facebook loser

I had a weird Facebook moment just now. I was keeping myself busy with composing messages and writing on walls, and in the process lost track of time. The only way that I came to realize that it was after midnight, was that all of the day's history in the little "mini-feed" suddenly changed to read "yesterday," which took me by surprise, and also made me feel like somewhat of a loser.
I'm hoping to carry out a partial Facebook fast tomorrow, but we'll see...
Time to sleep.

threadless

I just came across the threadless site via a post on Boing Boing (which is worth checking out -- the "Spoilt" t-shirt is hilarious). They have the most amazing t-shirt designs I've ever seen! I just spent the last 30 minutes or so looking at them, completely mesmerized, and didn't even get through all of the designs.

Another cool thing about the site is that you can contact the designers, and earn points with threadless by sending in a photo of yourself wearing their merchandise. Not sure what you use the points for, but sounds interesting...

This is one of my many "favorites." It's called "Predicament," by Andy Weitzel.


And OK, I have to add another one. Look at it first, then check out the title below (i.e. see if you can figure it out before looking at the "answer").
"Nothing Rhymes With Orange," by Mike Mitchell. Love it, but really do feel for the orange...

favorite facebook feature

I've become [mildly] addicted to Facebook. I like how easy it is to keep track of a relatively large number of individuals. I like the distraction it provides when I'm supposed to be doing other things.

And I'm slowly learning the unwritten rules of Facebook too (i.e. writing on your own wall just isn't done... though I plan to challenge that taboo...).

But I think my favorite feature of Facebook isn't really a feature at all, as much as the absence of one. I absolutely love the fact that there is no clock counting the number of minutes, hours, and [soon-to-be] days that I'm spending in the name of "keeping in touch with everyone I've ever known." Yes, I'm allowed to remain happily ignorant of just how much time I'm "investing" in this process, and that suits me fine.

But seeing as I do have a few things that I have to get done in the next few days (i.e. assignments, applications), I think a Facebook fast is on the menu...

_______________________________________________

I realize that this is my third Facebook post in a row. For anyone who lacks my level of Facebook fascination, please don't despair -- new non-Facebook posts are in order. In fact, this could very well be my last Facebook-related post... maybe.

not so scary..

Well, Facebook doesn't seem so scary to me anymore... and I'm beginning to think that "feeling exposed" is probably the least of my worries. A more fitting concern should be not wasting hours and hours writing on other people's "walls," and deciding which groups to join. So far, I've only joined one group -- one that I think my brother started -- The Pardini Club. There are a total of 34 members, and yes, you have to be a Pardini to join. Sorry all non-Pardinis.


One thing that I find funny/interesting about Facebook is how you're asked to tick a box to explain your relationship with each "friend." I guess with most people, you can think back to how you met them (i.e. at school, work, through a mutual friend, etc), but I find that with quite a few friends, I have a hard time fitting them into any of the categories. In fact, I don't like the idea of defining relationships by how I met someone... it just seems too cut and dried. Especially for people that I've known for a long time, it doesn't seem right to just say that we met at church or school. Maybe I'm just making this more complicated than it needs to be, but I think that I am not alone in finding this mildly frustrating/annoying. I guess it does leave lots of room for creativity though. I noticed that one of my Facebook friends filled in the info in an interesting way, so that when I view our friendship status, it says that "you dated for a short while from 1979 and 2007 but now you aren't speaking." I like the fact that that isn't even possible. And why would "aren't speaking" even be an option? Why would you add someone to your Facebook if you weren't on speaking terms?! hehe.

I don't think I've fully worked through my feelings about Facebook yet... I'm sorry to say that I might be blogging about this for a while to come...

facebook

I signed up for a facebook account about 2 minutes ago, and am already feeling quite a lot of social anxiety about being a member. There are of course a lot of people on it who I'd like to get back in touch with/stay in touch with, so it would help with that. But then I don't really like the idea of my information being so accessible... I think I'd just feel really exposed. I guess it's up to me how much I stuff I put on the site and how much I use it, but hmmm, am already considering deleting my account...

the reminder

I recently purchased the new Feist album, The Reminder, and finally got a chance to listen to it today. My iPod has been in need of a new battery (or possibly a more complicated operation) for the past few weeks, and since I've come to depend on it for all my listening needs, its incapacity has left me music-less and unhappy. Today I decided enough was enough and fished out the old discman so that I could listen to Feist on my way to my normal Friday night activities: McDonalds and tutoring.
I'm a pretty big fan of Feist -- loved Let it Die and thought Open Season was pretty cool -- and I've got to say that her new album doesn't disappoint. It has the same whimsical/eclectic feel of Let it Die, but is possibly even cooler because it's all original stuff this time (i.e. no covers!). Not that I didn't like the covers, but I think that her music is strong enough to stand on its own, and songs that she wrote (i.e. "Mushaboom," "Gatekeeper" and "Let it Die") are probably my favorites from that album.
Yes, so I really like The Reminder so far, and am assuming, like with most new music, it will only continue to grow on me over time. Feist experiments with a wider variety of instruments in this album, especially strings, which is cool, and does more with back-up vocals and choirs too. She even stretches the boundaries of her own voice -- coming close to really wailing in a couple songs -- which brings some contrast to her usual mellow sound. And, like I said before, I think she's a very talented song-writer. She's able to strike a balance between fun and thoughtful and bittersweet, which I think is pretty unique. Some of her songs are incredibly moving, especially "The Park" and "Intuition"... I found myself sitting on the bus, listening, and close to tears.
If you've heard Feist before and like her, I recommend this album. If you've never heard of her, I recommend this album along with her other two. I've never posted anything even closely resembling a music review before (not that this really is one...), so the fact that I'm taking the time to write something about this CD speaks for itself. :)
On a side note, I like the art in the CD sleeve/case/whatever this type of packaging is called. The polaroids are neat.
Check out The Reminder website (with videos and segments of the songs): www.listentofeist.com

book worm

nomad's and the cat of glory

I met J-Lo (OK, sorry -- "Jon" from here on out) for lunch today at Nomad's (TRFKAK -- The Restaurant Formerly Known As Kublai's). Neither of us attempted a 5-bowl challenge -- in fact, I don't think Nomad's kept the Kublai's challenge -- but it was good food! My noodles were a little on the salty side, but seeing as it's a DIY type of eatery, I have no one to blame but myself.
It was great to see Jon again, catch up a little bit, and of course plan our traditional trip to Sunset Peak!
Here he is waiting for the pizza bases to be replenished (though Nomad's is a "Mongolian" barbecue, they have some very unMongolian options, i.e. pizza).

Jon surprised me with the ultimate early birthday/late Christmas present: The Cat of Glory.
Here I am with The Cat. He's busy shining the "bright torch of insight" onto my pizza.

gabe does the robot

I just watched these videos posted by Amy and Aaron on Youtube -- hilarious! They're of Gabe doing the robot and some other yet-to-be named dance moves (as part of a children's dance session at McDonalds). He's on the far right in both videos. I love the way he's sort of off on his own, gettin' down...

kittens

blast from the past

I had a unique experience yesterday. After taking the "Hop on" picture and before "Understanding Poverty," I was walking near the TST Star Ferry pier when I suddenly heard my name called out. I looked up and saw the face of someone I hadn't seen in 15 years -- my friend Sonia, from KGV. I only went to KGV for one year (before transferring to ICS), and unfortunately, very quickly lost touch with friends there. So it was a very pleasant surprise to see an old friend, and to be able to catch up briefly (we're planning to meet up for coffee -- possibly with other former classmates -- sometime soon). Also surprising that we both recognized each other and still remembered each other's names.

trying to understand

I went to a session last night on "Understanding Poverty," put on by the lovely people at Crossroads, and just now came across a review of a book by the same name on the NY Review of Books, via a post on 3quarksdaily (phew! that was a lot of information...). Have yet to read the entire review, but one statistic really sticks out to me so far: "the world's five hundred wealthiest people have the same income as the world's poorest 416 million." Wow -- that really puts the world's uneven distribution of resources into perspective...

hop on

I pass this shop on the minibus every time I go to HKU, and yesterday I walked down the hill from the campus just to take a picture of it. "Hop On" is of course a great name for a bicycle shop. But in this case, I think the fact that the English name has any relevance at all is purely coincidental. The name "Hop On" is just the romanization of the Chinese name, which means "cooperation and peace."I'm sure there are plenty of other "double meaning" signs like this in Hong Kong. I wonder if anyone has created a website/book about this phenomenon...probably. But if not, maybe I will...

making the most of my student status

As you can see from my HKU ID, I only have a month and a half left before my student status officially expires. Besides the implications already mentioned in previous posts (i.e. finishing papers, finding a job, etc.), I realized a couple weeks ago that there are some student perks that I really should make the most of while I still can.

So today I did just that.

First I went to an appointment at the HKU dental center, where I had a check-up for just HK$80 (x-rays included!) . It turns out that I need 3 fillings (!!), but two of those are replacements of older fillings that are deteriorating... and thankfully fillings, like the check-up itself, are ridiculously cheap, so I'm almost glad that I need three... hehe. Can't wait for that 2-hour dental appointment as well...

(Yes, I felt silly asking the receptionist if I could take a picture of this little feline dental diorama, but really, how could I resist?! It's a feline dental diorama!!)
My next "making the most of being a student" activity involved going to the HKU bookstore and milking my student discount. I have a stack of books at home that I've been meaning to read, so really didn't need another one, but found Oracle Bones to be too much of a temptation. I really like Peter Hessler's writing and appreciate his insights on China -- I think River Town is one of my favorite non-fiction books -- so couldn't pass this up.
And with a new book in hand, I had no choice but to go to the HKU Starbucks and make use of my 25% student discount there. Toffee banana scone (who new such things existed?) and chai latte... yum. Yes, there are some aspects of student life that will be missed.

an educational post

I recently borrowed some elementary general studies textbooks from the library so that I could be more familiar with the HK curriculum (in preparation for the interview I had last week). General studies includes subjects like science, social studies, and technology, but as you'll see, also includes a lot of generic "life education." The books I borrowed were mainly within the science theme. Here are some highlights. There really are some gems here -- you might want to click on some of the pictures to enlarge them.


Primary 1: "I Am Getting Older"

In this activity, students are instructed to "help the children to put on their swimsuits. Paste the swimsuit stickers onto their bodies." This is the teacher's book... the students' books would actually have naked children, but apparently teachers need help to know which body parts swimsuits should cover. The red notes to the teacher are worth reading.
And on the following page, students have to choose the behavior which makes them feel uncomfortable. I definitely think it's important for kids to understand what kinds of behaviors (especially from adults) are appropriate, but I think the second picture might give me nightmares if I was a child...
Students learn what kind of sleeping posture is the best.
And here's an important section on "working and resting." The first set of pictures makes me wonder what kind of homework a first-grader has that she would have to work 5 hours straight to finish. But the teacher answers are pretty good here... "The girl works without resting. She is very tired and cannot keep her posture. She may have round-shoulders and become short-sighted."

The caption for the second picture is: "The boy watches TV for a very long time. This will badly affect his eyes, bones and health."

Primary 3: "My Health"

Here's some serious social education. The pictures have the following captions:
1. "Ben does not like sports. His is weak and has no friends."
2. "He meets a sports lover, Joe."
3. "He likes to play basketball with Joe."
4. "He likes other sports too. He has many friends."
5. "He takes part in the school's sports day."
6. "He has stronger muscles and is happier."

Primary 5: "Living Healthily"

Students are introduced to the dangers of alcohol, and have to identify how drunk (i.e. slightly/ moderately/ seriously) the man in the picture is. And the follow-up question below is interesting too. "Have you ever seen any drunk?"
This section of the book is about helping students to develop a meaningful life... not to mention a strong work ethic (i.e. note the boy with kamikaze-style "work hard" bandanna).
Here's a worksheet entitled "I like myself." The instructions read: "If you were usually unhappy with yourself, you would not like yourself and would even hate yourself. From now on, learn to like yourself. Every day, find out one thing that you do well and write below." Maybe I'm too cynical, but I have a hard time believing that this would actually be of much help to a student with low self-esteem... but at least they're trying..?
That's all I have to share for now, and will be returning the books later today. I hope you've enjoyed them as much as I have!

post-tennis treats

Mango desserts... I love the mango!
Kai and Sal with their curried assortment. Tripe, pig skin, fish balls, and don't forget the dangling squid tentacle.

happy mother's day

Happy Mother's Day to my own dear mother, and any other mothers out there who might be reading this.

generic names for soft drinks

Here's an interesting study I came across via this post on boing boing. "Generic names for soft drinks by county."

The key is small. blue="pop" red="coke" yellow="soda" green=other

I don't know how many conversations I've had on this topic... the next time generic names for a carbonated beverage comes up, I'll be sure to whip out this map.

I'm definitely a "soda" girl myself, although I think I grew up saying "soft drink." And come to think of it, my parents usually said/say "soft drink" too... maybe they chose it as a happy medium, seeing as my dad is from a "soda" county, and my mom is from a predominantly "pop" area.

I wonder what kind of trends you'd see in other English-speaking countries...

saturday excursion

My mom and I went to an RAS lunch at an old 1920s house in the mid-levels. To get there, we took the Peak tram up to May Road, and then walked up a footpath. The track is so steep at May Road that we literally had to climb up the tram to get off... it was a very strange experience.

After a 15-minute walk up the footpath, we made it to the house. The path is the only way to get to the house -- no road access!
This is the view from the roof, where we ate lunch (all 60 of us!). The house was supposed to be demolished in the early 90's, and developed to be part of the housing complex you can see on the left. Thankfully, the "green path" that leads up to the house is protected by the government, so developers had no choice but to leave the house as it is. Unfortunately, I don't have any good photos of the outside of the house, as there were no good vantage points from the path. But it was a very beautiful example of colonial architecture.

The man who lives in the house is quite an art collector. Most of it is modern Chinese.
This painting was one of my favorites.

Each room in the house was exquisitely decorated... I felt like I was walking though the pages of an interior design magazine or a museum -- so much art to look at! I wasn't going to take any photos, but then noticed lots of other people doing so, so I decided not to miss out on the opportunity to document such an inspirational experience. :)

This is a cool room. I like the bookshelves and the fireplace and the paintings. The men in the main painting have blindfolds made of Y100 bills... very insightful...
One of the sitting rooms downstairs.

One of the guest rooms. I love the color-scheme. This was one of the only places in the house with non-Asian artwork -- the pictures are all old European political cartoons.
The resident of the house also has an extensive modern Chinese sculpture collection.

I love this one -- everything from the dazed look on her face, to the minimalistic (but very effective) use of color, to her platform shoes. So realistic! I can just picture her standing among a crowd in the Beijing train station...

"Urban Peasants"
"Melting"

"Horse"
"Existence"
"Flying Hippopotami"

Me with the dog, Kaluch (sp?). (I thought it was time I balance all the cat pictures with a good canine photo... though the black dog sort of blends into my clothes...)
My mom and me on our way out.

We walked down to Admiralty on a path that runs next to the tram. On our way we came across this huge camphor tree.

And here are some shots of interesting buildings that I hadn't noticed before.

This is the foundation stone on the Masonic Hall. I find the inscription quite creepy. "Right worshipful brother... district grand master..." I'm getting goosebumps!
St. Paul's Primary School. I like the gate and the ivy.
Wasn't sure what this building was, so I went in for a closer look.
Found out it's the Office of the Former Chief Executive of the HK Special Administrative Region. Not sure why Tung Chee Hwa needs his own special building... any ideas?
A view of the Bank of China building through the trees at HK park.