For you, the reader

If you are getting on an international flight, you are required to check-in 1 hr. before the flight takes off. Otherwise, they don't let you on. I don't know this for any particular reason, I just thought I'd share out of the goodness of my heart.

be back in about a week

Holy Land, here I come.

Just remember, there's someone dying of starvation somewhere right now

According to Forbes, this is how much yearly post-tax income it takes to live well in the U.S.

Boston, MA       $407,200
Los Angeles, CA  $366,655
Columbus, OH     $222,192

Of course, their definition of "well" may be more lavish than many people are used to.

traveling peeves

I heard there are people who ship their luggage to their destination instead of bringing it on the plane with them. You don't have to deal with your luggage at the aiport, nor wait at the baggage claim. But apparently the biggest draw is avoiding the annoyance of the airlines losing your luggage.

They must have to shell out quite a bit of money to ship luggage. I guess people are really distrustful of the airlines.

Racial issues

Why is it that if you have one parent who is Asian, and the other is white, you are considered hapa/mixed/half, but if you have any ancestors who are black, you are considered black?

I live above my parents' garage

I'm in the process of moving into my new apartment on the west side.

I finally figured out why in LA it seems like more people live at home.

#1. Because there are more people in LA, so if the percentage stays constant, there will be more people living at home.
#2. Because it doesn't only SEEM like there are, there actually are. The percentage is not constant, it is more. See #3.
#3. Because it's SO EXPENSIVE to live here. People just can't afford to move out and live on their own. It requires a much higher income, thereby (on average) people must wait longer (like until they get a good paying job) to move out.

This makes total sense. This also applies to Taiwan where there are even more people living at home. I must be tired. I can't believe I didn't figure this out before.

This also plays into why everyone is so driven here. When I say "driven" I mean willing to go for their dreams. My sister, on a recent visit here, commented that it seems like more people here are willing to go for their dreams. People back home (read: Ohio) have as many dreams as people here, but it seemed to her that LA'ers were more willing to take the risk and actually do something about their dreams. I have two explanations for this.

#1. There are a lot of smart and successful people in LA. Thus, people are motivated to be successful and it possibly may be more important to them. Who wants to be the odd ball who is different from everyone around them?
#2. See #3 above. Everything is so expensive here and we are surrounded by wealth. It just makes people want to be rich. Partly out of necessity, but partly out of envying what everyone else has.

Okay, so the two reasons are kinda the same. So I only have one reason. So what. Lists are cool.

I've never heard of "best woman" or "best person" (instead of best man). But apparently people are starting to have them. Or be them. Or maybe they've always had this and I'm just out of the loop. I'm just wondering if they stand on the groom's side and what do they wear? A black dress? She has to match the other groomsmen, right?

Travel wishes

Does anybody know anyone in Germany? I have a 9 hour layover there. Someone meet me at the airport and take me somewhere cool! Someone who speaks English preferably.

Wicked, the musical

"Ladies and gentlemen, due to some technical difficulties, we have stopped Wicked. We will resume the musical as soon as possible. Thank you for your patience."

About 5 minutes into the first scene, Glinda says, "Did you just hear a stop?" And then, "I guess we should just walk offstage." and proceeds to do so. After which, the rest of the cast walks offstage and the curtain lowers. Huh? Apparently, they had some problems and had to stop the musical to fix it. Very weird.

The best part is towards the end of musical when Elphaba says, "Not everyone can ride in on a bubble. Apparently, not even you." This was a reference to the bubble that broke, causing the technical difficulty. Everyone started laughing and clapping. Talk about improv skills.

"What's in that drink?"
"Lemons, Melons, and Pears."
"Oh my."

Sometimes when there is an emotional or moving part of a play/musical/movie, I like to look around and watch the expression on the audiences' faces. It's funny to see EVERYONE staring at the screen/stage holding their breath, waiting to see what will happen. Fixated. I wish I could take a picture of it.

Overall, very pleased with the musical. Very funny, and cool special effects. I like how they tie in everything from the Wizard of Oz and constantly put in jokes. I think the thing that gets me the most is how the whole story changes if you know the backstory. (Or how if they wrote a different backstory, the whole story would be completely different.) I wonder how many things in history were taught from our perspective (probably all of it) and how many were from an objective standpoint? Just makes me want to travel that much more to other countries.

More pics from Vegas have been uploaded as well as DVJ's birthday pics.

movie goofs

If you watch Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, be prepared. They put the golden ticket on the wrong side of the chocolate bar in the movie. Pay attention to the beginning (when they show the credits) and notice where they put the golden ticket. Then watch the movie and notice when they open the chocolate bars.

--OR--

...just ignore what I said and enjoy the movie. Better than I thought. I don't remember if they talked about Willy Wonka's childhood in the book. Anybody?

Viva, Las .....

Pics from the Vegas trip are up. My batteries died, thus the few pictures.

Funny stories will most likely be posted here. We are in the process of compiling everything funny, a humor list, if you will.

Notes:

The desert is HOT, but dry is 2000% preferable to humid. In either case, I will sweat a lot.

Throwing banana bread at each other's crotches is the result of putting 4 guys in a room.

The fun you have when going to Vegas is directly proportional to the fun rating of the people you go with. The equation looks something like:
FUN = BH + ∑_1,n  fun_i
where

• n = number of ppl
  
• fun_i = fun rating of person i
  
• BH = 150 if BH is present, 0 otherwise
  
• FUN = the fun you will experience. Anything above 100 is fun.

Playing in poker tournaments on less than 2 hrs of sleep is fun, but you won't win money. You will also fall asleep at the tables later.

Casinos open new decks of cards every time they switch dealers. The old ones get holes punched in them and are sold in gift shops. That's crazy. And awesome. Awesome, but crazy.

You can get half of your rooms comp'd if TC goes with you.

First time I've been to Vegas since I turned 21. Probably one of the best trips there I'll ever have.

IM etiquette

RY: "are you really laughing or are you just typing a laugh?"

Do you really laugh when you type "haha" or "lol"? Or do you fake it?

hehe - chuckle
haha - laugh (note: this can be of variable length)
lol - reserved for those times where I spit out whatever I have in my mouth onto the monitor

So if you see me "lol" (pronounced: loll, rhymes with roll), you know I am getting up to get a paper towel or something.

don't kill me if you don't get it

http://crux.baker.edu/cdavis09/roses.html

Read how Bill Gates did.

LV, NV

Pictures from this past weekend are up, including Dave and Steph's wedding pics.

Tomorrow is the Vegas trip, BABY!

ben affleck/uma thurman

I got my first paycheck from my first full-time job today. Feels good to be earning a living.

Ok, ok, it feels good to be receiving money for a job. I don't know that I "earn" anything yet. Actually, I'm pretty sure I don't. God will finally be receiving a regular tithe from me.

funny cousins

Overheard at Dave's wedding.

DC: "Those lights look like they're from Europe."
EL: "Really? I thought they were from England."

This quote brought to you by EL Moments^TM, make every moment an embarrassing one.

speak good

Me: "You don't have that perogative."
Mei: "PER-ogative?"
Me: "PRE-rogative. That's what I said."
Mei: "Uh, huh."
Me: "You need to hear good."
Mei: "Hear better."

It has begun . . . again

Today marks the first day that my immediate family will arrive for DW and SC's wedding. Let the fun begin!

After eating with D and S for dinner last night, this is what I have learned:

they don't plan on giving the pastor anything specific to say, he can basically improv through the ceremony, including vows

bridesmaids and groomsmen can stand anywhere during the ceremony and at least one plans on getting food during the event. I said I would go up there and stand with the wedding party.

the MC is on his own; no schedule of any kind will be provided. That's you JH.

the coolest part will be how people find their tables at the banquet. I'll leave that as a surprise.

Theme: "We want people to feel free to do anything they want." --Steph

I can't wait.

the magic of Mah Jongg

I just learned how to play Mah Jongg. It's awesome. You have been warned.

The adventures of Da Sau

When the happy couple were opening their wedding presents, they came upon one in particular. It was a gift bag with a box inside. After Melissa took the box out, we found that the box was a box of ice cream cones. We all started laughing and joking around that somebody gave them a box of ice cream cones. But no, it was not to be. Melissa opens the box and lo and behold, she pulls out an umbrella. She says, "Oh good, I need one of these."

We were teaching Melissa to play poker last week. She folds her hand before the flop. After the river, somebody won with a straight or a flush. I ask her, "Would you have won?" She says, "Nah, I would've had three 7's and two 8's."

Pictures from Stan and Melissa's wedding are up.

Self Help fortune.

Does this not look like Blockbuster is selling fireworks? California is so confusing.

Happy "We beat the British" Day

It's no fun watching fireworks at the pier when it is cloudy. And there's no music. We made it up by lighting various fireworks in the street afterwards.

I found out today that one of our dragon boat team members is the sister of Gil!!!! Gil is a good friend who came to Ohio with my cousin Dave for their residency. We've hung out for the past few years, and now I found out I've been rowing with his sister for the past few months. That's crazy. (insert "It's a small world" song here)

I start work tomorrow. I hope I like it. And I hope I'm not late.

signs of addiction

Ahhhhh! I have to board! My access to the internet will be cut off for the next 8 hours! What will I do? WHAT WILL I DO? I can feel the connection slowly being pulled out of my hands with every step I take to the gate.

Free wifi

I'm here sitting at a table in the Columbus International Airport, waiting for my flight to board. I love it when airports have free wifi. It makes the waiting so much less boring. I have to say that is a huge draw for owning a laptop. Watching movies on the plane (that you choose, so it's not a crappy selection), watching movies during layovers, and accessing the internet.

Everytime I come back to Ohio, it's......weird. This is where I grew up, my hometown, my origin. But it's not 'home' anymore. Sure, my parents live here (and Just), and I'll always have a room when I come, but it's no longer my base of operations. But when I'm in LA, I'll always say I'm from Ohio. It feels like this is a place where I visit rather than where I come back to. If I buy stuff, I have to have it shipped to LA. All my stuff is there, including my car. It's almost like living in a hotel that has a permanent room for you. Is this a part of growing up and moving on? Maybe.

prodigious amount of pics

I'm still in the process of uploading all the pics off my camera. Here are the galleries to my knowledge. I will add more as I become aware of them.

Sherry Wang-Axelrod's pics	count: 52
Joseph Huang's pics	count: 75
Jennifer Lee's pics	count: 69
Eric Mui's pics	count: 32
My pics	count: 146
	Total pics: 374

wedding slideshow/video

If I say wedding "video", people are like "huh?" If I say wedding "slideshow" they're like "oooooh."

If anybody wants to watch the video/slideshow that was played at the banquet, here it is. WARNING: this is a 70MB shockwave flash file. (i.e. it's BIG, and you need shockwave flash to watch it) It's recommended you right-click and save the file to your computer before playing it for smoother playback. Just double-click and it *should* play in your favorite browser.

Start from the beginning

I arrived in Columbus early last week and hung out with some friends. Then the chaos began.

Too many things happened in the past week. I'll just run the highlight reel.

• some relatives didn't arrive because they checked in 4 minutes late at the airport
  
• some relatives didn't arrive because the airline cancelled the flight
  
• waiting to do the slideshow is not a Good Idea^TM. But having cousins and a sister to help you is. Thanks to JH, EH, DC, and JW. You guys saved me.
  
• playing poker with fruit loops is.......different
  
• when playing Mafia with newbies, don't assume they know what to do
  
• watching movies with a projector on a wall is the way to go, but not as cool as our neighbor who projects it on the side of his neighbor's house
  
• tying balloons to a car and then leaving it outside in 90 degree weather means the balloons will pop
  
• if the Maid of Honor wears a different dress than the bridesmaids, everyone will think she is the bride and wonder whether to stand when she walks down the aisle
  
• nobody can pronounce my sister-in-law's name. It's either Marissa, Militia, or Maw-lee-saw.
  
• some people don't know you are supposed to wait to blow the bubbles when the bride and groom walk down the aisle
  
• shaking the hands of 180 people as they leave the ceremony gets tiring after the first......20.
  
• stuffing 30 or more people into a house makes it VERY hot, especially when they are dressed in wedding attire
  
• you don't eat at your own wedding banquet because you don't have an appetite (or you are frantically trying to finish the slideshow)
  
• your dad will advertise your single-ness at your brother's wedding
  
• if Bostonians come to Ohio for your brother's wedding, take them to Cedar Point, they will enjoy it
  
• you don't get any sleep the week around your brother's wedding
  
• lack of sleep and yelling at Cedar Point will make you lose your voice
  

Having a sister-in-law doesn't feel any different, really. Just one more person to make fun of around the house.

Congratulations to Mr. Stanley Wang and Mrs. Melissa Yang! (this whole not changing your name thing is starting to become a trend) May you have smart kids so I don't have to tutor them in math. And may they have as much fun playing together as we did, Stan. I'm sure they'll have plenty of embarassing stories to tell at their weddings, too.

Wedding pictures to come......