What I'm reading, and thinking and doing right now...

just in case you were wondering what's going on this moment with me. I'm sleepless due to a hacking cough that wakes me up if I try and sleep on my back. So I'm consoling myself online with articles I've been meaning to read, emails I've been meaning to send, and more. When something good comes up, I'm going to copy and paste...

This is nice:

Life isn't about keeping score - from a page of Actual Nike Advertisements

Life isn't about keeping score. It's not about how many people call you and it's not about who you've dated, are dating, or haven't dated at all. It isn't about who you've kissed, what sport you play, or which girl or guy likes you. It's not about your shoes or your hair or the color of your skin or where you live or go to school. In fact, it's not about grades, money, clothes, or colleges that accept you. Life isn't about if you have lots of friends, or if you are alone, and it's not about how accepted or unaccepted you are. Life just isn't about that. But life is about who you love and who you hurt. It's about how you feel about yourself. It's about trust, happiness, and compassion. It's about sticking up for your friends and replacing inner hate with love. Life is about avoiding jealousy, overcoming ignorance, and building confidence. It's about what you say and what you mean. It's about seeing people for who they are and not what they have. Most of all, it's about choosing to use your life to touch someone else's in a way that could never have been achieved otherwise. These choices are what life's about.

Chinese men don't rate their women out of ten, but use a subtler five point scale:
她很漂亮。 tā hěn piàoliàng She is very beautiful means 'She is a ravishing beauty'
她很可愛。 tā hěn kě'ài She is very loveable means 'She is quite pretty'
她很愛國。 tā hěn àiguó She is very patriotic means 'She is a bit plain'
她很守規矩。 tā hěn shǒu guījù She is very law-abiding means 'Maybe with a paper bag'
她的字很漂亮。 tā de zì hěn piàoliàng She has beautiful handwriting means 'I think I'll run away screaming'

ok. that's it for now. gotta sleep.