| I just want to work. Is that too much to ask? |
[Apr. 29th, 2007|07:48 am] |
| [ | Current Mood |
| |  disappointed | ] |
A week or so after coming to California and looking for jobs I got a call back from what I thought would be an ideal job. SLAC- stanford linear accelerator, sweet right... too bad they weren't actually planning on hiring someone for another 4-6 months. No job.
Then I had a sweet analyst position lined up through a local temp agency. I would have been working in semiconductors, the employers loved me in interview and everything was ready to go. Then, suddenly they have some internal conflict and the group I would have worked for is not allowed to hire anyone. No job.
So then, finally, luck finds me well prepared and ready to work I get two offers (3 months later) one part time at an alternative high school (teaching aide) and one at Stanford's Office of Technology Licensing (marketing). So I take the job marketing hoping to build some skills and they said the project I was working on might last 6 mo - 5 yrs.
So here I am almost 5 months after I start work and I get laid off. They hired too many people for the project and I got voted off by the boss. I just want to work... |
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| I learned on a friday night... or did I? |
[Mar. 10th, 2007|12:57 am] |
| [ | Current Mood |
| | numb | ] |
... and baked cookies while wondering what's next. 300?? shippuden?? battlestar? Heroes?... nah, study study study.
And it's like that, raw, an album rap aged.
In other news, my onboard sound card died while editing AAOR for Infinite-Quest. So I shipped my p5w mobo back to newegg and fired up the tablet. I almost miss the heat this thing gives off and how slow it feels... it's like a lazy walk down a counrty lane in spring time...
with hay fever/allergies!!!
did you know that for impersonating a patent agent you can get fined up to ... $1,000 per fraudulent patent? That's sooo not effective deterrent for lawyers who get $200/hour and the average patent costs $10,000. I don't get it. Something is stupid about that (either, me or the fine). |
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| Everyone needs a sense of belonging |
[Feb. 25th, 2007|01:23 pm] |
The following is very presumptuous and way overstepping what I am normally comfortable commenting on.
There is a Chinese guy in Ya's Statistics department who recently accepted Jesus Christ as his Lord and Savior. He did so after approximately attending five months of weekly fellowship. Previously, when asked what his plans were for friday nights (when his fellowship meets), he would say things like "free food," as there was usually food at the fellowship meetings. And went as far as to say, he doesn't believe their message, he just goes for the food. But now he's saved.
This is where I overstep my bounds (in multiple ways but I'd rather not post my own self-criticism online) and say wow that's interesting. I'm curious how religion relates to a sense of belonging.
China has a very long history of pragmatism in practicing faith. Often, it was not uncommon for areas of China to believe in multiple religions, while only practicing selected aspects of the various religions at their descretion, with little or no qualms about the resultant theological conflicts. This is similar to, albeit reversed, the criticism chinese medicine makes of western medicine, which argues: western medicine absolves symptoms, without addressing the underlying source of an ailment. Applying this logic in the other direction (towards China) in regard to religion, then the argument is that Chinese select relgious activities to absolve certain spiritual or emotional symptoms. The second half of the arguement depends on how we're looking at the problem. For example, at a funeral a family may practice daoist ceremonies in remembrance of the deceased, while they might have a Christian wedding because they're 'prettier.' None of these observations are uniquely my own. I read about them in class and then confirmed both the existence of these contridictions and people who embody their exception while in China.
My second consideration is on social dependency. Chinese traditions support a more familial social structure, while American traditions support a more communal social structure. From my own experience, Chinese traditions and customs build solidarity and interdependence allong familial ties. In my opinion the second strongest relationship (behind family) the average Chinese person would have is that of a business relationship that grows into a friendship. So while a Chinese business person may have a long standing relationship with a collegue which is strengthened by their history of successful interactions, they can never expereince the same level of trust and depencency as one would have with a family member. I think these ties are closely related to the amount of time spent together on a daily basis, and the emotions associated with that time. ie- family relations will be stronger as the emotions associated with the time spent together are stronger than the emotions of the business world.
In contrast to the Chinese ties, the second strongest relationship for the average American is that of a religious friend. This argument follows the same logic as the Chinese business friendship. An exception is that the religious friendship seems to be much closer to that of the business friendship because the emotions associated with the amount of time together are often commensurate or resultant to those of family ties.
It seems that I've found my conclusion to the question: how religion relates to a sense of belonging. The factors I have considered above lead me to the conclusion that a sense of belonging, friendship, and dependability are dependent in large part on the strength of emotion associated with time invested in the relationship. The strength of emotions are clearly relative, so perhaps later I'll think about how this argument holds up in reference to love.
I've been feeling like writing lately. So, this is a poem to my love.
长途变化
我相信你感觉得到我的心跳
你想我的时候, 连接到我
不用写信, 不用打电话
想你的时, 心里有你的声音
听不到你的话, 我感到的距离还不远
我们的影子, 又深又黑
影子拥抱, 不用人看到. |
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| Go-Go Dancing? |
[Feb. 20th, 2007|11:29 pm] |
Umm, ... so I got this email invite from my myspace account to attend Lil-Iris' Go-Go Debut. And thought... maybe I misunderstand what one does as a Go-Go Dancer... so I looked it up on google and youtube.
The first hit was wikipedia. It was very informative as to the evolution and etymology of Go-go dancing.
[The etymology of Go-Go may be the noun go, one of whose meanings is "power of going, energy, vigor". Or it may come from the names of the nightclubs, which ultimately come from the French à gogo, meaning "in abundance, galore".]
It also reassured me that "Go-Go dancers do not strip, but sometimes receive tips."
Wheeew!!! that's a relief.
So, then I wondered ... hmm, just how well do these girls (and boys) dance? The first hit on youtube was broken, but the second ... had the Navy? (Oh, like Isaia, I'll watch that.)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CAfdSMuZjNE
DAMN, wtf was that! Iris, please don't dance like them...
All the rest of the links about it on youtube got me in a bit of trouble with the missus, even though it was honest curiosity and concern for the welfare of a friend. So my thoughts are that self confidence and mental health are largely about positive reinforcement. I try to choose the activities I engage in based on how challenging and rewarding they are for me. Often, like many others, I tend to do activities that I feel I am relatively good at know there are reasonable challenges to overcome. When I'm not doing anything it's more likely that my mind will wander back to whatever activity I've chosen, I think about where it might lead to and set goals to get me there, and then I notice my improvements more frequently. That's how I keep my mental health solid and confidence up. Otherwise, I'm a pessimistic slob and a poor writer. Anyway, to 'Mayflower', if you're going to be a Go-Go dancer, just keep in mind where you're going and how you'll get there. If you don't know where yo want to be, use your imagination and think of someone 50 years old, you respect and was a Go-Go dancer. Then, ask them (still in your imagination) what they thought about that part of their life. Hopefully, to them, the Mayflower was the ship that sailed to a new life with a clean slate and boundless potential. And not, a ship that sailed a dangerous sea where people starved, caught diseases and died, only to get to a place with cold & lonely winters and mean people out to get them.
Knowing how to get to the club is more important than knowing how hot the girls are there. |
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| greater efficiency |
[Feb. 13th, 2007|10:07 pm] |
So my boss gave me a print out today of the hours their experienced marketing guy spend on his work. He averages about 5.25 hours per marketing and I average about 2.5 times that. DAMN... that ain't good. True, there are some other factors, but I got the message. (I call this subtly fortifying pessimism)
Ken Q sent me these videos of people doing the same Kung Fu that we know... but they don't know the applications so they do it wrong (read: poorly).
http://youtube.com/watch?v=Suh70iseFbs
http://youtube.com/watch?v=1AOu2x3etsk
And of course another one from our style:
http://youtube.com/watch?v=u71cCjfS7S0
Suffice it to say this guy knows what the chain whip is good for.
I like to think of this part of my day as 'mitigated optimism.'
In other news I learned briefly the tectonic argument behind China's topography and population distribution (aka- "India pushing up China's underbelly"), as well as some demographics on urbanization in China. The information all seemed to tie-in well with speculation I've heard about policies that may be sent down from the top, in the 17th party congress to be.
Today's studies begin the section on the "Doctrine of Equivalents" of this little book I'm reading (Patent Law Essentials: A Concise Guide). To help me remember, let me explain briefly. The doctrine of equivalents covers a weakness in the law, in which patent infringement means one must infringe all of the claims of a patent, in their entirety. To prevent people from changing the form of a patented invention while 'stealing' it's spirit, the doctrine of equivalents allows that a device which does not literally infringe a patent may be found to infringe if it embodies a substantial equivalent to the device.
Also, at work today we learned that the Supreme Court ruling on Medimmune V. Genentech allows licensees to sue patent holders without 'reasonable apprehension' for suit as it was formerly understood (one would usually break the law first in protest, then challenge the law to change it). The ruling is not clear though what the new understanding is, other than the anecdote that paradoxically claiming to be in protest, while paying for the rights to use an "invalid" patent is A.O.K. This gives more power to the little guy, the poor inventor, the would be startup, and unfortunately to anyone inclined to sue big companies. |
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| True Ninja skill |
[Feb. 12th, 2007|04:55 pm] |
I'm so out of shape. I want to be able to "spida walku" too.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zU6-42QL7NE
Had lunch with Angela from work today. asian fusion food. had a yak meat papaya salad. not what I expected. I didn't know it would have yak in it.
wing chun practice tonight. Hoop-yeah.
I'm supposed to look into hxdygroup.com for connections on tech (tech investment and transfer)
good night and good luck |
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| My update |
[Feb. 11th, 2007|09:26 am] |
Ok so I'm going to try to make this quick and hopefully keep attending to my post.
So after 3 months of un-willful unemployment I decided to make a career change. What did I pick among all the woeful careers of the world? the nebulous realm of Intellectual Property. Yeah, it may sound rich and full of interesting debate topics, but like most, if not all jobs, the mundane kicks in hard in this field and it's rough entering. So here are some ideas for the game plan...
Step One: get a job somehow related. -Done, I'm working at the Stanford Office of Tech Licensing.
Step Two: get credentials.
Part A: Pass the Patent Bar. Currently studying solo. Unable to purchase a $2000 study kit
Part B: Pass the Notary Exam. Not a req, but quick, easy, and useful.
Part C: Consider Grad School.
Option 1: Law school US. Be able to litigate as well as prosecute- big money, big hump
Option 2: Masters China. a must for high level Chinese skill, tough picking a topic
Step Three: focus my career. this should be a continual process of soul searching and thoughtful reflection. Current thoughts... hmmm, big law firm/ inhouse patent prosecution OR Tech transfer? I'm thinking Tech transfer. It's more my style. how to get there? dunno.
Ok. I need to stop writing and start editing the audio for "An Act of Revenge." How I miss having friends around. |
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| Once inna Lifetime, I turned 25 on the 25th today. |
[Oct. 25th, 2006|09:10 pm] |
| [ | Current Mood |
| |  jubilant | ] |
| [ | Current Music |
| | An Act of Revenge - Mixing | ] |
there should be a special word for this coincidence. anyway...
I had a good day today. I didn't get what I really wanted yet (a job) but I got a quart of Haagen Dazs and some post-dated checks. There is a mic bridge/headphone amp that won't make it here till this weekend or next week which may help me do better audio mixing (but what I really need is more processing power). That's not something I'm going to call a birthday gift to myself though. Today, I'm also spending the evening with my wife as she studies the statistics hard. Unfortunately, I missed an all important phone call from the guys who matter most to me, damn. Sorry, bros. I hope you all had fun. Next year will be Ben's nuberbirthday (that's what I'm gonna call the birthday coincidence, until I forget). Since I have the worst memory of anyone I know. please don't hate me if I missed your birthday... but Happy Birthday to all us Octobers, Scorpios, Falls, 25s, and B-town originals (all year long).
I just hope I'll feel more normal when I get a job... arrggg. |
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| (no subject) |
[Sep. 14th, 2006|11:39 am] |
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Short notice but... Anyone down for tonight at Brusens? My schedule is getting kind of tight, yo... I'll call you soon. |
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| coming home |
[Sep. 4th, 2006|05:03 pm] |
| [ | Current Mood |
| | optimistic | ] |
First of all, if you guys are reading this CONGRATULATIONS!!! again to Nikki and Isaia, definitely update me when you find out if it's twins or not.
This is our last week in China. If there are any last minute requests get them in soon, and I'll do what I can to make it happen, storage space is limited though.
It's been a great summer. We got married again. Although we couldn't get a marriage license here in China because you have to have proof that you're single in order to get married. Since we're married already, we can't prove we're single. It's retarded if you ask me but what can we do? I've traveled more this summer than any other time in my life, and finally know what the train experience in China is like. The list of places I've been to in China is now nicely stacked, and I'm very happy that I got to share most of them with my Mrs. And the list reads, in chronological order: Beijing, Tianjin, Hainan, Taibei, Tainan, Taizhong, Hongkong, Shenzhen, Chengdu, Fujian, Shanghai, Lhasa, Kunming, Lijiang, Shangrila. There are still more that I'd love to visit, and some on the list I'd like to live in for a bit, but I need a job first.
Speaking of living places without a job. After we get back to Seattle on the 12th there is only a week or so for us to pick up the new Prius, pack all our crap into it, and drive down to San Francisco by the 18th. Where I will be unemployed and paying through the nose to make ends. Since we don't know when we'll have the time/money to visit again, we're hoping to have some kind of get together with all the people before we leave. Anyone who's read this far let me know what you think, dinner, singing, movies...? |
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