From an email I wrote to a friend the other day:

Everyone's got their reasons for their candidate/party, and his reason's probably not the worst I've heard. :P I've been tired lately of the political animosity between the constituents lately, and I'm especially embarrassed when the liberals say or do something stupid... just doesn't make us look good. Like when they talk about the Republicans being complete morons. They're not morons--they just have different needs and priorities.

MF and I were looking at a map of the red/blue states the other day*, and we were talking about guns for some reason. I mused that maybe gun ownership was more important in the central states and rural areas because by the time the trespasser/serial killer/etc. gets to your place, it'd take too long for law enforcement to arrive because facilities are so spaced out in those areas. I'd want a way to protect myself, too, if I were in that situation. In the big cities, one can argue that law enforcement could get there faster, and civilian-owned guns end up being more of a liability than an asset. Same with business regulation: concentration of big businesses is greater in big cities, and as an average consumer, how could you really protect yourself from Big Corporation XYZ? A consumer has greater power in the rural areas where businesses, particularly small ones, have greater sensitivity to the market.

Looking at issues by need makes a lot of sense that way and takes a lot of the "good party vs. bad party" out of it. Your friend's voting reasons fall along the same lines: he's just looking at what he'd need. :P

I had a conversation with my mom recently about the upcoming election, too. She usually doesn't care much for politics, but this year she's been much more interested and involved with it. Because my parents are Republican, I asked my mom out of curiosity what she thought of McCain and Palin. She was happy with the Republican ticket, and I was really surprised to hear her cite the war as being a strong reason for supporting McCain. "I don't think the US should pull out yet," she said.

Before those of you holding an olive branch get testy with my mom, keep in mind that she's a Vietnamese-American immigrant who was a refugee from the Vietnam War. In her mind--and many Vietnamese-Americans in Southern California--the American military departure from Vietnam was premature and left the country in a lot of pain and hurt with the Viet Cong. She sees pulling out of Iraq in much the same light and wants to spare Iraq the same pain Vietnam went through post-war. I see this reason as a kind of "need" for Vietnamese-Americans like my mom, too. For her, it's a different way to heal from the experience of war: to see the US make a different choice this time and help "save" another country when hers couldn't be "saved."

In response to her explanation, I related an analogy about resources. "Say you have a certain amount of money available to loan out to people. You have a lot of family and friends who need a loan from you, but you just don't have enough to loan out to all of them. Do you first loan it out to your friends or family?" She processed this thoughtfully, too. I continued, "Maybe after years of war, Americans just needed their government to focus on issues back home instead of abroad. Maybe it was terrible for Vietnam but good for the American family." "Maybe," she responded. "Maybe we should both look into whether America as a whole was better off from pulling out of the war." (Vague suggestion, I know, but I'm sure there are ways to examine the issue more concretely.)

All in all, I just wish people could be more respectful in their discussions of politics. Mom was so used to having polarized political discussions that having me just listen and trying to understand her perspective actually made her think that I was going to vote Republican, too. (I quickly corrected her, and she was respectful about my choice, too.)

We may not all know the details about the histories of each candidate/party/etc., but everyone's just working with what they can handle. If political education is an issue, then I'd hope such educators keep it respectful instead of name-calling. Every party's got their skeletons and scandals, and every constituent's got their need that they need addressed.


* I was thinking about how liberals commonly use the map to say that more educated areas tended to vote Democrat. I think that it just tends to be bigger cities vs. smaller towns, which of course are going to have different needs and vote accordingly.

Anyone in the Bay Area interested in the Bridge School Benefit Concert at Shoreline? I bought 3 tickets to the Saturday show and am trying to get into the Sunday show instead. They're for lawn seats, and there's a good lineup if you like that kind of music: Jack Johnson, Neil Young, Death Cab for Cutie, Norah Jones, Cat Power, etc. Email me at ilubmoney at livejournal to let me know, or leave a comment with contact info. They're for Saturday, October 25th, 5:00pm. I'm trying to sell them on CL for $45/ticket (about $10 less each than what I got them for), but I'll accept a best offer from an LJ friend. :)

</sales pitch>

I had a mixed week last week, but the weekend was good and relaxing. Good friends make it easier to get through the day-to-day stuff. A friend even encouraged and showed me how to fight my speeding ticket in a legit way; I'm reasonably confident that I'll be able to get my ticket dismissed based on a written declaration (maybe I'll post this up on a locked post... don't want it floating around the internet!).

Okay, confession: before today, I had never used a gym. I had visited a gym once, MAYBE twice, but not to use their equipment. But yesterday, I got a membership to Fitness 19, and today, I had a trainer show me the basics.

He was very nice, so I gotta give kudos to their customer service here. I explained to him early on that I was brand new to gyms and proper exercise in general, and that I had little idea how to use some of the machines. He was awesome enough to walk me through many of the weight and cardio machines, explaining proper form and how many reps of what exercise I ought to do each time.

At some point, though, I think I will need to hire a trainer for a few sessions. It's ridiculously easy for me to slack off on exercise, and while having a gym buddy would be an alternative solution, I would feel more self-conscious about having a friend judging me than, say, a paid expert. Weird? Maybe. But it's the difference between solicited and unsolicited advice, I suppose. And because I'm just learning, I don't want to test the patience of my friends. Better to test the patience of an expert I just paid to show me the ropes.

My goal, in case you're curious, is primarily to tone my body. I'm not unhappy with my weight or my measurements (except maybe my hips), but I would like to fit into my clothes better and to also not have certain parts of my body jiggle while I walk or move. Also, it'd be great to not struggle so much on jogging/running for a mile. Trainer guy says that based on my measurements and goals, I'm looking to convert about 5 lbs. of fat into muscle. I'm not concerned about calorie counting or burning, but I think I will try to change some eating habits and spread my meals out more while integrating more fruits and veggies.

Here's to a successful road towards good health!


P.S. If you're wondering what the impetus is for finally signing up for the gym, it was MF. He's been doing better on his exercise regimen, so that kind of inspired me to try, too.

Thanks for your response,I am Carl Pratt the owner of the house you are making inquiry of.My Mother and i used to stay in the house not until i left for west Africa for a construction job with Total/elf,(i'm a construction engineer) and my mum now too old to stay on her own is presently in a nursing home.i will be in west Africa for five years so presently my house is available for rent for $1200 per month including the utilities,it is furnished and i don't mind "PETS".Pls i want you to note that,i am a kind and honest man and also i spent a lot on my property,so i will solicit for your absolute maintainance of this house,hope you understand that it is not the rent that is my problem but i want you to keep it tidy at all times,hope we have an understanding


Note:

The House Can Be Rented To You Furnished Or Unfurnished

Price If You Are Renting Furnished: $1200 Per Month Including Utilities

Price If You Are Renting Unfurnished: $1000 Per Month Including Utilities



I am giving out my House for 5 years and also Pets are allowed in my house.you would be making a deposit for the first month which is $1200/$1000 so i can send the keys and documents to you via DHL.As soon as you the fill the Rent Application Form i will send u details of payment deposit for one month which is $1200 to me and as soon as your payment is confirmed the house keys and some important documents would be sent to you via DHL so I want you to get back to me OK.

So please get back if you are interested in filling the application Form so i can email you more details.

Photos and a long list of amenities followed.

I hate scammers like these who not only give me false hope for 2 seconds that I could find a place that cheap in the area, but also probably scammed some less-sharp people of their money. (And for those of you unfamiliar with Bay Area rent, it's about 1300 for a very cheap 2-bedroom in a shady neighborhood here in the South Bay, maybe cheaper in east San Jose.)

The email is carlpratt@ymail.com. Feel free to sign this guy up for any spam mailing lists. He'll probably just get a new email addy, but it'd be too much work to do more than spam him or report his ass to someone.

Gerard just alerted to me earlier tonight that my passenger-side headlamp is out. As I came home, I was dreading about the cost of having that replaced, so I tried to google the cost. Turns out that it's supposed to be fairly simple to replace it yourself. Getting the replacement bulbs from Kragen's only costs $10-$20 each (depending on the type of bulb), so that'll save me at least $70-$100 a bulb. If the problem's electrical instead of a burnt-out bulb, I'll take it to a mechanic then.

I think that while I'm at it, I'm also going to restore the headlight covers so that they're not foggy and yellowish anymore. I first saw an ad from Walmart about restoring faded headlights for $39.99, but according to some sources, you can do it yourself for a little less if you take the trouble to buy a bottle of headlight restorer. There's one at Kragen's for about $5.99 that I think I'll try. Some places online also recommended using toothpaste and sandpaper to restore the headlight covers, but I'm not convinced that sandpaper won't scratch up the cover.

Wish me luck! DIY car stuff is fun!

---

Update:

I was finally able to replace the headlight bulb after not being able to do it all morning. I had issues figuring out how to get the bulb out of the socket and had to ask a friend of a friend to help pull it out. Once we got the bulb out, we realized that the new bulb was the wrong one; the Kragen guy gave me the bulb for the high beams, not the low beams. Unfortunately, they wouldn't let me exchange it since I opened the package (jerks! They sold me the wrong one!!), but they were willing to give me a small discount on the new bulb. Aggravation. Anyway, I put the new bulb in myself, and it works great now. Yay! Still saved a ton of money despite buying the wrong bulb.

Also tried the headlight restorer. It worked okay; not brand-new looking as promised, but it looks a LOT better.

I went to a karaoke place last night, and I've only been to karaoke once, maybe twice, before last night. Each time I've gone, I'm reminded of how few karaoke songs I don't know. Or maybe it just depends on the company you're with.

Which karaoke songs do you like to sing when you go? Are there karaoke songs you think most people should know? (It's more fun when everyone knows the words.)

Poll #1256113 "Which of these is better?" Poll #26
Open to: All, detailed results viewable to: All

Which of these is better?

Which of these is better?

Which of these is better?

Which of these is better?

Which of these is better?

Which of these is better?

Which of these is better?

Which of these is better?

Which of these is better?

Which of these is better?

S and I were on the beach in Balboa, looking for my family. We both spotted a cute, older couple sitting in the shade under the docks, and it was easy to see that they were my parents.

"Do your parents ever hug or hold hands in front of you?" I asked S.

"No! They'd never." MF has told me the same of his parents, and I remember the same about Yu-Hung's parents and the parents of other friends.

I like that my parents are publicly affectionate without being overly so. They walked down the street in Balboa Island holding hands, and they'd put their arms around the other while they sat next to each other in the sand. Every now and again, they'd give each other a quick peck on the cheeks or the lips. And it was sweet. (If you're wondering how long they've been together, my parents have been married for about 26 years now.)

What about you? Are your parents publicly affectionate, too? (And if they're divorced, are they publicly affectionate with their SOs?) How do you feel about it?

Over the past month or so, I've been getting a number of comments from strangers about my age. Specifically, comments about how young I look. Some of you will pose this as an asset when I'm 40, but the fact of the matter is that I'm not 40 yet. I'm 25, and goddammit, I want to look 25. Or at least 21, but preferably 25. I'm frequently the only one in the group who gets carded in Reno or Vegas, and in the Reno trip, a casino patron remarked that I looked 13. Ouch.

I think some part of it has to do with:
1. Not wearing any make up. I just never learned how to put make up on. Jayna tried to teach me how to apply eyeshadow (and her makeup looks great), but it's hard to see what you're doing with your eyelids while you're wearing glasses. Also, I worry a bit that makeup will mess up my skin, but I think as long as I get the right kind and if I don't wear makeup too often, it'll be fine. Maybe I just need a few basic things to play around with makeup this week.
2. Wearing the wrong clothes. The new red pumps I posted about recently were a step up from my usual fare of shoes and clothing. Oh, I love the fashionable stuff, but on a limited budget, I tend to try and focus on the most versatile, inexpensive things, so I end up with mostly jeans, tees, and sneakers.
3. Not carrying myself confidently. I'll work on this somehow. "Fake it til you make it?"

Also, maybe I need to do something with my hair.

Someone please sign me up for one of those makeover shows.

Don't mind the subject line. I'm just enjoying this delicious ginger cookie from Bakesale Betty's. They're in Oakland, but they were giving out samples at Caltopia last Saturday (thanks, Will!). Normally I don't like ginger, but these cookies are so satisfying and delicious!

Other freebies grabbed from Caltopia: a blue water bottle, cereal samples, a bag of popped (instead of fried or baked) BBQ chips, a black Pasta Pomodoro bag with red letters, a green Half Price Books bag, more cookie samples, gelato/sorbet samples, apple "fries" from Amanda's, a free mini sewing kit courtesy of Minute Rice, a slice of pizza from the Bear's Lair, sample packets of granola, a $6 Cal keychain (which was free, but they left the price tag on so that you KNOW they're not skimping :P), and a sample packet of hemp that I'm supposed to add to my soups and breads for added nutrition. And probably more that I don't remember.

Other things going on:

• I need to get back on a tennis regimen. Or maybe I need to get jogging first. But tennis is more fun. But jogging doesn't require a partner to do. I guess tennis doesn't either, but it's not as fun hitting the ball against a wall. Alan, do you want to play after school? I can't do early mornings. :P


• I start my new internship next week. I'm excited while also a little nervous about getting acquainted with several school cultures at once. Just seems a little overwhelming.


• One of my best gal pals, S, is coming to LA this weekend and will be staying until next weekend. We haven't seen each other since my visit to Boston 2 years ago, so I really want to make the time to visit over the weekend. I just don't know if I can afford another trip out of town again this month.


• MF left for Syracuse last Friday. It hurt to see him go, but I think the time away is good for me. We've spent a lot of time together over the past month, so much that I've been feeling really guilty about not making time for other people. It's just when you're in an LDR, it's sort of like, "OMG we need to take advantage of this time together NOW," and it's hard to see that a month straight of that can get to be overkill. If you're not careful about balancing your time, that is. And I sure wasn't. :\ But the time with other friends this weekend was refreshing.


• Over the past few days, I've seen Kung Fu Panda and Bill, both of which I enjoyed. Kung Fu Panda was better, though. My thought the whole time I watched KFP was "Whoa, that's like MF!" A big guy who likes to eat and obsesses over kung fu anything. :P


• I just downloaded The Battle of Red Cliff. If you don't know of it, it's based on Romance of the Three Kingdoms, a Chinese epic on the scale of Homer's Odyssey. Directed by John Woo, and from the bit of it that I've seen, it looks good. I'll probably watch it tomorrow.


• My brother's new girlfriend seems pretty nice. From what I've seen of them over my LA visit (esp. during Jenny's birthday party), she lets him be who he is, which is more than what I can say of his previous relationship. Brother kind of let himself go a little in recent months, though. We were worried he might've had something like anorexia for awhile, but I think he's got that beat now. :P


• My bangs irritated me and badly needed a trim, so against my better judgment, I went to a random hair salon to get them trimmed. The stylist trimmed them way too short, and now I wish I went to Kim's in the first place. Maybe Kim can still fix them somehow, but they're just too short. No new photos for awhile! :P


• I spent a lot of time with MF's family last week. His mom seems to like me a lot. She thinks I can't cook (she might be right), so she says I'm free to come over on the weekends for some traditional Vietnamese cooking. If you think I'm crossing my fingers for homemade pho, you'd be right. His niece and nephew are adorable and seem to like me a lot, too, especially after I bought them some books and stickers. Nephew wanted to see some YouTube videos of sharks one afternoon, and I accidentally showed him "Zombie Vs Shark." I didn't actually think it would be a zombie versus a shark, but I was very wrong. Oops. I think if MF was the one to show him the clip, his sister would've yelled at him.

It was good to be back in LA the last few days. The thing that stood out the most in my mind this weekend was a brief period of time with my grandmother. It's probably safe to say that we haven't really spoken in years now for a few different reasons, but mostly I had developed a Vietnamese-language phobia for awhile that I only recently started really recovering from.

Anyway, my dad drove my grandparents and some of us kids to church on Saturday night. I greeted Ba and asked her how she was doing. She said she was doing okay, complained about some ailments but praised God every other sentence for still being alive. Oddly enough, she kept saying over and over how praying for years had finally blessed her with her two sons, my dad and my uncle (never mentioning her daughters, curiously enough). By the 10th mention of this, I asked her how old she was when she gave birth to my dad. "Ninety!" she giggled, then my dad interjected with, "No, she was 43 when she had me." Whoa!

My brother's mentioned how she's started giving unusual answers and reactions lately like that. I'm not sure if she's got dementia features, but I pray that it's not any form of dementia; aside from the strong genetic factor, watching a loved one suffer from it is indescribably painful. I'm still amazed that she had children after 40, though! This means that she's 92 this year.

Also, I got busy trying to impart some wisdom on my little sisters seeing as how I have some impact on them. This weekend, it was about the importance of trying to keep at least 2-3 months' worth of living expenses in one's bank account. I know Jenny's just turned 6 and all, but kids often absorb a lot more than you think they do. ;)

I think I have a special shoe fetish for red shoes. They're happy, like bright yellow shoes, but also sultry, like... well, red shoes.

Today I went shopping with my little sisters, and I found this adorable pair of red pumps for $15. Good sense told me that I would not have many an occasion to wear them, that they would not be very practical (and would probably be painful in a minimum of walking), and that I should save money after a harsh weekend in Reno. But true love knows no reason, and I can't resist a reasonably priced pair of shoes that not only looked fabulous but were also very walkable.



(I loved the shoes so much that I also bought a dark blue shirt-dress to wear with it.)

It got me thinking: are there any other Halloween costumes besides Dorothy in which I would be able to take advantage of my red pumps? A friend suggested Little Red Riding Hood, and I considered Wenda of "Where's Waldo?" fame as well, even though neither really use the red shoes.

No luck in Reno, guys. We had a great time kayaking in Tahoe, though. No photos unfortunately... gosh, I wish I took my camera then! I chose not to because I didn't want to get it wet. :(

I can't really remember the last vacation I've had before this one, though. It might've been the family trip to Canada last summer. Totally wish I spent more time doing stuff in Tahoe instead of losing money in Reno. :P

Quick trip to Reno this weekend. Anyone have any recommendations?

Has anyone had any experience with Amazingclubs? They have some interesting "of the month" subscriptions that I may want to use at some point in the future for gift-giving, but it seems a bit pricey and I'd want to make sure that it lived up to expectations before I paid money for it.

Did I mention before that one of the students I had in Beijing was a model? Teachers in the staff room referred to her as a supermodel, and she does land on the cover of a magazine from time to time. Also, I remember a camera following her around the school one time, for a TV show, and she's done some international work. Her name is Qiao Qi, but we knew her at the time as "Alice," her English name. She eventually changed it to "Mia" after I left, but I always felt Qiao Qi was the best name for her, and it's hard for me to know her by anything other than "Alice."

I keep her blog feed on my friends list, and she updates it very rarely. When she does, it's in Chinese (and Lord knows I didn't keep up with my Chinese studies after 2006), but she always posts new photos up of her work and where she's been. I remember Alice being insanely tall and skinny (like, did-she-eat-enough-skinny). And graceful. She's got these long arms and legs like nobody's business, just slender, long arms and legs full of grace. And I remember her being very sweet, thoughtful, and she was a fast learner because she used English often for work, and during the international jobs, she said she sometimes had to translate for the models and photographers. She's about 20 now, I think.



This photo of Alice in Chaoyang Park (in an Easter egg hunt?) brings a smile to my face. A lot of her modeling work makes full use of her pouty lips, but she's prettiest when she smiles widely like that.

Seeing Alice's recent photoshoots and magazine spreads makes me look back at that time with rose-colored glasses. I miss being out and about, and I feel so empty and stuck right now.

Poll #1232404 "Which of these is better?" Poll #25
Open to: All, detailed results viewable to: All

Which of these is better?

Which of these is better?

Which of these is better?

Which of these is better? (very Avatar-inspired!)

Which of these is better?

Which of these is better?

Which of these is better?

Which of these is better?

Edit: Oops, I think I mis-wrote the first question. Oh well, it was kind of a weird question anyway.

My roommates--Jayna and CP--went out last night to Jimisan's for our going-away dinner. It's a nice little sushi place owned by Jimisan and his wife Kimi, who's also the hostess/server there. The roomies had gone about 2 weeks ago and were raving about it, and I can't think of a time when I'd been to a really good sushi restaurant, so I agreed excitedly to go to Jimisan's.

It was a great time. Jayna is a regular customer there, so when we came through the door, Kimi greeted her by name as though she were an old friend. We were seated at the bar and spent quite a bit of time talking to Jimi and Todd (the other sushi chef). I loosened up a few sake shots later. :P

Needless to say, I was not disappointed with the fish. Everything was so delicious, but the most memorable bite for me was the very first bite of the stuffed tomatoes (somehow cut sushi style so that the tomato looked like it was a piece of sushi fish wrapped around the rice and scallops). The only other thing we ordered was the tamago (egg) nigiri, then we asked Jimisan to make us whatever's good that night. He obliged happily. The fish were so fresh, higher-quality than what I'm used to in cheaper sushi restaurants, and the pieces were melt-in-your-mouth kind of good. I loved the ocean trout and the toro.

Towards the end of our dinner, Todd started talking about uni (sea urchin) and encouraged us to try it, that it was something one needed to try at least once in their lives. I took him up on this (maybe liquid courage from the sake). CP has a video clip of the moment--I'll post a link if/when she sends it to me. It turned out to be really good, and I could see why some customers would love the stuff so much. It wasn't until I got home later and looked it up that I realized that uni is sea urchin gonads. Still good, though! I'm sure some people may have had bad experiences with uni, but it was fresh at Jimisan's, and Todd warned us that we were coming towards the end of the peak season for fresh uni.

We got to talking about Jimisan's hat when we got to our red bean ice cream. He had this black hat that said "MANILOW" in big red letters and was hanging in the corner. Jayna told us this story about how a customer had given this hat to Jimisan and said that the hat was to be passed on to other people. "He was from Colorado," Jimisan mused. Someone suggested that CP take the hat since she was moving to Denver, so Jimisan gave her the Manilow hat and showed us a photo of the guy who gave him the hat so that if she ever bumped into him, she'd recognize him. Very cute little adventure for her. :)

Anyway, it was good times. I came home quite tipsy. Will post photos when I get them.

Back in SF now. I had spent the weekend moving the big stuff to the south bay (bed, tv, etc.), and I gotta tell you, after spending my first night over at the new place Saturday night, I was really feeling the "homesickness." It's not so much of a longing for home--though I did kind of wax nostalgic over San Francisco--as much as it's feeling like I don't (yet) belong in the new place.

I've been doing this moving thing frequently enough over the past several years that I know it'll take anywhere from 2-5 months to acclimate and feel settled. Oh, and I also have to add that I'm gonna miss having girl roomies. And designated fridge space (which I think I'll have to start at the new place).

MF's gotten me to finally start tennis. We haven't been playing any games; he's showing me the basics and helping me improve my form. At best, I think I've gotten to where I can at least tell when I've hit the sweet spot of my racket. I'm not sure how I'm going to continue tennis once MF's back in Syracuse--who's going to have the patience to teach me for free?

Also, I just bought 3 IMAX tickets for Dark Knight this Friday, and I'm heading straight to the theater right after my class. It's going to be awesome.

MF and I had a conversation recently about money. I admitted to him that when I make a claim about "being broke," I'm not really broke--it just means that my checking account's dipped below a certain amount, and the mentality of "being broke" at that point keeps me at a very safe distance from overdraft fees. When I told him what my "broke" threshold was, he seemed pretty shocked as my "broke" threshold is around the amount it'd take to sustain me for maybe 1.5-2 months if I wasn't working. But hey, I like having a safety buffer. Am I unusual for not actually meaning "broke" when I say I'm broke? Don't other people have a certain threshold that they consider "broke" before you get to $0?

I know I've been just posting links to things lately. And I'm not sorry about it, either! :P

Today, it's something that's both funny AND educational. Good God, this is hilarious. I got this link from one of my favorite photographers, charlottegeary.

Season 1
Season 2

Other news: I'm moving the big stuff (bed, TV, etc.) this weekend. It's back to the South Bay I go!