Monday, December 29, 2003
conversation to write about...
FeebeeGM: hey phil, are you Christian?
FeebeeGM: i forgot
Philipyen: 'fraid not
FeebeeGM: buddhist?
Philipyen: not so either
Philipyen: agnostic or perhaps athiest.. maybe a mix?
FeebeeGM: really? anyways, just to let you know, the Christian life is a happy life.
FeebeeGM: it's hard to know..actually, impossible to know in our heads
FeebeeGM: i forgot
Philipyen: 'fraid not
FeebeeGM: buddhist?
Philipyen: not so either
Philipyen: agnostic or perhaps athiest.. maybe a mix?
FeebeeGM: really? anyways, just to let you know, the Christian life is a happy life.
FeebeeGM: it's hard to know..actually, impossible to know in our heads
Saturday, October 18, 2003
Collective Nouns
Had a conversation earlier tonite about lions and how in a group they're called a "pride." I remember reading somewhere that there were other really nicely poetic collective nouns used to describe other animals.
A parliament of rooks (a bird that's similar to a crow).
A murder of crows.
An exaltation of larks.
A murmuration of starlings.
An unkindness of ravens.
After a brief google search, it turns out that there's some reasoning behind the choice of words.
A parliament of rooks derives from the way the birds noisily congregate in their nests in tall trees.
An exaltation of larks is a poetic comment on the climb of the skylark high into the sky while uttering its twittering song.
A murmuration of starlings is a muted way to describe the chattering of a group of those birds as they come into roost each evening.
An unkindness of ravens refers to an old legend that ravens push their young out of the nest to survive as best they can.
There were even some for people. An "eloquence of lawyers" or a "greed of lawyers." A "tedium of golfers." An "addition of mathematicians."
Heh heh, as a challenge can you guys come up with any creative ones on your own?
Heres one that I've come up with:
A "nagging of parents."
:) other intersting things that happen in when insomnia and the wee hours of the morning are mixed together.
A parliament of rooks (a bird that's similar to a crow).
A murder of crows.
An exaltation of larks.
A murmuration of starlings.
An unkindness of ravens.
After a brief google search, it turns out that there's some reasoning behind the choice of words.
A parliament of rooks derives from the way the birds noisily congregate in their nests in tall trees.
An exaltation of larks is a poetic comment on the climb of the skylark high into the sky while uttering its twittering song.
A murmuration of starlings is a muted way to describe the chattering of a group of those birds as they come into roost each evening.
An unkindness of ravens refers to an old legend that ravens push their young out of the nest to survive as best they can.
There were even some for people. An "eloquence of lawyers" or a "greed of lawyers." A "tedium of golfers." An "addition of mathematicians."
Heh heh, as a challenge can you guys come up with any creative ones on your own?
Heres one that I've come up with:
A "nagging of parents."
:) other intersting things that happen in when insomnia and the wee hours of the morning are mixed together.
It's 3 in the morning and I can't sleep. It's occured to me how fragile a thing confidence is. I'm reminded of something I once saw in Venice. Within a store that sold glass trinkets I saw a craftsman forge a horse out of melted glass. It looked extremely difficult. And like confidence, that glass horse is much harder to build than it is to shatter.
Why is that?
That seems to be a recurrent theme in life, things are much easier to destroy than they are to create. Things that come immediately to mind are Governments. Much easier to topple than build. Trust. Must easier to lose than to gain. I'm sure the list goes on.
Another irony I've noticed is that it seems much easier to be bold when you've got nothing left to lose than it is when you've got everything to lose, although that's probably when you most need to be bold.
Funny the things you think about when you can't sleep...
Why is that?
That seems to be a recurrent theme in life, things are much easier to destroy than they are to create. Things that come immediately to mind are Governments. Much easier to topple than build. Trust. Must easier to lose than to gain. I'm sure the list goes on.
Another irony I've noticed is that it seems much easier to be bold when you've got nothing left to lose than it is when you've got everything to lose, although that's probably when you most need to be bold.
Funny the things you think about when you can't sleep...
Sunday, September 28, 2003
things to remember to write about... potential short stories.
1. Jeff's "another man's birds"
2. Heart metaphor.
1. Jeff's "another man's birds"
2. Heart metaphor.
Wednesday, July 02, 2003
whoa... suddenly this site works.. But too late.
I have made the switch to XANGA.
So go here for my new site!
http://www.xanga.com/home.aspx?user=philipyen
I have made the switch to XANGA.
So go here for my new site!
http://www.xanga.com/home.aspx?user=philipyen
Sunday, June 29, 2003
Don't know what's going on with Blogger.. but it sucks shit. They've forced me to upgrade to some new blogger software that doesn't really work. So now even though I have internet.. I can't update my blog. Well I can update it.. it just won't publish so you guys can read it.
This is strike 1 on blogger. 2 more and I'm switchin to Xanga.
Today I played tennis in the morning with Jeff and Sornya (med school friends) and rediscovered how much I suck. I'm glad I'm going into medicine and not professional tennis cuz all my shots seem to go long... I guess I need more practice. Playing in the morning gave me a sunburn and a blister.
Cooled off after tennis with a Jamba Juice Mango-a-go-go. It hit the spot perfectly... just the right thing at the right time.
Went miniature golfing in the afternoon with Ben, Christine, and Erin. I'm terrible at golfing too... although I DID have one hole-in-one. We ended the night eating japanese food... chicken teriyaki and spicy tuna rolls.. yumm....
Even though I sucked at both sports.. today I was truly a renaissance athlete!
This is strike 1 on blogger. 2 more and I'm switchin to Xanga.
Today I played tennis in the morning with Jeff and Sornya (med school friends) and rediscovered how much I suck. I'm glad I'm going into medicine and not professional tennis cuz all my shots seem to go long... I guess I need more practice. Playing in the morning gave me a sunburn and a blister.
Cooled off after tennis with a Jamba Juice Mango-a-go-go. It hit the spot perfectly... just the right thing at the right time.
Went miniature golfing in the afternoon with Ben, Christine, and Erin. I'm terrible at golfing too... although I DID have one hole-in-one. We ended the night eating japanese food... chicken teriyaki and spicy tuna rolls.. yumm....
Even though I sucked at both sports.. today I was truly a renaissance athlete!
Update.
Thursday evening went to a club in Huntington beach, Liquid Lounge, with my friend Ian to say good-bye to a friend of ours (actually his ex), Florence, who's moving to Texas. Had a good time... although Florence got terribly wasted... which was what she was supposed to do.
Friday evening tried to go to a club called Garden of Eden to celebrate good friend Jon Chen's b-day. Due to terrible club promoters Ray and I couldn't get in even though Jon was inside already. So after waiting a bit we decided to shoot pool at Q's on Wilshire. The wait for a pool table was at least an hour long so how did we kill our time?
Well... it IS a bar after all so we decided to drink. I started with a Zombie (something red and strong... dont' know what else is in there) and Ray had a pint of Foster's beer. After that we went nuts. We had 2 Kamikaze shots, a mind racer, an Irish car bomb, and a Red snapper.
Needless to say, Ray and I got drunk well before we even had the chance to shoot pool. Being the responsible drunk that I was I called my friend Jeff to pick us up. We went to Denny's and ate a bit.
From this point on I shall have to withold information since it could be a bit embarassing for certain parties.. but let me say.. it's terribly interesting... and involves lots of puking, sitcom-esque misunderstandings, and a near-naked Italian fellow.
All in all it was a great guys-nite-out.
Thursday evening went to a club in Huntington beach, Liquid Lounge, with my friend Ian to say good-bye to a friend of ours (actually his ex), Florence, who's moving to Texas. Had a good time... although Florence got terribly wasted... which was what she was supposed to do.
Friday evening tried to go to a club called Garden of Eden to celebrate good friend Jon Chen's b-day. Due to terrible club promoters Ray and I couldn't get in even though Jon was inside already. So after waiting a bit we decided to shoot pool at Q's on Wilshire. The wait for a pool table was at least an hour long so how did we kill our time?
Well... it IS a bar after all so we decided to drink. I started with a Zombie (something red and strong... dont' know what else is in there) and Ray had a pint of Foster's beer. After that we went nuts. We had 2 Kamikaze shots, a mind racer, an Irish car bomb, and a Red snapper.
Needless to say, Ray and I got drunk well before we even had the chance to shoot pool. Being the responsible drunk that I was I called my friend Jeff to pick us up. We went to Denny's and ate a bit.
From this point on I shall have to withold information since it could be a bit embarassing for certain parties.. but let me say.. it's terribly interesting... and involves lots of puking, sitcom-esque misunderstandings, and a near-naked Italian fellow.
All in all it was a great guys-nite-out.
My Absence.
The date today is the 29th. My last post was on the 24th. That is usually very unlike me having such a long gap in between my posts.. but there is a good explanation for this.
My internet has been not working for the past couple days. I thought at first it was just the dsl acting up.. which it does on occasion but since it lasted so long I began to think of other possible reasons (a differential diagnosis for those medically minded).
The first thought that came to my mind was that my roommate forgot to pay the dsl bill. That thought was confirmed today when I finally decided to open the SBC bill... even though it was addressed to him, I openned it for a worthy cause: the restoration of my internet access.
The bill was past due. My diagnosis was correct. My options were as follows:
1. Pay the bill and deduct that amount from the rent I pay him for next month.
2. Live off of dial-up modem connection since I have my own independent line.
I was debating the two choices when a third appeared. Fiddle around with the router and dsl-modem hardware. And so I fiddled and pressed buttons and reset things and disconnected wires and reattached them in different order.
Lo' and behold... I have regained my connection to the internet. The reason for the lost connection was based in hardware problems and not due to the phone company shutting off our dsl.... which still doesn't change the fact that the bill is past due.
These past few days without the internet has made me realize how much I depend on it. It's like a drug and I suffered withdrawal symptoms. I use the internet to stay connected to my friends via e-mail, IM, and this. I use it as a resource to look for directions, background information (on things such as hiking which I planned on doin but couldn't since I couldn't look up the trails), and as a dictionary. I use it as a way to stay connected to the world, it's the medium through which I get most of my news since I don't get TV reception or news papers.
And now I feel satisfied.... having gotten my quick internet fix.....
The date today is the 29th. My last post was on the 24th. That is usually very unlike me having such a long gap in between my posts.. but there is a good explanation for this.
My internet has been not working for the past couple days. I thought at first it was just the dsl acting up.. which it does on occasion but since it lasted so long I began to think of other possible reasons (a differential diagnosis for those medically minded).
The first thought that came to my mind was that my roommate forgot to pay the dsl bill. That thought was confirmed today when I finally decided to open the SBC bill... even though it was addressed to him, I openned it for a worthy cause: the restoration of my internet access.
The bill was past due. My diagnosis was correct. My options were as follows:
1. Pay the bill and deduct that amount from the rent I pay him for next month.
2. Live off of dial-up modem connection since I have my own independent line.
I was debating the two choices when a third appeared. Fiddle around with the router and dsl-modem hardware. And so I fiddled and pressed buttons and reset things and disconnected wires and reattached them in different order.
Lo' and behold... I have regained my connection to the internet. The reason for the lost connection was based in hardware problems and not due to the phone company shutting off our dsl.... which still doesn't change the fact that the bill is past due.
These past few days without the internet has made me realize how much I depend on it. It's like a drug and I suffered withdrawal symptoms. I use the internet to stay connected to my friends via e-mail, IM, and this. I use it as a resource to look for directions, background information (on things such as hiking which I planned on doin but couldn't since I couldn't look up the trails), and as a dictionary. I use it as a way to stay connected to the world, it's the medium through which I get most of my news since I don't get TV reception or news papers.
And now I feel satisfied.... having gotten my quick internet fix.....
Tuesday, June 24, 2003
25 Cent Wings
My coworkers and I got the idea to go to Hooters yesterday for "happy hour." We called earlier in the day to check what time their happy hour was and exactly what deals they had going on.
I discovered that happy hour was from 4-7 pm and then the lady on the phone came to the specials,
"We have 25 cent wings and 8.95 pitchers of beer."
"25 cent wings? Exactly how many wings can I get for 25 cents?"
"10."
"10? Wow, what a deal. So I can get 10 wings for 25 cents?"
"Yes."
"Thank you."
So I told my coworkers and we got doubly excited, #1 we were going to hooters and #2 we planned on spending $1 to get 40 wings. Well, 4 o'clock rolled around and we got to Hooters with our dollar bill in hand only to find that we couldn't get 10 wings for 25 cents. It was actually 10 wings for 25 cents EACH, making it $2.50 for 10 wings.
Needless to say, we were a little disappointed but oh well... we get our 40 wings anyways. All this confusion could have been cleared up had I infused my questions on the phone with a simple "each" or at least pursued my questioning a bit further,
"So for 10 wings... exactly how much will I be paying?"
There's an important lesson here to be learned about miscommunication and the things that are too good to be true... but I'm too lazy to get into that.
My coworkers and I got the idea to go to Hooters yesterday for "happy hour." We called earlier in the day to check what time their happy hour was and exactly what deals they had going on.
I discovered that happy hour was from 4-7 pm and then the lady on the phone came to the specials,
"We have 25 cent wings and 8.95 pitchers of beer."
"25 cent wings? Exactly how many wings can I get for 25 cents?"
"10."
"10? Wow, what a deal. So I can get 10 wings for 25 cents?"
"Yes."
"Thank you."
So I told my coworkers and we got doubly excited, #1 we were going to hooters and #2 we planned on spending $1 to get 40 wings. Well, 4 o'clock rolled around and we got to Hooters with our dollar bill in hand only to find that we couldn't get 10 wings for 25 cents. It was actually 10 wings for 25 cents EACH, making it $2.50 for 10 wings.
Needless to say, we were a little disappointed but oh well... we get our 40 wings anyways. All this confusion could have been cleared up had I infused my questions on the phone with a simple "each" or at least pursued my questioning a bit further,
"So for 10 wings... exactly how much will I be paying?"
There's an important lesson here to be learned about miscommunication and the things that are too good to be true... but I'm too lazy to get into that.
Friday, June 20, 2003
HAHAAHHAHAHAHA
"Scores of outraged science fans called XXP TV to complain after an episode from the BBC's "Superhuman" series examining respiratory disorders was replaced by images of group sex from the Spice Platinum channel. "
I can just imagine what a viewer is thinking:
"So what exactly does this have to do with respiratory disease? Um... they seem to be breathing a little heavier than normal, I wonder what kind of problem they could have?
Maybe they have allergies to clothes and that's why they're all naked, and well it might be cold so it's probably a good idea for them to huddle close to each other. That girl there... she looks like she's screaming... do you think she's running out of oxygen? Hurry someone bring her a ventilator!!"
"Scores of outraged science fans called XXP TV to complain after an episode from the BBC's "Superhuman" series examining respiratory disorders was replaced by images of group sex from the Spice Platinum channel. "
I can just imagine what a viewer is thinking:
"So what exactly does this have to do with respiratory disease? Um... they seem to be breathing a little heavier than normal, I wonder what kind of problem they could have?
Maybe they have allergies to clothes and that's why they're all naked, and well it might be cold so it's probably a good idea for them to huddle close to each other. That girl there... she looks like she's screaming... do you think she's running out of oxygen? Hurry someone bring her a ventilator!!"
