Updated!!
the course at Xue Xue is officially canceled. 小芬老師在學學開的講情歌的課已確定取消…但是她還有其他的歌舞劇workshop即將登場。有興趣的朋友可以上學學的網站…

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can’t help but feel a bit low/stuck once in a while. but the good thing about growing in age is that I now don’t dwell on the 『knot』 that keeps me depressed for too long…

練了一下歌 歌聲狀況不錯 讓心情恢復了一些 就是這樣隨聲音狀況起伏的人生

I am practicing for this and next Friday’s performance (still tentative 暫定) 小芬老師在學學開的課 我會去唱幾首歌：
http://www.xuexue.tw/professor/who_introduction.asp?CTID=%7B03F406FF-3D71-451D-9A56-AE460F996A92%7D

the American Idol season has started! It’s become an annual TV viewing event for me since my former co-workers told me this show is available via satellite on Star World channel 3 years ago… So just judging from the amount of TV i been watching these days, you know I haven’t been all that busy these days. But I sure am still working to achieve my musical dreams…

For one, I am finishing up the gospel album project initiated by my dear mom. The recording/post-production of the album is all done but there’s still the album design and copyright issues that need to be taken care of. hopefully the CDs will be available in the market very soon!

I am also trying to compose my own songs… I am still very new to writing lyrics and melodies but I have been having a tremendous amount of fun doing it, playing with different elements from a variety of music genres. I am planning to showcase a few of the songs at a mini-concert type of event some time before summer this year… And i hope you will like these original songs!! I welcome any melody and lyrics suggestions you may have for me. Or any good songs you think I should listen to for inspiration!

Hi! Welcome back from the vacation!

I had a great one traveling between Las Vegas, Taipei, Tainan and Taichung. I was very lucky to be able to mix work with pleasure. I got to see my bro and my smart and lovely cousin in the US and spent quality time with loved ones back in Taiwan. Can’t think of a better way to spend the new year’s… I hope your vacation was a blast too.

Just a quick update about my music career, I just finished recording a gospel album for Christians AND non-Christians It’s set to be released some time in March and I hope you will like the recordings!

I am going to spend my Chinese new year’s eve in Vegas… with Leehom and the team on stage. It is quite a unique experience to be performing in two casinos within one month… Look forward to performing on the MGM stage and seeing my brother and cousins in Vegas!

Have a happy Chinese new year vacation everyone! See you when I am back!

Each year as I welcome the new year, I find myself welcoming my birthday as well. Women are perhaps not always so fond of being reminded of their aging but still I get that warm feeling when I opened my facebook profile yesterday and saw nearly 50 posts on my wall and received several text messages on my phone to send me birthday wishes.

Thank you for remembering. Thank you for always being so supportive. Thank you for your friendship. Thank you for giving me the faith to continue to sing and perform.

Leehom’s Macau concert: My friend took this pix from where she sits… it’s a bit blurry but I love it ’cause it’s my first on-stage pix from Leehom concert!

哈佛人出版社又推出優質新書囉 （我之前翻譯的作品都是由哈佛人出版社發行的喔）

「冰色黑暗」這本書雖然不是由我翻譯的，但是小說內容真的很精彩，而且翻譯的文筆也十分優美，我在閱讀完這本書的試讀本後寫下這樣的推薦文：

When Discovery meets HBO
閱讀《冰色黑暗》像是同時觀賞Discovery和HBO頻道，透過文字，作者讓讀者同時感受到南極雪白世界之美與懸疑緊張的探險情節。你可以把《冰色黑暗》當作是一部構思縝密、節奏緊湊的冒險電影，從發想、分鏡、劇情、人物刻畫，無一不令人折服。但不同的是，電影固然能用畫面說故事，僅用文字敘事的小說，卻能給讀者無限的想像空間，而《冰色黑暗》的作者更善用細膩的情節描繪及她過人的想像力，帶著讀者跨越古今、穿越時空，步上一次充滿驚奇的旅程。《冰色黑暗》讓閱讀本身也成為一種冒險，是一本讓你一拿起，就不會想放下的精彩讀物。
By 史茵茵 （哈佛大學教育碩士、表演人）

更多關於冰色黑暗的資訊：http://www.eslite.com/product.aspx?pgid=1003174551830572

hope you’ll enjoy reading the book too!!

Dear friends and family,

Thank you for all your support and love over the past year. My 2008 has been really fruitful and rewarding thanks to all of you! Have a fun new year’s eve tonight! Wish you all a happy HAPPY 2009!

Love,
Ying-ying

這個星期三到風光明媚的嘉義大學演講囉！演講內容主要是分享我學習英文的歷程。看起來沒有人睡著… 相信同學們有感受到我的用心

演講過後，出版社寄來了一個連結，是其中一位聽了演講的學生寫下的心得：http://www.wretch.cc/blog/sinon427/26881816
希望大家都能開心的學英文 ^_^ 也期待分享我的英文學習心得給更多有需要的朋友們

謝謝嘉義大學數位學習學系主任和老師們的熱情邀請與接待…

順道一提，我剛出版的譯作「最後的夏天」登上誠品親子書類暢銷榜… what a week!

十二月份我有幾個小小公開演出
I’ll be performing at two Christmas events at the following venues:

12/13 7pm 雙連長老教會 English Ministry at Suang Lien Presbyterian Church (』SLPC-EM』)
http://www.slpcenglish.org/SLPC-EM_Home.html
12/20 7pm 和平長老教會 Ho-ping Presbyterian Church
http://www.hoping.org.tw/

Also, I’ll be subbing at Franz and Friends on 12/18 evening
12/18 法藍瓷代班 非常刺激 因為第一次跟大提琴+吉他的組合合作…

Wish you all a warm and fuzzy Christmas!

十一月底趁著工作空檔，到東京探望在慶應時期的朋友們。很奇妙的是，當時認識的從世界各國到日本學習日文的朋友們，竟又不約而同的回到日本工作，大部分的人從事金融工作，還有一位在最近聲名大噪的Lehman Brothers任職，讓我也第一手感覺到了這一波的金融風暴…
能夠見到多年不見的好友齊聚一堂，真的好感動。從穿著T-shirt垮褲的留學生，變身成西裝筆挺在日本一流金融會社裡任職的職員，四年似乎改變了我們，但當我們開始搞笑、八卦、唱カラオケ，那種感覺卻好像我們從來沒有分離過，學生時代的記憶，像是昨天才發生過…

週末時託朋友Yuko的福，有幸一遊箱根的高級resort，享受溫泉美食之餘，還順道造訪了四年前離開日本前曾經去過的「富士急ハイランド」。本以為已經差不多該從roller coaster畢業的我，不小心又搭上了有生以來最刺激的ride: http://www.eejanaika.jp/在空中翻滾的同時，我沒有太多害怕的感覺（除了有點擔心機器會不會故障…）反而非常享受那種飛翔感和像是進入了另一種時空的感官刺激。回家以後，我開始寫歌，寫關於經歷留學生涯、遊牧民族般的我們…

另外一個之前很喜歡的attraction at 富士急ハイランド (unfortunately it wasn’t open when we visited this time)：http://www.fujiq.jp/senritsu/index.html It’s the best haunted house ever. 膽大的朋友千萬不要錯過… ;D