My Dad Is Cute

I called my dad yesterday at work 'cos i had missed his call on Sunday. Never thought I'd say this, but my dad is "cute." Now, my dad is the super hard-working, frugal, no-indulgence, no frills type-a-guy. So for me to call him "cute" is a first. We were chatting about my brother (his eldest son)'s upcoming wedding this weekend and he excitedly told me about how he went and bought a new suit, shirt, and tie just yesterday!! (I later found out from my mum that it was a navy suit, light blue shirt, and light blue + red tie.) He also mentioned that he still needs to go buy some shoes. I thought it was only me who was thinking about buying a new suit for the occasion -- who knew it ran in the family?? Unfortunately, my brother decided that the groomsmen (i think there are like 6, because his fiance has 6 bridesmaids -- she said she didn't know how to turn people down!) are all going to wear tuxes...so we are all renting for the big day. I also told him about my new fashion revelation that fitted shirts/suits make a big difference...but he said that he has a pretty standard body. (I'm sure Mr. Ascot Chang (Thank You!) might have something to say about that!) He was audibly excited about the occasion and I'm so happy for him. In all my years, I've never heard him talk about shopping for clothes - and we've definitely never had a conversation about it.

After that I called my mum and asked what she was wearing. She said that she hadn't decided yet and still needed to go shopping...and asked me what she should wear? My poor mother! Taking fashion advice from her fashion-less son.... She really should have broken with Asian values and had herself a daughter. Not only for fashion advice, but she also has been asking me about what finishing and appliances to put in the house that they're building. I hope it won't turn out like Frankenstein because I've only been telling her about what I see in 600 square feet NYC condos...that probably won't look so hot in surburban San Jose.

I think it's about time one of their prodigal sons came through -- that is why they had 3 isn't it? Sunday will be a special day and I'm looking forward to it.

i took a brief look at my blog today, and i'm embarassed....it's really boring... no wonder no one reads it!! but i'm going to try and write better. but i'm an engineer who took all his humanities class in college on pass/fail, never read the books, and now works in finance -- it's no wonder i have zero writing skillz!

just looking around at work...this is what i see on columbus day morning:

-- one of the bosses is out. he's gone for 2 weeks! (how many does he get a year? and who's keeping track???) i've heard that he has been thinking about going to africa to see some christian woman who can raise the dead... if it's true, then i'll go, and if i see it with my own pupils then i'll convert. sorry god, i'm not really one for blind faith. i need some evidence......just a little...

-- another coworker is napping, we call her sleeping beauty. she probably had a rough night... and she says that she's narcoleptic. i wonder if she's narcoleptic on the weekends at brunch with her friends?

-- on the other side is our new bulgarian (or is it hungarian?) recruit. he's a machine and comes from the hallowed halls of mckinsey. i like him, he's nice. but he works too much, and it's making me and sleeping beauty look bad... doesn't he know to not stir the pot? how do you say that in polish?

happy columbus day everyone. an elementary school teacher just told me that she doesn't think chris should be honoured anymore... is it 'cos he's a fraud and copied the pizza and spaghetti from china and then called it his own?

and today, being the 2nd monday in october, is thanksgiving in canada! enjoy your day off! i'll watch your stocks...

this pretty darn accurate i think..... Advanced Global Personality Test Results Extraversion |||||||||||||||||| 80% Stability |||||||||||||||||||| 83% Orderliness |||||| 30% Accommodation |||||| 30% Interdependence |||||||||||||| 56% Intellectual |||||||||||||||||||| 83% Mystical |||||| 30% Artistic |||| 16% Religious || 10% Hedonism |||||||||||||||| 63% Materialism |||||||||||||||| 70% Narcissism |||||||||||||||||| 76% Adventurousness |||||||||||||| 56% Work ethic |||||||||| 36% Self absorbed |||||||||||| 50% Conflict seeking |||||||||||||||||| 76% Need to dominate |||||||||||||||| 70% Romantic |||||||||||||||| 70% Avoidant || 10% Anti-authority |||||||||||||||| 70% Wealth |||||||||||||||| 70% Dependency |||||||||||||||||||| 83% Change averse |||||| 30% Cautiousness |||||||||||| 43% Individuality |||||||||||| 50% Sexuality |||||||||||||||||| 76% Peter pan complex |||||||||||||||| 63% Physical security |||||||||||||||||||| 90% Physical Fitness |||||||||||| 50% Histrionic |||||||||||||||| 70% Paranoia |||| 16% Vanity |||||||||||||||||| 76% Hypersensitivity |||||| 30% Female cliche || 10%

Stability results were high which suggests you are very relaxed, calm, secure, and optimistic..

Orderliness results were low which suggests you are overly flexible, improvised, and fun seeking at the expense too often of reliability, work ethic, and long term accomplishment.

Extraversion results were high which suggests you are overly talkative, outgoing, sociable and interacting at the expense too often of developing your own individual interests and internally based identity.

trait snapshot:
messy, disorganized, social, tough, outgoing, rarely worries, self revealing, open, risk taker, likes the unknown, likes large parties, makes friends easily, likes to stand out, likes to make fun of people, reckless, optimistic, positive, strong, does not like to be alone, ambivalent about chaos, abstract, impractical, not good at saving money, fearless, trusting, thrill seeker, not rule conscious, enjoys leadership, strange, loves food, abstract, rarely irritated, anti-authority, attracted to the counter culture

Take Free Advanced Global Personality Test
personality tests by similarminds.com

CHILDREN IN MEETING by Tang Zhigang

there's been a lot of hype surrounding chinese modern art lately....and i went to a gallery to check it out. yeah, even though i know nothing about art, but when it comes to modern art, the beauty is even more in the eye of the beholder right? the above was my favourite. i think a lot of chinese people would probably find it quite hilarious. unfortunately, my brother pointed out that it's not too pleasing to the eye, so i will likely refrain from bidding for it next wednesday. ha!

many people say that part of the allure and magic of new york is that there's so much art and culture...but, honestly, i really don't know how to appreciate or take advantage of it. many of the museums or galleries are free, but even then, i don't go. THAT'S how little i get out of it.... sad huh? well, if anyone has advice on how or why to appreciate art, please let me know. i'd be very grateful.

Al Gore wrote me an email!!! ........NOT!

Dear dazhi,

On March 21st, I will testify before Congress on the immediate action that needs to be taken to end the climate crisis. At the hearing, I will deliver the 294,374 messages you signed, demonstrating that hundreds of thousands of people share my sense of urgency.

If an additional 55,626 people sign our message, it will be as though 350,000 of us are there at the hearing expressing our determination to convince Congress to act. Having served in the House and Senate, I can tell you that members of these committees would find this to be a meaningful and impressive show of support.

There are only 5 days left before the hearings begin, so please do not pass up this opportunity to join in showing the broad public support we need in order to solve the climate crisis. I know you have friends or family who care deeply about this issue but have yet to sign our message to Congress.

Ask them to help fill that committee room with 350,000 messages by visiting:

http://www.algore.com/cards.html

The reason Congress has so far failed to act is not because there are no solutions to the problem. Nor is it because the majority doesn't believe that the climate crisis is real. They have failed to act, because they have not yet faced a sufficient expression of political will on the part of the American people demanding they confront our climate crisis head on. You and I know that political will is a renewable resource, and enough already exists to start solving this crisis. We just have to communicate that forcefully to the political leaders of our country.

In the last two weeks alone 101,673 people visited AlGore.com and signed our message to Congress. This is an incredible demonstration of the energy behind this issue.

In my testimony, of course, I will speak about the scientific evidence for global warming - just reiterated six weeks ago by the world's scientists in the latest report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. But frankly, the debate on the science has long been over - except for a diminishing number of skeptics and deniers.

At this point, it is far more important to deliver your message about the urgency with which this crisis must be faced. Political leaders need to know that you intend to reward those who do the right thing and that you will work to replace those who do not.

That's why it's vital we fill up the hearing room with 350,000 messages.

Please ask your friends to sign our message to Congress today by visiting:

http://www.algore.com/cards.html

Together we are building a movement that has the potential to translate your strong feelings into effective change for our country. And we all know that when the United States changes - and offers leadership - the entire world will follow.

Thank you,

Al Gore

Injustice...


I've never emailed a legislator or senator or prez bush on anything before, largely because I never thought it would make any difference...or didn't feel emotionally compelled to do it. But this was just outrageous, and I've emailed every relevant govt official in Georgia to complain.

Please check out: WilsonAppeal.com. And read the article in: ESPN.

And here's the scary part. Given this type of things happen in the US, what happens in China and Russia must be a thousand times worse...


Lastly, I learned about this issue from my least favourite NBA team owner, Mark Cuban. =)

ZZZZZZZ

I don't know what it is, but since moving to NYC, I've had trouble sleeping... At the first place I lived, which was an older, walk-up building, I suspected it was because it was too noisy... But since I moved to a newer, quiter building, things haven't really improved.

I have no trouble falling asleep, in fact that happens within minutes. But my issue is that I wake up too early, at around 6 or 5:30... and then I try and force myself to sleep until 8...(or 7:20 on days I have early meetings). (It feels almost like I'm taking a red-eye every night!) As we all know, anything forced is not that great... So if anyone out there is an expert on sleeping, and especially skilled at staying asleep, holler at me!

Ok, end of whining, off to dinner!

What $1.2 Trillion Can Buy

The human mind isn’t very well equipped to make sense of a figure like $1.2 trillion. We don’t deal with a trillion of anything in our daily lives, and so when we come across such a big number, it is hard to distinguish it from any other big number. Millions, billions, a trillion — they all start to sound the same.

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/01/17/business/17leonhardt.html?ex=1169874000&en=1a9b70f2eac2b0aa&ei=5070

ok, christmas day.
i'm moving my blog over from msn spaces. it's a major pain in the ass to move blogs around, and you have to be really compelled to do so. well, i'm moving because 1) I only have 4 posts anyway! 2) because you have to have a windows live ID in order to comment on blogs, what a crock o' shite! i like microsoft more than google (now that I'm no longer working at microsoft i feel much more allegiance to it.... seriously!), but i can't deal with their commenting restrictions. i'll still use their Office and Windows tho. Actually, I'm still trying to get a hacked version of Vista to work, does anyone know how?

August 25

Road Rage

A few days ago, I was in a taxi here which I normally hate to take (the drivers are smelly, rude, expect a tip, and plus, it's just stressful watching a meter counting how much money you're going to give them for pissing you off). I much prefer the subway and bus where the service level is consistent and you don't have to take no 'tude from no one. But I digress....

So I was in the middle of a lot of traffic and the driver changed like 2 lanes and totally cut the guy off from behind. Not to be outdone, the car from behind promptly changed lanes and rolled his window down, as his car caught up with ours. Expecting a crass exchange of words, I was thinking "oh not again...."

The driver of the car behind us was a black dude, and he smiled as he leaned over: "I ain't mad at you, I ain't mad at you." I'm not sure if the taxi driver heard him or not, because he kept repeating "Just learn to drive...just learn to drive." The black dude repeated again smiling "I ain't mad at you, but you really did cross a lot of lanes there and cut me off. But I ain't mad at you." His smile was genuine and he certainly didn't sound one bit upset.

I was so impressed with how this guy handled everything. If it had been me, I'm sure I would have flipped the guy off or something of comparable class. Even though it feels good to give someone the big finger, and have a short conversation consisting of 4 letter words, in reality it does cause stress, at least for me. Whereas for this guy, he took the high road, and was able to smile through it. Much better!

August 12

4 and counting

I was pleasantly surprised to learn today that my blog has caused 4 people to go watch An Inconvenient Truth (www.climatecrisis.net), and 1 of them even tried, albeit unsucessfully, to donate $50 to an environmental cause. (My 1 friend at the Nature Conservancy would be proud) The 4 impacted souls are: Mark + Molly (their Spaces can be found in my Friends section to the left) and my cousin Du Hang and his best buddy He Jiong. Du Hang and He Jiong found some $1 or free deals online to watch the movie for cheap, and Mark downloaded the movie from BitTorrent! I support protecting the environment, but am not against piracy.... Amazingly I think almost everyone I know has heard about the movie, but not so many have gone to see it... I highly encourage you to do so.

It's pretty incredible that people are reading this, although too few of them leave comments. Please at least leave your name (or even a chicken scratch would do!).....

I'm in SF for this week and have a rental car. When I was making the reservation, I requested a compact but because my flight didn't get in till 12am, they were all out of compacts when I got to the counter. My choices were minivan, 4x4, or a sedan. The cheapo in me took the 4x4 because they were all the same price. I forgot for a moment that they emit more, BUT, fortunately there was only one sedan, and the people behind me took the sedan. I actually feel alright about it because I think I won't be driving as much as them, and hence my choosing the 4x4 and leaving them the sedan actually works out better for mother earth...

I'm sort of getting into this blogging thing. I hope you're not tired of hearing me talk about the environment... I'll think of some other topics to talk about soon.... Btw, NYC makes SF feel like a sleepy town. NYC to SF is like SF to Santa Cruz...

August 8

My favourite song...

And now for something stupid (ie more Dazhi):

This is my favourite song of 2006. If you don't believe me, just call my mobile...

http://www.lifeaftercoffee.com/2006/06/14/my-cubicle-song-lyrics/

Kristof on Portland's city cooling

I'm kind of cheating today because this is a copy and paste from my favourite jounalist Nicholas Kristof of the NY Times, who, incidentally, is married to a Chinese chick...

Anyway, it's a good read. I'm writing on the environment again because I believe it "could be the most important issue of this century."

Btw, for those so inclined, here's a site where you can donate to projects like planting trees which will offset the carbon emissions from your daily life. Surprisingly, it only costs $99 a year to go ZeroCarbon. www.carbonfund.org

EDITORIAL DESK

Another Small Step For Earth

By NICHOLAS D. KRISTOF (NYT) 752 words
Published: July 30, 2006

PORTLAND, Ore. - The best argument for ignoring global warming has been that there are better ways to spend money: instead of devoting billions to curb carbon emissions and reduce the impact on sea levels in 2050, we could spend the resources developing a vaccine for AIDS or providing universal health care to all Americans.

In essence, the dangers of climate change appeared distant and uncertain, while the costs of curbing greenhouse gases were immediate and appeared substantial.

But all across the country, states and local governments have chipped away at those arguments for delay -- actually, pretty much demolished them -- by showing that there are myriad small steps we can take that significantly curb carbon emissions and that are easily affordable.

A leader of that effort has been Portland, earnestly green even when it is wintry gray. In 1993, the city adopted a plan to curb greenhouse gases, and it is bearing remarkable fruit: local greenhouse gas emissions are back down to 1990 levels, while nationally they are up 16 percent. And instead of damaging its economy, Portland has boomed.

This month Portland took an important additional step, by adopting a renewable-fuel standard. Beginning July 1, 2007, all diesel sold for vehicles in the city will have to be at least a 5 percent biodiesel blend. And all gasoline will have to contain at least 10 percent ethanol. This measure is not a magic bullet, but it has a negligible cost and is one more example of the creative thinking at local levels that is curbing greenhouse gases without breaking the bank.

Portland joins several states -- Minnesota, Washington, Hawaii, Montana, Iowa, Louisiana and Missouri -- that have passed similar laws.

''We aren't confused into thinking that we can change the world,'' said Randy Leonard, the city commissioner who sponsored the ordinance, which passed unanimously. ''We're just hoping that we can establish a template to reduce our dependence on foreign oil and promote economic development and reduce greenhouse gases. Then we can send a message.

''We get that we're an asterisk to the larger issue of oil dependence and global warming,'' he added. ''But we also think that there isn't an energy policy in the state or nation that makes sense, and here there is something we can do that does make sense.''

The 5 percent biodiesel works in all diesel vehicles, without any loss of acceleration. The bio- component sometimes comes from discarded restaurant grease; vehicles using it smell faintly of French fries.

The benefit of the 10 percent ethanol requirement is less clear because U.S. ethanol sometimes takes nearly as much petroleum to make (in fuel to run tractors to harvest corn, for example) as it saves. But increasingly we'll probably be making ethanol from switch grass or sugar cane in ways that are more likely to save petroleum.

Portland customers may end up paying slightly more for gas and diesel because of the new regulation, but city planners say that any increase will be minimal -- perhaps a penny or two per gallon.

''This will reduce total emissions by 1 percent,'' said Michael Armstrong, a city environmental expert. ''It sounds tiny, but if you think that the Kyoto standard is a 7 percent reduction [below 1990 levels], and this one simple move would be 1 percent, then it seems more doable.''

The city is also seeking to ensure that all city government units use power from wind or solar sources by 2010. Portland has changed streetlamps to use low-power bulbs, built bicycle trails to encourage commuting on bike or on foot, and greatly expanded mass transit.

It's true that the risks of climate change are uncertain, but when encountering other kinds of dangers -- like Iran apparently trying to develop nuclear weapons -- we don't shrug and say there's no point in doing anything because of the uncertainties. The risks of warming are potentially enormous -- imagine much of the east coast under water -- and our obligation to protect our planet is not just technical but also moral.

So it's time to abandon the old self-defeating notion that curbing greenhouse gases is too costly to be effective. Portland and other localities are showing that there's plenty we can do inexpensively, at least in the early phases -- if we don't mind rush-hour traffic smelling of French fries.

I almost didn't write this column, because with the Middle East in flames it's obvious that climate change is not the most important topic of the day. But it could be the most important issue of this century.

August 3

More than an inconvenient truth

Continuing my Health and Wellness streak, yesterday I somewhat unintentionally watched Al Gore's movie: The Inconvenient Truth. It turned out to be the most important movie I've ever seen.

Trailer is here http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TUiP6dqPynE

In case you haven't heard of it, it's a documentary about global warming. How fast it's occuring, how we're causing it, what's at stake, and what we can do to prevent it. What is so shocking is that in less than 50 years, our lives as we know it could be dramatically changed by global warming. One example: if a significant portion of Greenland or the North Pole were to melt (after watching the movie, not an entirely unlikely situation by any means) then sea levels around the world would rise by 20 feet. Shanghai, Beijing, Bangladesh, the Netherlands, big chunks of Silicon Valley and New York would be underwater. It's terrifying that it's so real. 100 million people would become refugees.

But there is hope. Remember the Ozone Layer? 20 years ago when i was in primary school, that was a big deal and people were very worried that CFCs would cause it to disappear and we'd all get skin cancer. Well, today, the Ozone Layer has been restored because people around the world stopped using aerosol cans and CFCs. Global warming is a similar, but far bigger problem. What causes it is carbon dioxide emissions from the burning of fossil fuels. This includes oil, electricity, natural gas, cars (especially gas guzzlers!), etc... What we can do is reduce our consumption of energy.

Anyway, I hope I'm not giving the movie away. But please, watch it if you can. I swear you won't regret it. Here's a deal, if you do watch it and regret it, I'll buy you dinner! How's that? If you want to save gas, money and the environment by not going to the theater, here's a place to download a so-so version of the movie: http://www.mininova.org/tor/380594. It requires Bit Torrent, I hope you know what that is. If not, ask me.

Dazhi (bet you didn't know i'm a tree hugger) Chen

July 10

My virgin blog....

On my way back from July 4th weekend in CA, I read an article on teenage drinking in the NY Times http://www.nytimes.com/2006/07/04/health/04teen.html and it scared the shit out of me. Particularly this line:

Blackouts were once thought to be a symptom of advanced adult alcoholism

(I've blacked out about 3 times since moving to NYC...) Since reading the article, I've quit drinking. Only one glass of wine since July 3rd, 2006. A glass of wine with dinner occasionally will be permissible.

I've also started taking Ginkgo. On Friday night, I went to a poker night and while my friends were drinking beers to no end, I had 2 iced teas! On Saturday night, I went club hopping and had 1 Coke and 2 glasses of water the whole night! The funny thing is, I wasn't that tempted to drink even... I'm putting all the money I save on drinks in a piggy bank.. In NYC, that can add up to a small fortune in a hurry!

So now I'm going on a health binge.. I'm also starting to take Centrum, although I mistakenly bought the Silver version...

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