A Mini-Story: Two Bikes ( happened in 1998)

Can you resist a biking temptation in the warm breeze?
On the 24th of the Month - a good day for me to write about bikes. Share with you.

A short comment- She was too expensive not to buy her bike!

In addition to the jargon of Absolute vs. Relative Poverty, there are stratifications based on national (in particular, the international type!!!), racial/ethnic, gender, linguistic hierarchies, the cognitive gaps, as well as the broader notions of Acculturated Instant Gratification and High Consumption Culture and so on inside this two-bike mini-story. Hopefully, I would be able to make some sequels in the near future :)!

What do you think of these types of International Octomoms - a Big-Baby talk!

The United Nations has 192 members, as of May 1, 2008 (a really old data :P! - including Montenegro and Serbia - the two newest nations). That number does not include the Vatican, and it doesn't (yet) include Kosovo.

As to the United Kingdom (UK), a Nation with 3 States - England, Scotland and Wales, or 3 Countries?

Quebec did not succeed the 2nd referendum in 1995.

And the most intriguing story between the world #4th biggest and #137th biggest countries (relating to the U.S. foreign policy !@#$%^&*()_?~) will be continued next time ;P!

All About Relationships - Big or Small !

I love maps and globes - big or small.
Today when browsing the world map,
I found something interesting. You might have noticed that.
I could not remember all the things,
so, I took notes and put them on the following 2 posters for reference.
Share with you.

Interesting to see these two countries: Micronesia and the Marshal Islands were independent from the Administrative America on the same day of Sept. 17, 1991.

NO ONE can coerce a relationship.

 No relationship can exist without mutual trust, respect, proper communication, and care
 - in the personal as well as in the international domains.
Cliche it - There is a will, there is a way. Who, When, and Where will be the next one?
天下大勢, 分久必合, 合久必分, 不是不報, 是時候將到!

Some countries (Nations, States) might not be bigger than your backyard, or your residential area, or just the same size as your school ! Haha, less is more? So, if size doesn't matter, then what matters?

Revised - Diversity and Educational/Learning Technologies

Diversity and  Educational/Learning Technologies
- by Li-chin (Crystal) Huang 042912

William Sloane Coffin, Jr. once said that diversity might be the hardest thing for a society to live with, and perhaps the most dangerous thing for a society to be without. It cannot be more true than in the digital age.

From past history up to recent events, such as Slavery, Slavery Under Another Name, Mississippi Burning, Nazi Holocaust, Rwanda genocide, the Triangle Factory fire, the Arab Spring, Anders Behring Breivik’s mass murdering, Oak Creek Sheikh Temple tragedy, up to current campus/cyber bullying heart-wrenching stories tell us that the narrow and distorted view toward human diversity is against the best interests of humankind.

Naisbitt's MegaTrends (1982) provided a perspective that alludes to such an understanding. He wrote, “Whenever new technology is introduced into society, there must be a counterbalancing human response, that is, high touch, or the technology is rejected”. In short, the more high-tech development, the more high-touch is needed.

I would maintain that this high touch has to be reified through healthy human interactions and proper socialization processes via some of the effective and efficient affordance provided by the increasingly sophisticated information technologies.  For example, the omnipresent and constantly innovated social media have been playing a significant role connecting the whole world in any-time, any-where, any-what, and any-how manners.  Speedy mobile communicative devices captured events instantly to fasten problem solving, for instance, as events happening in the Boston marathon.  

Via the abundance of opportunities for interaction and connection, from there, understanding, tolerance, acceptance, embrace, and then to celebrate the value of uniqueness and differences would be possible. The individual’s needs for survival, love, respect, and self-actualization cannot not be achieved without human beings’ mutual relying on one another to create common good. 

The following sections are my points of view regarding the importance of enhancing diversity via awareness, understanding, and actions, and how educational/learning technologies might enable or enhance the possibilities.

First of all, from a broader perspective of diverse technological affordance, the dramatic change of information technology since 1960s with up to today’s Web 3.0/cloud computing capacities, and E/M-learning, provides myriad teaching and learning possibilities for more diverse facilitators and learners than ever before to access knowledge. With this constant advance in computer and communications technologies, research in educational technologies has undergone a paradigmatic shift toward a new horizon: enhancing the fluid mobility between theories and actions. This new horizon focuses on merging the study of learning in complete, complex, and interactive learning environments with the use of emerging technology to advance the integration of contents, pedagogy, and technology to meet the increasingly diverse students’ needs, such as the student-centered, personalized, and computer assisted learning modes available to different learning schedules and styles.

Secondly, relating to my first point, the demographic trends illustrate that the non-conventional education consumers and “prosumers” (the hybrid of consuming and producing)- be it the digital native or luddite , digital immigrants or aliens, digital savvies or connoisseurs, the different digital generations of learners have been occupying the main educational landscape. Students learn in different ways just like educators who facilitate with different teaching styles and pedagogy/andragogy as well as heutagogy .

In addition to the teaching-learning diversity, other significant social forces and circumstances, such as race, ethnicity, social class, gender, sexual orientation, disability, languages, creeds, as well as the rest of human different conditions, according to the available research, provide evidence of the significant correlation to the teaching effectiveness and learning outcomes. This is what I consider to be the most challenging issue in the digital age- what to understand and how to be part of the solution. The key method is that we need to be more creative than ever to enhance the connectivity and to bridge the differences.

I am convinced that innovation and responsibility go hand in hand to usher to this transformative direction. From the local communities to the global markets, in order to successfully adapt to the fast changing societies with various cultures and sub-cultures, it is imperative that people develop an empathetic insight and a comprehensive cognitive capacity toward diversity issues.

Then, we heavily rely on those who can, teach – creatively and responsibly to be the catalysts to the systematic and systemic change of human societies. Educational/Learning technologies will be the hardest science that requires robust digital engagers to take on studies that are dynamic and contingent. In such a profession, only those stakeholders who tackle the diversity challenge as a way of conscious living to promote human understanding and collaboration will reshape the future. Thus, I envision an omnipresent and mobile environment for all learners to create the -world-is-flat phenomenon. The terms of Blog 2.0, semantic Web 3.0 encapsulate the idea of the proliferation of interconnectivity and interactivity of the e-effects. They open up sky-is-the-limit possibilities to transform learning to defy various digital divides as well as human divides in the domestic and global domains.

“Be the change you want to see”. The optimism and challenge are co-existent in this unprecedented epoch. Learning Technology is a gift as well as a social responsibility to the educators and relevant stakeholders. It is a golden opportunity to reach diverse learners to optimize human capitals and shorten the digital and human gaps. It is time to redirect such powerful capacity of learning technologies into the humanitarian engagement.

Finally, at a personal level, during my past 14 years' teaching, in several semesters, I was the only “minority” in the classroom ( in particular, at 2 universities in the Midwest that I taught), in terms of my race, gender, social class, faith, language, and socio-political understanding. I fully comprehend the urgency to expand the understanding of diversity issues confronting the contemporary society. We identify the resistance of change, but we also see people paving the way for a better society. As mentioned in the letter, I have been passionately educating and promoting race/ethnicity, gender, class, sexuality, disability, and other relevant diversity understanding in the local, state and global levels in seminars, conferences and via social media.

It is a goal, an action, a commitment, and most importantly, a responsibility. We make the road of understanding and empathy by walking together!

Re-read an old writing- How time flied and changed!!! Educational/Learning Technology and Crystal - as a grad student, Fall, 2009

My role in the Educational/Learning Technology (EL/T) community
by Li-chin (Crystal) Huang  Fall, 2009

In the EL/T community, I am a believer that innovation and responsibility go hand in hand. Being one of the digital immigrants of this information technology revolution, I would consider myself to be an enthusiastic, caring, and conscientious teacher-researcher. Focusing on the need to be at the forefront of educational change and innovation has been an important part of my academic endeavors.

Inspired by the power of multimedia technology as an art student in1995 began my life-long journey with learning technologies. I started integrating multimedia technology into Art curriculum as a grad student and teaching assistant, and later into my Social Science teaching both at two and four year colleges. I perceive myself as a rational and zealous LT educator with an adventurous quality to cross cultures and to immerse in multiple ways of teaching and learning.

To be/Being a diligent educator- researcher is my life long learning inspiration. I have been designing and implementing curriculum and instruction for 10 years at my current work setting. I am also one of those who “dare to teach-research-serve, never cease to learn”. Thus, learning and teaching become an important part of my life. For example, the curiosity and desire to learn have led me to a multi-disciplinary background through three previous Master’s degrees and the current Ph.D. program. I ended up having five majors and four minors.[1] Fortunately, Learning Technologies weave my previous multidisciplinary teaching and learning experience into a holistic tapestry. In this sense, I would also perceive myself as an artistic and versatile educator and learner, who actively participates in many scholarly activities and productions at my previous workplace, UW-Stout, and currently - Chippewa Valley Technical College, as well as at University of Minnesota -Twin Cities.

In connection to technologies, Marshall McLuhan once pointed out that we shaped our tools, but then our tools shaped us. The dramatic change of information technology since 1960s with the PLATO system along with today’s Web 2.0  and the evolving semantic Web 3.0 provides myriad teaching and learning possibilities for more facilitators and learners than ever before to access knowledge. With this constant advance in computer and communications technologies, research in educational technologies has undergone a paradigmatic shift toward a new horizon: enhancing the fluid mobility between theories and actions. This new horizon focuses on merging the study of learning in complete, complex, and interactive learning environments with the use of emerging technology to advance the integration of contents, pedagogy, and technology.

Those Who Can, Teach – Creatively, And Responsibly. – Crystal

My teaching philosophy

In a differentiated teaching methods seminar, I found an inspirational message - “When we identify a student who doesn’t understand, louder and slower won’t do it. We need to be more creative than ever; when we identify students who already understand, doing it again isn’t acceptable. We need to be more creative than ever”. Students learn in different ways and paces under various circumstances. This is what I consider to be the most challenging issue in the digital age. The key solution is “we need to be more creative than ever” which I emphasized at the beginning of this statement – Innovation and responsibility go hand in hand.

At the individual level, being a cross cultural learner and educator, immersed in this best and the most revolutionary period of time, teaching has always been a challenging yet highly rewarding profession. At the collective level, this sense of challenge is particularly acute for educators today. Educators have been facing increasingly diverse student population and the demands of accountabilities. At the same time, education in the digital age is endowed with an environment of unprecedented opportunities. Learning technology is a gift to practitioners with golden opportunities that open windows for the further engaging with students’ learning, communicating with parents, building learning communities, advocating the future of learning technologies, convincing policy makers, and empowering the human capital, just to name a few positive functions.

These opportunities demand all stakeholders reshape and reflect on the goals and purpose of education. The technology affordances of the Internet and the constant innovated interactivities make it feasible both in access and delivery of interactive/differentiated methods tailored to diverse students’ needs. Thus, it is imperative for educators to be innovative, responsible, and insightful in designing, implementing, and assessing the affordances of technologies in enhancing student learning.

As a conscientious educator, I don’t take any available opportunities to engage my educational environment for granted. I value every interaction with students, colleagues, Union, administrators, and the whole edu-ecological system. I deeply believe that the well informed citizens is the currency of democracy. I envision the digital citizenship prevailing in every corner of human societies. And this democratic reality has been growing fruitfully via the omnipresent NGI super Broadband accessibility. But for learning to happen effectively, it needs seamless hardware and software interface. It needs the innovative integration of contents, pedagogies with technological affordances. It needs a conscientious educator to take on her/his catalyst role to make it happen effectively and efficiently.

Personally, I benefit from rich media technology’s affordances that assist my teaching philosophy and pedagogies toward fruition. During the last 14 years’ college teaching experiences, I was a recipient of the outstanding contributor to UW-System and Color of Woman Award in 2001 representing UW-Stout,  Teacher of the Year in 2007, representing my district for Chippewa Valley Technical College, as well as nominated to the 2010 Fuerstenberg Teaching Excellence Awards. Educational technology is one of the key scaffolds supporting my pedagogical endeavors.

An Integrated Research Approach

My Research Agenda

In the Educational Technologies field, many disciplines have assisted in building the knowledge foundation necessary to understand human learning and interacting with the aids of technologies. For example, Behavioral-cognitive-Psychology, Neuroscience, Computer Science, and numerous renowned learning technology scholars’ endeavors have contributed immensely to this understanding from a wide range of perspectives.

Having come originally from a Sociology/Social Psychology background, I envision sociological perspectives well integrated into the mainstream research trends. I am interested in the social forces shaping daily reality in the digital age from the micro and macro aspects. These approaches such as structure and functionalism, symbolic interactionism, social conflict perspectives and their combined methods have generated several strands of research agenda that guide my current and future studies.

The macro structural-functional perspective sees society as a complex system whose parts work together to promote solidarity and stability. During the last decade, research in the field of human capital management (e.g., HPI or HPT) and organizational cost-effectiveness research tinted with the flavor of this perspective. Tied to my teaching philosophy, to keep the currency of democracy up-to-date, educator-researchers have to confront the issues of empowering human capital and enhancing the quality of access and application of information technology in the digital age.[2]

One of the concrete examples of this research orientation is my interest in studying e-learning in a technical college setting. My last 14 years’ teaching at a four year poly-technical university and current two-year technical college provides me rich information regarding how different structures and functions of educational ecology and potential changes affect teaching and learning pertaining to learning technologies.

Though most two year technical colleges, comprehensive community colleges, and four year colleges tend to be lumped together as the post-secondary educational system or “higher educational” institution,[3] they are fundamentally different in many aspects. These include educational missions, climates, diversity of student body, specific roles of faculty and staff, funding, infrastructure and the overall ecological configuration, just to name a few, comprise the uniqueness of two-year technical colleges that stand out as a special and controversial educational entity. These two-year colleges play a crucial role in American economic, political, and educational reality. But there is limited amount of research focusing on the complex educational ecology of two year colleges that affects the daily teaching and learning, in particular, when relating to learning technologies. The socio-economically induced digital gap between 2 and 4 year -college is a field constantly fascinates me.

The social conflict perspective is a framework for building theory that sees society as an arena of inequality that generates conflict and change. From this aspect, I focus on social stratification[4] both in domestic and global domains tied to digital equity and quality, as well as the potential systematic/systemic change. For example, digital-divide is one of established fields of research tackling the gaps and effects of race/ethnicity, gender, social class, disabilities, as well as others relating socially constructed reality in the digital era. One of my previous studies of this approach was the last semester’s collaborative “Rural Families Speak” project (2007-8). It was a longitudinal multistate research focusing on rural low income mothers’ well being. My team narrowed down to study what the role of the Intent playing out in these low-income (intersections of geo-social class and gender) mothers’ lives.

Furthermore, the most relevant one tied to my daily learning and teaching is witnessing the stratified educational institutions in the higher education domain in terms of  funding/technological affordance, academic freedom, accountability, educational quality and equity situated in the national edu-policy agenda that affect the life chances for different social classes intersecting with other diverse dimensions.

The micro symbolic-interaction perspective sees society is the reality that people construct for themselves as they interact with one another. The cyber phenomena have been constantly created and re-created by different digital generations through their daily interactions. The formation of learning communities, TPACK integration in classrooms, and quality assurance in the online learning are the three fields that I would like to investigate in the higher education setting within this perspective. Hermeneutic phenomenology, ethnomethodology, virtual and auto-ethnography are applicable research methods for this approach. A real life case to illustrate this perspective is that I am documenting my daily interactions with my four course delivery formats within current semester – online, hybrid, Live Meeting, and face to face with web-enhanced curriculum.

Generally speaking, my research agenda is based on a framework integrating sociology and learning technologies to examine different aspects of digital reality shaped by multifaceted social forces.

Individually, We Are One Drop. Together, We Are An Ocean

My role-models within the LT field

All effective and conscientious scholars, practitioners, educators, policy makers and individuals with rational enthusiasm serve as my role model. A visionary role model, who is a resolute social change agent and leader, whose passion for learning, teaching and research envisage educational technologies as a positive transformative mechanism that democratizes human societies. A rational and enthusiastic innovator who foresees the potentials of learning technologies that can lead to an authentic democratic society guides my enthusiasm and energy to the common good.

They are many of role models in our field, exemplifying tenacity and unwaveringness, so I learn and have the courage to select the road less travelled.

If Technology Is Not Used For Enhancing Humanity, Then For What?

The future of Learning Technologies

We are witnessing the accelerated effect of cybernetics which is all about humans and technology interacting to form the foundation of human infrastructure. In this cyber-structure, the high tech and high touch can be mutually complementary. Different digital generations are constructing ways of facilitating multi-generational and global communications. The current Web 2.0 and the evolving Web 3.0 are such transformative tools reshaping the educational experience. The line between space and time is rapidly becoming blurred and may cease to exist in the foreseeable future. E-learning in both “virtual” and “real” worlds simultaneously creates “inter-reality“ phenomenon that implies more options available to effectively merge teaching and learning in a seamless way.

I envision one day the “cutting edge” and “innovative” is no longer the nick name of the business world or industrial-military compounds. Those who can, teach – creatively and responsibly, are the catalysts to the systematic and systemic change of our society. Learning technologies will be the hardest science that requires robust digital engagers to take on studies that are dynamic and contingent. In such a profession, only those stakeholders who tackle the challenge as a way of conscious living will reshape the future of our society.

I envision an omnipresent and mobile environment (facilitating the M-learning)  for all learners to create the -world-is-flat phenomenon. A new term of Blog 2.0 encapsulates the idea of the proliferation of interconnectivity and interactivity of the e-effects. It opens up sky-is-the-limit possibilities to transform learning to defy various digital divides in domestic and global domains.

The optimism and challenge are co-existent in this unprecedented epoch. Learning Technology is a gift as well as a social responsibility to the educators and relevant stakeholders. It is a golden opportunity to reach diverse learners to optimize human capitals and shorten the digital gaps. It is time to redirect such powerful capacity of learning technologies into the humanitarian change.

It is a goal, an action, a commitment, and most importantly, a responsibility!

[1] My majors are: Sociology/Social Psychology, Socio-political science, Studio Art, Art Education, Learning Technologies. The minors are Computer Science, Women’s Studies, Journalism, and Military Education.
[2] I expanded three extra current digital populations into the original categories: the “digital elite”, the digital native, the digital immigrant, and the “digital behind”, and the “digital deprived”.
[3] Technical colleges play a key role to bridge PK-12 and 15-16 educational settings. Yet, most people consider two year colleges being only a peripheral part (a step-child or child out of the educational wed-lock) of the collegiate system, or a “catch basin” for those few students unable or unwilling to enter “regular” colleges.
[4] Such as race/ethnicity, gender, social class, disability and various types of intersectional theories .

A Fragment of my visual diary

May 19 (Sn), 2013.

Taking the precious break before the summer school begins, and then found something to do- picking up some old work and put them together as my visual diary. Mainly, they were routine homeworks done when I was a student a while ago. Hopefully, I can do better ones in the near future.





1. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p75zZ3zsazM&list=PLR4PZFwrj-hNft1N7stKw7LETa9Ch7Cf-&index=3
Published on May 19, 2013
2D Visual Art:
 Still life, Life Drawing, and Mixed media
done when I was a student a while ago.

2. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gxIKVaUAYTc&list=PLR4PZFwrj-hNft1N7stKw7LETa9Ch7Cf-&index=1
Published on May 19, 2013
2-D visual art:
Acrylics, oil, watercolor, and traditional ink paintings/calligraphy,
done when I was a student a while ago.

2. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OqHr0Pub0aA&list=PLR4PZFwrj-hNft1N7stKw7LETa9Ch7Cf-&index=2
3-D: Ceramics, Sculptures & mixed media,
done when I was a student a while ago.

EduCapitalism - For Sale? For Learning?

May 17 (F), 2013 posted on fb.

Crystal Huang shared Speak Up For Education and Kids's photo.
about an hour ago

Lower the student loan interest  (This post is relevant to the left side of scenario in the picture. The right side of story might be a little bit different. Will post next time)!!!!!






Congress is talking about college affordability right now. Here are a few reasons why we should all care.

Share your student loan story at:http://educationvotes.nea.org/2013/05/15/share-your-story-degrees-not-debt/


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James Kimbrough, Renee Smith, Curt Bonk and 4 others like this.

Crystal Huang Most of my semesters as a student are part-time (since my degree program is in another state and I am teaching), no TAs, RAs are available. Tuition of University of Minnesota-Twin Cities has been one of the BIGGEST expenditures (the annually increasing cost per credit rate is just unbelievable, and don't be confused, it is a PUBLIC school, NOT a PRIVATE one for the super-privileged few!!!) from my hard earned pay-checks: earned from teaching and spent on my (formal) learning - a sheer luck and privilege, for a job sustains me in this fashion. Interestingly speaking, luckily having a privilege to access education is to be fortunate enough to get a job in order to pay off the tuition!!! What a great educational motivation to feed the system!!!
13 hours ago · Edited · Like · 1

Crystal Huang After he ( S, a Caucasian) graduated, my friend S spent 10 years to pay off his 2 huge student loans (no dad, no family, and what so ever supporting system available to him since he was 16 years old) and "luckily" there were student loans available), also because of, fortunately, a teaching job keeping him going to pay off student loans. And now laying off, cutting off employment, outsourcing, and downsizing impose on the new graduates - hard to imagine.... (added info - S is still as poor as a church mouse, as well.)
12 hours ago · Edited · Like

Crystal Huang Give you a vivid example - I started $560 per credit several years ago, now is $1,325 PER CREDIT (thanks gods, via the reciprocal act between WI and MN) and still increasing the rate - cannot face the coming fall tuition bill. I am gradually paying off the 24 credits of dissertation fee after completing the course works (totally credits needed are 84). I could not imagine how I could be living so frugally to save every penny to pay off or just suppressing the feeling of being as poor as a church rat ! On the other hand, lucky me, I still can teach and work much harder to pay, but not everyone has this privilege that I have.
13 hours ago · Edited · Like · 1

Who says - the University is Dead ( J. Morrison?) Have you ever seen "less" bricks and mortars, another taken-away-brick in the wall to  refrain the growth of this gigantic edu-capitalistic Leviathan, or you have been witnessing more demolishing the concrete walls recently for a flatter terrain to broaden the horizon for the privileged few?

Not anti-education, but capitalistically institutional education! And be honest (and better be quiet as well), who are the culprits?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xpxd3pZAVHI

See what I did for you - Enjoy another 7 singing of great songs!

A great relaxation after a busy spring semester's endeavor - another contributions to Youtube!

Hopefully, not contracting the digital disease - Youtubetitus

Enjoy, another  7 singing of great songs:

Title: Singer, Acrylic Painting (3' x 5') done in 1997
 (when I was a student)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WsYkEpOtPto
一剪梅 - Look, that Plum Flower!! By Li-chin (Crystal) Huang 黃昶
Uploaded May 15 (W), 2013. Singing#5
The strength and perseverance of the Plum Flowers - a cultural symbolism and icon.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zmzR35LBdhg
夜襲 - Dark Knights Fight, by Li-chin (Crystal) Huang 黃昶
Uploaded on May 15 (W), 2013 Singing#6
The Art of War- winning in the battle field without dripping a drop of blood.
- 善戰者服上刑:兵不血刃 (- Sun Tsu, 孫子). 夜襲 is one of my favorite military songs.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mgnd374na9s
上海灘  Shanghai Beach by Li-chin (Crystal) Huang 黃昶
Uploaded on May 15, 2013. Thanks for listening to my singing #7

I don't speak Cantonese, (guess what, my mother tongue is Taiwanese)
in case you hear some weird or funny sound :P!

www.youtube.com/watch?v=FYJ3wB01F8s
望春風- Hope of the Vernality by Li-chin (Crystal) Huang 黃昶
Uploaded May 15, 2013 #8
Taiwanese Folk Song

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OK0SvhKnGjA
康定情歌 by Li-chin (Crystal) Huang 黃昶
A joyful folk /love Song of Central Asia.
Uploaded, May 15 (W), 2013 (#9)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ozlwkl7l2nE
西子姑娘 by Li-chin (Crystal) Huang 黃昶.
Uploaded on May 16 (Thursday), 2013 #10
A delightful Asian folk-love song

www.youtube.com/watch?v=cRwazMXbDXE
望妳早歸 - Come Back to Taiwan/Formosa
by Li-chin (Crystal) Huang 黃昶
Uploaded on May 16 (Thursday), 2013 (#11)
Nostalgic Taiwanese Oldies

What has been happening on fb walls and feeds?

A reflection, as of May 16 (W), 2013.  Share with you :)! Need a magnifier, though :)!

Isn't it too Binary!?

A curious student asked my political “philosophy”. I keep neutral for his/her critical thinking capacity and judgment, so hopefully, no one shall be affected by any type of the established entities without doing his/her own brain-homework.

Well, in the moving train, hard to keep standstill, so, here it goes, my honestly biased one:
I am 1% Tea, 2% Coffee, 4% Rep, 8% Dem,16% Green, 32% for the Blue-Collars,
and the rest of 37% is for the Voiceless Sentient Beings’ Big Party :P!

Contributing 3 of my favorite singings to Youtube

Contributing  3 of my favorite singing to Youtube

1. Posted today. So far far away...., might as well sing to visit.

黃昏的故鄉 - Home in the Dusk, in my native language - Taiwanese (my mother tongue)

http://youtu.be/R-XBUjkAxpY


2. Posted on Mother's Day. Missing my mom, so just sang it quietly - might be a little bit

lugubrious - be aware! Title 母親您在何方, sung in Mandarin  ( Mother, where are you?)

http://youtu.be/r25pf6mFrEU


3. Posted a few day ago on fb

This is one of my favorite Japanese songs. A theme song of an old Japanese movie. Surely, sung in Japanese.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IHj8a1JTULw  南國土佐を後にして

Life Chances Meet with Life Choices vs. Intra-Generational/Inter-Generational Social Mobility

Crystal Huang shared a link.
about an hour ago
Now! A live interview with the Director of  movie "Life of Pi"  Mr. Lee Ang (The Oscar Award winner: Brokeback Mountain)- how it became reality and the subsequent impact on future cinematic development. Good to know that all the animals in "Life of Pi" were supported by Taipei Zoo (臺北動物園), and the rest of scenes were shot in Tai-chung City (臺中市).
 So, this is a product of MIT (fully Made-In-Taiwan) :P!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pHf1LPwQdNM
【網路直播】與李安有約－人生逃避不了的脆弱
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Nicolette Ladoulis, Hen-Kuan Chen and 2 others like this.

Crystal Huang "外省" 第二代 (literally, the 2nd generation of China-Mainlanders in Taiwan) - was one of the themes in the conversation mentioned by Mr. Lee, just now. In fact, it caught much of my attention instead of Life of Pie. Behind the cinema, war, history, power, privilege, talent, and endeavors intertwined with various macro social forces happening on this troubled yet fascinating and thriving Island - Taiwan/Formosa. As one of the panelists remarked - "We share the glory that Mr. Lee achieved, who was born and raised on this Island".
9 minutes ago · Edited · Like

Jim Mark One of the Best Films EVER ..
about an hour ago · Unlike · 1

Crystal Huang As aforementioned -what a successful story of an MIT (fully Made-In-Taiwan) movie ( both the film and the Director)!

As to the topic which is about the "Inescapable Fragility in Life"... my thoughts might be relevant :
How was Taiwanese society stratified based on the legacy of Japan's occupation and the Chinese Civil War imposing the "inescapable", painful, and traumatic "fragility" on the local Island (Taiwanese or Formosan's Life - culminated in a massacre) could be interesting as well. Power, privilege (military, politico-economic status), immigration/ethnicity, resource domination (education, job attainability/business, media) during last 5 decades affecting the inter-generational social mobility in Taiwan fascinates me (and I am witnessing now through the interview) and it has been blossoming in certain way, such as in cinema- a high art form. Well, the conversation just happily ended in Taipei. So, Bye, now.

A part of the conversation reminds me of a scribble done on July 8, 2012. Echo here!

Chances, choices, talent, and trans-generational endeavors!

Social class - matters! Cultural capitals matter even more!

Posted on May 12 (Sn) 10:57 am. 2013

Crystal Huang Strange things did happen! Like some of my lucky friends, both my parents were deprived the chance for education in the old-time Taipei (i.e., uneducated), but I got an opportunity and privilege to study visual art in America - which is something great about this country, but straightforwardly against Adams' logistics !
- I might as well coin a term : Flying-Over social-mobility (not the Horatio Alger Myth either, because of me-no-money).

Every Day Is Teachers' Day!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JOVQ4vAmM7Y (song)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=chjwNrbarH8 (movie)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xCAaEbCDovQ (movie)

Inspired by a bitter-sweet joke: How Did 2 Clay Buddhas Wade Through a Creek?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sGyA6OKrsJg

"泥菩薩過江" is a twist-and tweak saying (i.e., a common twist-and-tweak takes two phrases to get the whole intriguing meaning, in particular the 2nd part of the phrase enlightening the Aha moment!), which literally means that the Buddha seems having extraordinary strength and wisdom, but if made of clay, s/he even cannot protect or save his/her own life when wading through water.

In this case, the 2nd half of it in characters is 自身難保, which means that "one cannot protect oneself".
Yes, 泥菩薩過江- 自身難保 : A clay buddha wades through a creek - unable save his/her own life.

After a bitter-sweet joke, I decided to write down my own episode of the "2 CLAY BUDDHAs were crossing a creek". :)! 兩個泥菩薩過江. (Upon finishing the draft, then it also reminded me of a fable in 莊子's - Zhuang-zi 相濡以沫). Perhaps, I might want to tweak it next time for a post?!

Note- Zhuang Zhou, commonly known as Zhuang-zi ,(or Master Zhuang) lived around the 4th century B.C.E , was an influential philosopher during the Warring States Period, corresponding to the summit of the Hundred Schools of Thought. The renowned writing "Zhuang-zi" expresses a skeptical philosophy which maintains that life is limited and knowledge to be obtained is too vast- a precursor of relativism in systems of ethics.