yesterday, while i was at old navy, i saw 2 police officers walking with 2 teenage girls. when they passed me by, i saw that the 2 girls were handcuffed. it was quite shocking for me. i've never actually seen someone up close handcuffed and being taken out by police, and also, i was rather frightened by the fact that they were mere inches from me, and could've attacked me if they had wanted to.
but what really surprised me were the girls' expressions. when they had passed me by, i had looked straight into their eyes. i had expected to see fear in their eyes, but instead, all i saw was some form of extreme annoyance or anger. there was not a single ounce of remorse in their faces - only a grimace.
i couldn't help but remember my own childhood. i'm ashamed to admit this, but when i was an adolescent, i used to have a stealing problem. i only stole small things, but there was a reason to that. whenever i stood in front of the object i wanted to steal, worst-case scenarios always played through my head. i imagined getting caught by the store, and then the police coming and handcuffing me and hauling me away in a police car, where i'd have to sit in a jail cell, surrounded by other criminals, and then have to shamefully call my parents with a quarter, and explain to them what i had done - all for what? a small tube of nail polish. in those moments of being paralyzed with fear of my vivid imaginations, i always wavered between what i should do and what i wanted to do. and sometimes, my fear would prevent me from stealing. i always thought that if i DID get caught stealing, the police would drag me out of there crying and begging for mercy.
but these girls did not. i stood there, watching the girls walk away with their hands handcuffed behind them, with the police with a strong grip on their arms, and there were no tears falling down their faces. there was no screaming for mercy. why were they so angry? were they just annoyed for getting caught? why didn't they feel scared about spending a night in jail?
i stood there for a while, (unable to shop) wondering what was the difference between me and those girls. why did we have such different reactions? and the only thing i could think of was Jesus. i knew what was wrong and right, and i knew that i didn't want to face judgment from my parents, the law, and my Father, and i knew that i didn't want to jeopardize my spot in heaven for a measly tube of lip gloss. but maybe these girls didn't know Jesus. maybe they didn't feel like they had anything to lose if they disobeyed the law. maybe they didn't know what it felt like to feel the disappointment of the ones who love you and believe in you.
it reminded me of the past few nights in my apt. one of my roommates is really into this show called "celebrity rehab with dr. drew." and after every episode she watches, she always comes running into our rooms exclaiming how these people need Jesus so badly. that their lives would be so much less disastrous if they only knew and felt the love of God in their lives. how different would our world be if we all did? would there even be a show called celebrity rehab if we all had God as our best buddy?
man, i forget what the world is like sometimes b/c i'm so involved in my christian church bubble. i forget sometimes that there are REAL people out there who are so broken or so unaware of all that God can offer. how much better is a spot in heaven than to steal a pair of jeans from old navy? how much better is the peace of God compared to a shot of heroin?
who would've thought a quick stop in old navy would've been this eye-opening? =)
Sunday, January 24, 2010
Saturday, January 16, 2010
2009 - a year in recap
hi all!
long time no post! this entry is a little late - but i've been suffering/recovering from food poisoning, so it's been delayed a few days. haha.
since the last week of december to now, i've been thinking a lot about 2009. was it a good year? was it a bad year? am i looking forward to 2010? to be honest - i actually was NOT looking forward to 2010 b/c i felt like there were no good things to look forward to, b/c there weren't any definite good things that i knew were going to happen in the coming year. and b/c i'm still attending the wounds of 2009, i just wasn't seeing the rainbow to my hope.
so i said, mia - it's time you think about 2009 really carefully. was it really all that bad? i bet u can think of SOME good things about 2009. and so i did. i made a list of all the memorable things of 2009 - good and bad. here we go!
bad memories:
1. going to the dentist every weekend for 3 months to get 2 root canals. eek! those were some unpleasant weekends of having a sore mouth. haha, and man, for 3 months, i could only eat on one side of my mouth at a time. that made my slow-eating habits even slower!
2. going to the gym for what seemed like an eternity in order to get hot for bryan/carol's wedding. (which didn't even work in the end!!) man, i hate the gym. the smell, the sights, the routine-ness of it all - it reminds me of prison! i also did not enjoy eating so many salads. haha.
3. moving out of my briarwood studio. that was such a sad time! i lived in that studio for 3 years, and i was finally leaving it to move closer to walter, closer to work, and cheap rent. it was so, so hard for me to say goodbye. i loved that apt! it was so cute and mia-esque! i cried a lot as i locked my door for the last time.
4. FLEAS. eugh... just thinking about it makes me cranky. man, going through something like eradicating a flea situation is so hard on your patience and overall outlook on life. going home every night, knowing and seeing the fleas jump around on my bed was horrible. washing all my clothes every weekend was ridiculously annoying and time-consuming and expensive. cleaning the house from head to toe was exhausting and frustrating b/c there seemed to be no fruit from it. the fleas would still be there, and we would continue our endless misery. man, i wish fleas upon no one. and if i ever see my exterminator again, i will give him a BIG HUG for bringing joy back into my life. ahh, pesticides - how i love you.
5. and the worst memory of all - my awful work situation from june - oct. it was a long time for me to be so miserable at work. sigh. all the crying and stress is still so fresh in my mind. it was so painful for me to try to be faithful in truly believing that God had a purpose for this - and that it would eventually come to an end. man, i was such an unpleasant person during those months. if u looked up the word debbie downer in the dictionary - u'd see my picture. the only plus to this whole awfulness was how much weight i lost due to stress. i finally got down to my original weight, and my clothes fit again! haha. sigh - not eating for a few months will do that to u.
u may be saying to yourself - dang, mia had a rough year. and yes, yes she did. but here's what made 2009 good!
1. the awesomeness called Lost. haha, walter and i watched Lost seasons 2-present all in the span of a few short months. it was glorious. i couldn't stop watching. sure, we didn't see sunlight much on the weekends, but whatever. i couldn't tear myself away from the juiciness of all that this crazy island brings.
2. wedding videographer - stillmotion. man, they changed my life. after i saw their amazing talent, it opened doors to my imagination and gave me a renewed passion for romance and love. hahaha. u guys have no idea how many wedding videos i watched and teared up to.
3. new roommates. having lived alone for 3 years made me quite wary of living with roommates again. i wasn't sure if i could do it - let alone if i would like it. i quite enjoyed having my privacy, my ability to walk around in my underwear if i pleased, and to be able to sing at the top of my lungs without anyone to bother. but u know, God surprised me with this one. i expected at most friendship with my 2 roommies. but i never expected this - accountability, sisterhood, prayer warriors, and just plain fun. haha. it's been great!
4. brooklyn bridge! walter and i walked across the brooklyn bridge. it was awesome! it felt like an adventure as we walked from one borough to another. there's just something romantic about walking hand in hand with the one u love under the stars with the city lights aglow all around - especially with a destination of a famous ice cream place in mind. haha. =)
5. weddings and engagements. i got to stand in bryan/carol's wedding - one of my beloved friends. man, i couldn't stop crying that whole day. and i got to be paparazzi for the first time for carol/calvin's engagement. it was beautiful to be part of such a special moment. i love love - but it's amazing to be part of other people's love.
6. Glee! i love this show! good songs, good singing, ridiculous storylines, fun characters! what's not to love? ah, this show brings me so much weekly joy. life had a burst of happiness to look forward to every week. i can't wait til it's back!
7. christmas acappella. the resurrection of my past life. sigh. from warming up to the thrill/nausea of performing. i love it all. i forgot how i much i missed it. it was such a gift to be able to have been able to get a taste of it again.
8. being santa to my family. gift giving is my love language, and it brings me a lot of joy to be able to buy presents for my family and loved ones. u know, i may not make a lot of money, but i don't care. when it's christmas, i just can't help but want to shower my family with gifts i know they'll love. and i thank God for Jesus' birthday so that i can have this chance every year to bring a little joy to everyone else.
overall - when i think about the good vs the bad, i think the good outweighs the bad. and yeah, there were definitely a LOT of rough times this year, but i'm glad i did this exercise of gratitude. no matter how bad things may seem, or even are, there are always, ALWAYS, reasons to smile. and most of all, i'm thankful for how much i grew this year. God did a lot of stretching to this body of mine. i whined and cried through most of it, but i'm still alive and kicking - thanks to His grace, and thanks to my close friends, family, and bf who prayed for me and stuck by me even tho i was not a fun gal to be around. i survived, and i think i'm a little stronger for it.
here's to 2010! hope it's a good one! =)
long time no post! this entry is a little late - but i've been suffering/recovering from food poisoning, so it's been delayed a few days. haha.
since the last week of december to now, i've been thinking a lot about 2009. was it a good year? was it a bad year? am i looking forward to 2010? to be honest - i actually was NOT looking forward to 2010 b/c i felt like there were no good things to look forward to, b/c there weren't any definite good things that i knew were going to happen in the coming year. and b/c i'm still attending the wounds of 2009, i just wasn't seeing the rainbow to my hope.
so i said, mia - it's time you think about 2009 really carefully. was it really all that bad? i bet u can think of SOME good things about 2009. and so i did. i made a list of all the memorable things of 2009 - good and bad. here we go!
bad memories:
1. going to the dentist every weekend for 3 months to get 2 root canals. eek! those were some unpleasant weekends of having a sore mouth. haha, and man, for 3 months, i could only eat on one side of my mouth at a time. that made my slow-eating habits even slower!
2. going to the gym for what seemed like an eternity in order to get hot for bryan/carol's wedding. (which didn't even work in the end!!) man, i hate the gym. the smell, the sights, the routine-ness of it all - it reminds me of prison! i also did not enjoy eating so many salads. haha.
3. moving out of my briarwood studio. that was such a sad time! i lived in that studio for 3 years, and i was finally leaving it to move closer to walter, closer to work, and cheap rent. it was so, so hard for me to say goodbye. i loved that apt! it was so cute and mia-esque! i cried a lot as i locked my door for the last time.
4. FLEAS. eugh... just thinking about it makes me cranky. man, going through something like eradicating a flea situation is so hard on your patience and overall outlook on life. going home every night, knowing and seeing the fleas jump around on my bed was horrible. washing all my clothes every weekend was ridiculously annoying and time-consuming and expensive. cleaning the house from head to toe was exhausting and frustrating b/c there seemed to be no fruit from it. the fleas would still be there, and we would continue our endless misery. man, i wish fleas upon no one. and if i ever see my exterminator again, i will give him a BIG HUG for bringing joy back into my life. ahh, pesticides - how i love you.
5. and the worst memory of all - my awful work situation from june - oct. it was a long time for me to be so miserable at work. sigh. all the crying and stress is still so fresh in my mind. it was so painful for me to try to be faithful in truly believing that God had a purpose for this - and that it would eventually come to an end. man, i was such an unpleasant person during those months. if u looked up the word debbie downer in the dictionary - u'd see my picture. the only plus to this whole awfulness was how much weight i lost due to stress. i finally got down to my original weight, and my clothes fit again! haha. sigh - not eating for a few months will do that to u.
u may be saying to yourself - dang, mia had a rough year. and yes, yes she did. but here's what made 2009 good!
1. the awesomeness called Lost. haha, walter and i watched Lost seasons 2-present all in the span of a few short months. it was glorious. i couldn't stop watching. sure, we didn't see sunlight much on the weekends, but whatever. i couldn't tear myself away from the juiciness of all that this crazy island brings.
2. wedding videographer - stillmotion. man, they changed my life. after i saw their amazing talent, it opened doors to my imagination and gave me a renewed passion for romance and love. hahaha. u guys have no idea how many wedding videos i watched and teared up to.
3. new roommates. having lived alone for 3 years made me quite wary of living with roommates again. i wasn't sure if i could do it - let alone if i would like it. i quite enjoyed having my privacy, my ability to walk around in my underwear if i pleased, and to be able to sing at the top of my lungs without anyone to bother. but u know, God surprised me with this one. i expected at most friendship with my 2 roommies. but i never expected this - accountability, sisterhood, prayer warriors, and just plain fun. haha. it's been great!
4. brooklyn bridge! walter and i walked across the brooklyn bridge. it was awesome! it felt like an adventure as we walked from one borough to another. there's just something romantic about walking hand in hand with the one u love under the stars with the city lights aglow all around - especially with a destination of a famous ice cream place in mind. haha. =)
5. weddings and engagements. i got to stand in bryan/carol's wedding - one of my beloved friends. man, i couldn't stop crying that whole day. and i got to be paparazzi for the first time for carol/calvin's engagement. it was beautiful to be part of such a special moment. i love love - but it's amazing to be part of other people's love.
6. Glee! i love this show! good songs, good singing, ridiculous storylines, fun characters! what's not to love? ah, this show brings me so much weekly joy. life had a burst of happiness to look forward to every week. i can't wait til it's back!
7. christmas acappella. the resurrection of my past life. sigh. from warming up to the thrill/nausea of performing. i love it all. i forgot how i much i missed it. it was such a gift to be able to have been able to get a taste of it again.
8. being santa to my family. gift giving is my love language, and it brings me a lot of joy to be able to buy presents for my family and loved ones. u know, i may not make a lot of money, but i don't care. when it's christmas, i just can't help but want to shower my family with gifts i know they'll love. and i thank God for Jesus' birthday so that i can have this chance every year to bring a little joy to everyone else.
overall - when i think about the good vs the bad, i think the good outweighs the bad. and yeah, there were definitely a LOT of rough times this year, but i'm glad i did this exercise of gratitude. no matter how bad things may seem, or even are, there are always, ALWAYS, reasons to smile. and most of all, i'm thankful for how much i grew this year. God did a lot of stretching to this body of mine. i whined and cried through most of it, but i'm still alive and kicking - thanks to His grace, and thanks to my close friends, family, and bf who prayed for me and stuck by me even tho i was not a fun gal to be around. i survived, and i think i'm a little stronger for it.
here's to 2010! hope it's a good one! =)
Monday, December 7, 2009
ba da doo --- Change in my life...
this entry will probably not be relevant to people who weren't in atc, or any other christian acappella group out there -- so i'm sorry if you're bored...
anyhoo.... my church has decided to do a special christmas acappella song, and reached out to all the former christian acappella members of our church. interestingly, we had people ranging from columbia, nyu, me from BC, duke, and maybe dartmouth (do it walter!!).
as we were standing around thinking about how we should warm up, someone was like - why don't we just all sing "change in my life." hahaha. i realized that it's true - nearly every christian acappella group on the east coast has done change in my life!
so - even though we all have different arrangements memorized, it still worked! and somehow, miraculously, i was able to recall the soprano line for change in my life - and we actually sang most of the song just by pure recollection from like 5 years ago!! it was hilarious and awesome all at the same time!
i must say - it felt sooooooo good to be singing those dum dums again. i felt a part of my soul come alive again as i remembered some of my most happiest times in life when i was in atc. i can honestly say - i can't wait to see how the song fleshes out, and i'm super excited! i feel like i'm in college again. and even as we stood around in a circle singing our notes, laughing at each other when we couldn't remember what came next, or we sang on the off beat, it was just a grand old time - just like the old days!
at our next practice, i'm bringing my pitch pipe!! ahhh! i love that thing!! =D
sighhhh--- atc - if you're reading this - i miss you guys!! =)
anyhoo.... my church has decided to do a special christmas acappella song, and reached out to all the former christian acappella members of our church. interestingly, we had people ranging from columbia, nyu, me from BC, duke, and maybe dartmouth (do it walter!!).
as we were standing around thinking about how we should warm up, someone was like - why don't we just all sing "change in my life." hahaha. i realized that it's true - nearly every christian acappella group on the east coast has done change in my life!
so - even though we all have different arrangements memorized, it still worked! and somehow, miraculously, i was able to recall the soprano line for change in my life - and we actually sang most of the song just by pure recollection from like 5 years ago!! it was hilarious and awesome all at the same time!
i must say - it felt sooooooo good to be singing those dum dums again. i felt a part of my soul come alive again as i remembered some of my most happiest times in life when i was in atc. i can honestly say - i can't wait to see how the song fleshes out, and i'm super excited! i feel like i'm in college again. and even as we stood around in a circle singing our notes, laughing at each other when we couldn't remember what came next, or we sang on the off beat, it was just a grand old time - just like the old days!
at our next practice, i'm bringing my pitch pipe!! ahhh! i love that thing!! =D
sighhhh--- atc - if you're reading this - i miss you guys!! =)
Thursday, December 3, 2009
Baby Names!
hey everyone!
i was reading my google reader today, and someone posted this article on most popular baby names of 2009 in NYC, and i was shocked to see that mia made it to the list!!
http://gothamist.com/2009/12/02/sophia_and_jayden_oust_isabella_and.php
i couldn't believe my eyes b/c my name has never been a very popular name, and now - after 26 years of living, it has finally happened! i was pretty happy to see that i was in the top 10, b/c growing up, mia, for some reason, was hard for people to pronounce.
people seem to always first guess to say it like maya. other times, when i order food, people write my name down as mea. (and honestly, that just looks like such an ugly combination of letters!)
anyhoo, i'm glad that the name is coming back into style. but it reminded me of how i tried to change my name a lot when i was younger.
7th grade - i really wanted to be julie. i thought it was such a lovely name. it was cute, but pretty. unfortunately, i hated the pairing of julie joo. too many j's and too many ooh syllables. so i had to forego that dream pretty quickly.
9th grade - i really wanted to be christine. i thought, yeah, this name is mature sounding, but also delicate. christine joo - that doesn't have any weird alliteration, and it's got a good flow. but for some reason, all my friends couldn't imagine me as a christine. so again, had to forego that dream.
10th grade - i really wanted to be misty. hahaha. i know, i know. it's ludicrous. but hear me out - this was prior to the days of pokemon, so misty was still an unknown, non-cartoon-associated name. i loved it b/c it kept the M of my real name, and it had a mysterious quality, but also a fun, quirky side. i wanted to be known as a the girl who was mysterious, fun, but quirky! but as u can expect, misty was horribly ridiculed by my buddies, and they, fortunately, convinced me out of it.
in the end, i never ended up changing my name, and i even grew to like my name. i grew to enjoy the rarity of my name, and how i'd always be unique somehow. even if i may look and act like a lot of other asian girls - at least in name, i'd always be set apart.
so to all the mia's out there being born in 2009, welcome to my world! but it will probably be a different world for u b/c apparently most nyc babies will be named mia. haha! ur story will be opposite of mine. but hey, we're still a unique group of girls! =)
i was reading my google reader today, and someone posted this article on most popular baby names of 2009 in NYC, and i was shocked to see that mia made it to the list!!
http://gothamist.com/2009/12/02/sophia_and_jayden_oust_isabella_and.php
i couldn't believe my eyes b/c my name has never been a very popular name, and now - after 26 years of living, it has finally happened! i was pretty happy to see that i was in the top 10, b/c growing up, mia, for some reason, was hard for people to pronounce.
people seem to always first guess to say it like maya. other times, when i order food, people write my name down as mea. (and honestly, that just looks like such an ugly combination of letters!)
anyhoo, i'm glad that the name is coming back into style. but it reminded me of how i tried to change my name a lot when i was younger.
7th grade - i really wanted to be julie. i thought it was such a lovely name. it was cute, but pretty. unfortunately, i hated the pairing of julie joo. too many j's and too many ooh syllables. so i had to forego that dream pretty quickly.
9th grade - i really wanted to be christine. i thought, yeah, this name is mature sounding, but also delicate. christine joo - that doesn't have any weird alliteration, and it's got a good flow. but for some reason, all my friends couldn't imagine me as a christine. so again, had to forego that dream.
10th grade - i really wanted to be misty. hahaha. i know, i know. it's ludicrous. but hear me out - this was prior to the days of pokemon, so misty was still an unknown, non-cartoon-associated name. i loved it b/c it kept the M of my real name, and it had a mysterious quality, but also a fun, quirky side. i wanted to be known as a the girl who was mysterious, fun, but quirky! but as u can expect, misty was horribly ridiculed by my buddies, and they, fortunately, convinced me out of it.
in the end, i never ended up changing my name, and i even grew to like my name. i grew to enjoy the rarity of my name, and how i'd always be unique somehow. even if i may look and act like a lot of other asian girls - at least in name, i'd always be set apart.
so to all the mia's out there being born in 2009, welcome to my world! but it will probably be a different world for u b/c apparently most nyc babies will be named mia. haha! ur story will be opposite of mine. but hey, we're still a unique group of girls! =)
Sunday, November 29, 2009
oh umma...
hi folks! long time no update! =)
over thanksgiving, i had a funny conversation with my mom and my sister. (all the men of the family had fallen asleep... typical...)
anyway, my mom was asking me about whether we fight with our respective men (me and my bf, my sister and her hubby). and of course, we agreed that we all fight. so then my mom was curious to know what we all fight about b/c she felt like she and my dad fight about the most annoying things.
so then, she got really close to us and started telling us about one of the fights they frequently had. by the way she put her face close to ours, i couldn't help but think, oh man, this must be a big one.
here's what she said loosely translated into english:
"sometimes, at night, when your dad and i are watching tv, when the show goes to commercial, he takes the remote and starts flipping channels! and most of the time, i'm okay with it, but he flips through it SOOO fast! it makes me dizzy! so then i say, honey! why can't you just leave it on the same channel? why do you have to flip so much?!" it drives me crazy!!"
my mom then looks to me and my sister for sympathy, and we burst into laughter! =D i was totally expecting some kind of big issue, and here it is - the age-old remote-control argument. hahaha! my sister and i then tried to explain to my mom about how this is a very common argument that married ppl have. it's not just her - but everyone! so many tv shows parody this common argument and that it's just comical to see her complain about it!
sigh. as i later lay in my bed thinking about that funny conversation, it made me wonder - why did my mom not know that this was such a common argument for married couples? and i realized that it's b/c my mom doesn't really have girlfriends to share this kind of stuff with. (if you're asking why, it's a long explanation regarding the inability of 1st generation korean people to be vulnerable with each other.) but anyway, it made me realize how important it is for us to have friends and especially friends who are in similar life stages as us. there are plenty of times when i feel like i'm the only person going through my struggles, and then bam, as soon as i share it, i will probably find someone who's gone through it, and can help me to know i'm not alone, and perfectly normal. we really need community and friends. no man is an island. and when we end up on an island by ourselves, hurry up and go find some friends or else you'll never survive.
man, can't believe thanksgiving has come and gone already. i feel like i was looking forward to it for so long, and now it is already past. oyy. oh well... must look forward to christmas now! =) bye now!
over thanksgiving, i had a funny conversation with my mom and my sister. (all the men of the family had fallen asleep... typical...)
anyway, my mom was asking me about whether we fight with our respective men (me and my bf, my sister and her hubby). and of course, we agreed that we all fight. so then my mom was curious to know what we all fight about b/c she felt like she and my dad fight about the most annoying things.
so then, she got really close to us and started telling us about one of the fights they frequently had. by the way she put her face close to ours, i couldn't help but think, oh man, this must be a big one.
here's what she said loosely translated into english:
"sometimes, at night, when your dad and i are watching tv, when the show goes to commercial, he takes the remote and starts flipping channels! and most of the time, i'm okay with it, but he flips through it SOOO fast! it makes me dizzy! so then i say, honey! why can't you just leave it on the same channel? why do you have to flip so much?!" it drives me crazy!!"
my mom then looks to me and my sister for sympathy, and we burst into laughter! =D i was totally expecting some kind of big issue, and here it is - the age-old remote-control argument. hahaha! my sister and i then tried to explain to my mom about how this is a very common argument that married ppl have. it's not just her - but everyone! so many tv shows parody this common argument and that it's just comical to see her complain about it!
sigh. as i later lay in my bed thinking about that funny conversation, it made me wonder - why did my mom not know that this was such a common argument for married couples? and i realized that it's b/c my mom doesn't really have girlfriends to share this kind of stuff with. (if you're asking why, it's a long explanation regarding the inability of 1st generation korean people to be vulnerable with each other.) but anyway, it made me realize how important it is for us to have friends and especially friends who are in similar life stages as us. there are plenty of times when i feel like i'm the only person going through my struggles, and then bam, as soon as i share it, i will probably find someone who's gone through it, and can help me to know i'm not alone, and perfectly normal. we really need community and friends. no man is an island. and when we end up on an island by ourselves, hurry up and go find some friends or else you'll never survive.
man, can't believe thanksgiving has come and gone already. i feel like i was looking forward to it for so long, and now it is already past. oyy. oh well... must look forward to christmas now! =) bye now!
Sunday, October 18, 2009
although we've come... to the end... of the road...
today is the last day of my experiment. it is the end of my week-long blogging.
you might be asking: why did you embark upon such an experiment?
well, back in august, i watched the movie "julie and julia," and i really related to the character julie. we were both aspiring writers who worked at jobs where we were unappreciated and unsatisfied, and felt like we could do far more in life. at the end of her year long blogging/cooking experiment, amazing things had happened to her. (and this is based on a true story!)
while i never expected huge miracles to happen after this week, i did expect to see/discover something.
so here are some things i learned in this week:
1. i have a newfound respect for writers who write columns, or anything that's pretty daily. it was hard to find new and interesting stuff to write about each night. and some days, there were moments where i'd be like, oh crap, it's getting late and i still have no idea what to write about. it would've been nice to give up and just go to sleep, but i pressed on. man, if it were my job, i'd feel a lot of pressure on a pretty daily basis, and i do not want that for myself whatsoever!
2. i was happy to find out that i hadn't completely atrophied all of my writing/creative styles as i thought i had. there was still some juice in these fingers, and writing came back pretty naturally.
3. the more often you write, the less people comment. (if this is not true of the rest of the world, i'm just gonna be sad. hahaha.) i was anticipating to develop a kind of relationship with my readers, in which we could all be discussing and commenting back and forth on topics that were written about. but it never happened. it made me wonder if ppl just started to read my blog like i was cnn or something. something to check - but not to engage in. ppl - if u have any insights, please enlighten me!
4. i actually DO have time to blog everyday. all this time, i always said i didn't have time to write entries. but when it came down to it, i could always make time, and after i did write, i always felt a sense of satisfaction that i had not only fulfilled my duty, but that i had beaten my own odds. however, i will say, on some days, i just desperately wanted to knock out and go to bed without writing. even yesterday, i had to drag myself out of my nap at 2am to go write an entry. hahaha.
well... anyway, i've thought about whether i will continue this writing streak. i think i'm gonna try to blog more frequently than i did before, but i'm not going to force myself to write everyday. too much unnecessary pressure to give myself. but this experiment has whetted my passion to write creative stuff again, and hopefully, time-willing, i will be able to dabble in it from time to time. it's good to know that while i can become rusty, i will never forget how to ride this bike. =)
hope u guys had fun during this week with me! and i hope u guys got to see what the inside of my brain is like! =)
you might be asking: why did you embark upon such an experiment?
well, back in august, i watched the movie "julie and julia," and i really related to the character julie. we were both aspiring writers who worked at jobs where we were unappreciated and unsatisfied, and felt like we could do far more in life. at the end of her year long blogging/cooking experiment, amazing things had happened to her. (and this is based on a true story!)
while i never expected huge miracles to happen after this week, i did expect to see/discover something.
so here are some things i learned in this week:
1. i have a newfound respect for writers who write columns, or anything that's pretty daily. it was hard to find new and interesting stuff to write about each night. and some days, there were moments where i'd be like, oh crap, it's getting late and i still have no idea what to write about. it would've been nice to give up and just go to sleep, but i pressed on. man, if it were my job, i'd feel a lot of pressure on a pretty daily basis, and i do not want that for myself whatsoever!
2. i was happy to find out that i hadn't completely atrophied all of my writing/creative styles as i thought i had. there was still some juice in these fingers, and writing came back pretty naturally.
3. the more often you write, the less people comment. (if this is not true of the rest of the world, i'm just gonna be sad. hahaha.) i was anticipating to develop a kind of relationship with my readers, in which we could all be discussing and commenting back and forth on topics that were written about. but it never happened. it made me wonder if ppl just started to read my blog like i was cnn or something. something to check - but not to engage in. ppl - if u have any insights, please enlighten me!
4. i actually DO have time to blog everyday. all this time, i always said i didn't have time to write entries. but when it came down to it, i could always make time, and after i did write, i always felt a sense of satisfaction that i had not only fulfilled my duty, but that i had beaten my own odds. however, i will say, on some days, i just desperately wanted to knock out and go to bed without writing. even yesterday, i had to drag myself out of my nap at 2am to go write an entry. hahaha.
well... anyway, i've thought about whether i will continue this writing streak. i think i'm gonna try to blog more frequently than i did before, but i'm not going to force myself to write everyday. too much unnecessary pressure to give myself. but this experiment has whetted my passion to write creative stuff again, and hopefully, time-willing, i will be able to dabble in it from time to time. it's good to know that while i can become rusty, i will never forget how to ride this bike. =)
hope u guys had fun during this week with me! and i hope u guys got to see what the inside of my brain is like! =)
Saturday, October 17, 2009
mia vs food?
there's a tv show called "Man vs Food" that i really love. i recently discovered that i'm not the only person who loves this show. (haha. honestly, i thought i was the only one who had found this amazingly awesome show, and that the rest of the world was clueless to this gem of a show. but alas, i was wrong. turns out, a lot of ppl i know also love this show!)
anyhoo, in case you don't know the premise of this show, there's this guy named adam who goes around across the U.S. and goes to all the best places to eat in each city he goes to. at the end of the show, he goes to some restaurant that has a famous food-eating contest and tries to tackle it. (ex: eating like 12 lb omelets, or 7 gallons of ice cream in a sundae, or eating pounds of burger and pound of fries in an hour.)
whenever i watch this show, i can't help but feel like, man, adam's job is awesome!! all he does is get to eat the best food, travel and see the country, and get cheered by random strangers. how awesome does that sound?? but i do worry about adam a lot. every episode i watch, he seems to be chubbier than the last. i know for sure, he is not the same size as when he first started this show. also, he's not married. so i can't help but wonder if it's hard for him to meet women b/c of his job. he's probably never in one location long enough to woo a woman enough for her to want to be in a long distance relationship with him.
so... i thought about it more, and i wondered... would i ever be able to do adam's job? (let's just imagine that i did have the stomach prowess of adam to even be able to do the food contests he attempts.) would i be able to sacrifice my health for the sake of a job? would i be able to sacrifice my personal life for the sake of my job? i'm not sure! adam's job does not sound so appealing anymore. i can't help but feel like he's shortening his own life expectancy, and that can't be a good thing. part of the reason i quit being a teacher was b/c it had taken such a toll on my physical health, and i felt like i had lost all of my social life, and i was just a working/teaching machine.
yeah... i don't think i could do adam's job. no "Mia vs Food" show is going to happen. thanks adam for doing the dirty work for us. it's been a joy to watch this show, but i'm happy to just be drooling on my couch, and not having to deal with the heartburn myself. =)
anyhoo, in case you don't know the premise of this show, there's this guy named adam who goes around across the U.S. and goes to all the best places to eat in each city he goes to. at the end of the show, he goes to some restaurant that has a famous food-eating contest and tries to tackle it. (ex: eating like 12 lb omelets, or 7 gallons of ice cream in a sundae, or eating pounds of burger and pound of fries in an hour.)
whenever i watch this show, i can't help but feel like, man, adam's job is awesome!! all he does is get to eat the best food, travel and see the country, and get cheered by random strangers. how awesome does that sound?? but i do worry about adam a lot. every episode i watch, he seems to be chubbier than the last. i know for sure, he is not the same size as when he first started this show. also, he's not married. so i can't help but wonder if it's hard for him to meet women b/c of his job. he's probably never in one location long enough to woo a woman enough for her to want to be in a long distance relationship with him.
so... i thought about it more, and i wondered... would i ever be able to do adam's job? (let's just imagine that i did have the stomach prowess of adam to even be able to do the food contests he attempts.) would i be able to sacrifice my health for the sake of a job? would i be able to sacrifice my personal life for the sake of my job? i'm not sure! adam's job does not sound so appealing anymore. i can't help but feel like he's shortening his own life expectancy, and that can't be a good thing. part of the reason i quit being a teacher was b/c it had taken such a toll on my physical health, and i felt like i had lost all of my social life, and i was just a working/teaching machine.
yeah... i don't think i could do adam's job. no "Mia vs Food" show is going to happen. thanks adam for doing the dirty work for us. it's been a joy to watch this show, but i'm happy to just be drooling on my couch, and not having to deal with the heartburn myself. =)
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