I had a conversation with Amy today about the self-check out machines that are popping up in so many supermarkets and chain stores. Amy thinks they're a bad idea because she'd much rather have a person check her groceries out. I told her that I found the self-check out machines annoying when the person in front of me doesn't know how to use it, ( Read more... )

On this Independence day weekend, I finally got around to watching Saving Private Ryan. I just finished the movie, and my first reaction is a sick feeling in the pit of my stomach. Perhaps I don’t watch enough TV to be desensitized to mass, corporeal violence, but I have never watched a movie that physically affected me as much and as long as ( Read more... )

Tomorrow I move out of the apartment that I've been living in for the past 9 months. It was my first apartment, first time living on my own. Looking back, it was a good experience of the real world, albeit on training wheels since most of the expenses were covered by my parents. It was an experience that was rather expensive because it ( Read more... )

My friend Rowan from study aboard in Beijing is finally back from her year long tour of Asia. It just reminds me that it's almost a year ago that I embarked on my trip to China with so much uncertainty. In the end, everything turned out very well, and I learn a lot during the summer than at any other time about people, society and life. I had a ( Read more... )

Yesterday, I heard on NPR a short segment about the strong correlation between a man's socio-economic status and that of his fathers' in contemporary American society. Although I've always known about the economic inequalities in America and the idea that money makes money, I think there's more to it than just the monetary benefits of coming from ( Read more... )

I had a conversation with the female grad students in my lab who were ( Read more... )

I visited the Chapel Hill public library today. It's been at least 9 years since I've been there and its interior hasn't changed much. I was very surprised that the library didn't feel any smaller to me since whenever I visit some place from my childhood that used to seem big, it would now seem small. I guess either I haven't grown much in the ( Read more... )

I used to think that wrinkles on other people's faces were like decoration; something as natural as the red color of the wool sweater that a person is wearing. It showed their personality and individuality, because like finger prints no two people will have the same wrinkles on their faces (not even identical twins). And that was it. But ( Read more... )