On my first blog entry after becoming pregnant, I'd like to rant a bit about what I have observed about pregnancies, babies and parenting in today's America. Rather, this is a list of things I SHALL NOT DO as a new mom.
1. Since plenty of people have asked this question (either out of well-intended curiosity or felt obligated to ask it to make conversation), I will not "decorate" the "nursery" and paint the walls either pink, blue or yellow depending on the sex of the baby. I happen to think white walls are beautiful in our spare bedroom. In fact, I don't plan to find out the sex of the baby so people will not give me all baby things pink or all baby things blue. The downside is I might end up getting everything yellow, because of course, yellow is a "neutral" color. That's like the first lesson you learn in parenting 101, duh!
Who ever said baby girls shouldn't wear blue and baby boys can't be seen in pink? Gimme a break people. The other thing I will try to do (though I may fail miserably at it) is to resist buying a whole bunch of cartoon print baby stuff. Don't really want Whinnie the Pooh or Mickey Mouse crap all over my baby and my house. Baby stuff that are black, brown, non-cutsy or with little skull print on them is welcome!
2. I will not blog or build a Facebook page for my baby. Babies are babies because they don't know, can't and probably don't want (if they knew) to blog or write their Facebook pages. They will be too busy eating, pooping, sleeping and crying. Plus, all the flash from the huge number of pictures taken by parents can make an infant plenty dizzy. You can tell the babies about their earlier days when they are older if you wish. But building an on-line identity of your baby without their consent is not something I will engage in. Leave the babies alone!
3. I am choosing to go with a midwife, not an obstetrics/gynecology doctor. One thing I must clear up is that I am not a hippie/holistic medicine nut. I don't eat 100% organic and I believe in science. Also, I am going to a hospital to give birth.
The reasons I'm going with a midwife is 80% science based. Statistics show midwives deliver a higher percentage of babies without induction, epidural and Cesarean section, provided if the mother is healthy. There are also other studies out there that show a positive correlation between an epidural and longer duration of labour. The other 20% is that I have heard and seen enough to conclude that people are over-treated and over-medicated in the U.S. in general. So I plan to resist the mainstream inclination to get ob/gyn to "actively manage" or dictate the terms of a birth.
C-section surgery, for example, is more profitable for the doctors and hospitals. It's faster and more predictable, and you bill it to the insurance company as a major surgery. Some doctors (I'm not saying all) prefer c-sections because overall it's a better alternative for them. They may get to eat dinner at a normal hour! Something like 27% of women have babies via a c-section in the US, which is a crazy high number. Of course, there are many other reasons for a higher rate of c-section besides a doctor's preference, such as older age of the mother, higher rates of obesity and diabetes. But I still think there are many unnecessary c-sections out there.
4. My last rant is my aversion of expensive and special purpose baby stuff that parents love blowing money on. The list starts with $1000 strollers, $500 crib, bottle warmers (cus a microwave is just not cute enough for your new baby), nursing pillow (cus regular pillows will make your baby sad) and designer baby clothes like Ralph Lauren for infants (your baby must look preppier than your neighbor's).
I'm sure the list will grow since I haven't stepped into a Baby r Us yet. (I hope I won't have to)
Sunday, November 30, 2008
Sunday, August 17, 2008
The best blog comment I read today
Originally posted by Pffefer on Danwei, which I copied it below.
I have similar thoughts on the American voters. What happens when Obama is the President of the United States, is that Americans will continue to complain about the electoral college system, the suburbs, the health care system, big corporations, high gas prices and China. :)
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I love how some people love saying "it is not you, it is your government that we have a problem with". It's got to be the cheesiest line ever. Has it ever occurred to you that if one day China democratizes you might not like it any more than you do today? Has it ever occurred to you that a free and democratic China might be no less threatening than you think it is today?
I have similar thoughts on the American voters. What happens when Obama is the President of the United States, is that Americans will continue to complain about the electoral college system, the suburbs, the health care system, big corporations, high gas prices and China. :)
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I love how some people love saying "it is not you, it is your government that we have a problem with". It's got to be the cheesiest line ever. Has it ever occurred to you that if one day China democratizes you might not like it any more than you do today? Has it ever occurred to you that a free and democratic China might be no less threatening than you think it is today?
Monday, June 16, 2008
Rants
I've started writing down a list of things that really annoy me, most are related to office etiquette and corporate cultural ills.
So here goes the first group.
1. Preemptive "Excuse me"
This happens in the cube farm I work in all the time. Americans love to say "excuse me" even when it's completely unnecessary. For example, I see a guy walking down the hallway about 20 feet away. As I wait to get water at the water cooler, he passes me and says "Excuse me". Dude, I saw you coming from 20 feet away and I was stationary this entire time. There was no probability of us ever running into each. And, why do you need to apologize for walking on a shared hallway? Americans are so afraid of touching another human body that even the 1% probability scares them enough to preemptively say "Excuse me"!
2. Holding the door open for you when you are 20 feet away
This unfortunately also happens quite often at my office. Between 8AM and 9AM when people rush into the office, I'm bound to have someone holding the building door open for me when I'm barely out of my car. Sometimes this happens when I'm a good 20 feet away. I'm not one to run towards work, so I walk at a medium pace. But those determined folks will hold the door open and look at me smilingly for a good two minutes. In fact, they look so friendly that I feel obligated to half-run up to the door and say "Thanks". Maybe one day my triceps will shrink because I never open doors anymore. Good grief!
3. Phone messages that say "I just wanted to touch base with you...."
No one calls and leaves a message if they want nothing. Yet in America, the most common way to start a voice mail message in the office is called "touching base". I get it's a baseball reference, but what does touching base have anything to do with asking me to change the requirements spec for you? That's called a request, NOT touching base. Say what you want and do what you said you were going to do, world peace achieved.
4. The equaling of "being engaged" and carbon copying someone in email.
If you work in an office environment, I'm sure you've been asked to get someone "engaged" in the project that you are working on. Perhaps it's a corporate virus, but the most common way I've observed people complying to that request is CC'ing the person in question on mass emails and meeting invites. Yeah, flood them with this ambiguous electronic communication and wait for synergy to sparkle!
More to come in the near future.
So here goes the first group.
1. Preemptive "Excuse me"
This happens in the cube farm I work in all the time. Americans love to say "excuse me" even when it's completely unnecessary. For example, I see a guy walking down the hallway about 20 feet away. As I wait to get water at the water cooler, he passes me and says "Excuse me". Dude, I saw you coming from 20 feet away and I was stationary this entire time. There was no probability of us ever running into each. And, why do you need to apologize for walking on a shared hallway? Americans are so afraid of touching another human body that even the 1% probability scares them enough to preemptively say "Excuse me"!
2. Holding the door open for you when you are 20 feet away
This unfortunately also happens quite often at my office. Between 8AM and 9AM when people rush into the office, I'm bound to have someone holding the building door open for me when I'm barely out of my car. Sometimes this happens when I'm a good 20 feet away. I'm not one to run towards work, so I walk at a medium pace. But those determined folks will hold the door open and look at me smilingly for a good two minutes. In fact, they look so friendly that I feel obligated to half-run up to the door and say "Thanks". Maybe one day my triceps will shrink because I never open doors anymore. Good grief!
3. Phone messages that say "I just wanted to touch base with you...."
No one calls and leaves a message if they want nothing. Yet in America, the most common way to start a voice mail message in the office is called "touching base". I get it's a baseball reference, but what does touching base have anything to do with asking me to change the requirements spec for you? That's called a request, NOT touching base. Say what you want and do what you said you were going to do, world peace achieved.
4. The equaling of "being engaged" and carbon copying someone in email.
If you work in an office environment, I'm sure you've been asked to get someone "engaged" in the project that you are working on. Perhaps it's a corporate virus, but the most common way I've observed people complying to that request is CC'ing the person in question on mass emails and meeting invites. Yeah, flood them with this ambiguous electronic communication and wait for synergy to sparkle!
More to come in the near future.
Sunday, June 15, 2008
I've been tagged by Amy
1. Post the rules of the game at the beginning.
2. Each player answers the questions about themselves.
3. At the end of the post, the player then tags five people and posts their names, then goes to their blogs and leaves them a comment, letting them know they’ve been tagged and asking them to read the player’s blog.
4. Let the person who tagged you know when you’ve posted your answer.
What were you doing five years ago?
Good thing I backed up my old pictures when I migrated from Windows XP to Fedora.
Looking through the photos, it appears that I moved to the Castle apartments 5 years ago in May. At the time, I was working at my co-op at Honeywell in Oracle, AZ. I worked in Engineering Sciences dept, but really I just processed BOM (Bills of Materials) requests and "worked" on a database project to address parts obsolescence issues.
Some of the other co-ops that worked there: Patrick Kelly, Kristie Wilson (Manalo), Clay Condon, Eli Minson and John Hughes.
There was a giant forest fire burning on Mt. Lemmon in June. The Honeywell plant had to issue air quality warning to the workers due to the smoke. Good thing the fire was contained before it got to the plant site. The woman who started fire ended up going to jail later on; she got lost while hiking, decided to light a fire to get rescued. I say she deserved it.
What are five things on your to-do list for today?
1) Laundry
2) I'm listening to Sia right now.
3) If Roberto and Ruben come back today, I'll go talk to them while they work on our patio. We are putting in a 20x20 paver patio in the backyard.
4) Go to Whole Foods and get ingredients to make Mapo Tofu. I'm a hipster but the main reason I go to Whole Foods is that it's 2 minutes from my house.
5) Maybe go to the gym...I want to look fitter when I get married.
What are five snacks you enjoy?
1) Ice cream, most kinds. I especially love Toscanini's Burned Caramel flavor.
2) Kimchi, yeah, I can eat it without rice. :)
3) Japanese fruit flavored gummies and Chinese white rabbit brand taffy candy.
4) Smoothies. Xoom Juice was my favorite in Tucson.
5) Beef Jerky. Jack Links' peppered is my favorite.
What are five things you would do if you were a billionaire?
1) Lobby American politics and get a Libertarian elected to office.
2) Booked a space tour like the one Sergey Brin did.
3) Give my family and friends money so they are not burdened by lack of money.
4) Establish a foundation like the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, the goal would be to popularize free-market thoughts to help developing countries. Maybe I should name it the Milton Friedman Group.
5) Enjoy life as it comes.
What are five of your bad habits?
1) Snorting my nose. Sorry, it is gross.
2) Leaving used tissue around, related to the previous item.
3) Getting angry. A lot of things in this world bother me and I get angry really fast. I'm a weirdo for sure, an ENTJ female.
4) Shoes. I buy too many shoes and throw them out almost just as fast.
5) Impatience. A good example is that my Mom and I don't talk much these days because I get impatient with her on the phone.
What are five places where you have lived?
1) Chengdu, China (until 6)
2) Hangzhou, China (until 15)
3) Pittsburgh, PA
4) Tucson, AZ
5) Woburn, MA
There are a few more.
What are five jobs you’ve had? (a short list)
1) University of Arizona main library
2) Nortel Networks
3) UAPD
4) UA College of Public Health
5) Honeywell, IBM, Raytheon....
I put 3 in the last box, too many jobs!
You are tagged:
Kristian
Mette
Chad
Clay
Mai
2. Each player answers the questions about themselves.
3. At the end of the post, the player then tags five people and posts their names, then goes to their blogs and leaves them a comment, letting them know they’ve been tagged and asking them to read the player’s blog.
4. Let the person who tagged you know when you’ve posted your answer.
What were you doing five years ago?
Good thing I backed up my old pictures when I migrated from Windows XP to Fedora.
Looking through the photos, it appears that I moved to the Castle apartments 5 years ago in May. At the time, I was working at my co-op at Honeywell in Oracle, AZ. I worked in Engineering Sciences dept, but really I just processed BOM (Bills of Materials) requests and "worked" on a database project to address parts obsolescence issues.
Some of the other co-ops that worked there: Patrick Kelly, Kristie Wilson (Manalo), Clay Condon, Eli Minson and John Hughes.
There was a giant forest fire burning on Mt. Lemmon in June. The Honeywell plant had to issue air quality warning to the workers due to the smoke. Good thing the fire was contained before it got to the plant site. The woman who started fire ended up going to jail later on; she got lost while hiking, decided to light a fire to get rescued. I say she deserved it.
What are five things on your to-do list for today?
1) Laundry
2) I'm listening to Sia right now.
3) If Roberto and Ruben come back today, I'll go talk to them while they work on our patio. We are putting in a 20x20 paver patio in the backyard.
4) Go to Whole Foods and get ingredients to make Mapo Tofu. I'm a hipster but the main reason I go to Whole Foods is that it's 2 minutes from my house.
5) Maybe go to the gym...I want to look fitter when I get married.
What are five snacks you enjoy?
1) Ice cream, most kinds. I especially love Toscanini's Burned Caramel flavor.
2) Kimchi, yeah, I can eat it without rice. :)
3) Japanese fruit flavored gummies and Chinese white rabbit brand taffy candy.
4) Smoothies. Xoom Juice was my favorite in Tucson.
5) Beef Jerky. Jack Links' peppered is my favorite.
What are five things you would do if you were a billionaire?
1) Lobby American politics and get a Libertarian elected to office.
2) Booked a space tour like the one Sergey Brin did.
3) Give my family and friends money so they are not burdened by lack of money.
4) Establish a foundation like the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, the goal would be to popularize free-market thoughts to help developing countries. Maybe I should name it the Milton Friedman Group.
5) Enjoy life as it comes.
What are five of your bad habits?
1) Snorting my nose. Sorry, it is gross.
2) Leaving used tissue around, related to the previous item.
3) Getting angry. A lot of things in this world bother me and I get angry really fast. I'm a weirdo for sure, an ENTJ female.
4) Shoes. I buy too many shoes and throw them out almost just as fast.
5) Impatience. A good example is that my Mom and I don't talk much these days because I get impatient with her on the phone.
What are five places where you have lived?
1) Chengdu, China (until 6)
2) Hangzhou, China (until 15)
3) Pittsburgh, PA
4) Tucson, AZ
5) Woburn, MA
There are a few more.
What are five jobs you’ve had? (a short list)
1) University of Arizona main library
2) Nortel Networks
3) UAPD
4) UA College of Public Health
5) Honeywell, IBM, Raytheon....
I put 3 in the last box, too many jobs!
You are tagged:
Kristian
Mette
Chad
Clay
Mai
Wednesday, April 30, 2008
TAB in Cambridge
Today is our 3rd day of living full-time in Cambridge, MA. The closing of the condo sale was on Friday, we moved in on Saturday. On Sunday, we cleaned up the old apartment in Woburn and officially turned in the keys.
On my way home today, driving on the congested Fresh Pond Pkwy, I was irritated by a TAB. First TAB I encountered on this coast, in her cobalt blue BMW SUV. She honked at me while I was merging into her lane. I wouldn't call it cutting her off because I signaled and pulled in very slowly. She honked at me 3 times nevertheless.
While staring at her in the rear view mirror with my typical angry face, I imagined what her life was like. I started thinking about her CEO father, collecting large paychecks at a semi-conductor company back in Taiwan, which supplied 80% of Dell laptops made in China; her mother, who's 55 but looks like she's in her 30's that flies from Taipei to the States twice a year to shop at various luxury brands outlets, especially Louis Vuitton; her white American boyfriend who has a MA in Philosophy from Harvard and loves eating sushi. I then moved on to imaging their parents-subsidized Huron Village condo and their lonely Westie puppy who is locked in there 10 hours a day while his owners are out driving in the BMW.
Before my mental revenge went too far, I realized all this stereotype was actually the norm in Cambridge. Compared to Woburn, every other couple I see around Harvard Square is an Asian girl in the arms of a white guy. Then, I thought how "average" Kristian and I are in the couple demographics of Cambridge. The popularity of Asian girl/white guy combination has certainly reached a critical mass for me to think my relationship might not be that cool.
Trying to be unique is exhausting. Like I was a little startled when the seller broker guy referred Kristian and I as "hipsters". It was ironic because I laughed a lot at stuffwhitepeoplelike.wordpress.com and I didn't really think I'd qualify as a hipster with my Libertarian believes. (Shh, I do love Whole Foods) But I guess joining the gentrification force in North Cambridge (our house is right next to the projects) and buying a post-modernist house qualifies us as hipsters. Maybe it's not such a bad thing.
Maybe being an Asian girl dating/marrying a white guy isn't such a bad thing either. Being unique is also costly: there are more services and social acceptance catered towards stereotypes. It's a matter of appreciating who you are and who you are with, and less on how similar you are to the others around you. Easier said than done, of course, like many other things in life.
On my way home today, driving on the congested Fresh Pond Pkwy, I was irritated by a TAB. First TAB I encountered on this coast, in her cobalt blue BMW SUV. She honked at me while I was merging into her lane. I wouldn't call it cutting her off because I signaled and pulled in very slowly. She honked at me 3 times nevertheless.
While staring at her in the rear view mirror with my typical angry face, I imagined what her life was like. I started thinking about her CEO father, collecting large paychecks at a semi-conductor company back in Taiwan, which supplied 80% of Dell laptops made in China; her mother, who's 55 but looks like she's in her 30's that flies from Taipei to the States twice a year to shop at various luxury brands outlets, especially Louis Vuitton; her white American boyfriend who has a MA in Philosophy from Harvard and loves eating sushi. I then moved on to imaging their parents-subsidized Huron Village condo and their lonely Westie puppy who is locked in there 10 hours a day while his owners are out driving in the BMW.
Before my mental revenge went too far, I realized all this stereotype was actually the norm in Cambridge. Compared to Woburn, every other couple I see around Harvard Square is an Asian girl in the arms of a white guy. Then, I thought how "average" Kristian and I are in the couple demographics of Cambridge. The popularity of Asian girl/white guy combination has certainly reached a critical mass for me to think my relationship might not be that cool.
Trying to be unique is exhausting. Like I was a little startled when the seller broker guy referred Kristian and I as "hipsters". It was ironic because I laughed a lot at stuffwhitepeoplelike.wordpress.com and I didn't really think I'd qualify as a hipster with my Libertarian believes. (Shh, I do love Whole Foods) But I guess joining the gentrification force in North Cambridge (our house is right next to the projects) and buying a post-modernist house qualifies us as hipsters. Maybe it's not such a bad thing.
Maybe being an Asian girl dating/marrying a white guy isn't such a bad thing either. Being unique is also costly: there are more services and social acceptance catered towards stereotypes. It's a matter of appreciating who you are and who you are with, and less on how similar you are to the others around you. Easier said than done, of course, like many other things in life.
Saturday, March 15, 2008
No BFF, no love?
Is there anyone else out there other than me that doesn't have a BFF? Oh, if you haven't caught up with this new idiom, it means Best Friend Forever.
Last time I could tag friends with the BFF acronym was probably in middle school in China. At 13, I was in a group of 5 girls who always hung out together. Still, it wasn't a single person, it was a group. Since then, I can't really name anyone as my best friend.
What happens to people with no BFF's? Nothing as far as I'm concerned. I have plenty of friends that I can call up to hang out with. For day to day activities, I've got my boyfriend.
Last time I could tag friends with the BFF acronym was probably in middle school in China. At 13, I was in a group of 5 girls who always hung out together. Still, it wasn't a single person, it was a group. Since then, I can't really name anyone as my best friend.
What happens to people with no BFF's? Nothing as far as I'm concerned. I have plenty of friends that I can call up to hang out with. For day to day activities, I've got my boyfriend.
Saturday, January 26, 2008
New book out
I immediately thought Raytheon directors and VP's when I saw the title of this book:
Free Lunch: How the Wealthiest Americans Enrich Themselves at Government Expense (and Stick You with the Bill)
by David Cay Johnston
I've got a half dozen books on the list, perhaps this one is worth piling on.
Free Lunch: How the Wealthiest Americans Enrich Themselves at Government Expense (and Stick You with the Bill)
by David Cay Johnston
I've got a half dozen books on the list, perhaps this one is worth piling on.
Monday, January 7, 2008
Campaign ads
One good (or bad) thing about living in MA is you get to witness the media scrutiny on the New Hampshire primaries from nearby but without the congestion and well, scrutiny. I had not had the good fortune to see all major candidates' TV campaign ads this early until this year.
Democrat side
Hilary: 2 version of classic, positive and color-rich ads, second person voice. Lots of videos and photos of her being with large groups of supporters. I'll have to say it is a textbook campaign ad.
Obama: 2 versions of one black/white still photos in a series and another of color video footage, second person voice. B/W one is unusual but grabs my attention almost immediately. The color one nicely compliment it.
Edwards: first person talking directly to the camera about fighting big corporations, nice wholesome backdrop in one version. Another one with just colors as background, him talking about how he fights for "the underdogs."
My favorite is Obama's. I believe they really bring out his strengths, very inspiing. Hilary's are a close second, very convincing. Both Hilary and Obama's ads mention the local NE newspapers that endorsed them.
John Edwards is crazy. He says "he'll fight big corporations that take jobs away from middle class Americans." Doesn't he know most people work for big corporations?!
On the GOP side:
Romney: very positive (we are going to be better and better), saturated and polished colors like pn a day-time soap opera of Mitt talking directly into the camera. He is a very speaker I must say.
John McCain: first person as well, reminding folks he hasn't changed since 2000. A bit boring as it is just a headshot. It made me feel a bit sympathetic for him.
I haven't seen any ads from Guiliani or Ron Paul. My money has been going to Ron Paul, but I'm thinking about giving Obama some push as well. Something tells me to want to keep my pot of contribution for Paul though, although his anti-abortion stands bother me.
When I googled "campaign", I got this list below. Hilary number 2 hit, weird.
Democrat side
Hilary: 2 version of classic, positive and color-rich ads, second person voice. Lots of videos and photos of her being with large groups of supporters. I'll have to say it is a textbook campaign ad.
Obama: 2 versions of one black/white still photos in a series and another of color video footage, second person voice. B/W one is unusual but grabs my attention almost immediately. The color one nicely compliment it.
Edwards: first person talking directly to the camera about fighting big corporations, nice wholesome backdrop in one version. Another one with just colors as background, him talking about how he fights for "the underdogs."
My favorite is Obama's. I believe they really bring out his strengths, very inspiing. Hilary's are a close second, very convincing. Both Hilary and Obama's ads mention the local NE newspapers that endorsed them.
John Edwards is crazy. He says "he'll fight big corporations that take jobs away from middle class Americans." Doesn't he know most people work for big corporations?!
On the GOP side:
Romney: very positive (we are going to be better and better), saturated and polished colors like pn a day-time soap opera of Mitt talking directly into the camera. He is a very speaker I must say.
John McCain: first person as well, reminding folks he hasn't changed since 2000. A bit boring as it is just a headshot. It made me feel a bit sympathetic for him.
I haven't seen any ads from Guiliani or Ron Paul. My money has been going to Ron Paul, but I'm thinking about giving Obama some push as well. Something tells me to want to keep my pot of contribution for Paul though, although his anti-abortion stands bother me.
When I googled "campaign", I got this list below. Hilary number 2 hit, weird.
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I chuckle every time when I see people making the China argument a "human rights" and "democracy" one. While I don't doubt that there are people out there who geuinely care about these, but make no mistake: Whether you admit it or not, it has always been about "us" vs. "them" driven by diverging interests. China has been propped up as a bag guy, challenging the west with its non-Judeo-Christian culture, its non-democratic model and above all, its reluctance to succumb itself to a world order which first and foremost seeks to maximize western interests. Us, the good guys vs. them, the bad guys. So naturally China becomes a bad guy and no good things can ever happen to a bad guy, right? Those western journalists who came to China came with the preconception that China is all about human rights violations, oppressed people etc., so it is only natural for them to see what they want to see which will only reinforce their preconceptions that China is a bad guy (unlike us good guys). So they keep spoon-feeding those negative stuff and BS to people back home and presenting as the only face of China, overtime that's what most people are used to reading and it does not make any financial sense (bottomline-wise) for those western media outlets to break from this decades-old tradition.
Typically this is what you hear about China: A dictatorship who has no regards whatsoever for human rights and common decency ruthlessly suppress its people who are vastly unhappy and fed up with the regime and the only thing that keeps them from rising up is the economic growth that this regime has been able to deliver. What? PEW says some 80% of the Chinese are satisified with the direction in which China is heading? Oh God that's wrong! PEW must be infiltrated by the evil Chinese government and their survey sample consisted of people who are members of the Womaodang only!
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