Old times

laelene Posted in general blog，Tags: , , , , , ,
14 May 2010
0

Tonight was my first time going to Spring Sing in Pauley Pavilion and it was a really fun experience.  The one thing I love about being indoors is that I won’t get cold!  So tonight I could really focus on the performances at hand.  Also, I went with Panda and Houdini and some other friends I haven’t seen in a long time, which made it very enjoyable too.  Now what really struck me about the night, as I was watching all the great entertainment that Company (the crew that does the comedic skits between all the acts) does, was how much I will miss some of my Bruin moments.

A lot of what they do is inspired by making parodies of what life on campus is like for students and there are more than your fair share of inside jokes.  I haven’t been away long enough to really miss college, but hearing about swiping into the dining halls and the crazy squirrels reminded me of the fond memories I’d created along the way.  There was one joke about passing out a book called “Wild Animals” on Bruinwalk that I didn’t get because it came about after I left.  I’m going to be sad when more and more of those references begin to slip by me as I get outdated.  Thankfully, there will always be our staple jokes about Trojans and North vs. South campus and Bruinwalk.  I’m starting to miss the good old times, when I was one of those “in” students who understood everything.

Apple outing

laelene Posted in general blog，Tags: , ,
11 May 2010
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Tonight, like many other nights in the past month or so, Panda and I went to the Apple store to play on the iPads.  We’ve entered a couple of sweepstakes to try to win one, but in the mean time we’ve been going every week or so to play Flight Control HD on the devices there.  It’s fun to play a game we both like that we can work on together, plus it’s nice to get out at night.  Share experiences strengthen our bond and give us nice memories to look back on.

And so, week after week, we will go out and play that game together.  Today we managed to get 100 planes!  On my own I can get over 200, but as a team it’s far harder and it forces us to try harder.  🙂  Now if we do win an iPad, we’ll spend more time playing together at home.  Today I tested it and I we can play the game with one person on an iPad and the other on the iPhone, so I’m excited.  Just gotta win one now!

Celebrating motherhood

laelene Posted in general blog，Tags: , , ,
09 May 2010
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Happy Mother’s Day to those who qualify.  😛

As we get bombarded by flower, jewelry, and and plenty of “pamper her” offers, let’s not forget that none of that really means as much as time spent together.  The mother who has spent so many years giving her time and energy raising you probably needs no more in return than attention and love given back to her.  Though giving things is a popular way of showing affection, I think it’s much nicer if you can take the time to spend the day/weekend with her.  After all, how much effort does it take to buy something and have it sent to her?

So year after year, it is a family tradition to celebrate various occasions and holidays just by going out to dinner.  Of course I will treat her in this case, and take her to get the moisturizer she said she needed.  But flowers?  I find those the most unnecessary gift of all.  They only last a week or two and especially for my mom, she’s got plenty growing in her backyard.  A bouquet looks nice only for a fleeting moment, but the waste of resources to produce it… well, it’s just not very eco-friendly, so I’m opting out.  She’d get better use out of a pack of seeds or a little pot of freshly sprouted seedlings.

In the future, I hope my kids would do the same – make an effort to see me and spend time with me (and if not, a fun ecard or homemade video is so much more meaningful than a pile of flowers that thousands of other mothers got).  I hope everyone is celebrating happily and enjoying what is a beautiful day out on the west coast.  Go for a stroll and grab some dessert or something.  I say do something with her and have some quality bonding time.  🙂

Los Angeles foot traffic

laelene Posted in general blog, photo blog，Tags: , ,
07 May 2010
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people crowding crosswalk in PasadenaPeople always talk about LA’s traffic problems, but you know where we don’t have a problem?  Foot traffic.  In fact, I’m surprised I didn’t notice the notable lack of people walking around the streets.  Now I understand why Westwood always felt so much homier and festive – because there are always students walking around!  So imagine my surprise when I stopped at a crosswalk to find this many people criss-crossing!  It’s probably one of the few places in LA where you’ll find so many people that you can’t even see the other side of the road.

Dedication

laelene Posted in general blog，Tags: , , , ,
06 May 2010
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I never really paid attention much, but it seems that my dedication is unusually strong.

One thing I’ve noticed lately is that a lot of blogs fall to the wayside, with people starting off hopeful and then posts end up dwindling to nothing.  The same thing goes for journals.  For years I’ve been hearing from friends and others I meet that they tried to keep one too, but it never really got anywhere.  Meanwhile, I kept daily journal for 13 years, accumulating around 50 volumes of journals before I stopped (I blame meeting Panda :-P).  I’ve still got notes for my journal from when I left off and I’ve been considering picking it up again.  However, there’s always the battle of “is it worth the time?” or “does this matter enough to me to be recorded?”  After all, the time I spend writing is time I’m not spending doing other fun and interesting things worth writing about.

What is it about writing blogs or journals that makes nearly everyone want to do it at some point?  I guess there’s a certain human quality that craves documentation and future historical value.  There are memories that we’d like to have to look back on.  On the other hand, it could really be a more technical issue, with those who want to practice their writing and develop it over the years.  Certainly lack of consistent writing will have a detrimental effect on the quality of your pieces, especially years down the road.  So professional or not, a blog or journal can at least force you to keep up your writing skills, to some degree.

I’ve also wondered what it is about me that makes me continue writing when others would have stopped.  Why do so many people want to write regularly, but don’t?  Perhaps it is because I am stubborn.  Perhaps it is because I got started at a young age (10).  Perhaps it is because my sentimentalism drives me to keep on going so I’ll have a lot to look back on.  I’m not quite sure what it is exactly, but many factors have urged me on over the years, as I continuously questioned the value of writing so much.  I’ve spent countless hours huddled with the latest journal design I was using, accompanied by a lovely stash of colored pens that I wrote with.  Now I’m spending countless hours typing away my thoughts, exploring some of the things that have been on my mind.  It certainly is a great outlet, preserved for all posterity.

Ultimately, I guess it just comes down to that fact that I want to keep going.  Whatever the reasons for wanting may have changed over the years as my style and even medium of writing transitioned, but that desire has not faded.  And so, I will keep on writing and wondering what this is all about, if only because I am dedicated to this part of my life.

Thoughts into action

laelene Posted in general blog，Tags: , , , , ,
04 May 2010
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Today I met with a couple of like-minded people to talk about entrepreneurism and one message seemed clear: start early.  All of those with experience are mostly in their 20’s and certainly not over 30-something.  They started in their teens or 20’s and have been living the startup lifestyle for years.  It seemed to be the consensus that the best time to start is when you’re young and still in college.  That’s when you don’t have to worry about supporting yourself financially – there are parents, scholarships, or loans to help you.  And once you gain traction, you can graduate and hop right into it with more confidence because you’ve been working at it for awhile and you can convince family, friends, and investors that your business will succeed.

Well, that’s not the plan I have.  I’m taking a more “safe” route, I suppose, working first, gaining that experience, taking it to learn in business school, and finally branching off on my own.  Of course, the most difficult part will be letting go of a steady job and living off of savings to get my company going.  But I trust that I can and will do it.  I don’t want to end up being the type who just talks about big plans and ideas and never goes and does them.  I’m not going to be that type.

So though I will be older, more experienced, and have more to lose, as they say, I fully intend on staying my path.  I guess that’s exactly why I’m confident in my plan – because I’ve had it since middle school.  Sometime around 8th grade, I believe, is when I decided I wanted to go to business school.  I can’t remember when I added starting my own company as the next step beyond that, but little has altered.  I have changed my ideas enough to strengthen my plan, but the overall framework has never faltered (like how I now want a green MBA because I want to go into the environmental field).  And after dedicating so much of my thoughts and time to my plan, how could I not follow through?

No matter how daunting it might be to do so, when the time comes, I’ll have to take the plunge.  I even told Panda to be prepared.  In the mean time, I’m not going to get too comfortable working a steady job so that when change comes, I can embrace it.

Unsubscribe

laelene Posted in general blog，Tags:
01 May 2010
1

For some reason, now that I’m working, I’m never in the mood to check my personal email.  So, to make things easier on me, I’ve started to unsubscribe to all the things that used to clutter up my inbox, like invitations to take online surveys (which I just ignore anyway).  There are also a bunch of newsletters and offers that I never look at, so I’ve gotten rid of those.  I think because I’m making a real income now, spending time making a few cents at a time just doesn’t matter as much anymore.  I’d rather focus my time on resting for work and being fully alert for it.  Back when I was a student, time meant less to me than it does now.  Sleep was also not a priority!  Now, both of those are.

Within a week or two, I should only get a handful of messages a day, versus the dozens I’ve had to sift through.  Maybe that will make me want to check my personal mail more often, since the quality emails that I actually want to read aren’t hidden amongst a pile of junk that I never had the heart to get rid of.  Well, now I am more than happy to clear out that part of my life.  Isn’t there some saying about a clean desk is a clean mind?  I’m sure a clean inbox is too.  And maybe, just maybe, that “Unread Messages” count will dip below 1000 and eventually find itself no more than two digits long.  That would make me a happy camper.  🙂

Puzzle rental

laelene Posted in general blog，Tags: ,
29 April 2010
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I wonder if there’s a market for puzzle rentals.  I think we should be able to rent them out and return them after we’ve solved them, much like borrowing books from the library or getting movies from Netflix.  That way we get the satisfaction of solving more of them without the associated price tag of purchasing them.  In trying to find such a thing, I came across RentAPuzzle, which does just that, but forces a time limit on solving the puzzle and costs a pretty penny.  I’d like a more economical way of playing around with puzzles – one that lets me do so in my leisure the way Netflix lets you enjoy a movie for as long as you want before you swap it in for the next one.

Based off that site, it doesn’t seem to be a hugely popular thing (or perhaps it’s just because people are like me and prefer not to have a 2-month restriction).  Might also be that people who spend a lot of time putting a puzzle together never want to take it apart again.  Though it’s kind of cool to have around as a keepsake, if I wanted to put a puzzle together to seal it with glue and put up, I would have just gotten a painting instead.  Certainly I would take plenty of pictures to remember it by, but I’d rather have another one to work on and challenge me (and without dropping hundreds of dollars on those crazy huge ones).

eco-friendly puzzle with seeds that you can plant after use

So cute!

Or maybe I could just get these eco-friendly ones, which are super cute.  The paper is embedded with seeds (see more on seed paper here) so you can finish the puzzle, then plant the pieces!  Now there’s a dual use.  As the paper biodegrades, it becomes fertilizers for the little seedlings sprouting.  Pretty nifty, but then nobody else gets to enjoy that puzzle.  I still think the best solution is a huge warehouse of them where people can choose the ones they want to work on and exchange them for the next one when they’re ready.  That way everybody gets to do more with fewer puzzles being created, which means less material and energy used.  I’m all about saving the environment in every little area possible.

Patented genes

laelene Posted in general blog，Tags: ,
27 April 2010
0

I watched a 60 Minutes video on companies that own patents to certain genes, in particular the “breast cancer genes” – the ones that are closely tied with whether or not a woman is more or less likely to develop breast cancer.  Is it wrong for companies to be able to “own” genes?  I definitely think so.  My understanding is that patents are to protect ideas and inventions, of which neither can be laid claim to in this case.  However, I do think they can patent the processes in which they discovered these genes (if, of course, they actually came up with these methods and didn’t use someone else’s).  After all, what right do they have to own something within our very bodies?

This legal terminology wouldn’t really matter too much if it didn’t have the real-life implications it does.  Women who want to get tested for the breast cancer gene can only do so through Myriad, the company with those patents.  They can’t even get a second or third opinion!  Oh, and let’s not forget that having the monopoly on testing means they set the price – which is estimated to be ten times what it could be if they had competition.  Nobody else is allowed to test for or even look at this gene without approval.  Now that’s just ridiculous.  How are we supposed to be able to come up with solutions to battle breast cancer at the cellular level if you can’t even look at the genes involved?!  A restriction like that halts research that would save so many lives.  After all, the more people working towards a common goal, the better chances of breakthroughs.

Their argument is that the genes are something different when isolated – but can you create them yourself?  NO.  Hence, I think they have no right to claim ownership of it.  As far as I know, every single patented thing up until now has been something conceived of from the human mind or created by humans artificially.  And if that’s not the case, it should be.  After all, everything in nature was nothing created by us, and should not be owned by any of us.

Festival of Books

laelene Posted in general blog，Tags: , , , , , , ,
25 April 2010
0

It’s that time of year again!  This weekend was the LA Times Festival of Books and I went with some friends.  This year they had a mobile scavenger hunt with the prize of an iPad.  Panda and I decided to participate and we invited our friend, Houdini, to join in.  Saturday, Houdini and I spent a good 4-5 hours running around the UCLA campus answering clues to the hunt.  I unfortunately took a hit when I got a question wrong, but that allowed Houdini to get a perfect score on the hunt… let’s just hope he gets enough bonus points for pictures to outdo the competition!  That’d be awesome, considering it’s his first time to the fair!

The focus this year really centered around the scavenger hunt, which was really a nice way to check out most parts of the event.  From the poetry corner to the kids’ stuff to the cooking stage to the news booths, we saw a lot!  It was also nice to get out on such a beautiful weekend rather than lazing around all day like I usually would.  I do need to get (and stay) more active and though my back hurt and my legs were aching after the first day, it felt good to be outside moving around.  I also ran into some random people, which is always fun.

I found that this year I didn’t really have an interest in checking out the booths like I have in previous years.  Perhaps it is because there were so many people there that anything I might have wanted to do would have taken up a lot of time standing in line.  Plus, I wasn’t out to buy anything, so none of those booths interested me, and I’ve never been one for book signings or readings or cooking shows.  It’s nice to just hang out and enjoy the atmosphere and catch bits of performances as I pass.

festival of books poster on wall

It has found a nice home over the fireplace.

Oh, and then today we got word that Houdini won the iPad from a raffle we entered on Saturday!  Pretty awesome, especially considering we were really donating money to help homeless people when we bought those tickets.  I remember seeing it was a 32 gig one, which is better than the one the LA Times has up for grabs from the scavenger hunt!  That one seems out of our reach though.  And as Panda and I were going through completing the hunt for him today, we were able to snag a really nice poster and a button, which was great for him since he has empty walls to fill and collects buttons.  🙂  All in all a great weekend, no?  If only I could have won that iPad so I could feel better about the iPod Touches that I no longer own…  😛

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