Tuesday, as usual the morning sky of San Diego looks cloudy and a bit gloomy. Maybe just me, although it is known that weather affects one's mood, but I think one's mood also affect the appearance of the world in beholder's eyes. Come in work early, the lab is still dark when I made my entrance, I turned on the light and sit down immediately to begin coding. My time thus composes infinite number of keystrokes. Sometimes I wonder if there is a song or a melody hidden in my keystrokes, maybe there is, but they just die undetected, what a loss! So I sit here, staring not a human but my monitor, and I am relaxed, I feel safe, feel a bit of blue too.

Still recall, over the weekend, reading the book, the book that took me so long to read, and still haven't finished reading it. It makes me think, re-evaluate the purpose and meaning of my life. But the thought process does not stop on just that, it shouldn't. It should be extented beyond that, beyond the perspective of a single individual, but to extent all tentacles to touch every single human on this earth possible. So spend at least 15 minutes to ponder, think about yourself, think about anything beyond your daily shopping, your monthly bill and your annual promotion, and see what do you get out of it? Enlightenment or disillusion? Don't ask me, I have no answer, I am still searching mine.

Sorry for the recent lack of updates on this blog. I have devoted most of my free time on customizing and designing my newly installed WordPress, which will soon become my primary weblog. So far I have encountered numerous problems with CSS, mainly due to my lack of understanding and experience with this particular language. I've read guides and tutorials before, I've done some tweakings of some existing CSS codes, but I've never written CSS code from scratch, and that's why I have so many problems now. Although the process is painful and slow, but I am overcoming difficulties one by one each day, it is a great and valuable learning experience, and as time passes on I believe I will get better.

The title of this new blog was "Monk Expression", now I switched to "Wooden Fish", which is an instrument used in temples by monks. The site is still unfinished and CSS code is still incomplete, but it looks pretty good so far to me. Once the new blog is ready to be launched, I will think about more on what to write on each blog, certainly I will not abandon my Tabulas blog, since I have made so many friends here.

Here is something positive and fun. I knew that every 4 years there is a World Cup, but I never knew that there is also a World Cup for homeless people. This year the World Cup for homeless is held in the Swedish city of Gothenburg.

More than 200 homeless players representing 28 countries from four continents are taking part.

The tournament is designed both to highlight the problem of homelessness and to help those involved overcome their problems.

As stated, one of the event's goal is to help these people to overcome their problems and addictions. Hoping that a sport such like football can help them get back to a more positive and normal life. According to the article, the event has achieved such goals in the past.

Organisers say it was a big success, with 31 of the 141 players now holding regular jobs and 12 signed as football players or coaches.

Forty-nine players are said to have changed their lives around by taking courses, overcoming addictions or finding a home.

I am just glad to read news like that, it reveals few positive things that still exist in this chaotic time period.

I come to a new understanding of China's Only Child policy when I read this news from BBC. Recently a total of 52 people were convicted, some of death penalty other life in prison due to their participation in baby trafficking.

Over a two-year period the smuggling ring is thought to have bought and sold 118 babies, many of them girls.

It was unmasked last year when police boarded a bus in south-west China and found 28 babies stuffed inside travel bags. One had died from the cold.

However the article points out that although it might seem chilling and horrifying to outsiders, but it is an old and growig phenomenon in many of poor Chinese villages, and the ultimate cause of such inmoral and inhumane trade is China's strict family planning law.

Desperate for a boy, farmers often sell a baby girl before its birth can be registered. Ironically, the baby will often be sold to other poor farmers as a future bride for their son.

Recently many articles have surfaced to point out another grave side-effect of China's Only Child policy. Over the years, it has created an imbalance in China's population, causing far more males than females. It means when reaching the age of finding life patners or get married, many Chinese males will not find their mates, such potentially increases social unrest, and also more severaly causing increase in crime, or even war.

So it is like a vicious cyle: villagers want boys, because boys are physically fit for many tasks in the field, but however villagers also worry that their boys will not find girls to form a family, since girls are so scarce. Thus they turn to baby traffickers, in search of a girl, a future wife. What I am saying is there must a social need in the first place for these individual to initiate their illegal trades, there must be a demand-supply relationship. Therefore to successfully crack down such trafficking network, arresting these traffickers are not the ultimate solution, but we need to study and look deep into these social problems, and trying to eradicate the ultimate cause.

My lovely and amiable co-worker has started an interesting poll around our workplace recently. The poll is about a magical "Happy Pill", a pill that is absolutely free and no negative side-effects, and the question is whether you will take it or not. Currently the statistics of the poll is posted here. You are more than welcome to participate in this poll, just post your answer in the comment, and I will pass them on to my co-worker. If you can elaborate on your answer, that will be even better. Thanks in advance for anyone's participation.

My answer to the poll is no. I believe that everything is relative, you can't have a coin of only one side. If all you feel is happy, then soon you will eventually lose the notion of happiness. Sadness and happiness need to co-exist, otherwise lose one you will lose both of them.