“Success ... is about the difference you make in people's life.” Are you sure?

Michelle Obama said with tears in her speech, "Success isn't about how much money you make. It's about the difference you make in people's life."  Logically, I think there is something wrong here.

First of all, some differences are good, and some differences are bad.  Yes, Obama and his government have made many differences in many places in this planet and in many people's lives.  Not every difference made is good.  At least we should say "It's about the GOOD difference you make in people's life".

Is a difference good or not?  The answer is of course subjective.  There is no universal ground truth.  It depends on whom you ask and how you ask.  That is exactly why we need politicians to deliberate data from different perspectives.  That is the major part of the candidates' job.

Does everyone's life need a difference?  The leader cross Pacific Ocean said, "不折腾", meaning "don't sway, keep the predefined direction".  In the last 4 years, Obama's government and Hu's government fought with each other on many cases where one party wanted to make a difference, and the other one wanted to keep the established advantage.  By the way, Obama's government is not always the one that would like to make a difference.

Last, what is a difference after all?  The world is evolving and differences happen all the time anyway.  Our world have many different possibilities in the future, but we can only experience one of them.  Then, the whole point in Michelle Obama's statement is the difference the party she represents wants to see.  Is that subjective after all?

In no means I want to say Michelle Obama is a bad speaker.  Instead, she is such a good speaker, as good as her husband, that, more often than not, too good to be a president.  :-)

Soul Mountain

Just read Soul Mountain by Xingjian Gao.  What it impresses me most is the author's skill of sharing with a reader many Chinese people's feeling in 80s.  The story itself is not important.

In addition to his superb writing skills, what made the novel a milestone is, to my understanding, the author's awareness and recording of many Chinese people's real feeling from the bottom of their hearts in very early days.

说说籍贯

早上醒来，躺在床上，忽然想起一个有趣的问题。在中国的许多身份文件中，都有籍贯这么一栏，而在西方的身份登记中，通常只要求等级出生地和现居住地（或曾居住地）。大致想来，这也许反映了中国旧时代和现代（西方）社会人员流动程度的差异。

籍，在中国古汉语中表示一个家庭对朝廷担负徭役的类型，通常由其当家的职业决定。贯，是指一个人生长的地方。在人们的概念中，籍贯通常是指一个人的祖居地。在中国旧时代，由于人员流动很少，确定籍贯也许不是一件难事。许多家庭祖祖辈辈生于斯、长于斯。我猜想，籍贯一栏也就因此沿用下来的。

在现代生活中，人员流动频繁。记得有一个统计，美国人一辈子平均在6个州迁移。中国现代社会也充满了变化。上海居民中有多少祖籍是上海的呢？于是，籍贯就变得模糊和难以确定了。

在网上查了一下，才知道香港和台湾已相继逐步取消籍贯一栏，而采用出生地的信息。这是跟随西方个人信息采集口径的做法。

大陆采用以下规定：“按照公安部公通字[1995]91号文件规定，公民的籍贯应为本人出生时祖父的居住地（户口所在地）；祖父去世的，填写祖父去世时的户口所在地；祖父未落常住户口的，填写祖父应落常住户口的的地方；公民登记籍贯后，祖父又迁移户口的，该公民的籍贯不再随之更改。” 如果籍贯都按以上规定严格填写的话，倒是非常有趣：我们会得到一个跨代的迁移链。

假定六代人：甲、乙、丙、丁、戊、己。根据规定，丙的籍贯采用甲的户籍，戊的籍贯采用丙的户籍。单从籍贯上看，甲、丙、戊形成一条链，与乙和丁无关。乙、丁、己形成一条链，与甲、丙、戊无关。

出生地、户籍和籍贯提供了对一个人迁徙的多个时间点信息：出生地、生育子女时的所在地（由子女的出生地信息获得）、和子女生育时的这个人的所在地（由孙辈的籍贯信息获得）。

当然，以上的数据挖掘框架是不太靠得住的，因为许多人在填写籍贯信息时并不严格按照规定来。

Secret

"The only secret in this business is ... there is no secret." --- Arthur Godfrey (1903-1983)

You have it

"If you think you have it, you have it. If you think you don't have it, you don't have it. And if you think you don't have it, and you have it, you still don't have it." --- Jackie Gleason (1916-1987)

别国十年

别国十年

别字既作告别解，也作他解。

莫说十年弹指间，
几多欢喜几多难。
三千日夜从何数，
万里重洋常可叹。
乱想胡思成职业，
山城偶宿作偏安。
忽闻有客归期定，
我欲言还无处还。

雾

连场大雪后天气回暖，出太阳，积雪化成雾气，但连日无风，于是大雾笼罩。

冰雪天成本圣洁，
雾云仙驾更轻灵。
似山似水因人愿，
趋后趋前无定形。
山色素装作水墨，
天光灿烂幻华亭。
踏云才见骄阳好，
破雾方知万里青。

清晨上山

八拍蛮 清晨上山

残雪冷凝生昼雾，
密林憨立隐晨曦。
轻数踏冰车疾影，
静听知晓鸟嬉啼。

腊八偶感

如梦令 腊八偶感

今日腊八，大雪大风，窗外积雪如山。明天将回暖，大雨。

风疾雪狂山遁，
路冻枝歪人慎。
寒岁漫难熬，
枝已红青仍韫，
遥闻，遥闻，
春雨潇潇声近。

贺新年

醉妆词 贺新年

庆新岁，
贺新岁，
美酒佳肴会。
贺新岁，
庆新岁，
祝愿皆天遂。

雪夜忆好菜

几天前，大雪天晚上写记忆中的好菜，顺手胡乱填词一则，见笑。

忆江南 雪夜

纷纷落，
遍野漫山飘，
被困村中何以乐，
无聊网上度寒宵，
寄趣忆佳肴。