hair style

Because you're Swiss, not feta

You know, if New Moon was actually a satire, I'd say it was geniusly done, especially when Bella keeps going on (and on and on) about her "gaping hole".

But for a description that is supposed to be taken seriously...well, honestly, can you take it seriously?

On another note, why, oh Stephenie, why would you want to compare your deepest, darkest, rawest and most painful feelings to...cheese?

Read the above simile with regards to Swiss cheese again and tell me that that's not something to be taken straight out of a parody.

Then again, this post from RwV just made me laugh for much too long.

Please, Bella Stephenie, research cheese before you start using it as a simile/metaphor for depression. Thank you.

Có một cô gái tôi yêu - Triệu Vy

Nàng. Đó là cách gọi âu yếm dành cho Triệu Vy của những người yêu thích nàng. Đó cũng là từ tôi thường dùng để nhắc đến nàng. Cũng đã hơn 10 năm rồi, nàng có lẽ là tình yêu lâu nhất của đời tôi.
*For back up purposes

Tôi không muốn gọi bản thân là fan, và cũng không muốn gọi nàng là thần tượng, ít nhất là không phải là với ý nghĩa hiện nay của những từ này. Trong một thế giới giải trí của những "diễn viên thần tượng" và "phim thần tượng", thì hai chữ thần tượng dường như đồng nghĩa với sự "xì tin", nhí nhảnh dễ thương, sự nổi tiếng chớp nhoáng, và sự quan tâm cũng chớp nhoáng đến thế.

Từ bé đến lớn, tôi có nhiều thần tượng: diễn viên, nhiều ca sĩ, cả nam, cả nữ. Họ đều là những người khiến tôi chỉ quan tâm khi các tác phẩm của họ đang thịnh hành, nhưng rồi dần trôi vão lãng quên trong tâm trí tôi. Năm đầu tiên tôi biết rằng mình đã yêu nàng, tôi cũng không dám tin cho rằng sau đó hơn 10 năm, tôi sẽ vẫn còn yêu nàng, với một tình cảm thậm chí còn mãnh liệt hơn. Tôi không dám tin tình cảm của một con bé 11 tuổi có thể kiên định đến thế. Không phải lúc nào tôi cũng dõi theo từng hoạt động, từng nhịp thăng trầm trong cuộc sống của nàng, nhưng từ lúc đó, trong tôi luôn có một tình cảm đặc biệt dành cho nàng. Mỗi lần tôi nghĩ đến nàng, đó là một sự trìu mến. Có lạ không, có điên rồ không, khi tôi đã dành một nửa cuộc đời để yêu nàng?

Trong nhiều năm, tôi dành tình cảm cho nàng một cách vô tư, không nghĩ ngợi. Nhưng rồi lớn lên một chút, tôi phải hỏi, tại sao? Vì thành thật mà nói, đối với tôi, phim của nàng được chia ra làm ba loại: phim tôi xem và thích, phim tôi xem và thấy chán hoặc không thích, phim tôi chưa xem. Và cũng thành thật mà nói thì hai danh sách sau dài hơn danh sách trước.

Dù hay hay dở, tôi thường đo độ ảnh hưởng của phim đối với bản thân bằng cách phim đó có tạo cảm hứng cho tôi viết về nó hay không. Phần lớn phim của nàng không đủ để thúc đẩy tôi phải đặt tay lên bàn phím và viết cảm tưởng về nó. Giờ nhìn lại, nàng mới làm đúng hai bộ phim thật sự có khả năng làm tôi cảm và nhớ mãi sau khi xem: Hoàn Châu Cách Cách và Đêm Thượng Hải. Tôi không muốn nói rằng tôi ghét tất cả những bộ phim khác tôi từng xem. Đơn giản là chúng không làm tôi muốn xem lại, như Tịch dương thiên sứ, hay Tình nhân kết. Với những bộ phim đó, tôi hiểu tại sao người khác lại thích chúng, tại sao chúng nhận được giải thưởng, nhưng tôi không...quan tâm(!). Những phim khác như Trà xanh hay thậm chí Hoa Mộc Lan , tôi hiểu nàng thấy những yếu tố nghệ thuật gì trong đó, nhưng chúng làm tôi buồn ngủ và khiến tôi muốn tắt phắt TV/máy tính sau chỉ mấy chục phút.

Thật ra tôi không thích nhiều phim của nàng không phải do diễn xuất của nàng không đạt. Không, phần lớn tôi thấy nàng diễn đạt và nhập tâm. Những vinh dự và sự tôn trọng từ những người trong ngành mà nàng nhận được trong suốt sự nghiệp của mình cũng đủ chứng minh nàng là một diễn viên tốt. Tôi không thích nhiều phim của nàng đơn giản vì kịch bản, hay chủ đề, hay một cái gì đó trong bộ phim không thực sự chạm được vào trái tim tôi. Có nhiều phim, vì nàng, tôi rất muốn thích, nhưng cuối cùng lực bất tòng tâm. Nói ngắn gọn là nàng và tôi có khiếu thưởng thức phim quá khác nhau, hay cũng có lẽ nàng chọn kịch bản vì những thử thách về chuyên môn, còn tôi muốn xem phim vì những gì tôi thích.

Phải chăng tôi yêu nàng vì giọng hát của nàng? Không hẳn vậy. Tôi đã nghe hết các album của nàng, và tôi công nhận nàng biết hát. Tôi thích nghe giọng hát đó, nhưng có ít bài làm cho tôi phải trầm trồ, phải dừng lại để nghe.

Tôi và nhiều người yêu nàng mà tôi biết sẽ thẳng thắn tuyên bố rằng nàng không có khiếu ăn mặc và nhiều khi nàng cũng không quan tâm mình có ăn mặc đẹp hay không (thật ra nàng và tôi có điểm tương đồng ở hai chỗ đó). Đã bao nhiêu lần mà tôi dành ra nửa tiếng đồng hồ để tìm ảnh, chia sẻ ảnh sự kiện của nàng, và những câu bình luận đầu tiên nhận được là, "Nàng hôm nay mặc xấu quá, già quá!" Chúng tôi yêu nàng, rất yêu, nhưng nhiều khi cũng phải đập đầu vào bàn phím vì những bộ đồ nàng mặc trên thảm đỏ. Chúng tôi thừa nhận, đến lúc này, nàng phải cố gắng thì mới có vẻ bề ngoài xinh đẹp, và nhiều khi nàng cũng chẳng thèm cố gắng.

Đến giờ chắc hẳn bạn cũng đang hỏi, vậy tôi yêu nàng ở điểm nào?

Trong một thời gian dài, tôi cũng chẳng biết nữa. Chẳng lẽ tôi hoài cổ đến nỗi cứ phải ngoái mãi lại và yêu nàng vào thời Hoàn Châu?

Điều lạ lùng là câu trả lời đến khi những tin đồn về chuyện nàng mang thai, lấy chồng (hay chưa lấy chồng) ập tới. Chúng ập tới như một cơn bão từ tất cả các nguồn, với những sự đồn thổi khó chịu.

Khi bất cứ một trang web nào liên quan tới giới giải trí châu Á cũng đều bàn về việc "bầu bí chồng con" của nàng, tôi bỗng cảm thấy phải bảo vệ nàng khỏi những lời đồn đại đó, dù một phần trong tôi biết rằng có nhiều khả năng chúng chứa sự thật. Tôi tránh những bài báo tin đồn đó như tránh bệnh dịch; thậm chí tôi còn bảo người khác đừng mang chuyện đó ra bàn tán, vì tất nhiên, đến khi tự nàng lên tiếng, thì đó là những tin vớ vẩn. Tôi bám vào mọi chứng cớ có thể tìm được để chứng minh những lời đồn kia không có thực.

Không phải tôi không muốn nàng lấy chồng, hay vì tôi vẫn còn vấn vương giấc mơ một ngày nàng sẽ đến được bên "Ngũ A Ca" Tô Hữu Bằng. Không, hoàn toàn không. Tôi yêu Ngũ A Ca và Tiểu Yến Tử, nhưng tôi khó chịu với những lời gán ghép nàng với Tô Hữu Bằng (hay bất cứ một ai khác) một cách mù quáng. Tôi mong nàng yên bề gia thất từ lâu rồi, và tôi biết người mang đến hạnh phúc đó cho nàng sẽ không phải là Tô Hữu Bằng. Dù người đó là ai đi nữa, tôi cũng không muốn tin vui của nàng trở thành thứ nuôi sống báo lá cải.

Tôi muốn nghe tin vui của nàng từ chính nàng, và còn hơn thế nữa, tôi không muốn báo chí đề cập tới nó. Tôi thà nàng giữ bí mật đó cho riêng nàng, để tôi không biết, còn hơn nghe nó từ nguồn báo lá cải với những lời đoán mò về cuộc sống riêng tư của nàng. Đó là mong muốn ngớ ngẩn; tất nhiên báo chí sẽ tìm ra và họ sẽ nói và bình luận, rất nhiều là khác. Đó dù sao cũng là một phần mục đích của báo chí. Tôi hiểu vậy, và vì thế tôi tiếc cho nàng, vì nàng không đáng phải chịu sự soi mói đến vậy.

Tôi cố gắng với bản thân để không soi mói vào khía cạnh đó của cuộc đời nàng. Chỉ đến khi nàng lên tiếng về việc này, tôi mới bắt đầu nhận ra tại sao tôi yêu quý nàng đến vậy. Tôi khâm phục bản lĩnh của nàng, cách nàng đối mặt với những khó khăn trong cuộc sống, trong sự nghiệp, trong khi tất cả thế giới đang nhìn chòng chọc vào cuộc đời nàng và đưa ra những lời bình phẩm.

Tính đến lúc đó, nàng đã trải qua những điều mà với một người thiếu bản lĩnh và tài năng hơn, có thể hủy hoại cả một sự nghiệp. Ai có thể cho rằng họ có thể vượt qua một scandal như vụ bức ảnh quân kỳ Nhật của nàng, hay những lời đồn đại về các mối tình tay ba tay tư để có được địa vị như nàng đang có hiện nay trong nghề, và cùng lúc đó có được hạnh phúc trong cả cuộc sống? Tôi khơi lại những ký ức buồn nhất trong sự nghiệp và cuộc sống của nàng, không phải để chỉ trích, mà để nhìn lại và cảm thấy tự hào là nàng đã có đủ sức mạnh để vượt qua những nỗi đau đó để có được ngày hôm nay.

Điều trớ trêu là, tôi biết những điều này về nàng qua báo chí. Hình ảnh nàng trong lòng tôi là sự chắp ghép của những bài báo, lời trích dẫn, bài phỏng vấn: nói chung hầu hết là những lời báo chí cho là nàng đã nói, và những lời nói của người khác về nàng.

Thật ra, ai mà biết được ngoài đời nàng thật sự là người thế nào?

Có lẽ Triệu Vy tôi yêu là Triệu Vy trong lòng tôi, khác với một Triệu Vy thật sự ngoài đời. Nhưng điều đó không có gì làm tôi buồn, vì dù nàng có thật sự như tôi tưởng tượng hay không thì bao năm qua, nàng đã cho tôi buồn vui cùng nàng, cũng như cho tôi niềm tin vượt qua những thời điểm khó khăn, buồn bã hay chỉ đơn giản là nhàm chán của cuộc sống. Nàng như nguồn động lực của tôi, vì nếu nàng có thể vượt qua những nỗi đau trong cuộc sống của mình, thì tôi, với những khó khăn nhỏ hơn, cũng có thể vượt qua. Nàng đã hiện diện trong cuộc đời tôi nhiều hơn là tôi ý thức được. Và tôi yêu nàng vì điều đó.

© Xuân Hiền @Quaivatdienanh.com

What’s in a name?

…Well, a lot, apparently. Juliet had no idea what she was talking about.

Along with globalisation, there comes a rather long-winded debate in Vietnam that I just find slightly silly and a bit like arguing that an apple is a fruit and an orange is a fruit but an apple is not an orange (that’s not really a saying, I made that up :P).

So, should Vietnamese (or Chinese or Thai or X nationality, for that matter) people take on English names when living overseas/working with foreigners/not working with foreigners and not living overseas/ever?

I’ve been called Hen or something that rhymes with Heinz ketchup. And regardless of famous English rule of “i before e except after c”, I’ve lost count of the number of time people have spelled my name Hein. Trust me, I know it’s annoying when people mispronounce/misspell your name. But maybe my name is still a relatively easy name to write and pronounce, I don’t see the fuss adopting or not adopting an English name. But other people apparently do put up a fuss.

There are two arguments to this debate:

Yes, when you live overseas and your name can be mispronounced into something rude/unpleasant then by all means, go by some other name.
No, even if you’re threatened with death you still should not change anything about the name that your parents gave you because you should have pride/be patriotic/not do it just because having an English name is cool

And then there’s the stance of “Who cares? No one makes a fuss over foreigners adopting Vietnamese names, we even find it interesting/intriguing. Why do we discriminate against Vietnamese people who adopting foreign names?”

You know what, all three points are valid, and yet there are people who just don’t get that!

As I understand it, one of the things that stirred up this debate is a fad amongst Vietnamese Paris Hilton-like celebrities who are famous for being famous who all have English names regardless of there being no need for it. They live in Vietnam, they “work” (whatever that work is) in Vietnam with Vietnamese people, so why? Indeed. And this, I must say, is a case when it’s really stupid to adopt English names because it doesn’t stem from consideration and respect for others or for yourself, it’s a fad that is …well, pointless.

A friend of mine worked in a company (in Vietnam!) where it is compulsory for you to have an English name. I think this is ridiculous because 1) even if the company is foreign, they have a base in Vietnam, so deal with it! When in Rome... and 2) it's forcing one culture on another. I'm not going to compare it to the Chinese Qing-dynasty queue order because it's a rather slippery slope, but it is nonetheless, not very respectful of the home culture.

Personally, I think that even if you live overseas, but you have a relatively innocent name like mine, you shouldn’t feel the need or pressure to adopt another English name. I think if foreign people are capable of pronouncing your name in your native tongue and it doesn’t get mangled into something too unpleasant, then they should be given a chance to show you respect by calling you by your birth name. But that’s just my opinion. In this case, if you do adopt your name, it should be considered a personal choice and because you live overseas, an English name just makes your day to day life a little more convenient.

And then there are cases of Vietnamese names when written in English (or French for that matter), just looks rude. My Dung is a Vietnamese name with Chinese roots (美容) that means beautiful countenance but it looks rather problematic on an English-language document. And then I pity the man whose name is Le Chien who lives in France. Spelling aside, there names like Phuc or Bich that are just bad when you pronounce it wrong. These are cases when I would say, yes, for the purity of both our languages, please adopt an English name if you live overseas or interact with foreigners on a regular basis. In these cases, it’s not a matter of pride or coolness or patriotism, it’s more a matter of being considerate of both the person who might have to say your name and of yourself, who will otherwise hear very unpleasant things when you are being called.

Not all Vietnamese names get mangled into unpleasant things though. At my office there is a girl named Quynh Anh and it gets mispronounced into Queen Anne which is rather interesting.

As to the case of expats living in Vietnam having Vietnamese names. This is the double standard. Vietnamese find foreigners who have Vietnamese names rather an exciting phenomenon. It’s a case of OMG, Western people actually wants to copy something of ours!!!

This is, I think, slightly different from Vietnamese people taking English names when they live overseas, which is all too usual, so much that sometimes it is considered the norm. Expats living in Vietnam taking Vietnamese names is a lot more unusual and it’s usually a gesture of friendship, it usually happens with expats who actually speak Vietnamese (which is not as usual as you might think) and yes, it does make people friendlier to you in certain circumstances.

Case in point: I knew a family, whose children went to my school and everyone in their family had a Vietnamese name. Part of that was due to the fact that they’d been living in Vietnam since the time when we still see foreigners on the street and point at them yelling “Tây! Tây!” Now, it’s not so unusual to see expats living and working in Vietnam so that doesn’t happen (as often) anymore, at least in the city. Another reason, I’d hazard a guess, was that at the time when they first came to Vietnam, people were not so used to trying to figure out how to pronounce “complicated” foreign names. But maybe the most important point is, their Vietnamese names didn’t replace their real names. It was more like a nickname and most of the time they were still addressed by their real names.

I don’t think you’ve committed any kind of crime if you want an English name, but I think there should be a reason for it, even if it’s just convenience. This is such a relative issue that you can’t possibly say “you have to do this” or “you can’t do this”, which some people are trying to do.

Camel and leopard

camel jacket : ZARA

leopard bag : ZARA

tops : ダズリン

shorts : moussy

tights : FOREVER21

shoes : jeffrey campbell

去年辺りから黒からキャメル、ベージュにチェンジしたnahokoです

流行に乗っかってます(`･ω･´)ﾀﾞﾒﾃﾞｽﾈｰlol

ヒョウ柄とキャメルをテーマにしたfashionでした☆

あとlookbookに投稿したよ!!

みんな見てってね☆

投票してねーヨロシク☆

http://lookbook.nu/look/1663760-Leopard-and-camel

あっそうそうFOREVER21でアクセサリーを買ったよ☆

FOREVER21のアクセサリーは可愛過ぎる(●´艸｀）

指輪が多いねー(　ﾟ,_･･ﾟ)ﾌﾞﾌﾟｯ

あとーだーい好きなJeffrey CampbellのLitaシリーズのブラックを購入!!

履いてみると可愛いのーッ！！

惚れぼれですーっ(●´艸｀）

また違う色のバージョンを買うつもりッ(p´ｴ`*)

値段もそんなに高くないし最高♪

ではまたー(｀･∀･´) えっへん！

I'm going to be published!

Well, not really me, per se.

So last year, a friend introduced me to a book editor at a publishing house in Ho Chi Minh City and the editor asked me to translate a book for them from English to Vietnamese. The book? Brand New World by Max Lenderman.

Whilst it is a very very interesting book about marketing in BRIC countries, this post is more to talk about the art of translation in general.

I have just received the final edit of the translated book and it's due to be published at the end of this month. Let me tell you, there's something about seeing your name on a book, even as just the translator, that is just...I can't describe it. I was literally jumping up and down. Thankfully I took the day off and wasn't at work because I wouldn't be able to concentrate on work after receiving that. (My taking two days off work had nothing to do with the book).

Of course I knew that it was going to be published sooner or later (they paid me, after all) and that I translated it, but it wasn't until you see the actual page, with the book's name and your name on the same page, that it really starts to sink it. I can't wait to have the actual book in my hand though.

Frontispiece

Anyway, I'm looking at the pdf of this book. It's 328 pages in full, with cover pages and end notes which I did not translate, but for this book I did translate about 280 pages, which now when I'm looking at all of it one place, I'm sort of in disbelief. I'm even more in disbelief reading back at it, because I don't remember writing any of these words but nonetheless, the words are here on the page. The unfamiliarness wasn't due to the edits, most of it was actually my words when I compared to my manuscript. I swear I'm reading it, and the first chapter sounds familiar but that's because I agonised so much over it but then as I go on, I start reading it as if a book someone else had written and translated, that I was reading this for the first time. Which is weird because at the back of my mind I knew I translated it but it doesn't feel like it. I think it's partly because the actual original words and the ideas behind the words weren't mine to begin with, so it doesn't feel I'm reading myself.

The only problem with actually having translated a book is that for a while you go a bit funny and read everything with the intent to translate it. I was reading a translation of Eat, Pray, Love and I kept translating it back into English from Vietnamese. But that's partly because the translation wasn't that great to begin with and it distracted me (I don't mean I am by any means a perfect translator, but this particular translation of Eat, Pray, Love wasn't to my style. Then again maybe that's just the original book itself). Then I watched the movie and was bored and so right now it doesn't look like I'm going to be finishing the book.

Back to translation. Now that I look back at it, my whole "career" in translation is rather scary, mostly because I'm totally making things up as I go and I'm not remotely qualified to do it; I still feel like I have no business translating a book that is going to actually be published. The most obvious reason for that is that my Vietnamese isn't even that good to begin with. I went to Vietnamese school for exactly 3 years of my life and the rest of it was spent in English-speaking schools and university with very limited expose to learning Vietnamese as a language. My grasp of vocabulary is woefully limited and when it comes to marketing lingo? I swear I looked up every single marketing term on the internet for the Vietnamese translation. And yet it was because I had so lost touch with Vietnamese in my education that prompted me to get into translation in the first place.

It started when in my first year of university in Australia, having too much time on my hand and in an environment with too little opportunity to use Vietnamese and I was afraid that after three years here, my Vietnamese would be even worst than it already it. At the time, for reasons now unknown to me, I was member of an online forum about movies and they were starting a group who would translate movie news from English into Vietnamese. I joined. I totally didn't intend to stay there for the whole three years of university. The circumstances in which I left the group and the forum wasn't the most...cordial, shall we say, but looking back, I can't help but be grateful for that time because as useless as it sounded, spending all that time online, I learned so much and met some people who are now really close friends (including said friend who introduced me to said book editor who offered me said book :P). So yes, I went to translating gossip news about Lindsay Lohan's DUI cases to translating a book, but hey, you had to start somewhere, right?

Bỗng dưng muốn khóc...

...mà đếch khóc được.

Mình đã quyết tâm 1) không kêu ca về Tân HCCC nữa và 2) không viết tiếng Việt trên blog này. Nhưng người tính không bằng trời tính. Mà ông trời ơi, giết tôi đi. Mình cứ tưởng mình đã over cái cảm giác bực tức về độ nhí nhảnh chết người của Tiểu Lố nhố và Vĩnh Thái giám, thế mà các bạn ý lại nhân ngày Va lung tung đưa ra cái ảnh này…….

Vâng, đó là một Vĩnh Thái giám theo nghĩa đen.

Không ngờ có ngày nhân vật này lại có thể bị hạ thấp tới thế.

Ừ đành rằng là phim hài, ừ đành rằng là đổi mới, là cái lọ cái chai, nhưng mà các bác nhớ cho tôi nhờ, người ta là hoàng tử, người ta có cái tôn nghiêm của người ta. Bảo người ta đi mãi võ người ta còn mặt sưng mặt xỉa lên. Tôi thề có dí dao vào cổ Vĩnh Kỳ cũng chẳng bao giờ cải trang thành thái giám chỉ để đi …tặng quà Va lung tung cho Tiểu Yến Tử. Vĩnh Kỳ không phải là Tiểu Yến Tử! Yêu thì yêu, đương thì đương, nhân vật vẫn là nhân vật, đừng có out of character thế chứ.

Mà cái hộp quà kia…cái thủa đó người ta biết sản xuất nơ ni lông hả người? Lụa là gấm vóc không đủ để buộc thành cái nơ sao mà phải dùng ni lông?

Mà các bạn đừng có tặng hoa hồng cho nhau nữa...làm mình thấy đau lòng cho một bộ phim thần tượng hiện đại đội lốt cổ trang lấy tên HCCC....

tl;dr version, or English version:

If you want them to celebrate Valentine's Day and have some silly love triangle with a foreign dude, then for the love of all things holy and for the sake of my sanity, can't you just make it modern?! Gosh darn it, is it so hard to keep some authenticity of the period? You know, that's kind of the whole point of the period drama?? There's artistic license, and then there's pure gratuitousness. This is gratuitous, with a plastic bow on top.

read more "Bỗng dưng muốn khóc..."

Reasoning with Vampires

Is it rather sad that I begin my work days with a dose of Reasoning with Vampires? I'm not sure where Dana, the author of RwV lives, but she updates some time when I'm asleep so by 8:30 when I'm at work, I would see all the new updates. So it's become a bit of a routine now that I just drop in for my daily grammar/writing style tip and only after that can I move on with my life.

Yet everytime I wonder to myself why I am doing this, Dana (and/or Stephenie Meyer) manages to remind me. It's so I don't come up with characters like this:

Credit: Reasoning with Vampires

I would not mind this if the whole four books weren’t like this. Eventually, Bella’s descriptions really pain me, not because I was so struck by the contrast whatever between her and Eddiekins, but because Bella needs to get over herself and get a life!

Bella, why do I hate you so much when I know I’m supposed to lurrrrve you?

I tell myself I wouldn't rant about Twilight on here, and this is becoming one :|