http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/shanwang Snakes on a plane and the meaning of life Sat, 18 Jul 2009 18:08:45 +0000 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 en Fast Eggplant and tomato quiche Ingredients: 9-inch pie shell ½ cup heavy cream 3 eggs 1 baby eggplant, diced Diced tomatoes Minced scallions Olive oil Salt Directions: 1) Mix eggplant with salt and olive oil 2) Pour into pan, toss with scallions (eggplant still firm) 3) Add tomatoes into eggplant mix (or other desired vegetables) 4) Line pie shell with vegetables 5) Beat three eggs, add heavy cream, a pinch ... http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/shanwang/2009/07/18/had-we-but-world-enough-and-time/ Mid-sunset, 02143. Post-fourth of July calm. Smoky air tastes of autumn and burnt hotdogs and hamburgers leftover from yesterday's festivities. On one of the hottest days this summer, gnat clouds hover everywhere. For a little city ten times the size of my own hometown, street activity is minimal. Cars line the ... http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/shanwang/2009/07/05/the-first-act-shows-a-day-in-our-town-ill-show-you-how-our-town-lies/ This summer I returned to China, but unlike the past few trips I've made, I spent most of my precious June, July, and August as an unabashed tourist. Some interesting things had been happening in China before I flew into Shanghai with a mountain of luggage and a huge Nikon ... http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/shanwang/2008/09/04/their-going-hence-even-as-their-coming-hither/ I have returned to the cradle of the Purple Valley, also known as Williamstown, where everything, if open at all, closes by dinnertime or sunset, because we are primeval like that. Shanghai is so different from Beijing, which is so different from Williamstown. Since modern Shanghai is very much about ... http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/shanwang/2008/08/29/odi-et-amo-quare-id-faciam-fortasse-requiris/ 奥运会季节，人满为患，示威运动多不胜数，但这种气氛扣人心弦，尤其是因为奥运开幕式日益临近。天安门广场封闭，从两三月前，每个入口，大门，乃至记者通道，安全检查管理日趋严格。昨日奥林匹克火炬传递完成，火炬抵达北京市中心的天安门广场。传递近半年的过程中，火炬一路遇到像类似巴黎事件的抗议，一路收到全球媒体的关注，终于在八月六号2008年达到安全的满圆结束。中国人民雷鸣般的掌声不绝，欢呼声充满了广场。奥运红旗吞噬了北京的名胜古迹，连故宫里的钟表管门前也挂着富娃的画像。彩色奥运五环在新修的马路上标出奥运通道。迄今我们麻木地看待奥运，其实可以说是身处其中而不觉。奥运精神业已流为空荡荡的一些座右铭。北京城市似乎为了促销而那么热情，目的相当不淳，加之于禁止政策的镇压，奥运会的气氛开始令我们疾首蹙额。 当我们买到比赛门票之时，态度突然迥然不同。但对处于奥运精神外围之人来说，奥运会是否是我们这些疯狂“内部者”描述的那么宏大，无与伦比？我们认为奥运范围巨大无比，奥运会的涟漪从中国便传全球，其实影响范围很小。 两年以前，国外开始招精通语言的志愿者，我即刻报名，但没有被选上。随着那时的宣布志愿者又能实现“为人民服务”的口号，又似乎可以最直接地体会奥运比赛，也又有资格自傲。其实现在我亲眼看到，也明白北京奥组委虽曰志愿者是奥运之柱，岂非士兵，服务员，乃至木偶哉！听说要求此人比赛之时转身，背对赛场。大多数志愿者的人物是像我们在北语门口常见的守门学生，在炎热的天下等待外国客人，可以利用那么多年的英文教育，每天极为无聊。作志愿者似乎有个规定：在北语南门儿打羽毛球可以，看真正的羽毛球比赛，就不可以了。 北京居民志愿者尚且那么可怜，离奥运重点那么远，何况普通工人？运动员呢？常人可能认为著名运动员的生活水平极为奢侈，出则汽车，行则保护。但是运动员生活在自己的世界里。压力甚为沉重，各个方面都是我们所谓最欣赏奥运会的人永远不能体会到。 http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/shanwang/2008/08/08/%e5%8f%a6%e5%a4%96%e4%b8%80%e4%b8%aa%e5%a5%a5%e8%bf%90%e4%bc%9a%ef%bc%9f/ Nerdily enough, the Chinese texts we've been reading have provoked me to write this post about heritage sites and the paradox of maintaining tradition through architectural preservation. The point of this post is, I'm a huge nerd. First of all, the academic Chinese are obsessed with the idea of globalization, probably ... http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/shanwang/2008/06/30/he-was-little-or-nothing-but-life/ Skylines, treelines, and horizons. http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/shanwang/2008/06/19/you-do-not-have-to-be-good-you-do-not-have-to-walk-on-your-knees/ There is a great discrepancy between the interior of the apartment where my paternal grandparents live and the neighborhood of skyrises surrounding their building. The washed-out building façades are scraped raw like skin to reveal hazardous cement cracks and streaks of dirty laundry water like human tears. A precariously heaped ... http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/shanwang/2008/06/16/again-and-again-however-we-know-the-landscape-of-love/ Traveling, especially by air, is a fairly uncomfortable experience, but the idea of being airborne is great compensation for physical discomfort. The airport itself is a fascinating intersection of anything and everything—literal concourse junctions mirroring the tangible crisscrossing of individual lives. The terminal microcosm facilitates a sort of social experiment. ... http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/shanwang/2008/06/16/shall-i-wear-my-trousers-rolled/ For the past few days, I have been in a toothless lethargy. My cheeks are swollen, I look like Alvin the chipmunk after being slapped by his owner Dave, and I have consumed a whole bottle of Advil in two days. In a wisdom-teeth-extraction-induced frenzy to find and own every ... http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/shanwang/2008/05/31/hurry-up-please-its-time-goonight-bill-goonight-lou-goonight-may-go/