Flies and Butterflies (苍蝇, ハエ, 파리 and 蝴蝶, 蝶, 나비)

Every once in a while MJ and I will be annoyed by an unwelcome houseguest or 2: the fly. Not sure how it gets in since we have all the windows sealed and doors shut, maybe flies follow us home from the outside, but once they're in they make themselves well known, buzzing around the home like they own the place and whizzing by our ears as if taunting us that we can't catch them. And it's true, it's really hard to catch them at their speed while flying around, but if they land and pause for a little bit, it's a different story. When I was a kid living in suburban Illinois I made a habit of killing flies in our home, getting whatever piece of paper was closest to my hand and swatting the flies as they landed. Maybe certain flies have evolved, or different regions of America have different flies: the ones MJ and I deal with seem bigger, faster, and just a tad smarter: they don't land in convenient places for us to swat them, and they sense our hand movements just a nanosecond because it comes crashing down upon them. I even tried to anticipate their escape path and swat away from where they are to where I anticipate them to be, but flies sometimes can fly away from where their heads are pointing towards. I'm not sure why I have such a bloodlust for killing flies: they're actually pretty harmless, as long as you don't put food out for them to infect. MJ doesn't like them because they're around dirty things and don't want them to touch our food; fair point, but they definitely can't sting or bite or cause any pain, something that can't be said about mosquitos and/or other creatures that can get into the home. I think it might be a bit of OCD too: something just seems off when the home has a fly in it, like something stuck in our teeth that we need to extract, a pimple on an otherwise blemish-free face, a literal "fly in the ointment" as the idiom goes which actually comes from a Bible phrase from Ecclesiastes about fly ruining something otherwise perfect. The Bible, turns out, is the source of a lot of vocabulary and phrases that we still use today. Breaking Bad even had a whole bottle episode with Jesse and Walt in the meth lab trying to excise a fly from the lab, a kind of metaphor for their relationship. Butterflies, on the other hand, are the exact opposte of flies, despite having its name in their name. MJ and I went to a botanical garden today and most gardens have a butterfly preserve or some sort of hothouse/greenhouse indoor component for when the winter months come rolling in. The butterflies were free-roaming, and it just put us into such a better mood than the flies. Butterflies are like the calm classical orchestra concert to the heavy metal flies or "Ride of the Valkyries," butterflies just want to be left alone and flutter up to you unassumingly, not making any noise exact the tiny pitter-patter of beating their wings. They have such exquisite patterns on their wings that we forget that the center of their bodies look kind of like house flies, they just survived through evolution through their beautiful wings, and now human beings cultivating them, whereas flies survive through sheer will of crowding into people's houses, surviving on other organisms' junk. It'd be so easily to kill a butterfly just by clapping your hands around them, yet they're so precious no one in the butterfly house even thought of doing something like that. There's a reason there are no houses full of flies (maybe iguanas or frogs would get a kick out of that though). The relationship between flies and butterflies is kind of symbolic of human life too (I always try to relate it to myself, selfish human that I am ). Some people are born butterflies, some people are born flies. Everybody just naturally gravitates towards butterflies and they can do no wrong, they're like gods' gifts to the world and they act like it, just going about their day as they please without worry of predators, they become soft. Flies, on the other hand, get no positive attention for others, they're just on their own to survive, yet they still manage to survive and make a living out of it. There's something admirable about it; it's not like they can just turn into a butterfly, and they didn't ask to be flies, they were just born that way. Maybe something us humans should consider at least when treating other human beings. As for actual flies though? No mercy if you've entered the Yan household! You know that phrase "wouldn't hurt a fly!" that does not apply to me.

National Blood Donor Day

TIL that there's a national blood donor day, every June 14. I would probably NOT go to donate blood or platelets on that day, as it's probably packed to the gills with willing donors. I also learned today that there's a man named Mark Vinson who's trying to donate platelets in all 50 states.... he already completed the task of donating blood in all 50 states this year! Missed the video. It's the kind of story that would have went more viral in something like.....2008, when one man went around the country doing "50 jobs in 50 states" and got on CNN for the interesting idea. In 2025, though, with so much more content and Youtubers and streamers and content creators, and people not caring about the news as much, it got a few thousand views on Youtube and an Alaska Airlines promotional spot. Sigh.....that's the state of the world: people will jump all over a story about Bad Bunny performing at the Super Bowl or celebrity gossip or the latest Taylor Swift album (Life of a Showgirl) or the latest ICE raid video, the good stories about humankind go unnoticed; good people doing good things don't get as much attention as someone seeking attention doing stupid things. In Mark Vinson's case, he's been donating blood and platelets for 37 years, he's an ambassador for the American Red Cross, he's encouraging other people to donate. I wish I came up with this idea; I almost did the 50 jobs in 50 states challenge in 2011 after law school when I couldn't find a job; it really ties together my love of visiting new places and my (wouldn't say love) my commitment to donating and doing something good for the world. So far in my blood donation journey I've donated in 6 different states and various different cities, and I used to seek out new donation places around L.A. and other cities I lived in temporarily just to check out new areas of the city. So I envy Mark Vinson and the life that lets him go to various states on business and otehr occasions especially with a family. Some of those smaller population states can be tough, and have less occasion to go to Montana, Idaho, North Dakota.......he even made it to Alaska and Hawaii, where "blood donation" is not one of the first things to come to mind about what to do there. (But that actually make it more important to donate if there are less donors there). The logistics of going to a new place is also tough: transportation is one thing, but also learning the new rules of the donation place, getting to know the nurses, finding out if there's a vein whisperer or not.....blood donation anyone can do, but platelets: you migth want a familiar face doing both arms. I think the best thing that American Red Cross does in getting repeat donors is NOT to keep spamming me with phone calls and texts about the "critical shortage" of donors and the free shirt giveaways, hoodies (although those are nice), I can get equivalent quality ones for $20 or so and not be forced to take an extra large shirt is they track your donations for you, so you can look back at your whole donation history and where you've been, how often you did it, where the blood went to, what your hematocrit and other health signs are (A1c tests for diabetes, etc.) It gives the donor a log, a ritual, and gives people like Mark Vinson a history of their life, where they've been to, where they might still want to go, that you matter in this world and others notice your sacrifice. So often in today's world our accomplishments go unnoticed: I paid my mortgage this month, yay! There will be one for next month, or at work bosses don't acknowledge your work, or you let someone in on the highway but they give no acknowledgment of your kindness. Instead selfish people who do relatively dumb things get likes and views on Youtube. It's frustrating and can be ungratifying in this "only attracted to cool stuff" world. It's valuable when someone pays attention, and that's likely why American Red Cross can get repeat donors like me. Even though they get money and have an incentive to recruit you too, at least they let you know someone's keeping track. I still won't go in to donate on National Blood Donor Day though.

Recharge Battery (电池充电, 배터리 충전)

Last week I was caught in one of the most dire situations imaginable in today's modern world: being away from home with a cell home that was out of battery. Seems inconceivable, but a confluence of issues contributed to my battery situation: No charging stations on the train to the airport, not enough time to charge my phone in a socket at the airport before getting on the plane, no charging port ON THE PLANE (thanks United Airlines) and being delayed on the flight for an hour sitting on the tarmac (by the way, tarmac is a word created from the 2 materials in its name, tar and macadam), and finally, THE RENTAL CAR I BOOKED DID NOT HAVE AN OLDER CHARGER, just the newer USB-C charging port that any versions of Apple iPhone 15 and newer have.......I have the iPhone 14 Pro, which I got in late 2022 but might as well be from the Triassic Period before the wheel was invented, and I couldn't charge in the car while driving, which I was counting on. Turns out life is difficult without technology, and the romantic idea of driving cross-country with just a car and a full tank of gas is not practicable if you're still living in the 20th century phone-wise. I really don't like relying so heavily on technology and batteries to save me since I like to be all-natural and free, but that kind of living hits a snag when your ability to use the magic wand in your hand appears. The modern smartphone really shouldn't be called a "phone," such an outdated use of the term because no one really calls anyone anymore, it should be the anything device because it can get you anything you want: it acts as a wallet, paying for anything, you can get a car to come to your exact location and pick you up in less than 5 minutes almost anywhere in the world, food arrives anytime, and you can watch any movie or show that's available for streaming from anywhere in the world. Just as long as you charge your battery! MJ and I are making some decisions on baby furniture and what to buy....she seems calm and collected, maybe from taking classes discussing healthcare for the baby, but I'm a little stressed and overwhelmed at the coming storm, no matter how many Youtube videos we watch of influencers and "certified pediatricians" smiling and telling us it's going to be OK.....one mother apparently had a baby that slept from 8PM to 7AM through the night almost starting from brith. That is probably the dream scenario, dream baby, legendary baby you only hear stories about but never have met, like the Loch Ness monster. I suspect we'll get a well-behaved baby, and between MJ and I we both sleep pretty well, so maybe we'll get lucky too, but so much of what to prepare for depends on the baby: what they'll wear, if they like baths or not, if they like being in a bassinet or crib, if they sleep well with the lights dimmed or in total darkness, just so many variables, they're so diverse just like human beings are. In real life some people would never consider taking a flight to another city in the morning and coming back in the same day without even staying a night in that city, but that's what I've done and enjoy doing now. That's kind of the beauty of it, we don't know. I suppose we might look back on these pre-baby as the "good ol' days," not knowing what we will get and enjoying our pre-baby life without the constant stress of being responsible for another human being. I felt a similar burden the summer before law school way back in 2008, knowing there was so much to do coming up and I was entering another phase of my life with unknown variables and things that would totally change me as a person, looking forward to those changes as a natural part of life and moving up a level, but also desperately clinging on to the last vestiges of the life that we have now that's all things considered a very good, comfortable life: I could do this forever if given a choice, but the high-risk, high-reward endeavor of having a child makes life so many more flavorful, like variety being the slice of life (and apparently, bread is the staff of life, just learned that today). I need this variety in life to make life worth living, and instead of hardcore recreational drugs or getting a dog, or taking on a second career, traveling the world, something else, I have chosen the more traditional path of having a baby. Maybe it will be very difficult and very cranky. But maybe it'll be like that fast charger (instead of the slow charger I brought with me) I needed on last week's flight: Give me a boost in enjoyment and satisfaction and recharge my outlook on life.