Such strange things give you glee. 'Me: "You totally are! I'm a better daughter than you, at least! This is great!"' - j1m
Well, I said at the beginning of the post how I feel like I'm not doing enough for my family. Anyway, I am tired of feeling guilty, so I am just going to put a stop to wasting energy on guilt. - niniane
Some moms don't like to be treated special on mother's day (as it puts the other 364 days in a year in odd perspective). - Philipp Lenssen
the thing that never ceases to be offputting about your blog is the utter unfamiliarity of the commenters. Even on TechCrunch there are 1 or 2 people that I recognize from time to time. - j1m
accords are great, but imo, the civic is the perfect car. though i recently drove a toyota matrix hybrid that was pretty awesome too. - ƃuɐʞ
I agree that the Civic is the perfect car. - niniane
My favorite of my cars so far was a civic. But I'm starting to worry that reading Niniane's blog might give me brain damage, based on how stupid the commenters are. - Clare Dibble
Sorry, Niniane, this entry made me chuckle a little bit but mostly cringe. Your trainer -- whether deservedly so or not -- sounds absolutely like lots of the most horrifically superficial girls I shunned (and was shunned by) in high school and much of college. To be even less charitable: a painfully superficial soul. I'm sure she was exaggerating her attachment to fashion, but nonetheless... ouch ouch ouch. And yes, I realize that I can certainly improve the way I dress and appreciate those who wear clothes that are both respectful and flattering. But to those who are such a slave to fashion... again, just OUCH. - Adam Lasnik
"shunned (and was shunned by) in high school and *much* of college" (not all?) ... wait, so you started dating horrifically superficial girls in your junior year or something? - ⓞnor
Wait, you thought the trainer was superficial? My wife talks like that! - j1m
nor, I was curious about that myself. I went to IU, too, and I shunned the most horrifically superficial girls the whole time I was there. Adam, what happened to the solidarity, bro? - David Vasileff
nah, nor, the key was shunned; that kinda precludes dating in any year, no? :P And David, nice to see a fellow Hoosier here. - Adam Lasnik
fwiw, my reaction (as a fellow shunned-by-the-stylish person) is that the conversation was funny banter, and that Adam's response is out there on the wounded-geek-backlash end of things. - ⓞnor
Men! Anyhow, who are you wearing Niniane? What kind of shoes and what jewelry? Make sure you post pics of the outcome! - Erica Baker
Nor: I'm tempted to say Yes, and Yes to your last comment ;-). But even with that realization, it still did and does make me cringe. In fact to this day, I still feel a bit uneasy when visiting even the sales area of my own company. Just feel waaaay underdressed :P. But -- as is perhaps increasingly apparent -- my comments here likely reflect more about my own insecurities or quirks than Niniane's entry. - Adam Lasnik
Careful Adam your insecurities are showing. As someone once told me - [people] will find you attractive regardless of what happens to be on your feet :) - Patricia Hanrahan
what's a butterfly cut? should i be wearing one? INQUIRING MINDS MUST KNOW!! - ƃuɐʞ
My trainer is not superficial. I think it's a defensive mechanism to say someone is "superficial" just because they like fashion. Just like it's a defensive mechanism to disparage someone just because they like computers. Have you noticed how the people who suffer prejudice sometimes end up being the most likely to dish it out to others. You can break the cycle Adam Lasnik!!!! - niniane
To Erica and kang, I will post pics if I end up finding the time to pull together a good outfit. If I don't post pics, you'll know I just took the simple black dress from the back of my closet. :) - niniane
Well, I don't think four exclamation points are really the way to rapprochement, and anyway neither the popular stylish people nor the successful smart people are exactly topping the list of the world's most oppressed: I have often, much to Niniane's horror, maintained my right to discriminate against the very attractive in my personal life. - ⓞnor
1) I was wrong to (even indirectly) slam your trainer, and I apologize. 2) There's a difference between "like" & obsessed, both in fashion and in computering and such. 3) In my *personal* experiences, there's been a non-negligible correlation between fashion-obsession and shallowness. But that clearly does not mean that I view all of the fashion-obsessed people I know as shallow, and so even with a positive correlation, it was likely rude & stupid of me to make the point. Now I should probably shut up :D - Adam Lasnik
You too can break the cycle Dan Egnor!!!!! - niniane
So, Niniane, when are you takin' me and Dan shopping for clothes? Er, wait, I meant: "You too can break the cycle of us clearly-jealous and poorly-dressed geeks Niniane Wang!!!!!" :D - Adam Lasnik
I can't imagine Dan wanting to go clothes shopping. - niniane
I'm not sure if it's cool that all comments for this entry are now on friendfeed instead of on the blog post itself. Its all kinda behind the scenes now..... - minus3
@minus3 does the friendfeed API expose comments? If so, couldn't a plug-in or something be written to display comments from friendfeed on the entry itself? - Erica Baker
Erica, in theory I bet that is or soon will be possible. In practice, I don't know if I'd like that. I, too, am concerned about communities being fractured / the reduction of comments on blogs, etc., but... I also think that it's kinda nice to have a conversation without so many knuckledraggers / spammers... a more, well, elite group here. I mean, heck, did you see Niniane's blog comments before she started moderating them? 'twas often painful to read! - Adam Lasnik
See, I would have been all about the mind trick and the cop would be like "Pfft. I don't need to see his identification." 12:15AM and I'm punchy. - Robert Konigsberg
No instruction needed here. Rico out. - Steve Craft
Nitpicking: The comic is good, but technically incorrect. That is a demonstration of the observer effect, not of the Heisenberg principle. - Igor Krivokon
The two concepts are related Igor. Wikipedia says "In quantum physics, the Heisenberg uncertainty principle is the statement that locating a particle in a small region of space makes the momentum of the particle uncertain; and conversely, that measuring the momentum of a particle precisely makes the position uncertain." - Philipp Lenssen
Philipp - Scott mentions in his blog (some time back) that he roto-scopes pictures that he takes of himself and others for his strips. http://www.basicinstructions.n... - Phil Glockner
What you can try is to have both of you sit down during dinner and really talk to clarify things. Pig knuckles won’t save you. - Zelnox
Perhaps the area of the hospital where your relative is admitted prohibits cell phone use or even having phones turned on at all? When Camilla was in the NICU, I recall having to turn my cell phone off upon entry - and of course, forget to turn it back on upon departure. There's also the age factor where your mom doesn't find it necessary to have her cell phone on all the time and just have it around for emergencies. - April Buchheit
Yes, cell phone usage is prohibited in the ICU. That's fine. I specifically call before and after visiting hours. Anyway, there is a whole history of problems relating to the phone that I won't go into. The phone is a sore point. - niniane
I find that some patterns are deeply ingrained and hard to break. Since it is your mom and you are annoyed by her not accepting help, try to notice what you do next time someone offers to help you in their way. Awareness is the first step to making things better. - Clare Dibble
It sounds like you're aware that tiffs are normal under these circumstances... just don't expect yourself to be a saint. People who maintain a reservoir of Zen calm while a relative is in the ICU probably have something wrong with them anyway. - ƃuɐʞ
Aw, Nina's comment has been the most supportive one so far. Thank you Nina!! That cheered me up a lot more than the numerous variants of "See it from a different perspective" in my blog comments. - niniane
Hang in. I'm going through similar stuff with my parents. I was really frustrated until a friend pointed out that the problem was creeping role reversal. Parents help their kids, not the other way around. Once I realized that I calmed down. I talked to my parents about the problem. That helped for about a day then I went back to being frustrated. - Kevin D. White
I have heard (not for Chinese in particular) the "three times rule" cited: if you refuse three times, you really mean it. It seems workable enough once you get used to it, and possibly less ridiculous than it seems: insisting and refusing three times gives plenty of opportunity for subtext. - ⓞnor
I have to ask—any reason you chose pig knuckles? - Dan Hsiao
"When King learned he would be the recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize in 1964, the FBI decided to take its harassment of King one step further, sending him an insulting and threatening note anonymously. A draft was found in the FBI files years later. In it the FBI wrote, "You are a colossal fraud and an evil, vicious one at that." The letter went on to say, "The American public ... will know you for what you are -- an evil, abnormal beast," and "Satan could not do more."" - niniane
"FBI wiretaps reveal King, shown with his wife, Coretta, was selfless, self-critical and unfaithful." ... two cases in which FBI surveillance caught King in compromising circumstances. The first incident involved King at a party at the Willard Hotel in Washington. The FBI recorded the party and captured the sounds of a sexual encounter in the room afterwards. ... - niniane
Amen to m13a. Gandhi was a terrorist to Churchill. If we look at the Islamic world, they might say the same about many leaders from western world. - Krishnan Subramanian
I found this article disturbing, especially the part where they sent a message to him saying he was evil and abnormal. Also, hard to believe that Robert Kennedy okayed the surveillance. :( - Chris White
I'd sort of like to see that e-mail (and similar wishes of other people), though of course it's a very personal matter. I often wonder how what I say now would differ from what I would feel in the situation. Like, if my IQ is permanently 60 and I've lost my arms, would I want to keep living? - ⓞnor
Some people seek out cafes without internet to do work. It is a way to control a particularly alluring distraction when "working" on your computer. - Clare Dibble
welcome to my neighborhood! the "best wifi" award winner coupa only offers their spotty access M-F. most places with open networks aren't reliable. yep wifi downtown is pretty sad. I always carry my sprint evdo. - David Vasileff
Neotte near the Apple store had a pretty decent connection when I last visited - Adam Kazwell
Adam, you are correct but Neotte, unfortunately, recently closed. - David Vasileff
at university cafe, if you buy something you can ask for the password to their customer-only wifi connection. i have it but not going to post it here so i can hog more of it to myself :) - Yan Biao Boey
phew...neotte isn't closed, its just being remodeled - Adam Kazwell
I think you can also sit at the patio outside Borders and still connect to the free Apple Store wifi connection. YMMV - Roshan Vyas
@Roshan, I know this works. It's not uncommon to see the closest tables be the most sought-after for this very reason. - Louis Gray
I don't think neotte is being remodeled. It's been closed far too long for a remodel. I think the giant "For Lease" sign in the window trumps the tiny "closed for remodeling" sign. unless you know otherwise. I miss Neotte. - David Vasileff
just fyi, it looks like Red Mango, a yogurt chain, is going to replace Neotte - David Vasileff
We did stop-motion Star Trek with a video camera. <<beam me up, Scotty!>> (pauses camera, sister runs out of the scene, restarts camera). Way cool. - John Mueller
