What Dave writes » blog

My blog

Dave — Sun, 21 Feb 2010 18:04:28 +0000

It’s been almost 10 months since I’ve started this blog. I still haven’t advertised my site (davetang.org) or my blog (davetang.org/wordpress) to friends and family, although if you Google “Dave Tang”, davetang.org is the second hit! (yes I Google myself). I guess I can’t compete with davetanghorses.com, with their 40 years of experience with horses (just to clarify, they are first hit, if you Google Dave Tang).

But the purpose of having my own site was just for the satisfaction of owning a domain, especially one with my name in it! And the purpose of my blog, was just to have an outlet for the many things that cross my mind. Although I am a bit more attentive to what I write these days due to a very bad experience. I dread what happened, but it was a good experience in professionalism.

But you know, sometimes I still want to delete this blog. Keeping this blog, opens me up to the world. I may be attacked, criticised and be judged for what I write. My pages are open to anyone with an internet connection (who at this stage, has to bother with Googling me). And there’s always the problem of me wanting my blog to be a perfectly articulated piece of art, which it isn’t and which it why I want to delete it.

But I mean, this is me. This is who I am; these are my interests and these are the things I care about. I am not perfect and there will be times when I have difficulty with issues, just like anybody else. So I think I’ve come to accept the fact that this is really me. And I’m not writing a novel either.

Let’s write about something fun

Dave — Sun, 06 Dec 2009 02:50:07 +0000

No Perl, no technology, no pseudo-philosophy/pseudo-intellectual stuff and boring stuff I write about. Let me write about something fun. I’m flying back to Hong Kong tonight. I will get to see my girlfriend whom I haven’t seen since August 23rd.

And no one is more fun than her, so let’s write about her (and she never reads my blog, so I can be blunt ). She is really the light of my life; I’m the dull and boring guy, and she is the exciting one. If it weren’t for her, I couldn’t even finish this post since I’m no fun at all. And I think the phrase “better half” couldn’t be more suiting.

You know how when people grow older, they get more defensive, become less inquisitive, and lose that enthusiasm and purity that kids innately have? I know I am generalising but I believe it is a common phenomenon. Well she is still that naive, happy and uncorrupted child. It makes me smile just thinking about her. I wrote her a poem along the lines of being a “Rose in this concrete world”. Although she mentioned that she likes lavender

She has the most beautiful smile in the world; people just look at her and like her instantly. She is extremely good around people, and carries this aura of happiness. Am I exaggerating because she is my partner? Actually I think I am doing the opposite of exaggeration, since I don’t think I can capture her beauty with my writing.

Where ever she goes, she is THE child magnet. Kids love her, which is why I always encourage her to open a childcare. Her friends love her. But most importantly I love her. How did she end up with an over analysing, logical, soft spoken computer guy? Well that’s how relationships work; one half makes up what’s missing in the other half. And with that I end with this (I just couldn’t resist quoting ):

“I have lost count of the number of couples I have known in whom one partner’s apparent vices exactly correspond to the other’s virtues: bumptiousness to charm, noisiness to quietness, talking to listening, selfishness to grace, nastiness to kindness, meanness to generosity, closed to open, nasty to nice. I suppose people often look for a partner who can voice the parts of themselves they have difficulty in expressing.” – John Lanchester in Fragrant Harbour page 64.

First day of the month

Dave — Mon, 01 Jun 2009 12:56:43 +0000

So I’ve been in a slump lately, which can be attributed to several factors; lack of sleep, lack of nutrition and lack of exercise. Coincidently, I was watching a documentary last week about sleep on SBS called “Awake is the new sleep”; it documented how lack of sleep can severely affect a person’s lifestyle. It was very intriguing, even though I knew the importance of sleep. An important message that was conveyed in the documentary and also why I brought up the documentary, was that to have a healthy lifestyle we need the three pillars of health which are composed of good nutrition, exercise and sleep. As such I suffered the consequences of having no pillars to support my health.

Today is the first day of the month, a good time to start a new regime. I went grocery shopping tonight and purchased almost 120 dollars worth of groceries. I bought lots of fruits, vegetables and breakfast! I’ve been buying food from the university for almost two weeks now, and besides wasting a lot of money, it has been unhealthy. I have also finished doing some light skipping and weights, and necessary cleaning of the bathroom! And my mind is definitely much more clear and active now. A week ago I would have difficulty writing my blog and just thinking concisely. I should really remember the importance of good health.

I know I can easily lose focus and lose track of things, but for once I would like to keep focused. It has been physically and mentally rewarding, and it is only day one.

davetang.org

Dave — Sun, 31 May 2009 05:56:08 +0000

So it has been a month and a bit that I have purchased this domain and paid for the web hosting. I haven’t spent as much time on it as I have wished. My web hosting company actually provides a lot of tools (if tools is the right word to use) for web development. They provide MySQL, PHP and Perl. Their control panel also makes it idiot proof to install popular internet applications such as WordPress, wiki, etc. I hadn’t expected this many features, especially since I only paid 80 bucks for the entire package, which includes a year’s worth of hosting. Perhaps had it been more expensive I would be doing more work on my site, just to get my money’s worth.

Nevertheless, as with all tasks the hardest thing is just to get started. At least at minimum I am now using the blogging software. I’ll try to put in a few hours everyday on the site or just update my blog with the catch of the day.

Welcome to my blog

Dave — Fri, 29 May 2009 00:00:42 +0000

I like to write. However, I have this small problem of deleting, crushing up or just disposing what I write. Usually because I believe that what I have written is not up to standard. I don’t think there are any standards imposed on blog writing, yet I have this need for perfection. It’s sad really, since I have removed a lot of what I have written. On top of that I also have this feeling of being ashamed for my feelings, which may also contribute to me removing much of what I write.

Nevertheless, here I start another fresh blog. And the first thing I tend to write at the start of every blog/journal I start is, I hope this blog will continue on and that I will enjoy writing in it. I hope I will be able to read back on all the events of my life.