Saturday, January 31, 2004

Holy Shit!!

I can't believe we just won!! After being down by as many as 17 points!! Woohoo!! God damn it, I would have been able to watch the game if Fox Sports hadn't sucked so much. While all my west-coast friends got to enjoy a great game, I rushed home to find out that Fox Sports was not showing the game here in New York. Bitches!

Why?

During lunch on Friday, while Phil was telling about his plan to stop eating meat, I thought about all the ridiculous PETA ad campaigns. The anti-fur campaign has really puzzled me because although feminism and vegetarianism seem to go hand in hand, I have yet to hear any objections to ads such as this. What gives?

Note to Self

While walking in Central Park, do not answer calls from an unrecognized number with a 650 area code, for on the other end there could be someone working for the Stanford Fund begging for alum contribution. It is especially difficult to turn down the request when the caller's name is Whoopi and was one of the Branner freshmen that you helped out two years ago. Five minutes of chatting ended costing me $25. I think I would have been better off calling 1-900-BIG-TITS.

Friday, January 30, 2004

What Will They Think of Next?

Today I saw an ad for that new movie "You Got Served" again, which looks like a male version of "Bring It On." Every time I see that trailer, I automatically think "more fries please" for some reason.

Wednesday, January 28, 2004

Styling and Profiling

Last Friday on my way back from the doctor, I saw someone that could be Andre 3000's older brother on the subway. He was a middle-aged African American gentleman wearing an outlandish but yet ridiculously stylish outfit: black mink coat, black leather pants with weird, holey patches on the knees, a glistening diamond stud on his right ear, and a top hat. I couldn't stop looking at him because the dude knew how to dress to impress! Also, I did think that he was Andre for a brief second before I saw his face because I had yet to meet someone with that kind of style, even in New York.

Calling China

Last night I finally had some time to call my relatives back in China to wish them a happy new year. I wish I could have called them a week ago, which was Chinese New Year, but I spent most of last week in bed sick and could barely suck in a breath without coughing up my lungs.

I called my maternal grandparents in Lanzhou, my aunt and cousin in Shanghai, one of my uncles in Lanzhou again and then my father's side of the family. Unlike in years past, during which I spent most of the time asking about the same boring things over and over again, namely the weather and their health, I actually carried on meaningful and interesting conversations with them last night. I care much more about them now because they are no longer just distant voices on the other end of the phone line, nor lifeless figures in faded photographs. During my China visit last summer, I lived in their houses, proposed toasts to them at banquets, visited scenic spots with them, listened to their favorite stories from my childhood, and discovered so much family history that I hadn't been aware of before. Just as important, they were able to get a better understanding of our life in the States by looking through the pictures I brought on my compactflash cards and listening to the stories, some funny, some sad, that I told. At times I felt like an ambassador for my family on a cultural exchange trip.

After my visit, I feel like I have a much stronger bond to them. I know how they live and understand the problems they face in this brave new world that their country has morphed into since our departure to America. Having spent the last 14 years with only my parents and sister, I was thrilled to be surrounded by all these relatives who loved me now just as much as they did then. For the first time in a long time, I felt really at home.

By the time I finished all these calls, I had talked for almost 100 minutes. That unlimited nights and weekends cell plan and ultra cheap phone card really came in handy!