Life – Page 41 – Tiana Feng

Dear People In Crowded Parking Lots

July 3, 2012LifeLeave a Comment

For Canada’s day I participated in the act of firework watching. We didn’t go right into the heart of city hall but watched close-by on the porches of a nearby movie theater.

It was a lovely night. That was until we had to leave the underground parking lot of Square One along with 10,000 others. It was chaos, and to everyone there (and in future crowded parking lots) I want to say the following:

Unless a)your house is on fire, b)someone is dying or c)both you aren’t entitled to get out of the parking lot any faster than anybody else
Just because your soccer(/sports) team lost (Italy) that day, it doesn’t mean you can take it out on other drivers by yelling freakishly out your car window
Don’t signal until you fully decide what direction you are going to turn.
Road markings indeed point in the right direction. Don’t imagine your own.
Unless suicide is your intention, don’t get up and walk around in the mob of cars.
Tailgating while you are stuck on a slope is a bad idea.
Circling around a parking lot with one exit won’t get you anywhere.
Just because I’m a cute little Asian girl doesn’t mean I’ll let you cut me off.

Teddy Has a House

July 2, 2012July 29, 2012Pets, Teddy1 Comment

It was a long weekend and dad brought home extra wood so we decided to build Teddy a house.

All assembled:

We decided to paint it:

Also, if you love Teddy as much as I do, he has his own tumblr now at: teddydoggy.tumblr.com.

The People Who Read This Blog (or So I Imagine)

June 21, 2012June 21, 2012Life, Social Media, TechnologyLeave a Comment

I haven’t written here in a while. I was busy attending NXNE last week and catching up on photo editing this week. However, I looked at my WordPress Dashboard today and there was a striking amount of people visiting in the past week or so. I honestly light up when I even know 10 people read this, but the past little while have been in the 400-500s.

I started to ponder, what you all must be like and came up with this list of people who I think read this blog:

Trolls
You people search the internet for random things. Some way or another, your quest to find junk landed you here.

Dog Lovers
My bichon is obviously the most adorable thing in the world. I assume 90% of you follow this just to look at cute puppy photos.

Food Lovers
Maybe you’re a food lover, and you are here for the delicious photos of food. I’m not sure if my recipes are well written enough to warrant anybody following them, but I am going on an adventure to eat all sorts of things!

Adventure Time Fans
I’ve only ever had one post about Adventure Time, but it is the top Google search of all time here.

My Best Friends
Thank you for visiting, just because we’re BFFs. I know you probably think all that on here is terrible, but you’ll come back anyway.

I Survived Woofstock [Photoset]

June 11, 2012July 29, 2012Art, Pets, Photography, Teddy3 Comments

I finally had a dog that I could bring to Woofstock, so this was my first year. People and dogs of all types showed up. Dogs in dresses, dogs in strollers, dogs in purses. It was a day for your pup to be spoiled. Booths sold everything from modern dog houses, couches and other strange things. Here are some photos I managed to snap.

This dog looks like a lion:

Teddy got really tired so we had to carry him around. Look this painting kind of looks like him!

Teddy wasn’t very impressed we made him do this:

Someone dyed their poodles hair…

This is Teddy’s potential sibling. They were born on the same day!

Man, these dog cookies and donuts look so good I want to eat them!

Photoset: Teddy’s First Birthday

Photoset: Teddy’s First Birthday

June 10, 2012June 10, 2012Art, Pets, Photography, Teddy4 Comments

Last Friday, was my little bichon poodle’s first birthday. We got him a mini Happy birthday pie and a party hat. The pie was made out of organic ingredients, and it smelt like something that could be edible by humans. Here are some photos we took of our spoiled little puppy.

This is Teddy glaring at us for putting a hat on him:

How To Tell If You Should Throw Away Those Clothes

June 4, 2012June 4, 2012Fashion, Life1 Comment

If your closets and drawers are bursting like mine were, that would be a good enough reason to reach into them and see what things you can donate to the closest shelter. Believe me, it’s hard sometimes to chuck something. There are memories attached to them or even the tiniest feeling that you might use that tied-dyed shirt for something.

However, if you want to do some cleaning, here are some reasons you should throw out that piece of garment.

1. They are broken. Maybe it’s the hole in the armpit, or zipper that won’t zip. And you won’t find the lanyard of that sweater. It’s been eaten by the dryer.
2. There’s a giant stain on it. No matter how many times you put it through the wash, it isn’t coming out.
3. They belong to somebody else. Perhaps it’s an ex’s shirt, unless you’re actually going to turn it into a dress, I’d burn it or give it to someone in need.
4. They are too big for you. If they’re too big, you’ve probably lost a ton of weight and throwing your larger size clothes away is the last step of the process. There is no need to turn back. Or maybe you bought some clothes on boxing day last Christmas that were a bit too wide. I bet you don’t wear them.
5. They are too small for you. Face it, we all grow up. I have grown out of pants. My high-burger diets probably don’t help, but I’m pretty sure the dryer magically shrinks them by an inch every time just to mess with me. Make sure you have clothes that are right for your body type.
6. When was the last time you wore that? If it hasn’t been since Halloween, maybe it’s for a reason. If you’re going to keep things that are to be used as costumes/props, don’t keep them in your closet.
7. They are no longer in fashion. This rule doesn’t need to be followed as closely, as things do come back in fashion once in a while. However, if they aren’t following current trends, why not just hide them away in a while? They can be a treasure chest to come back to later when you’ve forgotten about them.

It’s nice to make room in the closet of our lives. I no longer how to stressfully shuffle through a puddle full of stuff to get to the things I want. Plus, it makes room (and an excuse) to do some more shopping again!

I Don’t Mind Eating Burgers Alone But…

June 3, 2012April 2, 2013Food, Life, Restaurant Reviews2 Comments

I’m not ashamed to go eat a burger alone. It’s quite a normal occurrence during busy times. Burgers are bunned happiness. Who has conversations with someone while eating a burger?

Anyways, this week was Burger Week in Toronto so of course I would participate. I chose Burger Bar because it happened to be the closest joint to the Supermarket, where I was going to see a show afterward. I headed there after work and starving. I had actually been to Burger Bar once before with my best friend 2 years ago. It wasn’t the greatest experience because her patty was bloody and under-cooked. I figured if the place still existed than it must have improved, so I gave it another chance.

I wandered in and asked for a table for 1. Either the waitress was loud or being a jerk, but she made me ask like 10,000 times. I finally sat down at a table (with no menu) and 15 minutes later a waitress came up to me and asked, Are you just sitting here? I was starting to get irritated. WHY THE HELL WOULD I BE JUST SITTING HERE IF I DON’T WANT A BURGER? but I replied, “Um, no, give me a menu.”

I decided to just stick with the Burger Week special as it was only $5. It was a local beef burger infused with hops and chipotle aioli. I felt I needed to calm down so I also tried to order a drink off the placemat, but apparently you can’t order the drinks on the placemat….

Why put these on all the tables, when you can’t order them?

I watched as a group of 10 people tried to do the same. Even though one waitress already took my order, another kept asking me if I was waiting for someone. I told her NO 3 times. FML, I just wanted to enjoy a burger alone. Oh yeah, I waited almost 20 minutes for said burger and it looked like this:

I was so hungry, I took a bite out of it before I took a picture.

Wrinkly bun, small as hell. It was okay I guess since I ate it fast (or I was just fuckin’ hungry). I guess I can’t expect much for $5, but I WAITED 20 MINUTES. They were lucky I gave them another chance, but I don’t think I will come back to Burger Bar EVER again.

As for eating burgers alone, luckily there are plenty of other places to do that in Toronto. My favourite being Gourmet Burger, where people and environment is friendly and the burgers are delicious.

Things I Learned From Being Just Mobile

June 2, 2012iOS, Life, TechnologyLeave a Comment

My period of computerlessness only lasted for mere few days. I didn’t expect Dell to ship my laptop back so quick and in tip top shape. I survived the past few days with my iPad and iPhone and blogged occasionally from work when it wasn’t too busy. I was surprised how efficient I was at music blogging when I had a limited time frame to do it.
In addition I also realized the following:
– I had to cut my nails so I could type on a screen
– I don’t have anything that can read SD cards
– texting has made me a better typer on my phone than my iPad
– I alwaysforget to hit space onthe iPad
– Google + is actually really pretty
– nights seem darker without a laptop’s eerie glow

Just Mobile

May 29, 2012May 29, 201230 Day Challenge, Inspiration, iOS, Life, TechnologyLeave a Comment

I am sending my laptop in for a makeover. Although I do have a decrepit backup laptop, I am going to challenge myself to live on just mobile devices for as long as Ursula is still in the shop. Yes, my laptop has a name.

Perhaps this is what the future will be like. I don’t think there is anything my laptop can do that I can’t find a way for one of my devices to. I have a first generation iPad and an iPhone 4S. One day in the not-to-distant future it will only get easier. The biggest challenge will be maintaining my script heavy music blog.

As long as I can blog, all will be merry. I will keep you updated on the journey.

This post was written on an iPad.

Unfolding the Napkin- The Hands-On Method for Solving Complex Problems with Simple Pictures

May 28, 2012March 10, 2013Art, Books, Business, Entertainment, Inspiration, ThinkingLeave a Comment

I’ve been intrigued for a while now by Dan Roam’s series of books about visual problem solving. I purchased Unfolding the Napkin: The Hands-On Method for Solving Complex Problems with Simple Pictures, without realizing it is actually the workbook for his first book The Back of the Napkin. However, it doesn’t really matter as it works well as a standalone book.

The book is geared towards business people who want to improve their presentations by including pictures that encourage audience involvement. The techniques are simple enough that they can be used by anybody who want to be a better visual thinker. Unfolding the Napkin is full of fun doodles, exercises and real life examples of where pictures were used to solve a major problem in major corporations. The book is divided into 4 lessons (complete with lunch breaks). The four parts make up the steps of visual thinking: Looking, Seeing, Imagining and Showing. The most helpful section to me was the Imagining section which introduced the SQVID method of thinking. It stood for the different ways of imaging how to solve a problem (although I’m not entirely what the acronym stands for).

The book explains how modern day presentations all suck because they are often hundreds of pages of Power Point slides that mean nothing. It also delves into the psychology of how when something is computer generated and perfect, we tend not to question it. In contrast if we doodle an idea or a plan, there is imperfection and people will comment and give feedback. There is definitely truth in that idea, and hey, I like to doodle.

I recommend this book to anybody who makes presentations of any kind and wants to look beyond just Powerpoint. I’ve always been a visual learner and I think I may dive into some more of Dan Roam’s books. I’m especially interested in Blah Blah Blah which is geared more towards personal thinking than the board room. PS. I haven’t stopped on delivering you guys doodletastic posts. More to come soon.