- Flew to Seattle for my first out of state trip-with-friends for Christmas2010/New Years 2011 with Kolkata teammates
- Bought a 50mm f1.4 (solid investment!)
- Went to four weddings (the first three which took place the first two months of the year)
- Was a bridesmaid for the first time in the wedding of one of my best college friends and roommate
- Co-led Mark 2 at Connections
- Stood with Kayleen when she got baptized
- Started making loan payments
- Ran the SF Half Marathon with Darrell and Mr. Chan
- Made amazing new friends and co-workers on a long, long road trip while learning bunches on Intern Trek 2011 (pictures not yet posted)
- Celebrated 3 years with Darrell
- Co-led ROC at Trilogy
- Ran the Silicon Valley 10K Turkey Trot with the brothers
- Received a brand new laptop for my birthday, along with free Microsoft Office that my roommate had lying around, Photoshop Elements, and a North Face backpack
- Paid for my own car repairs
- Gave my first LG talk
- Journaled a whole ton (almost finished one in less than a year...record since my This-is-what-happened-today-I-like-this writing in high school)
- Had semi-regular coffeeshop quiet times
- Joined IV staff
- Fundraised
- Worked my first year-long job, albeit part-time, which included shmoozing people, making marketing materials, working a website redesign, and [currently] putting together a publication, half which I authored
- Saw God provide with friends and finances at numerous points during the year
- Admitted I was an ESTJ
- Did listening prayer and was in awe of God's response
- Heard about a friend's suicide, and another's tragedy
- Attended two memorial services
- Switched churches (but still have a partial home in both)
- Set up a budget (and kinda stuck to it)
Saturday, December 31, 2011
Some things that happened in 2011
Wednesday, December 28, 2011
What's in a name?
Dad, did you write poems to mom?
A typical Chinese restaurant with the familiar buzz of conversation, three generations sitting at a table, and bowls of rice held closely to your face. We always knew that mom and dad named us early in their dating years, giving names like little rain for the weather as they rode together on a motorcycle during college days, little road for the path they walked together.
My assumption was that little poem was for poem's that they wrote to each other, but though my parents use Chinese equivalents of "honey" and "dear", I have yet to hear them recite poetry to each other. So where, mom and dad, did my name come from?
On a tangent, we brainstorm a few other names that would have been funny had we had more siblings. Little wind, to go with the rain and thunder, would have been fun for a younger sister, but xiao fong is phonetically similar to Little Crazy, and that would never do.
We wanted 雷風 (Lei Fong--thunder and wind), but that would have been too much, my mom says to explain 小雷 (Xiao Lei), Little Thunder, our youngest brother.
Xioa Shi--the beautiful story that sums everything up, a story so beautiful like a poem. Dad says while mom leaves the table to wash her hands. Dad says this with the look that always makes us roll our eyes, the daddy look of one so proud.
Mom returns and we stay on topic. But we had a girl, and you can't name a girl Little Thunder. So I said to your dad, I want a 詩情畫意 name.
詩情畫意 (Shi Ching Hua Yi)--A Chinese saying you use when something is so beautiful it's like a hua tu (picture) and shi ching (like a song) at the same time. Or like painting poetry. And so my name--the exact characters 詩情 --they named me.
潘詩情--when you write it out, it is so, so beautiful, my mom says. Did I know my mom so loved my birth name? The feeling, the emotion of love. I always directly translated it to Love Poem, but now, 23 years later, I find there is so much more.
The third child, the one with a special name that breaks the traditional pattern of matching sibling names. Of course, they give me 小詩 to match with 小雨, 小 路 ,小雷. And at times I have been wondered about the loss of the name my parents first gave me, remembering my days as a child when people would use my official name, birth name. When we cross paths with old family friends, they call me 詩情. But these days, most people don't know that the Little Poem is, well, a nickname that matches with Little Rain, Little Road, and Little Thunder.
But tonight, I will remember I am different and I am special. Though a big family and four-kids family builds in a seemingly never-ending comparison complex, though often a half thought is often spent hoping your siblings don't take things the wrong way, though your parents remind you often that they love you all, love you all so much...tonight I hear the passion in my mom's voice as she tells me my name was taken straight from a beautiful, beautiful phrase. Though I chuckle in my head that a daughter named after such emotion often chooses cold reason instead, I also marvel that I have lived so long not knowing how much my mom loves my name. If I could, I would give her permission to call me by that first name again.
Tonight I will sign my name as
潘詩情
A typical Chinese restaurant with the familiar buzz of conversation, three generations sitting at a table, and bowls of rice held closely to your face. We always knew that mom and dad named us early in their dating years, giving names like little rain for the weather as they rode together on a motorcycle during college days, little road for the path they walked together.
My assumption was that little poem was for poem's that they wrote to each other, but though my parents use Chinese equivalents of "honey" and "dear", I have yet to hear them recite poetry to each other. So where, mom and dad, did my name come from?
On a tangent, we brainstorm a few other names that would have been funny had we had more siblings. Little wind, to go with the rain and thunder, would have been fun for a younger sister, but xiao fong is phonetically similar to Little Crazy, and that would never do.
We wanted 雷風 (Lei Fong--thunder and wind), but that would have been too much, my mom says to explain 小雷 (Xiao Lei), Little Thunder, our youngest brother.
Xioa Shi--the beautiful story that sums everything up, a story so beautiful like a poem. Dad says while mom leaves the table to wash her hands. Dad says this with the look that always makes us roll our eyes, the daddy look of one so proud.
Mom returns and we stay on topic. But we had a girl, and you can't name a girl Little Thunder. So I said to your dad, I want a 詩情畫意 name.
詩情畫意 (Shi Ching Hua Yi)--A Chinese saying you use when something is so beautiful it's like a hua tu (picture) and shi ching (like a song) at the same time. Or like painting poetry. And so my name--the exact characters 詩情 --they named me.
潘詩情--when you write it out, it is so, so beautiful, my mom says. Did I know my mom so loved my birth name? The feeling, the emotion of love. I always directly translated it to Love Poem, but now, 23 years later, I find there is so much more.
The third child, the one with a special name that breaks the traditional pattern of matching sibling names. Of course, they give me 小詩 to match with 小雨, 小 路 ,小雷. And at times I have been wondered about the loss of the name my parents first gave me, remembering my days as a child when people would use my official name, birth name. When we cross paths with old family friends, they call me 詩情. But these days, most people don't know that the Little Poem is, well, a nickname that matches with Little Rain, Little Road, and Little Thunder.
But tonight, I will remember I am different and I am special. Though a big family and four-kids family builds in a seemingly never-ending comparison complex, though often a half thought is often spent hoping your siblings don't take things the wrong way, though your parents remind you often that they love you all, love you all so much...tonight I hear the passion in my mom's voice as she tells me my name was taken straight from a beautiful, beautiful phrase. Though I chuckle in my head that a daughter named after such emotion often chooses cold reason instead, I also marvel that I have lived so long not knowing how much my mom loves my name. If I could, I would give her permission to call me by that first name again.
Tonight I will sign my name as
潘詩情
Saturday, December 24, 2011
Multi-ethnic America
The Talk (what a creative name for a talk show)--Four women hosting, and the lead host is a Chinese American. Today, Margaret Cho is a guest. Two Chinese women, a black woman, two white Americans.
"This is America! Chinese, Korean, Blacks--all on TV!," dad exclaims. But the confusing part is why is this still such a victory and not the norm?
A facebook post from an old friend: "you know you're getting old when people you went to middle school with are having kids...but then it could be just because they're 白人, since there is a trend with 亞洲人 getting married later than 白人...and then 非洲人 are already grandparents at my age."
As if your racism can be masked by language.
We will have hot pot for Christmas dinner tomorrow.
"This is America! Chinese, Korean, Blacks--all on TV!," dad exclaims. But the confusing part is why is this still such a victory and not the norm?
A facebook post from an old friend: "you know you're getting old when people you went to middle school with are having kids...but then it could be just because they're 白人, since there is a trend with 亞洲人 getting married later than 白人...and then 非洲人 are already grandparents at my age."
As if your racism can be masked by language.
We will have hot pot for Christmas dinner tomorrow.
Saturday, December 3, 2011
Last year's Christmas present
In the past year, I've completed a half marathon and a 10K and played in two ultimate tournaments.
Chyeahhh baby. Putting the Asics to good use!
Chyeahhh baby. Putting the Asics to good use!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)