Remember that stupid guy yakking loudly on his cell phone in the open area of my apartment complex at 5 AM? Well, he did it two more times!!! Obviously this is going to be a recurring thing. The first time I gave the benefit of doubt -- maybe it's a one time thing. The second time some guy from the first floor (I live in top floor) talked to him before I got around to it. For the most part I did not want to wake up more people than this asshole already had. By the third time, I am not going to take it lying down, literally. First I got up and said, "Excuse me!" out of my bedroom window, and saw the guy scurrying away. Good, right? I turned around and he was back! The audacity!
I dug through my purse for that number the apartment management gave me to call the on-site patrol. No such luck, I left the number at work. At which point the testosterone got hold of me and I swung the screen door open, walked into our patio, leaned over and yelled, "Can you please shut up?!" The adrenalin prevented me from going back to sleep, but I felt so much better after yelling at the guy. :) [When I mentioned my Asian "passive-aggressiveness" to my husband, he said, "Passive? You are all aggressive, what passive?"]
God, don't I wish I could deploy a Super Soaker 3000. For those uninitiated, the Super Soaker 3000 is a water gun that can hold a ridiculous amount of water. Unfortunately a coworker kindly informed me that that could be construed as an assault. Can an asshole who woke me up at 5 AM for the THIRD time really have a defense against my assault towards him?
What should I do next time?
(1) Call the patrol
(2) Learn how to say "I am calling the cops" in his language (The asshole was not speaking English on the phone, presumably he was calling some Asian countries at the wee hour! I am not above learning the same sentence in every single Asian language until I get the right one. We have enough ethnic diversity that would allow me to do that!)
(3) Go and stare at him and find out which apartment he lives at (so I can go knock on his door and wake up his family and ask them to ask him to stop)
(4) Leave fliers in multiple languages in our elevators asking him to stop and asking others to ask him to stop
Choice #3 is my personal favorite. Yes, I am vindictive and an expert in escalating an adverse situation. =D
Thursday, May 28, 2009
Clerk Fights Robber. Hurrah! Hurrah!
Back to my video embedding frenzy:-
Good work, Clerk! Thumbs up for you!
Good work, Clerk! Thumbs up for you!
Cat in China grows a pair of wings
My cop out post of the day. Cat in China grows a pair of wings. Ooooh, those "wings" look so soft and furry... like those you see on those Victoria's Secrets models. =D
Tuesday, May 26, 2009
"I don't get white people...."
... says my Asian friend.
I don't know what is there to not get. I have been in the US for over half of my life now and have been married to a Whitie going on seven years.
"Like, I don't get how every houses have a trampoline in their backyard!" she says.
"It's fun!" I replied, "and it doesn't fit inside the house!"
"And they go drinking on the weekends, till they pass out," she says.
Okay, not being a drinker, I cannot answer that one. Anyone has an answer for that or anything else to add to the list?
Though I did not make the same observations as her, I do have a few gripes of my own:-
(1) Panda Express and any variation thereof are like Taco Bell style Mexican food. It somewhat resembles Chinese food, but not really.
(2) PF Chang is "Chinese fusion," or what my friend would call "whitified" Chinese food. The name and the shape bear some resemblances, but it ends there. E & O Trading Company is Eastern Asian fusion food. Do not mistaken them for real Chinese food. Also, China is a big place, trust me when I said there's more to Chinese food than sweet & sour pork, fried rice, mu su pork, and broccoli beef.
(3) By the same token, there are more than two genres -- horror and kung fu -- of movies. Watching a couple kung fu movies do not qualify you as "I watch Chinese movies." Houses of the Flying Daggers and Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon is made for White people. It was observed that White people are very awed by the wiring technique for some odd reason, so the peeps in CTHD pretty much flew through the entire movie. I had no idea what the movie was actually about -- I'm not sure there was a plot. All I remember was people flying all over the place.
(4) Tattoos in Asian characters (my personal favorite). As my luck have it, I had ran into a few individuals who'd first ask me, "Where are you from?" "Sacramento." I said. Nope, not the answer they were fishing for. They wanted to hear somewhere Asia. After establishing the fact that I can read/write/speak the specific language, they'd roll up their sleeves and show me their tattoos, "What does this say?"
If you think about it it's a very interesting concept. Are they: (1) testing me my ability in said language? Because that really is somewhat annoying if not downright offensive, or (2) actually had no idea what they had tattooed on their body? Idiot! It says idiot, and stop showing it to me!
I don't know what is there to not get. I have been in the US for over half of my life now and have been married to a Whitie going on seven years.
"Like, I don't get how every houses have a trampoline in their backyard!" she says.
"It's fun!" I replied, "and it doesn't fit inside the house!"
"And they go drinking on the weekends, till they pass out," she says.
Okay, not being a drinker, I cannot answer that one. Anyone has an answer for that or anything else to add to the list?
Though I did not make the same observations as her, I do have a few gripes of my own:-
(1) Panda Express and any variation thereof are like Taco Bell style Mexican food. It somewhat resembles Chinese food, but not really.
(2) PF Chang is "Chinese fusion," or what my friend would call "whitified" Chinese food. The name and the shape bear some resemblances, but it ends there. E & O Trading Company is Eastern Asian fusion food. Do not mistaken them for real Chinese food. Also, China is a big place, trust me when I said there's more to Chinese food than sweet & sour pork, fried rice, mu su pork, and broccoli beef.
(3) By the same token, there are more than two genres -- horror and kung fu -- of movies. Watching a couple kung fu movies do not qualify you as "I watch Chinese movies." Houses of the Flying Daggers and Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon is made for White people. It was observed that White people are very awed by the wiring technique for some odd reason, so the peeps in CTHD pretty much flew through the entire movie. I had no idea what the movie was actually about -- I'm not sure there was a plot. All I remember was people flying all over the place.
(4) Tattoos in Asian characters (my personal favorite). As my luck have it, I had ran into a few individuals who'd first ask me, "Where are you from?" "Sacramento." I said. Nope, not the answer they were fishing for. They wanted to hear somewhere Asia. After establishing the fact that I can read/write/speak the specific language, they'd roll up their sleeves and show me their tattoos, "What does this say?"
If you think about it it's a very interesting concept. Are they: (1) testing me my ability in said language? Because that really is somewhat annoying if not downright offensive, or (2) actually had no idea what they had tattooed on their body? Idiot! It says idiot, and stop showing it to me!
Monday, May 25, 2009
My Babies
For those of you who have never seen them, I present to you CC and HH:-
HH is a timid, 14-year old. Why is she sitting on top of a stack of shit? I'm not sure!
My new baby, CC, he's only three year-old. HH wasn't happy about this new addition to our family, but he still keeps her company when we go on vacations. :) If you look at the full size picture you can see that he has different colored eyes. ;)
HH is a timid, 14-year old. Why is she sitting on top of a stack of shit? I'm not sure!
My new baby, CC, he's only three year-old. HH wasn't happy about this new addition to our family, but he still keeps her company when we go on vacations. :) If you look at the full size picture you can see that he has different colored eyes. ;)
Filler Post, As Usual
Continuing my tradition of random filler posts on the weekends, here's the avatar that I created on my pogo.com account that I am very proud of. :D
Someone in my Kiva group (http://www.kiva.org/community/viewTeam?team_id=94) thinks that it's disrespectful to borrowers using the picture of your pets in your profile, wait till she sees THIS as my picture! MUHAHAHA.
In my own defense, I never claimed that my blog is meaningful, insightful, and/or educational. =D
On a side note, I am also trying to learning the strategies in playing dominoes.
http://www.chessandpoker.com/dominoes-strategy.html
Someone in my Kiva group (http://www.kiva.org/community/viewTeam?team_id=94) thinks that it's disrespectful to borrowers using the picture of your pets in your profile, wait till she sees THIS as my picture! MUHAHAHA.
In my own defense, I never claimed that my blog is meaningful, insightful, and/or educational. =D
On a side note, I am also trying to learning the strategies in playing dominoes.
http://www.chessandpoker.com/dominoes-strategy.html
Sunday, May 24, 2009
Religion DVDs | Religion History DVD - Discovery Channel Store
I found it interesting that the Discovery store has a religion section. Could science and religion truly coexist? :O
Religion DVDs | Religion History DVD - Discovery Channel Store
Religion DVDs | Religion History DVD - Discovery Channel Store
Saturday, May 23, 2009
Swine Flu Will Likely Sicken Billions But Kill at a Low Rate | 80beats | Discover Magazine
I am tired of the occasional news article about ____ more people infected with swine flu, __ more died, etc. etc. The figures are really meaningless without being compared to the stats of seasonal flu and it creates unnecessary panic. So I've done my own research and here's an article with all the stats.
Swine Flu Will Likely Sicken Billions But Kill at a Low Rate | 80beats | Discover Magazine
For those of you who are lazy about reading like me, here's the summary:-
Mortality rate of seasonal flu: 0.1% (1 in 1000 - kills 250,000 annually)
Mortality rate of swine flu: 0.4% (4 in 1000)
Total confirmed infection of swine flu: 4,694
Total died: 61 (56 in Mexico)
This is probably a little more disturbing:-
That makes the swine flu virus about as dangerous as the virus behind a 1957 pandemic that killed 2 million people worldwide. But it’s not nearly as lethal as the bug that caused the 1918 Spanish flu pandemic.
And for those who likes to panic, please take into consideration our technological/medial advancements since 1957.
Swine Flu Will Likely Sicken Billions But Kill at a Low Rate | 80beats | Discover Magazine
For those of you who are lazy about reading like me, here's the summary:-
Mortality rate of seasonal flu: 0.1% (1 in 1000 - kills 250,000 annually)
Mortality rate of swine flu: 0.4% (4 in 1000)
Total confirmed infection of swine flu: 4,694
Total died: 61 (56 in Mexico)
This is probably a little more disturbing:-
That makes the swine flu virus about as dangerous as the virus behind a 1957 pandemic that killed 2 million people worldwide. But it’s not nearly as lethal as the bug that caused the 1918 Spanish flu pandemic.
And for those who likes to panic, please take into consideration our technological/medial advancements since 1957.
Report: Would-be suicide jumper pushed off bridge - CNN.com
Report: Would-be suicide jumper pushed off bridge - CNN.com
Can you say irony?
Lesson of the story: If you don't have the balls to jump, get the hell down.
Sure, that sounds cold. You want to wait 12 hours in your car till this guy decided to leave on his own?
Can you say irony?
Lesson of the story: If you don't have the balls to jump, get the hell down.
Sure, that sounds cold. You want to wait 12 hours in your car till this guy decided to leave on his own?
Friday, May 22, 2009
Three is the Magic Number
Three is the magic number for me. Here's what I mean:-
(1) I get very annoyed when I have to explain the same thing for the third time;
(2) I also get very annoyed by the third time people repeat themselves when explaining things to me, without me expressing that I did not understand the first two times;
(3) When people make a comment at me that I can't tell whether it's personal, I give it till the third time, then perhaps it is personal;
(4) If a person flaked out on any lunch/activity plans by the third time, maybe he/she just does not want to hang out any more. Sometimes you just have to take the hints.
*(5) Most marriage can survive a partner being unfaithful at least once, but if cheating is an issue for you, then by the third time he cheated on you and promised it'll never happen again, think twice.
*(6) The same applies to an abusive relationship, by the third time he hit you and promised that he will never do it again, dump the a-hole!
Everybody must have a bottom line and learn when to put their foot down and say, "That's enough."
On point (5) and (6), I personally think once is too much, but most people are more forgiving than me.
(1) I get very annoyed when I have to explain the same thing for the third time;
(2) I also get very annoyed by the third time people repeat themselves when explaining things to me, without me expressing that I did not understand the first two times;
(3) When people make a comment at me that I can't tell whether it's personal, I give it till the third time, then perhaps it is personal;
(4) If a person flaked out on any lunch/activity plans by the third time, maybe he/she just does not want to hang out any more. Sometimes you just have to take the hints.
*(5) Most marriage can survive a partner being unfaithful at least once, but if cheating is an issue for you, then by the third time he cheated on you and promised it'll never happen again, think twice.
*(6) The same applies to an abusive relationship, by the third time he hit you and promised that he will never do it again, dump the a-hole!
Everybody must have a bottom line and learn when to put their foot down and say, "That's enough."
On point (5) and (6), I personally think once is too much, but most people are more forgiving than me.
Brainwashing
I was, as usual, rambling on about how theists are all brainwashed zombies (gross generalization), and my cousin O, who is married to a devoted theist, questioned me about my definition of "brainwashing." So here goes, wikipedia definition:-
Brainwashing, the application of coercive techniques to change the values and beliefs, perceptions and judgments, and subsequent mindsets and behaviors of one or more people, usually for political, financial, personal, or religious purposes
But since this is my blog, and the beauty of that being I can say whatever I want without needing extensive research to back up my own personal belief system, I am, therefore, going to say that by "brainwashing," I just mean a concept or belief that has been drilled into someone's head through upbringing. The most prominent characteristic of brainwashing being that this said concept/belief system is so hardwire in us that it has became the undeniable truth, with or without any facts to back it up. And it has been so integrated into our thinking system that not only will it never occur to us to question whether it is true, but we also assume that everyone else naturally share this same exact value. And I think this definition really fits the model of an evangelical Christian. (Although some would argue that the reason behind their inexcusable obnoxiousness are their burning desire to save the blasphemy sinners.)
Culture, therefore, by my definition, will fall into the category of brainwashing. Cultural values are very powerful. Referring back to one of my previous post about Asian American females and their suicidal rate in US, I strongly believe that half of their psychological issues are because they were not able to live up to ridiculous expectations. And where do these expectations came from? Culture, family, upbringing. It is something that is very difficult to shake.
It was only recently, when I was having a conversation with my Morman friend, whom nearly bit my head off, do I realized some of my own brainwashed values -- the number of kids a healthy, normal couple should have. Growing up in an extremely overpopulated place, there are government sponsored (?) commercials to tell people to have no more than two children (population replacement). I still remember the song and the graphic image -- stressful mother yelling at her young kids -- to this date. It had became a natural part of me to believe that two is the ideal number of children to have, or at least the maximum number to have. I have slided a little bit to believe that the "acceptable" amount is 2 + 1 (accident). Anything over three is excessive, and, frankly, a bit nuts. Even though rationality will tell me that a couple who can afford it can have as many kids as their hearts desire, I still firmly believe that two is the ideal number.... Oh, the power of brainwashing.
Brainwashing, the application of coercive techniques to change the values and beliefs, perceptions and judgments, and subsequent mindsets and behaviors of one or more people, usually for political, financial, personal, or religious purposes
But since this is my blog, and the beauty of that being I can say whatever I want without needing extensive research to back up my own personal belief system, I am, therefore, going to say that by "brainwashing," I just mean a concept or belief that has been drilled into someone's head through upbringing. The most prominent characteristic of brainwashing being that this said concept/belief system is so hardwire in us that it has became the undeniable truth, with or without any facts to back it up. And it has been so integrated into our thinking system that not only will it never occur to us to question whether it is true, but we also assume that everyone else naturally share this same exact value. And I think this definition really fits the model of an evangelical Christian. (Although some would argue that the reason behind their inexcusable obnoxiousness are their burning desire to save the blasphemy sinners.)
Culture, therefore, by my definition, will fall into the category of brainwashing. Cultural values are very powerful. Referring back to one of my previous post about Asian American females and their suicidal rate in US, I strongly believe that half of their psychological issues are because they were not able to live up to ridiculous expectations. And where do these expectations came from? Culture, family, upbringing. It is something that is very difficult to shake.
It was only recently, when I was having a conversation with my Morman friend, whom nearly bit my head off, do I realized some of my own brainwashed values -- the number of kids a healthy, normal couple should have. Growing up in an extremely overpopulated place, there are government sponsored (?) commercials to tell people to have no more than two children (population replacement). I still remember the song and the graphic image -- stressful mother yelling at her young kids -- to this date. It had became a natural part of me to believe that two is the ideal number of children to have, or at least the maximum number to have. I have slided a little bit to believe that the "acceptable" amount is 2 + 1 (accident). Anything over three is excessive, and, frankly, a bit nuts. Even though rationality will tell me that a couple who can afford it can have as many kids as their hearts desire, I still firmly believe that two is the ideal number.... Oh, the power of brainwashing.
Thursday, May 21, 2009
Wednesday, May 20, 2009
Phone Guy
This ****** guy has been going into the open area of the apartment at the God forsaken hours of 5 AM and talking LOUDLY on the phone for a couple of times now. If it's not for worrying about waking up even MORE people than the jackass, I would have yelled at him a long time ago. Where is that supersoaker 3000 when I need it? Is it really assault if you splash someone with a supersoaker?? I really need to learn some profanities in HIS language.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)