Officially Working
Wednesday, March 24, 2004
I received the official offer letter yesterday and started working today. Awesome feelings.
March 2004logue
The Practice Will End This May
Sunday, March 21, 2004
Tonight's episode of THE PRACTICE is "War of the Roses". After 8 seasons, ABC decided to end the show and spin it into a new legal drama series.
Alan Shore (by James Spader) persuaded Tara to use her master key to get into office. He "stole" the account information and took over the firm. They decided to take it to courtroom and let the court decide whether Alan can take over the firm simply because he yields 80% of the income of the firm. This legal brawl probably will last until the end of the show.
The interesting part of tonight's show is a case about freedom of speech. The lady protested against Bush's policy on environment and was asked to go to 5 miles away where no one would be able to see the protest. She raged and hit the cop who was forcing her to leave. Ellenor Frutt (by Camryn Manheim)'s speech in court is so powerful and she made it so clear the current administration is transforming a free country to a censored country. People are forced to shut up and only supportive opinions can be heard. That is not America. After her poweful statement, the judge still ruled the lady guilty of assaulting police officer and sentenced her to maximum security jail for 8 years. Ellenor is outraged and at the same time trying to comfort the lady. While doing that, Ellenor suddenly realized the judge is trying to create a appeallable case so that the defendent can send a strong message to the country that America is not free any more and the government is stripping the freedom of speech away from general public. Meanwhile, he also set the record straight that assaulting police officer is definitely a crime and it will be punished.
This episode along with the primere eposide of the D.A. both demonstrated the complexity of legal system and the art of battle. I'm not sure I should be intrigued by the lawyers and judges or the screenwriters. :)
Job offer, Yeah!
Thursday, March 18, 2004
I went to see Dr. Giuse this afternoon for an interview. After i-am-not-sure-how-long minutes of pleasant talk, I was offered the position. I couldn't believe Dr. Giuse made the decision on the spot. I'm very thankful for what he did and am exicted to start working on the exciting health care project.
Thank Liguo for his support. Life just takes turns sometimes unexpectedly. I never imagined the life change in current stage of my life happened in Starbucks in one afternoon. About two weeks ago, I bumped into Liguo when he took a break during his intense disertation writing. He found a job in First Boston in NYC as a financial analyst. We sit down and talked about the job hunting frustration and eventual success. Liguo assured me it will happen and will happen rather quickly. He is absolutely right. I put myself out there and showed my enthusiasm to the position applied, there I am! I appreciate what Liguo did. Thank you. :) This weekend will be Liguo's farewell party before he heads up to north. I will thank him in person on Saturday.
This unexpected turn also happened right after I finished reading What should I do with my life? by Po Bronson. For numerous times, this very Reality Book brought tears, excitement, hope, courage and purpose of life to me. There are so much to learn. I realized what I need to be successful, to be a leader. I learned the importance of being humble and friendly. Sounds too simple? Yeah. Unfortunately, lots of things in life need to be learned from role model and practice, not just theory. The valuable lessons in the book definitely gave me a clear vision about who I want to become. The new work environment will be THE perfect place to practice.
I also had a weird dream last night about losing my laptop on a train and the efforts finding it was futile. I woke up this morning feeling upset. But I took it as an auspicious sign. The interview and offer proved it. :) Thank God it all happened.
I called Dad, Mom and sisters to tell them the great news. They are all pumped. The next step is trying to get them come here to attend the Commencement. I hope we have enough time. Cross fingers.
It's been a good day. I'm exactly 24 years and 3 months old today.
Apprentice: Omarosa is gone!
Monday, March 15, 2004
Omarosa is totally a biaaaaaaaatch. She probably lies in real life and people still believe her, since most people won't bother to take time to verify what she said and the assumption is that she is telling the truth. However, when she lie on national television and she is still using the same tactics which has made her life "successful", she won't be able to pull it off.
One interesting thing is, when Omarosa mentioned on THE VIEW that"someone" has used the N-word (negro) during the shooting. The very next day, Erika went on to the same show to confront what she said is a totally lie. One simple reason is if she did say the N-word, that will make damn good television and the producers won't let it go. That's absolutely convincing that she didn't say it. In addition, they called up the producer Mark to confirm what Erika said is true.
At the same time, Erika also pointed out Omarosa never had a Ph.D which she claimed she had. I have talked with Pat before that her days is doomed. Glad to see that happen.
Building a Legacy
Wednesday, March 3, 2004
From the book Leadership 101 by John C. Maxwell, page 107, "It's like my friend Chris Musgrove says, 'Success is not measured by what you're leaving to, but by what you are leaving behind.'"
Average Joe Stays Average
Tuesday, March 2, 2004
Average Joe 2's finale is over. Again, the beauty chose hunk over average Joe. This probably means the show is not returning to TV any more in order not to annoy and disappoint the average Joes considering the two Joes in the previous two seasons are truely great guys with awesome personalities.
Everyone will mention appearance does't matter after a while when asked about how important it is in a relationship. I believe that's true for many people. But what I believe more, to speak objectively, is that physically attractive people definitely has better chance. A sad fact? People have know this all along. It's just proven on national television twice recently through the hard facts.
Whether Lariassa and "hunk" Gil stay together or not is not an interesting thing to me, what's more interesting is to see how people react to a variety of behaviors under different situations because lessons about life can be learned this way, an easy way.
Oscar night for Lord of the Rings
Monday, March 1, 2004
Talented Billy Crystal hosted 76th Academy award this Tonight. He did a great job for the 8th time. Billy's performance is quite different from Steve Martin and Whoppi Goldberg. His carries jokes in a casual and humber way while the other two are funny in a more exaggerated way.
It's a huge night for the Lord of the Rings. Clean sweep for 11 nominations, tied with epic film Ben-hur and romantic love story Titanic. When the Canadian director of THE BARBARIAN INVASIONS in the best foreign film categories got on stage, she jokingly said, "I'm glad Lord of the Ring is not nominated in this category". The J.R.R. Tolkien's the LOTR dominated this year's oscar and made the prediction not much a prediction any more. I believe everyone watching the show has the feel from the early on that Peter Jackson's 5 year hard work was gonna pay off tonight and it did. Kudos to Peter Jackson.
However, I wasn't a fantasy movie fan, at least since I get out of high school. The movies that are unique and/or exploring the human nature will always be on top of my lists. Except the movies I haven't seen, here it goes my favorate films of the year 2003:
IN AMERICA: master story teller Jim Sheridan told his own story with his two daughter about the experience when they first landed on the foreign land. The strong bonds between husband and wife, sisters, neighbors made it so special, especially in a money-dominated New York City. The extrodinary courage and love among the family and dying neighbor helped everyone to overcame the most difficult time in their lives and realized things they rarely tried to spare time to understand. I also watched another film co-produced by Jim Sheridan today which is called Bloody Sunday. Very real experience about the bloody civil rights movement over 30 years ago in Northern Ireland. Strangely enough, I keep thinking about Tiananmen Massacre while watching it. I vaguely remember what happened in 1989 from TV. But from this film, I feel the suffering of the people and inhumanity of the government. Thanks to film for bringing the closest to real experience to the audience.
Triplets of Belleville is another great animation achievement. Since I never watched Finding Nemo and the other animation feature, it's unfair to make any judgement about them. But I believe the Triplets of Belleville is one of the most exotic and unique film in animation category. The soundtrack is unique, the exaggeration of the features of characters is unique, the story is unique. Probably the only thing that doesn't make this film stands out is it's not surprising. Overall, I highly recommend everyone to see it.
There are some other films I would love them to win oscars but they were not even nominated. ☹
Someone did a prediction this afternoon on ABC and he think Diana Keaton was gonna win the best actress. I'm glad my prediction is accurate. Lovely and witty Charlize Theron won her first oscar on her first nomination. I'm excited for her, especially thinking her experienc growing up with a alcholic father. The dark period of that process made her a strong woman. Her oscar speech is so touching. When she thank her mom for what she did for her, that's the best moment of the night.
Another year of Oscar! I think overall, the awards went to who deserved them. Only wish Sting's song sung by Alison Kraus could won the best song. Alison's ethereal voice is incredible!
