Category Archive

…on Friday the Thirteenth, mwahaha:

• “Educational Comics” from Image and Narrative
• Cartoons about cooking from The Cartoonist Group
• Cooking with Matt Wagner from Comic Book Resources
• Matzo brei remix in another language
• Cheap Thrills, a culinary comic
• Tako, a cartoon octopus: “the only cooking show hosted by an appetizer”
• Cook’s Illustrated:  the New Best Recipe
• America’s Test Kitchen:  Family Cookbook
• Cuisine at Home
• Ma Gastronomie - best French cooking
• Autobiogiographix - includes the Comic Book Chef
• Logos
• Business
• Manga Cookbook

Okay, so I’m getting off track.  Happy 23rd birthday, Siwei.

A rondeau by Paul Laurence Dunbar

(A)  We wear the mask that grins and lies,
(A)  It hides our cheeks and shades our eyes,—
(B)  This debt we pay to human guile;
(B)  With torn and bleeding hearts we smile,
(A)  And mouth with myriad subtleties.

(A)  Why should the world be over-wise,
(A)  In counting all our tears and sighs?
(B)  Nay, let them only see us, while
(C)  We wear the mask.

(A)  We smile, but, O great Christ, our cries
(A)  To thee from tortured souls arise.
(B)  We sing, but oh the clay is vile
(B)  Beneath our feet, and long the mile;
(A)  But let the world dream otherwise,
(C)  We wear the mask!

This popular form of French poetry is made up of three iambic stanzas with thirteen octosyllabic lines and two tetrasyllabic half lines, together employing only three rhymes.  These half lines are referred to as the refrains, which must be identical with the beginning of the first line.  It was customarily regarded as a challenge to arrange for these refrains to contribute to the meaning of the poem in as succinct and poignant a manner as possible.

Wednesday, May 14, 2008.  The twins left this morning with their parents to visit Hong Kong for two weeks.  It’s the twins’ first time!  Phoebe was so sweet and sent me a postcard right before she left.  Linton called in the afternoon and asked if I wanted to hear a speaker talk about Darfur that evening.  Sure.  He called Vickie (still in San Antonio), and I called Elliot (visiting cousin).  Greg Wang and Chris came, too.  Later the three of us went to Two Rows to meet up with James and Peter to eat.  We didn’t get seated at a booth until 9:30 pm.  While waiting, James was on the phone and the three guys were chatting about who knows what.  They each ordered a Strawberry Blonde? beer in the meantime.  I was standing idly around awkwardly.  Then, the benches were empty so Linton and Chris sat down on one bench and Peter sat down next to me.  I picked up the Houston Press that was on the bench.  I flipped it open and the top said “Art” so I started reading.  He asked, “Do you you like art?”  I answered that I did, that I’ve had comments that I was pretty good at it (but I admit it’s only because I was copying), but I never thought to pursue it due to the influence of my upbringing.  Now that I’m out of college, I’ve starting contemplating the meaning of art, that it ISN’T a waste of time.  Peter agreed, saying that our parents push only for business, medicine, or law.  I said that they didn’t exactly push those specifics, but they DID push in their nondirect way for something that is likely to be viable soon out of college.  Somehow we segued into comedy.  He informed me of The Aristocrats (which initially I was imagining The Producers previews).  He said he wanted to be able to do that someday, just on-the-spot give a sparkling rendition of the joke.  I didn’t know that the Bob Saget was a well-rounded comedian, meaning that he also uses pretty foul language when not on family-friendly shows.  We discussed comedy in general, like cussing at every other word (or faking stereotypical accents all the time) is really desperation, not smart humor (this includes the Silk Mangos).  He tried to name a few that weren’t too sexual, but it was funny how Chris and James completely refuted them, saying that they were pretty bad.  After we were seated, Braden showed up with Jennifer Ma.  Jennifer didn’t remember Chris or me, but she did realize that she knew Peter.  I learned about Braden’s brother Daven’s marriage.  Jennifer left, Susan came later, then the couple left with like 5 beers ($1 during Wednesday Happy Hour).  I ordered the pot roast sandwich with beans, which the waiter recommended, but I got mushrooms, so I asked, and so I got to eat both, hehe.

Thursday, May 15, 2008.  James called to invite me to dinner at Yantze.  He said maybe Linton could pick me up, so I called.  I went to his house, then he drove us to Phoebe/Hannah’s to feed Missy (who’s 10 years old).  They turned off their water, so he had to scoop it up to distribute.  I’ve never really got a good look at her before.  It was cute that they gave her a big umbrella over her doghouse.  Linton told me not to mess with a hole in the ground, which is a favorite spot of hers–interesting.  Linton says he usually gives her two doggie treats, and I got the preferred one (a red cylindrical stick), but I guess since I was a stranger to her she wouldn’t take it from me.  Then, she ate the other bone-shaped treat.  Linton finally said that I probably shouldn’t be taking pictures with the flash because she might be interpretting it as lightning.  Peter was at dinner as well (his Mandarin Chinese last name is the same as mine).  As we walked to decided between JuiceBox and Star Snow Ice and Teriyaki, we saw Jocelyn Chen and Nike eating at FuFu’s.  They joined us at Star Snow afterwards.  Originally it was going to be more people but turned out only the two of them showed up.  James and Jocelyn met him at the Meta retreat.  He got his name because his ex-girlfriend gave it to him.  He later found out that his sister ended up with the name Nike as well, and they were thinking of changing his name to Adidas since he has everything (sponsor) of that, but he didn’t change it.  When Linton found out that this 35-year-old used to be on some sort of official Chinese basketball team, he asked for his autograph (both English and Chinese).  This guy is trying to get his fifth degree (business, computer science, i forget…) and he says ideally he would be married at the age of 37, although he knows that might not be accomplished given that’s only two years away and he is still single.  Jocelyn commented that James really wants to get married soon, which James was embarrassed about.  They asked Linton how he and Phoebe got together.  Then, Jocelyn told Nike that Hannah’s still single/available.  On the drive home, somehow Linton and I ended up briefly discussing instant gratification, and how that has affected how our generation doesn’t seem to stay at a job too long, the rising divorce rates, etc.

Friday, May 16, 2008.   Greg Wang replied that he was going to join us at Discovery Green (he planned to eat at the happy hour at The Grove but they didn’t have one so he had the cheap food at the LakeHouse which he says he wouldn’t recommend).  At the last minute I called Henry, who said he’d come.  I went to Elliot’s house, and he drove us to see if Charles was home.  He knocked and rang the bell, and I observed upstairs, but we didn’t notice a presence there (his car wasn’t there, either).  Then we went to Henry’s, who said he didn’t care if Elliot’s car didn’t have A/C.  However, Elliot did, so he consented.  Henry drove the three of us to Pappas BBQ (it was okay).  Henry got a half/half combo of sausage and beef slices with potato salad and cole slaw; I got pulled pork with potato salad and candied yams, and Elliot simply got a burger with fries (finally decided against a baked potato).  He also ate our breads that we didn’t eat, hehe, like a beggar. 

We caught the second half of the last UH act.  Henry went to explore the park for the first time since the dance didn’t interest him.  Elliot and I tried to understand but was at a lost.  There were certain patterns, such as their head movements and picking up someone and making a turn, but Elliot made this comment:  “I’m going to tell David [Kalloor] that I saw something he would’ve made.”  Greg said that this is the weirdest of all the acts he’s seen (since he was there on time).  “Green”, which was performed by the Travesty Dance Group, Karen Stokes’ company (she’s also the head of the dance department in the University of Houston School of Theatre and Dance), and the UH Dance Ensemble on the outdoor Anheuser-Busch Stage, was followed at 8:30 pm by a screening of The Cost of Living, presented by the Aurora Picture Show. The 34-minute movie takes place in a seaside town where street performers David and Eddie struggle to find work and romance. The film incorporates sharp humor about the notions of how the fit and unfit are supposed to act.  I loved it– what with their friendship, the hula-hoop girl, the “Believe” by Cher guy with his exaggerated movements, the ballet scene, the bar scene, the insanely hyperenergetic Eddie, the dancing after the rude video non-interview, the last beach scene….not so hot on the fondling and didn’t understand the restroom scene.  I also loved how they showed it, on a huge moon-walk-type screen, hehe!

• Trailer:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=itDRZlc7d8U&feature=related
• Part 1:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uDTYRbsKcoQ
• Part 2:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CrxuexKFPOM
• Part 3:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LyAVLc6t5Fg
• Part 4:  …http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VcpcujComks
• Part 5:
• Part 6:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fHBLrfs2pJc&feature=related
• Part 7:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mGjR5h9kYFY
• Part 8:
• Part 9:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jQkhQWBx6us&feature=related
• Part 10: 

Afterwards we somewhat played on the playground.  The design was interesting (what is the mound supposed to be? I took a picture of the two of them).  I didn’t know they had the gliding-across-on-a-handle!  We had that in the Sugar Creek park but they took it away.  Wow, Discovery Green even had two height levels.  Yes, Elliot, I relived my childhood memory :).  Linton had to drop off Rebecca at the airport so he couldn’t join us.  He started driving to join us, but the movie was so short so he went to James Wei’s place.  After dropping off Henry off, Elliot and I joined them, where Brian Hui and Chris were as well.  They never DID decide what to do (they ate at Kim Son at 7 pm).  We ended up just hanging around.  They were watching the basketball playoffs on James’s laptop.  Vickie IMed James, so Chris started typing on it, egged on by Linton.  I don’t know if Brian played a part in it, but they did get James to say out loud “Hey baby” LOL.  Then they called Vickie on the computer; she didn’t have a speaker but she could hear us.  She said she heard a female voice.  Linton said lots of girls were here, and Vickie said she’d tell Phoebe haha.  They said it was the TV, but Vickie then thought it was me so she called my cell.  I actually had no idea what was going on, just playing Sequence with Elliot (he got the first sequence, but then I got the last two - with a wild).  The four guys were drinking.  Chris many times had to put a barrier between him and Linton.  James was so tired he fell asleep.  They started doing push-ups with the bar stool, with one hand, two hands, triangle, and rolling on the floor (which James apparently does a lot of??).  I got back home around 1 am.  Linton and Chris left after the game ended; Chris had to work tomorrow and Linton had an Access meeting at 9:15 am.  On the news on the night news, they showed someone with excessive hair with his family and friends.  I couldn’t find the one mentioned on the news, but I did find someone who proudly calls himself the Wolf Man and others who also have Hirsutism / Hypertrichosis. Below are also some other people with rare diseases/disorders/conditions:

• Hand in Hand, choreography by Zhao Limin, performed by Ma Li and Zhai Xiaowei
• “Tree Man” Dede has Epidermodysplasia verruciformis or something related to HPV
• “Pig Baby“ needs support:  http://www.babymiracle.co.nz/ 
• “Elephant Man“
• Blind boy puts on eyes like contact lenses
• Eight-limbed Asian Indian girl Lakshmi Tatma believed by some to be the reincarnation of the multi-limbed Hindu goddess Vishnu

Saturday, May 17, 2008.  Dad left this morning with Gloria Sun’s parents to Austin (since she’s graduating) to drop off Andrew’s VISA to China.  Mom woke me up to join her in a free lunch at King Bo II to honor her dedication in teaching Chinese school at FBCC.  We took up three big round tables.  Stefi, Jennifer Lin, and Rosanna were there.  Stefi’s finishing up her junior year of college at A&M studying biomedical science.  She’s also getting ready for the MCAT, but “I need a backup plan.”  Jennifer worked on a 6×6 Rubik’s cube.  The Chinese ladies talked up a storm.  Howard’s mom, dad, and brother Brian (but not Howard) were also in the restaurant at a separate table.  In the evening, I went to Jing’s early birthday dinner at Goode Seafood Company.  James said there should be a couples table and a singles table, but Jocelyn wanted to sit with the couples, and I wanted to sit with at least one other girl.  It was awkward because Jing’s girlfriend Evelyn sat in front of me, then to my diagonal right was her friend Christine and thus her boyfriend Stephen sat to my right.  The other table had Steve, Will (who’s he?), Jonathan, Linton, Brian, Peter, and James.  Eve sat with her boyfriend, Eveline sat with Michael, and then it was Jocelyn and me and his girlfriend and friends.  Evelyn met Jing during their internships; she’s studying accounting at UT Austin.  Christine is a recent Rice graduate, and Stephen graduated from UT AUstin last year (May 2007?).  They’re pretty and polite but didn’t really converse with Jocelyn or me, only unless we asked questions.  They had their own thing going.  Evelyn does yoga 6x/week and is not interested in swing dancing.  Afterwards the four of them used the helium from the balloons on the table (it’s prom night) to talk high-pitched.  Linton, Jocelyn (4 in a row), and I took lots of pictures then dispersed.  After yes/no/yes/no/yes, Linton and I stopped by James’s place to “help” him pack for his week in Orlando, FL.  I read James’s binder out loud.  Linton drank a Shiner and chatted on IM with Chris (”hey baby cakes”) LOL.  “is this vicky?”  James asked, “Do you like Chris?”  I was lying on the couch but perked up and asked back, “What?”  I couldn’t imagine him asking that outrightly from me, and I was the only female in the room.  But he was asking Linton, so he answered, “Yes.”  That was odd….  James wanted to share “dark secrets” but ended up explaining his job to Linton on his work laptop.  Masturbation was spoken on, though; Vickie said, “I’m sorry you had to go through that [night]” haha.  Eh, I’m used to guys.

Sunday, May 18, 2008.  I talked with my brother on the phone for an hour.  I ate leftovers for lunch, wrote about the weekend, then watched Dead Like Me on TV.  Dad returned at 9:30 pm, as predicted by Mom.  Vickie went out to the UT Rec Fields to hopefully play another game (be recruited if they were missing players, which she was).  She gave me a call.  Dad walked with my mom, then returned and walked with me outside around the neighborhood at 11 pm (interesting that the street lights went off as we passed by, then as we crossed the street and turned around to give it another glance, it turned back on).

Monday, April 14, 2008.  We have five new patients today, so Rick helped out by reporting in rounds and taking over task group for me: Thanks!  I was able to meet with four of them.  At lunch, Jennifer was so sweet and bought an angel-food cake to celebrate Sally’s birthday.  Sally was gone for her birthday last week, so that’s why we celebrated today.  Jennifer had already cut it so that she could layer it with strawberries she had already cut and topped each layer with whipped cream.  Sally was excited and took a picture of the cake, and then with Janet and Rick, awww.  After work, I called Vickie to tell her that as I was walking from the BTPC through the hallway to the BTGH, I thought I saw Grace (JoJo’s wife) and waved, and I think she at least recognized my face.  Then I went to the MFAH. 

Tuesday, April 15, 2008.  I only had self-care group today, and good thing.  I had four discharges, and forgot one on Team C (we had traded, and I knew she was leaving, but I forgot since I was her therapist I had the responsibility to give her home instructions).  I performed two evaluations along with one home instructions.  Some common patterns among Team B patients:  if you’re a female then you have pseudocyesis (delusions of being pregnant), you have a past history of running naked in the streets, or you are somewhat malingering to stay here instead of to go “home.”

Wednesday, April 16, 2008.  Due to EPIC training, Theo preferred that Rick not be gone to his Patient Education Committee meeting that he has once a month.  I went by myself to present my brochure.  It was nice since I could go in a bit later since the meeting starts at 9 am.  I was the first one there, so I went to the restroom.  When I returned, the woman who last week presented on an already-published patient-education-worksheets packet regarding diabetes management sat to my right.  She’s quite outspoken about corrections, which helped me because I didn’t want to really say much by the end since I’m just sitting in for Rick.  For example, I wrote a certain correction on the sheet (Rick had printed out the materials for me beforehand) that we were sharing, so she spoke up and it was a good suggestion that everyone agreed upon (they were debating between two phrases, and I provided a third option).  When I went to my park, I had a parking violation (I had read the sign about only those going to Holly Hall, and I interpreted it wrong) but the police officer at the front desk from which I inquired from said that I didn’t have to pay a fine or anything, just that if I were to continuously do it I would be banned from parking there in the future.  Whew. 

To celebrate OT month, Theo offered to treat us out for lunch at Murphy’s Deli (we walked there).  It was interesting because she printed out the menu and indicated which ones on the menu we could pick from.  They had a salad bar, but Sally changed her mind about it and ordered the combo (sandwich, chips, drink).  Sammy stopped by to say hi, and Jennifer couldn’t make it because she felt sick (and interestingly enough, Theo didn’t schedule her for anything).  It was nice to have a break in the morning, but I had to catch up in the afternoon about the goings-ons.  I spent the rest of the afternoon administering two evalutions then writing up 5 of 7.  Rick had given me $10 to pay for parking; isn’t he generous?  I was happy that I could leave without waiting, but unfortunately I forgot where I parked so I walked for some good minutes before finding it, haha, sigh.  I really didn’t want to miss Ladies’ Group, but after mental calculation I knew that I just wouldn’t be able to make it, and missed it for the first time.  At home I made some last minute changes on the brochure (since the BTPC computers display it different from my home laptop) then went to eat dinner at Old Place Cafe at 7 pm with my parents.  They saw a dentist and his wife who they recognized; he was in Mississippi for six years with the army but is now retired and having a lot of enjoyment traveling.  Afterwards we went to Kinko’s to print out four brochures (very nice quality, and I paid for it - $12, for paper, ink, and time spent on the computer).  Then we went to Wel-Farm to buy potstickers (I figured dumplings would be nasty the next day being soggy and all).  We got home at 8:30 pm and turns out that potstickers are tricker to cook than dumplings.  We learned we could not cut corners (i.e. cook more than 7 at a time).  A plate dropped and shattered.  Dad ended up cooking the mass majority of them.  I printed out handouts (regarding where to get them printed at BTGH) and then went to bed past midnight.

Thursday, April 17, 2008.  I presented the brochure to the OT department.  Rick negotiated our groups for the day so I could have time in the afternoon to finish my paperwork; wasn’t that sweet?  And I did finish, so that I spent some time helping Elderine on Excel for her employee project (after Jennifer helped her for two hours).  I semi-re-learned about =average() and helped set up the chart so that she wouldn’t have to calculate by hand each time before inputting, but that all she had to do was input the number of people who attended and the number of people who were present.  Jennifer offered to take me home, so I asked Rick if it was okay that I left early with her at 4 pm.  He gave me permission, and in fact he himself stayed and administered an evaluation for Elderine (the patient spoke Spanish).

When I got home and checked my email, at 4:14 pm Linton had emailed asking if we wanted to watch When Autumn Sunlight Comes at 1915.  Linton picked up Elliot and me.  Afterwards we went to CiCi’s to eat.  I explained the Beacon to Elliot, if he wanted to join us in the future.  Told him about how the manager of the Beacon used to work for CiCi’s.  Elliot informed me that Chase Culpepper proposed to Lauren Drake!  She’s graduating tomorrow in Galveston, so they’re going to support/celebrate with her.  Somehow relationships popped into the conversation, so I mentioned about someone asking me out, back in November or something.  Linton asked if it was Robert Hwang, “the annoying loud guy” LOL.  No, it wasn’t.  I don’t think I had even met him at that point in time.  I told Vickie about this comment haha.

Friday, April 18, 2008.  Rainy morning!  Rick’s not here today, preparing to attend Dr. Barber’s wedding tonight.  In fact, it was just Elderine, Jennifer, and me, but it wasn’t as bad as I anticipated because they “closed downstairs” (i.e. outpatient appointments).  Since I’m the student, I helped with all three groups.  I helped give hurried home instructions to one patient (-Tuesday) because it seemed like she was going to leave (they were gathering all her belongings from her locker).  Turned out her parent (-Wednesday) didn’t pick her up until after we OTs were gone.  I tried to blow up the beach ball, but it didn’t work.  I was afraid to ask to leave early to try to watch Road to Partition since I had already left early yesterday, but I finally did (10 minutes early) and Elderine let me go (still got lost a bit in the parking garage).

After the movie, I rushed out and ordered my usual burrito from Chipotle at the corner at 7pm.  Vickie called, so I told her where I was and what we were doing.  I barely made it to Magazine Gap Road that started at 1915.  I went in just as the WorldFest guy was making some announcements.  During that time Hannah had called me back (do’h, my phone was on silent), so I called her again, but I think by then she had put her phone on silent.  I was thinking that maybe they had gone to see another movie, since I didn’t see them.  Finally I just decided to go up to the seats, and good thing, they were all sitting on the bottom row on the left on the third tier: Phoebe, Chris Sun, Jennifer Yu, Hannah Kwan and her boyfriend? from WHCC?, and Hannah Lin.  Linton came when the movie ended.  He was debating as to what to do with it (watch another movie? give it to someone? refund?); I don’t know what he did with it.  We went to Grand Lux Cafe afterwards for dinner outside with their dim lighting and high heating.  I didn’t order anything, but finished up my burrito.  I went home.  Linton and Chris went to his apartment, then Linton took Chris out drinking, haha.

This week is spring break for many people, including the social worker.  That means the social worker on Team C has to look over both Team B and Team C patients (follow-up appointments, possible placement options, etc.).  Obviously she can’t participate in both Teams’ rounds, so Rick reminded me to inform her of who’s being discharged and whatnot when I hear that information.

Monday, March 17, 2008.  One patient was discharged on Friday and now he’s back!  Man, that sucks.  Another patient was “forced” to leave because he started saying (i.e. making up?) symptoms so he could stay here longer (he probably won’t do well if he leaves, functional-level wise).  We finally met up with a patient’s significant other (family meeting) to get the other side of the story of one patient who’s quite a mystery to us all (psychosis? depression? schizophrenia? drugs?).  One patient left pretty quickly today, so I had to catch him on the elevator.  I was sort of on edge because when he came in he was on 2:1, but then I thought, but they’re just letting him go outside, so it should be safe :-)  He’s a charmer, haha.  Rick also encouraged me to teach another patient how to dress using just one limb.  I don’t even think about physical dysfunction anymore wow.  But I did remember the steps because we had to pretend to be a patient while I was taking the class in school, so I remember it clearly.  Unfortunately, I couldn’t think of anything regarding pulling the hair back into a ponytail with one arm.  For dinner, my parents and I ate at Old Place Cafe (although we parked in front of CoCo’s, haha - changed mind).  We said hello to Grace Hsiau’s dad, who was there by himself.

Tuesday, March 18, 2008.  Today’s Janet’s birthday!  Boo, ANOTHER patient returns (yesterday’s guy has schizophrenia most likely, this girl has mania no doubt).  I actually evaluated a patient with another patient’s help in translation, hehe.  Well, as the patient translator could tell obviously, this new patient was too disorganized to really answer anything, even “do you have pain?”.  In the afternoon I showed the patient (my translator haha) a book that Sally gave me to share:  [I forgot and can't find if I had written it down, grrr, it's about living with one arm in a two-arm world].  I tried to engage a patient in a game because he’s very distracted, or even in looking through a magazine and tearing out pages he liked, but to no avail.  I engaged another patient in a card game, and she was so surprisingly pleasant, even telling me to go eat lunch but also stating that if I had time later she would love to continue playing.  I did, this time making a bigger effort to convince her that her delusions are just that, but of course she started getting agitated so I backed off.  Afterwards, Tiffany Lin picked me up and we ate dinner at Van Loc with everyone else (excluding me) who was going to the Rockets game.

Wednesday, March 19, 2008.  In the morning Rick bought me breakfast (I picked a croissant which actually wasn’t that good but of course I didn’t say anything) as we checked over the patient education materials that were going to be discussed this morning.  We chatted a little: turns out intially all he wanted to do was rehab, and he got a job, but during that interval before his first day, he got this psych job, loved it, and stuck with it.  The meeting itself was quite long-winded, especially doing all the corrections regarding the rules/regulations for the 3D and 3E nurseries (reminded me of my peds rotation).  We just missed the shuttle so we had to wait half an hour for it to return; when it finally came around we hopped on before it made the U-turn because it was so windy cold.  The two ladies talked about their weekend.  Rick joined in, saying that he went to Kemah over the weekend with his family in town, and he paid $5 for a nasty-tasting hot dog.  They were saying how everything is higher priced nowadays.  Jokingly, that since Ben Taub has zoo passes that are given to patients for free admission, we could scalp them LOL.

We had lunch at Hungry’s since we could….  They “forced” Jennifer to come, even though she wanted to stay behind, all alone, eating her homemade lunch (she usually buys out) of cooked tilapia, steamed cauliflower, etc.  When we came back we played bean bag, then I tried to play cards, dominoes, anything with one Spanish-speaking patient.  She just kept saying, “No puedo” for some reason, even for simply pushing the first domino for the subsequent dominoes to fall.  I spent downtime trying to call for next Wednesday (field trip).  At home I stumbled upon All Over Coffee.

Thursday, March 20, 2008.  As I got off 292 this morning in front of the log cabin, there was a couple of light honks, so I turned around to see Sally (with Rick in her passenger seat) shouting to me, “Did you wear red?”  LOL.  She and Rick did, and Elderine did as well, coincidentally.  Basically yesterday afternoon Janet and Sally were saying how it’s nice to have new employees because they volunteer for everything and believe everything, so that if they were to say it was wear-red day, Jennifer would comply.  I guess it’s an omen for a good day ;-) eh?  Ping Lau came to check up on us, and of course he’s rooting for me to come fill some of their job openings since he’s seen me in peds AND psych.  I pulled out the parachute and Rick and Sally found it would be a nice change from their usual games.  It really brightened up one of our look-down-on-the-ground patients. 

Rick’s car’s steering wheel pulley had problems.  He had made a stop in the morning and fortunately a guy came and observed and commented that he could fix it up since it turned out he was a mechanic!  So Rick left right before lunch to have it fixed.  During lunch, they were talking about gambling (since Dr. Barber’s bachelor party is in Vegas) and timeshares.  After lunch I asked a Spanish-speaking patient to point out the date on the calendar in the day area, and she pointed to April 15 (tax day) hehe.  I played the football-on-a-string (the one we used in Guatemala) with a patient–a real arm workout for both of us.  We were both sleepy afterwards lol.  As I was leaving, one patient asked me to bring her information about Madagascar and quantum physics.  Okay..sure….  I tried to catch Jennifer for a ride home, but I couldn’t find her.  Still, it wasn’t bad, because the bus came at 5:05 so I was home by 5:40.

Friday, March 21, 2008.  I tried to research a new leisure activity for our therapeutic activity group, but the system blocks “games” as a search term.  We just played basketball again, and then extended bingo in the afternoon.  Jocelyn came to visit! with her mom and daughter Ceriana.  I showed one patient (who’s name reminds me of an old Stafford classmate) how to play Sudoku, but of course since I’m not exactly a pro myself, she didn’t really catch on that quickly - she returned to her word searches LOL (I don’t blame her).    I talked with a patient about his CAH (command auditory hallucinations) and it’s possible link to his lack of social interaction, which he admits to isolating himself (What’s it like hearing voices others can’t hear by Ralph Hoffman).  I also stumbled upon how to diffuse grandiose delusions ([had it open on monitor at work but distracted and went away and person using the computer after me closed the website, boo!]).  Anyway, yes, I work tomorrow! (That was sarcasm.) 

Like any good blog community, WordPress advertises popular posts from within their domain; it’s one way to probably facilitate their revenue (http://changingway.org/2008/03/12/making-money-from-wordpresscom/).  One of today’s features was “254 - Ludacris’ Rap Map of US Area Codes” from http://strangemaps.wordpress.com/ (published on March 9, 2008).  It was quite an interesting post.  Then I started scrolling down to the bottom (December 22, 2007).  I’m not particularly into cartography or geodesy, but I think I spent more than two hours (that I really can’t afford to give up right now grrr) browsing because it is very organized.  But I believe those that are superb are those which a lay person can even appreciate.  (I remember coloring maps in Geography class in tenth grade.  My teacher loved having me because I drew/colored pretty maps and also she expected me to make 100s on all my tests, which I did because she set my standard so high - like that time I forgot one answer and I sat there for 15 minutes until the answer came to me.  Do you remember Cathy Nguyen?  She started drawing even more beautiful maps, and her three-dimensional one was a piece of art.  I kept thinking that these maps are already drawn, why in the world are we drawing them again?  I guess it was a side “class” on cartography, haha.)  I am really tired from work and I need to work tomorrow, too, but these did catch my eye:

• 253 - Germany surrounded by Switzerland –> literally by its land
• 249 - South of No North: Country Music’s Favourite States  –> showing the sizes of the states so the map looks a bit funky.  Texas is second (after Tennessee).
• 247 - All the World In A Song  –> I saw this on my two-week West Coast road trip.  We didn’t stay long; Rudi wasn’t too impressed with the map store we stopped in at, haha.
• 244 - 5 Million Hits - The Atlas of Strange Maps - Your Help Requested  –> the author is in the process of publishing a book!
• 242 - Nearer the North: Australia in the King Projection  –> dissecting the backdrop of Larry King and Michael Moore’s talk show episode.
• 241 - Every Englishman Is An Island…  –> a mock imaginary island resembling a brain, surrounded by Bipolar Disorder, Schizophrenia, and other unpleasantness at sea, and including fear, romance, prejudices, and desires.
• 240 - The American Eagle, About to Spread Its Wings  –>
• 231 - Praise the Lord and Pass the Dictionary!  –> a prayer in many languages?
• 229 - Vital Statistics of a Deadly Campaign: the Minard Map  –> “The best statistical graphic ever drawn” says statistician Edward Tufte.
• 228 - Merry Kiritimati!  –> a lesser known Christmas Island; I like the name.
• 227 - First the Cartoon, then the War: Europe in 1870  –> each country/character is explained.

I really enjoyed the site.  I’ve come across other “map blogging” sites with disinterest, and none took hold of me like this one.  I think it’s because I am tired.  But some of the images appeal to me, or the title.  And if I do find the time to skim, there are words bolded.  And if I make the time to read the entire post, then I get even more out of it.  It’s like what they say about television shows, the ones where newcomers can have enjoyment, but cult followings can log on to answer facts, blog, and stick together the latent specifities that connect within the series.  I guess an example would be CSI, where each episode can stand by itself, but regulars know the backstories of the relationships of the actors and can now even go to the museum for a limited time to try their hand at the profession.  The website made me think if I could blog on something in a similar fashion.  Just for my own sake: something routine that doesn’t take too much time but presents enough of a slight challenge that I am not terribly bored either.  Seems to be the next new thing ;-P  Siwei’s doing it (food - and math, and another for his webcomic), but of course last time that happened I didn’t exactly edify my current support system!  Here are some ideas that came to mind:

• Comics  –>  but really I wouldn’t know how to go about it.  I’m not making one, so it wouldn’t be my adventures in producing one (e.g. sketching, lines, inspiration).  It wouldn’t be dissecting the comics I post (I hated doing that back in English class, although Mr. Murrell was a fabulous teacher).  Here’s an interesting site:  http://24hourcomics.com/.  There’s going to be new management for 2008.
• Missionaries  –>  until I thought for the current ones that may jeopardize their ministries.
• Crafts  –>  of some sort.  I don’t want to write about them.  Well…”I made this for so-and-so for his/her birthday.”  Hm…this might be a viable option.  Something like PostSecret? And the StrangeMaps?  And make a book later?  Haha.  But then I have to take pictures, then upload them….
• Stories –>  of some sort:  romantic love stories, spiritual testimonies, occupational therapy efficacy, Bible verses (like during my birthday), suriviving homelessness, ….really I just like to read these things haha.

Anyway, some more map links:

• An Atlas: Radical Cartography Exhibition - http://www.theredhouse.org/gallery/article.php?article_id=cO1201534566c479df66640fce; http://www.timeout.com/chicago/articles/art-design/24982/charting-new-territory
• New Urban Arts had some youth works displayed - http://www.flickr.com/photos/newurbanarts/sets/72157594408295097/detail/
• Exhibits that have closed - http://home.earthlink.net/~docktor/1999ex.htm
• In Chicago - http://festivalofmaps.com/index.aspx

Saturday, Feburary 16, 2008.  In the morning from 10 to 11:30 I did something but I forgot.  I tried to be productive by uploading pictures and comics, neatening up my room, and showering.  After picking up the Lins, we met Vickie at House of Bowls at 5:30 p.m.  She just wanted a discussion with her close girl friends without the guys for once.  I enjoyed it because it’s not often to hang out as a group of females nowadays.  Then, the guys started showing up.  Linton came, then David Kalloor, who brought his STIM friend Leslie.  They didn’t go to the same locale (she went to the Philippines), but they did the training together, as did Andrew Eng (he went to China) that year.  Much later Brad Eng and Denise (who apparently are dating right now) came by as well.  Hannah is the first to give me her Bible verse memory scrapbook page from my birthday!  I was so excited so when I came home I read it.  Along with it and a homemade card (talk about awesome), she gave me Diary of a Wimpy Kid: A Novel in Cartoons by Jeff Kinney.  I read the whole thing in one sitting.  It’s an easy read, but I found it so dejecting.  It’s a story about an immature boy who thinks he’s all that but in reality doesn’t take responsibility for any of his actions.  I guess the essence reflects the human condition.

Gladys Aylward in what is thought to be her only photograph
Courtesy of Moody Bible Institute

Inch came later all dressed up.  Apparently yesterday he and Sarah Kim had spent literally the ENTIRE day (since 5:30 a.m.) together because they drove to Austin to attend Eunice’s wedding.  It was an enjoyable day.  Unfortunately, the last fifteen minutes of their drive back wasn’t too hot.  I told him about Friday.  Jeff asked why I wasn’t playing (my ankle).  Anyway, tonight Harvest Community Church has an evening service and he was going to attend and thus he just wanted to drop by and enjoy the weather.  It really was splendid.  Andrew Eng arrived late and he came over to say hi.  He said he wasn’t playing because this is supposed to be a ministry so he’s letting the other people play first.  Inch commented on how Andrew’s shirt wasn’t as tight as he thought it would be (it’s a medium apparently).  We made other random comments, such as James Hsia climbing to retrieve the frisbee that ended up on the awning over the windows of the school.  I saw Kelvin so I went over to return the wrap that he lent me for my ankle.  Nathan Wang joined in later.

Tiffany Lin is amazing.  She struck up a conversation with me.  She asked me where I was working, and she said that actually she thinks that’s where she thinks she’s going to go for her psychiatric rotation (near April).  She expressed her disappointment in the working world and in herself when it came to God.  She said right before she started she had gone on a mission trip where she incorporated her medical skills and at the same time was able to ascertain the patient’s spiritual well-being as well.  However, now she’s so busy and on-the-go that she finds that she doesn’t have the time to do that, and isn’t even sure if it’s appropriate.  She reminded me of myself, when I went to Mexico with Nathan Kim, Lois Lim, Melvin Feng (”!esta bien!”), and Jane Park the week right before I moved to El Paso.  I didn’t even go home–my parents picked me up from Laredo and then we drove up to the Mountain Time Zone.  I was so hyped, and I really did feel like I was still in Mexico.  *Psi*  I find it also interesting that she asked if I found a church community.  It was like she got the core of my current issues.  How did she know?  I explained to her that the past year I had actually attended as many FBCC, WHCC, and HCC events I was invited to.  Somehow FBCC doesn’t plan as many or something, but the group I’ve ended up feeling the closest to has been HCC due to their weekly sports outings. 

I also asked Jesslyn to walk with me (I had anticipated Lindi was going to come so I could return her jacket, or Teresa Chii since she’s leaving Houston).  At the end she asked me if I was interested in missions.  I found that interesting; was she thinking about it?  She said somewhat, like either supporting here in the United States or teaching overseas or something of that nature.  I said that I hadn’t seriously thought of it, but I was always enamored of it even before I believed in God.  I told her how just this past Friday I had heard the descendent of James Hudson Taylor speak, and how I grew up being awed not only by him but by George Mueller, Gladys Aylward, Elisabeth Elliot….

I left early to join Phoebe, Hannah, Vickie, and Linton.  He decided to cook dinner for us since his sister was away and Vickie was in town and he usually eats with the Lins.  Vickie and he went to buy groceries, then the girls did work while he cooked.  He made lamb with two different sauces (ketchup with hoison sauce, and one with oyster sauce), baby bok choy (slightly over-cooked), sauteed onions, corn, and baked boned salmon.  Rebekah came home later.  Vickie initiated a conversation about flirting for attention from guys (doing good for the other versus leading the other on), emotional attachment (is okay), codependency (if the other’s wellbeing is wholly dependent on another), and other similar topics. 

A weekend of many thoughts….here’s a list of books about missionaries:  http://servinghimathome.blogspot.com/2005/12/missionary-stories-to-inspire-children.html

1 regular-size bottle shampoo/ conditioner ~ $2.00
1 tube toothpaste ~ $1.50
1 adult toothbrush ~ $1.00
1 washcloth (new or clean used) ~ $0.25
1 month supply women’s sanitary products ~ $4.00 for 24 maxis/12 pantiliners
1 deodorant ~ $2
1 large bar soap ~ $2
1 hair brush or comb ~ $0.50
4 individual band-aids ~ $minimal
2 disposable razors ~ $1.00 each
1 body lotion ~ $1.70
1 pocket-size packet of tissues ~ $0.25
1 hand sanitizer ~ $1.50

total for three:  $56 at Wal-Mart

optional:  shower mesh ball, water, stationary..stamps, magazines, mending kit, clothing like socks/underwear/gloves, laundry detergent….

How come hygiene kits never include floss for gingivitis prevention?

When Phoebe asked me what I wanted to do for my birthday, I said I didn’t know.  Last year, in the middle of working, I was so tired I resented that I was taken out for the night in the middle of the week.  But this year, since I’m not yet working, I wanted something further and fresher since I don’t foresee many more times in the future where I was going to be this consequentially free.  So I didn’t want to play board games or simply have dinner because I’ve been doing that a lot lately.  Initially I thought how I could include all the people I had met this past year while recuperating.  I thought it would be fun for all the different circles to intersect like a Venn diagram.  However, I don’t like having big groups and asked myself, What do you really want, Amy? 

My memory drifted back to freshman year, where the world opened up to me, where I couldn’t deny God’s downpouring (Malachi 3:10), and where there were so many eligible bachelors ;-).  I remember imagining (and I still “see” the scene in my head) my ’significant other’ and me serving side-by-side while getting to know one another.  Ergo that’s what I wanted, to do something with our hands as I spent quality time with my friends.  I brainstormed volunteer opportunities but they all didn’t seem to work out in my mind since we would probably be split up, etc.  I remembered the 30 empty shoeboxes our family still had lying around and started googling.  Reading the Shoebox Ministry, I thought of the Fort Bend County Women’s Center, where I’ve gone to donate some items with my Dad.  Phoebe said she’d make that happen :). 

Then, while staring at the ceiling from my bed one night, to facilitate discussion (because everyone knows I don’t have the talent of asking questions), thoughts of sharing personal-meaning Bible verses came, and I thought about “scrapbooking” them after everyone shared.  I thought this was perfect because each person has the perogative to share as deeply as they want (I didn’t want anyone to feel uncomfortable) and I’d have a record of theirs as well as mine (”It is good to praise the LORD ” - Psalm 92) as a future reminder of how God has blessed this fellowship of believers (as in Psalm 107 and 118 and especially 136).  Then, I invited an even number of guys and girls among my company of friends within familiar group dynamics:  my fellow brothers and sisters from my most memorable semester:  Phoebe, Hannah, Linton, Chris, Nathan, Vickie, and David - predicting the last two predicting couldn’t show up.

As the day approached, I started feeling really awkward about it all since I had no idea how shopping together for the Shoebox Recipe ingredients would play out.  Plus, I must’ve proved to be frustrating (especially to Phoebe), with fluctuating scheduling trying to lay down the details.  At first I wanted lunch (to be cheaper since I knew they would treat me) to be a picnic, in a cemetery (didn’t think the last part would fly so I didn’t mention it hehe) since I think my mom always would like me to be home and Henry might want to plan something for his birthday that weekend.  But, it turned out it would be better at night (”people might want to run errands”, Hannah had to work from home, Nathan would be coming back from Austin after visiting his mom on her birthday on Friday, and Chris might want to attend the auto show) so we changed it.  Reggae Hut was closed on Saturdays anyway.  And can you imagine Chris scrapbooking LOL.

Everyone of course was a good sport.  Vickie surprised me by making a day trip (!), Nathan came for dinner before hanging out with his international student buddy, Chris ate dinner with his older brother and then joined us later, everyone spent about $10 on three shoeboxes, and they took their Bible verses home for homework haha!  Did you know that perhaps Nathan’s parents Abigail and Samuel went to the same school as Hannah/Phoebe’s parents Emmo and Estella?  Hannah bought some sparkling pear juice to toast with since I don’t like to drink alcohol.  We stayed up exhaustedly past midnight chatting. 

My friends are too good to me.  My God is too good to me.  His love endures forever.

The Pie Council (http://www.piecouncil.org/national.htm) has ruled today National Pie Day, so in observance we went to House of Pies for my birthday dinner.  I didn’t want a massive crowd so I only invited the WHCC group (since the four of us had our birthdays four days apart).  Unfortunately, I didn’t know that the girls had small group Wednesday night (and now I remember HCC has all their small groups on Wednesdays as well anyway) so only the guys showed up: Linton, Chris Sun, Jing, James Wei, Brian Hui, Jonathan Eng, and Kenneth See.  Phoebe was at my right hand, braving the testosterone with me.  I ordered a strawberry rhubarb a la mode for dessert.  Afterwards James opened his apartment for us to talk.  They each shared a memory they had with me:  Linton with our car chats (and that one Sunday night I ended up crying for some forgotten reason and he prayed for me - that’s what I remember when he shared), Chris with my cards and thoughtfulness (e.g. Valentine’s notes), James with crashing at his place for the Wings Over Houston Air Show, Brian with his Bible study on fears, and Phoebe with our talk-walks.  Then I had to share one with them and, taking Brian’s advice, I tried to think of one event that encompassed them all.  The one I recalled was I think my first time at James’s apartment, when he led small group on the topic of Loneliness.  Chris and Phoebe weren’t there, but then we started sharing wilder stories such as getting drunk, keying cars, cramming pizza in a door handle, sticking jolly ranchers on windows, throwing eggs, etc.  Other sweet birthday wishers included Jennifer Lin (she called last week), James Wei (he texted me this morning), Jacky Lee (he left a voicemail), Vickie (emails and calls from San Antonio), Siwei (call/email), and Marie (email).

Thank you!  This really is going to be a good year.

It’s 11:40 and I receive a call from Henry:  “Count to 20 then walk outside.”  Curious, I obey and find Henry, Charles, and Elliot tumbling out his well-worn red jeep.  They each hand me a large origami animal made from neon posterboard.  Charles gave me a green pig, Henry gave me an orange butterfly (”Happy B-Day From ~Z~”), and Elliot gave me “Punchy the pink penguin.  I dare you to go the next 5 minutes wihtout thinking of a pink penguin.”  Apparently Henry drove down from the medical center, woke Charles up (”He almost broke my ribs”), and helped Elliot in order to celebrate my birthday as close to midnight as possible.  I was beaming and gave each of them a hug.

My thoughts during all this:  “Wow, this is going to be a good year.”

Welcome to WordPress.com. This is your first post. Edit or delete it and start blogging!  I started blogging on xanga in Austin on prayriefayrie, then I transfered to b_luvd when I moved to El Paso.  Now that I’ve been back in Stafford for some unanticipated events for a year now, I feel a rendering of more glorious days ahead would be to move to an entirely new blog.  Or rather, it’s because I’ve developed a strange need to post daily due to their format.  Xanga has served me well (http://www.xanga.com/why) and has exploded with a number of new options I haven’t explored yet.  However, being a simpleton, all I ask is for the title to be more prominent than the date.  Here, I can now post ten entries focused on a variety of topics in one day if inspiration hits, without feeling I am “falling behind” if I am on hiatus for three months, or feeling the need to do this:

Also, as a side effect, since even less people know about this and thus less people will read it, maybe I will be a little more honest with myself.  Maybe.  WordPress, yes, I am digging my new weblog.