a diamond is your value

more from the archives.
back when i got engaged, i sent photos to my mom. she emailed me back:

Congratulation!! The photos looked very nice. The ring is pretty.

I haven't seen this kind of ring for engagement. It looks like a wedding ring. I thought engagement ring is a ring with one diamond on top. Maybe I am out dated.

Later, in a phone call that I really wish I had transcribed for posterity, she kept asking me why I didn't want or get a ring with a solitaire diamond on it, and when I said how I didn't really like diamonds, she sagely countered: "A diamond is your value."

healthy life style

combing through the archives, I found this yet-unposted email:

I have been thinking to write this to both of you for a while. Recently several of my friends got sick with cancers.

Start to take care of your health while you are young. Don’t wait till you are 50 and then think about your health. Sometimes it is too late. Without good health, any of your ambition or dream will not be able to accomplish.

1. Drink 4 bottles of spring water everyday which is equivalent to 8 glasses of water.
2. Drink one glass of water before you go to bed and after you wake up.
3. Eat three healthy meals everyday around the same time. Don’t skip meals. Skipping meals will affect your blood sugar level. Unstable blood sugar level will become type-2 diabetes later in your life.
4. Bowel movement every morning to prevent colon cancer in the future.
5. Don’t hold your urine. Go to the bathroom as you need. Holding urine may cause urinary tract infection or kidney diseases.
6. Exercise at least three times a week. Each time is about 30 minutes. Walking is better than running.
7. Wash hands as often as you can to avoid common colds or other infectious diseases.
8. Wear sunscreen and sunglass. Recent news mentioned that wearing sunglasses is not just for fashion. It will prevent cataract in the future.
9. Relax and reduce stress. Stress may cause cancer.
10. Eat three to five portions of vegetables and fruits. Eat whole grain bread or cereals. Drink soybean milk or organic milk. Eat at least three eggs a week. Eat more seafood and white meat than red meat. Have miso soup at least once a week.
11. Put on light make up every day when you go out.
12. Do one thing everyday to make you happy.

In Japan, women live much longer than other women in the world. They always do make up when they are out no matter how old they are. Women in Japan without makeup will feel like going out with pajama. I think that makeup will make you feel good and happy. Clothes in Japan are expensive. But every woman in Japan always has one or two nice clothes. They drink a lot of miso soup and eat tofu. They likes to go out with friends to take hot spring baths to relax.

sage advice

My friend C.'s dad sent her this very sage advice:

IF A FLIGHT APPEARS TO HAVE VERY STRANGE PEOPLE, WAIT FOR ANOTHER: IT COULD BE YOUR LAST.

a unique sense of the environment

This story is from a while back. I went at the farmer's market with my mom, who pulled out a canvas bag from the car after we parked and said, "Martha Stewart said it was good for the environment to get a reusable shopping bag!" I was shocked -- my Republican mother, concerned about the environment??

We proceeded to visit various stalls at the market. At each register, my mom would get her purchase rung up, packed into a plastic bag, and placed the plastic bag into the reusable shopping bag.

of herbs and people

Sometimes the language barrier leads to typos that leave me in stitches.

The place you are going is an ancient place that is parsley populated.