When Panda and I went to Hong Kong, we spent a day hiking the mountains, which was so much fun. Here are some videos from that day!
dragonback hike time lapse from Mary Qin on Vimeo.
chillin' atop dragonback from Mary Qin on Vimeo.
dragonback view from Mary Qin on Vimeo.
paragliding over ocean from Mary Qin on Vimeo.
bird gliding over people on mountain from Mary Qin on Vimeo.
paraglider by mountain from Mary Qin on Vimeo.
Whenever spring rolls around, I always look out for the emergence of birds. Last year they were everywhere! I’m finally starting to hear them again as the weather warms up. It’s supposed to get over 80 tomorrow!
birds swarming tree from Mary Qin on Vimeo.
symphony of birds from Mary Qin on Vimeo.
birds galore from Mary Qin on Vimeo.
Yesterday when I left work, I stopped at a red light and looked out my window at the falling snow. That’s when I noticed it:
What a beauty. I mentioned before I love birds of prey and it’s rare that I get to see an owl. Usually it’s a hawk of some sort, so this was super cool. My theory is that it was out enjoying the snow (and probably thought it blended in). I mean, if I was an owl I’d come out and chill on a fence enjoying the snow. I got a chance to snap this shot and shoot a quick video before the light turned green. I then drove home in awe and considered turning around to get another glimpse.
owl in snow from Mary Qin on Vimeo.
The closest I ever came to swans was in Lake Geneva, as I waded in those beautiful crisp waters and they peacefully swam around. I saw one brave woman swimming there and the swans were totally cool with her going by. These creatures are magnificent and have such an elegant look with those curved necks. While most people think of the white ones when they envision swans, the black ones are pretty gorgeous too. It’s also fascinating how they transform from these ugly little gray fluffy balls into these amazing white birds. The way they blossom into adulthood is transformational. Being able to spend time in such a serene environment amongst them was really great.
Like I just mentioned, I love birds of prey. My favorite is a tossup between an owl and a hawk. I think I’d like to be a hawk in the day and an owl at night. Once, I was in my backyard in LA and this gorgeous snowy owl silently glided up past our fence. It was absolutely breathtaking and magical. I stood there dumbfounded for a good minute or two, marveling at what I just saw and hardly believing it. I love the grace, the power, the freedom of these birds. They exude confidence and ability in a way that I admire and would love to embrace. Plus, being able to fly and see so sharply would be amazing. I’d get a kick out of finding a nice perch and staring out at the world, or soaring high above it all. It’s beautiful out there and what a great way to enjoy it.
Hummingbirds are a fascinating type of bird. They’re so different that they’re almost like over-sized insects rather than a tiny bird. They’re delicate and cute, very much like butterflies. They even drink from flowers and flit around like butterflies. Their tiny little bodies are adorable and they rather feel like toys. Even though they tend to move around quickly, when they perch on something, there’s a certain peace about them. They’ll even stare at me sometimes, completely unphased. Because of their ability to hover, it’s easy to watch them for ages without ever moving your head. And well, I’m great at staring at things like that. I could sit and watch a (humming)bird feeder all day long. Hummingbirds are so cool! I wish I could have them as pets – wouldn’t that be great?
(In case On My Mind is not self-explanatory enough and you want to learn more, check out my post explaining what inspired it.)
~I won!!! I’ve been trying to win a bunch of things, but in particular is a 3-month subscription to Conscious Box, which tons of bloggers have been giving away. AND I ACTUALLY WON! I was just going through checking up on the giveaways that had expired to see if they announced winners and what did I find? My name! That is probably the most exciting thing in the world.
~Last week I went to the DMV because I wanted to renew my license and update the photo. Why can’t I just send in a picture like I can with a passport? I’m assuming it has to do with that special shade of blue they use for the background, which then begs the question… why that color??
~I tried to book an online appointment for the DMV but the earliest appointment was two weeks away! If I didn’t need to drive in the mean, I totally would have gone that route to save the time at the DMV. Unfortunately I didn’t have that luxury this time, so I was stuck standing in line. It took nearly 3 hours (and there were only like 15-20 people in line in front of me!). Luckily, I was smart and got a book to read before going. I was the only one.
~My mom and I went to Best Buy because she had some reward money she had to spend – all told, we spent $0.30 on a bunch of random pens for her and a cool whiteboard/blackboard for me! We didn’t know what else to buy with her $20 credit. And it took us over an hour to figure it out, lol. Granted, much of that hour was spent waiting for an associate to help me locate the board at another store. The one they had was missing the crayon box and what’s a board if you can’t write on it?
Ignore the cat paw. 😉
Comes with dry erase crayons!
~I’ve been reading a bunch of books like Buyology & The Zappos Experience – great source of learning and very useful lessons for my future business attempts. I’m trying to apply everything I learned to the Kickstarter I’m developing. I sure hope it’s successful!
~So when I went to get some of those books I’ve been reading, I discovered the cool new library self-checkout! My fancy little library has this system where you put the stack of books (up to like 7 or 8 at a time) on the counter and it can check them all out for you. No more scanning one by one! Nifty. I should also note they have a conveyor belt thing behind the wall when you return a book, complete with video so you can watch your book get dropped off into some bin at the end.
~Remember that Influenster campaign I mentioned last time? Well, yay I got in! Turns out it’s for an Aveeno product, which they’ll be sending to me shortly. 🙂
~This week I got to hang out at the Hotel Maya in Long Beach. It’s right on the water and I really enjoyed working in the cabanas and other similar areas. It’s great to have a fabulous view, a slight breeze, the warmth of the sun, and the option of shade all at once. If it weren’t for my reflective laptop screen, it’d be perfect for working all day.
I spent most of the days here.
~Since I was at the waterfront, I spent a lot of time (sea) bird watching. Totally fun! There are the ones that bob around on the water and dive down for fish, disappearing for minutes at times. Then there are the fliers that dive down to the water from high above, making a nice splash. There are the little ones that flit about quickly and the larger ones that almost seem like they’re gliding in the air. In the morning, they were most active and by noon, many of them had settled in for a nap. By the afternoon, they started waking up again and as the sun set, I lost track of them.
~I also caught a glimpse of a seal! Actually, I think a pair of them. So cool!!! Next time I need to find a beach that they hang out at. I’d love to seal watch.
(Here you can hear how excited I am to see them, even though I didn’t get to see much.)
Behind that fence, it sounded like a bunch of birds were having a bar brawl.
Hmm, huddling for warmth?
Wow, crowded much?
