from now on until things are more under control.

First Week at Work (very depressed)

Though I only started working last Friday, I have already missed my "good old jobless days". Why? Because all of my coworkers work 6 days a week and at least 12 hours a day, driven by the dream of becoming rich and the fear of being jobless if product not delivered on time. Sadly, neither the carrot nor the stick motivates me. If I make any effort to conform to this crazy schedule, it's because I can't face the shame of letting people down. Deep inside, I feel the playful and joyful me I found in the past half a year is dying. I try to remind myself the AA (Alcoholic Anonymous) motto: one day at a time, but God knows how long I will last.

Sarah Waters's New Novel Is Coming!

I can't believe it. A new Sarah Waters novel is coming! So far, no info on what it's about yet(though Waters did hint in a previous interview that her next book would be set in the 40s or 50s). According to Amazon.com, it's about 480 pages (sigh, I always think Waters's novels need some trimming) and will be out on April 30th. I can hardly wait.

Now if only Stephen Daldry and David Hare can adapt "The Night Watch" to big screen, I will be in heaven...

P.S. more Google search indicates this novel is a ghost story set in the 1940s and no lesbian character this time.

Free Coffee at Peets Today

Forgot to mention it. Today is Peet's Coffee's 43th birthday. You may be able to get a free coffee there after answering a question correctly (they will give you enough hint for it), so check it out.

Books, Books, Books

I think it's Marcus Aurelius (or is it Alexander the Great?) who once said he had only eleven days of happiness in his whole life. Well, consider today one of my eleven days, for the books I ordered last weekend had arrived! What is more fun than knowing you can indulge yourself in books with full abandonment, even just for a few days?

OK, no more talk, time for my book orgy. We can always practice Stoic afterward.

The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down

The depiction of Hmong people in the movie "Gran Torino" reminded me Anne Fadiman's great work "The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down" (a classic which should be studied by every would-be journalist).

I first noticed Fadiman's writing in the now defunct "Civilization" magazine. Her monthly "common reader" column was my favorite. Every month, I would copy and mail her column to my best friend (she was then in Texas working on her Ph.D.). Over the phone, we would read it together and sometimes laughed into tears.

The writings were later collected in the book "Ex Libris", but the funny comics associated with the columns were gone. Somehow in book form, they looked more serious and lost some of the charms. (I still keep the magazines and secretly hope someday they will be re-united in a new edition.) Nevertheless, it's one of my favorite books. I'd rather buy you a copy than lend you mine.

I should have listened to myself

Against my better judgment I went to the movie "Watchmen" today (even after being warned by the New Yorker review). I knew I should have followed my own advice, but I was lulled by the big screen charm. What a mistake! Now I finally know why people can fall asleep watching movies. (The only reason I didn't do so was because I forgot to use the restroom before the movie started.)

I managed to stay awake till the end just to see how Ozymandias's big snow leopard lynx looked like on big screen. Yet another disappointment. Not only it looked fake, the animation was so badly done that the big cat walked like a crippled dog. That, really made the movie beyond redemption.

P.S. the preview of the new Terminator looks good, but the movie apparently steals a lot of ideas from the new Battlestar Galatica.