Russia has invaded Georgia!

My dear Americans, For those of us living abroad, sometimes these kind of posts just don't help persuading how great America is, no matter how hard we try to convince people near us.

before naming your child

ah, one of the often talked about topic. You want our child to have a special name and yet not be ridiculed. With so many bad examples, one should just google a name before you name your child. I had a friend in college of Greek descend, his name was Clito. It's ok, just a Greek name, but did you ever think that you are giving birth to your son in an English speaking part of the world and chances are he is going to have a pretty rough time in school?

Stumbling upon Lev Tylor's divorce news and that she has a child. She named her son Milo?

YiChun said maybe we should consider calling our child Caotina Yiu.

when voters lie

Excellent article on wall street journal on political surveys and voters:

what would you do?

Friends came to visit from Ireland this weekend. Younger of the two sons was a student of YiChun's. The older son is autistic. It's really touching to see how much effort both parents put into raising the son. Not only are the parents, the younger son also takes responsibility in watching over his older brother at times.

Last night, I asked myself what I would do if I had a child like that. I admire what the parents have done. I ask myself if I have the same level of dedication, and I am not at all sure. How could you ever be sure at your child's birth, besides the ten fingers and ten toes, that everything is "normal"? It must have been a gut wrenching thing to find out that your child is different.

Which leads to another question. Some of us strive to be different. "Think different" - Apple's commercials always say. But when it come to physical and mental characteristics, we all wish to be "normal"? Why the disparity?

There are just so many unknowns in life. I guess we all expect the unexpected.