home
.... my family
.... my friends
.... my name
.... my art
.... my favorites
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home |
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.... my family |
.... my friends |
.... my name |
.... my art |
.... my favorites |
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I stand tall because my family and friends stand by my side. They keep me balanced, and bring weight to the many perspectives that refine me. I am very picky who I choose to open up to and can be down-right difficult, so I am amazed and humbled every time my family and friends are there for me... you're the best! -QT |
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| My parents | My husband (our flickr blog) | My cat | My siblings |
my high school friends are my dearest friends because we still keep in touch...
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| Maryam | Alice | Kim | Doris |
my married friends are happy couples who teach me many awesome things about relationships...
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| Amy & Steve | Jess & Jason | Tom and Anne | Quynh and Jason |
This has got to be the most frequently asked question about me. The short answer is "everything!" The long answer will require a history/language crash course. In all the times I had to explain my name, I found that it is the Asians that are left scratching their heads while the Americans just say 'cool.'
My given name is 
...the simplified script
form is 
(only my surname is written differently, but my goodness- that's messed up for I
don't even recognize my surname.) In Mandarin (main Chinese spoken
dialect), it is pronounced 
...which directly translates to English as Chen Xiu-Jun.
This would be the end of my name history if this were a simple world, but it is not. So, here comes the part where my Asian friends typically become befuddled. Brace yourselves...
Both my parent's family (before they knew each other) moved to Vietnam where
I was born. Since the Vietnamese language does not support Chinese characters,
my legal name was translated to 
...which
directly translates to English as Quan Tu Tran. (the Vietnamese accents
are dropped and the surname is reordered appropriately). The source
of the confusion is that "Quan" is a legitimate
Vietnamese name and is in fact a very common boy's name at that. How
language translation does gender-bend a very pretty Chinese girl's name
into a Vietnamese boy's name! The second source of confusion is
that "Chen" is a very common Chinese surname (much like
"Smith" or "Jones" is in America). However, there
are quite a few "Tran" surnames too, but my parents
reassure me that "Tran" is not an indigenous Vietnamese
surname because some time along the family history the surname was translated
from "Chen."
Whew! That's all I've got to say about the language translation of my name. Actually, I answer to almost anything people call me- save one: my translated Vietnamese name. I utterly fail to recognize its correct pronunciation as if it belongs to a complete stranger- especially when it is said in the right order (i.e. last name first).
As a humorous aside, I have also accrued a few nicknames that my silly friends have bestowed on me.
| most requested: | QT (my initials pronounced "cutie") |
| most lame: | quantt (my punny email pronounced "quantity") |
| by Ricky: | QuanT |
| by Rozanne: | Quantifer |
| the Tu's have it: | Quan "too" Tran, Quan-to-Tran, Quan 2 Tran |
| by Kim-e-pooh: | Quan-er-doodles |
| by science nerds: | Quantum Leap, Quantum physics |
| by Mike: | dot-quan, rasta-q |
I readily admit that I have no artistic talent, but I like to think that I am creative. I helped to create the logo for Dr. Mynatt's everyday computing lab , and I did two paintings for art class.
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| Strawberries and Kiwi Acrylic on canvass, December 1997 |
Everyday Computing Lab Logo |
Nature and Technology Acrylic on slate board, November 1997 |
eccentricity #1: My inner child loves Winnie-the-Pooh... always have, always will.
eccentricity #2: Like many women in a male-dominated field (e.g. computer science research), I get a kick out of girls who kick a**! such as power-puff girls, and buffy the vampire slayer. ...and not just in the physical "let's beat him up!" sense, but more of the inner strength sense like these women in "The Contender", "Contact", "Crounching Tiger Hidden Dragon", "Elizabeth", "Sommersby", "Bend it like Beckham".
eccentricity #3: I absolutely love these asian american sensations...
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Vienna Teng: Woah! A up-and-coming Chinese American who writes and sings mostly broody jazzy English songs, and she's awesome at the piano. Her live concert was one of the best shows I've seen. I'd recommend it to any music enthusiast. |
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Coco Lee: She is one of those smart bio students but too cool to not be a pop star first- and she's doing just fine- recording both Mandarin and English albums, most notably the theme songs to Disney's Mulan and Ang Lee's Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon. |
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Wong Lee Hom: A Chinese American pop singer who is a proper
music theory student as well as a soulful singer and playful
entertainer. |
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Bruce
Lee: The legend who started the whole Asian invasion. As much as
I think he kicks a**, I like him as a reflective family man that much
more. Besides, he was a cutie as a youngster. |
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Maya Lin: Wow! The depth of her landscape pieces speak
for themselves and take my breath away with their subtle brilliance. I
heartily agree with many of her architecture colleagues who dubbed
her the "Monet" of her profession. Equally awe-inspiring for me is her
integrity and maturity in her craft over her "controversial profile" of
being a young (asian american) woman creating these national
memorial pieces. |
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Amy Tan: Aieee! Her novels never fail to deeply move me with
gut-wrenching yet cathartic tears. She writes so plainly about
mother-daughter relationships across the asian american generations
that her stories albeit fictional feel as real and truthful to me as my
relationship with my mother (and my many asian "aunties")- as if
she is giving voice to our buried fears, hopes, and joy. |
