第三次来旧金山了，这次是一个人，不巧的是现在北加的山火仍在扩散，旧金山的空气质量极差。从机场乘地铁到市中心，下地铁后正犹豫往哪儿走，旁边一位美国帅哥朝我微笑了一下，临走还特意回头告诉我：You look very beautiful！仅此一句，感觉一天的烦恼都没了。好开心😄
Wednesday, November 14, 2018
Saturday, August 25, 2018
影视留声机
最近静下心来回顾了一些很喜欢的音乐，大部分都是经典影视剧的主题曲或插曲，现在很喜欢听。翻看着这些曾经喜欢的作品，发现不少都已经是十年甚至二十年前的了，惊觉过去这十年真是转瞬间就没了，又有点感伤。
1. 《你》-- 孝庄秘史 主题曲
一度很喜欢《孝庄秘史》这部剧，虽是戏说，因两位主演的精湛演绎将大玉儿和多尔衮都塑造成了可爱的人儿。而这首主题曲恰恰表达了多尔衮对大玉儿爱而不得的感伤，让人唏嘘不已。
2. 《故事里的事》-- 宰相刘罗锅 片尾曲
少年的记忆里清宫戏也很多，但故事不局限于后宫争斗，更有很多风趣幽默的故事片，比如《康熙微服私访记》、《宰相刘罗锅》、《铁齿铜牙纪晓岚》等，爷爷曾经很喜欢看这些剧，所以每次听到和它们相关的影视歌曲都会让我想起爷爷，而今爷爷已经去世七年了。。。这些影视剧也培养出很多经典的搭档，比如张国立、王刚和张铁林的铁三角。
3. 《女儿情》-- 西游记 插曲
年少不知愁滋味，这首歌当年看剧的时候几乎无感。成年后再看发现不仅歌好听，而且歌词极美，单曲循环过很多次。唐僧和女王的感情着实令人回味。
4. 《枉凝眉》-- 红楼梦 插曲
红楼梦这本书我读过至少两遍。第一次读的时候是中学，完全感受不到林妹妹对宝玉的爱。第二次读的时候是大学，忽然发现林妹妹对宝玉的爱非常之纯真。毕业后又完整地温习了87版电视剧，剧里每个形象都印象深刻，而这首极富古典气息的插曲每每响起，剧中那一个个鲜活的人儿就会浮现，这就是经典的魅力。
5. 《你是我记忆里忘不了的温存》-- 我爱我家 片尾曲
我18年才断断续续开始看这个当年很火的情景喜剧，越看越想家。故事里有一集还讲美国回来的姑奶奶，台词设计很棒，那句挂在嘴边的“为什么不呢”让人听着特别真实。那时候忽然就百感交集，觉得自己有一天终于也成了华人华侨的一部分，人生竟然这么不可思议。18年夏天回国，见到了奶奶、爸妈和叔叔伯伯姑姑们，奶奶真的是很老了，她和妈妈也终于开冰释前嫌，上次还在襁褓中的侄子侄女儿们也慢慢长大了。这真的是让人感慨：时间都去哪儿啦？都说物是人非，可于我却是物非人也非。。。
1. 《你》-- 孝庄秘史 主题曲
一度很喜欢《孝庄秘史》这部剧，虽是戏说，因两位主演的精湛演绎将大玉儿和多尔衮都塑造成了可爱的人儿。而这首主题曲恰恰表达了多尔衮对大玉儿爱而不得的感伤，让人唏嘘不已。
2. 《故事里的事》-- 宰相刘罗锅 片尾曲
少年的记忆里清宫戏也很多，但故事不局限于后宫争斗，更有很多风趣幽默的故事片，比如《康熙微服私访记》、《宰相刘罗锅》、《铁齿铜牙纪晓岚》等，爷爷曾经很喜欢看这些剧，所以每次听到和它们相关的影视歌曲都会让我想起爷爷，而今爷爷已经去世七年了。。。这些影视剧也培养出很多经典的搭档，比如张国立、王刚和张铁林的铁三角。
3. 《女儿情》-- 西游记 插曲
年少不知愁滋味，这首歌当年看剧的时候几乎无感。成年后再看发现不仅歌好听，而且歌词极美，单曲循环过很多次。唐僧和女王的感情着实令人回味。
红楼梦这本书我读过至少两遍。第一次读的时候是中学，完全感受不到林妹妹对宝玉的爱。第二次读的时候是大学，忽然发现林妹妹对宝玉的爱非常之纯真。毕业后又完整地温习了87版电视剧，剧里每个形象都印象深刻，而这首极富古典气息的插曲每每响起，剧中那一个个鲜活的人儿就会浮现，这就是经典的魅力。
5. 《你是我记忆里忘不了的温存》-- 我爱我家 片尾曲
我18年才断断续续开始看这个当年很火的情景喜剧，越看越想家。故事里有一集还讲美国回来的姑奶奶，台词设计很棒，那句挂在嘴边的“为什么不呢”让人听着特别真实。那时候忽然就百感交集，觉得自己有一天终于也成了华人华侨的一部分，人生竟然这么不可思议。18年夏天回国，见到了奶奶、爸妈和叔叔伯伯姑姑们，奶奶真的是很老了，她和妈妈也终于开冰释前嫌，上次还在襁褓中的侄子侄女儿们也慢慢长大了。这真的是让人感慨：时间都去哪儿啦？都说物是人非，可于我却是物非人也非。。。
Thursday, July 26, 2018
异乡人
昨日乘坐
Uber上班，司机是一位来自索马里的移民。他自称现在已经是美国公民，每年在美国十个月的时间用来工作，但是妻子和孩子都还在索马里，他在十二月和一月份会回到索马里和家人团聚两个月。我笑说那以后可以把家人都接过来住啊。他连连摇头说不会，美国只是用来挣钱的地方，家还是在非洲，况且非洲的孩子也不喜欢这儿，这儿（西雅图）的生活成本又那么高。我昨天因为有早上八点的小组会，所以出门较早，但是司机说他已经开车工作四个小时了。。。路上行驶的过程中，他还会不时地向我指出这儿即将有个什么公司，那儿即将有什么楼，一副对当地很熟悉的神态。
后来谈到非洲，他很义愤填膺地说起当年欧洲殖民时期英法意对非洲的掠夺，说南非的开普敦基本就是个给白人建的城市，他有时候遇到自称来自南非的乘客都会觉得那些人并不是真的来自非洲，非洲的政坛很混乱，国家领导人们都为自己的利益奔走，并没有为自己的国民考虑过。这样的评价让我想起曾经的中国。我提醒他，以前西方国家也侵略过中国，他有点吃惊不过又即刻转到非洲的话题上了。
看来我们对于自己的过去都很在意。
后来谈到非洲，他很义愤填膺地说起当年欧洲殖民时期英法意对非洲的掠夺，说南非的开普敦基本就是个给白人建的城市，他有时候遇到自称来自南非的乘客都会觉得那些人并不是真的来自非洲，非洲的政坛很混乱，国家领导人们都为自己的利益奔走，并没有为自己的国民考虑过。这样的评价让我想起曾经的中国。我提醒他，以前西方国家也侵略过中国，他有点吃惊不过又即刻转到非洲的话题上了。
看来我们对于自己的过去都很在意。
Sunday, April 15, 2018
温哥华
三月底因为公事去温哥华短住了几日，正值春寒料峭，但也有幸外出游览了一番。此行最大的感慨便是相比西雅图，温哥华才是真正的都市圈，有大城市该有的气质和风度，当然温哥华的生活成本也是略高于西雅图滴。
温哥华居民区的独立屋
因为住的是Airbnb，我选在了温哥华市区南边的一个居民区，这里的房子虽然也是木质结构为主，但是往往正面最显眼的是通往房内的阶梯，而不是美国这边常见的车库。另外，居民区的道路两旁满是大树，或开满了花朵，或刚刚发出绿芽，夏天的时候绿树成荫一定很舒服。这个区域公共交通也很便利，虽然没有轻轨(Sky Train)，但是去市中心或者去英属哥伦比亚大学的公车很频繁，二十分钟左右便到了。
英属哥伦比亚大学景观
英属哥伦比亚大学地理位置极佳，一片树林将校区和市区分开，校园很开阔，三面靠海，景色也是极美的。因为是公立大学，图书馆也是对外开放的，我在的几日就在图书馆工作。整个校园的建筑风格和很多美国大学相比更加现代化，所以设施都挺新的。这一点西雅图的华大就比不上。
温哥华市中心的西北边有一个很大的史丹利公园(Stanley Park)，这个公园在2014年被旅游网站"TripAdvisor"评为世界上最好的公园。来过的人肯定深有同感。史丹利公园四周几乎都被不同的水域环绕，内有各式各样的徒步路线以及温哥华水族馆。上图是从公园往市区的防线看。对面的很多高楼部分是住宅、部分是写字楼，试想生活在其中的人们每天可以看到这样的风景一定很幸福。在美国的很多城市，稍好一些的公园附近的公寓大多被亿万富翁占据，平民根本享受不到这样的待遇。
温哥华市中心街景
温哥华公共图书馆
温哥华的市中心很干净，也很适宜走路。这和美国城市市中心的杂乱无章又是鲜明对比。市容好、公共设施丰富对于居民的生活来说也是很幸福的事，比如市里的公共图书馆就很适合在逛街累的适合休息，或徜徉于书香之中感受大师的魅力。
当然了对于热爱美食的人们而言，温哥华更是天堂。此为后话。
真的好喜欢温哥华。虽然她在历史底蕴上不及很多欧洲城市，在生活趣味上却是满足了我对生活的几乎所有想象。希望阅读此文的你有一天也可以来到这个美丽的城市。
Sunday, October 15, 2017
Albert Einstein -- What I believe (1930)
The following was originally published in October 1930 on FORUM, vol. LXXXIV, No.4. It has been a great influence on me, so I would like to make it available to the public.
by Albert Einstein
Strange is our situation here upon earth. Each of us comes for a short visit, not knowing why, yet sometimes seeming to divine a purpose.
From the standpoint of daily life, however, there is one thing we do know: that man is here for the sake of other men -- above all for those upon whose smile and well-being our own happiness depends, and also for the countless unknown souls with whose fate we are connected by a bond of sympathy. Many times a day I realize how much my own outer and inner life is built upon the labors of my fellow men, both living and dead, and how earnestly I must exert myself in order to give in return as much as I have received. My peace of mind is often troubled by the depressing sense that I have borrowed too heavily from the work of other men.
I do not believe we can have any freedom at all in the philosophical sense, for we act not only under external compulsion but also by inner necessity. Schopenhauer's saying -- "A man can surely do what he wills to do, but he cannot determine what he wills" -- impressed itself upon me in youth and has always consoled me when I have witnessed or suffered life's hardships. This conviction is a perpetual breeder of tolerance, for it does not allow us to take ourselves or others too seriously; it makes rather for a sense of humor.
To ponder interminably over the reason for one's own existence or the meaning of life in general seems to me, from an objective point of view, to be sheer folly. And yet everyone holds certain ideals by which he guides his aspiration and his judgment. The ideals which have always shone before me and filled me with the joy of living are goodness, beauty, and truth. To make a goal of comfort or happiness has never appealed to me; a system of ethics built on this basis would be suggicient only for a herd of cattle.
Without the sense of collaborating with like-minded beings in the pursuit of the ever unattainable in art and scientific research, my life would have been empty. Ever since childhood I have scorned the commonplace limits so often set upon human ambition. Possessions, outward success, publicity, luxury -- to me these have always been contemptible. I believe that a simple and unassuming manner of life is best for everyone, best both for the body and the mind.
My passionate interest in social justice and social responsibility has always stood in curious contrast to a marked lack of desire for direct association with men and women. I am a horse for single harness, not cut out for tandem or team work. I have never belonged wholeheartedly to country or state, to my circle of friends, or even to my own family. These ties have always been accompanied by a vague aloofness, and the wish to withdraw into myself increases with the years.
Such isolation is sometimes bitter, but I do not regret being cut off from the understanding and sympathy of other men. I lose something by it, to be sure, but I am compensated for it in being rendered independent of the customs, opinions, and prejudices of others, and am not tempted to rest my peace of mind upon such shifting foundations.
My political ideal is democracy. Everyone should be respected as an individual, but no one idolized. It is an irony of fate that I should have been showered with so much uncalled-for and unmerited admiration and esteem. Perhaps this adulation springs from the unfulfilled wish of the multitude to comprehend the few ideas which I, with my weak powers, have advanced.
Full well do I know that in order to attain any definite goal it is imperative that one person should do the thinking and commanding and carry most of the responsibility. But those who are led should not be driven, and they should be allowed to choose their leader. It seems to me that the distinctions separating the social classes are false; in the last analysis they rest on force. I am convinced that degeneracy follows every autocratic system of violence, for violence inevitably attracts moral inferiors. Time has proved that illustrious tyrants are succeeded by scoundrels.
For this reason I have always been passionately opposed to such regimes as exist in Russia and Italy to-day. The thing which has discredited the European forms of democracy is not the basic theory of democracy itself, which some say is at fault, but the instability of our political leadership, as well as the impersonal character of party alignments.
I believe that you in the United States have hit upon the right idea. You choose a President for a reasonable length of time and give him enough power to acquit himself properly of his responsibilities. In the German Government, on the other hand, I like the state's more extensive care of the individual when he is ill or unemployed. What is truly valuable in our bustle of life is not the nation, I should say, but the creative and impressionable individuality, and the personality -- he who produces the noble and sublime while the common herd remains dull in thought and insensible in feeling.
This subject brings me to that vilest offspring of the herd mind -- the odious militia. The man who enjoys marching in line and file to the strains of music falls below my contempt; he received his great brain by mistake -- the spinal cord would have been amply sufficient. This heroism at command, this senseless violence, this accursed bombast of patriotism -- how intensely I despise them! War is low and despicable, and I had rather be smitten to shreds than participate in such doings.
Such a stain on humanity should be erased without delay. I think well enough of human nature to believe that it would have been wiped out long ago had not the common sense of nations been systematically corrupted through school and press for business and political reasons.
The most beautiful thing we can experience is the mysterious. It is the source of all true art and science. He to whom this emotion is a stranger, who can no longer pause to wonder and stand rapt in awe, is as good as dead: his eyes are closed. This insight into the mystery of life, coupled though it be with fear, has also given rise to religion. To know that what is impenetrable to us really exists, manifesting itself as the highest wisdom and the most radiant beauty which out dull faculties can comprehend only in their most primitive forms -- this knowledge, this feeling, is at the center of true religiousness. In this sense, and in this sense only, I belong in the ranks of devoutly religious men.
I cannot imagine a God who rewards and punishes the objects of his creation, whose purposes are modeled after our own -- a God, in short, who is but a reflection of human frailty. Neither can I believe that the individual survives the death of his body, although feeble souls harbor such thoughts through fear or ridiculous egotism. It is enough for me to contemplate the mystery of conscious life perpetuating itself through all eternity, to reflect upon the marvelous structure of the universe which we can dimly perceive, and to try humbly to comprehend even an infinitesimal part of the intelligence manifested in nature.
What I Believe
Living Philosophies XIIIby Albert Einstein
Strange is our situation here upon earth. Each of us comes for a short visit, not knowing why, yet sometimes seeming to divine a purpose.
From the standpoint of daily life, however, there is one thing we do know: that man is here for the sake of other men -- above all for those upon whose smile and well-being our own happiness depends, and also for the countless unknown souls with whose fate we are connected by a bond of sympathy. Many times a day I realize how much my own outer and inner life is built upon the labors of my fellow men, both living and dead, and how earnestly I must exert myself in order to give in return as much as I have received. My peace of mind is often troubled by the depressing sense that I have borrowed too heavily from the work of other men.
I do not believe we can have any freedom at all in the philosophical sense, for we act not only under external compulsion but also by inner necessity. Schopenhauer's saying -- "A man can surely do what he wills to do, but he cannot determine what he wills" -- impressed itself upon me in youth and has always consoled me when I have witnessed or suffered life's hardships. This conviction is a perpetual breeder of tolerance, for it does not allow us to take ourselves or others too seriously; it makes rather for a sense of humor.
To ponder interminably over the reason for one's own existence or the meaning of life in general seems to me, from an objective point of view, to be sheer folly. And yet everyone holds certain ideals by which he guides his aspiration and his judgment. The ideals which have always shone before me and filled me with the joy of living are goodness, beauty, and truth. To make a goal of comfort or happiness has never appealed to me; a system of ethics built on this basis would be suggicient only for a herd of cattle.
Without the sense of collaborating with like-minded beings in the pursuit of the ever unattainable in art and scientific research, my life would have been empty. Ever since childhood I have scorned the commonplace limits so often set upon human ambition. Possessions, outward success, publicity, luxury -- to me these have always been contemptible. I believe that a simple and unassuming manner of life is best for everyone, best both for the body and the mind.
My passionate interest in social justice and social responsibility has always stood in curious contrast to a marked lack of desire for direct association with men and women. I am a horse for single harness, not cut out for tandem or team work. I have never belonged wholeheartedly to country or state, to my circle of friends, or even to my own family. These ties have always been accompanied by a vague aloofness, and the wish to withdraw into myself increases with the years.
Such isolation is sometimes bitter, but I do not regret being cut off from the understanding and sympathy of other men. I lose something by it, to be sure, but I am compensated for it in being rendered independent of the customs, opinions, and prejudices of others, and am not tempted to rest my peace of mind upon such shifting foundations.
My political ideal is democracy. Everyone should be respected as an individual, but no one idolized. It is an irony of fate that I should have been showered with so much uncalled-for and unmerited admiration and esteem. Perhaps this adulation springs from the unfulfilled wish of the multitude to comprehend the few ideas which I, with my weak powers, have advanced.
Full well do I know that in order to attain any definite goal it is imperative that one person should do the thinking and commanding and carry most of the responsibility. But those who are led should not be driven, and they should be allowed to choose their leader. It seems to me that the distinctions separating the social classes are false; in the last analysis they rest on force. I am convinced that degeneracy follows every autocratic system of violence, for violence inevitably attracts moral inferiors. Time has proved that illustrious tyrants are succeeded by scoundrels.
For this reason I have always been passionately opposed to such regimes as exist in Russia and Italy to-day. The thing which has discredited the European forms of democracy is not the basic theory of democracy itself, which some say is at fault, but the instability of our political leadership, as well as the impersonal character of party alignments.
I believe that you in the United States have hit upon the right idea. You choose a President for a reasonable length of time and give him enough power to acquit himself properly of his responsibilities. In the German Government, on the other hand, I like the state's more extensive care of the individual when he is ill or unemployed. What is truly valuable in our bustle of life is not the nation, I should say, but the creative and impressionable individuality, and the personality -- he who produces the noble and sublime while the common herd remains dull in thought and insensible in feeling.
This subject brings me to that vilest offspring of the herd mind -- the odious militia. The man who enjoys marching in line and file to the strains of music falls below my contempt; he received his great brain by mistake -- the spinal cord would have been amply sufficient. This heroism at command, this senseless violence, this accursed bombast of patriotism -- how intensely I despise them! War is low and despicable, and I had rather be smitten to shreds than participate in such doings.
Such a stain on humanity should be erased without delay. I think well enough of human nature to believe that it would have been wiped out long ago had not the common sense of nations been systematically corrupted through school and press for business and political reasons.
The most beautiful thing we can experience is the mysterious. It is the source of all true art and science. He to whom this emotion is a stranger, who can no longer pause to wonder and stand rapt in awe, is as good as dead: his eyes are closed. This insight into the mystery of life, coupled though it be with fear, has also given rise to religion. To know that what is impenetrable to us really exists, manifesting itself as the highest wisdom and the most radiant beauty which out dull faculties can comprehend only in their most primitive forms -- this knowledge, this feeling, is at the center of true religiousness. In this sense, and in this sense only, I belong in the ranks of devoutly religious men.
I cannot imagine a God who rewards and punishes the objects of his creation, whose purposes are modeled after our own -- a God, in short, who is but a reflection of human frailty. Neither can I believe that the individual survives the death of his body, although feeble souls harbor such thoughts through fear or ridiculous egotism. It is enough for me to contemplate the mystery of conscious life perpetuating itself through all eternity, to reflect upon the marvelous structure of the universe which we can dimly perceive, and to try humbly to comprehend even an infinitesimal part of the intelligence manifested in nature.
Sunday, July 30, 2017
西雅图的社区--Ballard
来西雅图一年多了，这里讲讲我自己住的社区Ballard，不知道还会在这里住多久。。。
Ballard是坐落在西雅图西北角的一个社区，西边紧邻普吉特海湾(Puget Sound)，风景很美。这里的地标建筑有黄金花园公园(Golden Gardens Park)和水门(Hiram M. Chittenden Locks)。因其便利的运输，早期的Ballard以各种不同的工业著称，这其中包括锯木厂(lumber mill,shingle mill)等，今天人们仍然能够看到由工厂旧址改造的各类商店和厂房，以及废弃的铁轨。
Ballard是西雅图快速发展的一个社区之一，因为这里距离市中心不到二十分钟车程，同时也是未来二十年内Link Rail重点发展的一个区域，所以Ballard吸引了很多在市中心上班的白领，加上这里的房价本来就低发展潜力高。近年来，该区增加了很多低层公寓、连栋别墅，以应对不断增加的人口。Ballard作为一个很年轻化的社区，也拥有很多年轻人喜爱的酒吧和餐馆。两年前我第一次来西雅图的时候，一位在当地生活过的朋友就带我去了一家以生蚝著称的酒吧，这家店名为The Walrus and the Carpenter的酒吧很受当地人欢迎，虽然不接受预定，很多顾客们还是乐意等上一个小时去品尝他家独特的菜式。Ballard的另一特色是每周日的农贸市场(Farmers Market)，一年四季皆有。这里你可以买到时令新鲜蔬果和各类花束。
Ballard部分区域地势平坦，所以如果你喜欢骑车，可以沿着Burke Gilman Trail向东骑行到华盛顿大学，向西北到黄金花园公园。北边还有格林湖(Green Lake)和木地公园(Woodland Park)，不过那里的地势较高，所以骑行会有很多上坡路。Ballard的公共交通还算便利，从这里可以乘巴士去市中心、华大、安妮皇后区(Queen Anne)等，但是因为西雅图道路设计的限制，很多公车路线如同过山车般曲折。喜欢户外运动的话可以向西到探索公园(Discovery Park)，这里有比较完善的徒步路线，天气好的日子里可以在公园里看到奥林匹克公园以及雷尼尔山。
随着西雅图无家可归者的增多，Ballard也慢慢变成了“受灾区”，经过Burke Gilman Trail的时候尤其明显。社区的主干道Market St上以及Ballard公园也经常可以看到无家可归人士简陋的地铺或帐篷。这个城市的管理者们一直叫嚣着要通过增加税收来解决问题，可惜不买账的西雅图市民认为现有的税金并没有得到很好的利用才使得这个问题严重到影响每个人。我作为外来人口，并没有投票权，但是也能够看出这个城市的管理者并没有足够的意愿去解决无家可归者的生存问题。这个国家对待弱者的态度一直都是在党派之间无休止的争执中能拖则拖，想要保持资本主义者的地位必须要损失一部分的利益，恰好又有那么一批对生活丧失信心或靠毒品麻醉自己的人，他们被政界人士利用一点儿都不奇怪。
所以在西雅图生活了一年的我对这个城市的解读也慢慢从期待到失望，尤其看着这个城市不断竖起的塑料感极强的公寓楼。我很好奇这个城市到底打算走向何处，这里有限的公共空间大部分被无家可归者占领，留给居民的是不断增加的房价和拥挤的交通。原本夏天的美好也因近年来日益增多的雾霾天气而大打折扣，去年和今年夏天周围山火造成的雾霾天气已经使得西雅图的空气质量一度比北京还要差。
西雅图，想说爱你不容易！
Ballard是坐落在西雅图西北角的一个社区，西边紧邻普吉特海湾(Puget Sound)，风景很美。这里的地标建筑有黄金花园公园(Golden Gardens Park)和水门(Hiram M. Chittenden Locks)。因其便利的运输，早期的Ballard以各种不同的工业著称，这其中包括锯木厂(lumber mill,shingle mill)等，今天人们仍然能够看到由工厂旧址改造的各类商店和厂房，以及废弃的铁轨。
Ballard是西雅图快速发展的一个社区之一，因为这里距离市中心不到二十分钟车程，同时也是未来二十年内Link Rail重点发展的一个区域，所以Ballard吸引了很多在市中心上班的白领，加上这里的房价本来就低发展潜力高。近年来，该区增加了很多低层公寓、连栋别墅，以应对不断增加的人口。Ballard作为一个很年轻化的社区，也拥有很多年轻人喜爱的酒吧和餐馆。两年前我第一次来西雅图的时候，一位在当地生活过的朋友就带我去了一家以生蚝著称的酒吧，这家店名为The Walrus and the Carpenter的酒吧很受当地人欢迎，虽然不接受预定，很多顾客们还是乐意等上一个小时去品尝他家独特的菜式。Ballard的另一特色是每周日的农贸市场(Farmers Market)，一年四季皆有。这里你可以买到时令新鲜蔬果和各类花束。
Ballard部分区域地势平坦，所以如果你喜欢骑车，可以沿着Burke Gilman Trail向东骑行到华盛顿大学，向西北到黄金花园公园。北边还有格林湖(Green Lake)和木地公园(Woodland Park)，不过那里的地势较高，所以骑行会有很多上坡路。Ballard的公共交通还算便利，从这里可以乘巴士去市中心、华大、安妮皇后区(Queen Anne)等，但是因为西雅图道路设计的限制，很多公车路线如同过山车般曲折。喜欢户外运动的话可以向西到探索公园(Discovery Park)，这里有比较完善的徒步路线，天气好的日子里可以在公园里看到奥林匹克公园以及雷尼尔山。
随着西雅图无家可归者的增多，Ballard也慢慢变成了“受灾区”，经过Burke Gilman Trail的时候尤其明显。社区的主干道Market St上以及Ballard公园也经常可以看到无家可归人士简陋的地铺或帐篷。这个城市的管理者们一直叫嚣着要通过增加税收来解决问题，可惜不买账的西雅图市民认为现有的税金并没有得到很好的利用才使得这个问题严重到影响每个人。我作为外来人口，并没有投票权，但是也能够看出这个城市的管理者并没有足够的意愿去解决无家可归者的生存问题。这个国家对待弱者的态度一直都是在党派之间无休止的争执中能拖则拖，想要保持资本主义者的地位必须要损失一部分的利益，恰好又有那么一批对生活丧失信心或靠毒品麻醉自己的人，他们被政界人士利用一点儿都不奇怪。
所以在西雅图生活了一年的我对这个城市的解读也慢慢从期待到失望，尤其看着这个城市不断竖起的塑料感极强的公寓楼。我很好奇这个城市到底打算走向何处，这里有限的公共空间大部分被无家可归者占领，留给居民的是不断增加的房价和拥挤的交通。原本夏天的美好也因近年来日益增多的雾霾天气而大打折扣，去年和今年夏天周围山火造成的雾霾天气已经使得西雅图的空气质量一度比北京还要差。
西雅图，想说爱你不容易！
Tuesday, May 9, 2017
Footprints -- Jan 23
Asia
Beijing, Hangzhou, Hong Kong, Nanjing, Shanghai, Shangqiu, Taizhou, Wuxi, Xiamen, Xitang, Zhangjiajie National Park, Zhengzhou, Wuhan, Suzhou,
北京，杭州，香港，南京，上海，商丘，泰州，无锡，厦门，西塘，张家界，郑州，武汉，苏州
North America
Europe
Lithuania: Vilnius
北京，杭州，香港，南京，上海，商丘，泰州，无锡，厦门，西塘，张家界，郑州，武汉，苏州
North America
- Alaska: Fairbanks, Denali National Park
- Arizona: Tucson, Saguaro National Park
- California: Los Angeles, Sacramento, San Diego, San Francisco, Santa Cruz, Yosemite National Park
- Colorado: Boulder, Rocky Mountains National Park
- Connecticut:
- Florida: Key West, Miami, Orlando, Gainesville
- Georgia: Atlanta
- Hawaii: Maui
- Idaho: Boise
- Illinois: Chicago
- Kansas: Wichita
- Kentucky:
- Louisiana: New Orleans
- Maine:
- Maryland:
- Massachusetts: Boston, Concord
- Michigan: Ann Arbor, Detroit, Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore, Traverse City, Holland,
- Minnesota:
- Montana:
- Nevada:
- New Hampshire:
- New Jersey: Basking Ridge, Summit, Princeton, New Brunswick,
- New Mexico:
- New York: NYC, Ithaca,
- North Carolina: Durham, Chapel Hill, Raleigh,
- Ohio:
- Oregon: Bend, Crater Lake National Park, Portland, Smith Rock State Park
- Pennsylvania: Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Longwood Gardens (Kennett Square),
- Rhode Island:
- Tennessee: Great Smoky Mountains National Park,
- Texas: Austin, College Station, Dallas, Houston,
- Utah: Zion National Park,
- Vermont:
- Virginia:
- Washington: Seattle, Lake Lenore Caves, Leavenworth, Mt. Rainier National Park, North Cascades National Park, Olympic National Park, Port Angeles, Stevenson, Vancouver,
- Washington DC,
- Wisconsin
- Wyoming
- Mexico: Cancun,
- Canada: Vancouver, Montreal, Calgary, Banff National Park,
UK:
- Blenheim Palace,
- Cotswolds,
- Cambridge,
- Coventry,
- London,
- Lake District National Park,
- Norwich,
- Oxford,
- Stratford-upon-Avon
Lithuania: Vilnius
Italy:
- Milan,
- Lake Como,
- Pisa,
- Florence,
- Rome
Last updated: 1/2023
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