Categories
change NaNoWriMo OWOP

Updates Are All I Have: NaNo, Podcast, OWOP…

Freshly made pancakes. No relation to this post at all. Just a picture for fun.

Nobody ever said graduate school was going to be a breeze. And I never doubted that either. But wow, I have neglected this blog for the past month. Luckily, I have kept a semi-regular schedule for My International MBA podcast episodes at least. Saturdays seem to be the best day to get material out.

I’m well settled into my apartment. Feng shui help from Catherine Grison is in the final stages, so soon I’ll take pictures. It takes awhile, mainly because I need to rearrange my priorities a lot.

I thought Camp NaNoWriMo would be all the “NaNo-ing” I’d do this year, but I’m going to go ahead and do NaNoWriMo next month after all. I can’t help but get sucked in every year. I have more prep material for my novel, but alas, it all sits and gathers dust as the month of October whizzes by…

One Word, One Picture (OWOP) did pretty well for three-fourths of the year. I decided that I would end my OWOP adventure at the start of September because my picture-taking had dwindled…and then came school. This month I’ve started back with near-daily picture-taking again, but I’d rather re-start OWOP in 2012 than pick up where I left off.

Speaking of 2012: anyone want to join in with OWOP next year? Let me know: helene at helenekwong dot com

Categories
#amreading Promotions

Craig Lancaster’s New Book, now FREE on Smashwords!

What a pleasure to share this news with you all:

My good friend Craig Lancaster is releasing a new book in December. This book, Quantum Physics and the Art of Departure, is a collection of short stories all centered around the theme of separation, all under the Montana sky.

Due to so much schoolwork for grad school so far, I have yet to finish the book, but I do highly recommend you checking out Lancaster’s work. He never disappoints me with his beautiful storytelling (I wrote glowing reviews for his two novels, The Summer Son and 600 Hours of Edward). I’m sure his short stories will also be delights to read.

Ok! So, if you like reading e-books, definitely check out Quantum Physics between now and September 30. You can get the book for FREE on Smashwords, where you can choose from different e-book formats to your liking. Here are the instructions:

* Where you can get the book: http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/81312
* The coupon code that will allow you to get it for free: EY63S

The coupon is good until Sept. 30. Please feel free to retweet or repost this! GET THE WORD OUT FOR THIS FANTASTIC AUTHOR!
(And note: No, not paid at all to promote this for Craig! I’m doing it because he is AWESOME.)
Categories
life

Welcome to September

Life has been quite a rollercoaster. How many times per year can I say that, though? Something always happens along the way…

The month of August was, in one word, overwhelming. Moving, changes, etc. I’m on the cusp of the start of graduate school now. One more week until classes, but just a few days until Orientation.

I remember this time last year when I had felt dismal about my future. Then, last September 9, I received my acceptance into the University of Denver. And from that point forward….I felt like, wow, what a dream.

And now that dream is here. I’m anxious about how this will all pan out. Of course there are fears. Will this bridge take me over to where I want to be in the end?

What I’ve learned in only the past week: life isn’t always as it seems. There are always gray spaces waiting to be discovered, if they are ever discovered. No one person can be defined by simple terms: everyone has their secrets. And what can we do? Love and accept them for who they are, because in the end, we are ALL imperfect. That is just how we are.

Categories
Denver Life Slice of Life

Re-surfacing Update

My parents & I (and our shadows)

Man oh man.

If you had a chance to tune into my podcast from this past Wednesday, you’ll already get a hint of what all I’ve been through in the past two weeks or so.

Mainly, this past week has been all unpacking/cleaning/organizing/etc. My parents and sister left Denver on Tuesday and….I’ve basically been doing the same thing since (cleaning & organizing), with the occasional walk around the vicinity to check out shops/run errands.

Around two weeks ago, when I arrived in Montana, I received two review offers from Twitter friends: one to review a new book and the other, to review a new album.

I do truly appreciate offers like these, because I do enjoy giving my honest (yet kind) opinion about music, books, etc. (Hint hint: if you want me to review something you’ve made/written/etc., let me know!)

So far, am enjoying the tranquility of having the apartment to myself. I enjoy the plentiful sunshine, the clean air, and lots of trees! Not just trees that are artificially put in or plants that are stranded in a concrete island (like in some other cities I’ve been to). Granted, where I’m residing in Denver, it is more suburban than the downtown area. So I can’t say too much about the more hustle-bustle parts of the city yet!

Will try to stay on top of updates throughout this first quarter; see how the pace of all the schoolwork works with me!

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).