My mom says this to me all the time, but it deserves to be repeated: "I don't know what you did in your past life that justifies you being rewarded so well in this one." And it's true. I really don't know why I'm so fortunate. (To be fair, I realize I'm well-blessed and I try to not take things for granted, although I admit I fail at that very often.) Every once in a while, something happens in my life that just drives that point home. This past weekend was one of those moments.
This is an entry about my friends and why I love them like family. I have known many of my closest friends from as long as kindergarten. Most people are lucky to have friends stick by them for 5 years. I've had mine for as long as 15. We grew up together and are very close. People often tell me they can't understand what it must feel to have such close friends for so long. I don't mean to sound condescending, but the fact is I can't imagine how it must feel to not have such close friends for so long. I imagine I would have fallen apart a long time ago without them.
On April 10, one of my best friends held - what I refer to as his "senior project dinner" for his major. It was his big thing and he wanted everyone to be there. One of my friends even flew in from China to be here for it. It was almost a year since "all of us" were together. I took a day off and drove down to Urbana for the weekend. Even though it was only for 3 days, it felt like time slowed and that a week passed. But now that it's all over, I feel like time went by too fast.
I think the most telling evidence during the weekend was that for the first time in a long time, work was an afterthought to me. It did not have any sort of priority. Responsibility number 1 was my friends.
During this time, I saw how important each and every single one of us are to each other. Each of us bring something different to the table and we have the best times together and we are at our best when we're together. And when I think about how when we can't all be together, for whatever reason, there's just this one big pitiful feeling that sits in my gut. Like there will always be something missing. (And it's not gay or whatever. It just works like a wolfpack.)
And as the whole experience is coming to a close, I am doing my reflection. I'm glad to have been a part of it all. The joy and happiness is irreplaceable. I'm grateful to God for my blessing of good friends and good company.
Tuesday, April 14, 2009
Wednesday, March 18, 2009
Run-in with the Law
So on Sunday, March 15, 2009 - I got my first traffic violation. Scratch that - my first TWO violations.
I was going back to my apartment for the first time in 2 weeks, and I was speeding down this road (I was about 5 minutes away from actually getting to my apartment too). I passed the cop car, who was hiding at an intersection on my left side. As soon as I saw the cop, I knew that I was going to get caught.
One of my favorite "bragging points" is that I have never gotten a speeding ticket before, so it wasn't just $50 and a blemish on my driving record that was at stake - I was about to lose a bragging right. With so much on the line, my first thought was to get away!
The cop could not immediately turn onto the main road to pull me over, so I thought I had some time to hide. At the next intersection, I turned into a parking lot of a 7-11. I had 2 options: 1) park the car and go into the store or 2) turn out onto a different road and drive off. I'm not sure if #1 would have gotten me out of the ticket or not, but I chose #2. But the cop was just too fast. By the time I got onto the road, the cop pulled me over.
But due to my stunt of attempting a getaway, I got my 2nd ticket for "avoiding a traffic device" since it's illegal to cut into a lot to avoid stopping at a red light. As a result, I had my license taken away and have to show up to court in a couple of weeks. It sucks. A lot.
The thing that's really keeping things together for me is that I reason it into being okay. I've been speeding for as long as I have been driving. I have no problems admitting it. I disagree with speeding being a crime, but I also understand the risks*. After 5 years of speeding, it's really "about time" I get caught for it. Plus I get a new story to tell and bragging points of a different nature.
*Speeding is NOT about safety. We get ticketed for speeding because our state and local governments want our money. They can't keep their hands out of our wallets. It's a fact. And no amount of data will convince me otherwise.
I was going back to my apartment for the first time in 2 weeks, and I was speeding down this road (I was about 5 minutes away from actually getting to my apartment too). I passed the cop car, who was hiding at an intersection on my left side. As soon as I saw the cop, I knew that I was going to get caught.
One of my favorite "bragging points" is that I have never gotten a speeding ticket before, so it wasn't just $50 and a blemish on my driving record that was at stake - I was about to lose a bragging right. With so much on the line, my first thought was to get away!
The cop could not immediately turn onto the main road to pull me over, so I thought I had some time to hide. At the next intersection, I turned into a parking lot of a 7-11. I had 2 options: 1) park the car and go into the store or 2) turn out onto a different road and drive off. I'm not sure if #1 would have gotten me out of the ticket or not, but I chose #2. But the cop was just too fast. By the time I got onto the road, the cop pulled me over.
But due to my stunt of attempting a getaway, I got my 2nd ticket for "avoiding a traffic device" since it's illegal to cut into a lot to avoid stopping at a red light. As a result, I had my license taken away and have to show up to court in a couple of weeks. It sucks. A lot.
The thing that's really keeping things together for me is that I reason it into being okay. I've been speeding for as long as I have been driving. I have no problems admitting it. I disagree with speeding being a crime, but I also understand the risks*. After 5 years of speeding, it's really "about time" I get caught for it. Plus I get a new story to tell and bragging points of a different nature.
*Speeding is NOT about safety. We get ticketed for speeding because our state and local governments want our money. They can't keep their hands out of our wallets. It's a fact. And no amount of data will convince me otherwise.
Sunday, March 15, 2009
Jon Stewart vs. CNBC
Like many others, I have been following the Jon Stewart/Jim Cramer "war of words" all of last week. I'm just going to sum it up because chances are that anyone who crosses this has no idea what it's about. Last week, Jon Stewart trashed CNBC and put them on the spot for not being tougher on the big Wall Street CEOs who either had a hand in bringing about the financial collapse and subsequent economic downturn...or just plain stole from other people (aka Ponzi schemers). Included in his condemnation were some videos of CNBC's Mad Money host, Jim Cramer. Even though Stewart's tirade was not directed at Cramer per se, Cramer responded on several of NBC's sister network shows.
The culmination was Thursday, when Cramer went on Stewart's show and they went head-on. All the writers out there say Stewart just steamrolled Cramer, who was on the defensive the entire time. But I think they don't put enough emphasis on the fact that Cramer is not "the issue" - just the face of it - and only because he took it upon himself to be.
Jon Stewart is undoubtedly one of the greatest political/social thinkers of this generation, and this is exemplified in his surprisingly hard-hitting interview with Cramer. Stewart showed that while he doesn't hold any sort of reputable degree or certification on Wall Street, he is still able to hold his ground against the financial pundits, who really have no defense against his criticisms.
I have a lot of respect for Jon Stewart and I love his show for his cut-through-the-bullshit, call-it-like-it-is political satire. As noted by some other writers, this is THE opportunity for the financial reporting sector to reform themselves and to really gain some integrity. They surely have taken a blow to the nutsack and the best way for them to recover is to change the way they do things. I hope historians save a paragraph in the history books for this one.
The culmination was Thursday, when Cramer went on Stewart's show and they went head-on. All the writers out there say Stewart just steamrolled Cramer, who was on the defensive the entire time. But I think they don't put enough emphasis on the fact that Cramer is not "the issue" - just the face of it - and only because he took it upon himself to be.
Jon Stewart is undoubtedly one of the greatest political/social thinkers of this generation, and this is exemplified in his surprisingly hard-hitting interview with Cramer. Stewart showed that while he doesn't hold any sort of reputable degree or certification on Wall Street, he is still able to hold his ground against the financial pundits, who really have no defense against his criticisms.
I have a lot of respect for Jon Stewart and I love his show for his cut-through-the-bullshit, call-it-like-it-is political satire. As noted by some other writers, this is THE opportunity for the financial reporting sector to reform themselves and to really gain some integrity. They surely have taken a blow to the nutsack and the best way for them to recover is to change the way they do things. I hope historians save a paragraph in the history books for this one.
Saturday, February 21, 2009
Good-bye, Conan. See you at 10:30.
[For those of you who don't know, Jay Leno is moving ahead by 30 minutes to a new show. Conan is taking over the Tonight Show timeslot. And Jimmy Fallon is taking over Conan's slot at Late Night.]
I just watched the last episode of "Late Night with Conan O'Brien" and I have to say that I still can't believe Conan is leaving Late Night. Conan leaving LN is just another one of those events that remind me of my mortality, of the impermanence of life. For as long as I can remember, Conan's always been at the 11:30PM spot on NBC, and I'm familar/comfortable/used to it. Conan has his colors (cool colors) and Jay has his own colors (warm colors). I can't even begin to imagine how the "Tonight Show with Conan O'Brien" is going to be.
He spent about 10-15 minutes at the end of the show thanking everyone who's made his show the success that is today. I was a little surprised he did not break into tears, but it was very clear that he almost did a few times. He held it together very well and he was very grateful.
I am glad that Conan's "moving up," but I think he should stay in NY instead of going to LA. He's had such a great 16-year run and I hate not knowing what's going to be the same and what's going to be different...the Max Weinberg 7, the set, the writers, everything and everybody. I hate the idea of not being able to see all the things that made LN w/ COB what it is/was.
Let me tell you what Conan means to me personally. My first Conan-related memories were back in the 5th grade. Around that time, my parents set up a television set in my bedroom (I think for most families, putting a TV in a child's bedroom is irresponsible parenting. But I'm special.). Because of that, I had access to TV any time I wanted - and that included the 11:30PM airing of Late Night. Five days out of the week, Conan was the last person I see every night.
One day, I was retelling a joke/story that I had heard on Conan to my fifth grade teacher, Ms. Ross:
"...I was watching Conan O'Brien yesterday, and--"
"Conan O'Brien?! What time do you go to sleep?!"
When I realized that Late Night was "forbidden," I knew that it was a gem. But I never could have imagined the impact that Conan's show would have on me.
When I was a little kid, I was only known for being the "smart one," the kid that does well in school and gets A's all the time. But it was around the time I started watching Conan that I actually developed a sense of humor. What I saw on Conan, I absorbed. To this day, every joke I make is probably some derivative of something Conan did. I'm not saying I'm great like Conan, or could ever be as great as him. I'm saying that I pay homage to Conan almost every day of my life. And I owe this guy, someone who doesn't even know I exist, 80% of my personality.
For those of you who are fans of Conan, you already know how great he is. For those of you who aren't familiar with his work, the Tonight Show will be a great time to start. There is nobody in the business quite like Conan. He's the funniest man on television today - no doubt about it. I know in my heart of hearts that he will go down in history as one of the greatest television personalities.
Conan left a great quote today, recalling the lessons of his parents. It went:
"It's fine to be funny, but if you have no character, none of it's worth a damn." This will be the lesson I hold close to my heart. Good-bye, Conan. See you at 10:30. I'll be there.
Sunday, January 18, 2009
The Education and Growth of Humanity
I am reading this article on CNNmoney, which is about the record number of CEOs being removed from their positions in 2008, either through resignation or being fired.
There's a particularly eye-opening paragraph about the new generation of CEOs taking their place:
What is even scarier is that fact that their replacements -- at least so far -- don't seem much better qualified to navigate these rough seas. In part, that's a function of age: No one currently in the work force was of working age during the Depression; no one has first hand experience with a truly global meltdown. But it's also because the executives who are still around seem to have fallen into a type of paralysis that prevents many of them from making the tough decisions that they need to make -- perhaps because they, too, fear getting canned or forced out.
Since I am relatively young, I take a lot of the things that exist around me for granted. For the most part, things like global warming, recycling, internet, (advanced) automobiles, spacecraft -- anything and everything that defines a "modern world" have always existed in my lifetime. And to me, there's a sense and feeling that "we've arrived," "we've maxed out," "there's nowhere else to go." Of course, I know that's not true and I see news being made every day, but we all know that mankind and our science has made great strides in a short amount of time.
We all know that economy has evolved into a global entity, but now it's not just limited to how everyone needs oil from the Middle East. We've all learned about, seen, heard, and experienced times of recession and boom, but NOBODY has ever seen it on such a scale so NOBODY can know how to fix it.
With the passage of time and the "refreshing" of generations, humans as a species have started anew in trying to solve this recession/depression problem. We're living through history right now as it unfolds and will eventually rebuild. And like all of life's tough obstacles, we're going to experience the bumps and bruises and broken limbs, but we'll have a great story to tell later generations.
There's a particularly eye-opening paragraph about the new generation of CEOs taking their place:
What is even scarier is that fact that their replacements -- at least so far -- don't seem much better qualified to navigate these rough seas. In part, that's a function of age: No one currently in the work force was of working age during the Depression; no one has first hand experience with a truly global meltdown. But it's also because the executives who are still around seem to have fallen into a type of paralysis that prevents many of them from making the tough decisions that they need to make -- perhaps because they, too, fear getting canned or forced out.
Since I am relatively young, I take a lot of the things that exist around me for granted. For the most part, things like global warming, recycling, internet, (advanced) automobiles, spacecraft -- anything and everything that defines a "modern world" have always existed in my lifetime. And to me, there's a sense and feeling that "we've arrived," "we've maxed out," "there's nowhere else to go." Of course, I know that's not true and I see news being made every day, but we all know that mankind and our science has made great strides in a short amount of time.
We all know that economy has evolved into a global entity, but now it's not just limited to how everyone needs oil from the Middle East. We've all learned about, seen, heard, and experienced times of recession and boom, but NOBODY has ever seen it on such a scale so NOBODY can know how to fix it.
With the passage of time and the "refreshing" of generations, humans as a species have started anew in trying to solve this recession/depression problem. We're living through history right now as it unfolds and will eventually rebuild. And like all of life's tough obstacles, we're going to experience the bumps and bruises and broken limbs, but we'll have a great story to tell later generations.
Tuesday, January 6, 2009
2009...Hajimaruyo!
Okay, so 2009 started almost a week ago. I'm slow with these blog posts now that I've gotten regular blogging out of my system.
Usually, people do resolutions for the New Years, but I've never really been one to jump on that bandwagon. I try sometimes, but I usually only come up with a bunch of things that are vague, intangible, and difficult to judge. "Be a better human being." "Be a better son." "Be a better student." Usually something along those lines. There's no way for me to real fail at any of that, right? I hope not. Now I can add "Become a better engineer." to the list also. Yippee!
I wonder what's in store for me in 2009? Work's going alright. A bit stressful lately, but I'm learning how to deal. It's not a backbone-breaking kind of stress - the kind that you hear about where so-and-so hates their job, hates their coworkers, and can't wait to get the hell out of there. My stress is more manageable and dare I say...promotes growth in abilities? I guess that's pretty ideal. But I do wish I had more free time. I mean truly free time...not the "I'm off on Saturday but I still check my emails 3-4 times a day" free time.
I think for now, my plan is to work through 2009. Maybe around the summer 2010, I'll look into going back to school. What should I study? I want to do something relatively easier than engineer like study language. Chinese? Japanese? Both? Something that can supplement my engineering background. I think further studying engineering is out of the question. I've never been really good at the super technical stuff (who the hell would ever want to get a PhD in something like tribology?!)
=========================================================================
Anyways, something new for 2009 - I'm going to try to run through some of my old Xanga entries. I want to do this because I love my old Xanga and all the fun stories and awesome entries that I posted in it. I still like the old Xanga format that I had, but it was quite a bit of work creating a new picture for it. It required more and more time that I didn't have and not to mention I came across less and less art that I found worth putting up. Either way, this project is going to be legen-wait for it...DARY.
Usually, people do resolutions for the New Years, but I've never really been one to jump on that bandwagon. I try sometimes, but I usually only come up with a bunch of things that are vague, intangible, and difficult to judge. "Be a better human being." "Be a better son." "Be a better student." Usually something along those lines. There's no way for me to real fail at any of that, right? I hope not. Now I can add "Become a better engineer." to the list also. Yippee!
I wonder what's in store for me in 2009? Work's going alright. A bit stressful lately, but I'm learning how to deal. It's not a backbone-breaking kind of stress - the kind that you hear about where so-and-so hates their job, hates their coworkers, and can't wait to get the hell out of there. My stress is more manageable and dare I say...promotes growth in abilities? I guess that's pretty ideal. But I do wish I had more free time. I mean truly free time...not the "I'm off on Saturday but I still check my emails 3-4 times a day" free time.
I think for now, my plan is to work through 2009. Maybe around the summer 2010, I'll look into going back to school. What should I study? I want to do something relatively easier than engineer like study language. Chinese? Japanese? Both? Something that can supplement my engineering background. I think further studying engineering is out of the question. I've never been really good at the super technical stuff (who the hell would ever want to get a PhD in something like tribology?!)
=========================================================================
Anyways, something new for 2009 - I'm going to try to run through some of my old Xanga entries. I want to do this because I love my old Xanga and all the fun stories and awesome entries that I posted in it. I still like the old Xanga format that I had, but it was quite a bit of work creating a new picture for it. It required more and more time that I didn't have and not to mention I came across less and less art that I found worth putting up. Either way, this project is going to be legen-wait for it...DARY.
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