| Camille Paglia is one crazy bitch and that's why I love her |
[Aug. 9th, 2010|12:26 pm] |
It is quite amazing that I managed to avoid ever studying or even hearing about this lady in college.
“Without specialization, I have been virtually unemployable in this country, except in arts colleges. Yet surely only generalists can represent the humanities in this time of crisis, as the next generation is being swallowed up in materialism and technology. American academic life is further enfeebled by its genteel code of professorial deportment. Our universities are the bland leading the bland. Are academics born sedate, or is sedateness thrust upon them? Promotion requires respectability, spirit-killing restraints. Eccentricities, for which the English are noted, are not tolerated, except in the already famous. The WASP ethic of American universities has given birth to a scholarship the mirror image of itself, passionless and humorless. David Cecil says, “Artists seldom are the same sort of people as critics – this is why so much criticism is inept.” (121) from “Sexual Personae: The Canceled Preface”. |
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| Heys Xcase -- a conversation piece |
[Apr. 1st, 2010|04:21 pm] |
I rarely endorse products, but I feel very strongly about this one. I recently bought an orange 20-inch carry-on XCase hard suitcase by Heys.
My favorite carry on that I bought in France for 20 euros 4 years ago and took with me to every continent on the planet (except Antarctica) finally broke, and I wanted a functional and fashionable replacement. After researching all ever existing hard case luggage pieces online, I decided on XCase.
The design is very sleek and the bright color is something you will not regret, even if you are afraid of color in your wardrobe. Despite being so bright, it still looks professional with a business suit. The only downside is that it's quite small and it does not expand, so it's only good for short 2-3 day trips.
You can find a 20 inch XCase for $69.99, significantly less than other hard shell luggage. Plus, they come in yummy colors like turquoise and fuchsia.
I tested it out on my latest business trip to Minneapolis last week. At least 5 strangers commented on it while I was waiting to board and while moving through the cabin. I loved it! I felt very cool and confident with it, which made me feel even more eager to talk to random people.
When I looked around the airport at other people's suitcases, I felt at least 10x superior. Fabric suitcases look shabby and pathetic next to my bright, shiny, sleek XCase. I can't believe I even considered getting a fabric suitcase again!
Hard shell suitcases weigh less than fabric, and they protect your stuff. Unfortunately though, they can get scratched, so I felt like I needed to baby my suitcase like I baby my sleek case-less iPhone. I'd hesitate to check in this piece of luggage, and would only take it with me as a carry on. Because I love it so much, a large gash on the XCase would bring tears to my eyes... so this one will stay with me at all times! |
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| How to be Useful: A beginner’s Guide to Not Hating Work by Megan Hustad |
[Apr. 1st, 2010|03:56 pm] |
“How to be Useful” was recommended to me by a coworker who saw someone read it on the train and thought the title was catchy. Maybe this book would have been useful to me earlier in my career, but as I was reading this I felt like the book was preaching to the choir. I’ve already learned all the lessons in this book on my own (and not even the hard way! Most came naturally as they seem to be common sense).
Megan Hustand is a former book editor, who decided that her 2 years in publishing was enough to write a book about succeeding in the workplace. To make up for her lack of actual work experience, she references other wiser people. Due to this, the book reads like a college student’s senior thesis, with summaries of and quotes from random somewhat related books in order to stretch it to the minimum length requirement.
The goal of "How to Be Useful" is to make people feel grateful for the job they have while aiming for the next level. The only thing that stuck with me from this book is a story of the African immigrant in her building who would take out the building garbage and would say to the author, “I am blessed, and so are you” every time they met. One day, he wasn't there, so she assumed he moved on to bigger and better things. As an immigrant, I definitely remember that no job was below me or my family, and that a job well done is often recognized and leads to better opportunities. It is likely that my upbringing made me a natural hard worker.
At the core of the book, Megan’s recommendation is to always be eager to help, find ways to be useful even if they’re very small, but when you feel like you’ve paid your dues, learn how to say “no” when others try to dump their work on you to gain respect.
She also brings up an important point that there needs to be someone available who can take your old job in order for you to climb up the ladder, so trying to be indispensable (by not sharing knowledge about how things are done) is not a good strategy. Instead, it is in one’s interest to put effort in training underlings, a point brought up in a much better career book "The 5 Patterns of Extraordinary Careers".
I was promoted last week, so I can feel secure that whatever I’m doing in the corporate world is working. When I was reading this book before the promotion, I wasn’t so sure. In my situation, the combination of proving that I can do the work of the next level and having younger people who can take my place factored into my earning the promotion. |
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| I am an idiot |
[Feb. 3rd, 2010|11:07 am] |
1. I’m an idiot because I spent 4 hours watching iJustine, a youtube vlogger / Apple fanatic last night. Her self-produced/ self-written show is really silly and not even educational and is a complete waste of time. Except... she's attractive, animated, goofy and fun to watch.
I went to bed at 4:30am. I’m at work today, all groggy.
2. I’m even more of an idiot because I did the exact same thing the night before.
3. Does iJustine even have 8 hours of footage? oh yes, she does. And plenty more. |
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| The hardest / longest scrabble game ever |
[Feb. 1st, 2010|10:32 am] |
Eugene and I have been playing "Words with Friends" on our iPhones for 5 days. At first I didn't think much of this game, but when Eug was 60 points ahead of me, I had to start thinking hard because my dignity was on the line. And so the battle began. We literally spent hours thinking about our next move. I don't know about Eug, but I would sit and make lists of all possibilities and their point value before my go. The game ended today. Eugene immediately deleted the app because he realized it was taking way too much of his time.
Here is our board:
It doesn't really look that impressive.. but we each earned 300+ points. |
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| I am a cripple |
[Jan. 26th, 2010|03:51 pm] |
I had my surgery last week. They drew a smiley face on my bunion foot to make sure they amputate the right one. I woke up with a giant swollen bandage for a foot, a great feeling of restfulness and no pain. I was given Propofol as an anesthetic, same one that Michael Jackson used as a sleeping aid. I gotta say that stuff is great - it felt like normal sleeping, I even dreamed a little. That little side effect of sudden death is a small price to pay for a good night's sleep.
I was given a cane, which I sexed up with a red ribbon, and 2 devices that are supposed to help with the healing: an inflatable ice pack that wraps around the foot and an ultrasound emitter that is supposed to stimulate bone growth.
The whole thing is a huge insurance scam. My doctor is paying the copay that I'm supposed to pay. The only reason it works out for him is because he charges double what normal doctors charge, so the insurance company's "half" covers the entire cost. At least that's what I suspect. He shares an office with chiropractors who run the same scam.
Legal or not, I'm happy to get free medical services that happen to be of excellent quality too.
I am able to walk but have to wear a special surgical shoe. I even went to work yesterday.
The cane I was given is a great tool for garnering pity and attention - people are offering me seats on the train and to get me things. How nice of them. But I also felt like an old bag lady, especially since I was wearing a black plastic bag over my shoe to keep it from getting wet.
Would you find a hot girl with a broken leg / a cane sexually attractive? Maybe next time I'll wink at a guy across the train and see how he reacts.
Thinking about amputated girls always reminds me of a horrible porn image I once saw in high school of some super sexy girl with no arms and legs, probably on rotten.com, or of Rose McGowan in Planet Terror with a machine gun for a leg or maybe the Machine Girl. Do people find that stuff hot? |
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| Bunion |
[Jan. 19th, 2010|02:09 pm] |
I realize this post will sound like my friend Anastassia's blog. Sorry. I don't mean to steal your style.
This was in fact an email I was typing to my friend Eugene, but since we're all blogging now, I decided to post it here.
I have a bunion on my right foot. I've had it for years. My mother loves to point it out and tell me that an aunt on my dad's side has a large one too (nobody likes this aunt so the comparison is not welcomed).
I'm going to have it surgically shaved down this Friday, and will have titanium inserted attaching two small bones to each other. I will wear a surgical shoe for a couple of weeks. It will be an extremely hideous shoe. After that I will only be able to wear flats for another couple of weeks. This is especially disappointing because I just bought the cutest shoes.
In any case, a bunion is more than merely a cosmetic problem. It usually gets worse with age and can 1. limit range of motion 2. hurt 3. cause arthritis. It's not doing any of those things yet, so it's mostly a preventative procedure.
However, I am now getting cold feet. Maybe warding off future disaster is not worth suffering now? |
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| Cambodia |
[Jan. 12th, 2010|09:29 pm] |
Passing by a village where a naked child is swimming in a bucket through a river.
Driver: "Cambodia is very poor"
Us: "I swam naked in a dirty river just like that when I was growing up. Our villages are very poor too"
Driver: "Russia is a rich country".
I know it's unfair to compare the two countries. It was just upsetting that people only see horrible, filthy rich tourists representing Russia. |
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| Thailand |
[Jan. 12th, 2010|09:23 pm] |
I can't count the number of times I had this dialogue while in Thailand:
- Where you from?
- New York.
- New York? America?
- Yes.
- Obama?
- Yep, Obama. |
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| I am addicted to shopping |
[Nov. 19th, 2009|03:10 pm] |
In the past 15 months, I spent the following amount of money on each of the clothing vendors below.
I spent $317.49 on clothes per month.
Please vote:
Am I spending too much on clothes?
I shop almost exclusively online nowadays. That's what happens when you sit in front of a computer for 8+ hours a day. Plus, I don't like searching for my nonexistent size in stores, and I like the online discounts.
However, the only problem with online shopping is if left uncontrolled, your apartment begins to look like this:
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