Gloria's Blog

Online dating is becoming more common. People's perceptions toward online dating also have evolved. It has now become a more generally acceptable way of meeting people. From a pure scientific point of view, it can be more efficient approach in meeting the right person.  The Knot surveyed more than 14,000 engaged or recently married individuals and reported that 19% of brides said they met their spouses online , increased from 5% in 2015. ( source ) However, there are still lots of frustrations in dating. I have been there, too.  At one point, I was even entertained by the frustrations "Every time, the case is impossible for a different reason. Things don't work out for a different reason. Now I am really curious what the next reason of 'failure' will be... " This blog is about in this era of data-driven dating, how setting third-level goals might help in finding the right person. Plus a personal tip at the end. . . . “People don’t down...

- 1 - April 27, 2018. It was the one year reunion after we graduated. I was hesitating whether I should fly back to Chicago. The reason of the hesitation: I know there will be A LOT OF people, a lot of 'Oh hi how have you been?', a lot of trying hard to stuff our lives in five minute conversations in crowded, noisy venue. I genuinely want to know how my friends have been, but I am fearful that they want to meet and catch up with as many people as possible, and that they won't have time for that with me, and maybe, the deepest fear, is the fear of realizing "I haven't actually made good friends in Booth. " I knew it is possibly a fact. And I am afraid of seeing this fact in front of me.  The other day, I had brunch with another Booth in Seattle. She said, "Why not? It is the most efficient way to catch up with Boothies. Otherwise you may not be able to see them in years."  That's actually a good point. "Just seeing them, and ha...

I have written a series of six blogs related to the happenings in Christmas 2017. This is the second one. This piece is dedicated to a good friend, Li, and his girlfriend, who actively and tirelessly organize activities for the Chinese community in Seattle. You are sharing your love to each other to warm and light up the community. Thank you! *** I have a friend in Seattle. His name is Li. We are not super close (yet), maybe a bit more than colleague. Li and his beautiful and sweet girlfriend are good people, and, very social. They love to organize drinks, dinner, all kinds of fun activities for the Chinese community in Seattle. I have been to a few. Usually, I need to try very hard to enjoy “just for fun”, unless I am under alcohol… I tend to seek meaning before and when doing things, maybe too much. Going to parties and talking about general, daily, random things, are not my favorite things. But sometimes life can be hard. For example, during Christmas. I have b...

Last December, I attended an amazing training - High Performance Training sponsored by my amazing employer Microsoft. It answers why and how the most elite masters in each field achieved what they have achieved - in sports, business, arts, etc. The training empathized the importance of mindfulness, positive thinking. During the training, they introduced a challenge, "To write down three good things that have happened everyday, for 30 days." I was inspired, and decided to do it with a friend. We made it through. We didn't expect it to be such a profound experience. ***** Here are ten things I learned from the 30-Day-Challenge. 1. Today’s happiness can only be appreciated today. We don’t remember yesterday well. One day we forgot to do it. It’s very hard to think three things that have made you happy yesterday. So live in the moment.  2. It’s not easy to stick to it for 30 days. Probably anything for 30 days.  We need discipline to do that. I tol...

The other day, a friend asked me: "Do you write novel?" Me: "What scene?" Him: "Love. Doubt. Courage." Me: "Any other constraints?" Him: "100 words. Exact." So here you go. This novel is dedicated to the people who are unsure about love, or people who are unsure whether their personal passion can turn into a career.  ********* Will This Work You ask me Will this work You think a lot Nine years apart Well my mom is ninety, healthy Genetically My life’ll be lengthy You’ve young kids to take care Well you have three side projects Holding your heart tight Keeping you up at night You don’t speak Chinese You’ll never speak to my heart Well you sure Ma Chi Fan Le Ma Ni Ai Wo Ma Oh God You are a lot Well if I am not You are already bored So Will this work If you want it to Same to everything That you’re putting your heart into ********* Dear friend, thank you for your attent...

You may question: wow, are you seriously trying to answer this ultimate life question? Well, nope. Today I want to share a moment when I felt "This is why life is worth living". If you know me, you know I love asking questions. Not everybody loves to answer. I get it. I have a friend, his name is Jason. Jason likes to answer questions. My questions too. He often gives thoughtful answers. The other day, I asked him, "This is a big one. Why life is worth living?" He said, "The meaning of life is in the pursuit of its meaning.". That kind of abstract philosophic answer. I didn't particularly like this answer. But I know the flaw is in the way I asked. So, I wrote him an email, shared with him this moment. After reading the email, Jason encouraged me to share this moment with my readers. So here we have this blog. *********** To: Jason This noon, I asked you an awkward question "Why life is worth living?" It...

Last week, I went to the Microsoft Redmond campus for the annual AI and Machine Learning Conference. It was a fantastic conference! But in the afternoon, I had a serious information overflow. I can't intake and process any more info. So I hopped on a Lyft. Driver's name is Jeff. When I was on the car, Jeff started talking to me. We started by chatting about random things. For example, he said, "Well, Wednesday is usually slow. But you sometimes get a lot of riders. It's either a hit or a miss." - I was passively listening and said "hum interesting.", and thinking, well, you said a lot but you said nothing. Then Jeff started to talk about the new airport pick-up service that Uber just introduced. I got a bit more interested. I asked him some more details about how the service work. He couldn't really explain. And he is aware of that. - Then I was politely passively listening again, about to plug in my earphones for some music. After Jeff fi...