Pampered

I don't often get sick (my perspective - she would disagree), but when I do Shijie pampers me like a small puppy. So when I came down with a cold at the end of this week, I wasn't surprised when she insisted on coming to "rescue" me in Tucson over me going to Phoenix for the weekend. While not exactly strict, she demands a thorough course of action, and only she can see that I perform all of them.

Her checklist for a sick Blake:
- Copious amounts of Vitamin C, juice and water
- Hour-long naps every 3 hours
- Herbal tea (each from some part of mainland China) every hour
- Soup for virtually every meal
- Hot baths before bed

Between these activities she chides that perhaps I should be on Rosetta Stone studying Chinese - while she works through Saturday on her legal briefs for the court.

But as I said above, she is not exactly strict. I often settle for either reading Sci-Fi, dreaming up designs for shirts or videos, or watching a TV series with her. And in the end, although she thinks she is taking care of me, I really think I'm taking care of her by distracting her from work over the weekend.

Of course it is at her insistance that I write a blog post, so perhaps I am the trained puppy after all.

(Food Therapy: There is nothing a good Korean BBQ can't cure.)

Milestone

Blake and I met three years ago, on August 28th, 2009.

I didn't drive at that time. He drove.

Knuckles hit his first 50K mark on August 30th, 2012.

Blake didn't drive this time. I did.

It has been an incredible journey with the lovely person who taught me how to drive, and the car that makes me smile.

Both of you made me do parallel-parking, brought me to a dentist, and watched me closely on the highway.

Both told me not to worry, and held my hand when I was shaky.

You two never judge and call me a bad driver. You are patient and loving.

Knuckles, Buckles, Blake and I are one family!

When I noticed years ago that Blake always keeps Buckles spotlessly clean, feeds her with the best gas, and cries a little bit inside whenever she got scratched, hurt, or dented, I had a feeling that he will also take very good care of me, just like the way he treats Buckles.

A man who loves his car loves his woman. A woman who loves her man loves his car.

I fantasize Knuckles and Buckles are this cute married car-couple, purring happily down the aisle, and snuggling side-by-side in their reserved parking spots.

Why wouldn't they? They love each other so much, and miss each other so dearly.

Thank you Knuckles, for keeping me in good company on the road.

Thank you babe, for giving me the courage to do what I fear so that I can do what I love.

Lovejoy

I finished the bar exam. That summarized my existence for the past two months.

Now we are in Portland, living on the Lovejoy street. The street name says it all.

More of Husby in the News!

UA just cannot get enough of husby!

For the fans, here is the sexy Appalachian accent he is not aware of!

Husby in the News!

Mr. C makes the news, again. He surely makes me a proud wifeski!

Here's the article.

Making Mirrors for the Sun

By Daniel Stolte, University Communications, July 5, 2012

With $1.5 million from the Department of Energy, UA researchers are continuing to improve groundbreaking technology to produce solar electricity at a price competitive with non-renewable energy sources.

Just behind the University of Arizona's Bear Down Gymnasium, a house-sized frame of crisscrossing steel tubes is mounted onto a swiveling post in the concrete bottom of an empty swimming pool.

The tracker, as the structure is called, supports two curved, highly reflective glass mirrors, each measuring 10 feet by 10 feet. The tracker is "on sun," converting the hot Arizona summer sun into electrical power.

"We use mirror-making technology we developed at the UA to make highly concentrating solar mirrors," said Roger Angel, Regents' Professor of Astronomy and Optical Sciences and director of the Steward Observatory Mirror Lab. "Our technology holds the promise of getting the price of solar energy down to where it can be used on a large scale without depending on subsidies and be competitive in the electricity market."

The Department of Energy recently granted $1.5 million to Angel's research group to extend the mirror-making process to the so-called thermal method for making solar electricity. The mirror-making process will be optimized for cost-efficient mass production. The group has already patented its method for making dish-shaped glass mirrors.

"Most mirrors used in solar power plants are used for thermal generation by focusing light onto a long pipe used to heat water into steam," Angel explained. "This requires the mirrors to be shaped like a cylinder. What we have learned here at the Mirror Lab is how to bend the glass to high accuracy so as to focus to a point or a line."

The grant involves a collaboration with a commercial manufacturer, Rioglass Solar in Surprise, Ariz., which churns out cylinder shaped glass mirrors every 20 seconds.

"Much of what we have learned about making telescope mirrors carries over," Angel said, "how to make them, how point them and how to make them efficient at collecting light. But for this technology, we have to do things ten thousands times cheaper and ten thousand times faster than we do for a telescope."

Angels' team plans to build a furnace that works like a giant toaster oven. Within in a few seconds, heaters placed above the flat sheet of glass turn glowing red, and within a minute the glass will soften and sink into the mold placed underneath.

"Our students are the lifeblood of this project," Angel said. "Currently they are working on ways to convert the light focused by dish mirrors into electricity using photovoltaic cells."

The mirrors focus sunlight onto a 5-inch glass ball and from there to a small array of 36 highly efficient photovoltaic (PV) cells, developed originally to power spacecraft. They convert a broader range of the solar spectrum into electricity than regular cells.

The ball lens is coated to maximize transparency for the incoming rays. Angel said that an undergraduate student working in the lab, Ivan McCrea, discovered a new way of coating the lens for very high transmission.

Another student, Blake Coughenour, a graduate student in the UA's College of Optical Sciences, is working on the optics to more efficiently couple the dish-collected sunlight to the cells.

"Because we are focusing highly concentrated sunlight onto the cells, we had to design an effective cooling system for the cells," Coughenour said. "Otherwise, they would melt within seconds."

A unit of fans and radiators – not unlike the cooling system in a car – is attached to the solar cell array, keeping them about 36 degrees Fahrenheit above ambient air temperature.

"The tracker is fully automated," Coughenour explained. "The system wakes itself up in the morning and turns to the East. It knows where the sun will rise even while it's still below the horizon. It tracks the sun's path during the day all the way to sunset, then parks itself for the night."

In recent test runs, the prototype module generated 2.5 kilowatts of electricity, enough to meet the power demands of two average U.S. households.

"By using mirrors to focus on small but super-efficient photovoltaic cells, we have the potential to make twice as much electricity as even the best photovoltaic panels," Angel said.

How does the solar technology compare to non-renewable energies?

Angel said an array of sun trackers on an area measuring about 7 miles by 7 miles would generate 10 Gigawatts of power during sunshine hours.

"You could make the same total amount of electrical energy as the Palo Verde Nuclear Power Plant near Phoenix, the biggest nuclear power plant in the country."

Unlike conventional power plants that use steam to power turbines, Angel's photovoltaic prototype uses no water, making it especially suitable for desert regions. The materials are cheap to produce and by concentrating sunlight with mirrors the plant's footprint is smaller than that of PV panel-based plants.  

"We have laid the foundation for a structure that meets all the criteria you would want to see in an energy technology that is kind on the planet, doesn't emit carbon dioxide and doesn't consume water," Angel said.

To bring the solar concentrating technology developed at the UA into production, Angel together with several partners founded REhnu, LLC in 2009. Former UA President John P. Schaefer serves as the company's president, chairman of the board and CEO.

Angel's team is continuously working to improve the technology and through the new award will extend its application to thermal as well as photovoltaic generation.

Coughenour said: "What is cool about our group is that we get to build the technology, take it out into the field and see how well it performs, and then go back to the lab and make the necessary adjustments. Each time, we learn more and more, and optimize again and again. We are at the cutting age, and that's lot of fun."

"What kind of bird are YOU?"

I'm writing this because I'm taking a brief break from all the multiple choices that are staring at me right now, or because I feel like it.

Nothing much has happened lately, except that

-(Almost too) many people got/are getting married;

-Blake is carrying on with my unfinished career as the newbie(!) RA and just went through his first day of training;

-We are blasting through the first season of Rome;

-We watched Moonrise Kingdom and I'm thinking of revisiting Fantastic Mr. Fox;

-I loosely followed the breakups and the hiccups of Katie/Tom (meh), Jolie/Brad (yay), Kim/Kanye (sham);

-We are starting to brew homemade ice tea and relishing the exclusive possession of our fridge;

-We paid our bills and car insurance;

-The Odwalla chocolate protein drink is finally back in stock after its two-month absence from the grocery stores and vending machines;

-We are looking forward to life after the bar exam.

Also, finally--

To make life somewhat more bearable, I found lines from Moonrise that made me laugh.

Loaded Question

Mrs. Bishop: "Walt, where the hell are you?"
Mr. Bishop: "I'm right here. Why are you cursing at me?"
Mrs. Bishop: "Does it concern that your daughter has just run away from home?"
Mr. Bishop: "That's a loaded question."

Most Important Decision

Cousin Ben (to Suzy and Sam): "I can't offer you a legally binding union. It won't hold up in the state, the county or frankly any courtroom in the world due to your age, lack of license and failure to get parental consent. But, the ritual does carry a very important moral weight within yourselves. You can't enter into this lightly. Look into my eyes: Do you love each other?"
Suzy: "Yes, we do."
Cousin Ben: "Think about what I'm saying, are you sure you're ready for this?"
Suzy: "Yes, we are."
Cousin Ben: "They're not listening to me. Let me rephrase it..."
Suzy: "We're in a hurry."
Cousin Ben: "Are you chewing...spit out the gum sister. In fact everybody." (Everyone spits out gum) "I don't like the snappy attitude. This is the most important decision you've made in your lives. Go over by that trampoline and talk it through before you give me another quick answer."

Chop A Tree

Mr. Bishop (to his children): "I'll be out back. I'm gonna find a tree to chop down."

Bird

Sam (to Suzy): "What kind of bird are YOU?"

Baby Baby!

I am up to my ears in bar exam studying. But it is quite fun being a married woman and seeing my husband becoming a full-time house-bound: picking up grocery, taking out trash, cleaning the table, washing the dishes, and slaving over thank-you cards.

So out of a huge gesture of generosity, I allow him to play video games in the house (while I'm away studying). 

Also good news everyone. Blake has a new baby.

Unilaterally.

Thanks to the wonders of technology...

Drum rolls please.

Announcing the arrival of Retina "Mac & Cheese" B. Coughenour !

(weighing 2.02 kg, 1.8 cm x 35.89 cm x 24.71 cm, very healthy apparently according to the nurse.)

Blake's self-proclaimed first major electronic baby in three years!

Welcome to the family Retina ! Hope you can feel much love, attention, and tiger-momish expectations in our household!

(Lately, Blake hasn't showed too much affection to his other children: iphone 4S, a foot heating pad as a random gift for me, and many other numerous trinkets from Newegg and Best Buy that I have lost track of.)

Blake will go on and on about how wonderfully adorable, fabulously sleek, amazingly light, incredibly sharp, powerfully anti-glare, and inappropriately sexy our new baby is.

He will also proudly repeat the story how he snatched one within 15 minutes when it first became available online while everyone else has to wait for 4~6 weeks. So he has been showered in immense jealousy and curiosity since last week (but such spotlight effect will foreseeably dissipate in 4~6 weeks).

Coincidentally, as a tribute to my hometown, the outsourcing powerhouse, it was shipped directly from Shanghai and arrived in Tucson in just one day.

ONE DAY! Good job China (and Foxcom?). The Made-in-China Retina is super special to me for this reason.

I have no major complaints about the new member because as of yet, I have no diaper duties. Also, Retina has surely inherited our ridiculous good looks.

On a side note, the bar prep lecture on family law detailed some typical newlyweds:

"On their wedding night, Wanda emerges from the bathroom in her Victoria's Secret lingerie only to find Harry sitting on the bed wearing a diaper and clutching a bottle of Wesson oil."

Hmmm. Ear muffs, Retina !

Life begins as a unit

We just got hitched!

The wedding and everything that led to it were the most surreal experience of my life. Blake and I are blessed with so much love, friendship, and support. Everyone we have met throughout our lives has both changed us and become part of us. We are deeply grateful to people who have come to join us on this special day, people who have kept us in their thoughts, people who have shared life journeys with us, and people who have made us better persons.

Thank you all!

People kept asking me whether I was nervous before the wedding. Honestly I did not feel this way. I did not grow up reading bridal magazines, following the royal gossip, watching the reality TV Bridezillas, and pinterest-ing a wedding board. I never wanted a perfect wedding. I did not care if anything would go wrong. I did not plan a wedding to fulfill a dream or an expectation.

What I felt was an overwhelming surge of emotions that I forgot still exist. Re-connecting with everyone from my past--family members, new and old friends--is both draining and liberating. Working through the details and the logistics of the wedding operations and the ancillary events is both taxing and rewarding. But all in all, the wedding is behind me and the new life is beginning!

I don't know how differently the married life will look, feel, taste, and smell like from the lives we had together. I knew I wanted to be with Blake for the rest of my life from even an early stage of our relationship. Through being with Blake, I have changed in some way and stayed the same in the other. And so did he. I am proud of our change and non-change. We were a good team.

Now officially, we are going to function as a societal unit. This unit will continue to have fun, keep a sense of humor, travel with excessive electronics, and maybe grow a farm of rolling little coconuts in the future.

Note to myself:

Don't panic.  The best is only yet to come.

Care

Parents are in town, cleaning massively and making ridiculously good food. I am deeply grateful that I can drive them around, offer them a place to stay, and spend time with them.

Three years ago, we walked and bused everywhere in Tucson. I fanatically google-mapped bus routes days ahead of time, planned the trip around the bus stops, slathered sunscreen on every inch of my skin, and waited hours in the sun for the bus to come.

At the time, I was busy planning, busy graduating, and busy worrying about the future. I didn't take too many happy graduation pictures. I didn't remember the commencement ceremony being particularly cheerful or inspiring. I had to move out my room by a deadline, catch a flight, meet a group of strangers in a bus tour, and then relocate to the wild wild west.

I was tired of school, sick of planning, and had to continue schooling and planning in the foreseeable future.

But my parents were proud and cheerful. We sat on the floor of a moldy hostel to share Chinese take-out in styrofoams, hauled gigantic suitcases across the campus and then across the country, and took happy family pictures with trouts, buffaloes, and geysers in the background.

Now I have a car, an apartment, a degree, a joint account, and a man who apparently wants a wife and a kitty cat. I have learned to cook, to love, to pray, and to make time for people. I have made some amazing friends along the way, gazed some gorgeous sunsets and stars, and learned some either hopelessly useless or extremely dangerous legal vocabulary.

I will let no one, no one make me feel inferior,  humiliated, defeated, and desperate again. If one thing planning a wedding has taught me, it is the fact that I have a choice and people who care about me do not care.

A giant leap

Blake has been working really hard lately because he is heading to Spain for an important conference. Despite his merciless schedule, he maintains his grace and kindness in face of the ultimate life challenge he unwittingly puts himself through.

ME!

Challenge Scenario #1: he has to deal with my cryptic mood swings that alternate between sullen silence and childish babble.

So, after I had a bad day for (almost) missing a deadline, he sent me a funny Indie Rock song, volunteered to wash my dishes, or promised to watch the Colbert Report with me.

That is his way of saying "Everything will be alright."

Challenge Scenario #2: he has to learn how to be deadpan.

When we made chicken vegetable soup for a Easter pot luck, we decided to play a joke and name it "Chinese Fifteen-Spice Bunny Soup" in honor of the holiday mascot.

Blake anticipated the fear and terror in people's eyes and rehearsed his perfect response:

"If people ask me, 'Is this really BUNNY Soup?' We should say, 'No, it's not. [Long awkward pause.] IIIIt's a RABBITTTT!'"

Then he laughed at his own joke and drifted away in his imagination of a standing ovation at an Oscar reception.

But in the end, he was the one who abandoned the plan and revealed the truth because he has a heart of gold and just can't lie.

Yes, he can stage the most savage loot in Catan with the flip of a hoarded monopoly card.

But he cannot keep a straight face in a prank, any prank.

Challenge Scenario #3: he has to guess what I like.

Blake classifies movies and TV shows into (1) the Shijie-would-hate-it-because-it's-scary category; (2) the Shijie-would-love-it-because-it's-cute category; and (3) the It-probably-won't-hurt-because-it's-silly-and-Shijie-is-silly category.

The rough classification system usually works. Blake knows well that I will not join him in his favorite hodge-podge of aliens, cowboys, vampires, zombies, Abraham Lincolns, metal people, and wobbly elderly action heroes, all of which fall within the unforgivable category (1).

Driven by his paternal instinct, Blake uncharacteristically BANNED me from watching the Game of Thrones.

You cannot give me a Honey Badger T-shirt saying "It just takes what it wants" and at the same time shield me from possibly the greatest show of this season!

He eloquently explained that it's HBO production (which is self-explanatory in itself); it's violent; it's bloody; it is not cute; it's nothing like How to Train a Dragon; it is really not cute; many people died; many more will die; people who died are not really dead; etc.

But he was wrong this time.

Honey Badger doesn't care!

I have a trick to deal with the precise dilemma HBO posits: I am born with eye shutters and hand-ear muffs.

Problem solved.

**************************************

Before Blake left for Spain, we went to a Chinese restaurant and watched the movie Up together.

Pixar never fails to tug my heart strings. Probably the most memorable scene from Up is when a gigantic bouquet of colorful balloons bursts out of the chimney, sending Carl, the grumpy widower, and his house soaring into the sky, up and away and off to an adventure in South America.

Carl embarked on an unexpected journey of self-discovery without his beloved wife Ellie. He somehow became the grandfatherly figure for Russell, the portly Asian boy scout; the guardian of Kevin, a lanky squawking bird; and the master of Dug, a slobbering yellow furball.

In the end, Russell had to throw out the furniture, appliances, and keepsakes that carried many memories of Ellie to keep the house lightweight, afloat, and combat-appropriate.

Let go.

For something in the present.

**************************************

I have bad habits, old clothes, deterring assumptions, and lingering fears that I should let go. Before I got my wisdom teeth out, Blake said, "There are things maybe you and I thought were impossible, but you did it, because you can."

Things like getting a driver's license, seeing a dentist, having a paper published, being on time, washing the dishes, going to bed early, eating non-leftover, installing the printer, making friends, being kind, not freaking out are probably tiny baby steps for mankind.

But they are great leaps for me.

Now I am adding the Game of Thrones to my list of remarkable personal feats.

For mankind, having someone brave enough to marry me and explore the unknown is as giant and groundbreaking a leap as sending someone to walk the moon.

Thank you for making me happy, putting up with me, and changing me for good, if not for the better.

“For what it’s worth: it’s never too late or, in my case, too early to be whoever you want to be. There’s no time limit, stop whenever you want. You can change or stay the same, there are no rules to this thing. We can make the best or the worst of it. I hope you make the best of it. And I hope you see things that startle you. I hope you feel things you never felt before. I hope you meet people with a different point of view. I hope you live a life you’re proud of. If you find that you’re not, I hope you have the strength to start all over again.”

-F. Scott Fitzgerald