| 10 apr 2001 i need a travel buddy! just got off the phone with my mom, and we both agree that if i'm going to japan this august, i really should swing by some parts of china. urgh. i'm wearing my troy aikman jersey today. number 8. i'm paying homage to my boy... the quarterback for the dallas cowboys for the past 12 years. i was actually pretty touching to see his retirement speech yesterday, when he was all choked up and crying. i've never seen troy be anything than a stoic and poised and composed man. it's really sad to see great teams slowly dismantled over time. i really hate free agency and the salary cap because it prevents teams from ever staying good over time. i know that it results in increased competition, but sometimes, a beautiful team is quite a thing to behold. and the dallas cowboys might just be the last true dynasty of the NFL, winning three super bowls in four years. and they could have won four in a row if troy hadn't messed up in that 49ers game. drat. i remember being on a ski trip in tahoe and coming back, listening to the game, with my roommate jack laughing all the way because his beloved niners were winning. anyways, i look ridiculous in this football jersey, but i'm doing it out of respect for troy. i hope i see him in the broadcaster's booth soon, which is where he's rumored to go. but i doubt i'll ever wear this jersey again. there's some unspoken law about not wearing sports memorabilia from inactive athletes, right? i've got a soft spot for camaraderie. my drawmates, my taiko buddies, my coworkers back at teralogic before we all left... i'll admit that i even got a little misty-eyed during the first _teenage mutant ninja turtles_ movie where raphael is recovering from his wounds, and there's this shot where the others are standing together in a field, looking back, with this bad-ass attitude. like my "nouns" page says, i'm fearless among friends. somewhere out there is a group of teenagers who will never know that raphael, michaelangelo, donatello, and leonardo were actually real historical figures. yikes. ----- beto! ("sit down") chup raho! ("shut up") ha ha. my coworker rahul is teaching some basic hindi phrases, seeing as how i eat so much indian food. today he wrote out the 35 consonants and 12 vowels for me. sanskit looks really cool. in turn, i gave him the 5 simple vowels in japanese. i felt kind of disturbed that i can't name all the vowels in my native chinese, yet i can do it for another language. it's kind of pathetic. at least i can still write my own name in chinese. i also wrote my last name "chang" in the dwarven and elven language, as shown in tolkein's _lord of the rings_. and rahul just couldn't understand that they were made-up languages with a real written system: "what is that?' "it's dwarven and elven" "who speaks that?" "nobody, they're fantastical languages" "what? what languages are these again? "dwarven here, and elven there" "chinese dwarfs?" "no, they don't exist!" "then who's language is this then?" round and round we went. i got a laugh out of it. ----- happiness in a can. that's dr. pepper to me. if you ever want to get me a birthday present but don't know what i'd like, all you have to do is buy me a can of dp. and i'll be really happy. i bet i'm the only one in building 1 who treks over the building 2 just to get some dr. pepper. we have diet in bldg 1, but it's just raunchy. i was arguing with phuong over the fact that i can totally tell the difference, and we did a blind taste test. i passed. of course. that aspartame aftertaste is unmistakeable. blech. i want my pure sugar and corn syrup! ----- they're shipping out my camera today or tomorrow. i decided to pay an extra $30 in shipping just to switch it to 2nd-day rather than ground ups. i really hope i get it by friday, so i can test it out over the weekend. words can't express how stoked i am. i don't think i've been this excited over a purchase since... since... hm. my silver i-zone camera? my pair of red vans shoes? unfortunately my 64mb memory stick is on back order. *yawn* 4:14, and i haven't done anything yet at work today. got to work, played basketball for two hours, had two animal style double doubles at in 'n out burger, etc. if they're not going to give me break after the past project, then dammit, i'm going to take one myself. later skater. |