Kiwi's diary

musings through life's journey

[oliviawhen]

First week of inktober! The quiet adventures of forest cat Fog. 

[ymmugiwik]

great art

[ymmugiwik]

This is Nemo's Lego set competed.

[ymmugiwik]

A Landslide Victory for Hillary

Hillary Clinton will be the new President Elect on Tuesday night. It's like the election was over before it began. Even the Majority Speaker, Paul Ryan (R-WI) does not endorse Donald Trump. All the Republicans in the electoral college will vote for Hillary Clinton. It will be the most landslide presidential election since Ronald Reagan won 49 states in 1980.

[ymmugiwik]

Being OK with Mediocrity

A sign of a bad friend is someone who's OK with your mediocrity.

"I just got a C on my test." "That's okay, sweetheart."

"I just lost my job." "That's okay, sweetheart."

"I just pawned off my family's precious heirloom for drugs." "That's okay, sweetheart."

If that friend isn't trying to get you any help, that friend ain't a real friend IMHO.

[ymmugiwik]

A Memory of the Tunnel of Injustice

back when I was a first year in uni, I went through the Tunnel of Injustice. It was a tunnel kind of like the Holocaust Museum experience where you get to witness scenes play out depicting some sort of social injustice. The memory of attending it resurfaced today when I went to the Internment Museum.

[ymmugiwik]

Who knows how much work went into producing each grain in your bowl?

[ymmugiwik]

Waste Not

I don't like eating food, especially leaving grains of rice in my bowl.

[ymmugiwik]

I Felt Ill-at-Ease

A lot of people aren’t noticers. I’m a noticer when something just isn’t right. The more I think about it later, the more bothered I feel. Last night, I had a dream about the evening I spent with Laura and her husband. In my dream, I told Laura’s husband my dissatisfaction with his silence at dinner. In reality, I said nothing. Americans should have a lively conversation with the meal. If you don’t contribute to the conversation, you’re being anti-social. 

Anyway, last night, they almost ditched me at the party that they told me they wanted to attend. Why couldn’t Laura’s husband tell me himself that he was tired? That really bothered me how he never says how he’s feeling, but relies on other people to interpret his malaise. I told him that I would wrap things up as soon as I made all my obligatory greetings. I got them to stay just a little longer so they wouldn’t ditch me.

He was totally holding us up with how slow he was eating his soondubu jjigae too. I noticed that neither he nor Laura have good technique when eating Korean food. Laura dips her head down and spoons each spoonful of soup to her mouth and sometimes the soup dribbles onto the table. I even commented on her way that the way we eat tofu soup is totally different, but she didn’t get my hint. I like to spoon the soup into my bowl of rice and bring the rice close to my face. Laura’s husband was eating soooo slowly. Eating so methodically and not saying a word. I wanted to tell him TALK! For goodness sake, TALK!

I had to wave attention to our server because there were two servers running around the dining room like busy bees. I had to flag them to get rice and the check. Meanwhile, Laura and her husband were totally oblivious to the hustle and bustle. 

In the end, I didn’t get the ice cream I wanted because Laura’s husband was trying to nap inside the car of a parking lot and Laura wanted to get him home early. It wasn’t even 10 pm yet...

[ymmugiwik]

The Three Times You Read a Book

“Listen," he said one afternoon in the library. "You have to read a book three times before you know it. The first time you read it for the story. The plot. The movement from scene to scene that gives the book its momentum, its rhythm. It's like riding a raft down a river. You're just paying attention to the currents. Do you understand that?" "Not at all," I said. "Yes, you do," he said. "Okay, I do," I said. I really didn't, but Gordy believed in me. He wouldn't let me give up. The second time you read a book, you read it for its history, its knowledge of history.” But don't go looking for the third time. It's not there. ~except from The Absolutely True Diary Of a Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie

[ymmugiwik]

If You Don’t Move, Nothing Will Ever Change

Unless the status quo is perfect already, we should all aim for perfection (even if it’s technically impossible). Not pursuing perfection is giving up. Being content with the status quo is being complacent. Complacency is how the Roman Empire fell apart.

[ymmugiwik]

My Top Five Favorite Books

1. The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald

2. Interpreter of Maladies by Jhumpa Lahiri

3. To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee

4. Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe

5.  Behind the Beautiful Forevers: Life, Death, and Hope in a Mumbai Undercity by Katherine Boo.

Check out my author’s profile on Smashwords!

[ymmugiwik]

I Spent Too Much Money Again, because...

I decided to back my friend’s Kickstarter page for a new skateboard. His start-up is making skateboards. Today is the first day of the launch. I’m hoping he gets the startup funds he needs to embark on this new enterprise.

If you or someone you know likes skateboards, please check out the Kickstarter page. 

[ymmugiwik]

Wordsmith, Wordmonger, Wordslinger

I’m trying to be a writer. I noticed that people with a lot of education develop a snobby vocabulary. When I write, I feel like I use too many vocabulary words. I mean, they’re like SAT words or something. So, there are three words I use to describe people.

Wordsmith: this word is derived from the word “blacksmith.” It’s someone who constantly tries to refine their words, and they take forever to write something very short. Wordmonger: derived from the word “fishmonger.” This guy sells drivel, or potboilers that Henry James modestly calls his books. He just wants to put together a bunch of words and sells.

Wordslinger: from “gunslinger.” This guy’s smooth as polished silver! Intellectually provincial! whatever that means.

I’m at my Tuesday writer’s group at Barnes and Noble.

[ymmugiwik]

Spending Sooo Much Money

How much money did I spend today?

$10 on lunch.

$20 on a laptop case.

$4 on drinks.

$51 at Uniqlo.

$30 at Fry’s.

$20 on disposing a mattress.

$135. Yikes!

I can’t have another day like today. I would bankroll myself. On the other hand, today was so fun. I ran into my former badminton coach at Valley Fair. It’s good to know that my letter of recommendation for her brother helped him out.

[ymmugiwik]

Muffin Top

Before I knew it, I had a muffin top. That’s usually how it goes. So I went to the gym and ran on the treadmill. I made it 1/2 a mile before getting bored (because I wasn’t listening to any music) and deciding to lift weights instead. There weren’t many people in the gym today. I guess the rain was keeping people away, but Trader Joe’s was pretty packed. Not packed like sardines packed, but it was hard to move around. I wanted to buy a bottle of Pinot Noir, but I didn’t. Alcohol is just extra calories. I’ll be throwing away the chocolates Joy gave me in spite of my protests.

I guess I’ll be having turmeric tea again. There aren’t many options. Warm milk is out. Beer is out. And wine... I have a $50 bottle of Pinot Noir I bought from Kynsi Winery in SLO, but I don’t want to drink it alone.

But once I get rid of this muffin top...

For now, I’ve got to keep up the mentality: the gym is my happy place... the gym is my happy face. I’ve never broken 150 lbs, until recently I weighed myself, and realized “Oh shoooot...”

[ymmugiwik]

Rhythm of the Rain

It’s 1 am, the time between Saturday night and Sunday morning. I opened up my Tumblr account again to write this because I’m taking a Lang-8 hiatus. Lang-8 is not really a blog; it’s a language learning site. I’ve been writing about my personal life there [in Japanese] so that native speakers would correct my grammar, but now I feel I should've written those posts in English instead. I mean, I felt rather clumsy writing about myself in Japanese only to provide the English translation underneath.

I started this Tumblr because as long as I’m taking a hiatus from Lang-8, I should be writing something for myself. Since this is a personal blog, I can be a lot more honest. If I write here, I don’t have to feel guilty about writing personal blog posts on a language learning site and getting grammar corrections from English native speakers. Plus I want to be a lot more intimate than I’ve been so far. 

So it’s raining outside right now. Today’s the second, or I should say, the third day we’ve had rain in the South Bay. I’m really glad for the rain, actually. It feels like the world is getting cleansed, even though it’s probably just here. The rainy mood always soothes me with its sounds and smells. I opened my window so I can hear it better even though it’s pitch black outside. The rain clouds cover up the moon.

I thought I’d share this nostalgic song which lends its name to today’s title. It’s by Jay Chou, my favorite singer-songwriter. (though I can’t really say I’ve been listening to his latest songs)

Tomorrow, the petrichor of damp earth will make the world kin. I’ll have to get back to fixing my students’ essays. But for now, good night, everyone.