purpose?

nostalgia

2009-06-29T18:18:00.000-07:00

I was editing photos today and came across this one that made me slightly miss Toronto (then I remembered how much time I wasted there and snapped back to reality).

shrimp fried rice

2009-04-29T10:00:00.000-07:00

Two weekends ago, I learned how to make shrimp fried rice. It's about time I've finally crossed something off my "things to do before I'm 25" list. Also, no more Toronto after this week! Can't wait to start doing real things with my life.

hitting rock bottom

2009-03-09T21:16:00.000-07:00

It's been about 8 months since my last entry. In the past 8 months, I've become sort of a worse person. I haven't really done anything great for the world. I've never cared less about my appearance than today. I spent more money on one meal (Charlie Trotter's) than I have on books in the past two years. I spent half of my weekends rotting away in my room, recovering from working 14-18 hours a day during the weekdays. Then I spent the other half of my weekends throwing money at random cities I decide to travel to. Also, I'm pretty sure the grammar in this paragraph was terrible. And I've used too many "I"s and "me"s already in this entry.

On a slightly positive note, I did pick up a new hobby--bought myself a new camera and started playing around. Not sure why I did that... I should have probably saved up and bought myself a French horn a year down the line. One day.

I'm not exactly sure what my problem is, but it probably has to do with the fact that I'm so unsure about everything in life. I wanted to go into education, then I wanted to go into music, then I wanted to do nonprofit work, then I wanted to go to business school, then... who knows what I'll think up next. I know I have the ability to do well with any of those, but do I have the guts to go after these things? My excuse lately for not doing any of the above has been "I'm too old", but inside, I know I really need to find what I'm meant to do in life before I'm actually too old.

Hopefully I'll hit rock bottom and force myself to find a way to slowly stand up soon.

tchaikovsky's 4th

2008-07-11T17:52:00.000-07:00

It's an amazing feeling, driving away from home. The second movement of Tchaikovsky's Symphony No. 4 was playing in the background in my car. It was so appropriate -- four minutes into the piece was the beginning of a tension build-up, then, a whole minute of liberation and celebration before winding down. Well, I'm going to have my minute of freedom and fun.

Today I'm starting my three-week "vacation", coaching at the Stanford University Mathematics Camp. That's sorta doing something for the world. o_O

"cognitive surplus"

2008-07-09T15:05:00.000-07:00

Everyone in the world has something to give--but a majority of these people resources (time, physical effort, intellect, etc.) are still untapped. It's not that people don't want to contribute. Most don't even know that they aren't achieving their full potential. And for those who want to do something meaninful, they don't know where to start. Clay Shirky puts it in clear words in a speech he gave at the Web 2.0 conference back in April this year:

(There's no better way to spend your next 15 minutes than to watch this video, if you haven't already seen it.)

You can find the transcript here.

fix the system

2008-07-08T00:07:00.000-07:00

Is the way the world works so screwed up that there's no point in trying to fix the system? This is the part where most rational people say "yes" and go on to find ways to live happy lives. I have a hard time letting go.

Seriously though, who makes the real changes in this world? Governments? (They don't always seem to be very efficient. Edit: well, at least some decisions were made.) Non-profit orgs? (A friend who has been working with non-profits for several years says a lot of it is just money down the drain.) Huge corporations? (Helping themselves or helping the world?) Or just plain random human beings? I want to be involved in a group and know that my work contributes at least somewhat to helping causes.

muppet bloopers?

2008-07-07T16:18:00.000-07:00

You've probably already seen this already, but if not...

Alright, alright, I apologize for the silliness.

declutter

2008-07-06T19:01:00.001-07:00

Supposedly the first step to improving the world starts with cleaning up your own life. Today I started by decluttering my room. Being able to throw away boxes and boxes of old stuff is an amazing feeling. It's also nice to find random letters/notes from people you haven't thought about in years. Here's a funny note from 3 or 4 years ago, from the amazing program advisers for the Volunteers in Asia - American Language and Culture program:

Tina:
Don't worry, mixed-raced relationships ain't worse than any other. Just keep him under control!
-Kyoko and Raphael

In other news, I might have Carpal Tunnel... that, or half an hour of playing Wii somehow screwed me up - I should really get away from the laptop more.

they make me smile

2008-07-03T18:27:00.000-07:00

I <3 appreciate people who write critical book reviews on Amazon for bestsellers that didn't/don't deserve to be bestsellers (i.e. The Secret; The 4-Hour Workweek).

Seriously, don't buy these books.

making good decisions

2008-07-02T23:29:00.000-07:00

Since one of my future hobbies will be volunteering/working for an Olympics game, I started reading about some of the ones coming up. It's exciting but a little disappointing. Looking at the London 2012 game shows that the planning committee has poor decision-making skills. Here's the logo:

How could they have paid £400,000 for this horrible design?! The creator(s) said that it's an illustration of the number "2012", which I still have to squint my eyes and think a bit to see. Other interpretations stuck to my memory more easily: "the logo resembles an image of the cartoon character Lisa Simpson performing fellatio" (to quote from Wikipedia). Well, I'll never forget this logo now. If that was the idea behind the marketing, then great job, planning committee... but what a weird way to represent your city.

thinker vs. do-er

2008-07-01T21:15:00.000-07:00

Is creativity an innate ability or a practiced skill? Can one learn to think outside of the box? When should a person give up trying to learn these things and truly face the reality that, no matter how fast and good you are at completing tasks, you are a do-er and not a thinker?

Last night I finally admitted to myself that I'm no good at this whole creative thing. I can't write, paint, or come up with anything new. I am pretty good at organizing, getting things done, problem solving, and beating deadlines though. I'm a do-er. It's time to stop trying to make myself someone I'll never become and just put to good use what I know how to do.

P.S. Click on the links on the right, you know you're bored and have nothing better to do.

purpose

2008-06-29T21:32:00.000-07:00

Per Edyth's suggestion, I am writing again. Goal: to keep track of everything I want someones--anyone--to accomplish in (hopefully) my lifetime. It's pretty horrifying to think that my aimless thoughts and blabbering has left me one year behind in pursuing any real interests and changing the world. Having quarter-life crisis is so not a valid excuse to not enjoy one's life.

I'll try to leave out silly notes (I should probably grow out of that in real life too) and keep it focused. Please feel free to yell at me in an internet-like manner when I get off track.