I'm headed out West for the weekend. When I return I've got a trip for work. By the time I get back it will the end of October. Like last year I'm taking November off from blogging to participate in NANOWRIMO. This year I hope to actually finish!
Catch you in December.
Wednesday, October 21, 2009
Friday, October 16, 2009
Apologies
Whenever we have dinner as a family, my mother has a horrible habit of apologizing for something in the meal she perceives as inadequate. "Sorry the green beans got cold so quickly", "Sorry the chicken is salty", "Sorry the rolls got a little burnt". It's a source of constant frustration for me (and my grandparents when they come to visit). She has NOTHING to apologize for. What she cooks is almost always tasty. Still, she can't help but criticize herself and it's so irritating.
Alarmingly, I found myself doing the exact same thing when I cooked dinner for my best friend not too long ago. I was overly apologetic over how quickly the noodles cooked and how the green beans did not turn out how I anticipated (I was trying to make Chinese restaurant style green beans). He told me not to apologize and said it was good, but I still didn't believe him.
In many things I'm hypercritical of myself. I beat myself up over things that happened a long, long time ago. Nearly all are petty and I'm quite certain that nobody even remembers half the things that "haunt" me. I don't know if it's guilt or shame or what.
I was going to try to connect this to some universal theme, but I'm at a loss. I guess I can say "old habits die hard" or something. I just don't know.
I will say it made me think about how many of our habits we inherit from our family. For example, growing up we were allowed to have 3 cereals open at a time. 1 of 3 was always Rice Krispies or some other cereal my mother enjoyed. The other two were generally something that my brother or I liked. Usually I would have one box of cereal open at a time. I would consume it, then move onto another box. When I moved into my first apartment I was taken aback by the fact that my roommate had 2, 3, or even 4 boxes of cereal open at one time. It was obscene! It was against the rules of my childhood! I ended up tossing several boxes he left in the cabinet for long periods of time (apparently he lost interest in them). When I questioned him about his bizarre practice of having more than one box of cereal open at a time he explained that he likes variety and doesn't want to eat the same cereal for breakfast everyday. While this is a valid response, I still dislike the practice of having more than one box open. The tradition of my youth persists.
I have no decent conclusion for this post. Enjoy nevertheless.
Alarmingly, I found myself doing the exact same thing when I cooked dinner for my best friend not too long ago. I was overly apologetic over how quickly the noodles cooked and how the green beans did not turn out how I anticipated (I was trying to make Chinese restaurant style green beans). He told me not to apologize and said it was good, but I still didn't believe him.
In many things I'm hypercritical of myself. I beat myself up over things that happened a long, long time ago. Nearly all are petty and I'm quite certain that nobody even remembers half the things that "haunt" me. I don't know if it's guilt or shame or what.
I was going to try to connect this to some universal theme, but I'm at a loss. I guess I can say "old habits die hard" or something. I just don't know.
I will say it made me think about how many of our habits we inherit from our family. For example, growing up we were allowed to have 3 cereals open at a time. 1 of 3 was always Rice Krispies or some other cereal my mother enjoyed. The other two were generally something that my brother or I liked. Usually I would have one box of cereal open at a time. I would consume it, then move onto another box. When I moved into my first apartment I was taken aback by the fact that my roommate had 2, 3, or even 4 boxes of cereal open at one time. It was obscene! It was against the rules of my childhood! I ended up tossing several boxes he left in the cabinet for long periods of time (apparently he lost interest in them). When I questioned him about his bizarre practice of having more than one box of cereal open at a time he explained that he likes variety and doesn't want to eat the same cereal for breakfast everyday. While this is a valid response, I still dislike the practice of having more than one box open. The tradition of my youth persists.
I have no decent conclusion for this post. Enjoy nevertheless.
5K
I finally did it! I ran it in 29:53. My goal was 30:00. It's not a record setting time, but was great for my first race ever! I'm hopping on the fitness bandwagon. It's time to start going to the gym!
Friday, October 9, 2009
China Scam
So, I don't know how I stumbled across this site, but this post made my day.
If you have a few minutes check it out. I know it's long but it's entertaining. While the subject does not seem to be something that would "make my day" it totally did. The reason is that I was scammed in Beijing a few years ago! Luckily I only lost 50 bucks. It was at an overpriced tea shop where I was talking to two "teachers". I've been so ashamed of this story I've only told one person! However, after seeing this I feel so much better. They lost a heck of a lot more. I'm definitely glad I lied and told the ladies scamming me I didn't have a credit card or it looks like things would have been much worse. Also, I was in the exact same part of town. I'm almost certain I know what bookstore they referenced too. I was approached by a ton of "art students" both in Shanghai and Beijing, but turned them all down. It was the "teachers" from "Mongolia" that ended up getting me. Haha.
If you have a few minutes check it out. I know it's long but it's entertaining. While the subject does not seem to be something that would "make my day" it totally did. The reason is that I was scammed in Beijing a few years ago! Luckily I only lost 50 bucks. It was at an overpriced tea shop where I was talking to two "teachers". I've been so ashamed of this story I've only told one person! However, after seeing this I feel so much better. They lost a heck of a lot more. I'm definitely glad I lied and told the ladies scamming me I didn't have a credit card or it looks like things would have been much worse. Also, I was in the exact same part of town. I'm almost certain I know what bookstore they referenced too. I was approached by a ton of "art students" both in Shanghai and Beijing, but turned them all down. It was the "teachers" from "Mongolia" that ended up getting me. Haha.
Monday, October 5, 2009
Boyfriend Weather
I'll start off with a few random tidbits.
I have had a friend suggestion on my Facebook homepage for several months and just found out that the guy passed away. It was quite the shocker. Facebook still wants me to add him as a friend. I've actually spent a lot of time thinking about how my digital presence will be managed once I die. Hopefully I won't have to worry about that for awhile.
Being a grown-up now has brought about a lot of changes. One struck me as I was driving past Toys R Us on Saturday. I remembered how awesome that store was when I was a kid. It was my favorite. I would beg to go there with my parents. Now my favorite store is Costco. I get super excited about buying giant bags of Cape Cod Chips and 36 count packages of toilet paper. What has happened to me?
A pet peeve that has come with being an adult is dry cleaning. It's such an inconvenience. Plus, it never fails that I'm wearing a pair of pants I want to get cleaned whenever I go to pick up what I had dropped off earlier.
The weather has changed here and it's beyond amazing. I'm running a 5K next week and can't wait. I'm also finally beginning Phase 2 of my plan to get in shape.
The weather can overall mood makes me want to date. It's just seems romantic all of a sudden. We could go explore the farmer's market, check out the Rachmaninoff concerto, or see David Sedaris speak when he comes to town. I have a rather large list of places and things I would like to do as part of a couple and I hope to one day start using them. In the meantime, I still do all these things, but just with friends.
Until next time.
I have had a friend suggestion on my Facebook homepage for several months and just found out that the guy passed away. It was quite the shocker. Facebook still wants me to add him as a friend. I've actually spent a lot of time thinking about how my digital presence will be managed once I die. Hopefully I won't have to worry about that for awhile.
Being a grown-up now has brought about a lot of changes. One struck me as I was driving past Toys R Us on Saturday. I remembered how awesome that store was when I was a kid. It was my favorite. I would beg to go there with my parents. Now my favorite store is Costco. I get super excited about buying giant bags of Cape Cod Chips and 36 count packages of toilet paper. What has happened to me?
A pet peeve that has come with being an adult is dry cleaning. It's such an inconvenience. Plus, it never fails that I'm wearing a pair of pants I want to get cleaned whenever I go to pick up what I had dropped off earlier.
The weather has changed here and it's beyond amazing. I'm running a 5K next week and can't wait. I'm also finally beginning Phase 2 of my plan to get in shape.
The weather can overall mood makes me want to date. It's just seems romantic all of a sudden. We could go explore the farmer's market, check out the Rachmaninoff concerto, or see David Sedaris speak when he comes to town. I have a rather large list of places and things I would like to do as part of a couple and I hope to one day start using them. In the meantime, I still do all these things, but just with friends.
Until next time.
Thursday, October 1, 2009
Busy Bee
I've finally got LOTS of things I want to write about, but sadly I'm unusually busy lately. So, I'll leave you with a quote I came across today. One of the kids at tutoring had to journal about it.
"Each of us has the right and the responsibility to assess the road which lie ahead and those over which we have traveled, and if the feature road looms ominous or unpromising, and the road back uninviting-inviting, then we need to gather our resolve and carrying only the necessary baggage, step off that road into another direction. If the new choice is also unpalatable, without embarrassment, we must be ready to change that one as well."
-- Maya Angelou
"Each of us has the right and the responsibility to assess the road which lie ahead and those over which we have traveled, and if the feature road looms ominous or unpromising, and the road back uninviting-inviting, then we need to gather our resolve and carrying only the necessary baggage, step off that road into another direction. If the new choice is also unpalatable, without embarrassment, we must be ready to change that one as well."
-- Maya Angelou
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)