il Giardino Romantico

Happy Boxing Day
請各位好好欣賞。因為你很少會在這裡看到流行樂的分享。
但由於英國每一年都會在聖誕節前的禮拜天公佈當年的Christmas Number One Single，跟老姐看完充滿聖誕氣氛的Love Actually之後就很好奇的找出今年的大贏家。答案揭曉：是2007年The X Factor的冠軍

Merry Christmas
這是101裡Cartier提供的聖誕樹。喜歡他的原因不是因為Cartier。我不喜歡名牌呀。可是這是一棵很有聖誕氣氛的聖誕樹。綠色、紅色、金色、以及101當背景的白色。
綠色：是常青樹的顏色。常青樹是唯一一種在冬天不會落葉的樹。在寒冷的冬天，象徵生命。

記得小學至高中聽到的聖誕歌幾乎都是平時會聽到的那些：Deck the Halls, The Twelve Days of Christmas, Rudolf the Red Nosed Reindeer, Rocking Around the Christmas Tree, White Christmas...and the list goes on.
但似乎沒有一首是自己最喜愛的。
到了大學聽到Mariah Carey 的 All I Want for Christmas is You 以及 George Michael 的 Last Christmas，不知道是為了趕上潮流還是真的喜歡，不知不覺這兩首成了心中的最愛。
不過是一直到開始教書認識Jason後才漸漸的發現有winter songs, songs about Christmas, 以及 Christmas carol的差別。仔細想想還真的呢。
如果問台灣的非基督教小朋友聖誕節是什麼樣的一個節日，直覺上他們好像會告訴你是聖誕老公公的日子。雖然教學最好是不要與宗教信仰扯上關係，但聖誕節除了是許多西方國家重要的節日之外，更是基督教的盛大慶典。這，也是不可否認的事實。

There is no Santa Claus?
Narrator: Every little kid believes that Santa Claus comes to their house and gives them presents every Christmas.  But is there really a Santa Claus?  What happens when people tell you “There is no Santa Claus”? Let Boy 1 and Girl 2 tell you.
(In one corner of the classroom)
Boy 1: I am so angry!
Boy 2: Why? Tomorrow is Christmas, we get to open presents!

龍山寺，是我每一年的十二月十六日一定要去的地方。
因為四年前的一場車禍，讓我差點失去了生命。心裡最內疚的就是對於當時必須承擔焦慮的家人與父母。但其實對我自己而言，這場車禍讓我撿回的性命，就如同那句老話：『大難不死，必有後福』。
因為這場車禍，讓我第一次感受到家人對我真心、真誠、完全不求回報的愛。
因為這場車禍，讓原本要跟我分手的Jason在之後的感情之路走的平平穩穩。

For those of you who are interested in the novel, but can't seem to find the time to read it:
You can now listen to the reading of the original novel by Richard Matheson.
Click: BBC iPlayer
Select: BBC 7

"Oh you men who think or say that I am malevolent, stubborn, or misanthropic, how greatly you wrong me. You do not know the secret cause which makes me seem that way to you....Yet it seemed impossible for me to say to people, 'Speak louder, shout, for I am deaf.' Ah, how could I possibly admit an infirmity in the one sense which ought to be more perfect in me than others..."1

---

237年前，貝多芬出生了。他的一生過的並不快樂。身為一個音樂家，卻漸漸的耳鳴。到最後，幾乎什麼也聽不到。但在我心裡，就是因為這樣使得他更偉大。

奧客[小聲地]：珍奶半糖溫的。
老闆娘：蛤？
奧客[大聲叫]：珍奶半糖溫的！
老闆娘[對店員叫]：珍奶半糖溫的！
奧客付完錢後，耐心得等候...
眼看一杯一杯的飲料從店員手中遞給身邊的顧客，珍奶半糖溫的卻痴痴地在那等待著...
好不容易，店員分工合作得將奶茶完成。一個將一顆顆珍珠裝進杯子，另一個將熱奶茶倒入，加了點冷開水。最後送進機器裡封口。
老闆娘拿了起來大叫：是大杯的耶...
此時奧客心裡想：你退我五塊，我拿走這中杯的珍奶不就得了？
可奧客又想看看店員們會怎麼處理。
中杯的珍奶，被退回後，被遺忘了。
換奧客痴痴的等...
幾分鐘過後，老闆娘發現被退回的珍奶一直沒被處理，就主動將封口先撕開。交代店員要先處理。店員一，一直不碰他。好像碰了他，就承認自己錯了。
店員二看封口已被撕開，拿了大杯，將飲料倒入。倒入後，還貼心的多加了幾顆珍珠。
到了店員一的手上後，奧客的眼睛傻了。
因為店員一....他將剩下兩分的容量，全部倒入冷開水....
封口後，老闆娘將飲料遞給奧客說：不好意思喔，給你弄成中杯了....
奧客終於忍不住：你這樣換大杯的有什麼意思？只給我加冷開水...
老闆娘很堅定的說：一定要加的啊！
奧客：剛才弄中杯的時候已經加了阿！
老闆娘：喔，不好意思。
排隊等飲料的客人越來越多。此時，奧客的最後一擊，就是大聲的回他：你們生意怎麼可以這樣做啊！
丟完這句話便掉頭就走...
接著，奧客喝了一杯奶茶水...並對自己說：以後絕對不會在光顧這家店...
沒錯，那個奧客就是我...

I own a copy of John Milton’s Paradise Lost with a preface written by the author of the trilogy His Dark Materials, Philip Pullman.  At the time of purchase, and even by the time I had gotten hold of my box set of the trilogy, I had not made the connection between the two works.  What had drawn me into reading the trilogy initially was my inclination towards getting myself familiarized with the plot, the story, the themes, and the characters before watching a film adaptation.  After completing the reading of His Dark Materials, I realized I had gotten more than what I had anticipated for.
The copy of Paradise Lost I had bought upon me an excruciating reading experience.  I could only look at the words, but not comprehend them.  It was not until I got myself an annotated Norton edition of Paradise Lost did I begin to appreciate the masterpiece a little more.  John Milton is one of the greatest English poets.  His Paradise Lost had inspired many, such as Blake and Wordsworth, just to name a few.  The masterpiece continues to inspire other contemporary artists.  Philip Pullman is one of those contemporary artists that have been inspired by this extraordinary work.  The title of the trilogy had been taken directly out of Milton’s words:
“Into this wild abyss,
The womb of nature and perhaps her grave,
Of neither sea, nor shore, nor air, nor fire,
But all these in their pregnant causes mixed
Confus’dly, and which thus must ever fight,
Unless the almighty maker them ordain
His dark materials to create more worlds…”[Book II, line 910]¹
This was enough to guarantee a decent reading.  Seeing a quoted verse of one of my beloved poets, William Blake, in the beginning of the Amber Spy Glass, the third installment of the trilogy, further reassured the quality of the reading.  You see, for me, is it not enough for a book to make it to the best-selling rack.  Neither is it ample for the author to be an Oxford graduate.  Any dope can write a book if they tried.  But for a book to reach a certain quality, the author must have enough inspiration to begin with, and pass on that inspiration to his readers as well.  Not many books have that power. 
After only a week since the purchase of the trilogy, I had completed the whole thing.  But I must admit, that I have not come to a full understanding of every theme.  However, I am quite satisfied to say that it has inspired me to continue to peruse the timeless masterpiece, the priceless legacy left to us by a might blind poet, John Milton.  I anticipate that after completing Paradise Lost, I will have a better understanding of the trilogy.  The trilogy has already helped me grasp a few elusive notions of the poem.  They work hand in hand, as any decent work of literature aught to. 
This is a book that is unfortunately been dismissed as mere fantasy.  The genre of fantasy is a mistake.  Just as people dismiss Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings as pure fantasy, this trilogy faces the same inevitable fate.  The idea that anything is ‘merely’ any one thing is most imprudent of any reader.  Writers create their own worlds because it is easier to promulgate certain ideas through completely imaginary characters, events, and worlds.  This is what we call ‘allegory’2 in the literary realm.  Nevertheless, I should suspect that even an average reader should be able to get ample entertainment out of it.
The film adaptation will be enjoyable entertainment.  Though I know it will never reach the level of satisfaction that the book has brought me. 
There is much I wish to discuss.  Let this be an introduction of the discussions that shall follow.  If you have not read the trilogy, and wish to do so someday, then you may skip the discussions and perhaps return when you have completed the reading.  If you have already read the trilogy, feel free to discuss your ideas and afterthoughts.  If you have not read it, and have no intention of reading it, ever, then you have wasted your time reading this, and I beseech you not to waste any more of your valuable time to read the discussions that follow.
*allegory: [Greek: to speak in other terms] a form of art which sustains simultaneously both literal and abstract levels of meaning…allegory is often though of as expanded or integrated combinations of metaphors, symbols, personification, in which the two levels of meaning are sustained with characters, actions, or ideas functioning not only in a literal surface meaning but on another level of implied meaning (moral or abstract teaching) not expressly stated.[2]
1. Milton, John. Pullman, Philip. Paradise Lost. Oxford, 2005.
2. The Reader’s Companion to World Literature. Second Ed., Signet Classic, 2002.

上次介紹金針菇煎蛋時有提到，家裡以前常常收到一大包金針菇。除了煎蛋之外，錢媽還自己發明了這道金針菇稀飯。錢媽的版本是加了五花肉。而茹素以前，也是把魚露當醬油拌著吃。現在介紹的是蛋奶素版的金針菇稀飯。
這是一道非常簡單，過程輕鬆的菜！一碗稀飯同時解決主菜以及配菜的麻煩。
準備的材料：
1. 兩杯米