Milestone

There are so many milestones in each life, kids learning to walk, first kiss, first heartbreak, first job, wedding. We remember those things, but more often than not, it is not dated.

A friend sent me a link to 1000 No.1s. The web page shows all the No. 1 songs on the billboard across decades. Out of curiosity, I tried to search the very first English song in my life, and it is Diana Ross & Lionel Richie’s Endless Love.

Why is it the very first? Surprisingly, I hardly know any of the songs before it, and I pretty much know EVERY single song after it. Some of the songs are so familiar that I can just close my eyes, and the song starts to play automatically in my mind. It was like, I heard Endless Love, and decided I liked English songs, and started to track Top 10 on billboards for a few years to come.

The date on the song is August 15, 1981. I was 10 and barely knew any English. That tells me how music affects me. I could love it without knowing what it is. Even now, I have songs in my iPhone that I love dearly but do not have a clue what the song is talking about, some Spanish, some Russian, some Thai.

My All-in-one Computer

My computer has been too much of an entertainment center, or more precisely, the center of my life, to a point that I felt I did not have a life. Well, the problem is about the computer desk. When I bought it, it was meant to be “something that I could use temporarily before I figure out where I want my life to lead” that kind of thing, but then ‘temporary’ becomes a year, 2 years, and now 2 years and a half. The computer desk is now battered, and I have not yet found anything else, or I have not even tried.

I could pretty much sit at the computer desk all day, day after day, browsing the internet, chatting with friends, reading wikipedia, watching some videos, playing games. Because the desk is small, the computer was always in the way when I wanted to do something else, so few minutes into doing what I was supposed to do, I found myself using the computer again, mindlessly clicking. In early March, I decided it was time to make some changes.

First thing that had to go was the TV. It was an old 20” CRT TV. I used to watch news in the morning, but when I moved out to live alone, I could not justify spending around 20 USD for the cable and only watch the news occasionally in the morning. I chose to spend a bit more on internet connection for faster speed and do without the cable. The TV sat in the living room for the whole time I am here, well taken care of, dusted and all that. I realized it would probably sit there forever if I did not do anything about it; however, if I removed it to free up the space, then I could have a better idea how to re-arrange the space.

Surprisingly, after the TV was gone, everything seemed to fall into place automatically. I moved the computer and the speaker system to the living room, and put them on the original TV stand. I started to watch some streaming TV shows on the computer in full screen mode. Thanks to the technologies that have improved over the years, streaming video is mature, and I really have a good time watching the shows on this 24-inch ‘TV’.

Now I spend more time  in the living room, watching shows or reading, and less time on the computer. Gaming has been given a much lower priority due to space restriction of where the computer currently sits. Computer desk is free of clutters, so when I’d like to do something , I can do it without being sidetracked. The apartment is still very empty and full of potentials. I love it.

Ran

I signed up for a course one month and a half ago. It’s regarding project management, very intensive. I have to be in the class from 9 to 6 on Saturday, and have group discussion the next day. We met for group discussion at 10, and normally we left at 5. So pretty much the whole weekend has been devoted to the class. I have to find time in the evening to do grocery shopping and the chores.

Yesterday was the last day for the course. The teature showed us an example how everything is used in the real project, and we had a chance (finally) to have hands-on experience writing related document for project management. That was cool.

After everyone presented his material, the teacher gave everyone few cards and asked us to write cards to appreciate people who had helped us go through the class. We could write one for the whole class, one for the coach, one for the significant half, and one for ourselves. I was pretty uneasy then, as I could not come up with anything to write on the card. I felt I was compelled to do this superficial thing, and everything I had to write down at that moment would not be my true feeling and it is wrong.

So when the time was up, and the teacher asked group leader to take one card from each person and read it in front of the whole class, I refused. Not sure how I composed myself, and I’m sure I looked like an idiot.

Then comes another game.

Since it was officially the last class, we were asked to meet classmates, one at a time, and evaluate how we felt for each other. If I felt the other personwas just ok, I barely knew him, then we counted one, two, three, and I showed him one finger (index finter). If he also showed one finger, then we had a mutual agreement for each other, and then we nodded. If I showed one and he showed two, then we did not have an agreement, we crossed out arms in front of our chest, and walked away to find the next person.

If we both liked each other and both showed 2 fingers, then we shook hands. If we both liked each other a lot and both showed 3 fingers, then we high-fived. If we both felt like we really went through something together and great friends, and showed 4 fingers, then we hugged. So one to four fingers.

So that was pretty much like a group hug game. I do not think anyone, in their good consicousness, would show one to three fingers in that scenario. However I was very very uneasy and uncomfortable. One person from my group approached, and I had to apologized this is really not my type of game. And when another person from another group approached, I was actually frightened. I must have looked like a really idiot. And I picked up my backpack and coat, and ran to the door. I ran, literally.

I was very upset, and the first real feeling that I felt was anger. I signed up for a class, and definitely not religious type of thing. That company has not right to put me in an awkard situation like this. But there has to be a combination of many subconsious reasons that is way beyong my apprehension.