Look what the cat did

Rosie is going to the vet today to get spayed, de-clawed and an immunization shot against rabies.

Miss Sass and I are soooo excited! Maybe not about the other parts, but the de-claw part- OH YES PLEASE.

Look at what she did this very morning! There was (a little) blood too, so that kitty has SHARP claws. Miss Sass has even more scars on her leg.

Poor Rosie. She was not allowed to eat since midnight last night because of her operation today, and by the time I got up this morning, she was starving. I went into the kitchen to get food, and she "spiderman-ed" up my leg. Hence the scars. URGH!

I feel sorry for her, but man oh man am I excited for her to get de-clawed!

"You get paid to read?!"

My sister could not believe this when she realized that my PhD program was completely funded for and came with a monthly stipend.

Yup I'm basically getting paid to study.

BUT it comes at a VERY HIGH price.

Such as...

• I'm not considered a student anymore but a professional scholar. Sounds fancy and everything- "professional scholar"- but the reality is that those in my batch are considered the "newest" employees of OSU. Therefore I am currently the lowest of the lowest in my professional career. Stinks to be right at the bottom. Thank goodness I won't be anymore come next year when a new batch of incoming graduate students arrive...bwa ha ha ha :) 
• I'm overworked... 
• ... And very underpaid. Remember I said this is considered the start of your career? Well, how much money do you think the university can pay you? OSU is not Ivy League so we don't have lots and lots of funding. And even then I don't think Ivy League schools pay that much either. For example, by right as a Bachelor Degree holder, I can probably command at least $30,000 annually, you agree? Well... I'm getting *sob* way way way less than that. 
• There is no clear delineation between work time and home time in the history program. You are constantly thinking about your topic/ ideas, and there is always more work that can be done at home over the weekend/ holidays. 
• Reading, reading, more reading.
• Writing, writing, more writing 
• Discussions, discussions, more discussions- plus occasions when you lead the discussions
• Thinking about funding, funding, more funding... 

My PhD program is not the same as all other programs, so it might differ in your field. But I think there are some points that are across the board (like the underpaid part).

So please don't apply to graduate school on a whim, or just because you can't find a job. Think very carefully. Sure, you can always leave the program anytime you want, but by then, you would have wasted a lot of time, money, sleep time, leisure time and brain cells. THINK CAREFULLY. If anything, the application process should deter you already (so that's why... I always wondered why they made it so tedious!)

On the other hand, if you are a nerd like me and love being in the world of academia, i.e. you don't mind the following points I mentioned above OR you need the qualifications to get a better job in your field OR you have unlimited means, then by all means (no pun intended!), welcome aboard!

Nature of the Beast

Remember a few weeks ago at the Democratic National Convention when Bill Clinton went on and on and on and on and on... and ripped the Republican Party platform completely apart? Click here for the transcript. *You've been warned that it drags on forever!*The main target was, of course, Mitt Romney. "Mitt Romney would... and he would do this..."

Today as I was walking through  building on campus, I looked up at the mounted television screen and stopped right in my tracks.

Because Bill Clinton was introducing AND PRAISING Mitt Romney at the Clinton Global Initiative, and talking about the importance of "cooperating" on issues. Romney was the governor who had convinced the Republican Congress to continue funding the Americorp program, a program Clinton had signed into legislation.

My jaw dropped.

I guess I wasn't the only one a little dumbfounded at this rapid "about face" on politics, because this news began circulating on Politico and other news websites 20 minutes after.

Don't believe me? Click here for the video on Politico.

Romney graciously quipped, "Thank you Mr. President... I appreciate your kind words... if there's one thing we've learned in this election season, by the way, it is that a few words by Bill Clinton can do a man a lot of good. (huge laughter and applause) All I got to do now is wait a couple of days for that 'bounce' to happen."

*Shake head* Talk about the nature of the beast. I know such "about faces" happen all the time in American politics- that's the nature of it, but I have to say, I've never seen one in such a short span of a few weeks.

The Awesomeness of My Sister!

I just realized that I have not blogged about my journey to Ohio, which in large part I owe to my sister, and so here I am rectifying that!

I flew back from Singapore to Salt Lake City, Utah on Fri (Aug 10) night, (re)packed my stuff and fit them into the car, visited family friends the next few days, and began the looooooong drive to Ohio the following Tues (Aug 14).

How "looooooooong" is long? 3 and 1/2 days.

No kidding.

To my American friends who are used to driving looooooong distances and thinking, "It's not that long! And not that bad..." please keep in mind that
a) I dislike driving
b) My sister who accompanied me on the drive dislikes driving as well (we already planned that if my parents were to ever visit us in the States, our Dad will drive!). It was very kind of her to accompany me, especially since she had to give up 2 job opportunities because they wanted her to start training the week we traveled. *Sob* so touched by her sacrifice!
c) We stopped over to visit family friends

So anyway, here is our unforgettable journey condensed in one blog post!

Tues (Aug 14)
Start: Provo, Utah
End: Fort Collins, Colorado
Passed Through: Utah and Colorado mountains and plains. A little green here and there, but mostly brown.
Impressions: Eh... very boring. We only drove about 7 hours today to reach our end point in Fort Collins, and though we had a little to make up the next few days, our hosts at Fort Collins were wonderful! They were a couple who had recently returned from a mission in Singapore, and that's how I got to know them. My sister and I arrived just in time for dinner, some America's Got Talent, and a good comfortable huge bed. Ahhh.... the sigh of contentment.

Wed (Aug 15)
Start: Fort Collins, Colorado
End: Olathe, Kansas
Passed Through: Colorado to Kansas- more plains and flat land, and LOTS OF BROWN.
Impressions: I used to think, "Kansas... Wizard of Oz... heard it's brown and nothing much else." And now I know it's all true! Sad. But we visited family friends, and had a lot of fun seeing their children again. We are so grateful for their friendship, and miss their family!

Thur (Aug 16)
Start: Olathe, Kansas
End: Terre Haute, Indiana
Passed Through: The Kansas City-Missouri LDS Temple, Liberty Jail and the Visitors' Center, Independence Visitors' Center, and the Community of Christ Temple- with the exception of the Community of Christ temple, these historic sites have great significance for LDS/ Mormons.

Kansas City- Missouri Temple

This is one of the newest temples in the world. I wish we had time to go in, but we didn't. I don't know if I will ever get a chance to go though, because, frankly, except for to go visit those friends again, I have zero desire to repeat the drive through Kansas again. 

Liberty Jail. This was a very special place to visit, and opened my eyes to the conditions that the men were subjected to there. We also went to the Independence Visitors' Center, and it was an equally moving experience. 

The Community of Christ temple. Wish we had time to take a tour of the temple, but we had to get back on the road. 
Also, we ate fabulous Square Pizza at Independence- yummy! Great recommendation from the sister missionaries! Who would have thought Independence would have great pizza?!

Anyway, after some touring, we continued our journey and drove through Missouri and Illinois, before resting in Indiana. I was impressed by how green Missouri was! Illinois was pretty too, but the drive through that state was marred by the fact that we got caught in 2 traffic jams that delayed us by at least an hour and a half. URGH! 

We ran out of family friends to stay with on the 3rd night, and rented a motel room. We read rave reviews about Days Inn at Terre Haute, Indiana on Hotels.com, and how the rooms were cheap, clean and comfortable. It was cheap alright and quite comfortable, but FAR FROM CLEAN. DO NOT GO THERE. Why not? 1) We requested a non-smoking room, but when we entered the room, the smoking stench was so thick, I felt like suffocating; 2) There were 2 flies "hanging out" in the room- YIKES; 3) I discovered A BUG CRAWLING IN MY BED THE NEXT MORNING. Talk about bed bug panic. How disgusting!!! 

Note to self: Do not EVER trust reviews on such websites again. And don't be a cheapskate when it comes to accommodations because you get exactly what you pay for. 

Fri (Aug 17)

Start: Terre Haute, Indiana

End: Columbus, Ohio

Passed Through: Indiana and Ohio

Impressions: GREEN! I miss the mountains of Utah, but oh how I love the green! 

I was relieved that the drive was over by the time I arrived at Columbus, and very grateful that I invested in a good GPS. Worth every penny I spent on it!

HUGE THANKS TO MY SISTER- I am so blessed that she took this trip with me, and thank her for the fun memories.

What the Cat Ate

 I love Rosie TO DEATH. I mean, look at her!

She has only been with Miss Sass 2 weeks, but she has already grown to almost 2x her size. She climbs, pounces and scampers (and scratches! Watch those claws!), and it's a treat to watch her. For example:

I don't let her into my room "unsupervised" because I don't want her on my bed. Rosie is still scared of me and avoids me like a plague anyway. Which means my bedroom is still UNCHARTED TERRITORY.
Last night however, I hadn't turned on my light and was talking to my roommate in her bedroom. Rosie was playing with some feathers (it was a boa like thing, and she had ripped out every single feather!) when she discovered that my bedroom door was open.

So she slipped inside my room.

Guess where I found her?!

Hiding in my closet.
It was so cute!

Let me repeat again: I LOVE ROSIE TO DEATH.

But on a rare occasion, Rosie is so naughty that she drives me nuts. But she's SOOOO funny at the same time.

Like this morning.

Miss Sass was getting ready for school, and Rosie pranced to the kitchen, looking for... something. I don't know what she was looking for because she had food in her kitty bowl in the bedroom. Apparently she didn't want any of that food, so she came to the kitchen while I was eating breakfast cereal, and began climbing on the dining table, the chairs, and the garbage bin (yikes!). I kept shoo-ing her off the table, then had to pry her off the bin.

After seeing her run away from me, I went to the sink to wash my hands. I turned back around and saw:

Yes, Rosie eating MY CEREAL.
My breakfast!

Doesn't it make you want to laugh and cry at the same time?!

On Religion

This post is going to be a heavy one, because it's about religion. Now that's a way to start a furious fire discussion! But with the recent US embassy storming and killing, and the fact that my graduate student life is dedicated to studying women and conservative religions(!), religion weighs pretty much on my mind, oh you know, almost every single waking moment.

So if you aren't in the mood for some "heavy" opinions about religion, perhaps you might want to check back on my next post. I want to just share 2 thoughts that have been on my mind recently.

First, recent attacks on US embassies in the Arab world.

• I am very saddened by the death of the US Ambassador to Libya, and the ripple effect it has created throughout the Arab world.
• The violence was perpetrated by the extremist minority who took advantage of the situation to kill people. Such acts ARE WRONG AND MUST BE CONDEMNED. 
• I still believe in freedom of speech, within the limitations that it does not libel, slander, is obscene, violets copyright or incites a crime. I mean, I am a blogger enjoying the ability to express my opinion- I know that I am a recipient of the privileges of freedom of speech. 
• When it comes to the issue of Freedom of Speech vs. Anti-religious material as expressed here and there, I stand firmly that the anti-Prophet Muhammad video was libelous, slanderous and obscene and does not fall into the category of "Freedom of Speech." I am very sad to see that some of my FB friends feel that the video was merely "provocative" and should be protected under "Freedom of Speech."

And that leads in to the real questions I want to ask-

Am I the only one disturbed that apparently hardly any Americans seem to find the anti-Muslim video just plain wrong and should be condemned? Why aren't Americans outraged by such blatant anti-Muslim messages? Why aren't there more Americans lambasting the producers of the video? [Last I heard the producer is in hiding, so there are some people criticizing him. Or maybe he is just hiding from vengeful terrorists...] 
I asked my friends about it, and one of them suggested that because the film was so badly done (the acting, the dubbing, the costumes, the entire production), American people just shrug it off and say it too ridiculous to even comment on. Like a stupid joke that is not funny. I was astonished, but this was confirmed when I read this article. The debate was not whether the film was right or wrong, but whether you can consider this a "film." Wow... there is actually a discussion about this going on? Worse, I felt so sick when I read the part about the Florida pastor, Terry Jones, actually promoting the film. Mitt Romney's "no apologies" speech disgusted me, but Pastor (can you call him someone who promotes racial hatred a real pastor?!) Jones takes the cake.
Google announced on Saturday that they are (finally) restricting access to the movie. And that is because of pressure from the White House, NOT because Americans around the world were clamoring for the video to be taken down.

Anti religious material is not new. My own religion has been persecuted since its inception, so people may think that this anti-Muslim film stirring up such controversy isn't a big deal. To me however, it is. From the bits I've watched from the trailer, the film completely vilifies the Prophet Muhammad, Islamic scriptures, and the entire religion. It was slime. This is not merely "provocative"- it's blatant bigotry.

We (as in society as a whole) can do MUCH better at promoting racial and religious harmony, and being less tolerant of such anti-religious material might be the first step.
_______________________________________________________________

Second, I just want to share a Washington Post article I read on September 13, authored by Lisa Miller,  titled, "Celebrating the Jewish High Holy Days: Where is the pleasure this season?" I love this article because echos my sentiments of why I am a staunch practicing Christian/ LDS/ Mormon. In the article, Miller pointed out how in our increasingly secularized society, religion has been cited as the negative influencing factor that has triggered all the violence and social upheaval in the world. Then she bravely admits, "The truth is that even in private, religion can feel like a weight." Miller, a practicing Jew, goes on to cite examples of her struggles to live her religion, such as:

• Going to church/ synagogue because you feel obligated
• Sending your children to Hebrew School (or in LDS culture, seminary/ institute/ BYU) with reservations and over their protestations
• Yom Kippur can "feel like  an orgy of self-immolation. The fasting. The counting of sins. The beating of breasts." (so does fasting in LDS culture... 2 consecutive meals?! Seems like forever!) 
• Holiday celebrations means extra work- the planning, the cooking, the cleaning...

Thing is, I empathize with Miller! My religion is not an easy one to live, and it can feel like "a weight" on some occasions. Before you guys give me advice, such as reading Good, Better, Best by Elder Dallin H. Oaks, let me finish.

Miller then goes on to say: 

But then I remember that, for me, religious observance is about duty, yes, but also joy. And pleasure. ... Even today, Jews’ Saturday morning prayers begin with a flood of thanks: for the roofs over our heads, for the breath in our bodies, for the eyes we have to see. We gather our children close, placing our hands on their heads, and we pray to God to give them health and peace. Saturday by Saturday, we watch them grow. ... In Hebrew, Rabbi Steinlauf reminds me, there are 10 different words for joy.

And this is why I still believe. My religion has required a lot from me, but it has also given me more joy, peace and purpose than any other thing in this world. And for that, it is worth anything God asks of me. 

"I Only Bought the Essentials!"

I'm not one to brag (yeah right!), but here is proof that I do have some self-discipline: I held out from going to the Asian food market for OVER 3 WEEKS.

Yes, 3 weeks!

Imagine that. A Chinese-Chinese living without soy sauce and rice for 3 weeks. That's like an American living without bread and salt for 3 weeks.

I do concur that part of the reason why I held out so long is circumstantial- my 1st paycheck only comes in end of this month. Plus I did try out 2 Chinese restaurants in those 3 weeks (I didn't like them).

But doesn't it sound like a crime for an Asian not to even have RICE stocked up in the apartment?! Criminal!

I finally caved in yesterday because I had been craving Asian food for a while now, and wanted to cook some laksa. For those unfamiliar to Singapore cuisine, this is laksa:

From here.

Laksa is a type of curry that is fragrant, spicy hot and just plain DELICIOUS. *Sigh* Prima Paste Packet just doesn't cut it, but you do the best you can. At least my craving was satisfied. I got the curry paste in Singapore, but I wanted some Chinese vegetables to go with it.

Anyway, I set off to one of the biggest oriental markets here in Columbus, CAM International Market (CAM). It's only a few minutes drive from my house- hooray! No thirty-minute drive like I had to do in Utah to Da Zhong. 

I stepped in and...

...was greeted by aisles and aisles of Asian food- HEAVEN!!!

It was pure joy to buy my soy sauce, rice, and a few other "essentials." Like tofu. 

And ONE packet of authentic Asian ramen noodles  (yes only one! Will go back for more next time). 

And bean sprouts/ tau geh & baby bok choy. 

And almond jelly powder and longan (for my friend's dessert night on Sunday). 

Really, the "essentials." That's what I told Miss Sass when I returned back to the apartment- "I only bought the essentials." To which she shot gave me the look of "essentials only? Very funny. Ha ha ha."   

I am proud of myself for resisting the urge to buy more though, because CAM actually carried a few food items I couldn't even find in California Chinatown (maybe they do but I couldn't find them), food such as:

 Rambutan and atap chi (toddy palm seed slices)

Atap chi? That is an Asian thing. I don't like atap chi  but I was so impressed that CAM carried it.

And of course, DURIAN!!! Salt Lake City and California has durian, and I wouldn't buy it here in Columbus. Nonetheless, the fact that a state in the mid-West sells durian is impressive. I mean, how many Asians, much less people, in Ohio will buy it?! 

However, what TRULY impressed me was that they carried: 

 You hardly find places selling mangosteens in Singapore anymore, and I can actually buy them here?! 

And then, what totally BLEW MY MIND, was this:

Yes, your eyes do not fool you.

Kara brand coconut milk and kueh lapis "cake mix." That's right, cake mix. First time I even heard of this. Don't think it will be good, but heck man! It's kueh lapis.

[Kara brand coconut milk is an authentic Asian brand coconut milk that my mom uses to cook back home, while kueh lapis is a layered cake indigenous to Indonesia but popular in Singapore.]

I was super super super tempted to buy 5 packs of kara brand coconut milk and 2 boxes of kueh lapis cake mix, but I told myself to save it for when my paycheck comes in. 

Yup, proof again that I do have some *cough* impressive *cough* self-discipline.