Perspective

The last episode of Six Feet Under showed a beautiful collage of all the main characters and how they died. The last five minutes of the show fast-forwarded through an eighty year period and froze at important moments in the characters' lives (like weddings and deaths).

It was incredibly comforting to know how small things (that seem like a big deal now) are really nothing in light of impending death.

No one ever looks back at their life and thinks: I regret never losing those last five pounds. Or, I wonder what so-and-so (someone I barely know) thinks of me? Or, I wish I had studied more.

Is it morbid to be so cheered and comforted at the thought of death?

Your Tireless Do-Gooder

Even in the midst of studying for finals (3 more weeks until school's out!!!), I find the time to provide you with even more superficial crap for your brain-and-soul-rotting pleasure. I know, you're welcome, I'm a selfless giver, what can I say?

Check out the new sidelink to some sweet celeb bashing:

Feeling Fuggy.

Ralph Understands

I've always loved flowers and couldn't quite put my finger on why...until I saw this quote today.

"Earth laughs in flowers."

-Ralph Waldo Emerson

Couldn't have said it better myself.

What is comedy and laughter but joy? What is gallows humor but the attempt to find light in even the darkest places? I've always wanted to be a comedian, a joy-spreader.

P.S. I've added another link: Semi-Serious Business. Melly goes to B-school!

Almost Perfect

Spring is now here in full force.


Everywhere you look there's tulips, hyacinths, and daffodils...

...and unfortunately, young people making-out. Blech!

How do you say 'Google' in Chinese?

(I found this excerpt to be funny in a much too nerdy way...my apologies to those who don't speak Chinese. Thanks Emily for the post! )

43% of Chinese Internet users referred to the search engine with the English word "Google,"

26% used a Chinese pronunciation, "gougou" ("dog dog") and

13% used a Chinese pronunciation, "gugou," that sounds like "ancient dog."

Google undertook its own survey and discovered an even larger range of imaginative pronunciations, including "guoguo" (fruit fruit) and "gougou" (check check)...

The final choice, (goo-guh, song of the grain), appealed to Google's Asia Pacific Chief Marketing Officer, Wang Huainan, late in 2005. It means "Song of the Grain," expressing the abundance of harvest, but also "Song of the Valley"--a reference to the company's Silicon Valley roots, according to Zhang Jing, Director of Marketing, Asia Pacific.

Did you get all the translations? (dog-dog, check-check, ancient dog, etc.) Which one did you like best? I thought the "ancient dog" was the closest in phonemes.

Happy Easter

I have learned the secret...

to being discontent in any circumstance,
whether in plenty or in want,
in sickness or health,
in safety or peril.

Sweater Weather: I think I'm in Love

You don't know who you are until you know your ideal weather.

I have lived 26 years on this earth and never once experienced a true Spring. I'm happy to have lived 3000 miles from the place I've always called home if only to finally know what the 4 seasons actually ARE!

And by far, my favorite is Spring.



I love the blossoming trees.
I love the tulips and hyacinths.
I love the chirping birds.
But most of all, I love the weather.

My ideal weather: 55-60 degrees with light winds of 5-10mph and patchy clouds.

It's the perfect climate for donning one of these and feeling oh so comfy and perfectly content for all the beauty of rebirth and redemption.

Orange you glad it's not banana?

Here's an idea for my new blog nom de plume:

Agent Nothing-Rhymes-With-Orange

How did I ever pull such a long and unwieldy name out of my arse?

Well, AGENT, comes from the fact that I feel like a secret agent, having to delete all references of my true identity from my blog...lest THEY find me.

And ORANGE is because I like oranges and fruit in general. And there was such a thing as agent orange, back in the 70's. A nod to history is always a good thing.

But I don't want to be AGENT ORANGE because that makes me sound like a toxic weapon of mass destruction, which is not a perception I want to encourage.

But there isn't a good substitute name because nothing rhymes with orange!!!!! Agent Shmorange? Agent (any other color) sounds stupid too. Agent Chartreuse? (ugh). Maybe Agent (some other fruit)...like Agent Pinapple? Agent Grapefruit? Agent Kiwi!

Love it? Hate it? "Eh, could be better. Go back to the drawing board."?

A Very Frasier Affair

I went to a wine-tasting at my friend's house last night.

It was pretty intense. This guy clearly knows and loves his wine.

We were each instructed to bring a specific kind of wine, from a specific region, of a specific vintage. My assigned wine was: Pinot Noir from the Central Valley from either 2001 or 2002.

The theme was: California Here I Come! And thus all the wines were from various parts of the Golden State.

As the tasting was about to commence we were handed four page packets of typed notes describing each wine, its ideal characteristics, flavors to look for, and foods to pair it with. At the bottom of each note was room for us to jot our own reflections on the color, taste, bouquet, aftertaste, and finally our own subjective score.

My favorites of the White category was: Chardonnay from Mendocino County.

My favorite Red was: My very own Pinot Noir!

And my favorite wine overall was: A Napa Valley dessert wine called Shahpar, Late Harvest. It was very sweet and smooth....a blend of late harvest semillon and sauvignon blanc. I gave it 10 out of 10!

I don't usually do such mature and cultured things like wine-tasting so the whole night felt a little surreal. Having gone straight into the poor undergrad life to the working poor to the poor grad-student kind of life, I've never felt like I had the excess time or money to indulge in extracurricular activities that extended beyond TV and pizza.

I wonder if I'll turn out to be a "Frasier". One of those people who regularly attends museums, art gallery openings, ballets, operas, and of course, wine-tastings.

America is stupid

Last night Mandisa was voted off of American Idol.


She was my idol favorite. *sob*. It's all my fault. I never voted for her. I was too darn lazy to pick up the phone.

Mandisa had an amazing spirit, a gracious heart, and a voice that could charm angels and demons alike. And not to mention, baby got back.


But don't cry for her Argentina -- with her gorgeous sunshiney smile I'm sure she's got plus-size modeling contracts up the yin-yang and multiple record deals just waiting for her John Hancock to grace them.

Soul for Sale

This is by far the most hilarious/ridiculous blog test I've ever seen.

I only have two questions: (1) How did they come up with this figure?! (2) How come I'm so cheap to buy?!

On Average, You Would Sell Out For

$1,074,517

At What Price Would You Sell Out?

Death when you least expect it

She died in the springtime of her spring.
Shirin Shakir,
A classmate I never met,
one year ahead of me.

She died in a boating accident in Peru,
during Spring Break.
I looked up her picture in our school directory.
She was astonishingly beautiful.

From her memorial website,
I gleaned she was a devout Muslim,
and slightly shy,
and will be missed by a handful of friends.

It's a fine line between life and death.
What are the chances?
Who could've known?
And what exactly are we supposed to make of this?

The Blogger Formerly Known as Christina

I need a new anonymous name for my blog.

Why? Because soon I have to work for "the Man." And "the Man" doesn't like employees who blog. (It shows a penchant toward indiscretion.)

So what should I call myself?