洋洋的意！三陽開泰！新年快樂，恭喜發財！！！My favorite Chinglish New Year’s greeting. The Chinese character sounds a lot like the word “young” in English, thus, the silly pun.

It’s here! My new MV “Roller Coaster”! Since my debut last year, life has been an amazing adventure with ups and downs. When I returned from Malaysia in September, I sat down with my ukulele and wrote this tune. 我的新MV出來了！出道已經一年了，覺得每一天是一種冒險。生活多不平凡來試看看！

這是我哥哥George的狗Sweet Pea, 甜豆。2008年在我剛從芝加哥搬到洛杉磯時我還對狗很陌生。講實話我本來就不喜歡任何的寵物。我嫌牠們又髒又臭，完全不了解為什麼人會喜歡這種動物甚至照顧牠們，養牠們。我到現在還記得我小時後送報紙就常常被鄰居的狗追來追去。十歲的我就很怕被狗咬傷。

等到我認識了甜豆之後我就改變了態度。甜豆第一天因為對我不熟悉也不敢離我太近，看到我還會哇哇叫。第二天早上牠來到我房間在床旁邊躺下來。 我從那個時刻就開始喜歡甜豆。

我真的認為甜豆是世界上最棒的狗。好啦，我知道每一個主人會證明他們的狗最棒但是甜豆不是我的狗。牠是我哥哥救回來然後自己訓練的甜豆。我是慢慢的發現牠不但很乖但牠個性好貼心。不管我開心還是難過，甜豆都願意在我身邊陪著我。我本人從小會想太多，常常看新聞覺得人類怎麼那麼爛。但我覺得狗狗的個性會保留人類最可愛的部分。我每一次開始對人類很失望的時候就想到甜豆然後心情就變好了。我也現在完全理解為何一個人每一天願意遛狗還要撿起來牠們的大便。

有一天我在看甜豆睡覺就發現牠會把全身捲起來像一隻鹿。我那天就給牠取了新的名字：鹿鹿。後來不管你用甜豆還是鹿鹿牠都會有反應過來。最後連這個不重要。對我來看牠就是世界上最棒的狗。

#tbt This is my brother’s dog, Sweet Pea. When I moved from Chicago to Los Angeles in 2008 is when I first got to know her. Truth be told, up until then, I didn’t like dogs. I thought they were dirty, I thought they smelled. I couldn’t understand why anyone would want to have one, or any pet for that matter. It might have something to do with being a paperboy as a kid, and being chased a lot by the neighbor’s dog. In any case, ten year old me was terrified of them and I carried my dislike of animals into adulthood.

Sweet Pea didn’t warm up to me right away, either. But on the second day, she came into my room and sat next to my bed and just chilled there. From that point, I decided we’d be great friends.

I really do believe that Sweet Pea is the best dog in the world. I know, I know, that’s what every person says about his or her dog, but Sweet Pea is not my dog. My brother is the one who rescued her and trained her, not me. But I’ve come to realize that Sweet Pea, and many dogs in general have the ability to embody the best qualities of people. So in such a crummy world, when we watch the news and see people doing destructive things to each other, it’s comforting to then take a look at Sweet Pea and be reminded that people can be kind as well.

One day I noticed that when Sweet Pea sleeps, she curls her entire body up into a ball, and looks very much like a deer. That day, I gave her another name, “Lulu”. (Deer Deer, in Mandarin). Whether you say Sweet Pea, or Lulu, she will respond to it. But even that doesn’t matter. In my mind, she’s just the world’s best dog.

芝加哥，2008年暑假，場地在樓下地下室。我站在舞台自我介紹準備唱歌。P在右邊幫我合音。後面是鼓手Bev和吉他手Ritch。
對面的巴台有四十幾個人擠在一起，喝喝聊聊，又吵，又熱。雖然大家講話很大聲不見得代表他們沒有在專心聽音樂。這就是芝加哥聽眾的風格。也是我當獨立歌手收到的音樂教育。 台上的歌手得去學會怎麼面對任何的環境，不管什麼情況都要把歌唱完。學會了之後，感覺到什麼事情都能克服。
Elbo Room, Chicago, June 22, 2008
That’s me on stage introducing myself to the crowd, on a sweaty summer night. To my right is P, singing backup, with Bev on drums, and Ritch on guitar.
The bar was across from the stage, where about forty people crammed into a small space, drinking the night away. Hot, noisy, your typical local music venue. Just because people were talking loudly through your set, didn’t necessarily mean they weren’t listening to the music.
I always think of these performances as my great indie music education. If you could sing a song from beginning to end at the corner dive, then surely, you could sing anywhere.