Middle in the North

This is a year that I am far behind my goal of reading, but fortunately, among the few books I've read this year, there are some great ones. I always struggle to star-rate a book. How do you condense the holistic experience into one to five starts? I can give a book a 5-star for the first half, and a two-star for the second. I can give the beautiful writing a five, but the impact on my life a one. I can give the profound thought, the interesting perspective a five, but what if the writing style is dry and unbearable? It is just so compounded. But giving a start review is motivating, I love to see my Goodreads "read" shelf growing with the books I reviewed It empowers the readers. After all, I decided that I have three criteria that I expect the author to hit. I will award my stars based on these three: Is the book beautifully written, in terms of flow, style, and voice? Is the thought, perspective, and information interesting? Is there an impact on me after hav...

It has been almost two years and three months since I moved to Minnesota. In a way, I stranded myself from all kinds of familiarities from the day I moved, almost intentionally. At that time, I grew tired of the never-changing, almost toxic sunshine in Northern California, the self-segregated cultural circle, and knowing that I would never become the best researcher in the lab, I was happy to escape. What I was going to embrace excited me. I was going to become a breakfast cereal developer. This sense of excitement is hard to explain: For one, I did not grow up in a culture eating cereal for breakfast. For the other, we all know cereal industry has passed its peak (at least in the US). But the excitement trumped my personal reality and industry reality. I knew I could make something impactful in the "mainstream" American culture and lives, as an immigrant, as a non-citizen, as a hot/savory breakfast loving Chinese. Two years after I landed in the North Star state, a h...