Nostalgia

by Weichuen You 2006

東方的我和西方的我，想望著彼此，找不到平衡點。

Glamour of lilacs

by Weichuen You 2005

This is an old post from November, 2005 and I think some friends know that. So they probably know that I am going to tell the same story for the 101st time. Every May, people in Rochester, N.Y. await the coming of spring season eagerly. The one and only sign is the blooming of lilacs! Back at home, I hardly paid attention to the changes of plants because they're there practically all the time. There are different flowers for every season, and sometimes the same flowers blossom more than once within a year. It sounds crazy, but when people are always accompanied by so much "vitality" of nature, we tend to take everything for granted.

That April it still snowed. I was almost at the end of my patience, also at the bottom of my mood. The temperature rose in May, though it resembled more the winter in Taiwan. Bored and disappointed, I decided to give the lilac show a try.

It was a chilly day. The sky was sort of gray and rain was expected at any moment. But I DIDN'T EXPECT THE LILACS TO BE SO GLAMOUROUS! Since when did blooming flowers become so gorgeous? Especially when there was a vast sea of them..."So why did I feel so low?" I asked myself. I couldn't think of a good reason...

I'd seen mountains of azaleas and cherry flowers thousands of times in my life, but it was the lilacs that taught me to appreciate the glamour of silent things.

Oh My Loveman! 76 / 我的戀愛超人 76

by Weichuen You 2005

After Pipi went away, Loveman woke up all sweaty from the most terrible nightmare. In the dream, he found himself sleeping on the ice-cold water. It felt like he was going to sink at any moment. He cried like a baby, but no one came to his rescue. He was all alone.

He had a very very bad feeling...


戀愛超人像做了場惡夢般地驚醒，全身的冰冷令他分不清自己究竟是躺在床上還是水中。

Oh My Loveman! 75 / 我的戀愛超人 75

by Weichuen You 2005

Pipi walked into the dining room leaving a note for Loveman and his darling family. She hated to leave without telling them the reasons face-to-face, but it would be impossible to go in that way. Before she hurried out of the house, she gave a last glance to this place where she hadn't been stayed for long but it was certainly full of loving memories.

"Bye everyone..."


小艾留下了一封告別信，依依不捨地、輕輕地，向睡夢中的朋友道別，她所經歷的，也像一場夢。或許一醒來，她就到家了。

Oh My Loveman! 74 / 我的戀愛超人 74

by Weichuen You 2005

At this moment, Pipi crept on the tips of her feet and walked to the bedside of Loveman. She whispered into his ear, "I am sorry, but I really have to go. I still think of my family, who might be so worried about me..." After giving him a light kiss on his cheek, she left though she still had so much to say.

Loveman dreamed of Pipi floating in the transparent light-bluish water. There was no fear on her face. Only a touch of tenderness and firm determination.


當全世界都熟睡時，小艾躡手躡腳地來到戀愛超人的床邊，「對不起，我真的該回家了，我在這裡過了一生中最難忘的夏天，謝謝你，我會永遠地記得你。」

Oh My Loveman! 73 / 我的戀愛超人 73

by Weichuen You 2005

After the night fell, the seaside was unusually serene. The tides caressing the sands created regular, soothing rhythms. Even the little boat was almost put to sleep.


深夜，屋內屋外一樣寂靜，只有潮水聲規律地起起伏伏。

Doors

by Weichuen You 2006

cats

by Weichuen You 2006

"Mama, what is the girl doing?"
"I think she is afraid of us."
"Why? Doesn't she know that we wear the same colors of clothes? We can be friends!"

"Huh...When are you leaving?"

I think I am the only person with no stocks of cat drawings. I know, it's shocking to hear that I am afraid of cats, apart from dogs. In fact, the former are much more intimidating for me. Cats are very playful and bold. And they know better than any other human being my fear for them. Maybe it's because they can see through me that I dare not approach them. I'd like to remain mysterious sometimes:-).

Today I was tempted to use only three colors-black, red and white. A simple combination of colors can actually heighten the effect. I mixed red respectively with white and black to reveal the inner feelings of cats and the character, calm and cool for the former, tense for the latter. And I'd wanted to do paintings with acrylic effect for a long time. When I laid thick layers of water-colors on the paper, one sentence came to my mind, "This is what we call 'life'!"

Papillon

Oh My Loveman! 72 / 我的戀愛超人 72

by Weichuen You 2005

Then Loveman, Pipi and everyone in the family had another feast, as if it would never end. They ate, talked, laughed, ran, danced, jumped. Uncle Patrick, after a long day of hard work, looked at them in perfect serenity and mumbled to himself, "Oh, family sweet family..."

This was also the best day Pipi had ever had in her entire life.


「唉喲！我甜蜜的家‧‧‧」

「叔叔你看！」「來吃嘛！」「別那麼小氣嘛！」「看我的龍蝦功！」

「好新鮮的螃蟹和蝦！」「還是海中直接捕來的呢！」

「我們好幸福喔！可以邊看日落，邊吃燒烤，人生夫復何求！」

Oh My Loveman! 71 / 我的戀愛超人 71

by Weichuen You 2005

"Hey guys! I am back with tons of fresh seafood!" Uncle Patrick waved to everyone and caught their attention immediately by blurting out the word that they had been waiting for.
"Seafood? How can we miss that? IMPOSSIBLE!" The family rushed forward in glee and Pipi was left all alone on the beach.
"What? They left me for seafood? Am I not the patient that passed out only a moment ago?" Pipi mumbled to herself in surprise.


「親愛的，我替大家加菜回來了！今晚有海鮮可吃囉！」

「海鮮？衝啊！」

「那我呢？我不是暈倒了嗎？怎麼沒人理我？」

Oh My Loveman! 70 / 我的戀愛超人 70

by Weichuen You 2005

"Help! Somebody fainted here!" Aunt Claudine shouted loud for help.
"Help! Help!" The two little brothers followed though they didn't have a clue what had happened.
"Pipi! Are you alright?" The other people gathered around her waiting for her to come to.
"Huh? What happened?" She had a very surprised look on her face. Obviously, she didn't remember at all the story that had taken place a little while ago.
"You drank and then you passed out. Remember?" Loveman explained.
"Oh..." At least everyone was relieved to see that Pipi was awake and fine.


「救命啊！有人暈倒了！」「救救命啊！」「酒量這麼小啊！」「試試看按摩好了！」「這怎麼辦才好？」「小艾！妳還好嗎？」「我，怎麼啦？」

「救命喲！幫幫忙！」

Oh My Loveman! 69 / 我的戀愛超人 69

by Weichuen You 2005

The glass dropped from Pipi's hand. She found herself floating in the air, above the sea. Everything around her was so unreal, but she was very happy. She might have heard people calling after her from a faraway place. "Pipi! Pipi!" But that didn't matter at all...


「我怎麼輕飄飄飛起來啦？」

Elegy of Eden

by Weichuen You 2004

I ended my 2.5-year-long love affair several days ago. I think I've lost the beautiful vision of Eden. It was not the deadly Apple that made the state of bliss evaporate. There were apples of modern civilization like capitalism, social and cultural differences...

I had a very lovely image in mind when I learned of the theme for Illo Friday, but after a few days' hesitation, I just don't know how to put it down. Also, sometimes I am still sentimental about the fabulous moments we once had. I decide to share this picture I did as the poster for the story "Oh My Loveman!". I will think of it as a perfect moment frozen in my memory.

Most of all, I want to dedicate this to Dim, who was and is always that nice and tender. We'll find l'amour vit quelquepart encore down the path. Our hearts might be more bruised and life might feel more incomplete, but they are definitely bigger, softer, stronger with the passing of time...

Oh My Loveman! 68 / 我的戀愛超人 68

by Weichuen You 2005

"So, let's toast to Pipi!" Everyone raised their glasses and gulped a mouthful of the lovely red wine.
"Yeah, cheers to all of you! This is one of the best moments in my life. It's nice meeting such nice people like you!" Pipi jumped onto the dining table and toasted to everyone like a super woman. She simply forgot one crucial thing.


「小艾！我們要和妳乾一杯！」「來吧！」

Oh My Loveman! 67 / 我的戀愛超人 67

by Weichuen You 2005

Loveman's family prepared a crazy feast for Pipi. There were all kinds of classical French food. Pipi was touched beyond description.
"What about a handful of appetizers?"
"Would you like a piece of baguette?"
"Let me pour some wine for you!"
"Try our couscous!"
"Our choucroute is perfect! Have some!"
"You can't miss our array of cheese!"
"Don't forget the dessert! Today we serve banana splits and la galette des rois!"
Amid the bustling, Uncle Patrick had the feeling that something lacked in the scrumptious meal. He turned and left the table without further explanation.


「有朋自遠方來，當然少不了一頓大餐囉！今天的菜色有：德國香腸醃白菜、 當然少不了每餐必備的法國麵包，既然有重要客人，紅酒白酒一起上場吧！ 再配上開味小點，休息夠了之後，上另一道豪華的佳餚─庫斯庫斯，以香蕉船和格子蛋糕作完美的收尾，對了，派崔叔叔怎麼不見啦？」

Oh My Loveman! 66 / 我的戀愛超人 66

by Weichuen You 2005

"Salut Pipi!"
"Hi Pipi!"
"Welcome to our family!"
"Hello!"
"Pipi!"
"Nice to meet you!"
"Ni hao!"
Suddenly Pipi was surrounded by a bunch of friendly people she had never seen, but their hospitality was really irresistible...


「小艾好！」「妳好！」「歡迎！」「耶！有新朋友呢！」「哈囉！」「過來讓我們抱抱！」「看這裡！」

Sea monsters

by Weichuen You 2002

Little Callie has a contradictory complex for the sea. She wants to learn swimming badly, but she is terribly afraid of water too. She imagines big sea monsters living down there. If she goes too deep, they will come chase her and devour her.

第凡內早餐

天還沒亮，紐約城還覆蓋在一片黑暗時，Sakura和我在半夢半醒間從旅館爬到第五大道上的第凡內珠寶店，我們倆手裡拿著早餐，想一窺究竟當年奧黛莉賀本飾演的荷莉為什如此著迷櫥窗裡的風景。

我們在取景的當兒，猛然看見荷莉又回來了，她說和作家的生活不順遂，於是她又相信只有珠寶才是女人最好的朋友，我們各就各位之後，瞇起眼睛很努力地往裡面瞧，每個人的臉上寫著迥然不同的表情，荷莉露出她那自信迷人的微笑，我滿臉盡是驚訝，Sakura除了有些不可思議之外，還有些期待。

早上七點的第凡內，我們都覺得不虛此行。

Oh My Loveman! 65 / 我的戀愛超人 65

by Weichuen You 2005

"Oh you must be homesick! Come, I am going to take you to a place and you won't be sad anymore!" Loveman held out his hand to Pipi. The sun showed up in the sky that had been cloudy earlier.


「家人？讓我想想辦法，來，我帶妳去個地方！」

Oh My Loveman! 64 / 我的戀愛超人 64

by Weichuen You 2005

Pipi imagined her poor mom looking and screaming for her in the pouring rain and whirling wind.
"Pipi, my daughter! Where are you? I am so sorry to have treated you like that. Oh come home my pumpkin pie!"


「雖然我常被媽媽懲罰，我想她一定很擔心我，我們島上以颱風和地震聞名，她一定以為我被吹走了，我得趕快回家才行！」「小艾！小艾！妳在哪啊？」