The mile high city

Just got back from my brief trip to Denver. My first impression is that downtown Denver is like a more spread out version of downtown Chicago. Some of the streets surrounding the U of C Aurora campus (where I interviewed) is kinda run down. But the grandiose of the city's architecture reminds me of Chicago. However, once I drove around the suburbs and witness all that open space (cows chilling in acres of grass land), it feels a bit like Utah. And before I came to this city, people did say that Denver is a bigger, more spread out version of Salt Lake.

During my stay at my friend Marlana's apartment, I asked her what's Colorado known for (besides hippies), she told me that the truth is aside from organic food, Colorado is well known for legalization of medical marijuana. And sure enough, on my way to the Denver Art Museum (DAM), i saw this while driving, posted underneath the gasoline sign.

I also asked if Colorado gets tornados, since Colorado is neighbor to some tornado-proned states, like Kansas and Nebraska. Marlana wasn't sure. But I think my question was answered the next day, while I was driving around down to Castle Rock (thanks to the Garmin GPS navigator I borrowed), the radio program issued a warning for possible tornadoes in the counties east of metro Denver. At that time, I was driving east bound, but I figured it was just a warning, and as long as I tune in to the radio, I should be OK. And no, the tornado was never formed.

One thing I had to get used to was the weather of Denver, it's like this thing that can't make up its mind. It would be all sunny and nice for an hour, then the next thing you know it's raining like crazy. It even snowed on the day when I was leaving town. When I stopped by the DAM, I took a few pictures with a cloudy, gloomy background.

I wish I could have taken more pictures of Denver landmarks such as the ridiculously gigantic Invesco Stadium, and the trendy LoDo (where the streets seem kinda East Coast). But it was difficult driving and snapping pictures at the same time. Another thing about Denver is the street. For the most part it's the grid system like I'm used to, but in downtown district, logic does not apply to the street designs. The street layout either resembles a diamond shape or concentric circles with smaller streets cutting thru. Anyways, Denver seems like a nice, bustle town, with quite a few Midwesterners wanting better weather and more active lifestyle.

Got back to SL last friday evening, just in time for little Max's 1st birthday bash! :)

owning a business

In a recent discussion with a friend, I asked the question if she could own her business someday, what would it be. Not surprisingly, she said she would want a little cafe/bistro. Then she asked me what kind of business I would like for myself. I had to think about it for a bit, then I decided I would want an Interior Decor store, like Urban Outfitter but minus the apparel. However, I realize that it's hard to sustain business running a decor store, and from the furniture shops I've seen in town, they are always so empty it makes me wonder if they are closed. It would be nice to have more decor-oriented people around in the local market, the kind of people who would even consider decorating their homes on a seasonal basis (yes, they do exist, it's not just my wishful thinking), like Spring calls for floral color, Summer calls for bright green and yellow hues, fall calls for strong earthy colors, and winter calls for beige, that sort of things.

Aside from my frivolous interior decor idea, I also came up with a flower shop or greenhouse shop idea. I LOVE flowers and plants, especially Peony and baby's breath. And flower arrangement is always fun to do. I can tell customers the special meaning of a certain flower (provided that I memorize them from books), and I can probably use my biology background to genetically modify certain plant genes, so there will be one-of-a-kind mauvre peony, or a rose that smells like...honey. I will even have imported smultron plant from Europe....

Ok, I'm done daydreaming for the day. But it's always nice to have a dream.

My job hunt has already felt longer than it actually is.....I feel like I'm either looking at the wrong places or I'm just out of luck...or both. In the beginning of my job search, I had turned down two local job offers, that's because I had no idea how hard it is to find jobs in other places in this economy. There're several contacts from Boston, but the corresponding jobs were very low pay, and definitely not a career booster. And with places like Colorado, people seem to have decided that outsider applicants carry more risk, because if someone moves to a new place, he/she might not like the town and just ditch everything to leave. I guess I should have known this mentality before I turn down the previous offers. The best thing to do now is to ask for an old offer back (if it's still there).

On a lighter note, this girl (who shares my birthday) at work invited me to a BBQ sponsored by her church (Seven day adventist). She was so hilarious, she said she is the organizer and wanted to get more ppl, particularly more girls, to come to the BBQ, so she wouldn't be one of the few women there. She pleaded with me to come, with the promise that the people there will be 'normal'. I responded by saying "Carolyn, the only people who are normal are people you don't know.... and I saw that quote on a ceramic cup once" :). Anyways, she even went on facebook to show me the pictures of some of her friends who will be there. She persuaded me by saying "see they seem nice and normal, and doesn't she look like someone you would like to meet? She's very nice, and she's Chinese too...". My reply, "I like her dog!" (her profile pic showed her holding her dog).

I really hope that next time when I blog, it's not gonna be about job search again.

Coming soon...

"And there’s Kate’s free—floating 21st century malaise—the problem of how to live well and be a good person when poverty, homelessness, and sadness are always right outside the door. "

In theaters, April 30th.

"We're all Mr. or Ms. Good Enough, until you fall in love with the person who sees you and recognizes you as the right person for them. In our culture, good enough is not good enough. They think that it means lowering your expectations and lowering your standards. There's a difference between lowering your expectations and lowering your standards. Lowering your expectations is saying, "be realistic." If you just put us all in a dating lineup, we're not going to get perfect ratings from the world at large. We should lower our expectations in the sense of, we have to realize nobody is perfect. If you have unrealistic expectations, it's going to be hard to find a real human being who can meet them. But lowering our standards? No."---Lori Gottlieb

春節快樂

Wishing everyone an awesome year of the Tiger! Tiger happens to be one of my favorite animals. The big cat family is just adorable.

Coincidentally, first day of lunar new year is on Valentine's Day. I don't buy into those commercialized crap aspect of Vday, but I do appreciate the spirit, so I found these. :)

My crazy dreams

I usually sleep well, but once a while I have bizarre nightmares. Like the one I had two nights ago. So I've listed some of the ones that I had in the past.

1. The most recent one involved a black widow spider. In my dream, I saw this big black widow following me in fast speed. Not only it's black, it has this vivid ruby red color around the belly (yes I dream in color). The red really popped out in my dream, and I kept freaking out because the web of the spider kept sticking to my arm. Finally, one of my friends came to my rescue and brushed the thing off.

2. In this dream, I entered this glass-walled building. Shortly after, someone said that this lion was let out of the leash, and it's strolling at the front door. As I was heading to the back exit, I was informed that there's a leopard in the back exit door, attacking people. I was frustrated and scared, not knowing what to do since I'm sandwiched between the two beasts. Finally, I woke up. After waking up, I figured that one possible solution is I should lead the leopard to the lion, so they will fight each other while I escape.

3. This one also involved wild animal. I was in a ritzy hotel, there's a white Siberian tiger trying to get me and somehow I got trapped in the elevator. The elevator was the old-fashion kind, with the patterned metal as the sliding door. The elevator was not working properly, so the white tiger try to stick its paws thru the door! That Siberian tiger was quit intimidating at close-up.

4. This one does NOT involve animals. In a pulp-fiction-esque setting, I was taking shower, and this assassin was trying to get me by shooting bullets through the window. I later saw the assassin, and she was blonde. I think I had this dream because my subconscious was thinking about Kill Bill.

Anyways, I have no explanation as to why my nightmares always involve getting chased by animals.