I love Tocqueville very much because his insights are so relevant for me to understand my own country. For example, he says:

"You know how many times in France we have been anxious(we and a thousand others) to know if it is to be desirable or fearful for education to penetrate through all the ranks of society. This question, which is so difficult for France to resolve, does not even seem to present itself here ( U.S.). Enlightenment, they say, is the sole guarantee we have against the mistakes of the multitude."

I believe this has been the concern of Chinese elites and Chinese people for a long time. I had struggled for years to get rid of "elitism". Now when I go back, that idea still makes me feel guilty from time to time- the feeling that knowledge should be monopolized so that intellectuals are superior than others. At first, I thought that was caused by the competition in our education system, but now, since I read Tocqueville's thoughts, I suspect it's something more fundamentally related to the political regime.

p.s.,Though Robin always questions the real efficiency of education, his concern is just a different issue. Obviously, his intellectual elitism is very severe.

托克维尔是我的超级偶像！

越来越喜欢读名人的书信，因为能从中迅速捕捉住他们的个性，比起大部头的著作来，书信和日记更加亲切和生动。

二老板每天都有新的活派给我干（貌似是对我的工作态度和效率比较欣赏），影响我的主要工作进程。

长此以往，大老板肯定会不依--- 你到底是入哪个帮派啊？

所以，面临着典型的multi-task的问题。学习着脚踏“两条船”吧。

想念我过世的爷爷。

每晚都梦到他，在梦里告诉他我特别特别想他，边说边哭。

一个朋友说，他爷爷在中国过世的那一天，他在美国见到了他爷爷的灵魂，我相信这话是真的。

大概爷爷也很想念我，所以每天梦里都同我说话。

Today we were talking about the fact that we cannot find a word in
Chinese with the exact positive meaning of "sensual"... They all have
negative implications, cuz Chinese men don't want their ladies to be
sensual. Even 性感 is not introduced too long ago, and arguably it has some good implications.

I got my little cute netbook. But my fingers are too big for the keyboard..

I love it!

I met with my professor today. He asked me: Do you want to work with me or Prof. XXX? I answered: May I do both? He said: Of course....

haha

I am back in town.

I will get a little netbook soon.

I will meet with a bunch of professors in this week or next.

I participate and prepare for the conference in Arlington next week..