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Nothing and no one can destroy the Chinese people. They are relentless survivors. They are the oldest civilized people on earth. Their civilization passes through phases but its basic characteristics remain the same. They yield, they bend to the wind, but they never break. |
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Tuesday, January 27, 1998
This afternoon, on the way home from work, I stopped off at University Village and did some shopping. This is a shopping center that I used to go to when my mother was alive. She and I would drive down there, and she would sip a steamed milk with almond flavoring, outside in the courtyard by the fountain. Meanwhile I'd race through some grocery shopping. It worried her to be left for very long, but she liked to get out of the apartment and get some fresh air.
The main structures of University Village are still the same, but they have added on and rearranged since then. I'm glad they've kept the open air feel, and not roofed over the walkways between stores. The Barnes and Noble is now where Lerner's used to be. I stopped there first today, and bought some math software as a birthday present for my nephew J---. I also bought a few romance novels for myself.
From there I went to the drugstore and treated myself to green-tea-scented shower gel, oil, and pot-pourri. Shades of Karma! Then to the stationers to get envelopes, so I can get my zine sent off. I see now that I should have either chosen a larger or smaller form factor for the print version of Anita's Book of Days (hint: not too late to request a copy), or made it self-mailing. The envelopes were either too big or too small.So I bought some of the too-big ones.
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At home I ate, for the second night in a row, some of the stir fry that I bought the ingredients for on Saturday. It turned out rather well, with beef, broccoli, and red bell peppers, flavored with garlic, ginger, green onions, oyster sauce, soy, and balsamic vinegar (for that east-west fusion that's so fashionable nowadays). Oyster sauce is traditional with beef and broccoli, because those are all strong flavors that balance each other, in the Chinese view of things.
I used to do quite a bit of Chinese cooking. During college, I shared a house with a lesbian couple. When I first moved in, I didn't know they were lesbian. After all, it wasn't something one came out and asked in those days, and it really didn't occur to me! The arrangement was that since I was a student and had more time during the day, I'd do the cooking most nights. They did the dishes and the rest of the housework, except for my own room. Sweet! I really enjoyed living with them. When they broke up a few years later, I felt like the child of a divorced home!
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I did make a good stab on cleaning up my bedroom tonight. It's like doing Archaeology, digging through the layers! Too bad I have dance class tomorrow and the next evening, but I will get this done.
Once I've got things set, I want a cleaning service! The service enforces picking up, since they can't clean unless you do.
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