Silicone Parts are Made for Toys

Okay, I have to admit that I like silicone. Silicone has a nice feel to it, a nice jelly-like bounce to it -- almost skin-like, really -- and it is durable and resistant to all sorts of abuse.

But can it really do wonders for scar healing? I've heard of silicone sheets and silicone gels which somehow promote the healing of flesh wounds and dramatically reduce the scarring imperfections. But there seem to be two very distinct and separate schools of thought: one who believe it to work (and don't really understand why), and the other who say it does absolutely nothing. Neosporin is obviously in the former category; my former dermatologist is clearly in the latter. I mean, normally, I wouldn't be this vain about it, but these are fairly visible areas on my arms and shoulders. I wouldn't want it to end up like my appendix scar.

So, in your experience, what are the best scar treatments around? Do these (pricey) silicone sheets and gels work? Or no?

So Emotional

Little annoying things were starting to happen to me, and to those around me: car accidents (minor), lost items, dropped possessions, those kinds of things. So I figured it was time to visit the 龍山寺 temple again.

As soon as I stepped inside of the gates, something came over me. Or rather, something surfaced from within me, and I suddenly wanted to burst into tears. Tears swelled in my eyes and blurred my vision; I had to stop walking towards the temple. This is particularly foreign to me because I've never had any reaction like this to anything even remotely religious before, and there I was, feeling like these things wanted to be released from inside me.

Of course, I held it in; nobody wants to see a grown man cry (not even if they say they do). I went along my business: making the offering, burning incense, thanking them for my luck and recovery from the scooter accident, and then praying for continued protection for me, those around me, and those near to my heart.

Even now, when I really think about it, i can feel tears wanted to well up again. That's new.

Back Up, A Day Too Late

Well, after much consulting with J, CY, and Mike after my initial pricing research ... I finally decided on the Seagate harddrive (80GB, 5400rpm, 8MB cache, 5yr warranty) for my Powerbook. I went to the local electronics market and found that some quick bargaining made the Toshiba one (difference: 16MB cache, 3yr warranty) about 10% cheaper. And since it had been a really tough decision before, this difference in pricing tipped the scales. Armed with my new drive and a new precision screwdriver toolkit, I spent a good part of Saturday installing the harddrive (based on the awesome PB Fixit guide), reinstalling my apps and utils, restoring my preferences and data to the new drive. Not very fun, and left my drive with a measley 13GB free.

But doing this on Saturday meant I wasn't up and running with the machine until it was too late to wish my good buddy jaojon (TP) a very happy 31st birthday. I've known this guy for some 23 years now; grew up with him a block away, and he's the one responsible for 教壞我 ("teaching me bad stuff") in my formative years. Anyway, this is really a long-winded way of publicly announcing that ...

- He's my good buddy of 23 years now.
- He's 31, so happy belated birthday to him!
- My being bad is pretty much his fault, but I still love him like a brother.

I'm hoping he reads this, since I know he lurks by every once in a while. Happy birthday, dude.

Heals for Reals

You know what? The human body is amazing. Especially mine.

I mean, when I think about it, it was just two weeks ago and my wounds are nearly done healing themselves up. I'm not wearing any bandages (except over the elbows when heading into public), and it's just the elbows (again) that are not yet done with the scabs. Everywhere else is busy growing its raw, new skin.

In some ways, you could say that the injuries were just scrapes, just flesh wounds. But if you had seen me that night, with all the blood and raw flesh showing, you would have guessed it was worse. A lot worse. And now, I'm a ton better.

Fashion Suspense

I've never owned a pair of suspenders before, and for good reason: there are only a few occasions where I think you can really pull them off. For instance, if you're ...

- a gangster in a zoot suit in the 40's
- an investment banker type even up to the 80's
- a swanky swing dancer
- a fireman (with or without shirt on)
- careful not to let anyone see/know you're wearing them.

And I don't think I could swing any of these. In fact, I'm quite sure I can't. So I continue to not own a pair of these.

[ Sidenote: if you Google for "suspenders" images, you get a whole 'nother set of suspenders results coming up. For the record, I'm not talking about those kinds. ]

Lookit Me

Eye contact is important in communication, and I'm not that good at it. My issue is that I don't keep good eye contact. When I'm talking, my eyes often get diverted to things down the hall, outside the window, on the desk, whatever. My dialogue doesn't suffer, but people might get the impression that I'm simply not paying as much attention as they would like.

And when I try to keep with the good eye contact, it feels a little awkward. So when I'm talking to some people, I don't know if my eye language is coming off as too forward, too shy/polite, whatever. Because sometimes it shows genuine interest in the other person's words, sometimes is shows they have your full attention, and sometimes it shows that you're really making an effort to get to know them. But, you know, sometimes it just really feels like staring.

I figure that if your eyes start watering or drying out, you've definitely established eye contact for too long.

Adult Male Deer

I come to you, asking for help. Here's my question:

What kind of a stag party should I arrange?

It's in Vancouver, mid-October. The request from Mr. Groom is to keep it clean; we're not the type who enjoy strippers anyway. (Honest. They don't necessarily like it, and they're not into you; it's their job.) Instead, it's just us guys hanging out together again, so I'm thinking it should be a very MEN kind of day. Steak dinner, then sipping brandy (or whatever your choosing) and smoking cigars, talking shop while sitting in big fat leather armchairs. But before that, what shall we do during the day??

[ Sidenote. Today at lunch: filling BBQ pork with rice and 3 sides for $75 NT ... and then Starbucks macha tea frapuccino for $130NT. That's messed up. ]