On the streets of DC, you will often come across squirrels, but I had never seen one so white before.
After pausing to see why I was staring, she promptly returned to her feeding frenzy.
I waved my finger at her to attract her attention, only to get attacked because she thought I was offering my finger as food. Ouch.
Lately I’ve really noticed how much feeling and emotion is tied to driving. I’ve been going around town in a 1999 Camry speckled with water spots and covered in dust and it has made me self-conscious in a way I’m usually not. I’m afraid of other drivers looking over and noticing how dirty the windows are and judging me for it. There’s something about a dirty car that makes me feel bad about myself, probably because it’s obvious that I haven’t taken care of the vehicle lately.
You see, the car has been sitting on our driveway in the sun, next to the sprinklers, and under a tree for ages. In that time, it has suffered stains from getting sprayed every day by the sprinklers, getting beat down on by the sun, and getting particles falling from the tree. The tree’s branches were so overgrown that they were scraping against the car. Not exactly the best conditions for storing a vehicle! I kept telling myself that I would wash the car one day when it wasn’t too hot out, but I kept putting it off.
Now that I was driving the car, I wondered what people thought of my old, beat up car as they drove by in their shiny sports cars and SUVs. Were they wondering why this car was so filthy? Were they trying to get a glimpse at me to see what kind of person would drive this car? Who knows if they even cared, but I felt like they noticed. After I got the car washed a few days ago, I immediately felt better about driving it around. Now it was just an older model car – not some dirty or run down piece of junk.
This whole experience was in total contrast to the feeling I got driving my family’s Lexus. Not only does it drive better, but it’s not subjected to various weather conditions. When I drove long distances, I would take that car, and it would always boost my morale. I felt better because it was clean, because it is a good brand, and because it handles really well. Sitting in it is more comfortable both physically and emotionally. While I had felt a difference driving this car vs. the Camry in previous years, it was never so apparent as when the Camry was also much more dirty.
It’s funny how we let something like this affect our internal well-being so much. But I guess it’s just how our culture runs – when we have nice things, we feel better (to a certain extent). Not just because other people see that we have these nice things, but also because they are designed to make us feel good. Makeup can make people feel more beautiful, titles can make people feel more powerful, and cars can make people feel more in control or affluent. Americans in particular seem to love to express themselves via their cars, so there’s an even higher value for them in this culture. I never really realized I was so affected by these things too.
These guys are so cute and nice-looking when they aren’t all puffed up.
A few weeks ago I wrote about my cousin’s wedding in China and now here are some pictures from the day.
The newlyweds' chariot has arrived in style!
All sewage caps along the bride and groom's path had to be covered with red paper held down by red bricks, to keep bad luck/spirits away.
On the back of the car was a tribute to their love, spelled out with flowers.
The groom carried his bride through the threshold of her building into the awaiting car as a shower of confetti rained all over them.
The wedding confetti got all over the place, making the car, the street, and people's hair shine in rainbow colors.
Apparently it's traditional to get one of these giant buns in Shandong. The bread is molded into all kinds of cool designs, like the dragon and phoenix on top and the flowers and fish all around them. And yes, it's edible!
They had their own theme created around their names!
The chandelier in the place was gargantuan and so much brighter than this picture shows.
The groom waited for his bride to enter the ballroom and then they walked down the aisle to the stage together.
Before walking down the aisle, the bride and groom share a kiss as the platform raised up and spun them around.
Following the ceremony, we ate lunch, which included these "double happiness" meatballs to celebrate the joy.
I’ve been working on multiple avenues to get my site out there and today I decided to try Pinterest. I had recently seen this infographic on how great Pinterest is for driving online sales. It’s been proven to be a very effective way for e commerce sites to boost sales and I was having no luck with my eBay and Craigslist postings. Within minutes of pinning an image from my site, I had gotten my first online sale! I was pretty shocked to find it was some random guy in Denmark, but hey, that just goes to show the power of Pinterest.
Check out the international reach I got from one little pin on the site! It’s pretty exciting to see that people outside of the US were checking out my site. Over the next couple of days, I’ll be pinning up all the different colors offered to further expand my reach. I’ll also be standing in line at the post office to ship off this iPhone cover! I was pretty shocked at the long line I encountered there this afternoon, when I was in a rush to get somewhere. Tomorrow morning I’ll have all the time in the world to take care of this order though, and I’m pretty excited. 🙂 Keep’em coming!
If you live in a city, you’re probably used to not experiencing full darkness after nightfall. Lights from stores, streetlamps, and nearby apartments are constantly glowing all through the dark hours. You may even think that it’s normal to barely be able to make out any stars. It’s certainly the case in Los Angeles, where I first truly noticed this phenomenon.
I remember my first year at UCLA, when I would be walking around campus at night marveling at the sky glowing a strange milky white or orange. I thought back to the places I had lived on the east coast and Midwest and all I could remember was darkness lit by stars, the moon, and some fireflies. But here in the middle of Los Angeles, I saw none of that. The marine would roll in some days and completely obscure the sky. Other days, the sky would look like it was stuck in a perpetual state of dusk.
For awhile I wondered if I just didn’t remember how the sky looked at night in those other places. Or maybe LA was just weird and didn’t get a “proper” night sky. Then I went back to Beijing for the first time in years and found the same thing. So many lights around you that you never really see past them, into the dark expanse of the universe. One of my aunts was actually amazed when she came to visit us and you could actually see the stars at night. Do city people live out their lives hardly ever seeing a truly dark night sky?
The world has changed so much as humans took over. I can imagine the immense darkness that used to blanket the earth at night. You can still find that in remote areas, but so much of mankind has gotten used to artificial lighting almost all day long. That kind of darkness can be lonely, scary even. I got a reminder of that tonight as I was working on my computer – before I knew it, the sun had set and I was cocooned in a dark house with just the eerie glow of my computer. When I looked up, I felt small and isolated. Without the light from my laptop, I would be engulfed by the night, and that felt so odd!
While I really appreciate artificial lighting, sometimes I wish it was easier to look up at the sky and see a vast landscape of stars. Maybe if we were more used to darkness, it wouldn’t be so scary.
I was working at the computer one afternoon when some movement caught my eye. So random!
Click on the pictures to see the squirrel blown up for a better view!
I heard a strange clicking/cackling sound outside one day and went out to find this squirrel.
It ran all the way around the house until it got to the end of the stucco and had nowhere to go.
Eventually it made its way back to the other end of the house and ran up the chimney.
At this point, I wondered why it didn't just run off across the roof.
Instead it stuck around waiting for me to leave.
Quite the acrobat!
It was a pretty windy day - check out the wind blowing its tail around.
I wonder how long it can last up there...
Then it got on the defensive.
By this time I got tired of looking up so I laid down for a more comfortable view.
Whoa, that is not a flattering picture. After this, I got bored and left the poor thing to its own devices.
Yippee, it’s finally here! After a couple of setbacks trying to get the ecommerce store set up, DeckMyPhone.com is officially open for business. I’m selling iPhone 4 & 4S covers to start, but if things work out there will be all sorts of products added to our lineup. I’ve set up Facebook and Twitter accounts (like & follow me!) to get the ball rolling and I’m excited to start getting some business! I’ll be doing some promotion via friends over the next couple of days and then I’ll work on reaching out across the web, doing SEO and SEM.
If you or anyone you know has an iPhone 4, please check it out and spread the word. I’ve gotten a lot of compliments on these phone covers, which is why I decided to start selling them in the first place. 🙂
Two nights ago, I was getting ready to go to bed at 3:30 when I realized that I hadn’t seen Missy for awhile. Usually she’ll come at night to sleep next to me or at least hang out in the room. I decided to go searching and remembered that the cat door hadn’t been closed, so I was pretty sure she was outside playing. After calling her for awhile, I started to get worried. We had lost a cat before and all the dread that I had felt then came rushing back.
It never took more than 15 minutes to call Missy back usually, so when it was approaching half an hour with no sign, I got really worried. I got a flashlight and went outside around the neighborhood, to see if perhaps she had gone far and just couldn’t hear me. I kept hearing rustling in the bushes and paused each time to see if she was prowling in them. No such luck. Back at the house, every time Molly came around to see what I was doing, I thought it might be Missy. An hour into my search, I was freaking out.
By then it was 4:30 in the morning and all sorts of horrible scenarios of what could have happened flashed through my mind. At the same time, I would go through periods of calm where I convinced myself that there was still hope that she was fine and I’d find her later. Eventually, I decided that I needed to get some rest and I couldn’t do much more until the sun came up. At 5, I lay down for a nap and set an alarm for 6.
However, I woke up on my own at 5:30 and instinctively called out for my cats. A shadow appeared in my doorway and I figured that Molly was there to see what I was doing. It was getting light out, so I climbed out of bed and went to see if I could track down Missy this time. When I got to the doorway to pet Molly though, I discovered that it was Missy! The relief that washed over me was fantastic and I immediately went to close the cat door. I probably hugged Missy a little too tight, since she jumped out of my arms (probably wondering why I was making a huge fuss).
Since then, every time I spot Missy I feel extremely happy. I decided to keep the cat door closed for now and only let her outside during the day when I am around. Luckily, she’s pretty good about coming back – I think she only goes further on her night runs, so as long as she’s back before it gets too dark out, I feel pretty safe.
