Smile

At the park in front of Cinema Beaubien, Dec 25 2017.

P.S  He made an effort to smile in this photo. If you look at the pic for 5 seconds, you will see it.

C'était pas marrant travailler avec le marron

Professor Chestnut head in Dr. Slump

I saw fresh chestnuts in grocery store. A stew of chestnut came into my head.

So I got some home with my chestnut fantasy and checked how to cook them.

The recipe said once the outer shell is removed, put the chestnut with its skin to boiling water, then the skin can be easily removed.

I worked on a dozen of chestnut and at the end there was only 6 in the stew.

Some of them were rotten.

The boiling water way could hardly help me to remove the skin. 

The stew was delicious, but I spent 40 mins removing 6 chestnuts' skin.

I would go for a can one next time.

Maybe it will taste just the same.

A poor quality picture capturing a good quality birthday dinner

晚餐時我們談起小學。我說我們有陸運會，很遺憾沒有在最後一年參加跨欄，現在幾十歲都不知道哪裡可以給我跨欄了。還有因不用穿校服而興奮的秋季旅行，和唱無聊歌的音樂堂。他說對小學的印象很模糊了，沒有體育堂也沒有音樂堂，但記得小四時曾努力學吹牧童笛，還要排練舞台劇，那種皇帝皇后武士的西方兒童傳統劇目，最後演給家長看那些。他要化妝，穿上戲服演一個侯爵，唱歌之外還要吹牧童笛演出。我聽了很羨慕。

Once a week I went to the Animal Rescue Network to help cleaning the cat shelter. 

There are over 100 cats in the shelter. Three to four volunteers clean their litter boxes, refill the water and food bowls. We also brush and sweep away the hair and mop the floor. Volunteers come in morning and evening shifts, leaving the cats a quiet afternoon. 

The shelter is divided into various rooms; sociable, healthy cats in the main room, another room for cats with diabetes, a medical ward where cats are kept in cages for they need special food/medication, new cats will be put in reception room waiting to be tested. 

Of these rooms, volunteers are taught to work the room of FeLV the last. In that room cats are infected with Feline Leukemia Virus.

Feline Leukemia is a highly infectious disease among cats, though not human. 

So we wear lab coat and gloves when we work on that room. After that, we are not to touch other cats in the shelter. 

Cats in the Leukemia room looks healthy. They are just more vulnerable to other diseases and die young. 

Cats do not know they are in the very desperate ward, supposedly.

But all the cats in Leukemia room are strangely friendly. There are shy cats, defensive cats, leave me alone cats or bite and claw cats in other rooms, but the cats in Leukemia see volunteers like santa claus.

Every time we open the door, they come to greet us, they meow and look at us with joy. They do not fight among each other for a pat or a hug.

The Leukemia room used to have some ten cats. Now Chester, Jonas and Charlie stay there. 

Do they know they are in a disease ward? 

Chester usually stay in the cat bed on the table. Last week he was on the floor. He stared at the table and then climbed to my lap. I thought he is a bit chubby or too lazy to jump up by himself, so I put him on the table, and get a chair next to the table for him to come down.

He then stayed in his usual bed, massaged the bed for a long time, and then gave me this peaceful look. 

It is always tiring cleaning the last room, but the cats know how to encourage their human friends. Chester was acknowledging my effort, or so I thought. 

婚禮

中間配上法國彩帶的是監禮人，Escalquens小鎮的市長，他腳踏波鞋監禮。

婚禮那天一早，我和媽為父親的西裝臨時改袖和腳長，突然，那個男髮型師看著我，誠惶誠恐地指一指我姐的後腦，說為了梳髺，那是正常的。噢，原來他把她一團頭髮夾燶了，我姐甚至摸不出那是自己的頭髮，以為是外加進去令髮髻更豐滿的假狗。接著，不稱職的女化妝師說，她沒有假眼睫毛膠水，於是我就要做跑腿，就要去找一枝回來。

午飯後，我去洗澡更衣，趕忙把頭髮夾好。已經到了出門時間，可是我還沒有幫我媽吹頭，自己甚至連面霜也趕不及塗。

在街上白白曬著，的士司機臨時甩底，好在有Uber，才令我們趕得及到市政廳。

我姐、她的女友和我，都在Uber那三十分鐘車程中發喪地鬧。那個英文又好，禮貌周周的Uber司機，一定覺得這三個來結婚的女人真是太瘋狂。

在狂小過後，婚禮總算是愉快舉行。

放空

這2017年到了九月，我覺得好像特別繁忙似的，還沒有時間處理好這個，那個又臨門了。幸好我還是挺有幹勁的，希望稍後會有一點點空間。

你沒有白活

2008年年底，劉曉波在忙於起草08憲章、在忙於找人簽署；我那時甚麼都不想知道，只知道自己每天情緒都不好，中國的人權問題離我好遠。

2017年7月13日，他去世了，我卻跑到他的悼念遊行中，為他而悲哀，並認真地了解他的歷程。

我不會輕輕一句年少無知予以自責，因為每個人都有自己的經驗歷程，那時候覺得是大事就是大事，覺得無關就是無關。

與偉人相比然後嘆句自己何其渺少，是多麼的無關痛癢及阿媽係女人。

不如高興自己趕及上了你的一課，能夠從你身上學到點點滴滴。