Tag: Diary

Dream Tale

Published on by Yinglan8 Comments

I have written a similar prompt when I did Writing 101, to read it, click here. As for a song for the future, it’s too soon to decide.

My brain woke up quite early this morning, way before my eyes wanted to open anyway, and spent a good hour or so lying in bed listening to my mom’s loud phone call while thinking about the incredible dream I had. It was so incredible that I now have this story implanted in my head but I can’t write it because for one, it was way too spotty, like, why did these events happen and for another, it’s rather silly to talk about.

Should I at least say something about it? Then be on my merry way to finish my novella. I was so incredibly close last night and I thought I would go to sleep to have a dream that will tell me what to write next but instead, this strange dream is now keeping me from writing anything. Oh yes, it is a definite yes. I have to talk about the dream.

The dream started with the song “Bye Bye Bye,” you know the song by the popular 90’s boy band, Nsync? I have no idea how that song got in my head. The last time I heard that song was almost a month ago when I was driving home from something. It was a weird rendition, live, by a church choir.

Next, the dream became me sitting in front of my computer, in the dead of night searching editing jobs on the freelancing job-site and strangely, I won a bid. I was to proofread this document and send it back. The document was quite badly written. The most distinct error I remember from the dream was Howre’re you. I have a feeling someone is terrible in spelling.

Then I can feel time sped forward a few weeks because I found myself pacing in my room. Apparently, I haven’t received the payment for my job. My tablet suddenly let out a loud buzz. It was a phone call in Google Hangout. I answered. This is where the dream turned into an action movie.

I was dressed in black and I was moving stealthily along the side of a building. I had a feeling I was rescuing something. Who, I don’t know. I entered a room that resembled an underground parking lot. The light was so dim that it made everything look green. It’s almost like the kind of place you expect surprises to fly at you at any second. I somehow knew where to go though as my feet voluntarily guided me to the spot where a large man appeared before me and behind him was a woman tied and gagged. I didn’t recognize her but obviously it wasn’t her choice to be in this position.

As I approached, I realized I was only about a third of the man’s size. I ran toward him, apparently that was what dream me did. I fought him, incorporating fighting skills I have only seen in movies and won. Then it all just ended. My sweet dream. I opened my eyes a bit, it was day, and all I could hear was the sound of my mom talking to my aunt on her computer.

I would have posted this sooner to get it off my chest but the moment I began to sit down and write, she’s got something else for me to do. Some other problem. Some other chaos that needed attention. *sigh*

There went my whole morning.

Daily Prompt – Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This)

Frisbee Mode

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It is really not that hard to get me in “the zone” but once I’m in “the zone” Continue reading “Frisbee Mode” →

Red

So Far This Year…

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Photography Improvement counts as an achievement, right?
Photography Improvement counts as an achievement, right?

It’s quite difficult to believe that we’re already approaching summer. Where has the time gone? Today’s prompt has asked about how the year is shaping up for us so far. I will have to say, it’s been busy but at the same time, it’s been interesting.

The new year started off with me watching the Tournament of Roses alone, no surprise there. My aunt was too busy sleeping while mom was watching something on the computer and my cousin, as usual, hid in the basement.

In February, we finally said goodbye to them with one final buffet lunch at Golden Corral. After they left, we spent a couple days cleaning up and then everything began to quiet down. Not really though. School was busier than ever with the need to take an exam every weekend not to mention volunteering to do people’s taxes. I cried when I did my own taxes but who wouldn’t when you find out you owe more than 2000-dollars of taxes. 😦

April was a busy month with finals approaching and the A-to-Z Challenge. It was one hectic month.

Now, it’s May. I just completed my translation work for the month and I am on the verge of completing another project today for my other job. After that, I may just work one day a week while spending the rest writing and studying. Oh, that reminds me, I have to register for the test.

Challenges and Achievements…

Challenges:

I think the biggest challenges so far this year has been finding the time to write. Though I don’t think it will be a problem now since most of the shows I enjoy watching ended last week.

I made quite a bit of progress on my novella in the recent days. I am trying to finish the first draft before I have to start the translation work again next month. So that’s 15 days? After that, it will be the editing phase but hopefully not the rewriting phase. I don’t want to rewrite this for the fifth time.

Ugh, I feel like I’m so close to the end of the story yet the end seems so far away. A problem I’m facing with the story is my brain is constantly debating the conclusion, about whether to write a happy ending where the villain loses or a sad ending where one of the heroes dies. Either way, it will be final.

Achievements:

My biggest achievement this year would have to be my grades. I don’t want to jinx it but I just have to say, they are so many times better than my engineering days. Why didn’t I just go into accounting in the first place?

As for my other achievements, at the beginning of the year, February 3, to be exact, I wrote a post for Blogging 201 and that is to set three goals. Those goals were:

  1. Get a decent job that is does not involve self-employed paychecks
  2. Write at least 5 1000+ words short stories
  3. See my daily views increase 10 to 20%

Although I haven’t exactly achieve the first goal. Yes, I have a new second job but it’s not decent and that job doesn’t pay my federal and state taxes. So it’s basically the same as a self-employed paycheck.

I think it’s safe to say that I have not achieve goal #2 but goal #3, on the other hand, I can say proudly I have achieved it. Just look at this…

Capture

That is more than a 50% increase from week-to-week. It puts a smile on my face to see how many people are visiting my blog on a daily basis. 🙂 Thank you so much and thank you so much for the nominations!

…and that’s a reflection on the year so far. It’s been a good year and hopefully it will stay that way. 🙂

Reflection

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Hi, everyone, I hope you’re having a happy Saturday. Continue reading “Reflection” →

Stepping Out

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Today’s Prompt asks: When was the last time you did something completely new and out of your element? How was it? Will you do it again? Continue reading “Stepping Out” →

Writing 101: The Things We Treasure

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Today’s prompt is way way way too similar to the one I did on March 23 that it’s practically identical. If you wish to read my response, it’s right here. Therefore I’m going to do Writing 101 instead. The assignment is to write a story about my most prized possession. Continue reading “Writing 101: The Things We Treasure” →

Writing 101: Your Voice Will Find You

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5803724968_7e8a93b165_z_large

You know, I realized something. Continue reading “Writing 101: Your Voice Will Find You” →

Writing 101: A Character-Building Experience

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I do not know her. We have never met before. Continue reading “Writing 101: A Character-Building Experience” →

#AtoZChallenge – A for Absolutely

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Absolutely, what? You ask. I can think of a lot of adjective that can follow that word like annoyed, poofed, tired, exhausted, excited, psyched… Continue reading “#AtoZChallenge – A for Absolutely” →

Following Instructions and Understanding Glamour

Published on by Yinglan7 Comments

So apparently it’s another slow day at VITA, the place I’m volunteering to help other people do their tax returns. I thought I’d be busy since it’s the last week but no, there’s barely anyone here to file their taxes. Right, now, I’m just waiting for the instructor to review my mom’s tax return which I believe it will take a while. My mom’s got what they call a “complex return” but mine’s done and I have to pay some $2,000 back in taxes. 😦 The downside of being self-employed.

Anyway, today’s prompt asks…

Are you good at what you do? What would you like to be better at?

I’ve been told by many that I have confidence. “I like your confidence.” Their words, not mine.

The truth is, I don’t feel like I have a lot of confidence, not in myself. Circumstances in life tend to create a lot of doubt and therefore it takes away my confidence.

What would I like to be better at?

I’d like to be better at a lot of things, listening, writing, understanding instructions, learning, and beautifying my appearance.

I have a hard time understanding and following instructions. Whenever I’m given some instructions, I’ll not want to be the first one to complete the task. I tend to be the follower instead of the leader because of my fear of not being able to follow simple instructions along with my tendency to doubt myself. So if I can be better at understanding exactly what the instruction is asking me to do, I might be a much better me, a smart me even.

The other thing I’d really like to be better at? Beautifying my appearance. I do not know how to do that, not consistently at least. My mom almost always say, “tidy yourself, don’t be so messy.” I know she’s talking about my appearance which I am very random when it come to it but not so random that I step outside in rags. All I am saying is that I like to dressed comfortably, not glamorous. If that’s a fault, then I can’t be fixed.

Oh don’t get me wrong though, I like to dress glamorously, just in a comfortable kind of way.

Okay, my shift’s over, have to head home, eat something, study, and try to take my exam this afternoon. Wish me luck.

Not a good title

Published on by Yinglan6 Comments

Innovation-Is-Not-Imitation
This should answer this creepy and dumb prompt

I have a lot of favorite bloggers, not just one. I won’t imitate someone. It’s both creepy and weird which it’s exactly the words to describe today’s prompt. I remember when my “friend” used to imitate my voice and action when she came to my apartment for tutoring after school. I hated it. It’s like I know I’m childish and immature, you don’t have to let me know like that.

It took all my strength to not get mad and whine (back then I whined). I didn’t know. Apparently, my ears play tricks on me, it sort of tunes my voice to make it sound a little more mature. I recorded my voice once and played it back, I sounded like a baby.

Speaking of ears and voice, my ear-buds decided to quit working today. Right after my last class, I stuck the ear-buds into my ears and the sound was uneven, like one was hogging all the sound. It was a new situation but not good. It was like hearing the music but no one’s singing the lyrics.

 

I got these last May. I don’t know why, I have the worst luck when it comes to buying ear-buds. I go through at least one pair a year, sometimes two. I only got this pair because I didn’t have any other option, these were the cheapest ones other than the $3 ones which I had to return because it didn’t work.

I don’t really like these. It won’t stay in my ears for very long because the clip makes the wires feel heavier. I always felt like my head is being pulled downward whenever these are in my ears. I guess that’s a design flaw right there. When I got it, it said that the flat wires prevent tangles. I have to give them that but again, the flat wire made it feel way too heavy. So the only time I could actually use the ear-buds was when I’m sitting very still at my desk.

Anyway, I now have to shop for a pair of cheap headphone. I guess this time, I’d be looking for light and for sports. I’m thinking about the ones with the ear-clip. They won’t come cheap, I’ve checked. I guess it’s a good thing it’s a Spring Break which it would give me a week to shop for headphone behind mom’s back. Wish me luck.

Come out of the Shell

Published on by Yinglan11 Comments

You know the two questions I hate being asked, especially behind my back because people thinks I’m incapable of answering? Do you have a boyfriend? Are you autistic? (Seriously, I had someone ask that one before, a very rude classmate of my mom’s).

I will get myself a boyfriend when I’m good and ready. When my heart desires love, I will go find it, who know how but I will go find it when I’m ready. I went on Facebook a few days ago, it was the first time I logged in in several months. I changed my profile picture in addition to browse around the newsfeed to see what’s my “friends” (air-quote) are up to.

I had to sigh because it proves so much that I do not have a life. Most of my high school classmates have a husband, a family, and some already have kids. My former middle school bestie, she was considered the quickest of us all. She was married, divorced, and had a son at 20! It seems like I’m the only one that’s remained unchanged with no activities, still living at home, no life.

Just now, I got into a small argument with my mom all because I had to put the almond milk back into the fridge and she’s moving around like crazy. I was just about to close the fridge door and she’s there. She bumped into me. I said oops and she blamed me for bumping into her.

Then the subject went from that to why I don’t go out and social or why am I stuck at home all day. I didn’t answer. There is no good answer to this question. I don’t go out and social because well, I don’t want to; I don’t like to. I prefer to be by myself. Just because you like to social and meet people doesn’t mean I like to. Maybe that’s the problem. I am anti-social. I don’t know how to talk to people.

Someday though, maybe I’ll finally come out of my shell.

Yeah, like that

My Ideal Saturday Morning

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Daily Prompt: What’s your ideal Saturday morning? Are you doing those things this morning? Why not?Saturday

My ideal Saturday morning is probably to sit in front of the computer blogging or reading a book while drinking Hot Cocoa and not be bothered by anyone. No homework, just write, read, and relax. Boy, I haven’t had those for a while, not since my mother’s monthly drill in September before my aunt and cousin got here.

I can really use some me time but unfortunately, I can’t do it today. I have to volunteer to file taxes for the low income this morning and then who knows what my mom will drag me to do after. I’m in the computer lab right now, waiting for my first customer, who know when that’s going to be. So I’m taking this chance to answer this insanely trivial daily prompt.

Meanwhile, I hope you enjoy my short crime-solving story I published this morning. 🙂

No Last Words

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Daily Prompt: You have the chance to write one last post on your blog before you stop blogging forever. Write it.

I am going to write it.

There are probably only two reasons in this entire universe why I would ever stop blogging. 1. sudden death and 2. I got a job and am busy as hell. Even then, the end of this blog would be sudden. There wouldn’t be one last post even if I was given the chance.

I wouldn’t even know what to say. I guess the only words I can say are…

A big thank you to all you readers out there who had found the things I write so interesting that you’re compelled to follow me. That I have enjoyed writing and honing my writing skills.

I actually told my mom about my blog last night during dinner with her friend’s daughter (the one we helped to move) and before I could finish my sentence, she cut in and said. “Oh, they’re just silly stories.” I mean, seriously? After that, they just went on with their conversation, ignoring me completely.

Oh well, whatever. I am used to feel invisible.

I am now left with her two pet turtles and have no clue how to take care of them. I don’t even know their names! So far, my mom’s mostly been the one to take care of it. She’s the one to promise someone to turtle-sit, not me.

Surrounded

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Daily Prompt: When was the last time you felt really, truly lonely?

Um, I can’t remember. I actually want to write this post for a while, thanks, wordpress, for giving me this push with a prompt.

If you’d asked me when was the last time I truly felt depressed or angry or annoyed, that I can tell you. Truthfully, I’ve rarely felt loneliness. I am always surrounded by things whether being computers, electronic devices or people. My mom made sure of that.

Even when she left me for six months for basic training, she made sure I’m interacting with people. Every evening, I was told to ride the bus plus walk two blocks to her friend’s house every night for dinner and then wait for her friend’s son to finish his dinner so her friend could take me home. This sometimes took forever because he was like six and he didn’t like to eat unless his mom made him cry.

Anyway, even during those six months of living alone, I didn’t feel alone. I’ve always found something to occupy myself, always busy.  Now, my mom is preparing to go on another training next month, this time, for a month.

I am actually pretty excited because I’ve been surrounded with so many things and people lately that I feel a little overwhelmed and like a chance to be alone. Apparently, my mom doesn’t think so. She’s worried I’d get lonely and keeps asking me whether she should buy a plane ticket for my aunt to fly back here to keep me company. I am like “Hello, I’m almost 24, I don’t need a sitter.”

She’s afraid of something, I can tell, but she won’t say. The other night, I asked her, “Why do you not want me to be alone?”

She replied, “I just don’t want you to feel lonely.”

“Why, are you worried that something might happen to me?”

“Even if it happened, no one will know.” Because even though she’d only be 100 miles away, she’s not allowed to come home or use a phone.

At this point, I knew exactly what she was thinking and I said it. “Ah, you’re afraid I keel over and no one’s here to help me or discover my corpse.”

She laughed, “Maybe but if she’s here, she can call 911.”

“And I can’t?”

She laughed some more. “If you can call 911, then it’s not an emergency.”

I guess she’s got a point there. The thing is though, I’m perfectly healthy. I went to my doctor the other day and he said everything was normal. He didn’t even examine me. He’d sounded so relieved that for the first time after 4 years, I finally have some normal lab results. But I think my mom might be worrying about other things. I think she’s actually worrying about me suddenly dying like my dad. I’ve promised her a dozen times, “This won’t happen to me.” But she wouldn’t believe me. I’m still here, am I not?

“I’ll be fine. I think you should worry about yourself than worry about me.”  I told her but she wasn’t listening anymore. She was already onto other tasks, searching for plane tickets for my aunt on expedia.

Free land

Published on by Yinglan3 Comments

Apparently my mom has decided to vacuum at 8:30 in the morning. The house is noisy as hell and you know what noises do to me, it takes away my inspiration. That’s why I don’t listen to music or watch anything during my blogging time. Hopefully, she’ll be done soon and I can hop over to my other blog and create a lovely short story for this beautiful Sunday morning.

Anyway, on daily prompt today, we’ve been given a plot of land and have the financial resources to do what ever we please.

Land just like this, with a nice cozy house and a rescue / rehab / therapy horse ranch. With a cow pasture and godly morals. All I need.It’s funny because I glanced at this prompt at 6:30 this morning when I was still half asleep, I thought it said “we’ve been given a plot of land with financial resources” as in there’s something about the land that will make money. Oil, perhaps? Maybe gold?

Anyway, after I woke up and read a few responses to the prompt, I was more confused than ever. About 5 minutes ago, I finally went to the daily post page and gave the prompt a thorough read-through. It’s all clear to me now. We have the money to do whatever we want with that land.

What would I do with this magnificent piece of land, given to me by wordpress?

It depends on the answers of the following questions.

1. Does it have anything buried underneath, like gold, coal, or oil? Yes? I’ll invest it in the discovery of that substance whether make it an oil derrick or a coal mine.

2. Will it make me money? Yes? This question is sort of tied to the previous one. Investment in oil, gold, coal, etc.

3. Or will it be a useless piece of earth that cannot be used for anything except build houses on top of it? In this case, I can do nothing but build a gorgeous custom home designed by your truly along with a beautiful farm or garden, depending on the size of the land.

There is one thing I will never do and that is make it commercial. Don’t ask me why.

Image credited to google and pinterest

This can be Fun

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I have been working on my System Understanding Aid (SUA) project for my online accounting class. Trust me, it’s very messy. I invaded the kitchen counter the entire day yesterday, scattering the paper in that red paper bag you see on top. I brought it up to my room in the late afternoon because I just couldn’t take it anymore, I need to see the hints. Last night, my bed was all scattered with papers. I didn’t even bother to organize it. I was so tired. I just stuffed everything inside everything and transferred it back to my desk.

My mom is in the same class as me and this project is due in two days. She wanted to help but let’s face it, she’ll just get in my way. She hadn’t taken enough classes to know what to do for this project. I think if she’s taking this class alone, she’d probably fail.

But it is always helpful to have an extra set of hands and minds on this project. So if I have an extra me, I’d definitely split the responsibility on this project. One of me can be in charge of entering numbers into the spreadsheet while the other me will be working on the paper-end of the project. The best part? I don’t teach everything to my clone! Because well, we think the same, we act the same, what can be more awesome.

Although this can happen…

To you…

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Today is Valentine’s Day and my cousin’s birthday, not the pain in the a– cousin. I probably should send him a birthday card, after all, it’s not everyday one gets to turn 19. Continue reading “To you…” →

Collection

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Daily Prompt: Dig through your couch cushions, your purse, or the floor of your car and look at the year printed on the first coin you find. What were you doing that year?

Okay, that will be a problem for me because first of all, my mom and I, we don’t put or hide coin anywhere and we certainly don’t keep coins in our pockets. We keep them in our wallet where they belong but even then I don’t have a lot of coins. I keep mostly bus tokens in my wallet, though I don’t know why, I have a pass that will allow me to ride whatever I want for free.

So therefore, I’m going to show you these…

DSCF9698

I am almost finish collecting the third set, just need Mississippi. I began collecting state quarters in I think 2003 (it seems like every interesting thing happen that year). I have no clue what got me interested, maybe I just like collecting money. :p

When we were still living in California, my mom and I used to go to the recycling center all the time, to sell plastic bottles and soda cans. Then we would tell the guy to give us quarters which he happily gave us, chunks of quarters at a time.

Once we arrive home, I’d go excitedly to the dining table to find if there was any quarters that I did not have already. The unwanted quarter would be for my mom to do laundry.

At first, it was easy because well, I’m new and I haven’t collected up to the current year yet. After a while, it got tough but I didn’t give up. The most frustrating period of this collection was when we were living in Texas when my step-dad would secretly take my state quarters to buy alcohol and cigarettes while I was asleep. See, that’s why I wanted to lock my door.

I stopped for a while because what’s the point if I collect one and you take one? I began again when I moved to Utah but in the last few years, I’ve slowed down a lot since both my mom and I don’t really use cash anymore unless it’s an emergency and we no longer need quarters to do laundry. So now I’ve fallen quite behind on my national parks and monuments collection and I need to catch up.

Well, I have to head to school. I actually got up early again this morning. I thought this problematic prompt  was interesting and knew I could squeeze a few minutes of my time before school to write this.

This takes me back…

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My step-dad was always big on music. I think me learning the piano was probably the proudest moment of his life. Continue reading “This takes me back…” →

A Great Day

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What a great day today! That was my first thought when I woke up this morning. Today is one of those rare days when I got up early which was at 6:15 am.

The moment my eyes opened, I knew I was alone, that my mom had already gone to work and there was no one else in this big empty house. I can do whatever I want. Isn’t that great? Unfortunately, I have homework and work. Ugh, why do these things have to ruin everything? Good thing I don’t have worry about beating everyone to lunch and I might not even have to eat. That’ll really save me a lot of time as I learned last night.

I was so stuffed from the lunch buffet yesterday that I couldn’t eat anything during dinner. So no dinner for me last night and this morning, I just satisfied myself on a cup of Hot Cocoa with Chia Seed and Flaxseed. Plenty healthy.

I am incredibly obsessed with this idea in my head for a novel right now. So that’s probably why my appearance had dwindled here as I’m spending a majority of my free time catching up on my shows and developing this idea on wattpad.

Anyway, I have to get to work on my paper for school. It is so beautiful here this morning. It is as if spring had decided to come early. I just hope the dark clouds will stay away and won’t drop some measly rain in the middle of the day again.

One of those days…

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I guess I should be proud of myself today. I have just finish a 7-hour workday. I am still not finished with my work, still have a long way to go.

I woke up this morning feeling extremely weird from a series of obscure dreams that I can only dimly recall. I looked at the prompt and the only thing I can describe it is blank. I absolutely cannot recall the last time someone told me they were proud of me.

Actually, I think my mom said it once a few days ago but I can’t remember why. Anyway, I guess I am just having one of those days when I am awake but my brain isn’t. I mean, I’m even having a hard time translating articles.

I think I might just need some inspiration. Or perhaps I just been non-stop thinking about that in two days, my aunt and cousin will go back to China and I will no longer have to cook my lunch before they get home and best of all, no more rice for dinner. Six months, 100 lb of rice, that’s enough.

Now if you’d excuse me, I’d like to look at some breathtaking photographs on pinterest.  Here’s a phenomenal one. 🙂

An observer in Colorado stands framed by a partial solar eclipse in a picture taken last week and submitted to National Geographic's My Shot ...
(Partical Eclipse) pinterest.com

 

Excel: Not For Dummies

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I don’t claim to know more about Excel than most people. In fact, there are a lot of formulas in that program that I still have no idea how to use and Excel still frustrates me so very much even after so many years of using it.

Yeah, I am not this guy

Last night, I spent two hours helping my mom with her homework or our homework since we are both in the same class but I’ve already finished mine a week ago and she’s just getting started. It is an assignment to create a template for the Statement of Cash Flows using the data from Income Statement and Balance Sheet.

Anyway, her typing was so darn slow and erroneous. It’s like she’s dragging a ton of bricks with her hands while typing. And the way she punches the numbers, it’s like she’s trying to murder the darn thing.

On the other hand, I am never good at explaining things to people. I am always good at hands-on, do it for them or let them follow me while I perform the task myself.

A few times during the night, I asked her. “Maybe I should give you mine and you can study it.” She refused, claiming she will not learn anything if I just gave it to her.

I know she’s right and it’s completely unethical of me. It can even be classified as cheating but I just don’t think I can sit there any longer watching her type the formulas one by one instead of placing the cursor at the bottom right corner of the cell and dragging the formula down. I taught her how to do that but she seems to forget everything once she begins typing again.

At the end of two hours, we are at near completion. We completed the Income Statement, Balance Sheet, and the Other Detail for Statement of Cash Flows. Now all we need is the Statement of Cash Flows which we are set to complete on Monday night. I bet I’ll have some real fun teaching her to use the “if” formula in excel, huh?