carrie's

一组专业人员向一群四到八岁的孩子问了这样一个问题：“爱是什么意思？”
结果答案的广度和深度却出乎所有人意料之外。看看你是怎么想的……

"What does love mean"

"When my grandmother got arthritis, she couldn't bend over and paint her toenails anymore. So my grandfather does it for her all the time, even when his hands got arthritis too. That's love."
Rebecca- age 8

"When someone loves you, the way they say your name is different. You just know that your name is safe in their mouth."
Billy - age 4

"Love is when a girl puts on perfume and a boy puts on shaving cologne and they go out and smell each other."
Karl - age 5

"Love is when you go out to eat and give somebody most of your French fries without making them give you any of theirs."
Chrissy - age 6

"Love is what makes you smile when you're tired."
Terri - age 4

"Love is when my mommy makes coffee for my daddy and she takes a sip before giving it to him, to make sure the taste is OK."
Danny - age 7

"Love is when you kiss all the time. Then when you get tired of kissing, you still want to be together and you talk more. My Mommy and Daddy are like that. They look gross when they kiss"
Emily - age 8

"Love is what's in the room with you at Christmas if you stop opening presents and listen."
Bobby - age 7

"If you want to learn to love better, you should start with a friend who you hate,"
Nikka - age 6

"Love is when you tell a guy you like his shirt, then he wears it everyday."
Noelle - age 7

"Love is like a little old woman and a little old man who are still friends even after they know each other so well."
Tommy - age 6

"During my piano recital, I was on a stage and I was scared. I looked at all the people watching me and saw my daddy waving and smiling. He was the only one doing that. I wasn't scared anymore."
Cindy - age 8

"My mommy loves me more than anybody . You don't see anyone else kissing me to sleep at night."
Clare - age 6

"Love is when Mommy gives Daddy the best piece of chicken."
Elaine-age 5

"Love is when Mommy sees Daddy smelly and sweaty and still says he is handsomer than Brad Pitt ."
Chris - age 7

"Love is when your puppy licks your face even after you left him alone all day."
Mary Ann - age 4

"I know my older sister loves me because she gives me all her old clothes and has to go out and buy new ones."
Lauren - age 4

"When you love somebody, your eyelashes go up and down and little stars come out of you."
Karen - age 7

"You really shouldn't say 'I love you' unless you mean it. But if you mean it, you should say it a lot. People forget."
Jessica - age 8

The winner of a contest to find the most caring child was a four year old child whose next door neighbor was an elderly gentleman who had recently lost his wife. Upon seeing the man cry, the little boy went into the old gentleman's yard, climbed onto his lap, and just sat there. When his Mother asked what he had said to the neighbor, the little boy said,
"Nothing, I just helped him cry"

今天下班回来后看到露在QQ上的留言:

"

小火把 2009-02-12 10:05:23
。。。
 小火把 2009-02-12 10:05:36
11点多

 小火把 2009-02-12 10:05:39
咪咪狂叫
 小火把 2009-02-12 10:05:44
然后
 小火把 2009-02-12 10:05:52
嘟嘟回来了！！！
 小火把 2009-02-12 10:06:06
哈哈 兴奋的不行
 小火把 2009-02-12 10:06:18
回来一脸惊魂未定
 小火把 2009-02-12 10:06:26
脏兮兮的
 小火把 2009-02-12 10:06:31
然后我给她洗澡
 小火把 2009-02-12 10:06:37
哈哈

"

 看完之后,我从心底笑了出来....阴霾寒冬里的一丝喜悦

两个星期前,过年前夕, 嘟嘟走丢了.

两个星期后,我笑笑地跟好友说, 嘟嘟真的走丢了,还没有回去.” 可是, 说完后,心里突然一阵酸, 眼泪就在眼眶里打转了.

其实我跟嘟嘟在一起的时间并不多.要出国的那年初, 有一天,奶奶忽然就抱回了一只狗狗. 她说, 市场上有人拉了好几只小狗,说要放掉, 他看到我喜欢就让我挑一只. 就这样,嘟嘟就到了我家. 现在想想, 嘟嘟肯定是凭着自个儿机灵淘气的眼神被奶奶选中的.

嘟嘟是我见过的最淘气最撒娇的狗儿.虽然我家一向是大型犬的天下, 从来对小型宠物犬没有偏爱, 但嘟嘟对这丝毫不理会.不管家里谁回来, 他总是会扑到你的身上,呜呜地嗲嗲地叫着,直到你给他一些关注才肯罢休. 而当他难得乖乖地趴在地板上休息时, 他也总是倚到我们中任何一个的脚边. 寂寞总是与他不相干的…

但是, 妈妈一直不喜欢嘟嘟. 说嘟嘟总是把身上弄的脏脏的, 而且也太撒娇了. 一只男狗怎么比女狗还”疯颠”呢.

嘟嘟是奶奶抱回来的, 而他也是我们家庭成员中唯一没有离开奶奶的一个, 至少在两个星期前. 我的家,家庭成员都为了自己应尽的责任而四处奔波. 爸妈在外省, 我和弟弟在外面上大学. 而自从出国后, 我离家就更远了. 而奶奶就是惟一一个留在家里的. 人们常说两岸三地, 而我家是”两岸四地”. 在我的心里, 我总是会认为, 把高龄的奶奶一个人留在家里, 是我们对她的一种”背叛”, 虽然我们一直用”生活的无奈”来作为借口. 嘟嘟的到来, 使我的心里有了一些自私的喜悦. 至少, 当我们都不在家的时候, 还有嘟嘟能够跟奶奶作伴.

嘟嘟没有让我们失望. 每次打电话回去, 都会听到他在电话那头欢快地叫着,还是那么地希望得到别人的关注. 而奶奶也常常会说,嘟嘟最近越来越聪明了, 我睡觉的时候总是守在我的门口,有陌生人来,他叫的就更使劲了. 听到这些,我们这些在外地的人们都很高兴.

然而, 陪伴我们近两年的嘟嘟, 在全家团员的春节前,走丢了…

那天, 奶奶和露去菜市场. 嘟嘟说什么也要跟上. 露叫他回去,他怎么也不听. 然后走远了,奶奶和露一回头,发现嘟嘟不见踪影了, 就以为他是自个跑回家了.

可是, 他没有回家. 找遍了回来路线上的左邻右舍也没有见着他.

那天晚上, 露在QQ上告诉我, 嘟嘟走丢了…

我轻描淡写地告诉好友, 嘟嘟走丢了. 但我的心里一想到嘟嘟机灵顽皮的眼神就很难过. 因为我知道, 嘟嘟是喜欢热闹的. 没有了人们的关注, 他一个人在街上流浪一定会很辛苦. 因为我知道, 嘟嘟很可能已经不在这个世上, 不管是对于专业捕狗的人来说,还是那些为生计所迫的穷苦人们来说,嘟嘟都是他们在这春节期间不能错失的靶子. 因为我们知道,奶奶在心里会想念嘟嘟, 而我们会为奶奶的这一份牵肠挂肚而感到难过…

“…….Ever since I was barely in my twenties, I have loved New Orleans the way some men love women, if that means unreasonably. I fell in love with the city and a Louisiana State University sophomore on the night, eating shrimp cooked seven ways in the Quarter, riding the ferry across the black, black river where firework burned the air at Algiers Point. I drank so much rum I could sleep standing up against a wall. The sophomore left me, smiling, but the city never did……”

“In N.O, everyday is Saturday, every Saturday is New Year”

在圣诞的假期, 我和Youyou, 俩个没有牵绊的女人决定想要逃离Columbus. 而离开的目的地选在New Orleans.

与Columbus现在的寒冷完全不同,N.O位于美国南方,面临密西西比河. 当我将夏装与晚装一鼓脑地塞入行李箱里时,心中get away的冲动也越来越强烈, 而N.O也终于没有令我失望.

Bourbon St.

关键词: pub, hooker, party

以酒吧和妓院出名. 入夜之后的光景与白天看来完全不同. 当我们在清晨穿梭于这条街时,安静的招牌和败色的外墙令你无法理解为何它会成为French Quarter的必游之地. 可是,当夜幕来临之后,只稍从远远地方,看看那多彩闪耀的霓红,你马上就会明白为什么这条街会为那么多的各国游客提供忘却烦恼,放肆与发泄及一醉解千愁的痛快.一路的的灯红酒绿, 一路的喧闹召揽, 一路的醉眼迷茫和一路的浓妆红唇,这就是深夜的bourbon, 这就是它的生命所在.

不要以为, N.O就只是一座party之城. 除了bourbon带给你那真实,低俗的冲击之外, 它又能让你对它自由的艺术精神所入迷.

Royal St.

关键词: Gallery, Museum, freedom

又是French Quarter上十分出名的一条街. 去了NYC的Metropolitan Art of Museum, 被厚重的历史和历史的经典所震振. 但是, 在这里, 我却可以享受艺术的自由之神. 从一张发黄磨旧的黑人爵士乐海报到未有大名气的意大利画家所做的朦胧的雨中F.Q, 从中国清朝的陶瓷帝王像到漫画Obama, 不管那古董是真是假,也不在乎那些artists将来是否会成名, Royal街上的自由的气息, 减少了人们对于艺术可望而不可及的畏惧,而多了一份享受美的自在.

Frenchmen St.

关键词: Live Jazz

你可以在Bourbon上听到现场爵士, 但是如果你想要真正坐下来欣赏一段Jazz, 那么Frenchmen St. 是很好选择.我和Youyou选了这家Snug Harbor.虽然被多家的报刊杂志评为one of the best live jazz, 但我和Youyou还是有点犹豫.因为毕竟N.O是以Jazz出名,如果没有欣赏到真正Jazz的味道, 那岂不是有点美中不足.不过这点小怀疑很快就被路边一欧洲游客真诚的推荐所打消.我们毫不犹豫地步入了这家拥挤的小店.两个小时的快节奏现场演奏和那一杯外表光鲜,口感十足的Hurricane使我俩都有点惶乎. 带着半醉半醒的愉快,踩着半轻的脚步,走出了Frenchmen St., 穿过了喧闹的Bourbon St., 回到了Marriott, 就有了我在N.O最甜的一夜酣睡.

Seafood and Beignets

美食在旅程中是必不可少的.而N.O由于靠海,其的Seafood也自然不会逊色.在Columbus待久了,都开始淡忘海鲜的味道.不过,在N.O, 我们极尽所能的品尝了各色精品: Shrimp Etouffee, Crawfish Etouffee, Oysters Rockefeller, Turtle soup, Catfish/Oyster Platters…当然,我们也没有忘记在早餐时分步行到出名的Café Du Monde 品尝据说是只在N.O才有的French Doughnuts---Beignets.