You remember that "weight" thing I posted a couple months ago?

EPIC FAIL

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.

This made my night.

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.

Haikus

Expecting no sleep
Long nights procrastinating
Masochistic joy

Dave Brubeck Quartet
Helps me bear these long, long nights
Three to Get Ready

I find amazing
Blazing heat during the day
Bloody cold late nights

Must take my leave now
Have long day ahead of me
Absolute dreading

I leave you all now
With an amazing picture
Me with no pants on

I have found

the answer to the ultimate question of life, the universe, and everything.

Now to find the question...

"Actually, here take a card."

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.

Dreamt about Barack Obama last night

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.

I'm hungry. I think I'm going to go eat now.

Usually late night like these...

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...

Random observation

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...

I'm An Idiot

I just learned how to add titles to this blog...

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.

Perfect Way to Start Off the New 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.

Year of 2008 in Review (Abridged)

It has been a year of momentum for me.

I graduate high school.
I'm in college now.
I'm legal.
OJ is finally convicted.
Guns N Roses finally releases Chinese Democracy, after ten years. Albeit, without Slash.
Watchmen is finally in film production, after over ten years. Fox can suck a chode.
Dark Knight had me jizzing my pants.
SNL is actually funny.
Barack Obama.

But then again...
Gas has teetered from $4.50 to $1.50
The economy is rapidly on its way to hell
Keanu Reeves still has a career
Large Hadron Collider
The Big Three have self-destruct
Britney career is actually going somewhere good. At least that's what I hear.
David Duchovny is in sex rehab
And my girlfriend of a year and nine months broke up with me.

... that last part sucked in particular, but hey, it's added to my year of momentum. A lot has happened (or at least I'm more aware of what's happening) in the year of 2008. So let's crack open the champagne and hope 2009 does some good for us!

Till then,

Happy New Years, and Welcome 2009!

Dreaming about Paul Rudd

That's what I did last night. No, literally. Apparently, we were supposed to hang out and fly out to... God, I wish I remembered. I think it was London. Unfortunately, I had work - which is preposterous because I have the whole week off. Paul Rudd. Me. London. They say dreams are composites of your memories, remembered and forgotten; just recently I saw Forgetting Sarah Marshall which starred Paul Rudd. My friends, Carlos Gonzalez and John "The Almighty" Vaughn are supposed to go to London... It all makes sense now. What does not make sense to me, however, is how we ended up in the middle of Mexico, eating in a restaurant. Then again, most dreams don't have to make sense.

I Am Going Broke...

I took a trip to Frank and Sons today - it's a perfect place to get a gift for somebody who's well-oriented in comic books, Japanese culture, airsoft, sports, or pop culture overall. A great warehouse that sells collectibles - they've even got a place where you can get the BEST movie posters, and a booth not that far away where you can keep that poster in a poster protector :D Anywho, enough of my advertising...

I came in with the intent of spending my Christmas money (all $140) on something in Frank and Sons. However, as I thought about it, I also wanted to save my money for my trip to Solvang, California; I'm going camping with several friends from New Years Day to the fourth (the day I'm supposed to move back to Irvine - cutting it close, eh?) and we're camping out at Gaviota State Park. Solvang - a city made famous by Sideways, The Simpsons, and other television shows(American Dad, Pinky and the Brain, Kathy Griffin) - is not that far away from Gaviota, and we usually take a trip out there whenever we're around. Well, at least my friend, Spencer does.

Ah yes, Spencer Brown - he's usually the man who coordinates these trips out to Gaviota because he frequents out there often. I went with him once, and I had the time of my life. This was the summer of my freshmen year going into my sophomore year of high school - those were good memories. Since then, I've been desperate to go but unfortunately there's always bad timing. I was afraid that the same would happen, considering that my family is planning on heading down to San Diego for the New Years Countdown; my parents's friends are throwing a party and my parents planned on attending by dragging us along. Its a conglomeration of a whole bunch of families, really. That's a story for another time, however.

I'm digressing. Point is, I wanted to save money for this camping trip, so I walked into Frank and Sons determined to walk out with at least $100 in my pockets.

I walked out with $43 bucks left.

The reason for the sudden hole in my pocket?

The glory that is Watchmen. But I bought more than that.


I dropped $60 on this monolith of a beauty. I know the math doesn't add up, but I also bought other things as well. But this one was the biggest reason for the hole in my wallet. And it was completely by impulse, too. I walked out of Frank and Sons with this beauty in my hands, in shock for like an hour. Literally. Like, I knew I should be feeling guilt, but feeling it in my hands, the weight of it, the smell of it, the beauty of the page - I did not regret my buy.

Oversized hardcover collection. Digitally remastered line art. Brand New Coloring. 48 pages of extras, from samples of Alan Moore's original script to the promotional pieces.

I believe there's a song to the feeling I got while I held this beauty in my hand.

Then a thought came to mind as I embraced my treasure: I paid $60 on a comic book.

... I believe there's a six letter word for my kind: virgin*.












*I jest, of course. I just like poking at stereotypes. Ever since geek chic got popular, this stereotype seems to have died.

Apparently, I do have an audience!

I woke up sometime around three in the afternoon today, much to my horror. I never sleep past 1:30 PM, but three?! I've practically slept my whole day away! Probably wouldn't have done much with it, anyways...

I woke up to an empty house. Sure, for awhile my uncle, aunt, and baby cousin were meandering about, but after I brushed my teeth and took a shower, I walked out to find the house quiet. After my supper of Pho (because I've slept through breakfast and lunch), I grew quickly bored of what was happening around my house: nothing. I tried to remedy the situation with the internet, but it seems like every time I have the opportunity to use the internet all I want - I find no entertainment in it. And during times when I shouldn't be distracted by it e.g. finals studying, paper writing, homework, and so on - the internet is more interesting to me than whatever my studies can provide.

So, instead, I call my friend Miki Fukusumi for a chat over at Starbucks. I haven't seen her in ages - several years, actually - and decided to have a pleasant chat to see how she's doing. I don my trademark hat, and my large coat, gave myeslf a quick shave, and rushed on over there. On my way, surprisingly enough, my trusty friend Cody Speidel from high school found me in the parking lot. He's always been a kind, warm, brotherly type of fellow to me - we grew apart during the past year and I regret it. However, I did try to spend some time with him over my Christmas break, but to no avail - the number he gave me was not a working number. His girlfriend was with him, and the car was pungent with Little Caeser's pizza.

After the random chance encounter, I saw somebody that I recognized from high school outside. She was one of those faces that I see around campus a lot during my time over at Diamond Ranch High School but I never knew her name. It wasn't until I went inside Starbucks that I learned her name after all these years - Marcy.

I learned her name from another random encounter - three girls who were in my class throughout middle school and high school were there, talking it up with Miki. Tina Stutzman, Sam Zeeman, and Marika Hoeckman - odd how I'm still able to remember how to spell their last name. Then again, I have known them since middle school - I've had six years to remember.

Miki couldn't stick around long - apparently, she had a prior engagement she forgot about. Luckily, I had Tina, Sam, and Marika to keep me company. Completely random, but it was nice to see them again - most especially after high school. We played the usual game of Catch Up that every former classmates play with each other and learned some new things about other people in our lives. It was from them that I learned of Marcy's name, and at the same time it was from them that I learned that I had an audience - apparently, Tina reads my blog/notes on Facebook. Don't blame her - honestly, what's there better to do in college? Study? *pretentious scoff done in a sarcastic manner that conveys that I'm just jesting but quite possibly not*

Afterward, I spent my evening with Jessika Taylor-Nunez, another old friend from high school that graduated before I did. It was nice catching up - and once again, I randomly encountered other people from my high school: Airi Ando and Alex He. Jessika and Airi were both in band with me, and I believe Alex was in my Physics class my sophomore year. Jessika and I left Airi and Alex to their conversation after we said our hellos. Apparently, Jessika's a victim of revertigo - a condition where you start acting and dressing like you did in the past when you start spending time with people you used to hang out with. College students suffer from this most especially when they come back home.

And now, here I am. I'm writing because well - I promised Tina, Sam, and Marika that I would blog about it. They probably don't quite remember that I mentioned it, but I'm pretty sure Tina will read through this and remember an inkling of it, won't you, Tina?

Alright, I must finish up The Day the Earth Stood Still - I've had my web browser open to it all day on Youtube and I've hardly touched it. Mind you, I'm watching the original version, not the one with crappy Keanu Reeves; I haven't seen it yet, but with Keanu Reeves playing Klaatu, it has to be crap.

Hmm... considering that it is the day after Christmas, I should probably write about the loot I received for Jesus's birthday... A fabulous tie that I received from my cousin (which is actually spot on - I like dressing up in business attire and such) as well as $140 of cold hard cash. Always nice to have cash in the pockets :D

Christmas Time is Here!

Happy Chrismahanukwanzakah everybody!

And a little Christmas to all the geeks out there: 8-Bit Jesus: Classic Christmas Songs in the Style of Classic NES Games! With titles such as:

We Three Konami
8 Days of Master Robots
Ryu, The Red Nosed Ninja
Super Jingle Bros.
Contraland
Kraid, Rest Ye Merry Mother Brain
Have Yourself a Final Little Fantasy

and even more! Doctor Octoroc has provided this album, free for download on his website! And with a $15 donation, you can receive a physical album!

Wow, I'm turning into a infomercial. I should probably stop.

For those movie junkies out there, here's an abridged version of Santa Clause Conquers the Martians brought to you by Mystery Science Theatre 3000:



And for everybody else, Arnold Schwarzenegger's Jingle All The Way, featuring Sinbad!

Can you believe I spelled Arnold's last name correctly on the first try?

And to all of those celebrating it tomorrow, have a Happy Kwanzaa!

Been meaning to write in here

For a long while, actually - but everytime I have my browser open to the page where I write my blog, I always get distracted. I find it amusing how during a time when I have nothing better to do, I don't blog as much. Yet, whenever there's work to be done, I opt for writing in my blog instead. Well, anything to avoid work, right?

But I'm blogging now. For the sake of blogging and for the sake of keeping it habit. And now, for some entertainment:

A Group of Ninjas Protesting at a Pirate Festival



And for something more festive:

The Twisted Sisters do "O Come All Ye Faithful" to the tune of "We're Not Gonna Take It"

I'd Rather Fight Apollo Creed

... then have to fight this cold! Thankfully, I'd filled up on my Vitamin C via fresh orange and pineapple so my sinuses aren't that stuffed right now. Additionally, I'm listening to A Charlie Brown Christmas soundtrack and it gets me into a festive mood - most especially this time of year! I found it odd, though, that Wes Anderson always uses this album in his movies, no matter what the season... I don't blame him though, it's always a great thing to listen to. Kudos to the Vince Guaraldi Trio!

And hey even Arrested Development has used A Charlie Brown Christmas, too!




Oh, how I miss this show... Thank God they're making a movie for it, though!

There was a point to this post aside from connecting Charlie Brown to Wes Anderson and Arrested Development...

Oh yeah! A time for reflection, considering that finals are over - as well as my first quarter of college!

I'm still having a hard time wrapping my mind around the idea that I am a college student. But since the break-up - and you guys know what break-up I'm talking about - I feel myself assimilating to college life. Since I've been at UCI, I find myself more politically active and more in tune with what's going on in the world; I find this undying thirst for more movies to watch, books to read, theater to enjoy insatiable. Then again, I think I've always had the latter. I find myself more and more on digg.com and reddit.com finding whatever I find interesting to catch my eye. I don't know why, but as of late, I find myself more and more comfortable in college - and then Winter Break comes by.

Quite honestly, I didn't want to leave the dorms quite yet - I mean, I was just getting used to college! There's something about waking up in the dorms with no obligation to do anything that feels absolutely great. I mean, I had this image that I'd be studying hardcore all the time, an hour to two for every hour in class.

Not the case at all.

Instead, I found myself back to my old habits, procrastinating. I was working on my paper for Jane Austen's Persuasion and I didn't really finish it until the day of. I was working on it with my new friend, Marie Pham - of no relation, the both of us happen to share the same last name - and the both of us decided to come into class late so we can work on our paper a bit longer and finish it. We didn't show up until the last five minutes of class. We turned our paper in, happy with the fact that we were able to finish our last paper of the quarter. From what they tell us, next quarter we're going to be doing research papers. I don't mind, I quite like doing research. Actually, I quite like doing papers. I don't know whether it's the writer or masochist in me that has a liking towards writing papers, but I am kind of looking forward to next quarter because of this.

Oh, and I've signed up for an Introduction to Criminology class. It should be fun - I've always taken an interest in law, and who knows - this class might be the push I need to decide upon a career. Not to mention, I hear there's a lot of writing in my class, and considering that writing is my forte, I'm down for whatever is thrown at me.

Hmmm... I seem to be losing my attention span on this post. I think I'm going meander around on the internet before I get some well-needed rest.

"Christmastime is here/Happiness and cheer"

It's Nice...

... to finally be able to wake up without obligations. Most especially in your own dorm. There's something more liberating waking up in a dorm with no obligations than your own room at home. Maybe it's the fact that I don't have my parents looming over me? Yeah, that's it.

Woke up with an ear-infection, stuffy nose, and something going on with my throat. I had an inkling that I was going to wake up with this last night - my sinuses were more clogged than a run-down, out-of-order public toilet, and I thought to myself, "Maybe I should take that dosage of 500 mg of ampicillin I have lying around here somewhere... My throat is feeling a bit raw..."

But than again, my whole mouth was raw last night after eating some cold-and-spicy flour noodles that my dorm-buddy Elliot, made for this little feast I decided to make last night. I wanted to do a bit of a feast to get rid of the stuff in my fridge - because we're being kicked out of our dorms this Saturday and we need to clear our room of all valuables and food from our fridges. But instead, I threw out the meat, went over to Trader Joes and bought some ingredients to make some of my Red Fried Rice. Twas delicious :]

Ah... it's so nice to be able to live in a dorm without any obligations. I know I've already said this but with no classes, it feels so good! And now I can read literature I actually want to read! Alright, here's a list of books I want to read over break: Persepolis, The Yiddish Policeman's Union, and The Simpsons and Philosophy.


Persepolis, from the looks of it, is a comic about a young girl growing up in Iran during the Islamic Revolution. It's teaching me history in a format I fancy - and speaking of which, Tristan's also presented to me Action Philosophers - also a comic book, but it details the lives and details of philosophers - from Lao Tzu to Joseph Campbell. I shall look into that as well. Oh yeah, and Persepolis was also made into a movie. I plan on seeing it sometime.

The Simpsons and Philosophy I picked up because it was cheap on Amazon ($7) and not to mention, there was an excerpt on examining Homer Simpson in Aristotelian terms. Considering that Aristotle and Socrates were my strongest subjects for the past several weeks, I wanted to see there is to him. That and there's a comparison of Bart to Nietzsche, and I would like to learn more about Nietzsche. The Simpsons seem like a good place to start.

And then there's The Yiddish Policeman's Union by Michael Chabon - a UCI alumni. I initially picked this up because well... I judged the book by its cover and thought it look pretty awesome. I mean, look at the picture above - how can you NOT buy a book with something like that on its cover? That and the idea of Alaska being a Jewish State during post-WWII seemed like an interesting idea to me. They're making a movie out of this, too!

Crap, and then there's also a Clockwork Orange that I need to read through. I borrowed it from a girl I met a couple weeks ago, Stephanie, and promised to return it to her as soon as I'm done. Considering that I've had school for awhile, I never got around to it - well, here's my chance! I've already seen the movie which I must admit I did quite enjoy. Minus the rape scene.



Alright, so I gotta read Yiddish Policeman's Union, Clockwork Orange, Persepolis, and The Simpsons and Philosophy. Oh, and Action Philosphers. A lot of reading to do, but I like to look at it as a way of better culturing myself. I need it, anyways.

Now, movies to watch over break. The Spirit, Frost/Nixon, The Wrestler, and the Curious Case of Benjamin Button... And that's just in theaters. There's stuff that I need to watch over break so I can get into the loop of. Like Firefly - there are only thirteen episodes, right? Sorry, fourteen - I just checked. And all of them are on Hulu! Just my luck! Now, what else should I check out? Any movies? Shows? Any suggestions anybody?

... any?

GOOD LUCK ON YOUR FINALS

Hope you all do well! For those of you who need it, good luck! And as to quite what a wise man has once sad to me: "Pray to your God, and if you don't have one, get one!"

I Hate Jane Austen

Because of this abhorrence of a paper I have to write!

Maybe I'm over-thinking this. Maybe I'm just blowing this out of proportion. But goddammit, I don't know what to write! Either I've got a bad case of writer's block, or I'm just plain stupid...

Actually, this isn't a first time. I've always been terrible at writing papers on novels. Short stories, like Heart of Darkness, I can do. Papers on Aristotelian Courage or Platonic theory of forms and Love I can proudly say I've done with flying colors. But that's because the latter has forced me to apply something I've learned to situations and the former is a short story - there isn't as much to consider when it comes to literary analysis. But goddammit, I cannot do novels. There are too many themes, factors, and events to consider - and where the hell do I start?

I've brainstormed, I've slept on it, and I still haven't been able to come up with on outline about it. I mean, this paper that I'm supposed to write to so...

Alright, enough of me bitching. I just need to get into the gist of writing. Maybe I should have another practice in stream of consciousness.

Stream of consciousness. Interesting concept. Talking off the top of your head. Or in this case writing. Okay, not much of a concept. But interesting in the sense that you see a persons id - or ego? or super ego? How would Freud put it... Or was it Jung? Welcome to the Jungle! We got fun and games! Speaking of games, I wonder when my Guitar Hero should be coming in the mail... I snagged myself a copy on Amazon during the Black Friday rush. Well, it really much of a rush for me - I just bought it at home.

Ugh, I have that essay still pressing on my mind... Dammit, wireless internet access out here is pretty shitty. It's like - oh, what's a good analogy... Well, it's a hit and miss. Maybe I need to clear my mind. Blank sheet. John Locke - everybody is born with a blank slate for a mind - only the impressions of external influences can affect what is on this slate.

Descartes tried something to this affect - he tried to rationalize that human knowledge comes from the mind. He does this through denying everything - from his sense, to his own existence. He reduces himself to nothing but a thinking thought. It's the fact that he's thinking that he proves that he exists - thence, the term - "I think, therefore I am."

Then he tries to prove God's existence along this very same train of thought - pretty much, to paraphrase, I have the idea of an powerful, omniscient force. But where did this idea come from? Obviously, this omniscient force - it gave me this idea as an imprint of its existence and my being a product of its creation." Or something to that extent. A nagging feeling in the back of my mind says that I might be wrong, but after this quarter of thinking, I've kind of doubted the human mind. In fact, this quarter has taught me to hate philosophers. It's one ambiguous question after the other, and ends up in circular logic.

Hmm... Descargo, Escargo. Snails. Naked snails are slugs, right? Then what's a naked hermit crab - or a naked turtle. You know, it seems like all of these are edible in some way. Funny - Americans believe that bugs and reptiles should not be eaten, but mammals and sea life are alright for the consumption. I wonder where we got this idea. I mean, traveling to other countries, they've adopted reptiles and bugs into their diets - I've had escargot, crocodile, snake, and... well, that's about it. I mean, what's wrong with eating bugs and reptiles? They look disgusting to some, sure - but compare that to a pig. Pig's roll around in their own filth. After all, it is banned in some religions to eat pork.

Reminds me of Pulp Fiction, the diner scene where Jules Winnfield is talking to Vincent Vega about how he doesn't eat pork because he believes they're disgusting creatures. In the same vein, sewer rat can taste like the greatest thing on earth until you realize that you've eaten sewer rat. Isn't there a place in China where they serve Mountain Rats for food? They at fruits as opposed to... well, sewage, so I guess that makes'em healthy to eat... Not so sure I'd want to try it though. Not unless it's deep fried. I mean, the crocodile meat I had was deep fried, and it actually kind of tasted like chicken.

Fried chicken. Now that's something I haven't had in months. Huh. You know what, now I'm actually in the mood to write. I wonder if anybody really does read through these blogs... Well, obviously you are. You must be thinking this blog quite preposterous - or at least a bit interesting - in comparison to others. Don't exactly know where I'm going with this. I usually don't nowadays.

But it seems like Tristan - the Caucasian - is right - I should just write some shit down, just to get into the gist of writing. The Caucasian - maybe that should be his nickname... Kind of reminds me of the Big Lebowski; the Dude always orders a White Russian, or as he sometimes calls it, a Caucasian. So quite honeslty, not exactly naming him after his ethnicity, but rather a cocktail. That happens to be his ethnicity. I could call him the White Russian, but he really isn't Russian, he's German. And a lumberjack. Maybe I should start calling him Jack. Cause of his lumberjack backgrounds. I've seen that guy without his shirt off, it shows that he's done some work with lumber (No homo).

Alright... Maybe I can finally get to writing my paper. Hopefully I can get that shit done. I still don't know what I'm going to do, but hey, at least I got my typing fingers back.

Let's get to work.