Merry Christmas!

I was asked an interesting question today.

Does Santa use a whip?

Really, would the whip actually work when he travels with supersonic speed?

Wednesday, Party Day

Had an exciting day yesterday.

Three parties, sort of. The first one was at the church and I wasn't really part of it. My parents have been going to this quilting groups at church. They make quilts for missions. The ladies in the group presented a quilt to my parents as a parting gift. Very nice of them.

Around noon, I picked up my parents from the church then headed to my company's X'mas party. Free drinks and free food. And a year-end bonus check!!!!!! To top it off, my dad won the dart tournament and got a $50 gift card to TGIF. Now he is revered as the king of dart at the engineering office next door coz he beat all the top guys there (guys who always hang out at the bar).

We then had a Wii party at my coworker's. Man... that Wii was fun to play. And yes, the remote did slip out of my hand once. It hit and ceiling.... no damage was done. I was sooooo embarrassed.

After the Wii party, I met up with a professor of mine from Purdue. He was on his way to Toronto and stopped by to visit us. We went to TGIF for dinner, thanks to Dad's daring performance at the dart tournament. After the dinner, my prof supposed to follow us home and stayed with us for the night. But we lost him on the way home. It was raining... at night... and visibility was low. I actually spotted him twice after he took the wrong turn. He didn't have a cell phone. So I had no way of finding him. I just got his email tonight. He ended up staying at a motel 6 last night and he has arrived Toronto safe and sound.

Sister's Wedding Site

http://www2.hongai.edu.hk/~chc/wkc.html

Haircut

My mom gave me a haircut--free of charge--as my b-day present wor. Oh well...

Work

Really excited at work today. Gotta move in an office. And a big news that I need to keep it under wrap for a while. Next year will be interesting.

Tiramisu

oh... haven't posted a real entry in a while. I guess it's about time.

My company had a X'mas party tonight. We went to an Italian restaurant for dinner. Almost every one from the office plus their significant others have showed up. I brought my parents along as well. The food was good.

I had tiramisu for dessert. It was sooooo good. It was very light and soft. It just melts in your mouth. I think I had just tasted the best tiramisu, ever.

After several bites, however, I was lost in thoughts. I hate how my brain works. A piece of tiramisu could bring back so many memories. I was surprised that I still miss her. Damn it. Never learned how to let go. Or will I ever?

Time

Time is a good medicine.

Really?

Happy Turkey Day

Have a wonderful Thanksgiving everyone!

football

Purdue finally won a game this Saturday.... against the lowly Michigan State. Oh well... the defense is finally catching up and again... the offense is a bit lack-luster. But a win is a win. No complaint there.

As for the Bears... they finally lost a game. A team cannot overcome 6 turnovers no matter how good it is. Well.. it's about time that they lose one. It will make them a better team.

Ice-cream

Took my parents shopping yesterday... found a really good deal for an ice-cream maker attachment set (to the kitchen-aid mixer I have). Only $20... freeze mixing bowl + drive assembly + ice-cream scoop. I just looked up Amazon... the same unit being sold for $80. Unbelievable!

Anyway, I put the freeze bowl in the freezer last night. So earlier today, I bought some heavy whip cream and milk... With the powder mix that came with the set, I made ICE-CREAM! It was soooo easy. Just let it stir for 25 minutes... you get a soft ice-cream (like frozen custard). Now the ice-cream is in freezer... it should be ready for dinner dessert. Haha ha....

"home"

For those of you who are in the States or... in a country that you are not born in... have you ever considered where you are currently living "home"?

For me, I guess I am quite adaptable in that I can pretty much go anywhere and settle down and consider that place my home. I guess I can be classified as a settler... but the truth is I don't like changes either. There is a certain security about status quo.

What would you do if you don't think of your home "home" and always have the desire to go "home"? What really make a home "home"? What makes you belong to a place, a city, or a country?

weekend

Good friends from Indianapolis came visit yesterday. We went to see a locally produced musical in town--- Beauty and the Beast. The musical was good, actually surprisingly well done for limited budget and talents. My coworker was in the cast too... she's Babbette... the duster lady. She did really well.... very "fung show" indeed. The lady who did Belle was a really really good singer... very professional.

Today... we all went up to Chicago to do some shopping. Dinner at China town... we had Szecheun food. Haven't had Szecheun stuff in a while. It was good... but I can't imagine eating that stuff every single day.

Fight

Mom and Dad had a fight tonight. Well actually this fight has lasted for more than a week already. I spent my whole evening talking to them. They are still fighting as I am writing this. Sigh.... One of these days, the inevitable might just happen. I truly feel sorry for Dad when he said... I deserve to be happy for my last few years of life.... I'd use all my money to do things that I like to do... go places that I like to go.

Sigh....

life

life is short. really short.

talking to a friend on the phone today... she worried about his dad's health... about the inevitability of death.
got another friend's email tonight... her dad just passed away over the weekend.

was it a coincidence?

my dad looks older as each day flies by. he is sleepy all the time. i am worried.

life is too short.

Tonight... tonight...

In the middle of my barbershop chorus rehearsal tonight, my director suddenly said to me in his usual stammering way, "I... I have a personal matter that I need to talk... talk to you." (Not trying to make fun of him, but he does stutter every now and then.) I was kinda worried coz I was the only tenor tonight and thought that he might have something to say about my singing. (Oh, yeah... due to the lack of younger/higher voices in the chorus, I am officially a tenor now. I guess it's a good fit for me. My voice is not loud enough to be a lead anyway. And surprisingly, I like singing tenor.) Anyway... getting back to my story....

He then pulled me aside after rehearsal and with a bashful smile, he asked "You are still single, are you?"

?!?!?!

I was stunned for a moment. Then I realized that he was trying to be a matchmaker. He said he wanted to set me up with the organist at his church. Oh boy....

On a side note, my mom declared the other day. "You cannot have a foreigner wife!"

On another side note and on the subject of being 阿Q, I have given up trying to look for my other half or more accurately speaking--dreaming about it. Facing with the reality of my family situation (mainly with my mom) makes me realize that the chance of finding a woman who can tolerate me and my mom is literally slimmer than winning the lottery. No more 阿Q. I just have to give up trying.

:`|

Fall Pictures

Fall 2006

Starved Rock State Park

The colors were disappointing. I knew it's too early. Only 25% of the foliage has put on its autumn colors. The guy at the visitor center said this year's color won't be as good as usual anyway because of the cold weather. It was worth the trip though. It's good that my parents get some exercise.

Starved Rock is a pretty place. There are many canyons with sand stone bluffs. The canyons are very deep... more spectacular than those at Turkey Run. I will go there again in the Spring to see the waterfalls.

The town Utica is just to the north of the state park. A little midwest town. I checked out a pottery store. The guy was really nice. He's been in business for 30 years. I wish some day I could set up a workshop at home. I really miss doing pottery. Next year... some time next year.

Had lunch in town at a small restaurant called Nodding Onion. The building, I guess, was converted from an old home, very nicely decorated. The food was surprisingly good. I had the wasabi tuna wrap. They only serve breakfast and lunch. Highly recommended!

I'll post some pictures tomorrow. Only took a few shoots.

阿Q

現實是不可能長久逃避, 但是當阿Q也算是不錯的短暫麻醉.

Snow in October

Snow, snow, snow!!!!!!!!!!!!

Ok... it were just flurries. But still, it's only October 12. This is gonna to be a long, cold, snowy winter. White Halloween, anyone?

Selective Memory

Talked to my best friend couple nights ago. We both have the problem of losing our memory. More accurately speaking, selectively losing our memory. It's not a matter of choice sometimes. When we forget, we just forget with no reason. I guess using the word "selective" implies active control. Hmm... maybe something or someone else is in control here, definitely not me consciously by choice.

The most distant memory I have... has to be my sister's birth. No, I didn't see her birth exactly. I remember standing on the sidewalk, holding my grandpa's hand and pointing at the ambulance that was transferring my mom to another more well-equipped hospital. I was three years old then. I am not quite sure if it was a real memory, but to this day, that image is still stuck in my head. Was I crying at the time? I must have been.

I tend to forget everyday mundane things. So keeping this blog is a good way to help me remember. I was going through my year-old posts the other day. I was surprised how many things have since escaped from my memory already. I think I am getting old. Ha ha.

Jambalaya

Made jambalaya today for dinner. Mom is on strike so Dad and I have to take turn cooking. First time ever making jambalaya... I am a big fan of Creole/Cajun cooking, but I never really did make any Cajun food before. Well... the jambalaya turned out ok. Haven't had any Cajun food lately.. and kinda forgot how jambalaya should taste like. At least edible... ha ha.

Picasa Web

Have been so busy at work. Got a really really tricky flood study from the engineering company next door (my other boss). The next two weeks I'll be working on it. Gotta redo the hydrologic model and more. Time is of essence for that project. My boss winced when he heard that I'll be occupied by my other boss for 2 weeks. Oops too bad. Hope we can hire a helper for me some time next year. Oh well... small company... have to stay lean and mean.

Finally got around to upload some of the pictures from the yellowstone trip. Picasa is amazing. Now that it has a web album thing... uploading pictures is a breeze. 250 MB of storage. not bad for free.

football

Purdue's playing Notre Dame tomorrow.... crossing my fingers... praying hard... Will miracle happen?

Update 1:
Purdue is down by 14 at the half. The defense is not playing very well, but I love the offense. Curtis Painter (our quarterback) is better than I thought. Lymon's (wide receiver) got a big body and a damn good receiver. Of course Kory Sheets (running back) is a delight to watch. Hope the defense will show up in the second half.

Update 2:
Didn't watch the second half. A family from church invited us to their home for dinner. Anyway, I just checked the score and we lost. Oh well... Purdue has a very young defense. Next year will be better I hope.

A Giant Bug

A giant bug was found near the town of Hulen, Germany. Here's the aerial downloaded from Google Earth.
The bug measured 167 feet long. Huge!

mid week

Sunday... I was nervous. Never had led a worship service before. I didn't start very well... kinda fumbling with words and forgot the name of the family who gave the flowers on the altar. But everything turned out ok in the end. I am glad that I did it.

Work has been incredibly busy lately. Now that I have to do all the cad and gis work for the ecological group, meaning I have prepare all the maps and figures for their reports and stuff. On top of that I have my own flood studies and projects to do. My to-do list is usually 10 items long. I wish I have help, but we are not going to hire anyone this year. Bummer.

Mom was mad at Dad (as usual) today. But today, she has a good reason too. She was making the lotus seed paste for mooncakes... and she ran into a math problem. She had a bowl of sugar measured at 16 "lurn" and she only needed 11 "lurn" of sugar. So she poured some sugar out until the whole thing measured at 5 "lurn" (remaining sugar + bowl). The whole time my mom was doing it, my dad kept challenging her that she was not doing the math right and that she didn't take into the account the weight of the bowl. My mom got soooo annoyed that she almost wanted to call me at work. Over dinner, I tried to explain to my dad that the weight of the bowl didn't matter. But my dad still didn't get it. Poor dad.

To delete or not to delete

ok... duplicate posts. wasn't intentional and wittybb has spotted the difference. to delete or not to delete. oh well.... who cares.

i am still a little apprehensive about tomorrow. I need to read the scriptures tonight and make sure i don't screw up.

baking a cake with my mom for my dad's b-day tomorrow. just finished whipping the cream. and the cake is out from the oven. we'll see. man... that kitchen aid mixer is sure worth the money.

went to IKEA today with a coworker. she needed some shelves. she never been to IKEA b4 and was excited (and a bit overwhelmed) about the whole thing. oh... actually... we had to work today. there's this detention pond in Schaumburg that we had to look at and see if we can make any improvement on the landscaping and type of vegetation. anyhow... my parents tagged along as well... coz they wanted to go shopping... and they got bored sitting at home. a fun day i guess.

damn it. the cake didn't turn out right. have to redo it.

moon cake

Mom made these mini mooncakes. Brought some back to work to share with colleagues. They were quite a hit. I was surprised how well they liked the mooncakes, even the ones with salted egg yolk. Well... afterall the mooncakes are sweet. People here like all kinds of sweet stuff anyway.

I helped make the lotus paste. It was quite time consuming. First melt the sugar in a wok of hot oil. The oil can't be too hot otherwise the sugar will become charcoal. Then add the cooked groundup lotus seeds. Keep stirring untill everything's mixed together. The longer you stir... the thicker the paste becomes, and the harder it is to stir.

If you realize the amount of oil that goes into a mooncake... you probably will not want to eat it again. But heck with the cholesterol... it tastes sooooooo good.

moon cake

Mom made these mini mooncakes. Brought some back to work to share with colleagues. They were quite a hit. I was surprised how well they liked the mooncakes, even the ones with salted egg yolk. Well... afterall the mooncakes are sweet. People here like all kinds of sweet stuff anyway.

I helped make the lotus paste. It was quite time consuming. First melt the sugar in a wok of hot oil. The oil can't be too hot otherwise the sugar will become charcoal. Then add the cooked groundup lotus seeds. Keep stiring untill everything's mixed together. The longer you stir... the thicker the paste becomes, and the harder it is to stir.

If you realize the amount of oil that goes into a mooncake... you probably will not want to eat it again. But heck with the oil... it tastes sooooooo good.

thursday

believe it or not... i did have a better sleep last night. but still... woke up in the middle of the night for no reason.

rev. craig asked me to lead the sunday service. hmm... i agreed to it, but i am a little worried. well... God will watch over me.

...

New sheet + new blanket + new pillow case =?= good night sleep

I don't know. Haven't had good sleep lately.

untitled

If only I were to be carefree,
to be free of worries,
to be free of wants and desires,
I would have been a child all over again.

Some random thoughts

being too rational is not too good sometimes. but i guess that's the only way that I can keep myself sane. no... nothing dramatic happened in my life. in fact it was a wonderful weekend. the weather couldn't have been any better. my folks were happy. my friends were so nice and hospitable.

that feeling of emptiness is overpowering at times. difficult to articulate what exactly it is. no reason? for knowing the reason might not yield any solution.

time to immerse myself in my work. being busy is a damn good way of avoiding being too rational. hehee... doesn't make a whole lot of sense, does it?

Yellowstone

I have been so busy lately that I haven't had the time to update my blog. With my being parents here, I really don't have much time to myself. Anyway...
Just got back from a trip to Yellowstone. My dear friend from Cali, her husband, some friends of theirs, my parents and I, total of 9, made the trip. We stayed at a surprisingly nice cabin in West Yellowstone. The scenery was just amazing despite of the haze and smoke from nearby forest fires. Here're some of the pictures I took.

A hot spring with beautiful colors. The blue color is from the mineral and I guess the reddish brown is both from mineral and bacteria growing at the bottom. I think this picture is taken at West Thumb.

A stump of dead wood by a hot spring. This spring is less hot and therefore the color is paler in comparison to the previous picture. This hot spring is in the Norris Basin.


There are so many crystal clear streams in the Yellowstone National Park. This is one of them. I forgot the name of this creek. Next time I go there... I will definitely spend time fly fishing.


A B/W photo taken at Jenny Lake in the Grand Teton National Park. The sun was setting. The haze from forrest fire was masking the mountains. So I decided to try B/W instead. The picture turned out really well.


Evening at Jackson Lake (Teton). We stopped at a beach on Jackson Lake and saw the sunset. We were throwing and skipping stones on the water and had a lot of fun.


Elk up-close and personal. We saw quite a bit of wildlife at Yellowstone... elk, big-horn sheep, bison, and even black bear. My friends saw a moose on their drive back.

We were stopped by some rangers letting their herd of horses crossing the highway. It was quite a scene. Galloping horses and dust flying....


Fire destroyed quite a bit of forests. But fire is a good thing. It kills off dead and diseased tree and allows new growth.


A shadow of me.

Design

God'’s purposes could, in principle, be achieved as much through an evolutionary process as in any other scientifically defined process. It is important to remember that there is no clear demarcation line in the Bible between God's '‘works' in nature and his '‘works' in history: He is seen as sovereign in both.

Psalm 104 (Ps 104:24)
'How many are your works, O Lord! In wisdom you made them all'’

it dawned on me... as I was reading the article. What if God is nature and Nature is God? God is the every rule and process that humankind has discovered and yet to be uncovered.

J&J

They got married today. I was not able to attend their ceremony, however. I am truely happy for them. May God bless their every step forward. The road ahead of them may not be easy, but they will have their beloved daughter, AvaJane, who will give them joy and hope even during difficult times. God is good. And God will provide for them and their soon-to-be-born AvaJane.

Fireworks II

Fireworks

A colorful and brilliant light show yet only lasts for a moment.

Thoughts

Helped Jennie move yesterday. Looking at a picture of her and Jason, for a moment, I thought I saw myself in that picture in the place of Jason. I talked to Jason. I asked him to be patient with Jennie, to ride out each storm with her by her side... no matter how bad the situation gets... never leave her by herself during the lows of her emotional rollercoaster. I told him, believe it or not, she needs him most when she is most angry and unreasonable. Leaving her to deal with her own emotion will only make her more scared and insecure. The cycle goes on. I wasn't able to do the right things when I was with her. I hope Jason will learn to do so and to provide what I couldn't have provided for her. I really want them to work out. I care about Jennie and I want the best for her and her baby.

~~~~~~~

Is the happiness the only thing we strive for and care about in a relationship? I watched a TV program by RTHK last night (yes, I am finally subscribing to the chinese channels on direct TV). In it, several young people (who are college students) were interviewed for their views on relationships. One thing they mentioned which struck deep in my mind was that they think there is no guarantee in a relationship and that happiness "at this moment" is the most important thing in a relationship. But that is it? Happiness? Most important? I dunno. I refuse to believe that is the case. There is got to be more than that.

On a grander scale, is happiness what life is all about? Our life is simply a quest for or a pursuit of happiness. I dunno. I refuse to believe that is the case. There is got to be more than that.

~~~~~~~~

My parents will arrive tomorrow. They will stay with me till X'mas. Most people were bewildered when I told them that my parents will be staying for so long. I joked that at least I would be well-fed.

Commute

I rode my new bike to and from work today. It was fun and I finally got my needed exercise. The trip was surprisingly short... only took about 15-20 mins. Oh... a little over 3 miles each way. The only bad thing is that by the time I got to work, I was all sweaty.

soulmate

You don't always marry your soulmate.

Heard this on TV tonight. Is that true? I can't imagine how it can be called a marriage if your wife or husband is not your soulmate. So marriage is simply a way to procreate? But to procreate doesn't necessarily need to be married. I don't get it.

New bike

I bought a bicycle at a local bike shop... yeah! Trek 7.3 FX. Will take them several days to put it together. Can't wait... I'll be riding to work everyday!

Saturday morning

Aching body from yesterday's physical labor when I woke up this morning. Went to the Farmer's market at downtown Kankakee. A bit disappointed. Only a handful of stalls and only one was selling locally grown produce. I got a quart of strawberries and a bunch of asparagus.

Then I headed to a local bike shop. I've been thinking about getting a bike for a while. It'll be nice to ride my bike to work every day. Save some gas and better the environment! Anyway, the salesman was really knowledgeable. I guess $400-500 will be money good spent. Kinda on the expensive side. Need some time to think about it.

Lake Michigan

Got a day off today, sort of. I drove up to Miller Beach, IN to help my boss' brother landscaping his new house. Five of us put in 91 pots of plants in, oh, 5 hours. Not bad at all. We then took a dip at the beach. It was a hot day and the sand was scorchingly hot. The water was nice and cold though... maybe a bit too cold. Hit the bar with my boss and his older brother afterwards. I am now really really tired. Should have a good sleep tonight.

Bridal Veil Fall

Went to Target over lunch time to pick up the pictures. Hmm... they turned out ok. At least some of them did. Took me a while to figure out how to use the scanner at work to scan in the negative. Each picture takes forever. Anyway... I only had time to scan several. This is one of them.

Trip to Cali

It was a good trip. Got to see my good friend and her husband. We made a trip to Yosemite National Park with a couple other friends of her. Yosemite was really pretty. We were fortunate that it rained quite a bit a week b4; the streams were raging and waterfalls were just magnificent. I shot 7 rolls of films. (Thanks Ces for her camera and for arranging the trip.) I will post some pictures once I get them back. Yosemite remained me of 世外桃源...

I got back Tuesday night... actually Wednesday morning around 2. The flight got delayed. I slept for 10+ hours last night. I still haven't recovered from the trip. Haha...

Rain lots of rain

It was quite a cloudburst. I think we got at least 2 inches of rain in 15 minutes. A lot of places were flooded. Normally it's a 5 minutes drive from work to home... but today it took me almost an hour... several streets were not passable... well... I did drive around a little bit to check out the creeks near by. I've been working on the watershed plan for Soldier Creek here in town. So this is a really good opportunity to see how the creek and the storm sewer system are doing. Apparently not too well in some areas. I didn't have camera with me though... what a bummer.

I am going to see Indy 500 with my boss and his brothers this Friday. Actually I think it's the time trial.. .not quite sure. It'll be fun. A lot of beer... I was told.

And Saturday I am heading to San Jose, CA to see my friends... and we are going to Yosemite for the weekend. Can't wait!

breakin?

I am so angry... partly at myself. I think there had been an attempted breakin to my car. I found scratch marks on the passenger door and a little piece of the black foam seal around the back window was torn off. I kept thinking about when it could have happened... and I haven't had the slightest idea. I was so distracted and deep in thought about the whole thing that I spilled the whole cup of latte at the coffee shop earlier this evening.

I have to be really careful next time, making sure not to leave anything valuable in plain sight inside the car. This is why I am mad at myself as well.

Not a happy day for me...

THREE NOTES GO INTO A BAR

C, E-flat, and G go into a bar. The bartender says, "Sorry, but we don't serve minors." So the E-flat leaves, and the C and the G have an open fifth between them. After a few drinks, the fifth is diminished; the G is out flat.

An F comes in and tries to augment the situation, but is not sharp enough. A D comes into the bar and heads straight for the bathroom saying, "Excuse me. I'll just be a second." An A comes into the bar, but the bartender is not convinced that this relative of C is not a minor.

Then the bartender notices a B-flat hiding at the end of the bar and exclaims, "Get out now! You're the seventh minor I've found in this bar tonight."

The E-flat, not easily deflated, comes back to the bar the next night in a 3-piece suit with nicely shined shoes. The bartender says: "You're looking sharp tonight, come on in! This could be a major development." This proves to be the case, as the E-flat takes off the suit, and everything else, and stands there au naturel.

Eventually, the C sobers up, and realizes in horror that he's under a rest.
The C is brought to trial, is found guilty of contributing to the diminution of a minor, and is sentenced to 10 years of DS without Coda at an upscale correctional facility.

On appeal, however, the C is found innocent of any wrongdoing, even accidental, and that all accusations to the contrary are bassless.

The bartender decides he needs a rest - and closes the bar.

Happy Mother's Day

Mom... thanks for being my mom. Yes, you can be difficult to deal with some times... you get angry... you get mad... your mood can swing wildly... you are demanding... Yet, you are my mother. I have no choice. I can't go shop for another mother. I have told you so. And you laughed. You liked my honesty. I love you, mom. I won't be who I am today without your constant support and encouragement. You would give up everything for sister and I. I am ashamed that I could not have done the same in return to you. I wish I could have been a better son than I was. May be I was not that bad, was I? Happy Mother's Day... to you. Again, thanks for being my dearest mom.

Barbershop

Our barbershop chorus had the first show ever last Saturday. It was a great success. Over 400 people came to see our show and nearly filled up the entire high school auditorium. It was fun, fun to perform again in front of a great audience. We invited the chapter from Bloomington to sing with us. They were great... much better than we were. I hope our chapter will grow bigger and get better very soon.

Yosemite

I am soooo excited. I am going to California to visit my friends over the Memorial Break, the last weekend of May. We will be heading to the Yosemite National Park for that weekend. Yeah... I can't wait!

An excerpt of a news article

May 12, 1870 -- Kankakee Gazettes

... Long street dresses are coming in style again. They are a nuisance, and is so regarded by the ladies--or at least by those people who have pretty feet. But fashion says 'long' and 'long she goes,' inspite of taste and comfort. There is only one consolation, and that is that the crosswalks will be kept free from filth by the continuous sweeping of the trailing dresses over them.

Came across this funny article at work while reviewing the history of the Soldier Creek watershed.

Life

Heard something funny yet thought provoking yesterday...

Is life sexually transmitted?

What do you think?

心理測驗

你是個喜歡冒險，酷愛自由的人。想像力豐富的你，個性獨立，不大在乎別人對你的觀點。特別厭惡陳舊的觀念，及外來的束縛。不斷冒險、接受未知的挑戰，有助於你的成長。物質生活對你來說，不算頂重要，你注重的是精神及藝術生活的充實。
愛情方面，對婚姻抱特懷疑態度的你，深怕因此失去自由。進入熱戀階段後，你嚮往的是溫柔而有默契的伴侶，更布望他時常為帶來意多的驚喜。

True... I like to be free. I aspire to be free from all restrains... but I repect authority. Correct... Material things are not all that important to me.

I don't have doubts about marriage. But I do need certain amount of freedom ... trust from my partner that I'll be loyal to her.


人格特質十八問

她和他和小小的她

眼看他們的親密, 她肚中的小孩, 我真的可以笑臉迎人? 若無其事的與他們談笑風生?

表面上看來, 我好像做得到, 好像是很偉大的. 確實我並不偉大.

我心情是矛盾的, 是難過的. 難過是為了自己而難過, 他就是從前的我, 我卻再也不是從前的我. 我更難過是我所沒有的, 那寶貴的, 但不屬於我的小生命. 我相信我並不偉大, 我是自私的.

我不能像從前一樣的愛她, 我只能在遠處的替她高興, 替她憂心, 替她為感情懊惱, 替她因小孩忐忑不安.

真心的祝福她和他和小小的她.

Chair Race

To kick off Spring, yesterday we had our first ever chair race in the office. We laid out our course with several books. The starting line began at the HP plotter.... a loop around the office passing everyone's tables, through the conference room, reception area, another loop around the room and back to the HP plotter as finishing line. We had 4 races altogether; 2 persons/chairs in each race. The rule was that our butt had to stick to the chair the whole time. Turned out the best propulsion came by yanking the chair backwards. I didn't do too well and lost to my colleague. The best race was a couple of my colleagues got tangled up and one hatching a free ride from the other, along with 2 books stuck underneath the chairs. It was soooo much fun. We are going to make this a biweekly event.

Spring Fest

Had a great time today back at Purdue. It was the annual Spring Fest... and of course the infamous Bug Bowl (cockroach racing, cricket spitting, mealworm eating, ...). Being away from Purdue, I didn't even know that today was the first day of the 2-day Spring Fest, until a new friend of mine reminded me. She wasn't even a Purdue grad. Shame on me... I met up with her and her husband at Purdue around noon and introduced some of my Purdue friends to them. We had a lot of fun. Walked around campus and finally settled down at a new coffee shop. Chatted and chatted... and also played a game of Munchkins (a card game I bought a while back). Had middle-eastern food for dinner. Haven't had such a good lamb biryani in a long long while.

A good day didn't end so well as I was driving home... Got ticketed by a cop for speeding. Expensive!!!! I should have known because I saw at least 4 cop cars this morning... bad omen... I reminded myself to be careful. But then.... ~sigh...

But anyway... no regret for a wonderful day. Nice to have good friends and good food.

Raidas

傾心--Raidas

曲﹕黃耀光 詞：黃凱芹

曾自問 樣子真太笨
曾自問 外表都不怎麼吸引
卻妄想跟你同行
請你 明白我已暗中因你傾心
人愈近 愈不敢發問
人愈近 愈不敢將我心拉近
我的心窩已下沉
心裡 留住了只有苦困

如何 在你心窗一角
朦朧呈現我的愛
縱是驟晴驟雨 儘管昏昏暗
祈求 在你窗外徘徊
任這風吹雨打去
我仍然情願更甘心 不悔恨
(我都甘心 我都甘心 去等)
(這份情仍在我深心烙印)

無奈地 讓風光旖旎
無奈地 讓他將歡欣交給你
我的悲傷都給你
痴情 寧靜裡讓我可跟你一起
沉默地 任痴心塌地
沉默地 在唏噓中送走希冀
剩我空虛中憶記
依然 仍在偷偷想想你

Remember this song? Late 80's... Raidas... A long time ago la... I was in primary school then. Been listening to it again recently. I still like it... for whatever reason.

My Cousin's Visit

My cousin came all the way from Hong Kong for a visit last weekend. We went to Chicago and did some sightseeing and shopping. I was so glad that she was here. It was nice to have company for several days. She's in Ohio right now visiting her friend and will come back tomorrow. She will leave for HK on Sunday. Here a picture of her.

Big Day: January 21, 2007

My sister's wedding will be on January 21, 2007. My mom is happier these days. Things are working out better between my future brother-in-law and my mom. Their relationship had been strained from the very beginning. I am glad that the wedding is going to happen as planned. I need to plan a trip home, at least for 2 weeks. Hope I have enough PTO by year's end.

untitled

I wish I have someone who I can say "I love you" to everyday.

A baby's giggles

I was eating out tonight. I've eating out quite often lately coz I got so much to do at work and always worked late. Anyway, at the restaurant, a 10 months old baby at the nearby table drew my attention... actually to be more correctly stated, I think I drew his attention instead coz he was staring at me the whole time I was eating. I would make funny faces, like sticking out my tongue and raising my eyebrows, and then the baby would giggle. His dad would move the menu back and forth on the table and he giggled whole-heartedly also.

Such little minute things for adults but for a baby they would elicit so much joy and happiness. Shouldn't we be a baby sometimes and find contentment and enjoyment from little things? Or have we grown so sophisticated that we view those little minute things with disdain, yet we once had found joy in them, laughing and giggling when we were still a baby.

Saturday

Beautiful day out... unseasonably warm. But I am stuck in the office, working overtime. A couple of projects are rushing to get before the plan commission. I am working on the cad drawings of the landscape plans. The person who's usually doing cad work was gone for training... I am not very efficient with cad. The only one class I took on cad was probably 10+ years ago. Anyhow...

I just found out that it's a wonderful feeling to have q-tips poking both ears at the same time. (Gotta be very careful though.)

Busy busy

I've been so busy lately that I couldn't find time to post any entries. Work, work, and more work. Doing taxes... paying bills... applying for H1-B visa... My kitchen sink is full of dirty dishes and my laundry baskets are full of dirty clothes. ARGGGGHHHH!

Weekend Photo Journal

Some friends from Purdue came visit Saturday. The weather was beautiful -- not too cold -- a perfect day for barbecue. I went and bought a small grill for the occasion. When the time came, my friend dumped half a bag of charcoal into the grill. I lit it with a torch lighter. The charcoal was the matchlight kind and it fired up instantly. Then I decided to move the grill because the spot was too windy. And against my better judgment, I closed the lid and locked it so that I could pick up the grill by the handle on the lid. Then when I opened the lid, a fire ball exploded onto my face. My friends later told me that the fire ball nearly engulfed my whole upper body. The damage was done and I didn't even realize it. No pain... but I could smell burning hair.

Here's a mug shot of me. I am surprised that my eyebrows are still intact.


After the bbq, we played a game of Cranium. Among all the hilarious moments, this one topped it all. And it takes a picture to explain it. So... what do you think the coodle clay resembles? Hint: a thing. To be honest, I wouldn't have guessed it right. It is a DNA. Yes, I am not kidding you, a piece of DNA. And you know what, my friend guessed it right and his team scored. Unbelievable, just unbelievable. It looked more like a vine twisting around a stick. Where's the double helix?

On Sunday, I went to the nearby Kankakee Rive State Park. Sitting by the river on a ledge formed by a shale outcropping, I read a magazine while enjoying the warm sunshine. Water running over the riffle, ducks and geese gliding and skipping over the river, tree limbs dancing in the slight breeze... nature is just magnificent. Then I discovered a succulent-like plant growing in-between the cracks of the rock. The red leaves are arranged like a flower. I have never seen a plant looking this beautiful in the middle of winter. Before I left the park, I walked over to the suspended bridge and took a picture of Rock Creek, overlooking its confluence with Kakakee River.

Sick

I am sick... both physically and emotionally.

Physically, I am coming down with flu or cold or whatever it is. Running a fever and got headache. Took a couple of advils. Hopefully will get better by tomorrow. Have a meeting tomorrow that I don't want to miss. Almost everyone in my office has been sick. It's now my turn.

Emotionally, I am sick as well. I know the reasons why I am not happy, but logically they don't make sense to me. I think I have to be like what Isaiah said, "Forget the former things; do not dwell on the past." Oh, this has nothing to do with what I wrote yesterday. It's something new. I am not angry with anyone. I am just sad and I am a bit upset with myself. But I told myself over and over again that I should be happy and be thankful for how things have turned out.

Power Outage, again!

Good that this time only lasted for a little more than an hour. It's so cold outside. I was kinda worried that I'd be freezing to death by the time they fixed the problem.

Forgive but not forget?

Today in Sunday school we discussed Mark 2:1-12 -- a passage where Jesus healed a paralytic man. In verse 5, Jesus said "Son, your sins are forgiven." Isaiah 43:18 "Forget the former things; do not dwell on the past."

Our conversations turned to this conclusion: To forgive is to forget.

In some sense, I agree. People who have short-termed memory tend to forgive others more easily or more often than others... partly because they don't remember or don't choose to remember things for long. I would say that I have short-termed memory most of the time and I forgive others readily. But I do remember things that happened a long long time ago. I don't necessarily hold grudges against those who had crossed me in the past, or do I? But I certainly remember -- most of the time -- who, where and when.

To completely forgive others, do we have to completely forget? Is forgetting a prerequisite to full forgiveness?

To a certain extent, the answer is yes. If we still remember the pain vividly, we still have not forgiven the person who inflicted us the pain. But the problem is, once we forget, how do we learn from the past experience? We always say "learn from history or from the past." We hold this almost as a universal truth. But if we forget the former things, from where do we learn our lessons?

A girl whom I used to date told me at the end of our relationship, "forgive but not forget." To this day, that phrase still rings loud and clear in my head. I still feel the guilt and the shame for what I had done. If she has never forgotten, how can I forgive myself?

Thunder in February

A strong line of thunder storms rumbled through the area. Even the tornado warning was sounded. The rain is going to turn into ice and snow tonight. Tomorrow the temperature will be in the teens (almost -10ºC). It'll be cold.

Cranium

Bought the Cranium game at Barnes and Noble for $10. Clearance 75% off. Unbelievable. Friends from Purdue are coming next weekend. Can't wait to try the game with them.

My sister

Said hi to my sister on MSN. She told me her boyfriend proposed to her yesterday. I am very happy for her. And I think it will be a relief for my parents for various reasons. Let me see if I can get more details from my sister. Will keep all of you posted.

《青玉案》

辛棄疾《青玉案》

東風夜放花千樹。更吹落，星如雨。寶馬雕車香滿路。鳳蕭聲動，玉壺光轉，一夜魚龍舞。
蛾兒雪柳黃金縷。笑語盈盈暗香去。眾裡尋他千百度。驀然回首，那人卻在，燈火闌珊處。

Supermarket

I went to the supermarket to get some fried chicken for dinner tonight. Before I reached the kitchen counter. There was this floral section and buckets were placed in the middle of the aisle. Only a handful bunches of flowers were sitting in the buckets. And a crowd of men (and I am not exaggerating... maybe 4 or 5 or them) were huddling around the buckets to pick out the leftover flowers. I dunno what exactly I was thinking. I found it funny though, but at the same time I felt sorry for them. Why do we have a Valentine's day anyway? And why are men expected to deliver gifts and flowers on this day? Is this a marketing scam after all? Or we, men, are just so pathetic that we can't treat our women as if everyday were a Valentine's day and have to fight for the leftover flowers on a special day like today?

Of course, I don't have the privilege to have to think of a Valentine's day gift this year. But I did prepare a little something for all my female colleagues at work today. A glass candle holder with Hershey kisses and little paper stars. I am glad they liked the gifts. :)

boy or girl?

I was sooooo happy last night. I was on the phone with a very very good friend of mine and she hit me with a big big news. She is having a baby. A baby. Yes a baby! Oh... I got soooo excited that I forgot to take an exit and almost got lost on the way to Purdue. I had traveled up and down that highway a thousand times, but I managed to miss the exit coz I was so occupied with talking to her, and so elated to even pay attention to the road.

I remember sending her and her husband a X'mas card, and in the card I urged them to make baby. Bingo! Am I persuasive or what?

I am very happy for her. She will be a great mother, always worrying... :) I know that God will see her through her pregnancy. No worries!

Need to start shopping for baby clothes and toys. Or should I wait to see if it's a boy or girl?

Barbershop

Weldon and John brought me to the Barbershop Chorus tonight. Weldon is seventy some years old. A retired auto parts salesman I met at church. John is a farmer, farming about 800 acres close to town. He told me he will retire soon. Anyway, they were so enthusiastic about taking me to the Barbershop that they stopped by tonight at my place and took me there.

Barbershop is different. No accompaniment. A cappella if you will. And they didn't use a keyboard during the rehearsal either. I didn't realize how much I missed singing in a choir. I just joined the Choir at church couple weeks ago. But to sing in a larger group ... Man... did we sound good. Everything came back to me... the urge to sing and perform... the music... and perfect harmony. I think I will join the Barbershop Chorus. Oh by the way, this is an all men group. I sang in a mixed ensemble in College. So it's quite a different experience I had tonight.

I am glad that there's something else to occupy my time.

Trebuchet

My colleague and I went to Toysrus today at lunch time and each of us bought a box of Tinkertoy. Our goal was to build a trebuchet over the weekend and hold a competition Monday to test out our creation.


I got home from work in the evening.... skipped dinner and started building my trebuchet. After half an hour of hard work--voilà!--a trebuchet built exclusively using Tinkertoy.


The Tinkertoy I bought came with flexible tubes and they turned out to be very useful. They serve as the pivot point for the lever and also help secure the top of the trebechet.


The counterweight wasn't heavy enough, so when when I tried it with a paper ball. The ball didn't fly too far... oh maybe 2 or 3 feet. But hey... not bad huh?


I can't wait till Monday and see how my trebuchet would perform against my colleague's. I know... we are soooo childish. But it's all good fun.

Power Outage

Power has been out since 3 am this morning at my apartment... actually the nearby area as well. Well... except the house across the street. That's the only one that still have lights on. Weird.

So... no shower for me this morning. :(

Update: Called up my answering machine at home just now. Electricity has turned back on!

Chinese New Year

I had a Chinese New Year party yesterday at my apartment. I invited my colleagues at work. Some of them made it as well as my boss and his family. My boss has a six year old daughter, Emma, and a baby boy. I showed Emma how to make sushi and she loved it. She kept rolling and rolling and turned out some of the best-made sushi of the day. She didn't eat a single piece though. Like other kids of her age, she refuses to try new things. But, boy, did she have a good time making sushi. I also taught her how to play Uno Attack and she liked that too. Near the end, my boss, her wife, Emma, and I played a couple games of foolsball. To everyone's surprise, Emma was such a natural. She was playing offense and I was on defense. She scored one goal after another, finally beating her mom and dad by a score of 10 to 3. She was so excited... screaming and yelling... high-5ing with me. I wonder if she had a nightmare last night because of all the excitement.

I love kids. Maybe because I am a kid myself. I wonder when I am going to have one of my own.

命宮

按部就班，要求完美
多愁善感，逃避現實
一生財務為積蓄而來
本性優柔寡斷、喜歡幻想
腳踏兩條船、感情用事
容易退讓、知足快樂
善解人意、體貼溫柔的個性
救援性很強
最喜歡把積蓄拿去買些浪漫的事物或書籍
詩情畫意的生活一直是他們心中所響往的
喜歡買耐久實用經濟的東西，不會都買最好的
喜歡花錢在跟大自然的接觸上
溫文儒雅、注重漫浪情調
容易就會被聰明機智、臨場反應佳的人所吸引
容易跟熱情、熱心、肯幫大家解決問題的人配在一起,互補的作用

oh... seems to be right on the money. not bad. Some truth to it. Some truth to it.

The Notebook

I cried. I did. I cried for the passion of their love... for his unfailing stubbornness... for her following her heart... for the trials that they had to go through.... for the cruelness of dementia... for their leaving this world holding hands, together, inseparable, forever, as one....

His Dark Materials

I finished reading the trilogy by Phillip Pullman a couple weeks ago. They were great stories. I highly recommend them. I had to finish all three books at once; I just couldn't put it down once I started reading. Despite being written for children or young adults, the stories takes on a different layer of meanings if you are willing to look beyond. Pullman made many references to the Bible in the novels... but many of them were gnostic ideas. And he also took a rather opposing stance to the Church in the stories. However, that didn't bother me a whole lot.

The novels drew many ideas from science, mostly physics... quantum mechanics for example... the idea of parallel universes set up the background of the stories. That's another reason for me to like the novels.

The idea on dæmon was also very interesting. In the stories, the characters in one world (not ours, but an parallel world) have dæmon. A dæmon is kinda like one's soul or consciousness but takes on a form of animal, usually of opposite sex. When you are a kid, your dæmon can change form, from one animal to the next. But once you reach an adult age, your dæmon will change no more but settle on a particular animal. How interesting the world would be if each of us has a dæmon. This idea was in my head so much, I even daydreamed that I had my own dæmon.

I think this trilogy is perhaps a better read than Harry Potter. But then I only read one Harry Potter book.

Pullman is a very good story teller. You won't be disappointed if you find time to read one of his novels. I heard that they are turning the triology into movies. Think the movies will rival Lord of the Ring if they are made well.

蘇東坡肉

I made this dish last night with a recipe my mom gave me. I was really surprised how tender the porkbelly got. Afterall I did steam it for couple of hours. If you don't mind the fat (which I love), give it a try.

蘇東坡肉

材料:五花腩10両.青菜4両.
調味:紅曲米1両,鹽,酒,生粉,各1湯匙.冰糖2安士,麻油1茶匙,生油2茶匙.
香料:薑2片.蔥2條.桂皮1塊.

製作:
(1)方腩肉飛水,洗淨去毛,修边切成正方形待用.
(2)放1杯水入鑊.要冷水放入紅曲米待煮滚.去渣.水留用.
(3)燒紅鑊.放入1茶匙油瀑薑片.然後放入酒.紅曲米水.鹽.冰糖.桂皮.煮滚後倒入盛器.
蒸2小時.
(4)取出腩肉.多餘之汁掛芡.加入麻油倒在肉面ok.
(5)煮滾水,加入1茶匙生油,煮青菜.圍在碟边即成.

 

Pictures

I finally took some pictures as I promised a long while ago. On the right is my townhouse apartment. It's got a garage at the back. I love my apartment. It's quiet and cozy.

Also went out for a walk in the afternoon. A park by the river, quite close to where I live. It has a nice prairie. The weather has been unseasonably warm lately and been raining a lot. But today was great. The sun was out and the sky was blue.

Any idea what this plant is? Very odd looking. Got some cotton like stuff in its fruit. I'll have to consult my ecologist colleague at work. (My colleague said this is a milk weed.)

I think this is called the indian caves. Water cuts throught the sandstone and upstream of this little waterfall has some very nice formation with deep gouges.

Kankakee River... I heard the smallmouth bass fishing is pretty good in this river. I have to try my luck in the spring time.


Some more pictures:

Happy New Year!

2006.

I celebrated the new year with a bunch of friends. We went skiing during the day, had dinner in Chicago Chinatown, and for the new year countdown, we had champagne. Not bad a day, huh? My whole body is pretty sore from skiing. Can't imagine if I can even move my body in the morning. But skiing was fun. It was my second time around. This one was much better than the first and I could actually control where I am going. But I still couldn't really stop very well. A perfect technique I had mastered for stopping was to fall down. The tangled legs and ski ensured the stop. Very effective!

Anyway, I hope all of you had a great time tonight.