I was reading the yahoo news this morning and one news caught my attention after I checked the metal counts of Olympics. The story was about that China girl who sang at the Olympic opening being fake. Apparently the real girl who is talented in singing was not cute enough for China to put on the show so they chose a pretty looking little girl to fake sing while the real girl was hidden. Quite interesting huh? I guess China is good at faking everything. I wonder how many real musicians would care about a really talented little girl being a little bit "not so good looking"...Of course being good looking is always a plus, but not so when you don't have the talent while faking it to make people thing everything is perfect....
Anyway....I am also quite impressed with all the swimmers from US. I think they are the reason why US has more metals added together than China now....and Korea is the # 3 right now? Since when did Korea get so good in everything? They are catching up on the electronics and now Olympics too? wow....
Tuesday, August 12, 2008
Monday, August 11, 2008
Weird Sunday
Really didn't do much on Sun. but there were two things worth taking a note of. Mom told me they might be going to Tainan to see Xiao-Zhen last time before she takes off to come to US for school....and then at night I got this crazy skype call from aunt which was a 4 way conference call!!! It turned out mom did go to Tainan, and Xin-Zhuang auntie called Taipei Auntie (who was in Taipei I think), and Xiao-Zhen (with mom and grandma by the side), and me on Skype. They were trying to see if grandma can learn how to use Skype. I would not be surprised if she really learns, but then it would be really scary....cuz now not only my mom's generation is hip...my grandma's generation will also be super hip...yeah....some of them even have facebook...can you imagine that?
2nd thing was about the Olympics. I was just about to go crazy cuz TV was almost always on whenever we were home for the weekend. I am not a person who is particularly interested to watch sport events, but I guess I was trained by dad and my youngest bro so I learned how to put up with it. After talking on that conference call which was terribly blurry cuz everyone tried to speak at the same time, I was just browsing through stuff while the swim competitions were going on. 1st it was kinda sad Hoff lost the women's 400 cuz she was so close to winning the gold but lost to the British last sec....but then what happened in the men's 400 relay was quite amazing. The French was really prideful and said they would smash the American to the press before the competition. It really looked like they would cuz till the 4th hundred the Americans were still losing it. However the captain of American team, who looked kinda old for an Olympic swimmer, just shocked everyone. He started catching up the big distance which previous teammates lagged behind, and right at the last sec passed the French guy. The US team won the competition by 0.08 sec....I just got super excited even though I am not really a US citizen or anything....lol
Watching the competition last night kinda reminds me how our lives are like a long race. We really can be winning most of our lives and then lose at the last min....or vice versa....It's just so hard to tell what the end result will be...but then if we do happen to fight a good fight like the swim team captain Jason Lezak very last min of our life, I guess it would not be too shabby at all. By the way....I am not really sure why they always take bad shots of the simmers. The photos always look much worse than what you see on the TV. lol....
Had WHOLE BUNCH of dreams last night I couldn't remember. I think that might be caused by too much TV and also my inflating gum. At least I didn't have nightmares so I should stop complaining now. I would not want my life to depreciate too much...The end....
2nd thing was about the Olympics. I was just about to go crazy cuz TV was almost always on whenever we were home for the weekend. I am not a person who is particularly interested to watch sport events, but I guess I was trained by dad and my youngest bro so I learned how to put up with it. After talking on that conference call which was terribly blurry cuz everyone tried to speak at the same time, I was just browsing through stuff while the swim competitions were going on. 1st it was kinda sad Hoff lost the women's 400 cuz she was so close to winning the gold but lost to the British last sec....but then what happened in the men's 400 relay was quite amazing. The French was really prideful and said they would smash the American to the press before the competition. It really looked like they would cuz till the 4th hundred the Americans were still losing it. However the captain of American team, who looked kinda old for an Olympic swimmer, just shocked everyone. He started catching up the big distance which previous teammates lagged behind, and right at the last sec passed the French guy. The US team won the competition by 0.08 sec....I just got super excited even though I am not really a US citizen or anything....lol
Watching the competition last night kinda reminds me how our lives are like a long race. We really can be winning most of our lives and then lose at the last min....or vice versa....It's just so hard to tell what the end result will be...but then if we do happen to fight a good fight like the swim team captain Jason Lezak very last min of our life, I guess it would not be too shabby at all. By the way....I am not really sure why they always take bad shots of the simmers. The photos always look much worse than what you see on the TV. lol....
Had WHOLE BUNCH of dreams last night I couldn't remember. I think that might be caused by too much TV and also my inflating gum. At least I didn't have nightmares so I should stop complaining now. I would not want my life to depreciate too much...The end....
Saturday, August 9, 2008
Eddie's wedding....FINALLY....
Well....we basically spent most of our day on a wedding today. Eddie finally got married after two cancellations of the wedding previously, and I guess I am quite happy for him to finally get it done. I was quite amazed how long a drag a wedding can be since I really rarely attend any wedding from beginning to the end. We went to the wedding in the morning at this South Pasadena church which is like 3 min away from our place. I really don't have much idea why they picked that place cuz to me the church didn't really look all that fancy or anything. Chih-Lin took some photos for us, but they both look kinda weird. I think people should always be careful to pick taller people to take photos cuz those shorter than you usually take photos with weird angles.....but anyway....nothing special about the church.
We were quite surprised that the wedding was quite big. I guess Eddie collected enough friends with all the churches he had been to. Even Sam Mazur said he was surprised to see a lot of his old friends who left his current church a while back. I guess weddings are the best places to bring old friends back together. It was funny that I saw whole bunch of the relatives at the wedding since Eddie knows a lot of my relatives...the younger generation at least. Man my family is surely EVERYWHERE...sighs...(even the best man was somehow related to me by a distant marriage....oh well...)
We also saw Theo at the wedding since he was one of the groomsmen. I think he got a lot bigger this time. Maybe he will be the next one to get married if his girlfriend keeps on pushing for it. I guess next year we can then attend his wedding even though he doesn't seem to have too great of a time thinking about wedding. I think Tina does look like she is in love with Eddie even though he family does not like him and all that. It must be difficult for them but then if they love each other enough to have the wedding called off twice and still do it now I think they will be ok no matter what.
I didn't really take photos of any people at the wedding since I am sure there will be enough photos going on from more professional people for the couple. I also didn't think there was much to shoot for at the places. The reception was at Twin Palms in Pasadena. I personally didn't like the food that much but maybe it's because it was wedding food. The band was quite good though even though the drummer keeps on picking up his beats. I guess LAMA professors should be quite decent for a wedding :)
Below is my favorite photo of the day. I wish I shot that one with my new camera and not my old point and shoot. The barrels and the window really turned out nice. The 2nd photo here taken by Chih-Lin again is just kinda funny. Our color difference in skin tone is just way too obvious....lol....anyway....other than seeing too many familiar faces which makes me kinda uneasy....I guess the wedding was alright....just way too long with all the time delays...but hey at least I was able to sit through it from beginning to the end. I guess that means this new couple really has all my blessings on their marriage....I think the last wedding which I sincerely wanted to attend was Ivy and Paul's....and for Jay's I KINDA didn't mind going but I didn't want to stay that long either after I finished playing....hahahahah.....ok....just not a big fan of weddings....The End....:)
We were quite surprised that the wedding was quite big. I guess Eddie collected enough friends with all the churches he had been to. Even Sam Mazur said he was surprised to see a lot of his old friends who left his current church a while back. I guess weddings are the best places to bring old friends back together. It was funny that I saw whole bunch of the relatives at the wedding since Eddie knows a lot of my relatives...the younger generation at least. Man my family is surely EVERYWHERE...sighs...(even the best man was somehow related to me by a distant marriage....oh well...)
We also saw Theo at the wedding since he was one of the groomsmen. I think he got a lot bigger this time. Maybe he will be the next one to get married if his girlfriend keeps on pushing for it. I guess next year we can then attend his wedding even though he doesn't seem to have too great of a time thinking about wedding. I think Tina does look like she is in love with Eddie even though he family does not like him and all that. It must be difficult for them but then if they love each other enough to have the wedding called off twice and still do it now I think they will be ok no matter what.
I didn't really take photos of any people at the wedding since I am sure there will be enough photos going on from more professional people for the couple. I also didn't think there was much to shoot for at the places. The reception was at Twin Palms in Pasadena. I personally didn't like the food that much but maybe it's because it was wedding food. The band was quite good though even though the drummer keeps on picking up his beats. I guess LAMA professors should be quite decent for a wedding :)
Below is my favorite photo of the day. I wish I shot that one with my new camera and not my old point and shoot. The barrels and the window really turned out nice. The 2nd photo here taken by Chih-Lin again is just kinda funny. Our color difference in skin tone is just way too obvious....lol....anyway....other than seeing too many familiar faces which makes me kinda uneasy....I guess the wedding was alright....just way too long with all the time delays...but hey at least I was able to sit through it from beginning to the end. I guess that means this new couple really has all my blessings on their marriage....I think the last wedding which I sincerely wanted to attend was Ivy and Paul's....and for Jay's I KINDA didn't mind going but I didn't want to stay that long either after I finished playing....hahahahah.....ok....just not a big fan of weddings....The End....:)
Friday, August 8, 2008
Staying up?
Billy stayed up real late last night (or really early in the morning I suppose), and now I guess it's my turn. It's past 1 in the morning now and I just somehow cannot sleep right. I have been having nightmares for the whole week and yet I don't really remember what nightmares I had. Few days ago the both sides around my chin was kinda hurting around the bone and I also couldn't figure out what the cause was. This morning one of my teeth was feeling kinda weird....and then that got me to think maybe I was grinding my teeth during the night...??
I was trying to think why I would have so many nightmares in a row cuz honestly I really don't have that many nightmares. I only recently started to dream actually....yeah....went through many many years without dreams before....Billy came up with one possible reason which I was actually suspecting myself. He said the earplugs I have been wearing might be the cause of my nightmares....
Well...so here is the thing....I started wearing earplugs again this week. I just thought it would be easier for me not to hear all the noises in our building at night. The method kinda helped me to fall into sleep easier, but then nightmares began as well....I personally hate it when people cover my ears. Not being able to hear things just puts this weird fear in me for some reason. Whenever I cannot hear clearly I just get anxious....but I didn't relate that to my earplugs and nightmare situation.
So after the discussion of earplugs I decided to try again just for tonight. I put the earplugs in even though I was not all that sleepy. The earplugs actually helped me fall into sleep....but only for a min.....I then noticed that I was biting my teeth really tightly, and I woke up feeling short of breath at the same time....so here I am writing about this weird experience. I probably went through the previous nights with this "unheard" fear on mine, and thought I had nightmares while I was just sleeping with this fear. It's also possible that I couldn't remember any of the nightmares because I didn't actually have them but I thought I did....
I know....all of these are very confusing...I am gonna try and sleep now without the earplugs....and with Billy's loud snoring next to my ears....If the snoring does not damage my ears I sure hope it will sooth me somehow and put me into sleep....
I was trying to think why I would have so many nightmares in a row cuz honestly I really don't have that many nightmares. I only recently started to dream actually....yeah....went through many many years without dreams before....Billy came up with one possible reason which I was actually suspecting myself. He said the earplugs I have been wearing might be the cause of my nightmares....
Well...so here is the thing....I started wearing earplugs again this week. I just thought it would be easier for me not to hear all the noises in our building at night. The method kinda helped me to fall into sleep easier, but then nightmares began as well....I personally hate it when people cover my ears. Not being able to hear things just puts this weird fear in me for some reason. Whenever I cannot hear clearly I just get anxious....but I didn't relate that to my earplugs and nightmare situation.
So after the discussion of earplugs I decided to try again just for tonight. I put the earplugs in even though I was not all that sleepy. The earplugs actually helped me fall into sleep....but only for a min.....I then noticed that I was biting my teeth really tightly, and I woke up feeling short of breath at the same time....so here I am writing about this weird experience. I probably went through the previous nights with this "unheard" fear on mine, and thought I had nightmares while I was just sleeping with this fear. It's also possible that I couldn't remember any of the nightmares because I didn't actually have them but I thought I did....
I know....all of these are very confusing...I am gonna try and sleep now without the earplugs....and with Billy's loud snoring next to my ears....If the snoring does not damage my ears I sure hope it will sooth me somehow and put me into sleep....
Thursday, August 7, 2008
New Kid
I started teaching this little kid this morning...and think I probably got myself into more trouble again....So here is the story....Many years ago this mom asked if I can teach her daughter on violin. I was not into teaching and really didn't want to bother with young kids so I said just wait till she gets older. I started traveling a lot and I guess I just kinda told people I would not take any new students....so that was that....Few years back this mom called me again and asked if I can teach her 2nd daughter since the 1st one was already too old to start. I was like....hum....let's do this....just wait a few more years.....maybe till she is in school so she can at least understand me better and I would not have to struggle through the lessons....and that was that....
Last month.....this mom gave me a call again....she said "hey....can you consider teaching my daughter now? She is 7 now and I think she really wants to learn..." So I started feeling really bad about this whole thing....I said...."fine....bring her to me and we will just do 30 min for now. I really don't want to kill her interest and all....but if she wants to learn then I will just be as strict to her as to my other students...."
1st of all....I don't understand why the mom wants her kids to learn violin so much (or just music in general)....and I don't know why she insists on finding me either. I don't even freaking know how she got my new cell phone numbers....but I am sure she really tried hard cuz I don't think more than 5 people from EFCLA knows my new numbers now. I didn't even go to the church for many years just to think about that....I really hope I won't have to kill myself teaching a young kid like this again. I don't want to be mean either so help me God....
Sometimes I just wonder if all is worth it when parents try to put their kids through stuff the kids are not necessarily interested in. Why not just let them go with what they love and soar on those aspects? or is it just so hard to tell what a kid is talented with and interested with? Maybe that is....since not a lot of kids know what to think about or do while growing up....but I personally think it's because a lot of parents don't even spend enough time exploring the world with their kids...anyway....
It's always good to get some extra work....but hopefully it will be a pleasant one since teaching is really not my favorite activity....It's good the mom is gonna watch the kid so I don't have to push much. I am just hoping the kid has a little talent so we don't have to get stuck on things and all lose interest. I think Hades is upset now since I had to lock him in the room for 30 min since the mom is afraid of cats. It's quite amazing how many girls are actually afraid of cats...what's up with that? Is it because girls tend to act like cats and they don't like the similar crowd? Ok....My topic is drifting too far away....lol....
oh....the mom thought my husband is some sort of artist and decorated our apartment with all the photos and stuff...She guessed photographer....right....I was cracking up....who took all the pictures? lol....
Last month.....this mom gave me a call again....she said "hey....can you consider teaching my daughter now? She is 7 now and I think she really wants to learn..." So I started feeling really bad about this whole thing....I said...."fine....bring her to me and we will just do 30 min for now. I really don't want to kill her interest and all....but if she wants to learn then I will just be as strict to her as to my other students...."
1st of all....I don't understand why the mom wants her kids to learn violin so much (or just music in general)....and I don't know why she insists on finding me either. I don't even freaking know how she got my new cell phone numbers....but I am sure she really tried hard cuz I don't think more than 5 people from EFCLA knows my new numbers now. I didn't even go to the church for many years just to think about that....I really hope I won't have to kill myself teaching a young kid like this again. I don't want to be mean either so help me God....
Sometimes I just wonder if all is worth it when parents try to put their kids through stuff the kids are not necessarily interested in. Why not just let them go with what they love and soar on those aspects? or is it just so hard to tell what a kid is talented with and interested with? Maybe that is....since not a lot of kids know what to think about or do while growing up....but I personally think it's because a lot of parents don't even spend enough time exploring the world with their kids...anyway....
It's always good to get some extra work....but hopefully it will be a pleasant one since teaching is really not my favorite activity....It's good the mom is gonna watch the kid so I don't have to push much. I am just hoping the kid has a little talent so we don't have to get stuck on things and all lose interest. I think Hades is upset now since I had to lock him in the room for 30 min since the mom is afraid of cats. It's quite amazing how many girls are actually afraid of cats...what's up with that? Is it because girls tend to act like cats and they don't like the similar crowd? Ok....My topic is drifting too far away....lol....
oh....the mom thought my husband is some sort of artist and decorated our apartment with all the photos and stuff...She guessed photographer....right....I was cracking up....who took all the pictures? lol....
Tuesday, August 5, 2008
I guess there is not much going on...thus my boring blog...
Susan (my high school pianist who accompanied most of the people from my studio) was chatting with me last night. It felt kinda weird chatting with someone who used to be the staff from high school so many years ago. I guess getting to know them when I am all grown up is really diff. I just can't believe how much she remembered about me from those years I was at Interlochen. She remembered what pieces I played....even the piano concerto I was playing with orchestra for practice preparing for a major competition which was held at our school at that time....and she remembered what subjects I was good with back back in school....even suggested that I should really seek for a medical degree....right....at my age....lol....
Compared to Susan's good memory, I really don't have much idea what was happening around the school back then. Julia was totally right I didn't pay attention to other people's lives....or maybe Milan was right that all my sleeping disorders through the past years erased my memories....Susan was telling me about her 1st marriage which happened when I was actually still at Interlochen. She was married to that guy for 6 years and I didn't even know???!!!!!! I wonder what is going on with my brain which most people think is functioning quite well....hum.....
Man...This China soap opera is endless....and the way China people talk just kills me....talking about cultural differences...Ok...better wake Hades up before he sleeps too much and wakes me up at night....
Compared to Susan's good memory, I really don't have much idea what was happening around the school back then. Julia was totally right I didn't pay attention to other people's lives....or maybe Milan was right that all my sleeping disorders through the past years erased my memories....Susan was telling me about her 1st marriage which happened when I was actually still at Interlochen. She was married to that guy for 6 years and I didn't even know???!!!!!! I wonder what is going on with my brain which most people think is functioning quite well....hum.....
Man...This China soap opera is endless....and the way China people talk just kills me....talking about cultural differences...Ok...better wake Hades up before he sleeps too much and wakes me up at night....
Monday, August 4, 2008
Photos....
I got my new camera this weekend. I am planning to develop photo taking as a serious hobby....I have always liked taking photos growing up, but then didn't do much about it other than just using my natural talent on that. My youngest brother who got the 1st DSLR in the family kinda trigger my desire to know more about the techniques on taking photos...plus I just don't see much else in life that can kinda both entertain me and give me some sort of satisfaction at this point. So...photography it is for now....
I decided to go with a mega zoom camera that is like a "DSLR wanna be" which is the Fujifilm s100fs. I was kinda amused when my other bro Clement told me he was looking at the exact same camera for a while. I guess the same blood does run in us. Anyway....we went to the LA arboretum on Sat, and I tried my new camera for the 1st time. I don't think there was too much to shoot for, but the result of the photos was ok I guess.....
There were whole bunch of peacocks in the arboretum. They are into making loud voices and they sound like cats from a distance. They even act like cats cuz I saw one sweeping the sand with her feet....yeah...kinda weird...The 2nd photo here is taken from this weird tree art piece. I just kinda peeked through one of the holes they created with the tree branches within this big weird thing which I have no idea what it was...
Dragonflies were everywhere....but then they were kinda hard to capture cuz most of the time they would not stay still, especially when people are around. If you zoom in the photos, details were actually quite clear with the macro zooming I used. I hope next time I can find some better looking color bugs to shoot...
Well....these were from the Asian garden....yeah...American people tend to think lotus can represent Asian. Wherever you go there are always lotus in Asian Gardens....lol...
This lizard actually turned out to be nice with the weird tree skin in the back. The 2nd photo was taken in the horse coach's firehouse place. Those reminded me of Mei-Nong somehow...
Well....I hope next time we will find more interesting places to take photos....We will see about that then....Hopefully before we get a house or condo I will have cool pictures to decorate it with....
I decided to go with a mega zoom camera that is like a "DSLR wanna be" which is the Fujifilm s100fs. I was kinda amused when my other bro Clement told me he was looking at the exact same camera for a while. I guess the same blood does run in us. Anyway....we went to the LA arboretum on Sat, and I tried my new camera for the 1st time. I don't think there was too much to shoot for, but the result of the photos was ok I guess.....
There were whole bunch of peacocks in the arboretum. They are into making loud voices and they sound like cats from a distance. They even act like cats cuz I saw one sweeping the sand with her feet....yeah...kinda weird...The 2nd photo here is taken from this weird tree art piece. I just kinda peeked through one of the holes they created with the tree branches within this big weird thing which I have no idea what it was...
Dragonflies were everywhere....but then they were kinda hard to capture cuz most of the time they would not stay still, especially when people are around. If you zoom in the photos, details were actually quite clear with the macro zooming I used. I hope next time I can find some better looking color bugs to shoot...
Well....these were from the Asian garden....yeah...American people tend to think lotus can represent Asian. Wherever you go there are always lotus in Asian Gardens....lol...
This lizard actually turned out to be nice with the weird tree skin in the back. The 2nd photo was taken in the horse coach's firehouse place. Those reminded me of Mei-Nong somehow...
Well....I hope next time we will find more interesting places to take photos....We will see about that then....Hopefully before we get a house or condo I will have cool pictures to decorate it with....
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