News:
Elena and I are packing up at the moment, ready to move back to the States (California). I’ll be taking apart the computers soon, so this might be my last entry for a while. If things go smoothly, I should be back online in a couple of weeks.
Weblog:
This is going to be my last entry from China–Elena and I are probably on the plane as you read this, heading home to California (home for me, but for her, it’s a new adventure in a foreign land). Fortunately, she’s already been to the States once a few months ago, and it left a really good impression on her. As far as I can see, her only problem now is the language barrier, which will take care of itself just like it did for all the other immigrants (well, the ones that bothered to learn English anyway). We’ll be staying temporarily in Sunnyvale, then move to wherever my next job will be at. Life will be hectic for the next few months. I’m kind of dreading it, but it’s about time I moved on to the next phase of my life–whatever that means. I don’t even feel like I’ve completed the current phase, but I guess that’s how it always feels–that life moves at its own pace and you can only keep up.
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In July I’ll have to fly back to Asia again, as Singapore’s CGOverdrive 2006 has invited me to be a guest speaker. I’ll be doing a workshop on digital painting that’ll last an hour and forty-five minutes, and although I’ve decided on the content of the workshop a few times, I keep changing my mind. If you were to hypothetically attend, what would you like to learn from me in an hour and forty-five minutes?
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While packing, I realized that I have about eleven hard drives that I’ll have to put into a carry-on bags (I do not trust that they’ll be fine in the suitcase if I check it in at the airport). I’ll also be transporting the motherboard and the two optical drives in the carry-on bags as well (not to mention my Canon 1D MKII, flash, and four lenses–although the lenses will probably be in the suitcases to be checked in). The computer case, keyboard, mouse, Wacom tablet, LCD monitor..etc will go in two seperate suitcases–I’ll make sure they’re well padded. I transported my workstation that way when we moved from Malaysia back to China two years ago, and it was certainly heavy and painful. I can’t think of a better way to transport my workstation safely though. No way I’m going to trust anyone else with over one terabyte of data. I’ll need to have a fully functional workstation as soon as we step off the plane so I could get right back into the swing of things, so shipping by sea if not an option. I don’t trust the cargo loaders anyway. My other machines will be shipped by sea as I don’t need them as much. If those get trashes, I won’t be as devastated.
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A few days ago, Elena told me that while helping her sister move, she saw an entire box filled with handbags and purses. I thought she had pointed that out in order to justify her own obsession, explaining that “all women are the same–I’m not the only one.” Then I found out everything in that box were hand-me-downs from–get this–
…Elena.
This woman has given away more handbags and purses than she owns–boxes of them (counting her cousins, aunts..etc), and she has the audacity to buy more?
I looked at her coldly and then said with a calm voice, “If I ever see you come home with a new purse again, I’ll break your legs.” She saluted me, grinned, then turned on her heel and walked out of the house with her little skirt flapping behind her. (She was mimicking me. I often respond to her naggings with a salute, do a military styled heel turn, and then head back to my studio.)
I don’t know how it is with other women (and I can’t remember much about my ex-girlfriends), but Elena ranks handbags and purses on top of her girly fancies list, then comes shoes, clothes, and finally cosmetics and beauty products. She used to own a cosmetic shop and have used just about all the brands or makeup, perfume, lotion..etc, so they no longer interest her. She’s got lots of clothes she’s never even worn once (and she feels slightly guilty about it), so she’s got pretty good self-control when it comes to clothes. Shoes are more of a practicality issue to her, as she hates shoes that are uncomfortable to wear, so it’s rare that she finds a pair that’s both attractive and practical. But when it comes to handbags and purses, it’s like something in her brain just switches off (or clicks on, depending on your perspective), and her eyes would light up like the Neko Bus in My Neighbor Totoro. I suppose it’s kind of cute to watch her lose her cool like that, as long as she has no plans to come home with a LV bag–unless it’s a knockoff. She gets the real ones as gifts from admirers and rich friends/relatives sometimes, but they don’t seem to excite her as much as when she finds them on her own. My Kitty Cat is strange like that.
