some dreams live on in time forever
those dreams,you want with all your heart
and i will do whatever it takes
follow through with the promise i made
put it all on the line
what i hoped for at last would be mine
if i could reach,higher
just for one moment touch the sky
from that one moment in my life
i am gonna be stronger
know that i have tried my very best
i would put my spirit to the test
if i could reach
some days are meant to be remembered
those days we rise above the stars
so i will go the distance this time
seeing more the higher i climb
that the more i believe
all the more that this dream would be mine
"reach" by gloria estefan & diane warren
hitting the highnotes
a simple girl in a big big world
Seldom,very seldom does complete truth belong to any human disclosure; seldom can it happen that something is not a little disguised,or a little mistaken.
- Jane Austen, Emma
Talking much about oneself can also be a means to conceal oneself.
- Friedrich Nietzsche
sounding the rhythmof life
Wednesday, August 23, 2006
You know it has been a while since the last time you read when you find that the loan machines at the library have changed YET again. They are becoming more and more stylish I must say haha,cool stuff.
I have friends like Weiling who read a lot,the books they buy can probably fill up many shelves. I mainly patronize the library or rental stores though,my cheaper alternatives heh. But it’s the process whereby I can just loiter among rows of books or sit on the floor in my cuffed jeans thumbing through books that makes it more enjoyable for me.
It has been some time since I last touched fiction. Doesn’t help that an interviewer actually tried to engage me in a chat about reading. After all,how do you tell someone it hasn’t been that long ago when all you read were journal articles and academic writings? Thank goodness for a translated text I have been meaning to complete – James Hilton’s Lost Horizon. Still a little amused now when I think back on how excited the interviewer reacted upon identifying with my read. I am only glad he hasn’t read it himself since I am only a quarter through it myself haha. It’s a good book but takes quite a bit of effort to get through the initial chapters. Slows my reading pace pretty significantly and there comes a point where you know you just have to put it aside for a while. So since food for the mind comes a little scarce these days,I thought I should temporarily do a switch back to reading English texts.
But I digressed.
I found The Unbearable Lightness of Being at the library today. In English no less. I personally read and own the book in Chinese. First heard of Kundera in my contemporary literature class last year. His is the kind of name that sticks with you for a long time once you have heard of his writings. Just reading the first few pages again today brought back the familiar memories of its content and I knew I just had to lug it home with me. From Czech to so many other languages worldwide. It is wonderful how such deserving philosophies can be passed on from one man to another. It reminds me again of the value of translation and what I am learning to do now.
There are many good books that are gems to behold. Books that leave an impression so deep you are glad you had read it and that you would rave to your friends. I remember The Time Traveller’s Wife, which I had read pretty long ago (and that everyone is reading these days and a movie is coming up too!). It was the type of book you could stay up reading and completing it in one sitting,yet wishing it will never end. I recall how I had told Zy the story over the phone in the middle of one night haha though I can never been as good a storyteller as the author herself.
Halfway through My Sister’s Keeper now. It has brought back the warm feeling that reading always bring to me. The sense that you are entering another world where beautiful words tell the tale of another person whose life you are about to know. I am enthralled and I know I am not going to sleep tonight. It doesn’t matter if I am all alone because you can never get too lonely with a good book in hand. It is your best companion.
Next book awaiting on the desk is The Historian. Saw it with Zy at Kino the other day hehe. Will share about that when I am done with it. :)
Yes,it was a harvest today. The mind and soul are happy.
