PANIC!

I forgot my stick at home. You know, the memory stick thing that plugs into my computer that is permanently attached to me at all times? THAT stick. I'm sick from lack of stick. No pictures, no Dexter episodes, no previously recorded information that truly matters (like the record of what I have done in each of my 24 classes). Sigh.

So now that I'm stickless, free if you will, I have no blog update for this weekend. It'll have to wait. I did, however, finish Snow Flower and the Secret Fan. That was nice. I'd give it a 5 out of 5, for sure. Some snipits, if you'd like...

"I also understood that two Confucian ideal ruled our lives. The first was the Three Obediences: 'When a girl, obey your father; when a wife, obey your husband; when a widow, obey your son.' The second was the Four Virtues, which delineate women's behavior, speech, carriage, and occupation: 'Be chaste and yielding, calm and upright in attitude; be quiet and agreeable in words; be restrained and exquisite in movement; be perfect in handiwork and embroidery.' If girls do not stray from these principles, they will grow into virtuous women." (seems easy enough, non? I scoff.)

page 24

"Everyone needs clothing --no matter how cool it is in summer or how warm it is in winter -- so make clothes for others without being asked. Even if the table is plentiful, let your in-laws eat first. Work hard and remember three things: Be good to your in-laws and always show respect, be good to your husband and always weave for him, be good to your children and always be a model of decorum to them. If you do these things, your new family will treat you kindly. In that fine home, be calm of heart." (I like the idea of, "being good"...that might just be enough for me.)

page 77

"You can cry and beg to come home, we can grieve that you have gone, but you --and we--have no choice. The old saying makes this very clear: 'If a daughter doesn't marry out, she's not valuable; if fire doesn't raze the mountain, the land will not be fertile.'"

page 79

"Her restraint and control taught me a lesson I have not strayed from to this day. You may be desperate, but never let anyone see you as anything less than a cultivated woman."

page 128

"We spoke delicately about the essential elements that must be in place for a baby to take hold and whether or not our husbands obeyed these rituals. Everyone knows that the human body is a miniature version of the universe -- the eyes and ears are the sun and moon, breath is air, blood is rain. Conversely, those elements play important roles in the development of a baby. Since this is so, bed business shouldn't take place when rain pours off the roof, because it will cause a baby to feel trapped and confined. It shouldn't take place during thunderstorms, which will cause a baby to develop feelings of destruction and fear. And it shouldn't take place when the husband or wife is distressed, which will cause those dark spirits to carry over to the next generation." (Is that what thousands of barren couples have been doing wrong all this time? I wonder if there's any merit to this...)

page 141

"The classics tell us that, in relationships, the one between teacher and student comes second only to the one between parent and child." (This helps to explain why the Korean students revere their teachers as much as they do.)

page 178

"The Chinese character for "mother love" consists of two parts: one meaning 'pain', the other meaning 'love'. " (I'm fairly certain The Mother Hen can attest to this. What a job motherhood is.)

page 268

I'm probably showing Glee in my After School class today.
Lazy? Perhaps...
Tis a good day.