Wall 壁 (kabe)

In contrast to the last 2 posts, some very current news: President Donald Trump today has started the process of constructing a wall at the US-Mexico border to keep illegal immigrants out of America, fulfilling one of the more famous (or infamous) campaign promises while he was running for President. As misguided and metaphorical as this literal wall would be (and far away in the future, it'd probably take years and probably would be completed long after Trump is President, it's the cost of a wall that is concerning: at least 12 billion dollars, much more if the "wall" is actually a complete wall the likes of the Great Wall in China. If it's partly wall, partly fence, it's projected to be 14 billion dollars (BILLION with a B) and if a complete wall it'd be upwards of 30 to 40 billion dollars. Where does that money come from? Not from Mexico despite President Trump's consistent stance on that issue; it'll be from the taxpayers, and of all things in the world that a government can spend money on, "The Wall" should not be it.

"Alternative facts" is a big thing now, taken from Trump's campaign adviser's mouth trying to explain about the administration's interpretation of events that differ from the media's portrayal. I think Keith Olbermann put it correctly: imagine if people used "alternative facts" in their everyday life, like driving on whichever side of the road they pleased, or spent money they didn't have, or just flat out lied to people. In November after Trump's election I was on the side of "let's slow down and respect the election results and give Trump a chance," but man oh man 4 days in it's hard to see that as the right course. There's just something wrong with a country that's run by a man who gets opposed by at least half the country every time he does anything, and worries about his own self image and own ego before the country (he ran for president, most suspect, to boost his own ego, not because he could do a better job for the country). Still hope we're all wrong about Trump and he has some sort of change of behavior/change of attitude/change of heart, but not likely, and the chances of him

The stock market did break the proverbial "wall" of 20,000 today, despite (and not because of, I think) what Trump is doing, although there's certainly an argument that the wealthiest people in the country are investors who are getting expected tax breaks and investing it into the market.

"The Great Wall" is a movie coming out February 17 in the United States starring Matt Damon about some sort of fictional world in which the wall is there to defend against some sort of dragon-like archaic beasts.....we're taught not to judge a book by its cover or a movie from its plotline/trailer, but it doesn't look great and takes away from the rich culture of the wall, IMO. There's a lesson on human vanity and a tyrannical ruler, the Qin emperor of the Qin dynasty who built the wall based on the hard labors of his people, and they didn't have forklifts and heavy machinery and advanced technology back then. That could be a lesson in today's world about not caving to the whims of a ruler who has too much power in his hands using it to further his own agenda or further his exploits of building big structures (like the Trump building) to put his own brand on it. Not surprised if the "Wall" if ever completed would have TRUMP labeled all over it.

Fantasize on,

Robert Yan

Sushi-making experts (寿司職人)

Part 2 of my dissection of interesting news stories around the world! 

1.) Japan has always been very picky about who prepares its sushi, with sushi "experts" training for many years (7-10 is what I've heard, almost more time than it takes to develop a capable NFL quarterback) to be certified to prepare sushi. First of all, REALLY? I don't see what the big fuss is about sushi, as it just seems like you get the fish, you cut the fish, you roll the fish, you add rice. There doesn't seem anything tremendously magical about it to me, but Japan places a heavy emphasis on getting all the details correct. Anyway, the sushi preparation industry has traditionally been dominated by men, but recently a wave of female sushi preparers have arisen. It's a great sign for equality, especially for male-dominated hierarchies in the Asian countries like Japan, Korea. Unfortunately in America it's kinda going opposite, as Donald Trump has antagonized most women in America which prompted the Women's March yesterday, where women in large populations all across the country demonstrated their distaste for the newly inaugurated president by marching and holding up funny signs like "You're Fired!" or "This Pussy grabs back," etc. 

2.) Gusiness's world records are set every year, and it's becoming wackier and wilder every year. I know the University of Irvine holds the record for largest dodgeball game ever at like 20,000 or so participants, and in 2015 the record was set for number of people gathered together to howl at the moon. (464 people to act like werewolves). It started as a way to record the extremes in life, and now it's become an extreme way to make history, always thinking of creative ways to do things. I used to buy the Guiness World Records each year that it came out, with wacky pictures and silly things that people do. Maybe one day I or some group will hold the Guiness World Record for something...........like the most times ever woken up by someone else snoring? 

3.) A woman in Kuwait filed for divorce and instead of citing "irreconcilable differences" with her husband (the most common reason given and most general, vague to avoid hurt feelings, more questions) she cited that she couldn't tolerate her husband's table manners anymore, saying the final straw was that he used pieces of bread to scoop up peas that he had spilled onto the table and ate them. Dare I say, that didn't seem......too bad? This isn't a problem for us, but I could see myself getting upset enough to divorce someone because of their constant snoring. 

4.) Cupcake ATM- there's one in Chicago. It's very dangerous for one's waistline. 

5.) Big Gulp, 7-11, Jamba Juice, basically any kind of XL drink (extra large drink) is really bad for one's health based on the amount of sugar they put into it. A solid structure like a cookie or brownie isn't great but at least one can gauge how many calories/ how much sugar is in one based on how it looks. XL drinks, however, are liquid and it's apparently shocking how much sugar one needs to put into to get the sweet sugary taste. One of those drinks is like consuming 3 bags of fat, which from a visual standpoint is much more alarming and terrifying. On a personal note, I started changing shape and losing weight ever since I stopped drinking sweet drinks (soda, gatorade, and my favorite, the Razzmatazz from Jamba Juice), so I believe. Basically, anything that tastes good........is probably bad for one's health, unfortunately. 

Fantasize on, 

Robert Yan 

Deserted Island (無人島)

Recently, I've been reading and consuming a lot of news: Wall Street Journal, CNN, NHK (Japanese news), etc., etc. I even fell for the dreaded (wait for it) FAKE NEWS! after I clicked on a shady link! Urg. Turns out, despite all the gloom and news of doom and its instantaneous nature (24-hour news cycle, things come and go very quickly), news can still be very very fun, and there's still a lot of interesting things in the world that capture my attention. One of these is News in Slow Japanese, a website I swear by that captures real human-interest news stories......in Japanese. Right up my alley. One of the worst parts of a short attention span and not thoroughly reading articles, though, is I forget them after a day or so and constantly need to refresh my memory. I feel like my grandpa (who watches the news and immediately forgets its contents). Here are a selection of them that I have thoughts about:


1.) One of the news articles was about how many deserted islands there are in the world, especially near Japan. People can now rent out a deserted island for themselves and spend their vacation on the island. Kind of an exotic idea until you realize there might be wild animals there, there are no hotels, no restaurants, no civilization........it's just a huge camping trip with limits (you can't leave the island). Something about islands, though, captures people's imagination: think "Castaway" and why Survivor the reality show is so popular (and still popular, going on its 38?th season). Just don't lose your way home (be sure your boat doesn't sink) and wind up like Tom Hanks.

2.) On a flight in China that was delayed indefinitely, passengers were getting irritated and causing trouble until a concert broke out! Apparently, members of the Philadelphia Orchestra were among the passengers, and they brought their instruments on board, gave an impromptu concert. Please, please, please have this happen on my boring Southwest flights one time! Beats the neverending line to the bathroom, the bad flight attendant jokes, and free peanuts to pacify the crowd. As an amateur musician myself, that's a great idea for the musicians to put their talents to good use, the purest form of music (and the reason for its inception): to entertain the masses, without financial incentive.

3.) One high class French restaurant was accused by its former employee of declining service to ugly customers, or at least sitting less attractive customers in the darker-lit areas of the restaurant while seating better-looking patrons in the well-lit and central areas of the restaurant. Also, the former employee was told by management to turn customers away based on attractiveness even if the restaurant had plenty of seating left. Really, really dishonest but not illegal: restaurants and bars reserve the right to refuse service to anyone, as it's a private establishment and the owner could choose not to take your money. Really bad business practice though, and certainly very risky due to today's internet society and Yelp and whatnot. For some businesspeople (like TRUMP, who got inaugurated today, btw) this might even be a smart strategy: it's an exclusive-kind of restaurant anyway, it serves the rich and famous, and might bolster the restaurant's image as only for the elite and attract the type of people who they want to attract anyway. Hmmmm.....

4.) Speaking of food, I never realized it but the human taste buds detect 4 types of taste: sweet, salty, sour, and bitter. That's it. Huh. But apparently, there's a rare 5th type of taste: umami, which I've never really experienced (always saw the ads in LA about the Umami Burger, but never tried it). I'm guessing it's not THAT good, or everyone would be raving about it/ insisting they have it. It's a tough call between the top 2 tastes for me, sweet or salty. It really depends on where and when: sweet seems like a summer thing to have (and able to work off later,), salty seems like an elegant sort of dinner, that one at a high-falootin' restaurant might have.

Fantasize on,

Robert Yan

Apple (りんご)

It took me a long time, almost 30 years of my life, but I've come to full realization of something fundamentally simple: human bodies can talk. I'm not just talking about the sounds bodies make, for example, grumbling when food needs to go into the body, and yes, grumbling when food needs to go OUT of the body (and you need to go to the restroom), and the body talks while sleeping (see last post on snoring). One's body is like one's cranky boss at the office: when all is going well, the body doesn't say much, you get no feedback, just enjoy those times. When someone's going wrong, though, the body will be quick to send complaints, customer surveys, make noise, cry like a baby, make extravagant demands, etc., etc.

One of the most obvious signs the body makes is regarding food: the body responds well to certain foods, poorly to others. Certainly bad food is superior to no food, at which point the body just presses the off button and shuts down, never willing to do anything else ever again. However, good food (like apples!) will make the body a lot happier than bad food. I can feel it in my daily life, how I enjoy it more after having an apple, how I can run faster, have more energy. Feed it oily and unhealthy food, and the body behaves like a recalcitrant teenager: the mind can try to get it to get up out of bed and get a job as many times as it wants, but the teenager isn't gonna be willing, and it's gonna make it hard on you, telling your mind STOP! STOP! STOP! until it finally convinces the mind to do what it wants, if only out of pure frustration. That's why doctors probably say having an apple a day is a good idea, and it's just a good policy to do so.

That's why I've finally decided to listen to what my body is telling me to do, rather than go against the grain a lot of times and keep forcing it "cuz I'm a tough guy."

Other signs of the body telling you what to do, or at least strongly hinting:

1.) If I don't blink enough at my computer, my eyes start to get uncomfortable. Not painful or anything, but just dry...not enough blinks to allow for proper hydration.

2.) If you keep nodding off at work or during the day, it means you didn't get good enough sleep the previous night. Try getting better sleep, or monitor if you didn't

3.) If your pee is too yellow, you need to drink more water. Human beings need to drink about 8 cups of water a day. I'm the biggest water guy around, and even I most times don't reach that amount.

4.) When your shoulder/ some other body part hurts while playing dodgeball, probably stop throwing with that arm for awhile-- anyone who's ever watched a baseball game can tell a pitcher who's hurt trying to keep throwing and then eventually we find out he has a significant injury and needs surgery.

5.) If you're supposed to go to the dentist..........DON'T GO TO THE DENTIST. It's a fabrication to have people go to doctors so frequently (twice a year) Unless your mouth is bleeding all the time, then do go see a dentist.

Keep listening to your body!

Fantasize on,

Robert Yan

Snoring (鼾 いびき)

There are many noises that the human body makes that are annoying, disturbing, distracting, grotesque, and even horrifying. Most of these are bodily functions including burping, farting, hiccuping, etc., some are voluntary (snapping, biting fingernails, singing very poorly, yelling), some are aided by other objects, like running one's nails through the blackboard, sound of people chomping down on food in their mouth, but the No. 1 ranked, undisputed world champion of bad human sounds is........(drumroll) snoring.

Snoring is involuntarily for those who do it as it happens while sleeping and everyone sleeps, but it's almost as if the snorer (offender who snores) is doing it purposely. It's paradoxic that the snorer never has to be subject to his own snoring, as he or she will stop snoring once they wake up to listen. That's what it makes it all the more irresponsible for a snorer to be in the presence of people, know that they themselves will snore, and not take any prophylactic action or remedial action about it. It's important for those close to these offending snorers (friends and family, loved ones, etc.) to inform them immediately of their transgressions and for the sake of humanity do something about the snoring.

Snores come in all different sizes, from small, rhythmic snores with a steady cadence to dissonant, cacophonous thundering that pounds into the very essence and being of the snoree (one who is subjected to other person's snoring). These snores can literally be heard outside in the next room, maybe the next county, and they resonate differently: it's a wave of sound with a rising action action leading to a climax of epic sound proportions, then drifts away, only to come back seconds later just as fierce, just as demanding on an innocent bystander's ears, like a wave slamming into the coast of the Pacific Ocean, drifting back, and then coming back harder than ever.  I have no solid evidence to support this, just anecdotal evidence, but the loudest snores are large, heavyset men, with breathing problems. Sleep apnea, I've read, has something to do with it, but I'm never heard any women snore as loudly as the worst offending men.

There's really natural about the sound of snoring, neither, it seems primal, like that of an animal growling. I actually wonder sometimes if it's an evolutionary tactic passed on over the years to protect people from being attacked by wild animals/ enemies while sleeping, to ward them off pretending to be a dangerous being, even while sleeping. Many snores certainly have startled me awake,

Of course, as you might suspect, I've recently been subjected to some of the worst offenses of snoring given my sleeping situation. NOT my lovely gf MJ, who rarely snores but has a nice, cute snore that doesn't even raise the decibel level even if I'm right next to her, but some savages in a dormitory whose snores would wake the dead. It might be more frustrating too that I've been told I don't really snore, that the worst I get is a heavy breathing, so I'm not giving off any negative externalities, I'm being considerate of others. When I do get woken up in the middle of the night because of someone's snoring and I think of the deprivation of a good night's sleep and the forced abandonment of a great dream I was having, I certainly have murderous thoughts of the offender, or the thought of smothering their snores with a pillow, dumping a bucket of water over them, or at the very least waking them up from what seems like joyous slumber (given the heavy snoring) that they've just deprived me of. If only death stares at the general area of the snorer could stop the snoring, I would have had a lot more sleep and not cared as much about this epidemic gripping the world.

Snorers out there, I apologize, but please be responsible when you're in a room with other people. Do the right thing. Fix the snoring.

Fantasize on,

Robert Yan

Bathroom (お手洗い)

In this day and age, what kind of people can use which restroom has become a major issue. I, as usual, can see both sides of the issue: conservatives don't want men (or people who have male anatomy/ perceived as men) going into a women's restroom for obvious reasons, this has been a standard established over time and the whole reason restrooms are separate, but liberals believe those who identify with both sexes can be allowed to use whichever restroom they identify with. It's a tricky issue and certainly not one that trumps national security, especially for a straight male like myself (just keep on going to the men's bathroom), but for some people it's their No. 1 Priority. I'm here, however, to talk about a more universal topic: bathroom etiquette. My girlfriend is very picky about which kind of bathroom she uses, the condition of the toilet, where it is, how many people use it, if it's in a public place, how many stars the hotel where the bathroom is located has, whether the seat is up or down, etc., etc. Up until now I've been slow to sympathize with her, probably because I'm a man and we can pee anywhere. The more I use public restrooms however, the more I can see her perspective. Geez, some of these restrooms can get pretty dirty quickly.

First of all, in a tall office building there should be more than one set of restrooms on each floor. I understand the plumbing is difficult and there are architectural/ engineering limitations to setting up restrooms, and restrooms are not a high priority, but in the office buildings where I've worked at, where there's easily 100 people working every day there, 50 of each gender, there should be more than one restroom that has just 3 "stalls," 2 urinals. There's no set formula of course on how many people there should be per spaces in the restroom, but there's gotta be some sort of limitations. When there's a line to use the restroom at the

I totally get why in movies people put toilet paper all around the rim of the toilet bowl now. I'm not OCD, but even I get grossed out sometimes by what goes on in there. Conversely, I try my best to do my part to keep the toilet clean, but I know nothing's perfect.

My girlfriend makes an excellent point: for anatomy reasons, men should only pee standing up into urinals (where there are sides and "guardrails" to contain the range, and NOT stand up to urinate in one of the toilet bowls, ESPECIALLY if it's a unisex restroom. It's just not fair for the girls.

Don't talk while standing next to a guy while peeing, unless they're your close friend and you're absolutely sure they're ok with being talked to/at while in the bathroom. Let's just make that a rule, put that up on signs, make it a universal rule.

Remember to FLUSH THE TOILET after using. Very shocking for the next person to walk in on.

The 3-star hotel or higher rule my gf adheres to has some merit: something's just off about 2-star hotels, from showers not working right, some traces in dark corner, the smell, it just seems like a lack of resources devoted to make it as clean as possible.

Airport restrooms have a LOT of volume go through especially after long flights people finally being able to use the restroom, but to me it seems like there's enough of a regular cleaning to make it tolerable, and after a 4+ hour flight using any restroom can seem like a godsend, especially due to the cramped and wobbly nature of most airplane restrooms. I forgot to add on the 10 people you meet on the Southwest flight, the guy who hogs the restroom when there's 2 restrooms on a flight with 150 people on board.

Next class: restrooms at public parks/ public libraries. I used to take pride in being able to use the restroom ANYWHERE, but unfortunately even I've had to set some boundaries. In large urban areas like LA and Chicago, there's just too many homeless people who take advantage of these public facilities for free water/washing, and those public facilities aren't going to devote resources to cleaning them all the time, so it just gets worse and worse. I can't imagine being a lady and having to sit on one of those toilets, the most I can do is use one of the urinals standing up and make sure no part of my body is touching anything except air.

Fantasize on,

Robert Yan

手袋 (Gloves)

I heard a very interesting theory today, that if a man gives his girlfriend/ fiance/ wife a pair of gloves, it's a good sign because that means he wants those gloves to be there to keep her hands warm even if he's not there. Very romantic, even I "fawned" a little bit at that thought. I've never thought about that, and I guess I don't really know the symbolic meaning behind gifts, other than the most obvious ones, like maybe deodorant = hinting that you smell kinda bad, or giving

See, to me, giving presents has always been an exercise in what utility someone might have for that gift, which is probably why I am bad at giving gifts to others: I'm always thinking, "they're not gonna need that!" Because it's what I would think, I impose that thought process on my potential recipients, and so I often don't wind up getting anything, or just wind up giving a gift card or anything. I've never thought about any symbolism about gifts I received, so I don't try to put any implicit meaning behind the gifts I give....like if I get or give a sweater, I'm assuming it's to keep the recipient warm. The glove thing totally altered my mindset, and now I'm rethinking all the gifts I've ever gotten in the past, to see if there was any hidden messages in them.

Giving gifts, especially around Christmas time, is such a chore for me. First, I don't know what to give people, and secondly, I don't like the pressure of receiving something and having to kind of like it. Maybe it makes me a scrooge, but I think Christmas is just a commercial holiday that was invented to boost the retail industry and get us poor consumers to buy stuff we don't need, and at double the rate because once you get a gift from someone else, you have to reciprocate and buy something else neither person needs, and then it becomes a vicious cycle of just trying to seem like a nice person by buying gifts for others. I would much rather go to a restaurant, and pay for different meals on a consistent basis and show my appreciation that way in an immediate, fill-a-need, utilitarian way rather than just lump sum get someone a gift

It's a paradox too: children can make a list of things that they want Santa to get them and adults can pick out stuff to (spoiler alert) act like Santa and give to the kids, but as adults we're supposed to just "know" or at least pick up hints here and there about what someone MIGHT want, and make an educated guess and pick out something. And of course the adult who gets the gift that you guessed they'd like is never going to say they DIDN'T like it, so you're left never knowing if what you got was a good gift, and everything just gets lost in the cycle of politeness and "it's the thought that counts." Sure the thought counts and has symbolic value, but since you spent some money on the gift, don't you want it to have some utility?

I guess I'm traumatized, but the best gift I ever gave, I thought, was a guitar for my sister who liked music, and I thought it'd be something cool for her to have before she went to college. Teenagers love guitars, right? My sister opened it up once, tried it, said her hands didn't fit, and the guitar's just been siting there by its lonesome ever since. And my Christmas giving hasn't been very inspired since then.

Btw, if anyone might one day get me a present, gloves are always useful for me and symbolic now.

Fantasize on,

Robert Yan