I have been scalping lately, and I am pleased with the result thus far. My trading history has not been a smooth one however, and for the past year, I didn't trade much at all. My study in finance at the university provided me with the understanding of the financial market, but trading itself is a different beast.
In my earlier chapter in trading, a 4 figure profit or loss could happen during a day, within the hours or even within the minutes. I could ride the highest high or suffer the lowest low.
The market is driven by two major forces - greed and fear. With a string of losses, it had paralyzed my decision making process. There was a period where I constantly second guessing myself and only to kick myself afterwards for not making those calls. Recently, I had a brief conversation with a friend, and his answer for getting over my fear in trading was that, not until I make that trade, I would not truly know the degree of the fear itself. It may not be as scary as originally expected. I follow his advice, stare down my inner fear, and take action. With the proper risk management, a favorable outcome is always probable.
The main point is that we need to take actions, and not to let the fear be in the way of our lives. Take charge, conquer that fear, and it may not be that big monster as we originally feared.
Oh, by the way, eating worms are not scary. It is gross!
Sunday, January 29, 2006
Saturday, January 14, 2006
2006 Great Lakes Regional Barista Competition
glrbc_06_244, originally uploaded by ThaRiddla.
Here are more pictures from the competition.
If you like to know more about the barista competition, click here
and download "CG Podcast 030 - Phuong Tran, United States Barista Champion". You can hear through the words of the cheerful and adorable champion.
Sunday, January 08, 2006
2006 Great Lakes Regional Barista Competition
originally uploaded by Spinnaker007.
More pics! From all regional competitions lead up to the USBC in Charlotte, NC this April.
Western Regional Barista Competition, March 4 - 5, 2006
Saturday, January 07, 2006
Joy!
My cousin, Rick and his wife, Christine welcome their first baby girl, Elizabeth on 01/01/2006. I thought it is neat that they made it on the newspaper...
Food Pairing: Coffee & Desserts
Food Pairing: Coffee & Desserts
Coffee, like wine, tea, soft drink and other beverages can be consumed throughout the meal. For a long time, I believe coffee (drip) consumption should be enjoyed by itself. Occasionally, I may grab a muffin or a pastry with my coffee, but mostly I prefer my coffee as is.
I was aware of the preparation for pairing coffee with desserts. Because my preference in drinking coffee, I never gave it a second thought. With the latest buzz about coffee pairing with food, I was interested to find out more, and I did some research myself.
As a general rule, always look to pair likenesses (harmonizing) rather than contrasting (tension creating) in flavor attributes and characteristics. Some argue that contrast in flavors isn't a bad thing, and I agree. Two opposite flavors such as sweet and sour, they balance each other out quite nicely. The level of roast –– light, medium, or dark –– dictates the intensity of each coffee and helps determine what foods it will pair with best.
Light roasts; the roasting process terminates early in order to retain the peak acidity, aroma and flavor (varietals dimensionality / characteristics.) Because of their delicate flavors, light roast goes very well with the light/fruit desserts.
Medium roasts; where acidity is being traded for body. The delicate & complex flavor diminishes while the body becomes increasingly noticeable. The sweetness comes from the carmelization. Medium textured dessert is preferable.
Dark roasts; heavy, full‑bodied coffees, but with very little of the varietals uniqueness. This type of roast is known as Italian and French roasts. They are best with the decadent chocolate or heavy cream desserts.
I use the commonly known coffees and the broad category of desserts for easy identification. So, in summary:
Light roasts such as Mocha Java and Yemen go well with fruit tarts/desserts, blueberry muffin, cherry pie, compotes, and cobblers.
Medium roasts like Colombian, Brazil, Ethiopian Harrar, Costa Rica, Guatemala, Sumatra combine well with custards, tiramisu, cannolis, cakes, pies, and cookies.
Dark roasts, French and Italian, are best to match the richness desserts like ice creams, cheesecakes, tiramisu (I know, this baby goes well with everything), mousses, rich cakes, and brownies.
What about you? What coffee do you like to go with what dessert? Leave your comment and let us know. It is time for some experiments…
P.S. I was going to creat a table for the recommendations, but I don't know jack about the html codes, and not enough time to learn for this blog entry...Also I hope malachi doesn't mind me using his vocabularies...
Coffee, like wine, tea, soft drink and other beverages can be consumed throughout the meal. For a long time, I believe coffee (drip) consumption should be enjoyed by itself. Occasionally, I may grab a muffin or a pastry with my coffee, but mostly I prefer my coffee as is.
I was aware of the preparation for pairing coffee with desserts. Because my preference in drinking coffee, I never gave it a second thought. With the latest buzz about coffee pairing with food, I was interested to find out more, and I did some research myself.
As a general rule, always look to pair likenesses (harmonizing) rather than contrasting (tension creating) in flavor attributes and characteristics. Some argue that contrast in flavors isn't a bad thing, and I agree. Two opposite flavors such as sweet and sour, they balance each other out quite nicely. The level of roast –– light, medium, or dark –– dictates the intensity of each coffee and helps determine what foods it will pair with best.
Light roasts; the roasting process terminates early in order to retain the peak acidity, aroma and flavor (varietals dimensionality / characteristics.) Because of their delicate flavors, light roast goes very well with the light/fruit desserts.
Medium roasts; where acidity is being traded for body. The delicate & complex flavor diminishes while the body becomes increasingly noticeable. The sweetness comes from the carmelization. Medium textured dessert is preferable.
Dark roasts; heavy, full‑bodied coffees, but with very little of the varietals uniqueness. This type of roast is known as Italian and French roasts. They are best with the decadent chocolate or heavy cream desserts.
I use the commonly known coffees and the broad category of desserts for easy identification. So, in summary:
Light roasts such as Mocha Java and Yemen go well with fruit tarts/desserts, blueberry muffin, cherry pie, compotes, and cobblers.
Medium roasts like Colombian, Brazil, Ethiopian Harrar, Costa Rica, Guatemala, Sumatra combine well with custards, tiramisu, cannolis, cakes, pies, and cookies.
Dark roasts, French and Italian, are best to match the richness desserts like ice creams, cheesecakes, tiramisu (I know, this baby goes well with everything), mousses, rich cakes, and brownies.
What about you? What coffee do you like to go with what dessert? Leave your comment and let us know. It is time for some experiments…
P.S. I was going to creat a table for the recommendations, but I don't know jack about the html codes, and not enough time to learn for this blog entry...Also I hope malachi doesn't mind me using his vocabularies...
Sunday, January 01, 2006
Waiters/Waitresses Behaving Badly.
I caught a segment about the bad behavior in the restaurants on CNN’s Paula Zahn Now yesterday afternoon, a re-run from 12/29/05. That portion uncovered the devilments behind your smiling waiters and waitresses.
If you are not nice to your waiter and you later complaint to him about how your steak is not done right, he might just take it back to the kitchen, drop it on the floor, re-plate it and give it back to you. Yikes!
I always believe in treating people in the way as how I would like to be treated, but I can’t say the same about some of my friends, and I wonder what was severed on their plates. That segment went on with a few more unappetizing "incidents".
To be fair, there are also countless episodes involve the awful customers with their insulting tips. There was a customer leaving $2.00 tip and a coupon for cranberry juice. Geeez, how cheap can you be?? I consider myself an average tipper. I don’t throw money around like if I own a bank, but I never under tip anyone even the service is sub-par. 15~20 % sounds right to me.
The links below are the website mentioned on CNN, go check them out...
bitterwaitress
The stained apron
Waiter Rant
Shameless Restaurants
If you are not nice to your waiter and you later complaint to him about how your steak is not done right, he might just take it back to the kitchen, drop it on the floor, re-plate it and give it back to you. Yikes!
I always believe in treating people in the way as how I would like to be treated, but I can’t say the same about some of my friends, and I wonder what was severed on their plates. That segment went on with a few more unappetizing "incidents".
To be fair, there are also countless episodes involve the awful customers with their insulting tips. There was a customer leaving $2.00 tip and a coupon for cranberry juice. Geeez, how cheap can you be?? I consider myself an average tipper. I don’t throw money around like if I own a bank, but I never under tip anyone even the service is sub-par. 15~20 % sounds right to me.
The links below are the website mentioned on CNN, go check them out...
Lamborghini Rosetta
(A little exercise for my bloggin’) This is one of my all time favorite latte art. A free pour rosetta with the nicely steamed ultra pasteurized 2% milk. I like this milk for its sweetness and the velvety foam it yields.
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