記憶記憶

The touch-up effect my friend used on her smartphone is called "Grace". 
I don't have such even-toned skin, not now, not ever.

三天

悠閑的三天假日。

                                  ★★★★ 4/5

Read The Black Echo (Michael Connelly), the first Harry Bosch novel in the series.  Like Tess Gerritsen, Connelly is another writer whose books I'll keep on reading.  Not sure if this is just a phase with me, but lately I seem to be partial to "gritty writing", and Connelly certainly falls in that category.  I like the subdued masculinity, the lean and sinewy undertone that his words exude.  There is something sensual about it.  The story itself is carefully constructed and masterfully laid out with a controlled pace.  All in all, many experienced writers don't write this well, and this is only Connelly's first novel (albeit a long time reporter). 

看了“漢語橋”的紐約區比賽，超精彩的。

Watched The Big Lebowski, another Coen/Coen.  So far I've loved every Coen/Coen film.  The Big Lebowski probably ranks the highest among all the Coen/Coen I've seen so far.  I haven't seen Fargo yet.  There is an inexplicable tenderness to their films, something along the lines of "women being saviors and men being in need of saving".

Watched Being John Malkovich, didn't care for it very much.

The Alienist - Caleb Carr

★★★★☆ 4.5/5

Just finished reading the last page of The Alienist (Caleb Carr) thirty minutes ago. Caleb Carr’s recount of the ruse he pulled on his publisher brought out a genuine laugh from me. (For the purpose of persuading his publisher to consent to him writing a fiction rather than a non-fiction, the author told his publisher the story in the book had actually taken place, only to later reveal that the whole thing was his invention. Both his publisher/editor bought it hook, line and sinker!)



This further confirms the awe I’ve felt throughout the process of reading this book: it reads like genuine history instead of a fictional invention! Much of it is history, in a manner of speaking. Caleb Carr began his career writing non-fiction/historical pieces, and thanks to which (I think), has become a stickler for accuracy of details, which definitely shines through in the Alienist. The novel paints such a vivid picture of what New York was like back during the turn of the 19th to 20th century: the influx of immigrants, the general status of lodging, it’s slum quarters (described in great detail), modes of transportation, the vibe, the air, oh and lastly but not least, not to mention the food. The author seems to have a genuine penchant for food (the Delmonico’s, yummm). The amount of details is simply impressive.


I wouldn’t exactly call the Alienist a “thriller”, though it is no doubt that, on top of being a stellar suspense and cerebral creation. This is of course a personal response. Having been exposed to more than enough violence and gore in the print format, the amount of bloodshed and the macabre manner the perpetrator “dresses” his victims no longer, I’m sorry to say, sets off much of a reaction from me. Nevertheless, the deductive process in the book that gradually fleshes out the identity of the perpetrator truly impressed me. In this way, the Alienist sets itself apart from most other “whodunit” stories I’ve read. The story isn’t about a group of characters involved in murder(s), and one sleuth who tries to sniff out the perp from this group through, oftentimes, the perp’s own slip ups – a formula often favored by mystery writers. There is no “preset group” to begin with, so to speak. Instead, the central figure in the Alienist, Dr. Laszlo Kreizler, through his mastery of psychoanalytical skills (and with the help of modern forensic science), gradually “paints a picture” of what the killer must look like, and fills in pieces of details from every aspect of the killer’s life. So from a vague shadow, we eventually have a name, a background, and a mental journey of the killer’s telling us the factors/people that were held responsible for the creation of such a monster.


And on a side note, I'm glad I ran into this book at this point.  Something (and I'm still not sure what) sparked an interest in me to read about the U.S. history, a subject I know pathetically little about.  I've actually always been interested in reading about history, which is one of my favorite genres to read, mostly in Chinese though (and mostly about Chinese history -- which is, long, and well, repetitive).  I just wasn't particularly interested in the U.S. History.  But lately, I'm kind of interested in knowing about the early settlers, or rather how the earliest "trailblazers" coped with the cruelty of nature, stuff like Robinson Crusoe.  The Alienist of course has nothing to do with that, but its backdrop, the turn of the 19th to 20th century, is one of the turning point, so to speak, of New York, if not the U.S. as a whole.  And I'm kind of keen on learning about those "turning points" in the U.S. history, the people and the events that have brought about what this country is, today.


 

le me, artistically altered

Finally, I know what I might look like in twenty years

peek-a-boo

experimenting with new dynamic blog features

struggling with new dynamic blogging features.  Ahhh, I'm definitely getting old.
Firstly, where do I find the updating button, easily, conveniently? 
I DO like some of the dynamic layouts, like "mosaic" and "magazine" layouts.
let's see if I can get my head wrapped around this thing ~~~

街口的傘蓋櫻

街口的傘蓋櫻

每年初春準時綻放

已經有幾十個年頭了吧

這卻只是我第三個年頭從你的菩提下走過

我永遠無法用我虛弱的文字聖讚你

可我又怎麽能不去聖讚你

你的存在

這件簡單的事情

如果不是愛、奇跡、達摩

又是什麽呢？

我並非不愛你層層叠叠如瀑布般傾瀉的枝條

也並非不愛你樹精臉頰般暈染過的粉紅含蓄

更並非不愛你自信有力伸展開的寬大母親傘

在一瞬間

我沐浴在一種被呵護的意識中

但傘蓋櫻

你真正的價值

在於你的周圍那些從未被過分修飾過的灌木、雜草、不知名的野花、

--遠不如你那麽神奇、被造物主隨手抛出的小奇跡們

以及

倚在你堅實的枝幹旁的那棟百年老房子

剝落的磚墻

失修的屋頂

纏滿手臂粗的藤條的荒廢的老井

和那個偶爾在你的樹影下掃地的屋主老頭

傘蓋櫻

它們纔是你的靈魂

所以

我才可以和你説話