The best of luck to my best friend who's going through law firm interviews!
<3
Being a girl who's lived in Los Angeles for 7 years, you'd think I'd be immune to traffic.
Beijing is definitely the Asian reciprocal of LA, I've once again taken rush hour traffic into account as I plan my daily schedule. I'm not looking forward to when they take off the odd-even license plate system (which is going to be September 20, the end of the para-Olympics). Cars have gotten increasingly cheap that people just buy a second car to go around the inconvenience cause by the regulation. With the influx of households with 1+ cars, I can't imagine the amount of traffic on the street after the 20th. At least here I wouldn't be the one driving. Maybe with more cars on the road, my taxi drivers won't be able to drive like maniacs on the streets, then I can finally arrive home at the end of each day without headaches.
Apparently one of the main reasons Jamaicans have been winning a lot of the sprints is because of this fast-twitch muscle they were blessed with.
From the Slate: Jamaican Me Speedy
We've been slow on the blogging cause D and I (she came up to visit me in Beijing) have been busy watching the Olympics.
Anyway, D noticed an article in the New York Times that made us so mad. Yet again, NYT has decided to step on China as hard as possible.
background: Liu Xiang, the Chinese star athlete who had a World Record in hurdles, had to pull out of the race today but he has been suffering from major injuries in his right leg. The whole nation is sad that he had to pull out of the race but the general sentiment is that we're proud of him and of all his has achieved and hopefully he will regain his health soon. In other words, a different picture than what NYT decided to paint.
Two quotes that angered me the most in the article:
1. "Liu's body had failed, which, in the eyes of many Chinese people, meant they had failed, too."
- that's not true. Yes, his body went through injuries, and the Chinese people are sad that one of the best athletes in the world cannot represent China to compete in this historic and brilliant event. But we don't think his body that "failed" to let him compete in the race translates to Chinese people being hit in the heart by the feeling of failure.
2. "A visitor to China wanted to hug the horrified fans and say:
It's all right. Your athletes are leading the Olympics in gold medals by a huge margin. Your young people are the sweetest, most prepared volunteers any Olympics has ever seen. Your government has organized an efficient Olympic Games."
- I personally don't appreciate the quote from a visitor who had wanted to say "your young people are the sweetest and most prepared volunteers." I'm sure this person is really nice , but for NYT to put it in a widely circulated article.. it's like saying to the world: I'm sorry you can't compete in this international event, but gosh darn-it, your mama bakes the best cupcakes.
Here's the article if you want to read the whole thing: A Country Feels a Hurdler’s Pain
I really don't know what the New York Times is trying to pull with their article "Chinese Man Kills Relative of U.S. Olympic Coach," when even Fox News knew better than to try to antagonize an entire people ("In-Laws of U.S. Men's Volleyball Coach Stabbed in Beijing, 1 Dead"). Apparently NYT has tried this before with something like "Gay Man Abducts Baby" then took out the word "gay" after people started complaining.
I just found out that China has the world largest Artificial Weather Program. To prepare the city for the Olympics, China made it rain to clear out some smog and to cool the city down. The government shot pellets filled with silver-iodide particle in the air. Moisture tends to gather around silver-iodide, thus creating heavy clouds and rainfall.
The cooler weather made it possible for my 2 hour hike up to the peak of XiangShan (aka Western/Fragrant Hills). XiangShan is a mountain North-West of the city center. It's been the inspiration for many renowned Chinese poets dating back to at least the 1200's.
Beijing from the peak of XiangShan:
This city is huge.. I couldn't capture the whole thing with my little camera.
The Chinese Olympic Dolls (wasn't too fond of them at first, they've kind of grown on me now):
I have never had a delay-free experience flying out of JFK, but it has never been QUITE this bad (you can probably already tell that this is going to be a rant). I was supposed to leave on a 2:55pm flight. At 2:30pm they told us that the plane was diverted to Newark due the weather (which boggled my mind because it was nothing but nice and sunny outside the window). They said it was going to be a three to four hour delay. I was pretty miffed already at this point because I think more than the average person I really HATE wasting time this way. At 4pm they told us that the plane wouldn't be getting here until earliest 4am, but more like 5am - that's 15 hours after the original departure time!!! >=O
Thank god I managed to get into the lounge, so at least I have a couch to sleep on until 4am. Also there's free wireless which is how I'm writing this rant post right now. It's a little funny because there are a number of people from my flight in the lounge who it seems, like me, have opted to sit around for 12 hours, and the lounge is feeling a bit like a refugee camp.
There is one thing I guess I'm glad about. I overheard a couple of conversations where people on the same flight as me were saying something along the lines of "If our flight is delayed so long, I won't be able to get in to work on Monday!" I suppose when you have a lot of work on your plate you would want to get it done instead of having all that productivity and time snatched away from you by stupid airport delays. I'm just glad my worry is "If the flight is delayed so long, that'd be one whole day gone from my one-month holiday!"
I feel like Tom Hanks in The Terminal! But I really shouldn't complain because people face much worse delays during the holiday season. BUT THIS IS NOT HOLIDAY SEASON!!
It's been a week in Beijing and so far it's been great! My neighbours have pretty much adopted me, they invite me to their family sundays and have me over for dinner every weeknight (she just calls when dinner is ready). It's a family of three, the dad is a workaholic, the mom (I call her Ah Yi which means Auntie) is a retired, most kind-hearted lady, and the daughter is a fun college kid.
Ah Yi and her daughter came up to my apartment this afternoon to bring me some groceries (yes, she even gets me picks me up stuff from the market). From day one, Ah Yi took it upon herself to steer my future for me with endless suggestions. Anyhow, for some reason the topic marriage came up. She took on the role of a wise woman who has gone the whole nine yards and said to me "I don't think you should get married, you should just find a good job, explore the world, and stay single." "Have fun, date around but don't settle."
Truthfully, she is not the first person that has advised being single is the way to go. Two years ago I spoke to a friend that was turning 33, she said late 20s and early 30s have been the best years thus far and that being single made it what it is/was. About 3 others have advised me along similar lines.
It's kind of scary that people give me such advice. I'm a hopeless romantic and I love the thought of family (though I'm definitely not ready for one right now!). Every now and then I'll imagine myself in a meadow for a spring picnic with my family --my husband and I (probably with a glass of wine in hand) laying on a red-white checkered blanket with a picnic basket as we watch our kids run around and fill the fresh air with innocent laughter. That always makes me happy. Although periodically (usually when I'm frustrated with a boyfriend or when I hear about failed marriages), I do think about staying single forever and that when I am financially capable of raising kids, I wouldn't mind being a single mom.
Well when I get to that point in my life, I hope I can see that the grass is much greener on my side, no matter where I am.
In my quest to identify plausible and interesting sounding hobbies to put on my resume (interview season is coming up soon), I've re-stumbled upon knitting. In freshman year in college, my friends would sit in the lounge knitting while watching tv and all I could do was latch hook . . . in my defense I managed to make a pretty cute Mei Mei rug which looked exactly like this one I found on some dude's flickr. In sophomore year I figured I should learn for real, and got my friend to teach me. Sporadically over the following year I made scarves for each of my family members, which to the best of my knowledge they never used. The whole thing got kind of pointless, so I stopped.
One day this summer in Barnes and Noble I came across a table full of arts and crafts books. Some were on really cool crafts such as book making or stuffed animal making, but I wouldn't even know where to get the materials for those, so I decided to just pick up knitting again. This time I was going to make something for myself, and settled on hobo gloves (all the better for taking notes in class in the winter!) I taught myself how to knit in the round, found this pattern online, and made my first trial mitten. Needless to say there are dropped stitches all over the place and the proportions are kind of funny. I won't be embroidering it but here's the idea:
Maybe I won't be dying my own yarn any time soon, but being able to knit more than just unembellished scarves would give me more to talk about in the interviews should it come up =P I've also been learning how to knit different patterns. It's amazing how much you can do with just a couple of different stitches. Also, I've been searching for knitting blogs, and I've noticed that most of these bloggers not only knit but also bake cupcakes and have at least one cat. I have tried to cultivate both of those hobbies (I make a decent apple pie) plus I like Mei Mei so maybe one day I can be a bona fide blogger too!
I'm living in Brooklyn for a week until I leave town. I moved my stuff here pretty early this morning and was really beat so I plopped down on the bed right away to nap. It has got to be the most pleasant couple of hours I've spent in NY. I could actually see the sky and there was sunlight coming into the room. I could hear birds chirping instead of the traffic. There's even a tree outside my window with what appear to be fuzzy green balls growing on it =P
Whatever happened to predictability
The milkman, the paperboy, evening T.V....
Okay, I admit that Full House was one of my favourite shows. I would always rush home to watch it after school. Actually if I catch it on TV now I'd still stop at the channel and watch a few minutes, okay fine, maybe more than a few minutes (though, if Saved by the Bell (not The College Years) were on at the same time, Zach and Kelly definitely takes precedence).
Who knew that the two little Michelles would proceed to build a billion-dollar consumer goods empire.
This year Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen added a new line called Elizabeth and James to their couture fashion label, The Row (which started in 2006). Elizabeth and James is set to target women in their early 20's and the style is the eclectic of extremes -dressy with casual, masculine with feminine, etc. I personally love it cause I am not the type to match everything (my mother and I definitely have our differences when it comes to what goes with what). Crossing themes makes me more comfortable when I step onto the streets. I'd hate to look too girly or too casual (though this one can be easily solved with accessories!).
I also love their website, especially their Spring product shots. Models are shot outside, instead of in a studio. Besides trying to showcase the dress, blazer, whatever, they're also incorporating energy, action, and a storyline. It's as if each picture is an ad for the line!
The price points aren't bad either: $80-$650. Neiman Marcus, Bergdorf Goodman, and Intermix will be retailing the line. They're trying to grow the line slowly in fear of oversaturating the market, therefore only those three retailers are used to launch Elizabeth and James.
It's funny that I'm looking forward to more of their line, because I really didn't appreciate the bohemian-bourgeois looks Mary-Kate and Ashley had on for a long while.
P.S. shouldn't we be hugging it out like the end of every Full House episode, now?
The place where I'm working was giving out free tickets to a minor league baseball game (the Mets' farm team) at Coney Island, and I decided to go because I've always wanted to check out a baseball game. Granted the minor league would be a little different from the MLB, but I was looking forward to having an all-American experience where you eat franks, drink beer, and chat with your friends while watching the game.
When I first got there it was pretty fun, and the atmosphere was great. The people there were having a good time, it seemed like a nice neighborhoodly kind of place and event where families went to be American. We got these "bam bams" which are basically two long balloons that you blow up which when you hit together lengthwise would make this loud annoying noise. There was an announcer on the loudspeaker, music, and strange bagpipe performances between innings.
I left after being there for four innings. Partly it was in order to go get some other food at the boardwalk, but I was glad to be getting out of there because the commentator would not shut up but never actually commented on the game, the music was too loud, the kids behind me were too annoying, and too many people were walking around blocking my view of the game. Apparently they're even crazier at major league games. I don't know if this is a cultural difference, but when I used to go to NHL games in Vancouver, sure the people were crazy about the team but they were always really into the game and following what's going on. At the baseball game I felt as if the main point is to sit around and talk and eat, and it just so happens that there are a couple of guys tossing a ball around in the background. Plus, I can get all the sensory overload I want in Manhattan, I didn't need to take the subway for an hour to Coney Island for more of the same.
(I say this but I'll still try to go to an MLB game one day to see what it's like - maybe in Boston since everyone there is crazy about the Sox.)
(Also, I've got to say that their fireworks show - it was Irish culture celebration day at the park - at the end of the game was nice. Much nicer than what I managed to get glimpses of for five minutes half obscured by a building of the July 4th fireworks.)
So the tagline for the 2008 Beijing Olympics is "One World One Dream."
Pretty true isn't it? All the athletes do have the same dream: to crush everyone else's.
Continuing with the theme of the previous post: Whenever I listen to music I would be reminded of what my life was like when I first listened to those particular songs. So the Shins and Belle and Sebastian always bring back good memories of junior year, Bloc Party and Arctic Monkeys senior year. It gives me a bit of a warm and fuzzy feeling but it doesn't make me like the music much more than I would otherwise. Unfortunately, the converse isn't true. Some decent songs have been completely ruined for me because when I started listening to them was when I was studying for my 1L exams in January. Even my all time favorite song (as of now), I Am Warm and Powerful by Someone Still Loves You Boris Yeltsin is somewhat tarnished because I discovered it during my 1L fall.
Off on a tangent: Everyone says 1L would be the most miserable year of your life, so I was prepared for the work load, the work was not fun but I could manage. What I wasn't prepared for was the people, and I'm not even talking about the competition between students. Suffice it to say that I learned a lot about the different kinds of people in the world, and am no longer so naive as to think that if you're nice to someone then they'll be nice to you (or rather because you're decent to someone that they won't be malicious towards you for their own unfathomable reasons). It was a necessary lesson to learn, but one that I regret having to learn. I would not have minded being naive and trusting of people because those that I've come across hadn't given me any reason to do otherwise.
Back to the original topic: It's not really that these are bad songs but that I don't like what it makes me think of. It's classical conditioning. I don't yet have the cognitive autonomy to break free from the hard wiring!
A couple of songs from the past year of my life.
P.S. Congratulations to all my friends who made law review! Your job search just got 10x easier since now you have 10x the prestige as us common folk =P
I know we always have our current favourites, most likely something that is Top 40, super catchy, and produced by a mixture of creativity and sounds/beats strategically placed to cater to the audience's tastes. I am the first to admit that I love the likes of Rihanna and Chris Brown, and I definitely have a list of songs that makes me just want to dance, dance, and dance.
But what about the other favourites? The real ones, if you will. I have a very small select of songs that can emotionally move me to a great degree, and that's what I love about music. These songs can put a big smile on my face, bring tears to my eyes, or just render my body numb while my heart is filled with passion and emotions. (My iTunes is right now repeating a song someone dear to me sent over a while ago, and it never fails to make me happy and sad at the same time). Sometimes, probably the case for most, it's the memories a song evokes or a set of lyrics that you can relate to your state-of-mind or circumstances. So amazing is that it can also be something seemily trivial like a short melody, accompanied by a broken minor triad, with a forceful crescendo.
When I started this post, I wanted to include one of these songs to share at the end. But being here now, I can't. I am sure almost everyone has something that always fills their heart with love, joy, and sadness. And it's something so powerful they only want to share it with those close to them.
Or, maybe no one relates, you're all shaking your heads, and I've lost you all in my post. And that it's just me and my music.
Well, here's one of my current favs-
With You, Chris Brown
Sega has a new videogame on the drawing board. Though the storyline is kept secret until next year, I already know it's going to be one of my favourite games since GoldenEye on the N64. The heroine on the game will be struting the turf like she's on catwalk and transforming her hair into a boot, when necessary, to kick butt. Just think, it'd be even cooler if when she kicks high, Christian Louboutin's famous red sole will flash before us. And maybe Pantene or someone will do some product placement and attribute her strong hair to a new Hair Strenghtening Conditioner. Hmm.. maybe they'll let us download a new wardrobe each season to keep up with style.
Who doesn't love a stylish, butt-kicking girl with great hair?
I just came across this guy's comic blog, xkcd. He has a great sense of humor and I've been browsing through his comics at work because obviously no one gets anything done on Friday afternoons (good thing the only people around to hear me lol are slackers too). It's a weird mix of science and poetry and humor but somehow it works. For half the them you need to understand something about engineering or programming to get the humor, but for laymen like me the rest are still great. Check it out!
"We made it so far together but then I lost you in the trees."
I was thinking about Reverend Run's writing posts on his Blackberry in his bathtub and that maybe I should do the same, in my bathtub and on my iPhone, my 2G iPhone.
Yesterday I attended an iPhone party in Hong Kong. It was basically a networking event, organized by MACitizen and HKU Mac User Group, for people with ideas for iPhone apps, people who can develop the apps, people who can provide a platform for the apps and everyone in between. And then there were the outliers like myself, who is a passerby of the city and wanted to see what the scene is like in Asia in regards to the web and tech. Communities here seem to be pretty strong. Hopefully I'll get to check some more stuff out in the near future.
At the party I also met this guy who started a weekly networking event called Web Wednesday for those in digital and internet media in Hong Kong. He's on an expansion with this event throughout Asia, and has been contacted by a guy in Beijing who wants to bring it there. Since I'm heading up there on Tuesday and going to be there for a while with my next adventure, I'll probably contact him and maybe he can help me navigate the industry in China.
Sadly though... I didn't win the iPhone they were giving out at the party.
Yay my first substantive post!
Remember when people still used AIM, and would put up different stuff in their profile or away messages? When I came across a song that had lyrics that I particularly liked, I used to put it in my profile - that was my tiny tiny soapbox. Now that I use Google chat, I don't even have that anymore. But hey! I guess I'll be sticking the lyrics here now.
There are some songs (not many, I can probably count them on one hand) that when I listen to make me feel like I'm miles away, and I become a little oblivious to the fact that I'm actually sitting at my desk at work. Copeland's She Changes Your Mind is one of these songs ... and what's more, it doesn't have distractingly dumb lyrics!
It was your hello that kept me hanging on every word
And your goodbye that keeps me listening for your voice around each corner
It keeps me listening for your voice around each corner
I'm really glad S and I started this blog, it feels like we're creating something together that hopefully will still be around after some time.
So I have much less blogging experience than S, and am not a particularly good or conscientious writer either. I'm actually making a conscious effort right now not to write in sentence fragments or have comma splices or use smiley faces or "haha" as punctuation. I guess it feels like, as S said, we're publishing something that everyone can read, so I'm trying to hold myself to a higher standard. Of course, whether this post will be read by more than one person is an entirely different story.
The idea of blogging is a little foreign to me. On blogs people seem to write about everything and nothing; when I talk about those nothings in real life it seems so trivial, so why would I even put it down in writing? Anyway, with any luck this will lead me to think more deeply and talk more coherently about things and have something worth writing about.
My best friend, D, and I are constantly located on opposite ends of either the country or world. Though physically miles apart, words --typed and spoken-- always bring us back together at the end of the day.
It's kind of exciting to share some of those words with the rest with the world. That's what so great about blogging, someone can become an author and write about everything and anything, without pressures from publishers or anyone about content, etc, for the world to read. Well, if someone chooses to read. :)