I would jump in glee as the clock struck midnight, because this was the year I would convince my parents to buy me a dog!

Let’s visit 1993: This is the year I will confront the monster under the bed! 1994: This is the year I will no longer be named “Esther!”

However, over time my resolve to accomplish my resolutions became more and more easily shaken. Yours would too, if your parents tried to placate you with a gerbil instead of purchasing a dog. (Spazz, my unfortunate gerbil, then grew a tumor and I was traumatized for life.)

Similarly, in 1993, I decided that the monster didn’t really want parley and I should just carry a fork on my person at all times.

And in 1994, although I convinced my entire class and teacher that my name was “Tina,” my parents didn’t fall for it.

Today, it is Jan. 27. It’s about a month into 2011. It’s about time that I reveal a dirty little secret: New Year’s resolutions are a scam.

After using my skills as an investigative journalist to do some thorough research, I have it ALL figured out and abridged into four steps:

1. As the New Year draws closer, you will be lured into a Circle of Motivation, where you will produce a ludicrous goal which you plan to accomplish before the year’s end. (1995: Convince my mother that she is not actually pregnant, thus securing my reign as Supreme Single Child in the household.)

2. Enter the New Year and proceed to feel mighty good about yourself. This elation will allow you to perform magical feats of wonderment, such as stealing all the diapers and hiding them. If the baby can’t pee, he’ll disappear…right?

3. But as the days tick by, an impending sense of doom will collect in your soul as you see that your resolution is becoming more difficult to fulfill. That baby bump is getting bigger, and you’re not getting any younger.

4. Finally, it dawns on you that you will not succeed. So, you pretend you never made a resolution to avoid embarrassment at having failed and suppress all memories of such events. As a cleverer alternative, you decide to convince your new little brother that all gifts, by default, go to the older sibling.

Now don’t get me wrong. I’m all for feeling driven and inspired to accomplish new things. (2007: Somehow get into Harvard.) Sometimes, though, it’s okay to denounce resolutions all together and sign your allegiance over to the much more lucrative Lunar New Year in return for some red envelopes.

It’s okay to realize that you don’t actually remember any of your resolutions by the end of the year. It’s even okay to set a less idealistic but more realistic goal!

For example, this year, my New Year’s resolution is to become the mayor of Chicago. Last I heard, Mr. Emanuel got the boot from an Illinois appellate court, and I’m feeling mighty good about myself. In fact, I think I might steal all the ballots and hide them. If no one can vote, I become mayor… right?

Also published here

You’ll receive a text, check your e-mail or divert your attention back to the show you were watching.

Watching the Jan. 17 episode of The Colbert Report reinforced an idea that was new to me last semester. Stephen Colbert was interviewing Sherry Turkle, a tenured MIT professor of the Social Studies of Science and Technology, about her book Alone Together: Why We Expect More from Technology and Less from Each Other. The idea that you can accomplish more if you multitask has become the norm.

Did that re-grab your attention? Good.

As I watched, I began to formulate some ideas, so I whipped out my trusted laptop to write this piece. My mind wandered as I checked some e-mail, remembered to write a Happy Birthday message to a Facebook friend (Facebook now passes the Microsoft Word spell check), thought about my spring break plans and scanned my iTunes for a good song to accent the mood …

And then I realized how far I had strayed from my original mission.

How can you presume to effectively accomplish anything when there’s all this other stuff in the way? But multitasking and social networking are ways to accomplish more, right?

Because of Nicholas Carr’s eye-opening book The Shallows: What the Internet Is Doing to Our Brains, I started to really think about why I think I need technology like the Internet.

I’ve kept in touch with friends abroad, managed my schedule and done time-efficient research for classes.

However, I’ve also lost my attention span, done ‘research’ about people via Facebook and trained my mind to explain my life in 140 characters or less.

An underlying theme in The Shallows is the need to make “time to operate the machine and time to sit idly in the garden.”

Carr traces this ability to think deeply for an extended period of time to innovators like Nathaniel Hawthorne, who became an American literary icon.

It’s important to innovate and maximize efficiency, but the Internet’s not doing much to help my personal relationships.

Just making sure you’re still with me!

A recurring sentiment Carr invokes in The Shallows is that he was having trouble thinking the way he used to. Until I read the book, I kept all my notes in Google Docs. It was meticulously organized and made it so easy to access information!

In accordance with the book’s points, though, I watched my grades rise last semester as I shifted from online note-taking to old fashioned pen and paper.

I was no longer busying myself with creating links during lecture or researching a topic while my professors explained it.

I closed the laptop and effectively opened my ears and eyes.

It’s so easy to go-go-go, check your fantasy football scores while watching the NFL with friends, or update your Twitter status when you’re about to eat Thanksgiving dinner.

How about taking some time out of your day to get to that book you’ve been meaning to read?

I know full-well that a walk outside (maybe not in this weather) would be a more pensive undertaking than playing another game at Sporcle.com or browsing Stumbleupon.com.

It takes conscious effort to stray from auto-pilot and engage in more thoughtful, meaningful interaction.

Thanks for staying with me. And next time you browse Wikipedia or sit with your link-crazy Kindle reader, remember that it’s more than likely you won’t finish what you set out to do.

“I’m no Luddite,” Turkle argues. “This is not a book about getting rid of [the Internet]; it’s just to put it in its place. You live for your communications with people, not for your communications with technology.”

However, Hu’s arrival this past week was met with mixed reviews as he attempted to strengthen relations and economic ties with the U.S.

President Obama greeted Hu with a lavish state dinner at the White House (which The Colbert Report wisely pointed out was probably paid for by Hu). Then, Hu was peppered with questions regarding China’s poor human rights record at a press conference with President Obama.

Chicago Mayor Richard Daley kicked off Hu’s visit to Chicago with flowers and an a cappella performance, followed by a tour of Chicago schools and companies with ties to China. On the other hand, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid was not so fond of the Chinese President, as shown on a television interview in which he called Hu a dictator. House Speaker John Boehner probably didn’t hold Hu in the highest esteem either, since their personal meeting covered subjects including human rights violations, denial of religious freedom, and use of coercive abortion.

All in all, an unproductive trip for Hu indeed. Remarks regarding sensitive topics such as North Korea and human rights were diluted, but that probably wasn’t the point of this summit anyway. This meeting had to happen for appearance’s sake. The most this summit accomplished was letting people know what we already know – that China is a superpower, and if not, she sure is a candidate.

Oh, but twenty Walter Peyton College Prep’s faculty and students were invited to visit China. That’s pretty cool, I guess.

What do YOU think about Chinese President Hu’s visit?

In this poorly executed cut-and-paste version of Chua’s “Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother,” Chua arrogantly reveals how she was able to raise two “stereotypically successful” daughters. This recipe included things like never allowing playdates and only limiting extracurricular activities to piano and violin lessons.

Rote repetition was key in learning, but the real winning strategy here was to call her daughters “garbage,” “lazy,” “cowardly,” “self-indulgent” and “pathetic.”

Her daughter didn’t want to practice piano? That was easy. No Christmas gifts. Oh, and no lunch or dinner either. And by God, if either of them received anything less than an A — well, wait. A Chinese kid would never do that!

Now, it is one thing to proclaim her method superior, but it is quite another to drag down the rest of us Asian Americans. Are we seriously going to perpetuate model minority stereotypes while insulting my hardworking immigrant parents?
Please. At least I was allowed to have breakfast after I woke up at 6 a.m. to practice violin for a couple of hours. (I’m also pretty sure my mother figured out I worked great on a food reward system.)

Of course, after discovering that Chua’s book was actually about her journey toward reconciling “Eastern” and “Western” parenting styles, I felt a measure of pity for her … until I saw that her book shot to number six in Amazon’s sales ranking the day it was released.

Still, her subdued memoir doesn’t excuse her feigned expertise or flippant dismissal of self-esteem as a vital part of a child’s upbringing. Contrary to Chua’s initial impression, there are more than two extreme styles to raise a child.

Either way, both extremes have their serious flaws. A “Western” model of childrearing might supposedly produce a host of psychological disorders because of its overemphasis on self-esteem. But is impossible to overlook the sheer number of emotionally wounded Asian Americans who end up in years of therapy precisely because of Chua’s advertised brand of childrearing.

My experiences as a second generation Taiwanese American have given me a certain appreciation for the strict upbringing my own parents employed. I am grateful for my parents’ methods for two reasons:

1. I understand their mentality: They arrived as immigrants with nothing, but worked hard and sacrificed much to allow me and my brother everything. It would only seem logical to want the same for us. And though my mother’s early morning violin practice regimen insurmountably failed on me — even with waffles for breakfast — I recognize her efforts as ways to instill her work ethic in me.

2. My parents never failed to provide me with a support system of love and encouragement. They didn’t need to threaten revocation of acceptance, self-esteem or food. Seriously. It is not cool to withhold food.

Many immigrant parents have worked hard to establish stability for their offspring. It is important to acknowledge that their way of parenting, much like Chua’s, rings soundly in some aspects.

At the same time, it is ignorant to disregard the type of harm that can still result from a method with good intentions.

Also published in: The Daily Illini

There are so many questions to answer when trying to decide which vocation is the correct one, and it’s not like there’s some campus resource that will tell exactly how to help me suddenly ‘get my act together’.  We all want to find that perfect internship, meet the perfect contacts, and go through college without having anxiety about ‘the real world’.  I’ve always disliked the phrase ‘the real world’ because it makes me feel like I’m a lesser human because I don’t have a 9-5 job or worry about mortgages.  Sure, I have a winter break to spend however I want, but I still have the responsibility of taking advantage of my given opportunities.

I tend to identify with what Illinois alum and author Dave Eggers calls “sucking the campus dry.”  In a visit to his alma mater in November, he shared his views about life as a student, saying, “You’re waiting for your moment.  Make sure you take advantage of [the school] while you’re here.”  There are so many ways to do good work and grow from new experiences and challenges as a student.  It took five semesters on campus and one abroad for me to fully realize how much you can do in good ol’ Champaign-Urbana.

It’s impossible to know where I’ll be in five years and I wouldn’t want to know even if I could.  Getting there is a process.  There are all those obligations to fulfill, but there are also people to meet, places to see, lessons to learn, and memories to make.  It’s not at all helpful to fret over what you need to do to be ‘successful’ in ten years.  It takes a willingness to try something new and see if it takes you closer to where you want to be.  If there’s something good in this new endeavor, that’s where dogged effort comes into play.

Some students decide to skate through these four years without ever seriously challenging their maturity, but there are others who are doing everything they can to learn how to do positive work.  It’s easy to lose sight of goals in the midst of new discoveries, though.

What can be difficult is that while we may know what kind of person we want to be, we may not know how to get there.  I wish it was easier figuring out where to turn for the right courses, campus resources, extracurricular activities, and social groups.  I remember my days as a bright-eyed freshman, always wanting to find my niche while not having regrets about missing some opportunity.  For anyone out there looking for the right stepping stones on their way to making the most of their time at Illinois (or anywhere, for that matter), take note from experience.  Talk to people who have done things you would be happy to say you’ve done.  See what made someone get involved in some activity, look at how they went about it and the results of their actions, and question whether you would have done the same thing under the circumstances.

The most impactful idea from Eggers’ conversation was this: You can create the life you imagine, and U of I helps you do that.  It’s not about seeing one path as the only way to accomplish anything.  Whether it’s volunteering as part of an alternative spring break trip, studying hard to learn what you can in a given class, or working the register at a local restaurant, there are always opportunities to make lasting, positive impressions on people.  Each moment is a new one, and they should be taken advantage of accordingly.

Here, I’ll make this interactive because we love that stuff so much.  Take a quick look at Dave’s TED bio here, and watch what he’s sayin’ here.

And from WWII Germany Der Schneermann, AKA The Snowman In July.

This is the English dubbed version. I have always loved the animation and designs in this.

All photos copyright Daryl Quitalig and The Daily Illini

*All images copyright Daryl Quitalig and The Daily Illini

ps. Pardon the uninteresting layout of these posts. I’m slowly getting a hold of how WordPress works and will be evolving in the designs as I learn more on how this all works.

All photos copyright Daryl Quitalig and The Daily Illini

*All images copyright Brad Meyer and the Daily Illini

Bill Brady, Republican gubernatorial candidate, gestures during a press conference in Champaign, Ill. on Tuesday, August 31, 2010. (Ned Mulka/The Daily Illini)

I finally get a photo that emulates the street photography of a large urban city like Chicago that has great light play and it gets squeezed into a 2 column space. People just didn’t get it. :/

Image Copyright Ned Mulka/The Daily Illini July 22, 2010

I think I’ve shot my third tour of buildings this summer already. Every single time of buildings at the end of construction or in the move in phase.

Not much to shoot but I appreciate the writers’ efforts in not sending me to get just an exterior shot.

Here, a guy explains how good this empty room will be.

Image Copyright Ned Mulka/The Daily Illini June 24, 2010

The wine competition for the Illinois State Fair can’t be held on the fairgrounds because, well because swine and wine don’t mix well. Lucky for the DI it’s held in Urbana.

Image Copyright Ned Mulka/The Daily Illini June 8, 2010

I spent this entire weekend (Thurs-Sun) at Three Sisters Park in Chillicothe, Ill., just north of Peoria. All I can really say is that I learned a lot about music, photography, myself, and others.

For Tuesday’s publication, the Summer Camp coverage was the cover story (full tabloid page photo), all of page 3 (2 photos), and a photo center spread (below) – which I designed myself. Click the photo spread for a larger view.

Images copyright Ned Mulka/The Daily Illini June 1, 2010

While shooting a club frisbee practice, I quickly learned the ‘sport’ does not photograph well. Limbs flail and faces make unflattering expressions.

Image Copyright Ned Mulka/The Daily Illini May 24, 2010

While trying to get this shot, I quickly learned my camera was not stopping down correctly. For whatever reason that I may find out later, to get to f/16 or f/22, I had to tilt my camera vertically, hold down the DOF preview button, compose and shoot one shot – then reload.

If anyone knows what could be the problem, let me know. (I know it’s the camera, not the lenses)

Image Copyright Ned Mulka/The Daily Illini May 23, 2010

For this first time in a very long while, I went on an assignment. It wasn’t a photo illustration or a sporting event. It was refreshing.

The local art supply store, Art Coop, is moving about a mile down the street and off campus which is kind of a big deal. This is the co-founder and co-owner Knut, who got BFA’s in Graphic Design and Photography from U of I in the 70s. It’s good to know even BFA’s can be business owners.

Image Copyright Ned Mulka/The Daily Illini May 18. 2010

*All images copyright Brad Meyer and the Daily Illini

You have to do the frozen ball pic at least once.

Images Copyright Ned Mulka/The Daily Illini May 14, 2010