China / Life

The wisdom of keeping time on paper

By Reg Henry (China Daily) Updated: 2017-03-08 07:30

As a member of a generation that knew no computers or personal devices, I think I have adjusted fairly well to the electronic marvels that people take for granted today. But there is one convenience that I cannot embrace. I still depend upon a paper calendar to plan my days.

My wife has urged me to get with the modern program. She has adopted technology so enthusiastically that her iPhone beeps messages at all hours, so marriage with her is like being the spouse of R2-D2 from Star Wars. (That reminds me: I must make a notation on my calendar to bury her phone in a bucket of sand so I can get some sleep.)

I simply like paper. I like paper books (no Kindle for me), paper calendars (no Google reminders), newspapers (no wrapping fish in a computer) and toilet paper (definitely no bidets).

My view is that paper is where trees go to be immortal when great words are written down to last. So I was heartened by a recent story in the Business Day section of The New York Times titled Mark It Down: Paper Calendars Endure in Digital Age.

The Times story reported that paper calendars have not only survived, but sales of some kinds have increased. Sadly, the ones that have declined include the one I like the most: desk pads. I favor the old-fashioned ones that have a daily quotation.

Now, if you take inspiration from a good quotation, as I do, you can certainly find websites specializing in quotations. But reading quotations on the internet is like eating Chinese food with a knife and fork - it's just not as tasty.

Besides, you have to make a special effort to get your daily quotation fix on the internet. An educational desk pad gives you a fresh quotation with every new day. I miss that and I can't find a fitting replacement.

All is not lost, because I still have a traditional, large paper calendar. My 2017 calendar has no quotations but it does feature big spaces for notes, such as doctor and dentist appointments and iPhone burials. It came from a hardware store and has watercolor pictures of trains, mostly steam.

The Times story about paper calendars revived an old dream: To have a quotation of mine printed on a desk pad calendar. There's not much to look forward to in the column-writing game - crickets chirping to break the silence when there's not volleys of abuse - but it would be great to be on a calendar. I would join the trees in immortality.

Calendar citation is almost a higher honor than having a reader stick the column on a fridge door. If my mother were still alive, she'd look at the calendar with my name and pithy saying and glow with pride. "Look," she'd say to the neighbors, "A date that will live in incredibility."

If anybody is out there in the desktop calendar publishing world looking for a few bon mots, while public demand still exists, I would recommend myself, in the absence of anybody else stepping forward. Here's a sample - old and new - of what I can offer:

Progress often isn't.

Bias is something other people have when they don't agree with you.

When men are men, women usually know better.

The road to hell may be paved with good intentions but the highway to hell is always paved with bad intentions.

Give a man a fish, he has a meal for a day. Teach a man how to fish and he may curse his luck forever.

You can't wrap a fish in a computer.

Wait! I am repeating myself, but I have lots more sayings, honestly. OK, I'll settle for mention in a fortune cookie. So paper purveyors, feel free to call me. If you call my wife by mistake, no worries, I'll answer the bucket of sand.

Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

紙上日歷的妙趣

我屬于沒有電腦或個(gè)人電子設(shè)備陪伴成長的那一代人，但我自認(rèn)為還算適應(yīng)這些當(dāng)今人們已經(jīng)習(xí)以為常的“電子奇跡”。不過其中有一個(gè)便利我并不能欣然接受。我現(xiàn)在仍然用紙質(zhì)日歷來規(guī)劃我的日常生活。

我妻子鼓勵(lì)我跟上現(xiàn)代生活的節(jié)奏。她成了現(xiàn)代科技的狂熱擁躉，她的蘋果手機(jī)時(shí)時(shí)刻刻都在嗶嗶作響。和她結(jié)婚就像是和《星球大戰(zhàn)》里的R2-D2機(jī)器人一起生活。（這倒提醒了我：我得在我的臺(tái)歷上記下一條備注，到時(shí)把她的手機(jī)埋進(jìn)一桶沙里，這樣我才能安靜地睡會(huì)兒覺。）

我就是喜歡紙。我喜歡紙質(zhì)書（不要Kindle電子書），紙質(zhì)日歷（不要谷歌日歷），報(bào)紙（電腦里的新聞可不能用來包魚）和廁紙（絕對不用智能馬桶）。

我認(rèn)為，紙張是樹木得以不朽之所在，因?yàn)榧垙埧梢杂涗浟鞣及偈赖恼Z言文字。因此，最近《紐約時(shí)報(bào)》商業(yè)版中的一則新聞讓我頗受鼓舞，這則新聞的標(biāo)題是“記錄下來：紙質(zhì)臺(tái)歷不會(huì)在數(shù)字時(shí)代消失”。

《紐約時(shí)報(bào)》的這則新聞?wù)f，紙質(zhì)臺(tái)歷不僅幸存了下來，而且有些種類的臺(tái)歷銷量還有所增加。遺憾的是，不景氣的紙質(zhì)產(chǎn)品中有我最喜歡的一種：桌面便箋式臺(tái)歷。我喜歡那種印有每日名言的老式便箋式臺(tái)歷。

如果你像我一樣，喜歡從名言中獲得啟發(fā)，你當(dāng)然可以去搜專門登名言語錄的網(wǎng)站。但在網(wǎng)上閱讀名言雋句好比用刀叉吃中餐——味道就是不對勁。

而且，你還必須特意上網(wǎng)搜索，才能滿足你每天對名言雋句的需求。一個(gè)有教育作用的桌面便箋就能給你的每一天都帶來一條新鮮的名言語錄。我懷念那種感覺，也找不到合適的替代品。

并非一切都已失去，因?yàn)槲椰F(xiàn)在還有一本傳統(tǒng)的大號(hào)紙質(zhì)臺(tái)歷。我的2017年臺(tái)歷沒有每日名言，但它留有很大的空間可以做記錄，比如記下去看病和看牙醫(yī)的預(yù)約，以及埋蘋果手機(jī)的事。這本臺(tái)歷是從一家五金店買的，上面印著火車的水彩畫，大部分是蒸汽火車。

《紐約時(shí)報(bào)》的這篇關(guān)于紙質(zhì)臺(tái)歷的報(bào)道喚起了我的一個(gè)往日舊夢：在一個(gè)桌面臺(tái)歷上印上我自己的話語。撰寫專欄其實(shí)并沒有太大意思——沒有唾沫橫飛的評(píng)論時(shí)，打破沉默的只有蟋蟀的叫聲——但印在臺(tái)歷上的感覺就不同凡響。我會(huì)和化作紙張的樹木一樣獲得永生。

比起專欄文章被讀者貼在冰箱門上，自己的話被印上臺(tái)歷也許更值得榮耀。如果我媽媽還在世，看到臺(tái)歷上印著署有我名字的雋語時(shí)，她的臉上會(huì)閃現(xiàn)自豪的光芒。“瞧”，她會(huì)對鄰居說，“這將是一個(gè)難以忘懷的日子”。

當(dāng)大眾需求仍然存在，如果臺(tái)歷出版行業(yè)還在尋求一些雋句妙語的話，我會(huì)在無人出馬的情況下毛遂自薦。下面是我可以提供的一些妙語例句，有新有舊：

進(jìn)步常常是退步。

偏見就是別人不同意你時(shí)所持有的看法。

當(dāng)男人是男人的時(shí)候，女人通常會(huì)更明白事理。

The wisdom of keeping time on paper