Personal | Geek in Heels

...or so I think. I had written before that I have a gift of seeing color. I always saw colors others couldn't...but I just brushed it off as one of those weird, quirky things about me. Now I've discovered that there may be a scientific explanation: I may be a tetrachromat. A what-a-mat? A genetic mutation that allows some women (sorry guys, girls only) to see 100 million colors as opposed to the normal 1 million. Here is the full article from Pittsburgh Post-Gazette: Some women may see 100 million colors, thanks to their genes Wednesday, September 13, 2006 By Mark Roth, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette Susan Hogan can't be sure, but it wouldn't surprise her if she turned out to be a tetrachromat. A tetrachromat is a woman who can see four distinct ranges...

Funny, Personal

Jenny vs. Destiny

Dec 20. 2006

Is this a deep, thought-provoking, "where is my life going" entry? No. Destiny is a person's name. Keep reading - it gets interesting. Ever since I switched my cell phone number two months ago, I've been receiving numerous calls for someone named Destiny. I had just figured that my new number must be a recycled number, and that the calls will eventually stop. But they never stopped. Sometimes I would receive up to 5 calls a day asking for Destiny. Several times these calls came in the middle of the night. And they were all from men. I should have suspected something. But I never would've guessed...

Career, Personal

Corporate Slavedom

Dec 05. 2006

Yesterday I read an article which was linked on Slashdot. It caught my attention because I’m still in the process of paving a career path. In the midst of researching and reading up on the myriad of options that are available for recent grads who are still trying to figure out what to do with the rest of their lives, I have come across several articles of this nature. This segment in particular struck me: Years ago if you put in long hours and worked hard for a company, you were rewarded with gradual promotions, longer vacations, medical insurance, and a healthy retirement plan. Most people expected to work 20 years or more at one company. Today to get ahead and save for a reasonable retirement, workers often must hop from...

Geek, Personal, Video Games

Wii

Nov 20. 2006

The Sony PS3 has been out for 3 days now but I will not be getting one. Why? The available game titles do not look too exciting. It costs an inordinate amount of money. Plus, the Nintendo Wii was launched just 2 days later and I had been drooling over it ever since it was announced at E3 2005. I can go on and on about the superiority of the Wii over the PS3. Suffice it to say, Nintendo never ceases to amaze me with their creativity (look how well the DS is doing!) and marketing efforts. Nintendo has built up a community of die-hard loyal fans of all ages who have been interacting in all sorts of ways through the DS, and now they can build...

Art/Design, Colors, Personal

My Skewed Perception

Nov 15. 2006

When I was little I believed that some people were better at drawing because they had better motor skills. In reality, it has more to do with perception and brain functions: the ability to differentiate space, light, and shadows. Steady hands are a plus, but they are not required. An old art teacher once told me that I had a rare gift of seeing color. She said that I was better at differentiating and mixing color than some of her former colleagues, who were professional color mixers. (Yes, this profession existed before the advent of computers.) Now although I may not use this gift in every day life (dressing, makeup, etc), I often find myself staring at an interesting color and mixing it in my head. And I've given up describing...

Music, Personal

Musical Instruments

Oct 11. 2006

I've played the piano since I was 5, and the violin since I was 8. There was one year in elementary school when I decided to try the flute but it didn't come naturally easy to me as the piano and violin did, so I quit. Since then, I've played many different pianos and violins. But I was always sensitive to each instrument. Maybe overly sensitive - meaning I could never play as well on instruments to which I could not connect. With each new instrument, I would take at least a few minutes to get to "know" each other. I would test the responsiveness, the sound quality, the build quality. And the instruments would test my limits, challenging me to create and be creative. If I couldn't connect with...

Korean, Personal

My Name

Sep 27. 2006

Growing up in Korea, I hated my given name, 효진 (Hyojin). I'm not sure exactly why, but it always felt a bit 촌스러워 (the closest definition I can think of is rustic, unrefined). In addition, the name itself was unusual. I was named by my grandfather, who combined two Chinese characters, 효도할 효 (孝 - filial piety), and 배풀 진 (陳 - fulfill, exhibit), to form the name...

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I Have Super Mutant Powers

Dec 29. 2006