((little fat notebook))

Humorous drives

laelene Post in photo blog，Tags: cars, entertaining, interesting, los angeles, observation

16 March 2010

There are just so many entertaining spottings! I can never get enough…

"move over" printed in mirror image on windshield of car

Imagine driving along, then seeing this guy pulling up behind you. I don't know if I'd just laugh or actually move.

hiring class a drivers, with "cl" fallen off

What they mean is they are hiring Class A licensed drivers...

lime green car with rear nearly on the ground

Now that is some major low ridin'. Plus, what's up with the lime green?

I'm not sure if it's meant to be cute, funny, or morbid. To me, it's a little bit of each.

More to come, for sure. I’m running out of post titles, I’ve had so many noteworthy encounters on the road.

How long can you hold on?

laelene Post in general blog，Tags: behavior, childhood, habits, interesting, observation

15 March 2010

It’s been awhile since I’ve read some of the blogs I used to follow loosely, so today I took a look at my Google Reader. One of the ones I’d stumbled upon had written its last and final post at 999 or 1000, over the course of five years. So often, people start a blog fresh and excited, then it wanes into a duty before it fizzles out after a few weeks, months, or years. Blogging hasn’t really been around for people to do it for decades, but I doubt many would ever make it that far anyway. What is it about maintaining writing that is so difficult? Many a time I’ve been told by people that they once kept a journal or diary, only to have it fade away after awhile. (This is after I told them I had been keeping a daily journal since 4th grade.)

Even I haven’t lasted forever and 13 years into writing those journal entries, I have stopped to take a breather (nearly 50 volumes in!). It is always in my heart to go back and fill in those missing days, but as the days go on, the feasibility goes down. Nevertheless, I still faithfully document my life in one way or another – via photos, blog posts, e-mails, tweets, and random memos to myself. It’s a habit I don’t intend to kick, this need to have a record of my life, my past. I guess it’s easier for me because I took it when I was young and made it a habit, a need. Even now, not having a written journal keeping track of my life doesn’t sit well with me.

People go through a lot of changes in their lives and it only makes sense that this is one of those fluid things that comes and goes. For me, the need to remember details of my life remain, but the medium through which I do that depends on how I develop as a person. Makes me wonder how long this will last…

Jager bomb line

laelene Post in video blog，Tags: amusing, interesting, videos

14 March 2010

Well, that’s the first time I’ve seen them done like that!

jagerbomb line from Mary Qin on Vimeo.

Honkers

laelene Post in general blog，Tags: cars, driving, los angeles, observation, opinion

13 March 2010

You know, I never understood people who honk. Other than the occasional toot to let someone know you’re there when they look like they’re about to merge into you, I don’t see much of a reason to use that feature. Yet, I see people who hold down their horn like madmen just because they’re driven crazy with road rage. I see people who honk at you to get out of their way when sometimes it’s impossible and other times you weren’t going in their way anyway. It seems that they need an outlet for their anger, which is all too easily incited.

Perhaps horns should be designed to be loud enough to make the same impact they do now, but somehow sound friendlier. The blaring ones these days are annoying enough to make anyone hearing it grumpy. Why do they need to sound so upset? Sure they’re meant to be a warning, but warnings can be a loud enough volume without having to sound like someone’s yelling or screaming at you in a bad way. I wish drivers weren’t so “trigger-happy” when using their horns. It puts everyone in a foul mood and makes for worse driving. Certainly not setting the right tone there.

Maybe it’s just because of the drivers in LA. You’ve gotta be pretty aggressive to get around in this city, so perhaps that has put everyone in a poor mood, stressing them out. Whatever the case, the driving experience would be a whole lot better if drivers refrained from using their horns so much. That’s like walking around with a megaphone, blaring it at someone whenever they do something that ticks you off the slightest. I feel that horns should be used sparingly, if at all, and better driving would be a better way of preventing the need to use it. Save it for the time you actually need it for your safety, and not for whenever you feel like it.

Cupcake Couture

laelene Post in photo blog，Tags: food, los angeles, opinion

12 March 2010

In Manhattan Beach, there is a lovely cupcake shop that my boss owns…

Aren’t they just irresistable?

Monkeying around

laelene Post in video blog，Tags: animals, entertaining, singapore, videos

11 March 2010

monkeys galore from Mary Qin on Vimeo.

Babies are just so awkward and cute. 🙂

baby monkey from Mary Qin on Vimeo.

Negative spin

laelene Post in general blog，Tags: observation, opinion, technology

10 March 2010

I’ve been seeing a lot of commercials lately that take hits at the competitors of the advertisers. It’s a bit annoying and really turns me off to these people/organizations – after all, shouldn’t the focus be on what makes you good rather than what makes them bad? Since when did bashing the opposition become the trend du jour? I don’t like that approach and lose a lot of respect for those who choose that way of promoting themselves.

Have you seen those commercials? I’m thinking of the Audi one during the Olympics where they talk about how for every friendly competition, there is a second best, the ones who don’t quite get the honor and are overshadowed. Then they say that their “friends” at BMW know exactly how that feels. Why couldn’t they just stick with their message of superior engineering? There’s also the Verizon ones that make fun of AT&T’s supposed sparse coverage map (the speed skater themed one where the guy with Verizon coverage gets an edge over the guy with AT&T’s coverage and the sports one where the guy with a Verizon map blocks the view of the TV, but the guy with a AT&T map doesn’t interfere with game-watching). Then there’s the Meg Whitman vs. Steve Poizner series, of which I found the attacks against Poizner, but couldn’t track down the ones against Whitman. There’s also the Time Warner Cable one where the guy is sitting on his porch and his satellite signal goes out. I think that’s directed towards DirectTV.

In any case, you can see that there is no shortage of commercials on the air now that bash away at one company while promoting another. I believe that there are better ways to do it. I’m personally not a fan of such actions, so I think I’ll avoid Audis, Verizon, Meg or Steve, and Time Warner as much as possible. If they’re good enough in other aspects, I may not ignore them completely, but if there aren’t that great to begin with… forget about gaining a loyal customer! Those commercials just rubbed me the wrong way.

Gaming skills

laelene Post in general blog，Tags: games, iphone, ipod touch, technology

09 March 2010

There are a lot of games out there that are easy to get addicted to. As a relaxant, I like to spend my nights playing games to wind down from busy days. Recently the games of interest have been Trism and Doodle Jump, both of which are apparently hugely popular and have quite the following. I played so much that the muscles I use to hold up my iPhone have gotten sore. It makes me wonder if the skills I learn in these games help hone me for other areas of life. Both physically and mentally, I have exercised myself in ways I don’t normally.

These two games require a lot of subtle wrist movements, which could either be good for more flexibility and agility, or create issues of range of motion and maybe even carpal tunnel-like syndrome. They also work out your thumbs a lot, which has made mine sore and probably a bit swollen too. Is it good for our hands, wrists, and fingers to get so much use? Perhaps I have strengthened them in using them so much. Plus, holding my hands vertically up puts them in a position they usually aren’t in. I wonder if that helps with anything!

As for mental challenges, Trism forces me to think in three dimensions (versus two for Bejeweled). Sometimes the angles throw you off from seeing easy combos, so it really makes you look at the big picture and recognize patterns better. I like to play Infinism because you have plenty of time to strategize. Playing Terminism puts the pressure on to find combinations quickly, forcing you to be quick on your feet. Then Syllogism gives you fun puzzles to solve patiently, also practicing your critical thinking skills. Doodle Jump makes you take in the big picture and quickly make important decisions on which way to go and what block to land on. It forces you to learn how to do your best within a specific framework.

If you own an iPhone or iPod Touch and want some fun games, go check them out! They’re not free, but for a dollar, it’s not a bad investment! But beware, for they are fabulously addicting.