March 2010
30 posts
WatchWelcome back, Jon Stewart.
“And herein lies the tragedy of the age: not that men are poor - all men know...”
– W.E.B. DuBois, Of the Souls of Black Folk.
Open Letter from Rachel Maddow to Massachusetts →
Overqualified? Yes, but Happy to Have a Job →
Michael Luo, in “Overqualified? Yes, but Happy to Have a Job” on the New York Times, writes about how, with the current unemployment rates and economic times, many people are taking up positions much lower in responsibility, recognition, and recompense than they are used to. It makes me feel both relatively fortunate and somewhat proud of myself to be able to land a monthly-stipend...
Chat Roulette... (Penis!) →
I decided to check out Chat Roulette out of boredom (and after posting that Chat Roulette Lady Gaga spoof video). It’s a website that connects you with a random stranger via webcam chat. If you don’t like what you see, you can simply press F9 to go onto the next person. This sounds both exciting and sketchy… well, mostly sketchy. There’s bored / lonely / creepy dudes (and a...
Random Thought [02]
This is an idea that I’ve had for some time now. There’s a lot of broken bicycles in the city. Usually, it’s because people chain them to a signpost or something, and bicycle thieves steal the parts of the bicycle that isn’t chained so you’re left with just the front or back wheel, just the frame, just the frame and one of the wheels, etc. Some bicycles have been...
“Our education system has mined our minds in the way that we strip-mine the...”
– Sir Ken Robinson, at the TED Conference 2006.
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China in Africa →
African countries suffer from the resource curse - they’re rich in natural resources, but also in turmoil because of it. As such, Western countries have been hesitant about investing in unstable regions of Africa. China, with its capital and growth, has been seizing the opportunity to dominate both investment in and influence on African countries. An interactive map of China’s ...
Tea Party Rant
The Tea Party “movement” against health care reform is beginning to look more and more like a huge hissy-fit thrown by people who, helpless under the weight of their own incompetence, insecurity, and ignorance, lash out like a mob of adult-sized babies. Beside parroting the same nonsensical but catchy slogans, they also tend to refer to themselves as “hard-working...
Random Thought [01]
Random thoughts pop into people’s heads all the time, and I’m no exception to that. Most of these ideas are silly and stupid, while others may seem like gems at first but turn out to be duds at second glance. However, these fleeting thoughts come and go like people passing you on the streets. You let them slip by on a daily basis, but who knows if one of them would’ve become your...
Facebook Pages That Shouldn't Exist →
I’m torn between horror and hilarity…
(“Facebook Pages That Shouldn’t Exist” from College Humor.)
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Help Homeless Children! →
The main project that I’m working on at my internship is fundraising and marketing for Covenant House, which is a non-profit organization that provides food, shelter, medical care, counseling, education, and training to homeless and runaway youths throughout the country. For the month of March, every $1 you donate will be matched with $2 - so if you donate $10, it really comes out to $30...
Confucius Exhibition →
I just read a New York Times article - “Envisioning an Abstraction Who Was Also a Man” - about an exhibition on Confucius - “Confucius: His Life and Legacy in Art” - at the China Institute. I’m interested in checking it out. The exhibition is from February 11 to June 13, and is only $4 with student ID. It also seems that it’s free from 6 PM to 8 PM on Tuesdays...
Whiskey & Tea
A popular drink in the night clubs and bars of China is mixing Dewar’s 12 with sweetened iced red tea (冰红茶). The scent of the scotch whiskey is retained, but the bitter and burning taste is mellowed and sweetened by the tea.
In the US, I like to mix Jack Daniels with Arizona with Arizona Green Tea with Ginseng and Honey. The general taste is very similar. I suppose any iced tea variations...
About Er Guo Tou (二锅头)
Maybe it’s because I’ve started getting er guo tou (二锅头) from liquor stores in Chinatown. Or maybe it’s because buying it in the US is 5 times more expensive than buying it in China. Regardless, I’m starting to miss China and its cheap, Chinese liquor.
Er guo tou (二锅头) is a clear Chinese liquor distilled from sorghum that is 112-proof, smells pungent, and has a somewhat...
“I do not intend to build so that I can have customers, I intend to have...”
– Howard Roark, from The Fountainhead by Ayn Rand
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Breast Pictures. Seriously?
I started my internship at Sanky Communications, Inc. this week. So I was proofing a monthly report for one of our clients, Freedom From Hunger. At the end of the report is a chart listing the most popular search phrases that people entered online that led them to visit the FFM website.
No. 2 on that list: “breast pictures”. Seriously?
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Personal Statement to Columbia University
My parents immigrated to America when I was two years old. I remained in Beijing with my grandparents until I was seven.
My grandfather had been a professor of German at the Beijing International Studies University. He had been one of the two Chinese delegates who visited Vienna on the bicentennial anniversary of Mozart’s birthday. A famous pianist performed some of Mozart’s works on a piano that...
