Life – Page 39 – Tiana Feng

Bullying Affects All.. To This Day

February 20, 2013February 20, 2013LifeLeave a Comment

Growing up, I was the bookworm, the nerd, the keener, the teacher’s pet. The smart ass. By grade five, I also had ridiculous glasses. I was constantly called names, made fun of. Pens thrown at me. Despite being a skinny Asian girl, I had a negative self-image. It wasn’t until later in University that I truly felt beautiful.

Talking about bullying isn’t an easy thing. Friends and parents tell you to “ignore it” that it’s just kids being kids. That was much easier said than done.

My boyfriend showed me Shane Koyczan’s To This Day Project. The poem, written by Koyczan features work from animators and motion artist who worked together to provide 20 second segments in their unique style. Tied together with some emotionally charged reading and powerful music they aim to share the impacts of bullying.

I may be older now but there are still outstanding effects of being bullied. I have self-confidence and anxiety issues that I still deal with from time to time. However, if I learnt anything over the last couple of years, it is to be true to myself. And to share the experiences, because that’s the only way for people to acknowledge that bullying hurts and is much more common than they realize.

The Power of Why

February 13, 2013Books, Entertainment, Inspiration, LifeLeave a Comment

As adults, we have grown up thinking that questioning the norm is faux-pas. As a child we go through school systems where the one that asks the most questions is usually the most annoying kid. The one with the bad grades. We have learnt to spew out the right answers for good grades without much questions. It’s the way we’re taught, to get all As in order to get into a university, get a job etc. This creates generations of people who forget how to be curious.

In Amanda Lang’s The Power Of Why she demonstrates the importance of asking questions. She uses what is called the ctrl + alt + del method of thinking without boundaries set by what we think we already know. The book has some cool examples of inventions such as the Soccket and the Saw Stop that were developed because their inventors failed to believe that it was impossible. Instead they asked “Why not?” and found out ways around it.

I was one of those people who didn’t really question much in school but I grew more curious after reading this book. It’s a good read for people who want to learn how to be more innovative or look at the world a little differently. Every once in a while, we should remember what is like to be that 3 year old kid who can’t stop asking Why?.

The Only Things I Remember From Having Leukemia

February 6, 2013February 14, 2013Health, LifeLeave a Comment

It wasn’t until I was around 20 that I learnt why I was sick when I was around 4. Growing up I just periodically had to go to Sick Kids for checkups every year and I just assumed it was a regular routine thing for a growing child. I’m completely healthy now, whatever strain of leukemia I had (I’m still somewhat unclear on all the details), it was curable. Doctor visits have become much less frequent and trying to recall the events of back then is actually rather difficult. Here are some things I do remember:

I remember my doctor’s name was Dr. Freeman. Other than that, I don’t remember what he looks like. Every time I try to picture him I get the image of Colonel Sanders from Kentucky Fried Chicken. Maybe that is what he looked like.

I remember ALF came to visit me in the hospital and it was fuckin’ frightening for a 4 year old. Also I’m pretty sure I still have the pogs he gave me.
I remember playing with a kitchen set. It was yellow, and I loved pretending to cook pretend food.

I remember wearing a weird fanny pack for a while when I was out of the hospital. It made me feel like a robot. Around the same time my parents also threw out all the microwaves and we weren’t allowed to have them until 10 years later.

I remember making friends with a girl name Sarah. She had down syndrome. I wonder where she is now and how she is doing.

What I don’t remember is what it felt like to be sick or how I got there. I don’t remember all the depressing parts of being sick. I have Sick Kids Hospital to thank for that.

I’m Never Buying You A Watch

January 11, 2013January 11, 2013Life, Relationships1 Comment

Mom told me never to buy a clock for a Chinese person. In Chinese culture, the words for “giving a clock” also sound like the ones for a funeral ritual. It also symbolizes that your time is running out and considered an offensive gesture.

When I was in high school I dated this guy for a couple of months. I saved up money for what would be our first Christmas to buy him this shiny GUESS watch. When I finally bought it, I’d take it out of the box occasionally to bask in the glory of its shininess. I gave it to him for Christmas and he was delighted. However, it stopped working after a week and a little while later we broke up. 14 year old me was devastated.

In college, I found the perfect gift for the vest-wearing guy I was with at the time. It was a pocket watch. The back had a hole that displayed the inner-workings of the ticking clock. The outside was a shiny silver with interesting carvings and the innards were gold. It was wind-up power so it never needed battery. I’m 88% I got it engraved. Anyways, I gave it to him, the spring broke and a week later he broke up with me for another girl. In hindsight, he was probably an asshole.

Now fast-forward and I am with somebody who appreciates me for me and I am the happiest I have been for years. Nash, you are stuck with me forever because I’m never buying you a watch.

I Don’t Have A Cat But…

January 4, 2013March 10, 2013Books, Entertainment, PetsLeave a Comment

I have a new found appreciation for cats. As you know, I am a proud dog owner. Previously, I was not very fond of cats. I always thought they were rather frightening, unkind and boring.

By some strange coincidence yesterday, I read I Could Pee on This: And Other Poems by Cats by Francesco Marciuliano and The Oatmeal’s How to Tell If Your Cat Is Plotting to Kill You.

I read How To Tell If Your Cat is Plotting to Kill You first. To be honest I wasn’t a big fan of The Bobcats mini-series that focused on these cat characters being jerks in the workplace. The majority of the book was devoted to this “mini-series”. For something by The Oatmeal creator, it was somewhat of a let-down.

My favourite illustrations were the other sections such as if humans and cats changed roles and the comic strips illustrating the much more realistic behaviour of cats. Of course there was also classics like Cats vs. The Internet and How to Pet a Kitty.

i could pee on that

Marciuliano’s book explored the mind of a cat through a series of hilarious free verse poems. There are four categories of poems: family, work, play and existence.

If I had to buy a book for a cat lover it would be this one. The poems illustrate why cats do certain devious things and that perhaps we are misunderstanding them as human beings. Most of the poems start off in a vague manner and it is not until the end that you understand what the cat is doing; whether it be knocking down a vase or scratching itself in the mirror. In between poems there are also adorable cat photos related to the writing.

I don’t plan on getting a cat any time soon (or ever), but in reading these books I definitely don’t think they are boring anymore. On a random note, if you do like cats I found this random site called Catmoji which is like a Pinterest for cats.

A Year Without Limitations

January 1, 2013Inspiration, Life1 Comment

Happy New Year! Last year was a blast, and I learnt a lot from it. This year, I decided that I will not make any resolutions or set any strange time-sensitive challenges. Last year on my birthday I wrote a list of 25 Things to Do Before I’m 25 but they were completely unrealistic goals in a year that has proven to be one of my busiest. Most of those things individually would have probably taken a year to do so and being completely unemployed in the process. Attempting to plow through them made things seem like a must-do task, a chore, rather than something meant to be enjoyable.

This year will be focused on just exploring new adventures as they come. Books are meant to be read and absorbed in their own time. New food experiences stumbled upon sometimes accidentally. Life should not be rushed and that will be the theme for this year. I do promise to share all these things with you and write more posts here!

[Photoset] Teddy In The Snow

December 28, 2012December 28, 2012Art, Pets, Photography, TeddyLeave a Comment

We finally had some snow fall this week in Mississauga. We let Teddy out in the backyard to play in the snow. Here are some photos!

[Photoset] Teddy And Mia

December 27, 2012Art, Pets, Photography, TeddyLeave a Comment

Holidays are busy times, so sorry for the lack of posts. For now here are some photos of Teddy and his new friend Mia!

I Swallowed A Chicken Bone

December 6, 2012December 6, 2012Food, Life4 Comments

Yesterday night I was eating chicken wings. I love chicken wings. While I was eating, Mom was rambling on about something and distracting me. Then I somehow swallowed a chicken bone.

I’m not sure how much bone I ingested, but it felt like at least half of one of the wing tip bones. The situation was probably not that big of a deal. However, during my ordeal Dad told me a frightening story.

He once had a friend who was very intelligent but swallowed a small rib bone. He proceeded to flush it down with rice and water. He thought nothing of it except for small pain he would have once in a while. Few days later he was dead. The bone had pierced his esophagus and arteries which lead to some complicated internal bleeding.

I started to over-think. I took to Google to self-diagnose myself and of course on the internet you can find the worst results of any case. Through this anxious over-thinking, I started to feel my own throat hurt and felt it every time I thought about swallowing a chicken bone.

However, I concluded that the condition is psychological. After some researching (in my old psychology books, not Wikipedia), I found out that this is called globus hystericus otherwise known as globus sensation, the feeling of having a lump in the throat. It can be caused by actual inflammation, but often by anxiety. Strangely after writing this post, the feeling is completely gone, so I guess I’m not going to die of chicken both death. Thanks blog.