あれから一年、 シャツを購入してくれた皆さんへありがとう。

One Year Later

          A year ago, we saw one of the strongest and most well-prepared nations faced unbelievable disaster that would have surely destroyed many other nations. There is no excuse I can make to prove I am not biased because of my nationality, and perhaps it's not possible for me to be impartial in this situation, but the event really changed me. It galvanized me to start and lead my own relief efforts for the Japan Earthquake Situation, something a formerly passive sympathizer like me never imagined I would ever be able to do. I've written about "Project HOPE" before, and the purpose of this post isn't to re-glorify what I did last year. Rather, I'd like to share a response to HOPE I have recently received, on the 1 year anniversary of the incident, and I guess a little bit about what I was up to on March 11th, 2012.

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          I've really only met my cousin Mike once, last summer in L.A., for just a few hours, but we got along so well and he was really enthusiastic about supporting Project HOPE. After I got back to Bangkok, I mailed him a HOPE shirt, and he gave me the best gift in return. He spread the word about my project. He took a picture of the packet I sent him, posted it on his Facebook, his Tumblr, and kinda just told people about me and what I did. I was moved by his support then, and here I am a year later being moved by Mike again.
         Yesterday, Mike linked me to his Tumblr, and to my surprise I found myself looking at a few very familiar photos. An even greater surprise, however, was a new note. He wrote:

"Wore this shirt today that my cousin sent me a while back to mark the 1 year anniversary of the earthquake in Japan. Project Hope was started by my cousin Mika from Thailand and raised thousands of dollars which she eventually presented herself to the Minister of The Japanese Embassy. She REALLY did make a difference... You guys should follow her because she’s really an amazing, caring, and loving person. There’s not many ppl like her..."

I wrote back:

"Making a difference has always been my greatest life ambition, but in the back of my mind I always thought it was an unrealistic one for someone like me to have. Mike, I can’t tell you enough how much your kind words mean to me. Thank you. I also feel like thanking you for wearing the shirt on the anniversary. That was really sweet and thoughtful. =] "

          It stuns me with happiness to realize that HOPE still lives. That there are people like Mike out there who still care. In fact, people like Mike are more amazing than me because they aren't inherently biased to Japan like I am. I am dearly inspired by them.

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THIS YEAR

         It may seem unlike me not to wear my own shirt this past Sunday, but I had a good reason. I was wearing another shirt and... a running number. On Sunday, I ran in a charity mini-marathon for the anniversary of the tsunami/earthquake. Funny story: I signed up for just the 3 km because the other category was 11 km, BUT I got off route, following a mixture of 11 km people and other off-route people, and I ended up running about 8 km. I actually ended up running past the front of my university faculty, which was personally hilarious. Anyway, that was a really good start of the day for me. I was done with the marathon by 7:30 and was so awake and alive for the rest of the day; I felt like I could do anything.

Bad English Suck

Dear People,


          Why do you not appreciate when I inform you that you are using a word out of context, that "me" cannot be the subject, and that you are putting the emphasis on the wrong syllable? I point out not to interrupt your flow of language, but to improve it. I do it out of love - for you and for the English language.
          "Get a life!" You scream at me. "Don't you have something better to do that correct my grammar? No body cares!" Well, I'm sorry. I'm sorry that I think speaking English correctly is important. And I'm sorry you think that speaking English correctly is such a backbreaking undertaking for me that it robs me of my livelihood. Let me assure you that I take no effort to correct you, so don't worry about it. Thanks for the concern though. =]
          What I don't understand is the duplicity of people's attitudes towards grammar. In formal settings, you are so grateful for my editing favors. Why, you even laugh with me at the emails our faculty office sends us that sound like they were written by 10 year-olds who know copy-paste long words like "communications". Once we're outside though, I'm suddenly public enemy number one because correct grammar is only for the workplace.
          If it really annoys you that much, I'll limit myself to a grimace. However, I still think that keeping the grammar switch on continuously is a better lifestyle, especially living among people whose first language isn't English. The society I live in tends to express a desire to improve English skills, but people have yet to align actions with attitude. My question is: why even need correct English anywhere then? If it seems that unimportant to people, why even require it at all?
          So keep slapping me in the face. I won't stop telling you that "you're" = "you are."

Love,

Your Friendly Neighborhood Grammar Nazi <3

I think quotes have expiration dates or limits on how often they can be repeated...

... because there are lots of old lines being copy-pasted out there that although "witty and insightful" cannot seem to overcome sounding cheesy and cliche (at least not to my noggin). I'm sorry, but I think it's time to bury those forever hackneyed phases. And gosh, do you realize how many quotes are paraphrases and overlaps of each other? How about a quote that expresses that creativity plays absolutely NO component in genius, for a change! I might actually buy that adage out of disenchantment. Maybe we've really run out of things to be profound about. Personally, I just stay away from quotes. Especially ones by Einstein. 

End Rant.

A Fail... Or Maybe Not

          So at the beginning of last year, I pledged to do something that ended up being quite unachievable for me. I had pledged to (oh, boy)... read 50 books by December 31, 2011. Embarrassingly, I didn't even make it halfway.  Now perhaps you'd expect me to justify here that annual resolutions are a setup for disappointment, but my 50 Books endeavor was actually a relative success.
          I'll just put it out there: my number was 14. 14 books, I read from cover to cover in 2011. This might seem like a fail from the perspective that it is 36 books short, but I can't help but think about how much more 14 probably is than how much I read in 2010 or 2009. (Won't go back too far because I was a freakin' book-monster as a kid.)
          The lesson learned? I'm going try the book challenge once again this year. I am 99.9% certain I won't reach 50 by December 31, 2012, but I'm 110% sure I'll be proud of how much I accomplish. At the end, it really isn't about the number, but about maintaining the habit to pick up a book rather than get on Facebook when you have downtime in this low-literate generation.

Let's be literate, friends.

Peace.

New page on my blog: "50 Books"