There are so much more fireworks this year and my friend even called me about it. How would I know? Probably more fireworks are manufactured and sold this year? People become more willing to display fireworks? A more likely scenario is--the law about fireworks has been changed. Several days ago, when driving along Route 18 … Continue reading Fireworks →

One thing I've never learned to do is using a planner or an organizer. I tried, but using it is almost as difficult for me as counting in English. I think among all the things that an immigrant cannot learn easily, counting in one's second language claims the crown of all inabilities. Using an organizer … Continue reading Organize And Disorganize →

I tried to read aloud some poems so that I can listen to the recording later when I do chores. I was shocked to discover that my voice sounds terrible. It is a little throaty, a little whiny, a little diffident, a little apologizing, with that typical unwillingness in exertion. I love myself as a … Continue reading My Voice →

My friend's refrigerator died just when the refrigerator is most needed in this 90 degree (Fahrenheit not Celsius) weather. Not completely dead. Just the freezer part. He blames his bad luck, considers the manufacture unreliable, and opts to buy a new one of a different brand instead of calling for a repair man. At the … Continue reading Too Much Distancing →

A sloth doesn't want to exercise when she doesn't have to, but as time goes by, the sloth wants to be a healthy sloth. So she starts to exercise, in addition to buying grocery at Trader Joe's, reducing nocturnal activities, reconciling to the fact that not every book is worth to be read cover to … Continue reading Exercise Or Not Exercise →

What is Juneteenth? What did Thomas Jefferson and George Washington do--I mean what did they do other than being a proper founding father? Now suddenly there come new terms to be learned from the news, new facts about famous figures to be revealed to ignorant people like me. History seems no longer a boring dogmatic … Continue reading The Views Of The Beholders →

I got up late today. Almost 9 o'clock when I woke up from a vague dream about something happened in the sitcom "Frasier", which I watched before going to sleep. There's no time to lose since I had to be at "Trader Joe's" before shoppers as ravenous as me emptying the shelves of my favorite … Continue reading Indispensable →

The year, the model, the trend, the size, the color, the brand. I have a friend who knows a lot about these things. He pays attention to them. I don't. How people defer! He has a seven-year-old BMW. It is an admirable brand, but it makes trouble at least three or four times a year … Continue reading Conversation About Cars →

I can't believe I discovered Trader Joe's only three days ago. Not that I didn't know its existence. I heard about it for years. Then a couple of years back, when I drove past Barnes & Noble on Route 1, I saw, at the place where the bookstore used to stand and show off its … Continue reading The Name Of The Store →

The impact of this new virus is not restricted to all the regular perils and sufferings of a lockdown. The travel between the U.S. and many Asian destinations are completely thrown into chaos. Stories and rumors abound. A college student couldn't fly back home from Newark Airport directly and had to resort to an outrageous … Continue reading The Impact →

The recent protests have brought me perspectives that I really haven't thought much about before. I've read something about Christopher Columbus in "The Half Has Never Been Told", but the book is written in a less entertaining way than what I prefer that I only have a very vague memory of what it says. Learning … Continue reading Perspectives Old And New →

“A serious piece of work—the expression of your convictions. I tell you there’s nothing the public likes as much as convictions—they’ll always follow a man who believes in his own ideas." I highlighted it but I have no recollection of it. Actually I read half of "The Descent of Man" already--when did I do that?--but … Continue reading The Descent Of Memory →

I don't know how to use the word "vicariously", but it's a word I have always wanted to use and never got to do it, until now. Even though I've never used it, it's a word I can never forget after the first encounter since it describes modern life, modern love, modern enjoyment so aptly. … Continue reading Eating Vicariously →

I watched the news of the toppling of the statue of Edward Colston in Bristol, UK and the statue of Leopold II in Brussels, but I don't connect the dots. I don't know these two people and I don't much care of the significance of their statues. Of course I want to care, I am … Continue reading A Video and A Statue →

I can't help feeling seriously inadequate right now that all me and my friends can talk about is keeping away from the street and hoping that no Asian stories getting looted or set on fire. The immigrants community is a little out of loop from the surrounding society. We take stricter caution for coronavirus and … Continue reading What I think →

It doesn't taste like the real Japanese rice ball--onigiri--I had before. Something is off but I don't know what it is. My enthusiasm for cooking has waned to the point that I don't mind it is real onigiri or not as long as it is eatable. I admit it is eatable. How can it not … Continue reading Not Quite Like Onigiri →

I found myself explaining what idiosyncrasy is to a friend. Now I can't even remember how it came up and why I was doing it, but I remember that it suddenly dawned on me that I don't know this word so well to differentiate it from words like eccentricity, temperament, characteristics, antics, missteps. For example, … Continue reading Idiosyncrasy →

I have to contrive a way to exercise in this heat. Actually it is not much of a heat at all. 89 degrees, not even 90 degrees. Still, it is a struggle to find a good way to do daily exercises in this temperature. Gym is not opening; shopping mall not opening; early rise before … Continue reading Exercise →

I haven't seen her for five years. Flushing, New York is not so far away, but I've never gathered enough energy to go there. I know I should, but as a self proclaimed sloth, I'm true to my indolent self. She's nice, girlish, sweet, and polite. In contrast, I'm awkward, impetuous, pensive, impertinent. She's very … Continue reading Another Phone Call →

One of my friends suddenly fell listless and unwell. He will be in bed today and he said he didn't know what's wrong with him. A friend's indisposition will usually put us in a mild gloom. There are news that many Asian stores in New York City are smashed and goods looted. It is said … Continue reading News And More News →

"W's painting was made into a poster displayed at Time Square this week." My friend told me excitedly. W is a relative of my friend who has been a wandering artist for years. Not that he has a preference for perambulation, but rather he's wandering between feeding himself and starving himself, between hope and despair, … Continue reading Poster At Time Square →

My friend sent me a video of a popular video telling the story of Dean Lung or Ding Long using a different romanization. He was a servant living around the time of one hundred years ago, but somehow he managed to save some money and donated to a well known college which can afford to … Continue reading What Happened? →

I've tried many different ways to eat turmeric, but so far without any success. I suspect that the only good way of eating it is to make curry first and cook a pot of curry chicken. I envy my Indian American neighbors who have the habit of eating curry frequently and receiving the health benefit … Continue reading Turmeric (Continued) →

Years ago I first encountered turmeric when I grew an abscess about the size of a half ping pong ball. It's all because of napa cabbage, my favorite. In the northern part of Asia where I grew up, napa cabbage has been something we eat frequently, the only vegetable abundantly available during the winter time … Continue reading Turmeric →

I never know how to do time management. I record important things that I shouldn't forget in Google calendar and that's the only time management effort I've ever made. Not that I've never tried to manage my time. I did try before but failed miserably each time. Think about it. If I was doing something … Continue reading Time Management →

The free trial period of HBO will end in two days, and I have watched all six seasons of "Silicon Valley". Now I will be waiting for the launch of HBO Max to finish all the "Big Bang Theory" that I missed before, and all the "Friends" episodes that I didn't watch when I had … Continue reading New Plan →

HBO suddenly descends on me for free and I wonder why? To take full advantage of it, I watched "Curb Your Enthusiasm" day and night, nonstop, neglecting all other daily activities. Other than comparing it with "Seinfeld", other than enjoying Sussie's combative language, other than admiring Larry David's way of describing the life as he … Continue reading Alternative Views →

While walking around the neighborhood as a form of unqualified exercise yesterday, I saw a boy of about ten to twelve years of age cutting hair for his father. They do look alike, or is it my imagination, and I assumed they are father and son. The boy looked rather skilled and showed remarkable composure. … Continue reading Haircut →

I enjoy "Harriet" a lot and shed a lot of tears, but at the same time I'm disappointed with the movie which didn't stick with Harriet's real stories. Her carrying of a live chicken is not depicted--there's no mention of the time when she was stopped by patrol but saved herself pretending to chase her … Continue reading Enjoy it →

I have to go out to buy groceries. To avoid the weekend crowd in the Asian grocery stores around here, I didn't go out for the last two days except a long walk in the neighborhood. The spring flowers are mostly gone; trees gain a deeper shade of green; wind is comfortably warm on one's … Continue reading Stay At Home →

When will everything go back to normal? Don't tell me that's never going to happen. I don't want reasonable skepticism no matter how healthy that is. I want hopes, illusions, and delusional optimism. Escapism is desperately needed for this trying time. Too bad that I've already passed the age of mad absorption in a book … Continue reading Escapism →

I'm glad she called. She wanted to ask an urgent question about somebody we both know and I replied quickly and right to the point. We haven't talked with each other for quite a while. Being just acquaintance doing a project together for a while, we separated quietly and there seems to be no occasion … Continue reading I’m Glad She Called →

There's an unintended advantage of wearing a face mask, which I didn't realize until today--no need to fix your hair or even wear makeup before you step out. Face masks can be liberating, time saving, anxiety reducing. I mean the anxiety of feeling yourself not looking as good as you should look. Now it is … Continue reading The Unintended Advantage →

Some stores have gained sudden popularity since the start of the lockdown. I am talking about the Asian grocery store right around the corner from where I live. By the way, when will everything go back to normal again? I yearn for the good old days when we complained about the boredom of living in … Continue reading Sudden Popularity →

My friend has an iPhone and the battery needs constant charging. Whenever it is not charged, the battery bars go down from fully charged to zero in just one long phone call or one wechat conversation. "Replace the battery at once." I said, wondering if it sounds silly to be asked so obvious a question … Continue reading Phone Batteries →

I reordered three bottles of "Wellness Formula", less for the real purpose of wellness improvement and more for alleviating my wellness anxiety. In the era of face masks and virus scare, anything that is remotely related with increased immunity is a comfort to possess. They came in much smaller bottles than I anticipated. I bought … Continue reading Wellness Anxiety →

I must have chosen this video because of its title, "From Paris With Love". My mind wiggles a little whenever it hears "Paris"; my mind wiggles a little bit more when the title reminisces one of the Jame Bond series; my friend's mind wiggles also when he saw John Travolta in the trailer--I didn't notice … Continue reading Because of the Title →

My friend said New Jersey is getting more rainy each year and I totally agree with him. When the rain comes, it comes for two or three days at least, sometimes for a week; often a light rain is not actually falling but rather misting and saturating the air--even with an umbrella, your face and … Continue reading A Cloudy Day →

I woke up at six o'clock in the morning, groggy and uncomfortable, wanting to sleep more but unable to, wanting to read something but impossible to focus. Half an hour later, not knowing how, I went back to a shallow dream, which I can't remember now what it was about, and woke up at nine … Continue reading A Day →

One tablespoon too much and everything is ruined. Now I look at the oyster sauce, the innocent looking perpetrator, and imagine an ideal world where everything is reversible--including the cooking process--and nothing regrettable needs to be regretted. The problem is that in order to save time, I made a big batch of it. The shear … Continue reading One Tablespoon Too Much →

The headache came last night and wouldn't go away even now, 24 hours later. Since headache is one of the symptoms of the new virus, I naturally suspect that I might have got it. Actually, a random cough here and there, an occasional sneeze, or even the gurgling sound from the stomach can alert the … Continue reading Headache →

Watching "Parasite" with a friend, I was a little astonished to find that he mostly sided with the rich family. I am rather ambiguous about the moral issues here and more sympathetic towards the poor family, who has to hustle in order to survive. I thought everybody thinks like me, but as often is the … Continue reading Watching “Parasite” →

Getting up at six o'clock, one can enjoy the twilight for almost an hour, from the early darkness with a diffusion of light almost purple-ish to nearly seven o'clock when the morning light, obscured by thick clouds, arrives reluctantly. Turning on the light will spoil the natural grey mixture of light and shadow; not turning … Continue reading At Dawn →

Route 27 is almost empty at 10AM. More than one of my friends detest this road, especially this section of the road in Edison--congestion at every crossroad, cars going in and out of the plazas and strip malls, double yellow line disregarded for good reasons. More than one suffered an accident or narrowly escaped one. … Continue reading Empty →