Boy, in Valencia when there’s an accident the whole road always gets shut down even though we have wider streets. In other places in LA you’d just squeeze by and not have to navigate blocks around. Tells you how much the police have to do around here.
accident on mcbean from Mary Qin on Vimeo.
The last time I went to Panera Bread, this was the meal I got. It’s pretty typical, except for the “muffie” that was free to me for joining the Panera Club. The lady at the register remembered me the moment she got my order. A “You Choose 2” combo: half salad, cup of soup, and side (apple, chips, or French bread). I always get bread. Oh, and a mac and cheese with side of bread.
The last time I got this, she didn’t believe I could finish it myself. I left one piece of bread as a snack for later, but devoured the rest. Maybe that’s why she remembered me. Yuuuummy!
Practically speaking, I’ve never wanted to be famous. Not in the Hollywood starlet kind of way anyway. Of course I’ve fantasized about it from time to time, but when it comes down to it, it’s just not something I’m interested in. I don’t want paparazzi following me around taking pictures/videos of of me whenever I try to go about my daily business. I don’t want to have to have body guards or publicists. And I certainly don’t want to feel like I need to “look good” every time I step out of the house. It’s just too much upkeep!
I’m mostly talking about the kind of celebrities who get their fame from being in entertainment. They’re the ones surrounded by glitz and glamor (and always having to keep up with the demands of that lifestyle). People judge them on their looks and follow their every move. They are judged on every aspect of their lives, from their relationships to their physiques to their actions. It feel like almost every instant, eyes are on them, watching, recording, judging.
Why is it that we obsess over these people? Who cares if they went grocery shopping, played with their kids, or went for a run? It’s insane and I’m glad I’m not a part of it. With this sort of attention comes the constant pressure to look presentable whenever you leave your house, never argue with people, and basically be a vision of perfection. Every single day. Why the general population seems to expect that celebrities must be wonderful all the time baffles me. We’re all human and we can’t get things right all the time.
The famous lifestyle is a sort of lifestyle that just doesn’t work for me. I am perfectly happy to dress down and be comfy when I’m out and about. I wear light makeup about twice a year and I can’t imagine going through a whole routine every morning. I work out whenever I get around to it and I don’t really notice my fluctuation in weight. I don’t care about brand names and can’t recall the maker for any given item I own. I lose my temper, I get annoyed with people, and I argue when things really strike a chord with me. Sometimes I sleep in and get to things late. I spill liquids, stain my clothes, and get crumbs everywhere. Back in college there were times when I didn’t make it to class.
If I was famous, I’d get judged for every single one of those “mishaps,” which to me are really the normal course of life. I’d much rather be known by name and not by face, for that kind of fame usually comes with a more meaningful contribution to society (not that performers can’t have meaningful contributions). Contributions to literature, science, academia, business… these are the types of things you get recognized for in a paper or on a building, not on TV. And that’s the kind of thing I want to be known for some day.
My friend had a SuperSac he wasn’t using, so he offered it to me and this is the best I could do to get it in my trunk. LoveSacs are so huge!
Believe it or not, that's only about a third of it you're seeing.
Wow, this week has been… weird. Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday I thought it was Tuesday (how do you live the same day three days in a row?) and then today I thought it was Friday (sure felt like it). So somehow, this week has been slow yet fast at the same time. I don’t know how the days went by, really. I had a lot of work, there was a lot of rain, and amidst all that I ate a lot of food. Everything kind of blurs together, but when I really think about I can still separate the days. Yet, I still get confused and nearly thought tomorrow was the weekend again.
I’ve been having trouble getting up in the morning, which may be due to the dreary weather. Somehow I always feel exhausted, even though I am getting a good 7-8 hours of sleep at night. I wonder if I’m dreaming again. Whenever I dream, I don’t get restful sleep. It could explain why I don’t feel rejuvenated when I wake up. I’m tempted to try an Excedrin PM, but I’ve never taken anything for sleep before and I’m afraid I really won’t wake up in time for work! Perhaps I just need more discipline to force myself to bed earlier each night. Or maybe I should take a vacation.
Have you ever had a whole week go by where you just felt off? Especially in your sense of what day it is? Boy is it a weird feeling. The human mind is such a volatile thing. I hope I can recuperate a bit this weekend and get my sense of time and my place in the world back. I’m definitely not working as well as I could be because of this.
I bet you've never bought an ice cream cake for this cheap.
For Valentine’s day, Panda and I went to get an ice cream cake at Ralph’s. They were already discounted and we had a coupon, so it came out to be really cheap. Even more fortunate, the cashier accidentally started scanning someone else’s coupons to us and we got even more off! Ultimately it came down to 49 cents. Yup, awesome deal.
My mom told me about some older cats at a shelter that had to be adopted ASAP or be put down. We’d love to adopt them, but my mom travels frequently and I can’t exactly have three cats in my apartment for months at a time. This got me thinking. I’d really like to start up a charity cat house where volunteers could help take care of cats and share the space with them in exchange for a place to stay and some food. I’ve never really believed in the shelter scenario where these cats don’t get to roam around as their curious natures would usually dictate. But having a house full of cats can get a bit crazy, so I wouldn’t want my household to be that chaotic. Yet, I feel that cats do so much better with people living with them and not just being allowed free reign of a place when the humans go back to their homes at night. Plus, some cats quite enjoy cuddling with a person at night!
And so I have conceived of this new idea where a normal house with pretty standard furnishings could be slightly altered to create a shelter for people and felines. I’d add in some more beds than you’d normally get in an American household and invite homeless people to come live there while they straighten out their lives. In exchange for a bed and daily meals, they’d spend part of their days helping with the chores of maintaining pets (including just playing with and petting them!). I’d also want to get career guidance for them and get them the education they need to make something of themselves. They could learn from each other how to cook, or if none of them have that skill, other volunteers could come in to teach them how to shop within a budget and cook decent meals, avoiding junk.
So this house could be a sanctuary for cats and humans alike, with the humans taking care of the cats and the cats providing companionship and a sense of purpose to the humans. I think pets can be really therapeutic, but I prefer cats because they generally don’t make a fuss and can care for themselves in many areas. We’d get cats from shelters that were going to put the poor creatures down and probably have a bunch of older ones. If anyone wanted, there could also be the option of adopting these cats out, so it would, in a sense, be a halfway house for them too. I guess I just want to bring in people and cats facing bleak futures and give them an environment to recover and move on to a better stage of their lives, whether getting a job and becoming independent or getting adopted to a caring family.
This is just an initial concept, but I really hope I can go somewhere with this one day. I’ve learned recently that I’m a dreamer, thinking of all those wonderful “what ifs” while conveniently forgetting about how to fund those dreams. So, I’m taking a step back before I get too caught up in the idea and thinking very practically about how this could work (which will take some time). Still, it’s a nice dream to have and something to develop into a real plan when the time comes.
It’s been a really wet season for many months now and I don’t think a single month has gone by since late fall where we didn’t get a rainstorm. Today’s was particularly hard and driving on the I-5 was pretty crazy! The worst of it was worse than anything I remember experiencing in New York.
pouring rain from Mary Qin on Vimeo.
low visibility from Mary Qin on Vimeo.
It’s been a long week for me as a sneeze developed into a runny nose, a runny nose developed into a stuffed one, then came a dry throat that became a sore throat, and finally the chills and a borderline fever. It all started when I got out of a shower and felt pretty good, so I didn’t put on enough clothing. Next thing I knew, my wet hair was causing me to sneeze excessively. I went to bed with a runny nose and got to work the next morning only to find there was a draft at my desk. With that blowing on me on and off throughout the day, things got worse and come Tuesday I couldn’t breathe out of my nose for most of the day.
On and on this went until today I got back from work, collapsed into bed, and stopped fighting it. With my guard down it seems my immune system went on hiatus too, so I start to feel a slight fever come on. I stayed under the covers and let myself start to sweat. After all, I was always taught to “sweat it out” when I was a kid. I suppose it’s getting rid of the toxins in my body? Well, now I’m a bit clammy but at least not cold (I hate when I’m cold). In fact, the room is feeling a bit too hot, but I don’t want to take off the covers for fear of making it worse. I’ll just keep drinking hot water and let some sweat build up.
Thankfully, I can still entertain myself while stuck in bed, with things like writing this post and watching some videos. I’ll just laze around for the rest of the night and hope that when I wake up tomorrow, I’ll be feeling much better.
I had so much fun at the petting pool in Singapore’s Underwater World.
petting starfish from Mary Qin on Vimeo.
petting bottom feeder from Mary Qin on Vimeo.
petting blue spotted ray from Mary Qin on Vimeo.
