Burger睡到翻!!!

甜蜜的負擔

這是即將入住的甜蜜小窩...決定結婚和買屋同時進行，儘管要同時忙兩件事，但是我喜歡一次把所有事情settle down的感覺，縱然過程難免有些天人交戰。

選擇結婚對象很自然，但選擇房子卻很難。首先要把自己的條件和底限列出來--十分有限的預算、環境須單純寬敞、通勤方面可以做比較大的讓步，但必須是新成屋。於是台北市首先出局，因為買不起就不用多花時間思考，台北縣幾個地方比較了一下，最喜歡三峽，於是選定地區後才開始看房子。看房子前在網路上看了這個區域很多新建案的牌價，先有個譜然後再動身去看房子。其實也沒真的看透透，因為已經清楚這區一般的單價，於是看對眼了，價格也在預算內，一切於是乎拍板定案。其實過程中也有很多親朋好友建議買台北市郊的中古屋，但是每個人的原則跟想法總會不同，因此選擇也不同。我還是選定三峽，我知道通勤要花比現在多很多的時間，但在諸多考量下，還是做了這樣的選擇。

在我列的這些條件限制和原則下，有些朋友覺得奇怪，還有林口、五股、泰山、樹林、鶯歌、南崁這麼多地方乍看之下應該符合我的預算和需求，為何挑三峽。的確，抉擇過程很困惑也很掙扎，說實話，要我仔細解釋我也說不出所以然，只能說當人對已知的部分都用理性分析完後，剩下未知的部分一半憑感覺、一半賭。賭什麼？賭未來後悔選錯地方的機率有多大。

有位主管很愛跟我們說"Moment of Truth"的重要，這些硬梆梆的企管理論我總是左耳進右耳出。但是我相信"Moment of Choice"，這個詞是自己亂套用的，但是我想這樣的思辯確實是很多思想家、文學家都探討過的。我記得大一英文期末考其中一題考Robert Frost的"The Road Not Taken"，因為這首詩的文字簡單但饒富哲學意涵，讓我印象深刻。

"Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,
And sorry I could not travel both
And be one traveler . . ."

這句話說的白一點，就是"you can't have your cake and eat it too"，兩條路絕對是不同的，但你又無法知道這兩條路分別會引領你到哪裡，但是選了一條路後，發現走錯了，卻很難回頭再重選一次，於是到了第三個Stanza:
"Oh, I kept the first for another day!
Yet knowing how way leads on to way.
I doubted if I should ever come back."

到了這裡，讀者難免把自身經驗和詩連結在一塊，不免俗地期待詩人告訴讀者哪一條路才是對的道路，但是Robert Frost輕輕一躍，意境高超，也讓人彷彿當頭棒喝：
"I Shall be telling with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence:
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I--
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference."

Robert Frost的眼中已無好壞、對錯，只有單純的差異，一切雲淡風輕。

回想沙特(Jean-Paul Sartre)對於"選擇(choice)"的論點，不難發現這首詩的結尾也頗能呼應Sartre的想法。簡言之，Sartre認為I am my choices. What is not possible is not to choose. I can always choose; if I do not choose, that is still a choice. If faced with inevitable circumstances, we still choose how we are in those circumstances.

總之無論如何，人都難避免要做選擇，如果逃避不選，終究還是做了選擇(選擇什麼都不做)。在這種思想前提下，沙特的"存在先於本質"與"自由"等論述也就顯得相當一貫。

不過，Robert Frost和Sartre對"選擇"的態度還是不同，前者帶點"只到天涼好個秋"的超脫，而後者則強調對自己的選擇負責。無論前者或後者，我想都是我輩該師習的良好態度吧！

Burger and me

I would never forget the first sentence with which Louisa May Alcott used to start the world famous novel "Little Women"--"Christmas won't be Christmas without any presents." For us people in the East, Christmas may not arouse some profound feelings as such. Nevertheless, this sentence still can grasp my attention. And I believe many othr people, even though they're not celebrating Christmas, would think alike. Why? It's because "Christmas never has to be the holiday per se." It just metonymically refers to anything that means a lot to an individual; it could be anything.

For me, I would paraphrase Alcott to suit my temperament--"A home won't be a home without a dog." For this reason, my girlfriend and I finally made up our minds to look for a dog for our sweet home. The photo above is a snapshot of Burger and me. Some of you may wonder why I needed to "make up my mind" to have a dog. The explanation to such a question can never be easy for me. This is sort of paradoxical....

I had a dog named Dodo and he had kept me company for many years. Nearly one year after the completion of my master thesis, he left me and my family and would never return. I've lamented his death for quite a long time, and tended to think that I would not get a dog as Dodo is not replaceabe; he is my family, not just a pet. But recently, I come to realize that it's all about karma. Dodo will be living in my memory and never be far away. And now, the karma between Burger and me has arose just now....