How to Prevent Copying of PDF Files
5/25/2011
4/15/2011
4/14/2011
Make your own ebook
http://www.ezau.com/latest/articles/create-ebook.shtml
http://www.lulu.com/blog/2010/03/12/how-to-make-an-ebook-anyone-can-read/
http://www.skelliewag.org/how-to-create-and-publish-your-own-ebook-with-a-0-budget-53.htm
How to make an ebook to help build website traffic
http://www.hypergurl.com/blog/website-traffic/make-ebooks.html
http://www.thesitewizard.com/archive/ebookpublishing.shtml
I am getting back to my interest in making a paper book or e-book becasue I am writing my memoir.
I suggested to my instructor about it and she showed me that what they did in the past. It was nice but I feel it needs more design element.
I will have one week off school so I can focus on the design part. I am also reading up some other memoir writing teaching books.
A bit nervous about tomorrow's quiz on art history and I want to know how to write about Shaman.
Today we are going to beach with Eugenia's big family. We have seen each other for many months and we are leaving for Taiwan in two months. The house is rented out and John will have two job interveiws on Friday.
I am happier and seem to find a direction in my life again. Many books wait for me to The students in my memoir writing class are fun. Some did not show up regularly and I guess they did not like the class as much as I do. It just proves that it is all in our perspective of life and in different period of time, our needs would be different.
Schoool makes people feel performance anxiety and it makes me feel that way sometimes. I still need to have a place where I just do art and writing for fun and not for publishing.
And it is more important than anything else.
free for all 手工書免費分享網
http://www.fimp.net/freef.html
An exhibition of artists' books for you to download and assemble. Eight artists give you their work, absolutely free.
Print them, make them, and spread them around.
This exhibition explores the boundary between cyberspace and "the real world", as the show is only finished when you the visitor have downloaded and assembled your own books. Essentially, the exhibit exists when you create it.
In that spirit, we would love to see your show - let us know where the books live, and send photos if you can!
FREE FOR ALL can be reached at freeforall (at) fimp (dot) net.
4/13/2011
藝術史小考三
http://www.historywiz.com/minoanreligion.htm
Snake Goddess (priest)
c. 1600 bce, Greece, Clay, faience
Bull leaping fresco (painted plaster) from a wall of the Palace at Knossos. A male and female.
1450-1400 bce
Gold mask from Mycenae.
Greece
Funerary gold mask known as "Schliemann's Agamemnon", found in Shaft grave V of Grave Circle A at Mycenae.
1699-1500 bce.
Suicide of Ajax by Exekias (roughly 540 B.C.)
http://thouarthistory.blogspot.com/2009/03/for-your-own-analysis-suicide-of-ajax.html
This is a painting on a terracotta amphora, which is a type of vase or jug that was used in ancient Greece and Rome for storing food and wine. The adornment is in “black figure,” which means that it contains black figuration on a red background. It is painted by undoubtedly the most famous (and my favorite) black-figure artist and potter, Exekias. Exekias possessed the unique ability to convert black-figure style from a style that could not show a lot of detail to one that is rich in detail and transmits so much sentiment. Exekias actually invented this type of pottery (more specifically called the belly amphora.)
The belly-amphora has a continuous profile from lip to foot. It is usually lidded.
http://www.beazley.ox.ac.uk/pottery/shapes/belly.htm
Peplos Kore is the best known exhibit in the Museum of Classical Archaeology. It is a plaster cast of an ancient Greek statue of a young woman (kore means young woman or girl in ancient Greek), wearing a garment called a peplos. She is painted brightly as the original would have been, which was set up on the Acropolis in Athens, around 530 BCE.
http://www.ancient-greece.org/images/museums/acropolis-mus/pages/110_1024b_jpg.htm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kritios_Boy
The muscle groups are described with accuracy, and the skeletal system of the figure is well understood as a shaping force.
the Kritios (or Kritian) Boy
The Kritios Boy
The Kritios boy belongs to the Late Archaic period and is considered the precursor to the later classical sculptures of athletes. The Kritios or Kritian boy was thus named because it is believed to be the creation of Krito, the teacher of Myron, from around 480 BCE. The statue is made of marble and is considerably smaller than life-size at 1.17 m (3 ft 10 ins).
With the Kritios Boy the Greek artist has mastered a complete understanding of how the different parts of the body act as a system. The statue supports its body on one leg, the left, whiles the right one is bent at the knee in a relaxing state. This stance forces a chain of anatomical events as the pelvis is pushed diagonally upwards on the left side, the right buttock relaxes, the spine acquires an “S” curve, and the shoulder line dips on the left to counteract the action of the pelvis (contra-posto).
The Kritios Boy exhibits a number of other critical innovations that distinguish it from the Archaic Kouroi that paved its way. The muscular and skeletal structure are depicted with unforced life-like accuracy, with the rib cage naturally expanded as if in the act of breathing, with a relaxed attitude and hips which are distinctly narrower. As a final fore bearer of the classical period, the “smile” of Archaic statues has been completely replaced by the accurate rendering of the lips and the austere expression that characterized the transitional, or “Severe” period from the Archaic to the Classical era.
Marble, 0.86 m tall, c. 480 BCE (Acropolis Museum)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charioteer_of_Delphi
The Charioteer of Delphi, also known as Heniokhos (the rein-holder), is one of the best-known statues surviving from Ancient Greece, and is considered one of the finest examples of ancient bronze statues. The life-size statue of a chariot driver was found in 1896 at the Sanctuary of Apollo in Delphi. It is now in the Delphi Archaeological Museum.
Polykleitos was an ancient Greek sculptor working during the mid to late 5th century BC. His work has been admired throughout history for his original approach to beauty, proportion and form, and he is considered one of the great masters of the classical world. The two main features of his work are the concentration he pays to proportion (the ‘Canon’) and composition (the contrapposto). His statues are usually nude, choosing to explore the feel and movement of flesh and muscle rather than drapery. One of his most famous and influential statues was the bronze Doryphoros, or Spear Bearer, of which only later copies remain.Bronze Discus Thrower of Myron
http://www.suite101.com/content/the-discobolos-bronze-discus-thrower-of-myron-a223265
Myron’s most famous bronze sculpture is the Discobolus (Discus Thrower), a statue portraying an athlete caught mid-swing as he prepares to throw his discus. What makes the statue so unique and captivating is the specific moment Myron has chosen to depict. The discus thrower has been captured in the momentary pause between two actions – back swing and forwards throw. By choosing this particular snapshot of the action, Myron has gone further than simply exploring motion in his statue. With the Discobolus, he has managed to capture two separate and opposite movements, as well as to create a sense of potential motion in the tensed body. The statue looks as if it is merely pausing, about to burst into life at any moment.
Who built the Parthenon in Athens?
The Parthenon was designed by Phidias, a famous sculptor, at the behest of Pericles, a Greek politician credited with the founding of the city of Athens and with stimulating the so-called "Golden Age of Greece". The Greek architects Ictinos and Callicrates supervised the practical work of the consturction. Alternate spellings for these names include Iktinos, Kallikrates, and Pheidias - there is no official transliteration of Greek into English.
http://gogreece.about.com/od/athenssightseeing1/a/parthenonathens.htm
What was in the Parthenon?
Many treasures would have been displayed in the building, but the glory of the Parthenon was the gigantic statue of Athena designed by Phidias and made out of chryselephantine (elephant ivory) and gold.
When was the Parthenon built?
Work on the building began in 447 BCE and continued until 438 BCE; some of the decorations were completed later. It was built over the site of an earlier temple which is sometimes called the Pre-Parthenon.
http://www.britishmuseum.org/explore/highlights/highlight_objects/gr/f/figures_of_3_goddesses.aspx
Three Goddesses from east pediment of the Parthenon. c. 438-432 B.C. Marble. The British Museum, London
4/12/2011
art history
http://www.britishmuseum.org/explore/highlights/highlight_objects/gr/d/discus-thrower_discobolus.aspx
http://www.harveyabramsbooks.com/501c3discusa1.html
The Discus Thrower
aka: Discobolos, Discobolus
Myron, circa 460 - 450 B.C.E.
Townley Collection, British Museum,
London, England
http://puffin.creighton.edu/eselk/intro-phil_on-line-course/Intro-phl-ol_Plato_Apology-Crito/Parthenon-history-sculpture_pg3.htm
http://puffin.creighton.edu/eselk/intro-phil_on-line-course/Intro-phl-ol_Plato_Apology-Crito/Parthenon-history-sculpture_pg3.htm
Three Goddeses from East Pediment of the Parthenon. c.438-432 BC, British Museum, London
Creator Greek Art
Period Greek
Media Sculpture
Description Three Goddesses from East Pediment, Parthenon. Marble, over life-size, British Museum
The Doryphoros (Greek δορυφόρος, "Spear-Bearer"; Latinized as Doryphorus) is one of the best known Greek sculptures of the classical era in Western Art and an early example of Greek classical contrapposto. The lost bronze original would have been made at approximately 450-400 BC.
The Greek sculptor Polykleitos designed a work, perhaps this one, as an example of the "canon" or "rule", showing the perfectly harmonious and balanced proportions of the human body in the sculpted form. A solid-built athlete with muscular features carries a spear balanced on his left shoulder. In the surviving Roman marble copies, a marble tree stump is added to support the weight of the marble. A characteristic of Polykleitos' Doryphoros is the classical contrapposto in the pelvis; the figure's stance is such that one leg seems to be in movement while he is standing on the other.
Exekias (a Greek name) or Execias (Latinization) was an ancient Greek vase-painter and potter, who worked between approximately 550 BC - 525 BC at Athens. The pottery, however, was exported to other regions, such as Etruria. Exekias worked mainly with the technique called black-figure. It was only used for a relatively short time and dates his floruit. He is considered the best or one of the best of the black-figure vase painters. portrays a moment not all that rare among professional military men. Ajax has been passed over for promotion in favor of Odysseus and now, if he cannot win the honor on which he has set his mind, he will not live. Warriors seek honor and glory (kleos) on the battlefield by killing others. Now the warrior whose kleos has failed off the battlefield kills himself.
http://www.mlahanas.de/Greeks/Bios/Exekias.html
The suicide of Ajax
The shield decorated with the protecting Gorgoneion has been laid aside. Ajax is now vulnerable. He plants the sword of destruction in the earth, crouching over it, turning his back on the tree of life. Shortly he will fall on the sword
4/03/2011
地下迷宮--克里特文化
http://www.epochtimes.com/b5/0/11/21/c2911.htm
在遠古的時代，有位國王叫彌諾斯，他統治著愛琴海的一個島嶼克里特島。彌諾斯的兒子在雅典的阿提刻被人陰謀殺害了。為了替兒子復仇，彌諾斯向雅典的人民挑戰。在神的懲罰下，雅典正充滿災荒和瘟疫。在彌諾斯的挑戰下，雅典人向彌諾斯王求和。彌諾斯要求他們每隔９年送７對童男童女到克里特島。
彌諾斯在克里特島建造一座有無數宮殿的迷宮，迷宮中道路曲折縱橫，誰進去都別想出來。在迷宮的縱深處，彌諾斯養了一隻人身牛頭的野獸米諾牛。雅典每次送來的７對童男童女都是供奉給米諾牛吃的。
這一年，又是供奉童男童女的年頭了。有童男童女的家長們都惶恐不安。雅典的國王愛琴的兒子忒修斯看到人們遭受這樣的不幸而深深不安。他決心和童男童女們一起出發，並發誓要殺死米諾牛。
雅典民眾在一片哭泣的悲哀聲中，送別忒修斯在內的七對童男童女。忒修斯和父親約定，如果殺死米諾牛，他在返航時就把船上的黑帆變成白帆。只要船上的黑帆變成白的，就證明愛琴國王能再見到自己的兒子忒修斯了。
忒修斯領著童男童女在克里特上岸了。他的英俊瀟洒引起彌修斯國王的女兒，美麗聰明的阿里阿德涅公主的注意。公主向忒修斯表示了自己的愛慕之情，並偷偷和他相會。當她知道忒修斯的使命後，她送給他一把魔劍和一個線球，以免忒修斯受到米諾牛的傷害。
聰明而勇敢的忒修斯一進入迷宮，就將線球的一端拴在迷宮的入口處，然後放開線團，沿著曲折複雜的通道，向迷宮深處走去。最後，他終於找到了怪物米諾牛。他抓住米諾牛的角，用阿里阿德涅公主給的劍，奮力殺死米諾牛。然後，他帶著童男童女，順著線路走出了迷宮。為了預防彌諾斯國王的追擊，他們鑿穿了海邊所有克里特船的船底。阿里阿德涅公主幫助他們，並和他們一起逃出了克里特島，啟航回國。經過幾天的航行，終於又看到祖國雅典了。忒修斯和他的伙伴興奮異常，又唱又跳，但他忘了和父親的約定，沒有把黑帆改成白帆。翹首等待兒子歸來的愛琴國王在海邊等待兒子的歸來，當他看到歸來的船掛的仍是黑帆時，以為兒子已被米諾牛吃了，他悲痛欲絕，跳海自殺了。為了紀念琴愛國王，他跳入的那片海，從此就叫愛琴海。
１９００年，英國考古學家阿瑟﹒伊文思和他率領的考古隊來到了地中海的克里特島，他們想找出傳說中有關迷宮的歷史古蹟。經過三年的艱苦發掘，他們終於在克里特島的克諾薩斯發現了彌諾斯王宮的遺址和大量文物，找到了迷宮。迷宮坐落在克諾薩斯一座叫做凱夫拉山的緩坡上，佔地面積有２２０００平方米，有大小宮室１５００多間，周圍曾經古木參天。迷宮由東宮和西宮，由國寶殿、王后寢宮、有宗教意義的雙斧宮、樓房、貯藏室、倉庫等組成。佔地１４００多平方米的長方形中央庭院把東宮和西宮聯結為一個整體。位於高坡地位的西宮大部分宮室是三層建築。這些華麗的建築物之間，有長廊、門廳、通道和階梯相連，真是千門萬戶，曲經通幽。這些建築廊道迂回、宮室交替，一走進去特別難於找到出路，說它是迷宮，真是恰到好處。直到今天，人們仍用“迷宮”這個詞比喻錯綜複雜，難以找到明確方向的東西呢。在迷宮的牆上，還有壁畫。這些壁畫歷經３０００多年，但剛出土時，還色澤鮮豔。牆上的壁畫有鬥牛戲的內容，這些也許和希臘神話中所說的南海迷宮和宮中飼養的吃童男童女的人頭牛身怪物米諾牛的情節隱隱約約相符合。在宮殿的長廊中，有表現國王、貴族活動和集合的壁畫。有一幅是塑造王國的，他戴的王冠是用百合花編成的，他脖子上戴著項圈，手上套著鐲子，正在百花叢中散步。有的壁畫中，男子們拿著金銀器皿，女子們穿著鑲白邊的黑裙，體態婀娜，神情栩栩如生。
在迷宮中，還發現了２０００多快泥板，上面刻著許多由線條構成的文字。在一些印章和器皿上也發現了一樣的文字，後人學者稱它為線形文字。一直到１９５３年，才有學者破譯了這些線形文字的意思，原來它記載著王宮財物的帳目，其中有國王向各地徵收貢賦的情況，計算法是十進位。這些文字和古希臘使用的文字只有細徽的不同，從中可以推算出也許克里特島文化和希臘文化之間有密切的聯繫。
在迷宮的周圍，還發現有豪華的住宅，裡面居然有冷熱水管俱全的浴室。在豪華住宅的旁邊，有極為簡陋的小屋和茅舍，這顯然是窮人和奴隸居住的地方。
由於地下迷宮的發現，人們發現了公元前１５世紀曾有過的燦爛文明，這一文明被後人譽為“克里特文化”。
labyrinch 迷宮,迷津(= maze)
(花園等中的)曲徑
【希神】(Crete 島國王 Minos 為囚禁 Minotaur 而命令 Daedalus 建造的)迷宮
meander (河的)迂迴曲折,蜿蜒,彎曲;曲曲折折的道路,迷宮
【建】迴紋波形飾
2/21/2011
回憶錄之一
這是我為社區大學回憶錄寫作課而寫的第一篇文章
A Barbershop I Called Home
I was born in a small town, called Danshui (meaning Fresh Water) in northern Taiwan in the sixties. Once it was a major harbor, located where the Danshui River merged with the Pacific Ocean, and it brought in wealth, merchants, and exotic cultures from all over the world, but because of silting, it was later replaced by other ports. Across the river lies the Mount Kwan-Yin, named because it looks like a goddess’s head in profile. Today Danshui is a flourishing tourist attraction for its natural beauty and historic architectures. But I believe only the authentic natives, like me, know where to find the best fish ball shop and how to maneuver through town in speedy shortcuts.
Cars play such an important role in American life, but in my small town we could get our every need met within walking distance. There were restaurants, bakeries, movie theaters, banks, Chinese herb shops, bookstores, a junior college and a university. We could take a ferry to the other side of the river, and take buses and trains for longer journeys. My father never owned a car or even a cheap motor scooter. The only adult-size bike, which was too high for me to ride on, was a windfall from a lottery.
From grades three to six, each day I walked four times between school and home, 15 minutes each way. From grades seven to nine, I brought my own lunch, so I only walked twice. The schools were all on a hill, so I was privileged to have a daily scenic walk, viewing the river, the mountain and the red steeple of the only Presbyterian Church, which, by the way, has become a historic landmark in Taiwan today. However, the best part was that I always ran into a friend or two, so that we got to chat and to know each other better. Also, I got to do some window shopping and to overhear people gossiping on the main street.
My grandparents and their parents were farmers, living on a rural hill near Danshui. Since they didn’t own any land, they decided to move to the downtown area to start a new life. My grandfather landed a menial job as a porter at the train station and my grandma washed clothes for working women, and they could only afford to sublet a small space in a large house.
Only four of their eight children survived. My dad was the oldest son, and he sold popsicles and delivered newspapers as a kid, and started to take on odd jobs after finishing elementary school, and ironically, he studied Japanese instead of Chinese, because Taiwan was a colony of Japan at that time. But he still spoke Taiwanese more fluently than Japanese.
My dad went through a lot of hardship in his formative years, but he was luckier than my mom, who grew up in a small remote fishing village, in terms of education. She never went to school, nor did her seven siblings. Two of her sisters were adopted by other relatives, because raising daughters was not considered worthwhile, since they would marry someday and would not be helpful to the original family. However, we always receive a warm welcoming every time my mother takes us to visit her mother and brothers, who all live in the same village.
I never met my grandfather on my mother’s side. I only heard about him. “I dared not to move when my father was around,” said my mother. “He asked me to borrow money from the stores. I felt so embarrassed, but I dared not to refuse him. “And when he was drunk, he’d beat up his wife, and she’d run away from home, but always came back. He died at age 50 and my grandmother outlived him by 30 years.
By the time I was born, one sister and one brother having preceded me, my dad had his own barbershop in a rental space. When my younger sister was born two years later, my parents got a loan and bought their first home down the street from the barbershop. It seemed like a huge house to me as a little kid, but it was actually only around 1,000 square feet, a long narrow flat with an attic. The house shared brick walls with neighbors’ houses. When I was in first or second grade, my parents moved the barbershop to our own residence down the street, where they still live today.
On the left side was a bathhouse where families paid to have an occasional good hot bath. One the right side was a pawn shop with a cloth curtain in the front. What was it like inside? Who would go in? It intrigued me, so one day I ventured to go in to take a peek. I saw a small window with bars high up. I heard the owner and his family, but I could not see them. It reminds me of the priest’s confession room as an adult. On its second floor was my best friend Flora’s home. On the third floor was a home office for paralegal services.
I don’t know when my dad started to hire employees but it was a common practice to provide room and board for one’s workers. This made our extended family life, with grandparents living with us, a bit more complicated. Furthermore, to increase their income, my parents rented out the front part of the house to a couple to run a tea house, and added a loft above it to accommodate the workers. The rest of the house had a dining room with a skylight, a kitchen, with an attic above, a patio where we raised some chickens in a cage and kept a coal burning water boiler, a shower room, a toilet stall, and a urinal.
My parents and we, the four kids, shared a huge “bed”, big enough for maybe ten little people like me. It was a wood platform with some bamboo mats on top of it, sort of like a variation of Japanese wall-to-wall Tatami, a practice influenced by the Japanese occupation. We could choose any corner to lie down with our individual blankets. There were a couple of built-in overhead cabinets for storage which were also used for hiding and playing games by us kids.
My grandparents lived in the attic tucked away at the back side of the house. It had an unusual door in the floor, like a trap door, held open by a rope. When my cousins came to visit, this attic was turned into a cozy den (cave), and we laughed and screamed to our heart’s content.
Living on the busy market street, I encountered ants, flies, mosquitoes, and cockroaches daily, but I was most afraid of the filthy rats. I could hear them chattering but I hardly ever spotted them. I tried to imitate the “meows” of the cats to scare them away, but it did not seem to work. My mother told me that these were not ordinary rats, but the “money rats”, and that they would bring fortune to our family.
Not everybody had a bathtub, so families like us occasionally patronized the bathhouse next door for a treat. Once the old granny of the bathhouse accidently started a fire, and it almost spread to our home. It was a close call. I became very cautious about using any candles or gas burners as a result. My younger sister Su-mei developed a phobia after a big earthquake a few years ago, but she claimed that this fire in our childhood was the root cause. I think it’s a type of post-traumatic stress disorder.
Most families burned coals and wood to heat up the water boiler for hot water. The water only stayed hot while someone was attending the fire, so we all had to queue up for a quick shower. During the hot humid summer months, kids would flock out to the street right before dinner when the temperature was cooler. While in the middle of a hide-and-seek game, my playmates and I would disappear one by one, due to the loud mother birds calling, “Come home for shower!” or “Time for dinner.”
On the back side of my dad’s barbershop was the temple of Kwan-Yin, the Goddess of Mercy. Whether Kwan-Yin was male or female is controversial these days, but to us she was a goddess who blessed you with children. The temple was the spiritual center for many town people. There were a couple of Christian churches in other parts of the town, but Christianity was a minority religion which I was not familiar with at all.
If you were a visitor to the temple, you’d climb a few steps up to the landing where you’d see two stone lions cracking open their mouths, each with a rolling stone ball inside. Such a design was too tempting to resist for any child, and I tried to mount on one of them and attempted in vain, since the opening was not very big, to get that ball out. I did not know the significance of the lions and never asked.
Then you’d see the two huge doors with paintings of two giants with bulging eyes, sharp canine-like teeth in ancient costume--the “door gods”. You’d cross a high threshold, and when you get inside you’d see a large decorated incense burner censer. You’d had brought some offerings such as fruit or fresh flowers and put them on the altar, and you’d burn three sticks of incense and say your requests silently. You’d throw two pieces of wooden divinatory blocks, shaped like half-moons with one flat side and one round side, on the ground.
If you got both round sides up, God was smiling at you and said “Yes”. On the other hand, if you got both flat sides up and other combinations, it was “No”. You’d better change your plan or come back later to ask again. And don’t forget to put some money in the donation box when you leave. That’s it, no weekly congregation or Sunday school required.
On one side of the barbershop was a blacksmith shop where the workers pounded metal into knifes and tools with penetrating noises. Fortunately, they called it a day at around 6 o’clock, so our poor ears could take a break.
On the other side was a tea house, which was the equivalent of the coffee shop in the US, except it was occupied by older people who had free time and extra money to spare. My father never had the time to go, but I went with my grandma and her boyfriend a couple of times. The Oolong tea was too bitter for my taste, but the sweets were delicious.
The barbershop was located in a prominent location with many family-owned shops which also were their dwellings: several inns and restaurants, two grocery stores, one fabric store, one shoe store, and two tea houses, among others. People had to shop for fresh meat and vegetables every day. People had to buy fabric and ask tailors to make clothes for them. People had to go to the temple to worship.
My dad’s business was booming. He and his three employees worked from morning until bedtime. They ate, read newspapers, and took naps whenever there was a break between customers. The radio was on all day long: the news, talk shows, soap operas, ghost stories, you name it. The commercials for medicine were most popular since most people purchased over-the-counter medicine rather than going to a doctor for minor problems. “Blurry eyes, teary eyes, one drop takes it away.” A lot of audience was illiterate, so the ads would emphasize the manufacture’s mark or logo. “A-a-a-choo, take a bottle of our syrup for colds with the best traditional secret ingredients. Remember to look for the symbol of three umbrellas.”
My mother, though she could not read, had good sense and practical knowledge, so she cooked, washed, and kept the books. She was eight years younger than my dad, and had a beautiful skin like Snow White. They met through some kind of match-maker. My mother refused him at first due to my father’s not-so-glamorous profession, but after some time they did date and finally got married.
My parents never considered it necessary to buy us birthday gifts or toys. Why should they? The Chinese value paying respect to the elders. Only the elders get to celebrate their birthdays. I, of course, never took any private piano or dance lessons. But it didn’t prevent me from having a taste of it. I often stayed outside of a dance studio watching the entire ballet lesson, and then I’d practice the turns and twirls in private. I borrowed the life-size paper printout of a piano keyboard from a friend, pretending to play on it. And I grabbed any rare opportunity to put my fingers on the piano in the school auditorium, randomly hitting a few keys here and there, and had a blast.
Who wouldn’t want to own a doll as a little girl? In Chinese it’s called “Yang Wawa”, which literally means “foreign doll”. All dolls seemed to look the same, just in different sizes and clothes, all with pink skin, blond hair, blue eyes and long eyelashes. I never got one. I either made my own toys, such as drawing paper dolls, or searched in other people’s garbage cans, which were kept outside of their homes, to retrieve useable items to keep as playthings, like today’s recycling.
I never went to a kindergarten because the nearest one was full when my parents wanted to sign me up, so until I was 6, I hung out at the barbershop. I saw my folks all the time, but they weren’t really available for playing. And I did not care. If I needed some playmates, I just looked on the street and there was no lack of them. We would just invent our games, chasing, jumping ropes, or drawing hopscotch squares on the ground.
It seemed that there was a period of time when the employees frequently changed, either quitting or getting fired. It wasn’t easy for these young men to leave home and start to live with a bunch of strangers. Some of them were ill-mannered, uneducated, and liked to tease children. I had to learn to protect myself at a young age by battling with them. Some stayed for years, and became our family friends.
The last employee in my father’s long career was Mo, so called because of his addiction to morphine. Mo was from mainland China, having retreated to Taiwan with the Chiang Kai-shek’s KMT government to avoid being ruled by the Communists. People like him were uprooted, lonely, and poor in a new land. He was once a soldier, his body extensively tattooed. He worked for my dad when I was very young, and then disappeared for a couple of years, jailed due to the drug usage. My dad was kind enough to take him back. However, he never overcame his addiction. He was not a vicious person; as he said, “I’m just harming myself. I don’t hurt anyone.” But I think he paid a toll by not being able to have a family of his own, and he never got married. He adored me so much that he wanted to adopt me on paper so that I could inherit his retirement fund after he died. I did not like the idea. Mo lived with us for over 40 years until a couple of years ago when he got sick and had to move to a nursing home.
In my dad’s shop, men from all walks of life gathered for a haircut, a shave, or just to chat: the mayor, policemen, teachers, gamblers, businessmen, even gang members. Some men would easily get into verbal, or even physical, fights over trivial remarks. I was most frightened when one time my dad thought he was insulted by someone and they had to have a “duel” to clear the thing out, sort of like the Japanese samurai’s honor code. How did it end? I don’t remember.
And all men seemed to smoke. The most courteous thing to do when people met was to offer a cigarette. My dad often asked me to buy him a pack of cigarette from the old lady down the road, who also sold candy to me. His favorite brand was “Double Happiness”, one of the major brands, but less expensive than the top selling “Longevity”.
I was exposed to the clouds of smoke daily, and if my dad saw me try to fan the smoke away in disgust, he would say, “If you don’t like it, why don’t you just go outside!” He was eventually forced to quit smoking after having a heart attack when he was 50.
Young kids seemed terrifying about having a haircut. This was puzzling for someone like me who grew up in a barbershop. The only time that I cried over a haircut by my dad was when it was too short, but my mother was delighted because it was easier for her to wash my hair. Even as an adult, my mother and I continued this warfare over hair for years.
The moment young kids stepped into the barbershop, they intuitively felt they were in great danger, and started to make high-pitched screams as if they were the pigs who were to be slaughtered. However, parents liked to bring their little ones to my dad’s shop because he had a skill in quieting them.
The ritual went like this: first he would distract them by talking to them, or by presenting a novelty comb or spreading some white powder on their noses to surprise them. If this did not work, then he would raise his voice in a tone like a drill sergeant, “Stop It! Right NOW! Shut Your Mouth, No Crying!” If it still did not work, he would hit any surface with a loud thump and said, “I am going to hit you, if you keep on crying. It does not hurt, why are you crying?” Maybe out of shock, the kid did stop crying. Usually, the haircut would be finished in one way or the other. Only very seldom it was half-done. I doubt parents in the US would like it.
My dad is over 80 and he still runs his barbershop from home. His clientele is much smaller and more selective, most of them in their 70s or 80s or the grand sons of those people. Nowadays, the more fashionable beauty salons are everywhere in Taiwan. They give you a massage, use organic shampoos, and serve drinks, magazines, and even provide a personal DVD player.
I once urged my dad to update his barbershop, so that he could attract younger clientele. He laughed, “Why bother?” None of us were interested in taking over his business and he never asked.
One day, on one of my visits home, I saw a man knocking on the door at 5 or 6 a.m. for a haircut. He looked like a country bumpkin, and said he just walked an hour from his home on the hilltop to have an early haircut, to avoid the morning crowds. My father rose up immediately without any complaints.
I thought to myself, “This is why my dad’s barbershop exists. He serves some people well.” I salute my dad.
2/19/2011
寫回憶錄的邊際效益
我開始寫買房子的過程 與老公談起來我問他記得什麼 他說有小溪還有跟鄰居談話
我都忘了這些 所以說這是有幫助的 他也幫我改英文稿 我們談英文時態的作用
我想還是要多看看其他人的作品 再問問老師 我在第一次讀自己的作品時 哭了
我的同學中有的人退了 有人不說話 就像我以前
我覺得很高興自己真的改變了
- http://freelance-writing.lovetoknow.com/Tips_on_Writing_a_Memoir
- http://www.suite101.com/writingmemoirs
- http://teacher.scholastic.com/writeit/memoir/
- http://www.theamericanscholar.org/how-to-write-a-memoir/
- http://www.dailywritingtips.com/are-you-writing-a-memoir/
- http://writingtime.typepad.com/writing_time/writing_memoirs/
2/11/2011
與吉爾伽美什史詩相遇
以前上歷史系時 似乎沒有聽過這個史詩
現在上美術史才第一次讀到
Ancient Mesopotamia for Kids
http://mesopotamia.mrdonn.org/gilgamesh.html
The Legend of Gilgamesh The First Superhero
吉爾伽美什史詩》是來自四大古文明之一的美索不達米亞的文學作品。史詩所述的歷史時期據信在公元前2700年至公元前2500年之間，比已知最早的寫成文字的文學作作品早200到400年。
宇宙學（或宇宙論）譯自英文之「Cosmology」，這個詞源自於希臘文的κοσμολογία（cosmologia, κόσμος （cosmos） order + λογια （logia） discourse）。宇宙學是對宇宙整體的研究，並且延伸探討至人類在宇宙中的地位。雖然宇宙學這個詞是最近才有的，人們對宇宙的研究已經有很長的一段歷史，牽涉到科學、哲學、神秘學以及宗教。
Worship and Sacrifice
犧牲的原意為宗教祭祀儀式上所用供品，供品包括宰殺的生命，甚至活人也用作供品，例如亞伯拉罕諸教，舊約的亞伯拉罕想殺自己的兒子以撒，獻給耶和華。古代也有以活人獻拜死者的殉葬等。在祭祀活動，用於祭祀的供品，稱為祭品；動物方面通常是牛、豬、馬、雞、魚及羊等，之後引申為個人為了正義而作出的奉獻，甚至是生命。現代的極端宗教行為、古代宗教活動中，宰殺活人用做祭祀供品的活動，稱為「活人祭」。
A prayer to the god Enlil.The pagan Mesopotamians venerated images of their gods, which it was believed actually held the essence or personality of the deity that they represented; this is evident from the poem How Erra Wrecked the World, in which Erra deceived the god Marduk into leaving his cult statue.
A number of written prayers have survived from ancient Mesopotamia, each of which typically exalt the god that they are describing above all others. The historian J. Bottéro stated that these poems display "extreme reverence, profound devotion, [and] the unarguable emotion that the supernatural evoked in the hearts of those ancient believers" but that they showed a people who were scared of their gods rather than openly celebrating them.
Magic and witchcraft
In parts of Mesopotamian religion, magic was believed in and actively practiced. At the city of Uruk, archaeologists have excavated houses dating from the 5th and 4th centuries BCE in which cuneiform clay tablets have been unearthed containing magical incantations咒語
2/07/2011
都會小說
昨天才看完圖書館借來的in her shoes dvd
然後我才知道這被歸類為Chick Lit.
中文說明
http://blog.yam.com/fulloncity/article/17131821
English
http://chicklitbooks.com/what-is-chick-lit/
女性文學/都會小說 (Chick Lit)，一般指從年輕女孩到少婦為對象的小說，故事的編排和羅曼史不一樣，不一定完全講述愛情生活，反而是活生生貼切生活，並讓現代女人有共鳴的情節。
在歐美已經自成一個市場，而且讀者群年年成長，近期在台灣暢銷的書有《慾望城市》、《BJ單身日記》、《購物狂的異想世界》、《穿著Prada的惡魔》等等。
目前是許多想成為作家的人，最喜歡也最容易進入的一個類型小說。作者以豐富的經驗，提供讀者們實用的建議，一步一步的方法，教我們如何創作女性小說，如何讓小說暢銷。 凱西．亞得利是知名都會文學出版社Red Dress Ink和Harlequin出版社的作家。她的作品有L.A. Woman和Couch World。她在美國作家會議或論壇中，常常演講如何成功地寫女性小說。
source: http://www.bigapple1.info/asp%20page197.asp?move=last&Search=%B1%B8%BF%BC
英文简介: One of the hottest markets for new writers today, the women’s fiction genre called Chick Lit is attracting new authors daily. In Will Write for Shoes, veteran Chick Lit and romance author Cathy Yardley draws upon years of teaching about commercial women’s fiction to give aspiring novelists invaluable advice and step-by-step methods for writing and selling a successful Chick Lit novel. Features include:
The history of Chick Lit A blueprint for writing a Chick Lit novel New trends in the genreTips and tools for breaking into the market Complete with a directory of agents and publishers who acquire Chick Lit, sample submission materials, and online resources, this fun and comprehensive manual is a must-have for all women who want to write a Chick Lit novel.
2/05/2011
Saturday
Today I went to my daughter's Chinese school to be a room mother. I helped with cleaning the floor and switched the lights on and off when the insturctor was showing some film clips.
I spent some time watching the absent-minded kids chatting among themselves and could not help but to stop them one or two times. We watched a film about a Chinese monk going to set up a branch of Buddhism in Japan during Tang dynasty. Maybe I will use a piece of paper instead of talking to them. Maybe it was not so bad anyway.
Then they played a game blind-folding outdoors and I took photos. Usually this kind of game makes kids happy.
But I thought of dropping my daughter from the school because I felt it was not very well-structured and with some kids obstructing the classroom...She looked so alone in this class. No friends.
My daughter said she liked the substitute.
______________________________
I wrote my memoir with my hubby's help. I like it. I am recalling more things from the past.
I felt the need to do something for fun, so I suggested to have stinky tofu in Milpitas. We went to Borders bookstore first. I visited my favorite section which is the notebooks.
Then we left for the restaurant. I ate too much with an extra order of ice with red bean. I am still feeling overstuffed and sick. I felt a loss and lonely. After finishing the moving, we are back to the old lifestyle. Most of time, we are on the computer and the only fun is to eat out and watch DVDs, and bookstores and libraries. I want to have a change. The sunset was so beautiful.
John still have not got any interveiws and our house has no tenants. I feel depressed now.
2/04/2011
stone ages
Paleolithic Hunters and Gatherers - Nomads
What They Were Like:
1. Didn't build permanent dwellings. Made temporary homes in caves or tents made from branches and animal skins.
2. Had to move when the animals did.
3. Made tools.
4. Used fire.
5. Language to pass on information. Fire provided warmth, cooking, light, smoke to preserve food and made animal skins more waterproof; torches to drive animals off cliffs
source: http://booksofart.com/prehistoric-art/paleolithic-art/
Paleolithic art produced from about 32,000 to 11,000 years ago, during the Stone Age. It composed of the Lower Paleolithic (Oldowan, Clactonian, Abbevillian, Acheulean), Middle Paleolithic, the time of the hand axe-industries (Mousterian) and Upper Paleolithic (Châtelperronian, Aurignacian, Solutrean, Gravettian, Magdalenian).
http://www.arthistoryarchive.com/arthistory/prehistoricart/
Glossary:
Paleolithic: The paleolithic era is distinguished by the development of stone tools and hence known as the Stone Age. It covers the greatest portion of humanity's time on Earth, extending from 2.5 million years ago, with the introduction of stone tools by early hominids such as Homo habilis, to the introduction of agriculture around 10,000 BC.
Neolithic: 7,000 - 1,500 BC. The end of the last ice age included the development of technology such as the wheel, wide spread agriculture, domesticated animals and the rapid spread of the human species.
Petroglyphs: 岩畫
Petroglyphs are images created by removing part of a rock surfaces by incising, pecking, carving, and abrading. Outside North America, scholars often use terms such as "carving", "engraving", or other descriptions of technique to refer to such images. Petroglyphs are found world-wide, and are often (but not always) associated with prehistoric peoples. The word comes from the Greek words petros meaning "stone" and glyphein meaning "to carve" (it was originally coined in French as pétroglyphe).
Geoglyphs: A geoglyph is a drawing on the ground, or a large motif, (generally greater than 4 metres) or design produced on the ground, either by arranging clasts (stones, stone fragments, gravel or earth) to create a positive geoglyph (stone arrangement/alignment, petroform, earth mound) or by removing patinated clasts to expose unpatinated ground (negative geoglyph). The most famous negative geoglyphs are the Nazca Lines in Peru. Other areas with geoglyphs include Western Australia and parts of the Great Basin Desert in SW United States.
Megaliths: A megalith is a large stone which has been used to construct a structure or monument, either alone or together with other stones. Megalithic means structures made of such large stones, utilizing an interlocking system without the use of mortar or cement. Famous examples include Stone Henge and the Moai statues of Easter Island.
stonehenge
http://europeanhistory.about.com/od/stonehenge/p/prstonehenge.htm
巨石陣（英语：Stonehenge），位於英格蘭威爾特郡，英國的旅游熱點，每年都有100萬人從世界各地慕名前來參觀。巨石陣是英國最著名的史前建筑遺跡，它的建造起因和方法至今在考古界仍是個不解之謎。巨石陣也叫做圓形石林，位于英國離倫敦大約120公里一個叫做埃姆斯伯里的地方。那里的几十塊巨石圍成一個大圓圈，其中一些石塊足有六米之高。據估計，圓形石林已經在這個一馬平川的平原上矗立了几千年。1986年，“巨石阵、埃夫伯里和相关遗址”被列为世界文化遗产。
整個巨石陣的結構是由環狀列石及環狀溝所組成，環狀溝的直徑將近100公尺，再距離巨石陣入口處外側約30公尺的地方，有一塊被稱為「席爾」的石頭單獨立在地上，如果從環狀溝向這塊石頭望去，剛好是夏至當天太陽升起的位置，因此部分的學者認為古代民族用巨石陣來記錄太陽的運行。
http://www.britannia.com/history/h7.html
Stonehenge was built between 2550-1600 BCE.,
Salisbury Plain, England
Looking for information on Stonehenge England? Or pictures of Stonehenge? Or maybe find out why it is believed that Merlin and King Arthur built Stonehenge?
http://www.christiaan.com/stonehenge/index.php
Landscape with volcanic eruption
Landscape with volcanic eruption6150Neolithic wall painting in Catal Hoyuk, Turkey.
This is thought to be the oldest landscape found to date.The blocks below represent the town and the dots on the mountain probably represent lava.
《史前時代藝術 》
美勞藏寶箱 http://content.edu.tw/primary/art/sc_cs/ART-line1.htm
http://vr.theatre.ntu.edu.tw/fineart/th9_1000/open-01-broadcast.htm
第 1 講《史前時代藝術 》
http://www.macaubbs.com/forum/archiver/?tid-60136.html
一、舊石器時代
舊石器時代(90,000∼10,000BC)藝術基本上受一種所謂巫術支配的，那時的人為了獲得食物，求生存是一種慾望的表現，因此各類藝術品中表現最多的是那些意欲捕獲的動物形象。
藝術特徵是形象單獨，彼此孤立，多數無構圖意欲，即使所謂群像也不具情節的描寫（某些個別作品例外）。
洞窟壁畫
題材幾乎都是各類動物為主，及一些抽象圖案或手印，植物圖案幾乎全無。
奧瑞那文化（Aurignacians 30,000∼14,000BC）
造形特點：動物幾乎是被畫成側面的，半側面的很少見，植物則幾乎沒看到，只有角和蹄顯示出一種正面觀的感覺，這是記憶畫的特點，是選擇對象最具特徵的形態，所以動物形象顯得十分生動簡練和真實。
著名的有：法國馬耳蘇洞窟中的《野牛》西班牙的拉斯•奇米內亞斯洞窟的《鹿》；西班牙的奧耳•卡斯特尼洞窟的《山羊》。
馬德林文化（Magdaleians 14,000∼9,500BC)
造形特徵：繪畫對象幾乎詮釋巨大的草食動物，而其中以野牛和鹿最多，造形特點是用多種手法表現動物碩大的體積和沈重的量感，氣勢雄偉壯觀。
最有名的是：西班牙阿爾塔米拉（Altamira)洞窟，例如《野牛》（15000-12000BC）。法國拉斯科（Lascaux）洞窟，例如《攻擊人的受傷野牛》
小品雕塑
奧地利的《維林多府Willendorf的維納斯》(30,000∼25,000BC），屬奧瑞那文化期，用一塊卵形石雕成的，高11公分，是一個極其肥滿的女裸像，特別肥大乳房下垂著，骨盤和陰部過分發達，女性特徵被誇張得無以附加，而頭部則完全未加雕飾，表現當時人們祈求多子多孫的觀念。
法國的《勞賽爾Laussel的維納斯》(約20,000∼18,000BC，又稱“持角杯的裸女”），屬馬德林文化晚期作品，石材浮雕，高71公分，正面，乳大臀豐，頭轉向左面，右手 持一牛角，五官不清，頭髮很長披在左肩。雕像有寫實感，比例不誇張，姿態優雅。
中石器時代（10,000∼3,000BC）
由於冰河期消失，氣候轉暖，人類從洞穴走出地面活動，出現細石器與弓箭的發明。開始有了綿羊和犬的馴養。藝術表現以「岩畫」最具代表性，洞窟壁畫已衰絕。在住地附近製作的岩畫，內容除動物外，主要是歌頌征服了大自然的人類與野獸鬥爭的場面，以西班牙東部地中海沿岸的《勒文特Levant岩壁畫（五個弓箭手，10000-3000BC）《弓箭手與鹿》西班牙Los Caballos出土，10000-9000BC，現藏紐約史前畫廊）最有名，描繪誇張的人物和動物肢體如剪影的效果，群像造形生動，有故事情節性為其特點。
新石器時代（8,000∼3,000BC）
狩獵 → 畜牧採集 → 農耕
文化特點
出現磨製石器，種植經濟和畜牧事業次第發展，已有陶器的製作。藝術風格趨向逐步程式化、簡括化、符號化，但少能有和舊石器時代相比美的雕刻及繪畫。
藝術表現
陶器工藝
最初製陶是從焙燒糊了黏土的編織物開始的。造型上，從簡單的橢圓形深杯發展到多樣的禿底或平底碗，圓柱形容器、罈子、水瓶、水壺等。圖案花紋由簡單的繩紋逐步發展到三角交叉、曲線、帶狀、旋渦､平行等幾何圖案。從單色發展到多色的彩陶。
巨石文化
巨石成群往往被當為是「巨人之墓」或「鬼窟」，其實可能是地界，或是崇拜的偶像。比較有名的如下列︰
石圈──愛爾蘭、英國]斯通亨奇Stonehenge，2000BC。
巨石墳墓──法國北部、斯堪地納維亞、英國、愛爾蘭。
石柱──法國布列塔尼省。
神廟──馬耳他島最有代表性。
【資料來源 http://www.MacauBBS.com/】
Human with Feline head and Engraved Ochre
http://www.xtimeline.com/evt/view.aspx?id=183080
CA. 30,000-28,000 BCE
One of the earliest sculptures discovered was found in a cave at Hohlenstein-Stadel in Germany.It was carved out of mammoth ivory and is nearly a foot tall.It is very large for the time period and is a portrayal of a human with a feline head.
11 5/8 inch high
http://www.visual-arts-cork.com/prehistoric/blombos-cave-art.htm
Engraved Ochre
Blombos cave
South Africa
75000-70000 bce
Venus of Willendorf
http://witcombe.sbc.edu/willendorf/
Wukkebdorf, Austria
28000-25000 bce
limestone
4 inch high
pre-historic art history
http://www.visual-arts-cork.com/prehistoric/blombos-cave-art.htm
Art Through the Ages
Hall of the Bulls
France
Lascaux
C 15000-13000 bce
1. The Painted Gallery
2. The Great Hall of the Bulls
3. The Chamber of Felines
4. The Chamber of Engravings
5. The Main Gallery
6. The Shaft of the Dead Man
The mysterious painting, Bird Headed Man, of the man, the bison, the spear or assegi, and the rhinoceros turning away has stumped art scholars for many years. Many theories about the meaning of the painting have been suggested.
One really interesting and mysterious thing to consider is the location of the painting. It is not in the main galleries, but well hidden, in a very hard-to-reach place. This cave, called the well, could only be reached by climbing down a narrow shaft. Why is this painting hidden in such a heart-to-reach place? What makes this secret location significant? There are other mysteries as well. Why does the man have a bird face? The bison is wounded and appears to be ready to charge. Or, perhaps he has just charged. The man has fallen. Is he dead? On top of the spear is a bird. This painting, unlike the others, seems composed as a story that has a beginning, middle, and end. But what does it mean? No one is sure. One theory is that the picture is symbolic, representing a death scene. 
2/02/2011
Writing class on the grass
This morning I went to my yoga class for the first time. The instrctor used the whole time explaining things and we had to introduce each other, so we actually did not do any yoga. I don't know if it is good or bad. Another experince Well.
Then I went to my writing class at noon. You know what? The electricity was out. The class was cancelled. But not yet. The instructor decided to hold a class outdoor since it was sunny. So some people did not show up and those who showed up gathered in a circle and we all discussed. We draw a map of our childhook neighborhood as talked in the book. I had done this exercise at home already but when I did it on the spot, I had a different veiwpoint and memories. So it was fun.
I spoke up and it was nice. I got the copied ariticles for 3 dollars which was not bound. I came home and did my own organization.
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