tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-82659949770550871412024-03-13T11:44:04.413-07:00Cynthia Chin-Lee, Author and SpeakerCynthia Chin-Lee, Author and Speakerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02761821717553582486noreply@blogger.comBlogger29125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8265994977055087141.post-36091399743418368982023-12-23T15:48:00.000-08:002023-12-24T00:41:03.593-08:00Family update December 2023I ended this blog in my last post but now I've changed my mind and going to continue to do some <i>personal </i>posts here. My other blog cynthiachinlee.com/blog focuses only on my breast cancer, diet, and health.
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This year we went on many domestic trips (Los Angeles, Maui, Las Vegas, DC) and I bragged that I had not gotten Covid. Well, brag no more. Peter and I got Covid on our Oct. 2023 trip to UCLA to participate in Bruins Family Weekend. Not unexpected since we loosened up and ate at the De Neve dining hall with hundreds of unmasked college students! And yes we were boosted and got the Novavax vaccine in September 2023
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Joshua is a junior at UCLA, studying Computer Science and Linguistics. He's enjoying meeting classmates and participating in many cultural clubs. He has even started his own club at UCLA for "polyglots" (people who speak 4 or more languages). He also helped to make the formatting of this blog look better with his computer science skills.
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On my visit to hometown Washington, D.C. I got to help take care of these adorable baby twins (Cyan and Gabriel, sons of my niece Alex with husband Byron). My sister-in-law Eleanor Chin-Lee took the photo.
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Lucky for me, I got to see my lovely daughter Vanessa several times in Maui, Mountain View (CA), and DC. She's now settling in at Guanajuato, Mexico (a few hours from her Guadalajara place which she plans to keep and will continuef to rent). Here's a Maui photo of Vanessa and “beloved” Romain Tete, her colleague and friend, who is traveling with her now. If you guessed he’s French, you’re correct.
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I traveled to my hometown, Washington, DC, for the sad event of my uncle Kenneth Wong’s memorial. He would have been 80. On the positive side, I’m grateful to my extended family and welcome Harvey Cummings, my uncle’s BFF (best friend forever) to the family. Here’s a photo of Uncle Kenny and me in 2012.
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I continue to work on the anti-cancer book with Mark Simon and Robert Hoffman. If you know any editors or agents of non-fiction books, introduce me! I have the happy news of my last cancer check up earlier this week. The radiologists can no longer find the tumor. Here's the post,
<a href="https://www.cynthiachinlee.com/post/my-1000-day-journey-or-honey-i-shrunk-the-tumor">My 1000-day Journey or Honey, I Shrunk the Tumor</a>
Cynthia Chin-Lee, Author and Speakerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02761821717553582486noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8265994977055087141.post-36711880421360476722021-12-23T15:50:00.001-08:002021-12-23T15:50:26.761-08:00I've moved my blog<p>I've moved my blog to my web site. You can find my posts here:</p><p><a href="https://www.cynthiachinlee.com/blog">https://www.cynthiachinlee.com/blog</a></p><p>Thanks for reading!</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEinchiz6QSKtv1NPgN58bfuF74wsap6wr__jDG5vgM7094e-BSLR-cVuWqRwdEdnrKn1rzDXcafhtQPEDV7C8-SuF-PmcUISt6XaMmPLQPSstIWjnoCszYkGD9TX9HjKP0QiadchEzAjhmU8mRXleDL9TmwQzqG5ZS0UaC_XDslSPowQzE3UhkP9kpO=s1062" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img alt="Leaves on mossy rock" border="0" data-original-height="796" data-original-width="1062" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEinchiz6QSKtv1NPgN58bfuF74wsap6wr__jDG5vgM7094e-BSLR-cVuWqRwdEdnrKn1rzDXcafhtQPEDV7C8-SuF-PmcUISt6XaMmPLQPSstIWjnoCszYkGD9TX9HjKP0QiadchEzAjhmU8mRXleDL9TmwQzqG5ZS0UaC_XDslSPowQzE3UhkP9kpO=w400-h300" title="Leaves, moss, rocks at Bass Lake, CA" width="400" /></a></div><br /><p><br /></p>Cynthia Chin-Lee, Author and Speakerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02761821717553582486noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8265994977055087141.post-47138316891290238202021-06-23T21:29:00.001-07:002023-06-29T17:08:15.395-07:00Thoughts on being an Asian American woman writer<p><span style="background-color: white;">This is excerpted from the <b>Women's Work as Artists and Writers</b> blog, where you can read essays from many other women. You can buy the book "The Lemon Tree" edited by Nitza Agam with the entire essay and the works of other women writers and artists at my favorite independent bookstore in San Carlos, CA (they ship worldwide) https://shop.reachandteach.com/product/lemon-tree</span></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-q48n__vnri0/YNQJxCFXg4I/AAAAAAAAleU/1D9-QPKzTGYzV4Of6KEFmdzXeOS13g-0QCLcBGAsYHQ/s640/GreatGrandmaMomMe.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Great grandma Wong, my mother Nancy Wong Chin-Lee, and the author" border="0" data-original-height="640" data-original-width="480" height="400" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-q48n__vnri0/YNQJxCFXg4I/AAAAAAAAleU/1D9-QPKzTGYzV4Of6KEFmdzXeOS13g-0QCLcBGAsYHQ/w300-h400/GreatGrandmaMomMe.jpg" width="300" /></a></div><br /><p></p><p><b style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: trebuchet; font-size: 15px;">1934, Baltimore, MD</span></b></p><p class="s3" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", Times, FreeSerif, serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span style="background-color: white; font-family: trebuchet; line-height: 21.6px;"> </span></p><p class="s3" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", Times, FreeSerif, serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="s2" style="background-color: white; font-family: trebuchet; line-height: 21.6px;">Someone was knocking on the door. </span></p><p class="s3" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", Times, FreeSerif, serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span style="background-color: white; font-family: trebuchet; line-height: 21.6px;"> </span></p><p class="s3" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", Times, FreeSerif, serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span style="background-color: white; font-family: trebuchet;"><span class="s2" style="line-height: 21.6px;">Then seven years old, Nancy was folding clean diapers for her mother, but her father grabbed her arm and shoved her into the closet. Her father </span><span class="s2" style="line-height: 21.6px;">warned,“</span><span class="s2" style="line-height: 21.6px;">Get</span><span class="s2" style="line-height: 21.6px;"> in there and be quiet!” </span></span></p><p class="s3" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", Times, FreeSerif, serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span style="background-color: white; font-family: trebuchet; line-height: 21.6px;"> </span></p><p class="s3" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", Times, FreeSerif, serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="s2" style="background-color: white; font-family: trebuchet; line-height: 21.6px;">He then calmly proceeded to open the front door and chat with the local truant officer. The officer’s eyes narrowed as he said, “We heard you have a school-age child? She should be attending school. That’s the law.” Nancy’s father invited the officer to look around the house. Only small children were playing in the backyard, all too young to go to school.</span></p><p class="s3" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", Times, FreeSerif, serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span style="background-color: white; font-family: trebuchet; line-height: 21.6px;"> </span></p><p class="s3" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", Times, FreeSerif, serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="s2" style="background-color: white; font-family: trebuchet; line-height: 21.6px;">While Nancy should have been going to school, she was held back so she could help take care of her younger siblings. She was not allowed to attend school until her brother, a year and a half younger, was old enough to go to school. By that time, it would be useful to have her walk with him as her parents cared about educating him, but not her.</span></p><p class="s3" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", Times, FreeSerif, serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span style="background-color: white; font-family: trebuchet; line-height: 21.6px;"> </span></p><p class="s3" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", Times, FreeSerif, serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="s2" style="background-color: white; font-family: trebuchet; line-height: 21.6px;">Nancy was my mother, a talented visual artist and a wonderful storyteller. </span></p><p class="s3" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", Times, FreeSerif, serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="s2" style="background-color: white; font-family: trebuchet; line-height: 21.6px;"><br /></span></p><p class="s3" style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span style="font-family: trebuchet;"><a href="https://womenswork-expressions.blogspot.com/2021/05/thoughts-on-being-asian-american-woman.html?showComment=1624501072335#c3483399790604342292" style="background-color: white;">More...</a></span></p>Cynthia Chin-Lee, Author and Speakerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02761821717553582486noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8265994977055087141.post-28287516443087479282021-03-17T21:41:00.009-07:002021-04-02T16:12:47.523-07:00Hindsight is 2020<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Li8I4r2lDVw/YFKv-Erm0YI/AAAAAAAAgFE/MymDH1jHWmsmbCABS5va1Nq0JFcKpGiUgCLcBGAsYHQ/s2048/20200718_091556.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1536" data-original-width="2048" height="240" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Li8I4r2lDVw/YFKv-Erm0YI/AAAAAAAAgFE/MymDH1jHWmsmbCABS5va1Nq0JFcKpGiUgCLcBGAsYHQ/w320-h240/20200718_091556.jpg" title="Hope and Love signs on the Coastal Trail, HMB" width="320" /></a></div><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; white-space: pre-wrap;"><p><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></p></span><h1 style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: x-large; white-space: pre-wrap;">Top 10 things we learned in 2020*</span></h1><div><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">*adapted from the<i> AARP Bulletin</i></span></div><div><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">10. <i>Our trust in one another is frayed, but it can be slowly restored.</i></span></div><div><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-size: 14.6667px; white-space: pre-wrap;">If something sounds wrong, then verify the facts in multiple places. I got 3 scam phone calls from the Social "Secruity" office in one day alone. I was stunned by the attack on the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021 but tearfully celebrated the inauguration of Biden and Harris later that month. Pre-pandemic I attended anti-Trump rallies and wrote letters to promote voting for <a href="http://votefwd.org">votefwd.org</a>.</span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-size: 14.6667px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-size: 14.6667px; white-space: pre-wrap;">9. <i>Save for a rainy day.</i></span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-size: 14.6667px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-size: 14.6667px; white-space: pre-wrap;">Having a good cash savings fund took the stress off the near constrant threat of layoffs. In 2020 and 2019, I regretfully had to lay off a staff member. If possible, have an emergency fund of one full year of expenses.</span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-size: 14.6667px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-size: 14.6667px; white-space: pre-wrap;">8. <i>Work, school, and social life can be anywhere.</i></span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-size: 14.6667px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-size: 14.6667px; white-space: pre-wrap;">With technology, I worked from home completely, Josh schooled from home, and we Zoomed with family, friends, <a href="http://fprespa.org" target="_blank">church</a>, and others. As a kid I loved the Jetsons and it's now true (well, except for flying saucers.)</span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-size: 14.6667px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-size: 14.6667px; white-space: pre-wrap;">7. <i>Take care of yourself.</i></span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-size: 14.6667px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-size: 14.6667px; white-space: pre-wrap;">Whether you're a paramedic or parent of young kids, the stress has been enormous. Take care of yourself with meditation, exercise, diet, good sleep and sharing time (even remote) with friends.</span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-size: 14.6667px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-size: 14.6667px; white-space: pre-wrap;">6. <i>The pandemic made us use technology and there's no going back.</i></span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-size: 14.6667px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-size: 14.6667px; white-space: pre-wrap;">We already did a lot online but for the <b>first </b>time, I ordered groceries on the computer. And <i>finally </i>more organizations trusted us to work from home.</span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-size: 14.6667px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-size: 14.6667px; white-space: pre-wrap;">5. <i>Age is just a number</i>.</span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-size: 14.6667px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-size: 14.6667px; white-space: pre-wrap;">If you're over 65 and healthy, you're more likely to survive COVID. If you're under 65 and have "underlying conditions," you may be in trouble if you catch it.</span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-size: 14.6667px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-size: 14.6667px; white-space: pre-wrap;">4. <i>We can thrive without vacations and flying around the world.</i></span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-size: 14.6667px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-size: 14.6667px; white-space: pre-wrap;">Yeah, we're bummed that our vacation to Hawaii for an East-West conference (I'm an alum) and to visit Peter's extended family was cancelled. But we lowered our carbon footprint.</span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-size: 14.6667px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-size: 14.6667px; white-space: pre-wrap;">3. </span></span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.6667px; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span><i style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.6667px; white-space: pre-wrap;">Race matters. And so does sex.</i></div><div><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-size: 14.6667px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.6667px; white-space: pre-wrap;">I always knew that race mattered, but I'm grateful that the conversation has expanded. One day I'll write a blog on why my last name is Chin-Lee and why my mother went to primary school at such a late age.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.6667px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-size: 14.6667px; white-space: pre-wrap;">2. </span></span><i style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.6667px; white-space: pre-wrap;">Family, blood and chosen, matters more than we knew.</i></div><div><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-size: 14.6667px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-size: 14.6667px; white-space: pre-wrap;">Thank you to<b> Peter, Vanessa, and Joshua</b>. You all helped me keep my sanity.</span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-size: 14.6667px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-size: 14.6667px; white-space: pre-wrap;">1. <i>There but for the grace of God go I.</i></span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-size: 14.6667px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><i><br /></i></span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.6667px; white-space: pre-wrap;">Pray like hell! 😂 As I write this, I'm anxious about an upcoming biopsy for a lump seen on my annual mammogram. Sure, I'm grateful for my health, but I take it for granted as well as my education, financial security, and heterosexual, cisgender privilege. </span></div><div><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.6667px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.6667px; white-space: pre-wrap;">Be more than an ally. Be an <b>accomplice </b>for those oppressed by poverty, war, sickness, race, gender, gender identity, and sexual orientation.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.6667px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: x-large;"><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;"><b>* * *</b></span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">Over here in Half Moon Bay, CA, we’re doing as well as can be expected. I know we’re among the lucky ones with our ability to work and study from home.</span><div><span id="docs-internal-guid-535301ae-7fff-fc48-bf4e-036e3c4374ec"><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-size: 14.6667px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></span><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Before the pandemic, I enjoyed a trip to exotic Pasadena, CA, where I met up with my jetsetting daughter <b>Vanessa </b>Pan (in LA for work). As an experiment, I took Megabus (cheap and fast) with no regrets. A trip to Los Angeles without a car? Yep. We used the subway and when needed took Lyft or Uber. Our favorite activity was visiting the Huntington Gardens and Museums.</span></p><br /><p style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Post pandemic, my former 4-day at home job became a 5-day at home job. My team was global so Zoom was already our best friend and now we commiserated over the restrictions and swapped stories on who got COVID and how. Many of my colleagues suffered with it as well as neighbors. Peter’s still sanitizing our groceries though I tend to think that’s overkill. When in public, we mask up and sometimes goggle up to protect the eyes. I’ve shared this </span><a href="https://www.erinbromage.com/post/the-risks-know-them-avoid-them" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">blog </span></a><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">on Facebook on how to avoid the risks of getting COVID.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">You may have noticed I write about work in the past tense. On Feb. 5, 2021, I <b>retired </b>from Oracle as a senior manager of information development (tech pubs) with 4 different Zoom goodbyes. My generous coworkers sent a big chocolate cake to my home as well as party decorations and a large gift certificate to my favorite bookstore, </span><a href="https://shop.reachandteach.com/" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">reachandteach.com</span></a><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-wph3ExEe4YI/YFKwjuOEVeI/AAAAAAAAgFg/gj8hmvIaaFUgGUj0TE4aRXqUL7slfES7gCLcBGAsYHQ/s2048/officiallyRetired.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1536" data-original-width="2048" height="150" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-wph3ExEe4YI/YFKwjuOEVeI/AAAAAAAAgFg/gj8hmvIaaFUgGUj0TE4aRXqUL7slfES7gCLcBGAsYHQ/w200-h150/officiallyRetired.jpg" title="Look closely at the tiara: Officially Retired" width="200" /></a></div></div><p></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">It was hard saying bye to all my warm, funny and gifted coworkers, but not too hard to give up 7 am PST meetings! I also got to leave with a bang as I lead a hackathon team (the Blind Moles) during my last few months. Our project won the People’s Choice award within Oracle. I must say it was a brilliant idea (blind or non-biased recruiting), which I hope Oracle will implement internally and which it’s offering as a feature of its Oracle Recruiting Cloud product. See the </span><a href="https://youtu.be/pqdMygeSiw0" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">video </span></a><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">we created with advice from resident video expert, <b>Joshua</b>.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><br /></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">My children’s book, </span><a href="https://shop.reachandteach.com/book/9780531133422" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Women and the Right to Vote</span></a><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">, part of Scholastic’s True Book series came out in Sept 2020, right in time to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the 19th amendment. If you have any ideas on groups I could speak to, let me know.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-z0zZhZsK49s/YFKw8MQhKdI/AAAAAAAAgFw/vyKlgleLaYYGJILjueo3_2MXB_-M3pzFwCLcBGAsYHQ/s2048/JoshuaDiploma.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1152" data-original-width="2048" height="180" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-z0zZhZsK49s/YFKw8MQhKdI/AAAAAAAAgFw/vyKlgleLaYYGJILjueo3_2MXB_-M3pzFwCLcBGAsYHQ/w320-h180/JoshuaDiploma.jpg" title="Diploma designed by Christianna Broughton, https://www.aunumwolf42.com/" width="320" /></a></div><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><p></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Joshua graduated from high school last year and is studying online at Foothill College as a first year student in computer science. Peter doesn’t miss driving him to the campus, but Josh misses the in-person interaction. In his spare time, Josh flies drones, does animation, and posts his original videos to YouTube. If you want his channel, text him at 650.815.8793. He’s even making a steady income from it. He’s also coding his own video game and has regular Virtual Reality (VR) chats with friends in Japan.These gen Zs!</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-cWEApGSxw4w/YFKxx_NfduI/AAAAAAAAgGM/X3k83-BjuUkTTbWVR9OWwqrha-5ur8NKgCLcBGAsYHQ/s2048/drone.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="320" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-cWEApGSxw4w/YFKxx_NfduI/AAAAAAAAgGM/X3k83-BjuUkTTbWVR9OWwqrha-5ur8NKgCLcBGAsYHQ/w240-h320/drone.jpg" title="Joshua adjusting his drone" width="240" /></a></div><br /><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><p></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Vr4AewiEIX8/YFKxH-6kh9I/AAAAAAAAgF0/VVyhDC5aXckN7QPvcW1AXJ1WZaXArTCqgCLcBGAsYHQ/s1024/climb.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1024" data-original-width="768" height="320" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Vr4AewiEIX8/YFKxH-6kh9I/AAAAAAAAgF0/VVyhDC5aXckN7QPvcW1AXJ1WZaXArTCqgCLcBGAsYHQ/w240-h320/climb.jpg" title="Vanessa's climbing wall in her house" width="240" /></a></div><br /><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><p></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><b>Vanessa </b>has been busy fixing up her new flat in Guadalajara, MX and working for <a href="http://maxablespace.com">maxablespace.com</a>. She’s even installed a climbing wall in her home! She’s thinking of becoming a business or life coach, but in the meantime she manages Maxable’s partners as well as some staff members. And she still enjoys composing and singing.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Pre-pandemic, <b>Peter </b>was driving Josh to school and taking PE classes. At home now, he’s developed a keen eye on the stock market, and his abilities have helped us grow our investments and help me retire early. It’s hard to believe I can retire after 39 years (but hey, who’s counting?).Doing those catch up investments in the 401K, IRA, and Roth IRA helped as well as the market’s banner year in 2020.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">We finally got our solar panels up and running as well as a backup battery. I’m almost wishing for a blackout so we can test the battery. We had a short blackout during the infamous California wildfires in August. The CZU lightning blaze came within 18 miles of our house, enough to get us packing our bags (though we never had to evacuate). We're sorry that so many suffered. </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-iDBDAcSwTvM/YFKxYv_ncGI/AAAAAAAAgGA/rG0o8fJWcp4k6OMCWr_Y3XZB3zD6w-6XgCLcBGAsYHQ/s2048/20200215_165927.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1536" data-original-width="2048" height="240" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-iDBDAcSwTvM/YFKxYv_ncGI/AAAAAAAAgGA/rG0o8fJWcp4k6OMCWr_Y3XZB3zD6w-6XgCLcBGAsYHQ/w320-h240/20200215_165927.jpg" title="Peter gathering shells?" width="320" /></a></span></div><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br />We're saddened by the sudden death of my brother-in-law Alan More (husband of Diane Ching), who passed away last year from cancer. And we're thankful for his being in our lives.</span><p></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">We look forward to getting our COVID vaccines and hearing from you.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Homemade Apple; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Homemade Apple; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Cyndi and family</span></p><div><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div></span><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-w7_SasDi-ho/YFKxl2rPICI/AAAAAAAAgGE/GQjWCQhwKSUGn05xtBgDGqH4nl19QdrxACLcBGAsYHQ/s2048/May2020Mask.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1815" data-original-width="2048" height="178" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-w7_SasDi-ho/YFKxl2rPICI/AAAAAAAAgGE/GQjWCQhwKSUGn05xtBgDGqH4nl19QdrxACLcBGAsYHQ/w200-h178/May2020Mask.jpg" title="Always wear your mask..." width="200" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><br /></div>Cynthia Chin-Lee, Author and Speakerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02761821717553582486noreply@blogger.com16tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8265994977055087141.post-55705176842048853022020-01-12T21:16:00.000-08:002020-01-12T21:16:07.724-08:00Celebrating our 1st year in Half Moon Bay<h2>
<b id="docs-internal-guid-9f7d2ca9-7fff-45b4-1835-7179c460a616" style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 17pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 700; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;">Celebrating our 1st year in Half Moon Bay</span></b></h2>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-9Vek4sbAy4I/XhEuDZzj2fI/AAAAAAAAYJo/fFGPMWEHN2cbw_KOPpsGHL1_Dcxt_UfMwCPcBGAYYCw/s1600/20190427_141334.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="900" data-original-width="1600" height="180" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-9Vek4sbAy4I/XhEuDZzj2fI/AAAAAAAAYJo/fFGPMWEHN2cbw_KOPpsGHL1_Dcxt_UfMwCPcBGAYYCw/s320/20190427_141334.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Cynthia and Vanessa<b><br /></b></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.656; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><b id="docs-internal-guid-2ecf168d-7fff-73e7-0b7e-4d3317ce9e41" style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Before we moved to Half Moon Bay last December, we had </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 700; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">not </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">actually spent one night in HMB. So it was a calculated risk when we decided to buy a house here. But … we like it even better than I was expecting. Clean air and friendly new neighbors. Easy living by the beach with a short drive to the bank, stores, yoga, and the library. Joshua, whom we worried about the most, has made some good friends for video gaming and hanging out.</span></b></span></div>
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<b id="docs-internal-guid-2ecf168d-7fff-73e7-0b7e-4d3317ce9e41" style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;"> </span></b></h2>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.656; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><b id="docs-internal-guid-2ecf168d-7fff-73e7-0b7e-4d3317ce9e41" style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Some downsides: power outages (3 days total), less diversity, and that drive over highway 92. I will probably get a new electric car because my old Leaf isn’t great on the winding roads, especially if it’s foggy and dark.</span></b></span></div>
<h2 dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.656; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<b id="docs-internal-guid-2ecf168d-7fff-73e7-0b7e-4d3317ce9e41" style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;"> </span></b></h2>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b>Some high<span style="font-size: small;">l</span>ights</b></span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></span><br />
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<ul>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Getting out of my stabilizing boot after breaking my left foot. The good news: I'm now evened out after I broke my right foot 3 years ago!</span></span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Being an Impact Coach for a Techwomen team from Zimbabwe, who won a coveted grant from the US State Department to fund their social action project to help disabled girls learn STEM (Science Technology Engineering Math) in their country.</span></span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Going to the Out & Equal Summit in DC for the first time and getting to meet Oracle Pride Employee Network (OPEN) coworkers from around the world.</span></span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Finding out that I'm not 100% Han Chinese with a decent percentage of Dai Chinese (a minority mainly in Yunnan) and Vietnamese. </span></span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Working on a yet to be finished children's book on Women and the Vote for a book packager.</span></span></li>
</ul>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b>Joshua</b></span><br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-DIYoGPodqIw/XhEuJ5HyMDI/AAAAAAAAYJs/XVQdgJJQKwMMlK8EWU8geWWQ2dlLrBWuwCPcBGAYYCw/s1600/IMG-20190420-WA0000.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="904" data-original-width="1600" height="180" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-DIYoGPodqIw/XhEuJ5HyMDI/AAAAAAAAYJs/XVQdgJJQKwMMlK8EWU8geWWQ2dlLrBWuwCPcBGAYYCw/s320/IMG-20190420-WA0000.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Joshua in Osaka with classmates</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Joshua is a senior in high school, doing his high school requirements at Foothill College and enjoying it. He's also organizing Smash Bros tournaments, his favorite video game, at our wonderful (and new) Half Moon Bay library. Peter and I got practice at being empty nesters when he spent 3 months in Osaka, Japan as a high school exchange student. We'll have to visit Japan some time to test his new language skills. He plans on continuing at Foothill and then transferring to a California university though he may try a stint at the coding school Silicon Valley 42.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b>Vanessa</b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b id="docs-internal-guid-6b35c06d-7fff-1ea3-bd21-603931aaf539" style="font-weight: normal;"></b></span><br />
<h2 dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 4pt; margin-top: 18pt;">
<b id="docs-internal-guid-6b35c06d-7fff-1ea3-bd21-603931aaf539" style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Vanessa is now Chief Operating Officer at</span><a href="https://maxablespace.com/" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Maxable</span></a><span style="background-color: white; color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">(</span><a href="https://maxablespace.com/" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">https://maxablespace.com/</span></a><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">), a California startup that focuses on providing homeowners the education and resources needed in building an ADU (Accessory Dwelling Unit). She spends most of her time working remote from Guadalajara, Mexico, but still travels a lot for both work and leisure. Outside of work, her greatest news is that she recently invested in a one unit of a duplex in the historical district of downtown Guadalajara. She hopes to build a community</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 700; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">towards co-housing eventually and is excited to get her hands into homeownership and plans to renovate in early spring. She’s still playing music and learning languages and hopes that once things settle down in the summer that she can return to producing an album once a year.</span></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 700; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;"> </span></b></h2>
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<b><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Peter</span></b><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-yyK-ZRb9aus/XhEuyj8SgJI/AAAAAAAAYKA/WU38NJp7o6Qd0byhfLzNxOHcSNZ7Po78wCPcBGAYYCw/s1600/IMG_1049.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1067" data-original-width="1600" height="213" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-yyK-ZRb9aus/XhEuyj8SgJI/AAAAAAAAYKA/WU38NJp7o6Qd0byhfLzNxOHcSNZ7Po78wCPcBGAYYCw/s320/IMG_1049.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Josh, Cynthia, Peter and friend Hayden in Santa Barbara</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Peter <b id="docs-internal-guid-fa3f861b-7fff-614c-4f9f-6f17de78ce59" style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">is doing well, but had a few minor health complications from cracked ribs to his continued battle with sleep apnea. He enjoys collecting and cooking local seaweed and being the family historian by taking lots of video and photos. </span></b></span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-_ZhQC7aT5b4/XhJBx-isXzI/AAAAAAAAYLE/BEdYNbPd7Os1ALpLcT43pN_AeHpAq4NkQCPcBGAYYCw/s1600/seaweedSoup.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="937" data-original-width="1249" height="150" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-_ZhQC7aT5b4/XhJBx-isXzI/AAAAAAAAYLE/BEdYNbPd7Os1ALpLcT43pN_AeHpAq4NkQCPcBGAYYCw/s200/seaweedSoup.jpg" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Seaweed soup!</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b id="docs-internal-guid-fa3f861b-7fff-614c-4f9f-6f17de78ce59" style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span></b> </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b id="docs-internal-guid-6b35c06d-7fff-1ea3-bd21-603931aaf539" style="font-weight: normal;"></b></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>Cynthia Chin-Lee, Author and Speakerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02761821717553582486noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8265994977055087141.post-22592502051570580922019-01-21T13:44:00.000-08:002019-01-21T13:44:59.944-08:00Adios, Palo Alto, and Here We Come, Half Moon Bay!<br />
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Adios, Palo Alto and Here We Come, Half Moon Bay!</h2>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-_Z56KURq1Fs/XETYEC2rF9I/AAAAAAAAS9o/fgy4c5ScJrYD1tHbBY0GkWb2vazLsVwvQCPcBGAYYCw/s1600/map.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="690" data-original-width="719" height="307" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-_Z56KURq1Fs/XETYEC2rF9I/AAAAAAAAS9o/fgy4c5ScJrYD1tHbBY0GkWb2vazLsVwvQCPcBGAYYCw/s320/map.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Our old house, new house on the coast, work, and Foothill</td></tr>
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Two years ago our annual letter was called “Blur Blog,” but 2018
seemed even more fast-paced than then. The year started out as usual, but in July after
many months (and years) of thinking about moving and looking for new homes, we put a
deposit on a yet-to-be-built house in a 19-house development called <b>Pacific
Ridge</b> in Half Moon Bay, CA on the California coast, a 20-minute drive to San
Mateo.<o:p></o:p><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Our new 2-story home in Half Moon Bay</td></tr>
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We then sauntered through our usual vacation at the Family
Vacation Center in Santa Barbara which had one dramatic twist: a wildfire aptly
named the Holiday fire in Goleta that burned 113 acres and had us wondering if
we had to evacuate (we didn’t). Santa Barbara was followed by a ramble through
Rome, Venice, and Verona, Italy where we got to catch up with my sister’s
family.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-TEHNfMsgvNs/XEU8vKMloWI/AAAAAAAATIU/aecIRhRK-L4ZuwVnlUA3ZZlLlLqyf73GACLcBGAs/s1600/GOPR3037%2Bpisa%2Btwr%2Bmom%2Bdad%2Bjosh%2Bby%2Bdad%2B4.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1201" data-original-width="1600" height="240" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-TEHNfMsgvNs/XEU8vKMloWI/AAAAAAAATIU/aecIRhRK-L4ZuwVnlUA3ZZlLlLqyf73GACLcBGAs/s320/GOPR3037%2Bpisa%2Btwr%2Bmom%2Bdad%2Bjosh%2Bby%2Bdad%2B4.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">At the top of the leaning tower of Pisa</td></tr>
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Then August was the month of reckoning. Could we get our
house of 20 years at 666 Wildwood ready for sale? We interviewed real estate
agents, scoured online reviews of contractors, and researched storage options.
Our Palo Alto house was legally renamed 668 (better sounding than 666), emptied
out, painted, had electric work done, and the roof re-coated. By mid-October,
our “midcentury modern charm in Palo Alto” which was “lovingly maintained and
thoughtfully upgraded” hit the market during a stock market tumble and real
estate slump.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-9uhNZcY6e2k/XEU9GNOD6QI/AAAAAAAATIc/mHONZmc1o74a2N_f7t5FEF8c1tIdFSREACLcBGAs/s1600/WildwoodLivingRm.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="770" data-original-width="1520" height="162" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-9uhNZcY6e2k/XEU9GNOD6QI/AAAAAAAATIc/mHONZmc1o74a2N_f7t5FEF8c1tIdFSREACLcBGAs/s320/WildwoodLivingRm.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The real estate agent sells our Palo Alto home</td></tr>
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<b><o:p></o:p>Bad </b>news: we really didn’t get the price we had hoped for.
<b>Good </b>news: we got an offer in less than a week. So we can’t complain that
we have a hefty capital gains tax to pay. While fixing up the house, we led
something of a nomadic life, gratefully housesitting for neighbors and
then enjoying the guesthouse at Mountain View Community Cohousing. Our house sale
closed on Nov. 19, but our new house in Half Moon Bay wasn't ready until
December, so we stayed in an apt in Santa Clara for a month.<o:p></o:p></div>
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On an auspicious rainy day in December, we moved to our
dream home by the beach. We love the fresh ocean air and spectacular sunsets. We even like the foggy, drizzly weather though Josh whines about the croaking frogs at night.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Jk-KofD_MFo/XEU_Tk6qljI/AAAAAAAATIo/SvbQYHBLcIguga_1HPicjXH1ngqIuHLPACLcBGAs/s1600/J%2526Pbeach.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="959" data-original-width="1279" height="239" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Jk-KofD_MFo/XEU_Tk6qljI/AAAAAAAATIo/SvbQYHBLcIguga_1HPicjXH1ngqIuHLPACLcBGAs/s320/J%2526Pbeach.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">5-minute drive or 15-minute walk to the beach</td></tr>
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I’m still an information development manager at Oracle,
mostly working from home with a weekly jaunt to Redwood City HQ. Peter’s
cooking up gourmet dinners in his new chef’s kitchen, and Joshua is completing
his junior year of high school by taking classes at Foothill College and has a
straight A average. <o:p></o:p></div>
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Still mostly living in Guadalajara, MX, Vanessa launched a new business called <a href="https://www.facebook.com/pages/category/Travel-Service/Glolocal-153587305288394/" target="_blank">Glolocal </a>exchange program that brings non-Spanish speakers to Mexico to learn Spanish and Mexican culture through living with a host family. She continues to do business
development for <a href="http://goboxsfbay.com/" target="_blank">Gobox</a>, which makes multi-use takeout containers and for a
Mexican apps development company. I got to be her guinea pig
(pre-pilot) Spanish language student in June.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-SaeowXybeQM/XEU_rLJHuWI/AAAAAAAATIw/8wFsllthrX0fTcgfdEKvMXdHhbQFqtiGgCLcBGAs/s1600/redpub.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="900" data-original-width="1600" height="112" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-SaeowXybeQM/XEU_rLJHuWI/AAAAAAAATIw/8wFsllthrX0fTcgfdEKvMXdHhbQFqtiGgCLcBGAs/s200/redpub.jpg" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">On the tourist bus</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-9RsuxNXwnV0/XEU_x5dZ1BI/AAAAAAAATI0/Lu2vwxuPGYAqipzEjFvZzP9GFBeREjcLgCLcBGAs/s1600/CyndiLucheLibre.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="893" data-original-width="1588" height="111" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-9RsuxNXwnV0/XEU_x5dZ1BI/AAAAAAAATI0/Lu2vwxuPGYAqipzEjFvZzP9GFBeREjcLgCLcBGAs/s200/CyndiLucheLibre.jpg" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Cyndi as wrestler</td></tr>
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<o:p></o:p></div>
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Other news of note, I have a <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cynthia_Chin-Lee" target="_blank">Wikipedia </a>page and a new <a href="https://www.cynthiachinlee.com/" target="_blank">website</a> thanks to her. Go take a peek. Sorry, no news on the writing front; I took
some time off from writing in order to manage the move.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Much love,<o:p></o:p></div>
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Cyndi, Peter, and Joshua<o:p></o:p></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-6iraxqA0G8I/XEU_7eOuTyI/AAAAAAAATI8/1OSJObBt_-gUoC15MFIxqkpHvyo64DP3wCLcBGAs/s1600/corazon.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="900" data-original-width="1600" height="112" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-6iraxqA0G8I/XEU_7eOuTyI/AAAAAAAATI8/1OSJObBt_-gUoC15MFIxqkpHvyo64DP3wCLcBGAs/s200/corazon.jpg" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Learning Espanol</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />Cynthia Chin-Lee, Author and Speakerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02761821717553582486noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8265994977055087141.post-31670293217103457062018-02-19T19:58:00.002-08:002021-03-03T17:14:36.433-08:00Happy Year of the Dog 2018<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-yhQ7Aq0-CaQ/WouMKgY8nbI/AAAAAAAANEs/IXR92kKqZsA9NlNmE_iDyLYsQ18uJGmzgCK4BGAYYCw/s1600/newyearOracle.jpg" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="224" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-yhQ7Aq0-CaQ/WouMKgY8nbI/AAAAAAAANEs/IXR92kKqZsA9NlNmE_iDyLYsQ18uJGmzgCK4BGAYYCw/s400/newyearOracle.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Joshua, myself, and Peter at Oracle HQ</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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Happy year of the dog, Feb. 2018</h2>
<div>
Peter and I are both year of the dog so this should be a lucky year for us. Since we lost Peter's mom, Wanda Ching, in 2017 and my dad, Bill Chin-Lee, in late 2016, we're hoping 2018 will be better. See how good your math is. In 2018 we turn a multiple of 12 that is greater than 48 and less than 72.<br />
<br />
Quick update on each of us:</div>
<div>
<ul>
<li>I continue as a manager of information development at Oracle and split my time between HQ in Redwood Shores, Pleasanton, and home.</li>
<li>Peter takes care of the house but spent four months last year in Arlington to help take care of his mom.</li>
<li>Joshua is in 10th grade and enjoys his online and in person classes at Foothill College in Los Altos. </li>
<li>Vanessa lives in Guadalajara, MX, creating music, teaching English and learning Spanish, and consulting for goboxsfbay.com.</li>
</ul>
Vanessa debuted in her first <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oTi7XmuSHvo">music video</a>, created by Quentin Lee. Please watch and share. You can ask her for links to her videos of Mexico, too. Her email: vanessapan856@gmail.com.<br />
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<div>
Joshua created two <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7qLDKTAEcjI">videos </a>of his month-long trip to Tokyo, earning his first $100 as third-place winner in Langubridge's video contest. </div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-Q8pF3xLOu_A/WouPNnKe0pI/AAAAAAAANIE/LYCOREHOC989J82aqtdyb6BMTNSVbkdjACK4BGAYYCw/s1600/20170729_191224.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="112" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-Q8pF3xLOu_A/WouPNnKe0pI/AAAAAAAANIE/LYCOREHOC989J82aqtdyb6BMTNSVbkdjACK4BGAYYCw/s200/20170729_191224.jpg" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Me and Peter at Green Gulch Zen Center (Sausalito), remembering our parents.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-HCvm5gAhrH0/WouPE3LuyMI/AAAAAAAANHw/sM5hpJCCO7sIe_D2njXIKcorOHv7I9kcACK4BGAYYCw/s1600/20170719_101841.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="180" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-HCvm5gAhrH0/WouPE3LuyMI/AAAAAAAANHw/sM5hpJCCO7sIe_D2njXIKcorOHv7I9kcACK4BGAYYCw/s320/20170719_101841.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Carolyn Miles Broughton, me, Judi Miles at San Diego Comic Con</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-rIAulupskSs/WouO0tkTMDI/AAAAAAAANHo/4kJGUzbdZ2o8msqQFP9xd9bYeGFG4q_DACK4BGAYYCw/s1600/20170806_181644.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="112" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-rIAulupskSs/WouO0tkTMDI/AAAAAAAANHo/4kJGUzbdZ2o8msqQFP9xd9bYeGFG4q_DACK4BGAYYCw/s200/20170806_181644.jpg" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Josh at Google HQ, Mountain View</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-_Rj_snaXKdE/WouOrffw6ZI/AAAAAAAANHY/JrzV66JzP88xHN8h9CB2TaW1fAQ242vwgCK4BGAYYCw/s1600/20170923_153339.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="180" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-_Rj_snaXKdE/WouOrffw6ZI/AAAAAAAANHY/JrzV66JzP88xHN8h9CB2TaW1fAQ242vwgCK4BGAYYCw/s320/20170923_153339.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Robin Maybury, me, Jean Maybury and their daughter Charmian at the Tandem Reunion</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-1dzZkbZvce8/WouOm3WA3rI/AAAAAAAANHQ/3k99U5UYtU0QkEn0u7bI86KjI1LbGl02ACK4BGAYYCw/s1600/20170919_185519.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="180" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-1dzZkbZvce8/WouOm3WA3rI/AAAAAAAANHQ/3k99U5UYtU0QkEn0u7bI86KjI1LbGl02ACK4BGAYYCw/s320/20170919_185519.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Me, Patu Ndango, Mpara Faith of Team Cameroon, TechWomen.org where I was an Impact Coach.</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-HSWk2xazANc/WouOVAdzNZI/AAAAAAAANHA/pEZbfchUCVAraj3GQf_gWOec8-xuEqdzgCK4BGAYYCw/s1600/20170905_160312.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="180" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-HSWk2xazANc/WouOVAdzNZI/AAAAAAAANHA/pEZbfchUCVAraj3GQf_gWOec8-xuEqdzgCK4BGAYYCw/s320/20170905_160312.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Vanessa and Josh in a park in Guadalajara</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Yml7d6yQgTw/WouPH7ckyeI/AAAAAAAANH8/DlAjFsTd9fEoYahHHKe23WZZ-dQRR51-gCK4BGAYYCw/s1600/20170726_210531.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="112" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Yml7d6yQgTw/WouPH7ckyeI/AAAAAAAANH8/DlAjFsTd9fEoYahHHKe23WZZ-dQRR51-gCK4BGAYYCw/s200/20170726_210531.jpg" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Peter's silhouette, Palo Alto Baylands</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-hS9mt0kTCbc/WouOOm-u9hI/AAAAAAAANG4/OykG6nR-pdA5PE_x7pftceRSMoDlRxuPgCK4BGAYYCw/s1600/20170904_151205.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="360" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-hS9mt0kTCbc/WouOOm-u9hI/AAAAAAAANG4/OykG6nR-pdA5PE_x7pftceRSMoDlRxuPgCK4BGAYYCw/s640/20170904_151205.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Find the hidden figures, Tlaquepaque, MX</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-ssXbCYKgjbw/WouOJou09uI/AAAAAAAANGw/DIgwEjYJXNgzQ8TR1MbiqJvmEk0qJoZ4ACK4BGAYYCw/s1600/20170904_142725%25280%2529.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-ssXbCYKgjbw/WouOJou09uI/AAAAAAAANGw/DIgwEjYJXNgzQ8TR1MbiqJvmEk0qJoZ4ACK4BGAYYCw/s200/20170904_142725%25280%2529.jpg" width="112" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Sharing my treat, Guadalajara</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-7OTQm14LPSA/WouODEdh7II/AAAAAAAANGo/FWxshgPvnAMgNK8NlhU8BTpUg5tAuS3fQCK4BGAYYCw/s1600/20170903_220023.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="225" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-7OTQm14LPSA/WouODEdh7II/AAAAAAAANGo/FWxshgPvnAMgNK8NlhU8BTpUg5tAuS3fQCK4BGAYYCw/s400/20170903_220023.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Josh, Vanessa, and me in Guadalajara</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-ISQluUnur-U/WouN-Noz0qI/AAAAAAAANGg/qiPbhLch_OIA8f9KMfc88zZ2EgEK9uRAgCK4BGAYYCw/s1600/TeamCameroonMentors.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-ISQluUnur-U/WouN-Noz0qI/AAAAAAAANGg/qiPbhLch_OIA8f9KMfc88zZ2EgEK9uRAgCK4BGAYYCw/s640/TeamCameroonMentors.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Me (impact coach for Techwomen), Team Cameroon, Mimi Hills, and Melissa Biggs at awards night</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-SEYKPxDObuU/WouQoYclGOI/AAAAAAAANJE/fA2DNTSfyQERYrrSxTjdKbWUnzBxBAMnACK4BGAYYCw/s1600/20170121_103156.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-SEYKPxDObuU/WouQoYclGOI/AAAAAAAANJE/fA2DNTSfyQERYrrSxTjdKbWUnzBxBAMnACK4BGAYYCw/s400/20170121_103156.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Climate March, San Jose, CA (Jan) with Gail Thompson, Pat Kinney and others</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-MWuo5v6CJsk/WouQgSb88uI/AAAAAAAANI8/NSS6AuVhiiww3gutKR2pn04nS5Qpseo_wCK4BGAYYCw/s1600/20170227_171726.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="112" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-MWuo5v6CJsk/WouQgSb88uI/AAAAAAAANI8/NSS6AuVhiiww3gutKR2pn04nS5Qpseo_wCK4BGAYYCw/s200/20170227_171726.jpg" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">See how balanced my aura is? Thanks to Joy Ohguen Lee, my yoga teacher at Silicon Valley Body and Brain</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-_XzXgXOuTIA/WouN7ObO_HI/AAAAAAAANGM/8I3ioTJXL2E208G5sQEITvMaE5Se6LHkgCK4BGAYYCw/s1600/20171016_193437.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="180" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-_XzXgXOuTIA/WouN7ObO_HI/AAAAAAAANGM/8I3ioTJXL2E208G5sQEITvMaE5Se6LHkgCK4BGAYYCw/s320/20171016_193437.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Danielle Akini of Cameroon and Vanessa</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Cib89E0q4xE/WouN5GYfzdI/AAAAAAAANGE/V7XABXRXsp4FRpOawhXGKSDXf-PP6xtYACK4BGAYYCw/s1600/20171014_215836.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Cib89E0q4xE/WouN5GYfzdI/AAAAAAAANGE/V7XABXRXsp4FRpOawhXGKSDXf-PP6xtYACK4BGAYYCw/s320/20171014_215836.jpg" width="180" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Peter and me, Human Rights Campaign Gala in SF</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-lNMFgAzzh2A/WouZQ-5RIKI/AAAAAAAANKE/mhAd7uFR2o47xbdgQ6jdR41cocVjAWMEQCK4BGAYYCw/s1600/upside20170503_154656.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="360" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-lNMFgAzzh2A/WouZQ-5RIKI/AAAAAAAANKE/mhAd7uFR2o47xbdgQ6jdR41cocVjAWMEQCK4BGAYYCw/s640/upside20170503_154656.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Old photo: Henry, Peter, Wanda, Philip, Diane, Ronnie Ching</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="180" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-ucWDfRSp7gs/WouP2l6ZZUI/AAAAAAAANIY/Ev91IP_kXqY-KWdnD4Vb08ackQBk98aJACK4BGAYYCw/s320/20170506_151006.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" width="320" /></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Ashley and Michael Ching wedding, Chambersburg, PA</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-ruuzc6ECDds/WouNoHEeRKI/AAAAAAAANF0/WzuBJYDshsIhfXyqmaxiP7acvYeQ4iHMwCK4BGAYYCw/s1600/20171003_134704.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="112" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-ruuzc6ECDds/WouNoHEeRKI/AAAAAAAANF0/WzuBJYDshsIhfXyqmaxiP7acvYeQ4iHMwCK4BGAYYCw/s200/20171003_134704.jpg" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Booth duty at Oracle Open World</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-vNZ9e-Me9nw/WouNfHbQAVI/AAAAAAAANFs/4_RSWFvA2nssysHgG-ykIup0nB1rZUT6gCK4BGAYYCw/s1600/20170503_154554.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="133" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-vNZ9e-Me9nw/WouNfHbQAVI/AAAAAAAANFs/4_RSWFvA2nssysHgG-ykIup0nB1rZUT6gCK4BGAYYCw/s200/20170503_154554.jpg" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Peter, me, Josh at Young Family dinner, San Mateo</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-SF8CWRQwhe0/WouMpzOYR1I/AAAAAAAANFI/l2HY9lGT9bAwKbQN_mQFCctlbAb16RL3ACK4BGAYYCw/s1600/20171218_162925.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="180" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-SF8CWRQwhe0/WouMpzOYR1I/AAAAAAAANFI/l2HY9lGT9bAwKbQN_mQFCctlbAb16RL3ACK4BGAYYCw/s320/20171218_162925.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Peter and Josh at Red Rock Canyon near Las Vegas</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-h4uGHfdb73E/WouMhQpa1LI/AAAAAAAANE8/icwaQGtaavQz9LTO9_dFXZomcUkkqmerACK4BGAYYCw/s1600/20171211_114044.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="180" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-h4uGHfdb73E/WouMhQpa1LI/AAAAAAAANE8/icwaQGtaavQz9LTO9_dFXZomcUkkqmerACK4BGAYYCw/s320/20171211_114044.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Tara Simms, our Education Specialist at Ocean Grove, and Joshua</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-J2VnEDlx9Ak/WouMyx2DApI/AAAAAAAANFY/hSDaVa4uCI8zO5Z2A-T7cAG1WWjNwfSQgCK4BGAYYCw/s1600/panoramaGoogleRedRock.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="96" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-J2VnEDlx9Ak/WouMyx2DApI/AAAAAAAANFY/hSDaVa4uCI8zO5Z2A-T7cAG1WWjNwfSQgCK4BGAYYCw/s640/panoramaGoogleRedRock.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Red Rock Canyon</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-9QbmNne1HZM/WouMZov7nwI/AAAAAAAANE0/VsMP3WV29703ydMaO5hxJbOPz7eJfveDQCK4BGAYYCw/s1600/20180120_114432.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="225" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-9QbmNne1HZM/WouMZov7nwI/AAAAAAAANE0/VsMP3WV29703ydMaO5hxJbOPz7eJfveDQCK4BGAYYCw/s400/20180120_114432.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Jan 2018, Barri Singer, me, friend, Carole Eittreim at Women's March, SF (Jan 2018)</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<h2>
<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-ucWDfRSp7gs/WouP2l6ZZUI/AAAAAAAANIY/Ev91IP_kXqY-KWdnD4Vb08ackQBk98aJACK4BGAYYCw/s1600/20170506_151006.jpg"></a><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Ue5WtI7ZxeY/WouYzSp-6hI/AAAAAAAANJ0/r2XsKiuOhcQOZdeNZTUWtJpES3gJQjCQgCK4BGAYYCw/s1600/20170503_154656.jpg"></a></h2>
Cynthia Chin-Lee, Author and Speakerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02761821717553582486noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8265994977055087141.post-21413910132818301612017-01-15T13:04:00.002-08:002017-01-16T10:46:38.714-08:00Blur: a restrospective of 2015 and 2016<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<h2 style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="text-align: left;">Blur: 2015 and 2016 speed by! </span></h2>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-TkRMhFm9xf8/WHvVEBgXONI/AAAAAAAADGA/n3dA5u_KP_Mz39bZAkgdT79XImGXL3YQwCLcB/s1600/20150101_000944.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-TkRMhFm9xf8/WHvVEBgXONI/AAAAAAAADGA/n3dA5u_KP_Mz39bZAkgdT79XImGXL3YQwCLcB/s200/20150101_000944.jpg" width="150" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Joshua and me on New Years Eve 2015</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><h2>
<a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-i6IDFVMucmc/WHvVEI5UirI/AAAAAAAADF8/cDHqt27Qxzwmqu0vNrMat9ENg-ClzM2jACLcB/s1600/20150101_000226.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="150" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-i6IDFVMucmc/WHvVEI5UirI/AAAAAAAADF8/cDHqt27Qxzwmqu0vNrMat9ENg-ClzM2jACLcB/s200/20150101_000226.jpg" width="200" /></a></h2>
</td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px; text-align: center;">National Harbor, MD, Joshua, Peter, Alan More, Diane Ching</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-ef4UfnV8YAk/WHvVDzCDejI/AAAAAAAADF4/GwNab-EjM8Ef-kUPJ8yXzZmerbU0TWgGQCLcB/s1600/20150102_131400.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-ef4UfnV8YAk/WHvVDzCDejI/AAAAAAAADF4/GwNab-EjM8Ef-kUPJ8yXzZmerbU0TWgGQCLcB/s200/20150102_131400.jpg" width="150" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Uncle Kenny and me, Washington DC 2015</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-39_vg9OOrp0/WHvVEwlyeSI/AAAAAAAADGE/OzJhrHURSgQV5b3bV3-vaX_okLSOAcrzwCLcB/s1600/20150310_125514.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-39_vg9OOrp0/WHvVEwlyeSI/AAAAAAAADGE/OzJhrHURSgQV5b3bV3-vaX_okLSOAcrzwCLcB/s320/20150310_125514.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Oracle Women's Leadership (OWL) friends at the Professional Business Women's of California Conference, March 2015</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman";"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></span></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman";"><span style="font-size: medium;">Now
2016 has come to an end. So here is my biannual blog post of 2015 and
2016. Maybe I will get back to an annual missive in late 2017? BLUR
pretty much describes how life sometimes feels. What with working,
commuting, cooking, cleaning, shopping, homeschooling, and even
squeezing in some time for writing. </span></span></span>
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman";"><span style="font-size: medium;">Fortunately,
we've enjoyed many vacations, weddings, and family gatherings in the
last two years. And I still find plenty of challenges and interesting
events through my friends, family, neighbors, church, and maintaining
an old house and work at Oracle.</span></span></span></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-aQqhJecRvYo/WHvWN5X4taI/AAAAAAAADGY/la0AnRw2sgw7ljx_NZuYU9K2fW0P4Ip2ACLcB/s1600/20150313_101106.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="150" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-aQqhJecRvYo/WHvWN5X4taI/AAAAAAAADGY/la0AnRw2sgw7ljx_NZuYU9K2fW0P4Ip2ACLcB/s200/20150313_101106.jpg" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Oracle co-workers in Santa Clara doing our fitness challenge</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-WXMAxXpyrp4/WHvWNAyOSiI/AAAAAAAADGM/_qePGPhPwLoL1U2wczEFnIXWtVT6dDS9ACLcB/s1600/20150420_192142.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="112" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-WXMAxXpyrp4/WHvWNAyOSiI/AAAAAAAADGM/_qePGPhPwLoL1U2wczEFnIXWtVT6dDS9ACLcB/s200/20150420_192142.jpg" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Joshua's first catch: a salmon at Bass Lake, California, April 2015</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<h2>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-uTWWryEWY-4/WHvWNW8irqI/AAAAAAAADGQ/-x0_O4c5FfEG1ITWTLk4SxhUZ2J8gMiXwCLcB/s1600/20150424_165456.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="112" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-uTWWryEWY-4/WHvWNW8irqI/AAAAAAAADGQ/-x0_O4c5FfEG1ITWTLk4SxhUZ2J8gMiXwCLcB/s200/20150424_165456.jpg" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Yosemite, April 2015</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
</h2>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Ikg3l_IZ_7E/WHvWNz_guBI/AAAAAAAADGU/2FBPP53AYbkpNNRzDoEIl0L2sKyWQYk_ACLcB/s1600/20150527_155435.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="180" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Ikg3l_IZ_7E/WHvWNz_guBI/AAAAAAAADGU/2FBPP53AYbkpNNRzDoEIl0L2sKyWQYk_ACLcB/s320/20150527_155435.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Gray's Hall, my freshman dorm at Harvard, for 35th reunion</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman";"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></span></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman";"><span style="font-size: medium;">Quick
snapshot of 2015 and 2016:</span></span></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman";"><span style="font-size: medium;">I'm
still working at Oracle, but transferred from the Systems (hardware)
business unit in Santa Clara to Human Capital Mgt software
(applications) business unit and work from home 3 days a week and
then go to headquarters in Redwood Shores one day and the Pleasanton
campus one day. I'm still an information development manager but with
a global team with writers in India, England, and the U.S. I like the
change and the challenge and I enjoy not commuting three work days a
week.</span></span></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman";"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b>Peter
</b>is helping with the many home projects that an old house seems to
have from roof leaks to electrical issues. He also drives Joshua to
Foothill College where he's taking Japanese classes and participates
in the Japanese and Anime clubs.</span></span></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman";"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b>Joshua
</b>is a freshman in high school, doing online classes, a microschool
class in biology, and Japanese at Foothill. He's now the tallest
person in the house and with his curly mop of hair, he dwarfs me for
sure. He's enjoying video gaming, video editing, and school.</span></span></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman";"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b>Vanessa
</b>spent most of the last two years in Kunming, China, teaching English,
singing in clubs and songwriting. She created a wonderful CD called
Limbs with a crew of musicians through a Kickstarter campaign. She's
temporarily came back to California but is now off again in
Guadalajara, Mexico. She may be able to continue part-time with her
current role as business development manager for goboxsfbay.com, an
eco products company.</span></span></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman";"><span style="font-size: medium;">In
November 2016, my dad passed away at 93. We miss him and I'm grateful
for the legacy he left us. More photos of 2015 and 2016:</span></span></span></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-5iXl5cenN9c/WHvXW3CCPGI/AAAAAAAADGg/440uc0fok4AKLZJHHq9sbcJFsR94kv-ZACLcB/s1600/20150528_075757.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-5iXl5cenN9c/WHvXW3CCPGI/AAAAAAAADGg/440uc0fok4AKLZJHHq9sbcJFsR94kv-ZACLcB/s200/20150528_075757.jpg" width="112" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Joshua at Harvard's Memorial Hall, May 2015</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Efkaluah4WA/WHvXXKgyYCI/AAAAAAAADGk/a0tuNIUSd6s1zxrqD7IAyk-4oiDsG2sWgCLcB/s1600/20150530_101938.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="112" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Efkaluah4WA/WHvXXKgyYCI/AAAAAAAADGk/a0tuNIUSd6s1zxrqD7IAyk-4oiDsG2sWgCLcB/s200/20150530_101938.jpg" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Harvard's Widener Library</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-4rqDVp-SMPQ/WHvXXPugJcI/AAAAAAAADGo/WRka-_teE1sM3N46bUdDZr6DSKWPu0-CQCLcB/s1600/20150628_115520.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="180" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-4rqDVp-SMPQ/WHvXXPugJcI/AAAAAAAADGo/WRka-_teE1sM3N46bUdDZr6DSKWPu0-CQCLcB/s320/20150628_115520.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">SF Pride Parade 2015</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-u-WgXn9EkU0/WHvYDziU2FI/AAAAAAAADGw/B3CfMxSQFhImAQHt_s42QBlQaey96m05wCLcB/s1600/20150628_122940.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="112" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-u-WgXn9EkU0/WHvYDziU2FI/AAAAAAAADGw/B3CfMxSQFhImAQHt_s42QBlQaey96m05wCLcB/s200/20150628_122940.jpg" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Peter got to ride in the Oracle car </td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-vuPiGtVGSYY/WHvYbtDXVTI/AAAAAAAADG4/fH2QogpoCYQTwaMXkb7dWcFG-XVbA3XjQCLcB/s1600/20150807_183811.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="180" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-vuPiGtVGSYY/WHvYbtDXVTI/AAAAAAAADG4/fH2QogpoCYQTwaMXkb7dWcFG-XVbA3XjQCLcB/s320/20150807_183811.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Blake Chin-Lee and Gina Nam marry in San Diego, 2015</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-4zt6rERCOew/WHvYbk5wAdI/AAAAAAAADG8/6eYSTbTth-IZpnFEsblI1r41uLk7y3YqwCLcB/s1600/20150906_154134.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="112" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-4zt6rERCOew/WHvYbk5wAdI/AAAAAAAADG8/6eYSTbTth-IZpnFEsblI1r41uLk7y3YqwCLcB/s200/20150906_154134.jpg" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Vanessa at Chapel of the Chimes, Oakland, 2015</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-Op6tpyykieA/WHvYbq1KenI/AAAAAAAADHA/eKzS87KEhsISpw0FHjg_GqXbn-JMRHLVACLcB/s1600/20150906_164712.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="179" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-Op6tpyykieA/WHvYbq1KenI/AAAAAAAADHA/eKzS87KEhsISpw0FHjg_GqXbn-JMRHLVACLcB/s320/20150906_164712.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Oakland smoothie place and the formula for life</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-j9QDNFdFWxQ/WHvYcPbyiYI/AAAAAAAADHE/n8EilgmIzUguHhfAFpQbvYkpZmWrupcbgCLcB/s1600/20150922_162940.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="112" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-j9QDNFdFWxQ/WHvYcPbyiYI/AAAAAAAADHE/n8EilgmIzUguHhfAFpQbvYkpZmWrupcbgCLcB/s200/20150922_162940.jpg" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Look carefully, Amelia to Zora en francais</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-k6Clb85WBd4/WHvYDxKJU-I/AAAAAAAADGs/Y2iZ_o6JsO4OZT2IR5EOOOCszmqJur0rgCLcB/s1600/20150712_172609.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="112" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-k6Clb85WBd4/WHvYDxKJU-I/AAAAAAAADGs/Y2iZ_o6JsO4OZT2IR5EOOOCszmqJur0rgCLcB/s200/20150712_172609.jpg" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Joshua at Obon Festival, San Jose 2015</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman";"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></span></span></div>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-MeoAVa3K-dc/WHvZNo36-ZI/AAAAAAAADHQ/tCbonauNzekFWERBo9JADdI5Ep58XOkXACLcB/s1600/20151003_150844.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="180" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-MeoAVa3K-dc/WHvZNo36-ZI/AAAAAAAADHQ/tCbonauNzekFWERBo9JADdI5Ep58XOkXACLcB/s320/20151003_150844.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Dad moves to Peter and El's home, Silver Spring, MD</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<div style="text-align: left;">
</div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-lOYmYchsb18/WHviGlkVcQI/AAAAAAAADKA/6MjfyJpbIvkv2fkf5QI9QMv2QPOqx-8VQCLcB/s1600/BarbCyndiWOCSTEM.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="135" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-lOYmYchsb18/WHviGlkVcQI/AAAAAAAADKA/6MjfyJpbIvkv2fkf5QI9QMv2QPOqx-8VQCLcB/s200/BarbCyndiWOCSTEM.JPG" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Barbara Hardy and me, Women of Color STEM Conf.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-UP5HNA3yk5U/WHvZNYejTsI/AAAAAAAADHM/AW5ONamLP_EQzVhxv1gJfMnQqkqlXB9wACLcB/s1600/20151016_175955.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="112" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-UP5HNA3yk5U/WHvZNYejTsI/AAAAAAAADHM/AW5ONamLP_EQzVhxv1gJfMnQqkqlXB9wACLcB/s200/20151016_175955.jpg" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Rainbow over Detroit Rennaisance Center</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-8G3pRPomC4A/WHvZyrxuaEI/AAAAAAAADHY/VJxXU5wpZlQCvn9t8IQwai9FJMU4l9JLwCLcB/s1600/20151030_140919.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="112" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-8G3pRPomC4A/WHvZyrxuaEI/AAAAAAAADHY/VJxXU5wpZlQCvn9t8IQwai9FJMU4l9JLwCLcB/s200/20151030_140919.jpg" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Halloween with Denise O'Dell, Santa Clara 2015</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-8iNMrs0mwdY/WHvZyhZn5AI/AAAAAAAADHg/mGI4vPUUTMkNd3xO9JmrfcWGwoGH1n-JwCLcB/s1600/20151031_185255.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-8iNMrs0mwdY/WHvZyhZn5AI/AAAAAAAADHg/mGI4vPUUTMkNd3xO9JmrfcWGwoGH1n-JwCLcB/s200/20151031_185255.jpg" width="112" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Joshua in Halo costume</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-jjW71j5101A/WHvbEhRc6mI/AAAAAAAADIE/a_cRbmZm254u_ymF_JJ7OMPWP7UkQIQzACLcB/s1600/20151225_145622.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="180" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-jjW71j5101A/WHvbEhRc6mI/AAAAAAAADIE/a_cRbmZm254u_ymF_JJ7OMPWP7UkQIQzACLcB/s320/20151225_145622.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Christmas 2015 in DC with cousins</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-3Dy1YRIS4g8/WHvbEuPlx5I/AAAAAAAADIA/6LluvEF1eCEc0TqBrPrCtZsTLMm8jewTgCLcB/s1600/20151225_204949.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-3Dy1YRIS4g8/WHvbEuPlx5I/AAAAAAAADIA/6LluvEF1eCEc0TqBrPrCtZsTLMm8jewTgCLcB/s320/20151225_204949.jpg" width="179" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Peter, Josh, Diane, Michael 2015</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-gbz-L282etw/WHvbEfuOm1I/AAAAAAAADH8/GvFFT1xRsykIV-jVLZAWCJJIvPCKwrr5wCLcB/s1600/20160103_162539.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="180" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-gbz-L282etw/WHvbEfuOm1I/AAAAAAAADH8/GvFFT1xRsykIV-jVLZAWCJJIvPCKwrr5wCLcB/s320/20160103_162539.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Home construction, new floors are done</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-5W0kpPXg5gA/WHvbE4UhdMI/AAAAAAAADII/MryScwcqGisf0WcKVkMs3zw-zLfRlGRDQCLcB/s1600/20160115_140838.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="180" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-5W0kpPXg5gA/WHvbE4UhdMI/AAAAAAAADII/MryScwcqGisf0WcKVkMs3zw-zLfRlGRDQCLcB/s320/20160115_140838.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Hardware to Software send-off at Oracle</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-rgtro03Oc0I/WHvZyjN-rFI/AAAAAAAADHc/-46BGQ7HcyUiHyyfg35GXm3p7oC2e25SwCLcB/s1600/20151107_220507.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="180" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-rgtro03Oc0I/WHvZyjN-rFI/AAAAAAAADHc/-46BGQ7HcyUiHyyfg35GXm3p7oC2e25SwCLcB/s320/20151107_220507.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Devin, Bruce, me, Ady Hom, Russ at film festival 2015</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em;"><tbody>
<tr><td><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-EI9l7VY4eSw/WHvZy3D2MLI/AAAAAAAADHk/SDc544412CobncApOyfAxrbOiQyDB3ZtgCLcB/s1600/20151108_140933.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="180" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-EI9l7VY4eSw/WHvZy3D2MLI/AAAAAAAADHk/SDc544412CobncApOyfAxrbOiQyDB3ZtgCLcB/s320/20151108_140933.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px;">Operation Marriage plays at the San Diego Film Festival<br />
<br />
<br />
<div>
<br /></div>
</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-DyF5ipbXkeA/WHvafEmDAXI/AAAAAAAADHs/UvmnliIrO601W091EE1diwlENy-uw_uQgCLcB/s1600/20151119_163447.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-DyF5ipbXkeA/WHvafEmDAXI/AAAAAAAADHs/UvmnliIrO601W091EE1diwlENy-uw_uQgCLcB/s200/20151119_163447.jpg" width="112" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Duckies at Oracle Santa Clara<br />
<br /></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-YJqfnrcSolU/WHvafdyoEkI/AAAAAAAADHw/YLrugYhA2mEdsndeDT3yHMX72RrG08cHQCLcB/s1600/20151126_104817.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="180" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-YJqfnrcSolU/WHvafdyoEkI/AAAAAAAADHw/YLrugYhA2mEdsndeDT3yHMX72RrG08cHQCLcB/s320/20151126_104817.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Fall colors in Palo Alto (not DC!)</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-q2YU7mpRE9c/WHvafAnWKsI/AAAAAAAADHo/TVojCLYPJfs9bZXSarifonajirqGrq7cgCLcB/s1600/20151224_190851.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="112" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-q2YU7mpRE9c/WHvafAnWKsI/AAAAAAAADHo/TVojCLYPJfs9bZXSarifonajirqGrq7cgCLcB/s200/20151224_190851.jpg" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Amanda and Doug, 2015</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-DTXNvGOWmYE/WHvafbtOFbI/AAAAAAAADH0/-8ndRa5FXbAr4dSi1V1RRjIfDJVT0zAfgCLcB/s1600/20151224_194324.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-DTXNvGOWmYE/WHvafbtOFbI/AAAAAAAADH0/-8ndRa5FXbAr4dSi1V1RRjIfDJVT0zAfgCLcB/s200/20151224_194324.jpg" width="112" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Christmas 2015, Peter & Kai</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-1FCO9r0ztSs/WHvcYA0bixI/AAAAAAAADIQ/1XQ3lWf5RQ0VpstEYKOiZ03FCFa20pJ6gCLcB/s1600/20160220_163116.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-1FCO9r0ztSs/WHvcYA0bixI/AAAAAAAADIQ/1XQ3lWf5RQ0VpstEYKOiZ03FCFa20pJ6gCLcB/s200/20160220_163116.jpg" width="112" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Brittany and Alex Skinner, Feb. 2016</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-Aa8tNIMNwIk/WHvcYGtcNnI/AAAAAAAADIU/mk82Fl875sULk_gAZptivHli-oEAbv2_QCLcB/s1600/20160220_164324.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="180" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-Aa8tNIMNwIk/WHvcYGtcNnI/AAAAAAAADIU/mk82Fl875sULk_gAZptivHli-oEAbv2_QCLcB/s320/20160220_164324.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Vanessa and Rachael Hays</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-PjWCljaD5t0/WHvcYZD5nPI/AAAAAAAADIc/fHg4Y4PQR_slZK1wrN-nbM5TE_WCPejIgCLcB/s1600/20160516_183727.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-PjWCljaD5t0/WHvcYZD5nPI/AAAAAAAADIc/fHg4Y4PQR_slZK1wrN-nbM5TE_WCPejIgCLcB/s200/20160516_183727.jpg" width="112" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Joshua graduates 8th grade</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-NK6mByXreNY/WHvc40y-8JI/AAAAAAAADIk/BbR3I0koogAVcrns3e9mWq0IszJJtHVTACLcB/s1600/20160516_185013.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="180" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-NK6mByXreNY/WHvc40y-8JI/AAAAAAAADIk/BbR3I0koogAVcrns3e9mWq0IszJJtHVTACLcB/s320/20160516_185013.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Josh and classmate</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-xOf8zno0jZk/WHvc5IxURmI/AAAAAAAADIo/J6xIV73Z3cYxU8rqiwec9TfU-0axik_LwCLcB/s1600/20160603_214613.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-xOf8zno0jZk/WHvc5IxURmI/AAAAAAAADIo/J6xIV73Z3cYxU8rqiwec9TfU-0axik_LwCLcB/s200/20160603_214613.jpg" width="112" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A sleep study for Josh</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-2XaUwis-ZjY/WHvc5dREO7I/AAAAAAAADIs/cH5gZ5KJVzwk9d-ZHMSkNG_IPbEZ6MVzACLcB/s1600/20160629_131138.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="180" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-2XaUwis-ZjY/WHvc5dREO7I/AAAAAAAADIs/cH5gZ5KJVzwk9d-ZHMSkNG_IPbEZ6MVzACLcB/s320/20160629_131138.jpg" width="320" /></a><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-CJZidyre-aQ/WHvji39MhkI/AAAAAAAADKI/Y4Sxnnc1GY47f90ktdQXY_3rc_XXofWfwCLcB/s1600/20160626_134637.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="150" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-CJZidyre-aQ/WHvji39MhkI/AAAAAAAADKI/Y4Sxnnc1GY47f90ktdQXY_3rc_XXofWfwCLcB/s200/20160626_134637.jpg" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Oracle colleagues in Pleasanton, CA & Pride Parade in SF, 2016</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-_fuyHI-NHmY/WHvd2_HXNgI/AAAAAAAADI0/rsXEtY__QEA1NHXAcUHQ_V2_OTYQbPVyQCLcB/s1600/20160704_105101.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="112" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-_fuyHI-NHmY/WHvd2_HXNgI/AAAAAAAADI0/rsXEtY__QEA1NHXAcUHQ_V2_OTYQbPVyQCLcB/s200/20160704_105101.jpg" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Santa Barbara, Family Vacation Ctr</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-0EGdkueY-84/WHvd3IWgIRI/AAAAAAAADI8/lEQcZTocFGIFErxmz79Z3CcchqwA0Wr8QCLcB/s1600/20160706_175521.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="112" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-0EGdkueY-84/WHvd3IWgIRI/AAAAAAAADI8/lEQcZTocFGIFErxmz79Z3CcchqwA0Wr8QCLcB/s200/20160706_175521.jpg" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Racquet ball, anyone?</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-3THQfx-vqqQ/WHveXpwABlI/AAAAAAAADJI/SsMlGE434tQMpgh4JHB0_K5bRCpPfuFewCLcB/s1600/20160725_194259.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="180" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-3THQfx-vqqQ/WHveXpwABlI/AAAAAAAADJI/SsMlGE434tQMpgh4JHB0_K5bRCpPfuFewCLcB/s320/20160725_194259.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">More home construction, shelves done, 2016</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-KPHLr-U69-I/WHveXrVt4fI/AAAAAAAADJE/aC6kwgFrg_oi40ETtV4nk0pC6BoY-1oggCLcB/s1600/20160730_153847.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="180" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-KPHLr-U69-I/WHveXrVt4fI/AAAAAAAADJE/aC6kwgFrg_oi40ETtV4nk0pC6BoY-1oggCLcB/s320/20160730_153847.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Richard Wong and Rachael marry in DC, July 2016</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-nxT09c7kmvU/WHve5ANrgOI/AAAAAAAADJQ/hzw3KUTEejAXelnKh6BqHyEv-6CgOrupgCLcB/s1600/20160910_161023.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="112" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-nxT09c7kmvU/WHve5ANrgOI/AAAAAAAADJQ/hzw3KUTEejAXelnKh6BqHyEv-6CgOrupgCLcB/s200/20160910_161023.jpg" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">My dream car: self-driving</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-gAjWV4bnS-0/WHve5CYgADI/AAAAAAAADJU/Oipf_erS9eQyg2PS3mAgRRrcE8i28NUGwCLcB/s1600/20160913_174909.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="112" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-gAjWV4bnS-0/WHve5CYgADI/AAAAAAAADJU/Oipf_erS9eQyg2PS3mAgRRrcE8i28NUGwCLcB/s200/20160913_174909.jpg" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">I'm a Techwomen Cultural Mentor</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-j_enNq9X5ZI/WHvfdfGgK3I/AAAAAAAADJY/yw3Belb_a6sM9Lv7qBTLxcHQnl6rpJLTgCLcB/s1600/20161002_123431.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-j_enNq9X5ZI/WHvfdfGgK3I/AAAAAAAADJY/yw3Belb_a6sM9Lv7qBTLxcHQnl6rpJLTgCLcB/s320/20161002_123431.jpg" width="180" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Techwomen event in San Juan Bautista</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-_CjKHu9Y4mk/WHvfdo_pTQI/AAAAAAAADJc/IyalY-QvARcvt_Dp6YyNZvHUzx2h9g0cACLcB/s1600/20161007_204635.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="180" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-_CjKHu9Y4mk/WHvfdo_pTQI/AAAAAAAADJc/IyalY-QvARcvt_Dp6YyNZvHUzx2h9g0cACLcB/s320/20161007_204635.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Peter, Josh, me, Ruby Yang filmmaker, Vanessa, Luca</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/--M8765rIGpg/WHvfdtI3RmI/AAAAAAAADJg/kN4rjCTG2JsuDln8UmTP5uNOEZQWv5ZfwCLcB/s1600/20161010_205000.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="180" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/--M8765rIGpg/WHvfdtI3RmI/AAAAAAAADJg/kN4rjCTG2JsuDln8UmTP5uNOEZQWv5ZfwCLcB/s320/20161010_205000.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Happy techwomen, SF, 2016</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-lQm2bvTXu-c/WHvgQIhCTUI/AAAAAAAADJs/2KO9zuS6PAoYn57kBdAhhns5sizymBVGQCLcB/s1600/20161022_204125.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="112" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-lQm2bvTXu-c/WHvgQIhCTUI/AAAAAAAADJs/2KO9zuS6PAoYn57kBdAhhns5sizymBVGQCLcB/s200/20161022_204125.jpg" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">At HRC gala in SF</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-wcpuD1uWoEc/WHvgQAJM63I/AAAAAAAADJw/rI87U6QMHZIsuXFFFZpYmXMQtX4vWV6ygCLcB/s1600/20161202_185019.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="112" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-wcpuD1uWoEc/WHvgQAJM63I/AAAAAAAADJw/rI87U6QMHZIsuXFFFZpYmXMQtX4vWV6ygCLcB/s200/20161202_185019.jpg" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">William Chin-Lee, 1923-2016</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-jUwsyDR--iY/WHvgQB-kIEI/AAAAAAAADJo/U3kcmaAfggEqE5qm2aeN3hWgmHlCRK6zwCLcB/s1600/20161203_174606.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="180" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-jUwsyDR--iY/WHvgQB-kIEI/AAAAAAAADJo/U3kcmaAfggEqE5qm2aeN3hWgmHlCRK6zwCLcB/s320/20161203_174606.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Blake, Brittany, Alex, Vanessa, Doug at wake</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-PYAoLypMxHM/WHvgs9chzaI/AAAAAAAADJ4/sAuYKj2Fm7caa3_-PhOVdN0Tlpi7DuaPACLcB/s1600/CJP_wedding.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="212" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-PYAoLypMxHM/WHvgs9chzaI/AAAAAAAADJ4/sAuYKj2Fm7caa3_-PhOVdN0Tlpi7DuaPACLcB/s320/CJP_wedding.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Cyndi, Josh, Peter at Blake and Gina's wedding</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-JGS7LTmj_AI/WHvgs6qJN9I/AAAAAAAADJ0/cKWUv9iJte0UBfjBCCuYMIqyljtkd-9AQCLcB/s1600/CraigCyndiQuentinCaamfest.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="150" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-JGS7LTmj_AI/WHvgs6qJN9I/AAAAAAAADJ0/cKWUv9iJte0UBfjBCCuYMIqyljtkd-9AQCLcB/s200/CraigCyndiQuentinCaamfest.jpg" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Craig Wiesner, me, Quentin Lee filmmaker at CAAMfest, SF</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-yDC5OcUgcbs/WHvd3MIy-QI/AAAAAAAADI4/2s-IDAUowagiAjZRLOmIJyZ2B_vuzOwuQCLcB/s1600/20160707_194237.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="112" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-yDC5OcUgcbs/WHvd3MIy-QI/AAAAAAAADI4/2s-IDAUowagiAjZRLOmIJyZ2B_vuzOwuQCLcB/s200/20160707_194237.jpg" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">UC Santa Barbara 2016<br />
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<a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-x5dUxlAAtqo/WHve5Nr3PFI/AAAAAAAADJM/AdYQ9FsG9-ge3AcOU1xjdnBPb8n_UijsgCLcB/s1600/20160908_172040.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="223" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-x5dUxlAAtqo/WHve5Nr3PFI/AAAAAAAADJM/AdYQ9FsG9-ge3AcOU1xjdnBPb8n_UijsgCLcB/s400/20160908_172040.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
OPEN: Oracle Pride Employee Network award 2016<br />
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Cynthia Chin-Lee, Author and Speakerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02761821717553582486noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8265994977055087141.post-40975980365303683302016-12-27T12:33:00.000-08:002016-12-27T12:33:07.575-08:00A life well lived, William Chin-Lee (1923 - 2016)<h2 style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
Eulogy for my father, William Chin-Lee</h2>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-zGl6ryLGQrU/WGLPXTc_krI/AAAAAAAADEY/OWR5LQN-B7s2pmG2K9gFUsUkMGa_KUKXACLcB/s1600/Grandpacolor%2B%25281%2529.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-zGl6ryLGQrU/WGLPXTc_krI/AAAAAAAADEY/OWR5LQN-B7s2pmG2K9gFUsUkMGa_KUKXACLcB/s200/Grandpacolor%2B%25281%2529.jpg" width="143" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">William Chin-Lee</td></tr>
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<h4>
Dec. 3, 2016 at the Chinese Community Church, 500 I St., NW, Washington, DC.</h4>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Y68h4jiIG1Q/WGLG1nc6FUI/AAAAAAAADDA/RQWPuC43ci4hLVEmoXI0yLGCrJUHdelSQCLcB/s1600/DadBaby.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Y68h4jiIG1Q/WGLG1nc6FUI/AAAAAAAADDA/RQWPuC43ci4hLVEmoXI0yLGCrJUHdelSQCLcB/s200/DadBaby.JPG" width="179" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">William Chin as a baby, 1923, Washington, DC<br /><div style="text-align: left;">
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<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
Compared to my dad, I feel like an underachieving slouch. My friends tell me I should not feel this way. So I will put it more positively. I hope I have inherited a small fraction of my dad's talents! If you read his biography or you knew him well, you know he was an accomplished medical doctor and both a community and political leader. He was also a loving husband and father and a <b>gentle</b> Christian.</div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
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<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
I'm Cynthia
Chin-Lee, his youngest child, a manager at a high-tech company in
California and a children's book author. My husband Peter Ching was
unable to make the trip due to his health. I'd like to share some
things you might know about him and how he has inspired me.</div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-ZjQb00ryYmQ/WGLG6cG0X5I/AAAAAAAADDg/-p2rpZ59r8svaan41ctRaafP9v493eXhQCLcB/s1600/DadBoyChurch.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-ZjQb00ryYmQ/WGLG6cG0X5I/AAAAAAAADDg/-p2rpZ59r8svaan41ctRaafP9v493eXhQCLcB/s320/DadBoyChurch.JPG" width="274" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">With church friends. Dad is on the far right.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<h3 style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
Birth and Childhood</h3>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
My dad was born in
1923 as William Chin with several older brothers and a sister and was
then followed by many more brothers and two sisters, including Robert
and Sherman Chin, Mary Lee and Elizabeth Wong, who are here today.</div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-mu3qbdVeQoo/WGLHAIL9c8I/AAAAAAAADDw/gEE6HrXp-u8VToGCkCEP-pOH0JJOJnvRwCLcB/s1600/DadYoungMan.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-mu3qbdVeQoo/WGLHAIL9c8I/AAAAAAAADDw/gEE6HrXp-u8VToGCkCEP-pOH0JJOJnvRwCLcB/s200/DadYoungMan.JPG" width="159" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">As a young man</td></tr>
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<tr><td><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Qzge9YwXD68/WGLHAJHj8lI/AAAAAAAADD4/FNxz4LPJUEs-ZAmkovxix6OCUJm7__7pACLcB/s1600/GrandmaPaLaundry.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="160" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Qzge9YwXD68/WGLHAJHj8lI/AAAAAAAADD4/FNxz4LPJUEs-ZAmkovxix6OCUJm7__7pACLcB/s200/GrandmaPaLaundry.JPG" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px;">My father's parents, Sing Yat Lee and Ngon Win Chin<br /></td></tr>
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<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
My dad's parents
Sing Yat and Ngon Win Chin immigrated to the United States in the
early 1900s from Toishan county in Guangzhou province China. Though
neither of his parents had much education, they were hard-working and
smart and created a successful laundry in downtown DC. Along with his
siblings, my dad worked in the laundry and at age 15 he had an
accident when his left hand got stuck in a clamped ironing press. He
got a skin graft from the skin around his stomach to his injured left
hand, leaving a long horizontal scar across his stomach. To me as a
child, he looked like he had a big smile on his tummy.</div>
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<h3 style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
Education</h3>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">You're in the army now</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Practicing medicine in Chinatown, DC</td></tr>
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<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
Despite the
accident, he carried on, graduating from Western High School (now
Duke Ellington High School of the Arts) and was admitted to American
University where he was on scholarship. For part of his scholarship,
he worked in the laundry for the Athletics Dept, the same one in
which participated as a football player. At American University, he
rushed for a fraternity and was accepted until one brother broke the
news that he couldn't be a member because he wasn't white. Later my
mother told me that he met this same fraternity brother who sold
suits at Sears. My dad bought a suit from him, making sure to tell
the brother that he was now a physician.</div>
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When my dad was in
college, World War II was in full swing and he enlisted in the Army.
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;">He spent only two
years at American University because he was fast-tracked to George
Washington University Medical School because of the high demand for
medical doctors for the war. He graduated from Medical School in
1948, the same year that he married our mom, Nancy Wong. </span>
</div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-HcuBNL3CkBg/WGLHATcZlvI/AAAAAAAADEI/46WKqvwZUwgvsWXvwYs32N3RqU4y07haACLcB/s1600/momNdad.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><img border="0" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-HcuBNL3CkBg/WGLHATcZlvI/AAAAAAAADEI/46WKqvwZUwgvsWXvwYs32N3RqU4y07haACLcB/s1600/momNdad.JPG" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">William and Nancy</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-9zbpqBKYwM8/WGLG__ZpDKI/AAAAAAAADDk/uRJ821BFYzUict6b2PPeyUMZgQBUpnBqACLcB/s1600/DadMomWedding.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-9zbpqBKYwM8/WGLG__ZpDKI/AAAAAAAADDk/uRJ821BFYzUict6b2PPeyUMZgQBUpnBqACLcB/s320/DadMomWedding.JPG" width="134" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Mom and Dad on their wedding day</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<h3 style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;">Marriage and Family</span></h3>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Z6vK26EvWtM/WGLHAVtR1oI/AAAAAAAADEA/22fUo9XVkZwkhrtKEFaCUXtSl8DlRwJmwCLcB/s1600/grandkidsPaloAlto.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="245" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Z6vK26EvWtM/WGLHAVtR1oI/AAAAAAAADEA/22fUo9XVkZwkhrtKEFaCUXtSl8DlRwJmwCLcB/s320/grandkidsPaloAlto.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Top: Blake, Warren Christopher, William (BJ), Zach, Doug<br />Bottom: Dad, Vanessa, Brittany, Mom</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div>
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<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"> My
parents were married for over 60 years until my mom's death 3 years
ago. They had a traditional marriage where he supported the family
through his career and she took care of the home front. They raised 5
children: </span>
</div>
<ul>
<li><div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;">Bruce,
a retired medical doctor, in San Diego, California. Married to
Devin.</span></div>
</li>
<li><div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;">My
sister Sandra Hays, a retired admin, of Vancouver, WA. Married to
Philip.</span></div>
</li>
<li><div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;">My
brother, Peter, a retired engineer, of Silver Spring, married to
Eleanor.</span></div>
</li>
<li><div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;">Our
brother Warren passed away several years ago, but my sister-in-law
Deede of Washington DC survives him and my nephews Warren
Christopher, an Army ranger of Georgia, married to Crystal and
Douglass, of DC, a localization manager, are here.</span></div>
</li>
</ul>
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<tr><td><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-ZHS6hTRYlU0/WGLHAYdrfPI/AAAAAAAADD8/IHOxm5lD5tse8FpCkvu3xZoQCW4Tbvu6gCLcB/s1600/Parents5kids.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="230" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-ZHS6hTRYlU0/WGLHAYdrfPI/AAAAAAAADD8/IHOxm5lD5tse8FpCkvu3xZoQCW4Tbvu6gCLcB/s320/Parents5kids.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px;">Bruce, Dad, Sandra, Mom, Warren, Cynthia (me), Peter</td></tr>
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<tr><td><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-qonuc-6ZmB4/WGLG6DVBxiI/AAAAAAAADEM/8GnTa1xq8dEBP_fQDEXLDSuunN9oWp2eACEw/s1600/CyndiPeterParentsReception.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="163" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-qonuc-6ZmB4/WGLG6DVBxiI/AAAAAAAADEM/8GnTa1xq8dEBP_fQDEXLDSuunN9oWp2eACEw/s320/CyndiPeterParentsReception.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px;">Mom, Cynthia (me), Peter Ching, Dad, my mother-in-law Wanda, Ron Ching</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<h3 style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;">Career</span></h3>
<div>
<a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-ljt5na1nQK8/WGLG5xo_aPI/AAAAAAAADDE/2SYjGqGBGzIXjS6FgN7IYXZP57c3HvytgCLcB/s1600/BoardSurgeons.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="111" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-ljt5na1nQK8/WGLG5xo_aPI/AAAAAAAADDE/2SYjGqGBGzIXjS6FgN7IYXZP57c3HvytgCLcB/s320/BoardSurgeons.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;">My
dad </span><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><b>inspired</b></span></span><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;">
me because he said YES to the many opportunities that came his way.
He ran a thriving medical practice in DC Chinatown, a community that
he loved; he helped run the family real estate business; he became
medical director of the DC Police and Fire Clinic; and he was chosen
the Republican candidate for Washington DC's member of Congress after
quite a heated campaign, including a second run-off vote. Despite all
the successes, he had his share of failures.</span></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"> He
lost his bid for Congress to the Democratic incumbent Walter
Fauntroy. He was never able to realize his long-held dream for a Far
East Development Center in Chinatown, a shopping and commercial
building over the Chinatown metro stop. He also failed to revive the
Diplomat National Bank, a bank created to cater to Asian American
clients, when he became Chairman after a scandal that the former
chairman Charles Kim was involved with South Korean interests.</span></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-vnAKzHVDKh4/WGLG6JBwjKI/AAAAAAAADDM/LtBlPlLNsJwA994ivevj-AXyWboZKXK2gCLcB/s1600/Campaign.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-vnAKzHVDKh4/WGLG6JBwjKI/AAAAAAAADDM/LtBlPlLNsJwA994ivevj-AXyWboZKXK2gCLcB/s320/Campaign.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Dad's campaign brochure, 1972, for non-voting delegate to Congress</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"> For
all the successes, he had disappointments, too. My dad <b>inspired</b>
me because he was <b>resilient</b>. Life was not a straight shot, but
it zigzagged with some successes and some setbacks. Despite the
setbacks, my dad consistently said YES to the chances he was given.</span></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"> Another
milestone in our lives was when my father and mother changed our last
name from “Chin” to “Chin-Lee” in the 1960s. This was at the
request of my grandfather Sing Yat, who had come to the US with the
paper name “Chin.” For those of you not familiar with immigration
history, in 1882 the US Congress passed the Chinese Exclusion act,
which was called one of the “most significant restrictions to free
immigration in US history.” That law prohibited the immigration of
Chinese laborers for 60 years. To get around that racially-motivated
law, my grandfather bought the paper name of a Mr. Chin and entered
the country as said Mr. Chin, later bringing over my grandmother as
Mrs. Chin. They lived their lives in the US, another 6 to 8 decades
as the Chins. Having been born in the US, my father was automatically
a US citizen as were all of us his children. My parents legally filed
papers to become Chin-Lee, preserving our paper name and our true
clan name for posterity.</span></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-tZdcxRmJuC4/WGLG_7xElpI/AAAAAAAADDs/4yPEOEWyCkwWqU4BeljZyq_KjzSTizZxQCLcB/s1600/DadMomsFuneral.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-tZdcxRmJuC4/WGLG_7xElpI/AAAAAAAADDs/4yPEOEWyCkwWqU4BeljZyq_KjzSTizZxQCLcB/s320/DadMomsFuneral.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Top: Doug, Zach, Kailyn, Peter Chin-Lee, Alex, Blake, Brittany, William (BJ), Michelle, Peter Hays<br />Bottom: Warren Christopher with Kai, Logan, Dad</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<h3 style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;">A Family Man</span></h3>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;">My
father <b>inspired</b> me because he was a family man who cared a
great deal for extended family. A gentle soul, he loved playing with
his grandkids. He particularly loved babies and I remember how he
willingly took care of both my children, Vanessa and Joshua, when
they were babies, rocking them and cuddling them and giving them a
bottle. He was not shy about bribing them either, often carrying
lollipops in his shirt pocket.</span></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-ykOZFZq44K8/WGLHAIpk20I/AAAAAAAADD0/YomusBx1qrAFSkgMF0rABBOyY7pFca98ACLcB/s1600/GrandparentsVJ.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><img border="0" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-ykOZFZq44K8/WGLHAIpk20I/AAAAAAAADD0/YomusBx1qrAFSkgMF0rABBOyY7pFca98ACLcB/s1600/GrandparentsVJ.JPG" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Dad, Vanessa holding Joshua, Mom</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"> In
his last years, my sister-in-law Eleanor and my brother Peter in
Silver Spring remodeled their family room as a bedroom for him. He
liked to watch the squirrels outside on their deck finding the nuts
that my brother Peter would leave for them.</span></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-hi7-jQkSAlE/WGLG_6oO7mI/AAAAAAAADDo/ZsF1hhL1faQQroevcrSriqhdaymuFazmgCLcB/s1600/DadSisters.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><img border="0" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-hi7-jQkSAlE/WGLG_6oO7mI/AAAAAAAADDo/ZsF1hhL1faQQroevcrSriqhdaymuFazmgCLcB/s1600/DadSisters.JPG" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Aunt Liz, Dad, Aunt Mary</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
</div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"> I'd
like to thank all of you for taking time out of your busy lives to
remember my father. You are also invited to the other events that my
brother Bruce will announce. </span>
</div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"> Before
I end, I'd like to recognize my sister-in-law and brother, Eleanor
and Peter especially. They have been the major caregivers for both my
mother and father in these last few years. While all of my extended
family have contributed to their care, Eleanor and Peter have borne
the lion's share of work, scheduling his fantastic caregivers, like
Irene Mandu and Namukale Simyembe; paying bills, filing their taxes,
engaging with hospice and medical doctors and dentists and lawyers.
Thank you, El and Peter, for your tender loving care of Mom and Dad.
May we learn from the your caring example.</span></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
</div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"> Finally,
thanks, Dad, for the example of your life.</span></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-xDK0ixEd3Dk/WGLG6LLmnNI/AAAAAAAADDI/-WuFaOI-w1s1uil5Gl_JgtS2SRtvdKrXwCLcB/s1600/CVGrandpa.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="154" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-xDK0ixEd3Dk/WGLG6LLmnNI/AAAAAAAADDI/-WuFaOI-w1s1uil5Gl_JgtS2SRtvdKrXwCLcB/s320/CVGrandpa.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Cynthia (me), Dad, Vanessa</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<h2>
William Chin-Lee Biography</h2>
<div>
<div align="JUSTIFY" style="margin-bottom: 0in; page-break-before: always;">
<span style="font-family: Palatino Linotype, serif;"><b>William Chin-Lee</b></span><span style="font-family: Palatino Linotype, serif;"><span style="font-size: 11pt;">
(April 22, 1923 – November 12, 2016), the son of the late Sing Yat
Lee and Lee Ngon Win Chin, was born and raised in Washington, DC. He
was the oldest child of his mother and had many brothers and sisters.
His brothers, Victor Lee, Henry Chin, Bill Q. Hong, James Chin, Carl
Chin, and Edmund Chin, passed away before him. He is survived by
siblings Robert Chin (Helen Wong), Sherman Chin (Donna Matula), Mary
Lee (the late Fatt M. Lee), and Elizabeth Wong (Thomas Wong).</span></span></div>
<div align="JUSTIFY" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div align="JUSTIFY" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Palatino Linotype, serif;"><span style="font-size: 11pt;">He
grew up in a neighborhood not far from the White House, swam in the
Potomac and went fishing in the tidal basin. He worked in the family
laundry. William attended church at the Chinese Community Church in
Washington, D.C., and attended Bible study regularly.</span></span></div>
<div align="JUSTIFY" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div align="JUSTIFY" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Palatino Linotype, serif;"><span style="font-size: 11pt;">During
World War II, William studied at American University and while a
sophomore in college he joined the Army. He served in the Army and
was admitted to George Washington University Medical School after
sophomore year in college because of the high demand for medical
doctors. He graduated from George Washington University Medical
School in 1948, the same year that he married the late Nancy Wong at
the Church of the Epiphany. William also served in the US Air Force
during the Korean War in upstate New York.</span></span></div>
<div align="JUSTIFY" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div align="JUSTIFY" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Palatino Linotype, serif;"><span style="font-size: 11pt;">William
and Nancy raised five children; William Bruce, M.D. (Devin Hom),
Sandra Louise (Philip Hays), Warren Douglass (survived by Deede
Chan), Peter Edward (Eleanor Lee) and Cynthia Denise (Peter Ching).
With Nancy managing the domestic front, William started a successful
internal medicine practice in DC Chinatown. They also loved
babysitting and visiting with their 12 grandchildren: Warren
Christopher (Crystal Walton); Zachary Hays, Ph.D. (Rachael Rogers);
Will; Peter Hays; Blake, M.D. (Gina Nam); Douglass; Brittany (Alex
Skinner); Vanessa Pan; Alexandra (Byron Ballard-Lyles); Michael;
Michelle; and Joshua Ching. William was blessed by three great-
grandchildren: Logan and Kai Chin-Lee and Kailyn Hays. </span></span>
</div>
<div align="CENTER" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div align="JUSTIFY" style="line-height: 108%; margin-bottom: 0.11in; page-break-before: always;">
<span style="font-family: Palatino Linotype, serif;"><span style="font-size: 11pt;">In
addition to his private practice, William served at the DC Police and
Fire Clinic for 20 years, retiring as chief medical director. He held
many leadership positions in the community, including:</span></span></div>
<ul>
<li><div align="JUSTIFY" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Palatino Linotype, serif;"><span style="font-size: 11pt;">President
of the Chinese Benevolent Association</span></span></div>
</li>
<li><div align="JUSTIFY" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Palatino Linotype, serif;"><span style="font-size: 11pt;">President
of Chi-Am Lion's Club</span></span></div>
</li>
<li><div align="JUSTIFY" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Palatino Linotype, serif;"><span style="font-size: 11pt;">President
of the Lee Family Credit Union</span></span></div>
</li>
<li><div align="JUSTIFY" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Palatino Linotype, serif;"><span style="font-size: 11pt;">Federal
City College Board member</span></span></div>
</li>
<li><div align="JUSTIFY" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Palatino Linotype, serif;"><span style="font-size: 11pt;">Member
of the Urban League</span></span></div>
</li>
<li><div align="JUSTIFY" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Palatino Linotype, serif;"><span style="font-size: 11pt;">Executive
Council of the National Chinese Welfare Council member</span></span></div>
</li>
<li><div align="JUSTIFY" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Palatino Linotype, serif;"><span style="font-size: 11pt;">Advisory
Co-Chair of the Chinese Culture and Education Center</span></span></div>
</li>
<li><div align="JUSTIFY" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Palatino Linotype, serif;"><span style="font-size: 11pt;">Chairman
of the YMCA Camp Lichtman Board</span></span></div>
</li>
<li><div align="JUSTIFY" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Palatino Linotype, serif;"><span style="font-size: 11pt;">Education
Committee of the National Republican Heritage Groups Council member</span></span></div>
</li>
<li><div align="JUSTIFY" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Palatino Linotype, serif;"><span style="font-size: 11pt;">Trustee
of the Chinese Community Church</span></span></div>
</li>
</ul>
<div align="JUSTIFY" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 0.5in;">
<br />
</div>
<div align="JUSTIFY" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Palatino Linotype, serif;"><span style="font-size: 11pt;">Active
in politics as well, he won the Republican nomination for non-voting
delegate to Congress in 1972, but lost to the Democratic candidate.</span></span></div>
<div align="JUSTIFY" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div align="JUSTIFY" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Palatino Linotype, serif;"><span style="font-size: 11pt;">He
helped many other initiatives, including the founding of Diplomat
National Bank, the Wah Luck House senior housing development, the
Organization of Chinese Americans, and several other projects,
including helping to manage the family real estate business, Chin,
Inc., which later acquired the Best Western Downtown Hotel.</span></span></div>
</div>
Cynthia Chin-Lee, Author and Speakerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02761821717553582486noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8265994977055087141.post-12538831370325587442016-01-18T18:38:00.000-08:002016-02-07T13:41:24.568-08:00Exiting x86 at Sun Oracle<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-4eJYcaWYh2Q/Vp2O_5OziXI/AAAAAAAACgc/DxfnWSGFEYI/s1600/cyndi_plaque.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-4eJYcaWYh2Q/Vp2O_5OziXI/AAAAAAAACgc/DxfnWSGFEYI/s320/cyndi_plaque.jpg" width="191" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Cyndi displays the plaque</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-8FfgV4QSmtg/Vpmxd_e3gYI/AAAAAAAACfU/h5LaUjmmBS0/s1600/oracle%2Bx86%2Bsend%2Boff%2B2016%2B-%2B1" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="225" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-8FfgV4QSmtg/Vpmxd_e3gYI/AAAAAAAACfU/h5LaUjmmBS0/s400/oracle%2Bx86%2Bsend%2Boff%2B2016%2B-%2B1" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">I can have my cake and eat it too since I get to stay at Oracle!</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<b>Thanks</b> to all of my coworkers at Sun Oracle for the last 12 years! I had a wonderful send-off on Friday, Jan. 15, 2016 at a spacious conference room at the historic Oracle Santa Clara campus. Special thanks to those who organized the event: Denise O'Dell, Christopher P. Johnson, and Ralph Woodley.<br />
<br />
I was delighted to have so many well-wishers in the room. When I heard that 1740 was reserved for the event, I told Denise that I wasn't sure we would need to have such a large room, but she said it was all reserved and "that's that." We had scrumptious mocha cake from Bon Appetit, a large and enthusiastic crowd, and even our executive attendance! At one point, my senior VP, the humble Ali Alasti, embarrassed me by getting on his knees and pretending to beg me not to leave. (Wish someone had taken a photo of that!)<br />
<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Zu6L2DqGks4/Vp2O_udWrKI/AAAAAAAACgk/rMIp1J7fWlw/s1600/cyndi_kevin_mark.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Zu6L2DqGks4/Vp2O_udWrKI/AAAAAAAACgk/rMIp1J7fWlw/s200/cyndi_kevin_mark.JPG" width="150" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Cyndi, Kevin Wiramihardja, Mark Stanton</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Ralph presented me with a special plaque that was custom engraved for my years of service. They also presented me with a <span style="color: blue;">blue </span>phalaenopsis orchid with a card that said they'll be <span style="color: blue;">blue </span>without me.<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-PVGkzN0q3gQ/Vp2nptXKMkI/AAAAAAAACiY/gStqJLuE0_c/s1600/20160116_104729.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="180" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-PVGkzN0q3gQ/Vp2nptXKMkI/AAAAAAAACiY/gStqJLuE0_c/s320/20160116_104729.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Cards and custom chocolates decorated with service labels</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Denise Silverman from the Human Factors, User-Centered Design group gave me a customized box of chocolates, decorated with x86 service label snips! Very clever.<br />
<br />
I remarked that I joined the Solaris group as an employee in 2003. I also had at least three or more previous stints as a contractor at Sun Microsystems as early as 1984 when the hot start-up was headquartered in Mountain View. I transferred to NSG (what did that stand for? network systems group, I think) in 2005 after the product I documented, Sun Management Center, was transferred to India.<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-U-3l9dpEQjA/Vpmxd1uqwPI/AAAAAAAACfY/4JL2LNz211E/s1600/oracle%2Bx86%2Bsend%2Boff%2B2016%2B-%2B2" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="112" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-U-3l9dpEQjA/Vpmxd1uqwPI/AAAAAAAACfY/4JL2LNz211E/s200/oracle%2Bx86%2Bsend%2Boff%2B2016%2B-%2B2" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Ralph Woodley, Cyndi, Mark McGothigan </td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<span style="text-align: center;">Fortunate for me I had met George Salem (now at Google) at a Harvard alum event and had told him that I wanted to look for a job as a program manager. He told me that Ada Chiang had some openings for program managers so I applied. But Ada took a look at my resume and saw "tech pubs" all over it and said she needed a tech pubs manager/writer and wanted me to apply as a writer with the understanding that I would most likely become the manager.</span><br />
<br />
I interviewed with seven people in NSG and I recall clearly that six of the seven said thumbs up and one person said NO. I can guess who the NO came from. That person was laid off soon thereafter so I got my just desserts!?<br />
<br />
I had many highlights over my ten years in NSG, now called x86, including two trips to the Shanghai engineering office which Ada opened. I begged her to send me and she approved after I justified my trip with many training sessions for the engineers, including leadership training from Toastmasters. So off I went in 2008 and again in 2013.<br />
<br />
My other supportive x86 managers included Thomas Yu and Christopher P. Johnson. Chris was especially encouraging when I initiated a video and animation program. Over the years and not without plenty of ups and downs, my stellar team (Ralph Woodley and Ray Angelo, in particular) created dozens of animations and videos of technical procedures and concepts.<br />
<br />
In addition to my work projects, I also cherish the fun and excitement of organizing the Oracle contingent to the SF Pride Parade with Sujesh Sundaram, Vincent Coville, Cathy Melior Benoit and others.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
Here are groups at Santa Clara are dear to my heart (apologies as I know I've missed people):<br />
<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-cXDuIHIeJzE/Vpmxd-NdXWI/AAAAAAAACfg/msWYiSoQ10U/s1600/oracle%2Bx86%2Bsend%2Boff%2B2016%2B-%2B3" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="180" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-cXDuIHIeJzE/Vpmxd-NdXWI/AAAAAAAACfg/msWYiSoQ10U/s320/oracle%2Bx86%2Bsend%2Boff%2B2016%2B-%2B3" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Sue Young, Pam Parrish, Nancy Moreno, Sujesh Sundaram, Neng Xue</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<ul>
<li>Speakeasy@Sun Toastmasters Club (formerly in the Menlo Park Sun campus) with many of the members present like Cornelia Koch-Stoschek, Salomon Chavez, Neng Xue, Sujesh, Becky Xu, Sumit Jyoti</li>
<li>Oracle Women's Leadership (OWL) with Nancy Moreno, Joy Lee, Sue Young, Pam Parrish, Jeewika Ranaweera, Beth Beasley. We put on some fantastic events including International Day of the Girl, Women's right to vote, mentor circles, and many more.</li>
<li>Pubs and usability people: Shripad Patki, Anathea Lolen, Barb Jugo, Anne Juan, Alta Elstad, Mike Bechler, Andrea Marra, Sharon Veach, kristin Travis, Ralph Woodley, Mark McGothigan</li>
<li>Engineers and managers: Paul Ryan, Prafull Singhal, Albert Lau, Tamra Smith-Wasel, Dan Benefiel, Todd Creamer, Chad Amsler, Jim Vasquez, Yi Cai, Tony Huang, Obehi Ukpebor, Ali Vahedi, Helen Liu</li>
</ul>
<div>
Thanks to all of you who came and those who sent me your wishes. I appreciate your kindness, cards, and gifts. One executive wrote to me:</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
I can easily say you have done far more for our x86 team and I than I
have ever done for you. I appreciate all of our years together. I wish
you the very very best. I know you are very smart, passionate and
caring. It is a hard combination to come by. Any team would be lucky to
have you.</blockquote>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-21z6CxbdXjo/Vp2cbpnPnRI/AAAAAAAACiI/TBKMhXpPv58/s1600/53576513.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="191" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-21z6CxbdXjo/Vp2cbpnPnRI/AAAAAAAACiI/TBKMhXpPv58/s320/53576513.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Santa Clara campus by Ray Shr</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Cynthia Chin-Lee, Author and Speakerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02761821717553582486noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8265994977055087141.post-60263681385587657862015-11-01T15:02:00.000-08:002015-11-01T15:03:08.926-08:00You're invited to the movies (Nov. 2015)I just looked at when I last posted! December of 2014. That's pretty sad.<br />
<br />
Or maybe not. Life has been a blur with work, school, some travel, some medical challenges and some highlights, too.<br />
<br />
I was inspired to write because there are two things coming up that I wanted to share:<br />
<br />
Operation Marriage, the short film, will be playing at the<br />
<span style="font-size: large;">San Diego Asian Film Festival </span>on Saturday, Nov. 7, at 7:35 pm.<br />
<br />
Here's a link to the shorts program it's in:<br />
<a href="http://festival.sdaff.org/2015/shorts-programs/shorts-mommy-queerest/%C2%A0">Shorts program (Mommy Queerest)</a><br />
<br />
I'll be attending and will be in the post-screening Question and Answer.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-YY6nZ2VeYUU/VjaXU6gweXI/AAAAAAAACQQ/3HpvKBqUB1k/s1600/MindyCohnAnnWalkerTamlynTomita.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-YY6nZ2VeYUU/VjaXU6gweXI/AAAAAAAACQQ/3HpvKBqUB1k/s320/MindyCohnAnnWalkerTamlynTomita.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<div style="background-color: white;">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">The San Francisco Peninsula Alumnae Chapter (SFPA) is hosting a screening of the internationally award winning film <span style="font-size: large;">"I Am A Girl" </span>on <span class="aBn" data-term="goog_1649239691" style="border-bottom-color: rgb(204, 204, 204); border-bottom-style: dashed; border-bottom-width: 1px; position: relative; top: -2px; z-index: 0;" tabindex="0"><span class="aQJ" style="position: relative; top: 2px; z-index: -1;">Monday, November 9th at 7pm</span></span> in Menlo Park.</span></div>
<div style="background-color: white;">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><br />The San Francisco Peninsula Alumnae Chapter (SFPA) has been serving the greater San Francisco Peninsula area for over 35 years. Located in the heart of the Silicon Valley, SFPA is strategically focused on deeply impacting our communities through service, programs and partnerships.</span></div>
<div style="background-color: white;">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="background-color: white;">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">I'll be on the post-screening panel. My Oracle co-worker, Sharonda Faison, is helping with this event and that's how I got word of it.</span></div>
<div style="background-color: white;">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="background-color: white;">
<div>
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><b>When</b>: <span class="aBn" data-term="goog_1649239692" style="border-bottom-color: rgb(204, 204, 204); border-bottom-style: dashed; border-bottom-width: 1px; position: relative; top: -2px; z-index: 0;" tabindex="0"><span class="aQJ" style="position: relative; top: 2px; z-index: -1;">Mon, November 09, 2015 at 07:00 pm</span></span></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><b>Where</b>: Guild Theatre, 949 El Camino. Menlo Park, CA</span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><b>Cost</b>: $10</span></div>
</div>
<div style="background-color: white;">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><b>Buy tickets:</b> <a href="https://gathr.us/screening/13090" target="_blank" wotsearchprocessed="true">https://gathr.us/screening/<wbr></wbr>13090</a></span><br />
<div style="background: url(chrome-extension://bhmmomiinigofkjcapegjjndpbikblnp/skin/fusion/16_16/plain/r0.png) 100% 50% no-repeat; cursor: pointer; display: inline-block; height: 16px; margin-left: 4px; padding-bottom: 2px; position: relative; visibility: visible; width: 16px;" wotsearchtarget="gathr.us">
</div>
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">
</span></div>
<div style="background-color: white;">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><b>Watch the amazing trailer: </b><a href="http://www.iamagirl.com.au/" target="_blank" wotsearchprocessed="true">www.iamagirl.com.au</a></span><br />
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Cynthia Chin-Lee, Author and Speakerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02761821717553582486noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8265994977055087141.post-14226284110941020732014-12-23T15:42:00.000-08:002014-12-23T15:42:09.297-08:00See and share "Operation Marriage"Here's a gift to you from everyone who made <i>Operation Marriage</i> the movie possible:<br />
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<a href="http://marginfilms.dreamhosters.com/">Quentin Lee</a>, director<br />
Alan Reade, producer<br />
<a href="http://reachandteach.com/">Reach and Teach</a>, Derrick Kikuchi and Craig Wiesner, publishers<br />
<a href="http://lealyon.com/">Lea Lyon</a>, illustrator<br />
<a href="http://operationmarriagemovie.org/thank-you-to-our-donors/">all of our generous donors and supporters</a><br />
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To see the film (about 10 minutes), go to:<br />
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<a href="http://operationmarriagemovie.org/">operationmarriagemovie.org</a><br />
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Click the video (and enlarge if you like). And share it with your friends, family, and enemies...we want it to go viral.<br />
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<br />Cynthia Chin-Lee, Author and Speakerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02761821717553582486noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8265994977055087141.post-50210551793641400572014-12-17T17:27:00.000-08:002014-12-23T15:22:42.007-08:00Holiday greetings for 2014<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
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Holiday Greetings 2014!</h2>
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Joshua, Peter, and I are doing well (sort of, if you don't count Joshua's back injury and walking pneumonia and Peter's shoulder injury and and their sleep apnea.) So what's perfect?<br />
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Joshua's now a 6th grader at Summit Denali charter school in Sunnyvale where each kid gets a personalized learning plan and a Chromebook. I continue as a publications manager at Oracle (my 11th year at Sun and Oracle). Peter's managing a home remodel, which has temporarily stopped to work on long-overlooked health issues. Vanessa skypes with me weekly from Kunming, China and has had adventures in Thailand and Laos as well as in southwest China.</div>
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Earlier in the year, I hosted a lunch in memory of my mother, Nancy Wong Chin-Lee, who passed away in October 2013.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 16px;">Cyndi and Aunt Doris at my mom's memorial in Palo Alto<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 16px; text-align: center;">Friends, Faith and Hayden Lee<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 16px; text-align: center;">Second cousin Debbie Larkin, Aunt Frances Chan, Cyndi, Uncle Peter Lee, cousins Mike Chin, Lydia Bartlett<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 16px; text-align: center;">Miriam Rhew, Cyndi, Brian Lee, Joshua<br />
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Samantha Chin-Lee, Vanessa who as back in the US for two weeks (she's usually in China)</div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">Although we decided not to join the cohousing group in Mountain View, we build community in other ways. I'm active at First Presbyterian Church in Palo Alto where we get together often with other families. Here are some of the families and the kids from middle school to college.</span></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Kids from the church covenant group send another one to college. Yes, that is Joshua on the far right.</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The parents don't get old; only the kids.<br />
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<span style="font-size: small;">This year, I had several trips back East to see my dad and for a family reunion on his side of the family. I also got a quick trip while recruiting for Oracle at Carnegie Mellon University.</span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/--y8z7wSkx6Q/VIzaIF2v18I/AAAAAAAACA0/VHP1qsWozNY/s1600/20140725_190612.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/--y8z7wSkx6Q/VIzaIF2v18I/AAAAAAAACA0/VHP1qsWozNY/s1600/20140725_190612.jpg" height="150" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">My second cousin Heather and me on the way to the Chin Family Reunion in southern Maryland.<br />
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<span style="font-size: small;">Joshua, Peter and I made our bi-annual trip to Family Vacation Center in Santa Barbara.</span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-dSuB_m2-skg/VIzZrNotznI/AAAAAAAACAo/obk9N9PObaM/s1600/JoshSurf.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-dSuB_m2-skg/VIzZrNotznI/AAAAAAAACAo/obk9N9PObaM/s1600/JoshSurf.jpg" height="200" width="133" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Whoa, that's a big one.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-aClGtphj0Kk/VIzZq4qsvPI/AAAAAAAACAk/ERTE1P6U6qA/s1600/IMG_0648.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-aClGtphj0Kk/VIzZq4qsvPI/AAAAAAAACAk/ERTE1P6U6qA/s1600/IMG_0648.jpg" height="213" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">First time surfing lesson for Joshua</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-DpOJ1S0-CIQ/VIzZcivHicI/AAAAAAAACAc/_Iv50ljRiI8/s1600/5D3_4236.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-DpOJ1S0-CIQ/VIzZcivHicI/AAAAAAAACAc/_Iv50ljRiI8/s1600/5D3_4236.jpg" height="213" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Joshua made some friends from Taiwan.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-4jQyj-1A68c/VIzYx5zHjQI/AAAAAAAACAM/TM1APzNo11s/s1600/Beach2014.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-4jQyj-1A68c/VIzYx5zHjQI/AAAAAAAACAM/TM1APzNo11s/s1600/Beach2014.jpg" height="213" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Joshua, Peter, and me at the beach at Santa Barbara.</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Partying with other parents at the Family Vacation Center, Santa Barbara</td></tr>
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<span style="font-size: small;">This was the year of the movie of <i>Operation Marriage</i>. Quentin Lee, director, and Alan Reade, producer drove up to Palo Alto in the spring to create a promotional video. Thanks to many of you we raised the money by August and filming took place at the end of August. The director has submitted the short (it's about 10 minutes) to the Academy Awards and to film festivals. The movie will be made public and free in June of next year.</span></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 16px;">Kathy Merkle-Raymond, whose family was the basis of the story, is being interviewed for promo video with Alan Reade in blue and Quentin Lee aiming the camera</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Director, Quentin Lee, me, Derrick Kikuchi (publisher), and Producer Alan Reade at the LA premiere of Operation Marriage, the movie.</td></tr>
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<br />Cynthia Chin-Lee, Author and Speakerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02761821717553582486noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8265994977055087141.post-91658300260112142122014-10-04T21:38:00.000-07:002014-11-18T11:51:34.019-08:00How my book, Operation Marriage, became a movie<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-kQ9qgWTtyOM/VDDEPHh4jrI/AAAAAAAAB64/0THEz1gpyqA/s1600/joshBook.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-kQ9qgWTtyOM/VDDEPHh4jrI/AAAAAAAAB64/0THEz1gpyqA/s1600/joshBook.jpg" height="240" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Joshua Ching, my son, with the book</td></tr>
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Blockbusters like <i>Harry Potter,</i>
the <i>Hunger Games</i>, or classic favorites like the <i>Lorax</i>
or the <i>Secret</i> <i>Garden</i> get to be movies. So was I
surprised and delighted when Quentin Lee of Margin Films called me to
see if he could make a short movie from my picture book, <i><a href="http://www.reachandteach.com/content/article.php/operation_marriage">Operation Marriage</a></i>. It started with a <b>connection</b>.</div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Howard Fong</td></tr>
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Many years ago <a href="http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0284567/">Howard Fong</a> an actor, showed up at a book signing I did in the Bay area for my first book, <i>It's Who You Know. </i>It was<i> </i>one of those
signings where two people show up and it’s such a relief that
anyone comes at all. He’s been a friend ever since, always trying
to keep me in the know with Asian Americans in media and
entertainment, stuffing my mail slot and now my email inbox with
articles and links. Howard knew about my book, <i>Operation Marriage </i>(<a href="http://reachandteach.com/">Reach and Teach</a>, 2011).</div>
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Some time in November 2013, he emailed
me a link to a short video/public service announcement, called
the <i><a href="http://www.biggaypictureshow.com/bgps/2013/12/wedding-plan-short-film-quentin-lees-fake-psa-gay-men-marrying-lesbians-china/">Wedding Plan</a></i>
about a gay man and a lesbian, who pretend to marry in order to get
their parents off their back. The wise mom of the gay man confronts
the pseudo-couple urging them to be themselves. I was impressed by
the production values of the video, the honesty of the acting, and
its authentic message. I’m not gay (though I sometimes call myself
a wannabe lesbian!); I’m a straight ally. As a Chinese American
and a Sinophile, I loved seeing this video set in contemporary China.</div>
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I sent the link to the <i>Wedding Plan</i>
video to the Lambda email list, the <a href="http://www.oracle.com/">Oracle </a>LGBT network. For those
who don’t know, I’ve worked as a technical writer or publications
manager at Oracle and Sun Microsystems (acquired by Oracle) for over
a decade. I thanked Howard for sharing Quentin’s video with me and
didn’t think further about it.
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Quentin Lee</td></tr>
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Several weeks later, I got a call from
Quentin. I remember it clearly because I was not at home in
California, but in DC with my father, right after the passing of my
mom. Quentin loved the book and asked me if it would be OK to make a
movie of it. I was thrilled, of course, and told him I had to talk to
my publisher, Reach and Teach. The owners of Reach and Teach, Craig
Wiesner and Derrick Kikuchi, agreed it would be a good thing for the
book and contacted Quentin.<br />
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
Quentin put the book into a script and
along with Brad Stocking made a few minor changes. He created a web
site on the movie project <a href="http://operationmarriagemovie.org./">operationmarriagemovie.org.</a> Quentin
recruited producer Alan Reade and they drove up to Palo Alto from Los
Angeles to shoot a promotional video in my house.</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-kgUAz1a2750/VDDENdyYEVI/AAAAAAAAB6w/eCV2PJMRViY/s1600/alan.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-kgUAz1a2750/VDDENdyYEVI/AAAAAAAAB6w/eCV2PJMRViY/s1600/alan.jpg" height="144" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Alan Reade</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
Since my house was being remodeled, I
asked the family, the Merkle-Raymonds, on whom the book is based if
we could use their house. Kathy Merkle-Raymond, daughter Alex, and I
were interviewed for the promo video. I was touched by what Alex said
in her interview, something like: “If everyone else’s parents
were married, we wanted our parents to be married. We thought we were
normal until Prop 8. That’s when some people said we weren’t
normal. We just wanted our family to be accepted like everyone else.”</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-kFdNGqdCY04/VDDJDFJtxfI/AAAAAAAAB7I/t_eKPjiPNz0/s1600/kids%26cake.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-kFdNGqdCY04/VDDJDFJtxfI/AAAAAAAAB7I/t_eKPjiPNz0/s1600/kids%26cake.JPG" height="320" width="260" /></a></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
Quentin and Alan posted the promotional
video on the web site and they set up the <a href="http://www.hatchfund.org/project/operation_marriage">fundraising</a> site. The fundraising
race began. Quentin and Alan also created a Facebook page and we
tweeted, emailed, and called friends, coworkers, and family.</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
My sister was among the first of my
family and friends to call me and to donate. Some friends and family
emailed me with a terse note that they were <b>not</b> interested in
the project. Translation: they didn’t approve of marriage equality.
Those folks were far and away the minority.</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
Thanks to the many people who donated and worked on this labor of love, the movie (a short) premiered in Los Angeles at the send of September 2014.<br />
<br />
Want to know more about the making of the movie? See Quentin's blog about it:<br />
http://youoffendmeyouoffendmyfamily.com/book-to-screen-operation-marriage/<br />
<br />
See the Facebook page for photos of the LA premiere and the Palo Alto showing and more:<br />
https://www.facebook.com/operationmarriage</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
Cynthia Chin-Lee, Author and Speakerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02761821717553582486noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8265994977055087141.post-83299101995236361682014-05-12T19:14:00.000-07:002014-05-17T20:37:45.215-07:00My mother's legacy (a speech)<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Xmh0K_X0ZCo/U3gqLZchZZI/AAAAAAAAB1w/jFSUct9wx-Q/s1600/MomAndSan.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Xmh0K_X0ZCo/U3gqLZchZZI/AAAAAAAAB1w/jFSUct9wx-Q/s1600/MomAndSan.jpg" height="200" width="171" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">My mom and sister Sandy</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-sNDvHxZLVac/U3F9wfMoO3I/AAAAAAAAB0s/QQQK0mMWOHo/s1600/toastmastersLogo.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><br /></a></div>
<b>Note</b>: This is a speech I gave for the <a href="http://speakeasyatsun.toastmastersclubs.org/">Speakeasy@Sun Toastmasters Club</a> speech contest a few months ago. It won first place at the club
contest so I gave the speech for the District 4, Area F2 contest. It won
first place there so I represented Area F2 at the Division F speech
contest where it did <i>not </i>place.</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-a_7KSIa4Tdc/U3gqPhdHVAI/AAAAAAAAB14/LuGdpDn2y6Y/s1600/MomSanZach.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-a_7KSIa4Tdc/U3gqPhdHVAI/AAAAAAAAB14/LuGdpDn2y6Y/s1600/MomSanZach.jpg" height="151" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Mom, Sandy, and my nephew Zach Hays</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
“Get in the closet.”</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
“I don’t want to, Ba.”</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
“Get in the closet now!”</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
When my mother was six years old, the
truant officer came to her door and my grandfather ordered her to
hide in the closet. Why? Because he didn’t want to have to send her
to school.
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
My mother was allowed to go to school
the following year because she could then walk her younger brother to
school.</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
At 19, my mother graduated from high
school in Washington, DC. A talented artist, she was asked to apply
for a scholarship at Corcoran Gallery of Art Art School. She won a
two-year scholarship and when she told her parents, my grandparents,
they sighed and told her, “Nancy, we don’t want you to go to
school. You stay home, work in the restaurant and help your brother
go to college.”</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
Despite the discouragement, my mother’s
art teacher urged her to take the scholarship. The art teacher, in
fact, went to the Corcoran Gallery of Art and persuaded them to give
my mother the second place prize of a 1-year scholarship and give the
2-year scholarship to another student. After that, my grandparents
relented and allowed my mother to take the 1-year scholarship.</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-Aw3-gCEGB1g/U3F-l1sZq4I/AAAAAAAAB00/3daySNhkw5Q/s1600/corcoran.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-Aw3-gCEGB1g/U3F-l1sZq4I/AAAAAAAAB00/3daySNhkw5Q/s1600/corcoran.JPG" height="168" width="200" /></a></div>
<br />
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
After art school, my mother worked for
a few years as a mapmaker for the Navy and then married my father.
She had five kids, stayed at home, helped my dad’s career and took
care of the five of us. She used to tell me, “Cyndi, you will go to
college and have a career. You will have the choices that I didn’t
have.”</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<b>I was lucky</b>; my parents paid for
my university and my mother encouraged, almost demanded that I get an
education and have a career. But many girls are not so lucky. In fact
most girls don’t have the chance to get an education or even have a
decent way of making a living. They may be pushed into having sex
just to feed themselves. They may have no education, no social
networks, and no access to financial services. So they marry early or
are sexually harassed or abused.</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
We have the ability to help others
around the world. But what is the best way to do that?
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
Invest in girls. Why? Because research
shows that when you invest in girls, you get a better return on
investment or ROI.<br />
<br /></div>
<div style="font-weight: normal;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;">Educating
girls can break cycles of poverty in just one generation. Research
from the World Bank (1) shows that investing in girls so that they
reach the next level of education would mean a gain of lifetime
earnings equal to 54 percent of annual gross domestic product. </span></span></div>
<div style="font-weight: normal;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
When you invest in a girl she will
return about more of her resources to help her family and
community. This phenomenon is so startling it even has a name. It’s
called the <b>Girl Effect.</b></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-jkLp43MDeu4/U3F-4HGKkPI/AAAAAAAAB08/d9V6BjGn4ao/s1600/GirlRising.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-jkLp43MDeu4/U3F-4HGKkPI/AAAAAAAAB08/d9V6BjGn4ao/s1600/GirlRising.JPG" height="200" width="137" /></a></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
When you invest in educating a girl,
she will more likely control family planning. She will have fewer
children, not more, and she will to take better care of her children.
If you don’t help educate girls, they will have more children with
the hopes that one of them may survive.</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
My mother passed away a few months ago
so I’ve been thinking of the legacy she gave to me and the legacy
I’d like to give the world.
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
I have both a daughter and a son. My
daughter is grown and graduated from college. I have every intention
to help my son to get an education as well.
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
But here is my <b>call to action.</b>
When you give to others, such as a charity or a non-profit, consider
giving to organizations that help girls and women.</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-P2VRenSzBAA/U3F-_4e0jsI/AAAAAAAAB1E/rSDpYAGfw-0/s1600/ActNow.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-P2VRenSzBAA/U3F-_4e0jsI/AAAAAAAAB1E/rSDpYAGfw-0/s1600/ActNow.jpg" height="160" width="200" /></a></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
Imagine yourself a girl, 11-years old
in Afghanistan, whose parents are forcing you to leave school and get
married. Or imagine yourself a 14-year old girl in Nepal who works as
an indentured servant from 6 am to 9 pm at night. Then imagine
someone you don’t know in another country sends money so you can go
to school. Will it make a difference? You bet it will.</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
If we invest in the education of girls
and we can make the world a better place, not just for the girls, but
for the boys, the men, and the women, for all of us. Help get girls
out of the closet and into school.</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;">(1)
Jad Chaaban and Wendy Cunningham,
2011, Measuring the Economic Gain of Investing in Girls The Girl
Effect Dividend</span></span></div>
<h4 style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;">Links to check out:</span></span></h4>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;">http://www.girleffect.org/</span></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;">http://girlrising.com</span></span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
Cynthia Chin-Lee, Author and Speakerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02761821717553582486noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8265994977055087141.post-84367223944088863432013-12-21T17:43:00.000-08:002013-12-21T17:43:58.299-08:002013 Holiday Greetings from the Ching-Chin-Lee-Pan Family<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-ojvJlo8edek/UrY9DSiIW5I/AAAAAAAABno/IQG8ruqL3pg/s1600/219.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="180" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-ojvJlo8edek/UrY9DSiIW5I/AAAAAAAABno/IQG8ruqL3pg/s320/219.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">William and Nancy Chin-Lee</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<h4>
The folks</h4>
My mother,<b>Nancy Wong Chin-Lee,</b> passed
from this world on October 21<sup>st</sup> (at age 85), but her
spirit lives on. I miss her but I know she’s in a better place.
Because of her Alzheimer’s, she had been unable to take care of
herself the last few years and we were so fortunate to have two
talented caregivers, Irene and Namukale.<br />
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
My father continues to live in their
condo in Washington, DC, with the help of our caregivers. I’m also
happy that Douglass Chin-Lee, my nephew, is living with him and my
niece Allyx Chin-Lee lives next door. We celebrated dad’s 90<sup>th</sup>
birthday in April with a large gathering and a family reunion.</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
Peter's mom,<b> Wanda Ching</b>, has had several setbacks, including 4 surgeries this year, but maintains a sunny disposition. Luckily, Peter's siblings are nearby (she's in Arlington, VA) and they have been taking excellent care of her.</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<h4>
Sun/Oracle</h4>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-JlcI1o7MySk/UrY9mwqBjJI/AAAAAAAABnw/0-begOBDOvE/s1600/OracleOffice.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="150" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-JlcI1o7MySk/UrY9mwqBjJI/AAAAAAAABnw/0-begOBDOvE/s200/OracleOffice.jpg" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Oracle x86 Engineering Office in Shanghai<br /></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
I marked my 10<sup>th</sup> anniversary
of working at Sun/Oracle in November, the longest time working at one
place by a <i>large </i>margin. Thanks to my team, we've been able to do more
work in animation and video as well as publications. This work gave me a reason to organize a
panel on animation, video, and data visualization at the wonderful Grace Hopper
Celebration of Women in Computing in Minneapolis. </div>
<h4>
Shanghai and Kunming</h4>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
Oracle sent me
to Shanghai to do leadership training for our office there. </div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
I took
this chance to visit Vanessa, who has given up the corporate life for now and is teaching English in Kunming,
Yunnan province.</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-glCpD2CKtCY/UrY-GZbwnEI/AAAAAAAABn8/X3ya8ziYnTc/s1600/CaitlinVPNancy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="150" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-glCpD2CKtCY/UrY-GZbwnEI/AAAAAAAABn8/X3ya8ziYnTc/s200/CaitlinVPNancy.jpg" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Caitlin, Vanessa, Nancy (all expats) in Halloween costumes</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-4bB3cyV1rio/UrY-Jk5A7-I/AAAAAAAABoE/WKJcVJReTRs/s1600/CCVPboat.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="200" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-4bB3cyV1rio/UrY-Jk5A7-I/AAAAAAAABoE/WKJcVJReTRs/s200/CCVPboat.jpg" width="150" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Vanessa & Cyndi at Erhu Lake, Dali</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-kN_rq86sFfQ/UrY-NuDHcDI/AAAAAAAABoM/Bt3ks2vcGiE/s1600/CCCuiHuiRock.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-kN_rq86sFfQ/UrY-NuDHcDI/AAAAAAAABoM/Bt3ks2vcGiE/s320/CCCuiHuiRock.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Cyndi at Emerald Lake, Kunming</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
</div>
<h4>
Joshua and Peter</h4>
<br />
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
Joshua is enjoying his <i>last </i>year
(sigh!) as a fifth grader at Ohlone Elementary in Palo Alto. He posts
to</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
his own YouTube channel where he shares
his exploits in video gaming, likes collecting Pokemon cards, and
singing sea shanties (his class did an overnight trip on the tall ship
Balclutha in SF harbor). He’s had some difficulty this year,
breaking his foot while playing kickball, but overall he is taking
things in stride.</div>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-krv3Q8m48xk/UrY-0_GC_NI/AAAAAAAABoU/P8G7zyVHUsk/s1600/519.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-krv3Q8m48xk/UrY-0_GC_NI/AAAAAAAABoU/P8G7zyVHUsk/s320/519.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Peter and Josh at Lake Boronda, <i>trying </i>to fish</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Why2P3FYz0U/UrY-8n9GXGI/AAAAAAAABoc/GfG9WwxvNG8/s1600/492.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="150" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Why2P3FYz0U/UrY-8n9GXGI/AAAAAAAABoc/GfG9WwxvNG8/s200/492.jpg" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Joshua, actor, at Palo Alto Children's Theater</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-LrB5Zy_Ud08/UrY_GWpVkgI/AAAAAAAABok/NJFomggcBCE/s1600/718.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-LrB5Zy_Ud08/UrY_GWpVkgI/AAAAAAAABok/NJFomggcBCE/s320/718.jpg" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Derrick Kikuchi, Craig Wiesner, Cyndi, Josh, and Peter at Reach & Teach Store</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
Peter has been actively helping in
Joshua’s class and indulging his photography and video interests.
We had two relaxing vacations in Carlsbad, CA (near San Diego) and in
Calistoga (in the Napa Valley) where Peter got respite from our cats
(he has allergies). I think we’ve come up with a pretty good
solution as they are now more outdoor (than indoor) cats and we’ve
built them a small house with heat pad and electric lights!</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
We are fully converting to electronic
communication and also trying to reduce our carbon footprint. We bought a plug-in hybrid car (Ford CMAX Energi) and after viewing the
storyofstuff.org, trying to give experiences rather than stuff as
gifts. The only exception, of course, is a <b>good </b>book!</div>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-9wFvLK8d5OM/UrY_82RhsLI/AAAAAAAABow/hPQl2QP2OoQ/s1600/908.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-9wFvLK8d5OM/UrY_82RhsLI/AAAAAAAABow/hPQl2QP2OoQ/s320/908.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Chimecho (the purrfect cat) and Cyndi<br /><br /></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
Cynthia Chin-Lee, Author and Speakerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02761821717553582486noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8265994977055087141.post-17375871285699126972013-12-21T16:16:00.000-08:002013-12-21T16:16:11.163-08:00In memory of Nancy Wong Chin-Lee, my mother<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Z3Z3MV7hf98/UrYA_aesCsI/AAAAAAAABnY/0TefGq0mUjU/s1600/284.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="line-height: 18px; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="180" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Z3Z3MV7hf98/UrYA_aesCsI/AAAAAAAABnY/0TefGq0mUjU/s320/284.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Namukale (caregiver), Mom (Nancy W. Chin-Lee) and Vanessa (my daughter) taking a selfie.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in; page-break-before: always;">
My mother, <b>Nancy Wong Chin-Lee</b>, (1928-2013) passed away on Oct. 21, 2013 at age 85. She had struggled with Alzheimer's for nearly two years. I wrote this poem in Feb. 2013 when her language diminished to 4-word phrases.</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in; page-break-before: always;">
<br /></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-HY9q8V7KTS8/UrYAXvCOJpI/AAAAAAAABnI/FSSy1-ivDAg/s1600/069.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="line-height: 18px; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="478" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-HY9q8V7KTS8/UrYAXvCOJpI/AAAAAAAABnI/FSSy1-ivDAg/s640/069.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Dad and Mom</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in; page-break-before: always;">
<br /></div>
<h2>
<b>Four</b> <b>Words</b></h2>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
I miss my mother.</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
Before the dementia, she would gush
with stories, waterfalls of memories, cascading unfettered. </div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
Exciting
stories, tragic ones, some impossible to believe…</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
The men she could have married,</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
Her
mother in the old country, walking in the village with a maid to
carry her books, crying for her home as she had yet another baby.</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
The stories of Baltimore and
Harrisburg, when the truant officer knocked on the door and she was
pushed into the coat closet…the ugly tales of survival, the family
skeletons, the betrayals…</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
My mom taught me to love, to tell
stories, to speak my mind.</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
I miss her laugh, her tears, her words,
flowing, never stopping, entertaining us.</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
I even miss the racist remarks, the
things I shuddered to hear, because that was all of her, flaws and all. </div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
I miss her words.</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
Her stories fed me, washed over me, drenched me
with her life, a life I have always been part of.</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
But now, just four words:</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
“You are my daughter?”</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
“Thank you for coming.”</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
Glimmers of clarity, drops of hope,
just tiny drops.</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
I am thirsty for her words, that former
feistiness.</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
Now just four words.</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
She smiles.</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
My daughter asks me, “Will you be
like that one day?”</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
I nod, “Maybe thirty years from now?
I don’t know.”</div>
<br />
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
She will be saying, “I miss my
mother.”</div>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-kuFx3xF7P9U/UrYAfWWsHVI/AAAAAAAABnQ/Q2qNufqYe2M/s1600/219.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; line-height: 18px; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="180" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-kuFx3xF7P9U/UrYAfWWsHVI/AAAAAAAABnQ/Q2qNufqYe2M/s320/219.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Dad (William Chin-Lee) and Mom (Nancy W. Chin-Lee) </td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<h2>
Eulogy</h2>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="line-height: 115%;">I consider
this day a celebration of my mother as she lived a full and long life, accomplishing
so many things. She was a very strong person with strong opinions and as most
of my close family knows, I sometimes clashed with her. But I <o:p></o:p></span><span style="line-height: 115%; text-align: center;">am deeply thankful
for everything she did for me. She has had such a deep influence on who I am.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="line-height: 115%;">My dad,
being a wise soul, knew how to live with her: just let her have her way, at
least, most of the time. She gave so generously to all around her, especially
to us, her children. She helped us with our homework, cooked delicious meals,
and encouraged us when we were down.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="line-height: 115%;">Many of you
know how she flew to Taiwan when I had my car accident as a junior in college.
I know how hard that must have been for her as she spoke no Mandarin and really
didn’t like to travel. She was also a wonderful grandmother and I remember how
she and my dad took care of Vanessa for an entire week when Vanessa was just a
baby so I could have a break.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="line-height: 115%;">What I loved
about Mom the most was her storytelling. She could make anything so funny and
dramatic. We would be laughing so hard we might wet our pants and the next
minute, we’d be crying a river. I hope I inherited a tiny bit of her
storytelling ability. I once tried writing a novel based on her stories and I
proudly gave her one of the drafts. She read it and must have been satisfied
enough because I didn’t hear any criticism. One day I’ll try to revive that
draft and share it with the world.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="line-height: 115%;">In one true story
she told us her family was “adopted” by the local Presbyterian church in
Harrisburg. The church ladies came and gave her and each of her brothers and
sisters a gift for Christmas. But her proud dad, my grandfather, seized all the
gifts and threw them out, saying his family would not take charity. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="line-height: 115%;">She was
heartbroken to give up her toy, but then something else happened. She and Jim,
her brother, sang in the children’s choir for Christmas eve. One reason she joined
was to get the candy canes! She and Jim were ushered into the sanctuary,
wearing their white choir robes. Then it happened. She heard angels singing:
“Joy to the world, the Lord has come.” She was so transported by the music of
the choir that she believed the angels had arrived and were bathing her in
God’s heavenly music. Tears came streaming down her face. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="line-height: 115%;">When I
listen to great music, I sometimes cry, too! I recall her words and nod, “Yes,
there really are angels and they are singing to me, taking me through the sky
and into heaven.” Now I imagine my mom as one of those angels, watching over
all of us. I feel happy to know that she is still on my side and singing better
than in real life (cause she sang horribly off key!).</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="line-height: 115%;">To all of
you and especially to my dad, remember I love you.<span style="font-size: x-small;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
Cynthia Chin-Lee, Author and Speakerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02761821717553582486noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8265994977055087141.post-19141911596250632452012-07-01T19:10:00.003-07:002012-07-01T19:10:44.164-07:00<br />
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
My Toastmasters Story</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
Note: This is the abridged text of a
talk I gave at the <a href="mailto:Speakeasy@Sun">Speakeasy@Sun</a>
Toastmasters (<a href="http://www.speakeasyatsun.org/">http://www.speakeasyatsun.org/</a>)
club open house in May 2012.</div>
<div style="font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div style="font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;">
A few centuries
ago, when I was in my early 20s, I joined Toastmasters
(http://www.toastmasters.org/). My favorite uncle took me aside and
told me that he was a Toastmaster and I might like to check it out. A
year or two later, I found a Toastmasters club right at my workplace
in San Francisco. Recalling my uncle’s advice, I tried it. My first
impression was that the meeting was weird! It seemed extremely
regulated and the members clapped a lot. Despite the weirdness, I
decided to come back.
</div>
<div style="font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div style="font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;">
I could tell you
that when you join Toastmasters, you will challenge yourself to do
things you wouldn’t normally do; you will learn about what makes
you tick and begin discovering what you’re passionate about; you
will get lots of leadership opportunities by volunteering as an
officer.
</div>
<div style="font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div style="font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;">
But you know what?
I can’t guarantee that. I don’t know what your Toastmasters path
will be. In fact you might hate Toastmasters and leave the room
screaming! If you do join, you'll have the company of 270,000 other
members in 13,000 clubs in from Argentina to Zimbabwe.</div>
<div style="font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div style="font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;">
I’m just going
to tell you about my Toastmasters story.</div>
<div style="font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<ul>
<li><div style="font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;">
I’ve
learned about myself and what’s meaningful to me.</div>
</li>
<li><div style="font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;">
I’ve seen
some significant career growth.</div>
</li>
<li><div style="font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;">
I’ve gained
a community of friends.</div>
</li>
</ul>
<div style="font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div style="font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<i>I’ve learned
about myself and what’s meaningful to me.</i></div>
<div style="font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<b>In the 4<sup>th</sup> century BC
Socrates said that “the unexamined life is not worth living.” </b>
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div style="font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;">
What does that
mean? The unexamined life is not worth living? I think it means that
it is worth the effort to look around at our lives and to seek
meaning in our lives. Through joining Toastmasters, I've been given
the opportunity to speak on a semi-regular basis. I have looked at
what’s important to me, what gives my life meaning, what I enjoy
and what I mourn. In Toastmasters, you get to speak about whatever
subject you want. Toastmasters just gives you a rubric: a plan, a set
of goals for your speech.</div>
<div style="font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div style="font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;">
I looked back at
my manuals and I’ve talked about social networking, being green
(environmental), gay rights, my trip to China, my vacation in Japan,
personal stories from my car accident in Taiwan, how I bounced back
from my divorce, and stories I’ve written.</div>
<div style="font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div style="font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;">
One thing you
should know about me is that I’m a writer. I’m not only a
technical writer, but I also write books. In fact, a Toastmasters
speech helped launch my book-writing career. The 3<sup>rd</sup>
speech in the Competent Communication manual is “Get to the Point,”
which is about organizing your speech. I chose to speak on social
networking because I learned that social networking was an essential
skill for me to survive as a non-engineer in a high-tech world.
</div>
<div style="font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div style="font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;">
After I wrote the
speech, I took my notes and wrote an article for the San Jose Mercury
News. After that article as published, I was invited to speak at the
dinner meeting for the Silicon valley chapter of the Society for
Technical Communication.</div>
<div style="font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div style="font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;">
Heck, maybe I
could write a book on this. I wrote a book proposal, sent it to 11
publishers and garnished all rejections or no answer at all. A few
years later, through a personal contact, my book “It’s Who You
Know” was published. After that book, I switched genres from
self-help to children’s literature. My 7<sup>th</sup> book,
Operation Marriage, launched at Kepler’s bookstore last year.</div>
<div style="font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div style="font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;">
Toastmasters has
fed my literary career. And my literary career has fed my
Toastmasters speeches.</div>
<div style="font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div style="font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<i>I’ve seen
some significant career growth.</i></div>
<div style="font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;">
When I was in my 20s, I was an entry-level writer with not much
experience in anything. Over my career, I’ve been able to do lots
of things and I believe Toastmasters has helped me through the
challenges of my career:</div>
<div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;">
I’ve been laid off many times and I have gone thru many job
interviews! Doing Tabletopics has helped me answer questions with
calm and poise. I don’t get rattled too easily.</div>
<div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;">
I’ve taught college (five years part-time as an adjunct lecturer at
De Anza, four years part- time at Santa Clara University).
Toastmasters helped give me the confidence to try teaching.</div>
<div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;">
Somewhere along the way, I became a manager. I started out as a
writer at three companies, Oracle, i2 Technologies, and Sun
Microsystems and I’ve been promoted three times to manager.
Toastmasters helped me develop leadership skills that helped me learn
to become a manager.</div>
<div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;">
In 2007/2008, I had one special opportunity in my career that was
directly related to Toastmasters. In 2007, my director at Sun
Microsystems, started an engineering office in Shanghai. Since I have
a degree in East Asian Studies and am Chinese by descent, I had a
special interest in going to Shanghai and I have visited China many
times before. I asked my director if she would let me go to the
Shanghai office. She asked me to make a proposal on what I would do
to justify the trip. So I told her I would give communication
training classes to the engineering staff. Those classes were from
the Toastmasters Speechcraft program. We got such great interest I
ended up doing two Speechcraft programs concurrently! I solicited
help from the local Shanghai Toastmasters clubs and met many members
of the international Shanghai Toastmasters community.
</div>
<div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;">
I stayed in Shanghai for 6 weeks in a company-paid apartment and
brought along my husband and son at my own expense.</div>
<div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div style="font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<i>I’ve gained a
community of friends.</i></div>
<div style="font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;">
My Toastmaster friends are many. I’ve listened to my fellow members
speak about their passions, what makes their lives meaningful.
They’ve influenced me just as I hope I've touched them. A few weeks
ago, some of my friends from my old club Tandem Toastmasters
(http://tandem.toastmastersclubs.org/) called me to have lunch. I
hadn’t seen some of them for over 15 years! It was like going into
a time machine. We caught up with each other and shared both laughs
and tears. I feel so blessed by the community of my Toastmasters
friends.</div>
<div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;">
What will your Toastmasters story be?</div>Cynthia Chin-Lee, Author and Speakerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02761821717553582486noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8265994977055087141.post-51948084249782650552012-07-01T19:07:00.001-07:002016-12-27T12:33:33.057-08:00
<br />
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
My Toastmasters Story</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
Note: This is the abridged text of a
talk I gave at the <a href="mailto:Speakeasy@Sun">Speakeasy@Sun</a>
Toastmasters (<a href="http://www.speakeasyatsun.org/">http://www.speakeasyatsun.org/</a>)
club open house in May 2012.</div>
<div style="font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div style="font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;">
A few centuries
ago, when I was in my early 20s, I joined Toastmasters
(http://www.toastmasters.org/). My favorite uncle took me aside and
told me that he was a Toastmaster and I might like to check it out. A
year or two later, I found a Toastmasters club right at my workplace
in San Francisco. Recalling my uncle’s advice, I tried it. My first
impression was that the meeting was weird! It seemed extremely
regulated and the members clapped a lot. Despite the weirdness, I
decided to come back.
</div>
<div style="font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div style="font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;">
I could tell you
that when you join Toastmasters, you will challenge yourself to do
things you wouldn’t normally do; you will learn about what makes
you tick and begin discovering what you’re passionate about; you
will get lots of leadership opportunities by volunteering as an
officer.
</div>
<div style="font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div style="font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;">
But you know what?
I can’t guarantee that. I don’t know what your Toastmasters path
will be. In fact you might hate Toastmasters and leave the room
screaming! If you do join, you'll have the company of 270,000 other
members in 13,000 clubs in from Argentina to Zimbabwe.</div>
<div style="font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div style="font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;">
I’m just going
to tell you about my Toastmasters story.</div>
<div style="font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<ul>
<li><div style="font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;">
I’ve
learned about myself and what’s meaningful to me.</div>
</li>
<li><div style="font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;">
I’ve seen
some significant career growth.</div>
</li>
<li><div style="font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;">
I’ve gained
a community of friends.</div>
</li>
</ul>
<div style="font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div style="font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<i>I’ve learned
about myself and what’s meaningful to me.</i></div>
<div style="font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<b>In the 4<sup>th</sup> century BC
Socrates said that “the unexamined life is not worth living.” </b>
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div style="font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;">
What does that
mean? The unexamined life is not worth living? I think it means that
it is worth the effort to look around at our lives and to seek
meaning in our lives. Through joining Toastmasters, I've been given
the opportunity to speak on a semi-regular basis. I have looked at
what’s important to me, what gives my life meaning, what I enjoy
and what I mourn. In Toastmasters, you get to speak about whatever
subject you want. Toastmasters just gives you a rubric: a plan, a set
of goals for your speech.</div>
<div style="font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div style="font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;">
I looked back at
my manuals and I’ve talked about social networking, being green
(environmental), gay rights, my trip to China, my vacation in Japan,
personal stories from my car accident in Taiwan, how I bounced back
from my divorce, and stories I’ve written.</div>
<div style="font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div style="font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;">
One thing you
should know about me is that I’m a writer. I’m not only a
technical writer, but I also write books. In fact, a Toastmasters
speech helped launch my book-writing career. The 3<sup>rd</sup>
speech in the Competent Communication manual is “Get to the Point,”
which is about organizing your speech. I chose to speak on social
networking because I learned that social networking was an essential
skill for me to survive as a non-engineer in a high-tech world.
</div>
<div style="font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div style="font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;">
After I wrote the
speech, I took my notes and wrote an article for the San Jose Mercury
News. After that article as published, I was invited to speak at the
dinner meeting for the Silicon valley chapter of the Society for
Technical Communication.</div>
<div style="font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div style="font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;">
Heck, maybe I
could write a book on this. I wrote a book proposal, sent it to 11
publishers and garnished all rejections or no answer at all. A few
years later, through a personal contact, my book “It’s Who You
Know” was published. After that book, I switched genres from
self-help to children’s literature. My 7<sup>th</sup> book,
Operation Marriage, launched at Kepler’s bookstore last year.</div>
<div style="font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div style="font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;">
Toastmasters has
fed my literary career. And my literary career has fed my
Toastmasters speeches.</div>
<div style="font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div style="font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<i>I’ve seen
some significant career growth.</i></div>
<div style="font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;">
When I was in my 20s, I was an entry-level writer with not much
experience in anything. Over my career, I’ve been able to do lots
of things and I believe Toastmasters has helped me through the
challenges of my career:</div>
<div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;">
I’ve been laid off many times and I have gone thru many job
interviews! Doing Tabletopics has helped me answer questions with
calm and poise. I don’t get rattled too easily.</div>
<div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;">
I’ve taught college (five years part-time as an adjunct lecturer at
De Anza, four years part- time at Santa Clara University).
Toastmasters helped give me the confidence to try teaching.</div>
<div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;">
Somewhere along the way, I became a manager. I started out as a
writer at three companies, Oracle, i2 Technologies, and Sun
Microsystems and I’ve been promoted three times to manager.
Toastmasters helped me develop leadership skills that helped me learn
to become a manager.</div>
<div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;">
In 2007/2008, I had one special opportunity in my career that was
directly related to Toastmasters. In 2007, my director at Sun
Microsystems, started an engineering office in Shanghai. Since I have
a degree in East Asian Studies and am Chinese by descent, I had a
special interest in going to Shanghai and I have visited China many
times before. I asked my director if she would let me go to the
Shanghai office. She asked me to make a proposal on what I would do
to justify the trip. So I told her I would give communication
training classes to the engineering staff. Those classes were from
the Toastmasters Speechcraft program. We got such great interest I
ended up doing two Speechcraft programs concurrently! I solicited
help from the local Shanghai Toastmasters clubs and met many members
of the international Shanghai Toastmasters community.
</div>
<div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;">
I stayed in Shanghai for 6 weeks in a company-paid apartment and
brought along my husband and son at my own expense.</div>
<div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div style="font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<i>I’ve gained a
community of friends.</i></div>
<div style="font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;">
My Toastmaster friends are many. I’ve listened to my fellow members
speak about their passions, what makes their lives meaningful.
They’ve influenced me just as I hope I've touched them. A few weeks
ago, some of my friends from my old club Tandem Toastmasters
(http://tandem.toastmastersclubs.org/) called me to have lunch. I
hadn’t seen some of them for over 15 years! It was like going into
a time machine. We caught up with each other and shared both laughs
and tears. I feel so blessed by the community of my Toastmasters
friends.</div>
<div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;">
What will your Toastmasters story be?</div>
Cynthia Chin-Lee, Author and Speakerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02761821717553582486noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8265994977055087141.post-22124747541278635422012-06-02T15:34:00.001-07:002016-12-27T12:33:33.028-08:00My Toastmasters StoryOnce upon a time, many centuries ago when I was in my early 20s, I joined Toastmasters . My favorite uncle, Uncle Frank, took me aside and told me he was a Toastmaster and I might like to check it out. A year or two later, I found a Toastmasters club right at my workplace in San Francisco and recalling my uncle’s advice, I tried it! My first impression was that the meeting was weird! They kept time to the minute, and the members clapped a lot. But I decided to keep coming back. I joined and looking back on my life, I’m so glad I did.
I could tell you that when you join Toastmasters, you will challenge yourself to do things you wouldn’t normally do; you will learn about what makes you tick, what you’re passionate about; you will get lots of leadership opportunities by volunteering as an officer. You’ll join 270,000 other members in 13,000 clubs in from Argentina to Zimbabwe.
Your career will grow and you’ll make new friends.
But you know what? I can’t guarantee that. I don’t know what your Toastmasters story will be.
In fact you might hate Toastmasters and leave the room screaming!
So I’m just going to tell you about my Toastmasters story and I’ll let you think about it whether it's right for you. Extrapolate from yourself. Maybe you’ll hear something in my talk and say, “Hey, I might like this. I might learn from this. I think I will come back.”
Here are my 3 points:
I’ve learned about myself and what’s meaningful to me.
I’ve seen some significant career growth.
I’ve gained a community of friends.
I’ve learned about myself and what’s meaningful to me.
Socrates said in the 4th century BC (now that was even before I joined Toastmaster!) The unexamined life is not worth living.
What does that mean? The unexamined life is not worth living? I think it means that it is worth our effort to look around at our lives and to seek meaning in our lives. Through joining Toastmasters, we are given the opportunity to speak on a semi-regular basis. I have looked at what’s important to me, what gives my life meaning, happiness, and sadness. In Toastmasters, you get to speak about whatever subject you want. Toastmasters just gives you a rubric: a plan, a set of goals for your speech.
I looked back at my recent manuals and I’ve talked about social networking, being green, gay rights, my trip to China, a trip to Japan, personal stories from my car accident in Taiwan, how I bounced back from my divorce, and the short stories I’ve written.
One thing you should know about me...I’m a writer. I’m not only a technical writer in my career, but I also write books. In fact, a Toastmasters speech helped launch my book-writing career. The 3rd speech in the Competent Communication manual is “Get to the Point,” which is about organizing your speech. I chose to speak on social networking because I learned that social networking was an essential skill for me to survive as a non-engineer in a high-tech world. After I wrote the speech, I took my notes and wrote an article for the San Jose Mercury News. After that article as published, I was invited to speak at the dinner meeting for the Silicon valley chapter of the Society for Technical Communication.
Gosh, I gushed. Maybe I could write a book on this. I wrote a book proposal, sent it to 11 publishers and garnished all rejections or no answer at all. A few years later, through a personal contact, my book “It’s Who You Know” was published. After that book, I switched genres from self-help to children’s literature. My 7th book, Operation Marriage, launched at Kepler’s bookstore last year.
Toastmasters has fed my literary career. And my literary career has fed my Toastmasters speeches.
I’ve seen some significant career growth.
When I was in my 20s, I was an entry-level writer with not much experience in anything. Over my career, I’ve been able to do lots of things and I believe Toastmasters has helped me through the challenges of my career:
I’ve been laid off many times and I have gone thru many job interviews! Doing Tabletopics has helped me answer questions with calm and poise. I don’t get rattled as easily.
I’ve taught college (5 years part-time as an adjunct lecturer at De Anza, 4 years part- time at Santa Clara University).
Somewhere along the way, I became a manager. I started out as a writer at 3 companies, Oracle, i2 Technologies, and Sun and I’ve been promoted 3 times to manager. Will you get promoted? I cannot say, my promotions came at a time of high growth in Silicon Valley so that probably helped.
In 2007/2008, I got one special opportunity in my career that was directly related to Toastmasters. In 2007, my director at Sun Microsystems, started an engineering office in Shanghai. Since I have a degree in East Asian Studies and am Chinese by descent, I had a special interest in going to Shanghai and I have previously visited China many times. I asked my director if she would let me go to the Shanghai office. She asked me to make a proposal on what I would do to justify the trip. So I told her I would give communication training classes to the engineering staff. Those classes were from the Toastmasters speechcraft program and we got such great interest I ended up doing two classes concurrently! I solicited help from the local Shanghai Toastmasters clubs and got to meet many members of the international Shanghai Toastmasters community.
If you’re wondering, I was in Shanghai for 6 weeks in a company-paid apartment and I bought along my husband and son (at my own expense, of course).
I’ve gained a community of friends.
My Toastmaster friends are many. I’ve talked about speaking at Toastmasters but the other part of the equation is listening. I’ve listened to my fellow members speak about their passions, what makes their lives meaningful and we’ve influenced each other and become friends. A few weeks ago, some of my friends from my old club Tandem Toastmasters called me to have lunch. I hadn’t seen some of them for over 15 years! It was like going into a time machine...At any rate, we caught up with each other, shared laughs and tears. Some of your fellow members may become your dear friends. I feel enriched by the community of Toastmasters, many of whom are close friends.
Let me recap...Why Toastmasters? For me, it comes to 3 points:
I’ve learned about myself and what’s meaningful to me.
I’ve seen some significant career growth.
I’ve gained a community of friends.
I recommend Toastmasters to you with my whole heart and an open mind. And may your Toastmasters story be rich in meaning, full of career growth, and blessed with a community of friends.Cynthia Chin-Lee, Author and Speakerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02761821717553582486noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8265994977055087141.post-16773993497153058832011-07-14T19:58:00.000-07:002012-07-01T19:10:44.899-07:00In Memory of Warren Chin-Lee (1954-2011)<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-4EE7gB59YQs/Th-uSEP60lI/AAAAAAAAAnQ/X7bswK8WfnI/s1600/warrenfamily.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 200px; height: 146px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-4EE7gB59YQs/Th-uSEP60lI/AAAAAAAAAnQ/X7bswK8WfnI/s200/warrenfamily.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5629409684637798994" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-LUtDfwGGQkE/Th-uEdqQs0I/AAAAAAAAAnI/IW8ok8-DjIM/s1600/boyWarren.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 149px; height: 200px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-LUtDfwGGQkE/Th-uEdqQs0I/AAAAAAAAAnI/IW8ok8-DjIM/s200/boyWarren.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5629409450941002562" /></a><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">In memory of my brother, Warren Chin-Lee</span><br /><span style="font-style:italic;"><br />Eulogy given at George Washington Cemetery (Adelphi, MD) on June 24, 2011</span><br /><br />First, thank you to the extended family and friends, who have come today. Thank you for your support.<br /><br />My friend Carolyn Miles used to refer to Warren as a <span style="font-style:italic;">teddy bear</span>. He was a very lovable person: warm, generous, caring. He always would listen to you with understanding and kindness. I remember that especially when I was going through my divorce and began dating again. He was always willing to listen to me as I was going through a difficult time.<br /><br />Since I live in California and come home to DC once or twice a year, Warren was also my airport pick-up service. A few weeks ago when I came home for Memorial Day weekend, I asked him to take me to Washington Reagan airport and he said to me, “Cyndi, I’ll pick you up or take you to the airport any time as long as I am not working.”<br /><br />Warren was a patient person. He taught me how to drive a car and even how to parallel park which is quite a feat! Of course, the man whose Mercedes I hit last year may not be so appreciative that Warren taught me to drive.<br /><br />Some of you might not know that much about him so let me give you some background.<br /><br />Our parents are Nancy and William Chin-Lee. My mother was born in Baltimore, MD and my father was born in DC, a few blocks from the White House. Our grandparents are from Toishan county in Guangdong province, China. Warren was the 3rd of five children: Bruce is the oldest, now from La Jolla, CA. His wife Devin normally would be with him but her father died recently and she needed to be with her family. Sandra is the next in line; her husband is Philip Hays and their sons are Zachary and Peter. Zacharys’ wife is Rachael and they all came from Washington state.<br /><br />Warren is the third. He and his wife Deede have two sons, Wren and Douglass. Deede could not be here because she had emergency surgery this week due to her epilepsy and she is in surgery again today. Wren (Warren Christopher) and his wife Crystal live at Ft Belvoir, VA, with their daughter Logan. Douglass who is an English teacher in China came from Shanghai to be with us. Deede’s sister, Lisa Chan, flew in from LA to be with us as well.<br /><br />Next Peter and his wife Eleanor live in Silver Spring. They have three children, Alex, Michael and Michelle.<br /><br />I’m the youngest, Cynthia, from northern California. Unfortunately my husband, Peter Ching and my son, Joshua could not be here. Joshua recently had surgery and is still recuperating. My daughter Vanessa is in Paris finishing college and also could not be here.<br /><br />Warren grew up in Washington, DC and attended Murch Elementary, Deal Jr. High, and Woodrow Wilson High School. As a kid, he enjoyed games like Risk and poker. In high school he liked making movies. He attended George Washington University and graduated with a degree in Business. He met Deede Chan and they married and then Warren attended Cornell to get his MBA. They also had Wren then. After graduating from Cornell, Warren worked for several firms including Rockwell International in Michigan and then several banks in the DC metro area where he was a credit officer and supervised computer conversions.<br /><br />Five years after Wren, Deede and Warren had Douglass. <br /><br />Warren eventually worked for the family business as general manager of the Best Western- Capitol Hill. When the Best Western was sold, Warren worked for Captel, a telephone and social media fundraising firm that works with political action committees and non-profits.<br /><br />Warren was fiercely loyal to his wife and family and very responsible. He sent Wren and Douglass to private schools and worked hard to make sure they had the best education possible. <br /><br />Warren was fun-loving, too. He had a great collection of comic books and movies. He loved old movies, musicals and comedies in particular like Fred Astaire/ Ginger Roger movies and Topper. He also loved sharing this passion with us and we often received DVDs or books as presents for Christmas.<br /><br />He also liked comic books and was looking forward to the Green Lantern movie. Lisa Chan told me his secret wish was to own a comic book store.<br /><br /><br />From others:<br /><br />Sheila Pipich<br />Warren was the best co-work I ever had, he would not only hear but was a good listener. God allows people into our lives some for a season and some a lifetime. I thank God I was able to share part of that life with Warren.<br /><br />David Lee Hawks<br /><br />I am David Hawks, a classmate and friend of Doug's. Doug's father was kind and welcoming to all of Doug's friends. It seemed he almost always had a friendly, almost conspiratorial smile on his face when he laughed and joked with us. <br /><br />It was clear to us that Warren Chin-Lee was a very loving, caring family man; the love he had for his wife, sons, and family wasn't the kind that one had to look carefully for, because it was out in the open for all to see. <br /><br />The last words I heard from him was an email to Doug and me:<br /><br />"Good luck and stay safe."<br /> <br />Cynthia Chin-Lee, Author and Speakerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02761821717553582486noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8265994977055087141.post-39975032058842022512010-03-14T15:45:00.000-07:002010-03-14T18:27:15.449-07:00Green Tip: Helping endangered speciesNote: This was originally written for the Ohlone Elementary School newsletter, the <span style="font-style:italic;">Ohlone Arrow</span> in Palo Alto, CA.<br /><br />We share the Earth with a fascinating web of life that includes from 3 to 30 million species of animals, from roundworms to birds, polar bears to sea turtles, ants to grasshoppers. Yet humans can and do disturb the balance of nature that we are called on to protect. Why should we protect other animals?<br /><br />Diversity, or more specifically, biodiversity, is the variety in life forms that might save your life or the life of another. Plants and animals has the right to exist for no other reason than life itself. But there are reasons, it is in the direct interest of humans to protect other species. Because we cannot predict which form of life can cure diseases or solve other life-threatening problems, maintaining diversity in life forms might be the best way assure a healthy environment. The Pacific yew, a tree, for example, is the base for Taxol, a new anti-cancer drug.<br /><br />How can we help plants and our fellow animals?<br /><br />1. Email, write, or call your Congressional representative (Rep. Anna Eshoo, Sen. Feinstein, Sen. Boxer), President, and others to support a strong clean energy and climate change bill.<br /><br />2. Plant a tree.<br /><br />3. Eat less meat and eat more alternative sources of proteins (nuts, beans, vegetables). Meat, especially some fast food burgers, come from cattle that are grown where Amazon rainforests once stood. Eating less meat or no meat can help slow down climate change.<br /><br />4. Support organizations that encourage conservation like the World Wildlife Fund, Sierra Club, and Acterra.<br />For more information about how to help, see these sites:<br /><br />http://wwf.worldwildlife.org/<br />http://www.sierraclub.org/<br />http://www.acterra.org/Cynthia Chin-Lee, Author and Speakerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02761821717553582486noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8265994977055087141.post-92215813723802474882009-12-16T11:32:00.000-08:002009-12-16T12:26:51.258-08:00Holiday Greetings and Family Update 2009<a href="http://picasaweb.google.com/cynthiachinlee/2009_family#">Family photo from 2009</a><div><br /></div><div>I think I skipped the 2008 update and maybe even the 2007 update. Too busy? yes. Trying to be green? yes. Too lazy? yes. </div><div><br /></div><div>The newest members of the household are two white and black kittens: Skitty and Chimecho. We adopted them from our neighbor and church friend, Melissa, who does rescue work. We had been reluctant to have cats because Peter is allergic but he bravely said he would try to live with them. And I am happy to report that two months later, his allergies are doing OK. Skitty is a male cat with a very affectionate personality, friendly and playful. He likes to hide his toy mice under the stove and he is a purring machine.</div><div><br /></div><div>Skitty's sister, Chimecho, is more aloof, but she likes to show off by jumping onto the canopy above Vanessa's bed and walking along the two-inch wide posts. Both Skitty and Chimecho get a bit wild at night, tearing around the house and knocking things down. They also like to "Sumo" wrestle each other, which we find quite entertaining.</div><div><br /></div><div>Joshua and I are very attached and can't imagine living without them now.</div><div><br /></div><div>Joshua is almost 8 and a 2nd grader at Ohlone Elementary School where he's in Mandarin Immersion. He's picked up more and more vocabulary and sometimes you can catch him singing Chinese songs. He's dropped Kung fu lessons although he did make it thru white belt, yellow belt and green belt. His after-school activities are ice skating at Winter Lodge and reading tutoring as his English reading needs some extra work.</div><div><br /></div><div>Vanessa is leaving for India today, an adventure trip she planned with her roommate for winter break. They'll be gone for over five weeks and are taking their backpacks, sleeping bags, and small suitcases. A junior at SF State, Vanessa is a Communications major, but is still singing at clubs when she can. She got a lucky opportunity to visit Prague over the summer and even got a night tour of the Prague zoo from Milada (my sister's former exchange student). Vanessa worked as a server at the Cheesecake Factory in SF Union Square and she'll continue work there if she can when she returns. She is planning to study abroad in Paris for senior year.</div><div><br /></div><div>I'm hanging in at Sun Microsystems which should soon be acquired by my former employer, Oracle. The acquisition has been delayed by the European Union, but we hope it will take place in January 2010. It's fun for me to re-connect with my former Oracle colleagues but it has not been fun to see many of my Sun co-workers being laid off. </div><div><br /></div><div>I have been writing a tiny bit but getting rejections when I manage to send out a manuscript. I'm inspired by my writer friends who are getting published: Christy Hale with East-West House (2009) and Heidi Kling with Sea (to appear in 2010). </div><div><br /></div><div>Peter has been taking care of the house and been visiting the doctor a lot. Quite by luck, I was reading a book on sleep when I noticed he had every symptom for obstructive sleep apnea. He went thru an overnight sleep study at Stanford which found he has a severe case. He's still struggling with therapy but at least we now have a reason for his poor health. Last year his bronchitis lasted for months and became pneumonia! </div><div><br /></div><div>We traveled back do DC for a Chin-Lee family reunion over the summer. In May, Vanessa and I visited Austin where we have an investment home. Peter, Joshua, and I also travelled to Tuscon (for my work) and Albuquerque and Raleigh where we have investment homes. This was the first time for us to see the homes that we bought in 2007 (at the top of the market). </div><div><br /></div><div>Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukah, Cool Kwaanza, Nifty New Year. We hope to see you in 2010.</div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div>Cynthia Chin-Lee, Author and Speakerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02761821717553582486noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8265994977055087141.post-53181612017103506652009-12-16T11:29:00.001-08:002016-12-27T12:33:33.068-08:00Holiday Greetings and the Year-End ReportCynthia Chin-Lee, Author and Speakerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02761821717553582486noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8265994977055087141.post-32984032746610673732009-12-16T11:22:00.000-08:002009-12-16T11:29:01.784-08:00AADP Bone Marrow Drive & Benefit Book SigningI've been in the bone marrow registry for over 20 years when my coworker at Tandem Computers was diagnosed with leukemia. A few years after being registered, I was an initial match for someone. Unfortunately, I wasn't a perfect match but I find it awesome that you can save another person's life with a fairly simple procedure.<br /><br />The Asian American Donor Program recruits people for the registry and they are having a registration drive:<br /><br />Date: Saturday, Dec. 19, 2009<br />Time: 10:30 to 3 pm<br />Place: Cupertino Library, 10800 Torre Drive<br /><br />You can also help AADP in another way...Yes, you heard it here first. They are having a benefit book signing with three local authors, Dr. Lam Do, whose son received a life-saving bone marrow transfer from a Seattle policeman, Linyao Wu, and myself.<br /><br />Pick up a holiday present, save a life, all in one trip.<br /><br />I'll be signing copies of "Almond Cookies and Dragon Well Tea," "Amelia to Zora: 26 Women Who Changed the World," and "Akira to Zoltan: 26 Men Who Changed the World."Cynthia Chin-Lee, Author and Speakerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02761821717553582486noreply@blogger.com0