starwarspez

misty million mermaid month

2009-05-02T16:06:00.000-07:00

what a month, april.

from a seasoned discovery channel viewer and huge planet earth fan, comes a strong recommendation for the newly released disney earth feature film. the only thing better than awesome hd nature footage is watching on a huge screen. and thank you for the narration, darth vader. also, the theatre del mar is a sweet venue, super old school yo.

april has also been the month of twitter. lovin it. ill say that i got the first push in my ecommerce class cuz thats where we get class updates. but after a facebook case study and discussion about how people run their lives on this social network and just how zuckerberg piloting facebook in a new direction, im over it. ha, i say that but i still keep updated. i mean, facebook IS good for something, but i dont wanna be hooked. instead, i want to be on the break of the new wave. twitter is sweet. i follow rob dyrdek and drama, theyre hilarious! im hooked. its more personal, and i like the idea of getting newsfeed-like updates only from the people i want them from. celebs are fun too follow too. tweet.

ecommerce, what a cool class. speaking of the new wave tho, google, gmail, chrome, and google talk. i am googled out! homies, please join me on googletalk. streamlinin! twitter too. woohoo.

steph and i painted pottery a few weeks ago at petroglyph which was way cool. so therapeutic, just sitting, being able to take time to create. i miss that. so simple, the craft is in the details. the pieces turned out awesomely too. we traded, so i finally have a dedicated coffee mug. thank you! mine mine mine. speaking of coffee, ive got java love. been trying some of the different beans offered at new leaf, brewing my own strong stuff at home in the mornings. and it smells so good! when i cant or dont have time, ive been getting my bevs from the perk shops on campus. note: try mixing the sumatra and french roast, 80/20 ratio. wow. in a combined effort to cut costs and keep it personal with the environment in mind, ive also begun bringin my own thermocup to school. slugstore cup with some jazzy local stickers. i read recently that if i keep it under three cups a day, its actually pretty good for me too. minus the sugar, but im working on that too.

a month of birthdays. shout outs to the april babies. lots of semi-surprise dinner and birthday desserts. funny pictures to store the mems. everybodys gotta hit the gym now with all that cake in the belly. me, i need to up the greens again. feelin slow, feelin clogged up in there. it might be the burritos, honestly. la cabana holds it down so hard. westside! good thing ive found someone thatll crave it as hard i as i do. yes thats you. afternoon horchata, so refreshing.

things on the mind: basketball, summer internship field study, housing, combined major, moped, grand theft auto, dinner. gasp! chuck and heroes and fantasty factory season finales were this week. all awesome. my favorite shows, of course they know exactly how to bring me back next season! stay thirsty my friends.

pictureless pauciloquence

2009-04-06T15:06:00.000-07:00

currently:

i. i am burritoed out, man! i maybe had taqueria la cabana like four times this week.

ii. got too many things to keep updated, twitter me

iii. looking for casual employment

iv. would like to be at the beach before it rains

v. practicing my roman numerals

vi. running out of lappy power

vii. constantly craving mi goreng

viii. eating habitually

ix. would like to start reading econ

x. laughing at the riles!

xi. listening to aesop rock

xii. thoroughly enjoying spring afternoons

avert the average

2009-03-24T00:35:00.000-07:00

here's to friends. theyre awesome and i love em more than they know. it's never been more comforting to have friends that matter. at a time of self-questioning, i turn to the people i trust the most and it's the best feeling to know that im not the only one whose lost. when you dont know what youre doing and youre alone, then youre lost, but when you dont know what youre doing and your homie next to you doesnt know squat either, then its an adventure and its certainly a challenge to look forward to.

follow your dreams, they say. but how scary is it to think that dreaming is not enough, when your rationale starts to kick in and say that youre dreams arent good enough, or that you will fail before or after you get there? it sucks to think that by the cruelty of the world, we have dulled ourselves into thinking that the things we want most are out of reach. and such, we have replaced those dreams with the need to have a backup plan, a proven algorithm of attack that yields the median of results. i am terrified of being average. my greatest fear is that even by doing everything im "supposed" to do, and doing it well for that matter, i wont get where i want to go, or be who i want to be.

it's something i cant avoid, i cant sleep it away and hope that my dreams will come true overnight. failure is the answer, and it's the only answer. only by failing, will i truly acheive what i want most. but what do i want most??? oh how i wish i knew!

i want mobility. i want the power to change as much or as little as i want, whenever i want. is money the answer? in some ways yes, but in many ways not. money allows us to maneuver around the material social structure that exists all around us, to correct and cover up mistakes. what loopholes are left can be filled with strenght of mind. you can have hella money, but no cause or direction, no purpose. and so it seems that a person with purpose is free. freedom of self-determination is basic to humanity, and i think it's far too easily lost sight of, and far underestimated as the foundation of a healthy, functional society. with strenght of mind comes responsibility, to yourself and your fellow man. if not for yourself, do something for your neighbor, and for the people you care most about. is there any more worthy cause?

salubrious sanative sapientials

2009-03-22T15:17:00.000-07:00

(words i stole from the internet that may make sense, but are more likely to not)

i love college, and i love spring break! sitting on bart right now heading back to the great city of san francisco, and i figured what better a time for reflection-- on a finished and amazing winter quarter, on what's changed and what hasnt, on life as it is and the future as i hope it will soon be.

first things first, miss my girl already! ha! a week, we can do it. i stick to it that sleep is for wimps. i mean, there are so many things to do out there that it really doesnt make sense to sleep any more than we need to. it's nice, and it's often refreshing, but a life of slumber is a life of missed opportunity. this quarter's been wild. been trying new things and some things have worked and are still working fantastically, while others have quietly passed to the background. finals were finals, intense, stressful, you know. i really hope i passed my astronomy class. of all classes to fail, i pray that this is not the first. programming was chill, easy breezy. i feel really good about accounting, and fairly good about econometrics. closing out my quarter internship with the student volunteer center taught me a lot about purpose, having strong and worthy reasons to do things. volunteering isnt about the rewards, it isnt about giving back to the community. volunteering is about having purpose at an individual level, and how that personal reason, that internal force allows you to do more than you could have imagined. do things because YOU want to do them, do whatever YOU enjoy, and live with yourself. with the ability to say f*ckit comes the strength really give a f*ck.

life as it is, amazing. it's crazy how much different i felt going into my last final, it was overcast and bitter, and coming out of my final, sunny and freeeee. my mood swings with the weather and i love it. i was terribly stressed for a second leading up to finals. on the 20 up to campus on wednesday, youd see half kids moping around obviously heading to a test, and half the kids glowing from an afternoon at the beach. it sucked. four finals and what beautiful weather! grind through it. walking outta baskin at 2oclock on friday was insane, nearly a peak experience as ralph would say. called the girl, hopped on the fixed, bought flowers and a sandwich. there's no better way to do it. i love college.

im twenty now, its scary. for one thing, its a pretty freakin big number considering that at ten, i barely new what a fraction was. yes, i measure my growth by how much math i can do, eat it. high school is almost long gone, just because i think so much differently now than i did then. priorities change, things that mattered so much before mean so little now and vice versa. to think, i have to do taxes soon, and get a job, and look for a place to live next year! the thing is, im scared of it, but so not at the same time. now is the time, so there's no better time than now to figure it out. im growing, im learning, and it's fun! having shit to do is now comforting, because the scary thing now is not knowing what to do. there is no right way to live, but the prospect of not doing it right is terrifying. i just want to stay on schedule, learn in time, and not look back with regret. please!

anyway, im sure ill be back blogging at least this week. homies, stay chill and have an awesome spring break. if i dont see you, at least know that im wishing you the best. cheers.

serious snog snoozin

2009-03-01T23:56:00.000-08:00

at last, i have momentarily awakened from my weekend of slumber. good morning blog, it's been a little while. correction, it's been a quite a while, approaching hella days. my bad, but youll have to blame it on the awesome girlfriend to take me away from my blogging responsibilities. upgrade. youve been one-upped my friend, but it's not you, i swear.

since the tenth, holey bagel! road tripped to tahoe for birthday, valentines day weekend! super pow, like you dont even know. although there were fat storms on the way up and on the way back down, we managed to crank out an awesome vday sesh. it was sunny too, like what?! our deluxe accomodations included an oversized flat screen for the room, and an under-sized, yet infinitely more luxurious mini flat screen for the bathroom. all i can really say is what a trip. thank you stepha, my favorite. and shout out to kwan and weenie, we did it so right!

while it was awesome to bust outta santa cruz for a second, the cost of an escape weekend before midterms definitely came around. after 11 hours up, and like 9 hours to travel back to santa cruz, (and of course musical a.d.d. fluctuating between the likes of kelly clarkson, akon, the jobros, lil wayne, the fray, and the game,) i found myself largely dysfunctional until wednesday. at which point, I was met with an accounting midterm thursday and the associated wednesday night/thursday morning, caffeine enhanced cram preparation. accounting can eat it. an exam from left field killed my spirits, but didnt slow down the programming midterm which went down on friday morning. a word of advice, the way to recover from a week like that is not to do it big on friday/saturday to celebrate your accomplishments. common folklore suggests that sleep is indeed for wimps, yet common sense will always creep up on you, unless you are really a vampire.

it's really been non-stop lately. sunday recovery soon became monday freak out. essays due, homework to copy. warrior games, spontaneous birthdays, and buddies should really each have their own days of the week. at some point, i also broke my ipod. the headphone jack is tweaked, so it only outputs to one speaker. disaster! been nearly musicless on campus, which is my primary rockout time, and it's been a little of an adjustment. for the better, i like to think. forces me to engage in random conversation, which is always fun. study, study. econometrics required its own little freak out, but it soon got its needed attention. the quarter is FLYING by.

been working as an intern for the student volunteer center this quarter with the riles. this week we had a bunch of fundraisers and events. pizza on monday, parish on tuesday, jamba juice thursday, and invasive plant removal on saturday. yayuh. saturday was super chill, my favorite svc experience so far. we headed out to the great meadow on campus to clear off the french broom from the coastal plain landscape. they fed me juice and snacks, gave me a cool tool, and we got to work. i yanked out some hella big plants, paul bunyan-ed it and impressed myself. got tired and was like aite, whatever, im out. peaced back to the girl's place and entered hibernation. finally! a chance to sleep. and sleep. and sleep. so nice.

two weeks on, two weeks off. im straight chillin until finals i think, as far as regular classes go. not too much to freak out about, probably just a little reading and some grunt work at most. snagged a couple classes for spring quarter. econ as experimental science, and econ of ecommerce, plus stats to add soon. i do, i really do need to get on my intership, study abroad, field study, declaration dealio. gasp. it sounds scarier and scarier the more i put it off. this week, though-- tomorrow! i shall begin. until then, i shall bask in lethargy and continue to think aboutsya.

funny, so i emailed TRUE today because i really need to know if they have any more of my hat. its just been painful! i still havent removed the pin on which it used to hang, so theres literally a void in my hat wall. there are just so many days where that would be the perfect hat to wear, and it look up to grab it and its not there! grumble grumble.

also, i am still addicted to blockles. its serious. i participate in blockles parties where my opponents are sprawled out across the same room as me. in fact, i had to stop writing this blog post just to play because i saw the word blockles and started feinin for it. then, i just played the longest match ever, the blocks moved so fast! that's all. im donezo. callin you. stay amazing.

martian mash

2009-02-10T23:55:00.000-08:00

so the other day i was riding around downtown and i saw this one fool going the opposite direction and he was straight killin it. peeped his ride and i was like, no. way. NO WAY. yep that's it, the one and only ciocc enemy pursuit owned by the boss dawg himself, garrett of the (in)famous mashsf crew. he looked at me like i was dirt... and it was awesome!!! just rockin t-shirt, shorts, and ipod, what a badass! i still cant get over it. look at this beassst:

anyway. that was that. crazy week so far. shout out to m'girl! has it only been three days? the snow, thats wassup. the other day i got super duper wired. who peeped my facebook status? just a lethal combination of near-jared-level sleepage and the super strength monday morning coffee dosage. insane. i listened to DJ AM and Travis Barker's "Fix Your Face Mixtape", then Girl Talk's "Night Ripper." both albums were off the hook, and they helped me burn through a chapter of accounting in the library which i really needed to do. yesterday though, i snagged Kid Cudi's mixtape. love it! embrace the martian is my favorite track. do listen. plus i just got off weezy' phone home, and the game's my life. space is in, get on that hype!

yep hella gtb, eyeballs hurt (s)lightweight, abousta kick rocks. fisho. gasp. people like me are the reason why urbandictionary must exist.

except wait, i forgot to mention that rob dyrdek's fantasy factory is by far, the best thing on tv. nitro circus got stomped, but we'll see if demetri martin can hang tonight at 1030p. be there! doin it SO right.

favorite fitted flies forever

2009-02-04T16:16:00.000-08:00

talk about a bummer day. i lost my favorite hat. it was just last night when i admired you, perched high on the wall, beaming above dynamic light. i said the words aloud, "that's my favorite hat," not knowing that it would be the last time i would ever say it. you fit so well, and were so steezy, it was my pleasure to rock it. TRUE hat, we've had an amazing year-- parties and kickits, hot and cold, ridin dirty, we did it so right. this afternoon at 3:16pm at High and Bay, i paid the price to pedal. as i pushed through the intersection, overtaking a biking girl and a metro bus, TRUE hat flew from my head and disappeared into the next dimension. i rounded back to rescue, but found no trace. legend has it that TRUE hat was absorbed by the blackhole of awesomeness to a faraway place for hella cool shit. bummer.

TRUE hat, i mees you.

lounge lalapalooza lore

2009-02-04T11:26:00.000-08:00

this is wack. so i was straight chillin in the library--top floor, double-chair lounge status (see ex. A.) -- reading accounting kinda but not soaking anything up yknow, and then i got this weird, unstoppable cough. so i get up and walk to the water fountain around the corner. thirst quencher. i guess i grabbed my bag cuz i dont want anyone to jack my shit. some vultures up in la bibliothèque though!! i got swooped SO hard. some guy with one of those furry russian winter hats. of course, it was THAT guy. im am supremely moded, and i cant even begin to feel good enough to read accounting, of all things. aghh, the life i lead! it's cool, im still CHILLIN. are you?

blogs bumpin bullets bomb bikes boyeee

2009-02-03T11:18:00.000-08:00

id like to start by saying that the magic bullet is awesome, smoothies for DAYS. although i am sippin on one of these delectable beverages right now (with neon yellow party straw fisho), i made the bombest one yesterday. why eat fruit by itself when you can blend it all up into a drinkable goop, eh? start with a cup of pomegranate strawberry yogurt, add frozen strawberries and pineapples, like a cup and a half of pulpy orange juice, and a few squirts of honey. BOMB. blend it first, i guess. THEN it's BOMB.

i guess we could say that it's been a while since post, but who's counting? been busy for sure, not too much free time, or free energy for that matter, to keep up the blogger. im here now. give the people what they want! the quarter is HOT right now. literally, its summer in santa cruz. blue skies, sun, smoothies, skateboarders, the works. i dont know what's going on, but it better stop soon. im looking for some fat storms. SNOW!! this week is kind of a kickit week, but it really shouldnt be. scraped some midterms last week-- econometrics, accounting, and programming. btw, i am an introductory programming beast. watch out cyberspace, im thrashing through the learning curve. last week, i programmed a calculator, this week could be a video game, and by the end of the quarter, i could be all up in NSA. not. speaking of video games, the sims 3 february 20! prepare not see me for a couple weeks, ill be off the grid til like mid-march.

anyway, school is school. yall know. im trying to look at my calendar and figure out what ive been doing for the last two weeks. hmmm. midterms, egh. oh the xgames!!! shaun white is still a sav, he does it so right. no lie though, i think they kinda gave him superpipe gold. his run was solid, but it certainly wasnt last year's run, no 1260, huh? i really didnt get to watch that much of it, but i caught the main event. the snow! i am so amped.

rocket jr has been chillin, that's the bike if youre out of the loop. something was terribly wrong the other day, possibly as a result of my whipskids, but my drivetrain was just screaming. i felt slow and noisy. not chill. however, thanks to my friends at another bike shop - mission street, chain lube = stealth machine = hella fast. love it! the weather has also made rides more pleasant. the other day, i was riding to the store to pick up a few things, and i cruised past a family about to go on a group ride. there were like five youngins standing curbside while pops was grinding away trying to assemble the fleet. they all stopped for a second and just stared, following smoothly with their eyes as i spun by. then the youngest one on the end goes 'daddy, i want that bike.' ha! he's got a bright future.

- oh phelps, what can i say? youre m'boy.

- chinese new year was nothing. i might not be chinese. gasp. it was just another monday.

- oh, been working at the student volunteer center. chillin! working with the riles is quite an experience. he's wack. talkin shit on the riles all day!

- the superbowl! couldnt tell you much. i was gtb for most of it. i caught the fourth quarter, though. intense!

downloaded an andre nickatina discography last night, so that's what im bumpin for the next for days, weeks, dont know. i have too much music that i havent listened to. i should get some mellow-er stuff cuz im always actin a fool on the bus. got my headphones in. and recently, i found out that my friend pat listens to his music louder than i do, so ive been upping the decibals. two words. bad idea. not only can you not hear anything, but you are indefinitely more inclined to mouth/sing in public and not know it. too much! i remember saying that i couldnt own an ipod because i knew id get permanently attached to it. well, ive arrived. i say the same about crazy cell phones. stay away! i cant handle the power!

quote of the week: "TA's in the house say YAY-YUH!"-- Spearot

goin' goin' goin' GOIN' to the SNOW, fisho:) herro?

what up with winter

2009-01-20T22:53:00.000-08:00

Bloggeronies, it's been a pretty cool week-- seeing homies, riding around, and what beautiful weather! the quarter is blowing by SO fast, just trying to juggle it all. shout outs to steph and steph! check it out, because sometimes word's just dont do justice, I'm pleased to present the very first volume of... tada...

My Week in Pictures

1) falafel, and it's fun to say!

2) what an unseasonably summery winter we're having

3) classics are straight butter! gotta love 'em

4) space travelin'!

5) i love our

6) ehh, digital fortress. one thumb up, one thumb down.

7) watch out for staples, little buggers

8) it's hard not reading dan brown. i dont know about these real books. the beginning is funny, so i like what i've read.

"Another day, another struggle."

10) fine dining with mushrooms

11) welch's white grape/pomagranate, whoa.

"At the center of non-violence stands the principle of love. " -MLK

13) movie nights!

14) ya boy obama checkin' in

15) dude, you dont even want to know

excellent, blog me is now real-time me, and I am quite tired. the inauguration was on hella early today, shoot. looking ahead, the winter x-games start on thursday and i am hyped. HYPED. yep, that much. and i need to do accounting homework! hmmm, peace. too long, i know.

notes to self:: find out and remember when these shows (re)start: chuck, heroes, flight of the conchords, demitri martin's show, ABDC, and entourage.

space skate saturdays

2009-01-10T17:35:00.000-08:00

worry no longer, i am back on the grid, connected to friends and family by a blanketing network of invisible waves all around me. it's a good feeling.

saturday schedules are always nice, a chance to catch up on the week's lost hours of sleep. waking up at noon though, it does make it difficult to make plans for the day. ive been itching to skate lately because every morning, i wake up to the sound of a few groms from the hood pushing around the parking lot. ive got this extra deck lying around that i snagged from home (senks, reesaqueesa!), and today i was trying to build it up with a new truck and wheel setup. after getting all my shit together, the plan was to walk to the skateshop, grab the new gear, and skate back, hitting a few sick spots for some quality solo-sesh action. fools let me down. how hard, i ask, is it to keep a few pairs of indy 129s lying around? i hadnt anticipated the skate shops to be hella weak, so of course i wasnt prepared to have to walk all the way back home. it was an extra bummer because it was right around 4pm when its still warm from the rest of the day, but it begins to cool down as dusk comes around-- perfect skate conditions. another time. skateworks, here i come.

so i crashed that space age solar system class the other day, and on friday, i learned about these crazy space projects. apparently, there was a this program called "project manhigh" whose goal was to get one man as high as possible, that's altitude high. they made these giant plastic balloons basically, and inflated them with helium. one fool apparently went 20+ miles high, which is like 99% out of our atmosphere, in an unenclosed, unpressurized gondola, so basically space basket. THEN, get this, he jumped out of the basket and parachuted back down to earth. imagine that! well okay, i guess ill just take this giant parachute into space, then jump back to the planet. like what!? and he did it three times. shooooot.

gruh i need to figure out where i want to study abroad! i visited the econ advising lady the other day, props to me, and she said i was taking chill classes. that's bank, but i have no idea when or where im trying to study abroad. europe sounds most logical, but id be so down to go, forgive my trek, where no man has gone before, or at least some non-traditional travel destinations. advice?

i feel like ive run out of interesting things to talk about. with class and everything, i just have less time to do cool things. we'll have to work on this. but until then, peace.

new year's no signal nebula

2009-01-08T10:30:00.000-08:00

what up, so i am officially off the grid. mr cell phone refuses to operate without sufficient plug-in time, and sir cord is en route. apparently, he decided to take a few extra days for himself after winter break.

on another note, happy new year! ive been very well recieved by 2009, and ive got quite a quarter ahead of me, but nothing i cant handle. hit up EMB on NYE and it was insane to say the least. aside from being in the toilet at the turn of the year, i did get to watch the first firework explosion from the wire mesh window provided above the sitting area. ha! it was crowded and it was beautiful. fools were hella faded. shout out to deets and drumright, yall are ridiculous.

caught up with a few more homies before my return. oh and i finished ender's game. a little twist at the end, but the book was sick. anti-gravity battles and space invasions, like what?!? i tried to get the sequel at borders, but apparently everyone got ender's game for christmas and bought up all the speaker for the deads. there are plenty of volumes in the series, but im not sure if im totally hooked yet. we'll see. ender's game gets a thumbs up though for sure.

i crashed the space age solar system class yesterday and snagged a code, so im hella excited. graeme smith reps australia with the accent and everything. we learned about rocket scientists and liquid fuel propulsion systems. so sick. space is the shit. it's my fourth class, but i swear it's going to be my favorite one. my schedule is pretty full this quarter, but i figure itll keep me from couch surfing and my stumble addiction. cool note: i stole that space picture off of google, but it's called the "caffeine nebula." caffeine is the bomb. im actually having some wake-up coffee now. peet's got the hook up.

nice news before new years

2008-12-30T23:01:00.000-08:00

uh so i just read off my cheat sheet that andrew lloyd webber is putting out phantom of the opera 2. epic, no? i hope so. not sure if the phantom could out-awesome himself with a new anthem though. we'll see. i finished deception point yesterday. it was no angels and demons, but it's still got dan brown swagga with all the scene flipping, super technology, and twists (!) of course. i still reccommend it for a fun, easy read. also, i started ender's game this afternoon and im almost done! im so down with space and anti-gravity. it's cool, but i dont want to judge it til i finish though, so ill get back to that.

wait! so i went to ikea for the first time today. my momma was looking for a sleek new shelving unit for her overflowing closet. but, you dont understand... their shopping carts are the FUNNEST. instead of just the front wheels swiveling, the back wheels spin too! my favorite part of going to the grocery store is drifting around the produce section and in between aisles. with free-spinning back wheels, there's no friction and you can drive in all directions, so you can walk and push the cart forward, spin it 360, catch, and keeping going in stride. and backwards too! i was pulling the SICKEST shopping cart lines at ikea. then my sister and i both had carts and we were walking to the parking lot where there was a spiral ramp. INSAAAAANE. i love ikea carts. my new favorite pastime. and i guess the store was cool. i saw some things that i am going to put into my living box when im done with school.

the other day, my trusty watch's battery finally died. i knew it was coming, but i had to endure a few days with a naked wrist. awkward. but im pleased to announce that mr. nixon has been revived thanks to the gracious watch doctors at the macys repair shop. i look forward to another three years of timeliness and punctuality!

my 08 in short:
-rest in peace efrain sanchez, the best of the best
-humanistic pyschology, hail quinn!
-uh 4/20 weekend, need i say more?
-awesome year C10B5FL1RM5105
-oh, zagg
-what up edmo, black team for life, welcome friends from the east coast
-bartered el skateboardo for el ipodo
-hello fixed gear! i love you.
-driver's license!!! finally
-shout out to the homies of 8304, we do it so right
-i can cook now, kinda
-weezy f baby, lyricist of the year
-donezo with meat, veg it
-e-40 the ball street journal--get it, bump it
-hello accounting 10A friends, im awkward
-academy of sciences during regular hours, wow
-SPLR, new beginnings for old friends summer 09

and i feel it's only appropriate to have a few new year's resolutions:
1) reduce my carbon footprint
2) make some dollas
3) hang out with more homies, regardless of bus schedule
4) read more books and news
5) go to as many shows, concerts, local events as possible
6) put out some raps
7) stop (at least reduce) recreational shopping
8) thank people more often for little things

sounds good. haha, and a stumble picture of the day:hahaha, TRIPPIN.

beef belief

2008-12-28T23:00:00.000-08:00

today was the second day when i ate at a table where everyone else had prime rib. uncomfortable, no. awkward, yes. because the question always comes up: why vegetarian? it's hard to convince someone of your beliefs when they are in the act of violating them. but that's not what vegetarianism is about for me. it's about having the information and an educated opinion. i like to engage in the conversation over meat-eating because people just dont know where their food comes from. so i think the better question is why not vegetarian? if you know what i know and still choose to eat meat, then your choice is just as good as mine. but in the same way that i do not respect a blatantly bias argument, i refuse to accept criticism from someone without all the facts. tell me why i should eat meat, and then you can criticize. anyway, just thoughts for consideration.

balled again this morning. it wasnt quite as cold and my left is getting a lot better. but my game still needs work. i shoot funny. nonetheless, i ripped in family knockout today. my little cousins are straight ballers though. theyve got game. swagga too.

better story though. i had a sick dream last night that i went to huf on sutter, but instead of being just three regular huf stores, it was a huf superstore much like sportsbasement or sports authority. it was so sick. it was a really lucid dream too. they had some crazy gear too. everything from skateboards and snowboards to hats and sneakers, they had a playground and even a burrito stand! it might have been the sickest store ive ever been in, and it's not even real! balls. super huf, only in my dreams.

preview: i want to make a best of 2008 list soon

daybreak basketball

2008-12-26T22:51:00.000-08:00

i miss wake-n-ball mornings when i can just wake up, grab a hoodie, and walk to the park to shoot around. this morning was perfect. woke up at ten. it was sunny, mid sixties, and the air was still crisp before the day started to warm up. brushed my teeth, put on a shirt, and walked out the door. sure, my shot was terrible. i couldnt even feel my hands yet. but there was there were already kids scootering around the courts and climbing all over the play structure with their onlooking yuppie parents, some still in their workout clothes, and others bundled up in their simple, yet classy outwear. i love morning people. there was a two or three year old boy playing kick ball with his grandma who occasionally lost the ball in my direction. i always kicked it back. other kids journey across the court saying 'basketball!' and just talking randomly, asking their parents funny questions 'why is he playing basketball?' and the parents answer like 'because he likes to!' and they keep walking. the kick ball boy would stop and watch me shoot threes and stuff, then he and his grandma would cheer when i made shots. its so weird when adults are put in that position where theyre unsure whether their kid is getting in the way or if im gonna get mad or something, but the kid is naturally drawn to the ball. it's always fun though, i make it easy for them. the kid even cheered when i missed because he liked the noise of the rim. good sesh (for lack of better term). worked on my steve nash/tony parker close range game. got tired, went home and made myself a veg scramble from last night's leftovers. bomb!

also, i hate this computer. it's slower than slow. i like to think i have a good amount of patience, but this is KILLING me like you dont even know! also, i have no idea how to open this freakin .rar file. so after trying to download wall-e for a week and a half, i finally have it and now i cant open it. AHHHHH. yeah, wall-e, you read it right. i heard it was hella good!

caffeine christmas

2008-12-25T23:00:00.000-08:00

friends and followers, merry christmas! i hope everyone's enjoying their holidays, keeping busy, i certainly am. what have i been up to-- let's start with wednesday.

shout out to the newly chartered SPLR crew and RIP to the late great team xtreme. we had a good run... literally. watch out for the newest urban documentary project coming summer 09 (perhaps with a dope soundtrack to go along with the release, ohh i do hope so!) it was nice kickin it with the homies, sharing good times over a solid tofu scramble.

on christmas eve, i had the pleasure of watching phantom of the opera with the fam. the show was incredible! it was the first professional production ive seen and i must say that the years of elementary school plays, high school musicals, and drama field trips to ACT have all been an awesome build-up to the real thing. they did it so right! it was an evening show at the orpheum, a sick architectural venue. the production itself was seamless. my favorite part was that they used the whole stage, front to back, side to side, and even had some special effects and surprises. the phantom is a boss too, his anthem is bomb. they had the live orchestra with the body-rumbling organ solos. man, i wish i learned to appreciate theatre earlier, but im sure ive got plenty of performances ahead of me. this is just the beginning.

my energy levels have been fluctuating a lot lately. all this early morning shopping and coffee jolts make me all groggy in the evening at like just the hour when it's too early to go to sleep (ahem, riles!) and too late to make effective use of a nap. it gives me a chance to get out of the cold and get my read on. ive got some new books to work on. ive decided that im not free reading any books that arent ny times best sellers for a while because i just havent read enough good books to be reading any crappy books, yknow?

christmas day at the wong house began with coffee and fresh-baked cinnamon bread. got hooked up with some new gear-- boxers, calendar, books, and fleece-- couldnt have asked for anything better! saw the curious case of benjamin button. a great film, i highly recommend it. my mom described it as the next forest gump classic film, and just as long too! the fam enjoyed a fat, bloody, juicy prime rib feast (props to pops). not my thang of course! and what better than to end it all with a home screening of a white christmas.

edit:: i just watched Crank, with jason statham. straight ridiculous. not a total thumbs down, but in the same arena as shoot em up, so you have to be in the mood for it. also, i missed all the basketball today, so i have to run downstairs and try to catch sportscenter highlights. peace!

pausch and people

2008-12-21T18:30:00.000-08:00

im too old for this! volleyball, that is. aches and pains met my once youthful and conditioned back this morning for one very stiff walk to the bathroom. shampoo, rinse, and repeat strained my stickly arms like the fire of a thousand pushups. and slowly but surely, lactic acid crept into my elderly walking appendages causing limp after limp of shameful strides. oh, the pitifully inactive life i lead!

yet, all exaggerations aside, yesterday's lhs volleyball legacy reunion certainly brought back some awesome memories. thank you everyone, new friends and old. some things change, and some things dont-- that's the beauty of it all. in the end, you remember your team-- the people you shared blood, sweat, and tears with-- not the wins and losses. the 'head fakes' of playing a sport will only appear worthwhile in retrospect.

randy pausch, carnegie mellon virtual reality professor, is most famous for his 'last lecture' speech, which i finally watched last night. the "head fake phenomenon", he describes, is when a teacher can trick students into learning difficult material while having fun. his speech consisted of three parts 1. achieving childhood dreams, 2. enabling the dreams of others, and 3. how you can enrich your everyday life. i really loved his message because it really inspires me to have more fun in everything. but another part of his message is that we all face 'brick walls' or simply, obstacles, that at some point seem immovable. "cherish criticism," he says, "and learn from it." i think that's one thing that i certainly need to improve on. pfft critics, y'all are haters. but at the same time, he says, "when people stop criticizing you, then theyve given up" and then youve really failed. as hard as it may be, so true. i definitely reccommend the vid, youtube it, but ive also stumbled on it, and i think there's a book out too. dreezy, i know you sent it to me before too, so thank you and sorry for waiting so long to watch it. tada!

anyway, went christmas shopping with mother again today. getting my driving in over the holidays fisho. dude, and drivers are straight crazy up in clement street. malls are packed, but i figured that would happen. haha and the shamwow kiosk guy really loves those towels. he gave us the whole soda in carpet presentation almost as well as homie on tv. combined with the oversized rice bean salsa burrito i just ate, holiday shopping has me quite fatigued and a nap would be rather pleasant, if i may say so myself. good day.

picture of the day: currently, i am eating...

super sampling

2008-12-19T15:58:00.000-08:00

clarity-- it always seems to swing by at just the right time. whether it's real, or just us tricking ourselves, it inspires us to change directions and envision ourselves on another path. in sports, they say 'picture yourself winning' and in life they say 'picture your success'. because if you cant convince yourself, how will you convince anyone else? self-empowerment and all that jazz, right? i believe! i stumbled on this a little while ago and loved it:
word to your mother! while assembling his dream team, obeezy talked about the future white house basketball court (word!) and about how he plans to have artists and classical musicians performing in the white house because, i paraphrase, 'if young people cant see whats really out there, how will they ever know?' i guess im pretty down with that these days. i mean, that's the reason i went vegetarian. its so true, people just dont know. part of "finding yourself", "knowing yourself" is based so much on your surroundings. people say that once you leave college, you realize that you really dont know anything! and that's not how i want to roll, yknow? obama, doing it so right already.

back to this idea of clarity, i look at myself now and think, what do i really know right now? and the only answer i can put up is 'not enough.' but the great thing about it is that it's within my power and means to learn more, and now is as good a time as ever. so, i want to make it a priority to up my free reading, keep up with the news, and try new things. it's exciting and i feel like i have a new sense of purpose, and whether it's real or im just tricking myself, i mean, it cant hurt, right? so help me out, it's always fun to do new things, and even better with friends! someone recently told me 'step outside of your comfort zone, and you'll soon find that that comfort zone will grow and grow and grow.' that's what i want to do.

yesterday, a friend and i explored the new academy of sciences. insaaaaane (thank you!). planetarium, aquarium, AND rainforest, youve gotta be kidding me! sf is the best, we hold it down so hard. i really liked the carbon footprint exhibit too, spread the knowledge. ive been watching the science channel a lot lately, learning about the universe, future cities, alternative energy sources. its all good! concurrently, i was (just finished) reading angels and demons (read that shit!), and its just so sick that everything is so interconnected. i have high hopes for antimatter technology. check it--zero emissions, unlimited energy source, and lightspeed (space travel!!! ). so down. of course the cons are that we could quite possibly blow up the earth trying to stabilize it, and even after that too. haha i dont know, im probably taking dan brown too seriously for my own good. but still, donezo in 2012, so whats the difference? faith in science. prepare for the mind revolution. yay.

things i want to do in the near future:
learn more about space
martial arts class
road trip... SNOW trip!!
read hella books (looking for recommendations)
put out a cutty rap album
step up my nonexistent photography game

workin on it. this list will grow, for sure. just trying to get a taste of everything!

'shoppin and silly rhymes

2008-12-17T23:22:00.000-08:00

a blog is never complete without the perfect header. check it! all the things i love in one collage box. there's potential here, and i see a bright future ahead for this blog.

and with that, i am now pleased to present: silly rhymes, part I

watch on my wrist
forty dollars in a pocket
plaid shirt, new cap
im gonna rock it
steez in my fit
keys on my hip
chapstick on my lip
my jeans never ripped

get some coffee in my system
got shit to do, gonna list em
news for wisdom
each day
start it the same way
grass before class
blasting the bass

the equation of time
manifest in rhyme
constructed to defy
intelligent design
views from a prism
vegetarianism
an orange for later
cuz my lunch aint catered

edit: HAHAHA i stumbled on this guy:his name is Heinz-- president of his local beard club, and winner of the 2003 People's Choice Trophy at the World Beard and Moustache Championships. simply, my idol.

defy destiny

2008-12-17T01:07:00.000-08:00

it is always something big, a defining experience, that brings me back to blogging, and that time has once again arrived.

i began, the other day, writing about free and independent thinking. in life, it isnt so much about following the crowd versus following your heart, instead, we strive to find balance-- nature's balance-- in everything. in our world of extremes and opposites, compromise is the only peace we can hope for. yet at some point, we must pick a side. i believe that one's ability to assess the situation, weigh the options, and make educated decisions based on evidence and gut is just as powerful and important as one's ability to modify those views when the scale tips in the other direction. that isn't hypocrisy, it's called learning. and if there's one thing that frustrates me most, it's when people see the evidence, and turn their backs on it; when people attach themselves to ideas and refuse to trust their own ability to think; when the only support for an argument is the majority.

thinking independently is about taking information, interpreting it, and figuring out what it means to you. it is about constant growth and change. leaders see trends and choose to follow them, but followers always follow leaders. thinking independenty allows leaders to stray from the norm when it needs to be done. leaders determine their future and the future of the followers.

circumstance is an excuse for responsibility. destiny is rationalizing failure. and stubbornness is fear of the unknown, fear of change. change is growth, growth is progress, and progress takes us into the future.

let experience help you make decisions, but dont let it hold you back. let everything reflect something on you, and reflect something of yourself in everything.

be deliberate. if you have a problem, dont sidestep it, deal with it. answer the question!

THINK. know yourself and live!