Online Great Find

As the world is mourning the sudden death of two super stars. Michael Jackson and Farrah Fawcett and reminiscent of the good ol’ days and the impact they have made in our lives, I can’t help myself feeling sentimental about our beloved Ka Kui Wong, the composer and lead singer of the legendary Hong Kong band, Beyond.

“Beyond was a famous rock band in Hong Kong that was founded in 1983. They have always identified with the people of Hong Kong, as reflected in their songs about social issues, pursuit of dreams, politics, and peace.

Beyond is also well known for Wong Ka Kui’s distinctive vocal, remarkable melodies, meaningful lyrical themes, and their musicianship on their instruments.”

There is a Chinese expression, “To die young and in prime years”, and that is exactly what had happened to Ka Kui who left us 16 years ago from a tragic death at the age of only 31.

People ask why did God recall those talents so soon? People say that was because God wanted those talents to be with Him…

Is that so?

Sign…

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Chance Meeting

Here’s a poem that I dearly love, translated from a Chinese poem.

Chance Meeting

“I’m but a cloud, draping my silhouette along your path by chance.
No need to be surprised nor excited,
as I will disappear soon after.

In the midst of a darken sea, we glanced past.
You with your destiny, I with mine.
Whether you will remember or you’d rather forget,
the sparks we have felt when we have met.”

There is a story about a name of a restaurant, and the meaning of that is: to be able to meet someone is no ordinary thing and any encounter we should cherish as that might be the last that we have ever had.

Ever though that encounter is brief, yet it has the power to make an impact in someone’s life.

So, reach out and touch someone.

Who knows? We might just make a difference in that someone’s life.

My Lost and Found Key Holder

I am the kind that’s very security-minded.

So, I have separate key holders for different purpose. One for home keys, one for car key and the third for keys to cabinets, luggage, etc.

If if you know me, I hate losing things. For it will bug me and bug me until that item is found.

And you all know, finding lost object is no fun matter. As you search here and there, thinking and recalling where did I last see or use that item, you are getting stressed out, frustrated and frantic.

Worst, it happens when you are late for an appointment, and you couldn’t find that darned car key or genie, and your blood pressure is shooting sky high.

Once I lost the keys to my locked cabinets and that was my only set of key. I ended up having to call a locksmith in and all he did was using some master key to open it, and viola, there went my $85 for his service. No fun.

So I really hate losing things.

The second time I misplaced my key holder for the cabinets, I was pretty mad at myself. Not again!

I looked up, looked down under the bed, at the corridor, down to my beaten path, thought back over and over as to where I had been and when I had seen it, my poor head was screaming with headache.

As a last resort, I changed strategy and forced myself to calm down, took a deep breath, and closed my eyes.

In my mind, in front of me I tried to visualize the best I could the key holder, which is in burgundy leather. In my mind I was touching and holding that leather, feeling the texture, smelling the aroma, and absorbing its essence in my hand. I held that feel for a few minutes.

Then I looked again.

After a few minutes, an idea struck me.

Hey I was wearing that Coach purse the other day. Although I did look inside the purse many times already, I nevertheless looked again.

There are two side compartments inside the purse, both are like a big pocket hanging down and sewn to the top of the purse. As the pockets are very deep, it runs almost the height of the purse, and when I flipped the pockets up to reveal what, if anything, is behind it, and would you believe it, the key holder was miraculously hidden from there!

You could well imagine how so happy and relieved I was.

So my key holder and me are united again, and it was a happy ending.

What did I learn from this incident?

Well, I have found what you think and what you intensively concentrate on will materialize.

People says that if you focus on lack, poverty, I don’t have enough, and sure enough, that is what you get and will get.

I know it is really hard to think otherwise where in reality you are lacking and do not have enough. How can you think abundance?

I guess in comparison, no matter how dire your situation is, if you compare yourself to people in very poor, undeveloped nations who are struggling to survive day-in-and-out, then you will feel very blessed to have so much in your life.

Chinese Given Name and Domain Names

O be some other name!
What’s in a name? That which we call a rose
By any other name would smell as sweet.
- Shakespeare

In Chinese, choosing a given name is a very complicated business. It directly affects how your life fares and there is a funny saying, “Not be afraid of not having a good life, but be very afraid of having a bad given name.”

In the older days some families have generation names which is the first of the two characters in the personal name. Generation name is shared by all members of a generation. These generation names are worked out long in advance. In some families there is a small number of generational names through which are cycled.

Together, these generation names may be a poem about the hope or history of the family. There are also other conventions. It is frequently the case that girls will be given names which reflect “feminine” characteristics or be named after plants or flowers and boys given more “masculine” name.

There are also names that are more neutral with neither feminine nor masculine tone to them.

In regions many parents may name their children on the advice of literomancers. The advice is based on the number of strokes of the names or the perceived elemental value of the characters in relation to the child’s birth date, birth time and personal elemental value.

The importance of a name also applies to a business and just as important your domain name.

So what to look for in good domain names?

Here are some tips:

- name reflect your type or goal of business

- choose short and memorable name

- one or two words name are best

- less is more, character wise

- don’t select a misspelled name just because the correct-spelled name is taken

- research keywords for your business and try to include keyword in the name

- avoid undesirable character, like *, 4, $, in the name

- avoid hyphenated-name

- stick with com extension vs net, org, info

- use domain research tools

- buy good, aged domain names

Remember, you are putting yourself at a disadvantage by skimping and hurrying in getting a so-so name because after you spent time and expense establishing and building your business, and if you have a bad name, you are pretty stuck with it.

To learn more about selecting Chinese given names:

http://www.squidoo.com/chinese-names

Chinese given name

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Web Videos & Web 2.0 Marketing for Small Business

If you are a small business owner, at this economic climate your biggest concern is getting business without spending huge sums of money on advertising. Your traditional marketing strategy might not work as well as it did before.

What can you do to survive, and to thrive?

Do you know?

- 72% of online surfers are watching web videos every week. By the year 2011, this could climb to 87% of web surfers.

- An estimated 1 billion dollars will be spent on video ads in this year. By 2011, that number will climb to at least 4.3 billion dollars.

- Over 65% of the people who watch online videos are between the ages of 35 and 64. 67% of these people are middle to high incomes earners.

Interesting, huh?

Alarming too especially if you are not taking advantage of this medium to promote your business.

You are losing market share to your competition, and leaving money on the table.

LOTS of money on the table.

Let’s face it.

The majority of us are visual and we love to be entertained, and so videos are the ultimate medium to excite our senses.

Combined with the power of web 2.0 relationship and social marketing, you can skyrocket your business to the next level.

The choice is obvious.

You can ride this trend to profit.

Or face the inevitable fate of losing.

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Underdog to Wonder Dog

Is it possible to transform your life from a underdog to a Wonder dog?

Bella, a terrier mix, has already been passed not once, but twice, to a shelter in her short seven month life.

Bella’s biggest problem; she’s a puppy! A puppy who’s mouthy, nippy, and too hyper for her past owners to handle.

So would this underdog ever find happiness again?

Have you ever felt like an underdog?

Down and out? Not feeling useful, worthy and being appreciated?

The other night, I chanced upon a broadcast of Joel Osteen, and surprisingly, I listened to his whole sermon. His speech was very engaging. His main message was: God has not forgotten you.

When you are feeling helpless thinking that God has ignored your plight nor pray for help, he said, no, God has His plans and He has not forgotten about you.

I always believe that things happen for a reason.

There is a Chinese saying: When you’ve got a horse, how do you know it’s not an omen (like you fell from the horse and broken your leg), and when you lost your horse, and how do you know it’s not a blessing in disguise?

And so at this difficult time when we think there’s no way out, no light at the end of the tunnel, just knows and be comforted that there is a bright side in any given situation.

Like our Bella….

She got a second lease on life.

After she has been cleaned, groomed, trained, this little cutie got welcomed into a loving family.

What is most touching is there is an autism boy Dylan who has taken to Bella, and Bella, by her sweet nature, has brightened up the lives of every member of this family.

There is a wonder dog inside of us and no matter how you feel right now, any day your inner potential and greatness will shine through those layers of dirt and dust, and you will be recognized for what you really are…..

A wonder dog.

Basking in the wonder of music

OK, having spent a few hours not being able to installing a software, and after un-installing, re-installing numerous times and finally got it to work, and I think I am entitled to reward myself to some nice music.

Here are a few of my favorites.

Won’t you join me?

Love you, President Obama

Some excerpts from California Town Hall meeting.

And I know Washington is all in a tizzy and everybody is pointing fingers at each other and saying it’s their fault, the Democrats’ fault, the Republicans’ fault. Listen, I’ll take responsibility; I’m the President.

So for everybody in Washington who’s busy scrambling, trying to figure out how to blame somebody else, just go ahead and talk to me, because it’s my job to make sure that we fix these messes, even if I don’t make them.

But here’s what I know — here’s what I want you to know: We are not only going to make it through this crisis, we are going to come out on the other side a stronger and more prosperous nation.

To kick these problems down the road for another four years or eight years, that would be to continue the same irresponsibility that got us to this point. I didn’t run for President to pass on our problems to the next generation, or the next President. I ran for President to solve these problems so that you’ve got a better shot in life.

It would be nice — it would be nice if I could just pick and choose what problems to face and when to face them, and say, no, I’m sorry, hold off on health care; Afghanistan, let’s put that aside for a while. You know, I would sleep a little easier. But that’s not the way it works. It doesn’t work that way for you.

You don’t get to say, well, I’m sorry, hold on a second, you know, I really got to take on some issues at home here so I don’t think I’m going to go to work for a week. It would be nice to do, but you don’t do that. You need to take all these problems on.

You did not send us to Washington to stand in the way of your aspirations. You didn’t send us there to say no to change — you sent us there to get things done and bring about change, and that’s what I intend to do.

But I can’t do it without you. I can’t do it without you, the American people. That’s why I’m here today, because it will take all of us talking with one another and all of us working together to see our nation through this difficult time and bring about that brighter day.

If I could get done what I think needs to get done in four years, even if it meant that I was only President for four years, I would rather be a good President taking on the tough issues for four years than a mediocre President for eight years.

Ultimately I’m answerable to you — I’m your employee. Okay?

Love you, Obama!

I love you back.

I Never Promised You a Rose Garden

When we have our first little backyard, my parents and I have different ideas of what to plant.

For me, I have always wanted a Japanese Maples tree. I just love the shape and the orange red color of the leaves. There are a couple of Maples in the college where I attended and I find delights whenever I pass by those.

My mom, however, wants a persimmon tree. We love to eat persimmon and what is better than to harvest our own golden persimmon straight from our garden?

Now since our space is really small and we can only have one tree, I gave in and let mom have her tree. My dad wants some unknown Chinese shrub that has very tiny white flowers.

We went down to a nursery near Gilroy and with my friend’s help found the persimmon tree. We also got the little shrubs that my dad likes.

With excitement, we planted our trees. Dad faithfully waters, picks out weeds, and applies fertilizers to the garden.

We also planted some roses, bearded iris, blue lavender, primroses and some others. I had tried a few times to plant peony and hydrangea but with no success.

The next year we had a harvest of persimmon, though it was only about a dozen of them. We were abit disappointed with the small number but we were nevertheless thrilled. We hope and pray that it would fare better next year.

Much to our distress, that was the only year we had ever had our persimmon.

Each spring leaves, green and extra big, come out and fill the tree, and each autumn, the leaves fall one by one until the tree is bare. But we didn’t have any persimmon.

We tried putting in new (or perhaps richer?) soil, spraying to rid of garden insects, watering and fertilizing, and yet each year we had been discouraged.

We never figure out why. We can only blame the weather for being not as hot!

Aghh, what can I say? We have put in so much TLC and labor.

And yes, I never promised you a rose garden, along with the sunshine. There’s got to be a little rain sometimes ….

Our neighbor has a peach tree. Every year we see dozens and dozens of peach hanging on the tree and we are green with envy, sign…

Now one summer, my niece did an experiment. She extracted the seeds from some cherry tomatoes and later it actually grew to a small plant. Then it grew rapidly and so she transplanted to our yard.

We have never grown any tomatoes before and we don’t know any better to put stakes around to hold the plant. Nevertheless, it grew and then later we had our first crop of tomatoes. My niece gave us 6. We left it at the coffee table, admiring and cherishing the fruit of our love.

I delayed and delayed until I absolutely need to eat those cherry tomatoes, and I tell you, that was the most delicious cherry tomatoes I have ever tasted!

Have you done any gardening?

It is a bittersweet experience, but it is something that one has to experience…

So smile for a while and let’s be jolly.
Love shouldn’t be so melancholy.
Come along and share the good times while we can….