Wave boards are one of those cool things that require a very strange sort of physical motion. I’m told the motion you use is similar to surfing or snowboarding, but I’ve only ever gone straight and never tried to carve with those. I did carve with my skateboard a little bit, so I think I understand the feeling. But then again, I find it most effective to sort of wiggle my back foot back and forth to propel myself on these things. I’m not sure if that’s a technique that is part of wave boarding well. My friend Ninja here is super adept at things like these, so he picked up right away. My wave board has these awesome wheels that light up when you move, so we watching flashes of blue and red go off into the darkness. It’s one of those random toys that is novel for everyone when they first see it and most curious people will want to try it out for themselves. I’ve had many a fun bonding session with friends that way. It’s a great way to be entertained and challenged!
Posts Tagged ‘ninja’
365great Day 265: wave boards
Food and travel blogs
I’ve been looking through some of the Bloggie nominees and I found that I have no interest in the food or travel blogs. Ironic, since I love food and travel! But I think that is precisely the problem, actually. Rather than looking at pictures and videos of other people enjoying eating delectable dishes and fantastic adventures, I’d much prefer to be the one doing those things! So maybe it’s in part jealousy, but mostly it is just the fact that I’d rather go discover it myself. I don’t want to live vicariously through these other people having a great time when I could be the one loving life like that.
Food blogs are great for those who want to be shown new foods to try, how to cook cool things, or just love to look at food. Food blogs are not good for those who want to discover the great edible things out there themselves, don’t care much for cooking, or see images of food and must go eat. Now. Can you guess what type I am? I absolutely love to take pictures of my food and share it with my friends. I quite like seeing their pictures. However, reading a blog with pictures and extensive descriptions takes up too much time when I could be at a restaurant or little street stall, munching away. So though they could come in as a useful reference if I’m really having trouble finding something to eat (ha!), food blogs are generally not worth the effort to me (except in times when I miss something and just can’t find it in LA, or whichever city I’m in).
Travel blogs are great for those who can’t go and want to see what it’s like, don’t want to actually go but want to see what it’s like, or are about to go and want to see what it’s like in a new place. Travel blogs aren’t ideal for people who can travel (just not at this exact moment) and experience things themselves, don’t care about traveling at all, or want to find their way around a new city themselves. Though I can’t make it out to a far-away city right now, it’s certainly within my means in the near future and I like to not really know what it’s like til I get there and I look up places of interest, or talk to locals and recent visitors who can share their wisdom. I don’t want to spend my time hearing about other people’s travels because I want to be traveling.
Generally I’m obsessed with researching ahead of time, but when it comes to traveling, I am perfectly content with vaguely knowing what a country is like, showing up, and finding some really awesome experiences. I also seem to have random run-ins with locals. And you know what? I wouldn’t have it any other way. Once again, I find that I would prefer to just use these types of blogs as references (aka: “Hey, I want to go to [insert country/city here], I wonder what random things they have to do there?” *searches entries on travel blog and glances through titles and tags* “Ah, ok, got an idea, let’s go!”). Beyond giving me an idea of what’s available, especially obscure stuff, it doesn’t interest me to frequent those type of blogs. Let those people enjoy their travels and share it with those who want to hear about it! I want to go out and do it too, without tainting the experience with too much foreknowledge!
So really, it just comes down to me not wanting to live a vicarious life. Why do that when you can be the one sharing your experiences? As my friend Ninja once said, I want to live a life worth making a movie about (or writing a book about, in my case). You can’t do that if you’re too busy cooped up reading about other people’s lives! Not that those blogs aren’t great for certain crowds. I just find that I don’t belong in the particular group that reads food and travel blogs, that’s all. 🙂
What about you? Do you like to safely follow the lives of those more adventurous than you? Or do you prefer to go have the adventures yourself?
Ultimately (in professional terms)
In the struggle to find a job to even begin a career with, I’ve had quite a lot of time to think of where I want to go in my professional life. I’ve known for a long time that I want to start my own company (or maybe even many). In fact, I’m going to say I will start my own company. I just haven’t quite settled on what it will be yet, though I’ve been thinking eco-consulting for awhile now. But I’ve realized that that is not what I want to do ultimately. It’s a milestone that I will cross at some point, however well or poorly it goes. But ultimately? I’d like to be an angel investor, making sure the solutions I see in life are executed.
Of course that means that I will need to somehow become super rich first. When I told Ninja that what I really want is to be really rich, he was like, “Duh, don’t we all?” When I went on to explain why, however, he understood that I wasn’t making just a shallow comment. I want to make a difference in this world and there are so many places I can see myself doing that, if only I had the money! I would really just love to spend my time thinking of solutions to problems I see and then finding the best people to execute them. I’d set them up with the resources they need and give them whatever guidance necessary to get them on their way. From there, I’d hope they’d be able to take over and run a profitable and socially-conscious enterprise. If I could do this, then I’d start a company like Mary Qin, Inc., to be a holding company for all those little niche companies I could create.
I’d go about getting a sensible public transportation system, sharing riding system, or something set up for the Los Angeles area to ease the traffic and pollution problems. I’d get an electronic receipt system going so we stop wasting paper on receipts that most people are unlikely to look at and most will just lose anyway. I’d also get that system linked to our credit cards so that whenever we check our bills, we can see the receipt associated with each charge. No more hunting through piles of paper! I could finally get a vocational school for athletes going both here and in the UK, so we could cultivate athletes who are ready for all stages of life. Then I could set up a research think tank where people can submit ideas for researchers to carry out. I guess Google’s kind of already doing this, but it would be free for people to send in ideas and no guarantee on if their submission is chosen (whereas Google’s is contracted). Really I’d love to tackle my “hopelist” and parts of my “ideaslist.”
So here’s to getting a job, being extremely profitable, then setting up a foundation or something to implement the solutions I so dearly want to see.
A story of luck and optimism
I consider myself a very lucky person. I’m not the one to exclaim that I’ve never won anything before when I get a prize from the radio station, or when I get chosen for a raffle prize. Though I haven’t actually won anything from my local radio station, that is probably for lack of trying, not for lack of luck. When I do want something, I often win it, through something that I can really only attribute to luck. I suppose I also weigh wins heavier than losses, since generally the loss is expected and a win is rare. So in that respect, it probably also feels far more frequent. But nonetheless, while most of the population has never won anything, I have – and multiple times too.
I believe that much of it comes from optimism and a general positive state of mind. Luck, after all, is really what you make of it. Those who consider themselves to be lucky are far more likely to act in ways that will actually render them to feel more so. For example, one time when I really wanted to win a pair of uniformed bears being raffled off at my Military Ball, I enlisted the help of my friends and got more ticket entries for that particular prize. That greatly increased my chances of winning and lo and behold, I had the winning ticket! If I hadn’t believed in myself, I probably would have either decided there’s no way I’d win and not even try, or just throw my tickets in and not try to increase my chances. It’s like they say – you can’t win the lottery if you don’t buy a ticket! As with anything, you won’t get what you want if you don’t try (and try your best while you’re at it).
Gimme, gimme!
This played out beautifully in one of my most successful wins ever. It was the first Friday after school had started again at UCLA in the fall of 2007. We have a tradition on campus of holding Resfest, an athletic carnival, at the John Wooden Athletic Center. On-campus residents can go play dodgeball, compete in an obstacle course, even get a henna tattoo! At the event was a table giving away free rugs, ranging from small 2X2 foot ones shaped like basketballs, footballs, and the like to the grand prize: a 5X8 footer with the UCLA logo! With my eye on that big rug, I entered to win and dragged along half a dozen of my other friends, one by one, to apply as well. The people at the table were certainly amused by my dedication.
As I went to wait for the drawings, I headed to one of the gyms where they had the obstacle course set up. A bunch of my friends were in line to run through the challenge, so I stayed to cheer them on and take pictures. In all that excitement, I nearly forgot about my beloved rug. When I went to check my phone, I noticed that I’d missed a call from a number I didn’t recognize. I immediately went out to the table again and was chatting with them when we discovered that I had been called by them! Unfortunately, they gave my rug away to someone else, but that was fine, because it was just one of the small ones. Ninja had come with me and we waited around for the real prize to be drawn, hoping the name they drew would be mine (or his).
Victory picture!
It wasn’t. They called the number and I eagerly stood, now hoping that the winner wouldn’t pick up and I’d have another chance. No such luck! The girl picked up and came to redeem her prize. Sad, I watched as they congratulated her and took pictures for the Daily Bruin. Ninja and I hung around chatting with the tablers and next thing I know, the owner of the company (Campus Mats) who was giving the rugs away kindly offered both of us free rugs (the nice big ones)! He had been tickled by my pure persistence and enthusiasm in getting all my friends involved so I could win and he said that Ninja deserved one too, for being such a gentleman and not hesitating to agree to give me the rug if he won (some of my other friends weren’t so keen to give it up if they won). And just like that, we went from no win to double whammy! He collected our information and a few weeks later, we were proudly clearing the floors in our rooms to put down our wonderful gifts.
It was certainly lucky that the guy was so generous, but it was optimism and positivity that got me to try so hard and attract his attention. So really, being lucky and optimistic go hand-in-hand. What it really comes down to is your perception of the world and your subsequent actions that make being lucky easier or harder to come by. At least that’s my experience, anyway.
Closing time
I’m often disappointed with the all too prompt closing times that stores and restaurants have. I remember one time nearly two years ago when Ninja and I rushed down to a Japanese restaurant in Westwood, arriving 20 minutes before they close only to find they were turning in early for the night. I understand that by that time, everyone is eager to call it a day and close up shop, but if you claim to be open until a certain time and don’t stick to it, that’s just poor customer service. Sadly, this seems to be a common occurrence, as I found today when I showed up to a drug store just as they were supposed to be closing only to find the doors were locked and the people inside were just cashiers cleaning out.
Good service would be the restaurant that doesn’t close its doors and stop serving food until the very minute they claim they are open until. Good service would be the store that allows that one last customer to sneak by and buy something at closing. Good service is going that extra step to make sure that people who want to be a customer get to be. Otherwise, you risk losing your customer base to your competitors, who may be treating them better by staying open longer or being more flexible with closing. One thing’s for certain: I lose respect for companies that are so overly eager to close up shop each night, inconvenicing me after all my effort to get there on time.
They know how to do things right.
Once two summers ago, I even called a frozen yogurt store just before going and got there but two minutes too late. Had they told me on the phone, don’t worry, we’ll wait a few minutes for you, they could have made one more big sale and kept me a happy returning customer. I opt for their competitors now and that shop has closed down anyway. There’s no better way to make a good impression than to stay open a little longer to make your customers happy. It’s like Kohl’s sales – they say it lasts until 2 PM, then as the time nears, they make an announcement to prolong the sale until 4 PM if it’s still going strong, then again if they’re still getting a good response. That makes customers feel valued and they get to enjoy more time to buy more things. Win-win, isn’t it?
Quality (and satisfying) service. That's what I'm talking about!
You can really tell a good company by their willingness to keep their doors open and their registers on. It’s also reflected in the employees’ attitudes, which is a major reason for whether or not you can sneak in the last purchase. Panda and I had a great experience at Chick-fil-a on Labor Day, when we went in to get the free chicken burger offer for wearing our favorite team’s logo. Arriving just past 7, we found the entire mall shutting down, much to our surprise. We rushed to find the Chick-fil-a in the food court and saw that their lights had been turned off and it looked like they were closed. Desperate, we decided to go check it out anyway, since we saw some people loitering by their registers and we didn’t drive all that way to leave empty-handed. Thankfully, the ladies working there were still taking orders and serving customers, all of whom left with happy hearts. Now that’s some great service! They were still serving us after closing time even though all we were getting was free food! Panda was telling me how they are a respectful company known for their good practices and I don’t doubt it. I’ve definitely gained an appreciation for them, both because of their food quality and superb customer service.
So to all you out there who might work for or run a business that involves customers visiting, a word to the wise… keep your doors open at least until the time you say they will be! You’ll build a much stronger customer base that way.
Aquatic adventure & animal fascination
I’ve been meaning to take advantage of the UCLA Marine Aquatic Center for awhile now and finally got around to doing that today. They rent out kayaks to students for free (and of course I never got around to it while I was a student), so they can go enjoy a little paddling around the marina. I went with Ninja, who’s always up for any sort of adventure or new thing, and we got a two-person kayak so I would only have to pay $5. If I had gotten my own, it would have been $15 an hour! Ridiculous.
We got our paddles and sat into the kayak, then went off on our way. I think I took a paddle that was not quite long enough, since the motion kept getting in the way of my legs and I’d hit the side of the kayak as I made my paddles. Perhaps it was just lack of arm strength though. As we went along, we saw a sheriff’s boat pulling up to one entering the marina – was it “pulled over”? We also saw seals diving for fish and birds congregating where fish were being netted. A few items of trash floated near us, so we navigated so I could pick them up and put them up front to take back.
In the area where the water was very still, we managed to get a decent rhythm and speed going, which felt really good. At times it seemed we could just glide upon the water with our feet (and so we stuck our feet into the water to simulate that). We saw many boats with fun names or really cool designs, and many very fancy ones. Some were from the local area and others had come from other cities. There were even two or three floating homes at the end of some of the docks, complete with couches and dining tables and beds and pets. Now there’s a lifestyle.
As we approached the exit to the open ocean, rocks on the shore were covered with barnacles and scurrying amongst them were little crabs that looked like spiders or scorpions. A few seagulls were floating near the shore and we quietly approached them, gliding closer and closer until they decided we had invaded their personal space and took off. After we made an entire circle, we got back and cleaned off the equipment, got rid of the trash properly through the trash bins and recycle, and guzzled down some drinks to recover to from the two-hour effort. It was a nice little excursion and a fun way to exercise a bit and enjoy some nature-y sights.
Later at night, we came across a spider who had built a web in a parking garage. One of his web’s anchors extended straight to the ground, which was not the best idea, since it will get broken when residents arrive and drive that way. Ninja decided to help him out by relocating that thread to the ceiling, but unfortunately it wouldn’t stick. Instead we got to watch in fascination as the spider dropped himself down to the floor again and rubbed his butt against the floor to re-anchor his web. He then began to climb up again, using only his four forearms. His two hind legs dangled and from one of them, another thread was emerging. He then used that thread to attach to another part of the web to create a triangle and continued breaking up parts of the web and extending it with triangles.
It was a really cool process to watch and he didn’t seem to mind our intent stares. It’s unfortunate that he chose a poor location and will soon have to deal with another wrecked web (and probably worse, since Ninja was very gentle in how he moved the thread). Hopefully he will eventually learn that he will need a new place to stay permanently, or else he’ll be making a whole lot of extra work for himself, repairing that web all the time. It must have looked kind of funny, the two of us staring at what looked like nothing in the middle of a parking structure, then squatting down and staring at the floor, then standing up and staring towards the ceiling. It was all worth it though – we got a great first-hand view of how spiders make their creations!
Lack of motivation
My trusty scale.
I’ve been back for just about five days now and not worked out once. Instead, I’ve gone to all-you-can-eat Korean BBQ, stuffed myself with a huge plateful of dumplings, scarfed down a gigantic serving of kimchi fried rice, and fed myself otherwise unhealthy amounts of food. I’m still happily one jeans size smaller and ten pounds lighter then when I left for Singapore, but who knows how long that will last. When I first discovered this weight loss, I couldn’t believe it. I was at the doctor’s and using a kg scale and the conversion just didn’t seem right. But since I’ve come back I’ve tried a handful of different scales and even tried on pants one size smaller to confirm. Time and time again, I’ve been amazed that I weigh what I haven’t since my high school days. Of course it’s not just about weight, but I do feel more sprightly now (though that may just be psychological, who knows). Nonetheless, it feels good and I’m still a healthy weight. So, to keep it that way, I’ve really got to buckle down and get myself to work out during the day at some point, but it’s just too easy to fall back into my lazy routine.
Oh yes, a most familiar scene.
Let me describe to you my life after college and before my stint in Singapore. I’d wake up ridiculously late, anywhere from 2 or 3 in the afternoon to even 6 PM at times. I’d casually drag myself out of bed in the heat and either go downstairs to pig out for a bit or go online and sit on the bed, typing away. At some point I’d hop in the shower to wash away the grossness from lounging around all day. I’d eat dinner around 8 PM and occasionally go for a nighttime stroll with my mother afterwards, as I promised my dad I would when he went back to China and couldn’t accompany her anymore. We’d walk for about an hour in the brisk night, then I’d get back and hop straight back into bed, prop myself up, and go online for the remainder of the night. I even set up a little snack station next to my bed, so a variety of food and drinks would be available within arms reach. I’d stay up all night on my laptop and fall asleep sometime between 6-9 AM, when the world lit up again and everyone else around me was just starting their day.
It’s no wonder I didn’t lose any of the weight I’d gained in college, despite eating less overall. Instead, my belly grew out a little and my thighs thickened, though of course I never noticed a thing, with such gradual changes. I don’t want that to happen to me again, so I’m trying to spend less time working on the bed and go downstairs to the dining room table to go online. I’ve also been keeping busy meeting up with people and hanging out in the places that I love. Unfortunately, much of that involves food, and plenty of it! It’s ok though, I just need to get off my butt and get my heart rate up to keep off any buildup. Maybe I’ll dust off that bike in the garage, or maybe I’ll bring out my beloved longboard. I do plan on learning how to surf once Ninja gets back from being Indiana Jones, so that should help with toning!
But for now, I have little motivation and all the reason to lounge around in bed all day. I’ve really got to start looking for a job though.
Timeless dilemma
Truly like a ninja.
I have a friend, Ninja, who lives his life in such a way that it should be worthy of being made into a movie. In everything he does, that’s how he’ll treat things. It’s quite fitting that everyone sees him as a ninja, prowling around doing all kinds of cool moves and getting into spectacular “fights.” I’m sure everyone would love to have his approach to life. It’s really quite cool, because then he’s always having exciting adventures. It helps that he’s extremely athletic, so he can escape situations if needed. One of the examples was when he went to the midnight showing of Indiana Jones (whichever one just came out in the past year or so) dressed in a leather jacket, leather hat/fedora thing, and (real) bullwhip. After the show ended, he stood up on the balcony and cracked his whip to cheers and whistles until security approached. He then made a run for it and got out unscathed. Now how awesome is that?!
Having too much fun to write about it!
Well, the thing is, if you’re out having such a fantastic time all the time, you never have time to record it for others to enjoy or for it to be passed down in the books. This is a dilemma that I face all the time as I ponder how worthwhile it is for me to maintain a daily journal. It started back in 4th grade, when I wanted a diary from the Scholastic Fair, but my dad would only allow me to buy it if I promised to write in it every day. I did, and he got me the diary, but never again asked about it. It was only in the months and years following, when my parents would find me scribbling away at yet another volume of my journal, that they realized I was serious. Maybe they didn’t hold me accountable for my promise, but I did. They used to scold me that I was wasting my time writing so much and it was just a liu shui zhang, or ‘running water account’. Basically, it meant that my writing was as useless as a bank account where all the funds were drained, or something to that extent.
Nonetheless, I pursued until about a year ago, when I truly started to get behind on my writing. When I can’t find the time to write an entry each day (which has been the case for many years), I’ll keep bullet point notes to remind me of what to write about when I do have time to catch up. I used to be able to catch up on a weekly basis, which then evolved to a monthly basis and now… yearly? I still have tons of notes for all the days I’ve missed, though even those I’m behind on now. I’m not too worried though, since with the brilliance of the internet, I can just check my Facebook, blog, texts, and IMs from a particular day to piece together what happened. Not the best way to keep track of my life, but it works.
Have fun playing with friends or chill out writing alone?
My constant struggle with keeping a journal was that when I had a lot to write about, I had no time to write about it and when I had plenty of time to write, I had nothing to write about. After all, if you’re too busy out doing fun and interesting things, you won’t have time to stop and spend some time writing about it. Conversely, if you’ve got plenty of time sitting around, you aren’t really doing much exciting stuff to mention. So I always question the existence of my journal and whether or not I should maintain it. Even now, being so far behind, I fully intend to catch up on it eventually. But is it worth the time? Should I be doing something more notable instead? I used to write when I couldn’t really do anything else, like when I was on planes or in a waiting room, but that doesn’t happen much anymore, so most of my time I can spend doing something else. I’d like to live a storybook life, but I’d like to document it as well. So where is my balance? I don’t know if I’ll ever find one, but I will certainly always be striving towards one.
Family life
At times I wish I had more family living near me, or a greater extended family sprawled around the world. I have always dreamt of having an older brother to rely on (or a gay best friend). Since I tend to connect a lot better with guys, I have always wanted to have one who was very, very close to me in a platonic way. Unfortunately, though such figures have come and gone, I can’t really claim one guy who I can run to when I am hurt or scared or just have a great secret to share. More than that though, I wish that my cousins and I were closer. When I was young, I would always follow them around so closely that they nicknamed me their shadow. It was true enough, since I only got to see them once a year for a few weeks and that was my only tie to my background.
I have lived my life very much alone, or in a tiny family unit consisting of me and my parents. I always love to have people over to my house simply because nobody ever visits! It’s always just me, my mom, my dad, and for some years, my cats. There are no random second cousins or great aunts, twice removed who can swingby to say hi. In fact, there isn’t a single other person in our family in the country, from either side of the family. So, other than the summers that I got to go back to China in my childhood, I’ve hardly ever seen my relatives. Lately, I have also spent a lot of my time on my own, first as I went off to college, then as my dad moved back to China, then as I studied abroad in England, then as my mom moved back to China as well, and finally as I moved out to Singapore to work.
Granted, I am not alone alone. Yet, I have had nobody I can call family in the same country as me for the past two and a half years, but for the few months my mom came to visit, the couple of weeks my dad has spent back, and the lucky few days that some of my aunts and uncles got to come watch me graduate from UCLA. Family, after all, are the only people who are linked to you from day 1. And in my life, they are the only ones who have always been there, even if it was largely in the background and rather out of reach. But year after year, they are there, growing in their own ways, and eventually we will catch up again. For me, friendship has not worked out quite that way, since each move brought another group of people to leave behind. I can never claim a best friend from my childhood who watched me grow up. The only people who truly watched me grow up were my parents.
I have certainly been blessed with a lot of wonderful people in my life, but once again I find that they come and go. I’m so used to people leaving my life and becoming a great memory that I didn’t even notice I do that, until a close friend pointed it out. Perhaps I got too conditioned to having to leave people behind with every move we made over the years. I don’t have the mindset that makes me think of someone, pick up the phone and call them, or drop them an e-mail to catch up. Instead, I just wonder whatever happened to them and how they are doing. I am always grateful when I do hear from a long-lost friend and get to see how they are doing in their lives. I love that we are becoming a more globally connected world now and facebook was the first social media tool that allowed me to get in touch with friends from lives past. I also love that you don’t need to be maintaining a conversation with each other to keep tabs on and be able to find each other years down the line.
I like to dream about a handful of aunts and uncles and dozens of cousins bustling around during Chinese New Year, as the whole family makes time to be together. Sadly, I’ve only been in China once during that time of year since I left (which was when I was too young to remember anything anyway) and I don’t recall a thing about it. My dad has told me that to truly experience Chinese festivities, I need to spend Chinese New Year back in his hometown, the little place that he grew up in. Now that truly has small town flair in its celebrations, with all the stops pulled! Maybe if I have time next year, I can make it come true, in the second Year of the Ox that I will experience since the one I was born in. 2010 will be an important year for me because I will have gone through two full Chinese zodiac cycles. I’m sure that has some sort of significance.
Someday, I’d like to be able to gather with all my relatives (or at least one representative from each family unit). But over the years, even our not-so-big family has had trouble reuniting as my cousins married off and started to create their own little families. Between work, children, spouses, and friends, it’s hard to find time to get together like we used to when everyone lived in the same town and the only ones missing were me and my parents. Now I’m embarking on my own life as well, sacrificing time with loved ones in hopesof building a strong foundation for a successful future. Work is hardly as flexible as tertiary education was, with more hours and less ease of changing schedules. Plus, there’s a lot less time off per annum. On the other hand, I am very fortunate to be working for a company that would, like no other, work with me to try to make it happen, if I so chose. One of the things I will miss most about education is the lovely summer months filled with enrichment learning, extracurricular fun, and personal fulfillment.
Despite all this daydreaming about a huge family, I still don’t want more than two or three kids, if only because I don’t know if I can handle any more. Growing up so independent and with all the attention focused on me makes it difficult for me to conceive how it would be with a handful of children running amok. The grass is always greener on the other side, isn’t it? And that is why I wish I had a companion to grow up with, whether sibling, cousin living nearby, or best friend from childhood. But, because I know there is this tendency to think that the other way is so much better, I do recognize the benefits of only childhood. Thus, I don’t want to overcompensate by having so many kids I don’t know what to do with myself. Instead, to create that feel, I’d like to live in a neighborhood where everyone knows each other and the kids can play together. This would also be a great way to expose them to how others live their lives, especially if it’s a multicultural communit
Detailing experiences
I feel (and have often felt) like I should write more like I am storytelling, relaying the details of my life. From the feelings to the specifics of names of places, these are all things that I tend to leave out. I usually write what I did, plain and simple, in my daily journal. I’ve been making an effort to include more of what I think and feel for a couple years now. It’s getting a lot better, but there’s still a lot more to be done. Then on the blogging side, I tend to only write about what I think, but not really related to a certain event. Granted, an event may have triggered my idea, but it’s usually something that I’ve been thinking about for awhile or have at least considered before.
Part of the problem is the trade-off between the time spent in using so much detail and the time I could be spending out, living a life to write about! This is a very familiar tug-of-war for me, after thirteen years of keeping a personal journal. I’m afraid that I am slowly drifting away from maintaining it, just because the quality that I want to have takes far too much time to fit into my life. Yet, I still can’t quite put it down. After all, I’ve been faithful for a good twelve years and some with little faltering!
This struck me as I was replying to an e-mail from one of my pledge brothers, asking for advice from anyone who had traveled to Europe before. I can still recall all the places I went and most of things I saw, but what was that website I used to book my hostels? What airline were those cheap flights taken on? These are all details that have started to escape me. Thankfully, a quick search and refresher took me back to the information I wanted, but can things always work out so well? I’d much rather have solid entries I can refer to from that time, with all those details in there for me.
I don’t have a very good memory and those are one of the most precious things to me, so it’s sad to realize what I have forgotten. It’s the very reason why I stubbornly continue to document my life, despite the time that it takes. Between all the things that I have recorded, I think I have a good database of my life. I want to be able to look back on my life and actually know what happened. I don’t just have trouble throwing away physical things – memories and knowledge are the same for me! I hate that my French and Chinese language skills have deteriorated so much over the years and that I probably can’t remember the way to get from my house to the local library back in Topeka.
So, I love to have all this information. Plus, it will all be very useful for writing my autobiography! 😛 I’m going to have to get the nearly 50 volumes of handwritten journals to be transcribed. The benefit of electronic copies is the searchability and accessibility they offer. Though most of my entries aren’t very exciting, there are definitely some jewels hidden in there that could be really great material. I’d also need my thousands of pictures and videos to be consolidated and put into some sort of a timeline corresponding to my written entries and life events and experiences. How cool would that be? Then I could virtually relive my life (to some extent)!
For now though, I will take to my friend Ninja’s philosophy: live a life worth writing about! (Or, in his case, worth making a movie about.)
