2023-08-11 Presidential Joke Day

【The Course of a Particular (1952)】

Wallace Stevens (1879—1955)

    Today the leaves cry, hanging on branches swept by wind,

    Yet the nothingness of winter becomes a little less.

    It is still full of icy shades and shapen snow.

    The leaves cry…One holds off and merely hears the cry.

    It is a busy cry, concerning someone else.

    And though one says that one is part of everything,

    There is a conflict, there is a resistance involved;

    And being part is an exertion that declines:

    One feels the life of that which gives life as it is.

    The leaves cry. It is not a cry of divine attention,

    Nor the smoke-drift of puffed-out heroes, nor human cry.

    It is the cry of leaves that do not transcend themselves,

    In the absence of fantasia, without meaning more

    Than they are in the final finding of the ear, in the thing

    Itself, until, at last, the cry concerns no one at all.

—— • —— • —— • —— • —— • —— • —— • ——

【《特定的历程》(1952)】

异乡人·史蒂文斯(1879生—1955卒)

【红霞译】

        今天树叶在哭泣，挂在被风吹过的树枝上，

        冬季的虚无显得少了一点。

        到处还是冰冷的色调和变硬的白雪。

        树叶在哭泣……静下来只听见哭声。

        止不住的哭泣，都与外人相关。

        毕竟人是万物的组成部分，

        有分歧，便有争执；

        置身其中总要尽力避免：

        感受赋予生命的生活。

        树叶在哭泣。既不是神灵垂爱的哭泣，

        又不是牛逼英雄的虚作，也不是人类的哭泣。

        而是无法超越自身的树叶之哭泣。

        没有幻想曲，还有什么比

        用耳朵捕捉到它们更有意义，论及事物

        本身，直至最后，哭泣不再与任何人有关。

【注】大学头两年儿子一直住校，尽管交通便利且安全性好，但诸如房间小、私密性差、难找熟知的室友作伴等显而易见的弊端让他痛下决心，大三定要跟本届其他两位知交另立门户。规划刚出炉，来自西雅图哥们的老乡也要求入伙，好在大家一拍即合，并授命暑假留守曼哈顿“山岛”的儿子负责张罗四居室公寓。

八月初儿子正式出马，一眼便看中位于东村区距离学校仅有半英里多的铸铁建筑——阁楼式公寓：面积2,400平方英尺、五间卧室，但问题来了，他们充其量只需要四间睡房，真是计划赶不上变化！摆在面前的两种选择：要么试图另辟蹊径，要么四人分担五卧租金。如果放弃，儿子心有不甘，毕竟少跑路意味着早上可以多睡会儿懒觉；如果接受，四位室友中的一位表示不愿因此而增加父母的经济负担。儿子见状开始发动群众，首先火速打电话向家人求助，我立马响应号召行动起来，一边群发朋友圈打探生源，一边劝解要一颗红心两手准备，这时离开学还剩下廿天左右，短时间内找到地理位置如此惬意的住所并非易事，虽说谋事在人成事在天，运气的确可遇不可求。无巧不成书！儿子竟然在回访的现场偶遇正在看房、曾与自己寒窗过好几门功课的同学，结果没费几天功夫接连收获意想不到，令我乐观其成。

Today in History(历史上的今天):

2014: YMCA Camp—Bullet Game(基督教青年会营子弹游戏)

Burnham Harbour in Chicago, IL

(贵人土地州芝加哥“洋葱”·溪流家园海港 08-17-1991)

Delinger's Point @ Carolina Park, SC

(南自由者州自由者公园·山坡岬角 08-25-1992)

Confederate Memorial Carving @ Stone Mountain, the Largest High Relief Sculpture in the World, Atlanta of GA

(农夫州地坚市石山南部邦联纪念雕刻·世界上最大的高浮雕雕塑 08-29-1993 )

Mount Rushmore National Memorial in South Dakota

(南盟友州·黑山国家纪念馆 08-16-1994)

Glen Canyon Natl Rec Area, UT

(山里人州·山坳峡谷国家休闲区 06-14-1995)

Jones Beach SP in Long Is, NY

(纽约州长岛·欲望滩州立公园 08-03-1996)

Night Fishing at Antibes (1939) by Pablo Picasso @ MoMA, NYC

(纽约现代艺术博物馆——“小·喜鹊”1939年创作的《跨城夜钓》08-23-1997)

Personage @ @ Donald M. Kendall Sculpture Gardens of Pepsico, NY

(纽约州百事可乐公司“力量·皇家谷”雕塑公园·《要人》08-09-1998)

East Conservatory of Longwood Gardens, PA

(宾州长木公园·东温室 08-01-1998)

Boardwalk in Atlantic Ocean, NJ

(新州大西洋城·木板人行道 08-01-1999)

Fairmount Water Works, Philadelphia

(费城·机遇之地水厂 08-11-2000)

USS Submarine Becuna-USS Cruiser Olympia @ Penn's Landing, Philadelphia

(费城美国角鲨号潜水艇—众神之家号巡洋舰 08-01-2002)

> 5-Mo Lad @ Home, NJ (新州本家·五个多月大的儿歌 08-13-2003)

Toddler-I @ Hotel MacOmber Built at the Turn of the Century & the Last Historic Landmark Bldg Erected in Cape May and the Largest Frame Structure for Its Time East of the Mississippi River, NJ

 (新州建于世纪之交的双胞胎之子酒店是五月岬最后一座历史性地标建筑，也是当时美国河以东新草州最大的框架结构·小幼儿生 08-08-2004 )

Toddler-II @ Merrymead Farm, PA

(宾州快乐草甸农场·大幼儿生 08-28-2005)

Preschool-I @ Sea Dragon of Dorney Park, PA

(宾州阴郁游乐场海龙飞车·小幼童生 08-12-2006)

Preschool-II @ Merrymead Farm, PA

(宾州快乐草甸农场·大幼童生 08-26-2007)

Pre-Kindergartener @ Minigolf in North Wales, PA

(宾州北外来镇小高尔夫球场·学前班预科生 08-25-2008)

Kindergartener @ Logan Sq, Philadelphia

(费城空心广场·学前班生 08-31-2009)

1^st Grader @ Carnival Hosted by Upper Gwynedd Children Learning Ctr Summer Camp, PA

(宾州上幸福镇幼儿园夏令营狂欢·小学一年级生 08-27-2010)

2^nd Grade @ Arabian Nights of Aladdin Show @ Germantown Academy Summer Camp, PA

(宾州德国城学校夏令营百老汇《阿拉丁“信仰高贵”·全新世界》——小学二年级 07-22-2011)

3^rd Grader in Ventnor City, NJ

(新州酒商城·小学三年级生 08-26-2012)

4^th Grader w/ Cousin Having Pizza Lunch @ Home, PA

(宾州本家·小学四年级生与表妹 08-18-2013)

Everglades NP, FL (花州青草水域国家公园 08-09-2014)

6^th Grader Teaching Chinese Chess @ Guanghua Chinese School Summer Camp, PA

(宾州光华中文学校夏令营·初一生教中国象棋 08-09-2015)

7^th Grader @ Scotsman Hotel-Monument to Dugald Stewart & Robert Burns-National Monument of Scotland-Nelson Monument, Edinburgh of UK

(英国岩石城堡·初二生 07-16-2016)

8^th Grader @ Place of the Cathedral Viewed from Restaurant Ortenberg in Strasbourg, France

(法国交叉道城从洁堡餐厅俯瞰大教堂广场·初三生 08-21-2017)

9^th Grader @ Eric's Graduation Party, PA

(宾州耶桁高中毕业聚会·高一生 08-04-2018)

10^th Grader w/ Cousin @ Courtyard of Pan Pacific Suzhou, China

(中国苏州吴宫泛太平洋酒店·高二生与表妹 07-25-2019)

Pergola of Stoneleigh, PA (宾州石头庄园·蔓藤架 08-30-2020)

The Freshman @ Jenga Tower, NYC

(纽约建造大厦·大一新生 08-27-2021)

The Sophomore @ Times Sq & Theater District Broadway, NYC

(纽约时代广场与剧院区绅士街·大二生 08-28-2022)

Interior Layout of Cast-Iron Loft Apt for the Jr Year, NYC

(纽约铸铁阁楼式公寓·五卧内部布局)

Living Rm & Kitchen of Cast-Iron Loft Apt for the Jr Year, NYC

(纽约铸铁阁楼式公寓·客厅与厨房)

Crosslink(相关博文):

Sophomore(大学二年级'2022-23)