Sorry-ology

It is true that everything has a monetary value, but money cannot/shouldn't determine everything. I read a blog entry about a worrying issue, "Can we afford to cuts to the British Library Funding?" According to the post and another discussion on the Guardian, if the cuts come to fruition, it will inevitably result in limit opening, service charge, and difficulties in securing its comprehensive collections. Eventually, I think, it will become another more serious question of the nature of knowledge. If any of the possible changes of library services has to be enacted due to the cuts, the change somehow implies that the access to knowledge is limited to the privileged--the privileged, I mean those who can afford service charges, and those who can make it to the library at a specific opening hours. I admit that I sound a bit hysteric at this point. But behind the mere political question of cuts in budget, there lies another issue of how we treat words, history, and culture...

Time I have been thinking about "time" these days not only because it's something that I am working on at the moment but also because I am approaching a specific age this year. In Chinese culture, by this age I should be quite established in my career and life. Something important, in terms of how it has been an indispensable part of my childhood, happened last November. My mother's family closed down the logging business that they had run for 30 years. When I was home last December, most of the building had gone. An empty space there was. The nice smell of wood was gone too. Mom was nostalgic but the family didn't have many choices. The business had been down after the 921 earthquake years ago. I spent most of my childhood in the factory as my mother had been working as an accountant there even before I was born. Everyday after school, the spacious factory was my playground. It was very noisy as the machines never stopped cutting woods. The ear-piercing ...

It was about 2 years ago (or more) that I saw this photo for the first time. It was taken against a temple which my family visits every new year. It was just a randon discovery when I was wandering around waiting for my mom to finish her prayer. When I visited the temple last December during my stay at home, I managed to locate the photo again on the vast bulletin board that has been crowded with pictures taken during these two years. It is still amusing, the photo, an interesting note to my experience of religion indeed. It is supposed to be a group photo of the religion committee after a certain annual event. Everyone looks quite serious despite that they are smily. However, there is one grandfather-figure, on the right to the center of the picture, posed victory among his solemn-looking peers. That pose is an ace! He does make me laugh out loud in that temple and keeps me smiling everytime I remember it. (Sorry, my weird sense of humor, I know.)

Hey hey, I am back! Eating a lot, talking nonstop, upset a little, quiet for a pause, feeling exhausted for just a moment, getting excited all the while are all parts of a journey. I am grateful while traveling around, being accompanied by caring family and friends. Check out my flickr for photos.