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A Road to “Perfection”

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     One of the natural human urges is to pursue " perfection ". It's such an abstract concept but it often feels tangible. It lives in such a constant demand to be met, yet once we think we reach it, it just grows further and further. Because ultimately, a rich man is not the man who gets everything he wants, but a man who can be satisfied with what he has. If you're always chasing infinity, then you'll never be rich.      Throughout this whole year, blogs have been that reoccurring event every weekend that some would look forward to. 250 word limit and a few creative ideas with no real rubric in exchange for 10 points? That's a no-brainer trade. I've personally always tried to make my blogs every week at least a little better than the last (with around a 35% success rate), and even with my many writing flaws, this whole process remained enjoyable. Sure, I wished to improve more and more each blog, but that concept should be set on the opposite side of th...
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The Hand of Death

     Nothing in life is promised except death. The best day of your life could also be your last. As if you were a mere moth fighting for its life on a windowsill, there is nothing that can be done to prevent this inevitable truth. No amount of sorry or regret or prayer will keep that special day from arriving.      I believe a death of a parent is one of the worst things for a child growing up. I've heard multiple tragedies of this from social media, but one particular one was told by an old close friend. I rarely keep in touch with him now, but I've never forgotten his feelings experiencing the death of his father. Like any other weekday in 2018, he wakes up to get ready for elementary school. And just like any other day, waking up is one of the biggest struggles of his routine (I wonder how he feels about waking up now?). That morning was likely even harder considering that we stayed up late together the night before for Halloween candy counting. Dr...
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It Takes Years to Care, but Two Seconds to Be Polite

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    Premium Matcha Maiko Cafe      One random night at the Premium Matcha Maiko Cafe, I was on the register taking orders, when that infamous tip request flashes on the customers screen. It's not a spoken rule or anything, but I'm sure that stereotype of food workers subtly turning away from the customers gaze when the tip screen appears doesn't sound like a foreign experience. I find myself unconsciously doing it; whether it's my eyes turning to the right to see if more customers walk through the door or if it's my eyes turning to the left to see if my fellow employees are doing okay in this evening rush.     People never mention the tip screen. It just becomes a small two second timeout where everyone has to make a sudden awkward decision. Do I tip them or no? Being on the receiving end, my instinct is to turn away because I know this decision is held entirely by this customer and that I shouldn't do anything to interfere with this ritual.  ...
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My Name is Ben.

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    "And can I get a name for this order?"      "Oh--yeah, my name is Ben."      My name is not Ben . It's nowhere near Ben . I would not like to be named Ben . My name is Linton, coming from Lin (林), being my mother's maiden name. Now, my name isn't exactly a Chinese name, but it's also not exactly an American one.  Latte from Cafe Immortelle, which ended up being my top choice.     I've been "cafe-hopping" for the past month in hopes of finding a 10/10 cafe. Whether it be going to study or to just simply have a cup of coffee, I always find it fun to go to a new place to critique their vibes. Cafes have a reputation for being calm, aesthetic, and most importantly, inviting. A cafe can't possibly make their customers feel laid-back if they aren't hospitable enough, so top-tier customer service is required.      One very common aspect of said "top-tier customer service" is one simple question at the end of the ord...
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Do It for the Love of the Game

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Life happens much too quickly for us to hold onto materialistic things.   I saw this guy having a lot of fun even though  he was simply riding an electric scooter      I originally got this idea from a line in Frank Ocean's White Ferrari, the 14th track in his album, Blonde. "Mind over matter is magic, I do magic", promotes this ideology that detachment from possessions overtakes valuing materialistic things. By labelling it as magic , he says that the effects of adopting the ideology apply as effectively as magic.        The physical forms of wealth and success won't amount to how much fulfillment you could get from making real memories by living in the present. But what does it really mean to live in the present? Does it mean living to your fullest? Does it mean living without thinking about the past and future? To me, living in the present means doing things with love and intention, because simplicity and peace will nat...
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Teach Me(n) How To Cry

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"I've seen like kids express themselves and they just want to cry, and someone will say 'use your words'. But what if they want to cry because we were given that form of expression." - Kanye West      Appearing as the first guest in Alo Yoga's Mind Full podcast, Kanye spoke on the importance of emotional expression. Not everything needs to be expressed through words. Whether pent up emotions be ephemeral or inescapable, we all as humans possess them; yearning to release long carried emotions is only human.        "Be a man" or "You're a man" or any other variation of this masculine propaganda is something most males grew up with hearing. I remember the pressure to conform to this more traditional identity in hopes of protecting and caring for my two sisters. Unfortunately, as heroic as it may sound, following it is society's ruin of male expression. As a result, I've seen so many men who simply cannot comprehend and explain thei...
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We All Have This Ability

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 "No matter how far a man may piss, the last few drops will always land at his feet."      It's clear that in your average society, people with disabilities are often not seen as equal. Whether or not that means people shaming them as "something else" or if they aren't acknowledged at all, this social stigma doesn't help anyone. Disabled or not, we are all humans.      We all require food and water. This simple rule that applies to every human should be enough to know we are all in the same boat. Despite growing up in vastly different scenarios, the one fact stays true; we are all human. Our lives are filled with daily tasks, activities, and responsibilities, which all might not be so easy to complete for someone with a disability. Of course, everyday limitations differ depending on what kind of disability a person has.      But, looking past that and understanding where we stand next to people with disabilities is most important, becaus...
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