People smoking all the time! If you thought Vegas casinos had a lot of people, try any street corner in London!
Shakespeare- lots of influences on contemporary English! Such famous idioms as dead as a doorknob, all the world is a stage, — all things Shakespeare can be found at The Shakespeare Globe in London.
Wicked- excellent story line- surprised Disney didn’t pounce on a story like this. A girl (!) Disney’s been focusing on female protagonists recently- who is born green and not like everyone else, discovering magical powers and having a comical friend- truly a script that was made for disney. Wicked was just one of the places around The West End that one could go to enjoy plays- Hamilton, Les Mis, Mamma Mia, and Lion King (Disney!) were all options!!!! As a high school student as part of my duties at the orchestra I would be in “the pit” playing music for the play the drama club put on every year, and it’s a pretty neat experience.... the first 5 times practice. By the time the performance rolled around I would be dreading it and just phoning it in, especially if there were 3 different performances on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday or something. Props to the performers and musical talent playing behind the scenes.
For years since my adult life, If there was one last bastion of hope for restaurants on my eyes, it was that they provided water free of charge. But guess what, NOT IN LONDON! We found out the hard way that even the most plain vanilla drink, water, had a price sigh. Not a good look, London.
But at lead the museums and galleries are free, right? Yea they are, but there’s a sign posted every 500 feet urging you to donate 5 pounds. And some “volunteer” pushers who make you feel like a jerk if you don’t. And special exhibitions that charge if you want the full experience of the museums.
People in London need to figure out if they walk on the left or the right. I know cars are on the left, so that’s been figured out, but walking and seeing people approach from the other side was always a guessing game of which way to stay on, narrowly averting an accident or collision each time.
Wednesday, December 19, 2018
Ichaicha in London Part 1
Name of trip: Icha Icha in England
Previous trips: Ten or so hours in Taiwan (honeymoon 2017)
snowless in Seattle (December 2017)
honeymooning in Hawaii (honeymoon 2017)
scorching in St. Louis (summer 2017 wedding)
Weekend at The Met (New York 2017)
Dont Let Me Down, Georgia (May 2016)
Texas two-step ( January 2016)
Everything is expensive! It’s like bad weather and bad weather at New York or Silicon Valley prices.
People are polite! If I was at risk of being too negative: here’s something positive: most people are genuinely nice! In Mexico and China I noticed people giving the stink eye to foreigners or travelers or artificially nice to just get a tip, etc... it really seems that British people are nice to travelers, to the point where one can tell. That goes a long way in wanting to visit somewhere again, because really a country is a business in terms of travel: your country is your brand and you want people to have a good time and maybe even visit again! Every country gets some needed revenue from tourism, some more than others.
I’m the digital age of the internet and people connected to everywhere, visiting places is becoming obsolete... there are thousands of YouTube channels dedicated to travel, the most famous tourist areas get visited again and again by so many people it’s really not necessary anymore to actually go somewhere. Food, you can get in your own local ethnic market; just go on YouTube for a week and you can go to all corners of the world, not just your select destination....... is what I thought before coming out this time. Certainly, it’s true that a lot of things can be done online, but there’s still nothing that beats actually being somewhere new, the sense of adventure that you engender when going somewhere new, the new stimulus open experiences, the wind blowing in your face, the smell of the ocean or food being made at a restaurant( or smoke from cigarettes in London!) , the choose your own adventure of making decisions on a trip, figuring out the subway system of a new city, those experiences make a much more indelible impression in my mind, as opposed the superficial impression of another person’s travel experiences broadcast through YouTube, that draws me towards continuing to go on vacation....... no matter the cost (and yes London was pretty costly).
Randomly selected for search out of England! Starting to think my name is associated with some international wanted man In Europe, I’ve been randomly selected both in Greece/Turkey but not in Asian countries. Luckily I had no drugs, no electronics, no smuggled goods, no money! Just a ticket out of the country as soon as possible, please!
Previous trips: Ten or so hours in Taiwan (honeymoon 2017)
snowless in Seattle (December 2017)
honeymooning in Hawaii (honeymoon 2017)
scorching in St. Louis (summer 2017 wedding)
Weekend at The Met (New York 2017)
Dont Let Me Down, Georgia (May 2016)
Texas two-step ( January 2016)
Everything is expensive! It’s like bad weather and bad weather at New York or Silicon Valley prices.
People are polite! If I was at risk of being too negative: here’s something positive: most people are genuinely nice! In Mexico and China I noticed people giving the stink eye to foreigners or travelers or artificially nice to just get a tip, etc... it really seems that British people are nice to travelers, to the point where one can tell. That goes a long way in wanting to visit somewhere again, because really a country is a business in terms of travel: your country is your brand and you want people to have a good time and maybe even visit again! Every country gets some needed revenue from tourism, some more than others.
I’m the digital age of the internet and people connected to everywhere, visiting places is becoming obsolete... there are thousands of YouTube channels dedicated to travel, the most famous tourist areas get visited again and again by so many people it’s really not necessary anymore to actually go somewhere. Food, you can get in your own local ethnic market; just go on YouTube for a week and you can go to all corners of the world, not just your select destination....... is what I thought before coming out this time. Certainly, it’s true that a lot of things can be done online, but there’s still nothing that beats actually being somewhere new, the sense of adventure that you engender when going somewhere new, the new stimulus open experiences, the wind blowing in your face, the smell of the ocean or food being made at a restaurant( or smoke from cigarettes in London!) , the choose your own adventure of making decisions on a trip, figuring out the subway system of a new city, those experiences make a much more indelible impression in my mind, as opposed the superficial impression of another person’s travel experiences broadcast through YouTube, that draws me towards continuing to go on vacation....... no matter the cost (and yes London was pretty costly).
Randomly selected for search out of England! Starting to think my name is associated with some international wanted man In Europe, I’ve been randomly selected both in Greece/Turkey but not in Asian countries. Luckily I had no drugs, no electronics, no smuggled goods, no money! Just a ticket out of the country as soon as possible, please!
Thursday, December 13, 2018
先禮後兵 (Be Polite First, then resort to force)
The Chinese have many idioms that stretch back centuries to war time, tales of battles being won through brilliant stratagems, clever use of resources, or just knowing one's opponent. A lot of Chinese live their life through these axioms, and "xian li hou bing" is one of them. It reads like a self-help manual: it literally says: First be polite, then use soldiers. In fact, Chinese armies first were polite to other neighboring kingdoms (hey, respectfully, can I borrow this land and never give it back?) and when they got an expected refusal, they would summon their troops and take over the land by force.
The situation also fits well with today's warfare, or the form of warfare that people in today's society encounter: best example would be litigation: First lawyers are expected to be civil to opposing attorneys, to use convincing arguments and merits of one's case to win arguments, not have to result to use of force, or in many cases, go to trial. It's something I do well, the "first be polite part," but then the resorting to force and aggressively advocating for one's client by attacking the other side fiercely, through damnations of their case and making the other side feel bad about their case, that I feel bad out. It seems a bit disingenuous, to start a relationship amicably but then flip on a dime if you don't get your way and become highly hostile and withdrawing all pleasantries, as if you were just being nice before. I'm currently on a large international case with multiple depositions and witnesses, so the lead attorneys are constantly sitting down in the same room with their clients. It's such a weird dynamic: On one hand they're both attorneys from prestigious law firms who've been practicing law for many years (both are partners at their respective law firms), so they give each other the utmost courtesy during breaks, like talking about their evening plans, etc., but then when the deposition starts and the video starts playing, they making objections and argue with each other harshly, sarcastically, and pretty rudely, if it was a normal conversation. It's just such an interesting dynamic, that of opposing attorneys on a litigation matter, it's like no other relationship in the world.
I do understand, though, sometimes why people in litigation resort to force, and why sometimes leaders of countries resort to force: the other side isn't motivated otherwise. Without the threat of force, those polite words are only just words. Diplomacy can only go so far without the threat of something happening. That's why wars break out unfortunately; I wish there would be no wars in the world, but then there would probably be more tyranny and oppression in those countries where a dictator or group has taken over without fear of reprisal and won't listen to threats. I wish there wasnt' any tyranny nor war; but sometimes it has to be one or the other. I kind of understand it now as an attorney; I have been trying to come up with a solution for a trademark litigation case for my relative in China and have been talking nicely to the opposing attorney for weeks, months even and it keeps getting delayed; he promises to get back to me soon; he doesn't get back to me. My client and I have no choice but to wait. We wait, we wait, but eventually the clear conclusion is that they're going to make us wait as long as we can, they don't have any reason to resolve the matter, and it's up to us to give them a reason to act and resolve the matter: threat of going to trial, or "resort to force" in today's terms. Unfortunately, I think we're headed in the direction of war. Necessary war.
Fantasize on,
Robert Yan
The situation also fits well with today's warfare, or the form of warfare that people in today's society encounter: best example would be litigation: First lawyers are expected to be civil to opposing attorneys, to use convincing arguments and merits of one's case to win arguments, not have to result to use of force, or in many cases, go to trial. It's something I do well, the "first be polite part," but then the resorting to force and aggressively advocating for one's client by attacking the other side fiercely, through damnations of their case and making the other side feel bad about their case, that I feel bad out. It seems a bit disingenuous, to start a relationship amicably but then flip on a dime if you don't get your way and become highly hostile and withdrawing all pleasantries, as if you were just being nice before. I'm currently on a large international case with multiple depositions and witnesses, so the lead attorneys are constantly sitting down in the same room with their clients. It's such a weird dynamic: On one hand they're both attorneys from prestigious law firms who've been practicing law for many years (both are partners at their respective law firms), so they give each other the utmost courtesy during breaks, like talking about their evening plans, etc., but then when the deposition starts and the video starts playing, they making objections and argue with each other harshly, sarcastically, and pretty rudely, if it was a normal conversation. It's just such an interesting dynamic, that of opposing attorneys on a litigation matter, it's like no other relationship in the world.
I do understand, though, sometimes why people in litigation resort to force, and why sometimes leaders of countries resort to force: the other side isn't motivated otherwise. Without the threat of force, those polite words are only just words. Diplomacy can only go so far without the threat of something happening. That's why wars break out unfortunately; I wish there would be no wars in the world, but then there would probably be more tyranny and oppression in those countries where a dictator or group has taken over without fear of reprisal and won't listen to threats. I wish there wasnt' any tyranny nor war; but sometimes it has to be one or the other. I kind of understand it now as an attorney; I have been trying to come up with a solution for a trademark litigation case for my relative in China and have been talking nicely to the opposing attorney for weeks, months even and it keeps getting delayed; he promises to get back to me soon; he doesn't get back to me. My client and I have no choice but to wait. We wait, we wait, but eventually the clear conclusion is that they're going to make us wait as long as we can, they don't have any reason to resolve the matter, and it's up to us to give them a reason to act and resolve the matter: threat of going to trial, or "resort to force" in today's terms. Unfortunately, I think we're headed in the direction of war. Necessary war.
Fantasize on,
Robert Yan
Thursday, December 6, 2018
イチャイチャ (Lovey-Dovey)
Christmas season is here, and although the stock markets aren't giving us a Santa Clause rally (Santa Clause caught in customs, Christmas is cancelled, Red Christmas, whatever analogy you want to use for the markets not doing that well), Christmas is certainly in the air here in downtown Los Angeles. Almost everywhere I go, I can see a Christmas tree, Christmas wreaths, etc., (seriously, it's like every office building has a huge Christmas tree out in front to greet their guests, every shopping mall is has lights galore, and even our apartment building has residents putting up their own Christmas decorations), giving evidence that despite all the different types of religions and types of people in the world, Christmas is still the most popular holiday of the year.
Christmas is also a time for romance, especially in Asian cultures, where Christmas is not that much celebrated as a religious holiday or a chance for family gathering but a couples holiday, taking opportunity of the aforementioned lights and celebratory atmosphere to take strolls in the park, see the Christmas lights, and snuggle up in the cold weather. Just writing that sentence would have made me kind of nauseous and sick to my stomach back in my single days and inspire me to move on to another fantasy baseball or dodgeball post, but now I see what all the hype is about: it's romantic. Japanese people even have a word for this: "Icha-icha" which means flirting and making out, usually used by single people who are jealous of the couples who have someone to flirt out and make out with, or older people who are just kind of sick of the young love. I used to be in that exact position! Trying to elbow my way through the crowds of couples who are holding each other, thus causing one less open space to pass through, the couple is usually oblivious of other people as they gaze dreamily into each other's eyes, as if there's not a care in the world. That moment is so perfect for them! Meanwhile, I'm just trying to find out the score of the football game, check traffic to see if the highway is still clogged, etc., etc. There's a lot of jealousy towards those icha-icha couples, and I'm just glad I'm one of them now!
Another chance to expand our icha-icha horizons will be next week, when MJ and I travel across the pond to London to enjoy all the sights and sounds of a winter in Britain (sounds wet and cold). But I've never been to London before, and if everything from the movie "Love, Actually" is true, Christmas will also be very romantic over there! Should be fun! I'm really looking forward to doing a lot of new activities, even if it's just in one city; (we considered doing a quick stop in Paris from London riding the Eurostar, but Paris really came under a little bit of turmoil due to the riots against President Macron, so we're opting to get away from all of that this time). And I was hoping to put that very basic French language knowledge to good use. C'est la vie!
Fantasize on,
Robert Yan
Christmas is also a time for romance, especially in Asian cultures, where Christmas is not that much celebrated as a religious holiday or a chance for family gathering but a couples holiday, taking opportunity of the aforementioned lights and celebratory atmosphere to take strolls in the park, see the Christmas lights, and snuggle up in the cold weather. Just writing that sentence would have made me kind of nauseous and sick to my stomach back in my single days and inspire me to move on to another fantasy baseball or dodgeball post, but now I see what all the hype is about: it's romantic. Japanese people even have a word for this: "Icha-icha" which means flirting and making out, usually used by single people who are jealous of the couples who have someone to flirt out and make out with, or older people who are just kind of sick of the young love. I used to be in that exact position! Trying to elbow my way through the crowds of couples who are holding each other, thus causing one less open space to pass through, the couple is usually oblivious of other people as they gaze dreamily into each other's eyes, as if there's not a care in the world. That moment is so perfect for them! Meanwhile, I'm just trying to find out the score of the football game, check traffic to see if the highway is still clogged, etc., etc. There's a lot of jealousy towards those icha-icha couples, and I'm just glad I'm one of them now!
Another chance to expand our icha-icha horizons will be next week, when MJ and I travel across the pond to London to enjoy all the sights and sounds of a winter in Britain (sounds wet and cold). But I've never been to London before, and if everything from the movie "Love, Actually" is true, Christmas will also be very romantic over there! Should be fun! I'm really looking forward to doing a lot of new activities, even if it's just in one city; (we considered doing a quick stop in Paris from London riding the Eurostar, but Paris really came under a little bit of turmoil due to the riots against President Macron, so we're opting to get away from all of that this time). And I was hoping to put that very basic French language knowledge to good use. C'est la vie!
Fantasize on,
Robert Yan
Monday, December 3, 2018
河童の川流れ (Be Humble!)
Yesterday ( I'm writing this at 1AM in the morning I took the JLPT N2, the Japanese Language Proficiency Test. It was the culmination of a long endeavor, as I have studied Japanese for approximately 6 years now extensively (not like passively studying like going for a run an hour a day or lifting some weights 3 times a week or something) but actually devoting a lot of time and energy into it, and I believe at this point that I'm pretty fluent, not totally fluent, but able to do the main things in any language: read, write, listen, and speak. So I thought I'd be in pretty good shape for the N2, the second hardest exam offered to non-native Japanese speakers. And my study time kind of reflected that, not devoting all my energy towards the exams, not even getting the urgency the day before the exam (the exam is on a Sunday, kinda weird but theoretically gives testtakers all of Saturday to study) to go all-out, or "EXTREME" as MJ puts it. I also walked into the exam like I owned the place and they should just give me the pass certification now just based on me being there. I even entertained thoughts that N2 was kinda beneath me, that I was an N1 level (highest level proficiency) just taking the N2 test, like a major league player playing a minor league game.
Guess what? The JLPT doesn't care how much you THINK you know, it tests you based on what is needed. I was able to get through the vocab and kanji sections pretty easily, and I thought with plenty of time leftover, but the reading passages are rather difficult even for someone who reads Japanese as part of his job, they're like LSAT passages where you have to summarize essays and sense the author's tone, etc., except it's all in a foreign language, even the question and the answer choices. It takes a while. I admit I let my mind wander a bit because I thought I was doing pretty well, had 30 minutes to do like 12 questions, but each passage only has 3 questions, so that's really like having to read 4 whole essays, and then all of a sudden I was rushing, and time management became an issue, and then I was guessing for the last part. It was just like the SAT and LSAT again: rushing for every last second, something I didn't think I needed to know.
But AFTER the break was the hard part. The listening portion of the JLPT, in my opinion, is way disproportionate to the level of say, vocabulary. There are long passages which you have to digest all the information, then get it all sorted out in time to answer a question about them that wasn't given before the passage began. Miss a few words, and you miss parts of the meaning. And no repeating the passage! No matter how good one's Japanese is, it's about catching all portions of whats said and then digesting that information. Some of the questions, even if they told me them in Chinese or English, I'd have problems answering the question just because I didn't memorize all of that information, like East City is 5 miles away by car and has a nice sports facility with tennis court, but West City is just 1 mile away with no tennis court, and South City is 10 miles away by train but with a dog park, and then all of a sudden at the end they ask which city Ms. Risa wants to go to for leisure. I need a chart or something! It's hard to process all that information just listening to it once! So if I do fail the JLPT N2, it's because of the listening. Apparently they do scale the scores based on how everyone did, but a testtaker must at least get the minimum score for each section (reading, vocabulary, listening) to pass the whole test, no matter how well they did on the other sections. So who knows.
If that was the N2, what will the N1 (which I one day hope to pass) be like? Shudder!
The lesson, of course, is the title of this post, a Japanese idiom meaning "The River God can drown in the river!" The River God was a demon who was great in the river, but because he thought he was so good he went into the river dangerously and drowned! Same thing applies for human swimmers, it's not the people who can't swim that drown (they still out of the deep end) but the ones who think they're really good who drown. BE HUMBLE! Don't be cocky! Don't be arrogant! Take every challenge seriously and not like a walk in the park. I learned that painful lesson for what feels like the umpteenth time today. Other examples: losing at chess to someone I thought I could beat, going to law school thinking I would do really well, losing money in stocks thinking I was the smartest investor ever and would never lose money, etc., etc.
Also, quick note: Cal State LA has always been just another exit on the way to Chinatown where MJ and I go eat our authentic Chinese food, but it's got a pretty nice campus! In fact, most SoCal college campuses I've been to are pretty nice: Cal State Channel Islands (like an oasis in the desert), Pomona and Clairemont McKenna, UC-Santa Barbara, even Santa Monica College, where MJ attends now: they all got a nice touch to it. Only Loyola and Southwestern Law Schools kind of gave me a vibe of being enclosed, trapped in an urban atmosphere.
Guess what? The JLPT doesn't care how much you THINK you know, it tests you based on what is needed. I was able to get through the vocab and kanji sections pretty easily, and I thought with plenty of time leftover, but the reading passages are rather difficult even for someone who reads Japanese as part of his job, they're like LSAT passages where you have to summarize essays and sense the author's tone, etc., except it's all in a foreign language, even the question and the answer choices. It takes a while. I admit I let my mind wander a bit because I thought I was doing pretty well, had 30 minutes to do like 12 questions, but each passage only has 3 questions, so that's really like having to read 4 whole essays, and then all of a sudden I was rushing, and time management became an issue, and then I was guessing for the last part. It was just like the SAT and LSAT again: rushing for every last second, something I didn't think I needed to know.
But AFTER the break was the hard part. The listening portion of the JLPT, in my opinion, is way disproportionate to the level of say, vocabulary. There are long passages which you have to digest all the information, then get it all sorted out in time to answer a question about them that wasn't given before the passage began. Miss a few words, and you miss parts of the meaning. And no repeating the passage! No matter how good one's Japanese is, it's about catching all portions of whats said and then digesting that information. Some of the questions, even if they told me them in Chinese or English, I'd have problems answering the question just because I didn't memorize all of that information, like East City is 5 miles away by car and has a nice sports facility with tennis court, but West City is just 1 mile away with no tennis court, and South City is 10 miles away by train but with a dog park, and then all of a sudden at the end they ask which city Ms. Risa wants to go to for leisure. I need a chart or something! It's hard to process all that information just listening to it once! So if I do fail the JLPT N2, it's because of the listening. Apparently they do scale the scores based on how everyone did, but a testtaker must at least get the minimum score for each section (reading, vocabulary, listening) to pass the whole test, no matter how well they did on the other sections. So who knows.
If that was the N2, what will the N1 (which I one day hope to pass) be like? Shudder!
The lesson, of course, is the title of this post, a Japanese idiom meaning "The River God can drown in the river!" The River God was a demon who was great in the river, but because he thought he was so good he went into the river dangerously and drowned! Same thing applies for human swimmers, it's not the people who can't swim that drown (they still out of the deep end) but the ones who think they're really good who drown. BE HUMBLE! Don't be cocky! Don't be arrogant! Take every challenge seriously and not like a walk in the park. I learned that painful lesson for what feels like the umpteenth time today. Other examples: losing at chess to someone I thought I could beat, going to law school thinking I would do really well, losing money in stocks thinking I was the smartest investor ever and would never lose money, etc., etc.
Also, quick note: Cal State LA has always been just another exit on the way to Chinatown where MJ and I go eat our authentic Chinese food, but it's got a pretty nice campus! In fact, most SoCal college campuses I've been to are pretty nice: Cal State Channel Islands (like an oasis in the desert), Pomona and Clairemont McKenna, UC-Santa Barbara, even Santa Monica College, where MJ attends now: they all got a nice touch to it. Only Loyola and Southwestern Law Schools kind of gave me a vibe of being enclosed, trapped in an urban atmosphere.
Monday, November 26, 2018
Overweight (초과 중량, 超重, 過体重)
Listened to an interesting stat today, apparently Americans on average eat 4500 calories on Thanksgiving Day! Unbelievable! Certainly makes sense that Thanksgiving is the most calorie-filled day for most people, as everyone gathers to eat the biggest feast and give thanks for everything they have (and waistlines everywhere give thanks for the expansion they're about to undergo), but 4500 calories is truly scary, considering the average male's only supposed to consume 1800 calories per day, and the average female less than that. (According to MJ from her nutrition class, so I believe her!)
Where does all those calories go? When I go on the treadmill the most I ever burn is 200 calories and only a percentage of that is fat burn, and that's a big portion of my calorie burn for the whole day! (if you don't count walking around, doing some other tasks, etc.) That seems like a drop in the bucket normally anyone, but a drop in an even bigger bucket.
I've lived most of my life in the "overweight" category. Even when I consider myself to be of "normal" weight nowadays, I'm still scientifically considered "overweight for my height, just at the borderline of 5'9'' and 5'10'' should be about 170 pounds. So even in this slim version of myself compared to junior high and high school days, I can stand to lose a few pounds. Most of America is overweight, can they really afford to have those extravagant Thanksgiving feasts and 450 calorie days? Is there a system to convert number of unburned calories to pounds? Last year we spent Thanksgiving with MJ's friend and it was fine having tofurkey, this year our family didn't even have a turkey. Thanksgiving, as a whole, in my opinion, should put a little more emphasis on the giving and a little less emphasis on the taking (food from the feast). I do find that exercising more helps me lose weight, but it has to be like INTENSE exercise and lots of it to make a different towards the weight. MJ's experience contributes to my opinion, but from my own personal experience too I think what one eats is more important than how much one exercises. I've come to realize this a little later in life, but better to know especially now entering the "danger years" of high cholestrol and heart problems of age 30+.
Different cultures, too, apparently have different attitudes toward being overweight, and what qualifies as overweight. Apparently in Korea, MJ is not considered skinny and constantly feels conscious about her weight, which is fueled by the prototypical image of Korean women. (Also pretty much all Asian people, to be skinny). "Overweight" probably has a scientific metric similar to US, but a completely different "socially acceptable" metric. Unfortunately, the second metric is very difficult to quantify and different for many different people. Shouldn't go overboard the other way and develop an eating disorder.
As I've grown older I've realized that being overweight isn't a reason to look down on somebody, but there is a good reason to try to avoid it. Running and walking, it feels better to run and lighter on my feet because I carry less weight around, plus there's a mental factor of liking one's body and maintaining discipline to try to look great, give oneself some positive self-esteem.
Fantasize on,
Robert Yan
Where does all those calories go? When I go on the treadmill the most I ever burn is 200 calories and only a percentage of that is fat burn, and that's a big portion of my calorie burn for the whole day! (if you don't count walking around, doing some other tasks, etc.) That seems like a drop in the bucket normally anyone, but a drop in an even bigger bucket.
I've lived most of my life in the "overweight" category. Even when I consider myself to be of "normal" weight nowadays, I'm still scientifically considered "overweight for my height, just at the borderline of 5'9'' and 5'10'' should be about 170 pounds. So even in this slim version of myself compared to junior high and high school days, I can stand to lose a few pounds. Most of America is overweight, can they really afford to have those extravagant Thanksgiving feasts and 450 calorie days? Is there a system to convert number of unburned calories to pounds? Last year we spent Thanksgiving with MJ's friend and it was fine having tofurkey, this year our family didn't even have a turkey. Thanksgiving, as a whole, in my opinion, should put a little more emphasis on the giving and a little less emphasis on the taking (food from the feast). I do find that exercising more helps me lose weight, but it has to be like INTENSE exercise and lots of it to make a different towards the weight. MJ's experience contributes to my opinion, but from my own personal experience too I think what one eats is more important than how much one exercises. I've come to realize this a little later in life, but better to know especially now entering the "danger years" of high cholestrol and heart problems of age 30+.
Different cultures, too, apparently have different attitudes toward being overweight, and what qualifies as overweight. Apparently in Korea, MJ is not considered skinny and constantly feels conscious about her weight, which is fueled by the prototypical image of Korean women. (Also pretty much all Asian people, to be skinny). "Overweight" probably has a scientific metric similar to US, but a completely different "socially acceptable" metric. Unfortunately, the second metric is very difficult to quantify and different for many different people. Shouldn't go overboard the other way and develop an eating disorder.
As I've grown older I've realized that being overweight isn't a reason to look down on somebody, but there is a good reason to try to avoid it. Running and walking, it feels better to run and lighter on my feet because I carry less weight around, plus there's a mental factor of liking one's body and maintaining discipline to try to look great, give oneself some positive self-esteem.
Fantasize on,
Robert Yan
Wednesday, November 21, 2018
Transformation (変身)
When I was a kid, I wanted to be able to transform into different animals, superheros, etc. (similar to nowadays where I want to go back in time, but as myself). I probably was inspired by "Beast Wars" or Pokemon or some other TV out there, but it's natural, the desire to experience into something that one is not. Nowadays, though, I realize I DO change a lot, just more subtly: not only my physical body is changing, but my mentality changes every day, little by little, and it sometimes only manifests itself after 2 years or so when I realize the transformation become very apparent. For example, my attitude towards money, from carelessly spending and not bothering to budget to evaluating what items I really value in my life, or my attitude towards developing friendships (from assuming I would always just make new friends and not needing to maintain them to missing people and feeling lonely and needing to reach out to them at least once in a year, treasuring the ability to meet again and reminisce on the good times). These are the transformations I can personally make for myself without having to try to become a fox or an eagle or a transformer or something impossible like that. Actually, I think very few people rationally would want to transform into animals, basically moving backwards in the evolutionary process with less brain capacity and sophistication, moving backwards in the food chain, and how do body parts grow themselves like a tail? Sounds painful.
Speaking of animals transforming though, the stock market has transformed, and not in a good way, from a bull market to a bear market, seemingly almost overnight. One would think that there would be some prior warning, some passing of the torch, a magic word that causes the change, an announcement issued, a grace period like for a new law to be implemented effective a certain date, nope, basically at the end of September 2018 into the first week of October 2018 will be remembered as when the 10-year historic bull market turned into a bear market. It used to be investors were hopelessly optimistic, stocks just went up in a gradual upslope, even when there was a slight pullback it would just be a great opportunity to "buy the dip" (oh how I loathe that term now), everyone was happy, everybody's portfolios got fat, all news was perceived through rose-colored glasses, and there was no end in sight. Unfortunately, that complacency is what caused the sudden advent of the bear market, as stocks so sorely needed to be sold off that when they did start selling off, the sell-off was fierce and sudden. Suddenly no dip was safe to buy, if you bought back into the market it just immediately went down lower, every stock was in the red, there was no respite. (I, again, would have liked a week or 2 of stagnant flat-line stock activity before the bear market hit) but nope. And the problem is, because the change happened so quickly, everyone psychologically was still in bull-market mode, so they lost a lot of money holding on to stocks thinking they would go back up. When I look back at the beginning of October and wonder why I didn't sell at the beginning of the bear market (hindsight always being 20/20), it's because I thought the market, like the last 10 years, would just go back up! It was like a bear that still wore bull's clothing except it had changed already, and we all missed it. Problem with stocks: by the time you know for sure it's a bear market, it's already gone down so much that the lesson can't be used this time. It was a embarrassing lesson to take, but a necessary lesson to have .Hopefully later on in life I will have more money to invest and learn from this time's mistakes? I keep telling myself that at least.
My wife MJ, though, is making a stunning transformation from economics to nursing! I always admire people who can make a change in their life pattern, so I hope her the best!
Fantasize on,
Robert Yan
Speaking of animals transforming though, the stock market has transformed, and not in a good way, from a bull market to a bear market, seemingly almost overnight. One would think that there would be some prior warning, some passing of the torch, a magic word that causes the change, an announcement issued, a grace period like for a new law to be implemented effective a certain date, nope, basically at the end of September 2018 into the first week of October 2018 will be remembered as when the 10-year historic bull market turned into a bear market. It used to be investors were hopelessly optimistic, stocks just went up in a gradual upslope, even when there was a slight pullback it would just be a great opportunity to "buy the dip" (oh how I loathe that term now), everyone was happy, everybody's portfolios got fat, all news was perceived through rose-colored glasses, and there was no end in sight. Unfortunately, that complacency is what caused the sudden advent of the bear market, as stocks so sorely needed to be sold off that when they did start selling off, the sell-off was fierce and sudden. Suddenly no dip was safe to buy, if you bought back into the market it just immediately went down lower, every stock was in the red, there was no respite. (I, again, would have liked a week or 2 of stagnant flat-line stock activity before the bear market hit) but nope. And the problem is, because the change happened so quickly, everyone psychologically was still in bull-market mode, so they lost a lot of money holding on to stocks thinking they would go back up. When I look back at the beginning of October and wonder why I didn't sell at the beginning of the bear market (hindsight always being 20/20), it's because I thought the market, like the last 10 years, would just go back up! It was like a bear that still wore bull's clothing except it had changed already, and we all missed it. Problem with stocks: by the time you know for sure it's a bear market, it's already gone down so much that the lesson can't be used this time. It was a embarrassing lesson to take, but a necessary lesson to have .Hopefully later on in life I will have more money to invest and learn from this time's mistakes? I keep telling myself that at least.
My wife MJ, though, is making a stunning transformation from economics to nursing! I always admire people who can make a change in their life pattern, so I hope her the best!
Fantasize on,
Robert Yan
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