Sorry-ology

  I had kept this mattress cover for about fifteen or sixteen years. It was acquired in a traditional market near my maiden home, when I returned to Taiwan for the first time after my partner and I purchased our house in the current place.  My mother and I went grocery shopping in the traditional market as we would do usually, if I was in Taichung. Traditional markets are wondrous places where one can get everything for his/her everyday life. It was a place where my mother would shower her love on me by answering whatever needs I had; it was also the only place where I could express my affection to her by accompanying her in the lonely journey that she made everyday.  After my partner and I were able to settle down in a house, it was the first time for us to have a double bed. My mother and I went into the market and searched for some bedding fabric to furnish the marriage bed. My mother loves exuberant colors, and we agreed to get this set of a mattress cover, a pair of ...

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 ...

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.)