christmas music
i'm no scrooge, or grinch, or jew (i say jew cause that's the first religion that came to mind that doesn't celebrate christmas), but i hate christmas music!
some people love blasting "CHESTNUTS ROASTING ON AN OPEN FIIIIREEE!" or "JINGLE BELL, JINGLE BELL, JINGLE BELL ROCK!" every year. well, not me. no way no sir no way.
there are very few songs in the world that i can listen to every single year for a month solid, be it christmas song or not.
variety isn't the spice of my life, it's my meat and potatoes. i need to keep it mixed up just to maintain sanity. christmas music is anything but variety. the last tolerable christmas song produced was mariah carey's 'all i want for christmas is you' but that was released in 1994 -12 years ago!
yet every end of november to end of december we jam the same 10 songs every chance we can! commercials, stores, even at work, the lobby/bathroom area changed the station from soft pop love jam hits of the 80's and 90's to chrismas songs. and since we've been jamming these aged songs every year round the 11th month, i've got them all memorized. it's much easier to get a memorized song stuck in your head than one you've never heard before.
we listen to the same songs every 11 months. i don't even like these songs. there's 30 renditions of each song too, yet they all suck just as bad.
to top it all off, i once had a manager who didn't have a clue what the phrase "HR issues" pertains to, couldn't manage his way out of a wet paper bag, and played more solitaire at work than anything else. and yes kids, he sang christmas music year round. you guessed it, he also fueled my angst for the sounds of the holidays.
i like music, probably a bit more than the next guy, but there's not that many songs i can listen to every single year for one solid month. especially not christmas music.
*note: adam sandler's Chanukah song totally rocks, but that's not a christmas song.
Sunday, December 24, 2006
Thursday, December 21, 2006
Tuesday, December 19, 2006
Tuesday, November 21, 2006
"nobody goes to sleep alone"
"nobody goes to sleep alone"
my friend once told me the above quote.
initially i felt that this was a sappy quote, seeing as he just met his now-girlfriend it was fitting that he'd tell me a romantic quote. but i error on instinct far too often to trust myself. only until he explained the quote did it make sense to me what he meant.
i don't remember who said the quote, and google was of no benefit. my search results consisted of erotic stories and carpet care faq (frequently asked questions). so this post will credit nobody for the conception of this line.
my friend explained that people physically go to sleep by themselves all the time, but they never go to sleep alone.
simply put, the quote is saying that the last thought someone has before they fall asleep is always a good one. people normally think of a lover, friend, family, a fun memory, a joyous place, etc. this happy thought is the catalyst for people to fall asleep. a lonely or unhappy mind is a very difficult thing to put to rest.
not too long ago a friend called me very early in the morning. she lives on the east coast, and i was sleeping when she called. i talked to her for a minute or two and fell back asleep. i forgot 90% of the conversation, but she was in my dream after i hung up and fell back asleep. i told her later on that her early phone call placed her in my dream. she said "that's why i always read cookbooks before i go to sleep, so i dream of food!!"
in hemingway's the old man and the sea, one of few in my small repertoire of read books, the main character is a very lonely old man. he hasn't caught a fish for months, and has virtually nobody. he regularly dreams of lions on the african beach when he sleeps. it's told to us that he loves the memory of those lions on that beach. the time in his life when he saw them was his favorite.
i started to think about who/what i think about when i go to sleep. lately i've been reading insanelymac.com. a website dedicated to running apple's osx on a non-apple computers. perhaps i'm more like the old man and the sea than i knew? apple's operating system was called panther, tiger, and the new one is called leopard!
i now wonder about people with insomnia, are they simply searching for that memory or idea that'll put them to sleep? tyler durden could have just been lonely.
my friend once told me the above quote.
initially i felt that this was a sappy quote, seeing as he just met his now-girlfriend it was fitting that he'd tell me a romantic quote. but i error on instinct far too often to trust myself. only until he explained the quote did it make sense to me what he meant.
i don't remember who said the quote, and google was of no benefit. my search results consisted of erotic stories and carpet care faq (frequently asked questions). so this post will credit nobody for the conception of this line.
my friend explained that people physically go to sleep by themselves all the time, but they never go to sleep alone.
simply put, the quote is saying that the last thought someone has before they fall asleep is always a good one. people normally think of a lover, friend, family, a fun memory, a joyous place, etc. this happy thought is the catalyst for people to fall asleep. a lonely or unhappy mind is a very difficult thing to put to rest.
not too long ago a friend called me very early in the morning. she lives on the east coast, and i was sleeping when she called. i talked to her for a minute or two and fell back asleep. i forgot 90% of the conversation, but she was in my dream after i hung up and fell back asleep. i told her later on that her early phone call placed her in my dream. she said "that's why i always read cookbooks before i go to sleep, so i dream of food!!"
in hemingway's the old man and the sea, one of few in my small repertoire of read books, the main character is a very lonely old man. he hasn't caught a fish for months, and has virtually nobody. he regularly dreams of lions on the african beach when he sleeps. it's told to us that he loves the memory of those lions on that beach. the time in his life when he saw them was his favorite.
i started to think about who/what i think about when i go to sleep. lately i've been reading insanelymac.com. a website dedicated to running apple's osx on a non-apple computers. perhaps i'm more like the old man and the sea than i knew? apple's operating system was called panther, tiger, and the new one is called leopard!
i now wonder about people with insomnia, are they simply searching for that memory or idea that'll put them to sleep? tyler durden could have just been lonely.
Tuesday, November 7, 2006
list of priorities
priority list
when i was growing up, dad layed down the list of priorities. this list wasn't a suggestion or an option, it was my list.
1.) health
2.) familiy
3.) schoolwork
4.) everything else
of course, when i was a teenager, dad's list was absurd. so i made up my own list based on my life experience.
1.) friends
2.) health
3.) family stuff
4.) everything else
schoolwork came in last but i still had enough leftovers dumped into priority no.4 to get into an accredited college, lead a prosperous civilian consumer lifestyle, and almost contribute to society. but lately i've come to notice that dad's list wasn't as convoluted as i initially thought it was.
health
i've noticed that my body isn't as invincible as i thought it would always be. i don't heal as fast, i don't last as long, and i gain weight when i'm not careful. health has to take priority spot number one now, dad you were right on that one. without health, i can't do anything, the rest of the list is null if health isn't taken care of.
family
i have mixed feelings regarding family. i look at my parents, who are nowhere near their immediate family members (mom's family is in the midwest, and dads family is in the mideast). at some point family took a bit of a back seat to other priorities like friends. friends get you jobs, a wife or husband starts out as a friend, friends are there for you when family can't be. friends are there for you all the time, family is there for you during family time -or so i've experienced.
friends
tho friends come and go just as dad said they would, though i've found it has been very rare to not have a single friends at any given moment between now and when i was in school. friends are always there (for me) however it's not always the same friend.
everything else:
school, studying, working, jobs, money... the necessary evil. i say do as little as possible to get as much as possible. by definition, everything else simple gets stuck as last priority except for those few rare occasions when it has to be bumped up the priority list in order to make it appear that it's always on top (for those few who need to see it like teachers/bosses/managers/customers).
but i feel that my true list of priorities won't shine thru until i'm a parent or guardian, pushing down my "do as i say, not as i do" list. for now i'm experimenting with what works.
when i was growing up, dad layed down the list of priorities. this list wasn't a suggestion or an option, it was my list.
1.) health
2.) familiy
3.) schoolwork
4.) everything else
of course, when i was a teenager, dad's list was absurd. so i made up my own list based on my life experience.
1.) friends
2.) health
3.) family stuff
4.) everything else
schoolwork came in last but i still had enough leftovers dumped into priority no.4 to get into an accredited college, lead a prosperous civilian consumer lifestyle, and almost contribute to society. but lately i've come to notice that dad's list wasn't as convoluted as i initially thought it was.
health
i've noticed that my body isn't as invincible as i thought it would always be. i don't heal as fast, i don't last as long, and i gain weight when i'm not careful. health has to take priority spot number one now, dad you were right on that one. without health, i can't do anything, the rest of the list is null if health isn't taken care of.
family
i have mixed feelings regarding family. i look at my parents, who are nowhere near their immediate family members (mom's family is in the midwest, and dads family is in the mideast). at some point family took a bit of a back seat to other priorities like friends. friends get you jobs, a wife or husband starts out as a friend, friends are there for you when family can't be. friends are there for you all the time, family is there for you during family time -or so i've experienced.
friends
tho friends come and go just as dad said they would, though i've found it has been very rare to not have a single friends at any given moment between now and when i was in school. friends are always there (for me) however it's not always the same friend.
everything else:
school, studying, working, jobs, money... the necessary evil. i say do as little as possible to get as much as possible. by definition, everything else simple gets stuck as last priority except for those few rare occasions when it has to be bumped up the priority list in order to make it appear that it's always on top (for those few who need to see it like teachers/bosses/managers/customers).
but i feel that my true list of priorities won't shine thru until i'm a parent or guardian, pushing down my "do as i say, not as i do" list. for now i'm experimenting with what works.
Sunday, October 29, 2006
Saturday, October 28, 2006
Sunday, October 22, 2006
photoshop sillouette
photoshop-ing
i found a cool little tutorial online the other day, and decided to wasted a beautiful san francisco sunday applying what i learned.
before:
after:
i found a cool little tutorial online the other day, and decided to wasted a beautiful san francisco sunday applying what i learned.
before:
after:
Tuesday, October 17, 2006
Friday, October 13, 2006
Monday, October 9, 2006
i'm extreme
extreme
most people misunderstand when i say i live my life on the extremes.
cable tv has conditioned our minds to think that ‘extreme’ pertains soley to jumping off sky rise buildings, or some derivative of death defying feats. so for this post, let’s forget what we have learned and understand extreme from a different angle.
i live my life on the extremes. for example, there was a two-year stretch in high school where i wore only jeans and white t-shirts. i bought lucky brand dungarees (purchased at nordstrom rail), hanes a-shirts (aka wife beaters) underneath plain white hanes tshirts. if it got cold i’d wear a russel athletic sweatshirt (kangaroo pocket not zip up), i had every color. i was a simply dressed man in those high school days. i started out talking about being extreme, and now i’m filling the page with banter about my high school wardrobe? where’s extreme you ask? hang in there.
after college, my collection of jeans acquired holes in the knees, and frayed cuffs. instead of going back to nordstrom for $70+ jeans, i visited target and discovered dickies! soon i had every color of dickies in three styles: original, cell phone pocket with double stitched knee, and shorts. this is around the time i discovered t-shirts on ebay.
the post office charges $3.20 for packages <1lb sent anywhere in the lower 48 states. so when i did an ebay search i’d look for “tshirt” + less than $1.00. my total charge would be $1.00 for the shirt +$3.20 shipping = $4.20. i got some crazy shirts! but that’s all i wore, dickies and ebay shirts.
my extreme personality doesn’t start and stop at my wardrobe, however my dressing habits are a representative metaphor for the ‘extreme’ personality i have. other examples are: i used to like hot, and now i prefer cold. i only listened to rap and punk now i’m dance and acoustic.
i normally don’t sit in the middle of the road, i’m either on mute or full blast. drink only water or kill the 750ml that night. i figure if you don’t go all the way, don’t go any of the way.
anyhow, one of my favorite bands did a prince cover that i can't get enough of (click on picture to download the .mp3)
edit: the moment i found this song (mentioned above) i immediately thought to myself "i need to share this with karen!" and then i remembered =(. karen and i talked many times of going together to a tegan and sara show.
most people misunderstand when i say i live my life on the extremes.
cable tv has conditioned our minds to think that ‘extreme’ pertains soley to jumping off sky rise buildings, or some derivative of death defying feats. so for this post, let’s forget what we have learned and understand extreme from a different angle.
i live my life on the extremes. for example, there was a two-year stretch in high school where i wore only jeans and white t-shirts. i bought lucky brand dungarees (purchased at nordstrom rail), hanes a-shirts (aka wife beaters) underneath plain white hanes tshirts. if it got cold i’d wear a russel athletic sweatshirt (kangaroo pocket not zip up), i had every color. i was a simply dressed man in those high school days. i started out talking about being extreme, and now i’m filling the page with banter about my high school wardrobe? where’s extreme you ask? hang in there.
after college, my collection of jeans acquired holes in the knees, and frayed cuffs. instead of going back to nordstrom for $70+ jeans, i visited target and discovered dickies! soon i had every color of dickies in three styles: original, cell phone pocket with double stitched knee, and shorts. this is around the time i discovered t-shirts on ebay.
the post office charges $3.20 for packages <1lb sent anywhere in the lower 48 states. so when i did an ebay search i’d look for “tshirt” + less than $1.00. my total charge would be $1.00 for the shirt +$3.20 shipping = $4.20. i got some crazy shirts! but that’s all i wore, dickies and ebay shirts.
my extreme personality doesn’t start and stop at my wardrobe, however my dressing habits are a representative metaphor for the ‘extreme’ personality i have. other examples are: i used to like hot, and now i prefer cold. i only listened to rap and punk now i’m dance and acoustic.
i normally don’t sit in the middle of the road, i’m either on mute or full blast. drink only water or kill the 750ml that night. i figure if you don’t go all the way, don’t go any of the way.
anyhow, one of my favorite bands did a prince cover that i can't get enough of (click on picture to download the .mp3)
edit: the moment i found this song (mentioned above) i immediately thought to myself "i need to share this with karen!" and then i remembered =(. karen and i talked many times of going together to a tegan and sara show.
Monday, October 2, 2006
Wednesday, September 13, 2006
death from above 1979
DFA1979
it's common knowledge that i’m not a fan of couples. breakups are something i heavily encourage (solely for selfish reasons). if anyone was wondering, misery is not the only one who loves company, so does loneliness.
it’s come to my attention that a breakup occurred which leaves me heart broken. this canadian couple made beautiful music together… death from above 1979!
i love this band *loved this band.
two guys from canada, an electric bass, and some drums give the basic formula to this late duo. jesse and sebastien created what people called dance-punk or dance-noise. high energy rock and roll lyrics, with a twist of loud synth make the death from above 1979 the kind of band that i blast on repeat on friday afternoons while driving home from work.
now jesse is still in a group called mstrkrft, who has remixed some death from above songs. if mstrkrft broke up i don’t know what i’d do.
i’ve reached the point in this blog where i go back and reread what i wrote. i realized that there’s a possibility one person who surfs onto my page and reads this will have heard of death from above 1979 or mstrkrft. that person will understand my pain and agony. for the others, i need to give some sort of reference point, a datum. let me equate this break up to that of say tom cruise and nicole kidman, or justin timberlake and brittiney spears for the younger crowd. ya, that big folks. you know you remember where you were and what you were doing when you heard that cruise and kidman were unhitching!
i just realized how bad that analogy really was. it’s late, i haven’t had my coffee for the day. the sun got in my eyes.
death from above 1979 decided a year ago, and announced about a month ago this horrible break up (horrible to me). there’s a cliché saying that i simply despise when people blurt out. but i’m going to use it here as i would never use it in real life, without sarcasm. “things happen for a reason”. for all the cup-half-full suckers who preached these words to me when they really should have said something more along the lines of “you can only play the cards you’re dealt” i’m going to use their line. i’m optimistic, hoping that the loss of one awesome band spawns two equally awesome bands in the near future.
it's common knowledge that i’m not a fan of couples. breakups are something i heavily encourage (solely for selfish reasons). if anyone was wondering, misery is not the only one who loves company, so does loneliness.
it’s come to my attention that a breakup occurred which leaves me heart broken. this canadian couple made beautiful music together… death from above 1979!
i love this band *loved this band.
two guys from canada, an electric bass, and some drums give the basic formula to this late duo. jesse and sebastien created what people called dance-punk or dance-noise. high energy rock and roll lyrics, with a twist of loud synth make the death from above 1979 the kind of band that i blast on repeat on friday afternoons while driving home from work.
now jesse is still in a group called mstrkrft, who has remixed some death from above songs. if mstrkrft broke up i don’t know what i’d do.
i’ve reached the point in this blog where i go back and reread what i wrote. i realized that there’s a possibility one person who surfs onto my page and reads this will have heard of death from above 1979 or mstrkrft. that person will understand my pain and agony. for the others, i need to give some sort of reference point, a datum. let me equate this break up to that of say tom cruise and nicole kidman, or justin timberlake and brittiney spears for the younger crowd. ya, that big folks. you know you remember where you were and what you were doing when you heard that cruise and kidman were unhitching!
i just realized how bad that analogy really was. it’s late, i haven’t had my coffee for the day. the sun got in my eyes.
death from above 1979 decided a year ago, and announced about a month ago this horrible break up (horrible to me). there’s a cliché saying that i simply despise when people blurt out. but i’m going to use it here as i would never use it in real life, without sarcasm. “things happen for a reason”. for all the cup-half-full suckers who preached these words to me when they really should have said something more along the lines of “you can only play the cards you’re dealt” i’m going to use their line. i’m optimistic, hoping that the loss of one awesome band spawns two equally awesome bands in the near future.
Wednesday, September 6, 2006
karen chuang
karen
i moved up to the bay area in october of 2004. i knew that i’d be temporarily living with long time uci-made friend vicki and her roommate. i had briefly met her roommate one time during a birthday visit, sept of ‘04.
her name was karen.
karen and i talked briefly of our first found similarity, stick shift hondas. i was amazed that she not only knew how to drive a manual automobile, but she actually owned one! she wasn't the best driver to walk the earth, but she knew how to use a clutch.
i moved into karen and vicki’s 2 bdrm 1 ½ bath appt in san jose. i shared a room with vicki, more accurately i lived in vicki’s room and vicki lived at her boyfriend's house. karen and i sat at home on weekdays watching tv, eating takeout, drinking beers, and playing on our computers. karen loved craigslist.org, enjoyed knitting, and hated drinking "cheap ass beer".
i'd jog, and used to run past this mexican restaurant with a goofy name. i think the name was el taco, or something of that nature. every time i ran by i promised to eat there just once. karen joined me on that “just once” trip to el taco. to this day i have never in my life eaten such crappy food, and karen agreed. the food was utterly horrible. though laughing about the experience with karen once vicki came home is priceless.
after a few months of playing three’s company karen moved to alameda, and vicki and i moved to vicki’s dad’s vacant house. in feb i moved up to sf.
after fronting over a thousand dollars of my savings to secure and pay for my new found san francisco apartment i realized that i was broke, had no food, no job, not even a can opener. karen asked me what i was up to for my first weekend in sf, club? bar? friends? i had no plans. she drove from her alameda apartment to mine and took me to the grocery store. she bought me pickled peppers, fruits for snacks, all the ingredients necessary in order to make my favorite dish that she cooked, and of course… a can opener.
we sometimes would hang out and ‘play laptops’. she’d come to my place, or i’d go to hers with our laptops. we’d sit next to each other on the couch and do our tasks. she would work on a spreadsheet while i composed a blog post. instead of talking, we’d have music playing and communicate via instant message. yes, we immed each other while sitting in the same room, everyone’s done it at one point. we geeked out and loved it.
but we still did cool things, we’d hit up bars, clubs, and concerts. karen hated paying a cover charge, hated it! i knew i could get her to come out to a club if there was no cover charge regardless of the theme. and i didn’t have to ever worry about her not getting along with my friends. a simple introduction to get karen and my friends acquainted was all i had to do. she would approach and talk to my friends with no signs of intimidation. my friends remembered her as “the girl who likes to dance”.
when she moved to sd i saw her a lot less. we’d talk just about as much over email or instant message. some conversations i’ve had with her lasted from logon to logoff, some were 2 sentences all day. but her presence was always somewhat felt. there were days we didn’t even chat but her away message would either make me laugh or think about something. i remember one of them was regarding words you can type with only one hand. i messaged her string of 5 random left hand typed only words, and right away she understood what i sent her!
i’m so sad she’s gone. i still don’t believe it. i’ve said it again and again in my head that she’s gone but my head just won’t get it. she was goofy, quirky, extremely caring, and intelligent. the last time i saw her was for my birthday in san diego. she came out to the onyx room by herself to spend an evening with me and my friends. she bought me a sierra nevada, and had one herself. we cheers’d and enjoyed. i'm glad i gave her a huge hug when she left that night.
mercury news article
i moved up to the bay area in october of 2004. i knew that i’d be temporarily living with long time uci-made friend vicki and her roommate. i had briefly met her roommate one time during a birthday visit, sept of ‘04.
her name was karen.karen and i talked briefly of our first found similarity, stick shift hondas. i was amazed that she not only knew how to drive a manual automobile, but she actually owned one! she wasn't the best driver to walk the earth, but she knew how to use a clutch.
i moved into karen and vicki’s 2 bdrm 1 ½ bath appt in san jose. i shared a room with vicki, more accurately i lived in vicki’s room and vicki lived at her boyfriend's house. karen and i sat at home on weekdays watching tv, eating takeout, drinking beers, and playing on our computers. karen loved craigslist.org, enjoyed knitting, and hated drinking "cheap ass beer".
i'd jog, and used to run past this mexican restaurant with a goofy name. i think the name was el taco, or something of that nature. every time i ran by i promised to eat there just once. karen joined me on that “just once” trip to el taco. to this day i have never in my life eaten such crappy food, and karen agreed. the food was utterly horrible. though laughing about the experience with karen once vicki came home is priceless.
after a few months of playing three’s company karen moved to alameda, and vicki and i moved to vicki’s dad’s vacant house. in feb i moved up to sf.
after fronting over a thousand dollars of my savings to secure and pay for my new found san francisco apartment i realized that i was broke, had no food, no job, not even a can opener. karen asked me what i was up to for my first weekend in sf, club? bar? friends? i had no plans. she drove from her alameda apartment to mine and took me to the grocery store. she bought me pickled peppers, fruits for snacks, all the ingredients necessary in order to make my favorite dish that she cooked, and of course… a can opener.
we sometimes would hang out and ‘play laptops’. she’d come to my place, or i’d go to hers with our laptops. we’d sit next to each other on the couch and do our tasks. she would work on a spreadsheet while i composed a blog post. instead of talking, we’d have music playing and communicate via instant message. yes, we immed each other while sitting in the same room, everyone’s done it at one point. we geeked out and loved it.
but we still did cool things, we’d hit up bars, clubs, and concerts. karen hated paying a cover charge, hated it! i knew i could get her to come out to a club if there was no cover charge regardless of the theme. and i didn’t have to ever worry about her not getting along with my friends. a simple introduction to get karen and my friends acquainted was all i had to do. she would approach and talk to my friends with no signs of intimidation. my friends remembered her as “the girl who likes to dance”.
when she moved to sd i saw her a lot less. we’d talk just about as much over email or instant message. some conversations i’ve had with her lasted from logon to logoff, some were 2 sentences all day. but her presence was always somewhat felt. there were days we didn’t even chat but her away message would either make me laugh or think about something. i remember one of them was regarding words you can type with only one hand. i messaged her string of 5 random left hand typed only words, and right away she understood what i sent her!
i’m so sad she’s gone. i still don’t believe it. i’ve said it again and again in my head that she’s gone but my head just won’t get it. she was goofy, quirky, extremely caring, and intelligent. the last time i saw her was for my birthday in san diego. she came out to the onyx room by herself to spend an evening with me and my friends. she bought me a sierra nevada, and had one herself. we cheers’d and enjoyed. i'm glad i gave her a huge hug when she left that night.
mercury news article
Sunday, August 20, 2006
numbers
numbers!
i love numbers- how else could i have lasted taking 5 years of math intensive mechanical engineering classes? for the love of numbers! through all this, i’ve found that each number holds a special place in my heart. all ten digits and me, we go way back. 0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, and 9. numbers >9 are disregarded as simply one number, they are a combination of the first 10 (in my world).
i may sound ignorant for saying this, but i assumed everyone loved all numbers the same, just as i do. yet recently i was completely appalled during conversation about numbers. the person i was talking to exclaimed that they hate the number four and love the number eight. apparently 4 is bad luck!?
in my eyes four is a pioneer. it’s the first whole number (besides the exception of the glory hogging #1) to have a whole number as a square root. four is the last “quick to recognize*” number.
four and i go way back, i love four. and i love 8. i couldn’t see how she could hate four so much, but she did. her plant had 4 flowers on it, and she cut a perfectly healthy and beautiful flower off simply because she needed the plant to have three or five flowers, but not four.
i asked her why 8 is was a good number (i mean, i know it is. me and 8 have history like you don’t know). she said, “because it’s lucky, the chinese think it’s lucky and i’m chinese. it sounds like the word ‘prosper’ in chinese”. that’s it? that’s why? i was outraged! in english, 9 sounds like ‘mine’ does that make it lucky? 8 sounds like ‘great’ =luck? seven sounds like heaven –lucky? maybe rhyming doesn’t work in this case… four sounds like the word you yell when you hit a golf ball in someone’s direction. perhaps the originator of that action was chinese?
8 is a superb number don’t get me wrong. 2 cubed, 8 bits in a byte!!!, it’s in fibonacci’s sequence, binary for 8 is 1000, it is the octo- prefix helping name the octopus and the octagon. 8 is even the second magic number in physics. magic! but she didn’t know this, she had no true attachment to 8 besides the fact that chinese people say it’s lucky. prosper, hmph.
just because chinese people say something, doesn’t mean it’s correct. i’ve been to china town. heck i bought a squeegee there for $1.99. the guy said it was a good deal and a good squeegee. it broke during my first use! he was chinese, he said it was good. he was wroooong.
i didn’t dare ask why she disliked the #4, my precious #4, but she told me anyhow. that’s right, “chinese think it’s unlucky”. well i think 4 is super lucky. if i won 4 million dollars i’d take it. if i found a 4 dollar bill, i’d feel blessed. if i had 4 fingers… let me stop there.
in persian culture 7 is a lucky number. i like seven, but not because someone tells me it’s lucky. 7 sins, jackpot 7 on the slot machine, and 7 is such a bit*ch of a number in mathematics that you have to give it respect. seven is one of my children.
sometimes i ponder: am the only normal one, thus making me weird?
*quick to recognize numbers are usually 0, 1, 2, 3, and 4. when there are 5 or more of something, it usually takes time to count them or recount because you can’t recognize exactly how many there are in one glance.
i love numbers- how else could i have lasted taking 5 years of math intensive mechanical engineering classes? for the love of numbers! through all this, i’ve found that each number holds a special place in my heart. all ten digits and me, we go way back. 0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, and 9. numbers >9 are disregarded as simply one number, they are a combination of the first 10 (in my world).i may sound ignorant for saying this, but i assumed everyone loved all numbers the same, just as i do. yet recently i was completely appalled during conversation about numbers. the person i was talking to exclaimed that they hate the number four and love the number eight. apparently 4 is bad luck!?
in my eyes four is a pioneer. it’s the first whole number (besides the exception of the glory hogging #1) to have a whole number as a square root. four is the last “quick to recognize*” number.
four and i go way back, i love four. and i love 8. i couldn’t see how she could hate four so much, but she did. her plant had 4 flowers on it, and she cut a perfectly healthy and beautiful flower off simply because she needed the plant to have three or five flowers, but not four.
i asked her why 8 is was a good number (i mean, i know it is. me and 8 have history like you don’t know). she said, “because it’s lucky, the chinese think it’s lucky and i’m chinese. it sounds like the word ‘prosper’ in chinese”. that’s it? that’s why? i was outraged! in english, 9 sounds like ‘mine’ does that make it lucky? 8 sounds like ‘great’ =luck? seven sounds like heaven –lucky? maybe rhyming doesn’t work in this case… four sounds like the word you yell when you hit a golf ball in someone’s direction. perhaps the originator of that action was chinese?
8 is a superb number don’t get me wrong. 2 cubed, 8 bits in a byte!!!, it’s in fibonacci’s sequence, binary for 8 is 1000, it is the octo- prefix helping name the octopus and the octagon. 8 is even the second magic number in physics. magic! but she didn’t know this, she had no true attachment to 8 besides the fact that chinese people say it’s lucky. prosper, hmph.
just because chinese people say something, doesn’t mean it’s correct. i’ve been to china town. heck i bought a squeegee there for $1.99. the guy said it was a good deal and a good squeegee. it broke during my first use! he was chinese, he said it was good. he was wroooong.
i didn’t dare ask why she disliked the #4, my precious #4, but she told me anyhow. that’s right, “chinese think it’s unlucky”. well i think 4 is super lucky. if i won 4 million dollars i’d take it. if i found a 4 dollar bill, i’d feel blessed. if i had 4 fingers… let me stop there.
in persian culture 7 is a lucky number. i like seven, but not because someone tells me it’s lucky. 7 sins, jackpot 7 on the slot machine, and 7 is such a bit*ch of a number in mathematics that you have to give it respect. seven is one of my children.
sometimes i ponder: am the only normal one, thus making me weird?
*quick to recognize numbers are usually 0, 1, 2, 3, and 4. when there are 5 or more of something, it usually takes time to count them or recount because you can’t recognize exactly how many there are in one glance.
Tuesday, August 15, 2006
ipod game
ipod game
i didn’t realize that i had made up a game for myself until i told someone about it not too long ago.
everyone i know has an ipod. nano, mini, photo, video, old, new black white, you name it. it’s impossible to go through every song on everyone’s ipod without borrowing their electronic best friend for a month or so –and nobody is ok with that. so i devised a quick system which i use to ‘rate’ a person’s dap (digital audio player).
another similarity my friends and i share is that we have all gone to school. at school you get grades, and grades are determined from a scale. the scale is simple, cmon we all know this: a=100%-90%, b=89%-80%, c=79%-70%, etc etc.
so how do you play?
this game is normally played when the ipod is hooked up to a stereo, or speakers that enable more than one person to hear it. the more people the more fun! the ipod must be set on random or “shuffle”. you can start by simply pushing play, but i like to push the track forward button a few times just to get the ipod warmed up and ready to play. make sure that the ipod isn’t playing a playlist, all songs should be selected for the game.
the game has started, and the first song is playing. this is where audience participation comes in. it is the responsibility of all members playing the game to decide what value this random song deserves. i use a scale of 0-5%-10%. if the song instantly brings you to a euphoric memory, or gives you a tingly spine it’s a 10%.
songs that you just have to listen all the way thru –even though you’re playing the game –are dead 10%’s.
if the song doesn’t suck, and given the right scenario you would probably listen to the whole track, it’s a 5%.
finally, when the owner of the ipod hears those first 2 seconds of the randomly chosen song, and blushes, immediately blurts out an excuse, or gives you that smile. you know the smile that says “oh gosh you just pulled me out of the ‘i love kelly clarkson’ closet and i wasn’t expecting that” smile. songs that suck and songs that are embarrassing are 0%’s you’ll know within seconds if it’s a 0% song.
repeat this rating of random songs 10 times. this is a continuous string of 10 random songs, each rated on a scale of 0-10%. no cheating here people, if you push forward two times in a row and skip over a 0% song in hopes of a 10% song coming up, karma will catch up to you –and you won’t want that, believe me. i knew a guy who cheated on this game once and he ended up driving a honda with no ac through death valley on summer solstice through stop and go traffic with no radio and only hot coffee to drink for 10 hrs. abide by the rules.
at the end, count up your %’s and you get a grade! sometimes your ipod can grade at a a and other times the same one can grade at an f-. sure there’s inconsistency, and it’s a voting system so there can be biased. discussion about the songs is heavily encouraged, as is humiliating ipod owners for 0% songs.
to date i’m the only one who has scored a 100% (thanks in advance to anyone who doesn’t point out that it’s my own game and i normally play this game by myself with my own ipod.)
i didn’t realize that i had made up a game for myself until i told someone about it not too long ago.
everyone i know has an ipod. nano, mini, photo, video, old, new black white, you name it. it’s impossible to go through every song on everyone’s ipod without borrowing their electronic best friend for a month or so –and nobody is ok with that. so i devised a quick system which i use to ‘rate’ a person’s dap (digital audio player).another similarity my friends and i share is that we have all gone to school. at school you get grades, and grades are determined from a scale. the scale is simple, cmon we all know this: a=100%-90%, b=89%-80%, c=79%-70%, etc etc.
so how do you play?
this game is normally played when the ipod is hooked up to a stereo, or speakers that enable more than one person to hear it. the more people the more fun! the ipod must be set on random or “shuffle”. you can start by simply pushing play, but i like to push the track forward button a few times just to get the ipod warmed up and ready to play. make sure that the ipod isn’t playing a playlist, all songs should be selected for the game.
the game has started, and the first song is playing. this is where audience participation comes in. it is the responsibility of all members playing the game to decide what value this random song deserves. i use a scale of 0-5%-10%. if the song instantly brings you to a euphoric memory, or gives you a tingly spine it’s a 10%.
songs that you just have to listen all the way thru –even though you’re playing the game –are dead 10%’s.
if the song doesn’t suck, and given the right scenario you would probably listen to the whole track, it’s a 5%.
finally, when the owner of the ipod hears those first 2 seconds of the randomly chosen song, and blushes, immediately blurts out an excuse, or gives you that smile. you know the smile that says “oh gosh you just pulled me out of the ‘i love kelly clarkson’ closet and i wasn’t expecting that” smile. songs that suck and songs that are embarrassing are 0%’s you’ll know within seconds if it’s a 0% song.
repeat this rating of random songs 10 times. this is a continuous string of 10 random songs, each rated on a scale of 0-10%. no cheating here people, if you push forward two times in a row and skip over a 0% song in hopes of a 10% song coming up, karma will catch up to you –and you won’t want that, believe me. i knew a guy who cheated on this game once and he ended up driving a honda with no ac through death valley on summer solstice through stop and go traffic with no radio and only hot coffee to drink for 10 hrs. abide by the rules.
at the end, count up your %’s and you get a grade! sometimes your ipod can grade at a a and other times the same one can grade at an f-. sure there’s inconsistency, and it’s a voting system so there can be biased. discussion about the songs is heavily encouraged, as is humiliating ipod owners for 0% songs.
to date i’m the only one who has scored a 100% (thanks in advance to anyone who doesn’t point out that it’s my own game and i normally play this game by myself with my own ipod.)
Monday, August 7, 2006
Wednesday, August 2, 2006
sonicare
sonicare
go figure. i spend most of my petty cash on items which either plug in or use batteries. i’m the guy at work who brings in his own super doper optical wireless fancy shmancy mouse and keyboard instead of the company issue garbage on a cord.
i read blogs about phones and computers, digital music players and ipod accessories. i even go as far as to sit down and read cover to cover every manual that comes with each device i purchase. there have been times where i read through the english portion entirely, and then start reading it over again in spanish –just to see if i can understand the same content in a different language.
you would think that someone such as the person i described would have taken the plunge long long ago. but it wasn’t until last week that i finally made the call and bought an electric toothbrush!
a shiny phillips sonicare e5300 now sits in my bathroom readily awaiting my return!
brushing teeth has never been so fun! the old twizzler’s slogan should be stolen and used for sonicare instead: “sonicare makes mouths happy”!
there are many electric tooth brushes on the market today. some looke like winne the pooh and are as inexpensive as 4.99 running on 2 aa batteries. then there’s the $150.00 sonicare 9000 series brush that has toothpaste inside the handle that squirts through the bristles and timers than ring at 30 second intervals reminding you to move from one region of your mouth to the other.
i chose the e5300 sonicare (middle of the road), it proved to be the best value for the given features and technology. thanks to amazon.com i got my 5300 delivered for $68.
there’s a 28 day period where phillips guarantees teeth to be whiter healthier and happier. they back the guarantee with a full monetary refund before the 28 day period’s end. i was thinking to brush for 27 days, send it back and spend my $68 smackers on something else. but parting with my new tooth god send will most likely never happen.
teeth, meet technology. technology meet teeth.
go figure. i spend most of my petty cash on items which either plug in or use batteries. i’m the guy at work who brings in his own super doper optical wireless fancy shmancy mouse and keyboard instead of the company issue garbage on a cord.
i read blogs about phones and computers, digital music players and ipod accessories. i even go as far as to sit down and read cover to cover every manual that comes with each device i purchase. there have been times where i read through the english portion entirely, and then start reading it over again in spanish –just to see if i can understand the same content in a different language.
you would think that someone such as the person i described would have taken the plunge long long ago. but it wasn’t until last week that i finally made the call and bought an electric toothbrush!
a shiny phillips sonicare e5300 now sits in my bathroom readily awaiting my return!brushing teeth has never been so fun! the old twizzler’s slogan should be stolen and used for sonicare instead: “sonicare makes mouths happy”!
there are many electric tooth brushes on the market today. some looke like winne the pooh and are as inexpensive as 4.99 running on 2 aa batteries. then there’s the $150.00 sonicare 9000 series brush that has toothpaste inside the handle that squirts through the bristles and timers than ring at 30 second intervals reminding you to move from one region of your mouth to the other.
i chose the e5300 sonicare (middle of the road), it proved to be the best value for the given features and technology. thanks to amazon.com i got my 5300 delivered for $68.
there’s a 28 day period where phillips guarantees teeth to be whiter healthier and happier. they back the guarantee with a full monetary refund before the 28 day period’s end. i was thinking to brush for 27 days, send it back and spend my $68 smackers on something else. but parting with my new tooth god send will most likely never happen.
teeth, meet technology. technology meet teeth.
Wednesday, July 19, 2006
gwow whore tits
if you've ever immed someone, you know what i mean. typos in emails are unacceptable, but typos in instant message conversations are inevitable. sometimes these typos are simple like “teh” or the “you’re” will replace “your” and vice versa.
but sometimes these typos can cause a bit more than a quick grin from the receiving party. one example that happens far too often is the typo of “got it”. this typo normally comes out looking like “go tit”. this can be a rather confusing mistake for many.
an even worse one involves the words “who are”. i was talking about a camping trip to someone over a.i.m. she asked me “whore going?” “wth? who are you talking about???” i thought she was talking about someone she didn’t like that would possibly be going camping with me. until it dawned on me that no such person existed. she promptly responded “who are going? –sorry” i could only “lol” and keep going*
sometimes typos bring us new and exciting lexicon. for example, talking to a friend about some shocking story (of course i don’t know what the story was) he replied “gwow”. i mockingly replied that i agree with his “gwow”. my shocking story was so shocking that “wow” didn’t quite convey the shock factor of my shocking story.
from that conversation on i have used “gwow” whenever talking to this certain friend and my shock value is >100% of the generally used “wow”. now it wasn’t until recently that i’ve found myself using “gwow” with people who have never even heard of this typo-turned-slang. heck, if pwned can become popular (due to a programmer typing the word “owned” incorrectly) then “gwow” is next in line. gwow.
*note: since “lol” isn’t in my daily vocab, i never use it in conversation. i really did laugh out loud because frankly, this was a funny typo! i do use “wtf” and “wth” or “tmi” in my online conversations, because i also say them in verbal conversations. am i wrong? (to hunger).
just in!!!! while composing this blog post i’m talking to a friend online. we found out that we both ate spider rolls for dinner tonight.
her: if you ever visit, we have to go to that place with the good spider rolls then!
me: yes
me: most definitely yes and yes
her: i like it cause the crap is fried perfectly
her: crab
Tuesday, July 11, 2006
sideways
that scene
i’m not looking for sympathy here, but i’ve come across a scene which makes a perfect metaphor of my current life state. it’s from the movie sideways. miles, the main character has gone on the most memorable vacation of his pathetic life with his soon-to-be married friend. he then went to his friend’s wedding only to encounter his pregnant ex-wife and her happy hubby. on top of that, during the vacation, miles completely messed up what would have been a beautiful relationship with an even more beautiful woman. so miles ditches the wedding reception and goes home. he digs out of his closet a 1961 french wine that is currently ‘peaking’. the gem of his collection.
the scene is miles sitting in a mom and pop burger joint, wine bottle stuffed in the corner of the booth, yes his most prized 1961 vintage. his emotions are on a teeter totter. he’s sad due to the uncontrollable snowball of misfortune that has bowled him over. he’s in momentary bliss because his 1961 wine makes a generic burger joint feel like a 5 star meal. i’m trying to convey that feeling he’s got written on his face. those feelings.
my life is that face. there are goods and bads, ups and downs, i’m happy and sad all at the same time. thru the whole movie miles pouts about bad luck and regretted decisions, but at this point he realizes that his attitude is the only thing he needs to change in order to turn his frown upside down (one more cliché in that sentence and i would have had a hattrick).
this is the point he realizes it.
i’m not looking for sympathy here, but i’ve come across a scene which makes a perfect metaphor of my current life state. it’s from the movie sideways. miles, the main character has gone on the most memorable vacation of his pathetic life with his soon-to-be married friend. he then went to his friend’s wedding only to encounter his pregnant ex-wife and her happy hubby. on top of that, during the vacation, miles completely messed up what would have been a beautiful relationship with an even more beautiful woman. so miles ditches the wedding reception and goes home. he digs out of his closet a 1961 french wine that is currently ‘peaking’. the gem of his collection.
the scene is miles sitting in a mom and pop burger joint, wine bottle stuffed in the corner of the booth, yes his most prized 1961 vintage. his emotions are on a teeter totter. he’s sad due to the uncontrollable snowball of misfortune that has bowled him over. he’s in momentary bliss because his 1961 wine makes a generic burger joint feel like a 5 star meal. i’m trying to convey that feeling he’s got written on his face. those feelings.
my life is that face. there are goods and bads, ups and downs, i’m happy and sad all at the same time. thru the whole movie miles pouts about bad luck and regretted decisions, but at this point he realizes that his attitude is the only thing he needs to change in order to turn his frown upside down (one more cliché in that sentence and i would have had a hattrick).
this is the point he realizes it.
Monday, July 3, 2006
ameer n ama
photoshop it
me and my sister were hanging out at a winery... and couldn't take pics of ourselves. so i took to my photoshop skillz!
my sister (amatece)
and me
both of us!!
me and my sister were hanging out at a winery... and couldn't take pics of ourselves. so i took to my photoshop skillz!
my sister (amatece)
and me
both of us!!
Monday, June 19, 2006
good and evil
good? evil?
i read lord of the flies in high school. it’s a book based on the idea that mankind is evil. without defined rules and police men with mustaches and aviator glasses, mankind will turn to violence, deceit, betrayal, murder, and revolt against ‘the man’.
is mankind evil? or is mankind good? if man was completely evil then where did these institutions of ‘good’ come from?
it’s my opinion that mankind is both, life just ain’t that simple yo! mankind is both good an evil. –what a concept.
there are conditions to this hypothesis. man is anonymously evil, and personally good.
before i elaborate, this idea is not as clear cut as one may initially think. the ideas of evil and good are too vague as it is, i’d rather use words like considerate or caring and malicious or immoral. still, i want to throw out a disclaimer that men (and women) are evil and good all at the same time.
the basic idea here is that people can be heartless towards that which they have no connection to. ignorance isn’t bliss, it’s an excuse to do the immoral act and be guilt free. a person hurled a brick thru my friend’s art studio window. he’s a starving artist, and makes money working a crappy part time job that requires he be out of the house at 4:30am. there’s a possibility that he’ll have to pay for the replacement window [$1,000.00]. i’m assuming that the people/person who threw the brick didn’t have it in for my friend, he's a nice guy. most likely it was some kid with idle time and mischief on his mind.
had the mischievous kid known my friend, he wouldn’t have smashed the window. seeing all the pain and stress he put on my friend’s head would haunt his conscience.
simply put, if the bastard brick tosser knew my friend, evil thoughts would have been overridden by good.
thus i’ve concluded that people are anonymously evil yet personally good.
i read lord of the flies in high school. it’s a book based on the idea that mankind is evil. without defined rules and police men with mustaches and aviator glasses, mankind will turn to violence, deceit, betrayal, murder, and revolt against ‘the man’.is mankind evil? or is mankind good? if man was completely evil then where did these institutions of ‘good’ come from?
it’s my opinion that mankind is both, life just ain’t that simple yo! mankind is both good an evil. –what a concept.
there are conditions to this hypothesis. man is anonymously evil, and personally good.
before i elaborate, this idea is not as clear cut as one may initially think. the ideas of evil and good are too vague as it is, i’d rather use words like considerate or caring and malicious or immoral. still, i want to throw out a disclaimer that men (and women) are evil and good all at the same time.
the basic idea here is that people can be heartless towards that which they have no connection to. ignorance isn’t bliss, it’s an excuse to do the immoral act and be guilt free. a person hurled a brick thru my friend’s art studio window. he’s a starving artist, and makes money working a crappy part time job that requires he be out of the house at 4:30am. there’s a possibility that he’ll have to pay for the replacement window [$1,000.00]. i’m assuming that the people/person who threw the brick didn’t have it in for my friend, he's a nice guy. most likely it was some kid with idle time and mischief on his mind.
had the mischievous kid known my friend, he wouldn’t have smashed the window. seeing all the pain and stress he put on my friend’s head would haunt his conscience.
simply put, if the bastard brick tosser knew my friend, evil thoughts would have been overridden by good.
thus i’ve concluded that people are anonymously evil yet personally good.
Wednesday, June 14, 2006
apple clock
idle time
on weekdays i’m busy. i’ll hit up happy hr after work, or go out to dinner with friends or coworkers. it’s not unusual for me to stroll in the front door of my apartment at 11pm on a weekday. weekends are a different story.
i’m different from 99% of the people i know simply because i lack a significant other. since i lack this time consuming entity, my hands sit idle. idle hands normally create mischief, but mine create clocks.
i had some spare sheet metal, a dremel, a broken clock, and a weekend. what to do what to do?
i printed out an apple computers logo, and cut it out. to the right is my broken clock. the mechanism works, but the face was just a piece of paper.
i traced the paper stencil on my sheet metal
then proceeded to cut the shapes out
here it is, all cut out! this took me about 15mins or so.
this is how she’ll look when i’m all done. the mechanism is on the upper right hand corner, and the hands just stick right on to it.
i drilled a hole
then i cut out some plastic packaging material from a saw blade that just happened to be hanging around, and superglued it to the leaf.
and here’s where she sits. all done!
so those couples out there, when you’re wasting time eating bland pasta at olive garden discussing why tom hank’s hair didn’t look that good in da vinci code, rest assure that i’m not doing something similar to you. i’m probably changing the color of the apple logo on my ibook computer, or sanding a wooden chair!
on weekdays i’m busy. i’ll hit up happy hr after work, or go out to dinner with friends or coworkers. it’s not unusual for me to stroll in the front door of my apartment at 11pm on a weekday. weekends are a different story.
i’m different from 99% of the people i know simply because i lack a significant other. since i lack this time consuming entity, my hands sit idle. idle hands normally create mischief, but mine create clocks.
i had some spare sheet metal, a dremel, a broken clock, and a weekend. what to do what to do?
i printed out an apple computers logo, and cut it out. to the right is my broken clock. the mechanism works, but the face was just a piece of paper.
i traced the paper stencil on my sheet metal
then proceeded to cut the shapes out
here it is, all cut out! this took me about 15mins or so.
this is how she’ll look when i’m all done. the mechanism is on the upper right hand corner, and the hands just stick right on to it.
i drilled a hole
then i cut out some plastic packaging material from a saw blade that just happened to be hanging around, and superglued it to the leaf.
and here’s where she sits. all done!
so those couples out there, when you’re wasting time eating bland pasta at olive garden discussing why tom hank’s hair didn’t look that good in da vinci code, rest assure that i’m not doing something similar to you. i’m probably changing the color of the apple logo on my ibook computer, or sanding a wooden chair!
Saturday, June 10, 2006
boarders adventure
adventures in borders
as soon as anyone asks me “have you ever read that book….” i immediately reply “no”. i don’t read books, i haven’t read books. in high school and college i’d read every 3rd page of our assigned reading. surprisingly one can attain c’s and b’s from every third page of a book. i wonder if mom will be proud or disappointed when she reads this (note: my mom does read my blog).
with that i’m going to break my personal blog rule number 1, talk about my day. that’s right, i’m regressing to 14 year old high school girl blog style for this entry. hey nobody’s putting a gun to anyone’s head here are they?
i went to the dermatologist today, his office is right near a borders book store. my co-worker, knowing this, gave me a half used gift card to borders. he said there was approx 10 dollars on there, and that i should just finish it up. now let the record show that i have been to borders by myself one single time, and was on a specific mission to find a book that almost didn’t exist for mom’s christmas gift.
i walked in planning to spend 10 smackers on something fun, and then go home and enjoy my friday afternoon. that didn’t happen.
i started out at the music section, when about fourtyeight seconds passed and i realized
a few things:
1. borders has a limited selection of the stuff i’m into: house/electro/dnb (which is lumped into a category called ‘dance’), and an abundance of trance (also labeled dance) which i’m not so into.
2. i’m a computer geekazoid, i could download any album sitting on boarder’s shelf, and if i really put some effort, i’m sure i could download stuff that’s soon to be on border’s shelf! (but that’s morally wrong)
3. i lack the morals necessary to prevent myself from queuing illegal downloads!! (mom, you should have stop reading this post a while ago…)
those three reasons got me out of the music section and on the hunt for a 10.00 purchase. i needed to purchase a real book. paper, glue, cardboard, dust, etc.
i know, journals! i like to write. i could always use a cool nifty journal. i walked over to the journals, but not before buying a nice hot fresh boarders coffee. a lady with blonde hair past her ass wearing a matching pink felt jogging suit with stripes was standing there. 15 years ago she was getting attention from all the boys, but her prime had obviously long since passed… i was apparently the only one informed of this. she quickly asked me which journal was a better buy for a boy. little does she know that i tend to gravitate towards hello kitty when it comes to stationery.
somehow i feel that she got the impression i wasn’t standing there to look at journals, i think, that she thought, i was there checking her out!! so i sipped my coffee, tried to answer her ‘you must be a manly man’ question with a short fragment sentence, and went on checking out journals. and i sipped my coffee, and again. she persisted to ask me questions of which was more manly, and why. with a long sleeve shirt on, a jacket over that, and constant ingestion of hot coffee, i started to sweat. i noticed i was sweating, and didn’t want to give her the impression that i was nervous talking to her, because she wasn’t attractive!
somehow it ended with me spilling a bit of coffee on my hand, pointing to the wooden covered journal held by her left hand –leaving a drip of coffee on the journal. she put the journal back on the shelf, grabbed a coffee drip free journal off the shelf, and quickly scuttled off. i was sweating, had a wet finger, and didn’t want any of those journals.
i meandered over to the reference section, perhaps i was in store to purchase a c++ programming book. what could i do with c++??
“how to make music on the mac” caught my eye, but after a glance-over, i knew that throwing $14.99 into a flushing toilet would teach me more than this black and white book.
borders had dvd’s i remembered! how about purchasing the big lebowski special edition to replace the normal edition i have have at home. why does the transporter 1 cost only $19.99 and the transporter 2 retails at $29.99??? has anyone at borders seen the transporter 2?
i was obviously desperate, so i broke the glass and pulled the alarm. call the person i know who frequents borders the most that is. she didn’t answer!!! what was i to do?!?! i’m at borders, i need to spend this gift card, and i can’t find anything worth the free credit i was given… it was almost like a demented torture.
minutes later lilly called me back, i followed her advice and purchased a comic type book, glad that stressful situation had blown over. i’m going to be much more careful next time i accept free credit, much more careful.
as soon as anyone asks me “have you ever read that book….” i immediately reply “no”. i don’t read books, i haven’t read books. in high school and college i’d read every 3rd page of our assigned reading. surprisingly one can attain c’s and b’s from every third page of a book. i wonder if mom will be proud or disappointed when she reads this (note: my mom does read my blog).
with that i’m going to break my personal blog rule number 1, talk about my day. that’s right, i’m regressing to 14 year old high school girl blog style for this entry. hey nobody’s putting a gun to anyone’s head here are they?
i went to the dermatologist today, his office is right near a borders book store. my co-worker, knowing this, gave me a half used gift card to borders. he said there was approx 10 dollars on there, and that i should just finish it up. now let the record show that i have been to borders by myself one single time, and was on a specific mission to find a book that almost didn’t exist for mom’s christmas gift.
i walked in planning to spend 10 smackers on something fun, and then go home and enjoy my friday afternoon. that didn’t happen.
i started out at the music section, when about fourtyeight seconds passed and i realized
a few things:
1. borders has a limited selection of the stuff i’m into: house/electro/dnb (which is lumped into a category called ‘dance’), and an abundance of trance (also labeled dance) which i’m not so into.
2. i’m a computer geekazoid, i could download any album sitting on boarder’s shelf, and if i really put some effort, i’m sure i could download stuff that’s soon to be on border’s shelf! (but that’s morally wrong)
3. i lack the morals necessary to prevent myself from queuing illegal downloads!! (mom, you should have stop reading this post a while ago…)
those three reasons got me out of the music section and on the hunt for a 10.00 purchase. i needed to purchase a real book. paper, glue, cardboard, dust, etc.
i know, journals! i like to write. i could always use a cool nifty journal. i walked over to the journals, but not before buying a nice hot fresh boarders coffee. a lady with blonde hair past her ass wearing a matching pink felt jogging suit with stripes was standing there. 15 years ago she was getting attention from all the boys, but her prime had obviously long since passed… i was apparently the only one informed of this. she quickly asked me which journal was a better buy for a boy. little does she know that i tend to gravitate towards hello kitty when it comes to stationery.
somehow i feel that she got the impression i wasn’t standing there to look at journals, i think, that she thought, i was there checking her out!! so i sipped my coffee, tried to answer her ‘you must be a manly man’ question with a short fragment sentence, and went on checking out journals. and i sipped my coffee, and again. she persisted to ask me questions of which was more manly, and why. with a long sleeve shirt on, a jacket over that, and constant ingestion of hot coffee, i started to sweat. i noticed i was sweating, and didn’t want to give her the impression that i was nervous talking to her, because she wasn’t attractive!
somehow it ended with me spilling a bit of coffee on my hand, pointing to the wooden covered journal held by her left hand –leaving a drip of coffee on the journal. she put the journal back on the shelf, grabbed a coffee drip free journal off the shelf, and quickly scuttled off. i was sweating, had a wet finger, and didn’t want any of those journals.
i meandered over to the reference section, perhaps i was in store to purchase a c++ programming book. what could i do with c++??
“how to make music on the mac” caught my eye, but after a glance-over, i knew that throwing $14.99 into a flushing toilet would teach me more than this black and white book.
borders had dvd’s i remembered! how about purchasing the big lebowski special edition to replace the normal edition i have have at home. why does the transporter 1 cost only $19.99 and the transporter 2 retails at $29.99??? has anyone at borders seen the transporter 2?
i was obviously desperate, so i broke the glass and pulled the alarm. call the person i know who frequents borders the most that is. she didn’t answer!!! what was i to do?!?! i’m at borders, i need to spend this gift card, and i can’t find anything worth the free credit i was given… it was almost like a demented torture.
minutes later lilly called me back, i followed her advice and purchased a comic type book, glad that stressful situation had blown over. i’m going to be much more careful next time i accept free credit, much more careful.
Sunday, June 4, 2006
youtube
me tube
youtube is the new black:
i was trying to make a short about me going to home depot, i stopped filming half way due to lack of hands. more to come? (link: my youtube page)
youtube is the new black:
i was trying to make a short about me going to home depot, i stopped filming half way due to lack of hands. more to come? (link: my youtube page)
Saturday, June 3, 2006
pass it on
pass it on
people don’t want to die. it happens tho, dying that is, and so how do we deal with something that we don’t want to do. in my case, i change my perspective.
in the beginning, my goals were to passing classes, eating junk food, playing video games, and above all having a good time. if mom and dad were happy, i was for sure pretty happy.
after school, my goals changed. get a stable job, and somehow contribute to society. my goal to please mom and dad had not changed, but the things that pleased them did change.
after getting that stable job, and becoming financially independent from mom and dad, i found another change of my goals. happiness. mom and dad wanted me to be happy at a stable job, and financially independent from them. but this time there was a twist, what made them happy was for me to be happy. this was completely new to me. in college they didn’t care what i wanted to do, they cared about classes, i needed to get good grades. in grade school, what i wanted was irrelevant, if grades weren’t good, i wasn’t good. but this time, they wanted what i wanted.
my parents work hard, they have come from families who struggled (so they tell me!!). why did they work so hard to attain what they have now –was it just for them? or were they working hard, for me?
the thing is, they were working for themselves –me.
i am my parents, they are their parents.
i recently looked back one generation. my father specifically. he was born in iran, and at 18 moved to the states for school on a scholarship. he spoke no english. he then managed to marry a beautiful blonde (not easy for a foreign man i tell you!!) and then had 3 successful (and very good looking might i add) children. that’s the american dream folks, and now he’s thriving in one of the most sought after cities in the world, america’s finest city, sunny san diego. i see him attaining grandmas goals which were also his.
i never met my father’s father, and have seen his mother all of 2-3 times in my life. but i know that they are proud of him, he’s reached his goals and he’s taken their position.
grandma was probably afraid to go when she did. like i said, people don’t want to die. but she knew that her three children have achieved success, and are now the parents with children on their way to success. grandma mahin (everyone calls her by first name, even me) may have passed away, but she’s not all dead. i’m one of many still around, striving to reach my goal.
people don’t want to die. it happens tho, dying that is, and so how do we deal with something that we don’t want to do. in my case, i change my perspective.
in the beginning, my goals were to passing classes, eating junk food, playing video games, and above all having a good time. if mom and dad were happy, i was for sure pretty happy.
after school, my goals changed. get a stable job, and somehow contribute to society. my goal to please mom and dad had not changed, but the things that pleased them did change.
after getting that stable job, and becoming financially independent from mom and dad, i found another change of my goals. happiness. mom and dad wanted me to be happy at a stable job, and financially independent from them. but this time there was a twist, what made them happy was for me to be happy. this was completely new to me. in college they didn’t care what i wanted to do, they cared about classes, i needed to get good grades. in grade school, what i wanted was irrelevant, if grades weren’t good, i wasn’t good. but this time, they wanted what i wanted.
my parents work hard, they have come from families who struggled (so they tell me!!). why did they work so hard to attain what they have now –was it just for them? or were they working hard, for me?
the thing is, they were working for themselves –me.
i am my parents, they are their parents.
i recently looked back one generation. my father specifically. he was born in iran, and at 18 moved to the states for school on a scholarship. he spoke no english. he then managed to marry a beautiful blonde (not easy for a foreign man i tell you!!) and then had 3 successful (and very good looking might i add) children. that’s the american dream folks, and now he’s thriving in one of the most sought after cities in the world, america’s finest city, sunny san diego. i see him attaining grandmas goals which were also his.
i never met my father’s father, and have seen his mother all of 2-3 times in my life. but i know that they are proud of him, he’s reached his goals and he’s taken their position.
grandma was probably afraid to go when she did. like i said, people don’t want to die. but she knew that her three children have achieved success, and are now the parents with children on their way to success. grandma mahin (everyone calls her by first name, even me) may have passed away, but she’s not all dead. i’m one of many still around, striving to reach my goal.
me & gene in hs
me & mr. shi
year: 1996ish?
here's a foreshadowing picture if i ever saw one. me and gene in high school. like the long hair and mustache? chicks dig it i swear. (btw we didn't drink that coors, it went back in the fridge.)
year: 1996ish?
here's a foreshadowing picture if i ever saw one. me and gene in high school. like the long hair and mustache? chicks dig it i swear. (btw we didn't drink that coors, it went back in the fridge.)
Sunday, May 28, 2006
da vinci code
i am one of the very few human beings that did not read the famous “da vinci code” book. however, i did recently go watch the movie. i expected it to be awesome (but not sure how), and about leonardo/mona lisa. i also like the amelie girl, so i was expecting to see lots of her with her french accent. after watching the movie i quickly figured out exactly how this story came about. the author watched indiana jones and the last crusade, then he watched kevin smith’s dogma. from there he went and blended the two together, wrote a book, replaced harrison with hanks, with howard to direct.
fun movie overall, cute story, but why is the code “da vinci’s?”
Tuesday, May 23, 2006
Monday, May 22, 2006
Thursday, May 18, 2006
Saturday, May 13, 2006
bday cd
bday cd
i just had a birthday. turning one year older means clothes for work from m&d, drinks from friends, and a birthday lunch during work. these traditional festivities are enjoyable yet generic. the only difference between my 25th bday and my 29th bday will be a restaurant/bar theme.
i am not telling all those who dipped into their pockets to pay my dinner or drinks were not appreciated. but i am saying that the difference from year to year gets thinner and thinner.
this year i experienced something worthy of writing home (my blog). the combination of two out-of-date methods triumphed as my most prized birthday present. a friend of mine mailed me a cd. a burned cd. that’s right. total cost (cd~$0.10, postage=$0.37, envelope~$0.10). a monetarily inexpensive gift, even though mastercard would deem it priceless on one of their dead horse beaten commercials.
a simple burned cd. how can this by my favorite present?
easy. give me 15 solid songs that i don’t know and do like.
in quick retrospect, that’s not as easy as it sounds! if it were my job to find 15 songs, and compile them on a cd for a friend, i may cancel plans in order to achieve the task. even if i were to make a cd for the friend who’s musical preference is the most acute (hong and his pop songs). i’d still need to spend many hours and preview hundreds of songs just to find 15 worthy tracks.
the time that went into this cd i can see was greater than the time needed to earn the funds which bought my most expensive presents.
is this what the saying “it’s the thought that counts” really refers to?
Friday, May 12, 2006
Saturday, April 29, 2006
four types of happy
after reading one of my most visited blogs, i had to extract and analyze for myself. the blog quoted a psychiatrist’s categorization of people and how they deal with happiness.
four categories you say? i should just plop nicely into one of them and be on my way. so which one do i claim allegiance to?
1.) i know that when i was young i had the monetary hedonist attitude. $3.00 in my pocket meant $3.00 of candy in my hand just as soon as i could get to the closest store. come to think of it, in high school $20.00 in my pocket meant going to the movies and possibly the arcade beforehand. saving money for the future, just didn’t happen.
have i since reformed? i do not know. money doesn’t equate with happiness, so just because i blew all my cash as a kid, doesn’t mean i didn’t look towards the future or neglect to work in the present thus sacrificing future happiness. i studied hard in order to one day be accepted into a college. maybe i wasn’t a complete hedonist?
2.) ha! i’m 100% sure that i’m not a rat-racer. no matter what’s going on in my day-to-day, i’ll find some way to enjoy or revert to something happy. without a bit of happy here and there i don’t see the future ever becoming what i want –ultimately happiness.
3.) the answer to 2 and 3 show that i’m clearly not a resigner. although, i have had plenty of moments in life where i shared the perspective of a resigner. in my life i have taken plenty of risks, some turned out well, others not so well. the latter experiences prompted a few negative “hell, i give up” thoughts. john mayer captured these moments quite well:
“and if it ever gets bad
i mean really bad
i'll move to nova scotia
forget the life i had
i'll be up at 9 each morning
down by the shore
collecting things that fell off boats in storms
well ok so i might never
but it's nice to know the option's there” –this will all make perfect sense someday – john mayer.
4.) the happy person – hell, i’m happy right now. i called my mom today which makes me happy. i did my laundry today which will make me happy in the future (especially since i was so low on socks i went out and purchased 8 pairs – lovely how i work 2 blocks from costco!)
conclusion: the psychiatrist that came up with this is a floosey! life is a bit more complex that this. four categories is a bit better than “fear and love”, but still i don’t buy it. there’s more to happiness these days. money plays a role in happiness, friends, jobs, hobbies, location, family. each of these categories are attained differently. one may be a hedonist relationshipper, but a rat-racer money wise. both result in happiness, which category do they land?
finally, a bit off topic, but it’s been on my mind. ben franklin once said “content makes poor men rich; discontentment makes rich men poor” but isn’t he on the $100.00 bill?! was he discontent?
1. the hedonist does things that make him happy today while giving little thought to the future or owning up to the negative consequences of his present actions.
2. the rat-racer foregoes happiness in the present and lives with the perception that he will achieve a big happiness payoff someday in the future.
3. the resigner has given up hope for happiness. he participates in activities that won't make him happy now or in the future.
4. the happy person practices activities that will make him happy both now and in the future.
four categories you say? i should just plop nicely into one of them and be on my way. so which one do i claim allegiance to?
1.) i know that when i was young i had the monetary hedonist attitude. $3.00 in my pocket meant $3.00 of candy in my hand just as soon as i could get to the closest store. come to think of it, in high school $20.00 in my pocket meant going to the movies and possibly the arcade beforehand. saving money for the future, just didn’t happen.
have i since reformed? i do not know. money doesn’t equate with happiness, so just because i blew all my cash as a kid, doesn’t mean i didn’t look towards the future or neglect to work in the present thus sacrificing future happiness. i studied hard in order to one day be accepted into a college. maybe i wasn’t a complete hedonist?
2.) ha! i’m 100% sure that i’m not a rat-racer. no matter what’s going on in my day-to-day, i’ll find some way to enjoy or revert to something happy. without a bit of happy here and there i don’t see the future ever becoming what i want –ultimately happiness.
3.) the answer to 2 and 3 show that i’m clearly not a resigner. although, i have had plenty of moments in life where i shared the perspective of a resigner. in my life i have taken plenty of risks, some turned out well, others not so well. the latter experiences prompted a few negative “hell, i give up” thoughts. john mayer captured these moments quite well:
“and if it ever gets bad
i mean really bad
i'll move to nova scotia
forget the life i had
i'll be up at 9 each morning
down by the shore
collecting things that fell off boats in storms
well ok so i might never
but it's nice to know the option's there” –this will all make perfect sense someday – john mayer.
4.) the happy person – hell, i’m happy right now. i called my mom today which makes me happy. i did my laundry today which will make me happy in the future (especially since i was so low on socks i went out and purchased 8 pairs – lovely how i work 2 blocks from costco!)
conclusion: the psychiatrist that came up with this is a floosey! life is a bit more complex that this. four categories is a bit better than “fear and love”, but still i don’t buy it. there’s more to happiness these days. money plays a role in happiness, friends, jobs, hobbies, location, family. each of these categories are attained differently. one may be a hedonist relationshipper, but a rat-racer money wise. both result in happiness, which category do they land?
finally, a bit off topic, but it’s been on my mind. ben franklin once said “content makes poor men rich; discontentment makes rich men poor” but isn’t he on the $100.00 bill?! was he discontent?
Friday, April 28, 2006
Sunday, April 16, 2006
designed desk
during a meeting i decided to design the perfect desk. i had 2 monitors and 2 computers in mind at the time. i don't know where the antenna on the left monitor came from...
tempura and udon
this day had to be a rainy day, because i love me some tempura udon when it rains in san francisco.
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