I wonder if this song is uncivilized. Every verse begins with an extra-linguistic scream, like a hey, an ooo, an aaa etc... but the lines that follow it rigidly rhyme with it. I wrote it myself.
The lyrics translate as:
Hey! We're born in order to feel.
It's what us mammals are good at.
Aaa! We'll all be swallowed by the earth
So I don't allow anything to embarrass me
This planet could silently disappear
Why do you dedicate your life to doing nothing?
Hoooo! Singers are just monsters of egotism
But I don't fail to make you sigh.
Wooaaah! Don't let yourself be bullied into falling in love.
But you're running out of time in which to choose me.
Excuse me, what exactly is history?
Just one fucking thing after another.
If you're going to buried under the fresh flowers,
You might as well sieze the opportunity to overcome your fears.
En! The Universe doesn't care about us.
Let this knowledge liberate you lover!
Thursday, July 23, 2009
Wednesday, July 15, 2009
Job-Seekers
I finished my work in Changde, and because of the impossibility of becoming either a normal citizen, or getting recognition for the things I was doing well, I was not tempted to stay on.
So, just this once, I'll be collecting a Job Seeekers' cheque (no need to explain what that's a euphemism for) before I go back to China and tackle the Job Market there.
People back home often describe those of us who go to China to find work as brave, adventurous, idealistic. My decision to come to China was none of thse things. Before I tell this story, I will make the disclaimer that it is not a sad one. I've had more than my share of great memories and experiences during the course of events described, and although I will have an enormous challenge in starting a new life in Shenzhen next month, I've never been so optimistic about the future.
Leaving the British Isles was and is a no-brainer. I came back from America in October 2005 and immediately started my Masters in Creative and Critical Writing. As soon as I started I knew I would struggle to find a job on Graduation.
The summer of 2006 had a lot of good points: the time and space to write 'Beyond the Wings' my first completed book; a part-time cleaning job that gave me enough beer money to watch the World Cup; one of the most fruitful periods of reading I've ever had; a revival of my guitar-playing that had lain dormant since I'd worked 80 hours a week in America the previous summer, etc...
But that summer ended with me getting screwed in a Nigerian e-bay fraud, an episode which made a nonsense of the claim that my door-to-door selling experience would make me worldly and savvy.
I came back home from University in September, prepared to do whatever it took to start making my own way in the world, but I ended up doing a simple office job that I only got because of my family connections.
Altogether, despite sending my CV to hundreds of different companies, institutions, and agencies: between returning from America in October 2005 and going to China in May 2007, I landed 2 job interviews, one was for a job of less than £15,000 a year, which I didn't get, and one was for an investment job which didn't involve a salary.
One question that's frequently asked in job-interviews is "where do you see yourself in ten years' time?" It's a question that I can't answer truthfully, yet neither do I know which lie I should tell. I'm a believer in letting fate do its worst; taking on the challenges that are thrown at us; and doing one's best at whatever challenges come our way. I'm really not interested in 5 or 10 years plans. Giving an honest opinion as to where I'll be in 10 years would not impress any prudent employer.
Of course I have goals: to get recognition for the Chinese songs I write; to perform them on television; to get a regular literary job; to complete an Interpreters' exam in Chinese. But none of these things crossed my worried mind back in 2006. You should also appreciate that your goals will change. Within a short space of time last year, I went from being determined to get a girlfriend, to being determined to avoid getting a girlfriend.
In August, I intend to hit Shenzhen, Southern China, live in the cheapest hotel I can find, and spend every day cold-approaching schools, offering to give demo lessons and throwing my CV around. It's precarious, draining, and sometimes degrading. But I wouldn't have it any other way.
So, just this once, I'll be collecting a Job Seeekers' cheque (no need to explain what that's a euphemism for) before I go back to China and tackle the Job Market there.
People back home often describe those of us who go to China to find work as brave, adventurous, idealistic. My decision to come to China was none of thse things. Before I tell this story, I will make the disclaimer that it is not a sad one. I've had more than my share of great memories and experiences during the course of events described, and although I will have an enormous challenge in starting a new life in Shenzhen next month, I've never been so optimistic about the future.
Leaving the British Isles was and is a no-brainer. I came back from America in October 2005 and immediately started my Masters in Creative and Critical Writing. As soon as I started I knew I would struggle to find a job on Graduation.
The summer of 2006 had a lot of good points: the time and space to write 'Beyond the Wings' my first completed book; a part-time cleaning job that gave me enough beer money to watch the World Cup; one of the most fruitful periods of reading I've ever had; a revival of my guitar-playing that had lain dormant since I'd worked 80 hours a week in America the previous summer, etc...
But that summer ended with me getting screwed in a Nigerian e-bay fraud, an episode which made a nonsense of the claim that my door-to-door selling experience would make me worldly and savvy.
I came back home from University in September, prepared to do whatever it took to start making my own way in the world, but I ended up doing a simple office job that I only got because of my family connections.
Altogether, despite sending my CV to hundreds of different companies, institutions, and agencies: between returning from America in October 2005 and going to China in May 2007, I landed 2 job interviews, one was for a job of less than £15,000 a year, which I didn't get, and one was for an investment job which didn't involve a salary.
One question that's frequently asked in job-interviews is "where do you see yourself in ten years' time?" It's a question that I can't answer truthfully, yet neither do I know which lie I should tell. I'm a believer in letting fate do its worst; taking on the challenges that are thrown at us; and doing one's best at whatever challenges come our way. I'm really not interested in 5 or 10 years plans. Giving an honest opinion as to where I'll be in 10 years would not impress any prudent employer.
Of course I have goals: to get recognition for the Chinese songs I write; to perform them on television; to get a regular literary job; to complete an Interpreters' exam in Chinese. But none of these things crossed my worried mind back in 2006. You should also appreciate that your goals will change. Within a short space of time last year, I went from being determined to get a girlfriend, to being determined to avoid getting a girlfriend.
In August, I intend to hit Shenzhen, Southern China, live in the cheapest hotel I can find, and spend every day cold-approaching schools, offering to give demo lessons and throwing my CV around. It's precarious, draining, and sometimes degrading. But I wouldn't have it any other way.
Wednesday, July 08, 2009
This Old House
I'm back inthe UK for July because I suspected that the job-market in China had temporarily dried-up, and I didn't have the money to test the water. I'm staying at my parents house and living off hand-outs until I get back to China - where I have no new job confirmed.
So for this month I'm living in a large house with a garden, there's a full refrigerator and two cars on the drive. There are enough books on the shelf to keep anybody occupied for several academic years. There's a computer with web access that's always free, 2 unoccupied bedrooms and a bathroom with a large bathtub.
This last year in Hunan, I lived alone in a small, dark, featureless apartment that was freezing in winter and sweltering in summer. And when I lived there, I got things done.
Suggest possible reasons why on a postcard
So for this month I'm living in a large house with a garden, there's a full refrigerator and two cars on the drive. There are enough books on the shelf to keep anybody occupied for several academic years. There's a computer with web access that's always free, 2 unoccupied bedrooms and a bathroom with a large bathtub.
This last year in Hunan, I lived alone in a small, dark, featureless apartment that was freezing in winter and sweltering in summer. And when I lived there, I got things done.
Suggest possible reasons why on a postcard
Tuesday, May 12, 2009
Favourite Quotes
Here are a few of my favourites
"To call a bad thing bad is to do little. To call a good thing good is to do much" - Goethe
"That which is seen is temporal, that which is unseen is eternal" - The Book of Corinthians
"The whole image is that eternal suffering awaits anyone who questions God's infinite love. That's the message we're brought up with, isn't it? Believe or die! 'Thank you, forgiving Lord, for all those options'" - Bill Hicks
"He cannot be a guitarist who has not bathed in the fountain of culture" - Agustin Barrios Mangore
"Give a little love and it all comes back to you" - Bugsy Malone
" 'the soul, the ego, the ANIMUS' continued Orlick 'is very different from the body. Labyrinthine are the injuries inflictable on the soul. The tense of the body is the present indicative; but the soul has a memory and a present and a future'." Flann O'Brien (in 'At Swim Two Birds')'
The only people for me are the mad ones, the ones who are mad to live, mad to talk, mad to be saved, desirous of everything at the same time, the ones who never yawn or say a commonplace thing, but burn, burn, burn, like fabulous Roman candles exploding like spiders across the stars.' - Jack Kerouac (in On the Road).
"These are the days when men of all social disciplines andall political faiths seek the comfortable and the accepted;when the man of controversy is looked upon as a disturbing influence;when originality is taken to be a mark of instability;and when, in minor modification of the original parable,the bland lead the bland." John Kenneth Galbraith
"Some people see things that are and ask, Why? Some people dream of things that never were and ask, Why not? Some people have to go to work and don't have time for all that. "
"By and large, language is a tool for concealing the truth" George Carlin
"What doesn't kill you can only make you stranger" Heath Ledger
"When I held that gun in my hand, I felt a surge of power ... like God must feel when he's holding a gun."
"I want to share something with you: The three little sentences that will get you through life. Number 1: Cover for me. Number 2: Oh, good idea, Boss! Number 3: It was like that when I got here. "
"When will you people learn? In America we stopped using corporal punishment and things have never been better. The streets are safe, old people strut confidently trough the darkest alleys and the weak and nerdy are admired for their computer programming abilities. So, like us, let your children run wild and free, for as the Bible tells us, "Let your children run wild and free." " Homer Simpson
"Ever tried. Ever failed. No matter. Try again. Fail again. Fail better." - Samuel Beckett
"We cannot put off living until we are ready. Life is fired at us point-blank." - Jose Ortega y Gasset
"Happiness is a hound dog in the sun. We are not here to be happy but to experience great and wonderful things." - Samuel Taylor Coleridge
"Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has." - Margaret Mead
"Not to know what has been transacted in former times is to always be a child. If no use is made of the labours of past ages, the world must remain always in the infancy of knowledge." - Cicero
Strive not to be a man of success, but a man of value." - Albert Einstein
"To call a bad thing bad is to do little. To call a good thing good is to do much" - Goethe
"That which is seen is temporal, that which is unseen is eternal" - The Book of Corinthians
"The whole image is that eternal suffering awaits anyone who questions God's infinite love. That's the message we're brought up with, isn't it? Believe or die! 'Thank you, forgiving Lord, for all those options'" - Bill Hicks
"He cannot be a guitarist who has not bathed in the fountain of culture" - Agustin Barrios Mangore
"Give a little love and it all comes back to you" - Bugsy Malone
" 'the soul, the ego, the ANIMUS' continued Orlick 'is very different from the body. Labyrinthine are the injuries inflictable on the soul. The tense of the body is the present indicative; but the soul has a memory and a present and a future'." Flann O'Brien (in 'At Swim Two Birds')'
The only people for me are the mad ones, the ones who are mad to live, mad to talk, mad to be saved, desirous of everything at the same time, the ones who never yawn or say a commonplace thing, but burn, burn, burn, like fabulous Roman candles exploding like spiders across the stars.' - Jack Kerouac (in On the Road).
"These are the days when men of all social disciplines andall political faiths seek the comfortable and the accepted;when the man of controversy is looked upon as a disturbing influence;when originality is taken to be a mark of instability;and when, in minor modification of the original parable,the bland lead the bland." John Kenneth Galbraith
"Some people see things that are and ask, Why? Some people dream of things that never were and ask, Why not? Some people have to go to work and don't have time for all that. "
"By and large, language is a tool for concealing the truth" George Carlin
"What doesn't kill you can only make you stranger" Heath Ledger
"When I held that gun in my hand, I felt a surge of power ... like God must feel when he's holding a gun."
"I want to share something with you: The three little sentences that will get you through life. Number 1: Cover for me. Number 2: Oh, good idea, Boss! Number 3: It was like that when I got here. "
"When will you people learn? In America we stopped using corporal punishment and things have never been better. The streets are safe, old people strut confidently trough the darkest alleys and the weak and nerdy are admired for their computer programming abilities. So, like us, let your children run wild and free, for as the Bible tells us, "Let your children run wild and free." " Homer Simpson
"Ever tried. Ever failed. No matter. Try again. Fail again. Fail better." - Samuel Beckett
"We cannot put off living until we are ready. Life is fired at us point-blank." - Jose Ortega y Gasset
"Happiness is a hound dog in the sun. We are not here to be happy but to experience great and wonderful things." - Samuel Taylor Coleridge
"Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has." - Margaret Mead
"Not to know what has been transacted in former times is to always be a child. If no use is made of the labours of past ages, the world must remain always in the infancy of knowledge." - Cicero
Strive not to be a man of success, but a man of value." - Albert Einstein
Monday, April 13, 2009
别找我
Apologies to the English-speaking world (if you're still there). This blog is currently the only place I can publish my music videos for the Mandarin-speaking world.
请勿跟随我女还
随时都欢迎你离开
有感觉我不能表达
有感觉我不能给
把被隐藏的情感
放在激情心上
别找我宝贝
你找英俊的绅士
只有闭眼睛才见
边看他骑白马
边嗅玫瑰
只有你怀疑一切
才能兴高采烈
别找我宝贝
你想从英雄的身上
学到成年怎么样
你信仰纯洁英年
你真想望赞美
别让传统观念
阻挡你演变
别找我宝贝
你以为我的头脑
使你完美的身感动
但你心灵我却看不见
你心我看不懂
你有机会一劳永逸
把我丢在被污染的风里
别找我宝贝
无所谓
晚会的宾客在他眼中都很灿烂
所谓文明把门关在他脸上
在河边他一个人坐在月光里
干一杯为从未出现的记忆
什么都提醒他死亡在坚持
他在洗手间的地板上想过这件事
他礼尚往来但他没心要学待人接物
明白他深黑冷眼的人他屈指可数
在陌生的路上若有所思他走得太慢
挖空心思让生命的活力变得强
他对还没过来的时间怀旧
永远拒绝停止创建温柔
不鞠躬尽瘁口是心非
他抓住机会见义勇为
Saturday, April 11, 2009
爱的真理
把真理给我看
真爱有什么情感
有的人相信爱是个冒险
有人回答那只是一厢情愿
有情人感觉被叹为观止
有情人觉得进步被防止
上年纪前我需要勇气发现
我越不固步自封越有经验
让我们珍惜时间陪我游手好闲
让我们相信爱能把生命改变
根据诗人说爱情是美好梦想
根据医生说爱只是自然现象
按照失恋人情人都有气无力
按照智慧人谁都不晓得真理
我问过老人
问过疼爱中少男
大失所望每次老调重弹
我走过爱的禁区在那里举目无亲
今后我不再将会三思而行
表白向我这个圈外人
拥抱时代精神
跟我落叶归根
对缘分不闻不问
向祖先步人后尘
相爱不可能修改一切
真理根本不纯洁
把抱负终结
扩大眼界
开始看大千世界
Friday, April 10, 2009
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
