In Pajamas

Home sick today. Not homesick, like I miss HK homesick. But at home, sick. As in, the food here is so dirty everything that goes in wants to come back out.

And what do I decide to do with my day at home, sick? Read Harry Knowles's review of the Social Network, of course. And yeeeeah, he basically wrote the review I would've written http://www.aintitcool.com/node/46685

His short-ish review basically waxes poetic about the opening scene ahhhh it's the scene I can't stop obsessing over either. I think I had a visceral reaction when he said she doesn't need to study cos she goes to BU. Then when she said you're always gonna think people don't like you because you're a nerd, but it's really because you're an asshole... I loved that line. Describes so many people, although replacing the word "nerd" with others. And Harry mentions the opening scene of JJ Abram's Star Trek, which I freaking love.

P.S. Front page byline in the Phnom Penh Post today! YES.

Near Russian Market, Phnom Penh

Christmas in Cambodia

My Christmas present to myself: finally watching the last season of Lost, which I bought at the Russian Market yesterday.

Happy F'n Birthday!

I got dragged to this event last week. Even worse, I got ambushed. My friend said, let's meet at Lane Crawford. Ack! Little did I know, she meant, let's meet at Lane Crawford's 160th birthday bash featuring the most beautiful people in Asia.

Of course, having no knowledge of this tiny little detail, I put on my wide-leg Habitual jeans from 8 years ago, a t-shirt, and Reef flip flops. Yes. REEF. I might as well have been going to the beach, but this was just supposed to be quick dinner between school projects.

I got in through the back door because of course, if you've been following the story you'd've realized, I had no invitation. I downed two glasses of Veuve Cliquot in front of minked mannequins. Literally. In my Reef flip flops. 

It was one of those parties that make you wonder if the average height in Hong Kong is actually 6'1". Yeah that's Susie Bubble up there. I saw a woman go up to her and ask to take a picture. Susie did, but then I swear she dissed her with a kind of "I'm too famous to be chatting with you" turnaround back to her cool crowd.

Then we were required to watch Daniel Wu play ping pong. Don't ask. I refrained from repeatedly asking my friend, "Can we go to Te for dinner now?"

Hurray for MPF

Yesterday I walked by a guy with a big camera pointed somewhere in the sky, and I thought my usual thought: "Look at this fool taking an 'artsy' picture of nothing that he's gonna post on Facebook so everyone can comment on the 'cool' star lens effect.

But I looked up anyway. And took my thought back. Because this fool caught something AWEsome.

HSBC's idea of a celebration? Winter lights facing the harbor?

<-- Yes. I wish they were being ironic.

Protest Prediction: Another Dark Art to Master

Can someone please set up a Hong Kong protest calendar to make journalism students' lives easier?

How can I write for NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC?

Vacancies on our editorial staff are usually filled by men and women who have had quite a few years of experience in the newspaper or magazine publishing fields. In preparation for such work, many of our writers have made a thorough study of the sciences, journalism, and English, and in some cases know several languages. A solid academic background and a proven record of success in one's chosen field are most important. However, because we cannot know a person's particular talents nor assure employment after a completed course, we do not encourage gearing a career or educational program specifically toward employment by the National Geographic Society.

--from National Geographic's website

Don't you love it when someone tells you in an official capacity exactly what you need to hear? Over the past year or so, if someone asked me what my dream job is, I'd say National Geographic. But a company's frankness and dashing of dreams is much appreciated.

Girls just wanna have fun.
Boys just wanna be sourpusses.

Sigh...

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=130437287&sc=fb&cc=fp

Mid-article, the writer poses the problem:

These days journalism schools around the country are often challenged to justify a mission that trains students at such a high cost for a collapsing industry that doesn't even require a degree. 

After all, many newspaper companies have been forced to seek bankruptcy protection, including the owner of the nearby Los Angeles Times. ABC News just let go a quarter of its entire staff. AndNewsweek and BusinessWeek magazines were in such tough shape their longtime owners sold them for $1 a piece.

Towards the end of the article is what we are told in j-school ad nauseam:

"If you look around the world, whether it's a developed country or a developing country ... if that country has a free and independent press it's much more likely they're going to be a democracy," he says. "And I think those of us in [the] journalism education field have an obligation to help train people to provide information in the public interest."

And stuff like this:

"I am concerned, as a dean, at the costs and debt burdens these students take on," Wilson said. "But I'm also concerned about training the next generation of people who are going to provide the backbone of democracy."

Yeah... we are all skeptical... but trying to deal and learn to love our choice.

So hard to watch...

but so funny... at least the most embarrassing ones are on Fox News...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S-6rdjGvj28

I hate forums and comments

There are so many online forums or comment opportunities (such as on youtube) that I find so annoying that it makes me regret reading them... mostly when they are dominated by teenagers who seem to be missing half a brain (as in literally, their brains are still too crap at processing information and that's why they say such stupid things).

This made me LOL at 2:52am, Sunday night

http://www.bestweekever.tv/2010-10-06/most-unnecessarily-dramatic-quote-in-new-york-times-history/

(I'd actually read that NYT article a few days ago but didn't make it to the last paragraph I guess... hahaha)

The best thing anyone can do to me is doubt me, beat me, get me really mad.
Something a professor said to me a few days ago lit fires in my eyes.
Something a professor did today put daggers in my eyes.

Not wronged, but all I can think about is revenge, revenge, revenge. Revenge of the ego.

They'll see.

And that's me. Soft until I have something to prove.

Things I can't stand in class and at the library

Thing I can't stand in lecture:
When someone sitting near me in the back row is freaking hunched over and texting the whole time.

Thing I can't stand in lecture and in the library:
When people freaking 1) take their shoes off next to me; 2) their feet smell; 3) they put their freaking nasty feet up on the chair next to me and start texting the whole time!!!

Illusions are powerful motivators. The problem is they are constantly shattered, only to be built back up again, meticulously, stupidly, with purpose. The evolution of an illusion looks like the sound bars on a stereo, up up up then disappearing in silence, but quickly back up again, the cycle never ending, always volatile.

Oh illusions, motivate me today.

garble

I know I haven't blogged in ages... just when everything hits you all at once, full force, information overload, it's difficult to sift through all the images and emotions and come up with a coherent presentation of "what's on my mind." (Kind of like how it takes me a few days to decide how I feel about certain movies because of their complexity... Inception... Eternal Sunshine... Kill Bill 2....)

Despite all the imperfections, I'm thrilled to be learning again.

nom

When someone asks me what my favorite food is, I usually have to think really hard and regret not having a prepared answer. Well, tonight I make it official. My favorite food, regardless of nutrition facts:

Portuguese egg tarts hot out of the oven. At Macau Cafe with a hot milk tea... omg.

Wind-in-the-hair helps

So. I like Paramore. Emo pop rock, yeah, I'm a dork. I have always found it astounding that the lead singer Hayley Williams is only 21. I guess she just plain looks older than that, but her stage presence and voice, as well as some of their songs, are so much more mature than that. Then today I was reading Paramore's Wikipedia page and learned that the band was basically formed when three of the members were 13, around the time Williams began taking voice lessons. Suddenly, everything made more sense. She's been a trained singer since a young age. None of this just happened for her. She studied. She's a student of the discipline. This explains why, from the first time I watched the music video of their song Decode*, I thought two things:

Thing #1: "Wow, this girl's really pretty!"

Thing #2: "Oh my gosh this girl has really good singing technique with regard to mouth shape/tongue/facial muscles."

*I must clarify that I am not a Twilight fan or anything, and therefore do not particularly like this music video, or this song, for that matter. My favorite Paramore song by a mile is Hallelujah.

mi me ma mo mu

I like a lot of Post Secrets. The site really does what it's supposed to do - making us realize that other people have the exact same secrets/problems as us, exposing the impenetrable lives of others, or just displaying abstract thoughts that have been put into perfect words and maybe perfect images. But this one, ha! Yeah. This sums it up, about the "high art" that is opera.

Good but weird.

I have mad respect for people who genuinely do not give a crap about other people's personal lives. Yet I find this lack of curiosity very very strange.

Rant/question/idea/hope of the day

(Scene from Clueless - Travis donating his bong for disaster relief)

Can someone please tell me how to donate a very large amount of old clothes, books and objects in Hong Kong without either ending up 1) wanting to just leave it all in front of World Wide House on a Sunday; or 2) wanting to scream? Meaning, the charity either does pickups or is centrally located, and takes everything. And also, which charities are most reputable? I don't even care if the recipient tries to sell the stuff and pockets the money, as long as it doesn't end up in a landfill.

In the States, we used to queue up in our car at Goodwill. Once you reached the front of the line, a guy unloads your truck, or you hand him the stuff out your window. He puts it in a big pile, except some stuff that goes in a *different* pile, which I know is the "clearly just trash" pile. I know this cos this is where he threw our old tennis balls. Anyway, what does this say about the US? It says that people perpetually have way too much stuff. It says that everyone drives, especially big cars. It says that despite years of environmental awareness, tennis players still have no real way of recycling all that rubber. But most important, US charities have efficient, organized systems of donation.

Maybe I'll set one up here.

I'm sure Goodwill in the States throws out a large quantity of stuff when I'm not looking, but today I heard from V.Li that Oxfam here has turned down her mom's clothing donations because the items were too old. Also, I once called the public library here and asked if I can just drop off a bunch of books, and they said no they have to be approved. And if they aren't accepted, do I have to haul them away? "Yes." Call me lazy but books are heavy. I have no triceps. (Trust me. I tried to do a push-up last night.) OK I know carrying books mainly involves biceps, but still, bird arms. It's not like libraries here have parking spaces, even if I had a car. It's not like I can just waltz in with a pile of books on the off chance that the government wants my free donation of reading material. In the US, the library takes everything. If there's stuff they don't want, they just put them on racks as free stuff for the taking or sell them for $1. I don't think it's inherently wrong of charities and libraries to NOT accept stuff, but it's just less friendly, less convenient that the donor has to figure out how to get rid of it - again, it's all about having a system in place to take care of the excess.

I have also been desperately seeking good used furniture, which is, amazingly, even more difficult. As the expat forums have pointed out, Chinese have "hangups" about used stuff. Lame. Like how they have to buy a new doormat at Chinese New Year, or new slippers, or whatever, just for luck. There's probably some symbolic, cultural and practical reason behind this that makes perfect sense if you put it in some old-school context. Like how western brides believe in wearing "something blue" on their wedding day, often in the form of garter or underwear. How crass, considering the tradition originated because blue's associated with purity. But to be fair, another reason it's impossible to find used furniture here is people don't have lawns, so they don't have yard sales. And everything on craigslist is Ikea, which everyone knows is bound to be in pieces once you get it home.

I once said to my husband these exact words: I just think it's dumb that people make things and bury them under the ground.

Which is exactly how Hong Kong works. I'm sure it helps with all the land reclamation projects. Recycling is a mystery here. There are tons of sightings of recycle bin garbage getting mixed with real garbage. Janitor ladies in my husband's office building (IFC y'all!) have confessed this to him this in a hush-hush manner. Yet people also say all of Hong Kong's trash gets sorted at the facilities anyway, and recycle bins are decoys to make us feel greener. But why so mysterious? Let's just lay it all out, literally.

With real flea markets.

People want this.

save them save them

Shrimpers emerged as a prime suspect in the NOAA investigation when, after a round of turtle necropsies in early May, Dr. Stacy announced that more than half the carcasses had sediment in the airways or lungs — evidence of drowning. The only plausible explanation for such a high number of drowning deaths, he said, was, as he put it, “fisheries interaction.”

Environmentalists saw the findings as confirmation of their suspicions that shrimpers, taking advantage of the fact that the Coast Guard and other inspectors were busy with the oil spill, had disabled their turtle excluder devices.

The devices are so contentious that Louisiana law has long forbidden its wildlife and fisheries agents to enforce federal regulations on the devices. Last month, Gov. Bobby Jindal vetoed legislation that would have finally lifted the ban, citing the “challenges and issues currently facing our fishermen.” By contrast, Mississippi officials strengthened turtle protections by decreasing the allowable tow time for skimmers, posting observers on boats, and sending out pamphlets on turtle resuscitation.

--

Full NYT article here.

It fascinates me how much the government and environmentalists obsess over sea turtle survival. Check out the pamphlet on turtle resuscitation: "Sea turtles may take some time to revive; do not give up too quickly." It's optimistic of the government to believe that fishermen and boaters would go through all the trouble to save a turtle that they accidentally injure or nearly kill. Granted, if such compassion and effort is to be found anywhere among people just trying to make a living, it would probably be in the US (Hong Kong? Forget about it). But realistically, I just don't see fishermen and boaters (who are suspected of disabling their turtle excluder devices) reading the pamphlet before bed and going that distance for the species that are getting in the way of their livelihood. Humans are selfish.

On the other hand, as far as I know, environmentalists think sea turtles are doomed anyway. The things we are asked to do for doomed species... there is something comical and tragic about all this. Letting a species die out is unconscionable; fighting tooth and nail in a losing battle is madness. But the world does not operate under rationality. Individual agendas will be forwarded. It makes me feel useless and helpless.

What's Been Owning My Mind

... the soon-to-be-mine apartment. Have been obsessively planning decorating, and I haven't even signed the lease yet (but first month's rent has been put down). Cantaloupe and strawberry... cantaloupe and strawberry...

I love sciences and arts.

One of my favorite pictures from New Caledonia. At the aquarium. They are little tableaus. Living shadowboxes. Meticulously designed and executed. A hand reaches in and spoils the miniature glowing world.

World Cup Karaoke

This is how it gets done.

This pic rocks

Half-candid pic of my grandma and me fixing our hair before having our picture taken. (Sacramento, last month.)

Nat Geo Fix

This photo gallery of bower birds and the photo captions crack me up, especially the second half with its piles of leaves and "carpet of acorns." (Article here.) Also, talk about detachment from objects and others. For the females, the mates, the feats of architecture and the collections of pretty are admired, approved and then abandoned.

I am so sick of lifestyle magazines

I'm so glad I no longer feel it's my professional duty to read Time Out.

Who you looking at?

Noumea, New Caledonia

the voice of authority

"it was on the news. he tried to shake their hands and they turned away. what's wrong with them? what's wrong with the french? they don't care about their reputation. it's really disgusting."

--overheard comments: mom on the french football team

What's for you, won't pass you

(Taken over the stunning, glorious Rockies in May)

I'd call this strawberry and cantaloupe

Looks like I'm still on my streak of moving on average once a year (now going for 14 years). Yup, I am semi searching for an apartment right now. And I want it to look like this - but oh the grandeur of optimism before I turn it into a pile of crap upon crap. This is the first pic I've come across in a long while that actually makes me think, I can do that, and I want to do that.

Inspiration via ohjoy!.

This year's ART HK

I took pics of only five things at this year's art fair. There were quite a number of booths that had "no photography" signs; and I went with friends so I couldn't really take my sweet time. But I love the pics I took of this Damien Hirst formaldehyde piece (the first of his formaldehyde works to ever exhibit in Asia) with the awesome expressions of people checking it out. His butterfly works are in the background. (Butterflies were everywhere this year! It's so totally overdone now. As well as skulls. Does this mean everyone is just following Hirst, as a way of following the money? Don't even get me started on anything that has Mao or Red Guards.)

Boston

Just because I'm losing, doesn't mean I'm...

So much going on the past month or so... but just feel like blogging about one thing in particular... yup. Lost.

I have watched none of the last season of Lost. So no spoilers ok?

Hahaha. Was reading Time magazine yesterday and came across the article "Preparing for Life After Lost." Didn't read the article because of... you know. Spoilers.

Let's face it, you couldn't wait to find out what was gonna happen in the next episode, even though every episode seemed to just leave you a little bit unsatisfied - which makes one want more more more! Give me more creepy. More melodrama. More nonsense.

Anyway, in the end, I appreciate Lost. Because I appreciate those little things that move the world and give people who are different as can be a common understanding. And it's a little thing that brings us a little bit of joy and anticipation.

I also appreciate the moment in the movie Kick-Ass where the main character, facing imminent death, laments that he will never find out what happened on Lost. So true.

my dream wardrobe

basically, 20 dresses cut like this in different colors and prints would do. (moschino)

the shoes in all their colors would help.

An origami world

art by Bu Hua

Oh man - chat quote of the day

A: doing anything for spring break?
me: not really. u?
A: nope
me: spring break hahahaha
A: i mean easter
hahahaha
me: i reeeeally feel like some of us are stuck in college days - especially me
since i'm going back to school!
A: i see
i'm stuck in college days and not going back to school
maybe that's worse

2009 movies post

OK. I haven't seen every good movie of 2009 (haven't seen the Hurt Locker in particular), but faves are as follows:

-Star Trek
-A Serious Man

Uh, ok. That's it! hahahahaha. Very high-low brow?

Books, Change, Life

I was getting my daily blog fix yesterday when I came across one that posted a list of the 10 books that changed this person's life (or "influenced" said life also works). I thought this would be a fun and easy exercise, until I realized it's really not...

There are books that touched me greatly and altered my thinking for that moment/week/month (some of them academic, as can be expected), but the only thing I came up with that certainly changed my life was Lord of the Flies. It is simply because this is the first book I read for which someone showed me that there is such a thing as symbolism in literature, that it's not just a story. It was like a veil lifted. Like a secret finally whispered. A rite of passage.

Feels different this year

Sometimes, I just feel so incredibly blessed to have such kind, wise and loyal friends, I don't even dare believe it, as if thinking about it too hard will disprove it. They know who they are. But here I quote part of a chat session from yesterday, my birthday, with a colleague who doesn't know about my blog.

V says: ... feel old
not exactly feel old, but feel ill-prepared for my age...
W says: u're 27?
V says: ......... r u serious
W says: ok...u're a few years older than me only, right? (coz i forget how old i am, whaahaha) so u're 29?
V says: yes
W says: i think the actual no. is not important, what important is ur face and ur heart, and u definitely don't look like ur age
V says: wa, u r good at "tum" me
W says: sorry, i'm good at telling the truth that people always forget, hahaa

This made me smile

They can be really lame with words sometimes, but Langham Place - one of my favorite hotels in this city - knows what's up. They get the media. They get what's fun, what's not. They sent me an invitation for the media launch of their "iPod Art Tour." The invite consists of four sentences only. This is one of them:

"Free of speeches but with excellent Champagne, great conversation and fine food from all four-corners of the world – we’d love your company."

Oh yes. I'd love to be there.

Why oh why...

Gianfranco Ferre accessories, always so fugly they hurt my eyes. (At least they are consistent?)

Ugh ugh ugh what on earth are they thinking?

Belated Quote of the Day

March 1, 2010

Someone: "Think I buy on average one H&M item per week... is that a sin?"
--via email

My current reading habits are all over the place, which I think is a very accurate reflection of the direction of my life right now - or lacking thereof. Currently actively reading:

Committed
Land of Desire
Even Cowgirls Get the Blues
2 issues of Time magazine
Lucky magazine March issue

I am normally way too anal to be reading all this, especially magazines out of sequence (I go from front cover to back cover, chronologically, strictly, normally). I haven't felt so "caught in the middle" (channeling Lenka) in ages... work, school, people, life, houses, dimensions

People write what they know. That's why novels are often about writers. That's why operas are frequently about artists, musicians, etc. Musicals are often about the singing and dancing professions: Moulin Rouge, Phantom of the Opera, Chicago...

Anyway. Someone should write a tragic opera about a singer who suddenly loses her hearing in one ear. Not so much "loses" hearing but worse. She has her hearing altered in such a way that the world sounds distorted and dissonant. Sort of like the way they make robots sound in movies. It's a fate worse than deafness. She was normally quite the reticent one to begin with, but now her own voice is the most excruciating to listen to because it's closest to her inner ear.

"Diplacusis" I was able to google out yesterday.

This sums it up

Everyone at work is being really high-maintenance.

In response to latest Style Rookie post...

http://tavi-thenewgirlintown.blogspot.com/2010/02/blowing-every-time-you-move-your-teeth.html

Although I have not read the articles Tavi is alluding to, I feel for her because 1) she is 13, and it can't be easy to be openly criticized at that age, even if she does dare to stick her neck out by finding success, 2) she isn't a journalist and accepting gifts should be fun and not unethical, 3) anyone who's read her blog will know her sincerity, 4) anyone who's read her blog will know that her head is screwed on tight, 5) she is 13! When Michelle Wie said something silly two years ago that stirred up controversy, I was like, uh she's 19, give her a break. It's easy to forget Tavi is just a kid because she's such a genius. It's just a blog. And it's a great blog that has some great pieces of writing. It's scary that she has to fend for herself against these professional, adult egomaniacal writers (because all writers are egomaniacs).

Some of fave lines in fave movie of the decade

Beatrix Kiddo: You pretty good with that shotgun?

Karen: Not that I have to be at this range, but I'm a fuckin' surgeon with this shotgun.

B: Well, guess what, bitch? I'm better than Annie Oakley. And I got you right in my sight.

K: I could blow your fuckin' head off.

B: Not before I put one right between your eyes, so let's talk.

Shoot. Me. Now.

Frankly, the February issue is quite good, despite January being kind of shitty. But given that January is ancient history and I don't see why anyone should dwell upon that, let's focus on the February issue, which is actually also history. It's somewhere between not bad and good. So f--- the HK T---ism B---d! And people who are all like, "can you not make any mistakes at all ever when it comes to freaking museum opening hours, lone writer/editor/gatekeeper between correct and slightly incorrect information?", fuck you! GRR! F--- museums!

Suddenly it's February (but of course).

I really should be getting work done right now, but I really wanted to make a list of my 10 favorite movies of the decade before it's suddenly July. Which might be thought of as a lame reason for skipping lunch, but that's exactly what I'm doing now. Funny thing is, I quickly wrote down four movies just off the top of my head:

-Kill Bill Vol. 2

-In Bruges

-Kiss Kiss Bang Bang

-The Departed

The phrase "off the top of my head" is rather apt, seeing as how these four movies all feature a lot of gratuitous violence (and rambly dialogue). Well OK, I would describe it as "hilarious violence," but that's because I have a warped mind.

Then with the top off, I decided to dig deeper into my brain's archives of pleasurable movie experiences, as well as take a quick look online to check what movies came out over the decade, just to make sure I didn't forget ones from earlier on. Here's what I have in no particular order (warning: I am lowbrow): M:I:3, X2, Waitress, Batman Begins, The Dark Knight, Vicky Cristina Barcelona, Gladiator, Amelie, all three Bourne movies, Lost in Translation, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, Star Trek, Casino Royale, Atonement, Catch Me If You Can. It surprised me that Amelie only came out in the noughties! And I must note that I haven't seen many movies that would be classified as late 2009. Anyway... by no means definitive and final, but my 10 Favorite Movies of the Decade:

1. Kill Bill Vol. 2

2. Amelie

3. In Bruges

4. Lost in Translation

5. Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind

6. The Departed

7. Waitress

8. A Very Long Engagement

9. The Dark Knight

10. Catch Me If You Can

Honorable Mention for most played DVD: Mean Girls (half-kidding... a small half)

something beautiful

normally, images of watch movement parts bore me. (i know, totally weird that there is such a phenomenon as "images of watch movement parts." i mean, who cares?) but this one from gerard-perregaux - i've never seen anything like it.

being a child of the 80s :)

http://content.usatoday.com/communities/popcandy/post/2010/01/previewing-the-baby-sitters-club-prequel-whats-claudia-wearing/1

Omg. Out tomorrow. http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0670021652/