I am real time...

Happy B-day JBULA!!!!


I'd rather be doing this right now...

I've felt like time has been one huge blur for me lately. It's hard sometimes to separate where one day ends and where the next day begins. I don't think it's because I have so much to do lately, because in all honesty, I don't feel like I've been doing MORE than the norm. In fact, I feel lately, I've been doing less. Maybe there's just so much going on around me that it's causing the fog. It's still weird though... I can't believe we're practically in our second month of summer already. Luckily, it hasn't been so hot...knock on wood.

I really need to finish reading "The Last Lecture." The main character, and author of the book, passed away on Friday, so sad. I didn't even get to finish the book yet. But so far, it's pretty good. Inspirational in that this man knew he was going to die and didn't let it devour his remaining time here on earth. He was a good man, and wanted to be a good father, and a good husband. He had the benefit of good people around him. I hope I can be the same type of person he was. RIP Randy Pausch.

55 small things you can always do
21. Use your own container at Starbucks.
Amendment to the previous entries...I used #18 twice. It had different "small things you can do"'s, but I used the number twice. The discrepancy has thus been corrected and I will be going to 21. Back to today's small thing...I actually never knew you could do this, and yet I'm not sure if I ever will. Yes, it helps us reduce our use of it, but i rarely have my own coffee mug with me in my car, let alone every time I think to go to Starbucks. So maybe for all you coffee drinkers? I can't think where else this would apply. Well, you take what you want from these entries right? Some things I bring up are just absolute word-barf.

"What defines us is how well we rise after we fall."

I am a short look back...

I went to the Happiest Place on Earth w/ the bubs a little while back. Here's our picture at the "O" of California. What's funny is that I went a couple years ago with a friend of mine and we were meeting my cousin between Calfornia Adventure and Disneyland and he said to meet at the "C" of Calfiornia. But I totally thought he meant SEA of California. I was asking around where this SEA was and no one knew what I was talking about. We finally go out of California adventure and SEE it..., it was quite funny, but you probably had to be there. Anyway, Disneyland w/ the bubster was awesome. We had a terrific time and she got to go on all the rides she wanted to, except for Indiana Jones, which was closed up until 4 and by that time, the line was 2 hours long and fast pass said 11PM. She didn't last til 8:45....wanted to go home and completely knocked out in the car.

Is it really only Tuesday? My mind is in college summer mode, but I'm definitely not in college anymore. In fact, it's been about 12 years since I started college...KRIKEY. I soooooo haven't felt like working lately. And it's not like usual where I'm just blah...it's like, I want to be on vacation. Okay, maybe that's the same thing...but the bottom line is I'd rather be sittin at home, runnin errands, workin out, or doing ANYTHING other than work. I still need to work on some of my other goals for this year...and I know, I have to MAKE the damn time to work on the things I want to. Maybe it is just a rut. I'd close my eyes and just zone away for a bit, but I'm in a meeting, and I've already gotten in trouble for sleeping in meetings, he he he.

Of the dream life...
Everyone has weird dreams. They don't always, actually...strike that...they almost never... make sense. As usual, I have these dreams constantly, and I can remember them quite clearly at times. Usually, they kinda slip away like water in your hands right when I wake up....but this dream happened about a week ago...
...I was walking in a mall...and for some reason, there was no gun control wherever I was at(I was recently in AZ - where AZ residents are allowed to even carry concealed weapons, or non-concealed for that matter) - So maybe it was AZ. Anyway, so in the mall, I'm talking to someone, and I say, "I can't even believe there's no gun control here, that trips me out." All of the sudden, some gangbanger dude jumps in front of me and says, "This is gun control." and lifts up his shirt, showcasing a 22mm pistol(Tommy wasn't in the dream, so he probably could've described the gun more specifically.) Anyway, he seems to be peeved that I do not agree w/ the whole gun tolerance thing and immediately starts to try to pick a fight with me. I simply tell him that I didn't want any trouble and that I was just shopping. So he backs up and starts shooting at my feet, so I'm dodging them, like they do in the movies or in cartoons. I'm dancing around fearing for my life as bullets are bouncing off of the floor. One of them grazes my jeans and shreds a piece right off. He's just laughing maniacally the entire time. So he asks me if I'm through, and I say, "What?" "You offended me man, you better apologize," he says. And I'm thinkin in my head...apologize? wtf? But I suck it up, cuz arguing at this point is pointless, the man has a gun and is ready to shoot me; I ain't pullin no Marty McFly here. He makes me bow down to himi(kinda like how the bad guy in 300 makes the deformed Spartan bow to him towards the end of the movie). I have to pay homage for my offense, and he's just laughing while he's doing it. I get up, and think I'm on my way. As I'm walking away, he yells out. Where the eff do you think you're going? So he runs up to me and he goes, "Now you know I gotta shoot you for real, right?" My mind starts racing. He's too far to reach for his gun. There's no way I can dodge, cuz he's close enough to not miss even if I did move. So I just stand stock-still; heart racing, beads of sweat forming at the top of my head. So he asks me if I wanna get shot up high or down low. While I'm thinking about what a ridiculous question that even is....BAM!! He pulls the trigger! Hits me square on the shoulder. I fall to the groundNext thing I remember, I'm driving myself to the hospital cuz my friends aren't with me, and I'm keeling over to the right while I'm on the wheel....I make it to a building and tell the nurse that I've been shot. She puts me into a room and calls for a doctor. Gives me this huge injection...and I knock out... I pretty much woke up after that. But I can remember vividly the feelings and emotions I was going through. It was unreal. Anyway, one of the few nightmares I've had lately...but still, pretty weird, no?

55 small things you can always do
19. Use cloth bags at the grocery store.
These last two things are very "tree hugger-ish" as someone would say. But this one is actually a VERY small thing you can do to help save the environment one bag at a time. Plastic bags go EVERYWHERE, they float away, and get into our beaches, into random areas, kill animals, affect and contaminate water and soil when they degrade. I try to collect them to use as trashbags, but I think I have so many I could change my trashcans every day for a year or somethin. Anyway, a while back, I bought one of those cloth bags from IKEA. I have yet to use it though =(. But I will soon! Unfortunately, I only have 1, so I'll try to get a 2nd. I shouldn't be trying to buy more than 2 bags' worth of stuff from teh store anyway, most of my stuff always ends up getting spoiled. So try to keep it to two bags...

Quote of the day
Shoutout to Dr Impatient Tooter(cough cough, Mina) for today's quote. What's funny is that she just took it off of someone's laptop at school and didn't know exactly where it was from, and it ends up being from one of my favorito showso...anywho...here it is.

"When I get sad, I stop being sad and be awesome instead. True story."
-Barney (From "How I Met Your Mother")

So simple, and yet so applicable to any situation...

I am the space being stared into...

Been a hectic day....there's so many thoughts I have in my head I want to write about, but I can't seem to formulate any words to depict and illustrate said thoughts...I'm just all jumbled up. Mleh on days when I feel like this...

Of fighting the good fight...
This video segment features the father of one of the girls that sang in our choir for one of our performances. He's terminally ill, and I just found it very powerful that, even in his last days, would fight for a cause... This guy probably has it as bad it gets...and yet he continues to think positive. Makes me think about how petty my trials and tribulations are sometimes...

55 small things you can always do
18. Recycle old newspapers, bottles, and cans.
Ummm....in short...RECYCLE. I come from the mindset that our resources are finite., and if we can help maintain the health of our planet and help things be more efficient, I am more than all for it. It's such a small thing to recycle. Really doesn't take much effort; just buy a separate bin to for recycle products and there ya go.

I am another step forward...

I kinda wish I was doing this right now...I get sleepy at about 2PM everyday at work...it's like clockwork. Even if I get a lot of rest. How challenged am I right now? he he he


Before I go on, congratulations Belle and Lou! Thanks for having such an awesome wedding! Also a happy belated to Lena B! It was good seein you at your surprise party this weekend girl! welcome to 30'dom! :)

Of milestones and occurences
Holy crap, this is my 1000th post! Wow, 1000 posts. "That's quite a waste of time." he he he. That's a big milestone. Speaking of milestones...don't you think it's great when you can climb slowly up the proverbial mountain of life and look back and say to yourself, "Wow, I've come a long way." Well, that's how I've been feeling lately...that I really have come a long way and I can look back at the path behind me and appreciate the journey I've been on so far.

Of things I had I never knew I had
You know what's weird...songs I never knew I had on my ipod. I was listening the other day to my Itunes at work - I have my Itunes set to on shuffle all the time so I just heard different songs all the time. At one point, Oasis was playing and I was singing along when I thought, "I have this song?!?" Weird. So I open my Itunes...and lo and behold, the entire ALBUM is there!!! ha ha ha, I love surprises like that. Music rocks...pun intended :)

Of the lowest common denominator and simplication...
Remember fractions and simplifying fractions to make adding and subracting them easier? Those were fun. It was easier to simplify the parts of the equation to make solving it easier. Otherwise, there was a lot more work involved. Anyway, Chris and I were talking yesterday about making life more simple. Coincidentally, I read an article today about being happy, and simplifying your life was one of the things you needed to do in order to acheive said happiness. In my life, I think I can slow down a bit, not take on so much, spend time w/ the people I really love, and pursue my passions more intensely. I think all of us could use a little more simplification in our lives...we could really eliminate a lot of the things that make life so complex, stressful, and just downright frustrating...check out the article here.

55 small things you can always do
18. Forget the Joneses.
My themes seem to all be intertwined...I kinda knew what this meant...vaguely...at first. So I had to look into it, just so I knew I had a concrete idea of exactly what the "Joneses" meant. According to Wikipedia, the definition is as follows:

"'Keeping up with the Joneses' is a popular catchphrase in many parts of the English-speaking world. It refers to the desire to be seen as being as good as one's neighbours or contemporaries using the comparative benchmarks of social caste or the accumulation of material goods. To fail to 'keep up with the Joneses' is perceived as demonstrating socio-economic or cultural inferiority."

So the small thing to do here is to just forget about the Joneses. Well, I couldn't agree more. We really need to quit comparing ourselves to our neighbors, specifically in the case of socio-economic standing and all that. There are more important things in life than trying to keep up with said Joneses. Things like, spending time with your loved ones, making a difference, etc. Do you really make a difference in this world by proving you make as much money as the family next door? My answer to that would have to be a resounding, "NO!" Now, yes, I will be completely honest in saying, yes I want the finer things in life too...shiyoot, I drive a 328i, I like expensive sunglasses, and I like grey goose opposed to absolut and popov, he he he. However, I didn't buy it(the car, not the alcohol) because my peers had the same things, or I don't use it to prove my status to anyone. There's nothing wrong with enjoying the finer things...but to use it as a measure of your social status is just empty and shallow to me. Anyway, forget 'bout 'dem Joneses kid!!! To stay in step with today's theme....simplify your life!

I am a series of missed calls...

I went to the Happiest Place on Earth with the bubs this week. It was a ton of fun. I don't think we've ever spent the whole day together, and I have to say, it went off without a hitch. Quite the hot day it was, so we had to re-apply the sunblock multiple times. And dude, I love fastpass. The longest time we waited in line was the first time we went on Space Mountain, cuz that's the first ride she wanted to go on. After that, we pretty much fastpassed the rest of the major rides(the indy ride was closed til like 3, and by then, fast pass was at 10PM...she wouldn't last up til then before she wanted to go home, he he he). The rest of the lines were pretty short; Pirates, 10 min; Haunted Mansion - 5. She wasn't quite ready to hit up Splash Mountain or the other big rides at California Adventure just yet, so maybe next time. It was an awesome day though.


The bubs at San Diego last weekend. She kicked butt! Watch the 200m race, which is her event. Go London! Can't wait to see you at the Olympics, ha ha ha.

Of Timing and opportunities
In order to hit a moving target, a marksman must get the perfect, or as close to perfect as possible, timing. Otherwise, he'll just miss. I was chatting with one of my friends today about timing. How it can totally sucks, and how good it can be. I remember a job that I phone interviewed for with a motorcycle design company...that was located in...Gilroy, of all places. At the time, I was completely reluctant to leave home and be somewhere else, so I didn't think to pursue it when they asked me to fly out and interview in person. Now, I'm just using this as an example, because I probably wouldn't have taken it anyway, even now, because it's in Gilroy. But back then, it wasn't the location that prevented me, because had it been NYC, or SF, I still wouldn't have gone; I just wasn't ready. Now, I feel like I can go anywhere, and in fact, sometimes I think about it...leaving LA for a while to live elsewhere, and of course, NYC being at the top of that list. So the timing was off back then, but now, if the opportunity were to show its face again, I'd probably snatch it up.

Timing is such a fickle fickle thing. Sometimes, opportunites are completely missed, gone forever...lost in the abyss because of timing. Not necessarily a bad thing, in fact, I think in the long run, it all works itself out. In the short run though, it does suck, because I think we just live in a culture of instant gratification; getting what we want, when we want it, without much thinking about the long run at all. In the end, you just gotta roll w/ the punches...however they come, right?

55 small things you can always do
17. Give to charity clothes you haven't worn in 3 years.
In fact, I'd go as far as say give the clothes away you haven't worn in 2 years. I try to do that...I just donated a bunch of clothes to goodwill a while back. Keep an eye out for those mailers where they'll come by your house and pick it up. You just need to box it up or put it on a bag w/ the mailer on top. Why not share your unused clothes with people who'll need them? Definitely something small you can do that can go a very long way.

"Whatever God's dream about man may be, it seems certain it cannot come true unless man cooperates."
-Stella Terrill Mann

I am a game and a half behind...

Happy b-day P-nibby! Alex(who will be my roomie by the end of the month) celebrated his 27th b-day this Fri...right before I had to head out to AZ to help Dana move.

Also gotta give some belated b-day shouts to ex-roomies Rob(July 13th - turned 30) and Jovan(July 12th - turned 29). Woah, it was a roomie b-day weekend...how strange.

Helped Dana move to AZ this weekend. Word of advice, never leave at 2AM on a 6 hr drive when NO ONE has slept. It's just not sensible, he he he. We made it safely though, and were able to unload the truck within an hour, which was great because it was over 100 degrees outside. A very chill move, and the flight back was nice and short. AZ was pretty cool(not temperature-wise, but you know what I mean), except that I don't think they have many asians or pacific islanders there. And probably more of the pacific islander part, because I had never been looked at so much in my life. I would like to think it was cuz they were totally diggin me, but "come on," let's think logically now. It was a fun weekend though, and Dana, all the best to you out there!!!

Of the most dreaded places to be
I totally forgot to post about this last week....
Picture it...it's noon on a Wednesday afternoon. Left work for lunch, so I decide to get a handle on health-related business: I'm sitting in the lobby; I've signed in already, coming in 5 min early for my appt. I'm reading my magazine, but not really, because my mind is racing. What are they gonna do to me this time? How long is it gonna take? I begin drumming my fingers on the table, as the trepidation slowly increases and I can feel my hands sweating. A few minutes later(they're on time for once), they call me in. I walk slowly behind the assistant, looking around nervously, everything seemingly moving in slow motion...like a dead mans walk to the electric chair - only this chair is worse...it's the Dentist's Chair. She sits me down, and takes X-rays. They're not as bad as before, they don't make me choke on that little thing they used to always put into my mouth for the x-rays. Rather, it's this big huge thing I have to keep biting on. She finishes up and tells me to hold on tight. The wait this time is only 5 min(in the past, I've waited as long as 15-20)...and a new doctor comes in...I forgot his name already, but he's new to the office. Sounds very nice and asks me if I'm feeling any pain, esp in one specific area, cuz my gum is receding. I tell him no, and they proceed onto one of the most dreaded routine procedures...the cleaning. Cleaning has to be one of the most uncomfortable experiences ever. I have to keep my mouth open the whole time, completely paranoid about whether or not my breath is totally nasty and they're just about to gag the whole time. They never get that suction thing exactly right and I'm almost always salivating like crazy, esp underneath my front bottom teeth(Which FYI have the biggest salivary glands and that's where the most saliva builds up...411 compliments of Dr Mina), and I feel like it's about to spill right out of my mouth. I keep needing to swallow, cuz I feel like I'm totally drying up. And I just look totally uncomfortable. I can't see what they're doing, which freaks me out even more and I wince, and I just look like a wreck. Dr Blah Blah has to keep asking me if I'm okay, cuz I think now he thinks I'm the biggest wussy on the planet. 20 minutes later, Dr Blah Blah is done and I'm left w/ the assistant to polish me off(ha ha ha ha). That part isn't so bad, except for when they do the back of my teeth which is kinda ticklish; and now the assistant confirms that I'm this little dark pansy wuss. I'm finally done in about 50 minutes total(way short for a change); I make my walk of shame back up to the receptionist's desk, who schedules me for my next session in 6 mos...I will relish every day in between. Some encounters are worse, but this is pretty much what I go through every January and July.... :(

Mid-term resolution update:
Since we get mid-term reviews at work, why not conduct a personal one
1) Read one book a month - I'm currently on my second...yikes!
2) Stop smoking - Ummm....I've fallen 2x off the wagon thus far, but my longest has been 5 weeks. Will get back up again.
3) Tagalog....workin on it. I finally got my learning discs, only to find out they weren't working. I have made some advancements though.
4) Still haven't taken any major steps to "make that move." I need to make some big decisions though...and to get in contact w/ my buddy up in Seattle.

55 small things you can always do
16. Vote.
This is a small thing when it comes to the amt of effort it takes to actually do it, but the effects are ginormous. I feel that our society has fallen into this defeatist attitude that we no longer can make a difference. And that's exactly what happens, difference isn't made because one person thinks that, and then spreads it to another, and boom, suddenly, everyone doesn't care, cuz it doesn't matter. Well, it matters. We can only make the world better one person at a time. So do your duty and vote! Get that sticker! Get off of work to go do it! It has so many perks, ha ha ha.

Quote of the day
"Though no one can go back and make a brand new start, anyone can start from now and make a brand new ending."
- Anonymous

I am a mis-timed jump...

Has it really been that long since I last posted? Wow. Time sure does fly. Anyway, before I forget....Happy b-day to Gen, you're almost 30!!! he he he.


Well, happy belated 4th all! This pic comes from last year, when I watched the fireworks show w/ the bubs, Jalen, Mikayla and the parentals that come w/ said kids. It was a lot of fun. First family 4th of July thing I did in a really long time. Man, life was so much more simple back then, being a little kid, watching shit explode. Ahhh memories.

Btw - July is National Hot Dog Month...I didn't even realize that. Thank goodness I just bought 3 packs of hot dogs and buns. I even had a dog at 7-11 after I went running last week. Now I just have to get that hot dog toaster from Skymall....I sure love hot dogs :)

Anyway, it was nice to get a few days off of work. Thursday and Friday last week. Went out the first couple of days, but pretty much chilled on the weekend. So I got a full serving of fun and relaxation. But work's in full busy-mode. And these back-to-back-to-back mtgs aren't helping. I had to skip out on a couple to actually do some other tasks that are on my plate right now. I can't wait for the slowdown, and even though it sucks when time moves slow, I could sure use it to relax my mind.

It's been a thinking week this week. You know, sometimes, there are days when I just know what I'm doing. Things are in total rhythm, I feel like Spider-man(not spidermen, he he he), swinging around on my webs, jumping from building to building, with my spidey-sense in full awareness mode; almost bordering on the edges of clairvoyancy - or maybe like in the Matrix, when Neo is just in command of everything...he figures it out. And then there are days when I just have absolutely no idea what I'm doing. It's a scene out of that new Eddie Murphy movie where there's small people actually controlling the human size Eddy Murphy, they're trying to figure out how to move about, and how to work everything. I feel like I have no grasp on anything, and I'm an alien on another planet. I can't see clearly, in fact, I can't even see what I'm doing as I'm doing it. - Life gets weird like thatz...and all you can do is take the good w/ the bad. Life isn't supposed to be easy, it isn't supposed to be lived out alone. And that's when you rely on those people around you to help you when you can't see for yourself. You lean on other when you're weak and can't walk on your own. And have faith that they will carry you through. But it's important to know that you have to also ask for help when you need it. And it goes that way w/ helping others...you cannot help them, unless they truly want to be helped.

Shojo recently posted an entry about music and the hard-to-describe effect that music has on us. It really is a trip...how it can just tap into your emotions. It's a level of expression that's beyond language, beyond anything. I mean, you can even listen to music from other cultures and feel what the music is about...it's a universal language; so to speak. I don't know why I'm really thinking about music at this moment...well, actually, I'm listening to it, and I'm just thinking how music affects me.

55 small things you can always do
15. Put the cap on the toothpaste.
In the line of small things you can always do, this is definitely one of the smaller, he he he. But yeah, I guess put the cap back on the tube. It would suck to lose it...that actually can be a little annoying. This may not apply to those of you who have those flip-top caps(present company included), but I guess in the same sense, you can just close the cap? This one is really weird. Well, there's numero quinze...do with it what you will.

Okay, enough thinking...my brain hurts...there isn't much brain left to begin with...