People said they want to do what they like, some of them realized their dream in a bizarre way. A girl said she used to work in a big company but she hated uniform-style wearing, which most women wearing there. When she was involved into a kind of scandal she quit working there, so she said she used tricks to give her a polished look: she buying structured jacket, chic blouse, and skin products. She also watching TV with a face mask on, buying super lightweight shampoo for her soft hair, wearing bold lipstick to prettify her, together with her lacy bra, to make her look less than Corporate-Barbie, which let her friend envied her. Once she and her friend made a short trip, she got heads turning as she posed resembled a mermaid, showed off her legs in a seductive pose. She said she wanted living a life without regret. She said as a freelancer for fashion and Eco-living, her life still had a lot of unknown things, but she was determined to make it work. When talking about her previous years she said it was been up and down and she was living with regret. Sometimes she didn’t know anything that was going on, she was blinded, but was accused of betrayal, cheating, and home wrecking. When her friend said her ex was fucking creepy, she said she realized some people hated her, they started talking about her, so she was angry, said like, “That’s real shit.” She said it was news to her, she couldn’t believe it because she just started a project, worked with some guys, and one of them was her coworker’s boyfriend. She said her project was going well at the beginning, they had fun, but it ruined her reputation and friendship.

Clime change may not related to some, but becoming a serious business for others. My neighbor said she used to be a girl who only cared about herself. When she started to date she became a makeup fan. Once her friend was there when she was putting makeup, so the friend asked like, “It will help you attract a potential male?” She felt it was funny, she said like, “It will impress a date, bolster my self-esteem.” So she started her ritual of getting ready to go out: She darkening her eyes, reddening her lips, so she looked more feminine. The friend asked again, “You feel this way you have a layer of protection?” She laughed, never expected makeup had so much fun. When she was hired as PR officer for a clime change and environment protection company, she felt it was her duty, but she needed to fight this battle alone even though she knew she was unprepared. When her friend asked what she wanted to do? She said she wanted going back to her 20s when she was chased by many people and she was really hot, charming and smart. When the beauty expert transferred her from a next door girl to a sexy PR officer, she knew she would rally more people around her and defeat her rivals, who had damaged environment, polluted river, air, they were greedy, ruthless and they wanted to use backstabbing to get what they wanted.

People sometimes don’t know what they really want, they may feel their situation is okay, but they also feel they lost something. A girl said since she moved to the city she was kind of liked it because she had more friends, went to different areas and seemed enjoying her life. When she started to eat healthy food and to do exercise, she said she liked yoga, dance, and walking. So she felt living in city is okay and even received a certification. When her friend heard it and said like,  “A certification? From where?” She smiled, said like, “From my yoga class,” so her friend said like, “Congratulations!” She smiling too. But she was not sure if she wanted to live in city for her whole life. When she felt like she was doing something good to help others and said every life had meaning and value, some people seemed to be not care about it. So she said when she was very young, her mother was sick, their neighbor came to take care of her mother; when she moved to the city, she experienced cruel treatment, selfish behavior, and greedy mentality, she said it was like dog eat dog; but back in her hometown, people were sweet, and they were good people. So she had kind of nostalgic for the past, for nature, and for that paradise.

People talking different things when going to gym which could be funny. A guy said he sometimes felt embarrassed because he couldn’t get an erection. When first time he had sex with his girlfriend he had problems getting an erection. He said as a man, he felt like, he was completely failing because he was an embarrassment. So he felt it was shameful, with many emotions, even wanted to cry. When asked how he met his girlfriend, he said he met her when they were doing exercise. He said after meeting his lover she changed a lot. One of the things was that she was not wearing underwear when sleeping, so they could have more sex. But before she always wearing underwear because she was worried it would make it easier for some harmful bacteria to find their way into her vagina and increase the risk of infection. She said she was sticking with her cheating boyfriend for too long and wasted her time. When people said she lowered her standard when dealing with dating, love, she said she didn’t understand her ex’s motives because whenever something happened to her, she felt lost. When she met him she was very happy, even changed her sleeping habit, not wearing underwear, but he disappointed her.

Urban life may be exciting for some people, but also could feel lonely for others, and they get lost. A girl said at the party that she used to think that lovers were in a group working relationship. There would be fights and unpleasant, but at night, they slept in the same bed and lived peacefully together. There are many problems they must solve, but they must be solved one by one. This is just like what her model friend said: Whenever she accepts a new task, she would get rid of the fat on her body. Once completed her mission, she returned to her daily life, eating, drinking, and having fun as usual. When the girl supported her lover to quit his job and pursue his dream, she started to feel strange, soon she realized she couldn't stand it because her lover was not only busy every day, but also ignored her, which made her feel lonely, feeling uneasy and a sense of loss. When her model friend asked her what had happened, she said that her lover was away from home all the time, sometimes for days, and he was emotionally alienated from her because he had found something he really liked, and it was not her, so she felt pain and lonely. When asked what else she had discovered about her lover, the girl said her guy tried hard to fit in with gay people in his orbit; he also seemed to behavior strangely, learned some funny accent; once he met a black girl on street, he said like, “Oh yeah, what’s up homie?” So she said she didn’t know what to do.

When people feel bad, they complain about everything. My neighbor wanted to do an Eco-living project but she felt powerless, stuck in bad breaking point, so she said she felt very small. When her friend said she always tried new things, she said she had tried new makeup products, nutrition stuff, different restaurants, so her friend said like, “What you find out?” She said like, “Some of them suck.” It turned out her Eco-living project was not easy and she felt like it was a strange thing and she couldn't hold herself. When she had depression, her brain didn’t function well, she felt sad, but she had to convey her emotions, so she started again. When she put all her energy in, she was fascinated with her ability and said like, “It’d be cool to do it again to prove yourself.” When she was obsessed with her project, she found its rhythm, so she said like, “It’s like to be spontaneous, I’m having fun.” When she heard her partner said all she could do was the best that she could, she said like, “Thank you.” When someone said the project was a real challenge she said like, “I’m ready to meet another challenge,” because she felt she was not that small anymore, she had some power.

People sometimes feel bad and disappointed because they were treated badly, but other times they felt great. A girl said when some people said she was heartless and cold, she felt bad, didn’t know what to do. So she started to travel around, sometimes enjoying eating crab, and thinking: “Its meat is so sweet, but it’s a second-class citizen there.” Again she was thinking about bad treatment because one person said like, “Oh, you’re not scared?” So they called her a heartless, cold person, but she said it was a discrimination because she was a girl and ambitious; she said actually she got emotional at many things, even at stupid stuff because they were funny. So she told her boss that people just jealous, put her down, but she wanted to prove her worth. She said she didn’t act scared when discussing the project, it was because she tried to show her willingness for challenge, but her hands were shaking. So she sometimes could not get along with others, but she was capable and truthful to many things. When she started the project, she heard some girls’ talking about clueless-ass people, she was lost, felt uncomfortable, but she didn’t care about it. When someone said she was faking cry, she said it was ridiculous. She said sometimes she maybe a hot mess, but she was not a bad person.

Some people said they like strong woman as friend, not as lover, which may be true. A girl said when her friend got engaged, she was a little bit surprised, said like, “She just want to get married.” It turned out that her friend first time going out to date, her guy talked about the current situation, but she talked about her bag and her ex-boyfriend. When leaving, he found her drunk at the bar, but he said their date was very good. When the girl asked her how she met her guy, she said she was feeling stressed at work, so she just grabbed a man. When asked whether she would have a future with her guy, she said it was hard to say because she once said to her ex that she would wait until he got a promotion and she could congratulate him. So the girl thinking about herself. She found many people said she was beautiful, capable, and strong, but there was kind of beautiful ugly, so she said like, “They want to be your friends, not as lover?” She said she had some drama because her last boyfriend said he worried about his past, having her ex as his wife. So the girl waited for a long period, but only got the word sorry, which wasted her time. He said she was beautiful, smart, but didn’t want to be with her for life, so she said like, “He didn’t want to commit to me.”

Urban life is interesting because people enjoyed poking fun at themselves, watching their friends stumble their way through daily life. A girl said she liked mystery, felt weird if someone said it was just a family issue, instead, she said she loved hanging out with different people, to understand better that so called family dynamic. So a lady said she suffered a lot, she struggled, caused her kind of misery for her life; she said sinister things happened and it seemed she was stuck there, being kept there against her will. Another girl said she was still growing up, she said it was hard work because she had to figure out how the society functions, the world works, which let her kept going for a while, but she got bored. She said she almost didn’t have a dad because he was stupid; when she needed helps she called her friends, which let them get sick of it. She said her recent divorce was her choice, and said like, “If there’s no love, why should one stay in the marriage?” She said many people felt there was no love, but they stayed in the marriage because they were afraid of being single again after divorce. But there was a loveless marriage.

Going to gym let people make friends. A girl said she had a lot of expectations and felt pressure, so she went to gym. When a friend complained that she was neither the youngest or oldest in workplace the girl realized her own problems, so said like, “When people like our age, their metabolism stops, gravity starts tearing down, bones start wearing off.” When her friend said sometimes she tried to be stronger, but what happened was it pushed her over the edge, so the girl said like, "It had no fun." Once she and her friend talked about health food. When she said she had bad breath, her friend said she started drinking green tea. So the girl learned that green tea could reduce bad breath, could better oral health. When asked what other stuff could be helpful, her friend said like, “Apple is also good, because it has acids that wash away bacteria that causes bad breath.” She was very interested in the topic and said again like, “What else you know?” The friend said: “Chewing parsley, carrot, basil, celery, also can reduce bad breath.” When she learned that her friend had breakups, but last time was hard, she asked her why, the friend said like, “Because it was betrayal, disloyal and difficult to face.” So the girl said she also had a lot of setbacks and sometimes she felt it was love wasted because she always had a tough moment. But she still wanted to try. When asked how to try, the girl said she was always looking for a partner, but she never met the right person. So this time she signed up for a cruise. She said there were many tourists on the cruise, and she wanted to find a husband there. She said that there were thousands of people on the cruise ship, and even if picked one person out of a thousand, she would probably be able to find one person.

Being pretty and strong may not be easy. A girl said pretty people are fucked-up too, because she had anxiety, depression loneliness, didn't know what she should do with her life. It turned out she had a relationship with a writer for a while. When she broke up with him, she had a strange feeling because he regretted that he had stupidly told her that he was writing harder, so one day he would become famous, then they would not worry about anything. So she realized he was using his way of filling her hunger, painting cakes, letting her wait for that wonderful future. When she became smart and strong, she picked a project, working her butt off until it was done, but she was angry again because her friend said she was home-wrecking, blamed her for damaging her relationship; but she said she would never want to home wreck any relationship. So she had heart broken moment and felt bad. She said she just like everyone's been through, had a long period of feeling lonely, stressful, sometimes she crying in bedroom, then she had to go out, be cheerful, pretending everything was OK.

Urban life is fascinating. A girl said when going to gym she met a friend. When she said she used walking two hours a week, which let her maintain a healthy heart, her friend said she wanted to prevent back pain, help her with her metabolism. She said she used to smock, now she eating low in salt food, getting enough hours of sleep a night. When the girl found her friend worked as a model before, she learned how she pursued her dream. So, in pursuing her dream, she experienced hardships; she lived with dogs, financially strapped, so she had to eat cheap food all the time. She could only buy second-hand stuff, looking at the clothes in the window, imaged one day she could wear those beautiful clothes for herself. She practiced walking, trying not to eat, thinking about walking on the stage. When she got first job as a model, she found there were always someone younger, more attractive, and sexy than her. So she did various works to support herself. She worked in a restaurant, painted a house for others, served coffee in a coffee shop. When she felt a little better, she found she also lost a lot, because she missed her former lovers, her one-night stands. When she used her hard-earned money to buy skin products to remove spots on the face, she said to herself: "Your skin will be bright and beautiful again."

Writing seems fascination, because it deals with many things. Once a girl said after falling in love with her partner, she started writing. She focused on details, dialogue, and complexity of characters. When her writing was adapted to a movie script, her friend said: "It's a funny script, that people can re-watching." When asked how she discovered the story, the girl said: Once they went hiking, her boyfriend jumped off the cliff, which surprised her. When he was swimming in the sea during a violent storm, his attention was very focused as a razor blade, to experience that unique feeling, to that ecstatic feeling that was difficult to encounter in ordinary life. When asked about their current relationship, she said she and her partner had a fight not long ago, but her kindness could influence him and make him back to her. One day she got news, he went a faraway place, discovered a paradise where there were surfers, fishermen, and artists there. He felt as if he had reached the end of the world and captured some characteristics, which he had not found that feeling for a long time. So the friend asked if the girl also searching those lost things, those unique characteristics of like and unforgettable things, the girl nodded. She said he also discovered another thing: People seemed to be on vacation forever, as if they were in a very good mood. He said he wanted to buy her a red and black dress, which could defeat all enemies. Her friend smiled.

Some people think if you develop something and it just falls through, but something else might come. So there are optimistic people there, they talk different things, feel the right parts could find them. Once a girl said she loved a mediterranean diet, which is full of protein, fatty fish, vegetables, fruit, but without any bread, pasta. She said her staying happy and healthy secrets are exercise, sleep enough, socializing a bit, and eat veggie, fruit, protein. But she hit the wall. Once she discovered an area where was changing and the vibe there seemed OK. When she mentioned clime change she realized local people liked culture war. They just didn’t like certain people, they called them autistic people, trans people, high-functioning people. They said there are little difference between them. They were aggressively talking to her, one guy was like, “What’s going on with you, you idiot, jerk.” So her tears were rolling down her cheeks.

Urban life is exciting, but has a lot of competition and pressure. A young man said he had sweet dream before, wanted to meet someone by accident. He even was an idealist, discovered something about beauty. Once he said to his friend: "Look, what happens to people when a beauty walks into the room? People get excited and get younger. They don't seem to feel old, they get younger." It turned out he wanted to say that if there is a beauty somewhere people there will feel that they are not growing up and getting older, but gradually becoming lively excited, and young. At that time his friend disagreed and said: "It's kind of unfair." But he insisted and said: "It's not fair, but it's life." When he found out his friend had work related stress, pressure, had a fight with his partner and went to the desert, he felt his own struggle and pressure. When he and his girlfriend went to a charming hotel, she asked him: They went there to just listen to jazz? He said his friend went to the desert. So she said: It seemed his decision was smart.

My friend sometimes being insecure because he wants to find a girlfriend. When hearing others saying someone's girlfriend is sexy he would like, "Do y'all remember this man was up to no good by running off with a mistress?" So people laughed. Once he wanted to look cool, so he took his shirt off, and then someone said like, "Wait, he's got a great body!" People laughed again and he felt good.

There's another part of urban life. A girl said she never got married, but has tree kids, one lover. Her approach to her lover is simple, she just gives him food and he works hard in bed; when dealing with her kids, it was a challenge because whenever she gave them food they would shake their heads, so she realized it was overnight food; so she complains, had to get different fresh foods every day; she said she felt very tired, felt the hardships and sacrifices of being a mother.

Urban life could be exciting, but also could let people feel a sense of loss, insignificance. A friend said he worked hard, achieved something, but he has his dream. Sometimes, he would say: "I stayed there for too long, wasted my time". He said he thinking about quit his job, doing something for his dream, not just work for paychecks because he feels insignificant.

My friend said urban life is tricky: we see lonely single who can’t have a date, while old man and young, sexy girl become lovers.