2014

Thoughts & Sayings (February 2014)

Here are some thoughts and sayings I posted on Twitter and/or Facebook in December 2013 and January 2014. To my knowledge, I made these up (for better or for worse). Sit back, relax, and enjoy the write!

Encouraging Words

1. You cannot deny destiny, but if you do nothing, destiny can deny you.

2. Doing two things at once takes half the time.

Twisted Words

3. I score a goal every time I hit the coffee puck into the trash.

In Its Own Write

4. I’m writing a book about a pair of normal Romans.

Holidays & Events

5. A human in a polar vortex is like a polar bear in a zoo.

6. ’13 was my lucky year. I made it to 2014.

7. The Mayan calendar ended in 2012. It only took me a year to catch up.

8. The ring of the cash registers sounds like silver bells.

9. Before the advent of December 1, there was November 30.

Random Musings

10. Sometimes what’s in the rear view is more interesting than what lies ahead.

11. Trains of thought don’t always run on schedule.

Click here to visit the Thoughts & Sayings page, or click here to read the previous batch of Thoughts & Sayings.

Images courtesy of Microsoft except Roman Coliseum photo by M.G. Edwards.

Happy Chinese New Year!

新年快乐！Xīn Nián Kuài Lè! Happy Chinese New Year! Happy Lunar New Year!

Welcome to the Year of the Wooden Horse or the Year of the Green Horse. Why a wooden or green horse? The Horse is one of twelve animals representing a twelve-year cycle in the Chinese lunar calendar. Combined with the five elements in the Chinese Zodiac, Metal, Water, Wood, Fire, and Earth, the calendar goes through a 60-year cycle where each animal is associated with a different element every 12 years. Visit HanBan for a great summary of the Year of the (Wooden) Horse. Click here for more information about the elements.

This year may bode well for those born in the Year of the Horse with some promising personality traits such as being outgoing, energetic, active, friendly, trustworthy, and popular with friends, family, and acquaintances. The same may hold true for all of us during the Year of the Horse if the Green Horse appears this year and proves auspicious. However, as Wood can burn Red with flame, 2014 may also bring turmoil and crises. Who’s to say which Horse will cross the chronological plain this year. 没关系 (méi guānxi). No problem. Party on! It’s time to celebrate Chinese New Year!

How do the Chinese celebrate the New Year? Well, it starts with days of shopping for and buying any and all things red, gold, and (this year) green to make the holiday more festive. Shoppers stock up on food, drink and treats for Chinese New Year dinners, fireworks to blow off at stroke of midnight, and hongbao (红包 or red envelopes) to fill with money for the children.

Chinese New Year is a time for families to celebrate the holiday together. Families who stay home and host festoon their houses with New Year decorations and prepare huge meals for extended family who join them for an evening…or often longer. It’s a time to enjoy great food and holiday delicacies, to catch up with family you might not have seen for a while, and to give hongbao to the children. If you’re lucky, your child will bow before you and promise to be behave as they ask for their red envelope.

Going home to visit family by train, plane, or bus is a holiday tradition not often mentioned. The week-long lunar celebration triggers the world’s largest annual mass migration with an estimated 3.6 billion trips made, including 225 million Chinese who traveled overseas for Chinese New Year.

After dinner, many Chinese families relax and watch the annual New Year Show on Chinese Central Television (CCTV). Part variety show, part music concert, the event is watched by an estimated 750 million people.

Just before midnight, millions of Chinese take to the streets, rooftops, or any open window to blow off fireworks to usher in the New Year. The spectacle is unbelievably loud and beautiful. The fireworks during the 2012 Year of the Dragon celebration in Shanghai were incredible! Click on the video below to watch.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WxxLq6A-wRY&w=600&h=337&hd=1]

2012 Chinese New Year in Shanghai, China

The next day, many Chinese families venture out to enjoy local public festivities. They may go shopping, watch New Year parades, or tour old, familiar places. The Lunar New Year is a time to remember family, friends, and ancestors, and many visit places that have been an important part of their families’ lives. These photos were taken in 2012, at the Temple of the Town Gods in Shanghai.

新年快乐！Xīn Nián Kuài Lè! Happy New Year to you and yours!

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Thoughts & Sayings (February 2013)

Here are some thoughts and sayings I posted on Twitter and/or Facebook in January. To my knowledge, I made these up (for better or for worse). Sit back, relax, and enjoy the write!

Encouraging Words

1. Once you go off the beaten track, you never go back.

2. I’m like a shoe looking for its soul.

3. I feel de spare whenever I see my belly in the mirror.

Twisted Words

4. I can’t seem to keep that fly off the handle!

5. I didn’t want to shovel snow, so I glared at it until it melted.

6. Chickens recoop their losses when farmers take their eggs.

In Its Own Write

7. I’m going back to my cave to write and bang out something.

Holidays & Events

8. American adoptive parents left out in the cold by Russia, take heart! Thousands of wealthy Frenchmen are eagerly waiting to be adopted.

9. This year’s hot French travel destination is Russia.

10. I have a hunch 2013 will be unlucky, so I skipped a year.

11. How come 2013 doesn’t look much different than last year? I thought everything would change.

Random Musings

12. 🙂 is the Chinese character for LOL.

13. Would yesterday’s masters succeed as contemporary artists?

14. If you’re selling Twitter followers, wouldn’t it be easier to make money selling 1 for a dollar?

15. This is the most important message you’re going to read. Until the next one.

Click here to visit the Thoughts & Sayings page, or click here to read the previous batch of Thoughts & Sayings.

M.G. Edwards is a writer of books and stories in the mystery, thriller and science fiction-fantasy genres. He also writes travel adventures. He is author of Kilimanjaro: One Man’s Quest to Go Over the Hill, a non-fiction account of his attempt to summit Mount Kilimanjaro, Africa’s highest mountain and a collection of short stories called Real Dreams: Thirty Years of Short Stories. His books are available as an e-book and in print on Amazon.com and other booksellers. He lives in Bangkok, Thailand with his wife Jing and son Alex.

For more books or stories by M.G. Edwards, visit his web site at www.mgedwards.com or his blog, World Adventurers. Contact him at me@mgedwards.com, on Facebook, on Google+, or @m_g_edwards on Twitter.