I've been taking some time off of dodgeball recently, but I've found that it's in my blood, and I'm going through withdrawals: Other than thinking about my girlfriend and work, the third-most trending topic in my head is dodgeball. Anyway, I honestly do feel that one can show a lot of their own personality on the dodgeball court. Here are the 10 people one meets on the dodgeball court:
1.) The "Play one time, have no interest, dodgeball is not for me"-type. My girlfriend belongs in this category. Nothing wrong with it: don't like to have balls thrown at one's face, don't like that there's so many balls moving around at one time, I totally get it. People who don't play dodgeball comprise the vast majority of the world's population, who favor not getting too dirty, not trying a kid's game, or those who don't actively seek playground/new sports. It takes a real special breed to try dodgeball and continue playing. (And sometimes a little craziness and obsessiveness, like myself)
2.) The former athlete/baseball-player time: relies strictly on athleticism and arm strength, believes those are the core fundamentals of dodgeball success. They are helpful, surely, but not what I believe to be the most important tools. These athletic types are easy to spot, often monopolizing control of the balls and forging ahead, trying to prove a point that they were athletes or simply not cognizant that there are other aspects to dodgeball, easily getting sniped when they move up or some other rookie mistake.
3.) The team player: this is what most players on a winning team should be: willing to do whatever for the team, whether it be shagging balls, giving up the ball to the team's best thrower, going for loose balls, trying to catch teammates back in, this is the type of glue personality that every team and business needs (a lot of business and team analogies in dodgeball). Unfortunately, these team players often don't the credit that they deserve and the accolades associated with being a team's "star player."
4.) The team's "star player/big gun." Every team has one of these, perceived as the queen on the chess board, where other players pass them balls and they get things done. They throw really hard and get others out, then try to keep themselves alive by blocking with balls. Everyone pretty much aspires to be this "star player" as a sign that they made it to the top of the food chain, but there are a lot of "wannabe" star players who haven't mastered what it takes to be one. In order to be a star player, have to be one of the best players on the floor and be "worth" protecting at all times, which some players are not ready for. It takes years to groom these guys/ girls, but often people try to take shortcuts and assume the role prematurely at the expense of the team. (Sense a little bitterness here from me?)
5.) The leader. The leader and the star player could be the same player, but often it's the quote unquote "captain" of the team who calls out how many balls there are, gathers everyone to talk before the game, organizes everyone as a "coach" would: (there are as yet no dodgeball coaches yet, as the sport is too young for retired players to assume the role and just isn't prominent enough to require coaches, but player coaches our really important to keep everyone in line.
6.) The Pump Faker- a surprisingly effective move that shows immediately the mental prowess and shrewdness of a dodgeball player, it's like the "tell" at a poker table that this player is not to be messed with. It also shows that player has pretty good arm health, as full pump fakes take a lot out of one
7.) The dancer: dodgeball is fun after all, and a lot of people like to do wacky things on the court, like break dancing and jumping around. These players are welcomed in non-competitive settings and some even succeed at the top levels, as dodging and jumping is a useful skill, albeit not my favorite. Sometimes it is nice to slip in jokes and make everyone on the court laugh, and
8.) The enforcer: unfortunately there are these around who for whatever reason has to stick up for one's teammate, or show how macho one is, is the guy who gets easily offended at accidental head shots, accidental cheap shots, etc., and will go to the brink of challenging other people to a fight, or implement retaliatory measures like throwing back at someone's head, etc. These enforcers exist in most pro sports (hockey and baseball with its unwritten rules and such especially), but hopefully will not be a part of dodgeball as they are unnecessary.
9.) The competitive guy: came to dodgeball cuz maybe they got picked on as a kid, or failed at other sports, or just has a chip on one's shoulder, they often bark at the referees if they missed a call, I probably fall into this category, as winning is a higher priority than having fun. Tough to balance the 2, but hard to stifle that competitive juice as it is what fuels me and other competitive types to do their best. Sport is by definition trying to do one's best to top the competition, so if it's to be taken as a serious sport then the competitive side of this (to a certain point, don't go overboard) has to be allowed/tolerated.
10.) The cheater: the guys who get hit and don't take their out, staying in even when they are otu. There are varying levels of these offenses: 1.) those who aren't sure about if they got hit and stay in, not great but understandable, 2.) those who just stay in until they get called by a referee, not good but pro sports stars do it, and 3.) those who blatantly cheat and then try to convince others that they are in the wrong by calling them out. The best is obviously to be the most honest and seek to take one's outs even if they're unsure, (sometimes at the risk of maybe even going out when they're not out), and in a perfect society that would be the standard for everyone, unfortunately as people do cheat and get away with it, it affects even the most dutiful of players and truthtellers, especially in highly competitive tournaments.
Fantasize on,
Robert Yan
Monday, December 26, 2016
Saturday, December 24, 2016
Indecision (優柔不断)
The fancy Japanese word for not being able to make up one's mind is Yuujuufudan. I suffer from a strong case of this disease, as I've described before about making a decsion about law school, which city to work in, etc. I've realized
if faced with a split second decision that I need to make quickly, I have a pretty good track record: I take the one that makes the most sense, or poses the least bodily harm (take the lane with less cars in it when driving in traffic), has the highest probability of success (if asked to gamble on a 51% chance of winning or something that has a 49% chance of winning, I take the 51%), etc. These also tend to be the small decisions, like what to get for lunch, what movie to watch at night, whether to go to dodgeball or not (the answer's most likely yes). It's the decisions that have larger consequences (how to spend one's life) with irreversible consequences that I have a lot of difficulty with because I know that I can't ever go back to that decision again. I also constantly berate myself for
The biggest problem, though: if a decision takes time to think about and has a far-away deadline. I will dwell, dwell, and keep dwelling until the decision deadline is over, constantly rethinking my decision and questioning it, finding every opportunity to poke holes in it wondering if the other fork in the road is better. I think part of the problem is trying to find the perfect outcome, always choosing the right path towards a brighter future. That's good to try to do, but you can't expect that out of the thousands of decisions that you make, you're always going to make the one that leads to the best outocome. Sometimes the parking spot you pick is farther than it needed to be, sometimes the job you take isn't the highest pay, and sometimes the wedding venue you select is overpriced and unaccommodating. But I've learned something from fantasy football: As long as you're going in evaluating all the alternatives, you can live with the decision you did your best to pick the right decision. You're not always going to be able to know out of 3 choices (Mark Ingram, Desean Jackson, random running back on the Chargers getting carries due to injuries) is going to have a great day, but as long as you're making informed, good decisions, you'll mostly get the middle option (115 yards no TD's for Jackson), and sometimes as a bonus get the supreme bonus (Ingram with 100 yards, 2TDs), but always avoid the bad (random running back). You can't always pick the best route.
There's a Japanese television called Suteki na Sentaxi, that aired a couple years ago that I'm rewatching again for purposes of learning Japanese, and I wish there was that sort of taxi that transport one back to a decision point to redo one's decision making. Sometimes I think there's merit to the theory that there are alternative universes where we select a different career path, a different spouse to marry, different life altogether, and we're living in just one of those alternative realities. This is often played out in TV shows and movies like La La Land (great musical-type of movie set in Los Angeles that every couple should go see), but as long as I'm generally satisfied with the path I've taken, I don't need a taxi to take me back and make that decision over again. At least I keep telling myself that everything I think I've made a wrong decision. Hey, who knows, maybe even if we make a wrong decision the 2 forks will one day converge and we'll be on the path we were meant to be on all along. Trump will be impeached and we'll have a suitable candidate for President again? (haha, kidding, but....maybe? (Being with my wonderful girlfriend, CHOOSING a life with her has been one of the best decisions of my life! - I think I was always meant to choose the path that led to her, and even if we broke up/didn't find each other eventually our paths would have crossed further down the line!)
Fantasize on,
Robert Yan
if faced with a split second decision that I need to make quickly, I have a pretty good track record: I take the one that makes the most sense, or poses the least bodily harm (take the lane with less cars in it when driving in traffic), has the highest probability of success (if asked to gamble on a 51% chance of winning or something that has a 49% chance of winning, I take the 51%), etc. These also tend to be the small decisions, like what to get for lunch, what movie to watch at night, whether to go to dodgeball or not (the answer's most likely yes). It's the decisions that have larger consequences (how to spend one's life) with irreversible consequences that I have a lot of difficulty with because I know that I can't ever go back to that decision again. I also constantly berate myself for
The biggest problem, though: if a decision takes time to think about and has a far-away deadline. I will dwell, dwell, and keep dwelling until the decision deadline is over, constantly rethinking my decision and questioning it, finding every opportunity to poke holes in it wondering if the other fork in the road is better. I think part of the problem is trying to find the perfect outcome, always choosing the right path towards a brighter future. That's good to try to do, but you can't expect that out of the thousands of decisions that you make, you're always going to make the one that leads to the best outocome. Sometimes the parking spot you pick is farther than it needed to be, sometimes the job you take isn't the highest pay, and sometimes the wedding venue you select is overpriced and unaccommodating. But I've learned something from fantasy football: As long as you're going in evaluating all the alternatives, you can live with the decision you did your best to pick the right decision. You're not always going to be able to know out of 3 choices (Mark Ingram, Desean Jackson, random running back on the Chargers getting carries due to injuries) is going to have a great day, but as long as you're making informed, good decisions, you'll mostly get the middle option (115 yards no TD's for Jackson), and sometimes as a bonus get the supreme bonus (Ingram with 100 yards, 2TDs), but always avoid the bad (random running back). You can't always pick the best route.
There's a Japanese television called Suteki na Sentaxi, that aired a couple years ago that I'm rewatching again for purposes of learning Japanese, and I wish there was that sort of taxi that transport one back to a decision point to redo one's decision making. Sometimes I think there's merit to the theory that there are alternative universes where we select a different career path, a different spouse to marry, different life altogether, and we're living in just one of those alternative realities. This is often played out in TV shows and movies like La La Land (great musical-type of movie set in Los Angeles that every couple should go see), but as long as I'm generally satisfied with the path I've taken, I don't need a taxi to take me back and make that decision over again. At least I keep telling myself that everything I think I've made a wrong decision. Hey, who knows, maybe even if we make a wrong decision the 2 forks will one day converge and we'll be on the path we were meant to be on all along. Trump will be impeached and we'll have a suitable candidate for President again? (haha, kidding, but....maybe? (Being with my wonderful girlfriend, CHOOSING a life with her has been one of the best decisions of my life! - I think I was always meant to choose the path that led to her, and even if we broke up/didn't find each other eventually our paths would have crossed further down the line!)
Fantasize on,
Robert Yan
Tuesday, December 20, 2016
Treadmill (ランニングマシーン)
My loving girlfriend told me last night, out of love, "your stomach is fat." Shock, embarrassment, anxiety, feeling overweight, many negative emotions came over me then, a deep-rooted emotion that goes back all the way to childhood days of being overweight and being picked on my kids. Nowadays I feel better about myself, but I totally understand those people who are sensitive about weight gain, count calories every day, monitor themselves in the mirror, hang on comments made by others about their appearance. It can be very consuming, the need to feel good about one's body and dealing with weight gain.
It's also easy to get too hung up on others' comments. When I was a kid, some of the most traumatic moments happened when my parents commented on how I looked, or classmates (who were kids at the time, kids are at once the most honest and harshest people) told me "I have a fatface" or "I had gained another circle since I last saw them." As shocking as these comments were, I could at least take solace that these subjective comments were made just by personal opinion, not by any objective standard of measurement, and could vary based on how the viewer was feeling that day, whether I was wearing a tight shirt, etc.
I will admit, though, that if there's a physical defect for me, my stomach is it.......it just never seems to go down, like a full balloon that never loses air. Recently in Chicago I haven't been able to run outside at all because a) it's cold b) the ground is frozen or slippery, d) it's windy and this is the windiest city in the country and have i mentioned that it's cold? As much as I love the scenery and fresh feeling of running outside, I've conceded defeat and taken my running indoors.
A treadmill doesn't lie. A treadmill doesn't take breaks. A treadmill doesn't slow down subconsciously. A treadmill doesn't get tired. Doesn't blow into ones face while running. Treadmill can give nice visual images (on its TV screen). treadmill can tell you everything you need to know about your workout, not just a guess. A treadmill is like a scale: literally cold and calculating, it doesn't care how much willpower you have, how much you dieted, how much you spent on a trainer or weight coach, what diet video you watched. And that's sort of the approach I hope to take to exercising and weights; objective analysis. Don't be too caught up in how other view you and keep thinking about it, dwelling on the negative comment that hangs in the air, go to objective analysis, measure, write down, record, and run. That's how to measure my weight, and eventually those things like girlfriend calling my stomach fat will take care of itself.
Fantasize on,
Robert Yan
It's also easy to get too hung up on others' comments. When I was a kid, some of the most traumatic moments happened when my parents commented on how I looked, or classmates (who were kids at the time, kids are at once the most honest and harshest people) told me "I have a fatface" or "I had gained another circle since I last saw them." As shocking as these comments were, I could at least take solace that these subjective comments were made just by personal opinion, not by any objective standard of measurement, and could vary based on how the viewer was feeling that day, whether I was wearing a tight shirt, etc.
I will admit, though, that if there's a physical defect for me, my stomach is it.......it just never seems to go down, like a full balloon that never loses air. Recently in Chicago I haven't been able to run outside at all because a) it's cold b) the ground is frozen or slippery, d) it's windy and this is the windiest city in the country and have i mentioned that it's cold? As much as I love the scenery and fresh feeling of running outside, I've conceded defeat and taken my running indoors.
A treadmill doesn't lie. A treadmill doesn't take breaks. A treadmill doesn't slow down subconsciously. A treadmill doesn't get tired. Doesn't blow into ones face while running. Treadmill can give nice visual images (on its TV screen). treadmill can tell you everything you need to know about your workout, not just a guess. A treadmill is like a scale: literally cold and calculating, it doesn't care how much willpower you have, how much you dieted, how much you spent on a trainer or weight coach, what diet video you watched. And that's sort of the approach I hope to take to exercising and weights; objective analysis. Don't be too caught up in how other view you and keep thinking about it, dwelling on the negative comment that hangs in the air, go to objective analysis, measure, write down, record, and run. That's how to measure my weight, and eventually those things like girlfriend calling my stomach fat will take care of itself.
Fantasize on,
Robert Yan
Sunday, December 18, 2016
Reading Books (読書)
I recently read a book called "When Breathe Becomes Air" about a cancer physician who treats cancer patients but contracts cancer himself and ponders on the meaning of life, how death plays a role in that life. Very interesting read, a great page-turner and felt like the author was speaking directly to me, the best kind of book in my opinion where I get to delve into the author's mind and basically have a conversation. While I was reading, however, I thought about how long it'd been since I had totally finished a book in its entirety, and I realized how little I read books (not newspapers, blogs, facebook feeds, or social media outlets,) full-length, softcover or hardcover, 150 page-or-more, BOOKS.
One of the best activities I've ever done is read books to children. Children's books are entertaining, charismatic, down-to-earth, easily understandable, usually contain cute characters, relates to kids, and more importantly, are SHORT and are within the attention span of a normal 5-to-10-year-old. It's like a Disney/ animated movie, always less than 90 minutes running time, get you out of there without dragging on (by the way, Finding Dory, not as good as it could have been, although some interesting aquarium-related creatures like the British-accent seal played by Idris Elba. It's really a joy to read to children, though, because kids are so ENGAGED with the books, they stare at the pictures like they've been absorbed into a different world and can't wait to turn to the next page of their adventure. They also don't have a doctor's appointment, have to go to work, or have to change their own kids' diapers, they can just be there and enjoy the reading of the book. Also, as an adult you can make all kinds of different voices to entertain the kids and even change specific words of a book to give creative license, so that's a bonus for the storyteller. But it's the engagement of the readee that is the best part about the experience, and Christmas time / winter time is the best time to do so.
I wish I could relive that nostalgia of reading as a kid. (That's usually when it starts). I too was in that phase of just listening to a teacher read a book (My parents never read to me in English because I quickly raced ahead of them in English proficiency, although they did read to my much-younger sister Emily with Chinese accents) I quickly moved on from listening to books to absorbing the books myself, and then progressed to becoming a voracious reader, reading whatever I can get on hands on, and often whole series of books like the Choose Your Own Adventure book series, the Encyclopedia Brown mystery series, the Redwall series, then (yes, unfortunately I was caught up in) the Harry Potter series. My favorite and most memorable book as a kid was one "Maniac Magee" by Jerry Spinelli because I could so identify with the main character, a boy on his own moving around and misunderstood by those around him. It wasn't just English-language books neither; my parents encourage me to delve into Chinese literature, not just to learn about Chinese culture but to keep my Chinese language ability skills proficient, which I did and I owe a debt of gratitude to my parents and grandpa for to this day. But Chinese novels were quite lengthy, but I trudged on through the classics of "Journey to the West" and "The Romance of the Three Kingdoms." What I loved about those times was how engrossed I could become in a book, that I could lie down on the carpet or couch, crack open a new book, and just read for 3 hours, without doing anything else. My mind was focused and not polluted by outside information, desires, wants, annoyances, Iphone, internet. It was just ready to grip all the information about the world that was inside the book, and wouldn't release that grip until dinnertime, or whatever mandatory break I had to take. I myself wouldn't take it, I would continue reading because I wanted to. Even my mom thought I "read too much," and was at risk of being a "book nerd," which translates just as well into Chinese as kind of a dorky loser as it does in English.
Even in college, I could get absorbed in good books (I had a bit better taste by then and knew what I wanted). Instead of trying to chase women or adventure, I chased book highs.....I once sat on the lawn of the engineering quad at University of Illinois after taking the LSAT and read a book cover to cover while the sunset came over the campus, one of my best memories, ever, then when moving to California I read in the passenger's seat while my dad drove during our 2-day road trip. Quite an enjoyable experience.
Nowadays, though, books are far and few between, and I just can't get through them quickly enough, not being able to budget enough time for them. I literally can't afford to get trapped in those worlds of books anymore, unfortunately, despite still having the voracity to get through a good book (It needs to be book, can't be a junk romance novel). I think that's one of the regrets all adults get, is just not being able to cuddle up with a book, sit there for hours on end, and read a good book. One of the great delights of humankind.
Fantasize on,
Robert Yan
One of the best activities I've ever done is read books to children. Children's books are entertaining, charismatic, down-to-earth, easily understandable, usually contain cute characters, relates to kids, and more importantly, are SHORT and are within the attention span of a normal 5-to-10-year-old. It's like a Disney/ animated movie, always less than 90 minutes running time, get you out of there without dragging on (by the way, Finding Dory, not as good as it could have been, although some interesting aquarium-related creatures like the British-accent seal played by Idris Elba. It's really a joy to read to children, though, because kids are so ENGAGED with the books, they stare at the pictures like they've been absorbed into a different world and can't wait to turn to the next page of their adventure. They also don't have a doctor's appointment, have to go to work, or have to change their own kids' diapers, they can just be there and enjoy the reading of the book. Also, as an adult you can make all kinds of different voices to entertain the kids and even change specific words of a book to give creative license, so that's a bonus for the storyteller. But it's the engagement of the readee that is the best part about the experience, and Christmas time / winter time is the best time to do so.
I wish I could relive that nostalgia of reading as a kid. (That's usually when it starts). I too was in that phase of just listening to a teacher read a book (My parents never read to me in English because I quickly raced ahead of them in English proficiency, although they did read to my much-younger sister Emily with Chinese accents) I quickly moved on from listening to books to absorbing the books myself, and then progressed to becoming a voracious reader, reading whatever I can get on hands on, and often whole series of books like the Choose Your Own Adventure book series, the Encyclopedia Brown mystery series, the Redwall series, then (yes, unfortunately I was caught up in) the Harry Potter series. My favorite and most memorable book as a kid was one "Maniac Magee" by Jerry Spinelli because I could so identify with the main character, a boy on his own moving around and misunderstood by those around him. It wasn't just English-language books neither; my parents encourage me to delve into Chinese literature, not just to learn about Chinese culture but to keep my Chinese language ability skills proficient, which I did and I owe a debt of gratitude to my parents and grandpa for to this day. But Chinese novels were quite lengthy, but I trudged on through the classics of "Journey to the West" and "The Romance of the Three Kingdoms." What I loved about those times was how engrossed I could become in a book, that I could lie down on the carpet or couch, crack open a new book, and just read for 3 hours, without doing anything else. My mind was focused and not polluted by outside information, desires, wants, annoyances, Iphone, internet. It was just ready to grip all the information about the world that was inside the book, and wouldn't release that grip until dinnertime, or whatever mandatory break I had to take. I myself wouldn't take it, I would continue reading because I wanted to. Even my mom thought I "read too much," and was at risk of being a "book nerd," which translates just as well into Chinese as kind of a dorky loser as it does in English.
Even in college, I could get absorbed in good books (I had a bit better taste by then and knew what I wanted). Instead of trying to chase women or adventure, I chased book highs.....I once sat on the lawn of the engineering quad at University of Illinois after taking the LSAT and read a book cover to cover while the sunset came over the campus, one of my best memories, ever, then when moving to California I read in the passenger's seat while my dad drove during our 2-day road trip. Quite an enjoyable experience.
Nowadays, though, books are far and few between, and I just can't get through them quickly enough, not being able to budget enough time for them. I literally can't afford to get trapped in those worlds of books anymore, unfortunately, despite still having the voracity to get through a good book (It needs to be book, can't be a junk romance novel). I think that's one of the regrets all adults get, is just not being able to cuddle up with a book, sit there for hours on end, and read a good book. One of the great delights of humankind.
Fantasize on,
Robert Yan
Wednesday, December 14, 2016
Zoo Lights (動物園の明かり)
Peanut butter and jelly. Dinner and a movie. Hot coffee and marshmallows. Some things just go well together, and something about a light show at a zoo really pulls in my girlfriend and me. Continuing the theme from last post, Zoo lights at LA zoo was our first actual "defined" date experience, and this past weekend in celebration of that momentous time, we went to Zoo lights again, in a different city, but with similar spectacular results, in my opinion.
For some reason, zoo lights is really catching on in most large metropolitan cities in America: LA and Chicago for sure have one, and I saw on TV Boston had it. The premise is simple: put Christmas lights around in the outer parts of a zoo during the winter to attract customers, since no one goes to zoos in the winter, and the animals have to be relocated (imagine animals trying to survive a Chicago winter), but leave some indoor exhibits so that it still has a zoo feel. Also put up plenty of light displays that involve animals, including elephants, gorillas, all the fan favorites, and you got yourself a successful zoo lights show.
LA zoo, in its fashion of being inferior to other zoos, charged for admission last winter, and it didn't have a winter feel: 55 degrees in LA, but it did surround different areas nicely with colorful lights and music. Chicago's Lincoln Park Zoo really blew LA out of the water in that sense. First of all, free zoo: no admission, all comers welcome, and saves all the time taken to get tickets, go through the ticket area......when it's free, one just walks in. Chicago had a live polar bear living outdoors! Imagine that, a polar bear living in arctic conditions. Chicago had a ice cutting exhibition, with a professional ice cutter on a stage cutting animal shaped ice-blocks with a saw (I guess an ice saw?) The icing on top? It was snowing in Chicago during Zoo Lights, and not the blow-in-your-face, painful snow, the majestic, powdery snow that falls down slowly like you're on a set of a movie. Truly brings out the taste of winter.
I guess the biggest complaint is that it is COLD.....welcome to Chicago I guess. But to cure that, the zoo opened up several indoor exhibits with monkeys, birds, reptiles, etc. that one can duck into for a while just to get away from the zoo. Really soothing effect, being able to enjoy a warm room after spending it outside in icy conditions. There was also hot chocolate selling outside for a low, low price of.........$6 a cup. That's a.......wait for it, pyramid scheme.
Speaking of zoos, The Little Goat diner in West Loop, Chicago is superb. Very fine concoctions of food, serves breakfast, lunch, and dinner at all times. I don't usually endorse restaurants, but this really hit the spot after a long day of walking around in the snow.
For some reason, zoo lights is really catching on in most large metropolitan cities in America: LA and Chicago for sure have one, and I saw on TV Boston had it. The premise is simple: put Christmas lights around in the outer parts of a zoo during the winter to attract customers, since no one goes to zoos in the winter, and the animals have to be relocated (imagine animals trying to survive a Chicago winter), but leave some indoor exhibits so that it still has a zoo feel. Also put up plenty of light displays that involve animals, including elephants, gorillas, all the fan favorites, and you got yourself a successful zoo lights show.
LA zoo, in its fashion of being inferior to other zoos, charged for admission last winter, and it didn't have a winter feel: 55 degrees in LA, but it did surround different areas nicely with colorful lights and music. Chicago's Lincoln Park Zoo really blew LA out of the water in that sense. First of all, free zoo: no admission, all comers welcome, and saves all the time taken to get tickets, go through the ticket area......when it's free, one just walks in. Chicago had a live polar bear living outdoors! Imagine that, a polar bear living in arctic conditions. Chicago had a ice cutting exhibition, with a professional ice cutter on a stage cutting animal shaped ice-blocks with a saw (I guess an ice saw?) The icing on top? It was snowing in Chicago during Zoo Lights, and not the blow-in-your-face, painful snow, the majestic, powdery snow that falls down slowly like you're on a set of a movie. Truly brings out the taste of winter.
I guess the biggest complaint is that it is COLD.....welcome to Chicago I guess. But to cure that, the zoo opened up several indoor exhibits with monkeys, birds, reptiles, etc. that one can duck into for a while just to get away from the zoo. Really soothing effect, being able to enjoy a warm room after spending it outside in icy conditions. There was also hot chocolate selling outside for a low, low price of.........$6 a cup. That's a.......wait for it, pyramid scheme.
Speaking of zoos, The Little Goat diner in West Loop, Chicago is superb. Very fine concoctions of food, serves breakfast, lunch, and dinner at all times. I don't usually endorse restaurants, but this really hit the spot after a long day of walking around in the snow.
Friday, December 9, 2016
Dating my next door neighbor 跟隔壁邻居交往
In this blog's continuing series of Chinese/English parallel texts (one day I hope to do this in CJKE! Chinese Japanese Korean English) I tell the story of how I met/ started dating my wonderful girlfriend. Great memories!
你能跟我去油画课吗？
你能跟我去油画课吗？
我跟我女朋友的经历很有趣、很偶然性的遇会。我那时候住在我朋友
| |||
如此小明和我就变成邻居了。我平时很害羞，不太敢主动跟女生谈话
那时正好跟朋友报名去上个油画课，我朋友到最后说去不了了，又不
油画课是让大家画一块南瓜馅饼，代表美国十一月份敢恩节的传统。
到最后收盘时，大家欣赏互相的作平，大家对小明的画感觉很好，称
虽然我的画弄砸了，但对小明的感觉深刻了，她也觉得我们俩很谈的
那时正好跟朋友报名去上个油画课，我朋友到最后说去不了了，又不
油画课是让大家画一块南瓜馅饼，代表美国十一月份敢恩节的传统。
到最后收盘时，大家欣赏互相的作平，大家对小明的画感觉很好，称
虽然我的画弄砸了，但对小明的感觉深刻了，她也觉得我们俩很谈的
" Can you go to paint class with me?"
Meeting my wonderful girlfriend MJ was a very interesting, very chance encounter. At that time I lived at my friend's house, renting out one of his rooms. My friend's wife also invited her friend, MJ, to live in the room next to mine.
From then on MJ and I became neighbors/roommates. I'm usually pretty shy (as described in this blog previously) and not proactive about initiating conversation with ladies, and at the beginning MJ and I only talked when we all went out as group. Although MJ grew up in South Korea, she had lived in America for more than 10 years, went to college and graduate school, so her grasp of both American language and customs was great. She was smart and had elegant features, so I gradually started liking her.
At that time I had signed up for a paint class with my friend, but my friend said she couldn't go at the last second, and there was no refund on the ticket, so I had to find a replacement. I suddenly thought of MJ, as I could both get to know MJ more as well as avoid wasting a ticket, like getting two birds with one stone. So I asked MJ without telling her it was a date, but just, "Sorry, my friend couldn't make it, so would you like to go to paint class with me?" Luckily MJ was free, so we went together.
The painting at paint class was that of a pumpkin, representing America's November custom of Thanksgiving. There was a pro painter there to guide us. As a kid I had done some drawings, but just fooling around, nothing serious. MJ on the other hand confidently started to draw like she had done it so many times before, also mixing the paints together skillfully, concentrating on the painting as if no one else was around. My skill was obviously much lower, and the instructor had to come and help me a few times, lest I fall behind.
Towards the end near closing time, everybody enjoyed each other's work, and everyone really liked MJ's painting, praising it as a "real enough to eat." When they saw me they didn't say anything, maybe just to be polite and not give any criticism.
Although I failed at paint class, but my relationship with MJ blossomed, and we could talk more easily with each, and from that class on we developed our relationship, and the love continues even today, more than a year later.
Fantasize on,
Robert Yan
Thursday, December 8, 2016
Static Electricity 静電気
Every winter, an invisible enemy creeps into my life, making it hard for me to enjoy life, to live naturally. It takes no shape, but is omnipresent in all things. Its name? Static electricity, or "seidenki" in Japanese.
Static shock affects all parts of my life. Every time I touch anything, I have to be cognizant of its existence. It's like electroshock therapy- touch and get zapped. Like a psychological experiment gone wrong, static shock has caused me to become shy about touching things.The actual sensation is not that bad, and I certainly will live afterwards, it's just the literal, psychological shock of having to pull my hand back, as well as the dry crackling sound of electricity that makes me cringe.
In these dangerous times of static being at the height of its nefarious power, wood becomes my friend: I know I can depend on it to ground myself. Conversely, my worst fear is to be in all metal room surrounded by metal objects.
Worst times for static electricity:
1) kissing my girlfriend (generates shock when both of us have accumulated a lot of electrons)
2) touching my car door
3) touching the mouse at my workstation
4) touching the metal of a water fountain
5) grabbing the doorknob to enter a room.... It's worse than a horror film with suspenseful music, except the terrifying monster isn't behind the door, it's ON the door.
Static electricity exists in California, but it gathers its strength more in cold temperatures, which I'm currently suffering from in Chicago. Straight from google: winter, static electricity is worse due to a lack of air humidity, leading to a charge imbalance. It's a buildup of electrons, like evil spirits amassing to cause misery to the human race. It's a plague upon society and must be stopped. If I want to be known for one thing in this world, it's having put a stop to static electricity: there's gotta be an invention, an app, a pill that can be created to stop this menace. I don't know much about science, but can we raid those electron centers (like carpets, hair, and winter coats, goshdarn those wintercoats, I can feel the electrons gathering on them!) and disperse the electrons to stop static electricity at its root!
Fight on!
Fantasize on,
Robert Yan
Static shock affects all parts of my life. Every time I touch anything, I have to be cognizant of its existence. It's like electroshock therapy- touch and get zapped. Like a psychological experiment gone wrong, static shock has caused me to become shy about touching things.The actual sensation is not that bad, and I certainly will live afterwards, it's just the literal, psychological shock of having to pull my hand back, as well as the dry crackling sound of electricity that makes me cringe.
In these dangerous times of static being at the height of its nefarious power, wood becomes my friend: I know I can depend on it to ground myself. Conversely, my worst fear is to be in all metal room surrounded by metal objects.
Worst times for static electricity:
1) kissing my girlfriend (generates shock when both of us have accumulated a lot of electrons)
2) touching my car door
3) touching the mouse at my workstation
4) touching the metal of a water fountain
5) grabbing the doorknob to enter a room.... It's worse than a horror film with suspenseful music, except the terrifying monster isn't behind the door, it's ON the door.
Static electricity exists in California, but it gathers its strength more in cold temperatures, which I'm currently suffering from in Chicago. Straight from google: winter, static electricity is worse due to a lack of air humidity, leading to a charge imbalance. It's a buildup of electrons, like evil spirits amassing to cause misery to the human race. It's a plague upon society and must be stopped. If I want to be known for one thing in this world, it's having put a stop to static electricity: there's gotta be an invention, an app, a pill that can be created to stop this menace. I don't know much about science, but can we raid those electron centers (like carpets, hair, and winter coats, goshdarn those wintercoats, I can feel the electrons gathering on them!) and disperse the electrons to stop static electricity at its root!
Fight on!
Fantasize on,
Robert Yan
Monday, December 5, 2016
Health Insurance (健康保険)
Every month when I'm looking over my bills and try to figure out how in the world I spent so much money in just one short month, I notice a bunch of things: first, how much the cost of food is (it's not that a $5 sandwich there or a $30 dinner out is going to kill you, but all the little costs add up including snacks, drinks, buying for other people, etc. like little cuts to the body, it gets pretty hefty and literally costs an arm and a leg). Secondly, vacations can get pretty costly not just because of the flight fare, food, living accommodations, and activities on the vacation, but also because of the time missed from work (if you're an hourly worker like me who doesn't get paid if he doesn't report to work) PLUS the double cost of having one's home either rented out or bought. Third, that I don't even have a mortgage yet that would only increase these massive costs, and Fourth, how many administrative fees I pay that I don't even get much benefit out of that are a total waste of money.
Look, I get it, there are some costs associated with living in general, such as.......food. If I didn't have to eat I probably wouldn't spend the money to eat, but alas we're human beings with a large appetite and a 3 meals per day (roughly) ritual so that money's a fixed cost, and I AM getting some nourishment/enjoyment out of it. And even CA bar fees (for being an attorney), at least I'm getting some benefit from it, of being able to work as an attorney and enjoy my salary. Health insurance costs, however, are psychologically so damaging because once I spend the $250 or so per month, I get nothing out of it unless I go to the hospital. There's a strong, strong chance every month that I'm just giving money away, and for a relatively cheap guy like me, it's particularly irksome. Like I hem and haw sometimes about giving $100 to charity (and that's on the high side), but it's my decision to give, so I feel good about myself and can justify the cost because I feel there's a chance it might be used to help someone else who needs it, but then I'm forced to pay $250 per month for something, it just doesn't feel right. I get that maybe it's being used to help someone else in the system who's suffering from a disease that requires large medical bills and that it's part of the system in the US, much like social security is, but in both instances I have no guarantees that by the time I am old and need the benefits from those payments that those benefits will still be there. Ever since I was 26, when I was forcibly ripped away from the umbrella protection of my parents' health care plan (one of the good things about Obamacare),
The problem with health insurance in the US, as my wonderful girlfriend vents about sometimes, is that not only is it mandatory and expensive and comes out of the citizen's own pocket (unless you get it free from one's employer, which is factored into one's compensation), it also does less than other countries' insurance, which is universal health insurance. Universal health insurance is an unattainable fantasy at this point for the US in how much money that would have to come out of the budget or how much taxpayers would have to pay in taxes to fund that anyway, but at least give more benefits for the plans than just "we'll pay everything over $7,000, so basically major surgeries and transplants only." Oh and one free doctor's visit per year and free flu shot. Thanks (sarcasm). Japan is a country that has lots of insurance, life insurance, etc., but it has a universal health care system. The whole idea of healthcare being part of a "health insurance" system is pretty bizarre to me, healthcare should not be a "catastrophe situation" that requires insurance. I'll have to do more research, but this seems right in the category of one of the big....wait for it...pyramid schemes I always complain about.
Next time, I rant about other hidden fees in America such as "processing fee" for orders, tips paid to waiters sustaining a whole industry of people that America gets away with, parking fees, "city tax," and the massive quantities of money that comes out of my paycheck each week (including Medicare, something called OASDI, and State withholding for god knows what purpose) that DOESN'T EVEN INCLUDE HEALTHCARE Bottom line is I wish I could keep more of my money. My high school English teacher once said, most young people lean liberal/Democratic until they start working and feel differently about their money and earning money (in which case they don't want to get taxed out of everything anymore by big government spending). I now understand why he said that.
Fantasize on,
Robert Yan
Look, I get it, there are some costs associated with living in general, such as.......food. If I didn't have to eat I probably wouldn't spend the money to eat, but alas we're human beings with a large appetite and a 3 meals per day (roughly) ritual so that money's a fixed cost, and I AM getting some nourishment/enjoyment out of it. And even CA bar fees (for being an attorney), at least I'm getting some benefit from it, of being able to work as an attorney and enjoy my salary. Health insurance costs, however, are psychologically so damaging because once I spend the $250 or so per month, I get nothing out of it unless I go to the hospital. There's a strong, strong chance every month that I'm just giving money away, and for a relatively cheap guy like me, it's particularly irksome. Like I hem and haw sometimes about giving $100 to charity (and that's on the high side), but it's my decision to give, so I feel good about myself and can justify the cost because I feel there's a chance it might be used to help someone else who needs it, but then I'm forced to pay $250 per month for something, it just doesn't feel right. I get that maybe it's being used to help someone else in the system who's suffering from a disease that requires large medical bills and that it's part of the system in the US, much like social security is, but in both instances I have no guarantees that by the time I am old and need the benefits from those payments that those benefits will still be there. Ever since I was 26, when I was forcibly ripped away from the umbrella protection of my parents' health care plan (one of the good things about Obamacare),
The problem with health insurance in the US, as my wonderful girlfriend vents about sometimes, is that not only is it mandatory and expensive and comes out of the citizen's own pocket (unless you get it free from one's employer, which is factored into one's compensation), it also does less than other countries' insurance, which is universal health insurance. Universal health insurance is an unattainable fantasy at this point for the US in how much money that would have to come out of the budget or how much taxpayers would have to pay in taxes to fund that anyway, but at least give more benefits for the plans than just "we'll pay everything over $7,000, so basically major surgeries and transplants only." Oh and one free doctor's visit per year and free flu shot. Thanks (sarcasm). Japan is a country that has lots of insurance, life insurance, etc., but it has a universal health care system. The whole idea of healthcare being part of a "health insurance" system is pretty bizarre to me, healthcare should not be a "catastrophe situation" that requires insurance. I'll have to do more research, but this seems right in the category of one of the big....wait for it...pyramid schemes I always complain about.
Next time, I rant about other hidden fees in America such as "processing fee" for orders, tips paid to waiters sustaining a whole industry of people that America gets away with, parking fees, "city tax," and the massive quantities of money that comes out of my paycheck each week (including Medicare, something called OASDI, and State withholding for god knows what purpose) that DOESN'T EVEN INCLUDE HEALTHCARE Bottom line is I wish I could keep more of my money. My high school English teacher once said, most young people lean liberal/Democratic until they start working and feel differently about their money and earning money (in which case they don't want to get taxed out of everything anymore by big government spending). I now understand why he said that.
Fantasize on,
Robert Yan
Thursday, December 1, 2016
越冬 (How to Survive Winter in Chicago)
In Japanese, "Ettou" means going into hibernation, or going through the winter, and for the first time in about 8 summers, I'm going to be braving it through the Chicago cold. That's right, no more 70 degree December days in LA of going to the beach in a t-shirt and making runs. My world now (at least, the outside world) is all about heavy jackets, minimizing exposed skin surfaces, seeing my breathe in front of my face, the lake freezing over (all the boats at Navy Pier have been relocated for the winter), gloves, hugging my girlfriend really tight to keep both of us warm, etc. Even my work building makes changes for the winter, taking away the outside seats (who's gonna eat lunch outside in the freezing weather?) and installing winter decorations inside. December is here.
I'm by no means the biggest advocate of preparing for weather, but even a carefree guy like me gets knocked back into submission by the breeze and has to head back indoors for a jacket if I forgot one before stepping outside.
1.) find a gym to get exercise in. I tried running in 37 degree weather the other day. Didn't feel great but was braving it for a while running down the riverwalk (Yes, Chicago has a riverwalk now too, and one can view the majestic sight of the Trump Building while walking the path!) towards the lake, but then the lakefront breeze enveloped me in its icy grasp and I whimpered back home. I've already gained about 5 pounds this winter season, but don't want to gain anymore, so it's time for (GASP) treadmill time. I'm not a fan of treadmills.
2.) Get some shovels ready inside one's car, cuz there's a distinct chance you have to shovel yourself out if there's overnight snow and you parked outside (had this happen too much in the 16-18 phase).
3.) Have tissues on your person at all times.......no telling when your nose gets embarrassingly runny and have to wipe....
3a.) Ears- often forgot, but ever so sensitive to the cold, so much that they get red. Wear a sweatshirt, inner shit, or outer jacket, SOMETHING that has a hoodie, or a wool hat, or earmuffs, whatever, it's a worthy investment.
4.) Check weather every day. It's not gonna be 70-71-68-72 sunny all week, sudden shifts in weather and 45 degree feels a whole lot different than 25 degrees, especially when wind chill is accounted for.
5.) It's not all bad. With winter comes a lot of happy holidays like the just-past Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Year's, etc. One other nice thing is the first snowfall of the year, which annually has been something to look forward to when I was in college/ lived in Illinois. A beautiful sight and enough to people to go outside and catch a snowflake. Japanese people value it, too, calling the year's first snowfall 初雪. Just make sure that it's soft snow that's dropping and not sleet, hail, acid rain (probably not) or an array of other slushy solid precipitation. I got stuck in a hailstorm last week that pounded against my face. Not fun.
Fantasize on,
Robert Yan
結婚する
Marriage in America, as I imagine it is with most other countries, is a big deal. It supports a multi billon dollar industry of weddings (and as it turns out, other items such as wedding rings, wedding dresses, wedding videos, etc., etc.), court cases are decided based on what constitutes a marriage (is it a man and a woman only, or does it also count for man and a man, woman and a woman, penguin and an iguana, etc., etc.). There's also different religions and sects that recognize different numbers of partners, not just 1v.1 (personally, I think it'd be pretty tiring to have more than 1 spouse, but hey who am I to judge). Families are combined in a marriage but are unfortunately sometimes ripped apart due to marriage, marriage has always been the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow for those pursuing true love and an eternal soul mate, etc.
But for all that fuss about marriage, it can be an exceedingly simple process: people do it all the time because it's voluntarily and can be done almost any time, any place. The prototypical "shotgun wedding" in Vegas comes to mind where a couple meets for the first time and then decides to get married in a fit of spontaneity, which is allowed in the United States. It takes less time really to get married in most states (some states require blood tests, other paperwork, so I'm not sure) but at least in CA, it can realistically take under 20 minutes. Different courts around the state are set up at a moment's notice to accommodate couples, grant a marriage license (apparently you have to get state permission to get married, for a modest fee) of course, and using that license get married by an official-looking, wardrobe wearing government official licensed by the state to perform wedding ceremonies in an official-looking, beautiful scenery-painted-on-the-walls-
I know all of this because my friend did his wedding at the Ventura County Court and saved about $30,000+ that it usually costs to do a big wedding, so there's the extravagant, go all-out, once-in-a-lifetime mindset v. a "it's-just-a-formality" mindset. It really varies from person to person whether marriage might be the most important thing in one's life (extreme) and everything has to be perfect or the "let's go pick up a marriage certificate," and that wide range also applies to what marriage means for different people: is it a contract, is it a guarantee of love, is it a checkmark on a piece of paper, is it a financial transaction, is it an obligatory ceremony to please one's parents, etc., etc., marriage means so many different things. One just hopes that their idea of marriage comes true and succeeds in doing what they set out to make it.
Fantasize on,
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)