A Long-Awaited Reunion of Besties
January 6, 2014 § 1 Comment
Chen, Xixi, Yawen, Lucy (I was behind the camera)
This winter break was a special one because I got to be in the same place as my four best friends for the first time in exactly four years. Since New Years 2009, our lives have mostly gone separate ways: I went to Hong Kong twice and eventually moved to New York; Chen went to China for three years then moved to Seattle; and Yawen completed her first two years of med school in the Caribbean. Lucy and Xixi, our loyal Illinois residents, stayed near home, with the former getting a big girl job and moving to the city and the latter passing her first round of boards and starting med school rotations.
We’ve all changed quite a bit since the last time we met up, and it’s such a blessing to be able to come home and get back together like we were never apart. Just look at how much we’ve matured physically!
In ’09, four of us couldn’t even drink legally! We toasted with sparkling juice (I swear)
Since Chen and I were back in Naperville for the exact same dates, the five of us made the most of our time together. I’m normally not so insistent/obsessive about taking photos (especially ones of myself), but I figured that we’re only young and cute and together for so long, so I’d better document everything in order to have something tangible to look back on! (Other than the potbelly I’ve gained from eating so much.) « Read the rest of this entry »
Holidays At Home
December 25, 2013 § 1 Comment
I said in an earlier post that I wanted to start blogging more regularly, especially writing more about my day-to-day life just to have some sort of non-social-media record of it. Seems easy enough, but I realize now that it’s going to be harder than I thought.
When I blog now, I can’t help but try to make the content seem more significant somehow. For example, my parents stopped haranguing me about my appearance (now that I’m back down to a slimmer size and my skin has cleared up). I could just report it plainly, but I always end up going off on some tangent about the past or how this new development fits into society at large, etc. Then my brain gets tired and I don’t end up writing much of anything at all.
But I’m determined to try!
This winter break has been better than most. I finally, finally have a full-time job (on the horizon; if I haven’t told you about it yet, feel free to ask me in person!), which means that my parents can relax. They’ve probably been stressed out about it for the past three years…I feel bad. But now it’s all good! As I mentioned above, they have nothing to criticize about my appearance (Asian kids know what I’m talking about…no pimple is off limits). Plus, I already have a boyfriend I’ve been dating long-term and whom I’m basically moving to be with, so I don’t have to deal with who-or-when-are-you-dating questions. (Inquiries of marriage are a different story, though I’m still young enough to deflect them lol.)
So, for once there are no grey clouds hanging over our heads. (Unless you count my brother, who just locks himself in his room to play League of Legends.)
My parents have been busying themselves with cooking, especially dad. He’s definitely head chef in the family when it comes to dinner parties and such. My mom can cook too (I mean, what Chinese person from their generation doesn’t know how?), but she doesn’t enjoy it nearly as much as he does.
On Christmas Eve, we had my aunt’s family over as well as some “orphaned” Chinese kids (not really orphans; that’s just what my friends and I call people our age whose parents live overseas or happen to be on vacation elsewhere), which brought us to nine people total. Dad ended up cooking enough to feed at least 20. An impressive spread to be sure, but mother was displeased and remarked later that he could’ve done with making a bit less. He didn’t reply, but I could tell he was thinking woman, let me cook! It doesn’t help that everyone seems to be more aware of waistlines than before and tend to eat less than we would have maybe five or 10 years ago.
nom nom nom for 20 minutes before we all get full
Thus, we ended up with so many leftovers. Dad doesn’t have to worry about them because in a week and a half, he’ll be halfway across the country again for work. My dumb brother is incredibly picky and refuses to eat leftovers, which leaves poor mother to slowly graze through them (she’s tiny and doesn’t need much food to begin with).
Overall, though, things are fine in the Li household. Me finding a job lifted the tension considerably. My relationship with my parents has always been tumultuous, so my goal for now is to simply keep my parents happy. For today, that means DJing Christmas music (now playing: The Nutcracker Suite) and recommending mother movies to drag my dad to watch. Hehe.
Oh, I Still Have A Blog
December 7, 2013 § 1 Comment
I feel bad for neglecting my blog this entire semester. The main reason was that I was simply too busy taking two classes and doing two internships (not recommended but I might do it again next semester?? Not trying to kill myself I swear). Another, smaller but just as significant reason was that I wasn’t sure what I wanted my blog to be.
In school, both at NYU and MU, we’ve been taught that we as journalists should “brand” ourselves, which includes professional life (duh) as well as social media and blogging activity. Regarding social media, I think I do an adequate job; after going back and forth about keeping my Twitter private or public, I decided to clean up my act and just keep it public. I’ve been using it since 2009, and during the first few years I just wanted to keep it informal: No capitalization (except for proper nouns) and the occasional rant/curse word. Well, everybody has to grow up at some point, and if I want to participate in the larger Twitter community, I should just tweet like an adult. Done.
Casting a vision for this blog takes a bit more work. Lots of writers specialize, and I think I would do okay writing only about pop culture — I wouldn’t mind trying beauty/makeup but frankly I don’t have the money nor patience to photograph my face up-close — but I realized the reason I fell in love with blogging was simply the freedom to write about myself, my thoughts and my activities. It’s gratifying even if nobody reads it.
After all, if I want to write something on a specific topic, I could just pitch it to (or work for) any number of professional blogs/publications. I need a personal space to get my thoughts out without the pressure of writing something original or definitive.
Some of my favorite bloggers are young women in Singapore — Xiaxue, Jayne, Beatrice, Peggy, Evonne, Yina — who simply write about their day-to-day activities (with accompanying high-quality photos, of course. They’re all so pretty!). It’s just interesting to learn about someone’s life in an intimate yet also detached way. I feel like that kind of lifestyle blogging isn’t that popular in America, where the best-known personal blogs here are probably mostly fashion ones, and the kind of content I’m talking about is more common on YouTube vlogs. I’m not saying I hope to accrue sponsors or hundreds of readers, but I’d like to adopt that carefree, self-centered (hah!) attitude again.
Besides, and this could be the millennial in me speaking (me me me me me me), but I feel like social media simply isn’t enough to document my quotidian life (ME ME MEEEE). I mean, four months have flown by and what do I remember except work and more work? Twitter is for links and quips, Instagram is for the occasional, carefully chosen photo (honestly I’m just not that into it; also my iPhone 4 camera sucks), and Facebook…I don’t really post on Facebook. So I should get back to my roots. After all, I’ve been blogging for a DECADE! Wow. (Much blogging, so expert, nice writing, wow.)
Can you believe I’ve written almost 500 words about blogging?? It’s clearly meant to be.
Xiaxue (and a few others) recently turned to Dayre, a mobile blogging app, which is actually super convenient with a foolproof interface. My friends who struggle with the upkeep of traditional blogging would like it, I think. I might give it a go once in a while but will mainly stick to WordPress.
For now, I need to go finish my final papers. Expect to hear more from me soon :)
I’m A Bar Soap Convert
July 31, 2013 § 5 Comments
Edit: For anyone coming across this blog post because you searched “how to use bar soap in the shower,” get yourself one of these Muji sponge soap holders. I’ve had mine for years (recommended by my friend Daren) and I’ll love it forever.
As someone who grew up using only liquid soap, I used to think that people who used bar soap were either poor frugal or didn’t care about household maintenance (ie. undergraduate males). Although a fresh bar of Dove soap can look and smell so welcoming, I knew it wouldn’t be long until it was covered in grimy, tepid water. Ew.
For Christmas last year, Xixi gave me a big bar of soap from some fancy place in Chicago, and I was determined not to use it until I could do so properly (I didn’t even bring it to New York with me…sorry! Will retrieve it next time!). Soap dishes just get so gross with residue! I’m still waiting for someone to manufacture a bar soap grater.
Liquid soap has always been the superior choice to me for that reason. It’s easy to use and you don’t have to worry about it jumping out of your hands or generally looking nasty. My mother keeps a stockpile of Bath & Body Works products in her closet, and it’s a small source of joy when I visit home to wash my hands with those colorful, fragrant soaps containing mysterious blue granules (seriously, what ARE those?).
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