1984

The amazing 1984 commercial by Apple computers, phenomenal!

Dancing with God

got this forward from SileSide girl, want to share this with you all:

~Dancing with God ~

When I meditated on the word GUIDANCE,
I was drawn to"dance" at the end of the word.
I reflected upon how doing God's will is a lot like dancing.
When two people try to lead, nothing feels right.
The movement doesn't flow with the music,
and everything is quite uncomfortable and jerky.

When one person realizes this and lets the other lead,
both bodies begin to flow with the music.
One gives gentle cues, perhaps with a nudge to the back
or by pressing lightly in one direction or another.
It's as if two become one body, moving beautifully.
The dance takes surrender, willingness,
and attentiveness from one person
and gentle guidance and skill from the other.

My eyes drew back to the word GUIDANCE.
When I saw "G," I thought of God, followed by "u" and "i."
"God, "u" and "i" dance." !

God, you, and I dance.

This statement is what guidance means to me.
As I lowered my head, I became willing to trust
that I would get guidance about my life.
Once again, I became willing to let God lead.
My prayer for you today is that God's blessings
and mercies be upon you and your family
on this day and everyday.
May you abide in Him as He abides in you.
Dance together with God, trusting Him to lead
and to guide you through each season of your life.

Life is Precious - "Give God Thanks For It"

How women Park

Every woman gets a bad reputation for driving! not in this case. SMART woman!

Chinese Idioms

Four-character idioms (known as "chengyu") are key ingredients of the Chinese language. I often find myself wanting to describe a situation or a feeling using Chinese idioms I've learned since I was little. And to have to translate or explaine them to my non-Chinese speaking friends is a tedious task since Chinese is very much a meaning based language system, where 4 simple characters together in combination can tell an entire story or historical reference, or even paint a beautiful scenic picture.

I found this site that tries to condense each idiom into a 1-2 sentence explanation, but I have yet to find a site that tells the stories behind the idioms or where they came from. Just like the way I learned them when I was little, intead of bedtime stories of the Green brothers, my mom would some times just tell me a story behind a certain idiom. Given that there are hundreds and thousands of them, I had a very "colorful" childhood. =)

Fascinations - 3_Travels

Fascination locations:

US:
Yellowstone NP (+ Mt. Rushmore)
Mono Lake
Death Valley + Joshua Tree NP
Arcadia NP


Seychelles
Maldives
Island of Santorini
Aegean Sea - Greek isle
Easter Islands
Canary Islands
Machu Pechu, Peru

Holy See
Spain - Alicante, Barcelona
Portugal - Lisbon
Prague
Italy - Rome, Venice

Great Barrier Reef - Australia
New Zealand
Fiji

Tibet
Nepal
Mt. Kilimanjaro - Africa
Cairo, Egypt
Casablanca, Morocco


China - everywhere in China, except Shanghai!


(list of already been to locations)

US: (some I would like to visit again someday)
Martha's Vineyard + Nantucket
Alaska - Mt. McKinley, Denali NP, Fjords
Grand Canyon
Kawai + Maui, Hawaii + Lanai
Crater Lake, OR
White Sands, NM
drive through the cactus fields, AZ


Stonehenge
Mongolia - Gobi desert
Canadian Rockies - Banff and Jasper NP

France - Paris, Nice, Mt. Saint Michel (photo gallery)
Great Britain - Cambridge, London
Caribbeans - Saint Maarten/St. Martin
Rio de Janero, Brazil
Argentina
Vienna
Tokyo
Kyoto
Kobe
Hiroshima
Seoul
Singapore
Shanghai

Fascinations - 2_Gastronomy

Desired food items:

water (always want/need/can have more)
Salade Nicoise
rice porridge (with little dishes for breakfast)
hot clear soup/broth - also French Onion and New England Chowder soup
Escargo
cheese cake
Tiramisu
dark, bitter sweet chocolate
light fruity ice cream/gelato
hot slice of pepperoni pizza
Sashimi
Mingtaiko Ochazuke
Onigiri
Shanghai-nese soupy dumplings
Carl's Jr $6 burgers
Snapple
Pumpkin spicy Latte (StarBucks)
taro ball in hot milk tea (Cupertino Fantasia)
Ramen
fried Oyster (Mt. View Tapioca Express)
strawberry milk
POST Blueberry Morning
Korean Kalbi
mushrooms, mushrooms, mushrooms - all types! especially in soup!
Tofu variants
steak - rare and bloody!
Peanut & Jelly sandwich (from that special store only)

Fascinations - 1_concepts...

I have decided to build a list of objects of my fascination, this list of no particular order, and will be constantly updated as I remember things...

alright, the list became too long, and I have decided to break it down to 3 catagories:
1) - things, ideas, concepts, just general coming to mind stuff
2) - food, drinks, edibles,and general gastronomical concepts
3) - travel and locations

• Kaleidoscope
• Hot Air balloon
• Para-gliding / hang-gliding
  
• Zeppelin - Hindenberg
• Mandala
• prism
• rainbow
  
• bubbles
  
• Unicorns - and Narwahl tusks for that matter
• Nautilus
• music boxes
• lava lamps
• Nirvana - the Buddhist concept of, not the Seattle rock band
• images of a lonely umbrella on a white sandy beach next to the azure ocean
• Hammock
• 
  
• fluffy feathery pillows
• Bath - hot bath, bubble bath, jet tub, Japanese Ofuro, etc...
• Chinese history - Tang dynasty and Qing dynasty in particular
• Tang dynasty - famous emperors and the single female emperor ever.
• the Rise and fall of the British Empire
• Greek Mythology
• Norse Mythology
• the Moon
• Saturn rings
• Hubble telescope images
• windmills
• kite

• Go
• Chess
• Rubik's cubes - 2x2x2, 3x3x3, 4x4x4, 5x5x5 professor cube, magic, One Square
  
• Magic
  
• Old Testament stories in the Bible
• electro-magnetic field and its various applications
• Aurora Borealis
  
• DIY + hacks
• Escher
• Dali
• Monet
• Canova - X wing Cupid & Psyche
• Van Gogh - but then, I hate Picasso and his Cubism
• 
  

Paper airplane

In the wee hours of the morning, I opened my eyes and recall a very vivid dream.

I made a paper airplane that was so perfect, it glided on the breeze all the way to the edge of the Pacific ocean!

In my dream, I was with a bunch of other kids, we had just eaten some pineapple(huh? dessert last night?), and we were all running around, maybe in an endless golden wheat field (LePetitPrince/Catcher reference?). And somehow, I folded up a small scrap of Origami paper into a tiny paper airplane, and tossed it forward. It was so light and airy that it was caught by the wind and rode on the breeze, up and down, spiraling and dipping, all the way out to the edge of the azure ocean....

I know, I know, I am a true romantic at heart, but still an engineer in my mind! After I woke up, I spent a very brief moment to try to think in a logical way what are the criterias needed for it to happen in the more realistic world:

• the paper has to be very light yet strong, so a light wind can carry it far.
• and it has to be of some sort of plastic or water resistent material, otherwise it might get dampened and lose its shape when it hits the fog/cloud
• the folds has to be crisp, and in perfect symmetry to allow for a straight line of travel and even balance
  
• of course, somehow the design has to WORK!! 10airplanes.com teachs you how to fold them in various styles!

==> there, my useless 0.02 cents of the day.. =)

Memento Mori

"Memento Mori" vs. "Carpe Diem" ... Um... thought-provoking... (see sections from Wikipedia below).

Memento mori is a Latin phrase that may be freely translated as "Remember that you are mortal," "Remember you will die," or "Remember your death". It names a genre of artistic creations that vary widely from one another, but which all share the same purpose, which is to remind people of their own mortality.

In ancient Rome, the phrase is said to have been used on the occasions when a Roman general was parading through the streets of Rome. Standing behind the victorious general was a servant, and he had the task of reminding the general that, though he was up on the peak today, tomorrow was another day. The servant did this by telling the general that he should remember that he was mortal, i.e. "Memento mori", although it is more likely that the servant said "Respice post te! Hominem te memento!" (Look behind you! Remember that you are but a man!) as Tertullian has written in chapter 33 of his work Apologeticus.

Earthly Vanity and Divine Salvation by Hans Memling. This triptych contrasts earthly beauty and luxury with the prospect of death and hell

The genre was little used in classical antiquity; there, the chief thrust of memento mori was the theme of "carpe diem", "seize the day", which would have entailed the advice to "eat, drink, and be merry, for tomorrow we die." The Christian origin of this quote is from Isaiah 22:13, (from the New American Bible): "Eat and drink, for tomorrow we die!" But the thought appears outside the Bible: in the Odes of Horace, with the well known line Nunc est bibendum, nunc pede libero pulsanda tellus. (Now is the time to drink, now the time to dance footloose upon the earth.) Horace goes on to explain that now is the time because there will be no drinking or dancing in the afterlife. This is the classic carpe diem theme.

Hello Kitty VISA card

a friend told me about this yesterday... Um... Errh... Ok... Enough said...

Prepsta

Beautiful Library Images

I love books, guess you can call me a "bibliophile". Here are some truly gorgeous photography of libraries from around the world, courtesy of an entry from Mental Floss (though I am not as liberal about their view on it)...

airline Award Mile chart

United Milage Award chart	Saver Award	Standard Award
From North America --
Within U.S. (excluding Hawaii) and Canada	25,000	40,000
To Hawaii, Caribbean or Central America	35,000	60,000
To South America	50,000	80,000
To Europe	50,000	80,000
To Japan, North Asia, South Asia, Australia	60,000	100,000

American Airlines / American Eagle Travel Awards Chart

To / From To / From Award Type Miles Required Wholly Within Continental U.S.§/Canada MileSAAver AAnytime 25,000 50,000 Between the continental U.S. (including Alaska), Canada, - and - Mexico OR Between the continental U.S. (including Alaska), Canada, Mexico - and - the Caribbean (including Bahamas and Bermuda) OR Wholly within the Caribbean MileSAAver Off-peak ----------- MileSAAver Peak ----------- AAnytime 25,000 30,000 60,000 Continental U.S.§/Canada/ Mexico/Caribbean** Hawaii MileSAAver AAnytime 35,000 70,000 North America§§ Central America, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru or Venezuela MileSAAver Off-peak ----------- MileSAAver Peak ----------- AAnytime 30,000 35,000 70,000 North America§§ Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Paraguay or Uruguay MileSAAver Off-peak ----------- MileSAAver Peak ----------- AAnytime 40,000 60,000 100,000 North America§§ Europe MileSAAver Off-peak ----------- MileSAAver Peak ----------- AAnytime 40,000 60,000 100,000 North America§§ India MileSAAver Off-peak ----------- MileSAAver Peak ----------- AAnytime 75,000 150,000 North America§§ Japan / Northern China MileSAAver Off-peak ----------- MileSAAver Peak ----------- AAnytime 50,000 65,000 120,000 View AAdvantage Partner Airline Travel Award Charts Off-peak dates: The Caribbean and Mexico: Sep.7-Nov.14; Central America, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, and Venezuela: Jan.16-Jun.14; Sep.7-Nov.14; Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Paraguay, and Uruguay: Mar.1-May 31; Aug.16-Nov.30; Europe:Oct.15-May 15, Inclusive; Japan: Oct.1-Apr.30, Inclusive. * Valid for First Class on flights with two classes of service where applicable and Business Class on all other flights. † Valid for First Class on flight offering three classes of service. § Continental U.S. includes Alaska. ** Caribbean includes The Bahamas and Bermuda. §§ North America is defined as the U.S. (including Hawaii and Alaska), Canada, Mexico, Bermuda, The Bahamas, and the Caribbean. TO/FROM designations are nondirectional; award travel may begin from either location. AAdvantage award travel is subject to governmental regulations.

US Airways/Big Sky Award Travel Chart
Within and between the continental U.S./Alaska and Canada
Mileage Saver: 25,000, Premium: 50,000

Between the continental U.S./Alaska or Canada and Mexico, Central America or the Caribbean
Mileage Saver: 30,000, Premium: 60,000

Between North America² and Hawaii
Mileage Saver: 35,000, Premium: 70,000

Between North America² or Hawaii and Europe
Mileage Saver: 50,000, Premium: 100,000

²North America includes the continental U.S., Canada, Bermuda, the Caribbean, Central America and Mexico.

Shakespeare in Park 2006

I thought I missed the Shakespeare in Park this summer because I was out of town during the weekends when they played in Cupertino park, where I went to see the show every year. But I am glad that they still have a few weekend performances of "The Tempest" in SF coming up in Sept!

interesting Poker hand

1 unit small blind, 2 units big blind, I was with short stack of ~17 units left. my hand Jack (Spade), 10 (Club)

players make initial blinds go up +5 units, I was initially in the big blind position, so I go All-In, and only Players B & C called.
Then player C challenged B into a side pot of All-In.

Flop: 7 (Spade), 8 (club), 9 (spade)... ==> I already have a straight!
player B: Ace and a low card
player C: 9 (heart), another card in Spade.

next comes Q (spade).. -> I lost to player C since that hand is a Flush... Oh, well, I tried! Good Game

Gibran, "The Prophet"

For Labor Day weekend, I went on an 11 mile hike in Pt. Reye's National Park, all I can say is that it's an incredibly long and arduous hike. That is, until we finally met up with the group that left earlier and realized that they got lost and took an even more tedious path with higher elevation changes ... guess things aren't so bad after all!

Then I had a chance to go up to Berkeley, sat and chat under the shade of Cafe Strata, walked around and explored little shops, ate at mom&pappa diners, and even tasted the famous "Zachary's" pizza. I like the pile of roasted tomato served in their signature deep-dish pizza.. Yum... We did some sight seeing around the Berkeley campus, as well as drove up the Centennial Drive and saw some wonderfully scenic spots. I didn't know that there was a botanical garden tucked away by the mountain hills above Cal., I had the chance to match some Chinese traditional herbal medicine plants to their popular American names. That was fun!

The best part is that we parked near the used bookstore called "Shakepeare & Co.", I wandered into it not really expecting much. But to my surprise, my heart skiped a beat when I found several old copies of the "Prophet" by Kahil Gibran. (I searched "Bell's books" the other day in Palo Alto and didn't find any.)

There is just something about a copy of a book that has a rich history and was in existence before I was even born. I ended up picking up a 1966 hardbound copy of the "Prophet", a faded dust jacket, slightly yellow-ing pages, and the original illustrations... But there is something special about this book, I opened up the cover to see this inscription on the front, in neat penmanship:
"Mary,
'All these things shall love do unto you that you may know the secrets of your heart, and in that knowledge become a fragment of life's heart.'
- with Love, Lou " 1966

Can you imagine that? somewhere many many years ago, a boy loved a girl named Mary...

then when I flipped inside the book, a little card fell out
"These eleven roses and you, Mary, make one beautiful dozen. Love, Louie"

This is a Borzoi book, initially published in 1923, this copy I found was the seventy-seventh printing, June 1966 ... It's something I can't quite describe to own a piece of art work that was once given and cherished with love...

"Inside Out"

I have finally found the song that's been stuck in my head since this past Sunday's Labor Day service. When I sang it at service, somehow it really touched me in on a deeper level .

Artist: Hillsong United
Album:United We Stand
Title: From The Inside Out

A thousand times I've failed
Still Your mercy remains And should I stumble again
I'm caught in Your grace
Everlasting
Your light will shine when all else fades
Never ending
Your glory goes beyond all fame

Your will above all else
My purpose remains
The art of losing myself
In bringing You praise
Everlasting
Your light will shine when all else fades
Never ending
Your glory goes beyond all fame

In my heart and my soul
Lord I give You control
Consume me from the inside out
Lord let justice and praise
Become my embrace
To love you from the inside out

Everlasting
Your light will shine when all else fades
Never ending
Your glory goes beyond all fame
And the cry of my heart
Is to bring You praise
From the inside out
Lord my soul cries out

Optical Illusions

- Optical Illusions
- learning something well is reflected in the ability to teach others.
- I see you through me
- good can't exist without evil (or the absence of good is evil).

Mind bending ...

And I thought I was going crazy this morning coming back from the long weekend...


From Cambridge University:

O lny srmat poelpe can raed tihs!

cdnuolt blveiee taht I cluod aulaclty uesdnatnrd waht I was rdanieg. The phaonmneal pweor of the hmuan mnid, aoccdrnig to a rscheearch at Cmabrigde Uinervtisy,

it deosn't mttaer in waht oredr the ltteers in a wrod are, the olny iprmoatnt tihng is taht the frist and lsat ltteer be in the rghit pclae. The rset can be a taotl mses and you can sitll raed it wouthit a porbelm.

Tihs is bcuseae the huamn mnid deos not raed ervey lteter by istlef, but the wrod as a wlohe. Amzanig huh? yaeh and I awlyas tghuhot slpeling was ipmorantt! if you can raed tihs psas ti on!!

bubble O bubbles

I like bubbles, and I am one of those people that find pleasure in "popping" those little bubble wraps some times.. hey, there are a lot of those bubble wraps in the downstairs lab..

But a friend recently forwarded me the virtual one here (check out what happens when you click on "Fresh sheet"). I have to say someone is *really* bored to come up with a little app like this one, and they even made sure it posts randomized images of crushed bubbles. I guess it provides good stress relief for some people. Though I still have to say that the sense of satisfaction is not the same as physically squeezing out the real ones, especially when I want to "create" certain geometric shapes. heheee....