Thoughts on public comments and responding thereof

I wish I can write this in Mandarin, and I will probably try later. The problem is my Mandarin writing skills and thinking process disable me from writing this in Mandarin smoothly. (but please try to read and/or try Google Translate...)

I have a lot of time on hand, which means I get to read a lot and think a lot: news, scientific magazines, research studies; I also read a lot of people's status updates and comments on FB. Nearly every day, I want to pull my hair out.

Here are a three examples:

- a friend posted a photo of children in their community. A child didn't wear shoes while others did. So the parent of this shoes-less child commented that - oh my child was the only one that didn't wear shoes. Then another person commented: aboriginal tribes' children don't (have to) wear shoes. 

- a friend posted report a piece of news that cited incorrect data on HIV prevalence. After pointing out to this friend that the data are incorrect and hence the news is not reliable, this friend said: but it is good to use this incorrect and inflated data, because people will be more aware of this issue.

- a friend posted a status update stating that due to rabies, people should refrain from eating dog meats. 

Why are these comments bothering me? 

In the first example, the person made an implicit note that discriminated children (and perhaps also the parents) in the aboriginal tribes. It was stereotyping and discriminating to link aboriginals to low socioeconomic status such as no shoes were anticipated. The fact that wearing shoes had nothing to do with race/ethnicity/background, but more to do with parenting and income. (I could not care less whether the child was wearing shoes.) 

In the second example, the person does not recognize and appreciate the importance and value of evidence and that truth, regardless good or bad, should based on true evidence. Moreover, that the public should not but will be manipulated by false information.

In the third example, the person (jokingly perhaps), but made the connection that the disease - rabies, is transmitted from eating animals that were infected.

It upsets me that many people do not possess an awareness towards discriminatory comments, and a serious attitude towards evidence and science. 

I can see why this happened and why many people who also read the comments or status updates were not angry. Perhaps, this was due to a lack of training in science and critical thinking, and/or a lack of curiosity, empathy, and sympathy to the world around them. 

It also upsets me that most people do not care or realized the things that they say (or don't say) or do (or don't do) are a sign of accepting and surrendering. 

When I was younger, there would be people telling me that: oh this is not a big deal; let it go; forget about it; what can you do; it's the world, you can't change them; ignore them; one rice and hundreds of people. Dot dot dot, blah blah blah.

As I grew older, and began to think and ask myself - should I just sit on my ass and shut up about it? Is this what my education, training, and living abroad experience taught me? Should I stand up for what I believe in? 

I sometimes kept my mouth shut for the reason that perhaps a particular comment or thought was a social norm to them. As I am not part of their society or merely social group, I am (maybe) overstepping my boundary to make a comment on what I think one should think or act. As there are no golden rules in life (aside from a few) and beliefs and behaviors have a trace of history and societal values, I should not use my personal experience to hold that against them.

Woke up to a cup of coffee. 定時咖啡機 (programmable coffee maker)

週一時，神奇的咖啡機抵達家門口。

週二早晨，沒有一早起來就有咖啡，因為我把4am設成4pm。

週三，我終於 "wake up to a cup of coffee"。

在經過這麼多年的早晨泡咖啡，特別又因為我是一個morning person，所以除了跟我爸住有可能wake up to a cup of coffee之外，嗚嗚，我都是那個泡咖啡的人。

由於今天的wake up to a cup of coffee實在太感動了，讓我覺得要來分享為什麼這是值得的投資。所以我們先來basic Q&A.

Q: 咖啡好喝嗎?
A: 好喝。

在我剛來美國開始用咖啡機沖咖啡時，我一直覺得coffee maker的咖啡沒有french press or 摩卡壺好喝。ㄜ，的確是有點這樣，但又有點不是。French press的咖啡很好喝，咖啡的油脂和泡沫都喝得到。而咖啡機的沖泡技術設計/等級又的確影響咖啡的好喝程度 (聽說是這樣，否則為什麼咖啡機從20元一直賣到200元)。所以general認為咖啡機泡出來沒有french press or摩卡壺似乎可能對吧，當是用同一批豆子。

不過我在一次感恩節的party喝過了前天剛烘好，現磨現煮的咖啡後，我對咖啡機的想法就改觀了。咖啡機，用新鮮的豆子，可以煮出神般的咖啡。

經過我這幾年在國王牌即溶咖啡，法式壺、摩卡壺、咖啡機、手沖vs星巴克豆、在地豆、現烘豆等組合不專業的打滾幾年，我的心得是 - 豆子新鮮度是王道。

Okay, 其實water可能才是王道。但是我一直都用自來水，所以那不在我的研究範圍。

所以咖啡機的咖啡到底好不好喝。Good enough for 4 am. (Seriously, 我駑鈍的味覺雖然分辨不出紅酒中的巴拉巴拉berry味、earthy味、水果香、花香，etc，but I can taste bad coffee when I drink one)。

為什麼定時咖啡壺是值得的投資。因為it saves time。用法式壺的時候，早上大約需要花10分鐘的時間:煮水、沖泡。現在我省了10分鐘。而咖啡並沒有從95分變成85分。真的，it was a decent cup of coffee.

有人問我說，那這樣咖啡粉不就在空氣中放置一個晚上嗎? 這樣不會影響味道。我的感覺是 - 或許吧，但是真的沒有多到從95分的咖啡變成85分的咖啡。

我買的這台是最基本款了。我沒有去比較各款，反正就是amazon上評價好，價格也好，他也有出4 cups的。

如果你是一個morning coffee person，這還真的滿值得考慮的。

(side note - 現在美國很流行k cup。Basically, I think it's overrated。喝過很多次，覺得不值得那個錢)

看long island ferry 和下午bikestroll

早上去完醫院後在鎮上不知不覺開到了渡輪口。渡輪從Bridgeport穿越長島之聲(long island sound)，抵達Port Jefferson。每次每次我都好想坐，無奈渡輪不是普通的貴。一台汽車和駕駛要收$54，如果再加一名乘客要$16。所以單程要$70。

不過在渡輪口旁，剛好有人釣到一隻魚。這邊釣海魚的人很多，看著我也很想釣。只不過想到要要抓餌(軟軟蟲)，就讓我覺得還是算了。總不能又去旁邊的大哥面前裝可愛請他幫我掛餌吧...

下午的bike stroll騎了10 miles，走了一條新的路，經過了一下超級下坡，速度很快，覺得很爽。照例又騎到了聖母瑪莉在海邊。

最近心情有點黑，也才對黑白照片有了新的fu。

最後一張，我坐在欄杆前的公園椅。欄杆是什麼，是保護人們不掉進海中，還是阻隔了自由。

神奇的毛料縮水

我第一次嘗試羊毛縮水的創作法只有一個感想 - 這真是太神奇了!

的確。

小綠眼看到我鉤那麼一隻大襪子，問我在幹嘛。我說: 這是要felt的，等下就會變成一隻拖鞋，很厲害呦!

小綠眼疑惑的看著我。

哇啦，拖鞋成功啦!

很可愛吧! 小綠眼吵著也要一雙。

昨天開始做一雙clog，像那個台灣流行的塑膠拖鞋(叫什麼去的)?!

敬請期待

Weights Training

有一陣子，膝蓋受傷，不能跑步。肌肉沒有持續的痠痛，全身覺得很不舒爽。
這陣子開始騎腳踏車、重訓，肌肉開始又有了酸的感覺，然後身體和心理覺得很舒爽。

Music:
Just give me a reason (Pink)
The cave (Mumford & Sons)
I won't give up (Jason Maze)
Daylight (Matt and Kim)

Weights:

Shoulder:
- Lateral raise 12*3 (2.5 lb)
- Palms-in shoulder press 12*3 (5 lb)
- Seated shoulder press 10*3

Biceps
- One-at a time biceps curl 10*3 (5 lb)
- Alternated biceps curl 8*3 (5 lb)

Triceps
- One-arm triceps extension 20*3 (2.5 lb)
- Triceps kickback 15*3 (5 lb)
- Two arms triceps extension 20*3 (5 lb)

Back
- Wide row 10*3 (5 lb)
- Bend to opposite foot 10*3 (5 lb)

另外，這是一個很好的網站:  http://www.dumbbell-exercises.com/exercises/

吳郭魚、西瓜冰沙、 Job search 與 programmable coffee maker

開始進行job search之後，覺得人生又大開眼界了。去了萬人大企業面試，也去被獵人(head hunter)鑑定一番，心得三言兩語講不完 (敬請期待心得文)，目前的take home message是: 我在等買主。

今早發生的一件事讓我還不猶豫在中午前就買了一台可設定時間的咖啡機 (即設定4:20有一壺咖啡在廚房)。早上泡咖啡時，突然覺得每天早上我就浪費了住院醫師10分鐘的時間在等咖啡，佔了起床到出門的40分鐘的25%。而如果加上等待咖啡冷卻到可迅速喝掉的溫度，可能又多了3到5分鐘，也就是potentially，每天早上的咖啡使他少5%的睡眠時間。如果考慮咖啡香氣對於醒來程度的因素，還有一邊吃早餐一邊配咖啡的效用，那我每天早上用法式壺煮咖啡其實是沒什麼實質價值的行為，不如花60元買一台醒來就有咖啡喝的機器來得實際。

這幾個禮拜真的滿焦慮的，專心程度時好時壞。附上昨天的晚餐，吳郭魚排春草沙拉和西瓜冰沙。

The yoga mat

最近的heat wave讓人想發瘋。

I laid on the yoga mat. The fan blowing warm, stuffy air. I remembered what my friend said the other day about American dream. That it not anything anyone had imagined. I read a lot less than my friend. 

Golden hour and seize the day

 

昨天，趕在太陽下山前騎到了Ash Creek。對岸的房子很美，每次我都說 - 有一天我發了就可以住在哪裡了!

"Kayak into the sunset" - how romantic is that.

 Then magic, the sky lit the water into a shade of pink, orange, blue, and purple.

I biked home, ate soy milk+granola, and went to bed.

* * *

Maybe I can learn to like here. 

夏日腳踏車 - 圖書館和五金行

我騎strida在附近趴趴走已經很多週了，我還常常騎車去辦事，然後把車子推進辦公大樓。還沒有人阻止我，所以我也樂得開心。

下午高溫35度，我可能是失業太久，竟然決定要出去辦事。這很不尋常，因為我以前超討厭大熱天出去的，對於曬太陽和流汗都相當排斥。圖書館和五金行都不是非去不可，更何況我也可以選擇開車去。

騎了11公里，順道經過聖母瑪麗在海邊(St. Mary by the Sea)，幫燈塔照了一張相片。

順道提Google translate的中文翻得還滿有趣的。我把在bfars英文的那篇拿去翻譯，得到以下:

這是難以想像的炎熱和潮濕的下午。我決定把我的自行車跑腿。我不知道是什麼促使我要這樣一個不尋常的決定。當我訓練的半程馬拉松，我不會運行，當溫度高於80樓或許是休假太長木屐的頭腦作出理性的決定。

儘管瘋狂的溫度，天空是藍色的。我騎了7英哩，拍個不停在圖書館和停止在Home Depot。我總是把我的自行車成跑腿騎建設。從來沒有人說什麼。

我也騎著聖瑪麗由海，並拍了照片的燈塔。

我也收取MUVI，並計劃採取視頻這個星期。

Second Chance

我把網誌改名了。Second Chance.

搬到Connecticut是一個大轉變，轉換的過程比想像中困難很多。對氣候的不適應，對出門要開車的不適應，都讓我每天心中有中凸的感覺。當移民署又不趕快給我工作證，鄰居又夭壽的抽菸、電視開得彷彿他是聾子，我真的覺得Connecticut是一個又貴又爛的地方。

幾年來漸漸讓自己感到開心，卻在搬來這裡之後，每天都處在一種有點凸的心情。所以我說Second chance。再給自己一個機會。

我們住在Silliman路上。Silliman看起來就像 Silly man。我總覺得這是一個暗示，告訴我要保持輕鬆的態度看待人生。(但其實Silliman是一個名人 Benjamin Silliman)。

心中靠杯了一個月後，昨天我登記參加Bike the Beach活動，預計9月22日要騎20 miles。Bike the Beach顧名思義就是要沿著海邊騎。我同時加入了pledge的活動，要為這是charity ride募款: Bike the Beach 2013 - AnnBikes 

另外，我開始認真規劃暑假的腳踏車和瑜珈訓練計畫。曾經有一陣子我很認真的記錄自己的訓練過程和達成的目標，發現有砥礪自己和自我要求的效果，心中覺得很滿意。Run because i can!

最後一件事 - 我開了另一個網誌叫Between food and running shoes。這個網誌的構想才一月初就開始了。Second Chance 或 Happiness Will Come Through一直都定位在心得文、流水帳、和自言自語。而我覺得是時候練習寫一些informative性質的文章。Between food and running shoes (bfars)

親愛的朋友和家人們，幫我加油!