Christopher Gardner: Hey. Don't ever let somebody tell you... You can't do something. Not even me. All right?

Christopher: All right.

Christopher Gardner: You got a dream... You gotta protect it. People can't do somethin' themselves, they wanna tell you you can't do it. If you want somethin', go get it. Period.

Filed under: Marginalia of Days
1 Comment

Looking at those beautiful colors, I have to, I must start painting. You have no idea how much I’m scared that I would screw up the color, since they have been in the corner for 2 years. But finally I’m going to use them, even if eventually it turns out I suck. Fine, then let's see how bad I will suck.

Filed under: Marginalia of Days
5 Comments

http://view.break.com/388549 - Watch more free videos

Filed under: Marginalia of Days
2 Comments

How long I have to suffer from insomnia. I wish I could fall asleep before midnight, it’s just a dream…I really don’t know how to get over insomnia, even if I take a prescription sleeping pill which used to work and have wine although I am so bad at drinking. I read boring thing to make me sleepy. When I turn off the light, I try to focus on my breath, but then I forget how to breathe…

I feel so awake when midnight comes. I don’t know what kind of animal I am. I will take another sleeping pill later, damn, how luxurious for me to have an appropriate sleep.

Filed under: Marginalia of Days
6 Comments

Just watched this film. There's nothing left but the music in the ending, nothing left but a man always looks good in white shirt.

Filed under: Marginalia of Days
1 Comment

Freedom!!!!!!!! You have to wake up and i will go to sleep, you suck!

Filed under: Marginalia of Days
Leave a comment

I accidentally found photos again. Brendan was sad when he heard Kurt Vonnegut passed away. I was sadder when I read following words which he sent me.

Where is home? I've wondered where home is, and I realized, it's not Mars or someplace like that, it's Indianapolis when I was nine years old. I had a brother and a sister, a cat and a dog, and a mother and a father and uncles and aunts. And there's no way I can get there again. - Kurt Vonnegut

Filed under: Marginalia of Days
7 Comments

It's almost 6am now, I feel pretty awake though.

Looking favorite paintings would make me awake. I know it but I couldn't help doing that. I want some fun. Especially my current job is to write UK art review weekly - I really like it, it's about art! But I don't like one of the requests of the review is to talk about art only in positive way. You know, most contemporary art for me is just rubbish. I need to take fresh air break by looking chinese traditional art.

I've been looking Ni Zan's stuff in last week. He's always one of my favorite artist since I first looked his stuff. People asked him why no people in his painting, he said "Looking around, who deserves it?"

I like his answer. He's too awake though.

Sleeping pill works, i will get some food then go to bed. Have a nice weekend and i have to say sorry, my complaint seems never disappears.

Filed under: Marginalia of Days
3 Comments

Just smsed my girlfriends - Do you feel sometimes all the people you know are very annoying?

My favorite answer is "yes",then "especially right now and the first one is myself",then "often, my husband says if menopause comes early".

My non-favorite answer is "What's up?","You'd better have vacation",and silence. - Will be ignoring them for a short while.

Filed under: Marginalia of Days
2 Comments

Finally someone tagged me to do that 'five things nobody else knows about you' thing…! It’s a bit difficult to remember what Brendan doesn’t know, since when he stops talking, I start, but here goes . . .

(1) I held toweling blankets instead of soft toys until…a few years ago.

I had two big toweling blankets to hold and smell –maojinbei in Chinese, so I named them beibei, which also means babe. They had a sleepy smell which made me happy and calm, so I held them most of the time when I was at home. They died though, they got thinner and thinner (unlike me) until they tore really easily.

(2) I was the fastest runner in my class at primary school

For short distance,50M or 100M. But I was only good in my class, on the school sports day I sucked – last, or second last, every time.

(3) Once upon a time, I was good at politics exams.

The comments on Brendan’s Chinese blog reminded me - I gave up the exam even though I spent months preparing. The politics textbook made me vomit, but in middle school, I was not bad. Once I got full marks in filling the blanks, which was a mission impossible, I was called “xing xing of human being� by my classmate , xing xing in Chinese, either means star or orangutan, I had no idea what they referred to.

(4) I only can wink at you with my left eye.

Because I don’t know how to close my right eye only!

(5) My pain endurance is not bad

For instances: When I was eight the dentist pulled my tooth out without anesthetic and I didn't cry at all; when I first went to the Chinese doctor for Tui Na last year, I got another nickname – strong female solder, because I didn’t scream or yell under doctor’s hands. By the way, Brendan went to there too, it turned out he is a well-trained spy.

Filed under: Marginalia of Days
7 Comments

I was a bit freaked out when I couldn’t get any of the websites I usually check, particularly my email account, since I was waiting for an email about a job I am really interested in. I found out it was because of the earthquake in Taiwan, which somehow broke the Chinese Internet. I felt like I was living on a remote island, I was even tempted to tell my friends outside of China that “Hey, I am ok! We still have water to flush the toilet!�. Then I realized it’s just the Internet, not as dramatic as I'd hoped.

But I kept pretending. I told people I came to the bar because the internet was down and I had finally been set free by modern technology. I kept asking when the internet was going to be fixed, as if asking when the army would come to liberate us? I watched too many disaster movies? Or was I searching for a chance to laugh at my friends who rely on the Internet even more than I do?

We were liberated much quicker than I expected. I still can’t open many websites, but my friend’s Internet speed is faster than before- so unfair. Maybe this is fair, yes, nobody likes complainer, including fake complainer.

Filed under: Marginalia of Days
6 Comments

Who didn't tie his cow up?!

http://www.netdisaster.com/go.php?mode=cow&url=http://www.soongli.com

Filed under: Marginalia of Days
1 Comment

(Nagging works. Luckily, I have a warehouse full of old pieces. Snowball used to dream about being Picasso's mistress (and mistress of the Italian director Pier Paolo Pasolini if he was not gay), the way I used to dream about being Cezanne's wife (and wife of the Russian director Andrei Tarkovsky), so it's easy to tell who loves art more - me me meï¼?)

å?³ä½¿å¡žå°šæ›¾æ?¶æ?„高更“他拿我一点å°?å°?å?‘现到处去宣扬â€?，甚至讽刺梵高的作å“?ä¸?过是疯å­?画的，两ä½?大师也å?ªå¾—噤声，说这è¯?的是大师中的大师，奈何ä¸?得，至少没有几个人能在寂寂无å??æ—¶ä»?充满这样的果决：“åƒ?我这样的画家，æ¯?隔一个世纪æ‰?会出现一人â€?，åƒ?个诺言，说到å?šåˆ°ã€‚

我是在大学的一次户外写生å?Žå?‘现塞尚的，这之å‰?他于我ä¸?过是一群“大师â€?中的一ä½?，哪怕背负ç?€â€œçŽ°ä»£ç»˜ç”»ä¹‹çˆ¶â€?之å??；直到我也从自然界走进走出，é‡?新翻看列ä½?的画作时，塞尚便以其并ä¸?夺目的相貌ä¸?知怎么回事地走进你的视线，æ?¥äº†å°±ä¸?走了。 喜欢他的风景，画了两百é??的景致；他的夫人，似乎被丈夫折腾得已没了脾气的女人；也喜欢那å?ªæœ‰å¯¥å¯¥æ•°ç¬”还留有大多空白的作å“?，毕加索å?£ä¸­çš„“å?ªæœ‰ä¸€ç¬”，便全都有了â€?，觉得他的画“沉â€?，“拙â€?，存心有æ„?æ— æ„?之妙，笔触也是生活的颤音，我ä¸?知如何表述，å?´å?ˆä¸?å¾—ä¸?说，无法将心曲简å?•åœ°æ?Ÿä¹‹é«˜é˜?，因为哪里都找ä¸?到替代。

塞尚�个�士，尽管也有几分�阮�，��过是�一�入世，但他确是在远离�当时的中�力�们而无视于惠而�实的掌声，�求闻达地在创作中孜孜以求，�磨�属于他视线里的文章，探索真实，颇有冷眼觑破世情的味�，��有很多画家也因他，便有了“但窥��，转眼�境皆空�。

我但愿能因自己的喜爱的是塞尚使得自己在画艺上å?¯æ??高的一筹å?Šç­¹ï¼Œæˆ‘努力ç?€ï¼Œä½†è¿™ä¼¼ä¹Žå?¯é?‡ä¸?å?¯æ±‚，å?¯æ±‚çš„å?´æ˜¯ä¸€ä»½æ€?度，晋代文人陆机在“文赋â€?中说：“课虚无以责有，å?©å¯‚寞而求音â€?，塞尚是这样的，所以有了他的ä¸?朽，我虽ä¸?想ä¸?朽，但也想这样，这令人è¸?实。

Filed under: Marginalia of Days, Sense of Seeing
4 Comments

Yesterday, I found this B&W picture, which was taken when I was two. Every time my mum sees it she says she knew even then I’d be trouble.

I had my hair cut today, the hairdresser used to be good, but today he made me look like a 70s Hong Kong kung-fu star. I just drew it the hairdo for my friend and he filled in the rest. As you can see, he only knows Bruce Lee.

Somehow, I think he agrees with my mom.

Filed under: Marginalia of Days
7 Comments

Hit problems with taking some photos of my works, so my mood for painting this evening was suddenly shattered. My mum comforted me, I love my mum. I felt better afterwards. Called a friend I grew up with, the kind of friend you can call at 3am because you stubbed your toe. Good to practice my Beijing accent again, and we both love Owen. Another friend made some suggestions about photo printing, even though we hadn’t been in touch for ages, so thanks to him. I know I can figure this problem out, but only after the bad mood left.

The cab drivers went on strike yesterday, and apparently the airport went 90 minutes without a single taxi. I didn’t know so I was standing on the street for long time. Luckily there were some scabs. I do wish someday 60,000 cabs would strike together, “Hey, but you have to tell customers like me!� I chatted to a cab driver “Sure, we’ve only won a battle, not the war. The fuel subsidy will continue past July when it was meant to finish, but it’s difficult to get all the cab drivers to strike together� “who are the scabs?� “The peasants (the ones live in the suburb), I won’t say anything bad about them, but compared to us former workers they just don’t get it. Short-sighted, just out for themselves.�

Filed under: Marginalia of Days
2 Comments

That’s my favorite change for 2008. Yes, he looked a bit pathetic, but…I really don’t like that kind of dog – natural toy looking. If I was his owner I’d dress him up as the leading role in horror movie and enjoy the screaming.

But he was cute in this political way, to prove politics are everywhere, like Olympic slogans in Beijing. His owner looked like she was giving a speech, when I asked her “how did you dye his hair� she came back with “with hair treatment cream� like she answered this question a million times. “Can I take a picture of him?� “Sure, let me take off the leash first. Don’t move, lie down, be good�. Then I got the pictures.

Filed under: Marginalia of Days
2 Comments

在北京市�点�养区内�以养什么狗

根�北京市公安局�北京市人民政府农林办公室于2000年3月31日共��出通告，对北京市�点�养区内许�饲养的�型观�犬的��与体高标准作出规定：

一��型观�犬的体高标准是：�年犬�超过35厘米。

二��型观�犬的��

1.西��犬 2.北京犬 3.西施犬 4.西��犭更犬 5.拉�犬 6.巴哥犬 7.日本狆 8.�毛犭更 9.�美犬 10.日本�犬 11.�毛�熊犬 12.�娃娃 13.约克�犭更犬 14.马尔�斯犬 15.贵妇犬（玩具型） 16.��犬 17.中国冠毛犬 18.骑士查�王犬 19.布�赛尔犬 20.西高地白犭更犬 21.腊肠犬 22.丹迪.西蒙特犭更犬

Filed under: Marginalia of Days
5 Comments

多余的胶矾水�想浪费，就把“文�公主��出���刷锅水。她总是�我的刷锅水，�两天��旧的基底，底色��得扔就索性也把“文�公主��出�清碗。“文�公主�是我的第一张工笔作业，为这张作业我旷课起�一周，撕掉了无数的熟宣，并将其�得五花八门，甩得四分五裂，那份豪迈狂野�气�山河。所幸这张作业完�的还好，最好的地方其实这两天被我�了，就是在纸背�刷底色的时候，没想到纸已��矾了，脖颈�裙�部分，那完美的罩色，就这样破掉了— 真是“�旧�了。

过去有人问我为什么�喜欢用“快感�这个�儿�没什么，��我爱。现在画画儿就没太多快感，以���实实临摹传统的时候倒是心惊肉跳，快感逼人呢。这几天总�磨��花点�画儿，起�技术上的，现在很多人�讲“创��，作��符�，我还是�旧迷�技术的美感。

Filed under: Marginalia of Days, Sense of Seeing
6 Comments

"the adventures of picasso" , I have been looking for this film for yeeeears! Having fight with my boyfriend today, I was in a bad mood. But Thank God He still loves me 上天待我�薄:P

Filed under: Marginalia of Days
2 Comments

If you feel bored, then watch some dvds or read a novel, like you used to do. Or go to sleep when you feel like it, you can take a sleeping pill if you aren't sleepy. Work harder, deadlines are coming and you need some money to do those things you want.

Remind yourself you felt empty when you were in that bar - carve that into your mind, because it's a sign that something must be wrong with the rhythm of your life. It’s a cool place, and you met a few cool people too, but it's not so cool when you’re not in the mood, when you feel lost, when the beer tastes bitter.

And this is the start of picking something back up, little by little. At least, don’t go there for a while, how about one month? Anyway, it’s your call, I won’t repeat myself, I will get sick of reminding you again and again.

Filed under: Marginalia of Days
3 Comments