20/stupid

8/11/11 1:36 AM

     Optometrist appointments terrify me. I always get mini heart attacks whenever I wait for my turn. Last Saturday was no different. My sister, Paige, and I came for our 10 A.M. appointment, and I just sat there trying to figure out why I even bother coming every year since my vision will always be 20/stupid and will always significantly worsen until I'm rich - I mean - old enough to get Lasik.      So as I sat on the examining chair while discreetly flicking Paige off for snickering at my feeble attempts at reading the snellen chart without my contacts on, I was kind of surprised when I didn't hear the doctor make his usual remarks of how my near-sightedness was getting worse. After doing the annoying light flashes and examining my eyes closer, he said...

In Defense of Tiger Mothers

8/4/11 1:11 AM

     When my mother came home with Amy Chua’s much talked-about book months ago, chills literally went down my spine.      Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother sparked great controversy upon its release. I remember watching the news when the anchors dubbed Chua “the most hated woman in America,” with people going as far as sending her death threats for her extreme parenting and for bashing the Western parenting model.      I found it funny that my mother and all her Asian friends thought everyone else was overreacting and actually agreed with Chua since they more or less implemented the same house rules and parenting methods as her. Before I knew it, my mother started referring to herself as a “Tiger Mother” and...

Flying East for the Summer

8/2/11 11:55 PM

       Two weeks ago, my family and I packed up, left the flatness that is Texas and headed to the east coast. The trip started with a two a.m. wake-up call on Tuesday and after hauling the suitcases into the trunk and making it to the airport in time for our too-early flight to Virginia, we were able to successfully meet up with my godparents in Dulles.        After lunch and admiring all the greenery (Virginia has hills!), we immediately went into dorky tourist mode and headed to the National Air and Space Museum, where my dad had a field day pointing out and naming all the models for us.       We shuttled over to Washington DC the following day. For some reason, my body always goes haywire whenever I'm on vacation. Some...

Bringing Back the 90's

8/2/11 11:50 PM

           I don’t know about the rest of you 90’s kids, but I squealed like a five-year-old on Christmas morning when I first saw the wonderful commercial of Kenan Thompson saying one of the greatest things I’ve heard all summer long: “…And now Teenick is bringing back the 90’s to Nickelodeon!” The only times I plop down on the couch and grab the remote is to watch the news, sit through a documentary or two and watch Chuck; but I do find myself occasionally paying attention to more “tween-oriented” shows whenever my younger cousins and family friends come over and want their turn in front of the television. However, I can never sit through entire episodes simply because the shows they watch...

Woodstein vs. Murdoch

7/19/11 12:52 AM

            One of the first things my summer News Publications class did was watch the film, “All the President’s Men,” which was a depiction of Washington Post reporters Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein’s coverage and investigation of the Watergate scandal.             Except for the rushed ending, I loved the film and thought it was wonderfully executed. I think it’s pretty mind-blowing how one news story managed to bring down an entire presidential administration, especially under the reporters’ trying circumstances. In one particular scene, where Woodward and Bernstein were literally going through mountains of phonebooks...