rail track grills

i'm still not sure of why am i doing this again. but before i know it, my teeth are already strapped with metal brackets. the last time i had those was when i was in high school. it's amazing how time flies by.

it's only the first day of my having them. my teeth, apparently, are not functioning to their full potential. i haven't had lunch, and i can barely chew anything. how come i don't remember it hurt this bad last time? is it a sign of aging? anyways, the orthodontist promised that it would only take 9 months, let's trust him. VoV *showing my metal grin*

the ultimate birthday season has arrived

nov is fast approaching. it seems like so many human beings were born at year end. or it could just be my circle of friends. is this the manifestation of the legendary saying, "plant in spring, harvest in autumn"? setting aside the origins of the legend, i am in for the good times brought by other people's birthday parties.

reasons why i love friends' birthday parties than my own.
1. i do not have to worry about if everyone is having a good time, as long as i am having a good time. (these aren't my guests. hahahaha....)
2. i am not the one who's turning one year older.
3. good food, fun times...

from every prospective, events, like this, has no down side, only up side. (i didn't know such good thing, with no catch, ever existed.)

and in this day and age, you can only gather everyone at special events like birthday parties, weddings, holiday dinners. only times like this you get reminded that work is not your life.

十一月就在眼前。好像很多人都是在年尾出生的。或者，是我朋友中太多人都是過年尾生日。難道這就是傳說中的，“春天播種，秋天豐收”？不管是甚麼傳說，美好玩樂的時光，我會來參與的。

我是那麼愛去別人的生日派對：
1. 我不用擔心來的人玩得好不好。（那些不是我客人。哈哈哈哈。。。）
2. 我不是那個老了一歲的人。
3. 有好吃的，好玩的。

從各個方面來看，這些事件兒是有百利，無一害。(世界上還有那麼好康的事！真讓人振奮！)

這年頭，也只有生日啦，結婚啦，節慶啦，你才能跟所有人聚在一起。也只有那些時候提醒著你，工作不是生命。

life in garage, in america

weaving through after-work-traffic on 101, i was getting really annoyed and worried. it looked like i was going to be late for my meeting. i was on my way to meet a child who currently lives with a life threatening disease. i was meeting her to find out what her wish was. i'm a wish grantor (how cool is that title, sounds like i'm a fairy godmother, i'd just pull things out of my hat XD), i grant wishes.

i got off the freeway, and was finding my way to this 14 year old girl's house. as i entered the neighborhood, i noticed that there were cars parked everywhere along the sidewalks. i could barely find a spot to park. (don't ppl have garages to park their cars? -_-) i drove up to the house, and saw another car just pulled up onto the driveway. i thought, awesome, my co-wish grantor just got here, i guess i'm not that late. it turned out that the car belongs to the lady who lives in the house. and i WAS late. >_<

i walked around the house, and found the side door which was an entrance to the garage. my revelation: here are two families living in this house, one in the house, one in the garage. NO, in this neighborhood, people do NOT use garages to park cars! i felt like the top of my head just got knocked on by a huge hammer. the garage was remodeled to include a bathroom and a "kitchen". the stove and the dining table were facing directly to the family bed. i said hi to everyone while putting on a huge smile (although i'm not sure if it looked like i was smiling or crying). i was not paying attention to the rest of the conversation, since it was all in spanish; i was too busy looking at everyone in this warm and loving family. i was trying to figure out what they were saying from the expressions on their faces. i was glad that my co-wish grantor spoke spanish. all i knew was alejandra's wish was to have a laptop. a laptop will make her happy!

i was dazing off.  what would make me happy?  what would be my wish at this moment?  at this very moment, there's nothing i want more in this world than the group that i interviewed with tells me "you are hired".

i was on my way heading home. an hour ago, i was annoyed by the traffic on 101. an hour later, the same bumper to bumper traffic did not at all bother me. it seemed too trivial.

keep on running

life is a long journey!  a journey involves crossing rivers, climbing mountains.  the scariest moment is when you know you are about to fall, about to get hurt, about to fail.  how many times have you looked at your scar, and thought, it wasn't that bad?

just keep running, you will eventually be where you want to be.

as she says farewell to her single life ...

with its unassuming exterior, supper club could be easily missed by passersby. white walls, white lettering, maybe only the golden doors could catch your attention, for about one second, then you would dismiss it. sixteen of us arrived here, in front of the golden doors, for our dear friend, lily's, bachelorette party.

you pulled open the doors, contrast to the color of white that you saw outside, walls of black welcomed you with their subtle sophistication. passing through the lobby of black wooden walls, you immediately found yourself in awe of the decor of the bar. The walls were filled with square crimson leather cushions, making the walls part of the red leather booth seating with its back extended all the way up to the ceiling. A circular bar was nicely situated in the middle of this 60 by 40 feet room. Right above the bar, there were 12 disco balls as if they were sprinkling shimmer onto the patrons.

Then you realized that you just missed the drag queen sitting by the entrance of the bar. you wondered how could you walk by her without noticing while she was rocking that nuclear weapon exploded blonde mushroom on her head. you stepped in front of her, extended your hand, afraid of hitting her pair of double Ds. As you were telling her, "I like your hair." She murmured "thank you" without looking at you and stamped your hand with the word "slut". you were more offended by her not looking at you than being labeled a "slut". you were told, on a different night, you could be labeled as a "bitch" ... if that makes you feel better.

The entourage went around the bar, and pushed through a pair of white doors with two round wooden handles carved "S" and "C". The two doors opened up to a white room filled with oversized beds up against the walls. We were led to our bed on the balcony level. The white doors closed behind us at 8 pm. The next five or six hours is a token of our friendship, memories that we will forever cherish. A handful of friends from Seattle could not make it to the party, but we know the memory making process will continue at the wedding.

I have missed many bachelorette parties of friends', for whatever reason. Some I deeply regret, some I do not. Did my friends get mad at me for not being there at their parties? are we still the same friends as before? Right before I called it a day, I advised myself: who cares. Only time will tell how true is your friendship. As you open your heart, rip it so open until it hurts, to people in your life, there will always be laughters along with tears. What makes any relationship sweet is laughter, while what makes it stronger is tears.

tofu buyers (in this entry's context)

there's a saying in shanghai: "買塊豆腐撞撞死。" it's literal translation? buy yourself a block of tofu and commit suicide by banging your head against it. obviously, this is not making sense. tofu is soft; there is no way that you can kill yourself by banging your head against it. the real message behind the saying is "you are so incompetent/weak that you can be killed by a soft object such as a block of tofu".

i can immediately think of someone(s), right now, who can be a tofu buyer. let me first list the physical/mental characteristics and behaviors of a tofu buyer.

1. possess impure eyes - let me elaborate a bit more on this nontrivial characteristic. "eyes are the windows to one's soul". if the eyes are not pure, how can the soul be pure? those eyes are full of demands, and radiate laser beam like gaze. sometimes, those gazes signal that you are at fault. sometimes, those gazes serve the purpose of probing/fishing information from you; and later the owner of the gazes claim the information as his own.
• defense against impure eyes - avoid eye contact. and not be afraid of awkward silent moments.
  
2. does not believe in 2 way streets - obviously missed the modern american history class in junior high. probably never heard of JFK's famous speech, ask not what others/your employees can do for you, ask what you can do for others/your employees.
• defense against 2 way streets non believers - avoid contacts once for all. or if you're proactive at defending yourself, make sure to use the impure eyes technique. this is a classic example of fighting fire with fire. 以毒攻毒
  
3. gives off negative vibe - this behavior usually has the most damage on you because, like happiness, negativity also spreads like a wild fire. tofu buyers (if they're team leads or managers) like to promote competitiveness among team mates, so team mates, A and B, would battle out who has longer working hours. tofu buyers constantly worry about how they look in the eyes of upper management, and always live in fear of looking bad while forgetting what is important is doing the right thing.
   
• defense against negativity - stay positive, and know yourself well.
  
4. short sighted - tofu buyers only care about what can be accomplished in the near future. they do not believe in investment. they do not invest in employees nor time, have no sense of ROI.
• defense against short sightedness - know which battles to pick.

if you're reading this, and you're thinking how many of the 4 you possess, congratulations, you already are qualified to purchase a block of tofu. 看甚麼看，老娘說的就是你們！我忍你（對，特別是你）忍很久了。孔子都差點沒把我的事跡教育他的學生。現在我要把我所學到的昭告天下，防止後人重蹈覆轍！

disclaimer: this entry of blog has no intent to offend any tofu lovers. and the author is definitely not trying to cause any fluctuation in tofu sales numbers at stores such as 99 Ranch, Marina, Mitsuwa and Uwajiyama in the states of California and Washington (or any tofu selling stores in the universe).

煩懆著，並且快樂著

六月。。。有那麼些些地煩懆。。。

這裡沒有了小時候那熟悉但頂心鬧肺的知了鳴啼，但是光是氣溫，就讓人難忍! 再加上那些在公司有的沒的人。。。無名怒火悠然而生，雖說充其量不可燎原，但也可熣飯。。。哈哈哈哈。。。

氣溫雖難忍（好像很多事和物都能讓人難忍），日子還是要過，而且要更加快樂得過著。。。考過了PMP，爬過了half dome, 接待了爸爸媽媽，六月裡還真完成了不少事呢。

我現在知道，難忍的事和物也是生活的一種調味品。給了我情緒發泄的理由之餘，他們也讓我對一些必須要完成的事有了動力。