word of soz

Spent a week in Northern California recently. I originally had flights to and from San Francisco booked, but my dad works up there and drives back and forth all the time, so I decided to alter my schedule slightly so that I could do the road trips with him. Having like eight hours to chat with my dad, uninterrupted? So. Fucking. Awesome. Everyone who meets my dad loves him. He’s an incredibly practical, rational, logical, efficient, easygoing, and hilarious man with one of the best grasps of modern world history (1900s and later) I have ever known. He can tell you the date and story behind pretty much anything you want to ask, can place it in context with other stuff happening in the world at that time, and he loves to talk about foreign policy. On our drive up we discussed Nixon’s presidency, the Vietnam War, WWI, WWII, and the Cold War. I also told him about drugs that kids take these days, and the different effects & purposes of each. He grew up in China, and drugs were the furthest thing from their minds at that time. On the drive back down, he gave me the rundown of my family tree, starting from each person’s birth, of my five uncles and my aunt, both sets of my grandparents, and my grandparents’ grandparents, cousins, aunts, and uncles. Many members of my family had their lives totally FUCKED by the communist government, were prosecuted by the government, were dirt poor, lived in tiny mining towns that they thought they’d never make it out of, etc.. but somehow, slowly the life force trickled down throughout our family, to my mom and dad meeting, to me, in 2012, driving down the coast of California with my dad. I appreciate life so much already, but hearing all that history was.. I can’t think of an adequate word, so I will just say MAGNIFICENT. I want to write a short book detailing my family’s history, not to be published, but just to keep for my records & enjoyment :) 

When my dad graduated high school, in that year about 12.5 million students in China took the exam to be admitted to college. About 250,000 of them got scores high enough to be admitted, to either a university or a technical school. Out of that 250,000, about 10% of them got into one of the couple dozen “prestigious” universities scattered around China. My pops was one of them! When I was hearing about how hard he worked and how shitty his high school was in his tiny mining town, which gave him a disadvantage compared to the kids with rich families who went to nicer schools in cities where they could learn more.. I really felt like all of my accomplishments paled in comparison. So much inspiration! 

ANYWAYS. In Nor Cal. Lots of hiking..did this GORGEOUS hike in Marin County at Cataract Falls. Many delicious breakfasts..I picked up a really good habit of eating greens in the morning to make damn sure you get em everyday. So we’d get omelettes with spinach and substitute potatoes with green salad. Did some minor shopping in San Francisco, ate at Yank Sing dim sum, watched the National Geographic documentary Guns, Germs, and Steel, as well as Howl’s Moving Castle, The Help, and Hesher. We tried to watch Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy but the theater had way too much ambient noise and the sound was way too low. I read The End of America..WHOA. Really, really interesting book. Look it up. It’s a little outdated now, but was written around 2007 and is about how America is display signs of heading towards 10 things that traditionally have transformed a country’s government into a fascist regime. Even if you don’t believe it, it’s an interesting idea and a short read and very well-written (though poorly edited - probably hastily published in order to be relevant!). Most importantly, we got a lot of work done, which I REALLY needed and which is harder for me to accomplish at home what with the screaming madhouse that is my family’s home :) I also went into the city to meet up with two of my good friends. We drank. Lots. After a week my best friend, who goes to UC Davis, came and picked me up and took me to stay a couple nights with her. That campus is so politically active, there’s always protests going on, especially after the pepper spraying incident. Refreshing to see people givin a shit about stuff, anyways.

Enjoy the photo diary. Family and friend outings galore til Tuesday and then back to New Orleans!!!! 

Went hiking today with my best friend and her brother and sister, who are basically my brotha and sista. We went to the Bridge to Nowhere trail in the San Gabriel Mountains by Azusa, CA. It was fucking awesome, not least because on the whole way out we managed to miss the trail completely and so had to blaze our own trail, which involved lots of scuttling over/around the edges of rocks and many unnecessary stream crossings (which inevitably included some slips). It’s so much more fun to make your own path, and much more difficult too - we took the actual trail on the way back, and it took us only half the time that it did on the way out. Also, CamelBak backpacks are THE SHIT, and can inspire all sorts of “my bladder” jokes. 

Miscellaneous: I saw Sherlock Holmes recently, and it was excellent - the effects are so good. Note that everyone is obsessed with glitching of all kinds now, whether in music or in movies. I also watched the National Geographic documentary on North Korea, which nearly made me shout (with anger)/cry (with empathy/sympathy/pity). It’s always been hard to make me watch movies - I’d so much rather read books - but I’ve recently fallen in love with documentaries, as they are so fucking educational and interesting! I prefer books to movies because they work your mind more; when you watch a movie you zone out and are at the mercy of whatever the director has decided to present you of his own vision, whereas with a book you only have the words and you must create the picture in your own mind. 

Tomorrow I’m heading to Big Bear Lake with my family to go skiing for a couple days. I was a very serious figure skater when I was young so skiing is second nature to me. Unfortunately nobody else in my family is very adept at winter sports so I can only hope that I shall not die alone at the top of the mountain whilst they are all falling down the baby slopes/sipping hot cocoa in the lodge..