I was driving around on various errands today, which reminded me about when I was driving around running various errands YESTERDAY... Anyway, like I said, I was running various errands, and you know how you run into random people, and you say, "Man! What a small world!" I ran into my MOM yesterday, at the post office. That was by far one of the weirdest experiences, to run into your own mom, around town. It was so weird cuz it was totally by coincidence, and I was just laughing. Ummm....that's it.

I am miss-read fine print...

Today
I went to the Bellflower Superior Court this morning to take care of my citation drama and $570 later, I should be in the clear by next week. The clerk-lady who helped me through this whole thing was hella cute man, and totally nice to me. I was tehre for like 1 1/2 hrs and we were just chit-chattin while all my stuff was clearing up and all this. She even went over that paper thing that we sign when we get tickets and on the back, it says, that a citation/fine letter may be mailed to you...so actually, it was totally my responsibility to follow up on it. I guess some people I was asking were wrong when they told me that I shouldn't worry about it...oh well...again, I hope this serves as a lesson to all my friends. It's good to be the guinea pig...he he he. Speaking of the Superior Court, man, there's a lot of money in that place...and I mean, LITERALLY...everyone was paying citations of some sort or another, and mostly in cash...I must have seen like $5000 change hands in the short time I was there...goodness...only if there weren't so many cops HA HA HA.

I haven't been as active on the job search as I've been recently, maybe it's because I've had to run so many errands and do random little things that when I finally get to my computer, job searching is the furthest thing from my mind. Becuase job searchin is just like having a job, you spend hours of your day doing it, but unlike having a job, this work is unpaid...well, I'm KINDA paid, cuz I get unemployment, but I need some benefits and stuff, I need to get some health issues resolved...he he he

I burned my tongue really bad last night when I was having coffee and now my tongue has that sandpapery feeling and I can't really taste anything...sucks to be me...thank goodness taste buds grow back. Imagine if they didn't and you burned your tongue when you were like a little kid. Dang, that would totally suck, you'd never taste anything. Even if it happened as an adult, everything you once loved to eat now no longer would matter...I wonder which one is worse...

Bored?
Bev showed me this the other day, and I've been meaning to post it...it's totally PHAT...Check it out Wait for the last dude to start. That fool shows up those other two dorks ahead of him...

Recent Appreciations
-Home cooked food
-NBA drama

"This too shall pass..."

R&D
So since I've returned from my workout(Finally got me a workout buddy...hopefully it wasn't just a one-time deal...I got Cic to go), I've been mainly chattin and reading up on some interesting things, well, interesting to me(and Jon) at least...and analyzing lil things here and there...

Maybe it's part of my partly critical personality, which, btw, I am not so much anymore, but anyway...I HAD to pick apart this one commercial I heard on the radio tonight. It was about Starburst, and how it even "made geometry funner." Okay, FUNNER? Not an actual word...more fun would've been more precise...or preciser...sheesh. So that wasn't even that bad...I didn't even really notice it til I started writing this. But what took the cake was this...they called Starburst a CUBE!!!?!?! Not just a square, but a cube...Excuse me but a cube is "a regular solid having six congruent square faces"(courtesy of www.dictionary.com). The last time I saw a starburst, I don't remember it looking like a Rubix, or a boullion(sp?) cube. No, to me, it looked more like a box than anything...but a CUBE? Come on...get it RIGHT folks!

The first one I wanna mention, which is ACTUALLY the second thing I was looking at, just that this one popped up first in my head...is that maglev train* they've proposed and I THINK have started building from Vegas to LA...check out what I found...I'd cite the source, but I had to restart earlier and forgot the site I got it from and I'm too lazy to look it up again...
"The maglev train travels at speeds up to 300 mph and can accelerate from zero to 200 mph in three miles. A trip from Las Vegas to Primm would take about 18 minutes. The route to Barstow, Calif., would take 56 minutes, and passengers could get from Las Vegas to Anaheim, Calif., in 96 minutes. The train can ascend up to 10 percent grades, which means fewer roadcuts and tunnels are necessary." Also... :The initial capital cost of the 42-mile segment from Las Vegas to Primm is estimated at $1.5 billion, or about $33 million per mile. Annual operating costs are expected to be about $25 million." So tickets would probably be a lil on the cha ching side...at least for a while until costs are offset or something. But that would be cool...being that since I don't really like flying all too much, this would be a perfect alternative...

*Magnetic Levitation trains, otherwise known as maglev...these are trains that work on electromagnetic principles...in short they use strong electromagnets to make the train actually float between 4-10cm from the track, reducing friction and wear and increasing speed and such...and speedwise, well, I already said it...it's pretty damned fast. There's actually two types in existence already, one uses electroMAGETIC technology and the other uses electroDYNAMIC technology, one of the main differences being price and the fact that one uses wheels and doesn't float until it reaches a takeoff speed of approx 62MPH...believe it or not I'm writing this from memory...it MUST be something I'm into. It's a really really cool concept, of which I wanna learn more in detail...I know I know...there's a name for people like me...GEEKS

This is cool Jon showed it to me when we were chattin...it compares sizes of different "craft" and certain fictitious characters, including some actual landmarks, be they from cinema or from real life. Anyway, I was telling Jon how interesting I find it when they show you how tall buildings are in comparison with each other, or like the different types of ships...only drawback is that they were missing some major stuff...in my opinion...like the Titanic, or the Deathstar...that would've been cool...

I am a chicken farm...

Extra! Extra! Read all about it!
Why is it that even the news tries to increase its ratings with advertising? While I was driving my car running some errands, I heard a commercial on the radio and it kinda went something like this:

"A man plunges to his death near Lax....dadadadada....he was a scientist working on top secret projects...dadadadadada....Was there a foreign country involved? And what KIND of projects was he working on? Find out on Top Secret dadadadadada...tonight at 11"

First thought that popped into my head...pathetic. If the news was THAT big, wouldn't there just be a special report or something? Oh well...yeah, it's a random thought and obviously not thought through completely...maybe II'll come to a new revelation about it later or something...

Eats and treats
Hanging out last night was a lot of fun. Vegas Crew kickin it once again...we went to Roscoe's where we pretty much filled our stomachs past full. Man, over the past 5 or 6 weeks, Chris and I have consumed more than 3 whole chickens!!! Goodness gracious! Anyway, after Roscoe's it was off to Insomnia for some coffee...but there were too many people there and we had no place to sit, so we kinda loitered around and then went back to the house and just chilled. I showed them my embarassing ass videos from when I was a little kid and we played some scrabble. Not to much of an eventful night activity-wise, but it was fun hanging out and just chillin, often times, I enjoy those types of outtings more than partying. Everyone left at around 1-ish I think but as usual, I was up again til like 4 and woke up at 8, when the Gas Company came to change the valve...again...for the stove. I swear, this house is so damned old...that's already the second valve we've changed...and I gotta replace a part in the toilet cuz it's not flushing correctly. So naturally I'm tired as heck, but that's okay, I'll squeeze in a nap after Jos picks up London and before me and pop go to B and Jos' place for B's b-day. I can't believe he's turning 29...I know quite a few 30+ year olds, damn that trips me out...one day, me and MY peers will be there...scary thought.

"Happiness sneaks through a door you didn't know that you left open."
John Barrymore

I am the early bird that had a few drink last night...

Damned Early Birds
I hate that I wake up so early everytime I drink...it's now approaching the second hour of my awakedom. Sheesh, I'm starting to think if I ever get another job, an 8-5 one, I should just drink every night before I go to bed and I could then ensure that I'll be awake come early in the morning, ha ha ha! Oh well...just because I've been awake, doesn't mean I've been that productive. It's Sunday, for goodness sake! But I DID do some reading here and there...and I found this funny lil blurp by Rich Seeley from Reseda in the sports section of the LA Times:

"Why not drop the pretense that there is anything like journalism going on in your sports department? Just print a disclaimer that reads:

'Due to the Tribune Company's ongoing grudge against Phil Jackson, the Los Angeles Times only prints negative stories about the Los Angeles Lakers. If they should win any games in the playoffs we will consider it a fluke. If the Lakers should win a fourth NBA championship, we will call upon the attorney general of the United States to investigate the team for fraud.'"

He called out all the haters, too funny.

The Family Guy
Having my uncle Limuel, why I kept calling him pop's cousin, I have not an inkling, around this weekend was actually much cooler than I thought. We haven't had the chance to visit our relatives in the philippines, and the LAST time there WAS a visit, only mom and Jos went, because we had some major remodeling stuff here that was going on at the time so me and pop had to stay, plus I had HS entrance exams and interviews and stuff... Before that, I hadn't been to the philippines since I was like 3 or something. And we were supposed to go this past Christmas, but well, because of pop's state we had to cancel. Doing the math, I have figured that it's been a long time since I've had any actual face-to-face interaction w/ my own family. So naturally, I have felt quite removed from my family accross the sea. So the idea of a relative coming to stay didn't excite me as much as it did pop and mom. At first, I thought that we were gonna have some relative whom I didn't even really know, staying with us and my weekend would be full of draggin him around and that I wouldn't even really be able to communicate with him, and all that dreaded relatives-staying-over stuff that I used to always encounter. I also thought he'd just be boring and stuff and we wouldn't have much in common. Quite the opposite, he's this 3 time chess champ dude which I found to be totally interesting. He just wanted to talk and get to know me better and learn more and more about me cuz he had only a little time to stay at our place before moving along onto his next place. One thing that really wow'ed me was how he attributed everything he had to God, and BAM, I knew we had so much more in common than I had first assumed. We both felt the same way about how God has a reason for everything, although at times we dont' understand, but I know now that there was a reason why I didn't go up north...so that I could meet him. I've really enjoyed our conversations, and he really has made me feel closer to my family back in the Philippines. I thought they knew such little about me, but it turns out that they know almost everything that's gone on in my life. And it was good to hear that things with the family accross the sea were going well. I so want to go home and see them all, but we have to wait til the doctors clear pop for travel. And I know pop really wants to go to, he was so excited when he and I had to pick him up from the airport on Friday. He kept coming to my room all excited seeing if he called yet telling us that he'd arrived already...it was so nice to see him excited about something other than London, and it really made me happy. So today, he will be on his way to Las Vegas, but we've exchanged info and all that so I will definitely be keeping in touch with him.

I am part of the flying V...

Towin anchors...
It is way to freakin late to be writing right now, but hey, I'm still awake, and I figured, as I listened to some Angie Stone and Etta, I might as well. Well tonight, er, last night, was guys night out(V, Chris, and I...no Glenn tonight) at the Sunset Room, compliments of Cat Tomas, whose birthday it just so happened to be, so HAPPY B-DAY Cat! I would have to say it was a rather enjoyable outting, but by the same token, not... I say not only because most of our friends didn't get in, which sucked because they were the ones who told us about Cat's b-day in the first place. It really sucks when the difference between getting in and NOT getting in is only like 5 minutes, or even less...needless to say, it sucked in that we couldn't all hang out. So they(the friends left behind), decided to go elsewhere... We, on the otherhand, chose to stay, not to ditch our buddies, but because we had already payed $20 to get in, not to mention the freakin $10 for Valet parking...I know I know, it was already too late and the mofo drove my car away before I found out the price...so I HAD to get my $$$ worth, right? Man, Sunset Room is quite a selective club, it's pretty hard to get in, and I think that if it wasn't for getting in with Cat, we probably would've been looking from the other side of the fence. They mostly let females in at first and to say that a lot of them were good looking was a freakin understatement. And then, when they let the others in, it's mostly people who know the bouncers and stuff...pretty exclusive, and we lucked out. I even saw some familiar faces there, which was quite surprising. Anyway, me and the boys drank up a little and danced a lot. We were just talking to people we didn't even know and just asked them to dance, so we danced. One thing that sucks when you and your buddies are dancing w/ females is "the anchor." Reminds me of that one beer commercial with the dude singing about the wingman, that is hilarious. Anyway, back to the point...some of the girls we danced with, they were towin anchors...some were even towing TWO...it was ridiculous. But there were a couple of really cute ones, and thank goodness for being assertive, or else we would've been freakin wallflowers the whole night. Come the end of the night, the three girls we were dancing with asked for a ride to their car, cuz apparently they had parked far away(which I soon found to be quite true), so we dropped them off. Briefly considered asking one of the girls for her number, but wasn't totally convicted to ask so I passed(either that or I wussed out). So after droppin the three musketeerettes at their car, we wanted to head out to Pink's, the girls WERE gonna go, but they went to some hot dog and taco place in downtown like on Broadway or something. Turns out that Pink's closed like 2 minutes before we got there, so the line was closed already, so we ended up going to Benito's near my place and that was it...we called it a night. But it was hella fun, and I can't wait til we do it up again next week.

Hooray for Hollywood
Earlier today, me and pop took his cousin, Limuel(who stopped at our place en route to a chess tournament in Las Vegas...he's some sort of chess master...3 time champ or something...perty impressivo), to Hollywood and Highland so he could take some pics to show our peeps back home in the Philippines. Anyway, I noticed a few things about that place that I hadn't before. I mean, I already knew it was a trendy place hella people are all about the "bling bling" over there, but there were SO many people all prettied up and shit, standing around doing nothing. Me and the boys theorized that they probably were standing around hoping to get "discovered." I guess that's one of the many faces of the Hollywood personalities. It's just funny to see though, people jsut standing there, looking around at people to see who's scouting or whatever. Anyway, one of the percs of going to Hollywood and Highland though(cuz I kinda didn't wanna go, not to be mean or anything, I hate taking relatives to places I've been a million times...PLUS I was hella tired and didn't really feel like doing anything til the boys got to LA), the Lizzy McGuire movie was premiering at the El Capitan, and I actually got to see Hillary Duff!!!(I bet Joe will get hella mad when I tell him about that, ha ha ha)!!! But it was cool...I got that whole "Hollywood" feeling everyone w/ cameras yelling names, trying to get their attention...people on their cells, present complany included, telling their friends things like, "Guess where I am?" or "You won't believe who I'm looking at right now.." ...and I have to admit it was pretty cool.

I know there were more things on my mind, but it's getting pretty late and I think my brain has closed shop...

Appreciations for the day
-Cat Tomas' birth, otherwise tonight wouldn't have happened
-Guys night out
-My friend Jack(Daniels)
-Wingmen
-Assertion
-Good music and cool girls to dance with

Lesson for the day
When someone plans an event for a certain time, be there a little BEFORE that time...it's called punctuality....

"Experience is not what happens to a man; it is what a man does with what happens to him"
-Aldous Huxley

I am Beach Barbie's missing accessory...

Strange, but true
Craziest thing happened to me yesterday, well actually, I don't know if it's THAT crazy, I usually tend to overdramatize the occurrences in my life, as I am probably doing right now. Anyway, I got a random IM from this one person who just happened to stumble upon my blog. At first, I thuoght it was just someone I didn't know, but she told me that she was just browsin my blog and thought she'd click on the "AIM me baby" link and see what would happen. And tada! We ended up chattin for quite a while...I kept her busy at work cuz it just so happened to be like one of the most boring days ever, and she kept me entertained while I was surfin around on the net for jobs and such. She was a pretty cool person and her fiancee just so happened to be from LA so we had a lot to talk about. Crazy what types of things can happen through the internet. I mean, you read random blogs, see other people's pics that they post, and now, now I have a new chat buddy.

I don't normally talk about laker games, but after that heart attack of a game last night, I HAVE to let out my frustrations. F'in F man!!!!!!!!! I can't believe they LOST! They HAD that game practically gift-wrapped by the Wolves but noooooooo, they blew it. I was so stressed out that I was sweating and I could hear my heart thumping. Thank goodness it's a seven-game series, cuz a team still hasn't beat the Lakers in a 7 game series, so Laker fans still have that to be reassured about. But seriously, they need to get their butts in gear and make a series out of this thing. And maybe, they'll feel the urgency that they NEED to win the next few games.

I actually didn't really do much this week other than errands and working out. Most of my week consisted of just chillin. R & R, at it's finest. I mean, it wasn't like a vacation or anything, but it was very relaxing. Hopefully, my vacation will come through this summer when I hopefully go to Hawaii. This weekend, I guess I have a thing or two instore, but not til tomorrow. Tonight, I'm picking up my pop's cousin, Lemuel. His flight should be arriving at around 8-ish. So after taking him home and letting him and pop just have some quality time together, I have to go BACK to the airport at 11-ish to pick up V. Just call me, Mr. Airport Shuttle. Tomorrow, it's clubbin at the Sunset Room and then Sunday, the dreaded day...Roscoes...yippee! Ha ha ha, finally fulfilling my end of the bargain...spending money on friends...YAY!

"If you can imagine it you can create it. If you can dream it, you can become it."
William Arthur Ward

I am a missing box of paperclips...

Excuse Me
Another pet peeve: automated phone systems. I had been calling for over 2 hours to try to get my failure to appear/pay a fine ordeal taken care of before I finally got through to an operator. But freak man, the stupid automated line first couldn't find my citation, THEN it kept hanging up on me! Sheesh, I swear I was getting so damn frustrated...dreading the 10 second silence it would take before "transferring to the next available operator..." cuz that's when it would then say, "goodbye." I was like, "WTF?" So I tried and tried, so to make a long story not so long, on my like 20th call, I finally got through and talked to someone, and turns out that it was MY responsibility because I signed for it. The paper I signed got lost during the move and I forgot all about it. So, it DID end up being my fault. But Chris brought up a good point, why do they even tell you that you'll receive something in the mail in a few weeks, cuz it doesn't even freakin matter whether you receive it or not. They should just say, "okay, here, make sure you take care of it...regardless of whether or not we do our part in providing you with the information you need. Kinda like a..."Hey, here's your ticket, good luck trying to take care of it!" And to the court system, to which I am at the totally mercy of, I say this cnlm, he he he. So turns out I gotta pay $545, that's right $545, pretty freakin insane I think. I had three violations...ha ha ha, they make me to sound like a freakin criminal. So I couldn't take care of it over the phone, so I'm gonna have to drive out the Superior Court in Bellflower sometime tomorrow or early next week. I want to take care of it ASAP. Oh well, so I hope I have provided a valuable lesson to my friends...it's ALWAYS your fault...HA HA HA. Funny, I always seem to be the guinea pig for bad things...I should write a book, "What NOT to do in life," based on the actual life of Jay Bermudez...

On the brigher side, I LOVE Office Depot. I ordered a printer yesterday for $35(courtesy of Ben's Bargains), and I already received it THIS morning!!! I was sleeping and mom woke me up telling me that I had to sign for some package...why SHE couldn't just sign it, I'll never understand, but that's how I came about to knowing I already got it. Man, how's THAT for customer service?!?! Really reassures me that there are good things out there, and that the good does outweight all the negatory ish floatin around, stinkin up the world. I like this printer, it's very small and light, so it doesn't take up too much space, not that I need to conserve space, because I have a HUGE desk...but still, I like space conservation, it keeps things a little neater. And neat is well...neat!

Anyway, just had to get these mental burps out before I became to filled w/ thoughts...

I am the thorn in the lion's paw...before the mouse pulled it out...

Meanderings of a mad man....me
I had an another interesting conversation, as all of our conversations usually are, with Pete the neighbor while me and London were playing outside this morning. That guy has been everywhere man, his life sounds so interesting. Born and raised in Oakland, 2 kids, 7 grandchildren, and 9 grandchildren. He's been in the Air Force, FBI, moved all around, traveled all over. He's been here and there man, and boy oh boy, is his memory sharp. He remembers my friends that used to come over...he was describing them and everything. 80 years old, but he looks like he's pop's age. I can only hope and pray that I will be as healthy as he is when I'm his age...IF I get to be that old. His thoughts and theories on life, so simple yet so true: "Good or bad, treat people how you want to be treated." "As time changes, so do we." "Always gotta have respect for your elders." I think people could all learn a thing or two from Pete.

I had an interesting conversation w/ a friend of mine last night. I remember mentioning about how all my friends were strugglin and stuff...well my friend was mentioning how it's crazy cuz you just never know what some people are going through. And she was so right man...one never knows what some people are going through, just like she was unaware of the events that have transpired in my life over the past year or so, I didn't know how things were going in some of my own friends' lives. It kinda makes me wanna rid myself of first impression-type things, becuase what if someone I just meet just so happened to encounter a pretty big ordeal? And then I go and take that first meeting as a bad impression? That kinda sucks...And it really makes you think about how everyone goes through their own turmoil and we all just gotta be there for each other...enough of this serious talk, I keep doing this...

I was in a chat room the other evening and me and my friends were talking about pet peeves. It one of the funniest topics I've talked....err chatted about in a while. From baby leashes to stupid questions(to which Jon retorted that there were no stupid questions, just stupid people who ask...as per my quote of the day I think yesterday), anyways, it was interesting. So I thought of another one. Compact spaces...I hate those things, spaces that are meant for small cars...liek people actually follow those directions...so in parking lots w/ all compact spaces, it's always chaos, cuz you have a million SUV's and Van's and even sedans, all of which are NOT compact vehicles, all over the place. And no one's inside the designated parking area all over the place and getting mad cuz they can't fit into some spots...I mean, why even have compact spaces? It's just ridiculous to me, and maybe part of my obsessiveness with being inside the lines and symmetry and all that. But still, it's just one of those poorly designed situations, like some freeways that I know.

I finally remembered something I've been wanting to mention for like a week now. I'm kinda one of those night owls that stay up til like 4 or 5 in the morning, because of the sheer fact that I have often have an incredibly difficult time falling asleep, so I wait til I'm pretty much totally exhausted and crash for about 4-5 hours before the cycle starts again...unhealthy? Don't I know it... Anyway, so I flip through the channels and freakin "Saved by the Bell" is always on TBS from like 4AM to 5AM(weird, everything is 4-5...anyway, I'm side tracking again...)! But seriously, not many people are awake at this time, especially the youth, of which I am no longer a member, to enjoy an hour of "Saved by the Bell." I wonder who sets up the programming, it's so weird...wait a second, well maybe this is the same TBS that's broadcast in teh East Coast, so maybe it's because it's like 7-8(finally used different numbers, ha ha ha) over there? Sounds like a possibility, but most probably is not. Weirdness...

I've been in much brighter spirits as of late, and I'm so glad too. Even though things are not going my way, I've learned to take it with a grain of salt(I don't really know EXACTLY what this means, but a lot of people use it in this sense, so I am too). Like even when I got this notice today that my license will be suspended as of May 21st, because of a failure to appear in court/failure to pay a fine, WHICH I never received, other than the initial shock and anger I felt, I got over it. I took a deep breath, prayed aloud and moved on. Hey, what can I do but see how I can bring this situation to a resolve? And if I look at it, it'll proably end up being my fault that I never received the notice anyway(not because I was WRONG, but just the way things are...). So Hakuna Matata...we'll just have to see what happens =p

Lesson of the day...
If you're ever wondering WHY you didn't receive that citation that you got pulled over for, don't wait...go find out where it's at...it'll save you a lot of time and hassle...

"When you delight in the game, the effort seems unimportant."

I am two eggs over-easy, with a side of french-fried potatoes...

Ouch...
I finally hit the gym last night, and man am I sore today, but good sore. I am pretty out of shape, so I realized during my workout, hence the soreness. But I felt and feel good, productive, somewhat, which I hope is only the beginning. Now that my blood is flowing, I feel more energized, not so stagnant, and I actually got some good sleep last night and woke up refreshed, unlike the past few weeks. V came in the wee hours cuz he had to crash cuz he was planning on gettin to some acting classes up in North Hollywood and figured it would be easier to go from my house than from his. Sounds like a good plan, only if you actually stick to it. We watched Sportscenter for a bit, then crashed, and woke up, had a lil mini-breakfast before we decided to have lunch in Burbank w/ our friend Chiems. After that we came back here and he took a nap while I read, and then we watched the Laker game, which would end up being to our freakin dismay, and then watched Smallville. And now here I am. I would've worked out again today, but I think I'm a little too sore for that and so I'd rather rest up a day and go at it again tomorrow. I think that's a better strategy...

Man, a lot of my friends have been having so much drama lately, it sucks. I hate to see my friends going through such tough times. And I feel honored that they want to talk to me about their problems and the feelings they are going through, but it just breaks my heart to see them suffering. Cuz all you can do is support them, hand them tissues, give them hugs, and hold their hands when they need it, other than that, pray for them is about the best thing you can do. So anyway, I hate seeing them go through all that, but I feel so special that they come to me about it. And I was thinking, I think I need to share my feelings w/ my friends more often. I think I bottle things up a lot as far as my own struggles are concerned, for fear of "burdening" other people w/ my own problems. But I guess when I think about it, my friends don't burden me w/ their struggles and worries, they just share...and I guess I should think of it in that perspective.

"There are no stupid questions, just stupid people who ask questions."
-Jon Almero

I am a walrus on the beach on a hot summer day...

Revival
I love Easter...it's such a relaxing day, unlike Christmas there's no stress about givin gifts and all this hoopla about getting together with tons and tons of people. For me, it's always been about being w/ my family and just relaxing and enjoying our time together. So for Easter '03, we(mom, pop, and I) went to church at 10AM, heard a pretty good sermon, said our hellos after to some people we knew over there, and then proceded to stop at Savon to buy some stuff to fill up Easter eggs w/ for London after lunch. Jos and the fam came over and we all had a good lunch, watched teh Laker game(Hell yeah, go Lakers!!!) and then had the Easter egg hunt for London...pretty fun. Then me and B both fell asleep while watching TV. After, I took mom to work, i took a nice long nap, yes another one, watched the Philly game, ate dinner w/ Pop, and then just pretty much chilled all day. And now, here I am... It's days like these that really make me feel a lot better, relaxation...a serenity has come over me and I feel a whole lot better than I did a few days ago.

I've resolved to get my lil butt into the gym tomorrow...er..later today finally. I think I need to do more productive stuff w/ my time than be in the internet and watch my FRIENDS dvds all day(I know, sacrilege!!!!), but seriously, time to start actually having a life...away from the computer that is. And no offense to my friends who are on, but they have an excuse, the ones I talk to all the time are at work...at work, it's cool to be on it after work and late at night and stuff, but ALL day? And I don't mean like those people who are just logged on ALL day, I mean I'm literally HERE all day. Granted, I do stay w/ pop all the time and watch London as well, but I can still fit these things in somewhere, I just gotta be more agressive in getting them in wherever I have time to do so. I also want to find some open hours in a basketball gym so that I can shoot around and play ball more than just once a week. All these plans, hopefully I'll do them. I said it myself, it's one to say something, and another to execute it....

Lesson for the day
-If your finger on one of your hands is really messed up and hurts really bad, don't offer it to your buddy for a nice, hearty high five (Ouch!!!)

Appreciation for the day
-Easter

"What sculpture is to a block of marble, education is to a human soul."
-Joseph Addison

I am a Troy Glaus rally monkey...

I love these games!!!
People always ask me, "Why do you like sports so much?" And I was thinking about it today as I was driving towards Edison field in Anaheim for today's Angels game vs. the Mariners. Just less than an hour ago, I watched 2 upsets during the NBA playoffs and as I was thinking back on those, I just thought about how exciting it was to watch them. I could seriously watch sports for hours upon hours without end. And I think it's better than watching any of these reality shows or whatever TV shows(with the exception of my favorite shows, Friends and Smallville). It has everything you can want in a show: excitement, the thrill of victory, the agony of defeat, love, hate, determination, heart, emotion, etc. Like today, at the Angel game....they were losing 6-1 and rallied all the way back to win the game 7-6 in the bottom of the ninth. There were people who left early, and unless they had good reason to, as the game did run pretty late and it was quite nipply, they sure missed out on a truly amazing game. I mean who could have predicted that this would happen? There is an unscripted drama that is involved in the world of sports, an unpredicatability and uncannicness which just magnifies the aura that surrounds these types of games and brings it to that next level, the upper echelon of entertainment. So long live sports!!!

Words of wisdom
I remember reading one of Jon's posts about talking to old folks and how cool it is to do so, and how you can learn so much from what they have to say. Well Pete has been our neighbor ever since we moved into this house when I was in fourth grade. He's seen me go through the rigors of high school and he saw me leave for college almost 7 years ago and come back now because I got laid off. He's seen Jos grow up and now sees Jos as she now has her own family. He's seen pop recover from his heart attack back in 94 and now sees him recovering from his stroke just this past year. And he's seen mom, carry out, strong as hell, through everything. So he's seen my family develop over the years and it's always good to see him. I saw him outside today and we got to chattin for a lil while, probably like 5 minutes or something. But it was a good 5 minutes. He mentioned it was always good to see me and that I always say hello to him. And that he's glad that pop's doin better... But one thing he said that stuck out to me was when he said, "It's so good to see there are good people, will all that is going on in the world today. There are lots of things, some I like, most I don't, but love helps me get through it all." He's such an awesome guy, he always asks if we need anything, which we don't, but it's always nice to hear people offer help, even when it isn't needed. I'm glad to have Pete around and I look forward to more interactions w/ him.

I am the 2 week old helium balloon sitting in the back seat of my car...

In the news this week
Went to see "Better Luck Tomorrow" with the boys last night. I liked it, nice to see more asian americans on the big screen, and not to mention, the lead chick was pretty cute, and whew, she's our age, give or take a year or two. I didn't realilze that it was partly similar to an actual incident that I kinda remember WAY back in the day, pre-highschool until V mentioned Sunny Hills...but they didn't mention it at all during the film. I've done a little reading about it from critics and the dude who wrote the movie and he said that it was that and other incidents that inspired him to write/direct/produce that film. I think there are still those that feel a little bitter about the fact that there is no mention of Stuart Tay anywhere, since it was quite a major incident. Anyway, I hope lots of people check it out, it really is a hard-hitting film for today's youth, at least in my opinion. But on the lighter side, while we were @ TGIF's and just chit-chattin, one thing that I was thinking about was how scary it is nowadays to see a cute face and think that there is a strong possibility that she could be under 21! That's a four year difference...yikesorama. I mean yeah, the age factor doesn't really play that much of role, dadadadada, but to me, that's when you're older, like in your 30's or something...I dont' think I could see myself dating someone who was like 20...well not right now at least...maybe I'm just trippin, but I still don't see it happening. I wonder how old the person is gonna be that I marry...hmmm, I think she's either gonna be like a year older than me or like 2 years younger...

I went to Target(I swear I've gone to that store like 4 times this week) with Mom yesterday, but not the one we usually go to. We didn't know where anything was because the store was laid out differently. I hate when that happens...because the all the Targets I've gone to so far(Irvine, Costa Mesa, and here in LA) have been the same so right when I walk in I know exactly where the things I need are. But this time was different, it was like being in a completely new store...that wasn't target. It's so weird to have that feeling, it's like you're a stranger in a new land or something...but we survived, but the experience...weird. I even ran into one of my old Irvine friends there while I was eating a pizza before we actually started shopping, that's how strange that experience was.

The day before that Av, Omar and myself went to the Grey One one year anniversary thang, at this club on Sunset. I had fun, drinkin and chattin w/ peeps from way back in the day, and I'm talking WAY back...people I hadn't seen in like 5 or 6 years, and amazingly, most of them still totally looked, and some, still totally acted just like before. So it was mainly a night of socializing and drinking and running into old old friends, and at the end, we even got to dance a little w/ some random girls that we met. It was weird though cuz I got pretty hammered for some reason, and I only had like 5 or 6 drinks. But it didn't hit me til after we left...all of the sudden I was crazy buzzed, and couldn't stay awake while eating my food at Denny's...at this point, I don't even remember where we were sitting or what I ordered. Then, I couldn't drive home so I had to crash at Averell's place...goodness, I don't know what the heck was wrong w/ me that night, but at least I wasn't alone, cuz Omar got pretty jacked as well. I guess I just had one of those super low-tolerance days, cuz normally 4-5 drinks will just give me a light buzz...hmmmm, that's so odd. But like I said, it was fun, and I had a good time.

There's so much other stuff that I wanted to mention but I can't seem to remember anything right now...I'm again in a strange funk. One of those ruts I occasionally find myself in, and I really hate it. My sleeping habits have really been weird as of late, I sleep no earlier than 4AM and wake up no later than 9 or 10, with the exception of one day this week where I woke up at 1 I think. But I am constantly tired and not really wanting to do much, I just feel myself goin w/ things and hoping it'll give me some boost of energy. Maybe I'm just burned out from hanging out like every single day this week. Maybe it's because I've been so lazy around the house. Maybe....I don't know...I think maybe it stems from a whole lot of things: separation anxiety from all my old roomies and friends, no job, and about 10 other things...too much thinking. I look myself in the mirror sometimes and just get dissappointed at the guy starin back...not because of my situation but because I'm thinking this way, it's ridiculous. I know what I need to do and how I SHOULD be thinking but, hey, easier said than done. It's hard enough to find a solution, but even harder to bring that solution to reality... I wonder how long this funk is gonna last...hopefully it ends when I click on "Post & Publish," but I'll have to wait and see about that.

Lesson for the day...
Don't leave your shoes just chillin on the floor next to your bed, it's a disaster waiting to happen...

"The first twenty-five years of your life, you're in awe of others. For the next twenty-five, you want others to be in awe of you. After that, you could hardly give a damn."
-Arthur Lotti

I am a pair of dice shaken in that Yahtzee shaker thingy...

Relocation...and pain
I am writing my first entry into my blog from my NEW COMPUTER!!! That's right, I am now the proud owner of a Compaq Presario 6000z and an Envision 17" CRT Flat Panel monitor, all of which, after rebates, will have cose me less than $500!!! That is a steal, or my name isn't Jay. But yay, I'm so happy that I have my own desktop with which I can totally mess with. I'm so grateful for friends like Chris, who let me borrow his laptop forever...Jos always reminds me what great friends I have, as if I already didn't know it. So anyway, I feel kinda cool now that I have this new comp set up. It's not gonna make me more productive, or a different person, or anything..it's just cool, ha ha ha.

It's hard for me to type kinda cuz freakin jacked up my middle finger on my left hand during our game last night. DAMNIT, I hate that! The game was pretty much over already too and then I hurt the sucker...It isn't TOO bad, but it does hurt and looks pretty nasty though, all swollen, purple, and I can barely move it. Blech...and being that I still don't have mofo'in health insurance, I can only wait and hope and wish and pray that it is nothing more than a mild sprain that just turned all purple and crap.

A blast from the past
I crashed at Chris and the girls' place last night after the game cuz I was already out there(I met Chris and the twins and their friend at Steamers after I had dinner w/ Mae). PLUS, I had to burn some data from his laptop onto CD so I could transfer it to my new desktop(I know, shut up already, I keep mentioning the NEW DESKTOP). So I was in OC til late and still had to do that CD burning stuff...which could wait til morning. So..I crashed... Chris went to bed kinda early so me and Caren just stayed up til like 3 something just catching up...it was so fun, almost like having roomates again. Made me realize how much I really do miss my roomates. Living at home home with your folks is really a completely different experience, especially if one has grown accustomed to living out on their own...well maybe not totally on their own cuz I always had support from them if I needed it...but not always...but STILL, it's different. So simply put, I don't think I've totally adjusted to my new living situation quite yet. I was talking to someone the other day, and she told me she had JUST adjusted completely...and she'd been home now for like 5 months. I don't think I'll EVER COMPLETELY adjust, because I will always be yearning to be out on my own...there's just an independance and a "look at the boy you've raised, he can do it on his own" feeling that I get from that. But each his/her own and we all must come to grips w/ the cards we are dealt...so here's to dealing and adjusting...

Today
So needless to say that today was quite the eventful day. Woke up, had breakfast, finally burned that info for my NEW DESKTOP, and went home. After putting the bubster down for a nap, me and mom went to TARGET, like one of the most funnest and coolest stores ever created. After I brought mom home I went to Best Buy to get her a VHS rack and some speakers for...what else? MY NEW DESKTOP! Ended up also buying a book, "Armageddon," the next book in the "Left Behind" series by Lahaye and Jenkins, and one of those gel-filled wrist pads, man this thing is comfortable. Then went to a Dodger game w/ Chris, Chiems, Ai, Jon, and Averell...hell yeah, it was so fun. We won 3-0...no homers, but we did eat some dodger dogs, do the wave for about 10 min, sing "Take me out to the Ball Game," and also see Gagne close it all out. Pretty sweet...we also went to ROSCOES, again, for like the 3rd time within the past MONTH!!! And we'll probably go again within the next week or two because of the free roscoes night, compliments of me, so FOUR times within about a month!!! Damn, I find that pretty crazy. This time, Omar was added to the company and it was good eats and convo and I had a Sunrise for the first time, pretty damned good...and so, here I am, back at square one...

I want to go to sleep while watching TV and have the timer set so it can automatically shut off like 10 min after I knock out, but alas, I have no remote for this stupid TV...DANGIT! And all the universal remotes I've seen don't have a timer setting...for what reason, I have absolutely no clue. I hate when you have like a perfect plan, or what seems to ME to be a perfect plan, but hey, that's all that matters anyway, and you can't execute it. That's like liking a girl you can never have anything with...it just sucks! Ha ha ha, anyway, so w/ that plan spoiled...I must go w/ plan B and read before sleeping...which is equally as cool as "rotting my brain" til I drift into sleepland. But it would be kinda cool to have alternatives...

Lesson of the day
Don't show your eagerness to prove a point to people, play it cool and then, surprise them...

Appreciations of the day
-"Multi-facetedness"
-People who give you courtesy waves
-New Jazz CD's
-Dodger games, and the social atmosphere @ the game

"It is not the answer that enlightens, but the question."
-Eugene Ionesco

I am a the tortoise moving too fast...

Great minds...and then some
I love my friends. Why? Because they always help me when i'm stuck...They've responded to my "who figures out max capacity" blurp and Jon even provided me with this: Max Capacity Calculator ha ha ha...awesome how so many bright minds can come together to make things that seem so unsolvable, solvable. What a formidable foe great minds in numbers would make on the battlefield of life...

I still don't know how to insert pics on this thing, so I'm still resorting to using links...right here, WOULD go a pic of that tattoo I got last week, but being that I don't konw how to do that, I'll stick with This. Again, thanks to another friend, Joe, for taking the pic and then sending it to me.

I actually wanted to sleep early today, well if 12midnight can actually be called early...but no, I have to pick up mom at 1AM. Not that I don't wanna pick her up, just that I had planned on sleeping earlier and well, it always sucks when my plans for sleeping have to be moved down yet another hour...For the shortage of sleep I had from this previously past day, I was surprisingly alert AND productive, well, with all the driving I had to do all day, runnin errands, setting up my computer(which I think was one of the highlights of my day...freakin geek), and taking care of the bubs...and in the rain mind you, except for taking care of London, I wouldn't dare bring her out into the rain...not yet anyway. I'm actually thinking about taking her to the Aquarium of the Pacific one of these days...she loves fish, and being that she doesn't particularly take to me so quickly nowadays, maybe this can be our bonding moment or something. But being the smart gal she is, she might see right through my manipulative lil scheme and try to squeeze out some extras from me like ice cream and toys...he he he...can't wait for the mental battle to begin...who will win...age? or youth? Tune in... So apparently, I'm actually quite pleasantly surprised that I was able to be so alert all throughout my day thus far...though that is quickly fading away, even as I type. I wonder how many hours of sleep are in store for me today...I relish the fact that I don't really have to wake up early to bring anyone here or there...wait...nm, I do...crap...another busted plan of attack. oh...all's well that ends well anyway, right? right!

Man, the Carpenters are the shit...I'm trying to compile a list of songs to put into a CD, like a greatest hits of the late 60's early 70's type music, but there's so many to choose from. But the Carpenters definitely have a few hits in there...there is something really captivating and at the same time calming about Karen Carpenter's voice... I absolutely love hearing it. It's really sad to think that she died when she was only 31...from eating disorder-related diseases. What a shame it is when society causes us to develop some sort of self-deteriorating sickness...one of those times when I just nod my head in utter disappointment and the world we've created for ourselves...but just ONE of those times...I still see more hope and happiness and know that it overshadows all else.

Thought of the day...
Where do flies go when it rains? Or when it's cold?

Lesson of the day...
After crawling underneath your desk, remember, BACK out first, THEN, get up....in THAT order...or else, OUCHarama.

Appreciation of the day...
Lilo and Stitch...saved my life

"Thinking without action is just as crippling as action without thinking."

Just a few things on my mind:

1) Just earlier, I had the weirdest freakin internet experience in the world. I was reading through some blogs I normally go thru and I went to this one blog I read on occasion and the template seemed to have changed. So I read on and noticed that the links were all different, and the title also, the writing was SIMILAR(It was very grandoise in a very elegant and intelligent type of way). I checked the url address and it was still the same, so I'm thinking, "hmmm, maybe she just changed her template or something." I keep reading...dang it was so totally political, all these clippings and postings about the war, anti-semitism, referring to other people's blogs, dadadadada...I didn't realize until I saw, or read, that this person, whom at first I thought was the normal blog author, had only been blogging for three weeks...I was reading a totally different blog! TOTALLY different...so I clicked on the home page link and it brought me to the normal spot! I was like WTF?!?!?! What the hell was I just reading for the past 30+ minutes?!?!? So I thought about it for a while, and I was like, "I wonder who's blog that actually was," so I clicked on the back button on my browser window, and whattaya know, the freakin thing is totally gone...POOF! Just like that...as if it never happened...which totally sucks because I had just spent over half an hour reading something that I thought was updating, but will be pointless to look for because it'll probably take forever just finding it again...how weird. It's like when the phone sometimes crosses lines and you hear another person talking while you're talkin to a friend, or they can hear you, but the communication line is never open to both unintended parties...weird...internet crossover...

2) Who or what figures out the maximum capacity in a room? I mean, like when you're in a banquet room or something, and you see the "Max Capacity : 497 persons," sign, how the heck did they figure that out? Did they try to fit as many people as they could in there and say, "Oops, well that's it, only 497 people fit in here." Or is there like an safe average area for a human being so that: the area of the room/area of the avg human = Max # of people? Hmmm, this is an interesting topic on which I would like to do more research on....but any effort to do so would probably prove inconclusive and just a waste of my time...time I could be using to do bigger and better things, like sleeping...he he he...or finding a job....or something...

3) While at the dentist office w/ mom, pop and London, I was watching London playing w/ one of the other lil kids in the lobby. They were looking at the fish in the aquarium and they were touching the glass and their hands kept bumping into each other...and they didn't even care. Which made me think about how we sorta develop these kinda things about us as we get older...like if that happened to two adults...or, in my case...just older people(being that I don't ever think I'll truly be an adult), and they were complete strangers, they would get weirded out or feel somewhat uncomfortable, well at least I probably would, if their hands touched by accident. We kinda develop this sense of space thing, I don't know if it's institutionalized by society, or it's just innate, but whatever..., like a physical comfort zone of just how close someone can come to us physically, of course I'm speaking in a non-intimate sense here, before we through up the caution flag and put up our dukes... But whilst we are children, no such comfort zone exists, kids talk to each other like 2 inches apart from their face...it's such an air of innocence, it's almost admirable. I would like to see two adults accidentally reach for a doorknob or something at the same time and touch hands, and not freak out, just realize, "Oh they were trying to do the same exact thing that I was doing...nice." I think there would be more smiles in the world if things were like that...

Eyes wide open
Damnit, the time is fast approaching upon the 5th hour of this new day and I am still awake...duh...how would I be writing if I wasn't awake...actually, that's not true, I could be asleep and doing this, but I doubt it. I am trying to drink lots and lots of water to flush or at least dilute that caffeine that is in my body so that I can get some rest...I have to take sister to work in the morning, dangit...well, at least I can just sleep afterwards for another couple hours. Hmmm, there's nothing on my schedule really this week...since I was locked up all last week, I never really made any plans to hang out w/ people or anything, but I do need to find something to do. Man, I need to do start doing something to pass my time, now that I don't have any more studying to do(ha, I just said the same sentence in another way...how weird...geez it's late), oh well, I need to find a new hobby. I can only spend so many hours watching movies, reading and all that...oooh, maybe I'll start workin out regularly again...at least I found a gym where I can go shoot around at a few days a week other than my weekly league game. Argh, I think I'm going to just lay down and wait til I get so damn bored that there would be no other option for me than to sleep. At least it's raining, cuz rain always helps me fall asleep...I don't know what it is about rain that comforts me so much...the soft pitter-patter of the drops hitting the window? The cool, refreshing air that comes w/ the rain? I don't know, but it's some sort of washing...cuz after it rains, things always seem a lil more extra nice...probably just me, but hey, it's ALWAYS just me...

I am the world taken off of Atlas' outstretched arms...

Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh
I am finally done w/ that stupid exam...it was freakin hard, and I'm not sure all the preparation, or lack thereof, helped at all...I MAY have to take it again come October, but I'll be ready for that one, I swear...ANYWAY, the test was so hard that there were lots of thoughts streaming through my mind, which was insane because during part of the exam, I actually zoned out so much as to think about what I wanted to blog about, and they were about these thoughts:

-Can there really be this many "d's"?
-I have no idea what this question is asking, I'll just pick C
-Hmmm, only 2 hours left and I'm only 25% finished, (insert f and s words here)
-I wonder if there would be anyway to sabotage this test so that I could get out of taking it right now
-It would be pretty funny if someone just flipped out in here...
-It would be cool if I had like contacts that acted like a video camera and an earpiece, and on the otherside of the earpiece, I'd have a team of engineering experts that could see my problems through my camera contact lenses and solve the problems for me...that's be sweet
-I wonder if there are ANY cute girls in here(and except for the few that I already know, I doubt it).
-three "b's" in a row, is that logical?
-Still only 25% done (insert f and s words again)
-that dude, looks like my old algebra teacher
-I wonder if these people in here are doing the same thing I'm doing
-30 minutes left, ALREADY? Time flies when you don't know crap...
-Come on, come on, someone just leave already and I'll go too...
-What on earth does a "diode" do? (more f and s words)
-I NEVER learned this stuff before...WTF
-there IS a cute girl here...woah
-Just 20 more bubbles to fill in...hmmm, ...abbbcddd...dab
-Hell yeah, time to go...

Life goes on...
So after taking a big sigh of relief from taking that torture of an exam, I napped for almost 3 hours at Kel's and ate w/ Chris @ Tenko and then hit up Champs for our buddy Jeremy's b-day where afterwards, we went to Rock Bottom...pretty fun. Even saw our old neighbors from Stanford Ct there, and we got to dance w/ them, however, I didn't ask them for their numbers, so the chances of running into them again are slim to none, being that I now reside about 55 miles north of where we ran into each other. So I ended up getting home at about 4AM this morning...slept in til about 1(wow, me, sleepin in!), missed part of the 1st qtr of the Laker game, at lunch w/ the folks, and headed to my cuz' place to finish the game, too bad we freakin lost...but oh well...it was fun anyway. After that, I went to go see Anger management w/ Jon, Ai, Wo and Cic...pretty good, and we had some food and coffee at Norms afterward...so here I am at home, w/ all this new-found energy stemming from the fact that I felt like I was caged up like a bird all last week(plus I had like 3 1/2 cups of coffee at Norms), and now I'm free, and thus, my thoughts are being released in a torrent of written, err....typed expression.

Speaking of expression, a certain part of that movie actually stuck out, well at least to me it did. They were talking about how there's two types of angry people...the first is the explosive angry person, who lashes out and yells at people, like someone yelling at a server because their coffee is taking too long, for example. Then, there is the implosive angry person, the server who just takes in the yelling and yelling and eventually goes postal on everyone in the restaurant. I was wondering which one I was and I think lean a little more towards the implosive one, but not on as extreme a scale, kinda just taking things in until they frustrate me to the point where I snap. But I think I am pretty good in dealing w/ things that frustrate me, I was just thinkin about where you draw the line as to how one expresses their anger when it builds up. There are so many movies about people that just snap...like Falling Down, with Michael Douglas(one "s" or two?), where he just goes insane cuz he's totally fed up with things...I don't remember everything about that movie, just that he goes buckwild, holds up a restaurant, freakin shoots someone and launches a freakin rocket(which was pretty damn cool) and other crazy stuff. Man, it's a pretty scary damn world when you think about how many "implosive" types there are in our society. So maybe anger management should be like a class within our schools' cirriculums, just to avoid any such mental meltdowns. Hmmm, maybe that's what I'll do, be an anger manager(is that what you would call it?) and establish a school for it or somethin...he he he. All we would do is just play poker all day and have beer and cigarettes...he he he. So let's all sit down, undo the top button on our pants(a la Al Bundy), have a beer, and toast to anger management!

Appreciations
-being missed
-beer and friends
-dancing

Lesson for the day
-Drinking several cups of coffee late late at night WILL keep you awake and send you to the bathroom for some latenight reading.

"There's no time like the present, so enjoy yourself now"

I am a pair of heavy heavy eyelids...

Separation Anxiety...
It's been only a few days since I've locked myself up and thrown away the key and I seriously feel like I've been separated from the world. This whole studying bit is really starting to take its toll on me, in that I feel like I have not had any social interaction, save the few run-ins I've had w/ people over the course of this week thus far, namely, V visiting the other day and seeing a few of my friends during my WABL basketball game(WHICH we lost...and by a lot too...btw), and the friend I saw @ Starbucks today. I have not come onto the web very much, except for the occasional e-mail session and blog-reading break(when I'm home). I have not even answered my cell phone(not that I get many calls in the first place), save for 2 or 3 people that happened to call impeccably during my study break or when I'm in my car or something. Even then, those conversations were short-lived and non-explorative because of my ever-depleting timetable until my test. But through all the non-hanging out and non-phone talking, and non-im'ing, I would have to say that the non-im'ing bit has hit me the hardest. I was not aware of how accustomed I had become to AIM and the whole IM world until I holed myself up so that I could hopefully be more productive and efficient w/ the little study time I have left for my exam this weekend. I really miss my AIM buddies...especially because since I've moved back home home, I think I've become more attached to my everyday ramblings with them. I don't have that many friends around here that I can hang out w/ because: 1) They don't live in LA, or 2) They are at work. So AIM has really been my connection to the world for the past month now. Funny how you can even take THAT for granted... So no friends, no nada... Man, what a loner I've become...how weird, I wouldn't have thought so, but it's a fact and it's crazy how much more intense it feels now that I've MADE it so that I'm alone. However, I think that it's done me some good as that during all my productive study time(yeah right), I've had the chance to think about things in my life...but I think I'm always doing that, so maybe that's a dumb realization and I'm just babbling cuz it's past 4AM and I'm still awake...what the heck am I thinking?

What's in a name?
I came across this article in today's, hmmm...scratch that, yesterday's issue of the Los Angeles Times. The article was regarding my place of residence, so I found it rather interesting. And here is an excerpt from said article:

"...The Los Angeles City Council voted unanimously Wednesday to replace the term "South-Central Los Angeles" with "South Los Angeles" on city documents and signs, a move supporters said would help erase a stigma that has dogged the southern part of the city...."

Ha, South Los Angeles, doesn't have the same ring as South Central, but after thinking about it for a while, South Central does have a negative connotation to it, as people already said in the article. My area is geographically considered South Central, but I guess now will no longer be considered as such. He he he, I remember when one of my friend's mom used to drop me off at home after hanging out sometimes and she would lock all the doors and make sure we all rolled up our windows. I was pretty embarassed about it back then, but hey, not everyone has the luxury of living in the safest places and most asthetically pleasing neighborhoods in the world. I mean, there were some weird things that happened down and around my street, but hey, look I'm still here and that was a long time ago...I'm breaking off on a tangent here...where was I...oh yes, so, by being South Los Angeles, I guess all the negativity that was attached to that former name will slowly subside and hopefully(fingers crossed) become non-existent. THEN, better things will come. But hey, if just by changing a name can bring about THAT much change...then by all means, do it. Sometimes I think we'd have more important things to lay on the table than NAMES of places and things, but this is a perfect example that disproves any such thinking. Funny how strong a role words and names actually play in our society...kinda throws out that whole kiddy rhyme, "Sticks and stones will break my bones, but names will never hurt me." When I think about it, names and words can actually be more hurtful than physical pain.

A silver mini-ligning
An upside to the war in Iraq...seeing the reaction of the Iraqis when they "tasted their freedom" from generations of oppression. People kissing and offerring flowers to Coalition troops, people rejoicing when the Statue of Saddam was taken down, tears of joy and relief. Seeing all that made me realize that there is something positive goin on here...I couldn't imagine what it feels like to be oppressed as these people were...to be shot if you had anything negative to say against a regime such as the one that existed in Iraq. It's still all crazy and I still don't have a complete solid stance on this whole issue...but one thing's for sure, I support our people out there, and other peoples' people too, and I am happy for the Kurds and other once-oppressed people of this now war-torn part of the world.

Appreciations
-My FRIENDS DVD's seasons 1 through 3
-Blogs...it is an understatement to say that if it weren't for these handy dandy things, I would have "KNOW" idea what was goin on in some of my friends' lives
-Cups of coffee and the smiles that come with it
-Pleasant distractions...er surprises.
-Miles Davis. Ludwig Van Beethoven, Etta, and Ella
-People watching

"We must learn to live togeter as brothers or perish together as fools."
-Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

I am a really, really, REALLY, REALLY bad scrape...

Where did the time go?
I would have to say that yesterday/today was quite an eventful weekend. Woke up early...after being up quite late...as usual, and ran errands. Original plan? Go run an errand for mom, go to the bank and then, do some laundry, go home chill for a while, eat dinner w/ pop and then get ready for Medieval Times. What ended up happening? I went to the laundromat first, forgot to go to run the errand for mom, THEN, I remembered and had to RELOAD all my laundry(which was pretty damn embarassing, btw), then run the errand and went to the bank(cuz I forgot that the bank closed early on Saturdays). As I was at the bank I found out that my friend wanted to meet up for lunch, we had been planning to do so for quite a while, but it just so happened we had to keep canceling plans...and I felt bad cuz I was the one who had to cancel the last few times...so we decided to meet up. Spontanaeity man, I ended up getting that tattoo I've been wanting to get forever. It wasn't as big as I had originally thought, because of mapping reasons(i.e, my other tattoo was in the way). Woah, talk about pain...I can only describe it as...actually, I can't...it F'in hurt. But I really like it...actually, I love it. Anyway, went to Killer Shrimp afterwards w/ a few more friends who decided to give me some moral support at the tattoo parlor. Then, I went home and prepared dinner for pop and got ready...for MEDIEVAL TIMES!!!

Jon and Jenn(belated)'s birthday celebrations was a lot of fun! Medieval times was awesome...our knight(Black and White) won but was betrayed by this one dude, whcih sucked major ass cuz the Blue Knight(the first to get hurt) killed him...weaksauce. But nonetheless, fun times. Eating w/ your hands...drinkin a beer(I only had one cuz I accidentally had Pepsi), and yellingw / friends. I hadn't yelled like that for a long long time. Apres-la, we went to Newport Beach to chill at Shark Club for a while...it was cool, just hangin w/ peeps and laughin and drinkin and running into old faces. We got out at 2AM, which was ACTUALLY 3AM and went to IHOP. We were there til like 4:20AM and I left. Then, I crashed at Chris' place and came home this morning and got ready for wahoo's. Wahoo's was awesome, got a free meal out of it, and just for eating two scoops of butter...wasn't bad at all...but it did, keep me from eating my WHOLE meal. I came home and fell asleep for like 4 hours. Watched the Laker game and hung out w/ my sis at the laundromat. I'm glad we had the chance to hang out...we never really get the chance to talk just the two of us in a setting where we're not on the way somewhere, just stoppin by, or whatever. It was really good and it's good to get perspective from her...I appreciate our relationship a lot more than I let on...for whatever reason...but I do. It's a shame there's no such thing as sibling day...for those of us w/ siblings. And THAT was my weekend...wow, so much stuff, so little time...

Appreciations of the day...
-Roscoes
-Free Meals
-Sunday naps
-Hangin out
-Quality Time

"A mind that is stretched by a new experience can never go back to its old dimensions."
-Oliver Wendell Holmes

I am an authentic $100 bill....AND a blues saxophone...

Etta
She is DOPE, that's all I have to say....no it's not, I have a lot more to say, so I'll say it now. Just came back from Norms after coming from the Etta James concert. I couldn't believe I was actually watching a living legend performing live...like 15 feet in front of me...AWESOME. She has such presence while she performs man, a lot of the times I was just swayin w/ my eyes closed to the music, and just let her music take control. There is just something totally magical about live music...hard to describe and I think is only one of those things you can only relate to. She sang all blues stuff and I was hoping that she would've done some jazzy stuff, but hey, it WAS House of Blues. Nonetheless, she had the whole crowd going and I have to say, that it was AWESOME. AWESOME AWESOME AWESOME

The power of suggestion, revisited
As I sat down on the couch the other night and clicked on the tube for some late night r & r (via Sportcenter), I was flipping through the show guide when, lo and behold on Fox News there was a channel listed as "War Coverage." I proceeded to check how long that segment was and I saw that it was for the WHOLE day! 24 hour war coverage...the War Channel! Ha! My suggestion was realized...wow you'd never think some things would come true, but I guess they do. Ironic, the things you think are too outlandish are the ones that materialize and the ones you'd think are more realistic are the ones that fade into the distance...go figure.

Other news
I finally got pictures uploaded onto sony imagestation. Check it out! As it is w/ many of my other friends, the album is password protected, so if needed, find me and I'll be glad to send it to you. But if you think you know me well enough, and I mean WELL enough, you might be able to figure it out...I was lookin at some of the pics...pretty nasty man...blech...it'll serve as my reminder never to get that drunk again.

A couple friends and I got into a rather interesting discussion the other day. When we were paying our bill after dinner, one person in our company thought that one of his $100 bills were counterfit. We all took a stab trying to figure out whether or not it was, and most of us fooled ourselves into believing it WAS, in fact, a fakezoid. So we asked our server, who btw, had a really cool Hawaiian name I think, for that counterfit marker thingy that they always use when you buy crap. Anyway, we used it and found out the bill he had was indeed authentic. And this is where our discussion took place. If I were to head a conterfitting business, I wouldn't go for the gusto and make fake $100's and $20's and such...I would make fake $1's and $5's!!! Who would check a bunch of $1's if you were paying for food or something? And that way, you wouldn't get too greedy that way. And people always overlook the lil things. Imagine getting everything you pay for everyday, like gas, cigarettes, takeout, etc...was paid for in FAKE money...that's all free stuff man...and it adds up. Instead of being able to buy that bomb-ass stereo system for your g-ride in one shot, you can SAVE all that cash by not spending $60$-70 a week on the previously mentioned items and stuff. He he he watch, I bet $1's and $5's are like the most impossible bills to counterfit in the whole wide world....ha ha ha...

Word of the day
Equilibrate

Appreciations for the day and day before
-Friends Season 3 DVD: it came in today =D
-Nice, hot, FREE Krispy kreme donuts right off of the lil conveyor belt
-The "Classic" omelette from Norms
-ETTA and blues

"A fool thinks himself to be wise, but a wise man knows himself to be a fool."
-Shakespeare

I am 3 measures of the Moonlight Sonata...

this one's a doozie...well, not really...

The Forbidden Fruit...
Man, I was THIS close to having a cigarette today...maybe partly because of the dream, and partly because my BF(that's BEST friend!), maybe I'll use bff instead...yeah...anyway, she was inviting me for one...but then she took back the offer...but an offer it was nonetheless. Anyway, THIS close I'm telling you, and I would have to say I felt quite triumphant(cue trumpetty sounds), so rack one up for the Jayman. All smoking temptations aside though, I was so glad to have had the opportunity to sit down w/ my best friend and have dinner, and just catch up...I never get to do that with her. But the greatest thing about our friendship is that no matter how long we ARE apart, everytime we get together, it seems like just yesterday that we last saw/talked...we're on the same page like that. We both have our shortcomings I think when it comes to keeping in touch and stuff like that, but I love her nonetheless...which is obviously why she's my best friend. We've been through a whole lot and she's one of the only people that I knew back in high school that I can really say I never lost touch with. So Ja-nelly-nelle, you da bomb baby!

Jay B...food critic
Someone give me a column and call me the food critic, because that's totally what I felt like today. And if I had like a food critic show, today's theme would've been, "Asian Food." Because early this afternoon, I had Chinese at Won Kok down in Chinatown w/ the fam. It was okay...basic food, nothing special. The service...eh. I then proceeded home to let my digestive track settle from it's previous venture when I got a call from the bff. We end up meeting @ Thai BBQ on 3rd and Ardmore and eat an early dinner there. I must say that good things are those which endure the years. I've been going to this Thai BBQ ever since my friend back in HS used to live a block away and we used to walk there practically every week to eat. mm mmm, good. S-2, bbq beef ribs and Tom Yum Goong...never fails. After shopping at one of my 3 most favoritest stores in the whole wide world, Target for a while(of which I have yet another interesting tangent to break off on...but won't...til after this section), I headed to my 3rd and final venue for the evening, Kabuki Japanese Grill at the Bridge in Los Angeles. It says it has "the best sushi in town," but I would have to beg to differ. Although it was very delightful for my palette, as the spicy tuna roll was indeed spicy(I hate when it says spicy but isn't at all), and so were the tempura ice cream desserts, I would have to say I still find Crazy Fish to be a better bargain and a better sushi place. And there ya have it...til next time, where I will hit up the Italian scene, signing off...

Geeks R me
So how big of a FRIENDS nerd am I? I was shopping at Target for my cousin's b-day present(she ended up LOVING her gift by the way, I love that...when people love the gift you get them, there's a huge sense of satisfaction in that...man, tha'ts TWO things I'm proud of today...wow, I'm on a roll!) and an episode of FRIENDS happened to be on, it was 7:00 so I guess it was tuned in to regular TV, but it was on ALL their TV's...so I got into it...and although I had already picked out my cousin's gift...I stayed and watched the ENTIRE episode before I could leave. I was standing right there as people passed me and I laughed at all the jokes, and stuff, and was saying lines, I'm sure to the amusement of passerby and Target associates....but I did not care. THAT'S how big of a freak I am, thank you very much.

And Finally, my....

Appreciations for the day
-driving by a motorcycle gang going the opposite way on local streets at night, it's quite a sight
-quoting lines from movies and tv shows
-a wink and a smile
-hints
-being the "one you can count on"
-just saying "no"
-laughs laughs and more laughs

"A celebrity is a person who works hard all his life to become well known, then wears dark glasses to avoid being recognized."
-Fred Allen

I am a snail without a shell...

3rd and Long....
I hadn't really thought about it for a while...but last night, I had this crazy dream that I smoked a cigarette. Some weird stuff was happening, none that needs really to be noted, but it was SOOOOOO intense and felt SOOOOOOO real! I couldn't believe it, I had smoked one whole cigarette...but I felt totally guilty afterward cuz my friends were yelling at me...mind you this is all in my dream. Wow, that's the only reaction I can spit out about that. And now, it's been on my mind ever since I told Cic about it during lunch...shiyet. Arrrgh....THIS is the time it gets harder...when I really start thinking about it. I think that before I was a lil preoccupied w/ stuff...but now that I'm gonna be studyin for my EIT and stressin. And this is my attempt to stop quitting forever...man, it's so easy to fall off the wagon, cuz if I just had one puff, I know it'd be over...just like that. Sheesh...talk about the long haul. I know it'll be tough...so hopefully I make it out alright, I've got really good friends helpin me out through it all, so I know I will.

I am a pudgee foot...

WTF
I can't seem to shake this sore throat...but it's weird cuz it only hurts late at night before i fall asleep and then a lot in the morning when I wake up for like an hour or so, then it goes away. I swear man, these were the same types of things that happened to me when I was SMOKING, but now I'm not...so what the dealie yo? Maybe I should just pick it up again...ha ha ha. I'm actually patting myself on the back right now because tomorrow will be 1 month since I stopped. Wow, 28 days already...that's pretty freakin amazing to me, cuz even though I complain about wanting to smoke all the time, the conviction in me to pick one up is slowly being ebbed away as time passes. man, to think, 5 years from now, I'll be a lot healthier than I am currently, and hopefully in 5 years, this damned sore throat will be long long gone.

After a week of gorgeous sunny typical Southern Cali weather, the winds seem to have changed for the mean time. Temperatures are dropping into the mid to upper 60's for most of the week, even through the weekend...damn, so that probably means ixnay on the each-bay. Double darnit, well, that'll probably be good for me, being that I'm going to an Etta James concert on Friday and then Medieval Times on Saturday, I could use the sabbath to take a break.

On a double side note, we won our game tonight...yeah! I didn't play too well, but hey, that's what practice is for...this week, layups and stamina...need lots of work. On our team last season, there was this guy Paul who was like 40, and married w/ children and he totally kicked ass. When I'm his age, I hope to be in that type of shape too, it can only be good for you...and it's inspiring to see that.

"Through even what may seem to be the darkest times, there, beauty still lies..."

I am a rain cloud in the middle of a hot day...

Timing is everything...
I just found out today that my EIT is next saturday! Dangit, that sucker crept up on me like a California Sea Lion on Jon, he he he. Anyway, that only gives me two weeks to study!!! Freak man, that's not enough time, and yes, I know I should've been paying more attention to the date, but hey, to be honest, other things were on my mind and I put this on the back burner, to no fault other than my own. So it is time once again to disappear into the shadows for a bit whilst I prepare myself for yet another full day of torture on what will probably be a gorgeous Saturday. What a coincidence, cuz I had thought to myself earlier, for a guy who has NO job, I sure am on the computer for quite a while. Cuz most of my friends are at work and the ones that don't work, aren't on ALL day like I am. So I had resolved to not being on it so much from th@ moment on, prior to finding out about the big exam, of course. I was planning on concentrating my energies on important tasks I had previously put off doe to various reasons, such as: finishing FFX now that I have my PS2 back, maybe putting pix into albums, looking for a good desktop deal(wait, that's a computer-related task...end of the line sucka), getting started on my Europe scrapbook, reading a book or 3, doin some work around the house, and more organizational stuff, but now, I have a valid thing to expend all my thoughts on, the EIT....yay. you gotta love the timing of these things...

Been an up and down day for me...but I DO have an interview tomorrow, so after some preparation and research, I shall call it a day and move on to the next...

Appreciations of the day...
-Friends who go get coffee and fries with you late at night
-"Intuition"

"Don't cry because it's over. Smile because it happened."