吃，因為無聊。

所以肥囉。

Spiced red wine poached pear.

"When there are no consequences, being wrong is simply an interesting diversion."

---- Saturday, Ian McEwan

A night with Tony Parsons.

My knowledge about Tony Parsons or his works does not go beyond Man and Boy, Man and Wife, and page 16 of One for My Baby, all of which I read over 6 years ago. However, when BB suggested that we attend a literary dinner with him, I was quick to say yes. After all, I have never been to a literary dinner before, and the mere words “li-te-ra-ry dinner” sound sexy and posh enough (shallow I know). Plus, lately I have been reading nothing but Hello!, Elle and Marie Claire (plus more than my share of Next Magazine, Sudden Weekly and other local trash gossip magazines), and therefore a literary dinner sounds a timely and much desired cultural fix.

So we found ourselves sitting inside Grappa’s at 7.30pm last night, waiting to meet the international bestseller (Man and Boy sold over two million copies worldwide). Dinner was from 7.30 to 9.00. At the price of $500 per person, dinner was, at most, mediocre. I had a Caesar salad and duck breast while BB went for the onion soup and chili spaghetti. When my dessert came (chocolate semifreddo with summer fruits), there was fruit juice all over the plate – obviously the kitchen staff did not bother to wipe the rims of the plates before serving the dish. I wonder what Chef Ramsay would say (apart from the two dozen F-words) if we were in Hell’s Kitchen. BB and I calculated that the cost of our 3-course meal plus a glass of wine would be less than $80. What a rip-off. But then again, we came for Tony, not the food; besides, who in the first place would have any expectation about Grappa’s food?

At 9pm, Mr. Parsons came to the podium. He was a lot funnier than his books (or at least my memories of them). He took questions from the audience and gave witty and very honest answers. For example, when asked what prompted his transition from being a music journalist to a novelist, he said without blinking “Unemployment!”. He is a huge fan of Hong Kong too, having visited the city many times over the past 10 years and having made some good friends here. According to him, Shanghai, the place where his latest novel (My Favourite Wife) is set and where he spent a lot of time over the past three years doing research, can never beat Hong Kong.

Despite having met him in person and coming home with two nicely autographed books, I still cannot say that I am tempted to start reading his latest work. BB, on the other hand, is busy reading The Family Way, a present from BB's dad that has been sitting on our book shelf for more than a year before finally finding its way into the light again.

It got me thinking – which writer would I want to meet most? This year, I think my answer would be him.

師徒。父子。

From Ming Pao Instant News (13.59, 18/8/2008)
------------

孫海平泣不成聲劉翔也哭了

劉翔因傷退賽，與他情同父子的教練孫海平在記者會上以手掩面，泣不成聲。他並透露，退出後劉翔也哭了。

「劉翔今天到了準備活動場地，他一直在堅持，他一直在玩命，」孫海平說，然後控制不住地哭了。

他說，劉翔當天上午要做準備活動的時候傷病再次發作，現場有三個醫生在替劉翔進行傷勢處理，最後實在沒有辦法了，用冷凍、噴霧，都沒用，最後請體育醫院的副院長進行按摩，給予劉翔最強的刺激，劉翔痛得渾身發抖，但還是沒法撐起來。傷在最受力的地方，一撐就軟下來，但是他始終在堅持。

「劉翔在進檢錄處之前，腳已經麻木了，但到了檢錄處以後，又慢慢恢復知覺了，但這時候，疼痛比以前還厲害，連走路都不行了。但他硬堅持還要跑，」孫海平說，眼圈又紅了。

他說：「劉翔賽後哭了，他非常難過。」

孫海平是劉翔的恩師，兩人第一次見面是在1998年的夏天，孫海平一眼看中了劉翔。「在同年齡的孩子中，他個子比較高。雖然技術比較差，但節奏感很好，這可是先天的優勢啊，當時我就想讓這孩子跟我練。」孫海平曾經這麼回憶說。

劉翔是中國田徑出國參賽最多的運動員，他與孫海平一起，在國外一站一站參加比賽，磨煉自己的比賽能力。

孫海平有打呼嚕的習慣，為了不耽誤劉翔比賽，晚上都等劉翔睡熟之後，自己才合眼睡去－－他要明確劉翔睡熟了，自己才能睡，直挺挺躺在床上，睜大眼睛讓自己清醒。

雅典奧運會前，為了備戰，孫海平把自己的老母親送到養老院，自己全天帶劉翔訓練。

這對師徒的關係，是中國體育界的楷模。雅典奧運會後，劉翔通過接拍廣告，在寸土寸金的上海為師傅孫海平「掙」下一套精裝修四室兩廳的大房子，不僅為孫海平解決了住房窘迫的難題，師徒倆還因此住進了同一個小區。一時傳為美談。

閉上眼，世界只有我一個。

">

喜歡一個人孤獨的時刻 但不能喜歡太多
在地鐵站或美術館 孤獨像睡眠一樣餵養我
以永無止盡的墜落 需要音樂取暖
喜歡一個人孤獨的時刻 但不能喜歡太多

喜歡一個喝著紅酒的女孩 但不能喜歡太多
把她送上鐵塔 給全世界的人寫明信片
像一隻鳥在最高的地方 歌聲嘹亮
喜歡一個喝著紅酒的女孩 但不能喜歡太多

喜歡一個陽光照射的角落 但不能喜歡太多
是幼稚園的小朋友 笑聲像陽光一樣打擾我
我輕輕的揮一揮手 凝結照片的傷口
喜歡一個陽光照射的角落 但不能喜歡太多

喜歡一個人孤獨的時刻 但不能喜歡太多

---《太多》陳綺貞

Gratitude (Posted by BB).

From DBJ: Today it is my prerogative (or that is what I have told BB) to have someone else write my blog for me. So, over to BB.

From BB:

Once in a while DBJ has her "me-time". Today is one of those days. This is "divide and conquer" according to what we studied at Care Group. So DBJ is off (and this is not supposed to sound too SATC) to get her hair done and enjoy lunch with some girlfriends and then have dinner with parents.

Today is also DBJ's birthday. In the card I scribbled last night, I tried to jot down our highlights of the past year. My memory (and DBJ's, she will readily admit) gets worse and worse but our personal highlights ranged from the spiritually significant (finding a Care Group, DBJ's mum accepting Christ) to the more worldly and trivial (enjoying some great holidays, Nespresso parties and discovering "Settlers" and Ian McEwan's writing).

I hope we get the chance to sing Matt Redman's "Blessed Be Your Name" at tomorrow's service. If not, then we will be doing so in our hearts.