舊友

新朋友來訪，向我索看家鄉舊照。這一看喚醒所有童年記憶。不是開玩笑，童年記憶真是清晰的有點難以置信。兒時聽的歌，可以一句不漏的在腦海重唱。但現在聽的歌，聽了一百次都忘記歌詞。

少年時移民後，跟好友解體了。成年後想重拾舊歡，已人去樓空。多日前，想從 facebook 找回昔日知心好友，但不知是她換了名字，還是一貫的低調，找不著。卻意外看到當年極欽佩的戲劇社會長，friend requested 他卻吃了檸檬。不過沒關係，看到舊友生活精釆，不停脫變，感覺良好。還記得他寫的劇本「再見飛船」。飛船呀，好高、好高呀！

10,000 hours of practice. 9,750 hours to go…

I am reading the book Outliers. One of the chapters is about “The 10,000-Hour Rule”. It says that for anyone to master any skill, they need to put in 10,000 hours of practice. There is an example about Bill Gate put in at least 10,000 hours of computer programming before he dropped out of Harvard. The Beatles intensively performed 270 nights in just over a year and a half at Hamburg before they hit it big, etc… You get the idea.

I started sewing last year when my daughter wanted a specific Pokemon trainer costume for Halloween, and I couldn’t find it anywhere. So, I made one for her and started sewing. Since then, I probably put in about 4 hours a week on sewing. That’s 208 hours a year. So it will take me 48 years to master the skill. Humm.

I can see improvements. Just sewn the first evening gown for my daughter and was pretty fond of it.

But I got to practice more, so I convinced my client to give me a sewing gig. I designed and sewn 15 beer garden uniforms. That’s 80 hours of practice right there. (Mostly at midnights while the kids were sleeping with no distractions. Special thanks to my mom for technical advice and troubleshooting.)

I am aiming to reach the level of Alexandar McQueen (I almost fell on my knees admiring the beautiful work in his exhibition at The Met). Say, I should be ready to launch my line (calculating…) at the year 2058.

iMourning

This is just my app concept. While I am not a programmer and have my hands filled with other obligations at the moment, someone please steal this idea and make it happen. I love to see how it goes.

Nowadays, work life is everything. One wouldn't miss more than a day at work even when a person they love dies. But people need to feel. It makes people alive.

While in tears, have you ever got a feeling: "I want to hold on to his/her hands forever”?

Here is an app that can help you with it. Before someone you love passed away at the deathbed, take a photo of one of his/her hands with the iPad while the iMourning app is on. The app will insert activation points to that photographic hand: the palm and the five fingers. The activation points will interact with your touch on the screen.


When the app is on, you see the loved one's hand from a near distance, with a bit of heavenly clouds on the front.


When you lay one finger on the screen, one finger on the other side of the screen will come up to meet yours.


When you lay the whole palm on the screen, the whole palm from the other side will connect with yours.

Yes. The touch and the interaction are artificial. But, the feeling can be so real. And it may be helpful for someone, say just 30 seconds a day to soothe the pain, until this someone ready to let go and move on.

In traditional Chinese culture, people would burn incense stick to connect/feel the dead loved ones. With this app, people can mourn more privately whenever they needed the most.

Feel. People. Feel.

Kids make good comedians.

My boy has a beaver cartoon printed on his pajamas.
Me: What’s that on your pajamas?
My boy: Justin beaver.
Me: Oh, you even named this beav..er... oh... hahaha.
Damn! That “Bieber Fever”!

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My girl: She is fat!
Me: Never tell a lady that she is fat. It will make her sad.
My girl (looking longingly in my eyes): Mom, you are plump and juicy.
Me: …

Mom, did you ruin my life? - xoxo

Just finished reading Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother. To my surprise, it was a great read that left me a lot to think about. Since I don’t know her daughters, so I found this memoir quite hilarious. (As people say, Comedy = tragedy + distance.)

I don’t agree with Amy Chua on her parenting method – and it is not humanly possible for me to do it even if I agree. (Of course I wouldn’t believe that she didn’t dramatized it for the book. Because her husband would not possibly be that calm if the house has always been that hysterical.)

But she has her points. Two things I inspired to do: (1) Set higher goals for the kids and myself. (2) Spend more time working with them.

Come to think of it. I was born in Hong Kong, (probably a bit different from mainland China.) my mom has never been a tiger mom. She always thinks “Mediocrity Is Bliss”. And when I sucked big time, I always got a pat on the back.

In Amy’s view, my mom probably ruined my life. SO MOM, DID YOU? HOW DARE YOU… Just kidding, I love my life and I love you!

Ghost of the Big Crush Past

OMG. I didn’t see a ghost. But I think I saw my High School Crush across the street while I was walking down to an ATM. Same as old times, I got a crush on my stomach and looked away within one fourth of a second. So I still not sure it was really him. Of course, it would be so much fun to catch up with him after 20+ years. But I just said he was my Crush ~ and what could be better than just let him remember me as an 18 year-old forever… Oh man. Maybe it was a New Year wake up call: Time to fix up my looks!

The Ball of Health.

A friend told me a saying: “Life is about juggling 4 balls: Career, Family, Friends and Health. Career is a rubber ball; after it fell it would bounce back. The other three are glass balls, when they fell they would break.” I couldn’t agree more. But if sometimes people get too tired, can they put one of the balls aside? I know some people choose not to have career, some choose not to have family, and some choose not to have friends. And they can still enjoy the life they committed to.

But none would choose not to have health, in purpose. We just sort of forgot about it and then missed it dearly when it’s gone…

In the upcoming New Year, I wish everyone a healthy life. Which means, my friends — No matter if you are getting fired, getting divorced, failing your classes or whatever — as long as you are healthy, I am happy for you!