Revelations: 12/08

I caught up with various relatives over X'mas break in Chicago, during which I came to some revelations:

• Really? I still have to educate non-relatives to avoid phishing scams?


• If I nudge my Uniqlo down coat when the lights are out, I can see actual sparks!


• When my 2nd older brother went to Chinese School (a Saturday school for learning Chinese) in Junior high, he got less than an "A" for a report about the lack of free press in Taiwan, because the teacher didn't agree with his opinion. So he quit Chinese school on political principle. I quit Chinese school because I was an Americanized, little brat who didn't want to learn Chinese. Well I guess in the end, we agreed it was a waste of time.


• Now that I'm grown up, I would like some Chinese lessons. And tap dance lessons.




• Someone forgot to mention that my Texan uncle got remarried last June.


• My brothers still think it's wrong that my dad got me a dog when I was eleven, even though they had owned seven different puppies at different times, before I was even born. They were never able to keep a puppy for more than a year or two (due to sickness, theft, or mysterious disappearance*).
  
  My dog lived for 16 years.
  





• It's amazing that I came out okay, growing up with Aspergian relatives. Also this explains why I love David Sedaris, Augusten Burroughs, and This American Life.


• Despite my experience as a dog owner and now becoming an auntie, my maternal instincts have not really kicked in so much. I'm hoping that changes if I ever fall in love and have kids. In the meantime, I'm getting a lot of practice drawing awkward-looking bulldozers for my nephew!




• While going to the American Girl store for afternoon tea with my little second-cousins, I realized that had I gotten knocked up in my early-to-mid 20s, I could have had a daughter old enough to be indulging in one of these $100+ dolls. Whoa.


• Something about this capitalist mecca of American Girl Place freaks me out. But you know, those new Bitty Baby Twins are actually kind of cute.




• My nephew loves watching Ni Hao Kai Lan, and I approve.


• I could not bring myself to buy any of the girly fashion magazines at the airport! Instead, I bought issues of Fast Company, Inc., and Nylon to read instead. Do I actually miss the business innovation & indie rock babble of San Francisco? Hmm, I think it's more about giving up on dating and figuring out how to make my millions so I can live like a rock star.

* My brothers debated whether one of the puppies they once owned lasted two days or two weeks, before it got euthanized in our garage by a restaurant owner. The last puppy they owned was a Boston Terrier that just disappeared. Our dad was mad about that one, because he spent a pretty penny on it. It was named "Lucky," and my brothers joked that he was probably lucky for getting away from a bad situation.