things white people say to me
“Do you know karate?” (karate was pronounced incorrectly kə-rä’té rather than the correct kə-rä’tē)
“I’m from Hong Kong”
“So you’re from Japan?” or “So you speak Japanese?”
“You look like Bruce Lee, except for the glasses”
“Wait, so you don’t ride a bike? I thought all the people in China rode bicycles.”
“Asian men have trouble giving positive feedback” (really? I’m glad I’m not the only one)
“Do people in your culture express sympathy?” (someone had just passed away)
“Do you play piano?”
“Wait, you don’t eat rice?”
happiness
After a long day at clinic and having go work afterward for another 2-3 hours I was pretty exhausted by the time I got back home after the sun had already set. I checked my mail, and there in the box was a small bulgy package from Canada Post. Under Itemized List of Contents/Designation detailee du contenu it said “Chocolate and Beef Jerky” from a special somebody for Valentines.
replay
I’m not really a music person. I mean I do like music, but I don’t have an ipod, I don’t listen to the radio, I don’t have a car, and I don’t watch TV. My friend says I live in a vacuum.
I spent my holidays with friends, and a significant amount of time was spent in an automobile listening to popular music on the radio I hadn’t heard before. I got a bunch of songs stuck in my head, and one of them was the song “Replay” by Iyaz, which is basically a guy talking about how a girl is always on his mind, replaying over and over again.
Not counting its catchy tune, two things caught my attention. 1) the speaker in the song suggests his desire for commitment in wanting marriage. 2) he expresses his love through service by cooking in the kitchen for the girl – isn’t that sweet. The rest of the song is all that good lovey-dovey stuff.
Now contrast that with this popular song by another R&B singer with foreign roots and a 2 syllable pseudonym.
“Sexy B*tch” by Akon (and some Frenchman?) is also a catchy tune about a special girl – in fact this girl is so special that Akon can’t compare her to the “regular neighborhood whore.” We get some insight into his difficulties when we find out that he is at a loss for words when struggling to describe this new girl “without being disrespectful,” because, you know, Akon’s all about this respecting women business. After some contemplation and serious thought, he comes up with the answer.
“Damn girl, you’s a sexy b*tch, a sexy b*tch!”
Excited by his solution to showing some respect for this special lady, he repeats it several times for good measure. And in between the refrain, he also finds the time to gush about her booty.
aerobics class
A few of my female classmates insisted that I try out one of their “boot camp” classes, and although I initially showed some resistance, I finally agreed to check it out.
The trainer was a balding, beer-bellied middle-aged man in short shorts who had an undeniably queer and high-pitched voice (“Let’s go sunshine!“). He did less than a quarter of the repetitions than his students did and spent most of his energy talking a lot and loudly.
Each trainee was given a collection of items that included a BOSU ball, medicine ball, a pair of small dumbbells, and step-up thing, and a pair of small circular mats that could slide easily on the smooth wooden floor.
A set of roughly 10 exercises were repeated ad nauseum for 1 hour so that we could feel the “burn” and experience DOMS the next day.
by the way here are the instructions on the back of the packaging for how to eat Mo’s Dark Chocolate Bacon Bar.
Peace, love and chocolate by Katrina
“Breathe …engage your 5 senses, close your eyes and inhale deeply. Be in the present moment, notice the color of the chocolate, the glossy shine. Rub your thumb over the chocolate bar to release the aromas of smoked Applewood bacon flirting with dark chocolate. Snap off just a tiny piece and place it in your mouth, let the lust of salt and sweet coat your tongue.”
The chocolate wasn’t bad but not as sensual as the directions suggest. Maybe it was because I ate the whole bar in just a few large bites.
happiness
I just finished working out, and I needed to buy groceries since I had run out of food. Although the day was slightly cool, the sky was clear and the sun was warm, so I decided to take the 10-15 minute walk to Whole Foods and enjoy the weather instead of going to the local supermarket right next to me.
Sparkmans Cream Valley Chocolate Milk
1.5 dozen cage-free eggs
10 marinated drumsticks (all of which I plan to eat tonight)
turkey sausages
some kind of grass-fed yogurt banana mango drink (hadn’t planned to buy this but it intrigued me)
a jar of almond butter and a jar of cashew butter (hadn’t planned to buy this either)
I was very happy. I immediately got to work on the chocolate milk while walking back, and a lady in the parking lot asked me what I was drinking. Chocolate milk. Is it delicious? Very I said with a big smile (especially since it was whole milk – not that low-fat nonsense I thought).
But my happiness was soon to be tarnished. The handle of the paper bag broke and alas, the bag dropped onto the concrete sidewalk. The yogurt drink and 2 jars of butter cracked open and made a delightful mess. I did get to try some of the yogurt drink by cleaning it off the packaging of the bacon chocolate bar with my mouth.
I was very sad. I carried the ripped paper bag and the mess that was inside for another 2 blocks before I found a trash can to dump it in.
give pause
I. not a second to lose hurry to work, to school to deadlines and meetings to work, papers, readings go hustle move don’t stop I need to get on top of things no time to sleep get up and repeat
olympic weightlifting
I took up the sport of Olympic weightlifting recently, and I decided that I will give a brief description of the sport in an attempt to introduce it and attract new participants.
