Tuesday, July 25, 2006

a gift

for all of you. this is the best thing you will see today. i swear:
http://clip.break.com/dnet/media/content/spiritoftruth.wmv
it's a big file, but worth the wait. thank you neema for the link.

Tuesday, July 11, 2006

good and weird

First the good news: Hao Wu is Free! After about 5 months in detention by the Chinese Government, I woke up this morning to read a press release that HAO IS FREE! Great news, and such a relief.

And then the weird news: A few weeks ago I was on the subway. The car wasn't crowded. It was the middle of the day. A man and a woman got on. They were talking at an exceptionally loud volume for two people who were standing right next to each other. If you didn't know it, you'd think they were at opposite ends of the train car. It was so loud that the normally unfazable subway riders all turned to look at them. The two people, completely oblivious to everyone else's reactions continued their conversation as if they were in their own living room (although why you would be talking that loudly in your own living room is beyond me). At some point I couldn't take it anymore and started making sushhhhing gestures with my index finger to them. The couple ignored me. The people around them started looking at me and laughed quietly to themselves at my feeble attempt to silence them. Finally, I said to the woman, "Uh, Is it necessary to talk so loud? Can you quiet down?" The couple ignored me, but I knew the woman heard me because she refused to make eye contact with me and just looked at the ground." The couple got off at the next stop.

Here's where it gets weird. A week later I get into an elevator at this pool where I just started swimming. A young girl is there with her mother. The girl turns to me and out of the blue says, "you look familiar." But I didn't recognize her. Then she said, "Were you on the subway that day with those two people who were talking really loud?" I'm staring at her thinking, "oh no."
"I was sitting next to them, smiling. Do you remember?"
I just smiled weakly.

The megapolis is a village in disguise.