After the sad entry on Monday, let's change gears to a much happier piece of news. My new niece, the 5th so far, was born this morning. Yup, a New Year's Eve baby. She weighed in at a healthy 7lb 3oz. But she's a little short on the get go at 17.5 inches. But not to worry, she will catch up. This is my 3rd brother's 1st kid. Needless to say he is proud and gleaming with joy right now. According to him, every year the entire world will celebrate his daughter's birthday with fireworks. Ha! A very proud remark indeed.

Today marks a sad day in history. Popular Hong Kong singer/actress Anita Mui died of complications to the lungs caused by cervical cancer at 2:50am Dec 30 HK time. I am quite saddened by this piece of news. Ever since she announced to the public in September that she has cancer, she's been fighting the illness bravely. She vowed to continue living life to the fullest. Sadly her final days were short and few.

A strong and determined woman, she's made a tremendous life and reputation for herself. Besides winning numerous singing and acting awards, she had also won the love of many - her friends, her colleagues, and her fans. She will be missed by many, including myself. I had always admired her strength and determination. In a way, I see some resemblance of her in me. Though I never really idolized her, I always respected her. Goodbye Anita.

So I did it. I went to the "job interview" and politely declined the offer. They were very understanding. No feelings were hurt. No bridges burnt. All is good.

I have a job interview scheduled for today. I'm gonna go in as planned. But I'm not going in to fight for the job. On the contrary, I'm going in to decline the offer.

Why am I going if I don't want the job? Why don't I just call them and say I'm not interested? Why waste my time going there and their time seeing me? The answer is I don't want to come across as rude or wishy-washy. What? 3 months ago I wanted the job and now I don't? 2 days ago I wanted to speak with them about the job nature and now I don't? It's not that at all. It's all a matter of timing.

3 months ago when they first approached me about this pending job position, I felt insecure about my current job and would have accepted offers from prospective new employers. But as they took the 3 months to get approval from corporate headquarters to create this new position, my current company also went on with making plans of expansion and thus broadening my horizons here. Now I see new outlooks and challenges at this current job and am looking forward to tackling them. Therefore I have no choice but to turn down other offers that come at this time.

So...I'm going to the "job interview" today to ensure to them that my interest was genuine, to express regret that timing is not right to make this happen at this current point in time, to thank them for considering me for the position and for the well thoughts that I could be a good candidate. Hopefully I won't burn any bridges with them and they'll continue to consider me if and when other opportunities arise in the future. The world is round. It keeps turning and turning. But you might still keep ending up at about the same place with about the same people. It'd be wise to keep good ties with them.

Just as I'm starting to think life is getting too monotonous, along came acid reflux and a stomach flu to spice things up for me. One goes up along the system while the other goes down. What fun. Not!

I'm reading "Fast Food Nation: The Dark Side of the All-American Meal" by Eric Schlosser. I have to say this is a very interesting book. It brings to light many things that exist in our nation's fast food industry which subsequently trickled down into and affected our nation's diet, pop culture, economy, and even landscape ("the malling of our landscape" as the book's description puts it). I'm less than half way through the book but already I am amazed by some of its points.

For example, did you know that the "natural flavors" and "artificial flavors" that go into our food items are manufactured at the same "flavor" plants that produce the scents in our hand soaps, shaving creams, deodorants, air fresheners, furniture cleaners...? Did you know that the difference between "natural flavors" and "artificial flavors" lies not in the nature of the ingredient (i.e. whether it's natural or artificial) but in the process by which the flavor was produced? The difference is so slight that a chemistry bimbo like me cannot comprehend. I was only naïve enough to believe "natural flavors" is better for me than "artificial flavors".

The book also brought to light that while fast food chains are receiving federal subsidies to hire and train underprivileged/less educated workers, their R&D staffs are constantly designing machines that are so easy to operate that no training is required. Anyone, without any skills, can easily operate those fryers and grills. Workers rarely leave the fast food industry with any more work related talent than when they entered. And since it is so easy to "train" new hires, fast food chains often favor the practice of letting go of more experienced staffs in exchange for cheaper new recruits.

The point of this blog, if there is any at all, is to endorse this book, which I think is an interesting read. By no means is it to lobby against the fast food industry, though the book does that innately.

The winds are really gusty tonight. I'm sitting here in my room, trying to read a book, but constantly interrupted by the forceful clattering of my windows. I hope my windows are sturdy enough to withstand the force. Someone please check on me tomorrow. Should the windows shatter and stab me to death, I wouldn't want to die unnoticed.

Beside the winds, the weather has also suddenly shifted cooler today. Much cooler. Is So Cal having cooler weather like we have here? If so, I hope it's helping with the firefighting efforts, although I don't see how strong winds can help. Too many lives and properties have already been lost to the fires. I wonder how the arsonists are living with themselves now. Knowing all the devastation they had caused, hope guilt eats them alive.

Wow, all these warm October days we're suddenly having. What a treat. Been taking advantage of it cuz I know these don't last too long in SF. But a couple of my coworkers, as superstitious as they are, aren't enjoying this weather as much as I am. It's not because they find the heat uncomfortable. Rather, they believe that these odd warm days coming so late in the year must signal a looming earthquake. Don't know where they got that notion. Don't know how scientifically correct it is. But what can you do? If it hits, it hits.

Red's account of the Southern California fires reminds me of the Oakland Hills fire in 1991. I remember one warm October day (not unlike today) in 1991. I was hanging out with my brothers in front of our old house in the southwestern side of SF. The air was filled with this charred smell, as if someone was barbequing next to us. There were also flakes and flakes of ashes floating around in the air. Sure enough, the ashes and burning smell came from the fires on the Oakland Hills. I was so awed by that. I knew from the news that the fire was big. But what's "big"? I had no concept of what "big" was until I saw the ashes floating on top of my head, a good 15 miles away from the source.

Change of subject.

I just bought an MP3 player so that I can listen to music while I work out at the gym. At first I was aiming to spend about $100 on it. But of course, after browsing at all the available models, I bought one for almost $200 cuz this particular model offers "so much more". So now I either have to go to the gym twice as much or work out twice as hard to justify this beefed up purchase. Yeah right. Ok, you guys can stop rolling your eyes now.

Yes, very well said Red. Totally sums up the matter of it all for us women in this regard.

Red, very well-said -- " Abortion is something most women want to avoid, it is a road no one wants to travel. It's not an easy road, but it should still be a road. "

Based on the crimes I see in the news lately, I think that maybe a lot of women should have gone through this road because society is now suffering from the children whom they brought to life but did not bother to teach.

Wait.. I thought performing abortion in the third trimester was ALREADY illegal? Now it's moved to the second trimester? I guess it doesn't take a psychic to know that pretty soon it will be illegal to perform abortion in even the FIRST trimester. What's next? Contraceptions soon to be illegal in the US as prescribed by Pope JP the 2nd?

I often wonder if it were men (who make and pass our laws) who carried babies, would pro-choice be written into the law as well? It's quite easy for people to tell others what they SHOULD do with their body, but it's a totally different story when you are the one being told what you must do w/ your body. In the ideal world, people will want to keep their babies, and provide them w/ lotsa love and hugs and kisses. But, we don't live in this ideal world. No one goes around chanting pro-death, pro-death. No one wants to be a baby killer. Abortion is something most women want to avoid, it is a road no one wants to travel. It's not an easy road, but it should still be a road.

It would be very sad to see abortion being banned altogether. It's totally possible since it seems to be headed that direction. I guess women could always rely on back alley abortion clinics, or just use clothes hangers, and just kill themselves. That's what will happen. Both the baby and the mom will be aborted. That's just dandy.

Sorry, Googi. Have not caught up with the reading on this issue -- so better keep my thoughts to myself until I know enough. I just feel like we're moving backwards.

Bush to Sign Partial Birth Abortion Bill

What do you guys think about this bill? I'm not a political person. Politics confuses me. I'm not totally clear about this bill either. But if I understand it correctly, I have a few thoughts to share.

The bill aims to ban "a type of abortion, generally carried out in the second or third trimester, in which a fetus is partially delivered before being killed." Even though I'm not a political person, I've always been Pro-Choice. A woman should have the right to decide if she is capable and suitable to have a baby. If she were indeed incapable and/or unsuitable but is forced to have the baby due to anti-abortion laws, the baby would just suffer later. However, I believe if the mother is entitled this right to decide the future of her life as well as that of her fetus', she should return the favor by having the decency to decide earlier in the pregnancy rather than later. The longer she waits to decide, the more the fetus will grow, take shape, and start living. It becomes increasingly unfair to the fetus to endure a "rejection" the more time it was given the chance to develop in the womb. Having said this, I'm leaning towards supporting this bill even though my stance remains Pro-Choice.

But of course there's the issue of protecting the mother if carrying on the pregnancy further would endanger her life. The bill addresses this issue. It provides "an exception when the life of the mother was in danger". But a fault was found in that "there were no protections for a woman's health". This is where I'm confused. What type of "woman's health" are they talking about? Until this confusion is cleared in my understanding of the issue, I cannot fully say I support this bill. That's why I said at first that I'm "leaning towards" supporting the bill rather than a full-blown "I support it".

Anyone have any insights to share? Particularly anyone care to explain to me what "woman's health" they are referring to?

A moment to remember Elliott Smith, a talented singer/song writer who lost his battle with drugs. Those who don't know who he is, listen to "Miss Misery" from the "Good Will Hunting" soundtrack.

6 kids to 1 Googi? That's a pretty harsh ratio. Don't know if I can handle 6 kids all at once. I have 4 nieces and nephews and that's already a chore. Well, I'll keep this idea in the back burner Redpanther. But in the meantime, if any of you married people want to start multiplying, I offer to take your little bundles of joy off your hands once in awhile when need be. Especially since some of these bundles of joy may be my god sons/daughters right Wanwanha?

How sweet! My coworker, one of the handful I supervise, gave me a gift and chocolate for National Boss Day. Jeez, I'm not even his boss.

One of my tires suddenly went flat this morning. Totally out. Don't know how this came about. Now the car is in the shop to change all four tires since its about time for new tires anyway. No point in patching up one now and then changing it again real soon. So...I woke up $400 lighter.

But I'm not gonna let this get to me. Wanna learn to relax and not let things get to my mood so easily. Wanna try to think more on the brighter side of things. For example, I don't know what happened to the tire. One theory is I may have ran over a nail or something lastnight. Thinking on the darker side would be: Damn, $400 down the drain! Why were there nails on the road?! Why me?! Thinking on the brighter side: Wow, what if the tire had popped on me lastnight when I was driving on the freeway at 70-80 miles per hour. The result may have been deadly. Fortunately that didn't happen. I was safe and sound and sleeping peacefully on my bed while the car was parked outside and the air in the tire slowly let out through the night. And now I'm alive and well blogging about it. Yes, this is a better way to think.

Now what if tomorrow I won't wake up $400 lighter but 4lbs lighter? That would be awesome!!!

That poor Chicago Cubs fan is taking all the blame for the Cubs' loss to the Florida Marlins in Game 6 of the NLCS. His reactionary lunge to catch a foul ball prevented a Cubs outfielder from catching it, thus allowing the Marlins to rally towards winning the game. Now that the Marlins have also won Game 7 and beat the Cubs to the World Series, the blame is coming down even harder. He is now the talk of town. His story is on media headlines nationwide. Late show comedians are using him as butts of their jokes. Web polls are logging thousands of blames towards him. Some people say he's selfish for not caring about the consequences of his action. His governor calls him stupid. Another governor considers offering asylum to him. A resort in Florida is offering him a free 3-month stay if he feels the need to get away from Chicago.

People give him a break! The poor guy already issued an official, and quite heart-felt, apology to the world.

"There are few words to describe how awful I feel and what I have experienced within these last 24 hours. I've been a Cub fan all my life and fully understand the relationship between my actions and the outcome of the game. I had my eyes glued on the approaching ball the entire time and was so caught up in the moment that I did not even see Moises Alou, much less that he may have had a play. Had I thought for one second that the ball was playable or had I seen Alou approaching I would have done whatever I could to get out of the way and give Alou a chance to make the catch.

To Moises Alou, the Chicago Cubs organization, Ron Santo, Ernie Banks, and
Cub fans everywhere I am so truly sorry from the bottom of this Cubs fan's broken heart.

I ask that Cub fans everywhere redirect the negative energy that has been vented towards my family, my friends, and myself into the usual positive support for our beloved team on their way to being National League champs.''

Let it go people. Time to move on.