Notes of a Desolate Libra

It took me a while to get there, but I got there finally.

My friends Di and Alex got a farm in Prince Edward County with their two horses (Tianxia and baby) and I’ve been trying forever to visit them. Finally, I figured out that I would visit them before I go back to New York and also drop by the Toronto IWTA branch (with the amazing Sifu Carson Lau) for a visit and a little bit of WingTsun training.

What awaited me was a group of super nice WT students (and instructors), my two awesome (though elitist – lol) friends, tons of good  food, a farm-full of animals, and a WHOLE LOAD OF HAY!

Training in Toronto was great. The school setup and training program seems to be very different than what I am used to in NY or even CA. Everyone runs around and finds something then starts to beat each other up…  I mean… train very enthusiastically. Sifu Lau was super nice (as always) and showed me around as well as introduced some of his students to me. Unfortunately I was only able to train for one day, but I hope to return to train again or at least take a seminar with Sifu Lau!

Alex and Di’s farm was 50 acres… I don’t think I’ve seen that much LAND belonging to one person (that I know of) for a long time. Hay season was basically over but unfortunately they’d had some bad luck with farm equipment so I ended up helping them hay part of the field (very small part). It was quite a marvelous experience. I also got to (sort of) throw the bales of hay to the horses. By the time I left there, I was TOTALLY in love with Tianxia (oh be still my heart~).

Oh Sunny Days~

They also had7 (8?) Chinchillas (yea a week later I didn’t remember ANY of the names except Leonidis – THIS IS SPARTA! – ok I’m a dork) and a whole load of other animal/insect guests. Di also stuffed me with her delicious/unbeatable homemade food (which probably is why I gained so much weight >_<) and introduced me to her vegetable, herb, and fruit gardens. Ah the life of a farm. We were picking our own salads (in the backyard) and I drank fresh pressed cherry juice.

Di and Alex and I met in my early college days… through a rather interesting event. The first time I heard of Di was when I was told “Di’s having a shower with Kenshin.” Naturally… I flipped out (so I had a little crush on Kenshin. Who didn’t!?). Then it turned out that someone splashed some sauce on Kenshin (short for: the Rurouni Kenshin wall scroll) and she was washing it out. I think that sealed our fates and we’ve been friends since (Alex is a tack-on and the person who turned me into an alcoholic for a while in my college years :p). They are some of the most resourceful and interesting people I know… despite that they made me SLAVE on their farm!

Sunset on the farm (over moo moos)

I think that experience on a farm is something everyone should have at least once in their life. It’s very different (no kidding) from the city and also different from suburban life. It’s quiet, serene, and sometimes offers you pleasant (and some not so pleasant) surprises. Like Di said, she could see the entire Milky Way in winter time and sometimes read a book under the full moon. How could you not appreciate life when you have all this beauty around you?

Other memorable experiences include:

1) Xinjiang restaurant – OMG!!! I’ve NEVER had Xinjiang cuisine but this is SO good! I’m generally not a huge fan of strong tasting and super meaty dishes, but I think the skewers (with the massive amounts of meat) were some of the BEST I ever had! They were spicy so I was half tearing, but I ordered seconds!
2) YMCA – I don’t think I’ve been to any YMCA as… well… upscale as the one that they took me to. I am not sure if they’re all like that in Canada, but I certain had fun the two times I was there, taking full advantage (sort of) of their beautiful Olympic size pool, sauna rooms, and spacy and clean showers.
3) Rental cars are mostly in RED… WHY!? Oh… right… national color…
4) There’s nothing like seeing the sunrise/moonrise/sunset on a farm… and I CAN SEE THE MOON AND STARS CLEARLY!!! (ahem…)
5) Farmers are legally allowed to shot anything on their perimeters! (yes, I played with the gun xD)
6) Hanging out with the neighbor’s cows (a.k.a. moo-moos).

Travel Anime, Archery, Chinchilla, Farm, Friendship, Guns, Horses, Prince Edward County, Rurouni Kenshin, Toronto, WingTsun 詠春

Sometimes I really wonder about my particular habits… like naming and treating electronics as pets… >_< Below is a list of all the most important “pets” (*cough*computers*cough*) I ever owned… and this also exposes my age… hehe.

First generation:
Dumbo (Packard Bell): My one and only ever desktop computer (my friend John even got me a toy Dumbo for my birthday for fun). 1996-1999. It got me through my Westinghouse paper hell, cost a FORTUNE (I paid for half of it, parents paid the other half), and saddest thing is, I don’t remember for the life of me what happened to it… >_< so named NOT because I was obsessed with the elephant… but because my computer was perpetually driving me up the wall…
Wakko (from Animaniacs): This was a printer but it always gets placed alongside Dumbo so I’m putting it up here… so named because my printer was very temperamental.
I also named random things like a broomstick that I carried around (Puu), my Gund (Enishi), my orchid (Tomoe)… yes… this habit goes back a long time.

Second generation:
Suupuu (Dell Latitude): this was during my Houshin Engi obsession stage.1999-2002. Rather short lived. Died 2 months before I had to hand in my thesis… argh. Then again, it was one of those illegit computers that was returned to the factory and somehow a random (Indian) technician got hold of it, “fixed” it, and then sold it at a lower price to poor students… under the table of course. o_O

Third generation:
Hyd (Dell Inspiron): Obsessed with Laruku (Hyde). 2002-2006. Actually Hyd is still sitting in my cousin’s house somewhere. Toshiba Satellites are extremely well made and I am sure if I didn’t pour soda (Pepsi) on this one that it would be even better. Then again, I poured that soda on 2003 (the day of Jen’s Chinese wedding, I remember distinctly because I was rushing out to get to her wedding and…) on the upper right hand corner… and for the next few years (until 06), it kept on working fine other than the occasional ghost writing by the keys on the upper right hand corner (e.g. \\\\\\\\\\\\\ or automatic deletion) and that my backspace doesn’t function (you really have to wonder how I managed to use it all those years – ok fine there was some banging on the keyboard involved)… >_<

Fourth (current) generation:
Niji (Toshiba Satellite): Niji = Rainbow in Japanese (one of my favorite Laruku songs, yup still obsessed), and it’s the name of the Click-B fanclub (yes, I was obsessed with them at the time…). 2006-present. Still beautiful and sitting in my room in NYC, about to make the move across the US…
L. G. Spock (Lenovo S10): Er… see post. 2009-present. Has helped me through… a LOT and I owe my livelihood to it. I LOVE IT LOVE IT LOVE IT LOVE IT. (And the names are getting fancier… )

Did I miss anyone? Right now I don’t even keep track anymore of all the things that I’ve named… I’d go insane. I just remember that all of my flash drives are named after colors (in Japanese)… my GPS is Ed(ward Elric), my phone is Sora-chan (小天), my cards are Hitomi (Escaflowne), my camera is Hikaru II, my mp3 player Akira II….>_< At least now I only name my electronics (mostly, but it seems I only BUY electronics too… aye)…

Musings, VoCaL Anime, Houshin Engi, Laruku, Manga, Niji, Pets, Rurouni Kenshin

After much deliberation with some friends, I decided to rename my netbook to L.G. Spock. No relation to LG (the Korean brand). It actually stands for L (Death Note), Galileo (Masaharu Fukuyama version), and of course, Mr. Spock (mostly the Zachery Quinto version, but I like the character in general). Despite the fact that I may be viewed as a super dork after my current decision, I am comfortable with my dorkiness and am willing to receive any contrary opinions. I’ll just ignore them. xD

Lately it’s just been an intense display of dorkiness on my end as well as a discovery of dorkiness in my friends. We were hailing each other with “live long and prosper” signs over dinner at a Chinese restaurant. I figured, might as well go all the way!

All three of these characters that my netbook is named after have characteristics in common:
1) Actions based on reason and logical calculations
2) Poker-faced emotionless demeanor
3) Incredibly nerdy/dorky

There is a very specific reason I became so obsessed with Spock… and it has less to do with how good he was in the movie than with one of my long time secret obsessions. I’ll write that in my article about the movie itself… which… will come sometime. >_<

My Netbook's Namesakes* (and current desktop)

Although knowing me, I’ll probably end up shortening his (yes my netbook is a “he”, ahem) name to “L” or “Spocky” or “GG” or the like… >_<

*Namesake, as defined in the OED, can be used both for the name giver and the name receiver (yes, I like the OED).

Movies 電影, Musings Anime, Death Note, Galileo, L, Manga, Masaharu Fukuyama, Shounen, Spock, Star Trek