Vesper's blog

Whoever Dies w/ the Most Money Wins
Oct 28, 2006

What was your biggest regret during college? Not accepting that orgy invitation? Not asking that hot girl out even at the risk of total public humiliation? Should have experimented more with partners, sexual preferences, BDSM, pills, powders, food, ideas, et cetera?

I was talking with a friend of mine regarding our undergraduate experiences and the discussion got on to things we should have done in college, but never did. I was expecting a heart wrenching, angst laden story. But no, his biggest regret was not joining a secret society while at Yale.

I sat there wide-eyed in disbelieve as he gave his fictional account of how he could have gotten himself into something like Skulls and Bones. The performance and design aspect of obtaining membership is actually a given, unless you have legacy capital. No, what shocked me was that he was narrating the textbook definition of status envy.

Even at Yale, when you are already part of the elite, they have to create these further artificial boundaries to separate the haves from the have-nots. I don't know which one is more tragic, to create these cliques just so you can feel even more powerful amongst the already powerful, or to perpetuate the myth of power by coveting and orchestrating acceptance, knowing your chance is slim or even null.

Status envy is everywhere. It is in every TV show, it is part of the American Dream. It's even here at VOX. Did YOU get an invitation to the launch party yesterday? (Okay, the latter is a cheap shot.) I don't know, maybe it is human nature to want the things we can't have, to belong to something, and to flaunt and be judged by the things we obtained. Maybe Woody Allen's movie Match Point is really an inspirational story. We can't all be Thoreau, right? Oh things.

Welcome to the human race, whoever dies with the most things, wins.

What's your sign? What do you think of astrology and horoscopes?

我是在雙魚座與牧羊座的交界下生的﹐所以註定了一輩子情緒相悖﹐人格矛盾﹐精神分裂。

以下是偶然在網絡上看到的﹕

雙魚牡羊座﹕
綜合雙魚的神秘幽深與牧羊座的外向活潑的雙魚牧羊，往往是一种擁有雙重性格的人。然而不若雙子那般顯著，他所隱含的另一面也許連他自己也難以發現，只會在極端的情境之下體現出來，這個區間的人在小說中無不有極悲慘的身世，卻不可思議地持有難以致信的樂觀態度。雙魚牧羊跨越的不僅是從冬到春的界限，也是從复雜到簡單、從結束到開端、從死亡到新生的界限。雙魚牧羊匯集星座間所有的思想與領悟，將之歸于零，再推展出新的開始。

哎.... 好像對我沒啥幫助。知道自己的星座又如何哪﹖ 知道自己就可以戰勝自己嗎﹖江山易改﹐本性難移﹐更何況這種模棱兩可的解說。我不知道我到底在做什麼。

Vidal Sassoon Fan Tail: I GOT IT TO WORK!!

Vidal Sassoon has this latest hair gadget that is supposed to "create the latest look in messy up-do's in seconds." It's called the "Fan Tail." It sells for about $3 at Claire's.

Well, the instructions were completely not understandable, and after some Googling for better instructions, I realized that 99.9% of the online community have officially called it a total piece of crap. The main problem is that the instructions just do not match with reality. Basically it states:

1. Gather hair at back of head in a ponytail, secure it with a braided elastic
2. Place Fan Tail™ on top of the ponytail
3. Twist the Fan Tail™ clockwise until it is secure
4. Pull some of hair through the center hole to help disguise the Fan Tail™
5. Take small sections of hair and wind around the base of the ponytail, securing the ends in each small hook.
6. Work clockwise and secure pieces of hair under each small hole
7. Back-comb hair

Anyways, don't bother reading it because even if all 7 steps came with photos and a Youtube video, you still couldn't create the mythical messy up-do.

The problem with hair gadgets is that everybody's hair is so different. Different texture, length, and thickness. There is no one-size fits all instruction, especially for something complex.

Ultimately, you just have to FIGURE IT OUT. Let end justifies the means.

So for me, here is my personal instructions:

1. Put the hair in a high ponytail and secure it with a small elastic band.
2. Split the ponytail in two (two bunches one on top another).
3. Flip the top section over the head and just leave it there for now.
4. Twist the Fan Tail clockwise over the lower section until most of the hair is caught inside the hooks.
5. Pull the hair through the ring, twist some more to secure the Fan Tail.
6. Now let down the top section around the ring, and secure pieces of hair with the outer hooks.

Anyways, that's how I got the Vidal Sassoon Fan Tail to work for me. When I get some time I'll put up some pictures of the end result. Good luck!

D.C.: New York for Ugly People?

BLT Market

Had my semi-farewell dinner at BLT Market last night, one week before I'm off for my 10 week internship in Washington, D.C.. I figured it would be a nice touch since the restaurant specializes in using fresh local produce.... anything to savor every last bit of New York. Where else would you spend an arm and a leg for a "country dining experience"? Only in New York. I haven't even left NYC yet and I'm already feeling sentimental!

The evening was great. One of the best soft-shell crab appetizer ever, with seasonal greens. Plus good food and extremely attentive service. The annoying tourist/banker crowds were actually bearable. But the icing on the cake was being a part of the Ritz - loved being greeted by hotel staff at every turn. Major points off for no lotion in the bathrooms, though.

The sad part came when my friend commented that DC is essentially NYC for ugly people. Oh man that was HARSH! I haven't really paid that much attention to how people ranked on the looker scale when I was in DC in April, but I definitely have noticed an obvious lack of individualized fashion. There were a lot of suits and they mostly fell within two categories: preppy or old. Although I felt very much at ease in DC, I did remember not encountering any head-turning situations. Nobody was chasing after the train in four-inch stiletto, no Japanese girls in babydoll dresses, no ghetto-fab girls in blinding bling-bling, and... well, basically a lot of nothing.

Well, maybe things will be better after I'm actually LIVING in DC. Or maybe perhaps the intern-crowd will be more interesting. I HOPE I HOPE I HOPE. That will be my goal this summer - In search of fashion and individuality in Washington, D.C.

Push-Ups

I can do eight regular push-ups now. Yay!

My goal is to be able to do 30 consecutive regular push-ups by the end of the summer.

My training thus far:
1 set of 30 modified push-ups at least once a week
1 set of 30 modified tricep push-ups at least once a week
1 set of 30 modified bomber push-ups at least once a week

Dive Bomber Push-ups ROCK.

Exercise Clip - Dive Bomber Push-up with SGT Ken

Two Things I Hate the MOST

1) People who cheat on their spouse
1.5) People who knowingly participate in helping people cheat on their spouse

2) Bad Tippers. Or worse: Bad tippers who can't do math that tip so poorly you're embarrassed to go back to that restaurant again.

It was good as good goes

Lovely song from the Dave Matthews Band

Stay Or Leave - Dave Matthews

Quitters

The Falun Gong creeps me out, but they do have a sense of humor:

Chinese Quitters

Don't Let the Bedbugs Bite

There is a bedbug epidemic in New York City!!!

Now I'm TOTALLY FREAKED OUT, not to mention itching all over. How can I prevent those blood suckers from attacking my apartment? How do I know they are not already here? I'm going totally paranoid. *sob* I want to move back to Oregon....

UPDATE: Four floors of my apartment building down. Building maintenance staff scrambling to book exterminators and pleading with tenants not to bomb their apartments because it will spread infestation to adjacent units. Co-worker's Astoria apartment now down as well. He had bedbug bites all over his body. Had to resist the urge to hose him down before he enters office. It's only a matter of time...

Practice Running Behind a Bus

Practice by running behind a bus is kind of a funny idea for athletes preparing to compete in Beijing this year for the Olympics. (I have a lot of experience with that, running behind a bus, that is.) I love this really interesting article in the NYTimes on the strategies and concerns of trainers preparing top athletes for the heavy polluted air in Beijing.

I think Beijing is one of the most beautiful and magnificent cities in the world, but almost everyone I know gets sick within a week of visiting there. That's why I'm not totally convinced with the strategy of the trainers for athletes to arrive at the last possible moment. Maybe their "multipronged" strategy is different, but I think it might be better to get there way early and get OVER the obligatory respiratory infection.

If I were competing I would probably bring my own food as well. My aunt who lives in Shanghai (another awesome city) travels to America to buy soy sauce from Costco, then brings it back with her so she doesn't have to use local soy sauce. SO FUNNY! I know Beijing has been very careful about the food preparation process in the Olympic Village, but better safe than sorry!