There are two books I recently read.
The first is The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde. Before I read the novel, all I knew was the basic idea. A picture is painted of Dorian Gray and the picture ages, while Dorian Gray himself does not age. However, the book has a lot more than that. It goes into beauty, what gives things value, and some other things. The book has a lot of witty lines, which I am told is normal for Wilde's works.
The book was controversial when it was published in 1890, so I wanted to see what it was like by today's standards. However, it was only after I read the book that I discovered there are two versions. The original version differs from the common novel version. I had read the second version which is 20 chapter long. This included a lot of changes after the original public outcry. I missed out on the homosexual content and the unrestrained hedonism of the original.
The good news is Project Gutenberg has the original 13 chapter text. I might read the original one day, but right now I have had enough of the story. I would like to check out some of Wilde's plays.
The second book I read was Killing Lincoln: The Shocking Assassination that Changed America Forever by Bill O'Reilly and Martin Dugard. I sometimes watch The O'Reilly Factor, so I wanted to see what the book was like.
The book starts at the beginning of April 1865 and follows in parallel the end of the Civil War, President Lincoln's actions, and John Wilkes Booth's planning. The narrative builds anticipation. The reader knows Lincoln will be shot, but it is still exciting to read.
There are many great books about Lincoln which are more detailed and scholarly. The strength of Killing Lincoln is its accessibility. It could get people who do not care about history into history. O'Reilly was a high school history teacher for a short time and I think the book is directed to certain types of students he had.
After reading the book, I looked at its reviews on Amazon. There were a lot of 5 star reviews and a lot of 1 star reviews. When they are that polarizing the reviews can be interesting. A few people pointed out minor inaccuracies and factual errors. However, some people were still bitter the South lost the Civil War and disliked anything positive about Lincoln.
Monday, January 21, 2013
Saturday, January 19, 2013
Some Christmas gifts
There are some Christmas things I want to share. These are a few gifts I received and a couple of things I gave. I received the last one last weekend.
The first one is something I got from a white elephant exchange. This was with people at the Long Beach Newman group. It was a $5 limit and I looked for the best gift I could. However, many of the other people brought items that were just horrible. Many of the gifts were funny as long as other people got stuck with them. A few examples included an electric toothbrush with stickers to customize (which was pretty cool), a DVD for a movie that no one had hear of (that we all then watched and made fun of), a box of tampons, a horrible book someone re-gifted from last year, and a box of English muffins.
The gift I brought was one of only two gifts stolen the maximum number of times. I was very happy my kit to bake chocolate cakes in mugs was appreciated. There were 16 people and I had a good position; I was the twelfth to pick. All of the opened gifts were so bad I chose to open one of the remaining wrapped ones. It was a good choice.
While the person who brought the Spam probably thought it was a gag gift, I am a big fan of all things made from pig. I even made Spam musubi a couple of days later in honor of the Spam.
My next gift was from the Red Cross. It is an ornament or stand alone hanging thing. It is made of metal and reads American Red Cross on one side and hope on the other.
This last gift is from a secret Santa exchange with The Group (AKA The Vietnamese Crew). Terrance and Erin where in town after their trip to Indonesia. They also shared pictures of their wedding (which Brandon joked was a hipster wedding). For the gift exchange, I was a horrible person and did not put anything on my wishlist. However, I did send a message a week after the deadline suggesting something related to making cocktails would be good. Erin had a good idea what I liked since she got this gift before I made my suggestion. These two books are about making drinks and some food to pair with them.
I drew Chris with the beard and bought him a laptop case and book light. It was easy to buy him stuff because he had a wishlist. I brought a cooler full of alcohol to the gathering and made people A.M.F.s.
One of the fun things about having a blog is linking to posts I wrote earlier. For example, I can link to my A.M.F. recipe instead of repeating it. The same post also has pictures of visits to zoos. The first picture is from 2008, but I saw all of the people in it within the last month.
The first one is something I got from a white elephant exchange. This was with people at the Long Beach Newman group. It was a $5 limit and I looked for the best gift I could. However, many of the other people brought items that were just horrible. Many of the gifts were funny as long as other people got stuck with them. A few examples included an electric toothbrush with stickers to customize (which was pretty cool), a DVD for a movie that no one had hear of (that we all then watched and made fun of), a box of tampons, a horrible book someone re-gifted from last year, and a box of English muffins.
The gift I brought was one of only two gifts stolen the maximum number of times. I was very happy my kit to bake chocolate cakes in mugs was appreciated. There were 16 people and I had a good position; I was the twelfth to pick. All of the opened gifts were so bad I chose to open one of the remaining wrapped ones. It was a good choice.
While the person who brought the Spam probably thought it was a gag gift, I am a big fan of all things made from pig. I even made Spam musubi a couple of days later in honor of the Spam.
My next gift was from the Red Cross. It is an ornament or stand alone hanging thing. It is made of metal and reads American Red Cross on one side and hope on the other.
This last gift is from a secret Santa exchange with The Group (AKA The Vietnamese Crew). Terrance and Erin where in town after their trip to Indonesia. They also shared pictures of their wedding (which Brandon joked was a hipster wedding). For the gift exchange, I was a horrible person and did not put anything on my wishlist. However, I did send a message a week after the deadline suggesting something related to making cocktails would be good. Erin had a good idea what I liked since she got this gift before I made my suggestion. These two books are about making drinks and some food to pair with them.
I drew Chris with the beard and bought him a laptop case and book light. It was easy to buy him stuff because he had a wishlist. I brought a cooler full of alcohol to the gathering and made people A.M.F.s.
One of the fun things about having a blog is linking to posts I wrote earlier. For example, I can link to my A.M.F. recipe instead of repeating it. The same post also has pictures of visits to zoos. The first picture is from 2008, but I saw all of the people in it within the last month.
Monday, January 14, 2013
It only took four years
It has been a long time since I made a post about my Apheresis donations. Every two weeks I go to a Red Cross blood donation center and donate platelets. It is similar to giving blood, except they filter my blood. This way they only collect the platelets and let me keep everything else in my blood.
I reached a big donation number, so now is a good time for an update. Since the blog does not have too many pictures of me standing around holding stuff, here is me holding the plaque and pen they gave me.
This is a closer picture of the pen. It is engraved 200 Apheresis Donations and has my name.
While I reached 200 donation units in July, it took a while for them to get the pen engraved. Since I am blessed to have platelet rich blood, when I make one trip to the donor center the Red Cross can extract three units of platelets.
Normal whole blood collections usually need ten minutes or less after the needle is inserted. This process takes around 90 minutes. The good news is they have it setup so apheresis donors can watch a movie to pass the time. Back in the days of February 2011 when I published my last post, I had just watched The Town and received my plaque for 100 donations. Since then, I have made many trips and seen many movies as I donated. In the order I watched them, they are:
Salt; RED; Unthinkable; The Illusionist; Changing Lanes; Casablanca; Love and Other Drugs; The Incredibles; Get Him to the Greek; Rango; No Strings Attached; Unknown; Source Code; Bridesmaids; Limitless; Groundhog Day; The Ides of March; Kiss Kiss, Bang Bang; Friends with Benefits; Drive; Moneyball; The Descendants; J. Edgar; American Gangster; Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby; Somkin' Aces; The Punisher; Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close; Today you Die; Man on a Ledge; The Expendables; Blunt, The Fourth Man; The Italian Job; The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo; and Lawless.
Sometimes donations do not go perfectly. Since I have been to the center 39 times in the last two years, small things are bound to happen. Once I got a hematoma and another time I got a bruise (which led to follow up phone calls asking if I was OK) from needles that did not stay in the veins.
I went in to donate on New Year's Eve. However, they could not accept me because my temperature was too high. It was 99.6 degrees and the maximum allowed is 99.5. I have been deferred for too high a hear rate, but never before for too high a temperature. Whatever the temperature's cause was, I was just fine. I did not feel sick nor did I develop a fever afterwards.
I bring all of this up because I want you to think about what you are doing to help the people around you. This is a project that works well for me; what are you doing to make the world a better place?
I reached a big donation number, so now is a good time for an update. Since the blog does not have too many pictures of me standing around holding stuff, here is me holding the plaque and pen they gave me.
This is a closer picture of the pen. It is engraved 200 Apheresis Donations and has my name.
While I reached 200 donation units in July, it took a while for them to get the pen engraved. Since I am blessed to have platelet rich blood, when I make one trip to the donor center the Red Cross can extract three units of platelets.
Normal whole blood collections usually need ten minutes or less after the needle is inserted. This process takes around 90 minutes. The good news is they have it setup so apheresis donors can watch a movie to pass the time. Back in the days of February 2011 when I published my last post, I had just watched The Town and received my plaque for 100 donations. Since then, I have made many trips and seen many movies as I donated. In the order I watched them, they are:
Salt; RED; Unthinkable; The Illusionist; Changing Lanes; Casablanca; Love and Other Drugs; The Incredibles; Get Him to the Greek; Rango; No Strings Attached; Unknown; Source Code; Bridesmaids; Limitless; Groundhog Day; The Ides of March; Kiss Kiss, Bang Bang; Friends with Benefits; Drive; Moneyball; The Descendants; J. Edgar; American Gangster; Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby; Somkin' Aces; The Punisher; Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close; Today you Die; Man on a Ledge; The Expendables; Blunt, The Fourth Man; The Italian Job; The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo; and Lawless.
Sometimes donations do not go perfectly. Since I have been to the center 39 times in the last two years, small things are bound to happen. Once I got a hematoma and another time I got a bruise (which led to follow up phone calls asking if I was OK) from needles that did not stay in the veins.
I went in to donate on New Year's Eve. However, they could not accept me because my temperature was too high. It was 99.6 degrees and the maximum allowed is 99.5. I have been deferred for too high a hear rate, but never before for too high a temperature. Whatever the temperature's cause was, I was just fine. I did not feel sick nor did I develop a fever afterwards.
I bring all of this up because I want you to think about what you are doing to help the people around you. This is a project that works well for me; what are you doing to make the world a better place?
Monday, January 7, 2013
Hanging out in malls
In the last few days I have spent a lot of time hanging out in malls. I do not do this very often.
The Block
On Friday I was at The Outlets at Orange, which is the new name for The Block. I met up with a person who knows Sidney from church activities. Since he recently moved to Orange County, Sidney suggested the two of us should get to know each other.
Since I had never met Jason before, I was concerned about us recognizing each other. I thought about holding up a glow in the dark statue of baby Jesus (a gift Sidney recently gave to dozens of his friends). However, I decided that wearing a Cal shirt and looking at his Facebook pictures would be enough. We enjoyed a couple of beers during happy hour at Alcatraz Brewing Company. He seems like an interesting person I would like to get to know better.
After that, I spent some time with Dave since he lives close by The Block. We looked for a place to eat. There were way too many people at the Buffalo Wild Wings. Instead, we went to the great American institution of the food court. Many of the restaurants were giving out samples which led me to eat a cheese stake for dinner.
South Coast Plaza
On Saturday I was at South Coast Plaza. I saw Lisa, who I know from Newman activities in Berkeley. We meandered through the mall and lamented the closing of certain stores before eating at Lawry's Carvery. After hearing what Lisa has been up to, I want to plan a trip to Death Valley. Otherwise, she still lives in Hippo House and will be better after her thesis is finished.
Not a Mall
Yesterday for the first time I saw an episode of the show Here Comes Honey Boo Boo. One of my friends watches the show and admits it is train wreck television. If you want a short introduction to what the show is like, ABC has a short video since Honey Boo Boo was named one of the most fascinating people of the year. There are dozens of better ways you should spend your time instead of watching this show.
The Block
On Friday I was at The Outlets at Orange, which is the new name for The Block. I met up with a person who knows Sidney from church activities. Since he recently moved to Orange County, Sidney suggested the two of us should get to know each other.
Since I had never met Jason before, I was concerned about us recognizing each other. I thought about holding up a glow in the dark statue of baby Jesus (a gift Sidney recently gave to dozens of his friends). However, I decided that wearing a Cal shirt and looking at his Facebook pictures would be enough. We enjoyed a couple of beers during happy hour at Alcatraz Brewing Company. He seems like an interesting person I would like to get to know better.
After that, I spent some time with Dave since he lives close by The Block. We looked for a place to eat. There were way too many people at the Buffalo Wild Wings. Instead, we went to the great American institution of the food court. Many of the restaurants were giving out samples which led me to eat a cheese stake for dinner.
South Coast Plaza
On Saturday I was at South Coast Plaza. I saw Lisa, who I know from Newman activities in Berkeley. We meandered through the mall and lamented the closing of certain stores before eating at Lawry's Carvery. After hearing what Lisa has been up to, I want to plan a trip to Death Valley. Otherwise, she still lives in Hippo House and will be better after her thesis is finished.
Not a Mall
Yesterday for the first time I saw an episode of the show Here Comes Honey Boo Boo. One of my friends watches the show and admits it is train wreck television. If you want a short introduction to what the show is like, ABC has a short video since Honey Boo Boo was named one of the most fascinating people of the year. There are dozens of better ways you should spend your time instead of watching this show.
Wednesday, January 2, 2013
What makes you happy?
I want to know, what makes you happy?
Looking at the people around me, I have no idea what makes some of them happy. For example, I do not know what makes my grandma happy. Based on what she spends her time doing, I think it is baking, cooking, going to mass, and praying the rosary. My dad spends a lot of time in front of a computer or looking at his phone with the TV on in the background. However, I do not think it brings him happiness.
If it is not clear to the people around you what you like doing, perhaps it is not clear to you.
Since I want to be happy, I want to set aside time every day to do something I enjoy. A few of the things I really like doing are:
My great fear is I will become like some of the people in my family. I do not see them really enjoying anything. They appear to be merely passing time and not using it for what they want.
One of my efforts to improve my life is allocating my time based on what is important to me. If reading a book or watching a TV show is something I want to do, I need to make sure I do it. If working on an alumni group is important to me, I need to prioritize that. It is up to me to make my life awesome.
Looking at the people around me, I have no idea what makes some of them happy. For example, I do not know what makes my grandma happy. Based on what she spends her time doing, I think it is baking, cooking, going to mass, and praying the rosary. My dad spends a lot of time in front of a computer or looking at his phone with the TV on in the background. However, I do not think it brings him happiness.
If it is not clear to the people around you what you like doing, perhaps it is not clear to you.
Since I want to be happy, I want to set aside time every day to do something I enjoy. A few of the things I really like doing are:
- Watching TV shows I like without interruption. These are shows that are still great, not just shows that used to be good.
- Going on trips to different places. Sightseeing, hiking, or just looking around a new place is fun. The main requirement is being with people who are fun to be with. Taking naps in a hotel room most of the time does not qualify as fun.
- Reading things I like. This could include fiction or history related things.
My great fear is I will become like some of the people in my family. I do not see them really enjoying anything. They appear to be merely passing time and not using it for what they want.
One of my efforts to improve my life is allocating my time based on what is important to me. If reading a book or watching a TV show is something I want to do, I need to make sure I do it. If working on an alumni group is important to me, I need to prioritize that. It is up to me to make my life awesome.
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