The Cancer Scare

So along with the streak of bad luck, this is what happened to me.

I'm prone to have skin problems in the winter, I don't know why. People usually have more skin issues in summer since you sweat more but not me. And since I've been having more gentleman callers as usual, I''m quite a closeted hypercondriac, I run to the doctor's screaming when I see anything unusual. There are some random pimples which I do recognize. Some small bumps near my hands that appears every so often because I do a lot of dishes sans gloves. A few dots on my face where I see the doctor's for thinking it could be herpes but he told me it's nothing but nervous tics. What the hell is a nervous tic and what kinda doctor would give that kind of diagnosis? I think my doctor is catching on to me being a hypochondriac and he took the time to explain to me the various conditions that I'm concerned about and trying to comfort me with reasons which I really appreciate.

And then there's this: Thank god that I'm a chronic masturbator, I'm pretty in tuned to how my body feels like. and about two-three weeks ago, I noticed that something feels different in my inner thighs. Given that my mother had died from ovarian cancer in her mid-thirties, I was a little alarmed. Maybe not exactly alarmed since sooner or later we'll all have to die from something but I was at least, for a lack of a better word, intrigued. It's not like I'm not feeling well. The doctor says it's probably nothing, it could be a lump of fat which sometimes grow on a human body and it's perfectly harmless, but he ordered an ultrasound anyway. When I got to the ultrasound, it's shaped like a small cheetos, it feels like it's made of plastic, as if someone injected me with a scanning tag in a futuristic sci-fi thriller. I was gonna make a "boy or girl" joke to the ultrasound technician, but he looked a bit stern and made me a bit nervous.

The doctor is supposed to call me or send me a letter with the results and I'm not overly concerned. Considering the alternative, I mean do I really want to be deemed so fat that even my balls are growing fat cells now? How do you exercise your balls that I'm not already doing? I rather have cancer.

Life's too short, enjoy your while you can.

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Streak of Bad Luck

Well, not much as bad luck but I've been really busy this week.

Other than it being the deadline of two major time-consuming reports, everyone at work seems to just come to me for everything. I think since it's my first decent job for a while, I was too eager to prove myself and it results to a general acknowledged competency which in turn built a trust with a lot of people, so when they have some tasks that they want to accomplish, they come to me. The moral of the story is - it's best to act dumb. Other than that, I belong to a lunch club where 9 members each cook twice a month for the others, so we don't have to buy lunch outside. We have a pretty well equipped kitchen and we're surrounded by nothing but fast food for blocks, so it only make sense to this. Inadvertently, I have become quite famous for my cooking and whenever there are some activities that have something to do with food, they come to me. So I've spent the whole day last Sunday baking for Valentine's day candy gram at school for 60+ people, prepped for a class that I taught on chocolate, making chocolate truffles, chocolate covered this and that. More prepping on Monday, taught on Tuesday, cooking for lunch club on Wednesday. All the while working on my deadlines and other things that got piled on me. So I got sick.

I have learned to say no, but an old habit die hard. We're supposed to have a staff development day on Tuesday and they want me to make lunch for 15 people. I said no. Especially when the budget is $50, I mean what can you do for $50? They specifically said if I go over I'll have to chip in and I'm so tired of cooking at this point. I've said no. I'm sick. But a few people talked to me about it and sending me emails and stuff and I feel pressured. I don't want to become the Asian servant that everyone comes to for menial tasks and I don't want to be the one who had to sacrifice his days off doing these things while I'm already putting in 10 hours a day while others go on with their lives or their second jobs. I also don't want to chip in while I have to work at it already, I don't get paid enough as it is.

I'm sorry, I'm not particularly in a good mental space right now. I just paid $300 federal taxes because I worked two jobs this year. I was somehow expecting some money back for working so hard but it's not necessarily related. Mitt Romney got to pay 16% while people like me who worked 2 jobs get shafted. On top of that my state ID had expired and I found out that I might have misplaced or lost my green card which means that if I want it replaced I'll have to shelf out another $600. Everything is so discouraging. At least I have a job, right?

Sorry for the rant. On the bright side, I've learned that after a ranting session, things usually turns brighter. So here's to hope. I'll spend the rest of my long weekend thinking what I can do with $50.

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Does Anyone Know How I Can Acquire $1.25 Million Stat?

I really want to buy this place:

 

Here's the listing details:

$1,250,000
New Listing

Status: ACTIVE Listing

Type: Unit/Flat

Year Built: 1913

Style: Contemporary

Number of Bedrooms: 2

Baths: 2

Subdivision: OLD CITY

County: PHILADELPHIA

Remarks

Perfectly located in a boutique building steps from Historic Independence Park and the best Old City restaurants and shops, The Penthouse consists of 2,250ft of interior space and an 800ft spectacular roof deck that provides a quiet oasis of sophisticated urban living. Private elevator access into the triple-mint, light filled unit w/hand-crafted details, high-ceilings, whole-house entertainment system + the finest materials throughout. Gourmet kitchen is complete with 50-inch Thermador Pro Range, Subzero refrigerator + wine cooler. The master suite includes large walk-in closet w/built-ins, gas fireplace and beamed ceiling. Both baths are spa quality w/marble, steam, whirlpool and awesome shower fixtures. The uber-private roof deck provides true outdoor living space w/hot tub, gourmet outdoor kitchen, gas grill and a must see outdoor movie theater. These amazing amenities combined with sunrise to sunset views are unmatched by any property at any price in Philadelphia. 1-yr prepaid parking at local lot.

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It sits on top of a few really fine restaurants and overlooks some historic parks and buildings in Philly, I always wanted a loft, and what's better than this one? The only thing is, I don't see any storing space at all in the pictures and I wonder where people would put stuff, stuff like a mahjong table and I do need one to entertain my friends. After I win the lottery that is...

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We British And Our Expressions

So having grew up in Hong Kong - a British Colony - back in the 90s, even though I watched tons of American TV and didn't get the Queen's accent, I acquired a lot of British expressions, and one that I use most often is "not bad".

Habitually I would answer a "How was your day?" with a "Not bad" or "Not bad at all." I mean for me not bad means good and not good means bad logically, so I don't understand how people can mistaken it in any other way. How can not bad means bad?

Anyway, I think my own colloquialism has been in my way. So lately, I've caught myself using the word "Awesome" a lot.

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Desperate Women and The Ordeals They Go Through

 

In the dumbest move I've seen in years, Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation withdrew their funding from Planned Parenthood during the Planned Parenthood political storm. They said they don't fund organizations that are being investigated but their new Senior VP for Public Policy, Karen Handel, ran a 2010 gubernatorial campaign in Georgia on the platform of defunding Planned Parenthood especially their breast and cervical cancer screenings. So go figure. Also the founder of Komen is also a longtime GOP donor.

I mean, just the fact that a foundation to have a women's disease as a cause but not supporting women's rights is completely mindboggling. I guess they let their political agenda blind them on everything. To think that a non-profit that largely depends on donations to actively seek out a controversy and let its fate decided in the hands of the public. Last year, Planned Parenthood received $650,000 for 170,000 screenings, that's less than $4 a pop amongst other additional things they provide. Oh did you know that the annual salary of the CEO at Komen is at about $460,000?

Within 24 hours, Bloomberg and other folks already made up the lost funding. Thousands of celebrities and us regular folks had sworn off Komen. Sure they've reinstated the funding and apologize but I think it a bit too late. Way to discredit a well-established organization in the shortest amount of time possible.

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I know I don't need to but I do feel bad for Madonna. Her hunger for fame and recognition seemed never had faded; even after becoming the unrefuted Queen of Pop. There's a smell of desperation, as seen on the leg spreading cover of Hard Candy, the jeans commercial for GAP with Missy or the recent cheerleading song with teen star Nicki Minaj and M.I.A. You're 53, Madge. A teenage cheerleading song should be reserved for your daughter's debut. L.U.V Madonna, Y.O.U. You wanna? Sorry, but my answer is no!

True, she gave a very decent performance on the Superbowl Half Time show. It's obviously lipsynched, but she looked great and the music arrangement was superb. She better have a kick as album to follow up on her act. Acting young and do what the kids like is really not the way to go. Cher had her farewell tour that lasted forever and now still performing in Vegas occasionally. I think Madge should follow suite and age with dignity.

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TV Round Up (Feb 2012 Edition)

So I've yet to get back in to the groove of blogging. It's strange, I think once you lose something it's really hard to get it back and I count it as an experiment that went awry.

Work had been kicking my butt lately, I'm spending too much time at work and after working a few 12 hour days, My brain is frazzled and by Wednesday, I just don't know what to do anymore. I got so tired that it's hard for me to focus on anything. And then some asshole had to add more pressure on me that I'm resenting my job. When people know that you're capable on doing work, everyone starts coming to me for stuff and since we have 60 staff, it adds up quickly. I'm working lots of uncompensated overtime and I don't get pay much to start with. Maybe it's not a bad idea to start looking for another job. The non-profit world really don't pay. Or maybe I should stop making everything so personal and taking everything to heart.

Other than spending a huge amount of time with my Chinese cohort, I've been watching a lot of TV, both real time and downloads. The usual like Jon Stewart/Stephen Colbert which acts as my political moral compass. I also picked up on David Duchovny's Californication during a 72 hours Showtime OnDemand free trial. It's amazing on how many shows one can watch when ones Chinese upbringing steers him towards free stuff. I was pretty much on lock down. The story is pretty compelling. He plays a successful writer that has the ability to charm women off their panties, he seems to enjoy bring drama into his life.

SyFy had been doing pretty well for themselves of late, Face Off is on their second season. Some 12 special effects make up artist competing against each other on their skills, It's like sci-fi version of Project Runway. Lost Girl is another highly addictive series from Canada that combines mythology and detective series altogether in one nifty show Anna Silk (real name) plays Bo who's a naive succubus that got caught between the wars of Fae. Anna Silk sounds more like the name of a succubus than Bo but I digress. We got superpowers, strange creatures and half naked bodies of hot men. It's like Buffy but gayer and better special effects. Bo is also Bi who's torn between a hot lesbian doctor and a sexy werewolf. (Why does all these shows had to have a werewolf as if werewolf is a hyper form of masculinity?) It's fun to play a little detective while learning a new kind of demon every week. I've watched the whole Season 1 and half of Season 2 now. I'm eager to watch more.

Yeah, Project Runway All-Stars is on TV and so far I'm not really that impressed. Maybe I'm way out of touch on fashion but most of the winning looks kinda sucks. Even though I root for Mondo because he seems to be the one who really got gypped on his season his end product is not really that exciting either. Also RuPaul this season seems to have the most busted drag queens I've seen so far. I was gonna say something snide about even Philadelphia have better drag queens but we don't. Our gay scene here is as tame as a hospital cafeteria. I haven't been watching Glee for a long time but I'm excited about the new show Smash. Just saw their pilot on demand and it seems like a whole lot of fun. The whole Broadway is in full view from the sparks of an inspiration to song writing, to auditions, choreographing, production, funding and the whole politics of it. I thought it might be set in the past but the show is very modern day and we have some original scores to boot. And what? Debra Messing in a show being the best pal of another gay man? Will & Grace and being the first Project Runway celebrity judge, I wonder if one can be typecast in that particular light. Morticia Addams, is that you? Anjelica Houston where have you been all those years? I expect a lot of guest appearances from Broadway stars and legends. We'll see how likeable Katherine McPhee could be.

These and the Big Bang Theory should keep me pretty well occupied. I'm sure I'll be exploring another series soon, which doesn't do well for my healthy living challenge at work. I'm supposed to be more active but lately my motivation is low. Thank god I have a loads of interesting men to help me on the physical end of the spectrum. (Pun intended)

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