Tag: postaday2011

Categories
Slice of Life travel

Daily Post Day 58: Final Thoughts on New York

As my time in New York winds down, I look back on what I have learned here:

  • I have realized many more things about myself: personal defects, what I can fix in my struggles, and that I am not alone in this. It helps to go to groups and hear others talk about their experiences. We really are not so different.
  • The hustle bustle of a city is for me, but it also depends on how people come off to one another. This was the first time for me to stay in New York for an extended amount of time. Before I stayed here, I remember how people always said that New Yorkers are rude. After this month, I beg to differ. Here, I felt that even among the anonymous numbers of people I walked by, they were not afraid to exchange a smile or make small-talk. That small-town feeling in a big city; I rarely had this feeling in San Francisco. For instance, while standing in line at Korilla BBQ, the lady behind me asked me, “What kind of food do they serve here?” And I explained the fusion of Korean and Mexican foods with her and we laughed at how long we stood in line together and hoped for the food to be worth the wait.
  • Family is so precious, and it is especially precious to watch my niece and nephew grow up. I love watching children learn and grow; it’s a wonder I’m not a mother yet. Well, I have my own goals to take care of first.
  • It doesn’t hurt to indulge in popular culture every once in awhile. I realize that the fashion scene is so much more fun here! Or, at least, fashionable stores are much more accessible for me here than in San Francisco. Then again, I’m here in Manhattan in the middle of it all…not out in the boroughs.

So here’s to my time in New York and the memories made during this month.

 

Categories
#amwriting #foodie learning

Daily Post Day 57: One-Day Writing Workshops

A temporary tattoo from my niece.

 

I went to a One-Day Intensive Workshop today with the Gotham Writers’ Workshop here in New York. I took up this opportunity since I knew I was going to still be in town for a few more days.

I had many different workshops to choose from, but I decided on Food Writing. I admit, my poor food blog (Cinnamon Juice) has gone the wayside for awhile now. I loved the instructor, Fran, a lot and I enjoyed listening to all of my fellow classmates talk about their experiences with food writing and also hear them read their writing exercises out loud.

I walked away from the class feeling a little better about my blog. I know I need a focus on it, but I cannot think of a niche I want to feel. It is an ongoing battle for me. This blog (official one) serves as a dumping ground for general thoughts. That is fine. But every time I get a new idea for a new blog, I find myself caught up in fear as I realize I do not have enough material (nor do I feel like making much effort) to blog on a regular basis.

 

This is the first time for me to actually stay consistent with blogging even on this blog. Well, ok, I am partially lying. When I was using Livejournal last decade (wow, I sound old…), I used to write entries everyday…sometimes even more than once per day. Then again, back then I focused more on my personal life and its little details. Also, that blog ended up becoming “friends only” – locked.

Now, this blog may have skewed towards a more personal slant this year, but I know my boundaries a lot better than when I was younger. I know not to mention certain aspects and I know what I want to share and what I don’t want to share. It is that easy.

But of course, back to niche blogging. As soon as I think of a niche I freeze in my tracks and realize I do not have enough material. And when I think of a topic that has been done before, I have self-doubt that nobody would be interested in hearing my viewpoint because it has “already been done before.”

Well, I am glad I took the class at Gotham and I hope to hone my craft in food writing a bit more. I will announce my food blog plans in upcoming posts, once I get some ideas generated.

 

Categories
learning life

Daily Post Day 56: What Gets Better With Age?

What gets better with age?

Experiences, memory.

The memory seems to hold steadier as I grow older. Experiences become more plentiful, or at least that’s how it all seems like.

I’ve learned over these years (8+) that life does not end in high school; it is only just beginning.

 

Categories
#foodie family

Daily Post Day 55: If I could have anything to eat…

…I would eat something cooked by my dad.

I really miss his cooking. He can cook pretty much anything and I’m so thankful to have grown up with a diverse palate.

It is hard to replicate my dad’s cooking on my own because I am still not familiar with the different spices, oils, condiments that he uses. I either use too much of one or another ingredient. Don’t get me wrong, I am able to cook pretty well on my own with recipes I find through magazines/the Internet…but when it comes to my father’s recipes, I still have a long way to go.

In our family, we have talked about compiling a cookbook of recipes from our father. Well, we best start gathering those recipes if we want to preserve our family history of cooking.

P.S. How convenient to write this post on my father’s birthday! 🙂

Categories
#amwriting

Daily Post Day 54: Method to My Blog Posts

How do you decide when a post is ready to publish?

I decide a post is ready to publish when it sounds smooth enough to me. I don’t usually drafts posts; I’d rather post right away most of the time. But, when I fall behind (ha ha…) with my blogging schedule, it does help to draft a few blog posts so I don’t seem as “behind” with posts after all.

This Post-A-Day Challenge has been quite helpful to me, even if I am falling behind. I like most of the prompts since they give me some new material to work with. Plus, to be honest, nothing much to report on my life right now (writing, semi-personal, etc.), so…these prompts help me out a lot.