I’ve been trying to convey these messages for what seemed like forever because I know that if I ever say these things out loud, all you’d do is laugh. Therefore, I’ve decided to write it down which I am sure that one day, you’d be able to look at this and understand every single word I say (alas, that day is today!)
Having an imagination is not a bad thing. It doesn’t mean a person is crazy. It just means they are creative. It just means their brain is capable of coming up of situations that don’t normally happen in life. Like it or not, some people would be so jealous to be able to come up with a fantasy world.
Another thing, you guys keep teasing me about my writing. You guys think that just because I was bullied at school a long time ago, all my writing would constantly be focused on that. There are tons of other things I’d like to write about other than my childhood.
Just because I’m slow at grasping subjects doesn’t mean I’m stupid. I just like to turn something inside out to make sure I understand to the point I will never forget.
The final message is that just because I’ve been given clothes, food, and shelter does NOT mean my life is a piece of cake. Life is not easy for anybody.
I do hope that after reading this, you guys would be a little more appreciative of the things I do and take what I say a little more seriously.
I remember there was a time when I can memorize just about anything. Some of you, like my mother would say, yeah, that’s call when you’re a child. Continue reading “A Childhood Poem”→
Sometimes, I think back to three years ago, I was in the third year of my undergraduate degree, when my mother suggested that I switch major from engineering to accounting. I didn’t listen. I even argued that if I switched, I would have to start over. Except for the math courses, I would have to take the lower requirements courses all over again.
I went on to my degree until the end. Now, three years later, I am sitting in an intermediate accounting class, trying to understand something I have no knowledge of. Yes, I have an undergraduate degree but without passing the licensing exam, I cannot get a job. So I’m kind of back to square one and have to go back to school to learn about something else. Sometimes, I feel like if I did switch major three years ago, I would have graduated this year or the next and I might even have a job instead of now, still in school, next to jobless, still living with mom.
But I didn’t fail, I believe I have just hit one of the bumps on the road of success. The road of success may be long and bumpy but sooner or later, we will reach the end which at that time, we will tell our extra spicy success stories.
It feels so great to be back. I’ve missing from the world of blogging for the past couple of days because I was on a deadline but all this is passed. I’ve finished my homework and now just have study for an exam which is in two days.
Anyway, yesterday early morning, after just barely 6 hours of sleep, I saw the daily prompt. I was going to write it but I just couldn’t bring myself to do it. I was like, eh, I’ll just do it later and I never did. The reasons for that are I am tired and my brain was foggy and the other reason, I don’t believe and know anything about astrological signs. Research wasn’t my strong suit so I decided to abandon the blog for one more day.
Today though, I found the prompt finally to be interesting, it said, “Yesterday you invented a new astrological sign. Today, write your own horoscope — for the past month (in other words, as if you’d written it October 1st).”
I am not going to try and invent a new astrological sign. So I’ll use my own. I am a libra and the symbol for that is the scale. It’s supposed to remain balance but this month, if anything, it feels like it’s tipped.
Okay, now, I’m curious. I am opening up another tab to check this out. Wow, it’s strangely and insanely accurate. How did they do that? So why do I need to write my own? Oh well, whatever, here goes:
October will be a challenging month. There will be communication chaos and this will cause frustration to relationships. You want to get your thoughts out, but it’s possible the other person will not be receptive to them, or they won’t understand what you’re trying to convey. You may have to just let this one go.
October has been a roller-coaster month full of family drama, exams, and homework. I am really looking forward to the end of this month and on to the next. It can only get better and I know it.
Today’s Daily Prompt says, “We’re less than a week away from Halloween! If you had to design a costume that channeled your true, innermost self, what would that costume look like? Would you dare to wear it?”
I don’t celebrate Halloween. I haven’t celebrated Halloween ever since I was 12. What happened? Long story, there was a school dance and I wore a lame costume and everyone laughed. So that’s the end of Halloween.
If I have to design a costume that channels my true innermost self, it wouldn’t have any design whatsoever. It will probably be the most casual costume on the planet. It will probably just sweat pants and shirt. I’m into comfort and simplicity, p.s. that’s why I call my blog, My Simple Life. I am not into any elaborate things, that’s not me.
As a child, I wasn’t really into dress-up, okay maybe a little. Now, if you ask me to dress-up, NO WAY. And this is probably all thanks to a dress that I wore for a professional photo-shoot when I was five (I had to wear a white halter-top dress that made me look like a ribbon tree) and my Halloween costume when I was 11 (I was Cinderella). Hard to imagine me in those now. Anyway, they were both itchy and tight. I could barely breathe and I kept feeling like if I did, somewhere would rip.
So, anything comfortable and breathable, that’s my costume and I will be dared enough to wear it. 😀
Have to get ready, big test today. Ugh, I hate taking tests on Saturdays. 😦
Today’s Daily Prompt States: “We all seem to insist on how busy, busy, busy we constantly are. Let’s put things in perspective: tell us about the craziest, busiest, most hectic day you’ve had in the past decade.” Continue reading “I just want this to end!!!”→
Do you know a horrible way to cook hot dogs? I didn’t realize it until this morning when my cousin did it. Microwaving it without water. The whole house smelled like exploding hot dogs. I can even smell it now in class! It’s horrible! Continue reading “A Little Life Update: So So Busy”→
Today’s Daily Prompt says, “Many of us had imaginary friends as young children. If your imaginary friend grew up alongside you, what would his/her/its life be like today? (Didn’t have one? write about a non-imaginary friend you haven’t seen since childhood.)”
Ah, imaginary friends. I cannot remember if I ever had one. Oh wait, yes, I did, when I was in elementary school when kids and even teachers used to pick on me because they thought everything about me was below average. I don’t remember her name though but based on my judgement, it’s most likely my imaginary friend was nameless. I never bothered to give it a name.
I was lonely when I was in elementary school in China. I was often by myself, no one talked to me and I hardly have any social skills. Even after I was made English group leader (which was a big deal), I was a nobody. So it’s no surprise I have an imaginary friend.
Even though, I was the one who talked most of the time (obviously), it was great to have someone to talk to, to tell about the things that are troubling me. I don’t remember what she looked like though, because my imagination is always changing and so did my imaginary friends, but I think it was my imaginary friends that kept me company through the years between after my mom came to the U.S. and before I joined her in the U.S. Otherwise, I would’ve gone depressed and crazy what with the judgmental people at school picking on me as well as those summers that I had to spend it with my grandparents.
Today’s daily prompt says, “What’s your earliest memory involving another person? Recreate the scene — from the other person’s perspective.”
To be honest, I don’t remember much about my childhood except for those big moments. I have tons of pictures stuffed in thick photo albums in the basement newly-constructed storage closet but when I look at it, I cannot remember doing any of those thing as a child.
So for this prompt, instead of writing about my earliest memory involving another person, I will just write about a single memory involving another person in the other person’s point of view, which is my mother. This was something I saw when I woke up one morning, so I’ll just imagine the rest and since my mother does not like to think quietly, I practically know her every thought. Well, not every one of them but most of them.
December 22, 2001, about 7:30 am
I sit in front of the desktop. “Loading…” the screen reads. The screen is green and simple. I got this computer 2 years ago and it feels like it’s getting slower and slower.
I sigh and look over at her, still sleeping. She must be exhausted from the flight. I know I am but I cannot sleep with the time difference. On the other hand, I need to confirm our route. We need to leave for Texas in few hours. As the page loads, I see my husband, Jim, comes into the room, the camera in his hand. “Shh,” I say but he isn’t listening.
He puts the camera to his eyes and squints. Snap! I feel the camera flashes behind me. Snap! Snap! He takes more pictures of my daughter sprawling all over the bed. It’s how she sleeps ever since she’s little. I glare at my husband, “You’re going to waste the film.” I hiss.
“But she’s adorable.” I roll my eyes as the screen finally loads. I type in the addresses as quietly as I can while Jim places the camera on the computer desk.
“Mommy, what’s going on?” She asks, her eyes squinting at the light.
“Good morning.” I greet. “How did you sleep?”
“Hmm,” she responds.
“No time difference?” She shakes her head and closes her eyes again.
I didn’t know my step-dad was taking pictures of me sleeping until my mom and I went to develop the rolls of film after we came back to California. I kept those pictures of course. Otherwise, I wouldn’t have come up with this memory. How do I know it was taken then? There’s date and time stamped at the bottom corner of the picture.
Today’s Daily Prompt says: “Did you know today is Blog Action Day? Join bloggers from around the world and write a post about what inequality means to you. Have you ever encountered it in your daily life?”
No, I did not know today is Blog Action Day. Inequality is an important issue for me. I used to often complain about it because I often feel like I am being treated fairly because of my size and other things that may be wrong with me. In short, inequality, to me, is not being treated on the same level or fairly just because there is an uncontrollable defect like height or genetic disorder.
Just because a person is short, fat, have small hands or whatever defect, it doesn’t mean that person cannot do the same job like all the others. I’ve encountered plenty of those situations in my daily life from job interviews to work.
You know that small print on the job application form that says something like everyone’s equal or we’re an equal opportunity employer? For me and maybe some people, that seems like it’s only true before the interview process. Before the employer gets a look at you to see whether you’ll be fit for the position.
The reason I’m still in school now is that I couldn’t get a job after graduating from my undergraduate degree and the reason for that is I couldn’t get an internship. Most employers look for recent graduates with internship experience. During my Sophomore, Junior, and Senior years in college, I applied for a dozen internship. Whenever I saw a bulletin for hiring interns, I jumped at it.
I even got interviewed a few times but no luck, no one hired me. Each interview lasted about 15 minutes with the employer asking me a bunch of questions and I answered them to the best of my ability. Then they’d tell me they’d contact me in a week or so, never did and then two months later, I’d get an email saying although my qualifications are impressive, they had already hired someone else.
I often wondered if they were actually thinking about hiring me after get a peek at what I look like. I wonder, if during the interview, questions would pop into their minds about whether I am capable of doing the job, whether I’d able to lift a specific number of weight. Of course! What kind of employer who doesn’t ask this kind of questions? And I know the answer, they don’t think I can do it because of my size. How is that fair that I am not given a chance even if I was given a chance to be interviewed? Unfortunately, that’s life and it’s not fair.
Today’s Daily Prompt asks, “From your musical tastes to your political views, were you ever way ahead of the rest of us, adopting the new and the emerging before everyone else?”
Okay, first of all, my work, incredibly tedious. I just sit at my two computers and turn my head back and forth at the screens to make sure each of the article on the website is properly updated and translated from English to Chinese. Of course, sometimes, it requires utter concentration when there’s a long paragraph that is needed to be translated but most of the time, I just need to update the images and proofread to make sure it’s not missing any periods, colons, or comma or misused words.
Why am I telling you this?
Because often, when it’s just me and mom working, I’d get bored listening to mom smacking the keys on the keyboard. I’d put my ear-buds into my ear and listen to my iPod but then I can’t hear whenever mom has a question about the translation. So listening to iPod is out unless I am alone.
So I turned to Pandora, an online radio where I get to choose what I like to listen to. The thing I like about Pandora is its variety. If you choose the stations right and then press shuffle, it’s great. I like to listen to a mix of new and old songs and best of all, it doesn’t just play the most popular songs like the local radio stations does, it plays world music. As long as it’s in English, it’ll play.
As I listen to it, often times, my ears would tune into the styling of the song. Sometimes I would click on a song I like and will be surprised to learn that it’s been released for 2 or 3 years and most of these kind of songs are from UK and Australia.
This leaves me wonder, does it take this long to reach North America? Because sure enough, a few months later, that same exact song is introduced on the local top hits radio as new music and I’ll be like the styling’s current but the song is 2 or 3 years late.
Have you noticed that the music styles from UK and/or Australia have been two or three years ahead of North America and the artist in North America just listen to those styles and mimic, and adapt to new styles?
That’s just my opinion because the styles from the pop artists here are very similar and I have basically given up listening to top 40 radio and instead, I turn to station filled with old tunes.
I started writing the daily prompt yesterday but didn’t know what to write after the chaos that happened this past weekend. Honestly though, an extra hour a day, to me won’t feel any difference these days because I’ve been so darn busy during the weekend. Continue reading “Clutter not Messy”→
Today’s Daily Prompt states: “A lively group discussion, an intimate tête-à-tête, an inner monologue — in your view, when it comes to a good conversation, what’s the ideal number of people?”
It all depends on the conversation but I’d say two or three is the ideal number of people. In some conversations, three’s a crowd while in some conversations, even two’s considered a crowd. Well, those conversations you just have to have it to yourself then.
Sorry, my brain’s a bit fuzzy this morning trying to come up with a situation.
Ah, yes, there is no more awkward conversation than when you’re saying horrible things about someone and they are just thirty feet away from you. This happens so often in my home, especially now. I would be sitting right next to mom and in the middle of our conversation, she would start babbling on about how my aunt and cousin did this and how they did that while they are just downstairs within our earshot. I think those are the conversation that should be done alone and no one’s listening.
A conversation that should be done with two or three people is as states in the prompt, a lively group discussion. One of my classes at the moment have something we do almost every other week called “Small group assignment” where the instructor gives us a worksheet and we have to do it on our own in class. When the entire class is finished, we get into groups. The instructor would often asks, “How many makes a group?”
The class will then answer, “Three.”
I agree, three makes a group and it is needed when it comes to discussion assignments and other assignments, three is the ideal number because an extra opinion will be needed to confirm the correct answer or the correct method to get the answer. Four or five, at least for me, is a bit excessive, that is, if you want to start an argument.
Now is your turn, what is the ideal number of people to have a conversation?
It has been almost a month since you’ve been in the U.S. Therefore, I thought I would spend 10 minutes to tell you how I am enjoying your visit so far. Continue reading “Dear Cousin…”→
I don’t know if I wrote this before but I am a highly doubtful person. I don’t know when I became that person but I am very doubtful. I have trouble trusting my gut instinct on everything. Therefore I cannot claim to be an expert in any sort of subject or fields. Continue reading “A Family of Snobs”→
Aside from the mall across the road, this is basically where everything is
I live in a suburban town about 30 minutes or 25 miles from the outskirts of Salt Lake City. I wouldn’t call it a town, really. It’s got 60,000 people and it’s busy and noisy as heck and the traffic can drive a person crazy especially on the weekend and everyone’s trying to get into the mall and we’re trying to get on the freeway. Yup, that’s right, we live right across the street from the mall.
We don’t go there though, at least my mom and I don’t. The clothes there are expensive and the sizes doesn’t really fit us. So on weekends, if we need to get onto the freeway, we take the longer route instead of waiting 20 minutes in traffic to get from our home to the freeway which is about 1.5 miles.
We used to live in Salt Lake County. I don’t say Salt Lake City because a lot of my Californian friends used to get confuse when I tell them I live in Holladay. Wait, I thought you live in Salt Lake City as I would often get in response.
No, I’d tell them, Salt Lake City is actually very small.
A lot of people visiting Utah for the first time, even my relatives, thought Salt Lake City is a large city but if you’ve lived here long enough, you will know that the city itself is quite small and it’s the county that’s large.
The train that used to get me part-way to school and home
Well, by my standards, anyway. The county is actually small compare to the other 28 counties in the state but it is surely the highest populated county in the state, about 1/2 of the state population is gathered there. Anyway, I don’t live in Salt Lake County, I used to, but I live in Davis County which is even smaller than Salt Lake County.
When I did my undergraduate at the University of Utah, whenever people asked me where I live, I’d tell them, Layton. They would be like, huh, where’s that? I was a little confused myself of why people don’t know where Layton was. So after a while, I started telling people I live about 30 minutes from the school but by train and bus, it’s about 1 hour. They were like, wow, you must be getting up early to get here everyday. I’d nod and say, yup.
I live in Utah for about 7 years now and I never really discover any strange quirks up until about 2 months ago when mom mention that she noticed the people here don’t pronounce the “t” sound except when they say “Utah”. I never noticed that and now I hear it everywhere. For example, I hear people call the city I live in “Lay on” when it’s supposed to pronounce “Layton” with the “t” sound. And when you need braces, people say you need to “straigh en” your teeth. Weird, right?
It’s okay, I guess, living here in the suburbs, though I find life a bit boring and annoying sometimes. There’s hardly anywhere to go and the only place I seem to know to shop is Hill Air Force Base. Now, with my ID card cut off, age restriction, I can no longer have access to the base and without a car, life has just become 100% times more boring. It’s almost like constantly being grounded. I can’t even go with mom to buy groceries now because I have to watch my cousin at home.
F.Y.I, mom nor I want to take my cousin to the market because he has a reputation, even at 17, to throw a tantrum if we don’t get him what he wants and frankly, I am terrified.
I am a mess at the moment. In fact, I feel like I am about to blow. With the endless pile of homework and exams, I don’t have a spare moment to relax. Continue reading “Exam Day”→
This morning I woke up and went straight to work. This month’s pile of work is enormous. If I don’t complete by the end of the month, I won’t receive a paycheck and that is bad. Anyway, I just got to school and have a few minutes to breathe before my class starts. So I thought I would give the daily prompt a go.
I actually gave the prompt a gander earlier this morning and I was like what the heck does this quote mean. “Follow your inner moonlight; don’t hide the madness.” — Allen Ginsberg
Well, after a quick search on google, I found this meaning on chacha.com. “The phrase follow your inner moonlight don’t hide your madness means to be yourself and love who you are and don’t be afraid to show others the real you out of fear that they won’t accept you.”
There are two sides to me, childish and sophisticated. I usually show my sophisticated side but the truth is I am just another big kids and being smart and sophisticated sucks. On the other hand, I would never show my childish side to others because that’s the side that will drive people away.
Being sophisticated sucks, yes I know I said that but this is the side people like . The part that suck is being smart and calculated. It is extremely exhausted sometimes. Don’t you think so? It’s almost like taking tests all day.
I like who I am but until I am truly comfortable, I am keeping my childish side in hibernation for now.
I haven’t been feeling well this week. 😦 The temperature fluctuations tend to do this to me. Over the weekend, it went from the 80’s to the 50’s. The temperature difference in the classrooms doesn’t help either. So I have chills, headache, and my dizziness.
Yet I don’t tell anyone. No one will believe me plus I don’t have insurance. I don’t even bother talking to mom anymore because her temper had been at its worst ever since my aunt and cousin came to town. Yesterday, after enduring 2 hours of exam and not eating lunch, I went home straight to fighting. Frankly, my throat is coarse and tired.
What did we fought about? Two days ago, she had asked my aunt to re-park her new car and my aunt backed the car into the pole that held the basketball basket. She did what my boss did last November to my car. She turned the wheel in the wrong direction. So naturally, she blamed me for not stopping my aunt. Can you believe that? If I’d known that, I would have re-parked the damn car myself.
Then last night, after she found out how I did on my exam (I stupidly blurted out), she wouldn’t leave me alone and the fight went on for 90 minutes (storming into my room and interrupting me doing homework and all that). It’s so freaking annoying. I feel like the fights are going to go on and on probably until one of us dies or move out.
The other thing that is annoying me at the moment is ever since my aunt and cousin moved in, they’ve been eating, eating, and more eating. It feels like that’s all my cousin think about is food. In less than a month, they have eaten the amount of food that would normally take me and my mom two months to eat. I’m serious and I mean just my aunt and cousin. It doesn’t include me and my mom.
My cousin eats like there’s no tomorrow, like everything is free. Well, nothing is free. There’s no free lunch. He cooks three dishes for lunch and eat most of it himself and then 30 minutes later, snack and then 2 hours later, three or four dishes again, dinner and the cycle continues. Okay, I am at awe here because I have never seen a 17-year-old with such a large appetite. And the thing is, he doesn’t gain weight. Okay, now there’s something wrong with that kid.
Okay, my 10-minutes is up. I don’t really need prompt today but they are part of the fun for my day.
I’ve been super busy with school this week. If you leave a comment, I may not reply right away. Be patient, I will try to get to you as soon as I can find the time to sit.
Today’s prompt asks, To be, to have, to think, to move — which of these verbs is the one you feel most connected to? Or is there another verb that characterizes you better?
To think, that definitely characterize me. Although sometimes, I should just be because I tend to over-think the simplest of situation and end up with consequences.
I think the person that’s at fault for this characteristic might be my mom. At the age of five, she began sending me to chess lessons. Apparently, chess is a popular game that most parents send their five or six year old kid for lessons, maybe to see if they’ve got a prodigy.
Oh my gosh, I still remember those lessons. The instructor spent the first night handing us all a yay-size book that had the basic moves and all the tricks and then we paired up and play while the parents stood against the wall and watched. I don’t remember mom being there but I sure do remember that it was her that dropped me off and picked me up each night.
With that book, you can imagine everyone in that class knew all the tricks. I did too except I can’t apply it because my opponent would see it coming from a mile away. Anyway, I sucked at chess. Even now I suck. I can’t even beat my own self at the game. But a few classes later, I figured out how the other kids got so good. I saw their eyes move all over the chess board, determining their next move and the move after that. I started doing that too but it didn’t work. I still lost. Eventually, mom gave up sending me to lessons.
I used to be a “to be” person but after those chess lessons, it changed me forever. It’s morphed me into a “to think” person. Now, like a chess game, I would think and analyze every situation before acting, not that it’s bad thing but I just wish that I can just do what my instinct tells me and not think about the consequences.
Today’s daily prompt states: You’ve come into possession of one vial of truth serum. Who would you give it to (with the person’s consent, of course) — and what questions would you ask?
Hmm, which poor soul would I use the truth serum on?
You know, I am a curious person yet I seldom ask questions. I believe that is because sometimes asking too much questions drive a person crazy and I hate making people feel bad. Hmm, is that why I let my smart-mouth cousin say things about over and over? Is that why I cannot get him to shut up?
Anyway, if I have a vial of truth serum, I probably would keep it and never use it. But let’s say hypothetically that I do use it. I can interrogate anyone I want, three people come to mind but the question is what do I ask them?
Assuming my curiosity have driven me insane and I finally decide to use my secret weapon, truth serum, the two people I would use it on would be my grandparents. By then, I probably won’t even ask for their consent before injecting them both with half of dose of the truth serum. I don’t want to be cruel but I’m afraid if I use the truth serum on them, I am more than desperate. Either way, I will get the answer that’s been bugging me for most of my life.
If I don’t use the truth serum on my grandparents to get some deserving answers, I would otherwise use it for curiosity and the person I would use it on is my first crush. The story is we sort of fell in like with each other in freshman high school but he never told me he likes me. However, right before I moved to Texas, his sister told me that he likes me but if he did like me, wouldn’t he tell me that himself? So it makes me feel suspicious about the truth.
Of course, I would ask him for consent because he isn’t my grandparents and I have a feeling he would consent because he is a little shy and is probably afraid to tell the truth without truth serum. So the questions I would ask him are:
Did you have a crush on me in high school, before I moved to Texas?
Why did you have your sister tell me instead of telling me yourself?
Unless, someone else is keeping something from me, these are the three individuals I would ever use the truth serum on.
Today’s 
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Today’s prompt
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This is Another Story 