onewpc's Xanga

Here we go...agan!

Thu, 25 Jan 2007 04:51:06 GMT

All right I'll admit it.

I don't like change.

This probably comes as a surprise for someone who changes country every year. I never lived in the same place with the same people since I started college...but I really really really HATE moving.

College was different in that I expected to need to move all the time and became really proud of my streamlined level of existence...although nothing compared to some other people I know (I think one of my roomies only had a suitcase books and a box full of DVDs when she moved out.) Still others had about TWENTY TWO boxes that they somehow managed to cram into a single room! I fell somewhere in the middle of that.

But since leaving college I've been practically forced to keep my possessions down to a bare 20 kg. I gave away tons of things when I left Japan and came to Austrralia thinking all right, we're staying put for awhile...it's okay to accummulate stuff. Kieran and I had a ball going to the supacenter that had tons of furniture stores after we moved out of our first flat. We now have a nice load of stuff to happily furnish a home...

As soon as we find a new one!

After our "new" flat we were recently issued a notice of termination because we had only signed a 6 month lease to start. And we have 3 weeks to find a new place.

Sigh so here we go again.

Somethings you'll never get used to....grrr.

Thursday, January 18, 2007

Thu, 18 Jan 2007 07:29:49 GMT

Happy Holidays Happy New Year etc.

At least we're getting off to a good start:

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/01/18/washington/18intel.html?ei=5094&en=31f17ca266626030&hp=&ex=1169182800&adxnnl=1&partner=homepage&adxnnlx=1169122740-eQaTX/bWvdhR/9ef7yZGtQ

While not directly admitting that they were WRONG, the move by the Bush Administration has essentially demonstrated that the wiretapping program was questionable, despite their insistence that it was legal and the ONLY way to ensure to stop terrorists.

Re-wiring wire tapping (or something to that effect)

This is the year of a strong resounding liberal: TOLD YA SO!

Happy Thanksgiving and the mail that WON'T get lost!

Thu, 23 Nov 2006 19:35:05 GMT

Happy Turkey Day Stateside! Since I am not in the US right now, I take it that I am obliged to be a non-thankful selfish prick so as to show respect for non-American values.

Anyhow, entertaining little anecdote for the day:

About 800 people must have previously lived at my current address...only about 20% of the addressed mail we get is actually ours, so it really must say something about the place we live in if people seem to only stay here a few months at a time. One guy even had his mail redirected to this address and now, no longer resides here although the mail is still coming.

So as responsible citizens, when we receive a piece of mail that is not addressed to us, rather than throw it out or open it (that's a federal offense), we write RTS on it (return to sender) and put it back in the slot. Address of the sender is clearly marked on the back.

This morning, one of the pieces of mail came back to us. With a new time stamp showing that it has been through the mail system 3 times now!

I am very tempted to put it back in and see where it goes...it's like an infinite logic loop I suppose.

Venting

Wed, 22 Nov 2006 21:29:32 GMT

I live in this 2 story townhouse that is built JUST shy of however long it takes to answer my phone. If I'm upstairs, my cell phone is always downstairs, if I'm downstairs for 2 freakin seconds, the phone will ring upstairs. And no matter how I run, I always get to it JUST as the bloody thing switches to voicemail.

And then the person is always ON the voicemail when I try and call them back so I have to wait and call them but then of course they've already told me everything on my voicemail so they're peeved to need to tell me again.

OR they have withheld numbers and don't bother leaving a message at all. Then I'll always get another call hours later when once again I'm at the wrong part of the house and again the whole thing happens again!

So if you call with a withheld number LEAVE A FUCKING MESSAGE!!!!

Torn...

Fri, 10 Nov 2006 19:56:55 GMT

Yes folks, I'm actually...torn...about the new government.

On the one hand I'm snoopy-dancing with victory! There's hope...or at least a semblance of hope brought on by the possible change. And that's a lot more than we've had in a loooong while.

On the other hand...all the bleak darkness and despair was such good creative material! I had a lovely little piece all planned out on a new dystopia and the demise of the world...and now who's going to want to read that??

Asian/White Interracial Dating

Wed, 01 Nov 2006 00:20:02 GMT

This conversation comes up from time to time. I've read quite a few articles about all of these various theories about why asian-white is the most common form of interracial dating especially between the asian female and the white male. I guess I obviously fall into this trend with the majority of my boyfriends being white and a majority of my platonic friends being asian males.

I'm proud to be asian...not AZN or anything that involves some kind of capitalisation and lower case phrasing (I went through that to fit in to my largely asian dominated high school.) I appreciate my culture and have come to have a better grasp of understanding it after living abroad in Japan. Inter-ethnic discrimination aside, I can truly see resemblances between Chinese and Japanese mindsets about family and social acceptance. I do my best to acknowledge things in my asian AND my American culture and do what I see fit about it given my environment. For example, I haven't celebrated Chinese New Year/Mid-Autumn Festival/4th of July/Halloween/Thanksgiving this year because I'm not in an environment to enjoy it. I don't particularly appreciate Anzac Day or the Footie finals either, but I was excited about the World Cup. Because I loved the atmosphere...because celebrating means sharing with your community. Just like in high school, where having !!aZnPrYdE!! gave you a sense of community.

But in terms of vices that people have, I don't like racism and bigots, but in the grand scheme of things, someone associating me with Bruce Lee or Lucy Liu from ignorance doesn't really do anything to my day. I'm more likely to HATE people who abuse children or look down on people from a different socio-economic background or even *look down* on people of different racial backgrounds...like completely ignoring someone who doesn't speak English properly or telling them to "go home." I wouldn't go out of my way to be friends with ignorant people who think all Asian people look the same, but in the grand scheme of things, if they don't harbor actual ill feelings, frankly there's enough things wrong with this world to criticise.

As for the trend of asian women dating white men, I think that is indeed a culturally propagated condition that is due to change. We ARE starting to see more asian men in media, and here in Australia, I have seen more examples of asian men with white women because the general integration of the two races is more obvious, with most minorities in Australia coming from some asian country. (They don't have as many hispanics or a heritage of african-australian that has developed through the years.)

As for asian men, I have nothing against them, many of them are attractive, but they didn't seem to want to give me the time of day. I recall a certain class and group of asian boys (who will go unnamed), where 4 or 5 of them were all openly vying for the attention of one girl in the class (who will also go unnamed). Come to think of it...I can think of a few situations of that nature, but I was never that girl. =P Part of it, I think, was because I was willing to consider dating outside of my race, sometimes that seemed to be an automatic turn-off to some asian men.

So I guess, I'm going to be a passive person here and say, I adapted. I never thought I would end up with a white boyfriend, living in Australia, trying to become a writer...but lots of things just...happen. Many people try and take a proactive stance in their life, with asian girls and guys decreeing that they will only date a certain race, won't consider anyone from another race, or even that they have a "type" or an "ideal". But how often do those plans go awry? Life takes on its own unpredictable state and more often than not we accept it and wonder how we ever got here.

Shameless self promotion

Sun, 10 Sep 2006 03:30:49 GMT

Coffee Blog at

http://www.coffeequip.com

Leave me feedback and coffee ideas!

Tagged by Yeohaddict

Tue, 18 Jul 2006 01:35:47 GMT

Bloody hell! I don't do these things and I neglected my Xanga for so long I naturally ignored everyone else's...not to mention I don't do these things.

Bugger.

"Once you are tagged you MUST write an entry about 6 weird habits/things as well as state this rule clearly. In the end, you need to choose the next six people to be tagged and list their names."

1. My lips get really chapped so I pick at them...it's gross I know but it's not something I can help. Countless people including my mother have tried to get me to stop...Kieran tries now...no avail.

2. I like writing in different handwritings...sometimes I'll just get this desire to write so I'll copy something from a book or something...6 times...in 6 different handwritings.

3. I brush my teeth super hard...it takes me about 1.5 months to wear out a toothbrush instead of the average 3.

4. Squeaking whiteboards and balloons render me completely helpless and in the fetal position.

5. I apparently sit really funny...it's like lotus position except my knees sit on top of each other and my ankles are on opposite sides...I'm sure you've seen it if I've ever sat on the floor around you.

6. I confuse Spanish with Japanese...and I don't really notice sometimes.

Alright, I'm just going to tag Kieran and pretend I tagged someone. Remember, I don't do these things. :)

Thursday, July 13, 2006

Thu, 13 Jul 2006 20:20:08 GMT

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/07/13/washington/13cnd-nsa.html?hp&ex=1152849600&en=f6c71817910ba5a4&ei=5094&partner=homepage

Hmm okay...2 scenarious come to mind...

1. Saddam Hussein agrees to have the UN come in and look for WMD...upon finding none...we beat their asses anyway. Maybe we'll get to kick the cronies out regardless of the judicial review's findings...

2. The White House having so "generously" agreed to a review claiming "we have nothing to hide...it was all legal", assigns their own handpicked team to conduct the investigation...hmm I hear Harriet Miers, Scott McClellan are still looking for a job...

Which is more likely...ponder ponder....

Amish have a sense of humor

Wed, 12 Jul 2006 00:32:24 GMT

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/07/12/washington/12assets.html?hp&ex=1152676800&en=6b0502da91a3d945&ei=5094&partner=homepage

Okay minus the obvious humor in this article it raises a very interesting point...

In the grand scale of things, can we identify the world's "assets?"

We all don't want to be terrorized...if something happened in a flea market in a small town it just goes to show us that nowhere is safe that you can't escape fate and that's a scary notion. We want to believe that we can control our destinies that we can avoid man-made catastrophes like war and bombs...after all human beings made them and no one consulted me before making a nuclear warhead...why should I have to suffer for someone else's stupid mistakes?

And that's the problem...we live in a world where we give up a lot of our power without our say...and yet we try and hang on to other treasures, like the Amish Popcorn Stand...and it would be awful if terror or war hit home...but train bombs in India or families murdered by Americans in the Mid East...we can live with that...

Too often we feel if we keep out of trouble...stay out of the big cities...go to bed early...live our simple lives...then we shouldn't be punished and we should be allowed to keep our simple pleasures like our strip malls and state fairs...and our leaders should look out for those sorts of things damnit!