LongLong's OL Blog - 容容 的洛城OL隨記

I was living in New York City when 9/11 happened  6 years ago.  As many New Yorker can testify, it was an experience that no one would ever forget and only new yorkers can understand.....

My office was across the river from World Trade Centers. The first plane hit just right before I arrived to the office that morning.  No one has any clue on what's going on.  I remembered standing by the window on 30th FL and  saw a plane just in the middle of the building - so surreal.  From far, we all thought it was some private jet with some pilot accident - no big deal....  No one thought it was an attack  Without knowing what's happening, I even went down to pick up some coffee with my co-workers.  Then the 2nd plane hit, and it was clear to everyone that something was wrong.  I remember people rushing to get to the 1st FL.  We were the only high rise building in the area cross river of the towers, people thought we might be the next target. 

那天去大學校友網站時, 才知道我一位數學系的教授年初時過世了. 
Professor Morris Newman 算是我的恩師. 我拿了三年他的課.  其時那時他已經退休了. 就因為熱愛教書 every year, he would teach one or two classes, 也讓我有機會拿他的課.  我大二時, 他應該七十幾了吧.  肚子大大的, 很慈祥, 好像沒看他發脾氣過.

Can you guess what this is?

Hannah's Dad has been putting together a time capsule for our little princess Hannah.  Items are contributed by friends and relatives - memorable items, current trends, fashion, affair.  It can be anything from newspaper, latest fashion, credit card bills, or etc.  This time capsule will be preserved and to be open at Hannah's 15th birthday.  Auntie SmallN and I have been scratching our heads for awhile to come up with things to put in there.  We've dragged our feet for months on contributions.  Since Auntie Smalln is going up to SF this weekend, we both finally decide to take actions and add our contribuitons.

Do you still remember your 1^st diary?  How did it look?  What did you write about? 
This is my first diary. 

Today is our 16th Anniversary of moving to U.S.A. 
I vaguely remember our arrival in LAX, the 1st evening walk in U.S. with grandpa -I stll remember he taught us what to do at STOP Sign, walked into Alpha Beta Market and amazed by how big everything seemed to be in U.S

I was having a hard time falling asleep last night, was still quiet awake at 1am.  As I tried to force myself to sleep, my phone rang.  It was my friend J from Taiwan. I wrote about reconnecting with her in my Blog few weeks ago (http://www.wretch.cc/blog/longlonglin&article_id=6548204).  

I've meant to call her for two weeks now. Every time when I tried to pick up the phone, I hesitated.  To be fully honest, I was a bit afraid to make that call.  After all, we haven’t spoken to each other for years, our lives most likely have gone so many different directions since last time we spoke.  Yes, we were best friends before, but it has been a long time ago.  I am not sure if the connection between us is still there.  What am I going to say to her?  How can I summarize my 7-8 years of life into a 10 minute conversation?  Will she be able to relate to me?  I was anxious.  

My pessimistic attitude has been proven to be totally wrong.  We filled each other in with what’s going on in our lives, and picked up some old past memories.  It was just like the old time.  Back then it was two teenager girls sitting at the café shared with each other their big dreams for the futures.  Fifteen years later, it’s two professional adults shared their joy, heartbreaks and the dreams they still have via a long distance phone call across Pacific Ocean.  The great thing is that although the method of sharing or dreams might be totally different, but the feeling of the true friendship and closeness has not changed.  

Today is one of my happiest days for awhile.  I finally got in touch with my good friend, J.C. from junior high in Taiwan. It all attributes to the power of BLOG.

J.C. is my good friend from junior high in Taiwan.  Even after I moved to California, we still kept in touch via mails.  I wish e-mail/internet was more popular back then, I would of be able to keep in touch with most friends in Taiwan.  It’s too much trouble to send postal mails, and it took too long.

Well, with the inefficient of postal service, my frequent moves for school & work, plus admittedly my laziness, we somehow lost touch for many years.  Till the other day, I was flipping through TV channel, and suddenly I saw my old friend on TV.  She is now a popular anchor in Taiwan. Luckily she hasn’t change much from junior high, so I can still recognize her.  I went on her station’s web site, and left the message on her BLOG.  She e-mailed me, and we got connected again!!!  

As I enjoy the joy of lost and found.  I start to think about all the benefits of Blog that I personally experienced so far.  Here are few things I came up with. 

I received an e-mail from Alfredo yesterday, who will be in town for the conference next weekend. 
Alfredo is my old colleague from Citi in NYC, we haven’t seen each other since I moved back to California in late 2001.  I am so excited to see him after all these years. 

The weather has been so hot this week. It's perfect to stay home watching World Cup while having a light beer.  Most people are surprised to find out I am a beer drinker, somehow they think I am more a Cosmo or wine person (people are blinded by my sophisticated look ).  Well,  I do like cosmo and wine, but truely like beer.  I was reading an article from a fitness magazine the other day, it turns out that Light Beer actually has less calorie than cocktail and wine.  Now, I like beer even more.

I bought some Miller lite yesterday.  

The other day, I bought two small pots of white African daisy for Grandpa. I always like daisy and am attracted by its “simplicity”.  I prefer white daisy over roses.  Although it might be overshadowed by brightness and strong fragrant of red roses, but somehow in its simple form, brings out brightness.  In its non-competitive way, it stands out naturally.  Few words come across when I think of daisy:  simple, brightness, sunny, kind, humble and happy.  It shines through darkness.  Daisy is a happy and kind flower. 

Since I started writing my blog, I've become more senstive to things that are happening around me, able to appriciate little events/things - this is one benefit I wasn't expected earlier.  Do my fellow bloggers feel the samey way?

Mom gave me some 玉蘭花 - White Champak today.  This little flower has the greatest smell - the smell is really similar to Gardenia - Fresh and not too over powered.

I usually have a lot of free time when I go back to Mom and Dad's during the weekends. I snooped around the house, found some old pictures, my 1st diary from 2nd grade, and of course once I found $600 of travelers check (Mom forgot she had that for years).

I was looking at some old pictures of Mom and Dad this morning. Mom was very trendy when she was young- custom made clothes, mini skirt, and big sun glasses (BTW, the trend is back this year- over-sized sun glasses).