what's going on

1. I feel stressed at work. Ying is leaving next month. I am not quite sure how I will be doing without her. After she leaves, I will be the senior person in the lab, which is freaking me out. There are so many things to be done that I just want to dig a hole and bury my head in the sand.

2. My husband is leaving for his new job next month. It means that I need to drive to Iowa and back, and then drive to New York, all in the same month. Not to mention the packing, moving, settling down part.

3. I had a minor emotional crisis a couple of weeks ago. All the little things piled up and triggered my deep insecurity about my relationships. I was in self-pity and utter disappointment towards people in my life. Thankfully I crawled out of it again.

4. Despite all that, I think I have been enjoying this summer. Seroiusly, compared to the last one, I am in a so much better place now. There are things I have to deal with, but most of the time my heart is at peace with who I am and where I am at.

5. I am writing a new novel. It is in Chinese. Sorry, guys.

6. I am having a little bit crush on Christian Bale. He is so handsome and he is such a talented actor. I watched 3 of his movies last weekend.

7. I still loves God. I am grateful that he is in charge.

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Correction:

After re-reading my posts from the last year, I realized that my last summer wasn't bad at all, especially after I defended my dissertation.

It was the winter 2006 and spring 2007 that sucked badly.

the new batman movie (no spoiler)

Although my expectation was high after hearing many good things about it, I wasn't even 1% disappointed.

It was so good that I could watch it again. And for sure I will get the dvd once it is out.

reason

I am tired of reaching out. That's all.

small pleasures

A dozen roses I bought myself. They look beautiful and smell great.

A close-up shot

The almond cookie doughs. They turned out so successful that I made another batch right away.

knowledge from the simpsons

This afternoon Jinli and I were hanging out at my apt. She asked me "what is the sound outside? It has been around the entire afternoon." There was this electronic music playing somewhere.

I told her, "it sounds like the music from an icecream truck."

"Nonsense. Have you ever seen one around here?" She said.

My answer was, "no, but I saw it on The Simpsons." Of course, she didn't count it as any solid evidence.

10 minutes later, she suddenly shouted "look!". There it was. An icecream truck with the music playing, slowly passing by my apt.

Lesson:

The Simpsons is always right.

Even though what it tells you might have never happened in your world, it will happen eventually if you wait long enough. (Seriously, this is the first time I saw an icecream truck here and I have been living here for almost 4 years.)

blackberry tree, game theory, etc

I have shown several people where the blackberry tree by Fuller road is. Rui and I used to take an evening walk everyday in the summer. We would stop by that tree and taste some berries. Jinli, Ying and I are going to pick more blackberries tomorrow, so I need to wear dark clothes.

This evening I went to the North Campus's School of Information to help with an ecomics experiment. Ying's friend need some sample data from engineering people. Basically we were asked to guess the answer that could possibly give us more points based on our judgement of what others might choose. The experiment was based on the game theory, which I knew nothing about.

I somehow felt depressed after the game. It was probably because in that game being selfish tends to get you more points. And that was how I did it. I wonder if there is any case where people would try to maximize the benefits of both sides.

more

I just came to realize that among the people I know I am probably the only one who wanted Nadal to win, which makes me love him even more.

Besides all the greatness of his playing techniques described in Wikipedia, I love how he fights for each point. Ever since the first time I saw him play, when he was an unseeded player, I have been impressed by his strength and persistency in the tennis court. And I love how he is able to stay calm and focused no matter how stressful the situation seems.

Yet he is much more than that.

I love how humble yet truthful he is. People say that he is incredibly mature for his age. To me, it is just the way he is. There is nothing tricky in his answers. He is simply a child who loves tennis and happens to be freaking good at it.

I love that he ran and then climbed up the box to hug his family after he won Wimbledon. That he walked across the sloped roof of the commentary booths to the royal box to show his appreciation to the royal family. That he was able to keep his humility, show his respect to his opponent, but at the same time fully express his joy.

I love how he and Federer tapped on each other's back when they encountered during the walk after the game.

They all know Federer is great. I wish they would come to see how awesome he is, as a player and as a person.

the new Wimbledon Champion---Rafael Nadal

Such a sweet game!!!

It was truly a privilege to watch these two great players play. I enjoyed it the entire time, from 9:30am to 4:30pm.

Not only are they good at tennis, but also their personalities shine. Like one commentator said, "Federer's grace and Nadal's humility never stops."

I like Federer, but I was overjoyed to see Nadal won his first Wimbledon. He also became the first player to win back-to-back at the French Open and Wimbledon since Björn Borg did in 1980.

Wimbledon!

There are so many things to look forward to this weekend.

Men's single semi-final on Friday morning

Cherry picking on Friday afternoon

Fireworks watching on Friday evening

BBQ on Saturday

Men's final on Sunday morning (hopefully between Federer and Nadal)

woohoo!!!