I heard that Scott Adams, creator of Dilbert, died earlier this week. The Reddit post I looked at had people chatting about food instead of Adams, which I thought was strange, but whatever.
I have, somewhere back home, The Seven Habits of Highly Ineffective People, a Dilbert collection. I also had a plus Dogbert and an actual Dilbert doll. It’s funny, but working in a cubicle looked somewhat enviable. I was floundering as a worker, the first of many two-job or more stints in my life. No career, just jobs. Journalism wasn’t really working for me, so I knew I needed to find something else.
I got a kick out of Dilbert. I wasn’t a part of the corporate world, but I’d had my fill of shitty jobs, so THAT part I could relate to.
But even Adams couldn’t avoid the pitfalls of self-expression. You can have opinions, but frequently, people really CAN’T say how they feel or else they’ll lose their jobs. I’m hoping Adams had enough saved/invested so that he was okay. A quick check on the interwebz shows he was worth around $20 million when he died, so I guess he was okay, and would have been okay for a while. But all the money in the world won’t stop cancer, when it decides you’re the target.
I’m sad that he seemed so racist. It just struck me as yet another familiar, but depressing opinion from aging white guys who’ve made a few bucks. I used to admire Adam Carolla when he was on Loveline, but he made a few bucks, and then condemned the rest of us. Funny, these guys seem to end up alone. Adams was divorced twice.
Adams isn’t near my age, he’s more my brother’s age, or WAS, but anytime I hear of a creative person dying, it reminds me that I have two unpublished novels, and I want to get them published. It’s not just a matter of querying publishing houses. The big five won’t accept manuscripts unless they have an agent pushing them. I’m hoping I can start looking when I have a break from school coming up. I know I have to at least try.
And I hope if I do ever make it big, I learn enough to keep my mouth shut.
Thanks to my newer subscribers! You’re probably wondering what the hell happened in the past couple months. Some health issues, keeping up with work, dealing with a hugely annoying person that I plan to limit my time with, and watching the world burn. Hoping I can post more frequently. Computer screw ups aren’t making things easier. I SWEAR I tell myself I’m going to post every day, then the internet lags, I can’t get a good VPN connection, cord won’t charge, blah, blah, blech. If you’re new, I post about stuff that happens to me in China, along with occasional commentary on stuff that may or may not interest you. Eggs are cheap here. $1.26 for 10. Why 10 insted of 12? That’s the metric system, baby.
In China’s subway system, they have walls and doors so no one can throw themselves (and no one can push you) in front of a train.
The top photo is what it looks like when there’s no train in the station. There is an ad on the opposite wall, because we can’t waste space. The bottom photo is what it looks like when a train comes into the station.
Both sets of doors open, and there’s only room to step into the train.
It seems weird that in the United States, preventing things isn’t thought about. But China seems to think about these things a bit more.
I think that’s why 9/11 horrified us so much. I wondered if when they were building the Twin Towers, if making it strong enough to withstand commercial airplanes being flown into them was ever brought up.
Probably not.
Americans like to think, “oh, no one would ever be crazy enough to do that.”
But your average American can’t conceive of anyone being so desperate for a cause that they would be willing to DIE for it.
That’s why understanding poverty, hardship, and other cultures is so important. Because what would you be willing to do, when it came down to it.
And what are others capable of?
At least this way, you can’t commit suicide or murder by subway.
Hanging around Three Lanes, Seven Alleys on the main pedestrian street when I got a slice of America served up to me. I don’t know if he was shooting at the person’s knee or something else. I deliberately cropped their faces out.
CNN called it “absolutely incomprehensible.”
I call it, ”Just another day in the United States.”
I’m talking about the Annunciation Church shooting in Minneapolis.
I realize I’m a pessimist. But it’s really hard for me to believe people who have survived shootings–be it at a concert, grocery store, nightclub, or church–when they say, “I thought it was a joke.”
Or, “I heard ‘pop, pop, pop’ and thought it was fireworks.
Or, “I couldn’t believe it.”
I was out with a friend garbage picking several years ago. We were in a “questionable” side of town when we heard a “pop, pop, pop.” My friend said we had to leave immediately.
It was past 1 a.m. on a weeknight. It wasn’t near the fourth, so it wasn’t fireworks. But I had a hunch I knew what it was. A day and a half later, it was in the paper. Someone had shot an AR-15.
What I don’t understand is how clueless people seem to be when it comes to shootings anymore. ‘I thought it was a joke.” “I thought it was fireworks.”
Why?
I think it’s because Americans are in deep denial. Shootings don’t happen “here.” They happen hundreds if not thousands of miles away. Nothing to worry about here, until it happens.
The irony of this is that the people shot at were literally praying. PRAYING, and yet they weren’t saved.
It was the usual suspect of course–young, unhappy white guy. Although this one came with a twist–according to what I read, he wanted to be a girl. The shooter was transsexual. Not exactly what those in that community need right now–another reason for people to hate them.
This guy (and I will choose to address this person as a guy) knew he was unhappy. Reading parts of his manifesto confirmed that. But if he was so unhappy, why not just commit suicide (which he did) without shooting anyone except himself? Why take out people with you? It doesn’t help your popularity/sympathy ratings, that’s for sure.
And since I’m a natural pessimist, my take on these shootings is that it’s never going to stop.
When Sandy Hook happened, I thought for sure, “if nothing is done about gun violence now, nothing will be done.”
It’s 2025. I remember that day because it was so close to Christmas and I was driving down a very busy street in my town. One of the businesses on that street had a gigantic American flag flying. It was at half-mast and I thought, “who died?”
It made me think of when I was in kindergarten and first grade, as those grades were targeted by the shooter, another angry young white guy.
I never worried anything like that when I was that age. School back then was new and exciting. I had a crush on a different boy each week. There was a doll I never got to play with because one of my classmates got to the back of the room quicker than I did. I remember my mom coming in and speaking to the teacher. I wasn’t a kid that would fight, and never learned to fight. I became frustrated and unhappy when I was bullied.
And if I ever stood up for myself, nothing good ever happened.
I’ve been spoiled, living in China for the past six and a half years. I go out and don’t worry about being shot. I go to places where there’s a lot of people, and still I’m not worried.
But sometimes I do a double take when I’m out in public and someone has a gun.
The naive thinking has to stop.
If I’m not mistaken, the shooter obtained these firearms legally.
So he went through the right channels and it still happened.
There are some people who just shouldn’t have access to guns. I could jokingly say, “keep firearms away from young white guys and the shootings just might go down,” but some other group would probably take up the slack.
“Absolutely incomprehensible”? No. You wish. This is just another day in the United States.
Today was literally the first time in weeks that I woke up without setting an alarm and left the house before noon. This is major for me. I’m not a morning person, and never will be.
I’d wanted to visit Guling National Resort since I first saw it about a year ago. People connected with my school took us there. It was sort of a reunion for them, and invited me and another colleague to go.
It’s a cool place, but a bit odd. It was started as a resort 100 years ago by some scholars and missionaries. There’s a detailed article about it here.
I went there almost a year ago. Some colleagues were having a reunion, and invited me and another co-worker to come along.
Anyway, there’s an interesting story about it that I’ll mention briefly. Milton Gardner, an American who spent the first 10 years of his life in Guling (Kuliang) was whispering “Kuliang, Kuliang,” on his deathbed. He meant to visit his childhood home, but never made it back.
His wife, after several visits to China, finally figured out exactly where Kuliang was, and made the trip in his honor.
Then vice president Xi Jinping helped to make it happen, and he and Milton’s wife exchanged gifts.
Anyway, the odd part of this is that it seems that a few people live in this resort. That’s right, it’s for tourists, but imagine going to a resort and having people live in it full-time. That’s what I discovered today. Some of the residents have cafes, small restaurants, tea shops, or sell fruits/vegetables, but a few residences looked like they weren’t selling anything at all.
There was even a tiny McDonald’s near the entrance to the parking lot.
It’s a pleasant place. Very narrow roads, old buildings, a church even. Lots and lots of steps. And cool. That’s the reason why the missionaries/scholars built villas there; to escape the Fuzhou heat. And I can see how pleasant it would be to have a place with like-minded people up in the mountains. It’s almost like a cozy little town.
I can’t remember the name of this hotel, but it is NOT “The Teddy Bear Hotel.” But it sure is a cute way to draw attention to the business.This is only the second time I can remember being this close to a praying mantis. I was hoping to get some nature pictures, and nature obliged.As tiny as this community was, they included a photo studio and photo finishing place. But I guess photography was popular at the time: Kodak’s “Brownie” camera came out in 1901, the year Milton Gardner started spending his summers here.The inscription says both foreigners and Chinese are welcome to use the well.The Chinese Blue-Tailed Skink. Reminds me of the little lizards you see all the time in Puerto Rico.
The cats here in China are so remarkably chill. I hardly ever hear a cat screeching or taking off, not even in crowds. When I was in Xiamen, I saw people carrying cats around their necks.
And on Zhongshan Road, there was a cat laying in a planter, with thousands of people going by, and just looked super relaxed.
And here’s one in the main street of Three Lanes, Seven Alleys, being petted by what looks like a half dozen kids.
I sort of wonder if the chillness of cats reveals China’s society at large. Cats in the states seem on the verge of breakdown every single second (much like the populaton) whereas the cats here are incredibly zen.
I function better at night. This doesn’t help if you have a day job, but I suppose I’ll get back into the swing of things.
I just got back from a walk. I need to do yoga and a few other things before I feel I can go back to doing whatever it is I want to do.
It seems to have stopped raining. I’m sure I would have walked more this summer, but it seems when I finally wanted to venture out, it would downpour. I got caught in one the other day, but I felt it would be over soon and it was. I had my umbrella with me, but my shoes got soaked. I threw them in the washing machine when I got home.
So I walked north tonight. I didn’t see much of anything different. There’s a hotel with a really nice pond and it’s landscaped. There’s also a place where you can sit. Occasionally, I see people doing karaoke there.
It’s fake wildlife, even the ducks. But…the fish are real!The little pavilion where people do karaoke. No one was there tonight, but there was a group of people enjoying some singing a few hundred meters south.
This would be a nice place for a photo shoot. There’s a wall behind all of this so street sounds are muffled, and cars won’t ruin the background.
It was a really nice night for walking, and I passed a few people as I started out on my walk. The Chinese seem to be more health conscious than Americans are. Part of it is the food. There’s junk food here, but not as much of an assortment. That helps. If I want a decent brownie, I have to make it myself. Along with cornbread. Chips Ahoy makes a chocolate chip cookie with cranberries baked into it, and they’re good. Nice and soft. Still, days if not weeks go by without me eating cookies.
I try to start my day with a fruit or vegetable. My goal is two cups of fruit/veggies a day. Sometimes I make it. Sometimes I have to make up with extra portions the next day. And yes, I know two cups a day is not nearly enough. It seems like I can maintain an exercise routine, but not an eating healthy routine. And sometimes, I can eat healthy, but I won’t keep up with the exercising. It’s frustrating I can’t do both at the same time. I’d rather swim every day, but having to change two subways in order to get to the pool is a bit of a time challenge. And it seems like the sports I enjoy always involve SOMETHING. If you swim, you need access to a pool. If you horseback ride, you need a horse at the very least. I wish sometines I liked soccer.
Before I went to bed last night, it was August 16, and it’s still August 16, which is Madonna’s birthday. I remember when she became big, I didn’t like her. I didn’t like the underwear as outerwear look. I was also squeamish about sex, and I still am. I still don’t understand why people need to be oozing sexiness all the time. I guess it’s an enjoyable bodily function, but I also get pleasure from a really good bowel movement. I feel cleaner. Why don’t people make a big deal about that?
Anyway, I guess it was Desperately Seeking Susan and “Into the Groove” that won me over. I wasn’t so much into her super early period, with “Holiday” and “Angel.” I really liked her stuff from probably March of 1985 through “Vogue.” When I heard “Justify My Love”, I thought, “it’s over.”
I was turned off by the droning music, her whispering voice. There was nothing fun or ironic about it. It was also pretty sexual, with the “banned” video earning her an extra few million for those dying to see it.
So many videos these days are pornographic, I sometimes wonder why musical recording artists don’t just come out and make sex tapes. Madonna came out with her sex book, so I guess that’s the closest any artist might come (sorry!) to making something like that. Unless it’s some sort of leaked sex video. But I wish these artists would just admit they’re making porn. Maybe no one is actually having sex in these videos, but being half naked and humping something pretty much screams sex. I always wonder what actual porn actors and actresses think when they see this stuff.
Anyway, I’m not sure how I feel about Madonna. I’m happy she’s successful, but her attitude is off-putting. She just seems mean. I’ve read instances about her being mean. And I guess she can be mean if she wants to. But I wonder what her motive for wearing revealing outfits is. Yes, she’s got a great body she’s worked hard for. I get the feeling no matter how old she is, part of her will always be a twenty-something brat, being mean to people, but when people are mean to her, she doesn’t see that maybe they’re trying to get even?
One thing I find ironic about her is that she has so much money, but she can’t seem to keep a guy. I can’t imagine becoming someone so big, they become too big for anyone. There’s a saying: there’s someone for everyone in this world. I think it’s a bunch of shit. Some people love and lose, love and lose. Some people never find love. And if there IS someone for everyone in this world, how do you know you’ll meet them? You don’t. The absolute perfect person for you might be living thousands of miles away and your paths won’t ever cross, especially if you aren’t particularly interested in visiting Australia, or Russia, or Canada, or Uruguay or Kenya. Maybe they’re OUT there, but it doesn’t mean you’ll ever meet.
It’s a sad thing to consider, but it’s something I always think of whenever I see some genius on the internet say, “there’s someone for everyone.”
In Madonna’s case, she’s had dozens, but no one permanent.
Then there’s Abby and Brittany Hensel. I first found out about them in Life Magazine a long time ago. I guess Abby got married. I can’t seem to wrap my head around this situation. And they had a baby, I guess. I remember her father worrying about what would happen when they got older. I guess if he was worried about them dating, he shouldn’t have.
Wondering about the shelves? I promise to put pictures up, but I don’t have enough shelf supports. I also want to buy boxes, so the shelves have a neater look to them. But I’m really happy with how they turned out. The walls in my apartment are a very bright white, and the shelves look great!
I also want to thank my newest subscriber! My blog numbers seem to be going up every day, and I think posting daily is helping. I’m sorry I wasn’t posting for a while. I was depressed, I had a financial crisis, and I was really feeling hopeless. I feel just a bit better, but I’m still dog-tired. Anyway, thanks for reading!
Photography is one of my many hobbies. I went to Hong Kong a few months ago and of course I took my cameras. All four of them. My Canon SX 740, and three of my cellphones. I usually transfer the photos over after I get about 300 or 400 on my phone, but not this time.
I ran out of SD card space while in Hong Kong. I had other cards I’d brought with me. But when I came back home, I guess I only transferred photos on one of the cards. The one that was full was in a camera bag.
So after frantic searching yesterday, I figured out what I’d done wrong. After thinking that the SD card with the Disney footage was lost, I realized I was used to searching the SD card for Canon 100. For some reason, I had four different locations on this card, instead of two. When I clicked on Canon 101, I found the footage I’d been searching for, some images of Fuzhou on a school-sponsored tour, and my photos from Disney. I’d taken quite a few videos, which is rare. My card filled up and I guess I switched to my cellphones.
But the card stayed in the camera until the next day when I switched it out. I hadn’t brought my computer, so the photos had to stay put. I replaced the SD card with another I’d brought from home and went on my merry way.
When I got home, I didn’t switch the images out to my external hard drives like I normally do. I didn’t even bother to look at them until last night. I’m relieved that I found the images/footage, but for a while I was worried that I’d misplaced the card. I’m someone who usually doesn’t lose things, so on the rare occasions that happens, I’m devastated.
If you DO go to Disneyland anywhere, and they have Hyperspace Mountain, it is so worth it, especially if you love roller coasters. It’s like being in the actual battle scene. I choked up, it was so epic. And if something can choke me up, you know it kicked ass.
Anyway, here are some of the photos:
Taken from Outback Steakhouse, the first place I went to after unpacking at Ashoka Hostel.
Mickey on a surfboard at night.Mickey on a surfboard during the day.Imagine my disgust when standing in line for a ride when I encountered this Vera Bradley monstrosity.You know you’re rich when you have your own subway stop and customized cars.
This is a photo of the Fuzhou Straits Olympic Swimming Center. They have at least three pools, which is nice. The biggest one is more for the general public I think. There is an adjacent pool in the same “room”, but I think that might be for private lessons. There’s also another pool that is sectioned off, with an actual glass wall, and I am not sure what goes on there.
At least with the big pool, more than half of it is for lap swimming. There are a couple of other sections where people can bounce around, walk, swim a few strokes, help their kids practice or whatever. I’m glad of this.
It also kind of shows that China is more health-conscious than the United States. At most it seems, in the U.S., when you go to a pool, there might be two lanes roped off for lap swimming. Here, there were eight lanes. Of course, this was an Olympic-sized pool, but still. Another thing that showed a no-nonsense attitude toward swimming is there’s no furniture to speak of on the pool deck. My style is to swim 12 laps, take a big break, then do another 12. Here, I had to sit on a raised curb of sorts while I took my break. I suppose I could go over to the regular part of the pool to relax instead of getting out. But I feel better actually getting out of the pool, reading for a bit, then going back at it.
One thing I find a bit weird is the way everyone’s shoes pile up right in front of the foot bath in the women’s locker room. I’m paranoid, so I put my footwear in my locker. But having so many shoes at the entrance is a tripping hazard.
I’ve never seen this in the United States.
It was still a bit crowded in my lane. There were about seven or eight people in my lane. Some of my fellow swimmers had to pass me. At times, there were three swimmers abreast in the lane. And I swear some guy was swimming super close to me as he was passing me. When I passed someone, I put it in gear and got in front of them, but not so much that my feet were in their faces. A strange thing about the Chinese is that they can be really nice, but not courteous.
How does that work? Well, say you’ve moved into an apartment complex. If they are familiar with where you live, they’ll say, “oh, there’s a subway station right near there.” Except they’ll leave out the part where the station is still being constructed. That happened to me when I found an apartment my second time in Xiamen. They said, “oh, you’re right near a subway stop!” I went out to look for this station, and it was still being constructed. And when I moved a year ago, it was STILL under construction.
Something else that also happened to me. I was criticized for my teaching style a few years ago. You know when they offered to help? Just weeks before school ended, they told me about a resource room and asked if I wanted to see it. I said, yes. Why they didn’t show me this treasure trove when I got there BEFORE I started the semester, I’ll never know. They won’t tell you something you REALLY need to know and what would be helpful, but if you’ve been living in China for years, they warn you not to drink the water from the tap and are amazed that you can use Didi.
So I have a new laptop. I feel like I have part of my life back. I’m thankful that I could use my newer Samsung phone to continue updating. I think I have quite a decent streak going for my blog.
Using my Samsung phone to update my blog meant I could take pictures and upload them to the blog super easy. Normally, any photos I take via phone would have to be Bluetoothed to the computer, then uploaded. With the phone, it’s a lot easier. So I may consider using both the new computer and my Samsung to upload, especially when there’s a photo that is unusual. Like the bull grazing in a vacant lot on the side of a busy street. It was even more of a thrill to initially think the bull wasn’t tied up. But on closer (not much closer) inspection, I saw a thin rope attached to him, the other end around a tree.
It’s funny; I see a lot of things here that could lead to lawsuits. I don’t know if they do actually, but it’s just an interesting mindset knowing how the government is run, with what people do in actual life. The U.S. is a lot “freer”, yet go inside your local mall and you’ll probably see a list of “DON’TS”. In China, it’s okay to take your dog, allow kids to ride their little scooters in the mall, and also play badminton.
There are also little motorized ride-on toys you can rent, and the other day at an outdoor plaza in a mall, saw two kids, unsupervised, driving around the plaza. A lawsuit waiting to happen, but then maybe Chinese people are a little smarter than Americans. You see things happen, or you are aware of the situation, and keep out of the way. On the other hand, suing people in China is catching on, which means you have to be careful if someone falls down in front of you.
No Way! Laowai! 
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