duh... Nuting...

Uf... the long weekend is over and man.... it was good! Right away images of what you did over the 3 day weekend pop into your head. Perhaps a BBQ? or cold beers? or both? ... some family time and/or a movie. 

Regardless of what you did, your understanding today is permeated by what you did yesterday. This, of course, explains why violent criminals tend to act in recurring violent ways. Or people who have been discriminated feel a constant sense of persecution. But... what if you did nothing? What if this past memorial day weekend you spent one of these days doing absolutely nothing. What would you feel? what would you think? I kindly volunteered myself to conduct this experiment. Although guilt did at some points try to assault me, I skillfully and masterfully avoided it, becoming the ultimate couch potatoe. For those of you who know me, my motto is very simple - "If you must do something, do it well." Here are some thoughts that went through my mind in those 8hrs of nothingness. 

• Wow... life is short... and all I've done is watch 'Law and Order'. (this was an instance of guilt)
• I'm hungry
• hum... NCIS... is that any good?
• I'm sleepy
• Nah... back to 'Law and Order'
• I'm thirsty
• I should do laundry... nah...
• Ouch... I can't feel my butt... is that normal?
• I'm hungry again... too lazy to stand up (thankfully)
• Phone rings - pick up phone - short 2min conversation doesn't affect my 'nothingness' experiment

The preliminary conclusion of my study seems to point towards a very 'primal' reversal of the mind. Sleep at night, however, remained undisturbed. Eating habits were slightly affected - mostly a slight reduction of food intake due to an unprecedented increase in the laziness factor. However, the most important observation presented itself today. I actually looked forward to coming to work. I know! Incredibly... crazy. There is an underlying sense of accomplishment we get from doing things and nothingness stripped that away. It was good... good to appreciate what we have all the time and what we think we are giving up. The aftermath of a day of nothingness turned out fuller than I imagined.  

HOPE

I'm about to check whether I'm the 166 Million dollar winner of last night's MEGA. Notice how I'm hoping for the best! not the 10mil prize that maybe 20 other winners might have gotten. Nooooo, I'm greedy and want it all to myself. Funny thing is that part of me DOES NOT want to hope. The part that will be irreparably crushed once I find out that my $1 or $3 investment did not pay off after all. It truly is puzzling that we might think this way... we call it jinxing or bad luck, but the truth is that we HOPE all the time. We hope the girl putting on her face in the car next to us, during rush hour, will not hit us as her car dangerously swerves into our lane. We hope our favorite team will not mess up, in those last 40 seconds of the game, the small 2pt lead they have. We hope that all our environmental problems are someone else's. We hope that the tire around our waist will magically disappear in the middle of the night. We hope that tales such as Starwars, Harry Potter or even the old Arabian Nights are true somewhere. We hope... hope... hope... and then I realized how important it is to hope, to believe in something outside of ourselves. Perhaps it's not the most realistic and it might never happen but it keeps us happy to believe. Hope does keep us alive and now that I'm about to check the results you should feel how my heart is beating; for once I'm hoping, without restraints, that I might be the lucky winner... wish me luck!

PS: word of advice - not all we hope for is so unrealistic.... those 'hopes' that can come true are called dreams and they are yours for the taking.

On Writing a Blog

I'm sitting in front of the computer wondering what I should write. I have this urge to write but I'm coming up with some really bad ideas. In fact... I can't even type straight today, and no, I'm not drunk. Plus, the keyboard is pissing me off b/c the keys are really hard and I'm messing up - A LOT!
Perhaps this comes easy to some people. They find inspiration in things in their life and are able to quickly write something... today I feel like writing.... let's write:
So I ask myself, "who is my intended audience?" and I realize that it's everone and also no one. I realize that we truly write for ourselves. There is just something magical in being able to put down in words what we are thinking and partly what we are. It is part of our legacy, like painting or sculpting; it is our footprint. It is not our actions that last through time, it's the impact of these actions and their physical representation that endure that test. So, what this post offers you today - you are reading it and though the only physical thing you can touch is your screen - you are seeing words imprinted with 'me'.

Alma Mater...

Has it ever happened that you meet someone who knows more about where you live than you do? It has to me and it was awfully embarrassing, mostly because they knew even more about the area in which they live in. I often wonder about our thirst & hunger to travel around the world to see & experience exotic, romantic, historic or simply naturally beautiful places.
My oversimplified reasoning is as follows: We value based on what we know. We know that Gold is valuable b/c it's scarce. We value time b/c 1- we get paid for it & 2- it's also a limited resource. However, what makes us value these things most is the fact that we KNOW where they stand in the big scheme of things. Therefore, assuming the premise above is correct, can we then really appreciate the magnificence, or lack thereof, of other places if our own understanding of the place we should know best is very limited? Redundantly, could we really value gold if it weren’t scarce?
As some of you may know I live in LA, but not the glamorous part. I don't live within walking distance to Disneyland (thank god!) or any famous restaurant like Nobu or Sushi Roku. In fact, in my life it takes at least 20min to get anywhere decently fun and that's if you don't hit traffic on the 405. In response to this driving headache I started to explore my neighborhood and found a few cozy restaurants that are now sponsored by the Shojo salary. I also found a wonderful artery-clogging old-fashioned Foster Freeze that still serves the traditional soft serves dipped in that unremarkable chocolate that is just crunchy but flavorless. And, although I can't compare our local soft serve to Italian gelato in some cozy street in Venice, I'm proud it's in our neighborhood and that I now know where it is. So, I'd say to you fellow reader - GO... go beyond your front door but not past your city line and explore your area; for once you understand the beauty, or lack thereof, in your neighborhood will you truly be able to appreciate new destinations.