Sorry-ology

( A draft that I did in 2008 when I was still in York laboring on my PhD thesis. ) It has been quite a merry year since its first day. Two friends got engaged and are planning their weddings. Their wedding- and marriage-related adventures have been hot topics for our gatherings ever since. I came to know how every relationship goes through ups and downs, and fortunately the two parties return to each other again in the end. This trail is one of my new discoveries this summer. The path on the right leads to the library, and the one on the left the same. The knowledge about the fact that the diverted trails ending up in the same place came much later to me. One day when I was treading on the path, I remember those stories about relationships. I was standing at the beginning of the division of the trails, thinking that this could make a heart if their diverted ends meet again on the other end of the meadow. Standing at this end, we never know what will happen unless we move on and ...

'Sounds for Sacred Spaces' at York Minster, 10/Feb/2007 (The first draft of this entry was done a while ago but was abandoned for some reasons. Now it seems that I have a better idea about how to talk about this concert.) 'Sounds for Sacred Spaces' is a perennial concert in which vocal and instrumental religious music is presented in a fascinating audioriam: the York Minster. This extraordinary space for concert and Gamelan, a traditional musical instrument from the central Java, have been two main attractions of the concert. And these they indeed worked together very well when the Minster allowed the oriental sounds to flow through the enormous space and to create enchanting echoes. Sounds of Gamelan provide a base melody with which the audiences' imagaination and mediation created resonance. Perhaps the combination of these 2 elements was the main reason why the concert last year got it's name: 'Echoes from the Far East'. This year's...

A Nocturnal Pedestrian Several nights ago, when I was cycling home, I almost ran over a hedgehog had my bicycle light not captured its crawling figure in the absolute darkness. I braked in the nick of time and was luckily enough to avoid two misfortunes simultaneously: having the hedgehog injured and having the tire flat. Apparently, both of us were shocked. The little creature immediately rolled into a thorny ball and refused to move at all. I tried in both languages, English and Mandarin, to persuade it to go either forward or backward. But it stubbornly denied my kind suggestion: it remained stupefied and motionless. Worried that it might get hit by another vehicle in such a dark night, I decided to help it move. I pushed it slowly with my feet toward the pavement. It was still resisting but started 'rolling' at last. It took several gentle kicks and about 5 minutes to return it safely to the corner. Hopefully it is happy and safe now. Next time when you try to cross road at...

Further to my previous discoveries of cat-on-the-wall ( cats 1 and cats 2 ) in York, here is my new finding: a cat on the wall of Barnitts. I was initially attracted to the public clock in order to confirm my time, but the small black object underneath entered into my eye. The encounter has delighted me on the way to a supervision. : ) I hope this adventure in York continues.

A happy angel I met in the library I saw a friend in the library today. It's been a while since last time we saw each other. She was as friendly as usual, but she was somehow a bit different, I felt. Her smile radiated brilliant happiness, very hyper in spirit and excited. The apparent excitement was quite unusual according to her rather steady temper. Then she said she had a good news to tell me: she is engaged! We gripped tight each other's hands and screamed exultingly a voiceless scream in the corridor in the library. Another 18 months to expect the wedding! I am so pleased for her! The good news kept me smiling for the rest of the day. Congratulations!

Time in York A number of clocks stand on several corners in the city of York, providing, presumably, references to time. Most of the time, however, these clocks seem to forget their duty especially when they forget time themselves or when they tell the wrong time. The rather slow life pace of this medieval town, however, does not seem to reflect the need of these time controllers. Compelling people to walk faster? or to slow down? or just to present themselves as nice companions? I haven't found any massive digital clock here, fortunately. Watching and hearing clocks ticking away time are such a 'luxurious' and 'expensive' habit, I have to admit, but I really enjoy it. Colors of these clocks are important. They are obviously the primary feature that drew my attention to these circular signs of modern life. The bareness of time. Green time for food and grocery. Telling time before the house of God is very daring! Brick red time invites me to a cup of tea. This blue ...

An additional finding to my collection of cats in my search for animals in the city of York . These two cats were spotted near King's Arm before Ouse Bridge.

Print: Richard Fozard's 'Five Geese a' Cackling' An Afternoon Detour to York Art Gallery After a reading group meeting 'again' 'accidentally' taking place on a Bank Holiday Monday, I stepped in York Art Gallery. I was drawn to an exhibition, 'Richard Fozard: Printmaker' , by this image of geese on its recent brochure. Richard Fozard was a prinkmaker in Leeds, his works were inspired by the natural environment of Yorkshire Dale and were meant to represent the beauty that he had enjoyed. 'Five Geese a' Cackling' is a print from a woodcut. The rough and vibrant lines of shadow and light present a very dynamic composition. I breathed the air of solidarity that the ink and the lines create upon the paper, thinking the texture of paper, wood, and ink. The show room was small, the size of the exhibition was mini, the other works were not entirely impressive, but this afternoon break in the company of these geese was pleasant enough for me t...

Cloud, Sky, and Houses, on the way home I was remembering some proto-images of landscape that I used to draw when I was small. They were about my imaginations of home. Always, there were white and marshmallow-like clouds, blue sky, red brick houses, triangular roofs, square windows, plus trees as fence. Poetic sky filmed in the neighborhood.

Cats and York I am never a big fan of cats, but some of (or most of) my friends are. I do not dislike cats but always have partiality for dogs and still keep 2 doggies back home in Taiwan. It seems to me that dogs are passionate and very expressive of feeling, while cats are more reserved about their emotion and appear to be rather quiet. However, I found cats are passionate in a very different way. They seem to resist any living creature nearby but in fact attract more attention. I suspect it is this attention that cats always enjoy in secret. In a sense they are more like human beings. Dogs seem to be angels in fairy tales to me. There are some imitations of cats in the cityscape of York. I saw a picture of one of the imitations in A's guidebook to York last November. It's my first time to notice them, and I couldn't believe they are imitations. For example, that one on the roof after a pigeon on St. Michael's square, I thought they were real or at least the pig...