Daily // July 2007

 

July 31, 2007

Martina Hingis is back in action in the Acura Classics Championships held in CA. She won her 2nd round (1st round bye) 7-5, 6-2. Not bad not bad.. But she needs to close sets more efficiently - she was leading the first set 5-1 but couldn't convert 3 set points. Anyway, let's hope her performance continues to improve through the week. Her next opponent is compatriot Patty Schnyder. We'll see.

---

July 30, 2007

A regular work day I suppose.. If you must know, my internet is still not fixed. As of now I'm stealing my neighbor's extremely unstable wireless connection. I'm just glad that I can upload a file successfully within ten trials.

---

July 29, 2007

Another weekend, another week. A little bit over 3 weeks left. Oh, next sunday I'll be watching the Legg Mason Tennis Championships finals in DC. Perhaps this is the thing that helps me get past the week..

---

July 28, 2007

Today I journeyed to a chinese supermarket and found a suitable salon directly opposite, so I got a haircut. It really feels great..this spontaneous lifestyle where I could stop anywhere I want to and do whatever that pleases me. But these moments are so scarce. At other times we are often working to benefit our future selves, thinking that if we do this, this and this now, the future-us would be happier. But we're often wrong, and we blame the past-us for doing such things for the present-us. That's to say, we were slaves of our present-selves, and we are slaves of our future-selves.

為未來而耕耘，為現在而生活；我寧願選擇後者。

---

---

July 25, 2007
6120 Classic

I finally decided which phone to get after much consideration (and dissent). I really like the piano black back cover, thought it's susceptible to fingerprints and scratch marks. Another thing is the crisp screen. Anyway, I won't be getting hold of it until I get home, so..

It's thursday again. Well well well.

---

July 24, 2007

Four more weeks remains. Well, while they certainly won't be as exciting as a sudden trip to Alaska or a trip with old friends to Taiwan, I'm sure they won't be boring. Why? Because I've tried to arrange more events to happen on weekends. We'll see..

深深深.

---

---

July 22, 2007
My Lucky Star

During my break from reading, I found a nice screensaver that mimics fireworks blazing in different colors and angles, and it looks really realistic. There are even sound effects..

For mac
For windows

I also recommend Helios with wireframe. Enjoy.

P.S. I've stayed 'hidden' and turned on my 'spoiler filter' - in other words, I've turned off msn to prevent any unwanted spoilers about HP's ending. I fear that.. After all I learned that that character died before reading HP & HBP, and it wasn't fun. I'll be back in a few days..

P.P.S. The last episode of 放羊的星星 broadcasted today. I'll miss the show.. My lucky star..where are you?

---

July 21, 2007

Well, I got up half an hour later than expected, but I still got my HP & DH book rather quickly and headed back almost immediately. Needless to say, I've started reading it since afternoon, but I gradually slowed down my speed. Why? It's like eating a cone of vanilla ice cream you just bought on a hot summer day; you'd start gulping in large bites at first, but as it gets to the end, you'd likely slow down to enjoy the last few licks. The same can be said in reading the last HP book. You know it'll end, so you might as well read slower to enjoy the essence of the brilliant writing. And it is quite brilliant so far...'quite brilliant' being an understatement as any HP readers would expect.

So, if you're reading it right now as well, I implore you to read slower.. Don't devour it like a hungry, caveman-like reader. Treat it as a glass of red wine, sip it in small portions, and let it swirl among your taste buds before swallowing it.

Okay, back to book-tasting. I mean..reading. Bye.

---

---

July 19, 2007

It has been five weeks into my job. Quite startling to think that I've been commuting like a regular worker for this long (or short (depending on how you see it)) period of time. Well, the strange thing is I actually enjoy the daily commute. Why? For one, it forces me to wake up earlier.. If I were at home I'd probably still be sleeping at the time I grab lunch (and perhaps finish it) here. Another thing is that my brain is not 'decaying' as much as last summer, where I did nothing in particular/nothing at all..

Is this a good rebuttal to 'one-should-enjoy-their-freshman-summer'? Well, I'm just ranting.. Good nite.

---

July 18, 2007

Firstly, happy 19th birthday to Lihan.
After work today, perhaps influenced by the general 'birthday mood', I went to a japanese restaurant for dinner. I ordered a shrimp pan fried noodle and it was quite good. You might wonder why I'd even mention this. Well, these days I usually just eat fast food to cover a meal, so going to a formal restaurant is definitely a luxury, or an indulgence should I say.

Only two more days until the last Harry Potter book comes out. I can't wait to start reading all weekend. The book will be released at Friday midnight, but I probably won't wait for it in the mall since transportation is a problem. I'll get a copy on Saturday. We'll see..

Quote
They say the abstract is done by the undisciplined, sold by the unprincipled, shown to the utterly bewildered.

---

July 17, 2007

I'm really tired.. Be back tmr.

---

July 16, 2007

Joey's mandarin album is pretty good. Some songs, perhaps because of their mainland-based producers, sound quite 'beijing' and 'soil'. Besides the rather catchy main hit 小小, the better ones lean on the quiet and solemn side, which I really like. Here's a few of them: 在你的左右, 牛奶, 間接傷害.

牛奶.

---

July 15, 2007

Well, I promised myself to read into rails this weekend but regretfully I didn't.. I seriously lack motivation at this moment.. A better news is that I worked a bit on hksa's website. Hopefully I can finish it within this week - when HP comes out I will likely do nothing but read, eat and sleep..

在你的左右.

---

July 14, 2007
My Saturday

I thought I'd let you know that I added some ram. This actually happened awhile ago..before my macbook was serviced by Apple. But during the repair, the ram was being removed and the reason was that 'it didn't qualify under Apple's standards'.. Right. Like I would believe you and purchase your overpriced stock. So today I finally found the suitable tools to pop the ram back in. It's running smoothly now.

I visited Montgomery Mall this afternoon. For what? The 'me' from yesterday afternoon would tell you that he's going to purchase Apple's bluetooth headset. But after chatting with Derek and getting his advice, it seems that 1) the headset is too pricey and 2) it is not a necessity for me. Well, I didn't purchase it; I couldn't anyway - it is not available yet. Anyway..

---

July 13, 2007

Friday the 13th aka Black Friday. Well nothing fancy happened.. No black cats jumping around or appearing from nowhere.. Anyway, I'm really tired and worked up today. What shall I do tmr? I heard there's a chinese market around so I'll likely visit that and perhaps go to the mall afterwards. Then I'll need to head back to do some readings on Rails.

Bye for now, and good nite.

---

---

July 12, 2007

Today was a very usual thursday, which means that I start to get into the weekend mode while service requests get piled up (many changes on servers are handled on friday night). Time really flies..it's been almost a month since I got here. Right now, in the middle of july, I start to step back onto solid ground and realize that summer could actually end. In months like may and june, I sometimes feel that the end of summer is so far away that it seems avoidable.

Enjoy the new song, and enjoy friday.

---

July 11, 2007

After work today, I headed to Carraba's for dinner and again ordered the Linguine Pescatora. It was very good as usual. Apres dinner I headed to watch HP & the OoP. How was it? Well, I won't say anything because I believe that any comments will give people who hasn't watched it a deep prejudice. It's better to enter the cinema with no judgements. But if you really want to know, I thought the movie was sorry I couldn't resist protecting my readers from this. And didn't I tell you (assuming you haven't watched the movie) not to gather any prejudice before watching it?

The next movie on my must-watch list is Bourne Ultimatum, which premieres on August 3rd.

---

July 10, 2007

Well, I did get a haircut today. How was it? It was okay and expensive too ($30+tips). Anyway, I don't have much to add today. Oh, I'm watching Harry Potter tmr night. The last HP movie I saw was way back in 2005 where I spent my thanksgiving holiday chez Wilson. I even wrote a review for it then. Hopefully it'll be as good, or better.

---

July 9, 2007

Today is a relatively relaxing monday. Work as usual and went home for dinner. I've also made some progress on hksa's website; though the progress is not quite significant, it's a crucial step that must be gone through slowly. Give me another week and we'll see what it evolves into..

Btw I need a haircut soon. Should I trust the salons here?

---

July 8, 2007

I've fallen into a pattern again. I'm starting to get used to this work cycle.. It's not a bad thing, but it's at such times that you feel everything becomes monotonous. Perhaps I just dislike routines too much. I want a spontaneous life.

我們小時候.

---

July 7, 2007

So, Venus Williams won Wimbledon today. But I don't really care about that.. Another thing about today is that it's 070707, or 777 is short. Because of this, many flocked to Las Vegas to tie the knot. Well, if it's me, I'd wait till next year for 080808, or 888, which is much better.

Last order.

---

July 6, 2007

It's quite frustrating when something that looks quite good on a mac turns out ugly on pc. And this mostly happens to fonts. Why aren't they standardized? Same fonts actually appear differently on different os. What the heck?! Unless everyone migrates to a mac within the next few years, this is an issue that needs to be attended.

Weekend again.. Should I go to DC again?

---

---

July 5, 2007

Snacks are indispensible nowadays, especially at night. I get really hungry after 11pm, mostly because I have dinner around 6, so a bag of Milano is always next to my desk. Anyway..

I'll get my first paycheck tmr. Isn't that great?

---

July 4, 2007

Today was quite fun. I walked two miles to a nearby mall during afternoon to window-shop. Quite a long walk, ya? But it wasn't worth it.. As I said, I window-shoped, so I didn't buy anything. That means I wasted time for nothing..

Back to two more days of work, then weekend again. Where should I go this time?

---

July 3, 2007

When I got to the office today, I found out that due to tmr's holiday (Independence Day), we can leave early at 3pm. So I got back home after only 4 hrs of work.. What did I do then? I watched some tv and worked on HKSA's site. It seems that there's much more work to do than I envisioned, so I'll likely spend my holiday tmr tweaking it. Oh, iphone's activation seems to be cracked. Go to the site I mentioned yesterday to fetch more info.

---

July 2, 2007

My dad is now back from HK. For some reason, I feel less alone. Isn't this weird? The abstract concept of having a family member in the same country you are in actually makes you feel more secure. Is perception that important? Or is it just because we treasure things more when we are aware that we could lose them?

I have finally started working on HKSA's new website. How will it look? Good. Hopefully a functioning prototype will be ready by this weekend. Btw, I may get an iphone if hacking teams succeed in unlockng the phone. Click to see their latest progress.

---

July 1, 2007
Kings Dominion

After a 2 hr drive, we arrived in Richmond, Virginia and stepped foot into Kings Dominion. The DJs on the radio referred to the weather around Washington as a 'rare treat' due to the low humidity (39%) and low highest-temperature (mid 80s). It was indeed a very nice day for rides, and surprisingly few people (7,000) entered the park on this pre-July-4th-sunday. Maybe they all headed to the beaches in Virginia..

We went on quite a few rides, some even twice. Even though I wasn't exactly with my friends, I enjoy each moment since I know there'll be fewer and fewer chances to feel like a kid again.

Back to another week of work tmr. Good luck to me; and you too.

P.S. If you must know, last month there were 423 visits (16717-17140). As for the average daily visit, calculate it yourself..

---

---