Photos NOT from Thanksgiving....

The Thanksgiving eating festival is almost over.....at least the big prayer meeting meal and family thingy is over....I think I am just getting fat from eating all those food. I probably need to spend some time digesting those food for the next few days...I don't think I am all that into this particular holiday cuz there is usually not much to do other than eating, and I still have to teach most of the years. Anyway...no pictures from Thanksgiving but here are some photos we took last weekend when we went to San Diego just to take Billy's parents out....

I guess SD was all into holiday feelings on their decoration. We took these photos in Old Town San Diego.

We had Mexican lunch in Old Town since that was the only type of food you can get there. I have not much to say about Mexican food since it tends to be my least favorite....maybe because they look messy to start with....and taste....Mexican?

Ready for X-mas already...and I think those ancient people liked wagons...

A lot of candies....and I guess chocolates too....

The man kept on playing....not sure it was good though...I think the pumpkin was a loner like the guitarist....

Mexicans are soooooooo into colorful stuff....

Billy pretended to be cute in front of the fake Chinese store...

Below are photos from Balboa Park....A very Spanish looking place...


Right in front of the botanic garden. I took one of my favorite photos in there....the pumpkins and squashes....real ones...


The fishes in the pool....


Last photo from the park....

Very Taiwanese doc....

I was watching this TV show from TW which was discussing about food and fruits + their benefits and dangers. There were several doctors in the discussion, and one of them caught my attention. It's not like stuff he talked about was particularly interesting, but the way he talked. He basically talked through the whole program using Taiwanese, and that just felt very familiar to me. It is kinda difficult to find people on TV talking entirely in Taiwanese nowadays (That is excluding all the political stuff of course...)

Anyway....I was amused how the doctor would start his talks in Mandarin for like one sentence, and then turned everything into Taiwanese thereafter.... He reminded me a lot of my big uncle who is also a doctor + does not exactly have the best Mandarin....lol...

Fire on....

During the weekend we had crazy fires going on starting from areas close to Irene's place (Corona) all the way to Diamond Bar. A lot of properties were burnt and many people were evacuated from their homes. I guess it's the biggest fire which is close to "normal" living areas that happened recently.....

Last night a big fire happened close to our place. At 1st there were a lot of helicopters circling around in the sky together with all the howling sound of sirens. About 5 min later our electricity went off, came back, and then went off again for the night. Since the internet was off and we couldn't find out what was really going on, I called Jack and asked him to check out news.....only to confirm my guess was right. Apparently something blew up at one of the construction sites about one block southeast of us....

I haven't really check out how the fire looked like on TV yet, but from what I heard from friends it was big. The condos next to the site were probably damaged. We could even see the light caused by the fire from our apartment. I guess the fire was put out right around midnight cuz that is around when the sirens stopped and the helicopters left. Our lights turned back on around 2 in the morning and I got woke up by the lights and the TV in the living room. I guess that was kinda spooky but then I was very happy to know I would have my normal internet and TV to watch next day.

It's quite scary to think what would happen to Hades if a fire goes off at our apartment when we are not home. I certainly hope that never happens. Everything can kinda be recovered except lives. It's also amazing to think about how much we rely on those things we don't think about everyday. All the modern convenient inventions that is electricity related surely takes a big part of lives. I wonder what would happen if we have to live in the wilderness with nothing around us....just for a week....hum.....

Anyway....a very firy week indeed. Hopefully all victims can recover from their losses fast....sighs....

Learning?

I was reading this book that gives a lot of info on cats. I have to say reading it is kinda interesting since there are confirmations of my speculation learned from Hades through the years. I guess I do have to take up responsibilities on how Hades turned out to be such a hard to deal with cat since he probably learned a lot from me. The books says cats can get seriously attached to their masters and get emotionally affected by whatever the masters' emotions.

I was thinking about this "inherited" personality last night. I guess not only cats but us humans do get affected by people around us too. That is also why by now I have realized it is the wise thing to do to stay away from those people who give you bad influences emotionally. It gets harder and harder to find people who we can look up to nowadays.....but once a while we find some cool people and wish we can learn from their good traits. I think I need to work on meeting some new cool people even though I have no idea how....It used to be so much easier when I was younger....or maybe it's just because I was more ignorant when I was younger so I only saw the good sides of people? well...who knows....

The cat book also talked about how routines are good for cats since they get scared and anxious easily. I am not sure I am so into routines myself, but then I guess building up good habits does make myself feel better. I remember how I was much happier when I was reading regularly while I was in school (of course not the textbooks...those are just too boring...). I guess the feeling of being mentally fed by the books with whatever I was reading was kinda satisfying. Even though I was never a big fan of practicing, but whenever I kicked in enough time to practice I also felt good. I guess that is just a sense of accomplishment that I was looking for....which...probably explains why I was happier when I was younger cuz I seemed to accomplish more, faster, and better than my peers....I am not so sure what the heck I am accomplishing right at this point in life....and that kinda just makes me wonder why life gets more boring as you grow older...

Anyway....better stop thinking about those crap before Hades picks up my vibes from the brain. He was being a good boy while I was playing violin a little after lunch. I guess he does miss my school days as well. He was always a good companion and audience whenever I was working. What a supportive pet huh?

Fast weeked....

Didn't really do much over the weekend and yet it still felt like packed somehow....kinda weird...I think I get much better sleep during the weekdays compared to weekends. I guess it's because I don't want to waste time sleeping when it's weekend? or maybe I just get anxious over what to do over the weekend thus relaxing becomes harder....oh well....

Anyway....more pictures of Hades I guess...feels like we really need start taking photos of something else...but Hades is the most accessible model I guess....Here are photos of him on the sofa.

Here are photos of Hades sleeping next to me....

And then we took him to the park on Sat. For the whole time he was super scared and couldn't move his legs so he looked like those sea lions on the rock....lol....The sunset at the park was kinda cool though. The weird colors were caused by those crazy mountain fires over the weekend I think...

Taking life away should not be such an easy task...

When I 1st saw Ivan's yahoo user id I thought it's probably wrong info....and then I went to TW yahoo to check out if there is any news about it....and here it is.....http://tw.news.yahoo.com/article/url/d/a/081113/91/19e2y.html

So I guess life is indeed unpredictable. I just saw this singer on TV last weekend when they had the big reunion, and now she is already dead? Too bad someone who can sing just disappeared from the industry and there are still plenty of those untalented trying....but I guess this is not the point...What kept me wondering is "What is big enough an issue for someone to take away his/her own life?"

I guess a lot of people don't live a happy life. I can't really say I am completely satisfied about my own life, but then I wonder what would really take away a person's hope to get the life moving toward the better side. There are people who TALK about committing suicide, like some of my friends...and there are those who don't talk about it, but really DO it. I wonder what goes on their minds before they put it into action.....

I have seen how the dad sat and watched his daughter went through the competition. It's hard to imagine how heart broken he must be... facing the death of his daughter who he was so proud of. I guess if someone really wants to die he/she should think about how sad those left behind would be.....or maybe those who commit suicide are actually trying to make those left behind sad? I guess it would be hard for us to figure out.....hum....

Model that didn't look all that happy....

Not much to write about since life is basically routined...Hades has been our photo model for the past month or so since there is nothing else to shoot. Here are some photos of my cute small pig cat....I don't think he was all into modeling though....

Weekend meals by Billy

Again we didn't do much over the weekend, but then Billy did some cooking...so I guess we did "food" shopping for our weekend entertainment. We also watched few movies on DVD, but then nothing that impressive. Anyway....photos of our weekend dinners....

Billy wanted to try and do Chicken Marsala for the past few weeks and finally did this Sat. The color was all pale compared to what we had from Buca, but then I thought the taste was quite alright. Hades tried few pieces and threw up. I guess he didn't like the wine or something. That was kinda funny...

We also got real oyster from Japanese market this weekend, and Billy made our 1st real oyster pancake. (We used to have ham or some imitation crab meat to substitute the oysters.) The pancake looked more like scramble eggs with veggie and oysters....but tasted alright too :)

Crichton

The famous writer Michael Crichton who wrote Jurassic Park just passed away. He died at the age of 66. I guess that is considered pretty young for someone to die nowadays, but then I was quite surprised he was already that old. Here is an article Taiwanese writer Ho Wen Yong write in memory of Crichton....http://blog.sina.com.cn/s/blog_5c55b7830100ba3x.html.....and I was quite surprised Crichton also wrote for ER. I guess that just makes sense that ER is at its final season and Crichton just passed away....hum...

Crichton basically had a strong medical background since he got his degree from Harvard and just decided to go for writing after he got his license and all. I guess people who are with diverse interests in life just seem to be more attractive and entertaining? Too bad his life was a mess just like a lot of artists' lives. He went through 4 diff. marriages....yeah....4....quite amazing....and even designed software and games on top of his busy Hollywood writing career and all.

I guess reading about his life makes me wonder if I should get a book of his and read again since the last one I read was probably back from high school....hum....

Memories....

It's quite interesting how certain food, people, places bring back memories...I am sitting here eating oatmeal for lunch, and that just kinda gets me. I think it's been many years (possibly up to 10) since I last had oatmeal, and it brings back the high school memories for me. I think I 1st learned to eat oatmeal in high school cuz it was freaking cold up there in Michigan....The rest I don't really remember.....like when I stopped eating it and why....but I remember how I used to walk to lobby to get hot water for my oatmeal....hum.....memories...

I was driving home from Arcadia last night after I finished teaching. I passed life plaza where Jacob and I used to eat at....and then I realized how we used to hang out a lot when I was still living 2 blocks from him. How time has passed and everyone of us who used to hang out together are kinda scattered now....even in diff. countries living diff. lives...hum....

I was trying to clean up some photo albums from my photo developing website, and saw some old albums that dated back from 2004 or even earlier. I didn't bother to look much into them cuz I know I would be eaten up by the memories from all the tours and all the good old days when there was not much to worry about other than traveling and getting things done according to schedule....Funny how most things that mattered to us seem meaningless by now....hum....

Mom was saying that everything is in a mess in TW and perhaps globally. Perhaps living day by day, feeding ourselves + sleeping well is all we can ask for....but then life is certainly boring this way....I wonder why sometimes memories just appear out of no where....Hum.....

History was made indeed

It's quite amazing that the 1st Black President has just been elected here in the states. I am sure all the black people are very thrilled about this too.....just think about how they were slaves before the civil war, and now a black President!!!! I wonder what Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. would say if he is still alive today...must be very proud.....

I am personally not a big fan of Obama, but I think this is a very cool historical moment for US. I don't think any one of us can predict who can lead the country better, but then we can only hope for the best. I think McCain actually gave a very good speech after the result came out, and felt sorry that he will be too old for another election. I guess if I am a citizen I would vote for Obama just because McCain is too old, and Palin just appears annoying to me....

The TV is showing scenes right at Chicago (Grant Park) and Washington D.C. It's interesting to see those two places that we both went this year, with people packed everywhere for the election. I guess elections are what attract people's attention in every country. After some big economical distresses people always want some changes, and then they put all the hope on new Presidents. Now I guess the new President Obama will need to prove himself and meet some of the promises that he gave during this election period. I hope he won't be what Taiwan's President Ma is like. I guess we will have to pray for him.....

Editing our lives?

My SG baba has been very into photography lately. He got a fake DSLR by Canon just like I got one by Fuji, but then he has already upgraded to a real DSLR last week. It's just funny how sometimes we are interested in the same kinda stuff right around the same time...but then I think I am having much more self control right now since I know I am not going crazy taking photos of everything I see yet....My camera now is more like a thing that Billy uses to take photos of Hades....

Speaking of photos....Stuff Jon took were usually edited heavily with whatever software he is really fond of using. I am not sure if I am into all those photo editing when you can right away see the pictures are edited. I understand some adjustments need to be made on photos because of certain reasons since I do it sometimes too, but then if everything is heavily edited then doesn't it just lose the purpose of taking the photos just for the given moments? Since catching the moment is so precious, what are we doing to add so much to the moments?

That really makes me think of life....There are so many things that you just cannot recreate in life. When the moment is gone then it's gone. I guess that is why people regret....cuz if you don't catch the moment, then you won't see it ever again. That is why making decisions sometimes become such a burden cuz whatever you decide to do at this given moment may just change the whole history of your life.....That is also why I get annoyed at people who say they want to do something and yet never do it. If you don't want to do it then why bother talking about it? I don't know....maybe talking about things without doing them somehow lightens the burden in the process....but then for sure at the end result is possibly identical....you regret and you wonder "what if"....

Just something I thought about when I looked at all those edited photos.....They may look nice....and yet I don't know if they really are....not that everyone can tell anyway....just like most other things in life....sometimes it's hard to see what is fake from the surface of the situation...By the way.....a movie we saw over the weekend on DVD called "Married Life" certainly depict the concept very well. Whatever you think is true in the marriage may be very diff. when the real truth is revealed....A very slow and interesting non-comedy comedy movie which got me entertained fully. Worth making a note of.....