there are worse things to be called

(PRNewsFoto/PepsiCo)

Skinny cans. 

300mL minis have been around for several years in Taiwan and other countries (for Coke anyway), and as someone who is apparently notorious for leaving half-finished beverages sitting around, I think they're a perfect size.

They're just enough to quench your thirst for carbonated, caffeinated, over-sugared goodness without leaving you feeling as though you have to chug the last quarter of it so you can get back on the scooter and hit the ol' bumpy trail.

They fit better in your (my?) hand, you feel a little bit sexier drinking out of them (Don't lie!), and who couldn't use a little cutback in the portions department? ( ... says the gluttonous American.)

The friendly folks at 7-11 will even give you a straw. What's not to like?

Pepsi, on the other hand, isn't pleasing everyone – namely, activists against eating disorders – with their announcement to unveil a similar design at this year's New York Fashion Week.

You'll hear no argument from me about the "skinnier, taller is better" message being plastered as far as the eye can see, but is there no better place to make that stand, no more effective way to fight that battle? Surely there are more influential ways to act on this kind of opinion.

"In celebration of beautiful, confident women," pepsico.com says, they present "the taller, sassier new Skinny Can." Sure, maybe the pitch is a little lame, but is anyone really offended by this?

Really?

how i've been feeling lately

Sometimes just thinking of everything I've been through, all the memories I have, and how far I am from where I started makes everything wonderful. There's nothing like thinking about the past – the times I never wanted to end and the times I thought things would never get better – and seeing how much things have changed. I feel like I've grown into something like a functioning human being in spite of myself. I feel like I have everyone around me to thank for where I'm at right now, and I love that feeling.

This week has been great so far – not necessarily because life is going exceptionally well, but because I feel very real and alive – one might say "infinite." Do you ever feel the difference between just being a speck in the cycle of things and truly feeling an experience? It's the difference between watching a game from the sidelines or being in an audience verses playing on the field or being up on the stage. I think that emotion – that recognition of tangible feeling – is what keeps me going. I can say without contest that things are not perfect, but maybe it's the idea that everyone endures some inevitable obstacle that is so comforting. Like a group of strangers that asks to walk through a haunted house with you or the random people you gravitate toward in line for a roller coaster, maybe it's the universal understanding that things aren't easy that allows us to really live day to day.

Maybe I'm just on another ridiculous philosophical rant, or maybe I've uncovered the secret of the universe – either way, I'm pretty sure it doesn't matter. All I know is, without aid of a single compliment or so much as the smallest kind gesture from another human being, I feel beautiful.

I wrote this more than six years ago. Some things don't change.

i can spell good

Lesson learned. Apparently January in Taiwan is a hectic time, and February is looking to shape up similarly. With a company year-end banquet (and rehearsals for it), unpaid time off, vacation, lease wrap-up, lease signing, moving, New Year, Chinese New Year, paperwork renewal, contract renewal, planning for 2011 time off ... there's barely time to remember that teaching is the part that's supposed to be work.

Until I can wrap my head around one idea for more than five seconds, I leave you spelling practice, information on time around the world, tips for Year of the Rabbit cleaning, and an opportunity to type in your own handwriting.

new year's eves

Every year about this time, I join the masses in reflecting on the year behind and anticipating the one ahead.

I mostly pore over song lyrics, trying to find the perfect one to encompass my feelings about the past 364 days. In doing so, I usually find myself overwhelmed with exactly how much happens in a year. Then I think back to January and go month by month recounting the most significant events and wracking my brain to remember the details. (In many past years, I've actually broken out the daily planner I'd use as a diary of sorts and started analyzing.) I eventually admit to myself that I'd have to post song after song to capture all the perfect sentiments.

In the past, I've orchestrated every moment of my New Year's Eve celebration. I've also worked straight though midnight with barely a "Happy New Year" to be heard. I've been kissed and left kissless. I've spent the evening in the company of family, friends, and only the TV. I've toasted with some of my best friends and some people I haven't spoken to in years. I can remember many New Year's Eves, and the only thing they have in common is that each year is different than the next. Thinking about that makes me realize that New Year's isn't the light switch of change that I've been known to make it.

The ushering in of a new year inspires hope and new beginnings, and there's nothing wrong with that. January 1st, though, isn't a magical day. In fact, it's just another day. (I think spending my first winter in weather that hardly dips below 50 degrees has helped cement that idea in my mind. The feelings that we associate with a season solely because of the season can be tricky.) What I mean isn't that NYE isn't a big deal, but rather that every day should be filled with as much hope and inspiration.

For someone who is as hung up on serendipitous numbers as I am (see the "eleven" page a right), this is important, so read it twice: There's never a "right" or "wrong" time for a new beginning. You don't have to wait for the calendar to flip to better yourself or to adopt new routines.

If there's anything I've learned this year, it's to let go. Life is fluid. Your today is someone's yesterday and a third person's tomorrow. Some of those days are good, and some are bad; some are worth noting, and some aren't. You might be in the middle of a great day while someone else is putting a bad one to bed, and you both get on with it. Each day, just like each New Year, is a chance to do something differently or do something the same way. I'm still learning this.

Every day, every moment, is a choice. It's your choice. Without sounding too spacey, time and dates and conditions are relative. Life is what you make it, what you see, what you experience. It's yours and yours alone. You may choose whom to share it with and whom you don't. And if you mess part of it up, just fix it. Do it better the next day. Nothing is irreversible, and it's never the end of the world (unless it is, but that's not your turf anyway). That being said, we also should realize that life is fleeting and that it's our responsibility to live it actively and well. There's certainly a balance to be found, but you might start by concerning yourself with doing what makes you happy and the people you care about feel appreciated. If you can make the 7-11 clerk feel good for a minute while you're at it, extra points for you.

So I wish you all a great year full of days bursting with love and laughter and feelings of contentment and satisfaction. I hope for 2011 that when that NYE kind of nostalgia comes over you, tell the people you think of that they are thought of. Use your spare seconds to let someone know they are loved, that they are important. I wish for you the ability to use your Jan. 1 hope to work diligently on challenges any day of the year. Just remember that you can always try again; you can always change something if it's not quite right.

Your days are fluid. Let go. Happy New Year.