Wednesday, May 19, 2010

At Work

I started my internship today.

I almost missed my light rail this morning, and I got to work around 9:15.

NO ONE was around, so I explored the building (they have a suite in a huge building, but not their own building).

The lady who interviewed me finally arrived. But she's not the one for whom I'm interning for.

Finally, half an hour later, the woman I'm interning for arrived.

She was on her phone and just handed me a laptop and rushed to her office.

I had to call the folks in Scottsdale, AZ to get my password and network set up, and no one else in the office knows what I'm supposed to be doing.

So I guess I'll just wait 'til she's off the phone.

It's been over an hour...

Well, there's $20 free right there.

Tuesday, May 18, 2010

Generational Differences

I don't know if this is normal of kids and their parents, but when I talk to my dad, we tend to get into these philosophical and/or very deep conversations.

Yesterday in specific, we discussed the generational differences between our generation (Generation Y I believe we're called?) and my dad's generation ("baby boomers").

My dad concluded that his generation was raised by parents who went through the WWI and WWII, and because of this they were raised as spoiled brats. Their parents, having seen rough times, wanted their children to be privileged. His generation quickly became greedy (hey, remember Enron, and now bp?) and careless with money (look at the good times they went through: the 70's, the 80's, the dot com boom of the 90's...). Hence, the idea that one can buy a car or house without actually having the money because of this idea of "easy money", that is, money that is easily obtained through loans but is not actually the money of that specific individual.

So, he describes, his generation is a bunch of greedy pigs out to get expensive cars and TVs.
He asked me: how would I describe my generation?

I pondered a bit, and thought of this.

Our generation is not as easily labeled in that it is not homogeneous the same way the baby boomers are. With the introduction of the internet and media came an ever changing world. A world in which one year is dramatically different than the last.

For example, take the baby boomer generation. What reflects a culture better than the music and movies of the time?

Every movie in the 80's will depict the girls as having frizzy hair, large hooped earrings, and jean jackets. The guys: football builds, varsity letter jackets, and jeans. Now the question is: is this a stereotype of the 80's, or a sociotype?
I'd say a sociotype.

There was but one major (maybe a few minor ones) culture in the 80's. One that wore such clothes, and listened to Duran Duran. There was no internet there to introduce those people to different styles or music. There was only the radio and TV, both of which had only a couple stations/channels and thus only played what they knew to be the most popular songs/shows.

But what of our generation?

Think about the movies in this generation:
Mean Girl depicts the different cliques in high school, each with their own fashion. Though there was the "nerd" culture and the "plastic" culture in the 80's, that was about it. There were no "popular Asian girls" or "debate team" cultures.

Movies now have main characters in many different groups: goth, punk, nerdy, geeky, "plastic"...etc.

Music reflects this diversity in taste as well.
Just look, my area is popular for hyphy music, SoCal is popular for ska, then there's rap, pop, hiphop, metal, rock, light rock, jazz...all genres that had their times in the past, but also are popular now.

Furthermore, our generation is going through a time of globalization. Americans watch anime. Japanese dye their hair blond. Europe is the hub for dance music. Koreans decided to take that dance music and create K-pop. Indians developed Bollywood. The new Miss USA is an Arab. Our President is black.

Everyone is learning from and adopting culture from one another.

With technology comes a new language. I talked to my Freshman high school English teacher, who informed me that the new line of Freshmen do not know the difference between "nite" and "night", "k" and "okay", "goodbye" and "baibai". The influence of the internet has changed the way we communicate and the way we perceive the world. These kids are still considered part of my generation, but because technology progresses so quickly, they are completely different than I am.

The point? With the ability to develop our own tastes for music and television through an infinite number of international influences (different channels, websites, etc), we can shape ourselves to be truly unique individuals. The influence of the internet changes how we perceive things and how we communicate. We can be total anime geeks that cosplay for conventions. We can be totally obsessed with Rammstein. We can be emo kids or punks, plastics or nerds. And, especially in our area of the world, we have the freedom to develop our interests in high schools that provide us with athletics, the arts, music...any outlet imaginable.

Because of this exposure to new possibilities, we have become a heterogeneous population. A generation in which no year falls in the same category. A generation in which everyone has their own opinions and is able to broadcast it. There is no way to describe my generation.

Except that everyone is a procrastinator and doesn't plan ahead.

What do you guys think?

Sunday, May 16, 2010

Tira Costume Progress: 10%

So...you all know I'm going to be Tira from Soul Calibur III for Fanime (I've been literally talking about it since August).

Here's my bidaily update (is that a word?)



Since then, I've added the feathery neck part and the white cuff things...
I've also gotten a wig, that I tried dying with fabric dye and sharpies, crayola markers and watercolor paints.

It's 2 shades lighter than it should be.

Will post tomorrow!

Belated Mother's Day

My mom really wanted to do something "Mother's Day-ey" with me, since I wasn't back in CA during Mother's Day.

So first we went to our town's local 60 year old Pancake House.

Man, one thing I don't miss about CA is how expensive everything is! A plate with a single pancake on it is $11.45. And I got blueberry crepes: $10.50.

For a family of three, our BREAKFAST was over $45. What.

But I gotta say, our breakfast came with A LOT of fruit, all of which is quite pricey.

Then, depressed after spending so much money, my parents and I went to a winery 10 minutes from my house. I used to go there as a Girl Scout, but I haven't been there since 8th grade-ish. Apparently my parents have been bored without me and have been going there quite often...

So Adventure #1: Kar goes to the Picceli Winery!



The trail around the Winery (it's super huge...goes on for miles :) )



GIANT LEAVES! (Another WE DO 'EM BIG HERE kind of thing)



Prettyy

Saturday, May 15, 2010

We Do Everything Big Part I




In California, we do everything big.

Oh yeah, I missed our fruit...

Chinese Food

So today I went to dim sum (sp?) with my parents.

I totally forgot how much I missed the Chinese food here.

Also, the whole restaurant was full with half Asians.

I feel just that much less unique xD

Thursday, May 13, 2010

Pokemon is Poker for Little People

This is definitely the best article I've ever read.

http://www.losaltosonline.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=21248&Itemid=47

Yay! Bay Area nerds!

Storms to Sunshine

When I left Pittsburgh yesterday, it was really stormy. I was scared my flight would be delayed.

The stewardesses on the Pittsburgh to Las Vegas flight wore dress pants and blouses and scarves. They were pretty professional looking and acting.

The stewardesses on the flight from Las Vegas to San Jose wore khaki shorts and sweater vests. The steward sang to us as we departed.

I arrived in California and it was sunny and warm! God I missed home. :)

Southwest Rap
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tnOxvbGOTbM

Country song
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jy0Yf1CAsuQ

Bloom Box

So, today I went to lunch with my brother Jason (that's not him to the right by the way)

Jason works at PayPal, which is separate from eBay but when referred to, it's usually just referred to as being a part of eBay.

Apparently a month ago, PayPal was on 60 Minutes for being one of only 5 companies using a new ground-breaking type of renewable energy called a Bloom Box. And apparently, my brother was on the campus when they took the footage for 60 Minutes and he got to meet Leslie Stahl!

PayPal is now considered the most energy efficient company in the Silicon Valley, and my brother works in the most energy efficient building!

According to my brother, 70% of the building is fueled by Bloom Boxes, 13% by solar panels, and the rest by usual means of electricity.

Slamacow!


Here's the link to the article, if you want more information:

http://ebayinkblog.com/2010/02/24/ebay-hosts-unveiling-of-groundbreaking-new-bloom-box-fuel-cell/

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