I'm sad.

I just have to say that I'm sad that nobody really voted for the dark russet potato chips. They're really, good, honest! Try them if you haven't! I recommend "Mystic" brand, they're super good.

Must... sleep...

I've been incognito for a little while. I have a good reason - I'm working at a Teach For America summer institute. The last week and a half have been set up weeks, except this year, we had a twist - 350 corps members arrived about a week early for their regional induction. The other institutes had a full week and half to prepare for their first corps member arrival. We had less than a week.

The result? Long nights, putting out fires, and not being able to get anything done while the corps members are here (because they need a lot of attention).

In the past week, I've gotten an average of 4-5 hours a night, sometimes more, usually less. I haven't been able to exercise. I am so tired.

Working a large event/conference like the New York summer institute gives you an interesting perspective. It lets you see how picky and outrageously demanding some people can be, to the point of lying to get what they want. An example: I handle residential operations (housing, food, etc). We have two dorms. One is modern (e.g nice) and one is "quaint". Staff and corps members in the "quaint" dorm have told me flat out lies, have tried to use their sex appeal, have tried to guilt-trip me, have tried to bribe me to switch them into the modern dorm.

Our policy: no switches. Two reasons: 1) no room 2) bad precedent. Oh, and a third reason is that there's some fire code that requires a certain ratio of staff members to corps members (like RAs to students)... or so I'm told.

Anyway, so tired...

Dorm life, it's fabulous!

I've been incognito this week because my summer job started. I know that sounds funny, but it really is my summer job.

(Update for those in the dark: I quit my job effective May 31. I am starting a new job in mid-August. Thus, I need a summer job to pay the rent. There are times when it would be nice to live at home...)

I worked in a related position last year at this same job. It's called the New York institute, a kind of teacher boot camp, run by Teach For America. It seems like just yesterday when I whisked away to the Houston institute literally the day after graduation. In fact, if it wasn't for Tedd and company, I would never have been able to make it work. Back then, I owned an obcene amount of stuff. I've been trying to get rid of stuff ever since. My goal is to be able to move by myself in half a day.

Anyway, the institute is held at Fordham University, in the Bronx. Everyone is living on campus in dorms. Fun. My job is actually to handle all the housing, food, security, and maintenance needs for the summer, so I have an intimate relationship with the dorms. The dorm I'm staying in is actually very nice. I think it's actually nicer than Plex (a dorm at Northwestern), and I thought Plex was pretty decent. All the rooms have their own bathrooms. Except the singles, and I'm staying in a single. So I share a bathroom with another single. These doors are so thin, I can hear everything that goes on in the next room. I hope neither of us embarrasses ourselves.

More on my job later - it's going to be very hectic, but I'm sure there will be lots of goodie updates, because work never stops (it's almost a 24/7 job for 6 weeks straight) and interesting stuff always happens.

And I promised that interesting stuff would show up here.

Be sure to vote on my new poll. I wrote my blog extra long today so you would notice it. It's just to the left. You can do it, vote!

Childhood Innocence

I'm not sure how to feel about this story.

I don't know whether to feel sad, or to feel like my faith in mankind has been rekindled.

Mish mash update

This one's going to be a collection of random thoughts.

Exit Encyclopedias

I looked on my shelf and saw my prized World Book Encyclopedia today. I got this when I was in 4th grade. I credit the encyclopedia with building my penchant for random facts, and for getting me through many a project in grade school (and occasionally high school). I used to end up reading an entire volume before getting to what I was looking up. In any case, it would seem in these modern times of online dictionaries and encyclopedias and google, that the printed twenty odd volume encyclopedia is obsolete. A shame, in a way.

An Apple a Day...

Some of you might know my obsession with "alternative" computing technologies. I was an avid OS/2 Warp fan in the early 90s through 1998.


OS/2 Warp screenshot, click for closeup

I dabbled with Linux. Finally I escaped Windows and the evil Microsoft empire in 2003 when I got my first Mac. I've actually used Apples and Macs before; my first computer was an Apple clone from Taiwan. I spent hours programming in LogoWriter for the Apple IIgs.


Ahh, trusty old LogoWriter

However, only recently has the Mac become a viable platform for me - with Mac OS X. It's one of the most elegant and powerful operating systems I've ever used. It's easy to use, lets you get down and dirty if you want to, and it never crashes.


Isn't Mac OS X neat?

Anyway, what I'm getting at is Apple is cool. They just released the Airport Express.


Neat-o. Portable wireless base station. With wireless printing!

Although none of it is really new technology, it's packaged ultra cool and puts it all in a portable form factor. Excellent. If you don't have a Mac yet, why don't you?

Well, if you're unfortunate enough to have Windows XP, you can make your computer look like a Mac, at least.

She's still single, gentlemen!

I fell in love with two girls after seeing Bend it Like Beckham, Keira Knightly and Parminder Nagra.


Ah, Keira Knightley. She's so hot right now!

If you're still not sure where you've seen her, she was the decoy princess in Star Wars Episode I, and recently was in Pirates of the Carribean and Love Actually. She's also going to be in that new King Arthur movie. Her career is on the up and up!

Another actress I like is Judy Greer.


Last seen in Adaptation, Wedding Planner, What Women Want. Soon to be in that new M. Night Shayamalan movie... "...don't let them in!"

I think her career is also on the up and up.

In other random tech news

This is my dream invention (only I wish it was connected to a larger hard drive).



I would love to do a film, a day in the life. You saw it here first!

Boredom is futile and super-size me generation

Today, I was so bored, I didn't feel like doing anything. It's a strange feeling, sitting there, bored out of your mind, but not feeling like doing anything anyway. Not even watching a movie.

Unfortunately, I have tons of work to do. Personal work, work work. It also seems to me that I can only be truly bored if I have things to do. Important things. I'd hate to find out what it feels like to be bored and not have things to do, I think I'd just expire.

Yesterday, I went to see an off-off broadway show. OK, maybe it wasn't "off-off", but it seemed pretty small. It's one of those "truth is stranger than fiction" kind of plays called "I am my own wife".

What made the show so memorable was sitting next to these three large women. They were so large, they were overflowing on top of the armrests, and into my space. What was I supposed to do? I can't say, "Excuse me, but your folds of skin and extra side belly fat is on my side of the seat." I've never felt so svelte in my life. The woman next to me was literally twice my size.

During intermission, the three large women were discussing the size of the seats. One of them said, "These are seats from a past era, honey. They were made for smaller people back then."

Expiration dates and bad habits

First, if you haven't already, take my poll to the left.

Second, I'm admitting I have a problem. This will be the first public announcement I have ever made about this - maybe a blogging first. (well, probably not).

I have a potato chip problem. I love potato chips. If I had to choose between steak and potato chips, I would choose potato chips. Ice cream and steak, I would choose potato chips. Barbecue ribs and potato chips... ok, that's a harder one.

I love all kinds, but especially the kinds with ridges, and the extra crunchy ones. Notice I said "crunchy" not "crispy". Crispy is no good. My new favorite are dark russet potato chips. They look burnt, but they aren't ... and they're oh-so-good! "Mystic" brand chips makes a really good dark russet chip.

I do lilke other kinds of junk food, like chocolate chip cookies, Fritos, and hot mustard pretzel nuggets... but nothing beats a good chip.

Tight quarters and other tidbits

A friend I met on loveboat...

Ok, brief aside - in case you don't know, "loveboat" is actually a "study tour" that the Taiwanese government puts on to bring ABCs - American-born Chinese to Taiwan, so later we'll invest oodles of money and support Taiwan when China launches missles at them. Loveboat is aptly nicknamed because Chinese parents send their children on this trip to find spouses. Ameazingly enough, there are some that do. It's officially called a "study tour" because you're seeing Taiwan but taking classes in Chinese, classical Chinese instruments, and culture. Usually, none of the above happens. But it's still a good time, you go to the outdoor night market, get diahrrea, hang out at clubs where everyone is ABC, and go KTV (aka Karaoke). You shop in all the clothing stores where things actually fit right. You marvel at how there are no toilets, only squatters. You get used to cockroaches everywhere. And you become an instant expert on Chinese pop music because the only thing on TV is Chinese MTV.

... and her roommate are in town from Florida. They're exploring the city and thinking about living here. It's a big culture shock for them though, as western Florida is like the deep South, and NYC is a little different from that.

In any case, my brother has been living in my tiny, tiny NYC apartment because he as a summer job and my mommy told me to let him live with me. You can imagine, with four people, it's pretty tight quarters. However, it's not as bad as I thought it would be. I'm realizing now that I can probably fit four small people in addition to me, or three larger people in addition to me, in my apartment. So bring on the guests! (Please BYOSPB... bring your own sheets, pillows, and blankets - I don't have room in my apartment to have extra sets!!)

I went to the gym last night to try and catch my favorite class, cardio tai box. If I haven't mentioned it already, there's this one instructor everyone likes named Keith. He's quite good, but I think all the girls go to see him, not work out. Whatever it takes to help people get fit, right? I'll go to class no matter who's teaching, but the girls will leave if Keith doesn't show, and there's a sub. Well, last night, there was a sub. I was about 20 minutes late coming from a meeting, and thought I could just hop in to class. But when I got there, I saw that there was a sub, I went downstairs to see if anyone was in class, but nope. Empty studio. Figures - the one night I can make class in two weeks, and class is canceled.

The gym is an interesting place - I'm noticing that there are a set of "regulars" that I always see. There are the muscleheads who lift weights only, there are the girls who run on the treadmill or do the ellipticals only, there are the people who can afford personal trainers, and there are the transients, people who you see once or twice and then disappear. Nobody appears to know each other though, you just go in, work out, and leave. One habit of mine: checking out every female that walks by. I can't help it! It happens on the street too. I just have to check them out. It's just a quick up and down (and side to side, if necessary).

Lastly, given that just two and a half months ago, I thought I would never have a blog, it's quite surprising to me that I have one now. My buddy Paul just started one too. I think maybe all the news on blogs and stuff are bringing us close to the tipping point, where everyone will have a blog, kind of like everyone has an email address.

Chinatown bus, reprise

First, a quick observation on riding public transportation. Notice, that they seat people facing each other (e.g. on subway trains). Thus, you are not allowed to look straight ahead. You must glance askance, or face looking like someone who has homocidal tendencies.

So, I returned to NYC from Boston today on the Chinatown bus. That bus sells out FAST! Especially the early ones. I don't quite understand why the earliest ones (7am and 8am) always are the first to sell out. It's times that when I ride a bus line run by people who speak Cantonese that make me wish I could speak Cantonese - because otherwise, nobody understands anything.

I actually went to the station at 6:30 AM to see if I could get on the 7:00 AM (despite the web site saying it was sold out). Apparently, it was sold out, but I was able to make it on the 8:00 AM. It was kind of good, it gave me time to hang out with my peoples (the catch was everyone spoke Cantonese).

Once we got underway, I had an unfortunate discovery. Apparently Chinatown buses have no air conditioning (or if they do, they don't work, they don't turn them on, or they don't know how to work it). If they still make vehicles without air conditioning these days, we Chinese people will find them to save $50 on the car.

Even though this time, the trip only took four and a half hours instead of the six it took going to Boston, it felt like longer because it was deathly hot. It was a good 95-100 degrees in the bus, and humid. I thought I was going to pass out. It didn't help that I was sitting next to the one woman on the bus that had a butt the size of a cow and who insisted on draping a wool blanket over her head (which means I got a double dose of heat, coming from outside and from next to her!). She also had bowel problems and we had to make an extra stop for her, wasting precious time and keeping us all sweltering longer.

I did quite enjoy Boston, but I am actually glad to be back in NYC. I guess I'm used to it. However, I know now to only go to Boston between the months of September and May on the Chinatown bus.

Only on the Chinatown bus

The other day, I took the Chinatown bus to Boston for the first time. Mind you, this is after all the great things my parents told me about it.

"I heard they murder passengers."
"Isn't it all gang controlled?"
"Last year a bus driver was murdered by a rival bus company."
"I don't think it's safe, they rob passengers."

I took it anyway. You can't beat $10 one-way! But, it's in Chinatown, but on the very, very eastern tip of it. So it's not near any subway lines. I got there at 9:15 AM for the 10:00 AM bus. There were already 50 people in line ahead of me. The one that I took was Fung Wah bus lines, the oldest, and allegedly the most reliable and comfortable.

Friendly Fung Wah ticket agents were mute while I presented my proof of purchase to get the official stamp, and more friendly Fung Wah staff yelled things at me in Cantonese (I only understand Mandarin), which I took to mean "Gey your ass in line and stay there!" I was optimistic for my first Chinatown bus trip, but everyone in line ahead of me were having spirited conversations about how bad the buses are.

We didn't board the bus until 10:30 AM, due to lane closings on the Brooklyn bridge. Upon boarding, and taking our seats, the bus driver went up and down the aisle yelling more things in Cantonese. The only bit I understood was the few words of English, "Sit down! Bus is late! Bus is late!"

We finally got underway. Suddenly, all the Chinese people on the bus got out grocery bags full of Asian snacks, like Asian-style beef jerky and squid strings. Only on the Chinatown bus.

The rest of the trip was fairly uneventful, except for the man next to me across the aisle. He insisted on talking on his cell phone in Cantonese at the top of his lungs. There was this poor, unsuspecting white man sitting next to him, who looked like his head was going to burst.

(One high point - we stopped at a Roy Rogers in Connecticut! I thought all Roy Rogers had disappeared off the face of the earth, except for the one in Penn Station... so I was pleasantly surprised. It was like finding a lost city of gold! Apparently, Roy Rogers still lives in Connecticut. I'm considering moving there...)

I think the trip was concluded appropriately. The bus driver said his own special goodbye when we pulled into our destination, "Get off! Get off!"

Please accept my application

In case you are male, warm blooded, and haven't heard yet (or if you are a female who doesn't care), Halle Berry is getting divorced.

While I am sad for Ms. Berry, I know that countless strapping young (and old) men across the country have renewed hope in sight (despite Ms. Berry's pledge).

To Ms. Berry, good riddance to bad rubbish! Mr. Benet didn't deserve you, especially since your charms should be more than enough to satisfy any man.


Don't be sad, I'll treat you right, even with the wind


When is this outfit going on sale?

Coincidence? I think not.

Now for a slightly political slant. Some people out there (e.g. conservatives, right wing fanatics, Republicans) will no doubt claim I am making much ado about nothing.

Others, (e.g. bleeding heart liberals, Democrats) will say, that's old news! Why haven't you written about this sooner?

Can it be a coincidence that both of the leaders in Iraq that have been supported by the U.S. look white? I mean, let's forget for a moment that they are both exiles (in other words, are removed from their fellow Iraqis, did not go through what they did under Saddam, and are only marginally better than outsiders). But seriously, how can they look so white?

Iraqi, or white?

Chalabi, the U.S.'s posterboy until he started disagreeing with some things


Iyad Allawi, the new Iraqi PM (U.S. approved)

Oh yeah, Chalabi is now accused of leaking U.S. secrets to Iran. Even though that wasn't Dubya's fault, I'd like to think it was. Please, please... don't let Dubya get re-elected.

Allergic dogs are bad news

So I found out today that my dog has hay fever. What could be worse than a dog that has performance anxiety (leading him to pee and poo every three minutes when running with me outdoors), or a tendency to fart? A dog with hay fever.

This means that he loves (and I mean LOVES) rolling around in the grass, trying to work out that itch on his back... but he's sneezing the whole time. "Aww, how cute!" you say? I say, "Gross. Dog snot."

Other things about my dog:

1) You think he's smart... at first. But proof of his stupidity comes when you give a command, and he runs through every possible trick he knows (so he hits the one you asked for) in an effort to get a treat. Wait. Maybe that's smart!

2) He barks at everyone that comes to the door. He barks at everything that goes by my house.

3) He is afraid of the washing machine.

4) He doesn't come when called.

5) He sleeps 18 hours a day.

Better than sex

Ever have that thing stuck in your teeth? It might be a piece of lettuce or broccoli, or worse - a sesame seed. You spend the better part of the day trying to get it out (without being too obvious about it).

There are many obstacles, including people wanting to talk to you more than usual so you can't focus on getting the offending piece of food out of your teeth. Also, toothpicks don't help because of the way this particular piece of food is stuck. Only floss will help - but floss is so far away!

Amazingly enough, it comes out somehow. At that moment, you feel free. It's like a rush of ecstasy. Better than sex.

Belts are obsolete

I'm still in my "observations on life" mode of blogging, so bear with me until I exhaust my observations and move into the "this is what I ate for breakfast" mode of blogging.

But, just the other day I was thinking about how belts are obsolete. Modern technology has afforded us with clothing that adjusts to our size!

Furthermore, most Americans these days have such large butts that there is no fear of pants falling down anyway (unless you sag your jeans). I, for one, couldn't be pantsed even if you tried your very best.

Ergo, belts are unnecessary.