Status updates 2012

10.4

推荐央视六月底在回归十五周年前播出的“董倩张羽看香港”系列。每集十分钟，每集都很精彩，都表现了香港社会的某个我虽然在这里生活了一年却没有亲身接触到的层面。You can google the following titles and watch them either on CNTV or QQ video: 退而不休的“银杏”生活、公开透明的香港立法会、撑起智障儿童的另外一个世界、廉政公署：贪腐“零容忍”、杏林养老院：“桃姐”们的家、赛马会：一场快乐的慈善游戏、公立医院：制度保障的“公益为先”。

10.3

What I find most astonishing about this interview is that John Grisham didn't know Princeton doesn't have a law school until he wrote the first 100 pages of the novel and set the protagonist as a law student at Princeton ("I was a sick puppy when I realized there was no law school at Princeton.").  We are talking about a 2009 novel and the 21st book of perhaps the world's most well-known legal thriller author, who himself got a JD in 1983.  And for that matter, he didn't know Brown doesn't have a law school either -- he tried Brown before finally, grudgingly settled on Yale (because he wanted to keep the scene of a train ride to NYC).  Apparently someone with extraordinary imaginative powers could be really loose on facts. 

Just finished reading John Grisham's "The Associate" (Doubleday, 2009, 373 pages), a novel I stumbled upon in the Shek Tong Tsui public library.  Great story, true thriller.  It's the first Grisham book I've read, and throughout I felt a deep empathy for the protagonist, one Kyle McAvoy, former editor-in-chief of the Yale Law Journal and a first-year associate at Scully & Pershing, a fictitious New York law firm that happens to be the world's largest.  Not perfect (Grisham's attitude toward New York was certainly informed by his own Deep South background, and clearly biased), but worth a read.

10.1

下午從港大後山沿著龍虎山健身徑上到太平山頂，微風習習，遊人如織。又一年的行山季開始了

9.30

晚上和一群小朋友们在红磡吃团圆饭，开心

9.28

In recent days, a former CBLA director and a current CBLA officer had newborn babies -- 纽约律师界真可谓双喜临门！Shouldn't CBLA hold a joint party for them?

想家的时候就吃一碗扬州炒饭

9.20

刚日读经，柔日读史

9.22

花了五千大洋买门票，周末在炮台山当了十二个半小时小白鼠，御猫的生活从此又完整了一点：）

裸考的感觉真好。

今年司考到处飘荡着吴英、王立军和谷开来们的影子。

9.19

For reasons that elude me, I find myself running around the Sun Yat-sen Memorial Park on the Victoria Harbour waterfront these days with the old pair of Nike that registered more than 100 miles in the Central Park, until a mindless euphoria consumes me. It's like the golden days of New York coming back.

Cliffhanger

9.18

廬山煙雨浙江潮，未到千般恨不消。及至歸來無一事，廬山煙雨浙江潮。

英皇七十載

9.17

今天看到一副赞纪昀（1724-1805）的对联，“万卷编成群玉府，一生修到大罗天”，是比纪昀长一岁的书法家梁同书题在阅微草堂之上的。读来十分感佩。想起小时候很喜欢的一部电视剧《联林珍奇》，很想再看一看。

9.15

emperor emeritus

When iRon Lady meets Save Jobs, three kids were born: iRon nano, iRon 4S and the New iRon Lady. Welcome to "The Divine Comedy of Capitalism," Studio Theatre, Hong Kong Cultural Centre.

Woke up at 4:30 am and found myself listening to some Korean songs that I amassed a decade ago and haven't listened to for quite a long time... that song, "I Believe," from the movie "My Sassy Girl," was such a hit back then and my heart still trembles at the very first note of its piano prelude.

Lucian Bebchuk, Linda Babcock

9.13

商场里迎面走来一中年男子，体型富态，腆着将军肚，趿着拖鞋，似乎正在讲电话，语气夸张，尖细而嘶哑的声音像极了电影里的曾志伟。正自纳罕，男子忽然换了一副浑厚而富有磁性的嗓音，俨然在对刚刚说的话作出回应。只见此人在商场里来回踱步，表情丰富而生动，并辅以时而激昂时而沉着的手势，似乎在和人辩论某一话题，但细看时，耳朵里却并没有耳机。一时间难以断定此人究竟是曾志伟还是周伯通。

9.12

Jazz24.org is my new love

9.5

New York and PRC licensed! ... [in fine print] driver.

8.26

Finally watched Cold Mountain, after nine years. I usually wait a few years to watch a movie, but nine years is a bit long even for me.

8.16

cross train, cross reference, cross check, cross section, cross examine

7.8

晚上在数码港的艾美酒店参加了一个朋友的婚礼。这是大学毕业七年来第一次参加同学/朋友的婚礼。事实上，也是二十八年的人生中第一次参加同学/朋友的婚礼。说来也奇怪，同学/朋友过半已经结婚，但因为我一直在美国，始终不能亲赴，每次只好遥寄祝福。

婚礼是我非常欣赏的风格，简洁、大方、高雅，庄重的仪式中穿插若干轻松的花絮，宾主尽欢。新郎新娘都是我很欣赏的人。杯酒入肠，百感交集。其中最多的还是祝福、感动和感慨。

回家后突然想听曾经非常喜欢的那首“且行且珍惜”。不知从什么时候开始就很少听歌了，也许是某种荷尔蒙的分泌减少了吧，也许是成熟的一个标志。熟悉的旋律响起，恍然回到七年前的那个七月，校园里回荡的正是这样的旋律。从那里，熟悉的人们分开，各奔东西。

我想我怀念的是人和人之间的真挚情谊，仅此而已。

6.21

Carl Kasell appears as one of my top 10 Facebook friends today. Excited!

6.20

Have been listening to NPR's 5-minute "Hourly News Summary" every now and then these days. I recommend it to anyone who lives outside the US but misses voice from America.

6.18

长大后，我就成了你。

6.15

out of printer, back to freedom

6.8

Read Chapter 30 of Bill Clinton's "My Life," a beautiful recount of his inauguration week (January 17-21, 1993). Read Chapters 9~13 (Georgetown), Chapter 14-16 (Oxford), and Chapter 17 (Yale Law School) in various cafes (Starbucks, Pacific Coffee, etc) in Central during my sojourn in HK last September. Read the first few chapters when the book first came out in 2004 (a pirated English version which I bought from the "backyard" book market on the Renda campus; the book, despite its poor paper quality, was virtually devoid of typos.)

6.5

Finally gave up my cell phone number starting with the "prestigious" area code 646. The parting conversation with the rep was extremely pleasant. And so ends my story with Verizon Wireless, Aug 22, 2007 ~ June 5, 2012.

6.1

Listening to NPR's All Songs Considered

Listening to "88.3 WBGO: The Jazz Source" from Newark, NJ.

5.27

Watched a short documentary on the Queens Botanical Garden on the TLC channel this morning. Can't believe I've never been to this place -- it's not far from where I lived in Elmhurst and only a short walk away from the Flushing main street station.

5.25

"The Obama administration began a new push on Thursday to ratify the Law of the Sea Convention, Reuters reported. The 30-year-old treaty, which has been ratified by more than 160 countries, establishes a 12-nautical-mile (22-km) territorial sea and 200-nautical-mile exclusive economic zone around coastal states. Opponents are concerned it would cede US sovereignty to an internaitonal organization,
while proponents said it would strengthen the administration's hand in dealing with rising powers such as Russia and China. "China and other countries are staking out illegal claims in the South China Sea and elsewhere," said Senator John Kerry, chair of the Foreign Relations Committee. "Becoming a party to the treaty would give an immediate boost to US credibility as we push back against excessive maritime claims and illegal restrictions on our warships or commercials vessels.""

5.22

沉思往事立残阳。当时只道是寻常。

5.6

Just realized the default setting of my posts has been "Only Me" since January 15... No wonder nobody has commented on any of my 100~ posts since then... and I'm utterly amazed that I've been posting stuff as vigorously as usual for almost four months, even though no one has been looking. What a self-contained system!

"景初中詔曰：“陳思王昔雖有過失，既克己慎行，以補前闕，且自少至終，篇籍不離於手，誠難能也。其收黃初中諸奏植罪狀，公卿已下議尚書、秘書、中書三府、大鴻臚者皆削除之。撰錄植前後所著賦頌詩銘雜論凡百余篇，副藏內外。”志累增邑，並前九百九十戶。"

"植既以才見異，而丁儀、丁廙、楊修等為之羽翼。太祖狐疑，幾為太子者數矣。而植任性而行，不自雕勵，飲酒不節。文帝御之以術，矯情自飾，宮人左右，並為之說，故遂定為嗣。"
   
"性簡易，不治威儀。輿馬服飾，不尚華麗。每進見難問，應聲而對，特見寵愛。建安十六年，封平原侯。十九年，徙封臨菑侯。太祖征孫權，使植留守鄴，戒之曰：“吾昔為頓邱令，年二十三。思此時所行，無悔於今。今汝年亦二十三矣，可不勉與！”"

"陳思王植字子建年十歲余，誦讀詩、論及辭賦數十萬言，善屬文。太祖嘗視其文，謂植曰：“汝倩人邪？”植跪曰：“言出為論，下筆成章，顧當面試，奈何倩人？”時鄴銅爵台新成，太祖悉將諸子登台，使各為賦。植援筆立成，可觀，太祖甚異之。"

5.5

"草樹知春不久歸，百般紅紫鬥芳菲。楊花榆莢無才思，惟解漫天作雪飛。"

4.25

"I spend the summers at a cottage on Cape Cod, and for decades I walked the same dunes that Thoreau once walked. Not too long ago, people walked with their heads up, looking at the water, the sky, the sand and at one another, talking. Now they often walk with their heads down, typing. Even when they are with friends, partners, children, everyone is on their own devices.

So I say, look up, look at one another, and let’s start the conversation."

4.12

"只听有人说道：“你瞧，这么大个府，今儿个就抄了家。”旁人道：“他家怎么能败，听见说其父勤劳王事，立下功勋，得了个世职，虽是死了，到底有根基的，况且我常见他们来往的都是王公伯侯，哪里没有照应，便是现在的学士前任的尚书也是他们的一家，难道这些人还护庇不来么，那人冷笑到：”若在平时，那爷是了不得，开牙建府的，哪个不是真真儿的权贵！听说前阵子府里奴才犯了事，怕被灭口，便带了府里的罪证投了官，御史参了，主子还叫查明实质再办，这会子转了风儿，便连官带爵都革去了，你道这世情还是往常吗？--《红楼梦》"

What's the difference between dock, pier and wharf?

4.11

“PRC’s first election law in 1953 stipulates, every 100,000 urban population, defined as residents of city of over 500,000 population, is to have one deputy to the national people’s congress (the national legislative organ), while every 800,000 population in rest region is to have one deputy to the national people’s congress. This provision was not revised until the year of 1995, when the ratio ch
anged from 1:8 to 1:4, that is every 240,000 urban populations in contrast every 960,000 rural population is to have one deputy to the national people’s congress. And in the year 2010, the revised election law changed the ratio from 1:4 to 1:1, which means urban and rural citizen now enjoy equal constitutional right in voting.”

忽喇喇似大厦倾

4.9

握紧拳头，里面什么也没有。张开双手，你就拥有了整个世界。

4.6

人的盡頭是神的開始。

4.2

"海峡两岸旅游交流协会与台湾海峡两岸观光旅游协会经过磋商，周日就开放第二批大陆居民赴台湾个人旅游试点城市达成共识。纳入此次试点的包括天津、重庆、南京、杭州、广州、成都、济南、西安、福州和深圳等10个城市。此次第二批试点将分两个阶段实施。天津、重庆、南京、杭州、广州、成都6城市将于4月28日正式启动试点，而济南、西安、福州和深圳4城市则将于今年年内启动实施试点。中国大陆2011年6月28日启动首批大陆居民赴台湾个人旅游试点城市。首批试点城市为北京、上海和厦门。"

3.31

I took the following oath of office at 10:10 am, Wednesday, March 28, 2012, at the Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of the State of New York, Second Judicial Department: "I do solemnly swear that I will support the constitution of the United States, and the constitution of the State of New York, and that I will faithfully discharge the duties of the office of attorney and counselor-at-law, according to the best of my ability."

Watched X-Men: First Class, The Tourist and Slumdog Millionaire on the flight back to Hong Kong.

Met 14 old friends during my four days in New York. Spent an average of 2.5 hours with each of them. Extremely pleased.

3.27

金线池边杨柳青，泉分石窦晓泠泠。东风三月飘香絮，一夜随波化绿萍。

为寻词女舍，却向柳泉行。秋雨黄花瘦，春流漱玉声。
收藏惊浩劫，漂泊感平生。往昔风光在，犹存乐府名。

3.26

2777 miles from New York to Los Angeles. 2118 miles from Hong Kong to Urumqi.

3.25

香港立法会去年通过政治体制改革方案，根据该方案，2012年香港行政长官将由一个人数为1200人的行政长官选举委员会投票选出。这1200人分别来自四大界别：工商及金融界；专业界；劳工、社会服务、宗教界；立法会议员、区域性组织代表、港区人大代表及港区政协。每个界别300人，合计1200人。

Watched You are the Apple of My Eye, A Dangerous Method and One Day on the flight to New York.

3.20

足寒伤心，民寒伤国。——【东汉】荀悦《申鉴》

3.13

独有凤凰池上客，阳春一曲和皆难。

云里帝城双凤阙，雨中春树万人家。

十点下班，春天的夜幕下飘着轻柔得打在身上几乎感觉不到的雨丝。在路口看到那个背部严重畸形的上身赤裸的男子，半跪半坐在地上，唱的是吕方的《朋友别哭》。富有感情的声音在中环这一角的上空回荡。掏出身上仅有的十元零钱，折好，经过时欠身放进他的帽子里。走过去很远才敢回头看一看那个畸形到难以用语言描述的身体。

顺着九曲十八弯的皇后大道慢慢往家走。平日在公车里看到的一晃而过的那些店铺、招牌和人家突然变得伸手可及，像老朋友般稳稳当当地立在那里，笑吟吟地等着你迎上去，如此真实和踏实。天气转暖，四十分钟后到家时，身上一层细汗，很是惬意。


对这个世界有用的时候是最开心的。

2.28

As I often post readings on Facebook, it is useful to take stock from time to time.  Here’s a recap of what I posted here in February 2012 -- all told, 19 pieces. Those with a star are “highly recommended.”  Will amend the list with more pieces, namely those I enjoyed reading but didn’t have the time / passion to post, or didn’t consider Facebook the best venue to disseminate the knowledge / store the memory.

2.27

Read James Fallows' Atlantic cover story "Obama, Explained: Chess Master or Pawn" in Bookazine in the Prince Building last week. Very long article (20-page print-out, small font) but a very pleasant read.

Read halfway thru TIME's cover story "Russia's Incredible Shrinking Prime Minister" last Friday after lunch at Dymocks before being hustled back to office by bb. Gonna go back to finish that story today.

2.26

Watching "The Good Wife" feels like Continued Legal Education. :)

2.20

Brahms' Hungarian Dances (1869) are unspeakably beautiful.

2.7

被无数人劝说开通微博近两年、实际开通微博近一年之后，第一次使用了@，然后发觉微博似乎确实有比Facebook好用的地方……一个让我困惑了近两年的谜团终于有点解开了。另，回国既已四个月，也该入乡随俗了:)

frozen in amber

2.6

Unflustered and unflusterable.

兄弟鬩于牆，外禦其侮（《詩經·小雅·常棣》）

Andaman Sea

1/28

龙年伊始，去新华书店（江苏凤凰出版传媒集团）买了四本书：夏斌、陈道富《中国金融战略2020 》，胡舒立《舒立观察：中国十年之真问题》，章敬平《今天，我们怎样评论中国》，何帆（译）《批评官员的尺度：《纽约时报》诉警察局长沙利文案》（原著：Anthony Lewis, Make No Law: The Sullivan Case and the First Amendment）。大快朵颐中～

好多年不用QQ，如今打开那几百个网名真的想不起来谁是谁了。当初应该都改成真名的。。

Professor Zhu Suli (朱苏力), former dean of Peking University Law School, is giving a talk at NYU School of Law on Feb. 8 on “Would Federalism Suit China?” (联邦制适合中国吗？) I'm sure it's a topic that's been enchanting many generations of Chinese intellectuals, regardless of their academic background.

1/18

For the first time in the entire history, China's urban population (690 million as of now) exceeds half of its entire population. Seismic demographic change.

I've received 42 Google+ invitations so far and still don't have a compelling reason to join. Can someone give me a final push?

1/17

Listening to Schubert's Death and the Maiden Quartet (1824).

有朋友说来了香港一年出过（不是坐车时经过，而是出过地面）39个地铁站。我数了一下，我来香港两个半月，出过个20个地铁站。

1/14

是非成敗轉頭空。今夜屬於台灣，屬於所有台灣人！

1/13

kind to a fault

Listening to Schubert's Unfinished Symphony (1822).

1/2

補看了12月3日台灣總統大選辯論的馬英九和蔡英文的申論和結論視頻。