My blog

Stuff I Did Last Week

Monday, Aug 4, 2008 5:59AM / Standard Entry / Members only

Between now and my last entry, there's some exciting "highlights" that happened.

I found a fat black widow in my backyard.

So then I smashed it till it's butt exploded.

It crawled around for a bit but then settled down.

Then as luck would have it, I found another fat black widow.

Not her lucky day.

I also finished drawing my graphic comic book. (currently trying to find an agent or publisher)

And had my birthday. I'm only as old as I think I am.
First, I was in the 70's. Next day I was:

And the next day I was:

I''ve always been a slow thinker.

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So I Guess I'm Allergic to Kiwi...

Monday, Jul 21, 2008 1:48PM / Standard Entry / Members only

(this entry if full of gross reactions so don't read it if you're sensitive to that sort of stuff)

About a year ago, I discovered something quite dastardly about kiwi fruit quite by accident. A few hours after eating this furry fruit, I experienced hours of stomach pains followed by several trips of unadulterated liquid diarrhea. It just made me feel sick for a while. This event was very puzzling when it first occurred as I've eaten the fruit before and nothing like this has ever happened. I suspected it was the kiwi but my mom was kind of skeptical.

So some days or months later, my mom decided to serve me the fruit again, not wanting to have me lose out on it's nutritional value of Vitamin C. I was curious to see if it would happen too, so I went ahead and ate it. The same thing happened. Stomach pains, itchy skin, diarrhea all night. Horrible experience. By now, I was guessing it was a food allergy.

My mom must've still been skeptical as some days or months later she wanted me to try it again. I must've been really stupid as I was thinking: "yeah, I want to see if it happens again too!" So I go and eat it. Hours of stomach pains, diarrhea, itchy skin.

And just yesterday, my mom bought some golden kiwi and wanted me to eat it. I was like "It's kiwi. You know what happens when I eat it." And my mom's like "oh that was just regular kiwi, but this is different, it's GOLDEN kiwi." I must be even dumber because I went ahead and ate it. To finally prove to my mom and myself I'm allergic. AND to golden kiwi too. Since it happened so recently, I can describe this experience more vividly. Immediately after I ate it, I as sweating. A few minutes later, I could already feel lumps in my throat and chest area. I was definitely feeling uncomfortable. Sometime later I already forget which came first the itchiness or the stomach pains, but this time in particular, the itchy skin was pretty bad. I had redness and hive welts all over my body. My fingers were even slightly swollen. It was like wearing a wool sweater over your bare skin, only worse. And it didn't let up until I diarrheaed... two or three times. But what made this one special in particular was I ended up throwing up golden kiwi. It feels better after the vomits and diarrhea. And in the morning, all the itchiness was gone and I was feeling 99%. I don't get sick very often and if I could come away with something from this experience it's being reminded how horrible it feels to be sick or in that state. There was nothing I could really do to get myself back into a comfortable state, except vomit and diarrhea. I just had to wait for the symptoms to go away, which didn't happen til the next morning. It's a bad place to be and I don't know how real sick people could deal with it day after day.

I've mentioned one of my kiwi reactions to my doctor before, asking him about why I'm getting this reaction now and wanting an allergy test, but he sideswiped my inquiries and just said "don't eat kiwi".

So, after experiencing this several times, without any medical tests to support it, I think I can say, I guess I'm allergic to kiwi. I also think my mom's finally convinced there's a correlation... after all, she did recently suggest I eat smaller portions of it to build up my "immunity" to it... Maybe she's just trying to get back at me for stressing her out for all these years.

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Asians, the Generally Smarter Race

Thursday, Jul 17, 2008 8:19AM / Standard Entry / Members only

Here's an interesting article I read in the LA Times:

Why do Asian students generally get higher marks than Latinos?
http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-lincoln16-2008jul16,0,3712530.story
In summary, the article examines the students of Lincoln High School who come from various parts of Boyle Heights, El Sereno and Chinatown. Both the neighborhood and student body are about 15% Asian. And yet Asians make up 50% of students taking Advanced Placement classes. Lincoln Heights is mostly a working-class Mexican American area, but many are ethnic Chinese who fled Vietnam.

The difference isn't in class economics, 84% of the Asian and Latino families in the neighborhoods around Lincoln High have median annual household incomes below $50,000. The difference is most Asian families value and stress the importance of education while more Mexicans value and stress getting paid work sooner than later.

I know the situation. College was expected in my family. I wasn't a straight A student, but I would've gotten worse if I didn't work it. Then again, my district was tougher. In the end, I earned a respectable academic performance.

This is why I believe whenever a school, political candidate, or the government insists on pouring more money into schools to theoretically make students better, that theory is a bunch of crock. It's mainly the student's responsibility to value their own education, study harder, and get good grades. The parents are also to blame for not regulating. Hard study ethic is all that's needed. Sure, better teachers help but they can only do so much. Buying new textbooks or shiny computers or paying teachers higher salaries is not going to make students smarter.

All those other supposedly "dumber" minorities need to quit whining and get over their cultural laziness and study. Once they do that, they too, can break through the invisible racial barrier and do the impossible like Carlos Garcia, the Mexican president of Lincoln High's Asian club, did.

Carlos Garcia, second from right, is the ethnically confused President of Lincoln High's supposedly Asian club.

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Cantonese vs. Mandarin

Sunday, Jun 1, 2008 4:32PM / Standard Entry / Members only

Mandarin seems like the Chinese language to learn in America. Even among some of my Cantonese speaking friends or relatives, when they want their baby to learn Chinese, Mandarin is their choice. China is the future, people say. I used to expect most US chinatown communities to primarily be Cantonese speakers but seems like either Taiwanese people or Mainlanders are flourishing in this environment as well.

Growing up in America, my primary language is and remains English. Both my parents speak Cantonese but were too lazy to teach beyond their firstborn. They taught me a few basic words here and there but that's it. As a kid, I was forced into attended a weekend Mandarin Chinese school for a little bit but I didn't learn or retain much from there. I just remember an unfinished workbook and goofing off. Besides, an extra day of school? My American sensibility was too spoiled for that. Do I regret it? I do wish I picked up more from it and it would be great if I became semi-fluent. But I don't regret enjoying my childhood either. I'd rather watch cartoons or play Computer/Nintendo games all day.

From high school to college, I was also forced into studying a second language. I studied French cause a second language was mandatory and I wanted to learn something different from my bros (who chose Spanish and Latin). I think I've forgotten most of it, there's too many conjugations involved.

After college, I wanted to learn some Asian languages for fun. When it comes to languages, there are three that interest me: Cantonese, Mandarin, and Japanese.

Cantonese because that's where much my culture and heritage lies.
Mandarin because it's popular and the Chinese standard.
Japanese because it's products and culture are so influential.

The furthest I've ever gotten is by listening to the the first level of Cantonese, Mandarin, and Japanese from Pimsleur. Basic stuff, but it helped me understand much more than I used to. Even knowing a few more words and phrases makes me feel better.

I often watch many movies in these three languages as well. Movies haven't really helped me learn languages very well. The only things I learned from watching Cantonese movies are words like "POK GAI!!!" or "SIK SEAHHH!!!". In terms of learning resources, Cantonese seems the scarcest. Japanese and especially Mandarin are more plentiful. Unfortunately for me, Cantonese is the language I want to learn most. I'd feel guilty if I was better versed in the other two languages. I'm not very good at learning languages anyhow, my memory isn't the sharpest. The Cantonese tones are the toughest. The only way I could ever learn is through repetition, continual and consistent listening and speaking. And without the time, discipline, or even resources to learn I don't know if I'll ever pick it up... At least I'm pretty good at English.

Speaking of Cantonese vs. Mandarin, here's a trailer of a great movie series with a related North vs. South premise. From studio Cathay:
The Greatest Civil War on Earth
Video: http://www.cathay.com.sg/classics/civilwar.wmv

I really love Leung Sing Bo's comic tones and mannerisms. I agree with the idea that comedy is funnier in Cantonese than Mandarin. The "sequels" The Greatest Wedding on Earth and The Greatest Love Affair on Earth feature the same cast and premise but are unrelated. I've still been waiting a long time for Panorama to release Greatest Love Affair on DVD. The first two were quite enjoyable. Who knows if its release will ever happen. Who the purchases and watches these types of movies other than hardcore movie fans or really old people? What an unfortunate trend.

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Earthquake and Random Artwork

Thursday, May 15, 2008 12:13AM / Standard Entry / Members only

Before I talk about the Sichuan Earthquake, here's a random drawing of a cute nerdy girl.

Gross, yet appealing. Other students throw stuff at her yet she still has an awkward smile on her face. What a poor girl. It reminds me of the character Ichigo during her flashback in the movie Kamizake Girls. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zcmo7_xQZ0Q Maybe in the future, she will have the guts to go gangsta, completely snap, or go on to live a horribly awkward comedic life. Shame on those other students... and myself for drawing it apparently.

On the Sichuan Earthquake, here's some video I found on Youtube to get a sense of what a 7.8 quake is like:

Video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mBoCik8RKpc

I thought it was hilarious when the student said to his other male roommate "WO AI NI!!!!" But all joking aside, videos like these don't evoke much sympathy but show how crazy it is, lasting minutes. Having grown up in Los Angeles, an earthquake hotspot, I've felt a few. They still seem like a rarity actually. Haven't experienced too many. The most memorable ones happened when I was a kid. I don't even know if it was the Northridge one. LA is said to be due for a "Big One" in the next few decades. Can't say that I feel ready.

Worser reports and images have appeared on the news of the more serious death and destruction.

You can view more of these here:
http://news.163.com/special/00012700/fotodiz.html
http://media.theaustralian.com.au/multimedia/2008/05/13-quake/index.html

So, what else to say other than "what a terrible thing." What else to do but pray, give aid, or do nothing. I prayed. I'll confess, I don't love giving out money, but since I'm suggesting it, it would be hypocritical if I didn't myself. I gave, and if you're looking to too, here's some places you can go to donate:
http://www.salvation.org.hk/english/index.htm

This place also: http://www.wvasiapacific.org/
and here too: http://www.redcross.org.hk

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