A Word Everyone Should Know

Wednesday, April 21, 2010 at 9:47 PM
reactionaryadjectivea reactionary policy: right-wing, conservative, rightist,ultraconservative; traditionalist, conventional, old-fashioned,unprogressive; informal redneck. ANTONYMS progressive.nounan extreme reactionary: right-winger, conservative, rightist;traditionalist, conventionalist, dinosaur. ANTONYMS radical.

Please. Learn this word. I've seen it used incorrectly countless times in journalism, and I always cringe. Writing is supposedly their profession right? They should know how to use words correctly. FYI, people always think reactionary means something akin to reactive.

Earthquake in Qinghai, China

Friday, April 16, 2010 at 11:31 AM
Recently, there was another earthquake in China. This time it occurred in the Qinghai province, which border Tibet. Qinghai is the home of my father's family, but fortunately, I am told that none of my relatives were injured.

I want to take this to reflect on another example of China's dualities. In the US, it is easy to associate China with shoddy manufacturing processes. In fact, I've seen many examples of people doing questionable business practices in China, in order to make a quick buck. In the Shanghai Jiao Tong University, one of the restaurants on campus was using industrial salt instead of the culinary-safe kind, because it was cheaper. Most likely, the owner was motivated to make more money, but it's equally likely that he was just unaware of the consequences of using industrial chemicals (less rigorous quality standards, could contain toxic substances). We'll just assume it was a mix of both.

So, on one hand, there are many examples of Chinese people being thoughtless and heartless towards each other.

Yet this does not characterize everything. Remember, I wrote about duality earlier.

Whenever disaster strikes, ie. the shit hits the fan, I find compassion to be the most prominent emotion shown by Chinese people. Strangers who normally wouldn't give a second thought that your wallet was stolen, or that you're lost, they rush to help. I don't have many specific examples to prove my point here, but I'm as sure of it as I am anything else. From the pictures taken of the Qinghai earthquake, and previous natural disasters, I can just see the emotions flooding through people's faces. As rescuers rush the injured to hospitals, as they ferret out those trapped under rubble, I can see the urgency shining from their eyes.

Strange, that the Chinese people have such a dichotomy. My theory? Perhaps the society has not adjusted to the past 25 years of rapid development and cultural shifts.

Squirrel Fun - Feeding them way too big pieces of bread

Sunday, April 11, 2010 at 1:20 PM
This idea should be credited to Dan. Buying 40 cent loafs of submarine bread from Jimmy Johns, and then feeding them to the squirrels on Michigan campus. Frankly, the squirrels seemed very interested in the bread at first, but none of them finished their pieces (not surprising lol). What's sad is that they just ended up throwing away most of the bread. What a waste.


Brief Update

at 1:29 AM
So. I've been having a lot of fun recently, but I've also been feeling that coming back to Ann Arbor has been really good for me. I've been making a lot of meaningful relationships with people. Also, I've been reunited with my beloved car. I just freshly waxed it yesterday (technically two days ago now), and it shines. It's way too late for me to be up, so I'll leave this brief summary.

Steve Jobs looking like a homeless guy

Tuesday, April 6, 2010 at 8:37 AM

Howitzer | Entries (RSS) | Comments (RSS) | Designed by MB Web Design | XML Coded By Cahayabiru.com | Distributed by Deluxe Templates