Categories
learning life list

The Space Between Chapters.

Obviously, this week has been a strange one. I didn’t get a chance to post any updates because of all that’s going on: the final stages of cleaning, packing, and saying good-byes.

Naturally, this leaves me in a strange space in time. Where I’m just ready to move on but I want to also appreciate the normalcy of the time being. It becomes quite frustrating.

But I do have to say, my time back in Virginia has been very life-changing for me. To see my hometown, my little-girl world, from a grown-up POV.

Instead of sitting around & feeling annoyed about being back home, I took control of what I’d do with my time. Over the past four months I have learned a lot of new skills:

  1. tai chi – I completed one style of tai chi with my father. Learning tai chi with my dad has allowed for us to bond and realize our similar character traits. Also, it’s just good for my dad to know that at least one of his children has learned martial arts from him.
  2. pottery – Who knew it would become one of my passions? I signed up for the class thinking “Oh, just something to keep me busy.” But, it really helped me take control of my focus. And, it taught me to love imperfections…because nobody/nothing is perfect.
  3. first aid – Took a one-day certification class; learned a lot in that short period of time. Good skills to have since now I am more prepared in emergencies.
  4. sewing – I just learned this two weeks ago. Worked on a blanket project for my mom and learned how to work different types of sewing machines. Hope to further my knowledge in sewing when I get to Denver!
  5. belly dancing – I took a class in NYC for belly dancing. Of course I felt self-conscious staring at my reflection in the mirror, but then I realized that it was ok to fall or lose my balance during the moves. We all were students so we all were learning!

In addition to the above, I also got myself going with two 5K races in the area. Granted, I wish I could have run both races a lot better, but just finishing the races gave me great sense of accomplishment. I will improve my racing form with my next two 5K races.

So, without being too dramatic: it is time to close this space between chapters and start a new chapter. This was a good respite between life in San Francisco and life in Denver. I am definitely grateful for all that has happened so far this year.

Now, I will be blogging from Denver starting August 9. That means: no blog posts until then. But I’m sure you all will be okay with an update.

I’ll be tweeting some oldies but goodies in the meantime (old, fun blog posts).

Categories
change goals list

Daily Post Day 13: Things to Look Forward to in 2011

There’s much to look forward to this year, because I’d already established from the end of 2010 that 2011 is going to be momentous.

A few things I’m looking forward to:

– Moving (again) to Colorado for business school

– Spending more time with my family

– Running my first races (5K/10K)

– Submitting writing to more lit mags and contests

– Refreshing my memory with Spanish and Japanese

– Reading all my Kindle books and my business-school prep books

And so much more…a year of learning, a year of growth.

Categories
health life list memories

Week in Review: Last Quarter & Running to Freedom

I can’t believe it’s already October; memories continue to flash through my mind of all that has happened in the past year. And now, here we are, on the cusp of entering 2011.

This week I’ve been working on more writing–various topics for clients. It’s good to see I’m getting some work in, especially doing what I love! But, of course, the pay could be better….

But it’s not always about the money, at least I try to not think about that aspect so much. This week I’ve also been out running more since I have new running shoes (see picture). I used to own a pair of pink shoes back in college but when I lost weight, the shoes ended up being too big (shoe size did shrink when I lost weight). When I first moved out here to San Francisco, I bought a new pair of running shoes then, but that pair has said its goodbyes after three years.

Seeing my new shoes sitting by my door sure makes me feel motivated to go running. Also,  I never realized before how liberating an outdoor run could be–I held back from running outdoors for a long time because I was afraid of being seen, of running alone (it’s hard for a woman to run outside alone, sadly). But, I finally decided to overcome this fear and just do it, because my indoor fitness routine wasn’t doing enough for me anymore.

Today is the start of my new 101 list in 1001 days, so I must complete my first task now: write a letter to myself to open on the last day of the journey, June 28, 2013. Should be an interesting letter.

Categories
#amreading list

New Domain; Update on Yearly Book List

Last night, after a year and a half of confusion, I finally figured out how to replace my domain with my blog. So, no more outdated content! Now, helenekwong.com is my blog with updated content on a regular basis.

I guess when I started my domain in early 2009, I was just excited and didn’t know how to go about it. But, as time has passed, I’ve observed others’ domains and see how they successfully incorporate their blog as their main page. I wanted that so badly yet I just didn’t know how to go about it.

And the change was rather easy.

Anyway, last night I also updated my “Completed Books” list, which I’ve kept up for each year since 2008. So far this year, I’ve only read ten books. The irony of that number is that I went through a phase of checking out 10-15 books from the library. Needless to say, I got distracted and I was unable to complete all those books within a timely manner. I suppose this year has been quite different from the past two years in that a lot more has changed.

Well, perhaps I will get 15 more books read by the end of the year if I want to stay at my average of 25 books per year. We’ll see how these last few months play out.

Categories
#amwriting dir en grey list motivation music

Equation: Music + Writing = Focus

Since I have been working on essays lately (for graduate school applications), I have found myself only able to focus when I listen to certain albums on my iTunes. In general, these albums are all-around good for writing of any sort (my novels, short stories, and essays):

1) Dir en grey – Withering to death.
2) Dir en grey – UROBOROS
3) Dir en grey – VULGAR
4) Lady GaGa – The Fame
5) Drip – Identity Theft
6) La Roux – La Roux

I’m most able to concentrate and get my work done with Dir en grey albums, though. I can’t quite explain it, but I’m under the impression that there’s some sort of algorithm that they use in their album track lists to make people zone in (or zone out). I’ve found that the three albums listed above have served best in my writing endeavors, though.

For the longest time, I thought I could only focus on writing/doing work with classical music on. Guess I was wrong!