2021 is coming to an end and instead of trying to cobble together a new year’s resolution, I decided to jump ahead to the bucket list. After three intricate but thankfully not lethal surgeries this year, checking off the bucket list seems a very sensible thing to do!
How would I even began? Telling the cautionary tale of the deprivation of self love in the wicked and whacked 21st century of capitalist vampiredom?
“The heart of the wise is in the house of mourning; but the heart of the fools is in the house of mirth.”
---------- Hebrew Bible, Ecclesiastes 7:4
Ta-da, my reading of the month was The House of Mirth by Edith Wharton and as a rebound (don’t ask me why, please) I already embarked on Angela Carter’s The Infernal Desire Machines of Doctor Hoffman for my November read. Wharton scaffolds the intricate New York high society and depicts the interiority of her characters with a melancholy sensibility. The protagonist, Lily Bart, is far from likable. Witnessing her demise, the reader is cornered and suffocated by disillusions in the end. Edith Wharton too was the product of her society that privileges did not bestow happiness.
初讀Edith Wharton於花樣年華純真年代, 加上Scorsese的經典電影, 她的不回首與他的過門不入, 讓人惆悵. Wharton寫內心戲真正高手, 十月選讀The House of Mirth 也曾搬上銀幕, 由Gillian Anderson主演, 可惜當年錯過現下也找不著. 浮華人生, 沒落貴族, 花瓶般的女主角Lily Bart有太多的心機, 極度缺乏勇氣, 隨波逐流凋零絕境, 寫實的凄涼.
My team asked me how was it even possible to read so much between work, family, and all. Oh well, I spent minimal amount of energy on social media and that is how I save the time to engage in activities that truly matters to me. Perhaps I was never memetic to begin with. It is the blessing of being an eccentric, the one who marches to the beat of her own drum. That being said, I am still struggling with workaholicism, parenthood and sleep deprivation. When hypocrisy elevated to the realm of art, it is called professionalism :P
八月平行宇宙, 公司全面復工, 幾星期通勤下來, LK變身企管機器, 靈魂留給海底兩萬哩…
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?
June has been… absurdity aplenty. I think I am going to hang on to the mask or my smirks will be found. This is a slow death by a thousand cuts. The redemption? There will be nothing for me to think of thee fondly. The antidote to such intellectual and moral atrocity is to surround oneself with nature, delicious food and great books.
SF解除封鎖, 復工彰顯企業文化, 全員若不到齊聽命, 如何誇耀將帥威風?
In literature or in reality, the dichotomy exists. Have we spent too much time looking up or looking down? In politics especially, managing up/kissing up is more soul crushing than leading a team.
Confronting your own mortality makes one reflect what really matters. I have had the unique opportunity in the past due to medical reasons and thankfully made it back with much gratitude. This time, the surgeries were literally about 're-vision'.
My younger self was like a mirror, it reflected the worst of what people instilled in me. The benefit of aging(WISDOM?) is manifested in the form of an emotion filtration system, repolymerizing negativity into rejuvenation. My ECOF(still sounds like swearing?) is the weekend homemade dim sum. The more stressful work is Monday to Friday, the more daunting culinary tasks I take on during the weekend.
While MarieKondo-ing my home office over the holidays, I discovered a box of letters, notes and postcards from the past. Many dated all the way back to my academic years and gratefully the fellowship remains until this day. A letter from Professor S resurfaced just in time, a window to her soul inspiring our 'LITTLE' book league. Am I really that brilliant as in Professor S' praises? Don't be silly.
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