Now I'm on the outside - 10 things I think

10 THINGS I THINK

1. Baseball is back! San Francisco Giants pitchers and catchers reported to spring training today. After winning three championships in five years, I've got zero expectations for this year. I'm merely going to enjoy the games I get to watch and/or attend. Can't wait to head down to Arizona in a little over a fortnight's time.  

2. With John Oliver locked down at HBO for the next three years and Jessica Williams removing herself from the running for host, I'm not exactly excited now about the future prospects of The Daily Show after Jon Stewarts departs.

3. Still haven't yet had the time to watch the nearly three hours of SNL40 show, but that Celebrity Jeopardy sketch is everything. Will Ferrell as Trebek, Darrell Hammond as Sean Connery, Kate McKinnon as Justin Bieber, Alec Baldwin as Tony Bennet, Norm McDonald as Burt Reynolds, Taran Killam as Christoph Waltz, and Jim Carrey as Matthew McConaughey; the whole of them absolutely nailed it. 

4. Even when you don't plan for car shopping to take up the entire day, even when you've done all your due diligence and the negotiations was a cinch, you'll still find yourself at the dealership until the sun goes down. I'm so glad when I bought my car I did it all through email; I merely had to sign and pay the down-payment when I went to the dealership to pick up the car. 

5. Those of you who live in the San Francisco Bay Area, I wholly recommend BMW of Mountain View for all your Bavarian motor shopping needs. On the same token, I my regard cannot be lower for the inattentive and mannerless pricks over at Peter Pan BMW. 

6. East coast is seeing record snow and well below zero temps, and meanwhile me the asshole here in San Francisco is complaining about mid-70s weather in the middle of February. 

Typical San Franciscan, right? 70 is to hot, 50 is too cold, and 60 is just right. You know what though, we certainly pay for the privilege to complain. Those of you who live in places with harsher climate extremes, spare me your consternation. 

7. I've zero patience to sit through adverts at the beginning of videos online. If you want me to watch your product/show/clip you need to show me something first before bombarding me with useless pander. What ever happened to placing the ads on the sides of the webpage?

8. Articles about how unhealthy Chipotle really is have been popping up lately, and I couldn't care less. I'll still eat there every chance I get. Being Chinese my body is accustomed to a sodium-heavy diet so it's no consequence at all that a typical Chipotle burrito has got enough sodium to satisfy an entire daily intake. The point is, sure that burrito bowl may contain 1,500 calories, but when I eat one of those the only other meal I have for the day is a light dinner or breakfast. That's it. Of course you'll get fat if you eat at chipotle and have two big square meals along with it. 

Law of thermodynamics, folks. It's really that simple. 

9. I rather America build the Keystone XL pipeline than risk having to carry oil from Canada on freight trains that's got to travel through communities, towns, and cities. Such a volatile substance should not be carried in large quantities on a mode of transport that is prone to accidents. 

10. I don't subscribe to the notion of "spend money on experiences, not things." I say, why not spend money on both? Deeply trenched materialism is awful yes, but there's nothing wrong with purchasing a few things if it does indeed make you happy. The key is to properly use the items you buy; a $3,000 Mac Pro that you only use to surf the web and watch youtube videos is a tremendous waste. 

The eternal equinox - 10 things I think

1. You need to watch Emma Watson's beautiful and moving address on gender equality at the United Nations. After that, gentlemen, please put down your pledge at heforshe.org. 

2. It's fall television premier week, so from here until December I'm just going to be in my pajamas watching shows everyday during the night hours. That is the life indeed. 

3. Scotland voted to stay in the United Kingdom, which is interesting because America's founding fathers had no idea that seceding from the British empire could be so... civilized. Could have saved us the hassle of a revolutionary war and everything. 

4. Happy autumnal equinox, or more colloquially, the official beginning of fall season. For San Franciscans, however, it's the beginning of our Indian summer. It is as cool as it sounds. After that we go straight to winter. I wish that wasn't the case though, because the change of colors during autumn is one of the loveliest things mother nature does.  

5. Updated my phone to the latest iOS 8 and I absolutely cannot tell the difference. Probably weren't suppose to anyways given that the eight iteration of Apple's mobile operating system is more a polish job than evolutionary overhaul. Thanks for the free stuff though, Apple. 

6. John Oliver will win an Emmy award next year. Book it. I love his program on HBO. 

7. I think it's about time to replace my five year old Macbook Pro with something just a bit faster. It still works, obviously, but editing photographs on it recently have gotten too stuttering to a point of distraction. It's been a valiant machine, my circa 2009 Macbook Pro, time to give it a proper rest. 

8. You can't change a person, but if that person wants to, he/she will change because of you. 

9. All my support to those in New York City marching and fighting for action on climate change. Good on all of you. I believe climate change is the issue of our generation, and it transcends all borders. Remember: we've only got but one planet. 

10. This: