Something to Complain

Both my mom and dad are the eldest kid in the family, so kids in my family are quite old among the cousins. Both my sister and brother are the eldest in both mom's and dad's family, and I came in 3rd in my mom's, and 4th in my dad's.

Some of them are significantly younger than we. By saying significantly, I mean they are around 7 or 8 years younger. My mom used to take care of them all the times when my uncles and aunts were busy with their study and career. I saw them grow up, and for some reason I always see them as kids. And when someone is 7 years younger than I am, I consider him/her too young.

Why am I saying this today? One of the cousins in that age group is getting married today. Parents went to the ceremony, so I probably need to find my own dinner tonight. Last night mother and I gossiped about their age, what kind of condo they bought, you know, things that come with numbers. We are just boring adults detested by little prince.

TOEFL Test Score

I took a TOEFL (Test of English as Foreign Lanuage) back in October. Attached is the score.

I have never taken any English test (aka, TOEFL, GRE, ISELTS, TOEIC, etc), so never knew where my English ability stands, Since I did not have much to do, I just decided to take the test, for the fun of it.

All the preparation I did was to download the sample test from the official website, and did it twice. That's when I realized there is no way for me to enhance my ability in a short and extensive way. The test is divided into 4 sections, reading, listening, speaking and writing. In reading, listening, speaking, all kinds of topics could be included. It can be astronomy, chemistry, physics, literature, and so on. In speaking and listening, it can be an instance that happens on campus, for example, a discussion in the class, an inquiry at the library, etc. I was sure I could understand it for the most parts, and should be able to capture 80% of the score. The most tricky part is the speaking, when there is a 45 seconds or 30 seconds of time limit when I could respond the have my responses recorded into the computer.

So this is what I got. The full score of each section is 30, so I think I did it fairly well.

Flowers

I am in Tainan now. Yesterday morning when I left parents' place, I notice the flowers are blooming. Very beautiful purple color. The Mistress does not take photos as well as before. Still, it looks like a professional digital camera is better than a built-in one.

Recent...

It's that time of the year when I think I should be with my own family. Strange feeling. It's supposed to be cold, and furnace is supposed to be burning, apple cider with cinnamon served, eggnog kept somewhere in the refrigerator.

I don't like photos that much, but did have a few in my collections. Thanks for the digital photography technologies, those photos look as new as 5 or 6 years ago. With the photos, I get to see the angel in the bathroom. The painting of Standford I received for my birthday. These 2 souvenirs are long gone. The sofa, blank wall, humble bedroom, and the tiny computer desk I got to love much, and that just hides in the corner without taking much space at all, the soup bowels that I keep until now.

Stability seems like a dream, with all those happening right now. When I feel I can at last take a breath, after these few years, and feel relaxed, but then more things are waiting to pop up and stir up my life again.

It's not bad. I feel more alive this way. With all the frustration with work, and the helpless feelings for the others, it is then nice to hide at home, finally emotionally, the whole day on weekends. It is nice to search in the refrigerator, cook something, do some cleanup, and sit by the round table to eat and read my novel.

Not sure how long it is going to last. But browsing at home, I realize that it's not time to get lot of things. If things happen, then all the stuff on the bookshelf could be gone. I'm tired of bringing those with me. Actually there are alternatives for that. Music is already digital. Movies can be tossed. It's time to investigate digital books.

Things I Hate to Do in WoW

This task is to find some microfilms. However in order to find it, I need to throw baits to the wolves. The wolves will run over to me, eat the bait, and then... they poop! I then have to pick up the poop to find the microfilm inside. It's not the first time that I need to pick up such a thing in the game. I was told later in the game, I may have to eat... Not I have to do that in person, but my character having to do that is already nauseating.

The Gift of the Magi

I was told of the story when I was little, and of course it started with "Once upon a time", and ended with a happy ending. Names were not mentioned. So the story was like this:

Once upon a time, there was a poor couple. It was Christmas time, but they could not afford to buy any gift. The wife decided to have her hair cut and sold to buy a watch chain for her husband. The husband decided to sell his watch to get her wife a comb. They exchanged gifts and surprised at what the other had sacrificed, and knew how much they loved each other.

Not until today when I read a magazine in a 7-11 after lunch did I know the name of the story: The Gift of the Magi. Now I know the husband is called Jim (yeah, right), and the wife is called Della. The book was published in 1906, and the full story can be found here.

Now when I read the story, I can tell why both Jim and Della sold their valuable belongings to buy gifts. They are probably still too young. Jim is 22, and Della is supposed to be younger, judging the way she was happy to get the gift. It is nice to have a life when love is above anything. It is.

Pretty Meeting Room

I went to this headhunter for interview. Pretty famous company for its accounting function. Gorgeous office on high floor of a good office building. I was on 27th floor waiting for the recruiter to come in. Can't help looking around the meeting room and out at the street. It's one of the best I've ever seen.