每一天都有許多許多的愛情故事在我們身邊身上發生﹐只是不知道﹐你有沒有發現﹖
這裡這個只有17秒的愛情故事﹐你有經歷過嗎﹖第一秒﹕你看到了她 - 散落人群中的一點繽紛
N年前的一個小專訪....................................在紐約唐人街喜士達(Hester) 街和伊利莎白(Elizabeth)街的交界﹐某著名教會&某大型超級市場的對面﹐有一輛小食車。它的主人是一個整天笑哈哈的大嬸。見到她那燦爛的笑容﹐無論工作得多累﹐都有種身心舒暢的感覺。某個禮拜六早上六點多﹐天還剛朦光﹐刀子般銳利的北風掠耳而過﹐去電臺的路上邊忙著把自己藏好在衣服裡﹐邊和朋友抱怨為什麼自己選的是早上節目﹐弄得好好一個禮拜五週末晚上吃也吃不飽(怕胖) ﹐睡也睡不好(怕遲到) 。經過那十字路口的時候﹐身旁一個推著小食車的女人身影經過﹐眼皮也沒抬一下﹐專心致志地安置著那輛小車。那時候突然想到﹐其實我一個禮拜只不過有一次早起﹐這位大嬸可是天天都要在我窩在棉被裡呼呼大睡的時候就開工了呢。好奇的我﹐加上嘴饞﹐節目完後跑到小食車旁截住了大嬸。我﹕大嬸﹗能問你幾個問題嗎﹖大嬸﹕呃﹐你誰啊﹖什麼報章﹖(害羞地躲避相機&給我奇怪的眼光)我﹕…不是報章﹐自己的電子報而已~大嬸﹕啥﹖我﹕就是網上的私人報紙啦~(擦汗)大嬸﹕噢…。你要問什麼﹖我﹕我很想知道大嬸你做這行多久了呢﹖大嬸﹕(興致來了)十多年了啊~~~那時候在老家我還是大廚師呢﹗當了二十多年廚師﹐出來就還是惦掛著老本行啦。也試過做一下其他的行業﹐都不喜歡﹐還是自己煮煮賣賣的多好啊…(滔滔不絕中﹐下略384792834797字)我﹕…那麼﹐大嬸啊﹐你是一年365天都賣這個嗎﹖大嬸﹕(甩甩手) 哎呀﹗怎麼可能﹗人總是要休息的﹐偶爾偷個假囉。我﹕那麼以後﹐還會做下去嗎﹖大嬸﹕(瞪) 那個當然﹗做到我不能動為止﹗我﹕(感動中) 那麼大嬸會把這個轉交給下一代嗎﹖大嬸﹕啊﹗我那大學中的兒子女兒誰要這檔東西﹐我也只不過是為了興趣嘛。看見大家吃的開心﹐我也覺得很快樂啊。(旁邊坐著的食客偷笑點頭中)我﹕嗯嗯﹐明白。請能不能來一兜芝麻糊…大嬸﹕啊﹐看你皮膚那麼好﹐一定是吃了我的芝麻糊了﹗我﹕(趁機) 當然啦﹗就是吃了覺得皮膚好才再來買的嘛﹗旁邊排隊中的大嬸﹕就是嘛﹗看你的芝麻糊多棒﹗大嬸﹕哈哈~那有空歡迎你來當我生招牌啊﹗要拍照片的時候她躲進車裡去了﹐順便把一個員工推出來﹐說那人才是老闆…糾纏了許久﹐還是沒能照到﹐最後﹐只是買了一大袋子東西(包括蝦米腸茶葉蛋魚蛋粉…當然還有我最心愛的芝麻糊) 後﹐勉強伸手跟大嬸說了聲拜﹐繼續上班去了。大嬸在我離開的時候還在後面冒出頭來一直嚷﹕你寫完要給我看啊~不過我看不懂英文﹐你要寫中文啊~~~我邊應聲邊想﹐這次午餐還真豐富呢…唉﹐可惜﹐纏了她那麼久﹐還是沒打折。^^寫完這篇﹐才突然發現我忘了問大嬸的名字。下次我回去﹐一定得問她。順便嘛﹐也會買一碗那香甜嫩滑﹐黑溜溜的芝麻糊。
[caption id="" align="alignright" width="200" caption="童真"]
[/caption]記得當年痴...... 某日﹐和友人談天說地論金庸時﹐突發狂想﹐要兩人合力寫一本武俠小說。記得有一個小妹妹﹐名叫范斷雪﹐取自殘橋斷學﹐乃某大美人和士大夫之愛女。另有一位藺公子﹐相如之子也(後來發現兩人不應同一朝代)。還有一位絕代佳人樂敏﹐可惜紅顏薄命﹐淪為歌妓。好像還有一個天昊公子﹐是誰啊...﹖唉﹐可惜沒留下當時興起時所繪的人物像啊......某年﹐一時興起﹐手抄了三毛的<隨想>﹐讓可憐的母親擔心了好幾天﹐一直追問我是否厭世。母親啊﹐親恩未報﹐我哪敢﹖... 某個夏天﹐看了無線某齣狗血片﹐傷心感動之余﹐拉著表妹折了一大袋的紙飛機(或應說直升機)﹐說好了要從陽臺上撒進街道中。後來發現﹐那個罰款﹐可不是說笑的。後來就直接近了回收桶。那段年少輕狂的歲月啊...記得當年...勇。... 爬到二樓﹐身探出﹐手伸長﹐用自製的小玩意(由衣架﹐掃把桿﹐和貼紙組成)﹐向著掉到下面去的心愛帽子﹐勾啊~~~... 陷身地庫電梯中﹐拼命把門撐開﹐用腳撐著﹐然後用手...... 五歲時﹐為了看“白馬嘯西風”﹐跑到公路上直奔表姐家。路上發現...怎麼好像有人跟著似的﹖頂著正帽﹐穿著大衣﹐啊﹐好像是傳說中的---人拐子﹗於是... 警訊大發﹐拔著短短的雙腳﹐跑啊~~~跑到記憶中的晚市﹐躲到某倒霉小販身後...哈哈~~~多聰明﹗... 唉呀﹐可是英明神武的我﹐卻居然被爬行中的小堂弟﹐嚇得跑進房﹐跳上床﹐被子蓋子死命不肯出來(雖然當年只得三歲)。記得當年...人。... 三年級的老師的手---“XX啊﹐我真的好喜歡你啊~。”現在想起。。。那個老師是不是戀童啊﹖可是...記憶中﹐我小時候很象男生的呀。(汗)... 表姐們的手--- 暑假時﹐常會跑去表姐們待整個夏天。記得﹐那時候是我一邊做著暑期功課﹐她們一邊幫我拔白頭髮。聽說﹐常動腦筋的人頭髮特別容易退色... 那﹐為什麼近年來﹐我頭上是一(白)毛不拔﹖... 父親的手--- 可愛的小兔兔印章。... 母親的手--- 讀書100分送的一支粉紅一支粉紫的鉛筆。... 好友的手--- 傷心地告訴她﹐因為大意在公車上遺失了那些關於我的報章﹐她花了三﹑四天搜集了前一天的報紙﹐一章一張的﹐從新剪出﹐帶著微笑﹐親手遞了給我。... 爺爺的手--- 某天在地鐵上找到他人丟掉的銀鏈子﹐他急急揀起﹐塞在我手中。現在﹐是我系在手上進入來美第十五年的銀鏈子。 爺爺﹐我好想你...記得當年...傻。...某餐館中﹐幫阿姨工作﹐做做紅豆冰﹐弄弄吐士。因為表現良好﹐姐姐阿姨們一直說要32號發工資給我。當年﹐好像才7歲。她們...膽子還真不小......愛上了話梅﹐拿著壓歲錢﹐偷偷跑出去買了一大包﹐想要躲起來慢慢吃。含了一個﹐哎呀﹗怎麼那麼酸﹗慌忙送了給隔壁婆婆。原來...那個不是話梅...是雙梅。我&@#%$&#%﹗那個﹐大概6歲吧﹖是聰明還是笨﹖...表姐買了一個洋娃娃﹐一個玩具熊。雖然好想好想要那個洋娃娃﹐但要裝成熟﹐讓了給表妹。心裡一直嘀咕。如果當時我要了洋娃娃﹐現在的我﹐還會不會是這個樣子呢﹖天知道。記得當年...?... 死命拉著車門﹐不要走...不要離開...... 黑暗中醒來﹐卻原來是中午。夢醒了﹐淚卻...... 差點害死我的旋轉門...... 臉色灰白﹐天旋地轉地躺在自由神的腳下...天好藍好藍...... 原來...畏高啊...
[caption id="" align="alignright" width="183" caption="良緣何處���"]
[/caption]緣緣份份﹐斷斷續續﹐在擺也(Bayard)和堅尼(Canal)街之間﹐從包俚(Bowery)街到百士達(Baxter)街的範圍是我特別喜歡的。一些很棒的餐館都在這附近﹐包括了上海﹐潮州﹐粵菜﹐馬來亞﹐越南﹐還有我最愛的Chinatown Ice Cream Factory (華埠雪糕行) 和各類小茶館。雪糕行裡的芒果和荔枝還有紅豆口味雪糕都超~~~級棒。下雪天邊慢條斯理地邊舔雪糕邊賞雪﹐是我最愛的娛樂之一﹐因為雪糕不會溶化嘛﹗著名的鹿鳴春也在這裡。悄悄地跟你說﹐我覺得紐約的小龍包﹐比上海的更好吃呢﹗在擺也街旁邊的伊麗莎白(Elizabeth)街和包俚街之間有一條通道﹐名為“中國街” 。它裡面看上去黑壓壓的好像很是恐怖。其實藏著有一家超級棒的馬來西亞餐和中西餐廳﹐絕對是容易錯過的瑰寶。如果你去那家馬來西亞餐廳的話﹐記得要點一盤黑糊狀態的麵條唷﹗咳咳﹐說起這個﹐我第一次和某朋友去吃飯的時候﹐她看到一個女侍應在旁邊經過﹐端著一盤貌似她曾經吃過﹐超級喜歡的一個菜。可是不知為何 ﹐她三分鐘後才突然跟我說﹕“剛那個女侍應手上的﹐好像是我喜歡的那個菜呀﹗”可是﹐大事精明小事糊塗的她居然已經忘掉是哪個侍應﹐只記得她走的方向。對菜名一無所知的我們﹐只好乖乖地請教侍應先生…後果就是…那位侍應先生扯開嗓子在店裡大叫﹕ “這兩個客人說﹐剛有一位靚女端著一盤黑焦形狀的麵條走向這個方向﹗究竟是誰啊﹖﹗”客滿為患的店裡的全部目光唰一聲﹐轉到了我們這桌…伊利莎白街的這一段一向是年輕一輩的聚集點﹐不單是因為有紐約中文學校的存在﹐也因為這裡有著好幾家游戲和動漫畫等年輕人喜歡的娛樂物品的專賣店。伊利莎白中心是初高中學生們的公認的會面地點。嘿嘿﹐這樣深刻的感受﹐當然是來自自己當年的經歷啦。現在看到許多在等人的少年人們﹐真的有點歲月不留人的感覺啊。伊利莎白街後的勿(Mott)街是紐約唐人街的起源點﹐在勿街盡頭是哥倫布公園。對我這些在哥倫布公園附近的學校混過幾年暑期班的人來說﹐這裡寄存了不少溫馨和快樂的回憶。回想起﹐大學後就開始很少逛唐人街了。自從911之後﹐唐人街各行各業的生意都一落千丈﹐不過這也逼使大家聯合起來﹐努力重建這個家園。對唐人街的記憶有多深﹐對它的感情就有多濃。歲月彈指過﹐在哥倫布公園和小孩子們搶鞦韆﹐暑期班後跑到東百老匯的書店埋頭看書默抄三毛隨想﹐和父母在格蘭街一起買菜趕車回家﹐和朋友們在伊利莎白中心鬼混﹐和爺爺去某家老餐館吃燒雞翅膀﹐為奶奶跑到各家餐館去買蓮蓉包﹐如今回首﹐許多居然都是十多年前的事情了。鞦韆換了小兒專用﹐格蘭街變得清淡﹐老餐廳老早倒閉﹐爺爺不在了 ﹐朋友們為了生活各自奔忙﹐我自己的心境也再不能回復小時的平靜。不過﹐這個唐人街﹐就算已經遠離﹐已然面目全非﹐總還是佔有那麼一點特別的位置。我充心希望﹐在將來的歲月裡﹐它會變得越加生氣勃勃。
我喜歡做一些無聊的比較﹐也很喜歡雜七雜八地把一些不相關的事情和人物牽連起來。可憐可悲的潘朵拉與慈祥偉大的女媧娘娘﹐就是因為我這種性格而與對方拉上關係的。女媧是神話中的第一位女神﹐也可以說是第一個女性的存在。潘朵拉剛好也是第一位被創造的人類女性。除了同樣身為“第一”﹐這兩位女性也都代表著人們心中無時無刻潛在著的自我意識。
[caption id="" align="alignleft" width="246" caption="Release"] [/caption]在從前的從前﹐還沒有歷史記載的時候﹐人類習慣生活在一個一個的小社會中。基本上﹐人都是群居動物。可是﹐當人學會如何單靠自己去生存的時候﹐開始認為自己是一個最特別的存在的時候﹐便也學會了劃上各種界線﹐把他們認為是屬於自己與屬於他人的事物分隔開﹐也間接地把自己封鎖起來。做個比喻﹐當初伊甸園中的亞當與夏娃在沒有自我意識的時候﹐他們可以輕鬆自在﹐無憂無慮地奔跑在他們的樂園中。可是﹐當他們得到了智慧﹐意識到自我的時候﹐這種心靈上的自由就消失了。在女媧創造人類的的故事中﹐我們就已經可以察覺到人類自我意識的模糊影子。盤古創世界的故事中﹐最後是他的靈魂化成了世間的萬般生態﹐那也包括了人類在內。在女媧造人的故事中﹐人類卻是女媧特意按照著自己的模樣﹐一個個地用泥土混著水捏造出來的。相對起盤古一視同仁的創造故事﹐在女媧的故事中﹐人類就是特別的﹐獨一無二的創造物了。在神話誕生的時代﹐那麼遠古的時空中﹐人類就已經懂得為自己在自然中爭取更高的地位﹐就已經擁有了惟我獨尊的意識﹐或許也就已經失去了與自然中的其他生物交流的興趣與本能。在潘朵拉打開那個盒子之前﹐人類沒有戰爭﹐所以沒有所謂的和平﹐同樣地﹐也不瞭解何為幸與不幸﹐他們可以生活在“無知”的自由中。在女媧按自己模樣創造人類之時﹐在潘朵拉打開盒子之時﹐人類的自我意識誕生了﹐ 樂園已經消失了。不過﹐那也意味著﹐這個失去的“樂園﹐”就留待每個人自己去尋獲了。在人類的自我意識可以讓路給某種更為強烈的情感的時候﹐在一個人可以讓心甘情願另外一個人的存在左右他/她的生活的時候﹐他/她或許就找到自己的樂園了。在堅尼街的地下鐵車站出來就是著名的百老匯大道﹐旁邊是格蘭(Grand)街。格蘭街曾經是唐人街極度興旺的街道之一﹐四週的各類小販和店舖林立﹐應有盡有。下班的衣廠與餐館的大叔大嬸們總會逛一下街﹐看看貨物最新的價錢﹐或以最快的速度挑選出當天的晚餐﹐再跳上地下鐵趕回家。幾年前﹐因為該處開啟了地下鐵的修路工程﹐人群逐漸變得稀落。許多店舖的關閉﹐加上製衣業的衰退﹐格蘭街已經風光不再。去年格蘭街的地下鐵已經再次開放。不知當年滿街歡聲罵聲和討價還價漫天口水飛的盛況﹐何時才會再度出現﹖堅尼街站的另外一邊理所當然就是堅尼(Canal)街。這裡是遊客必經之地﹐常常會見到一大堆在指指點點的遊客﹐也有遇到過途人問我“你會英文嗎﹖”(我咧~﹗)這時候一般我會先甜甜地笑﹐眨眼不說話﹐然後當他們打算放棄的時候丟出一句﹕Yo man , what’s up?近年來堅尼街在百老匯的附近出現了很多比較特別的商品。(咳咳盜版咳咳)一次和電臺搭檔說起冒牌名牌這個問題﹐他說了一個很可愛的故事。話說一天一位很有勇氣的女士興沖沖跑進某家名牌專賣店﹐對售貨員說﹕我生日時老公買了一個XX款式的手袋給我。我要再買一個﹗可憐滿頭霧水的售貨員只好禮貌地回答﹕這位女士﹐我們這裡沒有這個款式的手袋啊。這位女士囂張地說﹕哼﹗怎麼會沒有﹗我老公分明在堅尼街買了一個﹗售貨員最後怎麼說﹖那個…我的話﹐大概會汗笑﹐然後把店裡的價錢牌指給這位女士看吧﹖如果您好奇心起﹐想買一個冒牌名牌產品回去騙…不﹐送人的話﹐堅尼街就是你必逛之地。有親友從遠方來﹐我也必然會帶他們去見識見識。
Shirley
麗影漫游都市內
繁華易使人夢醉
唯是心堅意不改
鈴音留得獨清脆
Abby
雅素大體儀態千
情性相合友誼添
萍聚一刻雖無定
無礙相交心互牽
Sandra
芝顔亮睛
蘭質慧心
妙語嫣然
巧手裁菁
青青子衿
悠悠我心*
他日再遇
笑談當今
Sherry
柳腰款款身材裕
心胸坦蕩比朝旭
杏靨綻放留樂紋
笑聲朗朗驅愁鬱
Lan
山高天遠浴心清
風凜吹皺水粼粼
林木娉婷人獨行
嵐煙雲岫不擾徑
There is a back story to this, though I will not translate my post and make this painfully long. Yes this is a true story. This event happened when I went to Hangzhou (2003) and met up with a few internet friends. Together we went to a gay bar, which is where the story (more of a scene) below took place. I had thoughts at the time about writing this story, but it wasn't until I did something very inappropriate that made me feel ashamed of myself that I really sat down to write this story as an apology to my friend - I stole his ID to look at his birthday (really more to show off to the others that I could), and then returned it to him of course. I was young, brash, and did not understand how fragile human emotions could be. To this day, I still feel badly about what I did... but fortunately, he forgave me and we became pretty good friends afterwards (that was the first time we met). For those of you who can read Chinese, hope you get something out of the story, if only a mood. Please remember that something minor that you do may seem like a cute prank to you... but it can hold significant meaning or do damage to another that you can't imagine. Everything in life is so fleeting: beauty, youth, love... so grasp it and cherish it while you can.
那天﹐我和幾個好朋友與幾個剛認識的朋友﹐一起去了杭州的一家卡拉OK廳。*影子 is actually his internet alias
*Much thanks to Ryan for the beautiful picture (though not a narcissus )
It was the Best of Ages, it was the Worst of Ages. This is the retelling of the true, tragic and universal story of: Love! Rejection! and Resentment!
I present to you... A Tale of Two Babies.Last Sunday was one of the most gorgeous days I had ever seen in New York city. Definitely the best day so far this year. I dropped by Central Park to get some reading and meditation done (FAIL)...As I was sitting on a plot of grass right off of Columbus Circle and attempted to meditate/read/do some heavy duty contemplation on life, I suddenly noticed an adorable baby walk by, struggling to keep steady and concentrating furiously on the "endless" fields of green in front of him. I'm not usually a fan of babies (the noise!) but this one was adorable and he didn't make much noise... so I kept on watching. Let's name him Baby A, or BA. Moments later, as BA stopped in front of two runners who were chitchatting on the grass and studied their water bottle intensely, another baby appeared.This baby was slightly younger and was still wobbly when he walked. Let's call him Baby B, or BB. BB was with his mom, trying to practice his new found game - walking. BB had an adorable mat of flying golden hair that danced in the wind and the most innocent look, enough to tickle your heart.Then came that fateful moment when BA saw BB - the sparks were unmistakable. BA left the water bottle immediately and with his stubby but strong feet stepped quickly towards BB. This was a classic Love-at-First-Sight. The parents were all cooing "how cute~ finally found someone your size?", but as we all know, parents sometimes just have not a CLUE what kind of psychological and emotional trauma their kids may be undergoing.BB saw BA's advances and at first was stunned. BA saw his opportunity and quickly stepped even closer to BB and - in a breathtaking moment when everyone's gaze froze and heart melted - stood on tiptoe to kiss BB on the forehead. It was then that I started flipping through my bag for my phone (couldn't really use my camera even though I had it).In a turn of events that no one expected (yea we're all Hollywood bred), BB recovered right before BA's puckered lips reached his forehead and retreated, backing into (whom he thought was) his mother. The cornered child raised his head to seek solace from his mother, just to find out that he was holding on the pants of BA's mother (i.e. a complete stranger). His eyes swelled, lips tightened, and he turn and stumble-ran away from the spot. BA chased after him. As one wobbled, the other wobbled faster. The dance would have continued (for who knows how long), but realizing the hopeless situation and giving up, BA stopped, turned, and with a face grieved by rejection, he ran toward BB's carriage and stood in front, back to everyone, refusing to let others see his tear stained face.BB watched him from far away, eyes perplexed and perhaps, moved.BA's father, unable to stand his son's sorrow, tried lifting him from where he stood and setting him down in front of BB, who now seemed to be warming up to BA. But alas! It was too late! BB's rejection had left BA's feelings hurt and pride bruised! As BB looked at him encouragingly, BA simply turned - and ran back to in front of BB's carriage (don't ask me why! O_O).Despite multiple efforts by the doting parents on both sides and BB's increasing interest, BA seemed resigned and since he was pulled away repeatedly from BB's carriage, he ran to the two runner ladies and focused his attention back on the water bottle.Such is the fate of love (and inevitably accompanying that, hate);
[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="254" caption="Is this not meant to be?"]
歸去,也無風雨也無晴。
Walking the Fool's Journey.