iHaTePiNk.com! - fam

Happy Mommy Day!

Your DisplayName here! — Mon, 10 May 2010 01:46:53 GMT

So we hugged over webcam. :)

HELL HATH FROZEN OVER

Your DisplayName here! — Tue, 20 Apr 2010 04:10:19 GMT

My mom successfully installed a webcam and software via instructions over the phone before I strangled myself. ‘Tis nothing short of a freaking miracle.

Tidbits of the conversation:

Me: Yes Mom, go into the e-mail account we set up for Grandma and click through the invitation.
Mom: OK. Where it says, “Verify your account”?
Me: Yes.
Mom: OK. It is asking if I want to “Run” or “Save”.
Me: (afraid my mom won’t know where she saved the file) Just click “Run”.
Mom: OK. It’s downloading now. OK so now it says, “Verify your account”. I’m going to click that.
Me: (confused) Um, OK.
Mom: It’s asking if I want to “Run” or “Save”.
Me: (still confused) Um, I guess “Run”.
Mom: OK. It’s downloading now. OK so now it says, “Verify your account”. I’m going to click that.
Me: Wait wait wait, Mom … what else do you see on the screen?
Mom: “Archive”, “Report Spam”, “Delete”, “Move To”, “Labels” …
Me: MOM! YOU’RE STILL IN GMAIL! STOP CLICKING ON THAT! YOU ONLY NEED TO CLICK ON THAT VERIFY LINK ONCE! GO TO THE LOGITECH VID WINDOW!
Mom: Huh?
Me: Do you see any other windows at the bottom of your screen that are open … ? That little bar at the bottom?
Mom: Well, there’s Logitech Vid, and Gmail …
Me: Well, go to Logitech Vid.
[ we finally start to get into the installation part of the program; it is really hard bc my mom is not reading everything out to me as she goes along bc she thinks I have every screen MEMORIZED ]

----- 15 long minutes later -----

Me: OK. Now you have to login with her e-mail address and password.
Mom: OK. [ typing ] OK I did. It says “No account found”.
Me: [ feeling really helpless ] OK Mom. PLEASE double-check that you typed it in correctly.
Mom: [ spelling out the e-mail address ] So I got it right.
Me: Mom, did you put “@gmail.com” at the end?
Mom: No. Do I need to?
Me: YES. YES YOU DO.
Mom: OK. [ typing ] OK I hit “return” and it still says “No account found”. Oh wait [ double-checking ] … I mistyped it. Heehee, my mistake!
Me: [ pulling my hair out and trying not to scream bc I know my mom is trying her best ] OK Mom. Yeah. Please double-check.
Mom: OK it works now!

----- ALMOST THERE -----

Mom: Where do I plug it in? The front or the back?
Me: Wherever you see a USB slot. Do you know what those look like? Do you see the plug that you are holding in your hand, the shape of it plus how part of it is indented?
Mom: OK so front or back?
Me: [ to my dad, who did it before - “Dad, where are the USB ports on Grandma’s computer?” Dad: “Just find one wherever.” Me: “DAD! JUST PICK ONE, OMG!” ] OK Mom, look in the back. Do you see slots?
Mom: Oh, there are a lot. Which one do I pick?
Me: Any one, Mom. As long as it fits.
Mom: The HDMI one?
Me: [ raising my voice ] MOM, NO. WHATEVER FITS, WITHOUT FORCE. THERE’S ONLY ONE SHAPE THAT WILL FIT.
Mom: Oh OK. [ sound of rustling ] [ phone goes dead ]

----------

Me: Mom, what happened?
Mom: Oh, the phone cord wasn’t long enough. Oh, how about this … [ plugs it in … I see a signal, but it’s black ] Now what?
Me: [ seeing the light at the end of this dark, dark tunnel ] OK Mom, good, good! Now, you’ve plugged it in, and it works, but there’s a COVER on the webcam you have slide off. Do you see that sliding thing?
Mom: Where … hmmm … [ I am sweating bc we ARE SO CLOSE ] Like this?
Me: YES! YES! OMG! YES! I SEE YOU! OMG MOM, GOOD JOB!!!!!!!!!!!!!! YESSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! OK now position the webcam so we can see Grandma while she sits in the chair… OK you got it … OK you can stop moving the webcam now … you’re sure it won’t fall off the monitor, right? OK then that’s good … STOP MOVING IT MOM, YOU GOT IT ALREADY … OK well put Grandma on the phone!

----------

It was totally worth all the frustration to see my grandma’s face, though. :) THANK YOU, MOM!!!!

Keeping my fingers crossed that the computer won’t need to get formatted again in the near future. (I don’t imagine my uncles are that web savvy, I think they click on pop ups and other random stuff … sigh …)

It Followed My Dad Home from Narita Airport

Your DisplayName here! — Fri, 16 Apr 2010 07:05:13 GMT

My dad is usually a serious no-nonsense guy, but it’s times like these when I get a glimpse into who he REALLY is, deep down inside.

Behold the gift he brought me back from Asia: Crunching Dog!

Dunno if you noticed the text at the bottom:

Various views of “Crunching Dog”:

OK kids, get your minds out of the gutter now. :)

And of course, the video. Well, it didn’t work so well with my computer at work with the vertical USB port, but you get the gist:

pointless but cute! :)

And no, it does not double as a USB flash drive. Hahahah doh!

I would prefer it to be more practical (I am my dad’s daughter, fo shizzle), but my dad knew I would love this: it’s both cute and techie / geeky. Thanks, Dad! :)

Remembering Grandpa

Your DisplayName here! — Sun, 11 Apr 2010 07:38:47 GMT

My Ah-Gong’s (Grandpa’s) funeral is today in Taiwan. Just wanted to look back on some memories of him over the past decade.

July 2002: The North American part of the Chen family gathered in Taiwan for Grandpa’s 85th birthday. We went for a walk with Ah-Gong. At 85, he was in good health, and it was pretty hard for me to keep up with him.

Along the way there was one of those pebble paths that you take your shoes off and torture / massage your feet on. It was very painful for me to walk upon, but Grandpa had different ideas:

<\/param><\/embed><\/object><\/div>";" alt="">

I always liked our Chen family photos. It was basically an exercise in, “How many people can we fit into this picture?”

We got to surprise him with a little acapella birthday present:

<\/param><\/embed><\/object><\/div>";" alt="">

July 2005: Grandpa’s 88th birthday was also a big deal since 8 is a lucky number in Chinese. He coined the term “rice” birthday year (if you know Chinese, write out “eighty-eight” vertically, then fit the 8’s to the 10 and flip the top one vertically – it will be the “rice” character).

Here, he’s with a few of his many grandkids the day after his birthday. I think we were paying respect to our ancestors by burning incense among other stuff (and yes, contributing to the already really polluted air in Taiwan).

November 2006: We had the opportunity to go back to Taiwan again because of my maternal grandmother’s 80th birthday, so we got to spend some more time with Ah-Gong. His kids had bought him a golf cart-type vehicle to get around in to replace the moped he was accustomed to riding; here, he describes in great detail how to use it.

<\/param><\/embed><\/object><\/div>";" alt="">

He seems a bit worried about if we’re gonna break his cart, hehe.

I like photographing my dad with my grandpa. Each of his sons resembled him in some way, and my dad is no exception. I think it’s interesting how similar they are, both outwardly and inwardly.

July 2007: We came back for the 3rd year in a row for Grandpa’s 90th birthday, yet another milestone. This is a photo I found of my dad and my grandpa at the table, eating together.

There was a short period of time when my grandpa and I were closer – we talked on the phone once a week until his hearing started to go and he refused to wear a hearing aid. My earliest memories of him are in Canada, when he came to visit and would ride the public transportation to get from garage sale to garage sale using the little English he had; this impressed upon me his sense of adventure, fearlessness, and fun despite geographical and language barriers. My dad says Ah-Gong had a photographic memory, was a great calligrapher, and never took advantage of anyone.

I’m glad my dad got to visit Ah-Gong shortly before he passed away. I know Grandpa has always been surrounded by his children and grandchildren (and great-grandchildren!) who tried their best to show him respect. And here, in my little space online, from across the world, I hope to pay him my respects also.

Flip “Magic Videos”

Your DisplayName here! — Thu, 08 Apr 2010 04:24:16 GMT

I usually don’t like to give up creative control (read: I’m anal about my videos) but I was curious and hit the Flip equivalent of Google’s “I’m Feeling Lucky” button today. Well, not too bad, if I do say so myself.

Reason #982042 Why I Love My Cousin Min

Your DisplayName here! — Fri, 26 Mar 2010 18:26:54 GMT

And it’s not to do with little Connor either, though of course he does add to Min’s charm. :)

============

Min’s Email:

The entire accounting dept got stuck in the elevator. [We were heading out to lunch.] Someone [joked], “Isn’t this a security problem – having everyone in the accounting dept all in the elevator at the same time?” Then we heard a weird noise and the elevator stopped. We used the emergency phone and called for help. But we were all stuck in there from 11:55a to 12:15p.
Once they opened the doors, it was so nice to breathe fresh air!
Min

============

Caroline’s Smart-Aleck Reply:

Hope no one ripped a ripe one while stuck in there :)
Glad you emerged alive!! :)
- C :)

============

The 982042nd time Min Has Made Me Smile:

Heh heh, with a gassy pregnant lady, you’re right – everyone was lucky!

============

I <3 <3 <3 Min. :) :) :)

Video Calling With Grandma

Your DisplayName here! — Tue, 23 Mar 2010 20:55:16 GMT

I asked my grandma to gather in front of the webcam with my uncles so I could “take a picture” of them. After taking the screenshot, my uncles asked, “Can we see the photo?” Hahaha, sorry, no … :)

So the video call is not perfect. We are not using microphones to talk over the internet, but instead just calling on regular phones (calling cards are pretty cheap calling from the US to Taiwan, anyway). But I think it’s actually a good thing, in that my grandma doesn’t have to deal with too much of a technology jump, and I’m much less annoyed with potential sound lag.

I’m using Logitech Vid, and I successfully walked my dad through installing it (here’s the email text). My grandma is not the one operating the computer; my cousin / uncles / whoever is there will power up the computer, double-click on the Logitech Vid icon, receive the incoming chat request, and plug in the webcam (somehow, plugging in the webcam earlier doesn’t work, must be in this order). I just wanted the EASIEST thing possible since I can’t tell how tech savvy my cousin / uncles are. It only does video calls; no text chatting, nothing. The interface is truly super simple. Click on the person you want to call. And I think you can only call one person at a time even. PERFECT.

I’m proud to announce that my grandma sounds like she actually looks forward to seeing us when we call her once a week. Or she at least pretends to. :)

Raking + Hotpot

Your DisplayName here! — Tue, 16 Mar 2010 06:21:20 GMT

So today I helped my mom rake leaves in the yard. I was glad to get in some sun and exercise, but I was definitely reminded why I am grateful for higher education and that I don’t need to depend on something like this to make a living. Man, my arms have turned to jelly …

My mom rewarded me with a handsome dinner of hotpot (this pic was posted mainly to make my brother jealous, muahahaha). :) I don’t know where she got these ginormous shiitake mushrooms, but I put my hand there to give you an idea of the scale:

I know I’ll be sleepin’ well tonight. :)

Oh, and I guess Dean hasn't moved my website yet. Well, if you're having trouble commenting, that'll probably be why. Thanks again, Dean! :)

A Very Special Birthday Greeting

Your DisplayName here! — Thu, 14 Jan 2010 08:52:48 GMT

I got a very special voicemail today that will be fun to listen to again and again (for me, anyway).

That’s my cousin’s son, Connor. He calls me “ah-yi”. Oh, I love that boy. :)

Techie note: I couldn’t figure out how to make an easy to listen audio file, so I was lame and made one of those Youtube videos that just puts a photo there as a placeholder. Sorry!!

"N'awlins" and Baton Rouge, Louisiana With the Fam: Days 3 and 4

Your DisplayName here! — Tue, 25 Aug 2009 20:20:53 GMT

For our last day in New Orleans, we went on a tour of Laura Plantation. Mrs. Jang was right when they said they had a lot of very interesting stories on the tour. We also visited neighboring Oak Alley Plantation, which was more picturesque and great for photos. That evening, Leon, their son, who my brother and I have been friends with for a long time also, drove all the way out from Baton Rouge to join us for dinner. He invited us to visit the LSU campus on our way home, and we thought, why not?

We missed you, Howard! [ see all photos ]

Leon was kind enough to be our personal tour guide around LSU. We'd been there a looooooooong time ago for a table tennis tournament, but definitely did not tour the campus in detail like we did that day. Leon also told me that visitors to LSU were supposed to engage in a ritualistic activity before leaving LSU ... so of course I went ahead and did it (I asked my dad to join me, but he declined):

Yeah ... I pretty much regretted doing that. My body really ain't what it used to be. I was nauseous pretty much for the rest of the day. Ugh!

Thanks to the Jang family for hosting us in Louisiana. Come visit us soon! :D

"N'awlins", Louisiana With the Fam: Days 1 and 2

Your DisplayName here! — Mon, 24 Aug 2009 08:02:10 GMT

My parents had been wanting to visit some family friends who live near New Orleans for a while now, and the opportunity arose pretty recently. They asked me to join them (my mom claims that I make it more fun for them, haha), so off we went.

Me 'n Mom being silly in front of the Mississippi

Day 1 was just driving (~6 hrs / 370mi). That evening, Mr. and Mrs. Jang explained in detail the tours we could go on the next day. My parents entrusted me with planning our itinerary, and so they were basically forced to do what I wanted to do. :) It consisted of a walking tour of the French Quarter (my first choice was actually a bike tour, but ... I think I'll have to do that with other like-minded people, heh), and then a swamp tour. THAT was awesome. :)

Gator Vid 2 / Gator Vid 3 / Gator Vid 4 >

While headed to Jackson Square for the walking tour, a lady who saw we were blatant tourists told us she was headed that way and kindly walked with us in that direction. She told me a little about herself and how she'd moved from Arizona to New Orleans, and that if we had a chance we should go check out the Garden District. If we wanted to take a horse carriage out there, she highly recommended a man by the name of Marlin Malloy. "That's my ex-husband," she said. "Now I don't recommend him as a husband or a father, but he's a damn good tour guide, and you know he must be good if I'm recommending my ex-husband to you!" We shared a laugh, and parted ways. Never got to see if I could find Mr. Malloy amongst the horse carriage drivers and tell him that his ex-wife had recommended me. :)

I have never been interested / good at history, but I actually learned a lot about Louisiana history on all the tours we took. So excuse me if my captions are a little long-winded, I'm excited that I learned a thing or two on this trip. :) See the whole story in ze pictures!

He Ain't Got No Love For Me

Your DisplayName here! — Thu, 14 May 2009 03:50:22 GMT

Tree Frog updated our California album with a couple of videos, and I just had to share the one of my nephew (or technically my 1st cousin once removed, but that sounds so ... distant and drawn out). Apologies for my shrill and explosive goat-like laughter, so please watch your volume dials. :)

[ Link to the video - I couldn't figure out how to turn off autoplay :( ]
(Translation: "Is this Connor? Is this Connor? Yes, this is Connor! This is Connor!")

Man, I love that goofy grin of his. :D

Back from Goin' Back to Cali

Your DisplayName here! — Mon, 27 Apr 2009 02:02:32 GMT

Whoa ... who are these hardcore fans of iHaTePiNk.com who were spotted in California last weekend ... ?

Yup, I cut my hair short right before I went. That 10" will be off to Locks of Love shortly. I'd been wanting to chop it off for some time now, and I finally had enough hair! :D If you can't tell, I'm the one in the light pink shirt, and with the bluetooth headset in my ear (D'oh! Forgot it was even in there!!). :P To my left is my lovely cousin Min; she and hubby Peter (and adorable son Connor) were so kind to have us at their beautiful home for the weekend. The shirts were her idea, a random gift she totally surprised me with one day in the mail.

Thanks to Tree Frog for doing a fabulous job of sifting thru the tons of pics and coming up with a summary of our brief time in California. [ see the photos! ]

Long-Awaited Gift from Min

Your DisplayName here! — Sun, 28 Sep 2008 08:25:23 GMT

And so, we have survived the hurricane. I've made a series of videos that my Facebook friends have already gotten a glimpse of, and will soon be posted here. But first! My cousin Min called me up earlier this week to tell me she'd sent me a present. I was baffled; I rudely blurted out (as I am wont to do), "Oh, what for?" She laughed and said, "Just 'cause! And this is totally going to get on ihatepink.com!" I was intrigued: "Oh really??" And today, after waiting ALL week, I got the package!

Min, Peter, and Connor, this one's for you. :)

Long-Awaited Gift from Min from Caroline Chen on Vimeo.

Happy Chinese New Year! :)

Your DisplayName here! — Thu, 07 Feb 2008 23:08:08 GMT

Lovely red lanterns hanging all around the temple last night for New Year's Eve festivities:

Reverend Rongtong, a grandfatherly figure to me, at the entrance to the Main Hall:

Tonight will consist of pigging out on hotpot with the parents. Whoohoo!

Wishing peace, health, and happiness to all for the Year of the Rat. Prosperity will come naturally when all these are satisfied. :)

More Unbridled Cuteness

Your DisplayName here! — Fri, 09 Nov 2007 06:20:07 GMT

Number one at the Hallowe'en costume contest as "Lobster Dinner". That's how my nephew rocks the show, yo. :)

Happy Belated Birthday, Yao Ming!

Your DisplayName here! — Mon, 10 Sep 2007 22:51:43 GMT

Two feet shorter than Yao Ming, but two days older. :)

Go Howie, iss yer berfday, we gon' party lak iss yer berfday! And it is! Have a good one, bro.

Taken in Zanesville, OH, May 2007.

Related: Mr. Fantasy video shorts (trust me, I have mixed feelings about this nickname that he's acquired), my bro's blog (warning: for fantasy sports geeks only)

Day Zero / One

Your DisplayName here! — Sat, 21 Jul 2007 08:56:09 GMT

Day ZERO of travelling was already challenging. Flight from Houston to Los Angeles was delayed for 3 hours, causing us to miss our flight to Taiwan and wait at LAX for 7.5 hours.

And what a great 7.5 hours it turned out to be. Min and Peter brought Connor up to see us, and Lily Jr. came out bringing REAL MCDEAL Chinese food. I LOVE YOU GUYS!!!

I'm currently hanging out with Grandpa and relatives here. The dynamics are interesting, as we have my very young cousins all the way up to my grandpa who is 90 this year.

There are computers for every member of my uncle's family right down to the youngest:

We went shopping because although I brought my DSLR, I managed to forget ALL my memory cards (me = moron). We also browsed the 10 Yuan store ($10 NT = $0.33 USD).

Oh, and I was singing karaoke as soon as we got back to my grandpa's. My 2nd uncle and aunt are serious about their karaoke - it's an external HD enclosure built for just this purpose that they carry around with them everywhere. OMG OMG OMG, hahahah!

Wanna See / Hear Something Cool?

Your DisplayName here! — Tue, 12 Jun 2007 04:03:32 GMT

Stalking my brother is fun. My dad and I were looking for streaming Chinese newscasts tonight and suddenly it struck us: "Hey, can we see Howard's work online?" Lo and behold ...

For video: Hurry and click here for a sample of his broadcast. He's a weekend sports anchor, and they've got his Sunday segment up at the moment. If you miss it, catch it next weekend, probably Sunday and Monday.

Just audio: And then, go here and scroll down until you find a podcast with Howard's name by it. His most recent thingy was on 6/06/07. Usually, he just does a 10-minute thingy on fantasy sports, but he actually filled in for one of the guys on the radio show for this episode.

And yes, "thingy" is my technical term for it! :)

Yeah, this is way more Howard than anyone should be subjected to, so apologies from the proud sister in advance. :)

Ohio / Michigan / Windsor, Ontario Thus Far

Your DisplayName here! — Sun, 27 May 2007 18:53:11 GMT

The bro has left the mom and myself back at the studio while he's taken the dad out posing as his "intern" for a half hour or so, and wasn't able to take all of us. Thought I'd take the opportunity to post a few pics from the past few days:

I broke Crystal's camera and left Howard and Crystal to fix it. :P

~~Oh, they're back... I think we're about to head out... check the gallery for more pics!~~

Running across a bridge @ Toledo's Botanical Gardens: Mom's shoe got stuck, but what was hilarious was how she stopped and said, "Caroline, I know you want to take a picture of this!"

North of Detroit, Michigan, at the tip of Lake Huron.

Crossing over into Windsor, Ontario: Imitating Rose's imitation of inanimate objects.

On a hill @ Lake Erie: That's meeeeeeeeeeeee!

Wheeeeeeeeeeeeeeaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhh (with random kid with afro)

Crunch-time at the studio before the newscast.

Howard demonstrates proper mic-holding technique to Dad before taking him out as his "intern" to some pre-game interviews. Yes, that is a stuffed beaver he's using as a mock microphone.

Old Photos

Your DisplayName here! — Tue, 15 May 2007 08:01:26 GMT

For Mother's Day, the bro and I came up with the idea to get her a personalized photo frame with a photo of her favorite children inside. This evolved eventually into a plate engraved with Chinese characters stuck onto a digital photo frame. In searching for pictures to load into it, I ran into some real gems. I found some pics of me actually looking cute as a young 'un:

Then, in light of all the misunderstandings I've been having with the bro lately, this photo struck me as bitterly and bitingly funny:

When the time comes for the bro to be married, I'll know where to find plenty of great material for his wedding slideshow. :)

Andy and Charmian in Houston, Day 2

Your DisplayName here! — Mon, 07 May 2007 07:39:21 GMT

Medusa in midair in front of giant armadillo with horns:

Got to finally meet Charmian! :) Messing around at the waterwall:

Nothing like coming home and everyone pitching in for a nice home-cooked dinner (including my infamous hot 'n sour soup):

VA Tech Aftereffects?

Your DisplayName here! — Thu, 03 May 2007 19:52:02 GMT

This sucks. As does this.

The bro (who sent me the first story about baseball player Choo) and I were discussing how in smaller cities, the backlash against Asians would be worse than in bigger, more diverse cities. Let's take a look here, using Los Angeles and Houston for comparison since they are relatively chock-full of Asians.

Population numbers as of 2000 census:
Blacksburg, Virginia: 39,573
Cary, Illinois: 15,531
Los Angeles, California: 3,694,820
Houston, Texas: 1,953,631

Oh, and for those who read my site anywhere other than the mothersite, I was out of town for a few days and only posted to ihatepink.com while I was away. So to get your mini-pic-fix, visit the mothersite! :)

Los Angeles / Orange County, Day 4

Your DisplayName here! — Mon, 30 Apr 2007 10:23:54 GMT

It's good to see extended family (we didn't get to see all of them, but I am grateful for the ones we could see). Four generations present here:

Proud grandparents:

First ever in-car diaper change (and fastest too!):

Wii sillyness!

Los Angeles / Orange County, Day 1

Your DisplayName here! — Fri, 27 Apr 2007 08:15:25 GMT

Spontaneous detour to check out Manhattan Beach right off the plane:

Video of me being silly at the beach:

Online Videos by Veoh.com
(@ youtube, if you can't see the veoh player)

Seeing my former landlords, who are like a second set of parents to me:

Meeting my nephew (son of my cousin, what do you call them?), who is affixing himself to dad's arm here:

Exhausted, but in a good way. Lights out for me!

Farewell, Stinky Tofu Heaven

Your DisplayName here! — Thu, 30 Nov 2006 07:14:57 GMT

I wonder if the tiny chairs and tiny tables lend to the enjoyment of street food somehow? Maybe just brings you closer to the action?

Anyway, we're leaving in a couple hours. I will miss my relatives, my friends, the plentiful engrish, the ridiculous media, and most of all, the stinky tofu. (Above: me and my dad chowing down on the yummiest stinky tofu EVER in Kaohsiung. It was so nice and stinky, the sauce was pungent and spicy, and they piled on the marinated veggies. All for less than a buck apiece for each heaping serving. DUDE!!)

The Little Glasses Sign

Your DisplayName here! — Mon, 18 Sep 2006 23:39:00 GMT

My mom has a cell phone just for emergencies. She doesn't use it much, so she has trouble remembering how to do stuff with it. Today, she asked me yet again how to check her voicemail. Later in the day, I thought I'd check up on her:

Me: Mom, I just wanna make sure that you remember how to check your voicemail.
Mom: Oh okay, when you see the little glasses sign on the screen, you push and hold down the one key, where there's another little glasses sign.
Me [brief pause where I'm figuring out what she's talking about]: ... Oh ... uh ... right! OK, very good!

I may need to write Nokia and tell them to perhaps add some clarification in their instruction manual to accommodate those who see the little tape symbol as a "little glasses sign". :)

Growing.

Your DisplayName here! — Sun, 10 Sep 2006 05:54:03 GMT

as the truth rang upon my ears
my tears fell freely
suddenly at my weakest
yet also at my strongest

my wings are damaged
but with courage i can fly.

...

Thank you for letting the truth ring.

---

Happy birthday, bro. Sorry, no crazy group drunk dialing like last year. :) I got a msg on my cell phone tonight: "Hey girl, I guess I'll have to catch you at another time since it's Saturday night and you're probably doing your wild thing." Hahahaha. Such a rep. Unfounded, I say! :)

Oh yeah, an online chat conversation with my bro we had the other night:

	1:55:19 AM						have you met my friend who looks like lucy liu? http://ihatepink.com/content/binary/2006/08/31/vcbouncer.jpg
	1:56:14 AM						the one on the left?
	1:56:26 AM						duh! the one on the right is ME, you doofus!
	1:56:40 AM						didn't recognize ya, actually
	1:56:44 AM						HAHAHAHAHAHAH
	1:56:50 AM						never seen ya with makeup on
	1:56:58 AM						i'll let her know.. she did my hair and makeup that night, and i borrowed her clothes to go clubbing
	1:57:10 AM						i wear makeup only for clubbing and weddings

Good one, Howard. :)

When It Rains, It Pours

Your DisplayName here! — Fri, 07 Jul 2006 07:55:09 GMT

The sound of rain lulls me to sleep. The sound of a downpour makes me ultra lethargic.

The timing of the rain: when I have to get up (bad), and when I am supposed to go to sleep (good).

A "downpour" of another type:

Pics from hangin' with Turbo! (Oh, and his lovely owners of course, haha!)

The month of June 2006 in pics! Man, I was a little busybody last month. Musicals, baby showers, black belt tests, scams, Mom's birthday, and going to my first seafood and oyster bar. Cute doggies inside as well! Oh, AND includes pics from when a certain "spa" got busted! [ cough cough ]

And, the nutsness has just begun: As one of his proud non-Desi aunties, I would like to welcome little baby Nathan to planet Earth, weighing in at at a healthy 6lbs 13oz, 20in tall. How Annie and Jerry could have produced something that cute is beyond me. Hahah j/k guys. Congratulations.

Baby Nathan's favorite auntie tries not to freak him out ...

Also, today I saw my mom and dad have a mini-spat in front of me for the first time in a while. I wondered if I fought like them, and have decided that my fighting style is the worst of both worlds. Yuck.

And now that I have inundated ye with this deluge of pictures and random info, I shall bid you goodnight. :)

My Dad

Your DisplayName here! — Wed, 14 Jun 2006 19:56:17 GMT

My dad and I get along pretty well. I inherited his genes for the most part. This is good for the survival part; in the beauty department, I didn't inherit my mom's hair-styling make-up-applying abilities. Still working on those - I do believe that they can be learned. :)

Well, every once in a while, my dad will say something totally out of character. Two conversations in recent memory stick out for me.

Me: Dad, do you have an extra hairdryer? My new haircut requires a hairdryer to make it look good. [sulk]
My dad: Oh, good! (runs off to get a hairdryer for me)
[ this is contrary to his / our nature because we are both really low maintenance when it comes to our appearance ]

Me: You know Dad, I went to this party the other night, and I was trying to make new friends and talk to new people, and there were all these girls who refused to talk to me because they were only interested in hitting on guys! Sheesh.
My dad: Well maybe they have the right idea!
[ ?!?! ]

Speaking of which, Father's Day is coming up. Hmmm. What to get the dad who no longer really cares about material possessions ...

Scorpions on Her Head!

Your DisplayName here! — Wed, 31 May 2006 22:49:05 GMT

My cousin Min, ever the ihatepink.com ham (and do I ever love her so for it!), writes:

"Hi Caroline and Howard,

Your cousin Min is now a minor celebrity in the world of Fear Factor Live! While at Universal Studios last Sunday, Peter and I were asked to participate in some crazy stunts. This was to show the audience that the scenarios where the contestants would be participating were real. Peter had an electric current run through his body while I had live emperor scorpions (5 of them) put on my head.

Watch and enjoy!

Love
Min (& Peter)

P.S. I so-o-o-o deserve a spot on your blog for this! =)"

And so, minor celebrity cousin Min, here is your spot. (WMV, 57secs, 4.8MB) :)

I wanna know if Min kept her eyes squeezed shut the entire time, or if she dared open 'em for a peek. :)

My Brother's Left Shoulder is On National TV: Call for Pics

Your DisplayName here! — Mon, 22 May 2006 03:41:22 GMT

Just got a phone call from the brother. Apparently he got his left shoulder on national TV. (I can't say I'm all that excited about it, but he was pumped enough about it to call me and tell me, so here I am.)

If you have ESPN, and if you see coverage of Detroit vs. Cleveland's 7th game (basketball) and see an interview of a player named Lindsey Hunter (yes, that is a man's name), my brother's left shoulder is apparently taking up 25% of the screen, for 10-15 secs. He says he was wearing a blue suit? Can't remember.

Anyway! If anyone sees this tonight or tomorrow, do me a favor and take a pic / video clip of the screen as you're watching, eh? (I don't have cable so there's no way I would be able to see it for myself.) Bonus if you get a pic of yourself making funny faces beside the TV!

I suppose if your left shoulder gets on national TV, you're a few inches away from having your face on national TV. :)

Update: The bro just called again, saying that his friend saw him on ABC (as in, his face was actually discernible) post-game from some camera angle or other. "I'm probably the only Asian on the floor with a camera!" he exclaimed excitedly. Hahaha. Well, one day when he's famous and has his mug on national TV on a regular basis, I'm gonna look back on this post and smile. :)

Camera-Happy with the Fam

Your DisplayName here! — Wed, 18 Jan 2006 18:05:29 GMT

I finally got a shot of my mom that's NOT posed. It's so hard, cuz she's so camera-conscious. I love it - she's concentrating so hard.

Here are my parents when I'm trying to secretly take pics of them but then my mom sees me so I wave at her, exclaiming, "Just look natural!" Yeah, worked really well, haha ... my dad's laughing at my mom's "natural-ness" too ...

Hotpot at home has always been and will always be awesome.

Holiday Cheer

Your DisplayName here! — Sun, 25 Dec 2005 18:24:41 GMT

[yawn] So it's like half past noon on X'mas day for me, and I am awoken from my beauty slumber with a call from the bro:

"Yo! Merry Christmas! It's really loud in here, so I just wanted to tell you to turn on Channel 13 cuz I'm at the ___ (couldn't hear who) vs Detroit basketball game, and if you look closely I'm the dude in the grey shirt and khaki pants under the net that Detroit is attacking, with a camera on my right shoulder! Check it out!"

But first, my holiday hangouts so far:

Went on a Friendster date with long-lost friend Anita who braved her headaches so we could hang out and hit on teenage boys in the astrology section of the bookstore

Got together with Esther and Jean so Esther could get her fill of real Chinese food and boba

Pigged out on awesome vegetarian hotpot with the fam

Drove around with the fam checkin' out other people's amazing X'mas light displays [ panorama 1 (above) ] [ panorama 2, ocean theme ] [ closeup of Santa waterskiing ] (Canon Photostitch is so cool!)

Leisurely took pics of our autumn scenery (winter for Texas) before heading to clinic and getting stood up by patient (aiyaa)

Went clubbing for the first time on X'mas Eve, with comrades Hugh, Eddy, Anita, and Anita's homies Vivek, Ashoke(sp?), and Raj: [ me 'n cute bouncer ] [ I look retarded when I dance ] [ leaving Club Mantra ] [ At House of Pies, with our Santa ]

And ... just got back checkin' the TV. I called the bro up: "Hey, uh, I can't see you." "I'm the only Asian dude on the floor!" I squinted more closely and still couldn't tell. Perhaps this is where the high definition would come in handy. Oh well. And so I missed my bro's fifteen minutes of fame.

More merrymaking to come!

Happy holidays to all.

Bad Sister / Fish Mommy

Your DisplayName here! — Tue, 13 Dec 2005 18:59:34 GMT

It's nice to know that I can call my brother at 1am (2am his time) to ask about my dad's dress shirt size. It's also nice to know that he's always up for chatting with me even if it takes 'til 2am (3am his time). He says he's getting a new and improved picture posted up sometime - 'bout time, yo!

I'm a bad fishsitter. Today I came home and couldn't tell if one of them was just hovering at the surface or dead (frantic knocking on the glass proved it was alive - phew!), and there's one that's starting to swim lopsided cuz he's getting all bloated. I wish they could talk (or in this case, scream) and tell me what I'm doing wrong. On the bright side, the houseplants are still [mostly] alive.

Astros Mania; Painting

Your DisplayName here! — Sat, 22 Oct 2005 22:31:09 GMT

At the request of my bro (I give him credit for educating me on why I should care about the Astros), I headed out yesterday in search of official Houston Astros NLCS gear. Man, there was a line outside the store just to get in, which became a mob inside the store as soon as stuff was in sight, and by the time I got there they'd run out of adult size shirts. The shirts are ugly, in my opinion. The only thing that made the trip worth it was seeing this adorable little kid whose brother had already managed to score a cap for him. I'll go back next week when all the hoopla has died down.

Tonight Ivonne and I headed over to help Annie with painting their new Montessori school. I wanted to have some music while working, so I brought my CD boombox, which turned out to be welcome entertainment. I have a happy mix CD of early 90s stuff that everyone seemed to like. I think those songs probably elicited a memory or two of a simpler time ... [ me and Ivonne on tape prep ] [ Annie 'n Jerry goofing around ] [ Stella and Ivonne on a well-deserved pizza break ]

I learn new things every day.

Your DisplayName here! — Tue, 18 Oct 2005 23:45:36 GMT

Today I learned ...

how to leash-train the doggies. Man, Happy's stubbornness rivals my own.

that Angie is a kick-ass doggie trainer. Oh wait, I already knew that. [ firm words ] [ whoa, she got him to heel! ]

that the Houston Astros were playing.

that the Houston Astros have never gone to the World Series before.

that they need one more game to go to the World Series. I finally began to understand why the 'Stros was such a big deal ... it's always good to have a bro who like, knows sports 'n stuff ...

that there is an Asian dude on the Cardinals team.

that despite cheering for the Astros (and being disappointed in their loss), I want to bear Albert Pujol's children. That guy is sexy. (Looked better on TV, anyway ...)

to play three-quarters of "More Than Words" on the guitar half-decently, with singing!

that standing up to my mom when it comes to touchy issues is exactly what I need to continue doing. I finally did that for the first time today, and ... it felt right.

Happy Birthday, Andy!

Your DisplayName here! — Thu, 06 Oct 2005 00:47:38 GMT

Happy birthday to my favorite male cousin in North America, Andrew (not to be confused with Andrew, the Bachelor. Go Andy, iss yo berfday, go Andy, iss yo berfday ...

(from my blog post back on 5-19-03)

AND, miraculously, he's still single, ladies! How can you resist that stunning, sparkling smile? That sincere, warm gaze? Hahah OK, I'm shutting up now, before I really ruin his chances of meeting a nice, non-crazy girl ...

Andy's done some pretty cool things in his short time on this planet thus far. In previous lives, he's been a hardcore stunt inline skater dude, and an inline skating T-shirt designer. And now he's an orthodontist on the sunny shores of San Diego.

My fondest memories of hanging out with him have to be when we were bored as kids and would try to translate popular kids' cartoons' theme songs into Chinese literally and crack ourselves up doing it. If you know any Asian language, I highly suggest you try this. It is highly amusing ... haha, but then again, I am easily amused. It was probably Andy's idea - he's always been good at making up fun games to pass the time. Love ya, boy!

Random Thoughts in Quarantine

Your DisplayName here! — Tue, 20 May 2003 00:46:28 GMT

Just finished watching the season finale of "The Bachelor". This is my first time tuning in to the reality show. And yay! He picked the classy, mature, confident one over the pretty bimbo.

I have to admit, I think the Bachelor dude is hot. Funny, his name is Andrew Firestone. One of my cousins' names is also Andrew, and although [ex-]Bachelor Andrew is beefier in build, I think they have similar facial features:

But isn't my cousin cuter?

The season finales of The Simpsons were awesome. One of them ended with the whole cast joining hands and singing the Canadian national anthem! Sweeeeeet.

I received one of those junk catalogues in the mail: "For Women Only". These things crack me up. For one, they always have the personal vibrator that is supposedly ONLY for massaging your back, but it's shaped like a you-know-what, and they always give this semi-erotic description about its uses. And the fashions ... oh I thought I was rid of funny fashion after leaving China, but I was wrong: "The Jacquard Caftan, just $16.95, makes you look THINNER!" This thing could make an elephant look thinner.

They conveniently do not have a picture of the abovementioned personal body massager, so here it is:

.

And this is Caroline, live, reporting from Quarantine Land.

Chinese vocab o' the day: [ge2 li2] : to isolate, segregate; to quarantine.

Mud Run Pics!

Your DisplayName here! — Sun, 23 Jun 2002 19:25:52 GMT

My legs hurt - I'm hobbling around like I'm 200 years old. My arms hurt when I try to massage my legs. When I pick my nose, there's dried mud up in there. When I swab my ears, there's dried mud up in there. When I wipe my ass ... actually, it's pretty clean up in there.

But who cares ... because I FINISHED THE MUD RUN!!! WHAZZZZZZAAAAAAAAAAAP!!!!

OK pplz, here are the pics (and a video too!) from the mud run! =) Much thanks to Dave for going and taking all the photos for us!

Graduation, wha?

Your DisplayName here! — Sat, 25 May 2002 21:55:27 GMT

[yawn] Just woke up, thanks to a wake up call from Lily Sr... if it hadn't been for her, wouldn't know there was a grad rehearsal at 9am.. hahahah ... anyways... not like we don't know how to walk across the stage after our name is called ... oh yeah, today's our grad ceremony ... told parents not to come just cuz our school is cheap and so didn't want them to pay for tickets flying over and all that. But, if you feel like showing up, it starts at 10am, at the Korean church across from the school. Come on over! Bring a bunch of homeless ppl or something and cause a ruckus. That way I at least won't be falling asleep, hehe.

Disappointed. Then Grateful.

Your DisplayName here! — Fri, 17 May 2002 21:43:24 GMT

Not again!!! AHHHH!!! [banging head against wall repeatedly] GRRRRRRRRR ... breathe in ... breathe out ... [COUGH] ... sigh ...

well ... thank goodness Howard is still alive ...

Shoes 'n Sickness

Your DisplayName here! — Tue, 14 May 2002 21:34:59 GMT

Took Uncle Alan shoe shopping. Sorry asnxsuga for being a copycat, but I found some noodle thong slippers for cheap and I couldn't resist. =) (they look like this but dude, get 'em wayyy cheaper at WalMart, foo'!)

Got sick from the cold, wind and rain up in Syracuse, NY =( Been spoiled by this Cali weather and didn't bring enough coverage. I've been sleeping for over 24 hrs straight and still want more. I hate this. Oog ... almost passed out during shoe shopping ... I'm feeling much better after Henry's treatment but still fatigued ... will return to sleep soon ...

Ramblings

Your DisplayName here! — Fri, 10 May 2002 21:30:32 GMT

Living in the past sucks. No, wait ... it only sucks if you live in the unhappy past. The happy past is kinda cool. But still, it's all in the past. What the hell am I rambling about ...

Got a mail addressed to "Yu Tu". Hahaha. Me Tu!

Happy Mother's Day to all the mothers out there. Tonight I had dinner with one of the mother figures in my life. I am fortunate to be able to be with my mom on Sunday. Being a mom is a thankless job. I am here courtesy of my mom.

Tell those you love how you feel about them now for fear of losing them to the unforseeable future. In that context, I feel foolish that I can never express myself in real life as well as I can hiding like a gallbladder-less coward behind this computer screen, attempting to convey emotion thru a cold, plastic keyboard. I guess I'm gushing mush cuz I'm finally feeling like everything that I think is set in my life can slip out of my hands at any second.

I need to start sleeping before 4 am. What a depressing blog.

Gotta pack to go to my younger bro's grad in Syracuse, NY! Will be back Sunday night.

New 'Do; Skyline

Your DisplayName here! — Wed, 08 May 2002 21:28:19 GMT

Cleaned myself up with a haircut in preparation for Howard's grad this wknd up in Syracuse, NY. Congrats, lil bro! Look for an Asian dude coming to a TV near you soon! (hopefully!)

Here are photos I took of an actual Nissan Skyline spotted at Diamond Plaza in Rowland Heights: front | side | back. The sign in the front says that it's for sale ... sigh ... anyone want this 500-hp monster imported from Japan with a steering wheel on the right (well, the wrong) side of the car? =)

Soap, Drugs, Gems

Your DisplayName here! — Tue, 07 May 2002 21:23:28 GMT

I made some soap for my mommy =) I was a cheater tho; I didn't make it from scratch (I will attempt that one day when I have more time) but simply melted it, added fragrance and color and whatever else to the mix, and poured it into a mold. The problem now is getting it OUT of my makeshift Gladware molds ...

Drugstore.com says that the top 5 medications ordered off their website are 1) Vioxx, 2) Prozac, 3) Fosamax, 4) Glucophage, and 5) Viagra. Which means that ppl have 1) osteoarthritis, 2) depression and/or obsessive compulsive disorder, 3) osteoporosis, 4) diabetes mellitus type 2, yet 5) still want lots of sex no matter what age. Me disillusioned with ppl who disregard their health until it's way too late? Why would you think that?

A gem from my friend Wanda: "Each day passes regardless of if you are happy or sad." So simple, yet ... so profound ...

Gettin' Off My Behind

Your DisplayName here! — Mon, 25 Mar 2002 21:32:33 GMT

I 1) cooked, and 2) exercised. Wow, what's wrong with me. =) Biked 8 miles total in SoCal traffic =) Attempted monkey bars and chin ups with dismal results and young children laughing at me, but I will try again!!! Must get in shape for the Annual Camp Pendleton Mud Run. So I'm crazy. Don't you know that by now? =)

She's In Da Money!

Your DisplayName here! — Wed, 30 Jan 2002 18:57:20 GMT

Congrats to Min, who has landed a permanent position as an Accounts Receivable Accountant! Whee! When you gonna take us out for a celebratory dinner? Or how bout a celebratory ski trip? ;)

Bday Pics

Your DisplayName here! — Fri, 25 Jan 2002 18:54:24 GMT

Pics of my birthday dinner and birthday fashion show are HERE. Thanks to the Trist family for giving me a fashion makeover =)

Boxing Day!

Your DisplayName here! — Tue, 25 Dec 2001 23:40:09 GMT

Here are some pics we took of our family for X'mas. Looking forward to shopping 'til I drop tomorrow ... for all you Americans, Canadians call the day after X'mas "Boxing Day" and there's mad sales everywhere ...