Tuesday, June 30, 2009

My Life is Complete!

This weekend (or rather, Sunday and Monday) Regina and I went to Detroit to see the Offspring!

We did some other stuff too of course.

We embarked on an epic drive at around 9 in the morning. After driving through the border, and trying to explain to a customs lady who the Offspring were (?! "Hi I live under a rock") we arrived in downtown Detroit. Interestingly, there seems to be an excess of valets, and a total lack of Asians there. In our 2 days there, we spotted a total of 3 Asian people. And two of them were working together in an Asian shop.

We spent our morning/afternoon wandering around downtown Detroit with my dad's other child, the Nikon D300. Apparently, walking around with a large visible camera makes you a prime target for "Hey! Take a picture of me!". As a result, we have many pictures of total strangers/valets walking down streets, sitting in cars and whatever else it is that they were doing at the time. We also have many pictures of us being silly. But, here comes the exciting part.

Or, alternately, why we were in Detroit in the first place. After eating dinner at record speeds, Regina and I get dropped off at "Freedom Hill Amphitheater" (Doesn't it scream "AMERICA"?) where Time Again, the Dropkick Murphys and the Offspring are playing. We line up for merch, and after a while, I acquire another band shirt, one that I could actually wear, because it fits. We find our seats in the ampitheater (Who thought it would be a good idea to hold this show in a fully seated ampitheater?) and we watch Time Again play. They're all wearing matching outfits, and really good performers. But, since it's only 6 PM and everyone's seated, it's hard to get really into the music. But, a good show none the less.

After a break, a bagpiper appears, and everyone knows Dropkick Murphys are on. They play a totally awesome show. Who knew celtic folk music and punk made a good combination? Then again, there's also Norwegian folk metal, so I guess folk music is just a good side genre in general.
As they play, a slow trickle of people beging to pool infront of the stage. Yes, it appears that a pit has appeared between the chairs. It also appears that the security guards don't actually care about people staying in their seats.

Afterwards, Regina and I mosey closer to the stage. And by closer, I mean we walked straight to the stage, about 3 feet away. We wait for the long set up of the equiptment, because, clearly, headliners need all their own stuff pulled to the stage again. (I'm not complaining, as long as it's a good show). As the lights go down, and the Offspring appear, everyone goes crazy, and I go into a state of shock for a good 5 minutes. We take some pictures with my Crackberry, but then just decide to enjoy the show. After 2 hours of awesomeness, and being lurked by some creepy dudes (Seriously, even if we did look older for our age, we were so clearly underage.) t'was all over.

I'm pretty sure we smelled awful, but so totally worth it.

We shopped the day after, but a description of that would be a bore. Suffice to say, I have a new pair of awesome teal/blue converse!

And now, I must go back to pack for my trip to China!

Tuesday, June 23, 2009

Oooa

"Oooa" Said the squash
"Hi" Said Jimmy
"Oooa" Said the squash, quite persistently.
"What a foul mouthed squash!" Said Jimmy's mother, frowning with distaste as she quickly led Jimmy away.
"Oooa" Said the squash.

Thus, the squash avoided being consumed for another day. But this was not the type of life the squash had hoped for.

In its youth, the squash was the brightest of his class, a rising star. It was quite proficient in the linguistic arts, and was quite creative with its insults. After high school it was accepted into a prestigious university, and decided to major in Offensive Vernacular. This, was considered by many a waste of such brilliance. A squash, the first of its kind to be accepted into this university, studying such a useless major? A shame! But none the less, the squash persisted, and graduated at the top of the class. It moved in with some of its new friends to a smallish apartment in the area populated by graduates.

This was a new start for the squash, and its mind was filled with bright new ideas about decorating the new apartment, purchasing furniture, and things of that sort. But, first, it needed employment. With a degree from such a well know school, who would reject it? Alas, the job offers did not come flying in, so the squash decided to go out and meet its fate.

However, it soon discovered that finding a job with a degree in the offensive arts was much more difficult than it previously thought. Turns out, no one wanted to hire a squash to swear at things, in fact, no one wanted to hire a squash at all. Eventually, it began falling behind on its rent payments, and got kicked out by its friends.

"We're tired of you, you deadbeat!" they said, as they hurled his stuff out the window. And so, the squash sadly rolled away.

It tried begging for change, but no one had sympathy for a squash. In a last ditch attempt, it tried to gain employment at the grocery store. But. alas, it was mistaken for produce, and promptly placed amongst the other squash. It was surrounded by its lesser cousins, and whittled its days away plotting an escape. Days and weeks passed as it planned, and it felt itself progressively loosing freshness. This is a crucial part of its plan, if it can avoid being eaten long enough, the employees will have no choice but to set it free again. Soon, it will be free, but for now, the squash waits.

"My what a delicious looking squash"

Sunday, June 21, 2009

69!

Yes, this is the 69th post.
I'm just being immature now...

69!

Makes me want to tell bad jokes and stuff.


...
Real posts coming soon

Sunday, June 14, 2009

Things that Scare Me

Or: The best way to watch Shiying Cry

!) Heights
Well, there's not too much to say about this one, since it's pretty common. But I do have a story to prove it.
Summer of 2004(?), I was at YMCA camp. On this particular day, we were doing the high ropes. In my naive 11 year old mind, the ropes didn't look that bad (always famous last words...). So I harness up, clip myself to the safety rope stuff, and wait eagerly for my turn.

As I start climbing, I realize exactly how tall the pole is, but not overtly worried. Half way up the pole, I'm feeling a little anxious about reaching up for the next grab, for fear of falling. So, naturally, to assure myself, I look down. And then it all goes downhill. Immediately, I cling to the pole and refuse to move. Unfortunately, the only way for me to get off was to move to the middle of the ropes. All the way up.

Anyway, since I'm not on the pole anymore, I think you can figure out how this ended.
This is going to be a problem when I complete number 19 on my list...

?) Fish
Or more specifically, being in the same water as fish. I can't point out what exactly alarms me about fish... Something about their unblinking eyes, slimy skin, the constant threat of them biting off my toes, and such just terrifies me. Snorkeling in Cuba: A bad idea.

$) Things Swimming at me
Only made worse when it is a fish that is swimming at me. I get really nervous when I can see something swimming directly towards me. I almost punched some kid in the head once because he was swimming towards me... in a public pool.

&) Umbrellas
I always get anxious around umbrellas.. They could poke you in the eye, or things could start falling out of the sky and you wouldn't see until it went through the umbrella and struck you in the head, or you could get your thumb caught in it while trying to close it.

^) The Dark
Shut up. I don't like walking alone in the dark. But when I'm talking about the dark, I mean the real dark, not streets lit up by street lamps at night.

|) Dinosaurs
This all started with Jurassic Park, made worse by the robotic dinosaur park, and worse by that dream I had of dinosaurs eating my family, and worse by the most recent dream: Dinosaurs controlled by Radioshack. Sure, they might be extinct, but they live on in my dreams... and that's all that matters.

~) Feet.
Feet are awful, awful things. Foot massages are not sexy.

Don't ask me why I didn't number these with numbers. I don't know either.

Thursday, June 11, 2009

I can't believe I forgot!

I had completed another item on my list way before. (March)

Masquerade! Granted, I wasn't holding it. But I'm a terrible hostess, so it was probably for the best. Anyway. I wore the mask I got from Venice which looks a little like this


Okay, it looks exactly like that, because that is the mask I wore. The more observant ones will notice that it is also not a picture of me. That's just because I couldn't find one of me and the mask together. That picture is from a masquerade-like themed get together on the cruise I went on in the summer, though, no one really wore masks, and it was more of a "I'll wear your mask and you can wear mine!" thing. Which, explains the picture.. somewhat.

I don't really have much else to say... So. I guess I'll go into a totally different tangent now.

I Probably put too much of myself onto teh interwebz

This blog, forums, facebook, random sites, etc. I probably divulge more information than I really should. Everything is on the internet in one way or another. It probably won't take too long to find if one was a dedicated googler. But it doesn't really bother me as much as it should.

The way I see it, you can live in the dark ages, and fear the internet, or you can embrace the internet and everything it can do for you. People already date/hook up/buy groceries/ chat/gather/plot/etc on the internet, why should it be unreasonable for me to expect it to take out my laundry one day? Being raised in a family where both my parents depend on evolving computer technology for their jobs, I've always had up to date computers, operating systems, and always fairly up to date on computer trends. So, it's really no surprise that I spend a lot of quality time with my laptop, Fred.

The internet is everything for me! It plans, and organizes, I can share my thoughts (here), talk to my friends even if they're far away and awkward on the phone, and I can encounter totally random people all over the world (Omegle/rest of the internet) So, what I mean is: I love the internet!

I should blog about Fred...
In due time.

Wednesday, June 10, 2009

Turn on Google safesearch already

Or: It's impossible to google "spanking" and expect academic results
Or: The debate over whether or not to spank is over. Deal with it already.

If it's already been scientifically proven that "spanking is bad for you". Ergo, there is no need for a debate, especially among a bunch of High school kids that don't like/want kids. And really, it's unfair to the poor suckers that has to try and argue for spanking.

"Oh yes, Oh yes. Hit your children!"

Personally, debates put me in a bad situation. As a person who has strong beliefs against holding strong beliefs, I find it hard to even want to argue about it at all. But, my opinion on this matter has been made for me (even though I don't think it's fair for anyone to try and tell someone they're raising their kids wrong.) Still, that doesn't stop me from wanting to point out that there is no set definition for "spanking" and therefore, many articles about research may all be referring to different things as "spanking" making it difficult to gain a general consensus other than "Don't spank. We think it's bad"

I'm going to whip out my arbitrary high school attitude right now and say that it is ridiculous to expect a stellar piece of workmanship from your students when there are 4.5 school days left until exams. Most kids are desperately cramming, calculating what kind of mark they need on the exam to bring up their average, or trying to alleviate stress by not attending school at all. Preparing for an all out debate with no prior warning is not in any of those activities, and therefore will not be scheduled anywhere.

But my real point: No one cares who spanks or doesn't spank their kids. Sure, we can all stand here and say "No suh, never gonna spank 'em. Nope." But in all reality, spanking at least once is more likely than never spanking your kids at all. Sure, I know that some people have never spanked their children, and I will applaud them for self control. The truth is, no one is ever going to admit that they spank/have considered spanking/will spank their children. Just like how no one ever says "Oh yes, I would have gone along with that" when questioned about how they would feel if they were in Nazi Germany.

Sure, I may have just lost due to Godwin's law, but it is the most appropriate analogy I could think of.

Enough procrastination, I have a debate to prepare for!

Tuesday, June 2, 2009

Vrrrroooommm Vrrrrrrr

What does Shiying want most right now?
This.


What? Yes. I would like a crotch rocket. Or more specifically, a Ducati Monster 690/6whatevers

But Shiying! Why a motorcycle?
Because they are clearly the sexiest/most amazing/amusing things on the planet. Also, what is there not to love about a leather suit? Sure, they're marginally more dangerous than cars, but I'm also probably not going to try going 5000000 km/h on the highway. (Deserted road, maybe)

But why not one of the ______ motorcycles?
I am short. This bike is short.

How are you paying for this?
Like I know... I'll get a real job or something that regular people do.

Why are you asking and answering these as questions instead of just writing about it?
Because I can.

So, really. I would love a motorcycle right now. Though really, any short crotch rocket will do, this is just the most awesome one. Now to see what takes precedence over my future.. Magnetic climbing wall, motorcycle, car, awesome loft, pony, pony, pony....
I'm going to need lots and lots of monies..