蔥薑引起的

蔥薑的故事媽媽實際上已經說了好幾次了. 我每次都想記下來. 這一次終於來寫了.

蔥和薑的用法在台灣和蘇州似乎有不同. 在蘇州, 也或許是蘇州附近的地方都這樣, 炒肉都是用蔥, 很少用到薑. 至少, 根據媽媽, 外婆是不用薑來炒肉的, 他只用蔥. 但是台灣人好像用的是薑. 這裡就產生一些滿有趣的故事. 其中一個就是以前在爸爸的診所裡有一位陳太太. 媽媽說他以前常常給我們家魚. 這位陳太太有時候在診所裡會提到他自己的姊姊嫁給了一個上海人. 以前有一陣子, 陳太太在他姊夫那邊工作. 有一次他和他姊姊在廚房裡炒菜. 他姊姊說要他炒個肉, 不要用薑, 說完就去做別的事了. 他一聽, 糊塗了. 因為他是台灣人, 自小吃到的肉類幾乎都和薑炒在一起. 他怕自己聽錯了, 但是又不願意再問. 於是他就把蔥薑一起放下去炒. 結果他姊姊回來的時候看到了, 把他大罵一頓... 原來姊夫是上海人, 炒肉也是習慣只用蔥不用薑.

挺有趣的...

樂事

熱天吹涼風, 冬天暖被窩.

炒肉絲

炒肉絲. 這是一個很有用的東西. 最好的材料是裡肌. 把裡肌先斜切片, 再逆著紋理切絲. 熱鍋, 加油, 油不可少, 因為這個是做來佐菜用的. 每次用一點, 油多才能放的久. 切蔥姜下去, 香味起來後, 下肉絲. 中火泡到熟. 媽媽都是用高罐子裝, 通常都是外面我們買韓國泡菜的罐子, 口夠寬, 身子夠高.

這個東西通常可以在清炒青菜的時候加一點. 會有一點肉味. 很多菜都可以用, 我們用最多的有, 大小白菜, 清江菜等等. 也可以下個麵, 無論你是想吃湯麵, 還是拌麵, 加一點這個肉和清炒的青菜混在一起, 再灑上一些黑胡椒, 真是美味. 也可以炒個蛋!

媽媽說這個方法是來自外婆. 他們小的時候是不吃大塊肉的. 一方面大概是因為他們是蘇州人, 另一方面也是因為小時候肉比較貴. 當我想吃大塊肉的時候, 有時候媽媽就會提到這件事情. 這個方法有個好處就是, 吃的肉的確少了. 肉的肥在泡熟的過程裡也都出來了. 裝在罐子了, 和青菜一起炒或加在麵裡也就加了一些香味! :D 所以是肉吃少了, 但是味道沒減少! 麻煩的地方就是切絲. 但是, 味道是真的很好!

The Fox and the Little Prince

It was then that the fox appeared. "Good morning" said the fox."Good morning" the little prince responded politely
although when he turned around he saw nothing.

"I'm right here" the voice said, "under the apple tree."

"Who are you?" asked the little prince, and added,
"You're very pretty to look at."

"I'm a fox", the fox said.

"Come and play with me," proposed the little prince, "I'm so unhappy."

"I can't play with you," the fox said, "I'm not tamed."

"Ah! Please excuse me,"said the little prince.
But after some thought, he added: "What does that mean—'tame'?"

"You do not live here," said the fox, "What is it you're looking for?"

"I'm looking for men," said the little prince. "What does that mean—tame?"

"Men,"said the fox, "they've guns, and they hunt. It's very disturbing.
They also raise chickens. These are their only interests. Are you looking for chickens?"

"No," said the little prince. "I'm looking for friends. What does that mean—tame?"

"It's an act too often neglected," said the fox. "It means to establish ties."

"To establish ties?"

"Just that," said the fox. "to me, you're still nothing more than a little boy
who's just like a hundred thousand other little boys. And I have no need of you.
And you, on your part, have no need of me. To you I'm nothing more than a fox
like a hundred thousand other foxes. But if you tame me, then we shall need each other.
To me, you'll be unique in all the world. To you, I shall be unique in all the world …"

"I'm beginning to understand," said the little prince.
"There's a flower. . .I think she has tamed me…"

"It is possible," said the fox. "On earth one sees all sorts of things."

"Oh but this is not on the earth!" said the little prince.

The fox seemed perplexed, and very curious.
"On another planet?"

"Yes"

"Are there hunters on that planet?"

"No"

"Ah that's interesting! Are there chickens?"

"No"

"Nothing is perfect," sighed the fox.
But he came back to his idea.
"My life's very monotonous," he said. "I hunt chickens; men hunt me.
All chickens are just alike, and all the men are just alike.
And in consequence, I am a little bored.
But if you tame me, it'll be as if the sun came to shine on my life.
I shall know the sound of a step that'll be different from all the others.
Other steps send me hurrying back underneath the ground.
Yours will call me, like music out of my burrow.
And then look: you see the grain-fields down yonder?
I do not eat bread. Wheat is of no use to me.
The wheat fields have nothing to say to me. And that is sad.
But you have hair that is the color of gold.
Think how wonderful that will be when you have tamed me!
The grain, which is also golden, will bring me back the thought of you.
And I shall love to listen to the wind in the wheat…"

The fox gazed at the little prince, for a long time.
"Please—tame me!" he said.

"I want to, very much," the little prince replied. "But I've not much time.
I've friends to discover, and a great many things to understand."

"One only understands the things that one tames," said the fox.
"Men have no more time to understand anything.
They buy things all ready made at the shops.
But there's no shop anywhere where one can buy friendship,
and so men have no friends any more.
If you want a friend, tame me…"

"What must I do, to tame you? asked the little prince.

"You must be very patient," replied the fox.
First you'll sit down at a little distance from me – like that – in the grass.
I shall look at you out of the corner of my eye, and you will say nothing.
Words are the source of misunderstandings.
But you'll sit a little closer to me, every day…"

The next day the little prince came back.

"It would have been better to come back at the same hour," said the fox.
"If for example, you came at four o'clock in the afternoon, then at three o'clock
I shall begin to be happy. I shall feel happier and happier as the hour advances.
At four o'clock, I shall be worrying and jumping about. I shall show you how happy I am!
But if you come at just any time, I shall never know at what hour
my heart is ready to greet you… One must observe the proper rites…"

"What's a rite?" asked the little prince.

"Those also are actions too often neglected," said the fox.
"they're what make one day different from other days, one hour different from other hours.
There's a rite, for example, among my hunters. Every Thursday they danse with the village girls.
So Thursday's a wonderful day for me! I can take a walk as far as the vineyards.
But if the hunters danced at just any time, every day would be like every other day,
and I should never have any vacation at all."

So the little prince tamed the fox.
And when the hour of his departure drew near—

"Ah," said the fox, "I shall cry."

"It's your own fault," said the little prince.
"I never wished you any sort of harm; but you wanted me to tame you…"

"Yes that is so", said the fox.

"But now you're going to cry!" said the little prince.

"Yes that is so" said the fox.

"Then it has done you no good at all!"

"It has done me good," said the fox, "because of the color of the wheat fields."
And then he added: "go and look again at the roses.
You'll understand now that yours is unique in all the world.
Then come back to say goodbye to me, and I will make you a present of a secret."

The little prince went away, to look again at the roses.
"You're not at all like my rose," he said.
"As yet you are nothing. No one has tamed you, and you have tamed no one.
You're like my fox when I first knew him.
He was only a fox like a hundred thousand other foxes.
But I have made a friend, and now he's unique in all the world."
And the roses were very much embarrassed.
"You're beautiful, but you're empty," he went on. "One could not die for you.
To be sure, an ordinary passerby would think that my rose looked just like you
–the rose that belongs to me. But in herself alone she's more important
than all the hundreds of you other roses:
because it is she that I have watered;
because it is she that I have put under the glass globe;
because it is for her that I've killed the caterpillars
(except the two or three we saved to become butterflies);
because it is she that I have listened to, when she grumbled,
or boasted, or even sometimes when she said nothing.
Because she is MY rose."

And he went back to meet the fox.
"Goodbye" he said.

"Goodbye," said the fox.
"And now here's my secret, a very simple secret:
It is only with the heart that one can see rightly;
what is essential is invisible to the eye."

"What is essential is invisible to the eye,"
the little prince repeated, so that he would be sure to remember.

"It is the time you have wasted for your rose that makes your rose so important."

"It is the time I have wasted for my rose–"
said the little prince so he would be sure to remember.

"Men have forgotten this truth," said the fox. "But you must not forget it.
You become responsible, forever, for what you have tamed.
You are responsible for your rose…"

"I am responsible for my rose,"
the little prince repeated, so that he would be sure to remember.

From "The Little Prince" by Antoine de St. Exupery. A most lovely chapter from a most lovely book.

storyboard

there's a 40ish ex-FBI agent became a private investigator. background is Chinese from ROC. an incredible martial artist in secrecy. he's crazy to study anything. he's very uptight about anything sexual, except academic stuff. he's short and skinny, almost like a monkey. he loved Chinese opera or other traditional musics. he's a weird sense of humor, which is not inappropriate, but not easy to understand.

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two teens met at library. background was: the boy was really good at dancing; the girl was a foreigner from outer country. the boy's parents were ball room dancing instructors. the girl's parents worked high in some entertainment company. the girl was homeschooled. her parents were afraid of letting her out. they got familiar with each other and the girl got to know the boy's friends well. through four years of friendship, they separated after a night of awakening, through which they realized how much they were meant for each other. the girl disappeared. the boy gave up ballroom dancing. went into college to study stage drama. after graduated, he went to canada to visit one of his old pal. he went into a huge concert. the center star is the girl. he felt a huge urge and started to write a script. he sent out the script until he found a man willing to publish his script. the real story begins with the start of the movie production. the boy used all the girl's music as movie's soundtrack. the story was very basic, it basically his experience with that girl up until the separation. the real meat was when both the boy and the girl casted as the main characters.

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a ghost story. an 20ish guy came to boston to look for a missing girl. both were chinese. the story of the girl was that as an ambicious girl, she came to harvard to study something. a very competitive nature made her lonely around the harvard campus. she got an american boyfriend. on a trip with the boyfriend, she was claimed missing. now the background was set, the chinese guy learned from 茅山. he's a sort of a chinese warlock. he's search for the girl led him to the girl's boyfriend's car. the car was transfered through two people. there's a huge rumor about the haunted car...

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there you have it. i wish to develope those into some stories... lol in my dreams...

who let the cat out...

i usually brought my cats outside for a few minutes of walk if weather permits.
today, one of my cat ran away... he knew i was watching his every movement. so he lurked behind bushes pretending he's chewing grasses. he went left and right. finally he saw an opportunity and grabbed it! he ran like a leopard trying to catch a prey... i really should tape it next time...

eventually he came back, with a mouse... like last year, he went outside without a leash. i caught him when the mouse slipped out of his teeth and went into a hole...

darn it...now i have to give him a bath...