http://www.qugee.com/xiao Sun, 10 Aug 2008 20:37:45 +0000 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 en And so, she realised, that what she really wanted was neither fame nor fortune, but to do what she wants, to have the freedom to choose, and above all to be loved. http://www.qugee.com/xiao/2008/08/what-she-really-wants/ Peeking at the fireworks of the fete de Geneve from behind the spectator seats, between bars and picket fences. It reminds me again of where I stand in society. http://www.qugee.com/xiao/2008/08/the-privileged-the-not-so-privileged/ Should we be honest & true to our feelings in our way of action, or should we choose to consider "the big picture"? As children, why are we expected to return? Why do we have to live according to standards imposed by others upon ourselves? Is there necessity in emotional attachments? ... http://www.qugee.com/xiao/2008/08/title/ I like the look people show on their faces when I introduce myself as a scientist - especially at a bar, or at a party. Cool! They say, and then start drifting away... Yes, really, it is cool, like some Dan Brown novel, or even Michael Crichton. But today I ... http://www.qugee.com/xiao/2008/04/occupational-hazard/ http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/7253933.stm http://www.qugee.com/xiao/2008/02/looking-to-settle-in-the-uk/ I am almost certain that I have two personalities, two very extreme personalities, and I didn't remember the existence of the party-going, rock music-loving me until last saturday. Like two sides of a coin, but one cannot exist without the other. It takes little amount of mastery to learn switching ... http://www.qugee.com/xiao/2008/01/two-faces/ Interesting discussion about religion over lunch. So apparently in Germany and Austria if you declared yourself as Roman Catholic or Protestant you'd have to pay a certain percentage of your income each month to the church. And if you weren't working, you'd still have to pay, if you declared your ... http://www.qugee.com/xiao/2008/01/church-tax/ The anger is creeping in again, seeping through tissues, mingling with blood, coarsing through veins. The mind is indeed a very powerful tool – because that's where the anger comes from, it comes from within, conjured by the mind to be, at the beginning, an illusion but then silently realising ... http://www.qugee.com/xiao/2008/01/ma-colere/ 'Bystanders, people who witness but are not directly affected by the actions of perpetrators, help shape society by their action. Bystanders can exert powerful influences. They can define the meaning of events and move others toward empathy or indifference. They can promote values and norms of caring, or by their ... http://www.qugee.com/xiao/2007/12/the-bystander-code/ Lausanne to me has become a symbol of peace - the calm of the waters, the quiet of the city on a Sunday, as if to say, "take a break...", the clear outline of the French Alps in the distance, pompous and commanding to take your breath away so you ... http://www.qugee.com/xiao/2007/12/yearning-for-a-white-christmas/