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4/7/2014
周末带mimi去参加一个活动，等待的间隙她说要玩捉迷藏。看到她一本正经地趴在栏杆上数数，容我寻找藏身之处，我突然发现她的头发已及腰甚至齐臀。又到该修剪的时候了。曾几何时，mimi还顶着一头弯弯曲曲的小卷毛，露着为数不多的小乳牙对着我甜笑。那一头卷毛长度大概过耳齐肩，甚是柔软。微风吹过，便在mimi胖胖的脸颊上画着圈圈起舞，挠得我心痒痒的，忍不住要一亲芳泽。一岁多以后，卷毛随着头发长度的增长而慢慢变直。自那以后，虽然定时修剪，mimi一直都保持着几乎齐腰的长发。她的头发浓密，所以这么长的长度洗起来费时也耗力。上芭蕾课梳bun的时候也得多花时间才能将所有的头发都盘进去。mimi跳了两年芭蕾，我也早已练就为她梳bun的手艺。其实为mimi梳头的过程对我而言是一种享受。每天她吃早饭的时候，我都为她编辫子。mimi光滑的发缕总是如丝缎般折射出柔和的微光。随着她渐渐长大，为她梳辫子的手也越抬越高。梳起梳落，似水流年，编进去的不止是mimi的发丝还有光阴。这光阴定是施了魔法将背对着我的那个小胖娃娃变成了如今的小姑娘。而为mimi梳头的我呢？人生一世，如白驹过隙，忽然而已。
4/13/2014
If Sunday night were a kid, he must be a mischievous one that likes to sneak up from behind my shoulders. I could almost hear the “boo!” And just like that, another weekend is ending.
Today is the last Sunday before Easter. Mimi and I continued our annual tradition of decorating Easter eggs together. I got the hard-boiled eggs ready first thing in the morning. The next step was to pour carefully measured proportions of vinegar and water into the Easter themed paper cups. Vinegar is required to fully dissolve the color tablets, which came in several bright shades. These tablets made soft bubbling sound as they gradually shrunk in size and eventually disappeared into the solution. Meanwhile Mimi and I put on our aprons, dipped the eggs into the solution, and the fun began.
The kit provided all sorts of cute "body parts", such as the googly eyes, the triangularly shaped nose for the chicks, the pink tongue for our jumpy friend froggy, and let’s not forget the cotton ball tail for the bunnies. I suppose one can also mix+match the various body parts and let your imagination run wild. Mimi particularly enjoyed drawing the eye lashes for her beloved purple tortoise. Perhaps it gave her the satisfaction of putting on “makeup” for these lovely creatures. For budding girls of Mimi's age, cosmetics of any form and shape probably offer an irresistible grown up appeal and this inherent gravitation towards beauty is something I cannot quite defy.
Mimi’s friend took home the pink and purple bunnies, so they were missing from the final "family portrait". I am sure they are now in very good hands, though they will be thoroughly missed by those that stayed behind. Aren’t these Easter eggs adorable? I like them all but the cotton-tailed bunnies hit a soft spot in my heart as they reminded me of Beatrix Potter’s Peter Rabbit. Flopsy, Mopsy, Cotton-tail, and Peter. Such fond childhood memories.
4/20/2014
今晚去看了Mimi学校高中部学生演出的《悲惨世界》，还有几个年幼的小演员来自小学部，非常可爱。很可惜Mimi突然发烧了，所以没能好好欣赏大哥哥姐姐们的表演。这些孩子们无论唱功或是舞台表现力都出乎我意料的好，尤其是几个主演。我很讶异这些还不谙世事的孩子们能把这个经典故事演绎得如此饱满，充满了张力。爱情，亲情，贪婪，希望，悔恨，自我救赎，种种种种都娓娓道来。虽然《悲惨世界》已经看过好多回，里面的歌曲也早已熟记于心，今晚我依然没忍住眼泪。孩子们的认真与投入让他们看上去光芒四射，剧中人物也因而在他们身上获得了重生。
4/21/2014
去年的复活节，我在威尼斯与她偶遇，一见倾心。威尼斯的小巷，幽静深邃，纵横交错，稍不留神错过一个转弯便会置身于一条无名的小街，兜兜转转全没了方向。可在威尼斯迷路是如此的美好 - 朴实的石桥，平常人家窗台上盛放的鲜花，做嘉年华面具的小铺子，这些镶嵌在迷宫里的小宝石若非迷路也许就无缘相见了。
那天从Frari Basilica 出来，Mimi因为倒时差靠在爸爸的肩膀熟睡，我们决定回住处休息。去船码头的路上，照例不小心走了岔路。就在寻寻觅觅的过程中，我看到了橱窗里的她。玲珑剔透，精致小巧，将她的小角落映衬得春色无边。想到Mimi醒来后看到她的惊喜，我忍不住推门进去。一股甜香扑鼻而来，提醒着我这家小店的主角本是那黑黝黝却又让人无法抗拒的巧克力。店家笑盈盈地将她包进盒子里，再仔细封上店里的金色标签，这个复活节彩蛋就这样漂洋过海地随我们回了美国。
今天又是复活节，Mimi虽然生病，还是细细把玩了这个来自威尼斯的彩蛋。我不由想起了与这个彩蛋邂逅的小巷，以及石板路上爸爸抱着Mimi前行的幸福背影。一个小小的物件，往往能勾起无尽的回忆，那满是馨香让人忍不住回望的美好。
4/30/2014
这间Borders曾经是我最喜欢的书店之一。繁华的University Ave. 总是熙熙攘攘，可只要闪身进了Borders 的天井，就仿佛将喧闹连同暑气挡在了门外。天井中的小喷泉总是快乐地喷洒着几许凉意。走到底，推开那厚重的大门，便是满堂书香。眼睛虽然有些应不暇接，心里却是安宁踏实的。不算明亮的灯光藏匿了大书店都无可避免的仓库般的棱角; 光影下偶尔也能感受到街角小书店才有的温馨。周末下午的时光在这里就像是被上了发条，嘀嗒间便跑得无影无踪。每次离开时即便怀中没有新书，伸个懒腰，那份慵懒的满足总是有的。
然而人是健忘而残忍的动物。不知从什么时候起，书店渐渐去得少了，因为买书成为了足不出户就能完成的事情。网购虽有诸多好处，失去的却是那种在购买前触摸着新书随意翻看的兴奋。对一本书好坏与否的判断也因为无法sample而要依赖留下网评的陌生人。人们对传统书店的集体背叛让书店举步维艰，最终Borders在几年前黯然退场。同样的故事，多年前也曾上演。只不过那时被逼得无以为生的是许多家庭式的小书店，取他们而代之的是Barnes & Noble 及 Borders这些大型联锁店。这才多少年的功夫，当年的胜利者之一也已成为了历史。
周末在University Ave. 吃完午饭闲逛的时候经过了Borders 的旧址。偌大的店面，如今还荒着，好不落寞。大门外的铁链生生地拒人于千里之外。看到回廊里的落叶，过去种种涌上心头，真有些伤感。我不敢想在网购书籍早已成为默认模式， 电子书籍也越来越普及的今天，书店的未来到底在哪里。手不释卷的对象若是从温暖的书页变成从冰冷代码转变而来的文字，那种原始的快乐便打了折扣。可也许这就是书不可逆的命运，经历了从竹简丝帛到纸张的华丽演变，最终却要遁为无形。
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