沒有你煩 我有多煩惱 - random thoughts

The sun can be really deceiving. I woke up this morning seeing massive rays of sunshine and said to myself that okay, today will be a warm day. Well of course I was wrong as it was a freezing cold day today (that wind gust sure helped a lot). Compounding the problem is me only having two layers on. Could have drove home after internship to get more layers but was too lazy and did not want to waste gas. I mean I am indoors most of the time. All I have to do is survive the trip to the car. A teacher just walked in saying its actually sprinkling outside as well. GREAT. 

So I took a week off of blogging as last week was my last and final spring break and I just did not have time to write (it makes sense, trust me). Overall I had a wonderful time during the break, even though I spend three days of it at my internship. But those three days was not lost as I immodestly say I was a big contributor to the company ramping up for its Groupon launch, which occurred Wednesday of last week. I mean hey, pictures don't take and edit themselves (in the future perhaps). 

During the three days I actually gain real world experience using photoshop for the first time. But you say wait, if I am a photographer, should I not be using photoshop already? The answer is not really. Photoshop is really for heavily image manipulating. For simple to semi intensive post processing on all my photos, I use Lightroom, also made by Adobe (lightroom - digital, darkroom - film. get it?). That being said, photoshop really is a wonderfully and powerful too - the point where some of the stuff you can do on it should be illegal (haha). 

Rest of the week I slept the prerequisite 10 hours per day and the other time I watched baseball (its back!). Cannot wait to go to my first live game of the season next season (thank you $20 bucks tickets). Also managed to sneak in some spring cleaning to my room. Basically I threw out anything that I have no touch in a year - surprising ended up with a sizable bag of stuff. Nothing like a clean and tidy room to relax and be productive in.

End of spring break means only 7 weeks until I am absolutely done with academia (for now). So now when I post the "I'm done!!!!!!" status (well tweet, since I do that now), it does indeed actually mean I am done - with the whole thing. Sad? eh maybe not really? Looking forward to it actually. Finishing everything up and having a blast at the entrepreneurship graduation ceremony. After that it is straight to debt counseling and unemployment line.

But honestly I don't know what I am doing after graduation yet. Well I do for the most part. The clear choice is get a job (probably cannot avoid this...) and work for a company using my business degree to gain experience, and then a year later or so file for graduate school to get my MBA (Berkeley? Stanford? Harvard? you like my 3.65 GPA? eh probably not). That path seems the logical and safe (?) choice (and one that my parents would approve, and as long as I am staying under their roof still, well...).

However recently I have given thought to actually start doing photography seriously (meaning actual paying jobs), at least on a part time basis. This past year I have really grown to enjoy doing photography, even the tedious editing and publishing. It has actually become something I use to procrastinate with to avoid doing my actual school work. But what I am apprehensive about is that doing it for "real" will leave me burned out and actually turn hating the hobby which I really like. That is definitely not what I want.

Who knows really. I have been getting really positive feedback - but then again, they are my friends (haha). Digital photography is so incredibly assessable - with enough time and equipment you can practically emulate what any other photographer can do (and your wallet will suffer, believe me). So then what boils down to is each individual's style and eye for composition. Thankfully post process editing can tremendously differ between each photographer than finding your own style is not that hard. The reason I can blow through processing pictures at a reasonable pace is because I already have a set of "rules" that I know my photos will need to have and the rest is just finer tinkering to each individual shot. 

Anyways, this is not my photography blog, so I shall stop. Speaking of blogs though, recently I actually bought domain names for them! Of course I went with GoDaddy, because their overtly sexualized commercials did an absolutely fantastic job in enticing the key demographic that I am proudly a part of. Anyways if you look up at the URL instead of chenhealy.tumblr.com, it is now healychen.com (perhaps proving once and for all my name is incredibly unique?).

Why did I buy a url? because it is cool (duh!), and only cost me like 50 bucks per year for two domains. Besides if you are going to brand something and is sticking to it, you better lock up the .com url before someone steals it first. This exactly what happened with my photography blog - junctioncreative.COM was taken, so instead i had to settle for junctioncreative.CO (it was cheaper though). I'm not in the mood nor have the pocket books to contact and buy out whoever owns the .COM (turns out to be a flash engineer of some sort, the website is very minimalist). As for now is still just a hobby.

My computer of 5 years of age have been crapping out again. I think the hard drive is on its last legs (which makes sense, because hard drive are generally only warrantied for 5 years). The machine still works fine, and can rip through all my high definition files just fine. I would like to relieve it and buy a new Mac, but I just don't have the funds to swing it right now. But then you ask don't I already have a Macbook Pro? Well yes, I am typing on it right now. The thing is, once you have owned two computers simultaneous, you can never go back to just one, especially if one is a desktop and the other one is a notebook. The amount of multitasking is just tremendous for productivity. Not to mention when you are away from home the one that stays home can continue to do whatever you schedule it for (because video ripping and converting takes quite a long time). This phenomenon also applied when you starting adding multiple monitors. I maybe a converted minimalist, but sometimes you just need multiple machines to get the job done more efficiently. 

That 5 year old PC that is crapping out, I actually built myself. Back then I was very big into the whole build your own pc thing. It was not that hard to be honest, accept for all the tinkering afterwards. And it can be quite a mess with boxes, cables, and sleeves all over the place. Ultimately it was quite satisfying to having built something so relatively complete with your bare hands (nothing like pushing power and booting it up for the first time). 

But I am getting old, and I grew out of that phase. Nowadays I just want to buy a computer and turn it on without all the hassle (its why I buy Macs). Sure it is less satisfying then making something of your own, but as you find out time disappear faster as you age and there are some things that are just not worth the time to do when other people can do it perfectly (because time is money). Honestly I can see myself pretty soon even off loading the washing of my car to the machines (or someone else) because I just don't have the time to take out 4 hours of my day to do a full detail anymore (hence my car has not been washed since September - thank you rain!)

Anyways, the weekend is going to be a nice one. 

Fatigue, farewell - random thoughts

It is bloody cold! After what seems to be 6 hours of incessantly rain today, it has finally given away to this bitter cold. Currently I am in a nice temperature controlled room of a toasty 70 degrees, and man is it comfortable. But pretty soon I will have to walk outside to go home and yeah that is not going to be fun. But you know this aluminium construction of a laptop does draws the heat from the internals right up to the surface and it does quite well to be a hand warmer while I leisurely type into this window.

So the past 72 hours have been quite the interesting. I think I have only been at home to shower and sleep for the past three days. It's like staying at a hotel, accept the bed is always comfortable and I don't have to pay a dime. Nothing like leaving the house at 9 and not coming home until around 11 for three straight days. But it is all worth it I guess, except for the fact I did not get any exercise in at all. 

Two of my entrepreneur classmates actually had the soft launch of their business last night (company is called Hubby & Lee, their blog is here - http://bit.ly/dJyDPa). Their business is beer tasting events, introducing beers and food pairings to the masses. Since I am the only one in the class with a photography background, I honored to be the event photographer for the evening. It all worked out, as I did not have to pay for the event, but taking pictures after you've had a few in your system is quite the different feeling I must say. 

I also must say that I am not drinking cheap beer again. Or drinking beer alone for the matter. Premium beer is just like wine - you have to know how to taste it properly, and pair it with the correct food, to get the full enjoyment. I learned a tremendous lot during the event, and afterwards cheap beer pong beer just taste like water. Oh yeah, drinking 6 different beers and all the finger foods that goes along with it is a recipe for extreme bloat-ness - especially if you have just ate dinner before the event (had Greek food for the first time!). I mean what can you do, you hear finger food and all that pops into your mind is not enough portions.

Ah yes my spring break has started! Though it will not be much of a break since from next Monday through Wednesday I will be at my internship full time since the company is ramping up the website redesign to finish in time for the Groupon launch on Wednesday. Well at least I get the rest of the week off. I just hope the weather is not as crappy as this week so that I can get some modicum of fresh air if and when I go outside. But honestly I have been so busy I almost forgot next week was spring break. Lots of WHAT THE FUCK moments in class when teachers say there is no class next week haha.

Now I have AT&T DSL for the past half decade, and they have treated me well and never failed to get me that copy of *insert incriminating name of certain software things*. But news have surfaced that AT&T will begin capping their previously unlimited DSL service. From infinite all the way down now to 150GB's per month. Now normal users unlike myself, this should be no problem. But for me when certain things online by itself is around 10GBs then yeah that is going to be a problem. Not to mention I share the internet connection with two other computers. Sure I can be dictatorial and block my little brother from using the internet, but I do not think my parents will be all too happy if I ban them for watching their videos on Tudou.

I don't know what I am going to do. Comcast is only marginally better at 250GB per month. I want my unlimited back! How do broadband providers expect people to stay within those boundaries, especially with all the streaming TV and movies that are now available? Even if I don't download a single piece of whatever and just stream everything, I don't think I will have trouble passing 150GB per month at all (because remember it is me and two other computers). Internet is fast becoming the de facto avenue to deliver ALL media content, and yet providers are now going to put in caps? Of course it is a money grab, just like how there are no unlimited data plans from the big two mobile phone companies. It is all counterintuitive - as people are using more and more digital data then ever, now is the time to put a cap on it? It makes no sense for the consumer.

So Verizon say I am eligible to renew my 2 year slave contract with them and get a new phone! But damnit it is only late March, and the next iPhone do not come out until June so I guess I will have to wait until then to switch. There is nothing wrong with my current phone (LG ENV Touch) as it perform its function well (texting!). But I think it is time for me to upgrade to a proper smart phone - you know, to play angry birds all day and get nothing done. Now I could just get the current iPhone 4 now and be happy with it. But hey those people at purchase iPad 1 just before iPad 2 came out is kicking themselves. Would I be that impatient to not wait for the new one, especially when I know for sure when it will be out?

Three and a half years of working at my current job finally paid off as I finally got a substantial raise (I can finally buy that ring she wanted!). Sad part is I can no longer work here after I graduate, which is only 8 weeks away (good times). No I am not complaining because as my professor say, cash flow is the most important thing to a business or person, especially when it is positive. Too bad this newfound wealth have already been earmarked long ago due to previous spending. Though I have been enjoying the fruits of those spending for some months now, thank you very much. And IRS, where the heck is my tax return?! Yes I know I can check online, but don't they know how busy I am?

Very excited that baseball is only 1 week away. Now I finally have something to watch while I do homework at night. Looking forward to the Giants defending their World Series championship. Still don't know when I will be able to watch my first live game of the season, as I still need to see how rotations and lineups set up before choosing the appropriate game to go. I am however for sure going to the big showdown with the Phillies in early August, as the respective pitching staffs are said be to be tops in the league. My main hope is that the Giants' arms can stay healthy and strong, because pitching one extra month due to the post season is not a joke on someone's arm. No matter how many Poseys show up in the big league, pitching still wins championships.

Me and a few of my entrepreneur classmates (wait sorry, I mean a few of my entrepreneur classmates and I) have started going around eating ethnic foods the Bay Area have to offer. Probably just as an excuse to hang out and eat (because soon we'll graduate and be gone). Last week was Vietnamese food, the week previous was Indonesian, this week will be Filipino, and next week is Burmese. Interesting how so far it has all centered around the southeast Asia area. Pretty soon I will get to represent and show them Chinese food. And the only place in the city to go for that kind of stuff is of course the expensive as hell Koi Palace. It is the Chinese restaurant I recommend every time I get ask the question: "where is the best place to get Chinese in the city".

Well, on to the rainy weekend. 

Compass you'd be north - random thoughts

Welcome to another Thursday edition of my wonderfully wonderful tumblr blog. As I am typing right now the voice in my head is in an English accent because I have just finished watching a piece that was made in the UK. Through the years with all the Formula 1 coverage and Top Gear episodes, my inner voice has a tendency to convert to the British accent whenever I am amongst programming (or for that matter people) that emanates it.

Nonetheless, for the past few weeks I have stuck to a Monday - Thursday blog schedule, and I feel like the spacing works out perfectly for me because I do not have the time to write any more often than that. Anyways as far as format goes I think for the Thursday post I will stick with the random thoughts theme, and the post on Mondays will be centered around one big topic (next Monday's post will probably be about Japan again). Anyways, let's begin. 

Today is St Patrick's day, and also the first day of the tournament. If I was not in school and busy with the equivalent of a full time job, I would have just taken the day off and gotten drunk and watch tons of basketball from morning until the evening. But of course my immediately obligations to graduation and getting out of debt precluded me from making that choice. Thus I am stuck at some form of work or school from 9:30am this morning until 10:30pm tonight (13 hours of pure unadulterated fun I might say). So not only is there no alcohol for me (not a good idea actually since I have another full 8 hours of work/internship tomorrow) today, I cannot even watch basketball to see how fast my brackets crumble (damn you Morehead State!). Though I must say thanks to the NCAA iPad app, today's lone three hour class was went very smooth indeed.

Oh and I hate how conservatives complain about Obama having the time to fill out a bracket, amidst all the tragedy and tumult around the globe and on the home front (budget? no?). Give the guy a break. He is human after all, and a male at that. March Madness is the best month in the entire year of sports (unless your hometown team won it all and became the World Fucking Champions). Even presidents needs to kick back and enjoy life a little (unless you're Richard Chaney)  

You know how they caution people to not text and drive (wait, I have just receive word that it is indeed illegal in California), well I say people should not text and walk either. As I was walking from my parked car towards class today, this was the scene that played out: 1. Girl walking out of the door, texting on her cellphone. 2. Girl meets the ultimate monumental challenge - three flights of stairs down. 3. Girl trips on the first step. 4. Phone leaves girl. 5. Phone implodes on the pavement. 6. Profit?

Lesson is, unless you are a budding comedian, or have a very robust insurance plan for your undoubtedly very expensive smart phone, please hesitate to text and walk at the same time. Put the phone away and enjoy the scenery, look at hot girls or guys - you know, the reason your ocular abilities have evolved as such. Staring at a three inch screen while in motion is not what our caveman ancestors did.

I have been massively living unhealthily since starting work at my internship. Today is already Thursday of the week and I have only worked out once this week. Not only that with the internship place being at an industrial park at Oyster Point, the only food option of choice is either a diner, taco truck, or the nearby Costco (though extremely cheap). Not exactly the most healthy of choices. I would bring my own packed sandwich but I don't have the time in the morning, and I have enough stuff to carry as is since I have to lug all my photography and mobile computing equipment to the internship. Plus this weekend I am pretty much going to be out all the time so I think from now until graduation my traditional healthy lifestyle will be taking a significant hit. To be young again with a raging metabolism (8 slices of pizza like it was nothing).

An old co worker of mine, and a good friend, have been trying to get a radio gig for awhile now, since that was what he studied for career goal is. As you may all know the job market is still in the tank, and I guess the broadcasting industry is no exception. My advice to him was to just keep putting out work, make your own podcast, and upload them online. Because even if you think no one is listening to noticing it, someone out there is. The reason to do it is basically build up your experience and portfolio (no to mention, it was his passion), so in the case you do get a job interview, that resume will look very shiny.

Recently this friend swung by my work to say hi, and turns out he got a successful interview with a radio station in LA. The funny thing was, the interviewer said that the company already knew about him from listening to all the podcasts and radio shows he have been putting out! The lesson is this: never stop working on your art. Keep putting out stuff because someday someone will notice it and the hope is you will get your reward in the end. I am indeed very happy for my friend.

Gives me tremendous resolve and inspiration to continue to work on my digital photography, blog, and flickr. Even if nobody reads them, I genuinely enjoy doing it. And that, as Mastercard so eloquently puts it, is priceless. 

So everybody knows I am a big proponent of Apple's Mac computer line. I use it for everything, including editing and publishing my photos. Naturally I bring my Macbook along with me to my internship so I can do on the fly editing (not ideal, since the dinky 13 inch screen pales in comparison to my 30 inch at home, not to mention not nearly as color correct). My internship place uses Windows PC, and I must say unintentionally I am influencing them to the power and simplicity of mac. What can I say, as a creative type the mac is the de facto platform to do that kind of stuff on. PC may have the same program, but they are just not as intuitive as they are on the mac. Not to mention, windows has one fatal flaw - font handling. Every notice fonts (even of the same one) looks vastly superior on the mac system? Windows handles font in a terrible way, and if you are a graphic artist doing signs and things, that is just not going to work.

And to quote my boss: "The next Macbook Pro I see I am going to steal it"

Thanks to the honorable George W. Bush, the start of daylights savings time since couple of years ago have been push forward a couple of weeks. While I do enjoy the idea of having more of the sun's time (I mean today at 6pm it was not dark yet!), anybody will tell you springing forward just messes up your body. Its like a self induced Jet lag, without the travel to exotic locales. Body clock and habits takes a while to change, and you feel like you just never get the same sleep you did before the change, even if the hours are the same. These days I am so tired at the end of the day I just crash straight to deep sleep, and I wake up extra tired in the morning because body clock still feels like it is waking up one hour too early. I am contemplating moving back to the mother land where clocks stays put (or, be an iPhone user).

Oh and I how can I forget about that UCLA chick's rant about Asians in the library. Perhaps I am on the mellower side of the political correctness scale, but I kind of found it funny? In the face of such blatant ignorance, one can only laugh and have pity on the girl. Besides, like many responses have point out, some of the stuff she say is true anyways. Sure she made fun of how the Chinese language has so many words that ends with "ing", but heck the Chinese been using that technique to identify other Asian ethnicities for a long time (Japanese - lots of sentences ending in  "ka", Korean sentences with "yo"). Is she wrong? Of course! Should she be persecuted like she has? I don't think so. Lighten up, laugh, shake your head, and move on. Thought I must give props to all the Youtubers out there that have the comedic mind to respond in a hilarious and responsible manner. Best thing to come out of all this? The girl has learned a good lesson, and will never do it again. Is that not the true American value?

Random thoughts have stopped for now. Have a good weekend. 

The weary post - random thoughts

Random thoughts speed-blogging time. I am just going to type what ever is coming to my mind probably for the next 45 minutes. Weather was dreary today, why did not anybody tell me that it was going to rain? Like half the people out there I was caught unprepared, and today it was one of those rains where it was just fine, misty, and never-ending.

Speaking of rain, was talking to one of my boss at my internship and how he used to live in Malaysia. We agreed that the kind of rain that San Francisco sees is nothing compared to the tropical nightmare that is southeast Asia. Being from China I knew that first hand. 100% humidity, and buckets loads of rain (enough to flood improperly irrigated streets in a matter of minutes) 24/7 for months on end during the summer. Last time I went back to China (almost 10 years ago (!) ) was during the month of June, and I don't think I want to make that mistake again. It makes me wonder how I ever got use to that weather.

Today marks the 15th year me and my family have moved to America. I would like to say time flies, but looking back on it, eh it really did not fly. Maybe I went through so many transitions and transformations (you know, part of growing up from a kid in to an adult) that it just registered as a damn long time in my mind. I think it went by way too quick for my parents, whom are due for their mid life crisis any day, now that the kids are for the most part grown and independent. Nonetheless I am eternally grateful that my family decided to bring my along to this wonderful country, where I enjoy much better things and much better opportunities. But as I always say, I still prefer the atmosphere over in Asia (probably not the air pollution).

I must say that due to my workout regiment and healthy lifestyle, juggling 20 hours or work, full time school, and 15 hours of internship a week so far has not been that bad. I would be lying if I say I am not tired, but KTFO tired? Not by a long shot. And no I do not have an ounce of caffeine help either. Goes to show that if you take care of yourself well, your body can tackle anything (within reason of course - don't expect me to play World of Warcraft for 50 hours straight and expect me to still be breathing).

It is very wonderful to be working at a startup, as the vibe is just completely different from an old and entrenched business. The environment is much more flat, relaxed, open, and ultimately more productive. People have to genuinely like each other to be stuck working together for much more than 40 hours per week. The kind of team work and collaboration required means that the hierarchy walls must be invisible and ideas and information must flow. Not having to have a stick up your ass when you are around superiors also helps. Have fun and get things done I think is an appropriate motto for startups, and that is a big part of what draws me in to being an entrepreneur - working together with like minded people towards one common goal. Most importantly, be creative.

Hard to believe it is mid march already. Graduation is only a little more than two months away. But in more exciting news spring break is like two weeks away. My last spring break ever, and I will mostly likely spend a good chunk of it at my internship. I did want to travel somewhere, but my financial situation is not at a good enough place to allow for such extravagance. Then again, where would I want to go anyways? The place I do want to go is Asia, but a week is way to short to be forking over 2 Gs for plane tickets. If you ask me I better be staying for at least a month to make that plane ticket to Asia worth the money.

I am glad I started the 365 project this year and actually sticking to it (I started one last year but it was sporadic to say the least). Most likely it is because I spent $700 on a camera just to dedicate to the task, hence me being Asian I must damn sure get my money back in terms of usage. Like I have stated before, I don't get how people spend insane amount of money on things and not use it because they want to "preserve it". Perhaps they are not business majors, because other than a house (eh, probably not yet in today's times), almost anything you by is a depreciating asset so might as well get some value out of it before the things turns to the equivalent value of dust?

That being said, the 365 challenge is a fun experiment to be able to look back on what happened on a particular day, and sometimes when I see a picture I just cannot help but smile because the memory is just too vivid and great. They say a picture speaks a thousands words, and honestly even if video is dominating (hi youtube), the still picture will alway have its place as just like a painting it can be interpreted in so many ways. It is probably what drew me into photography in the first place. Video is cool and all, but you can't manipulate video as much as you can with a photography. Besides, video editing takes much more serious computing horsepower, over the already taxing photo editing (which reminds me I need a new computer).

I hate to say it but these days my room is a mess. Might not be considered a mess compared to some others, but to my standards I would say my room is quite messy. But that goes with being busy I guess. Even if I started to clean, I get distracted with the task at hand once I sit down on my absurdly comfortable chair. How did it get like this? I guess my OCD with cleanliness has finally worn off some, which is all well because honestly my old OCD used to be intense (that remote is crooked by 1 degree? must move!). But I cannot let it lapse though so I think for now a good thing for me to do is just to clean up a little before I crash into the bed for some sleep.

45 minutes times up. Until next time.