Hibernating...

30F --> right about freezing temperature. Cold.
20F --> It is damn cold in here
10F ---> My pinky starts to twinge and slowly loses its senses
Anything under 10F --> What the (*#&$*^%

It is that time of year again. I reached my personal low at 9F last Tuesday. Yes, it is WAY under endurable temperature in my standard. The best I can do is to snuggle in my comforter and sleep whole day. And that's exactly what I did today. Almost felt guilty for not doing anything productive during weekends. Any good sunny weekend shouldn't be wasted in bed, even if it is damn cold like this.

Due to nature of my work, it is extremely busy during summer. Since then I have set a winter goal, which is to take as many scenic photos as possible in an open country around here. Not only can I update my photo portfolio, but also I get to appreciate the beauty of this new town in an artistic approach.

One major flaw with that goal is miscalculating how cold this place can be during winter. Even with a nice sunshine in the 30Fs, it is still freezing cold after layers of sweaters and a big jacket. It is just not feasible to stand outside and leave my index finger out of glove to click shutter continuously. Plus Christmas is on the way, how I resist the temptation of shopping? The big ON SALE sign pulls me further away from my winter dream.


Here comes some freezing yet beautiful memeories from last week. This reminds me why it is worth going outside and freezing to death.

Happy Thanksgiving

This is my first thanksgiving since my move.
The first time spending thanksgiving alone
And the first thanksgiving that i get to enjoy this old-time tradition with an American family for an awesome full-course dinner.


Initially I was so bummed at the fact I would have to spend holidays alone. I am usually good at wasting time and wondering around by myself. However, spending any holiday alone just sounds depressing, not to mention Thanksgiving is where family/friends supposed to get together. In addition, all the shops will be closed early; I would have no choice but to stay home.

Fortunately, a lot of people feel the same way for me. I actually received up to five invitations this year and I get to choose where to eat my turkey dinner at. One of the families is even going to deep-fried their turkey. ( For those of you who know me, I try to stay away from deep-fried stuff due to my body hormone imbalance) I kindly turned down that invitation, knowing that host is an awesome cook, their family is exceedingly friendly, and it would have been a delightful dinner.

Tomorrow is the big day, I will soon find out whether I made a good choice. I am going to dine at my colleague's new house where half of his families will fly in from the east coast. It would be fun to check out his new place and have a traditional turkey dinner. My only concern is why his reception starts at 3pm? Does that mean we will have to eat for like 5-hour straight or what? Let's hope I won't overeat and his east-coast family won't be too mean to me.

When less is more

I used to be proud of my e-mail respondent skills where I have learned to deliver ambiguous answers under certain situations. This doesn'’t make me an insincere person, but I have to learn to cover my as* from time to time. When I was in school, I am a very detail-oriented person and often been rewarded for orchestrating a project with full details. Being detailed-oriented and follow-through once made me a good student, but things have changed around when you step into the workforce.

Since I am still fresh out of school, sometimes I forget my new identity and the fact "less is more”" or how my colleagues called it a KISS -– “keep it short and stupid method. There are times I state facts as clear as possible and share a bit more than necessary; I end up being grilled for my honesty.

There is no such thing as being right and wrong at work. Experience is the key, and I have to learn plenty from my mistakes so far - and still counting. Today happens to be one of these days I made one of those stupid, but harmless mistakes. Even though it is not that big of a deal, I still wish there is a little re-do button where I can just press and go back to fix that little problem. What I did was absolutely a right thing to do, but sometimes the smarter way is to let it go and pretend you know nothing about it; meanwhile, pray that no one will catch your little tail.

Education Vs. Sleep Time

According to the latest edition of Time, a survey shows people with higher education tend to work less hours, or as “know more, labor less.”

• Less than high school diploma: 7 hrs and 54 min a day

• High school graduate: 7 hrs and 50 min a day

• Some college: 7 hrs and 35 min a day
  

• Bachelor’s degree and higher: 7 hrs and 22 min a day.
  

• Cindy’s average working hours: 10 hrs - I work more hours than those without a high school diploma. Why did I go to school for?
  

Sleep Time: Oh..my favorite topic

American averages to sleep 8 ½ hours a day. The time that people wake up in the morning gets later as education levels increases. Damn right. I wake up at 5:30am and arrive at work at 6:30am.

All those results show that my education doesn’t quite pay off. I work more hours even with sufficient education. Alternatively, I can just call myself abnormal and doesn’t qualify to be a part of this survey. However, there is one thing that actually fits my pattern - TV Time: majority of people would choose to glue to the tube as the most popular spare-time activity. Oh yeah, watching TV might be a little bit brain-dead, but that is just exactly what I need after work.

Back to Beginning

Simply saying that I have been busy might be a lousy excuse, but there is just so much going on that I just don’t know where to start!?! Anyhow, it finally feels like settling down and I can’t wait to get back to my old routine again. The problem is, do I even have a routine to begin with?

Before I can set up a new one, I am going to make a sacrifice first. After all, nothing comes easy, right? This decision that will grant me additional 2-3 hours a day, approximately 15 hours a week. Just the time I need for my new plans, whatever they are.

I always dream about those so called “plans” every morning, but sadly, I don’t have the energy to accomplish any of them after work each day. *sigh*

This sacrifice might be painful at first, but I have finally decided it is time to let go my love of 2 months- my sweet online blockbuster deal. Initially I subscribed it so I would have something to do after work. Since there is no cable TV in my place, DVD becomes the second best option to allocate my free time – it is like watching TV with some form of control. But who am I kidding, really?

There is just so much I can watch, and they keep on coming in the mail. At the end, I am exhausted. It has gone to the point where I go home, eat, watch dvd, then sleep. It is not a healthy routine at all. Plus I go out for lunch more often than ever; my weight is going up like crazy. Damn it.

Here I am, self-reflecting again for a fresh start. This time, I hope it will go on a bit longer.

I am going to update...

I am...I really am going to update this time.
Yes, I mean it this time.
But it is almost my bedtime....Maybe tomorrow?
I am trying hard to save this blog. It has been 5 months, guess it doesn't hurt to wait for a few more days. hahahaa

If a picture is worth one thousand words, sharing a picture also makes me feel less guilty for abandoning this blog for so long. Here comes my latest picture of the most recent trip to Tillicam Village on Blake Island.

Rain Rain and Snow??

After a week of lovely sunshine, I fall in love with Seattle all over again. Just as I was ready to take out my tennis racket and went out for some outdoor exercise on what-I-thought-would-be perfect Saturday afternoon, sky turned dark and soon started raining. What the heck? I changed back my normal cloth and called my friend to cancel the fun.

Alternatively, we went to a Belle Pastry – a French bakery in Bellevue. We picked a window seat, watched people walking pass by, and talked nonsense for a short while. It is like that scene in Sex and City, Carrie and her friends having a brunch during weekends. (In my case, it is afternoon tea because I woke up late). To my surprise, I am actually very happy to enjoy a heavy-rain Saturday like this. Sitting in a coffee shop with my cake and coffee- I am easy to be pleased.

After years living in Bellevue, I am shameful to admit that I have never been that that part of Bellevue (around 100^th and main street). There are some high-end clothing stores, antique shops and even a bathroom accessory store with a magnified mirror cost more than $300 bucks. Who will need a mirror like that when I can get a set of my own for under 30 bucks in Bed, Bath and Beyond? There is one reason you gotta love those chain stores.

It is not only the rain; temperature must have dropped at least 20 degrees in matter of 24 hours. During my drive home, it even started snowing. Can you believe that? Snow in May!?!

No More Nap?

Sooner or later I have to stop taking this nice 40-min nap inside of my car during lunch hour, or I will get sunburn as it is finally warming up in Seattle. In fact, my cheeks are already burning up. I love Seattle with sunny weather like this, but where will my new napping spot be? Under a tree?

Ahh, screw it, i will wear layers of sunscreens.

My Newfound Artist - Agatsuma

At first i thought his music are refreshing and unique, unfortunately, my good first impression doesn't last long. After downloading three songs from I-tune last night (yes, I paid) and played them back to back, i realized that all his tones are similar; i can barely tell the difference between the songs. (All right, maybe I am a bit tone deaf, too)

There is no doubt that he is a talent artist, but come on, that instrument, shamisen, only has only three strings. What can you expect? There can't possibly be too many variations. Like most of artists, his first CD happens to be the best along the three. I don't even want to comment on his latest CD. *sigh*

Agatsuma's shamisen is slightly different from the typical new age music i listen to, but it is still pretty cool music for both work and exercise. For more info about Agatsuma and to sample his music, click here. My favorite piece is In Memory of NY, that was a 99-cent well spent. hehe

Am I good enough to continue?

After taking one quarter of Spanish without failing, i figured it might be ok to move onto the next level. Unfortunately, three weeks of relaxing spring break is all it takes to push me back to ground zero. This just shows how poor/weak my foundation is. It takes a long time to start out a new language; yet everything can be easily destroyed in matter of weeks.

I have to admit that my first class of Spanish II isn't going well. Not only did I have trouble introducing myself in VERY simple sentences, but also I have forgotten 80% of the vocabularies learned in the previous quarter (there were like only 30 words taught in the introductories level, so you can do the math)

What bothers me is how I seemed to be the only person in class who can't remember or pronounce a thing. However, my philosophy is this: sucking through the rest of classes is still better than not taking the class at all. As long as I am in that environment, I can still pick up something little by little. Since I don't have high expectation for that class, anything is good at this point.

Yes, I will continue sucking through the class. Way to go!

Cherry Blossom Again

Yup, that's right, it is that cherry blossom season again - my fifth year taking photos in this overcrowded tourist spot at UW.

To spice things up, I mixed in some Before and After photos. One thing I know for sure is the weather. It is definitely colder this year. But other than the people in the pictures, there really isn't that much of a difference. It is just as beautiful as last year, the year before last year, and many many years before that. This makes me wonder whether it would be my last year taking those repetitive photos??

This Year - Connie, Cindy, and Yee


Last Year - Yang and I

On the way back, I took a picture of Denny Hall, the oldest building on UW campus. According to the UW website, Denny Hall was first introduced in September 1985. This building was recently restored to ensure survival under future earthquakes. The safety measure has yet to be tested, and no, let's hope it never will be tested.




As time goes by, cherry trees, Denny Hall, as well as the rest of UW buildings will always be there to welcome the new generations. The scenes might get dull and eventually i will stop taking photos of those once known as "The Stunning Beauty." What never fades out is the remembrance of this campus - a place where i met most of my lifelong friends. This memory will always be meaningful and I will forever cherish that in my heart.

Four Categories

Most people belong to one of the following four categories:

• Smart and Humble
• Dumb yet honest about the fact he/she is not so sharp
• Smart but Arrogant
• Dumb and Arrogant
  

Smart and humble, it is very fun to hang out with those people. You can often stimulate a deep, thoughtful conversation and feel quite rewarding at the end. Best of all, you feel very comfortable throughout the process and they will never make you feel stupid.

Dumb and Honest. It is ok to say stupid things and joke about it. If you can ask questions nicely and politely, almost everyone would love to help.

Most people I have met fall into category III. Well, if you are smart but a little bit arrogant, that’s fine. You have right to be proud, as we don’t get to see many geniuses running around everyday. As long as they are reasonable, we can work on that little attitude problem later.

Now I would like to devote my full energy to address to my last group: dumb and arrogant. I really want to choke and squeeze those people hard sometimes. If you are slow, so be it. It is ok to be slow, but please respect others who can think ahead of you. It is especially frustrating talking to those people who are going around circles, repeating over and over again. I got your point the first time, ok? (that's if they any valuable point to make at the first place) As I try to cut short the conversation and give my answer after 10 seconds, they can’t listen. They will go on and on for another 5-10 minutes and finally ask: Cindy, do you get it? It seems as if their ears shut down automatically as soon as they start talking.

What really bugs me is how I have to repeat my answer all over again, 10 minutes later, for exactly the same thing I just said earlier. Yet they don’t think I am paying attention...

So Close

It was close. Within a matter of seconds, I could have gotten into a bad car crush tonight. I wasn’t the driver, but was the one on the passenger seat who got the exact the same visions and totally conscious about the whole situation. Strangely enough, I didn’t scream, yell out loud, but only told the driver to slow down two seconds before she was about to hit.

She stepped on her brakes but not to a completely stop. She had to change to an open lane on her left to get extra inches of braking distance. Both of us could hear the brake scratching through the sky while anxiously keeping the car out of danger.

It was a good opportunity to test out her brakes; only wish I wasn’t in the car when this testing took place.

Wasn’t I afraid because I trust the driver? No, I knew she just got her new car and she doesn’t drive often. Technically, she is still getting used to her new buddy. What was it then? If the driver were horrified, how come I didn’t feel a thing?

I remember something like this happened in the summer last year. Back then I was the driver and the only person in the car. My legs couldn’t stop shaking after I finally hauled my car to a complete stop.

Exact incident but totally different reactions this time. Could it be I have outgrown my boldness or I was slow somehow I forgot to react? What I know for sure is that screaming doesn't do much other than agitating the driver under that situation.

On second thought, I shouldn’t be the one reflecting here. Maybe some people just can’t drive and talk, yet still pay full attention on the road at the same time. But again, I can’t tell them to ignore your friends while driving, either.

A Moment Worth Celebrating For

Finally Done! My Website is officially online.
If you are going to check it out, be sure to sign my Guestbook, too.

It feels sooooo good to let that this "self-imposed burden" out of my way. My badly-abused laptop and I can now both go to sleep at the same time.

Who am I, really?

After living in the states for so many years, I always consider myself Chinese, 100% pure Chinese. Even after been cultivated in American culture for these years, I am still fully aware of my identity, or I thought so at least.

However, my recent discovery shows me otherwise. What are the values of Chinese Year? What are the rituals in preparation for this big celebration? Do I know…or if I remember any?

This is my first Chinese New Year with non-family members. They are a group of people who care deeply, remember, and even follow the traditional Chinese rituals.

There were things that used to be vivid in my memory but now have gone blurry. If anyone asks me what Chinese New Year is about, can I still answer that question ? Unfortunately, I can’t. I might have to google for a good answer. If I were as pure Chinese as I thought I am, shouldn’t this be one of those simple questions that I was born to know?

While I am not catching up with the American culture, I am losing my original identity at the same time. This thought frightens me. Who am I, really?

One thing I know for sure is that I am too old to get red envelope. No money for me this year, or ever. Sometimes just wish that I am still a kid, a happy kid.

Amazing Reading Power

As I was sorting through my old e-mails, I found this incredible little exercise:

I cdnuolt blveiee taht I cluod aulaclty uesdnatnrd waht I was rdgnieg The phaonmneal pweor of the hmuan mnid Aoccdrnig to a rscheearch atCmabrigde Uinervtisy, it deosn't mttaer in waht oredr the ltteers in a wrod are, the olny iprmoatnt tihng is taht the frist and lsat ltteer be in the rghit pclae. The rset can be a taotl mses and you can sitll raed itwouthita porbelm. Tihs is bcuseae the huamn mnid deos not raed ervey lteter by istlef, but the wrod as a wlohe. Amzanig huh? yaeh and I awlyas thought slpeling was ipmorant!

All right, i can read everything; it is quite amazing how we perceive words. You may say spelling is not that big of a deal, but it still bugs me with so many spelling errors.

A Quick Announcement

Okay, this is coming a bit faster than I expected, but I just received an job offer on Friday.

Looks like I will have a normal life pretty soon. A normal life as in waking up in the morning and going to sleep around midnight.

I am actually very looking forward to that, but there are still tons of other things needed to be taking care of before the job starts. My underconstructed website is the first thing that comes to my mind.

Need to push myself harder. There is not much free time left.

To keep or throw away?

As I ended my temp job two weeks ago, I have now extended my beauty sleep from 6 hours to 10 hours a day. What a great improvement, huh!

I dedicated the rest of time to clean my room and throw out junks. I can’t believe there are so many junks sitting in my room after all these years. From old stuff animals to lecture notes, there are things that look nice but must get rid of at once. While some went to the donation, most stuff is now in my beloved trashcan.

After one week of hard work, I have to admit that I have failed. There are still bunch of stuffs in my room; things that are in very good condition and I would feel bad throwing them away.

This is what I have realized:

1. I have a habit of collecting junks.
2. I can’t shop anymore. While it is very temping to buy things, I must learn how to control myself from buying things that will eventually turn into junks.

I am now happy to hand over my "shopping queen" title to someone else. Well, maybe after I get a pair of tennis shoes and my ski gloves tomorrow. Yup, that sounds better.