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Archive for February, 2009

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Yesterdays and Tomorrows

Posted on Saturday, February 14th, 2009

I went into work today to escape the distractions (and mess) that exist in the apartment. The agenda was clear: study productively for the CFA and finish roughly 10% of the curriculum this long weekend.

On the way to and from work, I walked rather briskly through the crowded streets and concentrated mostly on the content of my studies. For a few minutes, though, a wave of cynicism crashed into the shores of my brain. This was followed by a wave of rationalization. What resulted was a set of thoughts regarding the day that fits in between yesterday and tomorrow:

1. Hearts will be mended today.
2. Hearts will be broken today.
3. Gifts of all varieties will be exchanged today.
4. Lies of all varieties will be exchanged today.
5. Relationships will be created or strengthened today.
6. Relationships will end today.
7. People will rush madly to their destinations so as to not disappoint those who await them today.
8. Others will not show up at their destinations today.
9. Today is just like any other day.
10. Today is a day where people feel obliged to make something out of it.

Soon enough, today will fade into yesterday and tomorrow will be the most important day of your life.

At Least It Wasn’t Lil’ Wayne

Posted on Monday, February 9th, 2009

The Grammys last night were interesting; throughout the ceremony, there was a very obvious theme of collaboration. That and long commercial breaks. It seems that 2008 was full of artists working together to remake music or to explore new avenues, and the Academy’s choice of record of the year reflected that.

I found some of the performances rather peculiar:

1. Boyz II Men: Who knew they were still alive? (Who cares?)
2. Coldplay and Jay-Z: An atrocity of a good song. Perhaps this is my stereotype/bias against rap (I don’t need some guy to brag about how rich he is and how awesome his cars are), but I really did not appreciate what Jay-Z brought to the table.
3. Carrie Underwood: You can’t hike a dress that already ends at your waistline. I mean, come on.
4. Kid Rock: Um.
5. Miley Cyrus and Taylor Swift: Corporate marketing machine vs. talented musician.
6. Stevie Wonder and Jonas Brothers: If Stevie Wonder could have seen the Jonas Brothers, I don’t think they would have shared the same stage.
7. Radiohead: Epic.

Speaking of Radiohead, only at the Grammys would they belong in the same category as Lil’ Wayne. While I am a huge fan of In Rainbows and really wanted them to win record of the year, I can take consolation in the fact that they were not beat out by Lil’ Wayne. Or “Ne-yo.”

25 Random Things

Posted on Saturday, February 7th, 2009

This seems to have been all the rage on Facebook so, having been tagged, I feel like making 25 other people do it, too. (Readers will have to join the 21st century and get on Facebook to see who was tagged though.)

Rules: Once you have been tagged, write a note with 25 random things (for example: facts, habits, or goals) about you. At the end, choose 25 people to be tagged. You must tag the person who tagged you.
If I tagged you, it’s because I want to know more about you.

My 25 Things

1. I absolutely love food. This is great because I can enjoy it several times each day and can be done without spending too much money. That said, I also love indulging every once in a while by going to some of the finer establishments (and New York is brilliant for that). Favourites include (but are not limited to) a great steak (cooked rare to medium-rare), ribs (preferably slow-cooked over indirect heat), and sashimi (salmon, white tuna, and red tuna).

2. I am extremely competitive. Even when there is nothing to win or no visible gain from being competitive, I will find a reason to do it. I feel that I often walk a fine line by doing this; while it is great to be successful, sometimes this competitive nature can be alienating.

3. For years as a young adult, I did not wear jeans. This started sometime during high school and lasted until my second year in university. I can’t really think of any good reason as to why I might have done this. It may very well have been inadvertent as I replaced my trousers with varieties that I already had.

4. While in this no-jeans phase, I also had a disproportionate amount of dark and baggy clothes in my wardrobe. This probably made me look like a little kid (as if my genes needed any help) and, in retrospect, was really weird for me.

5. Cleanliness is critical. I cannot stand messiness and I make a point to clean up after myself wherever I go. Sometimes, I get really in a groove and clean up EVERYTHING. Along the same lines, I get irritated when other people leave messes behind. It’s fine if they do it in their own private spaces, but it’s a matter of courtesy and respect to keep common spaces tidy. (Living in residence was a character-building exercise in tolerance but I still cling to neatness.)

6. I believe in quality. Even though it may come at a premium, I feel that it is usually a worthwhile investment for a better ownership experience. This is especially true for things that I expect to last a long time (like computers, luggage, and instruments). Now that I have a good job, I feel that I am able to extend this to items with shorter lifetimes (like clothing).

7. I am terrible at keeping in touch with people. For some reason, if people are not immediately accessible (e.g. in the same city as I am), my communications with them tapers off in a rather tragic fashion. If only everyone used Google talk…

8. I’m a sucker for some emo music. Like Copeland. Maybe I’m just a hopeless/helpless romantic.

9. I love cooking. A well-equipped kitchen is a sure way to my heart, and living in New York is really depriving me of this joy. Some of my favourite things to cook include (but are not limited to) steak (to rare or medium-rare) and ribs (slow-cooked over indirect heat). (Notice a pattern? If sashimi was cooked, that would be on here, too.)

10. I don’t feel like I am really good at anything. While I’m pretty good at a bunch of things, I can’t really pinpoint anything at which I particularly excel.

11. I am allergic to cats. That aside, I don’t particularly like cats since they are too selfish and jaded for my liking. But the allergies don’t help their case.

12. People often liken me to being non-Asian. Maybe it is because of my demeanour or my taste in women. Nevertheless, I am still good at maths and played piano as a child.

13. Top travel destinations include the United Kingdom, Australia, France, Japan, Eastern Europe (Sweden and the Baltics, especially), the Bahamas, the Cayman Islands, and South Africa.

14. My max (working) bench is around a 170. Go me?

15. If I met someone like me, I don’t think that I’d be friends with him.

16. I own an Apple iPhone and I wish that I had a BlackBerry again. The iPhone is great for media and web browsing, but basically rubbish at everything else. (Notice how being a phone was not included in the list of things at which it is good?) The UI is cool but apps are unstable and nerfed; Apple really needs to get on the background processes thing that they promised for last September.

17. I do not tolerate incompetence.

18. I have kept up a website for nearly 7 years!

19. I have an unusually high tolerance for alcohol. Back in my “prime”, I had what amounted to 15 or so beers in a night and felt full more than anything else. (The caloric intake that night was shocking and I will never consume that much again.)

20. I am a Christian, but I am struggling to find a good Christian community in New York (and, truthfully, have begun to give up).

21. In the winter, I love to go snowboarding. The last time I went snowboarding was in the Alps and I somehow managed to sprain my ankle, despite having the lower part of my legs held in place in my boots. I also destroyed my glasses in what I assume to have been a spectacular wipeout. (So a word of caution: if you see snow-making machines, they’re probably trying to make snow. This means that there is probably either exposed patches or ice and the correct decision is to snowboard with caution, not to attempt to speed through the snow-making area.) Needless to say, I will be wearing a helmet next time.

22. While on the topic of accidents, I once cracked my head open on a marble coffee table while jumping up and down on a nearby couch. We still have that table and I still have that scar on my forehead.

23. I am currently studying for the Chartered Financial Analyst course.

24. I love being in control. Conversely, I don’t like being dependent on other people. After a rather sudden event when I was eleven, I have learned to be very independent and self-sufficient. Along those same lines, I have also developed a tendency to be very guarded with my thoughts and emotions. Those who manage to find their way past my walls, however, get nearly full disclosure. (There have been very few who have made it to that point, though.)

25. People say that I am a good listener. (This is good because I don’t really like talking about myself so I should be proficient at letting other people talk about themselves!)

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