HeyChristine.com

Sunday, December 17th

A time to reflect...

Trust me. Sundays seem to be the day I spend the most time thinking about things. I guess it's because I usually spend the entire day by myself. I used to spend half of it with Carol and we'd reflect together, going over the events of our week (two normally sane women who become neurotic freaks at Sunday brunch), but since she went back to the States, I've been pretty much on my own on Sundays... Awww... Just kidding. I miss Carol to pieces but I do enjoy quiet moments like these. I took these two pictures just now.

You can MAKE it. In general I think I think a lot. But since I started this journal and got this little digital camera, my mind seems to be going over time. I keep feeling like I'm watching my life as a third party observer. I always felt that way when I wrote in my print journals, but the camera has added an unexpected dimension. Everything I see, everyone I come across, even strangers on the street, makes me think. I must process a hundred topics as I go about my day, but when I actually sit down to write, I only choose one or two.

Everyone should keep a journal like this, and I hope whoever reads my journals will be so inspired. It really puts things into perspective, and I am not joking in the least bit when I say that. It gives meaning to things that perhaps didn't have any, or that we take for granted...

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About the CAPT Christmas Formal!

I went home after work and dived for my bed, exhausted. In fact if Rich hadn't called to tell me that he was on his way to pick me up, I don't think I would have gotten up. The CAPT Christmas formal last night was a lot of fun, per usual. The dinner was held on the 2nd floor of the Mandarina Hotel, and later the guests moved over to KISS. I went totally casual last night, wore my OD attire instead of one of my evening gowns, mostly because I wanted to BOOGIE. Speaking of which, apparently OD shut down.

Rich makes a GREAT DATE, an all around happy-go-lucky guy with a Brooklyn accent to boot. Can't go wrong with that. Later on in the evening I asked him if my hair was okay because I whipped it up in a few minutes and could feel it falling down. All men when asked this question should say one and only one thing, and that is, "It looks great!", but no, Rich the New Yorker had to comment, "Well Christine, I'd call it... Ordered Chaos." And that made us both laugh. He cracks me up. Click on the invitation for more pictures. Barbara designed it, and it's AWESOME. Okay so I scanned it in crooked. Oh well.

New friends...

I also met a very interesting person who was sitting at our table, Thomas Deng, who was apparently visiting from San Jose. He was quite entertaining, definitely made for good table conversation. I guess I caught him at a bad time when I tried to ask him what he was doing in Taipei, because at that moment he just started chewing on something. We had a conversation (note that I had to speak up, as he sat at the other end of the table):

Me: "So Thomas, you're from San Jose?"

Thomas looks over at me and smiles politely, but could only nod. He was busy chewing.

Me: "So then you're just visiting?"

Still unable to talk, he instead points at the guy sitting next to him, Michael.

Me: "Oh you came with Michael."

The man is still chewing. Once again he nods and smiles at me, but then he points over to Michael AND Eric, the guy who was sitting on the other side of Michael.

Me: "Oh! You guys are a, umm... threesome?"

Thomas, for some reason, is STILL chewing on his food. In response to my question, he gets an even bigger smile on his face and slowly nods again! I'm like, HUH?! By this time, everyone who was listening in on the conversation was quite amused by our little interaction. Thomas, poor guy, finally swallows whatever it was that was so chewy, and gasps,

Thomas: "You know. Ginny told me about your website and
warned me to be careful about what I say in front
of you. But, but... I didn't say anything!"

And this made us all laugh, himself included. Let me clarify here that I had no intentions of embarrassing him. We just met for Christ's sakes! I was merely striking up conversation. In any case, Thomas was a great sport. I really enjoyed talking to him. Later on in the evening and after a bit of musical chairs (Wennie took my seat so I took hers), I ended up sitting next to him and Grace whom I also met that night, and finally got the whole scoop.

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On Thomas and his company...

Thomas is indeed from San Jose. His company, Open Source Asia, works with hardware manufacturers to provide IT solutions to small and medium-sized businesses, and some of his clients are in Taiwan. Grace and I listened intently. I think it had to do with the fact that he's got the cutest smile. LOL. Apparently Open Source Asia is a pretty new company and was founded by himself and five other guys, most of whom have EE and CS degrees from MIT. Thomas himself used to work for Intel prior to joining this start-up, so after he was done with his rather enthusiastic pitch, I summarized my understanding with two comments:

Me: "So Thomas. Basically... you're Intel inside."

He looked almost relieved that I understood, nodded politely, and smiled.

Me: "And now... you're an open source."

He paused ever so slightly, slowly nodded again, and gave me an even bigger smile. The kind of smile that just about turns into a laugh but never quite makes it. So I laughed in his stead.

YESTERDAY | THE NEXT DAY