October 21, 2007 • 3 Comments
I remember telling people at one point that one of my biggest goals in life was to be remembered. The mere fact that my existence in this world had, in some way, affected others positively would have made my life seem a little more meaningful. I found out this evening that my old mentor, boss and fellow photographer passed away with her husband just 3 days ago in a tragic car accident in Ohio. I am somewhat humbled that at just 26 years old, Bridget was able to touch so many lives - including mine - and I can only hope that in my lifetime, I am able to touch as many. For the few years that I knew Bridget at the Daily Bruin, there will always be fond memories of late night editing, shooting assignments together and hearing about her adventures abroad. She was my Photo Editor at the Daily Bruin when I was a contributor, constantly encouraging this shy sophomore to take assignments and critiquing my work. I may never become the photographer she was but I certainly learned a lot from her positive attitude and adventurous spirit. I can’t even remember a time seeing her without that smile on her face and am just glad to know that she’ll always be remembered. Cheers Bridget.
http://www.rememberingbridget.com/
October 11, 2007 • 4 Comments
From: Chou, Alex
Sent: Thursday, October 11, 2007 9:12 AM
To: mike
Subject: Re: oh dear
I took a bite of ur egg tarts before realizing there was mold on them.
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From: Mike Chien
Sent: Thursday, October 11, 2007 9:20 AM
To: ‘Chou, Alex’
Subject: RE: oh dear
HAHAHAHAHAHAHAAHHAHAHAHAHHAHAHHHAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHAAA
HAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHHAHAHAHHAHAHAAHAA
AHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAAHAHAA
AHHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHHAHAAAHA
AHAHAHHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHH
AHHHH.hahaha….okay .. I’m done.
October 9, 2007 • 1 Comment
I was looking through old pictures last night as I tried, unsuccessfully, to make a dent in my near thousand pictures from Lynn’s wedding. And while looking through Japan pictures from last April, I found this little guy. Dave and I had been biking around Nijo Castle in Kyoto when we stumbled on this very polite little guy sitting outside a home. There was no way we could pass by that and not say hello. I think he’s a Japanese Shiba or Akita but either way, I think I’ve found the dog I want. This also reminded me of how, that same day, Dave wanted to buy these kittens from some dude on the street so he could put them in his bike basket and have them ride along with us all day… and then afterward, bring them back to Tokyo to give to Mina. (I talked him out of it - you’re welcome Mina) Haha. Good times.
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October 5, 2007 • No Comments
September 22, 2007 • No Comments
On a chilly Saturday evening, I sit here, warming my feet by the fireplace and for the last hour have been listening to Randy Pausch’s “Last Lecture” - the title being literary but not intended to be. This is because the lecture series was built on the premise of what a professor would impart on the world had that lecture been their last. Tragically, Professor Pausch has terminally cancer and this would, literally, be his last lecture. So in the similar spirit of Morrie Schwartz from Tuesdays with Morrie, he imparted some of his life lessons to the world before his passing. And as a last lesson to everyone striving to achieve something great in their lives, I’m very certain that he succeeded in providing evidence that dreams can come true and that most goals aren’t achieved through luck but through hard work and perserverence. One of his main points was that brick walls in life were good … because they proved how badly we want things. The thing that touched me the most though was the very end, when he dedicated his last lecture not to his students but to his young children who likely will not remember much of their father.
What I was also reminded by Professor Pausch’s last lecture was that life can, at any moment, be cut short for any number of reasons. And that while tragic, Professor Pausch’s disease at least gave him the chance to speak to his young children, impart some of his life lessons to the world and thank the people that have influenced him in his life. I think we can only hope for an opportunity like that but hopefully the people we care about the most, will already know what we think about them. Anyways… I do believe that’s enough deep thinking for one weekend. Here are links: Wall Street Journal - Moving On and Professor Pausch’s Lecture. Cheers and thanks for the link Dave.
September 17, 2007 • 4 Comments
The emmy’s are over, the fall lineups are complete and my Tivo HD is arriving tomorrow along with a super-massive hard drive upgrade. So what next? It’s time to go down the list of shows to record! Here’s my first pass.
Monday:
How I Met Your Mother - Ted is single again and with wingman Barney by his side, it is surely going to be a legendary season.
Heroes - What happened to Sylar? How is Hiro going to survive in medieval Japan? What happened to Peter? I want to know and can’t wait to find out. Oh and how can I forget, Veronica Mars is going to be on the show! Well hello there, Ms. Bell!
Wednesday:
Bionic Woman - I like brunettes and I like action. Enough said.
Thursday:
Grey’s Anatomy - I lost track of this one during the second half of season 2 in this chaotic drama. We’ll see if I don’t get annoyed again with this one.
CSI: Crime Scene Investigations - Nerds rule and they put the bad guys in jail. Excellent. =)
The Office - It’s got Steve Correll, how can it go wrong?
Scrubs - JD and Turk: It’s Guy Love, between twooooooo guys!
Friday:
Stargate Atlantis - Guilty pleasure.
Saturday:
Battlestar Galactica - A more respectable guilty pleasure.
Sunday
Family Guy - One hours Star Wars special airs 9/23. MARK YOUR CALENDARS!
The Simpsons - There’s a reason why this show is starting its 19th season.
Desperate Housewives - Ummmm… yeah. I only watch it a little.
August 30, 2007 • 2 Comments
Last Sunday, I met my second cousins for the first time at a family dinner in Milbrae: Colby and Audrey. My uncle threw a red egg and ginger party for my two cousins’ new kids and my uncle’s 2nd and 3rd grandkids. Very cute and very well behaved - at least they were during dinner. From what my cousins tell me, they aren’t getting much sleep. =) Can’t wait till they get a little older so I can play with them more.
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August 29, 2007 • No Comments
I don’t spend much time in the south bay anymore… after spending most of my life growing up there but when friends come home and visit or parents need help with their computers, then there’s not way out of heading home. Steve was in town all weekend for a wedding so we did our usual business: Sushi Maru (which moved to Milpitas - how sad), bowling, donuts, tennis, in-n-out, golf and jamba juice.
Sushi Maru has sadly moved from their Sunnyvale location to way out in Milpitas where you can’t escape the faint stench of treated water and marshland. For anyone who says differently about Milpitas, it’s only because they’ve gotten used to the stench. And for anyone who doesn’t know what I’m talking about, take the 237 to 880 interchange on a summer afternoon with your windows down. Mmmmmm… watch out for that urge to vomit. =) Luckily, the sushi at Maru was still good.
So bowling in Cupertino has always been associated with Homestead Lanes on the edge of Cupertino and Sunnyvale where the carpeting, seating, balls have all been kept in their original vintage condition since … the 1970s it seems. Now with the Vallco Fashion Park coming out of its incredibly long hibernation with the new AMC Cupertino Theaters, I was pleasantly surprised to find out that they had turned to the old Tilt arcade into a 21 and over only bowling alley - Strike Cupertino. I have to admit that I was pretty impressed and didn’t expect the friendly staff, the relatively cheap prices, the enormous bar or the DJ in the back. If only this was all around when I was still living in Cupertino. After a couple hours of sucking it hard (I blame it on the balls that have the finger holes too close that weren’t spin friendly), we hit up Donut Wheel for absolutely the best glazed donuts in the world (I’m not exagerating) - freshly cooked up, warm, crunchy on the outside, soft on the inside… oh baby… my mouth waters just thinking about it.
Steve and I played tennis the next day in the scorching sun, cooled off at In-n-out, tee’ed up for golf on Sunday and finished it all off with some afternoon Jamba Juice at the Oaks. On top of all of that, I finished reading Stardust by Neil Gaiman which is a really good book. Highly recommended. I was super sore on Monday but it was all in good fun - I would say, a perfect summer weekend in the suburbs. Haha.
August 24, 2007 • 2 Comments
Oh dear. I sometimes go through my favorite photography news sites during lunch, reading up on new cameras, evolving technologies and waiting to hear from the big guns: Canon and Nikon. And today was like any other day… work… lunch… a little scrabulous… and then boom.. D3.. and D300. My salivary glands are on full throttle - even more than when I think about Thai curry. There are really just too many features on this thing to list out but some highlights: 12MP full frame, 9fps, dual compactflash slots, 51pt AF, live view, 3″ LCD. Now if only I could convince myself that it would be worthwhile to spend $5000 on a body plus all new lenses… A part of me wishes that I were an actual photographer - the really big nerdy photog part of me. But alas, I sit here behind a desk and work with the less passionate nerd inside of me - engineering.
To top it off, Canon released their 1D Mark III which has 21MP (yikes!). I would have to buy a new computer to handle those files. Hahaha. Which brings me to a whole new topic of Macbooks. Well first things first, take more pictures.
July 19, 2007 • 2 Comments
2 weeks ago, Dave hosted his last west coast hurrah and birthday celebration on the island of Maui - the week of dave. And to some it up… it was freakin’ awesome. After a missed flight and lost luggage, we finally made it to Hana to start out the week where we relaxed for 2 nights, hiked to a 400′ waterfall, cooked and listened to the ocean right outside our balcony. It was only the beginning. Mina and Nancy at the black “sand” beach
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My footprints…
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My feet on a red sand beach
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Dave and Nance
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The girls on the most scenic portion of the road to Hana.
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The next portion of the trip took us to West Maui where graciously, Dave busted out all his hotel points to put us up at none other than the Grand Wailea. That was our home for the rest of the week while we scuba dived, surfed, snorkeled, ate and enjoyed all the Maui has to offer. MMmm.. loco moco. But all good things come to an end …
After everyone’s intro dive…
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Dave and Dan before fireworks in Lahaina
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Allie - pro surfer
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Dave, Allie and Christina at the Fairmont before Dave’s birthday dinner
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Surf school grads
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