Sunday, April 12, 2009

Three Things

Tagged on Facebook and would like to share these tid bits with my blog friends. I've done similar tags a few times so I'll try to provide a different set of answers here.

THREE NAMES I GO BY 
1. Vivian
2. the pug's mom
3. Henry's mom

 THREE INTERESTING PLACES I'VE WORKED IN MY LIFE
1. volunteer dog washer at Humane Society, until I brought home a pug mix
2. part time dog washer at a pet grooming shop, until they offered me a full time job to manage the shop, at 80% salary of my regular day job, and without benefits
3. I knitted sweaters for a designer who sold them at boutique shops and fashion shows

THREE PLACES I HAVE LIVED 
1. Duplex in Santa Clara, CA
2. College dorm room with 8 girls to a room, and a bathroom with three stalls and three showers shared by 40 girls
3. Fancy hotel in Beijing where they locked up translators for The Selected Works from Chairman Mao, Volume Five. My mom was one of the main translators (from Chinese to Russian) and I was a tag-along.

THREE TV SHOWS THAT I WATCH
1. ER (done)
2. Boston Legal (done)
3. Desperate Housewives (wish it's done)

THREE PLACES I HAVE BEEN 
1. Anderson, South Carolina, where I first discovered Georgian style mansions
2. Taos, New Mexico
3. The Great Wall, after I moved out of Beijing

THREE PLACES I WANT TO GO
1. Europe
2. South America
3. Australia/New Zealand

THREE OF MY FAVORITE FOODS 
1. Avocado and turkey salad at Buttery, Santa Cruz, served on a half avocado
2. Spam, delicacy when I was growing up
3. Truffles from Wine Country Chocolate in Marin County

THINGS I AM LOOKING FORWARD TO 
1. Silicon Valley Life to take off
2. Sunset on the Summit
3. Mother's Day

THREE PETS THAT YOU HAVE (HAVE HAD)
1. Trinket (terrier mix)
2. Bucky (black pug)
3. Macie (Westie)

THREE FRIENDS WHO WILL REPLY
1. dunno

THREE FAVORITE TEAMS TO WATCH 
1. Heat (Henry's team in Spring league)

THREE FAVORITE DRINKS
1. Fresh soy milk
2. Root beer at BJ's in Cupertino, made onsite
3. Bubble tea

THREE TOP CONCERT EXPERIENCES
1. Andrea Bocelli, my anniversary gift in 2007
2. A concert Bill and I went to on our second date at the Paul Mason Mountain Winery in the Saratoga hills. It was a string quartet, but I have no idea what was played that night.

THREE THINGS THAT MAKE MY SKIN CRAWL
1. bugs, any shape and size and state of being (alive or dead)
2. getting up early
3. visiting extended family

THREE THINGS THAT CALM ME DOWN WHEN I'M STRESSED
1. Being alone with the spouse
2. A quiet space, preferably enclosed
3. Walking down West Cliff Drive in Santa Cruz and hear the ocean at my side

THREE OF THE MOST DANGEROUS THINGS THAT HAVE HAPPENED TO ME
1. Car accident two months after we got married. We were illegally parked on the side of a country road, a guy in a pick up truck slammed into us and took out a quarter of the car. Miraculously no one got hurt and my car was repaired in a month.
 2. Car accident in Monterey, July 4th weekend 2004. Our Volvo station wagon was hit from behind and the force pushed us forward and hit the car before us. The Volvo was almost totaled, but the Scottish steel frame saved us from serious injuries.
 3. 18 car pile up on southbound Highway 17 around Glenwood Drive, on my way to work on December 18, 2007. I came around a blind curve and had to break very fast and managed to stop the car in time not to hit the cars already stopped. Then I avoided getting hit from coming traffic by pulling my car half way up the hill. An 18-wheeler stopped within three feet from my back bumper and the container swung sideways, hitting the concrete medium and stopped traffic. I got to work on time, and no one would believe I was in an accident until they read it in the news later in the day.

1 comment:

YawnOver said...

I am intrigued by your mom's job as translator and your stay at the hotel in Beijing during that time. You have definitely lived an interesting life!