[Beside a fruit and vegetable cart on Broadway and 109th]

"Hey man, can you help me out? I'm starving. Can you buy me two tomatoes... and some garlic? I'm starving."

If I was starving and had or could beg for a few dollars, I'd buy a bag of rice or some bread. I could be wrong, but I don't think garlic is typically desired or consumed by starving people.

We really are social, communal beings. Activities which can be fully appreciated solitarily rarely are appreciated solitarily. Examples are watching a movie, going to the theater, going for a concert, and dining at a restaurant. People hardly ever do these things by themselves. It's somewhat ironic. If we intend to be fully absorbed in a movie, does it make a difference if our friends are with us? It's almost a social necessity not to enjoy these things alone. I've seen films on my own when I've been traveling by myself. In spite of that, and my realizations of not needing others to experience things, I still tend to make negative attributions when I see someone sitting down in a cinema by themselves. I wonder if they have no or few friends. I wonder if they have no love-life. I'm being rational and irrational at the same time. But then, I already know that this world is full of absurdities.

Is today "Julia Stiles Day"?

I walked past her on campus, barely recognizing her. On my way home, without deliberately looking at the magazines at the newsstand, I saw her on the cover of Bazaar. The first-person image and the magazine image are very different. It's amazing what makeup, a hairdresser, lighting and airbrushing can do. In person, she looked like the average student, she didn't have a celebrity-aura. Al Pacino did when I saw him - but he's in another league.

Two yolks emerged from an egg I cracked. Is there a meaning behind it, is it a sign? My mom thinks so. Personally, I was slightly put off... It made me think that the egg came from a genetically-engineered, hormone-pumped hen. The Chinese view yolks positively. They are somewhat golden, so they could symbolize wealth or fortune. They are also round, and also symbolize the moon (e.g. in moon cakes). I could interpret this as meaning fortune is heading my way. I'm actually expecting a hefty direct-deposit (aka. paycheck) in the next few days. It'll be double the usual amount, because the last one didn't come through.

Sunday afternoon. I thought I saw some chocolate on my face near my mouth when I looked at my mirror, for I had just eaten several pieces of chocolate. I couldn't wipe it off. It was actually bruising from my fight the day before. Chocolate and bruises... though similar in color, almost opposite in the feelings and sensations they invoke. I don't think many other people have confused the two.

I think I'd win best film at Cannes if my recent dreams were made into movies.

Today I considered my life from the perspective of a monkey. To do that more authentically, I tried to embody the spirit of a monkey, which involved moving around like one. It was invigorating. I learned a few things I could apply to my life.

Like me, you've probably multi-tasked while on the phone. While talking or listening, you've probably organized some stuff at your desk, taken stuff out of your bag, etc. I experienced something unusual today while I was on the phone...

Have you ever wondered where your phone was, while you were using it?

Today I found out that I'm credited with starting a club at my undergraduate college - the Hong Kong Club. Years ago I planned and held some events for fun. The group has become official now, with elections, a constitution and all. This is somewhat of an honor, although an unexpected one.

I am and have been part of a lot of student organizations. If I was to list them you may have to scroll down quite a bit to get to the end. At this point I feel like mentioning just one: ALAS, which stands for the Anglo-Saxon Literature Appreciation Society. Would you have guessed I was in a group like that?

"One day in retrospect the years of struggle will strike you as the most beautiful."
- Sigmund Freud (1856-1939)

What if I know this already? What will I be struck with in the future?

It's not fair... I shouldn't get a paper cut from CARD!!!

Changing the topic completely, have you ever got a letter that had "The United States of America" as the letterhead? Yes, I got something very official today. It's a receipt notice for my application for employment authorization.

In high school a teacher of mine gave me an award at the end of the school year for being the Oracle. I got "The Book of Useless Facts" - which was blank and was for me to fill up.

Last night there was possible evidence of possessing another trait of Oracles - being able to see into the future. I dreamt that I received feedback (comments and a grade) on a paper that I have yet to submit. I tried hard to remember the comments, so that I could make some adjustments before I submit it. Unfortunately, I don't recall any specific comments, but I do recall where the comments were in the paper and some general themes.

I don't actually believe I saw into the future. I like to think I did... I think most of us would like to have some supernatural powers. I'm sure my mind was playing tricks on me, it was just a dream. Or maybe, I'm developing a dissociative identity disorder, and an alter-ego marked the paper for me... ;)

"Better never to have met you in my dream than to wake and reach for hands that are not there."
- Otomo No Yakamochi

Quite mystical. I completely understand the sentiment and am in agreement with it right now. However, at all other times I tend to believe the opposite, expressed familiarly by Alfred Lord Tennyson -

"'Tis better to have loved and lost than never to have loved at all."

My skills at adapting and fitting in to different social environments was affirmed today. Someone at work said that she considers me one of her "girlfriends" (Disclaimer: She said this is not because I'm girly, but because I listen and share well, and I'm close).

Is there a snack food better than otsumami?

The light that burns twice as bright burns half as long

"There is a need in all of us to have a place to hide or store certain memories, thoughts, impulses, hopes and dreams. These are part of our lives that we can't resolve or best not act upon but at the same time we are afraid to jettison them. For some, this is a physical place; for others, it is a mental space, and for a few it is neither."

- Wong Kar Wai, filmmaker (sounding like a psychologist)

It was brought up in one of the short plays I saw last night that love and crime are very similar. They're both enticing, but they both carry risk. If one messes up in love or crime, they're worse off than when they started. No matter how much you plan and no matter how you act/behave, there is no perfect crime/relationship. There is always risk of getting caught or getting hurt, always things out of your control.

The language that people sometimes use in the workplace is very imaginative and colorful. Do you know what it means when someone "doesn't like to hang out their laundry?" Do you know what a "straw man" is?

I think it's interesting that people schedule meetings around coffee; that they make plans to drink it. I try to avoid coffee, but still understand the convention to say, "let's go get a coffee."

I've found a way to counteract the difficulties of getting up, getting ready and leaving my apartment early in the morning. Interestingly, I haven't been challenged with this since I was in high school. I'm not sure what my solution was then, or if I had one.

Instead of thinking "I'm so tired" and having that thought swimming around my head, "I feel so peaceful" is the mantra that flows. It's uplifting. Also, I remind myself that traveling early in the morning is quieter and the streets and public transport is far less crowded.

As of April 5th, my blog is 3 years old. I actually missed the anniversary/birthday and am posting this a few days after it (I'm able to alter the time and date of the post). I made some really profound comments last year about the principles behind this blog. It felt like I did that just the other day. It's very cliche when people say time flies... but, I have to say that it really feels like it has (when I think about my blog). When I think about the rest of my life, a lot has changed actually. It's interesting how there's this discrepancy, that time doesn't seem to pass as slowly in a blog. I suppose, however, that if I read over every post from the last year that might change...

It's quite humorous that someone who works where I do (at a financial services firm) considers their child a "long-term investment"...

He was a writer. He thought he wrote about the future but it really was the past. In his novel, a mysterious train left for 2046 every once in a while. Everyone who went there had the same intention ... to recapture their lost memories.

It was said that in 2046, nothing ever changed. Nobody knew for sure if it was true, because nobody who went there had ever come back - except for one. He was there. He chose to leave. He wanted to change.

[Synopsis of 2046]