Category: thisnthat

I got to ride a Segway on Wednesday~!!!

*excited giddy whee!!*

those things are freaking cool. i don’t have much time to get into it in much detail right now, but maybe i’ll update this entry later. =)

bah!! the red sox lost. :-(

okay, i know, that was a little late, considering the game was played thursday night, and people are already talking about the gaffe the NY Post made in publishing the wrong editorial. but i’m still kinda bummed. i really like pedro martinez… would have really liked to cheer him on in the world series. =P i mean sheez, the Giants were knocked out by the Marlins, A’s are out (for RIDICULOUSLY STUPID REASONS.. including that horrible play by byrnes in game 3…)… what else is left? bah!

dude, i hella cracked up when i saw this comment in response to my “sadness” post.

>>> i want to go home and cry.

Yes, why don’t you go home and cry? Boo hoo hoo! I want my mommy!

>>> every once in a while you wake up and realize you’ve been trying to force a dream into reality rather than seeing things for what they are. perhaps it is possible to twist the mentality of ‘your life is what you make it’ just a little too far.

Waaaaaaaaaaahh!!! WAAAAAAAAAAAHH!!! Sniff sniff!

>>> you can wait forever for people to change, but change is a unpredictable thing. who says that change is always for the better, or quite what you desired? what happens when it’s different from what you hope for? and if the change is slow, how long do you wait until you decide to give up and let go?

Man, this stuff is so deep, and not at all contrived, trite, and deliberately cryptic.

Posted by Bastard at October 10, 2003 05:01 PM

LoL actually, i thought Bastard was pretty funny. but geez… A little bitter, are we?

Really, I understand people read my site when they’re bored, but they’ve got to have a pretty damn boring existence when a) they get can SO riled up over one little post! b) they’re willing to take the time to go off like that in such a passive-aggressive manner and c) insistent on posting their own “deep, and not at all contrived, trite, and deliberately cryptic” insight on my blog even when the Movable Type system makes them jump thru an extra hoop in telling them they can’t post anonymously. I mean, honestly!! don’t these people have any better or more rewarding uses of their time than to harass random strangers on the internet? sheesh~!!!

c’mon, get with it. blogs are full of sh*t.

thanks to the folks to posted a comment/called/emailed/IMed me about that post… sorry to get all ‘drama’ on you guys. >_

so it looks like Arnold will be our new Governator.

I didn’t vote for the guy, nor did i vote in favor of the recall, but hey, who knows, maybe he’ll do something good. I sure hope he does!

on a happier note, i was really impressed with the voter turnout for this election. I got to my polling place close to 7pm, and the line was so long that it took about 40 minutes to actually get in to vote. (side note: are the lines usually that long? I’m used to going a lot earlier in the day to cast my ballot, so i really don’t know) A better indication might be that when i asked for an “I Voted!” sticker, i was told that they had run out. Run out of stickers!! Think of that!! HOORAY for voter participation!!

And the other results… you know, I didn’t know till tonight that the money set aside for propositions is pretty much ironclad/untouchable. Money actually goes first toward funding propositions and THEN to the state budget. The proposition system we have in California is quite an amazing way to get citizens to participate in government, but one has to be so so careful to make sure that we don’t just create more ineffective/inefficient programs and to not let corporate interests take too much of a hold on the state. Prop 53 is an example of such a kind of bad proposition in both of those regards, and prop 54 was just ridiculous and foolhardy. So I’m glad both propositions were soundly defeated.

But back to Arnold!! Remember the movie “Eraser”? His catchphrase in that film was “You have been erased.” The way he always said “erased” was so classic — the R sort of becomes an L mixed with an R sound almost, and that gruff Austrian accent comes through with such a powerful, full force.

I can’t wait to hear him say in four years, after he finishes out Gray Davis’s term, with his thick Arnold accent that inserts a few extra syllables in every word he says, “California, you have been Governated.”

i want to go home and cry.

every once in a while you wake up and realize you’ve been trying to force a dream into reality rather than seeing things for what they are. perhaps it is possible to twist the mentality of ‘your life is what you make it’ just a little too far.

you can wait forever for people to change, but change is a unpredictable thing. who says that change is always for the better, or quite what you desired? what happens when it’s different from what you hope for? and if the change is slow, how long do you wait until you decide to give up and let go?

sooooooomebody turned 21~!!!!!!!!!!!!! it’s JEN~!!!

a bunch of us went to saddle ranch tonight to celebrate her special day in style — western style, that is, complete with mechanical bull rides and piles (literally, piles) of baby back ribs.

i have no pictures (i forgot my camera.. doofus.) but i’ll procure some from other folks soon.

just three more days until jerimy gets back from india….

ooh!! it’s so close i can almost taste it!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! :D :D :D :D :D

so i guess this is as good a time as any for an update, although frankly it is long overdue….

first, i must thank michael and sharon for coming to visit me the first week jer was gone, and for taking care of the place for a few days when i went up north!!! coming home was so nice — the place was sparkling so, i almost didn’t recognize it! and it was so wonderful hanging out with you and getting to spend some time getting to know you guys better!! you’re even more awesome than i could ever have hoped, and i can’t wait to get together with you guys again~!!!!!! i just hope shaun is doing okay, and his alter-ego “X-Games” manages to keep things on the up-and-up-and-not-bleeding side. 0_o

home was excellent. I got to see a bunch of friends i hadn’t seen in ages and was able to spend some rare quality time with them. i got to see alice (whom i hadn’t seen in something like a year), edward (another kickass friend i’ve been lucky to keep in touch with), and chris (one of my good friends from ucla) up in Davis one weekend in their new native surroundings. Ate lunch with Mandeep (one of my best friends from UCLA) in Danville. Spent an evening watching anime (good stuff, although with many amusing panty shots) with high school friends Jeff, Vanessa, Amy, Jen, and Phil. Went clubbing with high school friends Stacey, Albert, Taylor and company. Grabbed lunch with Agnes and Stacey. Went to Velvet Lounge with my aphio dentist friend Wayne the one night a really horrible DJ was spinning. Had an afterdinner appetizer with high school friend Sarah. Got dessert and drinks with my favorite UC neighbor Paresh.

And of course, lots and lots of time with my family. :) Family time is rare, and as i get older, i like it more and more. maybe i’m just better at avoiding conflicts, maybe my parents have mellowed out some. Or maybe i’m not there long enough to where i get the bad things (like angry rants and petty disputes) as well as the good things (like the food, warm happy we miss you feelings, and washing machine access). And i get to spend time with my sister too!! My sister’s becoming a pretty cool person. heh, she’ll be at davis next year too!! geeze, everyone’s going to be there.

haven’t been up to too much since i’ve been back in LA. well, maybe a little bit. it’s a lot of sleeping at odd hours (to talk to jer) and working some semblence of a social life in his absence. Went clubbing with good friends Dennis, Chris M, this cool gal Rhona, and some of her friends the Friday before last. Had dinner at Beijing Islamic Restaurant twice in the week after that — once with good friend Brian and once with a few friends who stopped to visit on their way back to the bay area from Las Vegas (edward, edward’s gal rie, and matt). Also had a late dinner in monterey park with the visiting group and brian one evening (i’d forgotten how fun those late night jaunts are! i’d also forgotten how tiring they are too. 0_o). had dinner with aphio big bro Bobbo at the Redondo Pier one night, and attempted to check out Hermosa Beach, but was thwarted at the sight of ambulances and fire trucks. Actually checked out Hermosa Beach with aphio pledge daddy Neil. Was very glad we stuck to Hennessey’s there since the other bars were seriously obnoxious meat markets.

Friday: dinner with Aaron (pal from freshman year) and Brian before the former had to leave for this 5 stop flight to dallas.
Saturday: tennis and dinner with Masa (Daily Bruin EM/saved my ass so many times frosh/soph year), and an evening in. =)
Sunday: lunch with bobbo and alicia in the OC, south coast plaza, then dinner with Linnea at Mishima!
Monday: dinner with old friend Thomas S
Tuesday: errands with Jen and Jen #2. =) =) =)

… and that brings us to today. it’s now 3:24am, and it’s definitely time to sleep.

oh, and my joy of the week: my parents sent me mooncakes!!!!!!!! they’re yummerific excellent!!! ^_^

happy belated mid autumn festival~!!! (mid autumn festival was monday, by the way. -wink-)

so it is easier to deal with things when removed from them than when you are actively participating. when you’re participating, you have an active responsibility to those you are interacting with: their feelings, their interests. sure, it’s important to be yourself, but part of being a good yourself is to be aware of other people’s feelings and sensitivities. it’s an art that maybe is to be learned with time and maturity. in this young, individuality-obsessed society, it’s easy to forget to take into consideration the other people with whom we share our society. it’s expected almost, that one ought not care, or think about other people, even though we depend on other people every day in order to live our lives.

we are not independent creatures; we are interdependent ones. it is too easy to be the person removed and distant; it is a form of copping out on your obligation to the world around you. what obligation, you ask? at the root of it, i’ve always felt it is important to be give and offer the most of yourself as possible, because it is simply selfish otherwise. how are we to be individuals who take and take from our society and not give anything back to that which sustains us? it is too selfish of a thing to think and act as a single person alone, unmindful of the needs of those around us, and foolish to not contribute to the advancement of all just because we tend to be lazy in carrying out our part of the load.

it takes courage and bravery to be as much of yourself as you possibly can be. i’m the first to say that it isn’t easy, since i’ve struggled with this belief of mine for quite some time now. it takes a certain fearlessness that i can’t say i have just yet, although i do hope that one day i will. and it takes a maturity and understanding of self and others that i simply haven’t achieved yet.

(i’m just not there yet…)

maybe i just need to dig in and live a little more, try to keep myself from indulging my affinity for the shadows and step out into the bright lights of the city (literally and figuratively). maybe i should do more to express myself and figure out who i am more, take more choices upon myself and live out the consequences, for better or worse, rather than hiding away after every mistake.

it’s about time i learned how to sing. maybe it will be full and proud, maybe it will be quiet yet clear. but i can’t hide away from finding my voice anymore…

for the record, i think comments are quite fun. but i’ve been getting some rather odd ones lately. someone recently posted a comment to a post from last year where i had announced IHOP’s free pancake day. for some reason, they thought this was an official IHOP site, so they proceeded to explain why their city (located in middle of nowhere, Oklahoma) should get an IHOP. To be fair, it was a very good explanation, and hell if i were an IHOP executive, i would strongly consider putting a location where the writer described. It’s just that i’m not. And this is not an IHOP site. it’s my personal blog…

and frankly, that isn’t really the weirdest thing one could come across on the internet. I’ve come across many odd emails when i was answering webmaster email at the Daily Bruin. 0_o some are nutcases, some are misguided. the saddest one was from a kid in Uruguay who wanted information on how to be a firefighter in the United States. I didn’t really know what to tell him. i was tempted to look up the information for him myself, but there were too many messages like that to deal with.

cheesy anthro student note: gee, it really matters what context communications take place in.

so i’m glad people are finding my site, and maybe finding some sort of use for it, albeit not quite what they’re looking for. no, this site does not have porn, sexy bikini asians, or naked pictures of jennifer lopez. (oh no, i’m going to trigger the search queries~! aah!!) yes, all those words have appeared in various posts of mine, but not in succession or in that order until now. so please, this isn’t what you’re looking for. do move on and find what you’re really looking for.

IHOP’s site can be found at www.ihop.com. You can contact them at www.ihop.com/contact.html.

have a nice day!

i’m currently hanging out at jen’s apartment, trying to spend a bit of time in her presence before she leaves for Davis. jen #2 and i helped her make curtains for her new apartment, and it looks like the two of them are currently trying to make boxers for themselves and some friends.

theme of the day: one legged boxers?? (it’s important to remember to cut enough fabric for 2 legs, not just one)
quote of the day: (assuming one legged boxers are made, imagined roommate quote upon seeing these unusual constructions) “gee, your right leg looks a little cold.”

jen and jen #2 get along so well. it’s kind of cool sitting back here and watching them interact, feeling the warmth and familiarity that comes off the two roommates. it’s a special kind of space that gets created when friends are sharing in each others’ company. it’s one of those things i really marvel about — such a moment is made in that connection between two people, that sharing a bit of time and life with another person in this great wide world.

heh. maybe i should stop blogging all this and actually participate. i find i often try to keep too much of a distance — i always want to be the observer, the outsider, some sort of invisible admirer of the world. i always feel so removed…