Angela Tung | Oversharing on the internet since 2005.

awareness / goals / writing — Comments Off
02
Jan 13

One Resolution and the $10 Deal

I saw this article today about making only one New Year resolution. Poppycock! was my first response. But the more I thought about it, the more it made sense.

Last year my plan was to adjust my expectations, celebrate my accomplishments, and have short-term goals in mind but to not write them. I don’t know if that worked, but I was able to form a couple of good habits mostly because of the $10 deal I had with my boyfriend, MB:

If I didn’t work on my novel at least five days a week, I had to give him $10. But if I finished my novel before reaching $100, I could have all the money back.
If I didn’t go to krav maga at least twice a week, I had to give him $10.

I’m a cheapskate so I hated handing over the money. Still, my debt racked up to $70. Then on Christmas Day I finished the first draft of my book and I got all the money back. As for krav maga, I ended up getting my yellow belt in September.

I’m going to continue these two $10 deals – work on personal writing at least five days a week and go to krav maga at least twice a week – perhaps with the added goal that one of those two krav maga times, I have to go to a level 2 class. I’ve been awful about going to level 2. It’s much more fun and comfortable to stay in level 1.

My other short-term goals are to work out at least four times a week and to read one book a month or so. These have also become a habit for the most part so I’m not too worried about those.

So what do I want my one resolution to be? I thought it might be to submit my writing more often. Back in 2011, I tried to do a 12 months, 60 rejections project and failed. Sixty submissions in a year is too much for a slow writer like me. I thought maybe 12 would be more doable, one a month, and even came up with a plan and submitted one piece just now,

But then I started to execute on my plan – check listings for magazines and upcoming contest deadlines – but immediately became overwhelmed. There are just so many contests and magazines, and I don’t have too many things to submit.

What I need is to write some short pieces during this break I’m taking from my novel (at least one month, maybe two), and to get the momentum going to be able to work on short pieces and revise my novel at the same time. So working on short pieces is built into the whole “work on personal stuff five days a week” or pay up.

So if not submitting more, how about meditating? It’s something I’d like to do more consistently. I get pretty anxious about stuff (often made-up stuff) and want to be able to handle my anxiety better. I meditate when I do yoga at home and in yoga class, and sometimes on the train to work if I remember. But usually I completely forget. For instance, I haven’t meditated at all during this holiday break.

The article goes on to suggest three more steps after picking your one resolution:

Come up with a specific action plan.
Avoid previous resolutions.
Tailor your action plan to your personality.

What works for me is when something becomes not just a habit but something I feel I need. If I go more than two days without working out, I just feel blah. The $10 helped motivate to keep working on my novel and krav maga-ing, but I also grew to love getting in a little personal writing after dinner instead of just watching four hours of TV. I grew to like practicing punching and kicking, as well as socializing with my classmates.

But first meditation needs to become a habit. I’ve looked online and all the articles say the same thing: start off with just a few minutes, pick a trigger, reward yourself, blah blah. But I always manage to find an excuse: I have work to do, MB is around, MB might come home any minute (he’s all for my meditating, but I’d rather be alone). The only thing that seems to work for me is the $10 deal. Would it be somehow anti-meditative to have to pay $10 for every day that I don’t meditate?

Well, the article does say to tailor my plan to my personality, and apparently my personality is “cheapskate.”

year-end retrospects — 6 comments
31
Dec 12

2012 in Retrospect: My Year of Living Dangerously

UPDATED. I thought of something else!

If I had to pick one word to sum up 2012 for me, it would be risky. For some reason, I took a lot of risks this year. Let’s get one thing straight: a risk for me may be a walk in the park for someone else. Like my brother, the scare yourself every day guy, says, what’s scary for you may not be for other people, and vice versa. It’s all about getting out of your comfort zone.

With that, here are the scariest things I did this year.

I rode an overnight train. I love trains, but I was nervous about the idea of riding one for 51 hours from San Francisco to Chicago. How tiny would our sleeper car be? Would we be bored out of our minds? Could I live for two and a half days without a shower? Would I be able to sleep?

Of course I had nothing to worry about. Our sleeper car was small but cozy, we weren’t bored at all, and there were showers on board. And while I did have trouble sleeping the first couple of nights, when I finally remembered to wear my ear plugs, I slept like a baby.

I schmoozed (a little) at a huge writers’ conference. The reason MB and I went to Chicago was to attend the biggest writers’ conference in the universe. Or at least it seemed that way. Most of the time I felt overwhelmed and painfully shy, but on the last day, I mustered up enough courage to go up to two tables at the book fair and introduce myself. I knew the organizations through work, and they got excited when I mentioned my company. I felt accomplished walking with two business cards and some give-aways.

I pitched my novel to a bunch of agents. As you’ve noticed, I hate schmoozing. But when a “speed dating with agents” event came up, I decided to try it.

It was pretty nerve-racking reciting my pitch over and over, especially as certain agents’ eyes glazed over and others looked at me like I was nuts. And to tell the truth, I was kind of discouraged afterward. But. . .

I kept going with my novel even when I didn’t want to. After the speed agenting event, I was pretty discouraged. I wanted to trash what I had and start over. But MB talked me off the cliff and helped me see that my book was fixable. The agents’ questions and confusion simply pointed at the weaknesses of the story, and once I figured out how to address those weaknesses, I kept going.

It helped that I had struck a deal with MB: I had to work on my novel five days a week. I had one day off and one day to work on something else. Each time I didn’t do this, I had to give MB $10. (I also had to give him $10 if I didn’t go to krav maga at least twice a week, but more on that later.) But if I finished my novel before I reached $100, I got all the money back.

I got $70 back on Christmas Day.

Seventy is not bad. That means I missed my goals seven times, far fewer than it seemed in my mind.

I did a reading. This year I was lucky enough to be part of The Beautiful Anthology, published by TNB Books. Not only has it gotten mentions by Largehearted Boy, Daily Candy, and The New York Times, it’s resulted in readings around the country. When I heard of one being arranged in L.A., I jumped at the chance.

But as the reading got closer, the more nervous I became. Should I do an intro? What should I say? Should I look up or keep my eyes on my book? What if people were bored? WHAT THE HELL WAS I GOING TO WEAR? Why did I agree to do this at all?

But of course the reading turned out great. My fellow readers were awesome and the folks at Book Soup and the crowd were so nice. Plus I got to meet some online friends and hang out with my bro.

I participated on a writing roundtable. As with the reading, when I got invited to participate on a roundtable to talk about writing for an anthology, I agreed happily. But when the day came, I was nervous as fuck. It was a conference call, which in some ways was better: I didn’t have to worry about my outfit nor (mis)interpret any bored expressions. I could just keep blabbing, which is what I did, and afterward, I was glad I did it.

I schmoozed with writers in a social setting. When a writer/editor friend invited me a to a Christmas party at an agent’s house, I automatically thought I wouldn’t go. I had already done enough scary things this year, hadn’t I? But when she asked me again and I discovered the house was not far from my apartment, I decided to go.

I was nervous about attending a party alone, and also when I found out we were going around the room and introducing ourselves and talking about what we were working on. But I did okay! People actually seemed entertained by what I had to say. And I had conversations with a bunch of different people and collected business cards. Yay for introvert me!

I took up krav maga. This was by far the scariest thing I did this year – in fact, in many years (except for flying trapeze). I’m still not sure what made me decide to do it. Maybe the MB’s talking about his years of martial arts training had wormed its way into my brain. Maybe because the krav maga place is two blocks from my apartment, or because I’ve always secretly wanted to be Buffy the Vampire Slayer.

From krav maga came a million more scary things:

Just going to class. In the beginning, I’d get a stomachache every time and often chickened out. See the $10 deal with MB.
Choosing partners. Would I get rejected by the higher level students? Would I get someone who was sorry they picked me? Would I be left with no partner, which is basically the same as getting picked last in gym class?
Getting paired with someone bigger and stronger than I was. When a guy who outweighs you by 80 pounds knees you in the stomach – even with pad protection – it’s not fun. (Of course we can tell our partners to go easier.)
Learning something new. I was afraid of making a fool out of myself every single time.
Getting (fake) attacked by my classmates.
Getting evaluated by the instructor.
Trying other classes. The first time I walked into KO Bag class (punching and kicking the heavy punching bag), I chickened out. Turned around and left. Now I freaking love it and probably go more to KO Bag than to krav.
Deciding to take the yellow belt test.
Taking the yellow belt test (and passing!).
Going to level 2 krav maga classes. While I now find level 1 classes fun, level 2 classes still scare the shit out of me.

I do feel changed after almost a year of martial arts training. I’m leaner and stronger. I know how to throw a decent punch and a pretty good kick. As for the psychological side, the change is more subtle. I’ve never used my skills in a real-life situation, but I feel more confident that I could take care of myself such a situation arise. Or at least be aware enough to avoid them, or if I can’t avoid them, to not panic and freeze.

But during class, I still pretend I’m Buffy slaying a vampire. :)

I’m not sure why I did more scary stuff this year. Maybe partly I was inspired by my brother; maybe because I turned 40. Whatever the reason, I’m glad I did it all.

TV / what i've been watching / year-end retrospects — Comments Off
30
Dec 12

2012 in Retrospect: What I Watched

Another year, another 365 days of television. Let the idiot box recap begin!

Most Disappointing

Copper looked so promising. BBC America plus New York City in 1865 – how could it not be awesome? But it wasn’t. It wasn’t terrible but it was just blah. I felt nothing for most of the characters, and aside from a storyline involving a child prostitute, couldn’t get into any of the conflicts.

The If-I-Hear-That-Song-One-More-Time-I’m-Going-to-Break-the-TV Award

The show was Awake and the song was Bohemian Rhapsody, or rather one refrain of Bohemian Rhapsody sung over and over. WE GET IT. THAT’S THE TURNING POINT. OKAY. Thank goodness the show was canceled so I don’t have to hear it again.

Awake also gets the Most Unbelievable Mom of a Dead Teenaged Son Award. First of all, the actress Laura Allen, who is 38, looks about 33, and was way too smiley and chipper for someone whose son just died in a car accident.

Best Soap Opera

Let’s face it: Downton Abbey is basically a soap opera, albeit a classy one, with British accents. But that’s why people love it so. Plus the clothes! and Dame Maggie “What is a week-end?” Smith! and the British idioms! How can you go wrong?

Best Show That Only My College Roommate and I Watched

Unlike Downton Abbey, people didn’t seem to give a tweet about Call the Midwife. But I didn’t care. It was my private Sunday night, old-fashioned girly indulgence.

Set in 1950s East London, the show focuses on a group of young women trained as midwives. Every episode we meet different mothers-to-be and their ordeals. When I saw my college roommate, SB, in November, we discovered that we both loved the show. “I don’t know anyone who watches it!” she said. Call the Midwife would have totally been that show we watched religiously in college on her tiny portable TV.

Also, the Actress Best Suited to Play a Young Julia Child Award goes to Miranda Hart, who plays the delightful Chummy.

Best Show to Re-watch from the Beginning with Your Boyfriend Who Has Never Seen It Before

Unbelievably, MB had never watched Buffy the Vampire Slayer, and it had been a few years since I last saw the show, so we thought we’d watch it from the start. It was a lot fun to relive the show and to bite my tongue when MB would ask questions, as well as to see how bad the special effects and makeup were in the beginning (“He’s more like a were-monkey,” MB said of Oz).

To avoid Buffy withdrawal, we’ve started watching Angel. I couldn’t get into it when it was on the air, but now I’m really enjoying it.

Best Show to Watch Before Going to Bed

I realized this year, also unbelievably, that I had never seen an episode of Star Trek: The Original Series. I’ve seen almost every episode of The Next Generation and Deep Space Nine, but not TOS. I’m not going to critique it here except to say it’s totally fun and hokey, especially the overly dramatic, drawn out reaction shots. First this guy reacts! then this guy! then this guy! then this guy! And the men wear so much eyeliner and eyeshadow, and the women’s wigs are hilariously ridiculous.

But the reason I like to watch it before bed is because it’s very soothing. I don’t know what it is. Maybe the calm, leisurely pace, or the way everyone talks.

Another Show I Can’t Believe I Haven’t Watched Until Now

Last year I became a fan of Torchwood, but had somehow never watched Doctor Who. I tried watching an episode when I was in high school, mostly because my good friend SG was so into it, but I didn’t see the appeal. Now I’m a total fan. What I like best is how excited the Doctor and his various companions get whenever they travel. I would totally be the Doctor’s companion.

Most Reliable

I’ve been a fan of Fringe from the beginning. The show has been consistently good the whole time, never tying itself into gordian X-Files knots. And while I’m sad that this is its last season, I’m glad it’s going out on a high note.

Best Closing Scene

SPOILER ALERT! If I had to pick one word to describe this latest season of Breaking Bad, it would be inevitable. Everything that happened was bound to sooner or later. But inevitable isn’t the same as predictable. We didn’t want that bad shit to happen, but it did and in unexpected ways.

Which brings us to the last scene of the mid-season finale: Hank on the toilet, looking for something to read, finding the Walt Whitman book and the inscription from Gale, and all the pieces coming together in his head. Tingles! Reminds of that scene in Godfather 2 when Michael realizes (ANOTHER SPOILER for the two of you who haven’t seen the film) that Fredo was the one betrayed him.

Breaking Bad had some great words too.

Best Comeback

MORE SPOILERS. The first season of The Walking Dead gave me nightmares (a good thing). The second season nearly bored me to walking death. I was wary about this season. Would they spend the whole time talking? What they be safe (read: boring)? They are fairly safe from the zombies, but not from those who aren’t supposed to be a danger: other people.

Plus, the Governor is one fucked up motherfucker, and I love Michonne.

Want more TV stuff? I wrote about the best in TV words too.

reviews / what i'm reading now / year-end retrospects — 2 comments
29
Dec 12

2012 in Retrospect: My 10 Must-Reads of the Year

It’s that time of year again. That’s right, time for my year-end retrospects. First up, my choices for must-reads of 2012. Some of these were published this year; some were books I just happened to read in 2012. They’re in the order that I read them.

I wrote about several of these back in July and for those books am just (lazily) quoting that blog post.

Fathermucker, by Greg Olear. I started this book at the end of 2011 and finished it in 2012 so it just makes this list. Here’s what I wrote in July: “Greg Olear’s Fathermucker was the first book I read this year, and I was blown away. On the surface it seems like a simple plot: a day in the life of a stay-at-home dad. But like Ulysses it’s far more complex (yet not incomprehensible), as well as moving and funny. It was one of those books I felt like kissing after I was done.”

Sleepy Hollow Family Almanac, by Kris D’Agostino. Again, quoting myself: “Sleepy Hollow Family Almanac by Kris D’Agostino is a little like The Corrections, but with much more heart. I didn’t so much love The Corrections as admire it. But with Sleepy Hollow, it was pure love. I read the book months ago but I still have clear images of most of the characters: the hapless narrator, the autistic kid he helps at the school where he works, the ill father, the troubled younger sister.”

The Lexicographer’s Dilemma: The Evolution of ‘Proper’ English, from Shakespeare to South Park, by Jack Lynch. MB picked out this book, thinking I’d like it since I’m an amateur lexicographer now, and he was right. Over the summer I wrote that this book “is a delight for any word nerd.” It “gives a comprehensive overview of the history of the English language, from a time where there was no consistency in spelling or grammar, to the Latinizing of English, to modern-day neologisms.”

The Cove, by Ron Rash. My original write-up: “The Cove was another surprise. It starts off quiet: an Appalachian town during World War I, a lonely outcast girl, a stranger with a flute. But Ron Rash subtly and skillfully brings all the elements together, and what happens is at once inevitable, surprising, and heart-breaking.”

Moby-Duck, by Donovan Hohn. “Moby-Duck: The True Story of 28,800 Bath Toys Lost at Sea and of the Beachcombers, Oceanographers, Environmentalists, and Fools, Including the Author, Who Went in Search of Them not only has the longest subtitle I’ve seen in a long time but also reminded me David Foster Wallace’s nonfiction: fascinating, informative, entertaining, and very funny. It’s an example of the very best nonfiction. There’s what it’s about – seeking out these rubber ducks and other bath toys – and what’s it’s really about: the author’s external and internal journeys.”

I was pretty obsessed with this book, to the point that I made a list of the words in the book that I found interesting.

The Magicians, by Lev Grossman. “How good is The Magicians? The moment I finished it, I bought the sequel in e-book format although I prefer print. I won’t even say anything more about it. You must experience it for yourself. Just remember my snarky six word review: Harry Potter, grown-up, fucked up.”

The Bellwether Revivals, by Benjamin Wood. Set in modern-day Cambridge, a young man who works as a caregiver in a nursing home befriends a wealthy brother and sister and their eclectic circle. At first the group seems merely eccentric, but soon the young man finds much weirdness among them. Reminiscent of The Secret History (one of my all-time favorite novels), The Bellwether Revivals kept me reading and guessing what was going to happen next.

Beautiful Ruins, by Jess Walter. To tell the truth, I didn’t think I was going to love this book. The 1960s, a mysterious movie star, Italy, Hollywood. Maybe I’m crazy but I thought I wouldn’t be into it. Well, yes, I’m definitely crazy because Beautiful Ruins absolutely lovely.

The Revised Fundamentals of Caregiving, by Jonathan Evison. This was another book I flew through, and it was so freaking good. Like Fathermucker good. Divorced and depressed Ben Benjamin gets a job caring for a young man with cerebral palsy, and along the way we find out little by little about Benjamin’s tragic past. While the book is incredibly sad in some ways, it’s often hilarious at the same time. I loved the relationship between Benjamin and his charge, Trevor. I believe the movie rights were recently sold for the book (congrats Jonathan!) which I could totally envision.

Where’d You Go, Bernadette? by Maria Semple. Okay, I lied. I put this book last because it was my favorite of the year. Set in Seattle and told in a series of letters and emails, we get to know precocious teen Bee, some annoying busybodies, and the eccentric and vivacious Bernadette. It’s a total romp – funny and fun but with serious undertones.

In case you’re wondering how I heard about these books, most of them I received through The Nervous Breakdown’s book club. If you’re into quality books arriving on your doorstep every month, you should totally join. Plus it’s just $9.99 a month. I did some research on other book clubs, and it’s definitely one of the more cost-effective ones out there.

As for the ones I didn’t get through the book club, like I said, MB sort of randomly picked up The Lexicographer’s Dilemma; my boss had mentioned The Magicians and when I saw it featured at my local bookstore, I snatched it up; and Moby-Duck I had heard of before. The author, Donovan Hohn, was actually a classmate of mine in grad school.

What were some of your favorite books this year?

family — Comments Off
17
Dec 12

Parental update

As you may know, my dad had a small accident during a Taiwan vacation in October and fractured his pubis bone. When I visited last month, he was still wheelchair bound, but could stand for short periods of time and, more importantly, was in good spirits. I’m happy to say that he’s improved enormously since then.

My brother visited earlier this month, and by that time, our dad was already out of his wheelchair and using a walker. (At first he was resistant about using a walker because he thought it would make him seem “old,” but hey Dad, you’re in your 70s. You’re old!) The doctor told my father that he’s healing really well, and was actually surprised that he was healing so quickly. The X-rays told the same story, and now my father needs to walk as much as possible to regain the strength in his legs.

Later that week, my mom said that Dad has been able to walk short distances, ie around the house, without the walker, and longer ones with. He’s ordered a cane for when he graduates completely from the walker. This week they went to the mall together for the first time in over a month. In a couple of weeks, they have a karaoke party.

It’s such a relief! I had also thought his recovery would be much longer, though it’s been about eight weeks, which was what the doctors said.

In other news, it turns out my parents do indeed have mice. During my visit in November, I told my mother my suspicions – the noises sounded just like the last time we had mice, years and years ago – but she didn’t believe me. She kept insisting the noise was coming from outside, and that it was squirrels or birds.

During his visit, my brother investigated the attic and saw mouse droppings everywhere (I admit: my mother asked me to look in the attic, and I wouldn’t, imagining a stream of mice running at me; plus I was annoyed she didn’t believe me). The exterminator came and confirmed, and set traps in the attic, basement, and garage.

My mother told me that when the exterminator was in the basement, he called up to her, “Come look at this!” She went down and he pointed out a dead baby mouse near the water heater. She had seen it before, but from far away it looked like a dust ball. “I didn’t know that was a baby mouse!” she kept saying.

EW! BREEDING MICE IN THE HOUSE! EEK!

Anyway, I’m glad they took care of that.

random — Comments Off
08
Dec 12

The Fruit Fly Experiement

Last week we had a slight fruit fly infestation.

We’ve had fruit flies before, but those were because of our across the hall neighbor, who, while a nice guy, has a tendency to work long hours and neglect to take out his garbage. The building manager told me how once she and the exterminator (who checks the building once a month) found our neighbor’s trash can positively teeming with fruit flies. Then my suspicions were confirmed when I witnessed a fruit fly buzz in from under our doorway.

This time, however, it was all our own fault.

MB was very excited one night to come home with free bananas. He doesn’t care so much about free or cheap stuff, but he knows I appreciate it. The only problem with the bananas was that we couldn’t eat them fast enough, which unfortunately attracted fruit flies.

We’ve had bananas before. They’ve drawn a few fruit flies, but as soon as we finished or threw the bananas away, the flies would be gone. However, this time, in combination with the bananas, we unthinkingly threw out some pear cores in an open garbage bag. One day I went to throw the bag away, only to be greeted by a swarm of fruit flies.

Shit.

I got the bag in a large plastic one and tied it up, but not before a whole bunch more came zooming out. I threw out the bag and still hoped for the best. Maybe there weren’t as many as I thought, or maybe they’d just follow the garbage (or go into our neighbor’s apartment – just kidding, of course). But there were as many as I thought, they didn’t follow the garbage, and they didn’t go into our neighbor’s apartment.

They were in our place, and they were everywhere.

They were in the front hallway, the bathroom, and especially the kitchen. They constantly flew into our faces. We managed to kill a few, but that barely made a dent in the population.

Experiment #1: Fancy mosquito zapper plus fruit

MB had the idea to use this fancy mosquito zapper we got (in case you didn’t know, I’m paranoid about mosquitoes). It hasn’t been much use in attracting mosquitoes, but we thought we’d take a shot. MB put a pear core in the bottom of the zapper, and set it in the kitchen. The fruit definitely attracted the flies, but they ignored what’s supposed to kill them: the light and deadly fan. The next morning, the bottom was full of flies – which promptly flew out when MB opened it.

Experiment #2: Vinegar, dishwashing liquid, jar, plastic wrap

I did some research about fruit fly traps and found this one on Lifehacker. Encouraged by the comments, I got some apple cider vinegar and, following the directions, put a little in a couple of jars with a few drops of dishwashing liquid. I covered one jar with plastic wrap and one without since people seemed to say that both worked.

The flies ignored the jar with plastic and flew to the one without. I removed the plastic from the first jar, and more flies went there. However, none of them went in. They just hung out on the edge.

Someone on Facebook said that balsamic vinegar worked better for her, so I filled another with that. The flies were indeed attracted to it, but again they didn’t go in.

Experiment #3: Vinegar, dishwashing liquid, jar, funnel

This video from Chow suggests the funnel method.

I didn’t try it at first because I didn’t believe the flies wouldn’t be able to figure out how to fly back out of the funnel. But Experiment 2 wasn’t working.

I used balsamic vinegar in one jar and apple cider vinegar in the other. It took a while for the flies to go in, but they did, and I was amazed they couldn’t figure out how to get out. They would either hang at the end of the funnel or crawl up the side of the jar to the top, looking for a gap between funnel and jar.

I had taped the funnels to the edge of the jars pretty well, but what I had neglected to do was to tape the paper all the way up the open edge. At least one fly managed to wriggle its way out the untaped flap. After that I sealed that funnel right up.

All afternoon and evening, I obsessively checked on the jars. “Go in!” I’d mutter to the flies hanging out on the edge of the funnels. “Drown, you bastards!” I’d whisper to the ones still clinging mere centimeters above the surface of the liquid.

I let the jars sit out all night and for the whole next day.

The Verdict

There were a lot more flies in the apple cider vinegar jar than the balsamic. There were only about five in the balsamic (yes, I counted the corpses) and about 15 in the apple cider.

I thought we had lot more flies than about 20 so I refreshed the jars (both with the apple cider variety this time) and left them out for a night and day, but only one fly got trapped.

However, it seems the flies are almost all gone. I’ve noticed one or two flying around, but it’s nothing like before.

Now I know if, God forbid, this ever happens again, the apple cider vinegar funnel option is the way to go.

nanowrimo / writing — 2 comments
02
Dec 12

NaNoWriMo Fail

I totally screwed the pooch on NaNoWriMo.

By the 26th, I had only about 32,000 words, even counting all my writing besides my novel (personal blog posts and posts for work). Even counting writing the same scenes again because my computer died when I was home in New Jersey.

That was what discouraged me. Although I remembered most of what I had written, it was still a pain to recreate it all again, and to know that I wasn’t moving ahead. Plus I had to deal with recreating a work document I had lost too (which actually didn’t take too long to redo and which I’ve put into Google docs, lesson learned).

It was also a pain in the ass tracking word count day to day. If you’re working on one thing (which is what NaNoWriMo is designed for), it’s easy, but I was driving myself crazy counting every single word in everything I was working on.

Then again, despite having to rewrite several scenes, I did move ahead in my novel, and I probably blogged more here than I usually would have. But I think I like better the habit of just making sure I work on my novel almost every day (with an unofficial minimum word count of 200 words), with one day off and one day to work on something else.

language — Comments Off
24
Nov 12

Word of the Year 2012: My ‘Super’ Pick

Now that the year is winding down, dictionaries and language societies are picking or narrowing down their choices for word of the year (WOTY).

The Oxford English Dictionary’s pick for the UK was omnishambles, “a situation that has been comprehensively mismanaged, characterized by a string of blunders and miscalculations,” while their U.S. choice was GIF as a verb, “to create a GIF file of (an image or video sequence, especially relating to an event),” which some people found “huh?” but makes sense in terms of the popularity of the animated GIF.

Dictionary.com’s word of the year was bluster while Jen Doll, a great writer at The Atlantic, rounded up several favorites. The American Dialect Society‘s nominees include YOLO, fiscal cliff, Frankenstorm, double down, Gangam style, and mansplaining. (In case you’re wondering, phrases are fine as words of the year, as are words that aren’t “in the dictionary,” prefixes, and letters).

At first I loved malarkey as word of the year, because of Joe Biden’s use of it in the Vice Presidential debate, and because it summed up the sometimes ridiculous state of politics this year. But then I saw someone tweet super-PAC as WOTY possibility, and I thought, What about super? Superstorm Sandy had just wreaked havoc on the east coast. I had just read something about a supermax security prison, and someone had just told me something about the supermajority. Super- seemed to be everywhere.

Doing some more research (ie, Googling), I found that this year super- as a prefix seemed to play a large role in politics, the weather, science, current events, and pop culture. Super- it would be.

Here’s a closer work at some super- words that figured prevalently in 2012.

superstorm

“Monster waves hit two New York harbors Oct. 29 due to Hurricane Sandy, putting the superstorm in the record books yet again.”

“Hurricane Sandy Smashes Ocean Wave Records,” Our Amazing Planet, November 14, 2012

Superstorm is “a subjective term for any storm that is extremely and unusually destructive,” and was used by the media to describe the hurricane that devastated much of the east coast last month. The last storm to be described as such was the 1993 Storm of the Century.

super-PAC

“Known as a super-PAC, such a group isn’t limited by campaign finance laws and donation limits, though federal law prohibits coordination between super-PACs and candidates.”

Christopher Palmeri and Beth Jinks, “Gingrich Gets Boost From Casino Billionaire’s $10 Million Bet,” Bloomberg Businessweek, January 30, 2012

A super-PAC “may not make contributions to candidate campaigns or parties, but may engage in unlimited political spending independently of the campaigns,” and unlike traditional political action committees, “can raise funds from corporations, unions and other groups, and from individuals, without legal limits.”

Super-PACs came about in 2010, but played a major role in the this year’s Presidential election, “spending more than the candidates’ election campaigns in the Republican primaries.” Stephen Colbert started a super-PAC called Americans for a Better Tomorrow, Tomorrow.

supermajority

“With supermajorities in both houses of the state Legislature, Democrats have a historic opportunity to push their agenda on issues such as tax reform, workers’ rights and changing the initiative process.”

“Democrats’ new legislative supermajority holds promise, peril,” San Francisco Examiner, November 16, 2012

A supermajority is “a specified majority of votes, such as 60 percent, required to approve a motion or pass legislation,” as opposed to a simple majority of more than 50 percent. In October, Mitt Romney perpetuated the supermajority myth, saying “that President Obama should have gotten more done during his first two years in office because he had a supermajority in the Senate,” when in fact he didn’t have two years’ of supermajority, which, by the way, he would have needed to stop “the Republicans’ unprecedented use of the filibuster as an obstruction tactic,” which they’ve used “more than 400 times.”

In November, Democrats won supermajority in California and Illinois, leaving “all but three states—Iowa, Kentucky and New Hampshire—[with] one-party control of their legislatures, the highest mark since 1928.”

supermax

“Unlike Rockview, SCI-Greene is a Supermax facility designed to house some of Pennsylvania’s most dangerous criminals. One of the state’s two death rows is located there. Sandusky will be put in protective custody, which will keep him isolated from other prisoners.”

Dan Wetzel, “Jerry Sandusky’s Slim Chance for Appeal Hurt by Decision to Send Him to Supermax Prison,” Yahoo! News, November 2, 2012

Supermax refers to a super-maximum security prison, units within a prison which “provide long term, segregated housing for inmates classified as the highest security risks in the prison system — the ‘worst of the worst’ criminals.”

In June, NPR ran a story about ADX-Florence in Colorado, “what’s known as a supermax facility where many inmates are housed in solitary confinement for 23 hours a day,” and a lawsuit which “alleges severe abuse of federal prisoners” there, charging the government with violations of “the Eighth Amendment’s prohibition of cruel and unusual punishment.”

super-Earth

“But on Saturday, at Ciudad de las Ideas, an annual conference about big ideas held in Puebla, Mexico, and sponsored by Grupo Salinas, astronomer Dimitar Sasselov gave us non-scientists permission to be excited about last week’s news that a new so-called ‘super Earth’ christened HD 40307g has been discovered 42 light-years away.”

Torie Bosch, “Dimitar Sasselov: Enjoy the Discoveries of Earth-Like Planets While They Last,” Slate, November 12, 2012

A super-Earth is “an extrasolar planet with a mass higher than Earth’s, but substantially below the mass of the Solar System’s smaller gas giants Uranus and Neptune.” The term “refers only to the mass of the planet, and does not imply anything about the surface conditions or habitability.”

The super-Earth discovered in November exists in what’s called the Goldilocks zone, an area “not too close to its sun, not too far [and] believed to be capable of supporting life.” Another super-Earth was discovered in February of this year.

In other super-planetary news, there was a recent discovery of a super-Jupiter, which has “a mass about 12.8 times greater than Jupiter’s,” and let’s not forget the supermoon back in May.

supercut

“Ever seen a ‘supercut’? It’s an obsessive montage created by aggregating a series of phrases, actions or cliches from a film or TV show into a massive video montage.”

Jenna Wortham, “Meme Alert: Supercuts, Obsessive Fan Montages,” Wired, April 14, 2008

While animated GIFs were all the rage this year, supercuts (not the hairchopping place) were a close second. They’ve been around for a while, but this year they seemed to be everywhere, from Fandor’s Spielberg face compilation at the end of 2011; to these Sorkinisms; to Nic Cage losing his shit; to Harry Potter, just the spells please; to Claire Dane’s epic cryface.

What would you pick for word of the year?

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22
Nov 12

Thankful

Although it was for a bad reason, I had a very nice visit in New Jersey.

If you’re behind on the whole parents-saga, you can catch up here. The short version is that while on he was on vacation in Taiwan, my dad tripped, fell, and fractured his right pubis bone in three places. This means his mobility is pretty limited. I wanted to go see him and my mom right away, but there was the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy to deal with, then winter storm Athena. Finally, last week, I was able to go.

Here are all the things I’m thankful for from that visit:

An 11 AM flight. I discovered it’s the best time to fly. You’re not getting up ridiculously early, or waiting around all day to go.

Economy plus for $60. “Economy plus” are seats with more leg room. I really had no choice: there were only middle seats left by the time I checked in, and one aisle in the very back row (which I’ve sat in before and which totally sucks, between the cart bumping into the seat, and people feeling perfectly fine leaning on your seat while they wait for the bathroom, and then pseudo-apologizing with, “Well, you’re right there,” as though you moved the entire row in front of them).

A working computer. I added a lot to my novel.

Free airplane TV. Helped pass the time quickly. I saw Beasts of the Southern Wild, which was beautiful and sad, but not depressing.

Being near the front. Quick deboarding!

Having no checked luggage. Quick exit!

Working trains. I expected the trains to be a mess. My dad sent me an email saying I’d probably have to take one train to Rahway, then change for another. Turned out there were trains going directly to my town (as told to me by the very put out guy in the booth – sorry to disturb your sitting there doing nothing!). Even the 20 minute wait went quickly.

My mom’s food. This is one of the highlights of visits home. I inhaled delicious dumplings and many bowls of chicken soup with Chinese herbal medicine, which, I swear, cured my cold. My dad, the skeptical scientist, also said it seemed to be helping his leg.

My parents’ wireless internet. For a long time, they resisted, but a few years ago we managed to convince them to set it up.

Netflix and Hulu Plus. Hours of entertainment for me as my mom watched her Chinese and Korean shows on the main TV, and I was up at all hours from jet lag.

A workplace that makes it easy to work remotely. I spent much of my time at my parents’ working, which was enjoyable and kept me busy (ie, no boredom).

My parents let me help them with some household chores. Since I couldn’t do anything directly for my father, I was glad to be able to fix the ceiling light in the kitchen (even with my mom yelling at me the whole time I was on the ladder), change a ceiling light bulb in the living room, bring the recyclables out, unjam my dad’s printer, and some other random things my parents weren’t able to do.

My friends. Unexpectedly, I had the opportunity to see a bunch of friends while I was there. One night I had dinner with a college chum whom I hadn’t seen in almost 20 years. We went to Ruth’s Chris Steak House, my first time. It was very good and the decor was lovely.

Saturday I went into the city and saw my college roommate and former Upper East Side homegirl, SB, for a lovely, chatty breakfast; and former co-worker YP and library school classmate AK for a tour of the Brooklyn Museum.

Sunday I had coffee with high school friend AY, and during that time long-time bud ES texted that she was on her way home. Woot! ES and I had great time grabbing dessert that night in Princeton. Afterward we hung out in my room like we were still in high school, and I showed her my krav maga moves (totally at her request).

Good weather. While it was freezing at night, when I was in the city, it was sunny and not too cold, perfect for walking around.

A good night’s sleep. After a few restless nights, one of almost no sleep, and a busy day in NYC, I was finally able to sleep for a good long stretch Saturday night, and promptly got on east coast time.

My dad’s spare laptop. Unfortunately, my work computer went kaput.

A good memory. Also unfortunately, I hadn’t backed up the latest version of my novel, so everything I added on the plane ride and since then is probably kaput as well. But I had dumped some of it in a Google doc, and I think I remember the gist of the rest. Not word for word, obviously, but sometimes that’s better. It’s like revising.

A three PM flight. Again, I didn’t have to get up too early or rush out.

A thick book. I was worried that I’d be bored on my flight back because 1) my computer was busted, and 2) my TV didn’t work. For some reason, on this flight it wasn’t free, and I was willing to pay five bucks, but my TV couldn’t read my credit card. Luckily my book kept me pretty occupied.

Good headphones. I borrowed MB’s headphones, which while aren’t noise canceling, do a good job muffling outside noise. Luckily for me because across the aisle was a crying baby. He slept a lot, but he also screamed to hear himself scream and cried. As we deboarded, the lady who sat next to the baby complained to me in Chinese about it, which I thought was rude. I mean, it’s a baby. He can’t help it. It’s not like a bratty kid who should know better.

Time zones. Gained back three hours! Was in my apartment by 6:30 PM. Ate the food my mom had packed for me, and passed out by 9 PM.

Part of me feels like I wish I stayed at my parents’ for Thanksgiving, but another part is glad to be here. I love how the city clears out for a holiday.

Oh, and another thing I’m thankful for:

Electricity. Last night I came home to half the lights in our building out. I panicked, but discovered our lights worked. However, all the clocks and other things plugged into outlets didn’t work, so I thought some power surge had shorted out everything. I called the building manager, and he said power on half the block had been out all day, which sucks but made me feel better. It wasn’t just our building. I called the electric company, and got a recording that they were aware of the problem, and it would hopefully be fixed by 10 PM.

MB came home and further discovered that actually the outlets on one side of the apartment worked. He thought it was a blown fuse, but we didn’t know where the fuse box was. So we just grabbed some dinner, and took a walk to Union Square and back. Because some outlets worked, we were able to watch TV.

Then at 10 to 10, all the power came back on. For about five minutes. Then all the power went out. ALL. Fuck. Then a minute later, half the power came on again, the other half of our apartment. Ridiculous. Finally, everything came back on.

All of that means we weren’t able to get Thanksgiving stuff yesterday (because our fridge wasn’t working). But luckily Whole Foods is open today, and MB has volunteered to go on his own to get provisions, for which I am perhaps most thankful of all.

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20
Nov 12

Angela Tung Oversharing on the internet since 2005.