Earth Day 2022

In commemoration of of Earth Day... I'll begin the first of a series of what I've always suspected... but am finding out to be more truth than myth.  Plastic recycling is scam.  As one writer puts it.. it's nothing more than something that "makes the consumer feel better." 

Truth be told... I never believed in recycling.  Not because it's not real.  Paper (if separated), glass, aluminum... those are all recyclable. In 6th grade... I devised the first recycling program at school by putting boxes in all the classrooms for scrap paper.  What came as a shock was... after we collect the paper... we had to bring it somewhere!!!

Kenneth, Johnson and I carried bags and bags of paper... walking up and down the Embarcadero looking for a recycling center we found on the Yellow Pages that no longer existed.  Ended up having mom take me there on an early Saturday morning.  And once we found the recycling center... I dumped all the paper into a bin.  A worker saw us and asked us to start separating the color from the white.  We didn't... we left.  My job was done.  But was it?? 30 years later... that day is as clear as last night's dinner. 

Separating out white from color.  Emptying all the content from bottles and cans. Removing labels from bottles. And so much more....  and that's the bottom line. Recycling doesn't work without work.  

Capitalizing on vacation

If you're gonna spend thousands of dollars on airfare, car rental and AirBnb... you should make the most of your trip, right?? Oh contrare...  the family just wanted to stay in and watch mindless youtube videos and play minecraft.  To a point... where I got so pissed... I left the house and went on a drive on my own. It's despicable, in my mind, that this is even up for discussion.  

Is it me...? I'm sure it is (NOT!!)

星星 everywhere!!!

We started to watch 星星 because I found a show on Prime with the same name but with different actors.  It turns out... the show on Prime is a Japanese remake.  Upon research... we found out there's a Filipino version and a Thai version.  ABC also bought the rights to the show... but didn't go through with the pilot. 

After finishing the Korean version... we started sampling the other three versions.  Ohhhhh myyyyy gwwwarrrrssssshhhh.... it's like a train wreck.  You want to, but you simply can't turn away.  

You just wanna smack them...

There are those days... where the kids talk back.. or talk in a way... where you simply want to smack them.  Without adding fuel to the flame... the only things you can do is 

1. walk away 
2. ask, "Say that again?" (and give them a chance.. which they will fail) 
3. stare at them for a few seconds then say, "Why would you say that?" 

I was never like this... was I?

韓風吹

While VOD-surfing the other day... I came across a show called "My Love from the Star."  It was vaguely familiar... so I did some digging.  Turns out it was a remake of a famous 2013 TV series that launched the further propelled the Korean Wave.  來自星星的你... otherwise known as 星星 took the world by storm... even took our church by storm.  I remember one of our brothers famously posting a horrible pic of his haircut that attempted to look like the lead actor from this drama. 

Maybe it's the topic... maybe it's the production... maybe it's my own taste.  This drama doesn't hold its water against Crash Landing on You.  In fact.. if not for the reputation of this show... I would've given up after the first episode.  But alas... 韓風 is blowing steadily in the Leung household.  Kids and wife can not stop watching it.  

Channel Surfing

Long gone are the days of channel surfing... where you just click click click on the remote control without stopping for anyone one show.  Then Prevue Guide came... then digital TV... and the time it takes to load a channel was 3-4 seconds.  The fun was gone. 

Fast forward to VOD.  I absolutely love scouring through the volumes and volumes of videos - looking for nothing.  I go through all the lists.  Dramas. Comedy. Family Movies. Watch it Again. Because you watched XYZ. Then when I'm done... I go from Netflix to Prime.  I go through all their categories and all their shows.  Then it's Hulu... then it's Disney+.  Then it's back to Netflix!!  I never stop and watch a movie or a show.  And every weekend, I look forward it.  It's my... happy place. 

Oversharing

I volunteered to be a Driver for NN's 7th grade field trip.  We got there early and was standing around shooting the breeze with the teachers.  The teachers started talking about how they dread having both boys and girls in a vehicle and the drama they actually see.  And one teacher even admitted to purposely sitting a guy and girl next to each other in class cuz she knew they liked each other!! How cruel... demented... and absolutely worthy of praise!! Hahaha... 

中間分界

NN was going through some of her old pics when she said, "Oh geez... I use to part on the side?? That's soooo millennial!"  

"So where should you part?"

"The middle, daddy!  Ugh... don't you know?"

And I'm thinking... 中間分界!?  It's back...? Again??? 

"C"

NN was chosen today to be one of two Captains for her volleyball team.  I wasn't there... but it seems like the coach pulled them aside and said, "You may not be the most talented, but I've seen your leadership skill rises above the rest."

BTS

It's not stopping.  I keep running into people and talk to them about BTS's concert in Vegas!! It's every where!! Colleagues.  Parents.  Parents from kids that use to go to school with NN/SW.  They....Are... EVERYWHERE!!!!

Inadequate

A swarming wave of inadequacy suffocating me right now.  

At work on Friday.. I'm realizing how much of my job I have no clue on what to do.  Every aisle I traverse.. every corner I turn... there's this new world that I am completely alien to.  Gwarsh I hate that feeling.

Then on Saturday... I take NN to her Beach Day trip with the volleyball girls.  And for whatever reason.. she doesn't fit in.  She's not with the "popular girls."  She's not with the 6th grade girls.  And then within her own friend group... she didn't fit in either.  But whatever... we survived it.  

We get home from the beach and I take her to rec basketball that's run by the JV coach.  She sees a bunch of friends there and she's happy again.  When I pick her up... first thing she said to me was, "I got demoted again."  Turns out this time, the JV coach put her with the less talented bunch.  You can't cheat the eye test... she really does not compare with the talented group.  Maybe... you can say she's the bad, good-player.  Or you can say she's the good bad-player.  Either way...she didn't fit in.

On the car ride home.. she started complaining about her friends only talking to her when no one else is around.  

Geez..... she had a crappy week.  She had a crappy day.  And now... there's nothing I can say or do to lift my daughter up.  I felt like such an inadequate dad.