Ok, rather unrelated, but both have to do with the word “wave.” First, a wave that went around the Rose Bowl. Fifteen (maybe sixteen) times!
Then, wave boarding afterwards! The wave board I got in China had light-up wheels, which was just plain fun and awesome to play with in the dark.
I hope the males of these creatures don’t have gender crises. 😛
Hiding away.
Trying to run away.
Focus kept going towards the leaves.
He/she's looking at me!
You know you’re at UCLA when the squirrels are absolutely fearless and rather ODD.
fearless squirrel from Mary Qin on Vimeo.
The “near attack” part was far scary in real life, I tell you.
Oh the funny things you find while driving…
Whatever was that for?
Good to know, in case I wanted to break in and have some of that...
Such a bright green color!
My mom adores the hot tub at our local pool and likes to go whenever she gets a chance. Since I have a bad back, I’ve been trying to go more often to help soothe those muscles. I’ve found that it actually turns out to be a good place for conversations, as the heated water swirls around you. In fact, my mom and I have discussed many an important thing while soaking there, from my thoughts of moving out of the house to our viewpoints on life issues. Surprisingly, we’ve had great exchanges and I’ve revealed more of myself than I ever have before. I guess relaxation of the body brings about relaxation of the mind, so my thoughts come out more readily.
There’s something about water that is really soothing, and great for thoughts and inspiration. The potential reasons are many, but the result is undeniable – people tend to relax more and think better when surrounded by water. For me, it’s the sort of peace and tranquility I get from it. It’s nice to just close my eyes, sink back, and let the water support me. Maybe it’s because my thoughts are “swimming” around in my head and the water helps me let them pour out. It could be just as simple as the fact that so much of us is composed of water and we developed in fluid that we feel a deep connection with it. Who really knows? I do believe it works though, and that’s what matters most.
So, what are your reasons?
Check out some of the things I made with my BuckyBalls!
A snowflake.
A tube.
Pentagonal pyramid.
The pentagonal pyramid side view.
The underside of the pyramid.
That circle was just the right size for the pentagon!
216 balls means this hexagon was one ball short.
I decided it would be symmetric in more dimensions if the missing one was moved to the center.
I made myself a little tie to wear.
Unfocused lights make me think of the holidays. Warm and fuzzy lights.
My own creation.
A Bucky Ball!
I wanted to use up all the BuckyBalls so I made the ball a sidekick.
As some water comes down and hits the water stream being shot up, horizontal splashes form.
Check out all the shapes that appear and disappear in a fraction of a second.
And as the water falls down, it rains down in many droplets.
I don’t know if you’ve heard, but fish spas are the hottest thing to hit the beauty/skincare scene! They’ve been quite popular in many parts of Asia and I had been intrigued for many months before I finally got a chance to try it out when I was traveling in Thailand. Singapore also has a fair share of fish spas, as does most of SE Asia. I don’t know about China, since it seems they’re more caught up in the blind masseur thing. But in case you were ever so curious about what in the world “doctor fish” are and why in the world people would go to a fish spa, here’s a little preview!
Fish spas are supposed to be great for your skin, because these little fish come and nibble away your dead skin cells. They claim that people with skin conditions like eczema, psoriasis, and the like should get this type of treatment to help with breakouts. At the very least, you sure do leave with soft feet and a unique experience behind you. I’m sure you can read more about the actual types of fish and why it’s purportedly good for your skin, so I just wanted to share my own experience at the fish spa.
doctor fish from Mary Qin on Vimeo.
When the fish swarm at you, it really tickles! I couldn’t help but giggle out loud. 😛 After awhile you get used to it and occasionally there’s a little bite that hits a nerve, but overall it’s very gentle and immensely amusing. If you happen to know of one in LA, please do let me know! The only one in the states I found was in Virginia…
Is it just me or were these fish acting more than a little weird?
He seemed to think he could eat that rock, but he kept spitting it out when he found he couldn't.
This one was super anti-social and peered out suspiciously from back there.
The blue one looked at us dumbfounded as the yellow one darted around in its hiding place.
This one seemed plastered to the glass, unable to leave that corner.
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.
I felt so rich when I got this!
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.
