currently reading

i came to hong kong equipped with a collection of short stories by ernest hemingway, but have been temporarily sidetracked by steven levitt's freakonomics. saw it in a book fair here and promptly bought it after a few pages. difficult to give a good, quick summary because each chapter vary in topic, so here is an excerpt of publishing weekly's review:

Forget your image of an economist as a crusty professor worried about fluctuating interest rates: Levitt focuses his attention on more intimate real-world issues...There isn't really a grand theory of everything here, except perhaps the suggestion that self-styled experts have a vested interest in promoting conventional wisdom even when it's wrong... [deconstructing] everything from the organizational structure of drug-dealing gangs to baby-naming patterns. Underlying all these research subjects is a belief that complex phenomena can be understood if we find the right perspective.

it sounds a bit on the dull side, but it's such a fun read. not nearly as dense as it seems... in fact it's easy to read and very humorous at times. started it on the way to bangkok and i am already halfway through. highly recommended for the curious minded.

sawatdee

spent the great part of the past week in thailand. spent a good half day being utterly awestruck by the grandeur of buddhist temples. made some giraffe and elephant friends. (the tiger cub was less friendly.) weaved my way in and out of impossible bangkok traffic, in motorbike vehicles known as tuk-tuks. shopped my heart out, in swanky shopping centers and sweaty night bazaars alike. the heat was sweltering; most days we went out in the morning, retreated to the oasis that is our hotel and its swimming pool during the late afternoon, and then ventured out again near dinner time. amazing experience indeed.

on my way from airport to hotel on the first day, it suddenly occurred to me how remarkable the world is. it strikes me how cities - whether it be new york or bangkok - are simultaneously so different yet somehow much more alike than we usually think. for example the same concrete networks of congested highways dominate the landscape everywhere, but vast differences lie in the details. i'm exploring and learning about these differences and similarities city by city, bit by bit. i'm only getting started.

just saying

a professor once showed a documentary on dr. martin luther king and the civil rights movement of the 1960's. the general sentiment around the room was something along the lines of "those stupid, ignorant white southerners; thank god that's in the past." but discrimination, time and time again, has proven to be just as present today as it was ever - not as apparent for sure, but present nonetheless. people hold different prejudices against different peoples, but i find that being self-centered is almost always the reason cited. "those indians are selfish cheats." "jews only care about their own bank accounts." "the french are elitist pricks." "koreans are only selfless when around other koreans." maybe it would help if people would just realize that perhaps we are all self-centered as humans...

food for thought

quite a ways to go until the new school year, but i've been thinking of...

• trying out for the daily nexus (the ucsb newspaper). will keep a look out for the quarterly training sessions in fall.
• getting a part-time job, ideally for the arts library, arts & lectures or java jones?
  
• internship of some sort... sbma would be a dream.
  
• becoming an active member of a worthwhile club. i think definitely students for justice in palestine, possibly amnesty international or human rights group?
  
• getting straight a's all the way.
  
• further exploring political science and middle east studies as a major. possibly english? art history minor.

i don't expect everything to be as ideal as i plan, but i will try my best. :) speaking of food though, i have been overstuffing myself in hong kong. i cannot possibly overstate how good my grandmother's cooking is.

hong kong

screaming babies, no air, smelly cup noodles (i hate the smell), fourteen hours. equals zombie mode. landed in the humid midst of a typhoon. i've been here for exactly 24 hours now. adventures to come.

malaise

maybe it's just the fact that it's 4:40 am or my general lack of sleep this past week. maybe it's the ambivalence and anxiety that comes with traveling to a place you feel utterly foreign in. most likely it has to do with some recent events. i don't entirely know what it is, but i am in such a strange mood right now. malaise is a good word.

i've certainly had my fair share of mishaps and fuck ups. most days i am okay with that. other days i contemplate and honestly am not sure what to think about myself. i'm exploring in every sense of the word, which is fine with me - i would probably be doing myself an injustice if i wasn't - but i hope i'm heading in the right direction.