Tuesday, September 30, 2008

I'm an aunt! :)

My sister had her baby!!! I haven't had a chance to talk to them yet, but thanks to Twitter and Facebook I know that I am officially an aunt. To a little boy named Zeb.

I can't wait to get back to the States and see the two new additions to my little world!! :)

Wednesday, September 24, 2008

WTF?

I hate hotmail. I never use it, but I still have an account from ages ago that I periodically check. Apparently the Flroida McCain campaign somehow got ahold of it and has been spamming it like crazy... also I've somehow been added to the mailing list of an Afircan American dating site. My junk folder is filled to the brim with "Palin to speak in Tampa!" and "We hate Obama!" emails and "Meet Other Black People!!" messages. Perfect for me.

I'm neither a Republican nor black... so I'm pretty sure I never joined either of those mailing lists.

I guess that's what the junk folder is for.

Tuesday, September 23, 2008

Oh Florida...

Check out this wonderful news story! This guy's from Florida, but it really could be anywhere in America.

http://www.mollygood.com/florida-man-gets-down-to-real-issues-20080918/

Please note that it says Muslin, not Muslim.

Just... yeah.

Thursday, September 18, 2008

Scary Times Ahead...

The news of all of the economic turmoil in America has me a little scared. For once, I'm glad that I don't have any stocks and not a whole lot of money tied up in banks. For the first time in a long time people are questioning their deposits in banks. Hopefully this doesn't lead to a rash of withdrawals that will deplete our banking system.

As I get ready to move back to the States, I can't help but worry about the economic situation there. Unemployment is rising and it seems that everything else is plummeting. Credit, which is pretty much the backbone of the American economy, is becoming harder to come by and businesses around the world are suffering for it. I keep hearing conflicting reports from all fronts. Some people are saying that we're approaching the next Great Depression while some people say that the US is bound to have recovered by the second quarter of 2009. Both reports are coming from respected economists from various parts of the world... Who to trust?

Plenty of people are just looking for someone to blame for this mess that we're in, but me? I just want someone to fix it. Personally, I'm pretty shocked and scared by the level of involvement of the public sector in the recent financial debacles. First the Fed basically gifts Bear Stearns to JP Morgan using taxpayers' dollars and now public funds are going to bail out AIG? Yikes. We're reaching hundreds of billions of dollars this year that have gone just to save companies' asses. I'm not saying that it was the wrong thing to do... but we better get used to the idea that our taxes will be raised next year. Obama's tax the rich policy is looking better and better to me. We have to pay for it somehow, and McCain's policies just don't seem to cut it for me. Sure the $115,000 extra Obama's plan promises to tax the wealthiest 1% of America is substantial - but the wealthiest 1% of America makes in the millions EVERY YEAR. And not just one or two million... usually 10 or 20. Frankly, I don't feel too badly for them. No one needs that much money.

I would also like to say that greed in the US is out of control. The (in)famous "Greed is Good" speech has been playing a lot in the US from what I hear. I disagree with that mantra whole heartedly. As any American, I definitely experience my fair share of greed, whether I want to admit it or not, but I don't complain about paying taxes and I think it's great when our government designates taxpayer money to the poor and underprivileged of our nation. Yes it's my money, but there are people who need it more than I. What pisses me off? Useless spending of my hard earned dollars on weapons, wars and white elephants.

Thursday, September 11, 2008

Seriously??

What is wrong with America? I truly cannot understand what Americans are talking about half the time with regard to politics. Lipstick? Seriously? Is that really what we need to be focusing on? Who the fuck cares? And why are we listening to them? It was a stupid thing to say on Obama's part because he should have known better than to think that people would react rationally to his use of a common saying. Next thing you know he'll be saying "Isn't that the pot calling the kettle black?" with expectations that no one would think that this was a racist comment. I bet you that he would be wrong.

Americans can't seem to focus on the issues, and frankly, even when they do I have to wonder about their priorities. I get wanting to see values that you hold close to your heart present in a president... but why is it SO important that woman not be able to abort their babies under any circumstances that you are willing to ignore all of the other issues? Countless studies have come to the same conclusion - if the people from the Heartland voted according to their best interests economically and politically they should vote democrat (religion and "moral" issues aside). Middle America has been suffering because of their refusal to move away from voting with their church. I just really don't understand.

Also.. why is being well educated a bad thing?

I'm looking forward to the debates. I hope people actually listen to them this year.

Tuesday, September 9, 2008

Personality Tests

I think almost everyone has taken at least one personality test in their life. One of the more common ones out there is the MyersBrigg. Well I remember taking it in high school and I'm pretty sure my score back then was ISTP. Then I took it in college a number of times and consistently got ENFP. The two are pretty different... and the best part is now I am firmly back to ISTP. Apparently my personality was completely different in college than it is now. This is good to know. Also, I do not have a unique personality. ENFP is almost 9% of the population and ISTP is about 5.5% of the population. These numbers may seem small... but they're not. I'm ok with that though because I read some of the rarer personality descriptions and decided that I don't necessarily want to be like that...

I've been researching personality tests and other things linked to psych lately so it's been fun to take random tests and see how I fare and fall in with the rest of the population. The good news is, I totally don't have schizpohrenia.

Friday, September 5, 2008

All alone...

Sage and Bailey left yesterday for Seattle. This means that I am officially alone in Shanghai! No more family here, or cute dogs to keep me company. The apartment feels pretty weird without anyone in it... and knowing that they're not coming back while I'm here. It's bizarre...

Last night was therefore my first night alone in the apartment, which is always creepy for me. I've lived by myself before so I'm not too freaked out, but getting used to the noises that can no longer be explained by other people or a dog takes some getting used to. I should also probably stop watching shows about serial killers. I won't... but it would probably calm me down a bit. I was up until 4 last night because I was sort of on edge. I'm also sadder than I thought I would be about being here alone. After I saw Sage and Bailey off and walked back upstairs to the empty apartment it sort of hit me for the first time. Oh well... I will make the best of it! Not too much longer now.

I'm fast approaching my one year anniversary of my life in Shanghai! I'll have to do something to celebrate, like eat Shanghai dumplings and go to Yuyuan gardens or something. OK I probably won't go to Yuyuan, but I think I can do the dumplings thing.

I'm sort of sad that I'm missing the whole election time in the U.S. I bet it's amazing to see and to be a part of. I'm still working on registering for my absentee ballot, and it's really frustrating. I might have to find somewhere to print out a piece of paper and mail it back to the U.S. which could take forever. I don't understand why I can't just register at the local consulate. It's like they don't want us to vote! Maybe they think because this is China we're all turning communist. Or maybe just communist with Chinese characteristics.

Wednesday, September 3, 2008

Pigeons!

At my office I sit facing a wall of windows. This means that I often look up and stare out the window when I am thinking or something interesting catches my eye. In so doing, I have often noticed flocks of pigeons flying together, seemingly in circles. Turns out, here in Shanghai there are pigeon trainers. These people train their groups of pigeons to stay together and to race other pigeon trainers' pigeons. So what I see is them practicing. I don't know the particulars... like what the prizes are or the exact rules of the pigeon numbers and formations, but I assume that there are some. I also assume that the prize is money, as I bet that they gamble on the outcome. I have seen a number of these pigeon trainers around the city actually, and once someone actually explained what they were, I noticed a few more. I can't say it's the weirdest thing I've seen since I've been here... but there's something a bit strange about training pigeons to fly together in circles in a race against another group of pigeons also flying in a circle. Maybe that's just me.