To prevent all those regrets from piling up on us, live like, mayflies! Translated…
We are Also, Mayflies, Knowing the Differences of the Seasons
And Yet, We Only Live for One Day in the Summertime
Worked Our Best, to Turn that Solitary Second from the Galaxy into, a Lifetime
Turned the Day into a Whole, Dynasty
Turning the Night, to a Place Where We Rose Up Toward Post-Mortem
Turned the Ripples of the Pond into a Huge Tidal Wave
the cycle of life for the mayfly…illustration from online
That Puddle, into, a Big, Ocean
Can’t See the Coming of the Spring
Then, We Shall, Wear that Solitary Golden Ray of the Sun Like a Brand New Dress
Can’t Live Long Enough to Know Love
We’d, Turned the Dews into Our, Unbroken, Hearts
When We Interpret the Gentle Breezes into the Raging Winds
The Lotus Leaves into Islands
Seemed that Only the Shadows of the Trees—that Shadow in Our, Eyes
the cycle of life for man…silhoutte from online
Prayed: May the Leaves that Fall from the Trees
Share Our Same, Spirits
Using its Lifetime, to Hold on Tightly to the Split Second Moments
Keeping the Delusions of Flight, Intact
This is how we should all, live, treating the seconds as, our lifetimes, because, life will end, whether or not we like it, and if we think that we still have so much time, then, we would have the tendency to squander away the minutes and seconds of our lives, until, we are, running out of time, then, we lie on our, deathbeds, regretting, that we should’ve done more with our short lives………
How we sometimes, needed something in between us, to keep the interactions flow, more, smoothly, this applies to, every day living, translated…
Can’t even recall now, what made me started arguing with, Y, after the meal, with full anger in my stomach, I’d gone to, brush my, teeth. Squeezing out the toothpaste, and, started, attacking my teeth and gums, the originally smooth movements to clean, it’d felt, dried, and abrasive, I’d, had difficulties, brushing my teeth, and it’d felt as though at any moment of time, my teeth will, start, falling out.
So, I’d forgotten to dip my toothbrush into the water first, the existence of water, so important, as a medium, to start the foam up, take away the stains. As I brushed, I’d, started paying attention to my surrounding environment then, the walls that made my bathroom became like a mouth, while Y and I, were like the teeth and lips, would we also, need the medium between us, to make us go smoothly through our, days together too? If so, what might that, medium, be?
Try to be gentle and mild? Adding in some sweet talks every now and then? Enormous, patience? Just right amount of, tolerance? I’d thought about all this, while I was, brushing my, teeth.
Splat! I’d, spat out my mouthful of upset and the foamed dirtiness, then, turn the faucet on to the maximum volume, washed everything down into the, drains.
In the movie, “Interstellar”, it’d mentioned that love need no medium to get, transferred, while some dentists said, that we don’t need to dip our toothbrushes with the toothpaste on them into the water first, that we can rely on the frictions that the brushing action create, to get rid of the stains on our, teeth.
And yet, the truth of it all is this, life needs it, the mediums, when we brush our teeth, and when we interact with everything and everyone in our, lives.
So, this medium, it may not be absolutely necessary, but it surely makes life a whole lot, smoother, like how the writer brushed her teeth without dipping her toothbrush into the water, and the frictions the toothpaste on the teeth felt, hard, in interaction it’s like that too, we need to, give each other some space, put a little distance in between, for the love we share to be, appreciated, because, being too close to one another, that’s what cause us to get into one another’s, ways, and, friction leads to fights, silent treatments, and, it won’t end well if you keep this going…
The Queen, after her FAILED attempt to BEAT out Snow, sat in front of that, mirror, reflecting………
She saw this, UGLY wench, staring back at, her, and she’d, begun, wondering: what turned me into this woman that even I despise? I didn’t use to be like this you know. There was once a time, a long, long, time ago, when I was, happy too, that was, before I got, MARRIED, and, had my daughter, Snow (in the REAL story, it WAS Snow’s MOTHER, not her STEPMOTHER, they only made it into her stepmother, because it would be, more acceptable to the, public’s views???)…
there she stood, reflecting, in front of her, mirror…image from online
The mirror of the Queen’s, reflection, she saw her dark pupils, became an abyss, that she took a breath in, and took, many steps back, she’d, fallen, backwards. The Queen saw something so dark, that she couldn’t, recognize, she didn’t used to be like this at all! And then, something started, changing inside…
For the very first time in a long, long time, the Queen stopped, CARING about WHAT the world perceived her as, the wife of the ruler, needing to stay prim and proper all the time, with the corsets she was forced into, that made her waist, tiny, in those, fluffed up, dresses (which she absolutely, H-A-T-E-D!), and she’d, put on her, soft, velvety, pajamas for the very first time in a long time, instead of that, negligee that the king demanded that she wore to PLEASE him.
what she’d become, in her pursuits of her desires of being the “fairest of them all”…image from online, an EVIL HAG! Illustration from online
And, she stood, in front of that mirror again, let her hair down, instead of, having it tied up in a bun, like she’d been, told that that was what the QUEEN is supposed to be, and, she’d let go of her ALL her bondages, and, free herself from the life she used to know, and then…
The mirror, reflected HER BACK, a woman, aging, with strands of whites on her head. She’s, finally owned UP to her self now, and she’d, fallen back into her dresser mirror stool there…………….
Because your brains needed the rest, so, studying for the exams, through the nights is, quite, counterproductive, you should’ve reviewed the lectures, the lessons, as they were handed to you, instead of, cramming it all in the night before the major exams! Translated…
Tossed and turned in the nights of rain, adjusted the angle which my body fell to the bed, the rustling from my bed, good for my hand and my cell phone, to bend into a bent-over streetlamp, but, there’s no roads, no moving forward here, at most, the curtains stopped the waves of the winds, coming, in. My consciousness started, saturating here, like turning the hourglass upside down, the time started, falling in the rustles of sounds, that dried up fluidity, the drying up of our bodies, we, slowly, became, lucid, turned into, the vessels of which time was, contained, until our eyes are, completely, dried, or that the memories, overloaded.
like this, is what, most of you would, do…photo from online
and it’s totally, COUNTERPRODUCTIVE!
The codes came at me backwards, you said that time is, an exchange. But, the geographical laws told us that we are supposed to blow with the wind to the right latitude, to grow into, a desert, without clouds, or rains, those moments of, arid and dry, waiting.
Turned on my cell, then turned it off, again, like cutting off a night in square shape, suddenly, the night tremored, like a window, lighting up, I thought, that I could, turn toward the light, and, adjust the position of my, body, and, my eyes became, quiet, like a husky (about to, break down that house). While, the were, the remains of the dying light, seeping through that, broken, wall, that I can, only, go down on all four, like wishing in prayer, or, facing the wall, to think about what I’d done, wrong, and there’s, actually, nothing on the back of this, wall I’m, facing.
Patting the glass, like getting separated from the rain, the night, surrounded the slanted screen, making us into, movies for one another, the three hours’ worth of sorrows made, happiness, formed, as we’d portrayed our characters, we’d become, nocturnal, longing to get past this, rain, but only, gotten, caught in the midst, the words of the architecture, crumbled down in that, daze of the memories, becoming, a roll of, film, the light passed through the film, receding the time forever. Like how dreams only, stayed in the nights, and, flipping over the dreams, you’re, no longer, there.
In the end, that very long strand of hair that’s, lost between the pillows, became the static of the memories, that the world was, connected, with.
The wind finally, got through my windows now, I’d imagined that the wind passed through the back of your ears, becoming, music, with the decrescendo, the light from the sun, in the, cadenza. “So, did the professor, really, lectured on this?” my memories are, declining.
So, you’d, crammed, all night long, not gotten enough sleep, and now, you will have an, exam, over ALL the materials you’d CRAMMED into your brains, and so, how do you think you will do? Without enough sleep the night before the major exams, huh? Exactly, and maybe, you’ll learn, that the NEXT time, you should NOT cram for an exam, the night before, instead, review what you’d learned, as you were, learning it…
The column by Jimmi Liao, on how sometimes, we do things that are, counterproductive of the result we want to, get, but we still keep on, doing it, because, we don’t know any other, options to get the same, effects that we need, translated…
the artwork of Jimmi Liao, courtesy of UDN.com
Can’t Sleep, So I’d, Begun, Counting the, Sheep…………
The Sheep Siad it Wanted to Rest…………
The Nights that Insomnia Attacked, Don’t Count the, Sheep……….
The Sheep are Too Tired from Leaping Over the Fences of My, Mind………
I’d Extended a Hand to Help It Out………….
And it’d, Fallen, Asleep…………….
Leaving YOU, the one who’d started counting, still, wide, AWAKE, and sometimes, that’s, just how, counterproductive these things can be, you want a certain effect, but, it never, happened, but hey, what can you do, but to, wait, until your mind tired itself out, and finally, let you, rest, and, don’t give the sheep a hard time, they’d already had to, graze all the grasses on that farm during the daytime, and at night, they’d, come to you, to help you sleep, they had it, harder, working during the day, and, the nights too now!
Everything we’d come to known, had been forced in, lies, strong, tough, sturdy, unbreakable…
All those words we’d believed, whole-heartedly, now, you’re (whoever you may be!) telling us, that they’re, LIES? How the FUCK are we, supposed to, deal with that, huh? When we took the words out of their, faithful lips to be, truths.
born out of the, fires…photo from online
Forged in lies, and it will, have to withstand the trials of fire, only, that not even half way through the “baking processes” everything’s already, melted to, liquid form. Forged in lies, nothing can, withstand the impact from the truth, and, we all die, because we are all, products of our, parents’, L-I-E-S…
Forged in lies, that, is how we were raised, they’d lied to us, about how they loved us, when they don’t even HAVE what it takes, to love themselves, and we were in need of their love, so we’d, foolishly, taken all their lies to be, our, truths, and, we in turn, pass these lies of I love you down to our own, because we don’t realize, that what they’d given us, was ABUSE and NEGLECT, and that’s how, the generations to come will be, forced in, lies!
TACKLE (Check!), BAIT (Check!), and finally, the H-O-O-K (not that captain but the real thing! Check!)…
I’ll marry you, WHEN you, grow up, that was Wendy’s response when Peter got DOWN on his knees (still too pathetic!)…
I’ll marry you when you grow up, sure, but, you will, NEVER grow up, because you’re always going to be that Little BOY without a MOMMY! And frankly, this “Spring Chicken” ain’t getting NO younger (and you DO realize, who a woman’s youth is, limited, right???)…
this was, fun, when she was young, sure…from online
I’d met you when I was in my younger years, and, I’m now, in my, twenties (I’m guessing???), and, through the years we’d known each other (thanks, for that trip to Neverland, man, from when I was a young child…), you still, hadn’t grown up one bit, still fly around all over, refused to, settle yourself back down, and what’s worse, you’re, the RING leader of that GANG of, lost boys who’d, become, totally, OUT of CONTROL too!
And, how can I, marry someone like that, huh? I want the stability of a FAMILY life, and, that’s NOT what you had to offer, as I’d already, experienced it in Neverland, remember, from when I too, was once, a young child, long, long, long ago?
getting STUCK in his childhood! Sketch from online
And so, sorry, man, I’m REJECTING your proposal to marry me, besides, I got enough ASSES I needed to wipe, since mother died, I’m become, in charge of Mr. Darling (dear old dad), my three (was it now???) younger brothers, cooked, cleaned for all of us, taking care of the household, and I got enough ASSES I have to wipe, not counting you and your, lost, boys……
We are, more tolerant of cheats, BUT NOT of, LIARS. And why is that??? I mean you lie, because you had, CHEATED, and, therefore the act of, cheating would be considered an, “original sin”, and yet, why don’t the world hammer down on the CHEATS more, than they do, the liars?
Is it because, once a man comes clean, that means, at least, he was willing to, take the responsibilities for his own, BAD actions of, CHEATING, and that made him, oh so, AMAZING (b/c he’d, MANNED UP???)? Is it because, we women, are socialized to look the other way, to always forgive our HAS-BEENS (yeah, that’s what you all are!!!), for cheating on us, for whoring around with your free FUCKS (don’t pardon me here!!!), but because you’d told us the truth, that gives you that, GOLDEN STAR, that absolves you from EVERYTHING EVIL (cheating, lying, yada, yada, yada) from before?
Tolerant of cheats, but NOT of, LIARS, after all, lying IS, the FIRST commandment, and, what does cheating come under??? Third and FOURTH (thou shalt not covet thy neighbor’s wife AND thou shalt not commit adultery, remember those???). Tolerant of CHEATS, we women will always keep on forgiving you losers, and that’s why you continue to believe you can, get AWAY with cheating on us, because, at the end of the day…
Here comes, that sorry EXCUSE of a M-A-N! Off of the Front Page Sections, translated…
The D.A. found enormous footage of sexually-illicit means in Mickey Huang’s personal hard drives, seven of which were of underage minors, he was given probation by the district attorney’s office, the “punishment” for him was that he had to pay $1.2 million N.T. for his not getting prosecuted, and write a letter of remorse, and as this got out, the society criticized this severely, many of the YouTubers, the leaders of the online opinions all ranted, yesterday, Huang wrote a letter of apology, begged everyone to give him, another, chance.
Huang said, that it was a long time ago that this had, happened, that this was only the district attorney’s offices publicizing the results of his investigation, at cross-examination last month in court, he’d already, admitted to what he’d done was wrong, and, introspected himself, and promised to the district attorneys, that he will, never, reoffend, again, “I’d not stopped, reevaluating myself, reexamining my own behaviors, these past few months. I promises to all who care for me, I will, NEVER, reoffend again!”
and the excuse he’d made was, “it was for the sake of ART, NOT pornography!”…photo from online
He’d said, that he can’t get the past back, and, he doesn’t know what’s in store for him in the futures, “but I know, wrong is wrong. And, my direction, responsibility now, will be never to repeat the bad behaviors again, to make a new and better me for the future. Turing over a new leaf, do believe my determination in this. I’m so sorry for the troubles I’d put the news media press, and everybody online, through. If you are willing, do supervise me closely, to ensure that I stay on the right track of things!”
And, surely enough, this loser is going to, Reoffend, again, because that’s what losers, DO, they will, NEVER change, until the offender gets, NEUTERED, or his eyes, gouged out, so he can’t, peep anymore, because there’s always going to be that, “urge”, that you are driven, to fulfill, and you can’t deny that, and this can’t be, “retrained”, no matter how many years of court-mandated therapy you receive!
This woman IS a role model, not because she was an actress, or how she’d become a published author, but because of her grace, how she still stood tall and proud, as life tried to hit her and break her down, translated…
I would often, flip through my photos of those college years past. To the very first page, it was the headshots from when I was little, all the way up to my adulthood, but as I’d flipped the album, I’d found, that there was a photo of Hu, who’d been noted as the “most beautiful woman in Taiwan” in the bunch.
the woman, Hu when she was younger…photo from online
I’d never been too starstruck, but, as I’d just begun my college years, saw that photo in a magazine, I’d immediately clipped it, placed it in my album. The thought that surfaced back then was, I wanted to live my life as she, filled with the flair, and the intellect.
Other than her work in the shows, I’d also, paid attention to how she’d carried herself in the vital moments of decision in her life, seeing how her wisdom had, helped her, how at the face of her ex-husband’s accusations of her being unfitting, how calm she’d remained……………forty years flew by, she’d turned around, she’s now, a collective of writer, translator, and environmentalist, all in, one, she is, truly, a role model. Graceful, elegant, with a lot of love for life, she’s no longer a star, but, more than a star that she was, she’d become, a true, beauty.
Toward her own appearances and her acting career, Hu never felt truly, happy in it, she’d told, “reading and writing is what make me happiest”. The liking I took to her, now I saw her as a fulfillment of a woman, a guideline to me, a role model.
how she is now…with that sense of, being knowledgeable about her…photo from online
Hu, my one and only idol, from my teenage years, to now.
So, it’s NOT her beauty, or anything else that’s external that’s made this woman a role model of the writer, it’s the internal quality of how this woman, despite the awful things that’s happened to her in life, she still refused to get beaten down, and still, stood beautifully, now more than ever, and she’s the embodiment of beauty and grace, a perfect example for us, women to try and live up to.
The Ivory Tower of My Mind 