NPR 09-21:The Imperfect Traces Left by Human Hands我热爱现实世界

Food writer T. Susan Chang once embraced the digital age. She even met her husband and bought a house on the Internet. Now, though, she believes in the benefits of an analog¹, lower-tech lifestyle.

I believe in mystery.
I believe in family.
I believe in being who I am.
I believe in the power of failure.
And I believe normal life is extraordinary.
This I Believe.

I’m Jay Allison for This I Believe. Our essay this week was sent into us T. Susan Chang. Chang used to live in Hell’s Kitchen in New York City. But she now lives with her husband and children on 20 acres in the small town of Leverett, Massachusetts. Removed from the city to the country, from the fast to the slow, from the modern to the traditional, is reflected in her belief. Here’s Susan Chang with her essay for This I Believe.

I am a child of the digital age. But I believe in analog. I love the hiss² and pop of vinyl and the black splotch in the corner when a movie changes reels. I enjoy the hushed, uneven³ ticking of a windup watch. I love hand writing. I believe in analog because it captures the imperfect traces left behind by human hands. Smudges and echoes that can’t disappear with the touch of a delete key.

I didn’t always feel this way. In 1985 my sister returned from Germany with a CD player, the first any of us had ever seen. And I marvel⁴ at the slick, featureless disc. I officially went digital in college when I bought my first computer. Mine was a Macintosh with two floppy⁵ drives and no hard drive. My boyfriend bought me one megabyte of RAM⁶ for my birthday and presented it to me in a jewel box.

Some years later, I found my husband on the Internet. It was 1997 and we were in the vanguard of the cyber dating scene. We swapped⁷ emails for a whole month before meeting, which most people found outlandish. We were on the cover of a book. I went on Oprah. We married in the year, left the city and found a house on realtor.com.

But something was changing in me. As the world went digital and the Matrix movies played to packed touses, I found myself drawn⁸ to fountain pens, clothbound books and bargain-priced LPs. One night, the fuses blew. And my husband and I had to choose between light and music for our one remaining outlet⁹. We opted¹⁰ for music and sat close together in the darkness as the worn-out needle brought Art Pepper back from the dead, his saxophone weaving cracked tapestries¹¹ of sound.

Today I am a food writer. I live in the realm of the tactile¹² which could be the last stronghold of the analog world. I think that taste, smell and touch are like the army of the resistance, hiding underground while their flashy audio visual siblings¹³ take the world by storm. Sometimes, my husband and I hold hands and scan the sky for constellations¹⁴ roughly sketching¹⁵ the seasons as they pass overhead. “Is it November already?” We asked each other when Orion rises into view. It’s a way of keeping time inexact at best. But it’s a better reminder¹⁶ than the digital alarm clock that wakes us each day at 5 a.m.

When my husband and I first met online a decade ago, we were digital, virtual and filled with instant certainty. But today, our actual lives are analog by nature. We live in the country where dial-up is standard and sometimes progress just puts its feet up and takes a nap. We live our lives based on his best guess and mine.

Maybe the digital revolution like irrational¹⁷ number will never come to an end. But for me, there will always be a place for the whisper, the crackle, the shades of mottled gray. For the sake of my own imperfect soul, I believe in analog.

T. Susan Chang with her essay for This I Believe. Chang has been listening to our series for a while when she decided¹⁸ it was time to quote,"put her beliefs on paper." She drafted them though on her computer.

To find out about submitting your own essay, visit npr.org for details and to see all the essays in our series. For This I Believe, I’m Jay Allison.

This I Believe is independently produced by Jay Allison, Dan Gediman, John Gregory and Viki Merrick. Support for NPR comes from Prudential Retirement¹⁹, sponsor of This I Believe. Prudential believes every worker can achieve a more secure retirement. Prudential Retirement, where beliefs matter.

Support for This I Believe comes from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting.

1 analog   

n.类似物，模拟

参考例句：

• The analog signal contains high-frequency video information,which helps make up the picture.模拟信号包括有助于构成图像的高频视频信息。
• The analog computer measures continuously,without proceeding step by step.模拟计算机不是一步一步地进行，而是连续地进行量度。

2 hiss   

v.发出嘶嘶声；发嘘声表示不满

参考例句：

• We can hear the hiss of air escaping from a tire.我们能听到一只轮胎的嘶嘶漏气声。
• Don't hiss at the speaker.不要嘘演讲人。

3 uneven   

adj.不平坦的，不规则的，不均匀的

参考例句：

• The sidewalk is very uneven—be careful where you walk.这人行道凹凸不平—走路时请小心。
• The country was noted for its uneven distribution of land resources.这个国家以土地资源分布不均匀出名。

4 marvel   

vi.(at)惊叹vt.感到惊异；n.令人惊异的事

参考例句：

• The robot is a marvel of modern engineering.机器人是现代工程技术的奇迹。
• The operation was a marvel of medical skill.这次手术是医术上的一个奇迹。

5 floppy   

adj.松软的，衰弱的

参考例句：

• She was wearing a big floppy hat.她戴了顶松软的大帽子。
• Can you copy those files onto this floppy disk?你能把那些文件复制到这张软盘上吗？

6 ram   

(random access memory)随机存取存储器

参考例句：

• 512k RAM is recommended and 640k RAM is preferred.推荐配置为512K内存，640K内存则更佳。

7 swapped   

交换（工作）( swap的过去式和过去分词 )； 用…替换，把…换成，掉换（过来）

参考例句：

• I liked her coat and she liked mine, so we swapped. 我喜欢她的外套，她喜欢我的外套，于是我们就交换了。
• At half-time the manager swapped some of the players around. 经理在半场时把几名队员换下了场。

8 drawn   

v.拖，拉，拔出；adj.憔悴的，紧张的

参考例句：

• All the characters in the story are drawn from life.故事中的所有人物都取材于生活。
• Her gaze was drawn irresistibly to the scene outside.她的目光禁不住被外面的风景所吸引。

9 outlet   

n.出口/路；销路；批发商店；通风口；发泄

参考例句：

• The outlet of a water pipe was blocked.水管的出水口堵住了。
• Running is a good outlet for his energy.跑步是他发泄过剩精力的好方法。

10 opted   

v.选择，挑选( opt的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• She was co-opted onto the board. 她获增选为董事会成员。
• After graduating she opted for a career in music. 毕业后她选择了从事音乐工作。

11 tapestries   

n.挂毯( tapestry的名词复数 )；绣帷，织锦v.用挂毯（或绣帷）装饰( tapestry的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• The wall of the banqueting hall were hung with tapestries. 宴会厅的墙上挂有壁毯。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The rooms were hung with tapestries. 房间里都装饰着挂毯。 来自《简明英汉词典》

12 tactile   

adj.触觉的，有触觉的，能触知的

参考例句：

• Norris is an expert in the tactile and the tangible.诺里斯创作最精到之处便是，他描绘的人物使人看得见摸得着。
• Tactile communication uses touch rather than sight or hearing.触觉交流，是用触摸感觉，而不是用看或听来感觉。

13 siblings   

n.兄弟，姐妹( sibling的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• A triplet sleeps amongst its two siblings. 一个三胞胎睡在其两个同胞之间。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• She has no way of tracking the donor or her half-siblings down. 她没办法找到那个捐精者或她的兄弟姐妹。 来自时文部分

14 constellations   

n.星座( constellation的名词复数 )；一群杰出人物；一系列（相关的想法、事物）；一群（相关的人）

参考例句：

• The map of the heavens showed all the northern constellations. 这份天体图标明了北半部所有的星座。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• His time was coming, he would move in the constellations of power. 他时来运转，要进入权力中心了。 来自教父部分

15 sketching   

n.草图

参考例句：

• They are sketching out proposals for a new road. 他们正在草拟修建新路的计划。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• "Imagination is busy sketching rose-tinted pictures of joy. “飞舞驰骋的想象描绘出一幅幅玫瑰色欢乐的场景。 来自英汉文学 - 汤姆历险

16 reminder   

n.提醒物，纪念品；暗示，提示

参考例句：

• I have had another reminder from the library.我又收到图书馆的催还单。
• It always took a final reminder to get her to pay her share of the rent.总是得发给她一份最后催缴通知，她才付应该交的房租。

17 irrational   

adj.无理性的，失去理性的

参考例句：

• After taking the drug she became completely irrational.她在吸毒后变得完全失去了理性。
• There are also signs of irrational exuberance among some investors.在某些投资者中是存在非理性繁荣的征象的。

18 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

19 retirement   

n.退休，退职

参考例句：

• She wanted to enjoy her retirement without being beset by financial worries.她想享受退休生活而不必为金钱担忧。
• I have to put everything away for my retirement.我必须把一切都积蓄起来以便退休后用。