红酒·绿茶 / Red Wine & Green Tea / Vin Rouge et Thé Vert

Once you spend a substantial amount of time (wasted) on public TV, you will get to know a lot of commercials, some of which I found very entertaining. In order to reinforce the viewers' memory without boring them, a series of commercials delivering the same message through various situations or characters within a predetermined form becomes popular: CapitalOne, Geico, MasterCard, Volkswagen, among others, are using it quite successfully. For example, a MasterCard commercial will inevitably enumerate three merchandises each followed by its price and the fourth thing, usually not a merchandise at all, and its price: priceless. Then it concludes with the catchphrase: "There are some things money can't buy; for everything else, there's MasterCard." (An interesting episode actually mocks itself by saying "blah blah blah: blah dollars" three times.) Unlike MasterCard, which has been running its commercial series for a long time, Geico started quite recently. T...

For four years I've been eating a delicious Thanksgiving dinner at my host family's lovely house. Linda, John and Elliot have been treating me like a family member ever since we met and I have felt the same way, too. How much I appreciate it is something I can't possibly express in words. I've been through a lot in the past four years, much more than I could have ever imagined; it was their kindness, sense of humor and passion for life that have encouraged and inspired me to get through my darkest depression and hardest time. This year's dinner is special because they are going to relocate soon. I can still remember that four years ago when I first came to this beautiful home, I was warmly welcomed but couldn't really understand what they were talking about and barely spoke understandable English. However, there was a connection beyond words that I could feel, a feeling that made me instantly comfortable and home. I've become a frequet guest/extended family ...

Washington National Cathedral Originally uploaded by nuance1979 . My timing to visit the Washington National Cathedral was perfect because we just finished "Gothic Art" chapter in "Introduction to History of European Art" course. Had I have not taken that course, I wouldn't have appreciated so much of the architectural beauty of the Cathedral as a perfect example of Gothic art. Another reason for me to be there today was an organ recital by a virtuoso organist, Wayne Marshall . I had a great time coming so close to hear and watch the Great Organ , which has more than 10,000 pipes, in action. The experience was unforgettable. By the way, do you know you can find Dath Vader on the Cathedral ?

Ann Hamilton's Palimpsest, 1989 Originally uploaded by nuance1979 . Sunday is a very good time for a day trip to Washington, DC because the parking won't be THAT much of a problem. The first stop of today's trip was Hirshhorn Museum , a Smithonian institute for modern art. Having been to MoMA (Museum of Modern Art) in NYC, I was curious about how Hirshhorn would compare with it. The verdict: Smaller in size but not in quality. Focused more on modern sculptures and installations than paintings, Hirshhorn features big names in modern art such as De Kooning, Warhol, Bacon, Calder, Still and Giacometti as well as household names like Picasso and Matisse. An especially interesting work was "Palimpsest, 1989" by Ann Hamilton.

A fellow PhD student once told me that I wasn't serious about my graduate study if I had never felt for some alchohol. I haven't understood what he meant until recently. So I went to a liquor store, found a 2001 Two Vines Merlot from Columbia Crest Winery , Columbia Valley, Washington and drank the hell out of it.

Then I thought since we were struggling to improve machine translation all the time, why not have some fun with it? So I put the poem into the best (and ironically non-statistical) machine translation system available online, Systran and here was what I got: In front of the bed the bright moonlight light, doubts is the ground frost. Raises the head looks the bright moonlight, lowers the head thinks the hometown. Surprisingly as good as some of the human translations. Oh yeah!

We had a tradition of presenting a poem at town hall meeting. So when one day I learned from a Chinese colleage that the poem "Night thoughts"（《静夜思》）has nine versions of translations in English, I decided to present it. You can find it online but I also put it here as a backup. 静夜思 李白 床前明月光，疑是地上霜。 举头望明月，低头思故乡。 1). In the Still of the Night I descry bright moonlight in front of my bed. I suspect it to be hoary frost on the floor. I watch the bright moon, as I tilt back my head. I yearn, while stooping, for my homeland more. （徐忠杰） 2). A Tranquil Night Abed, I see a silver light, I wonder if it's frost aground. Looking up, I find the moon bright; Bowing, in homesickness I'm drowned. (许渊冲译) 3). In the Quiet Night So bright a gleam on the foot of my bed--- Could there have been a frost already? Lifting my head to look, I found that it was moonlight. Sinking back again, I thought suddenly of home. (Tr. Witter Bynner) 4). Night Thoughts I wake, and moonbeams play around my ...

Little Italy is a cozy neighborhood in downtown Baltimore near the Harbor. Went to a nice dessert shop "Vaccaro's" . It was great. I liked their tiramisu.

Jorge Cham, the author of "Piled Higher and Deeper" gave an inspiring talk in Hopkins on the power of procrastination (what?). We were laughing (at ourselves!) during the entire talk. I felt much better by laughing it out loud and knowing that I was not alone. He signed my books with a picture showing where Panama, his birthplace was.

It was even more beautiful than I thought. Shenandoah National Park is one of the few national parks on the upper east coast. Named one of "Top 11 Foliage Hot Spots across America" by AOL Cityguide , it has been on my "TO-DO" list for a long time. Waiting for the best time in a year to see the colors of the fall, I was watching closely to the weather when October came. My first attempted trip on the weekend before last was literally soaked by the rain. So when the weather forecast said last weekend was going to be sunny, I couldn't wait any longer. As high as my expectation went, Shenandoah still surprised me with its unbelievable natural beauty. See for yourself. Those were among the best of the 103 pictures I took with my digital camera until the battery ran out. I also enjoyed the driving on the Skyline. And it was the first time for me to drive 350 miles in 12 hours, a personal record so far.

Shenandoah - Sunset Originally uploaded by nuance1979 .

Shenandoah - Big Meadow Originally uploaded by nuance1979 .

Shenandoah - Snow Originally uploaded by nuance1979 .

Shenandoah - Woods Originally uploaded by nuance1979 .