How She Defines Herself

I read a blog today that I was trying to post http://www.pinkprincess.com links to and so the "About Me" section of this 25 year old women from Washington which said: "I met my love in february 2008, got engaged June 2008 and then married October 2008 so life has changed drastically."

That was her "About Me" section! That is how she defines her life as she sees it. Nothing wrong with that at all. She obviously found something that was good for life in a very short amount of time, and it created a rolling ball in her life. Her blog entry was about her little daughter wearing a flower girl dresses, so things definitely are working out so far.

I don't know if I could have enough courage to say any particular event in my life will shape things forever.

To Be

Here's an old Japanese pop song that I've listened to before several times, but never paid much attention to. I finally heard it on Pandora Radio again, and decided to look up the translated lyrics. Here it is below. Although the English translation sounds choppy, I like the what it says. Unfortunately I do carry around the junk that's unimportant. The past does effect me and I think about it often. I just have concentrate of the present and what I can do for the future.

TO BE
Lyrics: Ayumi Hamasaki
Composer: DAI
Arranger: Naoto Suzuki, DAI

Everyone passes through. I don't keep them in mind either. It can't be helped.
You've been carrying that junk as if it's important.
People saw you from a distance and thought you were strange.
Even so you laughed and said to me "this is treasure."

While I'm gaining something big, I wonder if there's something I've lost.
I don't understand.
This place I've regained, I bet it's slightly different.

If you're there, I'm always laughing.
If you're there, I'm always laughing. I'm crying. I'm living.
If you're not there, there's nothing.

Was it myself? Was it the people? Or was it
only a clock? The thing that seemed like it would break.

How much do the arms that continue to protect the junk hurt?
What have they sacrificed?
Even though you'll never be perfect, you shine in your imperfection.

The path you found isn't wide.
The path you found isn't wide, it isn't narrow, somehow
you alone have made it better for me.

Because you were there, I'm always laughing.
Because you were there, I was always laughing. I was crying. I was living.
If you're not there, there's nothing.

I've Loved You So Long - Tell Me About It

I admit that sometimes I'm not always excited to receive my Netflix movie. Especially when it's been so long since I added them to my queue that I completely don't recognize the movie when it comes to my mail. "I've Loved You So Long" was one of them, and has been collecting dust for at least 2 months now. I finally went ahead and pushed myself to watch it last night, and OMG... What a surprise.

First, a brief Netflix summary of the movie:
"After more than a decade apart, estranged sisters Juliette (Kristin Scott Thomas) and Lea (Elsa Zylberstein) try to rebuild their fractured relationship. But the task is hardly easy, considering Juliette's past. She's been in jail for 15 years -- for killing someone. As she settles into small-town life with Lea's family, the locals can't help but talk. Philippe Claudel's feature film debut garnered him a Golden Globe nomination for Best Foreign Language Film."

The directing and acting in this film was just phenomenal. From an acting stand point, the actors used very few words to say so much. Each glance, each gesture just showed so much history and relationship between them. Story was quite interesting as well, and the answers were slowly given to throughout the film so that you can discover that the characters were going through. Definitely worth your time!

Destruction to Construction

So the house that I grew up in is finally on it's going through destruction, and on it's way to construction. 85% of the interior will look completely different because the floors, walls, appliances are all stripped bare. There will be one new bedroom, two new bathrooms, and one new family room. I don't think it'll be recognizable anymore.

For some reason, I'm no longer attached to this house, and have no feeling about the reconfiguration and addition, other than sadness that it is costing so much to rebuild. Much of it has to do with the fact that I've been more than ready to grow out of that part of my life. I'm ready to move forward. At the end of the day, I hope it's going to worthwhile.

Los Angeles Still Amazes Me

Southern California still manages to amaze me from time to time. Although I've started getting use to seeing billboards in Chinese along the 60 freeway in Rowland Heights, I was still stunned to see a full on McDonalds ad in Chinese as if you lived in Taiwan/Hong Kong/China and not in the U.S.. By putting a sign up like this, it means you are neglecting the non-Chinese reading population that drives by the 60 freeway every morning, and instead targeting the few who do. Of course, this means the marketing staff from McDonalds must have thought the money spent on it is worthwhile. I sometimes forget that I actually live in A-m-e-r-i-c-a.

On the other hand, because I work in East Los Angeles, what do I get to eat? The BEST Mexican food. Sure Mexican food is readily available everywhere, but East LA tends to have authentic and fresh lunch trucks that carry seafood tostada and shrimp tacos. I finally convinced myself that there are some perks for working in the ghetto.

Hacienda Heights Generation Gap

Growing up in an heavily Asian American populated city Hacienda Heights, it's easy to forget that a generation gap exists between the first and second generations in the U.S.. My whole life, I've played it fairly safe, and it's made it easy for my parents to generally be satisfied with most of the decisions in my life. However, as of late, I realize that although at age 30, my parents still feel a need to control many aspects of my future. One important one would be a future husband. Now though I respect their values and opinions, I've also come to realize that no matter what, I still have to stick with what I think is best for myself. I think at the end of it, as long as I know what I want and what makes me happy, they will follow and see that that's the most important factor involved. I truly believe that I have to make my own destiny and that I will be strong enough to face whatever may come.