Freelancer's Nightmare

Finally, I turned in the last page of this book, whose translation I'd been working on for more than three months. I stayed up all night, and when I finally got it all done, it was five in the morning and I couldn't fall asleep anymore.

I want to thank my editor, for not firing me. And I want to spank myself, for being such a procrastinator!

Procrastination is bad. BAD Avery.

So Much about Dogs

I'm so frustrated.

Two months ago, we had a new family member---a bulldog. She was so adorable and...pregnant! (Actually, my brother, who took her home from the street, didn't know she was pregnant) Then, about a week ago, we had another four new members in our family.

Since bulldogs are born/bred to be a pet, they are very vulnerable and...not so smart. Although they look strong and even muscular, bulldogs often have skin problems and may die if not received proper vaccines. What's worse, they don't even know how to take care of their own puppies. (Well, now she does--after several days of experience with aid, she finally realized these are her babies.)

Which is why keeping her (and her four babies) is so exhausting. We've decided to give away the four hybrid puppies (their mom conceived when she was a stray dog, that's why), but to my knowledge, until they can eat by themselves, we will need to feed them every day.

And Mom and I have totally different ideas about how to raise Daidai(her name, which means "goofy" in Chinese) and the puppies. For example, it was such a sunny afternoon today and I wanted to give her a bath, then Mom argued that it was windy so Daidai might get a cold if we wash her outdoors. But Daidai doesn't climb stairs (she either can't or wouldn't---I think it's more of the latter) and we don't have a shower on the ground floor in our house. Other things we fight over include stuff like how to potty-train the dog, where to put the newspaper (for them to poo on), and whether we should walk the dog right after we feed her (Mom insists it's bad for Daidai to walk right after she eats, for she might feel like throwing up!)

My goodness, it's just a dog (technically, five dogs). Maybe I should just take it easy and let my mom handle all/most of it. She always complains how much she sacrifices for the family and how hard she works (e.g. taking care of the dog), but I guess she doesn't necessarily appreciate someone trying to share her workload.

I guess I'll just pretend I didn't see the hair falling off the dog's skin. (For Christ's sake!)

Step Aside

I hate talking about politics.

Don't get me wrong, I think poli sci is a very interesting subject, and it definitely is an influential one. But when people always side with the same party, whatever campaign it is, whatever policy it's promoting, what's the good of such a discussion? Or, is there ever any actual discussion when it comes to politics?

Doesn't it make more sense to argue "this policy may cause more harm than good because its pros and cons include..." instead of saying "Mr. X is a stupid ass so don't vote for him" or "Ms. Y is doing this and that, so she must not love Taiwan"?

Oh, give me a break.

Stick with It!

Alright, alright. I know, I've been creating all sorts of blogs, trying to write more, stopping, and opening up another new one.

Come to think of it, this is my third English blog. Plus, I've had three Chinese blogs and another three (or four) Japanese blogs. Well, I was just trying to find a weblog that really is free, flexible, and likable.

Hope this is it.