Mild Amusement

There's this line in Eminem's "Not Afraid" that I find particularly clever: " like a f*ck you for Christmas, his gift is a curse ." I'm not the biggest fan of the song as a whole, but every time I hear that one line, I end up with a grin on my face. Unfortunately, though, I think I know a little bit about how that feels. See, I have a fairly good memory. It's not a photographic memory or anything, since I can and do remember things incorrectly with hilariously bad results . Still, I've found that on average, I can remember details that other people can't. Most of the time, this is a good thing. I remember most of my friends' birthdays off the top of my head, for example. As a result, I can take advantage of information I processed long ago in order to adapt to the current situation. Like I said, this is a good thing. Then again, I also said that this is mostly a good thing. There is a dark, dark underbelly to this ability. On the mos...

If anyone has ever wondered why my last name is Chang but I speak Spanish, I have a Chinese father and a Peruvian mother. As my sister has once jokingly said, my siblings and I are rotten eggs: brown on the outside, yellow on the inside. Having been raised with both cultures, I know what a quinceanera is, I have received red envelopes during Lunar New Year, I love ceviche , and I know what kind of dim sum I like. You get the idea. Ultimately, though, it's the combination of the two cultures that makes things amusing. One of my favorite examples of this involves going to a Peruvian restaurant and seeing " chaufa " on the menu. It's basically a stylized version of Chinese fried rice, with a new name that reflects the Spanish tongue. But every single time I've seen it on a menu, the description for it says something like "Peruvian rice dish." Yup, sure it is. Things get even more amusing when my parents get in on the act. My dad, for example, met my ...

As many of you know, I have a non-trivial commute to work every day. I've gotten used to it, but it means that I spend more than a few hours on the road. That means that I also see quite a few cars on the road. Most of the time, I only pay attention long enough to ensure that said car is not going to endanger my life. Other than that, I forget all about the vehicle as soon as it's out of eye sight. Still, there was this one car that managed to make a permanent home in my memory. I first noticed this vehicle out of my peripheral vision when I was making a turn. On this particular intersection, three lanes all turn left, and I usually end up in the middle of those three lanes. I've learned over time to keep an eye on the lanes of either side of me as they turn, because people have very interesting ideas about which lane they are allowed to use. Also, some folks have a harder time staying in their lane. Either way, there is a bigger chance than I would like that I have to a...

You know how sometimes one of your friends will eat something weird? Most people react by scoffing in a surprised manner and then shaking their head in disbelief. Me? Not so much. Sure, I do the surprised scoff just like everyone else. Where our paths diverge, and drastically at that, is with what comes next. I usually take a second to think about it, and then I figure, "why not?" So, I usually end up resolving to try that particular item or combination of foods. Really, though, given how willing I am to tweak my diet , this should come as no surprise. Actually, there's a very good reason why I'm willing to trade one bad meal for a lifetime of certainty: I've seen that scenario bear fruit in the past. I specifically remember the first time it came up: my old college roommate swore up and down that dipping fries in to a milk shake was delicious. I'd never eaten that way, and I looked at him skeptically. After all, combining my sides with my drink sounded as a...