Is it just me or were these fish acting more than a little weird?
Psychotic fish
Swagbucks addiction
I think it’s time to address a recent addiction of mine (and Panda’s). About two months ago, he got wind of this site called Swagbucks, which I had actually signed up for two months before that. Basically it’s a search engine (powered by Google and Ask) that rewards you for using it by giving you points, or Swag Bucks. The exact algorithm for deciding who gets Swag Bucks when is unknown, but it seems to correlate with popular searches and IP addresses. You pretty much just go about your searching throughout the day and get really happy when you see this:
And then you rejoice! When you collect enough of this currency, you go to the Swag Store and redeem a prize. So far I’ve opted for the $5 Paypal each time, since I figure cash can be used any way and there’s nothing in the store that I really want. Right now that’s available for 70 Swag Bucks, which takes me about 2.5-3 weeks to earn. So in these two months I’ve earned $15 worth! Not bad, eh?
Plus, pretty consistently throughout the week, there are Swag Codes given out, which are worth anywhere from 1 to 5 Swag Bucks. Codes might be found on the widget (which I have up on my contact page), the toolbar (which you need to download), on the blog, through their Twitter feed, or on affiliate sites. Just about every day there is a new one put out there somewhere, so it’s a bit of a scavenger hunt to discover them. Sometimes they’re unique and regenerated for each user, while other times they are a common one that everyone can use. They’re all set to expire within a few hours of being put up and you’re not supposed to post active codes and apparently that can get you banned, as does unnaturally excessive searching.
To make things more interesting, there are also themed days, like Twitter contests on Tuesdays and Thursdays and Megabuck Fridays (where it’s easier to get multiple Swag Bucks). Every now and then, a predictive poll is put out, where all those in Swag Nation (also known as Swaggernauts) guess the result of something, like the Heismann Trophy winner or the gas price in the new year (both of which we got right). For getting those polls right, Swaggernauts are rewarded with a code worth multiple Swag Bucks, but only for a limited time! The gas price one was out for only an hour, but was worth 5 Swag Bucks. That’s big money in Swagland!
Panda and I have both been pretty into it, telling each other when we get a Swag Buck, which then fuels the desire of the other one to get one too. In that way we’ve had a lot of fun sharing and competing. It keeps things interesting and challenging! I probably wouldn’t have gotten into it had it not been for him and now we keep each other going. I’m glad that we have these little bonding moments throughout the week and I know that my account would have sat there inactive for many more months had it not been for him! So if you’re into free things, you should go try it out as well. Enjoy! 🙂
[edit jan.14.2010] So I started to notice I was getting Swag Bucks really quickly and to my surprise, I got two new referrals! I get a Swag Buck for each one they earn from searching, up to 100. Then one of my old referrals finally began to use his! This is really exciting. If you’re interested, message me so I can invite you to my group where we tell each other when Swag Codes are out so you don’t miss them as easily.
A meal at BCD’s
For those of you who don’t have a BCD Tofu House near you, here’s your chance to see what it’s like! Since eating Korean food is practically an art, I thought I’d walk you through the experience… First off at any Korean restaurant they give you plenty of little appetizer/side dishes. It ranges from kimchi, a staple, to potato salad to iced pickles. At BCD’s, the main courses are tofu soup bowls, which you can get with bugolgi and kalbi and other such meats if you desire. They also start you off with a little fried fish, which I always love.
Right around the time you get your tofu soup, they bring hot stone pots in which the rice was made and scoop it out for you, so moist and fresh and steaming. I love that they throw in a few random peas for you to find.
Then they pour water into the stone pots to soak the rice that got burned into the sides a bit.
Once you get your boiling soup, you must act fast and throw in the egg! I like mine cooked thoroughly, so it’s always a rush for that…
After having some of the soup, it’s time to find the egg! It tends to blend in with the tofu, so you might have accidentally ingested it.
If you ever need service, all you have to do is press this button (most people have no clue that it’s a button!) and your table number will show up on the display. A doorbell kind of sound will alert the staff that a table wants attention. No more awkward attempts to get your waiter/waitress’s attention!
And completely irrelevant, but rather amusing was this billboard in their parking lot. Please excuse my over-enthusiasm.
Asian to American generational gaps
Things have been very different for each generation of my family, especially on the marriage front. I thought it’d be interesting to outline how it has changed from thoroughly Chinese and traditional to (eventually) entirely American and modern. I’m counting from my great-grandparents’ generation through to my future children’s (and possibly even my grandchildren’s). I guess five-six generations is what it takes to make the ultimate transition in terms of how the family will progress.
Starting off with my great-grandparents back in Communist China in the early years of last century, marriage was something that your elders decided. Romantic love wasn’t really a familiar concept and whether you liked it or not, your future spouse was chosen for you by your parents. In a way, being match-made was easier, since you didn’t have to find someone for yourself. Plus, with the wisdom of their years, parents would generally match you up pretty well according to personality and wealth. Think eHarmony, except substitute wealth for education in that case.
So one day your parents would strike a deal with his or her parents and a fortuitous date would be set. Nothing with 4s and preferably with 8s. You’d probably get really curious and nervous leading up to the wedding, wondering what your partner would be like, look like, act like. Then the day would come and you would first lay eyes on this mysterious person you were destined to spend the rest of your life with. After all the ceremonious duties were done, you’d spend your first night together, getting to know each other. Over the years you would grow to love each other, or at least tolerate each other. And you would propagate and continue the cycle for your children too.
Then came my grandparents’ generation, where things were starting to get a little less traditional. Though your parents still chose your spouse, the two of you were allowed to meet before getting married and get to know each other a little. Call it a supervised courtship of sorts. As your parents did, you learn to love each other and build a life together. By the time your offspring grow of age, rules have gotten lax and you let your children decide from a number of suitors you present to them. With each, they get to know each other and court a bit before deciding if they like each other enough to commit their lives to each other. The pressure of making the right choice started to become an issue, with this generation having the power to decide their own fates (within certain choices presented to them). Now the concept of romantic love began to spread as young couples tried to figure out if they could love this person for the remainder of their years.
For my parents in particular, my maternal grandmother heard of my dad through the wife of a professor at the local university, which is where my parents both went to school. My maternal grandfather was also a professor at the school and his professor buddy had my dad as a student. Through the women talking, my grandmother learned that this young man was the professor’s star student and first in his class. My parents were introduced to each other and my grandfather approved without ever meeting the man. All he had to know was that he was a hard worker and an excellent student. My grandmother, on the other hand, wanted to meet and get to know this potential suitor. As the legend goes, she sat him down for an interview (probably mostly asking about academics and his professional future) and liked him as well. My mom decided that of the guys she’d been introduced to, she liked this one the most, and so they were married. Or something like that.
(More on my parents’ (and my) story in this future post.)
As for my generation, we’d moved to the US when I was young and I was brought up in a very Asian-American household. I’d say my split was probably 60% Chinese, 40% American in my younger years, and now it has transitioned to 70% American, 30% Chinese. It gives you a rough estimate anyway. So for me, choosing a future spouse is mostly up to me, though my mom has certainly tried to introduce me to the sons of her friends and former classmates. I get to pick him, but I still seek my parents’ approval and blessing. If they don’t like him, I don’t know if I could go through with it. Thankfully, they seemed to have liked Panda plenty at their first meeting. 🙂 Also, at this point, love is very much an issue and the real thing driving my motivation. Whereas before people learned to love, now I am looking for love. Completely different priorities!
I anticipate that my children’s generation will do whatever they want without much, if any, say from me. They’ll probably go chasing after their own fantasies and desires with little regard for my wishes. But then again, I’d probably let them do their own thing and not try to interfere. As for the generation after that, well, who knows how the world will be! Maybe having a family will be so overrated that they chose not to procreate. It certainly seems like more and more people I know are choosing to delay a family or throw that concept out entirely. What’s important to us has shifted beyond recognition and I’m sure my great-grandparents would be utterly confused at the state of the world today.
And so, in five generations we went from no choice to complete choice. In six we can go to no children, no seventh generation! Yikes! But hey, perhaps family values will make a comeback and the opposite will happen. You never know.
Happy Birthday serenade
For my first ever video, I thought I’d share a happy moment that occurred in my motherland. 🙂
happy birthday serenade from Mary Qin on Vimeo.
September 9, 2008 was a great day for the guy holding the flag and running around. He won his race at the Paralympics, on his birthday, and got serenaded by the stadium! He’s blind, so the guy running with him was his running partner. At the Paralympics, blind runners are linked with their partners and have to stay within a few feet of each other, with the actual competitor crossing the finish line just before the spotter. It takes a lot of teamwork to be a blind runner!
And for the race he won, which was a 5000-meter run…
men’s 5000 meter from Mary Qin on Vimeo.
Eco-products
Some of the cool things that were at the 2009 Opportunity Green Conference! (Images linked to the website of the maker, if known.)