N無作家：戇居咪戇居囉

What a coincidence! This is a nice follow-up to the post about Mr. Sendak earlier today

From 爽報:

「背棄了理想，誰人都可以……」在香港講理想，與賺錢無關即歸類為「不切實際」，但80後青年張培基（Allen）偏愛發文字綺夢，每月埋首寫3,000 多字小說，再自資出版單張紙的《特寫》小說月刊，然後企街逐張派。一人公司仍自封「市場拓展經理」，別人笑他嘥錢兼戇居，但Allen心頭海闊天空：「戇居無罪呀，我發展到渠道可以輕鬆自由寫作，有理想，比起買樓買車更開心。」

He might not succeed but he has dreams and no one could take them away from him.

RIP Mr. "Where the Wild Things Are"

From CNN:

Maurice Sendak, author of the classic children's book "Where the Wild Things Are," has died at 83. Former President Bill Clinton called him the "king of dreams." Sendak grew up to take a few night classes but largely taught himself as an artist. He is best known for "Where the Wild Things Are." It tells the story of a boy named Max who dresses in a white wolf costume and escapes his life at home by sailing to a remote land, where he discovers wild things who roar their terrible roars and gnash their terrible teeth. The book stirred controversy when it was first published in 1963. Many librarians initially feared it would disturb children, but it has become a timeless classic well-stocked in bookstores and libraries around the world. It was in the news again when President Obama read the story to children at this year's White House Easter egg roll.

Formal education (especially the forced fed type) alone wouldn't produce greatness. It's the ability to think outside of the box. Don't be afraid to break out of the norm. I thought his book was weird too but he had my respect. Mr. Sendak is indeed the king of dreams.

The Costco Craze: Inside the Warehouse Giant

睇緊呢套講Costco既紀錄片，介紹佢地co-founder/CEO，原來係一個七十幾歲老人家，成日巡舖，業界封佢零售橋王，認真掂。 同其他公司相反，佢地舖頭一類產品特登賣少d牌子型號，等顧客唔駛左諗右諗變左唔買，我去到Fry's，就成日都係左諗右諗變左唔買。 又特登唔掛貨品指示牌，等顧客盲頭烏蠅亂走，睇多d結果買多d唔等駛野。 仲有，佢地markup特別低，因為賺每個會員每年幾十蚊會費都賺到笑。

久違了的士德頓街

今天沒有帶午餐，考慮過去吧睇歐霸，不過美國主流有線台都沒有直播；於是決定去行街覓食，想試試的印度truck不知所踪，一路行上唐人街，以為會頗熱，卻寒風撲面，只穿T恤的我顯得單薄。誰知唐人街金門又放假，再去很久沒光顧過的小巴黎（越南包馳名），原來成個block已經為建鐵路站而清拆！想想已有大半年未行過士德頓街，連豐澤在這裡開了「分店」（或總店？）也不知。

總算在書局望了一些雜誌連環圖封面，在影碟店看了一會免費電影（李連杰主演的，Google了一會影碟封面才知寫甚麼戲名: 「龍門飛甲」是也），最後在橫街Waverley的餅店買了雞批+蛋撻+老婆餅，今餐合共$2.35。那個蛋撻才$.65，比金門的便宜三成有多，味道當然有段距離，不過今天想幫襯後者亦無「門」呢（未到七月，金門未放悠長假期吧？）可能看武俠片看得熱血沸騰，回程時已不覺涼。

同場加映：一對癡情白人中（或老）年情侶旁若無人親熱。

單車安全日

學校今日單車安全日，其實不是所有小朋友都可以騎單車往返學校及屋企（例如住得遠或下課後要坐保母車到after school）一眾家長開車把子女單車搬出搬入，運動量可能超過踩車了！當然，對環保是零幫助。

出師不利 後遇貴人

I went biking with my buddy on Sunday. This was the 2nd time we decided to ride up King's Mountain Road. Last time he couldn't make it because he stayed up too late the night before and I had an uneventful solo ride. I wasn't optimistic that he'd show up this time but he did and it turned out much more eventful than I wished for :P He actually rode past the intersection we were supposed to meet so he made a U-turn and he dropped his bike. Not a good sign :( Indeed, his chain fell off when we shifted gears for the steep King's Mountain. His bike has been having shifting problem for a while and that drop probably worsened it. We saw that the front derailleur was jammed into the front cogs and the chain itself was bent. We tried fixing it and the best we could do was making it barely ride-able (with horrifying metal grinding noise.) Obviously we had to turn back. After a while, a car got passed us. The driver slowed down and talked to us. He told us he's a bike mechanic and offered to help. We're more than happy to accept! He took his screwdriver from his trunk and was able to pull out the jammed derailleur and thus stopped the chain from grinding with it. Next, he wanted to fix the chain but he didn't have the chain tool. Fortunately I have it with my bike all the time (thanks to advices I got from other experienced riders) He took the few bent links off the chain (and I got to learn how to use that tool!) Now the bike was in a much better shape even though it's far from 100%: only the middle cog is useable so most of the lower gears weren't available. We were really thankful to this fellow and asked where his shop was so that we could spread good words. Turned out he didn't even do this for a living. He just lived nearby and he's an enthusiast who like to help friends and neighbors fixing their bikes. Now we're pretty sure we could at least got back to my buddy's car. However, he got ambitious and wanted to finish what we started: riding up King's Mountain. I was very skeptical 'coz it's challenging even with all the gears intact. I offered to switch bike with him but he refused and I understood. After all, bike is like GF for some. You get intimate with it. To show my support, I decided not to use the smallest cog as well. And we made it up King's Mountain like that!
Congrat my friend! It's your first Cat-1 climb. :D