January 6, 2013
by renayung
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Technology Anxiety in the Woods

The other day I found myself in a controlled panic. Why? Well, I was at Stanley Park on a stormy, winter evening (driving home from the Christmas miniature train) and the battery on my cell phone had just run out of charge.

I planned on taking the highway home. And the first thought to cross my mind was: what if something happens to me on the dark, snowy drive home and I can’t call anyone to let them know where I am or that I’m going to be late? The entire drive home I felt anxious and hyper-aware of the weather conditions around me. Needless to say I arrived home safe and dry (and on-time). And the first thing I did was re-charge my cell phone for the next day.

As I read what I just wrote, I realize I probably come across as being over-reactive and quite silly. But at the time it felt like a legitimate fear. And during that white-knuckled drive home I kept reminding myself: you’ve been in situations like this before and never even owned a cell phone at the time. Yes, I am of that generation who never had access to mobile technology until I was a young adult. So as a teenager there were numerous incidences where I was driving in blizzard-like conditions or on unlit logging roads and I had no way of calling my loved ones if something went awry. And when I went back-packing in South America after university I only called home about once per week (from international calling stations). And there was no way my family could have located me as I travelled between the tiny towns and big cities and trekked around the Andes mountains (didn’t have email then either).

Seriously. It really puts things in perspective.

December 15, 2012
by renayung
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Survival of the Squirrel Variety

On my way to work the other day I looked down from the skytrain as it whizzed over Central Park. I noticed a few dark, black squirrels foraging in the grass.

A thought crossed my mind. Here are these totally simple creatures, yet they can survive totally on their own in the woods. They find food and shelter and give birth and raise their young – all by themselves. If the average human being was left naked and alone in the woods, he/she would have about 1% chance of survival. We would have no idea what foods to eat. We would lack the tools and know-how to build a basic shelter. And giving birth on our own? Yeah, right.

The common squirrel. They kick human-kind’s ass big time. The next time you think of squirrels as beneath you, you should think again. They have way more skills than we do when you strip down our existence to the bare necessities.

December 15, 2012
by renayung
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Life of a Chinese Fan Dancer

Every morning on my way to Metrotown Skytrain Station, my bus passes the library square. And on most sunny days, from my seat behind the glass, I can see a group of older Chinese women (and some men) doing a slow-paced, low-impact, exercise ritual while holding red fans.

It reminds me of Tai Chi. They all move through a routine set of postures, and it’s all very flowing and deliberate. And I think there is some Chinese music in the background. And everyone looks very focused and content. In my head everyone goes for tea or coffee afterwards. Then they all go on their separate ways (lunch with grandchildren, Mah Jong games, shopping at the mall, a nap). It sounds so peacefully decadent.

And there I am on my way to work, to participate in the rat race. Mine morning routine and daily grind seem so different from their experience. Oh, to be a Chinese fan dancer. One day….

November 22, 2012
by renayung
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Senior Citizen Problems

I have blogged previously about the concept of First World problems. And I also further categorized some of these problems into Kindergarten First World problems. Now after talking to my mother, I have a new category: senior citizen First World problems.

For example, the other day my mother told me about how a rather pushy woman ‘stole’ her position on the floor space during her mature adult zumba fitness class. I was glad to hear that my mother stood up for herself (in her non-offensive, gentle manner of course). But the story took about 10 minutes for her to relay (very detailed) and it was clearly a significant event for her week.

Ah, to have those kinds of problems…..

November 18, 2012
by renayung
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Lessons in God on my Doorstep

The other night the doorbell rang at 8:30pm on a Friday evening. We had just put the kids to bed and were settling down for an undisturbed dinner (which is so rare with young ones), and now someone was wanting our attention. I was seated on the couch which is right beside our entrance way but I can’t see who is at the door. I let Robin answer it, and I’m glad I did. I was tired and not really in the mood to be chatty.

From where I was sitting I could hear the entire exchange. It was 2 young males wanting to talk about God and our conversations with him. Robin’s first cheeky response, “God has talked to you???” The answer was an emphatic “Yes!” The conversation (and my patience for it) quickly went downhill.

Everyone has their right to believe in whatever God they want to. However I have a few issues with that Friday evening. First of all, these 2 young men were banging on our door at 8:30pm on a Friday night, after a long week of work. I certainly do NOT bang on anyone’s door EVER to talk about my personal beliefs. They’re just that, personal. I keep them to myself.

Secondly the one lad was so adamant that God had spoken directly to him. Instantly I recalled stand-up material from Bill Maher. Isn’t it a bit egotistical to think that of all the people in the world, God is going to speak to YOU?

Thirdly Robin made the comment that he accepts and believes in all religions in order to hedge his bets that his soul will be saved when he dies. He also pointed out that he doesn’t believe in hell. The young man told him plain and simple: you’re wrong. Really? So, how does this 20-something youngling KNOW for a fact what happens after we die, and which religion in this world is the absolute, without question, the only right one? Faith is one thing. Ego is another.

While I sat on the couch eating my dinner and listening to this exchange, I was reminded of a Philosophy course that I took in university. It was called Knowledge and Reality and the course text book was a collection of sci-fi short stories. It was very cool, one of my more memorable and enjoyable classes.

Anyway, I remember the professor was this very calm, unassuming, British man. When we got to the unit in the course titled “The Existence of God?”, it became quite the controversial class. Our professor announced (I think mainly for the purpose of this particular unit) that he was agnostic and we had to prove to him that God existed. Every time someone tried to offer proof, he would gently point out that to him it wasn’t solid proof. I watched many people in the lecture hall getting visibly agitated and upset because they thought our prof was insulting their respective religions. He politely and neutrally tried to explain to them that he was not looking to question people’s faith, but instead just wanted solid evidence.

I believe many people ended up dropping out of that class (and possibly raising complaints out the professor) because they just couldn’t bear the thought of being taught by this individual who would question their religious choices. But I don’t think he was trying to insult anybody. He was just trying to find the answer to his question does God exist, and to show clear evidence.

Anyway, back to present day, as I listened to these 2 young men try to bully Robin into admitting that God DOES exist, and their religion was the right one, and we should be worried about ourselves after we die, I wanted to intervene and say so many things: how dare you have the nerve to disturb me at this hour and ask about my personal beliefs? How dare you have the ego to think that you’re 100% right about faith and the after-life when you’re not dead yet? How dare you think you can change my opinion about things in just 5 minutes when I’ve had my whole life (which is probably about double their lives and thereby double their life experiences) to think about and consider and carefully evaluate religion?

Just as I was about to stand up and say something, Robin shut it down and said he wasn’t interested and for them to have a good night. Their parting words were a question: is there a large Latino population in this neighbourhood? Robin pointed vaguely north-west and said “Yeah, that way.” And off they went in that direction.

What a weird and exhausting way to end their lecture. But I was glad it was over and could eat my dinner in peace.

November 4, 2012
by renayung
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Epic Realtor Sign

The other day while on the bus I caught a glimpse of a realtor sign that blew my mind. The reason? The realtor’s name. Hold on to your hat for this one: Epic Poon.

However when I whizzed past it the next day I took a closer look. And I realized that someone had modified (via spray-paint) the name “Eric” to be “Epic”. I knew it was too crazy to be true….

September 17, 2012
by renayung
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Jurassic Park In My Bathroom

We have a bit of a silverfish problem in our bathroom. We’re not overrun but we find enough of those disgusting creatures on a regular basis to prompt us to give the washroom the occasional Raid bath.

But here’s the creepy thing: our silverfish are mutants somewhat. They don’t look like the normal silverfish that I used to spot in my old apartment. These ones are bigger, more robust, and they have weird forked tails. If I had to make an uneducated, scientific guess, I would say it looks like the silverfish have inter-populated with earwigs (another insect that repulses me) to create a super breed of creepy-crawlies. Yes, life finds a way to get stronger and ensure survival.

And what have we nicknamed this new species, you might ask? Well, “earfish “of course.

August 25, 2012
by renayung
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Rush Hour Dude In a Dress

Every morning during my work commute, I end up at a bus loop at around 8:20am. As I hop off my bus en route to the skytrain, I almost always walk past a long bus line-up. And standing in this line-up almost every time is a guy wearing women’s clothing.

Now, I’ve been around the block so to speak. I’ve partied with some transgendered folks in my youth. I’ve hung out with guys who like to dress up (quite expertly I might add) and entertain the crowds while dressed as Janet Jackson, Cher, etc. In other words, if a man wants to put on women’s clothing I’m 100% okay with that. But the cross-dressing morning commuter whom I see almost every day kind of makes me give my head a scratch.

For starters, he is wearing women’s business clothing but that’s where the efforts stop. His hair is somewhat feminine but not really (it kind of looks like a quasi-femmy bowl cut). Also his facial features are pretty masculine and he doesn’t opt for any real make-up, just some bright lipstick. And finally I can’t help but notice his posture. He is always slouching and his stance is not lady-like at all.

And he always looks a tad miserable. Or at least ultra-serious. I don’t know. If you’re going to dress as a woman during rush hour, why not put a little more effort into it, and hit it out of the park so to speak? And why not have a little fun, and just smile a little? But then his attire leads me to believe that he’s on his way to work. And maybe, just maybe, he’s just like the 80-90% of people (I’m guessing at statistics here) who hate their jobs or commute. So he really could be just like the rest of the general public. Except for the fact that he likes to wear skirt suits and nylons.

Without analyzing the situation too much, I just wish him a little happiness.

July 6, 2012
by renayung
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Kristen’s Last Crazy Dance

I recently saw the season finale for SNL. It was pretty good, a typical hit and miss experience although I thought the hits were pretty good for that particular episode. For the final skit, I didn’t really tune into what was going on until partway through. The actors were participating in a graduation ceremony, and they were saying a special good-bye to one of their classmates played by Kristen Wiig. One by one, all the actors took their turn spinning and dancing with Ms. Wiig.

Of course the dance moves were well-executed but a little silly. Everyone was having fun but then I could see the lady of the hour fighting back tears. I shouldn’t be surprised because of couse everyone has emotions and it was no doubt an emotional experience. But I’ve always thought Kristen Wiig to be a bit on the crazy-side and I always thought of her as a collection of different personas, not necessarily a singular person. She is incredibly talented and hilarious (in my opinion) yet I always suspected that she was always ‘on’ and always in character, thereby creating an almost untouchable personality and an inability for others to see her for who she really is.

But watching her dancing with her cast mates and close friends and getting all choked up, well I thought I finally saw the real person underneath all the laughter and performances. It was refreshing to say the least.

June 5, 2012
by renayung
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So Long, Galapagos

It was spring cleaning time at my household over the weekend. I try to keep an organized home but often things get overlooked and I am surprised to unearth certain items as I go about my never-ending task of home re-arranging.

I was in the basement spare bedroom and behind one of the dressers I stumbled upon a framed picture that used to hang on the wall of my apartment years ago. I paused for a moment when I recognized it. It was a photograph of a shark with the caption “Galapagos Islands: Ecuador”. It’s actually quite a nice picture but the finishing was now faded and dusty. Wow. I had carried this with me years ago (decades actually) when I was back-packing in South America. It made the trek with me, survived the airplane ride home, then got framed and displayed for many years. But the fact that I didn’t even realize that is was ‘missing’ meant that it was as good as forgotten these last few years.

Fondness. Nostalgia. The memories of walking through dusty landscapes, the gritty after-taste as ancient buses trundled past me. The intense sweetness of Coca-cola in glass bottles. Hitch-hiking in the Andes Mountains. Living in a beach hut on stilts and when I went to bed I had prop my shoes up against the wall (so scorpions wouldn’t take refuge in them) and when I awoke I could see the ocean waves beneath my feet. This was all conjured up by the discovery of a forgotten wall-hanging.

“Hmmm, it’s old. You’re going to turf it, right?” Robin’s words brought me back to the present. My gut reaction was ‘no’; how on earth could I just toss something aside that had made an epic travel with me, and represented a youthful, carefree chapter of my life? But the practical side of me took over. I have lots of ‘stuff’ that I hold on to for various reasons (even though I am not a serious pack-rat). I still have rings and bracelets from South America that I brought home with me, items that have kept their appeal and usefulness and can stay tucked in drawers.

During that spring cleaning session I made the go/no-go decision right there. The picture would not stay. Since we were also getting rid of a dresser set, I added the Galapagos picture to the give-away pile. And just to make our lives easier (to spare the effort of transporting anything), we set the dresser set and the picture in our back alley with a ‘Free’ sign. Shortly after we moved everything out there, I promptly forgot about the picture again.

The next morning after checking on his garden Robin announced, “Guess what, the dresser and picture are gone!” Yes, someone (or some people) had loaded up the items from the alley and took them to a good home (I can only assume). There it was. Finality. The picture was gone forever, not just tucked away in my basement waiting to be found again in another 10 years.

I have to admit that I was momentarily sad for a couple of minutes. But it was fleeting and I got over it pretty quickly while I went about my usual weekend busy-ness. It is good to spring-clean the mind every once in awhile. One does not want too much mental mind-clutter, and there is still always room for good memories.

The World According to Rena

My World, My Words