傲慢 Hubris

The Great Resignation is upon us.  Intense last two weeks of July with back to back presentations (in person attendance required) made me wonder, does teamraderie truly require face to face collaboration or the calling for return to office, merely power display of corporate USA? 

七月企業全面復工, 員工抱怨連天兼辭職潮盛.  身為團隊領導, 上下調解, 裡外不是人.  敝部門沈寂一年再度風光大賺, 總裁們和顏悅色慇懃問候, 幸好還戴口罩, 沒人得見LK冷笑… 權力的無知傲慢, 莫過於此.偶動辭職念想, 反思去向:  工作中心點設計仍為我志趣, 週邊政治雜務雖難忍, 薪酬供我生活舒適, 終究, 人生不是拿來賭氣的.

 

Such reminds me of the gods in the Iliad and the Odyssey, capricious and self-centered, with unlimited power and impunity.  The truth is that gods make the worst humans.

閉關時期迫蓄過腰長髮, 外人見著總羨讚烏亮濃密如深棕色的海浪, 自己卻十分不耐, 洗髮吹乾耗時費力, 總算一剪齊肩為快, 滿地落髮厚似地毯, 髮型師和我相視而笑.

 

Among my esteemed colleagues who have left, I will miss ML the most.  Her intelligence and kindness beacon in a world rife with pretentiousness.  She was a breath of fresh air and a ray of sunshine when our fellowship surmounted Mordor… 

Dinner at Spruce, San Francisco.
 

近半年人事波動, 數位我欣賞的同事相繼離職.  先是貌似Emma Stone的氣質美女AE, 喜獲麟兒放完產假決定搬回東部, 她優雅高情商, 我們辦公室隔道牆, 時不時串門, 也曾相偕商旅多次, 想來彷彿隔世.  再來是織品部總裁JH, 領導階層少有的正直大器, 去年喪父無法回倫敦奔喪, 今年毅然放下高職, 將寶貴時間留予家人.  我最最最捨不得的是物流部的ML, 爽朗明快高效率, 激動起來滿口粗話真情流露, 和公司永遠妝容完美假惺惺部眾強烈對比.  ML決定重拾書本, 投效白衣天使志業.  敝公司銅錙滿滿, 缺乏的是禮賢下士的氣度. 

 

Nope, I did not keep the ring for myself nor wrestled with Gollum.

Lunch at RH, Corte Madera.

頂頭上司出身南方世家, 嬌滴滴頤指氣使富小姐架勢, 興起便闖我辦公室指指點點, 受夠了對她擺明, LK時間表亦為滿檔, 請她尊重預約.  每逢星期三中午, 大學士我便關起門上網課一小時, LK賣勞力智力, 靈魂不賣.

 

Serendipitously, I found my way to a creative writing class offered by Stanford Continuing Studies (Stanford alum gets 15% off, YAY!).  The Sci-Fi Fantasy writing class goes LIVE every Wednesday at noon for ten weeks.  It is the perfect antidote to a day of soul-crushing meeting marathon.  Fascinating course reading (Circe by Madeline Miller, The Starlit Wood ), excellent lecturer guided critiques and a diverse group of students providing one another candid feedbacks with much enthusiasm.

b. patisserie, San Francisco.

網課乃誤打誤撞驚喜, 讀校友季刊, 副頁推薦文學進修課程, 本想報名偵探小說寫作, 開放當天立即滿額, 退而求其次報名奇情科幻類, 講師是已成名, 比肩’暮光之城’的YA小說作家, 同學們來自各行各業, 年齡橫跨老中青, 我趁國慶假日完成自童年便縈繞腦海的極短篇, 頗受好評. 有趣是, 男同學們謂敝人文體黑闇詩意, 勘比Jim Morrison, 言下不免小生怕怕.  女同學們則歡呼LK筆調強烈的女性主義, 某位熱情同學不止細讀還行行眉批, 說LK行文有浪漫詩人濟慈之風, 這… 十分擔待不起.

 

For nearly two decades I have been a product designer lost in consumerism.  Is it the time for me to embark on a new journey?  The will to write spurs the thirst for reading.  I have been wanting to read All the Light We Cannot See since I chanced upon an excerpt few years ago about the talented locksmith building a scale miniature of Paris for his blind daughter.  I did not set aside the time to navigate Doerr’s word labyrinth until this July.  Its intricate narrative grounded in existential sorrow and stunning proses with a flourish of surrealism create an otherworldly reading experience.   

Sushi Hakko, part I.

寫作需養分, 閱讀慾隨之高昇.  本月選書是2015普利茲文學獎All The Light We Cannot See, 作者Anthony Doerr部局精細如描繪二戰攻略地圖, 數位主角背景經歷成長, 多線時交錯時並行, 最終的一百頁萬川匯海, 波瀾壯觀.  每小節辭句如畫, 豐美的文字饗宴, 故事主軸人之罪與心碎的慈悲.  Doerr慢工出細活, 花十年完成此長篇鉅作. 

 

Since Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Seas by Jules Verne is the inspiration for both Doerr’s protagonist and the writer himself, I decided to join Captain Nemo on the Nautilus.  Bon voyage, to me.

Sushi Hakko, part II. 

同場加映:  Twenty Thousand Leagues Under The Seas, 這部十九世紀的鼻祖科幻小說是ATLWCS孤雛主角的精神糧食, 求學時曾一度著迷’白鯨記’那種勇者困孤海面對深心仇雏的我竟然未曾拜讀Jules Verne大作?!  這可不行, 趕緊蒐尋百年紀念版每晚入睡前讀幾段, 任白日通勤無聊公司無良老闆無理, 夜深LK隨Captain Nemo登Nautilus遨遊七海去!!!