This man's got nothing original. His jokes are stolen, his ideas are hacked and done, and his thinking is nothing new. But - you'll never meet a hedonistic character more eccentric or charismatic than him. He's part pervert, only slightly mad - a humble egotist, an honest liar, and a nice asshole, a smart idiot, a religious blasphemer, a paradox, an enigma, living simply, yet thinking complicatedly.
If I ever get AIDS, find me a gay man from San Francisco with the CCR-5 Delta-32 gene and give me his bone marrow.
Fortunately, I won't be needing it any time soon... I'm not a heroin addict, nor do I get any action so I guess my chances of getting HIV or AIDS is pretty slim...
First Ed McMahon... Than Farah Fawcett and Michael Jackson... and now Billy Mays?!
Death, you've been a dick for the past two weeks. I swear, if you take Bill Murray, Jeff Goldblum, or Robin Williams next I am going to have a personal vendetta with you. This I promise.
with commitment problems. It's a wonder how I've been able to stay in marching band for all four years in high school. Shoot, it's a wonder how my last relationship lasted so long! Hell, people were making bets that it'd last a week or two (though, that was not because my commitment problems per se but rather because I was a boy with a notorious reputation whereas the girl I was dating was a conservative, Protestant).
Looking at my last post, I haven't written in here since the beginning of last quarter. I should've written more in my blog, but when life gets to you, its hard to keep up. If that makes any sense.
In other words, I haven't been writing lately because I found a life outside of blogging. Or so that's my excuse. That isn't to to say that bloggers don't have a life, I mean they need something to write about, right?
Just that I'm lazy. And have commitment problems.
But I'm blogging, so here I am!
I maybe a week or two late on this but...
Freshmen year of college. My take on it? It's been... interesting, to say the least. Not exactly what I expected from college at all, but then again. Well, let's take it back to a year ago.
A year ago. I just graduated from high school and was totally pumped for college. But first several months of it - well, I hated it. Had a hard time making friends because well... I really didn't let myself open up to it. I was haughty. Pretentious, even. "TFC" as others would put it. You know, I tried the usual antics I would pull off in high school - but it just didn't work. I was catering to a different crowd. I mean, not to say I didn't try - just that I was exposed to some individuals that I've attempted to avoid all throughout high school. Not specific individuals, but rather "cliques" - types of people, you know?
But I can say, UCI's definitely grown on me. I don't know how I ended up in VSA in the first place - well, actually, my friends Malessa and Lee dragged me along to it. I was very hesitant about the idea at first, to be honest. My reasons? I didn't want to be tied down to any club. But, ironically enough, between the three of us, I think I've probably been the more outgoing when it comes to VSA. Winter Retreat, Lead role in VSA UCI's culture night, Lion Dance, the Banquet... Best thing about VSA, though?
The people. I've met some pretty amazing people in there. Absolutely phenomenal - and I'm glad I'm good friends with several of them. In fact, I've made some pretty amazing friends out here. Some that I hope will never fall out of my life - cause you know how the whole "friend" thing can be - some stay, some go, some refuse to leave - and sometimes for the better. I hope they're more amongst the latter. Course any kind of relationship is a two-way relationship. So don't think I won't be making an effort.
I'm digressing. Freshmen year of college? Best put - it started off quite shitty, but ending up pretty awesome. The thing I hate about it most? The fact that many of the awesome people I've met - specifically most of the friends I've made in VSA - have graduated and are leaving me for the East Coast. You know who you are.
I can say I've definitely grown, though. I mean, I don't want to come off as pretentious, but if I were to compare myself then and now I've... well, definitely toned down. I no longer drop my pants at the drop of a hat, I can tell you that. I've found more joy in... talking. Either it be over coffee, or just walking to class, I've found myself looking more for intellectual and/or pensive conversation.
Hehe, great thing about college: you start all over from scratch and be what you've always wanted to be. Yes, I will admit, when I first came to college, I've had this romanticized ideological image of a campus filled with bright, young, hip, coffee-drinking, indie-loving, pop culture obsessing students. First sight, I really didn't see that. I mean, no offense, but there is a reason why UCI is also dubbed University of Chinese Immigrants... Hell, when I told my parents about my decision to go to UCI - or even their friends for that matter - their response was the same as mine.
"So. Many. Asians."
And its odd, you know, being a part of the majority. I tell many people this all the time and I'm going to tell you guys now - it's weird being part of the majority. I mean, I come from quite a diverse high school - and being a band geek, it was populated with quite a diverse group of people. I mean, when the Spaniard took me to Chapman University - a private school that is 15 minutes away from UCI - I felt more comfortable there because well... I was a minority again! And I think being a minority makes me feel special :3
Where was I going with this? Oh yeah.
College is a great opportunity to build yourself into the image you want yourself to be. Me? I've somehow earned the title "Hipster." I know, it's un-hip of me to say this - but come on, I know that some of you "hipsters" know that you're hipsters, and you get some kind of pretentious pleasure from knowing that you are above the philistines and their lowbrow culture. Admit it!
But then again, what counts as Lowbrow? I had to write a research paper on that - a very fulfilling assignment, by the way, from Hum Core. I'm going to miss Humanities Core - I've learned so much out of it. Favorite paper has to be the research paper - I did mine on the Lowbrow Art Movement, and working on it, I felt like such an art snob - and I didn't like it. Luckily, the feeling subsided.
Why am I writing so much? Probably to make up for several months worth of not. God, I should blog more often... What am I putting you guys through? I bet none of you have made it this point. And for those of you who have well... I owe you lunch or something, I don't know...
My thoughts are all over the place - it's like, chaotic in there, you know? Sometimes, I wonder if I have ADD. I mean, my mind keeps on jumping from topic to topic. I'm guessing from my writing, it shows. I can't help it.
Digression! You know, I've got a small story about the whole "digression" thing but I'll tell it another time, there was something I wanted to put out there...
Oh yeah. My summer plans.
Well, from the looks of it, I can't get class over at Mount San Antonio College aka Mt. Sac aka Mt. Scrotum aka the nearby community college to my house. What with the economy the way it is, people are deciding now is a best time to get an education. Yay! This is good news, because that means I have the summer to myself - to do all the things I want, and to work on all the projects I've been putting off because of college.
At the same time, this is a terrible thing for me. Because Mt. Sac's filled to the brim with students, people all around can't get any schooling either. So they resort to working. And I need a job. I had my heart set on working at Denny's - well, not really, I hate working in the restaurant industry, it was just a set plan for cash - but it turns out they don't need me. Because everybody at Denny's can't get any school, they're picking up hours. Yay.
So, I got duped into looking into a company called Vector. They're asking me to sell knives. It looks good, sure, at 16 bucks an hour. But they're asking me to look for my own hours. As in set an appointment with people to try to pitch a knife set that costs several hundred dollars.
In this economy? Nuh-uh. I'm better off applying at McDonalds. Which, according to the Sandman, I have a better chance getting laid by the end of this summer.
The joke there is that I'm not getting any.
My Dad's uncomfortable with me lying around the house, playing video games all day, and hanging out with friends (which is something I don't mind doing...) but I can understand why he doesn't want me to do that. But I keep on telling him I do have plans of my own, but being he always seems to forget... This calls for a -_-.
My plans for the summer? So far, I have several scripts in mind that I'm working on. Also, reading those books I've had lying around the dorm for awhile. Oh, and also hopefully I can lose some weight. I've got the Spaniard coaxing me into going to the gym - so I can only hope that I become committed to this. More about that in a future blog. Also applied to Blockbuster - probably a long shot, but hey, here's hoping! I should also look around more, too... I should commit tomorrow to that. HAH!
Alright, well, hopefully I can stay committed to one of those plans. And on that note, I'm off. I need to get up in the morning to head to... the gym...
... So, how're you guys? Me? I just started first week of Spring Quarter of my Freshmen year at UCI. And I think I'm finally getting the hang of college.
Over Spring Break, I went up to Sequoia up in Northern California to go camping with the Lion Dance Troupe. I learned something up there: sleeping in the middle of a blizzard is no fun. Granted, yes, snow can be a beautiful thing. But I feel I can enjoy it better when my soaks aren't wet and my toes are frozen. I hate wet socks. But hey, it was fun.
After that, I spent most of my time in my room, finishing Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time! Not too long after I defeated Ganondorf did I search around the house for the Ocarina I bought a couple years ago - the one that is a replica of the one from Ocarina of Time! Granted, it does not sounds as pretty, but it looks pretty awesome!
Next on the list: Majora's Mask.
In recent news, I just saw Avenue Q on Thursday! VSAUCI were making an event out of it, and I had to take the opportunity! I really enjoyed it - it's like my childhood (Sesame Street) meets my adulthood (Adult Swim). It's really well written, surprisingly enough - albeit, I feel certain parts a bit trite, but even so I think its great! Here something that isn't in the musical:
As of the moment, I'm playing the new Pokemon Platinum. I found myself smiling while playing it - there's so much new content just within the first hour, compared to Pearl and Diamond. I can't wait to see where the game takes me...
Alright, so I'm about to provide my amateur review of the Alan-Moore-adapted-Zack-Snyder-directed superhero movie Watchmen. Obviously, there's going to be a fanboy-bias to the movie - I mean, after all, I did dress up as Rorschach :D
... in fact, I was the only guy in the movie theater dressed up as Rorschach... I mean, I was considering dressing up as Doctor Manhattan but a) I don't have enough body paint and b) I don't have the time to shave all the hair off my body. And I guess the fact that I don't have his physique either probably has some factor in it...
Putting that aside, let's move onto the review. I've learned that easiest way for people to read through reviews are to list the pros and cons - and lists are usually fun to read.
Cons: - More plot-driven than character-driven. The comic book is very character-driven and I really liked that about the comic book. However, Snyder opted for a more plot-driven move - which, sure, makes it a fun movie to watch, but there really isn't much to get out of the experience.
- Forced and trite dialogue. I felt that a lot of the dialogue written felt very forced. A lot of the lines seem to be written for the sole purpose of moving the story along, however they lack subtlety. Not to mention, there were some cheesy lines that made me want to punch somebody.
- Acting. I felt Patrick Wilson, the actor behind the Daniel Dreigberg - the second Nite Owl - was the only one I felt satisfied with. However, there were something about the other actors/actresses that rubbed me the wrong way...
- Characterization. Doctor Manhattan and Rorschach were just too human in the movie. What made these characters interesting in the first place was their inability to connect with the world around them. Rorschach does not have the cold demeanor that he's displayed throughout the graphic novel, nor the awkward tension that he brings to the room, and Manhattan is not alienated enough from the world around him... I do appreciate Laurie being not as whiny or bitchy as she is in the graphic novel, however there really isn't much to her character in the movie was well. I felt that Dan Dreiberg (the second Nite Owl) was the only character that was appropriately adapted in the movie.
Pros: - The adaptation is very faithful to its source. There are shots, lines, and scenes lifted straight out of the novel. Zack Snyder said that he used the comic book as his story board, and it shows.
- Visually stunning. It's expected from Snyder. He's a very visual director, as evident by his work, 300, and uses this to his advantage. Beautiful shots and great visual direction.
- Awesome combat scenes. Seriously. So much fun to watch, so visceral and brutal - it's just so much fun.
- Easter eggs. Did you know that the US flag that is buried with the Comedian has 51 stars on it? The extra star belongs to Vietnam, which becomes a state of America after the Vietnam War in this reality. It's small details like that that Zack Snyder puts into the movie that I believe makes the movie worth watching over and over again - just to try to catch little things like that.
- Soundtrack. You know how in the graphic novel, there's always that last panel of black with quotes? Some of the songs from the soundtrack correlate with those panels. Within the same vein, the soundtrack also provides an idea of the epoch that Watchmen encompsses.
- More of the old Watchmen in action. We get to see more the old Watchmen in action in the beginning of the movie, which I feel is a lot of fun to watch: Mothman being thrown into an asylum, Dollar Bill being caught with his cape in a revolving door and shot, Silhouette and her murder. It's interesting to see the rise and fall of the Watchmen condensed into less than five minutes.
That's about all I can provide - I would rant more, but I have things that I need to do as of the moment. By all means, do go and watch the movie - its a lot of fun. Just don't expect it to have as much depth or meaning as the graphic novel - rather, see it because it's just too bloody awesome to pass up.
Click "original post" to see what I'm talking about...
Also, I never did get into my Facebook, for those of you who saw the status update - the Caucasian holds the password to my Facebook - which I won't know about until the end of finals - and he decided it'd be fun to mess around with my Facebook...
So most likely if there are changes to the Facebook - it's him not me. I don't even know my password D:
I have five followers on blogspot? Wow. Wonder if any of them read any of this...
Alright, so as of recent I have declared myself a Facebook ban. Tristan, the Caucasian, has changed my password and will not tell me until the end of finals. Granted, yes, there will be other things to distract me online, but I feel Facebook will take a load off my short attention span.
With this week being Week 9 of Winter Quarter, I feel I've really gotta buckle down and study. I'm so behind that I think I'm going to need to deprive myself of sleep - and I feel I'm ready for that. The 24 Hour Film Dash has really thrown off my sleeping schedule and in a way conditioned me to be able to withstand staying up with minimal sleep. Terrible for my health? Probably. But hey, it's college - and at least I'm not resorting to Adderall or Ritalin - or any drug for that matter - to aid me in my studying. Though, I have read that neurologists do encourage brain enhancing drugs...
... I'll look into that later. For now, I need to bloooooooooooooooooooooooog. Cause I miss you guys. And I miss writing. And I miss looking for an excuse to ignore Italian homework.
It's odd. Since the 24 Hour Film Dash, it has indeed awaken something inside of me. And lately, I've been in a real Jazz binge - been getting a hold of some Miles Davis, John Coltrane, Charlie Parker, Stan Getz, and the list goes on... I'm ingesting all of this music and all this knowledge of jazz, hungrily.
I can't help it. I miss it. I need to pick up an instrument. Thing is, I don't have the time for that so I've resorted to just... listening. And learning. I need to find somebody on campus I can talk jazz with. Sure, my knowledge merely scratches the surface, but jazz is like a drug to me - it's intoxicating and I'm on it constantly. You know what I've fallen asleep to for the past couple nights (aside from Radiohead and Kings of Convenience)? Stan Getz and Bill Evans. Dave Brubeck Quartet.
All this jazz... I admit, it makes me feel pretentious listening to it. (But as I've always said people who use the word pretentious are a bit pretentious themselves...) But hey, I also feel like it makes me... classy. If there's anything I can say that I've taken away from Philip Ruiz, the band/orchestra director/conductor of Diamond Ranch High School - it's class. Either in one form or the other, I feel like I need more class in my life. Come to think of it, I've always felt an amount of class playing Jazz during 0 Period. And considering the people life has forced me to interact with - I've come to the realization that class died a long time ago. When? I don't know. Nevertheless, I think I'm going to try to keep it alive. Through jazz. Ah, listening to it again...
And trust me, listening to jazz is one thing. But to play and make jazz? It's a high that I miss. A high that I need.
Maybe next quarter... Or this summer...
Maybe...
Oh, and this is most likely going to feed into my Facebook notes... so those of you reading this, no I have not been on Facebook. It's just that my blog feeds into my notes.
Alright, enough about ze jazz. More about my Italian.
Friend of mine, Jessika Taylor-Nunez, were talking awhile back about the good old band days. She brought something to my attention - there's something about hanging out with someone into the late night and being there in the early morning... Maybe it's just me, but I feel there's something about that experience that kind of binds people - some bonding time, you know, being there when the sun rises and the birds chirps.
I found myself reliving that moment with my 24 Hour Film Dash film crew. It was exciting - staying up 24 hours, with friends - several new.
Yeah, I have to admit our movie is absolutely cheesy. But it was fun, and exciting making it. And I feel we have quite the film crew with us - several of us have good acting experience, a couple of us great editing/filming skills, and a pair of great writers. Only problem were the restrictions that the competition gave us - but I'm pretty sure once we get a couple scripts going and exercise our creative freedom, we can make some great works.
As for our movie - once it's up, I'll let you guys know. Despite the fact that I hate seeing/hearing myself on stage/screen.
I haven't written in here for awhile. What can I say? Been busy. But here I am again.
Odd thing happened to me today. I was walking with the Caucasian (Tristan) to grab a caffeinated cold drink when we came across a turtle. Grazing on the grass. Eating. In the middle of UCI. It was just chilling there, eating. I found it highly entertaining. I looked around for a manhole, and pondered upon the possibility of finding radioactive sludge... But then I remembered how John Cusack turned out in the end of Fat Man and Little Boy (absolutely terrible movie, by the way) and decided against it.
You know, I've realized how close I've gotten to the people in my hall. Figure it was bound to happen, after living with each other for this long. But I just realized how comfortable I was around these guys. Honestly, I initially wanted back home or wanted to live in Middle Earth (the other housing complex for freshmen at UCI, and yes, it is name after the Tolkien setting) because the former I feel less like a social retard and the latter I feel my nerdiness could get me further there. But then again, I would not be hanging out with some of the pretty rad people living in this hall, Viento.
I've been listening to Tally Hall again. And apparently, their online internet series have been posted on their website (Google it up, I'm too lazy). A friend of mine (here's looking at you, Perdomo) would call me gay for liking them, but hell, I can't help it. They've got amazing harmony, genius instrumentation, their upbeat songs put me in my happy place - and looking through their online video series, I declare them a favorite band of mine.
I mean, watch this:
I feel like I could mesh with these gentlemen quite well. In fact, they've kind of inspired me to find a ukelele and pick up a song or two of theirs. But unfortunately, I'm not so sure if I got the time for that...
I've found myself remarkably busy as of late. I think the 24 Hour Film Dash did something to me. I don't know what, but I feel like something good. And I think it correlates with my business all of a sudden.
I've been listening to a lot of jazz lately. More so than usual. I can't help it. I think jazz is classy, and I like to consider myself a man of class. I'd like to declare Charlie Parker my jass favortie saxophonist, Dave Brubeck my favorite jass pianist and Glen Miller my favorite when it comes to big band/swing. As for trumpets, I still need to explore that - as well as trombone. Don't know why, but I feel I need to venture back into jazz. It was one of the only things I would look forward to in high school after marching season was over...
I seem to keep on reverting back to my desire to relive high school, huh? I can't help it. High school I really enjoyed. But college isn't anything that I hoped for. I don't know, I guess I had this idea that soon as I came out here, I'd be able to find a hip, happening crowd that's well-verse and cultured in music, movies, theatre, and pop culture and stuff, and I'd be able to hang out with them in coffee shops and just find ourselves deep in discussion, and I'd be up to date with the latest alternative fashion/subculture. Like a beatnik of the early 21st century or something...
And look where I am now. Granted, I feel college is growing more and more on me. I'm just having a hard time finding people with the same things in common with me. Maybe I just need to put myself out more... And stop being so cooped up in my room.
I'm sorry if the post seems a bit scatter-brained - I've been meaning to write for a week, and I have yet to put anything up.
I figure anything would work. I wonder if any of you still read this...
Hey, do me a favor. I'm just wondering, but for those of you guys who actually read these posts - leave a comment? Just this one time. I want to know who actually reads my online ramblings.
... Oh God I just realized how emo this post sounds. Forgive me! I'll try not to sound like a whiny bitch in the future!
Crap. It's 4:14 AM. I got class in less than 5 hours. Well, least I got a post up.
I was supposed to write something last weekend. I forgot to. Or rather, I got lazy.
I've really got to work on my laziness. It's seriously biting me back in the ass. I'm weeks behind on my reading - and anybody who's been around me for the last couple weeks knows I've been repeating that for awhile.
Last weekend would've been the two year mark. Those of you know what I'm talking if you were there in high school with me. For those of you who weren't - the ex-gf and I would've been going out for two years. On Valentine's Day.
And oddly enough, I carried myself quite well. I was worried that I was going to reduce myself to a bumbling fool, but nay! That day really wasn't as bad as I thought it would be in retrospect. Granted, yes, it could be better, but hey, I'm fine with what's life thrown at me. Had my first Lion Dance gig that day, too. Stage fright got the best of me - in the sense that I didn't perform as well as I hope I would. But hey, least I got a performance underneath my belt.
Quite recently, I've found jazz again. And Monica, my harmonica - I left her back in Diamond Bar and I was feeling empty without her. Over the weekend, I got a hold of some Miles Davis, John Coltrane, and Dave Brubeck albums. God, how I miss Jazz- I feel like jazz gives people a certain amount of respectable, mature class that's missing in my generation. I also cracked open the old trumpet I had in my closet. The buttons are a bit rusty, but I've got at trumpet... Hey, maybe I'll pick that up over the summer. That, and the piano. I need music back in my life.
My iPod's - Bruce Campbell Moan, or Bruce, or BCM, or just BC for short - has been doing a good job of that. I can understand why people carry around iPods. It adds a soundtrack to an already boring and uneventful life. And considering the rainy weather, its appropriate when my shuffle goes to The Postal Service songs.
I need to get back into acting. Music. The liberal arts - I need to use my left brain a bit more. Speaking of which, I have been, actually - with 24 Hour Film Dash coming up, my minds been reeling with ideas and shots and random snippets of scenes that I can put into films. I'm excited - and nervous. My eyes are getting too big for my stomach with the ideas that are in my head, so I'm pretty sure I'm setting myself up for disappointment. I usually do. I gotta bring myself down to Earth.
Still, it's nice to do a little scriptwriting again. I've read through a couple books of scriptwriting and understand the craft better than before. I'm trying to put it into practice, but it's kind of hard doing that with five minute scripts. Nevertheless, a creative epiphany hit me. I just need to put it down on paper.
Seriously. I'm trying to stay awake, procrastinating (which I NEED TO SERIOUSLY STOP DOING) and somehow I ended up listening to Youtube videos on ragtime.
Oh yeah, I remember how. I was looking through 24 Hour Film Dash videos, looking for the type of genres to expect, and I saw Silent Film was one of them. I thought to myself, "Hey, if we were to do a silent film, I'd like it to be very vaudevillian! You know, the silent films with the paid ragtime piano players!"
And thence, my search for ragtime music. Its really upbeat, and really energetic - which is probably why I'm still able to stay up. But I really got to get going on homework...
Putting that aside, I just recently got myself a Sixth Generation iPod Classic. 120 Gigabytes of pure, black beauty. I call it - "Bruce Campbell Moan." I know, weird name. But for a good reason. For instance, take the title of this post. And imagine the fun I can have with the name!
"What're you doing?" "I'm just listening to Bruce Campbell Moan."
"What're you watching?" "Bruce Campbell Moan."
(in the event I can't find him) "Have you guys seen Bruce Campbell Moan?"
Rules: Once you've been tagged, you are supposed to write a note with 25 random things, facts, habits, or goals about you. At the end, choose 25 people to be tagged. You have to tag the person who tagged you. If I tagged you, it's because I want to know more about you.
(To do this, go to “Notes” under tabs on your profile page, paste these instructions in the body of the note, type your 25 random things, tag 25 people (in the right hand corner of the app) then click publish.)
1. I am a proud geek - clogged sinuses, nasally voice and all. Comic books, sci-fi, video games and everything that the internet has to offer.
2. I have just recently discovered contemporary pop culture in high school, and trying to catch up on it. Queen, John Hughes, the Godfather, Citizen Kane, Quentin Tarantino, Martin Scorsese, Tim Burton, The Kinks, Pulp Fiction, Hair, Hairspray, Johnny B. Goode, and everything that Billy Joel said in "We Didn't Start the Fire" and then some. Over 70 years of American pop culture I need to consume... God that's a mouthful.
That's what she said.
3. I can't seem to get away from music; for some reason why I'm magnetically attracted to musicians - either they still be practicing musicians or at least they were in high school. I seem to hit it off with them better than other folks.
4. I've played the trombone for seven years, and before that the trumpet for three. During that time, I also played the piano for five before I quit. I was never any good at any of them.
5. My best years were in high school. Those were my glory days, and I miss them.
6. I would like to be part of a Barbershop Quartet before I graduate from college.
3. I want to be in the entertainment business. Acting, directing, screenwriting, producing - I'll take any of those jobs. I just enjoy the movie making process.
4. I thrive off an audience and laughter.
5. Quentin Tarantino's Reservoir Dogs was a life-changing movie for me. It honestly changed my perspective on what a quality movie is. It also was a gateway to contemporary pop culture for me. Thanks Catie :D
6. Oh, and as a result of number 1, I'm not very athletic. OMG SHOCKER I KNOW.
7. I'm deaf. Not literally. However, I do find ironic the fact that I know some sign language. I think being in band and listening to terrible music at max volume with my headphones on throughout middle school is possibly the cause of my hearing problems. And my tinnitus.
8. My time in college has taught me something - the whole partying scene? So not for me.
9. I'm a sucker for a pretty face.
10. I like to consider myself a Jack of All Trades when it comes to my geekisms. I've dabbled in everything, but not exactly an expert at a specific subject.
11. Jazz = Love. Favorite subgenre = Bebop, Big Band, & Ragtime. Hated subgenres = Jazz fusion & Soft Jazz. Well, aside from the Jazz Odyssey.
12. I actually like musicals. I just don't go out and watch a lot of them because well... they cost quite a pretty penny. So I'm limited to college productions, amateur productions, and film musicals.
13. I was raised on cartoons; from Felix the Cat of the 1930s to the Simpsons of the 1990s. If its animated, I would watch it. Looking back at what I watched... I understand what people mean when they say "Kids'll watch anything."
14. I think Heroes is terribly written. It's cliche, ripped out of the pages of comic books (and not even the goods ones) and a lot of the characters are very two dimensional. And the writing - God, it's looser than Paris Hilton!
15. Heroes is a guilty pleasure for me. So are Michael Bay movies (minus Pearl Harbor) and Dan Brown books.
17. I like the Victorian, Vaudevillian lifestyle - which is why a top hat, cane, tuxedo jacket with coattails, and a monocle still remain on my wishlist. And it's also why I like steampunk.
18. I also fancy the Prohibition era of the 1920s - jazz, flappers, the Charleston, speakeasies synonymous with drunken debauchery. It was America at its most cultural - most likely due to its seclusion from the world after of World War I.
19. You know, I feel like I have a knack for teaching. I think I get it from my dad - he was a math teacher. I get a kick out of teaching random people the random stuff I know or things I learned from class; but I don't think I can ever have enough patience to teach.
20. I'm not outgrowing designer/vinyl toys, comic books, video games or cartoons anytime soon. In fact, I'm watching old episodes of Animaniacs as we speak.
21. People think I'm weird. I think I'd rather be weird than boring, uninteresting, and generic.
22. I plan on picking up the piano, a brass instrument, and doing some vocal training one of these days. At least before I turn 30. Oh God, but seeing how my plans never seem to turn out the way I want... I can only hope I get around to doing any of that.
23. I'm terribly lazy. And have a hard time being motivated. It's a wonder how I get anything done. Or how I am where I am today. Does not bode well for my plans on number 22.
24. I kind of enjoy street culture. Graffiti, alternative hip-hop (mostly from the Bay/San Francisco area), low-brow artistic movement, designer/vinyl toys, Banksy, Joe Ledbetter, Garey Baseman. I'm not exactly a part of it, but I do enjoy it.
25. I get a kick out of the vulgar, lewd, explicit, taboo, awkward, offensive and shocking. However, I won't laugh at dicks being drawn all over the place, or terrible jokes out of movies like Date Movie. There has to be some taste in the distaste. And for some reason, I find gratuitous full-frontal male nudity hilarious - like Borat and Forgetting Sarah Marshall.
I've always got a kick out of the image of old geriatrics ranting about the "liberal, Marxist, hippie bullshit" that they're teaching us in college. I bring this up because guess what I'm learning about in Humanities Core out here?
Half of you are smart, I'll let you guys decide for yourself.
But by all means, it isn't bullshit - it's just a whole bunch of socialism that I actually enjoy learning. Mind you, enjoy learning. Not enjoy practicing. Because Communism only works in theory.
I am not, nor have I ever been, a member of the Communist party. I swear. Shut up, Carlos.
Walking away from class today, my attention was caught by a crowd; I walked towards them only to find one of those crazy Evangelist with signs. He mentioned something about Obama endorsing guys porking other guys (more or less his exact words) and had a banner that listed the type of people going to hell - aside from the typical Atheists and Non-believers, there were also Mouth Women and Girlie Men listed.
And he called us (the collective UCI students staring at this circus act) stupid and ignorant. Ironic, eh?
God if only that work... But at least Fanboys is finally getting a release! It's a limited release, with 10 screenings of it in LA next friday. And dammit, I NEED to see this! As a geek, I am not only ENTITLED to watch this - I must gaze upon Kristen Bell in the Princess Leia slave costume.
I have to stop. The thought of it is making the blood rush to my head.
Well, at least my supervisor, Carla. She's one of the peoplethat control my salary - or more like, controls the hours I can work. Anywho, we had an interesting conversation going on about comic books and science fictionl; she's read all the comic books I have read, and then some. Neil Gaiman, Alan Moore, Sandman, 30 Days of Night, Watchmen, Star Wars, Star Trek...
And then, I found out I'm working next weekend. Not jumping for joy over that, but at least I'm getting hours. Not to mention, there's a Super Bowl party that Sunday at work. Think I'll go to that - I'm feeling a bit more comfortable around my co-workers, so I think I'll let myself loosen up over there. Must find something to make to contribute to the potluck... (Note to self: Make sure there's still money for work study...)
Also, I NEED THESE:
THEY ARE TEH SECKS! (Link totally sfw, just linked to the blog I found these off of)
I am also submitting to an impulse buy of Ninja Tacks. They're thumbtacks, in Ninja Star form. Okay, enough ignoring homework. I've really got to stop putting off homework pass midnight...
I love the customer review/comments left. My favorite?
When I finally finished and successfully tested my first plutonium powered Dolorean time machine, I was a bit miffed by the fact that I had to accelerate all the way up to 88 mph before the flux capacitor would be able to kick in and send me into the great beyond. This is quite a pain when you live in the city and have to drive all the way to places like closed shopping malls, drive-in theatres, abandoned highways, and rail road tracks to get up to that kind of speed. Once I heard that Amazon was finally selling U-238 legally, I quickly purchased some and used the instruction booklet (included at no extra charge) to enrich it and build myself a uranium powered reactor which I then installed in my time machine. On the first test run, the flux capacitor jumped into full gear at only 37 mph! Now I can go time travelling on my own street and not worry about the commute.
Thank you, Amazon for selling this fantastic and incredibly useful product! I'm sure that with careful marketing, in five years no American home will be without it.
Thank you, Amazon for providing us such great products and great entertainment.
Well, this weekend has been very unproductive for me. And this week does not bode well for me... Nothing but work and attempts to study.
All I can really recall of my weekend is my time with some Gio Nam/Southern Wind/Lion Dance buddies - Hung Le and Nam Nguyen. Came as a bit of a surprise - Sunday they called me out for some Dim Sum and I came along. Afterwards, we went out to go fishing off the Balboa Pier in Newport Beach.
A familiar, bittersweet sight lies at the end of this pier: The Ruby's Diner that I took my ex-girlfriend to on her 17th Birthday... Those were good times. But times I didn't let cloud my mind as I stood at the pier, attempting to catch some fish. It wasn't until Hung gave me some sage advice on fishing that the fish really started biting. And I have to say, I really did enjoy myself. Just standing there, taking in the scene, letting the loudspeakers of Ruby's Diner play some old music reminiscent of the Prohibition, old American chauvanism, the Great Depression - and best of all, jazz. I enjoyed the bonding time genuinely.
And the verdict? Three mackerels and two scorpion fish.
We brought home more or less 20 mackerels in a bucket. I came back to the dorm with a zip lock bag of five mackerels - now freezing in my fridge - as well as a pair of jeans stained with fish guts.
I'm not looking forward to school, though. I think I got a lot of studying and working to do. I'm going to try to endure some minimal sleep. See how that works out for me.
Just ideas that I need to put out there. Lists, and such. And who doesn't like lists?
Ways to Kill Boredom: - With a hatchet - Epic Nerf Gun battle with fortresses made out of couches - Golfing on the beach - Ice blocking - Drawing on windows with dry erase markers - Golfing on rooftops - Shopping cart jousting - Street hockey - Flash Mob
Costume Ideas: - Oddjob from James Bond - Kiss - Zombies w/ survivors of Left 4 Dead & cast of Resident Evil - Boo from Super Mario - Yip Yip from Sesame Street - Muppets - Barbershop Quartet
This will be updated throughout the year. Now I just need the will to go through with it.
Yeah, I've gotten lazy... And really let myself go during the holidays... BUT I plan on jumping back on the horse and riding it home!
Eventually...
Okay, tomorrow. I really need it.
... you know, it's partially your fault. I told you guys before that I needed motivation on your part, and I got zero feedback on it!
But then again, I doubt that I have that wide of a readership... There are a couple of you out there reading, this though. I'm sure of it. I just wish I knew who.
I shouldn't blame you guys for my laziness, I'm sorry.
And I think I may be getting my Scholastic Fingers back - you know, the ones I use to type papers and such. A Midsummer Night's Dream has plagued me recently; I'm supposed to analyze a passage out of it rhetorically via Ethos, Logos and Pathos - a quick flashback to my Junior Year in Mr. Jason Charles, for those of you who remember - and I had a terrible time coming up with a thesis.
But, voila! I've found a hunch, and I need to explore it!
On another random note, I need to work on my script-writing craft. I've got books on it I should really look into, and its the same text that the screenwriting class at UCI is using... How fortunate for me. :D
It's late, and I feel a bit tired. Note to self, however: window mural is blank. Must decorate with random pop culture. Over.
I was talking to a good friend of mine that I keep on liking more and more with each and every encounter - Tony La. The both of us were just standing on the stairs in front of the Humanities Hall of UCI, wasting time and talking. Somewhere within our conversation I absentmindedly pulled out Monica, my harmonica, out and blew a couple notes in it.
The both of us heard a man approach, saying something that was not quite audible to our ears because we thought he was directing his speech towards someone else. I thought he was talking on his cellphone with a blue-tooth headset - but at a glance I saw he was not. There was nobody else around him, so I immediately tuned in to what he was saying after I came to the realization that he was talking to us.
He pulls a harmonica out - and old Hohner pocket harmonica in the key of C. I asks if I can play a couple notes in it and my gosh what a tone. After I gave it back to him, without a beat, he just starts playing riffs. Compelled, I played along - playing long notes underneath the rapid fire bullets he bursts into the holes of that mouth harp. I didn't want to try anything fancy, I just wanted to hear him. My accompaniment - least from what I can hear - blended well with his fanciful notes of eighths and sixteenths - I wanted to just listen, but at the same time I wanted to be a part of the music so I just kept on playing. The small audience watching us from the bridge up above were highly entertained, but not as much as I was, oh no.
I almost forgot how great it feels to make beautiful music...
It only lasted for a moment, this ad hoc jam session, but my God it was awesome. Finally, I was able to improve with somebody something that actually sounded like good music. And I was actually (kinda) able to keep up!
We exchanged names: he introduced himself as Richard Nester, the writing instructor over at UCI's LARC (Learning and Academic Resource Center) program. I introduced myself as Henry, a first year at UCI that he's bound to see around more often. I was compelled to give him my card, but decided against it - I found it wiser not to.
After that brief - but amazing - encounter, Tony and I were absolutely flabbergasted. It was badass - to say the least. Next time I see him - and hopefully I recognize his face - I hope we can have a repeat of our experience.
My God, I expected today to be pretty shitty with my busy schedule, but that moment absolutely made my night.
I've been passing these out like candy. Everywhere I go, every person I meet.
"Hey, nice to meet you, I'm Henry. In fact, take a card."
I hand these out like candy and I keep on forgetting I'm leaving the URL to my blog on these. I'm already through half of my cards - and mind you, I call them "My Card" as opposed to "My Business Card" - and I'm guessing there's at least a handful who's visited this website out of curiosity. Or at least one person. To those of you who are visiting... well... welcome!
Now for a random thought:
I play the harmonica. I have a smoking pipe. A gray fedora. Blazers. And to top it all off, "business" cards.
Gimmicky or awesome?
I don't know, but I'm pretty sure this qualifies me as one of those "unique characters." This makes me sound pretentious, doesn't it? You know, I've always thought people who used the word "pretentious" are pretentious themselves - but what does that say about me?
Uh-oh. I'm on a random stream of consciousness again. This is fun, I wonder where my thoughts are going to take me.
You know, I found something great that you can do. Get a ping pong ball. Cut'em in half. Tape those halves to your eyes. Lie down on a couch. Turn on a radio to static. Then, you'll start hallucinating. You see, the brain is addicted to sensations that appeal to... well, the senses. Thence the ping pong ball and the static - they're "whitenoises" that tune out the senses. The brain then starts developing its own. To entertain itself, I suppose.
Entertain. I had a dream last night. I don't remember what it's about. I remember it was entertaining. I know there's somebody that I recognize in my dream. I seem to be having some pretty vivid dreams lately. Last one I remembered? Barack Obama.
I'd really like to meet the guy. He seems like a nice guy to talk to - and he collects Spider-man comic books! Marvel is actually making an issue where Spidey talks to Obama. Now THAT'S gimmicky.
Still, Spidey needs it. Don't know if a lot of you know, but Peter Parker and Mary Jane? NO MORE! Peter traded his marriage for Aunt May's life - she got shot in an assassination attempt against Parker and was about to die. Mephisto shows up, offers MJ and Parker a chance to trade in their marriage and all memories of it for Aunt May's life. And despite the fact that Aunt May's already reaching the age where death is expected...
The writers decided to end the Parker/Jane marriage.
I was pretty pissed off about this - it's like ending the Superman/Lois Lane marriage - it's blasphemy! I thought it was one of those unwritten rules of comic books, you know? Where everything's possible except for the resurrection of Ben Parker (in canon); Clark Kent & Lois Lane will always be together; Catwoman and Batman will still have many flirtations but will not really amount to much considering they're both on different sides of the law; The Flash will always be the fastest thing alive; and Spidey and Mary Jane will be together forever!
But nooooooooooooooooooooooooo! Let's end it! Let's ruin the Spidey franchise, as if it hasn't been molested enough by the third Spiderman movie!
ARGH! As if it wasn't bad enough insinuating that Gwen Stacy and the Green Goblin were having an affair and had twin children (I wish I could, but I shit you not. Wiki it). NO! They have to do retarded stuff like this to - oh God, rape my childhood!
And this is why I turned to Batman! Not the "main" one, but the other "non-canon" stuff - at least those are written in quality!
Damn you, Marvel. I used to love you so much because you did stuff that DC would never do - kill, murder, cheat, and lie. And now I've turned to DC because Batman makes more sense to me than the retarded mess you've left my childhood. Sigh.
I need a shower. I like seeing how I went from "business card" to "Fuck Spiderman, go Batman!" Weird thing where the mind can take you.
We were in Hawaii. In the ocean for some odd reason. It was tropical. There were sharks and giant reefs. We went back to his house, and had dinner there. He seems like a really chill guy. We just sat down, leaned against a glass window that looked into his backyard that was the Pacific Ocean and just talked while his house was busy. My ex-girlfriend was also there, for some odd reason - leaning between me and Barack. Wolverine was also somewhere in my dream, too.
This dream is probably in response to some thoughts weighing in my mind. Hawaii - well, I can't really explain why I thought of that. I'm guessing it's from Forgetting Sarah Marshall and that movie's kind of been on my mind lately. The sharks I don't remember so much - probably from the article I read about the man who inspired the character Quint in Jaws. The ex-girlfriend's appearance, well - it's a bit obvious. Wolverine? Hells-fucking-yeah that's been on my mind!
And then there's Barack.
'Course he's been on my mind for awhile. Not because he's the next President-elect but because I'm worried for him. And his career.
Yes, he's got charisma, and yes, he's our first ethnic president - but he's also being fucked over by our friend George Dubya. He's being handed eight years of an unpopular war, a spiraling recession, and a lot of high expectations.
He's already made several good calls. He's elected people who are actually qualified for their positions in the cabinet. He's got Hillary Clinton as his Secretary of State - which is good for this divisive Democrats who are all hardcore for the Cliton. Arne Duncan as our Secretary of Education - and this guy is the current Chief Executive Officer of the Chicago Public Schools. But the thing that's really got to me? The nomination of Steven Chu as our Secretary of Energy - a real fucking Nobel Prize winning fucking scientist.
However...
Rumor has it, he's pulling a Gerald Ford and there's a possibility that he might pardon our good friend Dubya from all war crimes that he could be indicted for.
Now you can understand why I worry for the guy. Obviously there are going to be people out there, wanting to tear Bush piece by piece who feel that Bush should get a trial. And I can understand why Obama doesn't want to - "moving forward" and such... But this is going to be terrible for his approval ratings.
Not to mention, I feel like a Depression is inevitable. Sure, the economy is looking up for now - but once Obama's approval ratings drop, people are going to start criticizing him, faith is gonna be loss, stock market's going to drop rapidly, bada-bing! Maybe it's me being paranoid...
But it's articles like this that's got me all shits and scaries. The Great Depression II - seems imaginable, but then again so did another World War. And so did another Indiana Jones movie.
most especially in Diamond Bar, California - I look outside my window and start to worry as I can see the sun rise beyond the horizon and over the hills.
But then I check the time, and realize that it's just light pollution.
Reminds me of the camping trips I always take several times a year. It's weird, but one of the reasons I don't like camping is because it reminds me of my own mortality. I blame it on the night sky; being able to see all those stars, staring into the infinite. Subconsciously I feel how small I am against the vast measureless darkness that we call the universe, and how my existence doesn't really mean much in the indefinitely broad measure of things. And then I start to feel a need for the city life again; man-made walls surround me, protect me from this constant reminder of the nihilism rooted deep within my mind.
I take comfort in hearing the freeway outside of my bedroom window at home. It's not right outside of my window; it's at a distance - a mile or two - far away enough for it to be soft white noise but close enough for me to know that there are people riding man-made, 12 tons of raw power out there on the road. Even at night. I grew up with that sound, slept to it, lived with it. I guess I take comfort in the inventions and constructions of the human mind - although, not so much the creator of all these artificial creations.
But by all means, that doesn't mean I don't enjoy camping with friends. I just enjoy the city more. I'm a city boy, and I grew up that way. I like my concrete walls, and I like to decorate them with artistic, creative practices and cultures of all sorts - both inventions of the human mind. It keeps my mind busy and helps me forget that I am really just one person amongst the canvas of trillions of lifeforms on this planet - and quite possibly, one against the trillion trillion trillion in this universe - struggling for survival. I am one being against the billions of humans on this planet trying to find meaning. God, that's so fucking scary.
I write this after a late night spent at another midnight screening of the Rocky Horror Picture Show. My thoughts came to a nihilistic approach as I rode home from the theater in Claremont, looking outside towards the artificial night sky done by light pollution. My thoughts - they traveled to the many camping trips I've been too, and the many nights where I've just lied there in my sleeping bag or my air bed - and look up towards the fabric ceiling of my tint and think to myself, "There's a thin layer of fabric between me and the infinite that is the sky, space, the universe - staring right back at me."
And then I fall asleep letting that thought haunt me for the rest of the night. And hell, my life even. I've just never really communicated these thoughts to anybody because well... fuck, it's quite a buzzkill for a thrill-seeker like me. But it haunts me still, to this day...
I've been keeping tabs on several blogs of people close to me lately, and I've come to realize that people have different writing "voices" than their real voices. Not much of a realization come to think of it... Well, what I've noticed more is how different everybody writes compared to how they speak. I mean it's one thing writing for papers, but for blogs - the way they speak online differs greatly to my interaction with them outside of the 'net. And then I compare my writing online to my own speech and I find myself more verbose online. In real life, on the other hand, I'm more vulgar and blunt.
Wow, that was a worthless paragraph. On another note...
I've been listening to a lot of Ska lately. It's odd, the genre never really interested me but the hat I'm wearing kind of makes me feel impelled to listen to lots of Reel Big Fish and skank my way home. Luckily, I got a hold of several gigs of Ska from My White Friend - as he insists on being called - Tristan.
Reel Big Fish
Mmmm... 'scuse me as I listen to ska covers of 80s music...
God, this would have helped a long time ago. Oh well, the more you know.
Putting my idiocy aside, I feel like I really needed that winter break. As I arrived in my dorm the other day, a lot of my dormmates were surprised to see me wearing a gray fedora and a suit jacket - well, I guess when you're not wearing a suit jacket with a full on suit, I guess it's a blazer - a blazer. Those paired with my Vans Limited Edition Era in antique gold and black: Trust me, these look a lot better on my feet than in this picture.
I have to admit - damn, I look fresh.
I walked through UCI feeling like a new man. I've got a newer, chipper attitude, a new look and style, and I'm feeling more confident than I did last quarter. Granted, my studying habits still haven't changed and there's that possibility that in a couple weeks I'll fall back to my old ways...
But here's hoping I improve! Or stay the way I am right now...
I made small adjustments in my room that I must admit I quite like. Well, quite honestly the only adjustment I've done is put all the books I care about onto my desk shelf - which actually helps with the look of my room a lot.
And also, during lecture today, Professor Lupton was talking about "Making" as a core theme for our lecture - and all this talk about making had me in a mood to "make" a script. So, throughout the lecture, I made a start on a script. From the looks of it, it looks decent. The dialogue's kind of got that whimsical Seinfield/Tarantino element in a sense that the audience is caught in a random conversation shared between two acquaintances/friends. I'm going to try to develop it into a little crime/comedy type of short film from the looks of it...
... and from the looks of it, I've ignored my Italian homework for much too long. Alright, off I go.
... and you know, from the looks of how this year is starting - it's going to be a real good year.
After a night of miscellaneous video games and Death Race down in San Diego, I had my bags packed and ready for Santa Barbara county! I've previously stated in one of my earlier posts my plans for New Years. New Year Eve was - sad to say - uneventful and as climatic as my sex life.
And I have no sex life.
By no means I didn't enjoy myself; it was nice being able to see and spend some time with several of the folks that were able to grace me with their presence. I just wish we could have spent our time somewhere other than where we were: in a mansion with drunk, older adults who finished the alcohol before we could get the chance. I mean, it's one thing talking about our debauchery with alcohol, but another thing when there is alcohol within the household that we cannot touch. I'm not insinuating that we needed alcohol to enjoy ourselves.
Just that it sure as hell would have helped.
Anywho, the first day of my New Year's Day was in an Recreational Vehicle - an RV. I was meandering around in it, playing my DS within the presence of Spencer Brown, Eric Coressel, Christopher Buckley, and Claire Cylkowski. I spent a lot of time with them throughout high school and I was excited about reliving those times again. Spencer's father was the man behind the wheel; he took good care of us throughout our trip; he was the one who made us our meals and drove us around to our destinations. Ah yes, Mike Brown, a great character who works over at Cal Poly Pomona - he would give his mini-lectures and anecdotes of his experiences that kept us entertained.
We spent Day One traveling and setting up for the days ahead of us. The drive to the Santa Barbara county went very smoothly; there was no traffic. I was as surprised as the others, and took this as a good sign for the rest of our trip. We arrived in Refugio Beach, a beautiful state park. We parked close to the beach and took advantage of that; that night we walked along the beach, bitching about how cold it was but at the same time trying to catch sight of shooting stars. Being out in that part of California, stars were actually visible in the sky and it was a beautiful sight.
Day Two was spent the way I envisioned: a fun trip through Solvang. Solvang is a quaint Danish city that is a popular tourist attraction. Whilst exploring the city, we made a stop through several thrift stores that we've frequented before; it was there that I found more to add to my wardrobe. We also collected a handful of golf balls and a club. We dined at Solvang Restaurant - famous for their delicious aeblskivers and one of the filming locations of Sideways. Of course, we found the restaurant before the producers of Sideways did. We made a visit to Jule Hus, Inc. - a store that sold Christmas ornaments and decorations year round. It was there the guys and I found a very cute girl at the counter; Claire rolled her eyes at us whilst we acted like little school boys, chanting "Please be legal." Legal or not, I was able to get a picture of and with her; unfortunately, it was on Chris's camera, so I doubt I'll be seeing it anytime soon. After our day at Solvang, we spent the rest of our night on the beach; Spencer and Christ did their surf fishing while Claire, Eric, and I smoked cigars and sipped on our soft drinks. Eric had speakers attached to his Zune, so we had our share of Sublime and Doctor Horrible; an interesting combination. Afterwards, we played a round of golf on the beach whilst purposely hitting them into the large water hazard in front of us. We slept late that night; however, Claire couldn't get that much sleep on account of my sonorous snoring. Sorry, Claire.
Day Three we spent fishing over at Gaviota - our favorite camping and fishing spot. There's a train track that runs through the site, but its a ways from the campground. In addition, the pier also promises some sea life for us to catch. Initially, the fish weren't biting throughout the day, but come sunset, we were lucky to be at the right spot and the right time: we were catching perch off the pier for a good half hour before they went away. I'm proud to say that I caught the biggest one - unfortunately, we didn't get to eat our catch. Instead, we went to AJ Spurs, a steakhouse that provided quite a hefty meal yet at quite a hefty price. I attempted to order a Butch Cassidy; they were out of burgers. A steakhouse. Out of ground beef. I was a bit puzzled but I didn't let that get me - I ordered something else to appease my appetite. That night, Spencer, Eric, and I finished off what was left of the golf balls; we knocked a couple golf balls off the railroad tracks (not the safest thing on Earth...) towards the sea and finished the rest on the beach before heading off to bed.
Playing golf off of this is scary as fuck.
This morning we all woke up and got ready to leave for home. We had a meager breakfast of toast and tea and waited around inside whilst heading back home (It seems like I've had tea with every single meal during my time out there; in fact, I've drank more tea within these last four days than all last year.). My DS was already out of batteries from battling the Elite Four Pokemon League the other night so I finished up Clockwork Orange. I completed it an hour before we got home and I spent most of that time looking out the window. Our trip back home was as smooth as our trip away from it - no traffic, just constant pressing of the gas pedal.
And now here I am. I have clothes lying around right now that I should pack away for my return back to UCI. I shall be returning with a fistful of cash, a slightly new wardrobe that shall greatly change my appearance, and greatly refreshed from a long and highly enjoyable break.
And you know what?
I can quite honestly say that this has been the best Winter break for me ever.
