Bah!

My trip to Hawaii

2005-08-19T11:22:00.000-07:00

Ok... So I read my buddy Alex's blog, and his post about his road trip inspired me to post about my trip to Hawaii.

We got to Hawaii on Thursday. My aunt and cousins who I haven't seen in over 10 years came to meet us at the airport. It just so happened that they were visiting Hawaii from Korea (they grew up in Hawaii, but my uncle is a doctor with the Army, so they are now stationed in Korea). My cousins are so big now! Last I saw them they were around 3 and 6... and now they are 13 and 16. After that we drove to the hotel. We got to the hotel around 1 pm, and they told me that the rooms wouldn't be ready until 3 pm. We put our luggage back into the car and proceeded to walk around Waikiki.

I'm always amazed at how many ABC stores there are in Waikiki. I mean they are on every block, and sometimes you can find 2 or 3 on the same block. I imagine its like Starbucks in San Francisco. And all the ABC stores have the same stuff in it. Why do you need 2 or 3 on a block? I think you can find one in each hotel. I mean it seems silly to me. But I guess whoever owns them are filthy rich, as each one is packed with tourists.

So we headed back to the hotel around 3. We stayed at the Park Shore hotel at the end of Kalakaua Ave. Let me tell you. That hotel is a DUMP. First off there are 17 floors on that hotel, and they have only 3 elevators that service all 17 floors (well 18 floors according to the elevator, but there isn't a 13th floor due to superstition... it's very common in buildings in Hawaii). Between the hours of 6am and 6pm, you can use the stairs if you want. However, after 6pm the doors on the first and second floors are armed with alarms that go off if you exit them. So essentially there are 2 elevators for a hotel that is full and has 17 floors. Sometimes you'd have to wait 15 minutes just to be able to get an elevator back to your room. That is the LAMEST thing EVER. Oh, the rooms aren't air conditioned either. It's ridiculous. There was a fan that kept the room cooler than it was outside, but you couldn't control the temperature so that sucked. I mean honestly, it was cold enough, but I'm still going to complain about that.

That night we had dinner with my aunt, my 2 cousins, her brother and his wife, their 2 kids, and her younger sister. I hadn't seen any of them in over 10 years, so it was really nice to get a chance to see all of them again. We did a lot of catching up, and they all made fun of the orange car I was driving around. Did I mention that the rental place gave me an ORANGE Chevy Cobalt. Man I think they wanted to label me as a tourist. It kills me that I'm a tourist now. I grew up on Oahu. I lived there for over 15 years. I'm off the island for 10 years and I'm considered a tourist. People even called me Katonk, which is what I thought was reserved for mainland born Japanese, but turns out can be used for any mainland Asian. How sad.

The next day we met up with a good family friend of mine. He and his brother used to lock me in the closet at church when I was a little kid. They also used to make me imagine that they were stabbing me full of needles and injecting me with all sorts of poisons. I never believed them so when they "injected" me, they would punch me where they were injecting so it would hurt. Hehe... I must have been about 5 when they did this to me, and I still remember it clearly. It's bizarre what children remember isn't it?

So we met up at Kahala Mall. I took my digital camera so we could get some pictures and I could show my family. Well, my stupid camera decides to magically jump out of my pocket. I didn't realize I had lost my camera until we had gotten back to the hotel. I raced back to Kahala Mall, and checked every store I went into, and the lost and found for the mall, and no one had it. The security guards told me that they get a lot of kids running through the mall, so the chances are very slim that anyone who found it would actually return it. I just made some kid really happy let me tell you. They're now running around with pretty much a brand new camera and a 1 gb secure digital memory card. I mean I know I'm stupid for losing it, but if you're a parent, how can you let your child use a stolen camera? I mean really? If I had a kid, and they came home with some camera, I'd smack them and make them return it. Then I'd smack them for not returning it in the first place. Oh well...

On Saturday we went to the North Shore. We had to get back for my cousin's birthday, so we were at Waimea beach for about an hour, then we had to drive back. Because it was a Saturday, it took us about 2 and a half hours to get from Waikiki to Waimea Bay. That is ridiculous. But the island of Oahu is so crowded these days. Anyway, we get back to the car and I have a parking ticket. Turns out I parked in a no parking zone. Another car was parked there, and I didn't see a no parking sign, so I thought we were alright. Well turns out there was a sign a ways up, but it was bent in some funky way, and I didn't see it. Oh well... another $50 down the drain.

We stopped in to Matsumoto's in Haleiwa for shave ice on the way back home. I can't explain how much I miss that stuff. It doesn't get much better than a rainbow shave ice with vanilla ice cream on the bottom. Good stuff. The way back only took about 2 hours, and I was able to get to Buca Di Bepo for my cousin's birthday by 6.

After dinner, we returned to Waikiki and walked around. We just walked on Kalakaua Ave. I tried to count the number of hookers that were working the streets, and sadly I only saw 3. It has become a tradition to always count the hookers in Waikiki. Last year, we counted at least 15. Either this is a bad time for hooking, or the cops have been doing a good job cracking down on it. I mean there was a time when every street corner was packed with them. It always made me sad because there were some beautiful girls out there hooking. These aren't your every day crack whore garden variety hookers. I mean Hawaii has some FINE hookers. Japanese business men have a lot of money to spend, so some high class hot hookers used to walk the streets. But the days seem to have passed.

Sunday morning was the wedding. It was at 9 am (can you believe it was so early), and was held at the Sheraton Waikiki. This was just the reception. They had the ceremony on August 2, and held the reception on the 14th. Not a bad idea. I got to see friends I hadn't seen in a while so that was awesome. And Alisa was beautiful. She's always been a cute girl, but to see her in her wedding dress was something else I tell you.

Monday we took to ourselves. We spent the whole day on the north shore at Waimea Bay. Michelle loves that beach so we stayed there for awhile. I didn't put on enough sun screen and burned myself. I put sunscreen on Michelle's back, and I didn't use enough, so she burned pretty bad on her back. OOOPS! I'm fired. Waimea was pretty sweet though. We got to see a pod of dolphins frolicking. They were jumping out of the water and putting on quite the show. A whole bunch of swimmers tried to swim out to them, and it seemed like they got really close. The lifeguards immediately got on the loudspeaker and asked the swimmers to swim away from them, because dolphins are federally protected, but the swimmers paid no attention.

Stopped in Haleiwa again for more shave ice. I tried Aoki's this time and Michelle got Matsumoto's. There is a reason why Matsumoto's has a line that is so much longer than all the other places. Aoki's was good, and the ice was a little softer, but it lacked the flavor of Matsumoto's. The only other place that I've been to that comes close is called Waiola's in McCully.

We had dinner that night at Alan Wong's. We went there last year and had dinner there. Once again we got the 7 course chef's tasting. It was awesome. First course was an appetizer of ahi sashimi with beluga caviar on top, and an oyster with a vinegar based sauce on sea salt. The second course was a li hing mui foie gras with mango chutney which was awesome. The third course was lobster and abalone in some kind of tasty sauce. Fourth dish was quail, I can't remember the fifth dish, the sixth dish was the main meal which was lamb with mashed taro. The final dish was the dessert, and I can't remember everything on it, but it was excellent.

And that's the trip. We came home on Tuesday. I'm tired so I'm done for now.

Off to Hawaii

2005-08-10T10:15:00.000-07:00

So I'm leaving for Hawaii tomorrow. Our flight leaves LAX at 8 am, so we have to be there by 6:30 or so, meaning we'll have to leave Santa Barbara around 4 am, because we'll have to return the rental car. I'm not looking forward to it.

My place is a disaster right now. The whole place is essentially floor to ceiling with boxes. Not the end of the world, but what it means is that I'll have to return from Hawaii to a HUGE MESS. Not the most exciting prospect, but what can you do? I've been moving for the last 2 weeks. Last night was the first night where I was completely out of my old place. And instead of unpacking I went to sleep. I mean 2 weeks of moving and also trying to get a piece of software released to beta is hard work. I'm due for a vacation!

Nothing really exciting to report other than that. But I'm going to be gone for almost a week, and I didn't want anyone to think I abandoned my blog again. I know I've done it before, but this time I'm just leaving it for my trip and I'll be back I swear!

Alex and Sarah

2005-08-05T17:04:00.000-07:00

Alex and Sarah!

Fiesta!

2005-08-05T14:18:00.000-07:00

Here is a shot of Alex and Michelle. We are chilling at Ruby's. More
shots to come later.

The wonders of acupuncture

2005-08-05T09:00:00.000-07:00

I've always thought that holistic medicine was a little hokey. I thought acupuncture was BS, and I wasn't even too sold on chiropractors (not sure it fits into holistic medicine, but it's all the same to me). However, my trip to the acupuncturist yesterday has sold me on the idea. It's totally wild.

Someone at work recommended that I go to an acupuncturist to help with the injuries from the fall. She asks me to reenact the fall. So I try to remember as best as possible. She watches me, then has me perform some movements that are the opposite of the movements that happened with the fall. My right shoulder was pretty tight. After performing the motions, my right shoulder immediate relaxed. It was bizarre. Everything was still sore, but I did gain a little bit of movement back.

After that we started getting into the acupuncture. She had me sit in a chair, and brought out the needles. She put one on the top of my left hand and had me move my head. I immediately had a little bit more movement. She put the second one in, and I could move a little more. Then she had me turn my right hand palm up. She put another needle in, more motion. She put a fourth needle, and I had maybe 80% of my motion back. I would estimate that prior to that, I had maybe 30% of my original motion. I can't believe that 4 needles were able to restore that much of my motion. After this she had me lie down, and put one more needle somewhere near my right ankle. She had me lie down for about 45 minutes or so. I pretty much passed out. After she had me slowly get up, and I was able to get up without any pain. I mean there was still a little pain, but I had so much more motion, and my right side didn't feel like it was a great knot any more.

So being the morning after, I'm a bit more sore than I was after seeing the acupuncturist, but I still have all the motion. I don't think I'd be this far along if it wasn't for the acupuncture. I've got another appointment for Monday, and I'm looking forward to it. I should be able to start moving boxes by tomorrow. That's good as I have to be out of Willow Springs by Sunday.

Viva Fiesta!

I'm screwed up

2005-08-03T11:30:00.000-07:00

I hate the mornings. I tell you they really aren't agreeing with me right now.

It's 5:40 in the morning, and I'm leaving my apartment to get to work for a 6 am training session. It's pretty misty out, but I don't think that perhaps the stairs would be slippery. I start walking down the stairs pretty quickly, because I'm a little behind schedule. I make it down about 2 stairs then proceed to slip, slamming my arse hard into the stairs and sliding. The red bull I had slips out of my hand and clangs loudly down the stairs. I grab the rail, and try to stand up, and my leg gives out under me again and I slam hard into the ground again, and slide to the bottom of the stairs. So what's the damage? A cut between my left pinky and ring finger. My left elbow is bruised and quite ginger. A scrap on the middle knuckle of my right hand. And whiplash. That is right. I can barely turn my head. I have to turn my whole body. This whiplash is WORSE than when I crashed my car on Christmas eve. It probably had to do with the tensing up and slamming into the ground TWICE.

So this is great timing. I'm in the process of moving and I can't carry any weight, and can't turn my head. It's going to make moving go really fast I tell you. Oh well.

What is it with me and morning posts?

2005-08-02T06:55:00.000-07:00

7 am. Went to sleep at midnight. Up at 4 am. Into work by 4:45 am. Why? Getting servers ready, that is why.

So my last 2 posts that are separated by MONTHS come within hours of each other. Do I like morning posts? Or is it that I'm so lame at blogging that the only time I'll bother is in the morning, when I'd rather be sleeping than working.

So setting up servers requires a bit of down time for the installation, so I've spent some time this morning catching up on my friends blogs. In reading their blogs, I think I've discovered why I don't blog at all. I'm afraid that blogging will confirm my secret suspicion that my life is way more boring than all of my friends. I mean you read Alex, Aaron, and David's blogs, and they are all filled with all sorts of fun happenings. I'm slightly worried that I just won't have anything to fill.

Another problem is I'm not the kind of guy that takes pictures. So I don't have much to show for anything that I do. This is a little problematic as blogs are much more entertaining with photos to show. Maybe I can change this with fiesta... All I need to do is find the charger for my camera.

And the final thing. I think my blog is filled with my rants on the stupidity of people and whining in general. This doesn't make for good reading.

So I've identified a few problems. Bear with me while I try to fix them.

5 am!

2005-04-24T17:46:00.000-07:00

So New York is definitely the city that never sleeps. I was hanging with
my cousin Andrew, his roommate Su Hak (I'm sure I spelled that wrong),
their budy Bob, and a whole bunch of their friends. It was a wild time.
We had some bad luck at first, because it was raining, and the first
club we went to wasn't their thing. But it would have been "cheap" to be
there. We would have paid $300 for 10 people and 2 bottles of vodka,
mixers included. We had 10 people but the other guys wanted more Asians.
I was perfectly happy with the indian and white crowd that was there,
but hey, I wasn't driving the evening. Another note. I think this was
the first time in my life that I went out with a group that was entirely
Asian. Definitely strange for me, but it worked out ok. After thr bust
at the first club, we went to another club called stitch, and then
finally to a club called bob's. While my cousin and crew were trying to
pick up on chicks, I had a nice conversation with a Swiss girl who's
best friend and boyfriend were ignoring her. We mostly chatted about the
political differences between Switzerland and the US. Apparently the
rest of the world was just as shocked as I was that we re-elected Bush.
Before I knew it, it was 3:45 am. We then cabbed over to a noodle house
in china town, and now I'm back at my cousins apartment at 5 am.

Oh I saw the broadway musical Rent tonight. I know I said I hated the
music, but seeing it on Broadway totally changed my opinion of the
music. I highly recommend seeing this is you can.

And finally, my day was jampacked with activities. I woke up at 6am, got
ready caught the train at 7:50, and was in to the city by 9:00. It took
me about 45 minutes to get to my cousins apartment.

I caught up with Andrew for a while, since I haven't seen him in 8 or 9
years. The details are all fuzzy.

Anyway left his apartment and went to get in line for the Statue of
Liberty and Ellis Island. Wait was an hour and 15 minutes (yeah right,
because is stood there for 15 minutes and the line didn't move. The
weather was overcast and the visibility was poor, so I didn't feel like
spending 3 to 4 hours of the day on that. So instead I walked around the
financial district, checking out wall street and the New York Stock
Exchange.

Next was ground zero. It was very strange to see that site. I never had
the chance to see them, but I can imagine what it was like, and how
empty it is now. People were crying all over the place. The whole thing
was pretty emotional. I didn't expect that I would get choked up, but I
did. Unlike Matt's wedding, I didn't cry, but I was definitely moved. I
also found my neighbor's name on the memorial for those who lost their
lives in the Pentagon. He was one of those on the flight.

After that I met my cousin for lunch, then cruised into chinatown,
little italy. Soho, nyu, washington square park, greenwich village, then
began walking to broadway to see my show.

I'm tired. More to come later...
--Nick

Room Service is evil

2005-04-22T09:14:00.000-07:00

So I get back to the hotel from work and I'm really lazy. I mean I don't want to go back into the city, considering I didn't get to bed till nearly 3 am on Wednesday night. So I just wanted a nice evening of rest and relaxation. I throw on some PJs, and what do I think to do? I gave in. I bought the internet and played World of Warcraft.

Now this is an all time low for me. Here I am, in New York. I could be taking the train into the city, and what am I doing, I'm playing WoW. Now as sad as I think that is, I can't seem to care, because it was exactly what I wanted to do last night. I know Alex and Aaron are going to have a field day with this one. I guess its just a sign of an addict. I admit I'm addicted, and I don't care. However, if you think about it, I actually saved money, because the internet cost me $10, but it costs me $40 every time I want to go to the city. Not to mention I think work is going to send me out again, so I technically don't have to be in a rush to see everything...

In any case, since I'm in my pjs, and I haven't eaten, I decide that calling room service is a good idea. I didn't read the fine print that says they will charge 20% for service. Wow. They don't even refill your water and they want 20%? I mean come on? If the person who delivered my food had a cart, and they refilled my water, and had a bottle of wine to pour me another glass, I'd gladly tip them 20%. In any case, dinner cost me $28 for a tiny chicken and goat cheese salad and a glass of wine. And of course I was still hungry. I think its insane that I should still be hungry when I have $5o per diem to spend on food. Oh well I guess it was all for the convenience of sitting on my lazy arse and eating in my hotel room.

I'm not going back into the city tonight either. I'm going to wake up really early so I can be in NY by around 7 am. I would like to get a complete day in, so I'll be getting to bed insanely early, and waking up insanely early as well. Well I may not use my week nights to travel much, but I sure intend to use my weekend!

The ride back...

2005-04-20T21:45:00.000-07:00

You know, the way they do the ride back is very strange. Imagine hundreds of people waiting outside of about 5 gates looking up at a screen. You can see your gate, but you don't know which gate your train is gonna be. When the train finally gets here a number flashes under the gate, and the hundreds of people sprint to the gate to get a seat on the train. How bizzare.

Well on the ride down, I had a conversation with a very nice deaf woman. Well, it was a lot of lip reading and writing on a piece of paper. She gave me some advice on where I should visit while I'm here, and we also talked a little about where we lived, what I do, and why I'm here. She was rather excited that it was my first time here. Perhaps she was excited to take my New York virginity...

First order of business, find a place to eat. My lonely planet told me that little korea was in midtown, and there was a nice restaurant serving authentic Korean food. I decided to give it a try. It was a restaurant called cho dang goi and it was incredibly good. I got this spicy tofu and octopus (for you Koreans, they called it mo doo boo nak ji bok kum) and it was heaven on a platter.

After getting stuffed, I head out to explore the town. I went to the empire state building, but decided the wait was too long, so I head out in search of times square. I walked from 34th to 42nd and found myself on broadway I think. Walked around there and checked out what shows are playing. I'm going to get to one of them, but I'm not sure which one, and when I can go. I headed back to seventh and 42nd and there was the beginning of time square. So I saw the nasdaq stock exchange, the mtv building, abc, sports illustrated, and I'm not sure if radio city hall is considered times square but I found that. I also saw where they drop the ball for new years.

You know, in my last post I said that the stores are all the same. In the city, you see the same stores you would expect to see in Cali, except WAY bigger. I saw the biggest Mcdonalds, a huge olive garden and red lobster. Not to mention giant foot lockers and gaps.

Anyway, I'm on the train back. I'm tired and my batteries are about to run out so I'm gonna end this post. Tata for now!

Different time zone, Same Nick

2005-04-20T16:29:00.000-07:00

I've always had problems getting out of bed in the morning. I'm one of those guys that love to sleep. I also used to have a problem with getting to sleep, but coming to New York has sure changed that problem. Last night I went to sleep at 10. The night before I went sleep at 11. I usually don't go to bed until 12 or 1 am PST. However, I'm still having problems with mornings. I struggled to get out of bed at 7:15. Nine hours and 15 minutes of sleep, and I still can't get out of bed.

Well I started that in the morning but didn't finish it. I'm now on the train to the city. $10 for the cab, $20 for the round trip ticket, and $10 for the cab back. Not too shabby.

I am both nervous and excited. This is my first trip into the city, and I don't know what to expect. Well I do have an idea of what to expect...

So I'm getting off at penn station, and I'm going to wander. The cab driver told me that will put me near madison square garden! I feel like I'm jackie chan and seeing madison square garden for the first time (rush hour)...

In any case, I'm going to read a little about where I'm going. Bright lights, big city here I come!

First post of NY

2005-04-19T10:16:00.000-07:00

Okay, so I've been in NY since Sunday night and my first post is coming now. I know I'm a slacker. But late is better than never right?

I'm waiting for a piece of software to install. I have no network connection (surprise surprise. Andrew, you need to get on T-Mobile's arse and tell them to offer better coverage. Blogger is neat since you can blog by sending an email which is sweet. This email is going to sit in my saved folder until I can send it.

So I haven't much done much since I've been here. On sunday night I passed out around 10. Last night I went to a mall because I didn't know where else to go. It was a mall called Smith Haven mall. You know what I noticed? Malls in NY are pretty much the same as they are in Cali. You can find your Gap, Banana, A&F, AEO, etc. Even the carts you can find are pretty much the same. About the only thing different was instead of those awful Dippin' Dots carts, there was an italian ice cart. I had to get one because it reminded me of getting Italian Ices at the Honolulu Zoo as a kid. I got coconut, and it was better than I remembered it! Maybe they've made huge strides in Italian Ice creation?

As for tonight, I'll work until I've accomplished my goals for today. I think tonight wil be another chill night. I think I'll have a glass of wine, then chill in the hot tub. Tomorrow night I'm heading in to the city! Its got to be better than Islandia.

Who are you?

2005-01-31T01:22:00.000-08:00

I have a question for you all. I have received 2 comments from anonymous readers. Are you the same reader? Or do I have multiple readers who wish to remain nameless? How did you find this blog? I'm always curious about things like this.

So one of my anonymous readers states that listening to Taylor Dayne is more ludicrous than listening to Debbie Gibson. I'm not sure I agree with this. But perhaps this is because I saw Taylor Dayne perform live at the Oxnard Strawberry festival in 2000. That's right. I saw Taylor Dayne LIVE. I know that statement alone makes millions of people jealous. She played some of her old stuff, like "Tell It To My Heart," "I'll Always Love you," "I'll Be Your Shelter," and "Don't Rush Me." She's got more hits than you think! And I rocked out. If that is ludicrous than so be it! But I'm going to go on the record and say that Taylor Dayne is WAY cooler than Debbie Gibson. Although I guess that really isn't saying much.

To my friend Alex who is an Ashlee Simpson lover, stop catching small fish. Being giant doesn't give you the right to pick on all the little fish in the sea. You and Wally need to learn to pick on fish your own size.

That's it. It's time for bed. This is Kimmy, over and out.

I have readers?!

2005-01-27T13:39:00.000-08:00

Well a few questions have been answered for me as of late. Apparently, my friends have started reading my blog again, as Alex mentioned it to me at lunch today. So Alex, here is a public announcement. Alexander Fife Sheldon has indeed read my blog before I thought he would!

So a certain reader has asked for debauchery, sex, drugs and rock and roll. In my quest to provide you all with this, I have come to the following conclusions.

1. I've done nothing debaucherous in the 25 years of my life. In fact, I'm the recipient of the only semi-debaucherous event that has happened in my life. I've dated 2 girls that turned into lesbians and started dating each other. That's right they dated each other!

2. I want to nail Heidi Klum. She has to be the HOTTEST thing on legs. Of course, anything that isn't bipedal is eliminated, and anything not human is eliminated, so let me rephrase that. Heidi Klum is the hottest female on the planet.

3. I haven't done enough drugs in my life, and I don't care too. I've smoked some pot and turned into a paranoid android. I'm lame. I have to pass out when I'm high, so what's the point?

4. As for Rock and Roll, my taste as of late has been very limited. I pretty much only listen to Jason Mraz, because I don't find that many people on the radio worth listening to these days. I find the music industry to be filled with a bunch of talentless hacks that only get contracts because they look good. So I will refrain from any further comment about rock and roll, because I think rock and roll died when the hair bands became extinct.

Now for my random reader that has demanded that I post something ludicrous, here is your ludicrousity for the day. I think Debbie Gibson rocks! Her song "Only In My Dreams" is on an 80s compilation of mine, and I started rocking out. That has made want to find her other songs like "Shake Your Love" and "Lost In Your Eyes." Hmm... maybe that isn't so ludicrous. Sure does make me sound gay though!

I'm tired

2005-01-25T08:45:00.000-08:00

Man, I'm tired today. I've been trying to fight off this cold for the last week and its really getting the better of me. I don't think I've been sick for this long in a LONG time, in fact, it might have been sophomore year during winter finals...

So one of my new year's resolutions is to try to sleep more, and to get into work early. For those of you who know me, I am currently addicted to World of Warcraft. For some time, I would play this until 3 or 4 in the morning, and sacrifice my sleep in order to get some gaming in. These days are no mas. Last night, I stopped at 10:15, and was sleeping by 11. I got my full 8 hours in, got to work at 8, and I'm still exhausted. I'm sure the cold doesn't help. As much as it is sad for me to give up the late night gaming, I can barely function the next day, and I acknowledge that it must stop.

So do you ever wonder about who reads your blog? I have a pretty good idea of a couple, cause they comment, but I'm always curious if any random people stop by. Or what if one day your boss at work is bored and somehow finds it and reads it. What is it safe to say on a blog? Is a blog really a safe haven to vent your thoughts and emotions? I don't know... Sometimes I'm tempted to write something ludicrous here, and see what kind of responses I get.

Nothing since Oct. 25th?

2005-01-14T11:07:00.000-08:00

Wow, looks like I haven't updated this since October 25th. That is pre Halloween even. Wow, I am so lame.

Now I think this will be a game. I'm pretty sure none of my friends even try to read this anymore. I mean, I certainly wouldn't after someone didn't update their blog for over 2 months. But we'll see how many entries I can make before some one sends me an email or posts a comment about what a jackass I am for not updating this sooner. ;-)

Time for a new post!

2004-09-06T20:46:00.000-07:00

Ok... all you people who've been checking here in the last few weeks (ok Waldman, more like a few months...), and not found anything, this one is for you!

So anyway, I'm sitting here in my living room, with Colleen and Waldman (who are leaving for the Big Island on Tuesday), Matt and Kelly, Amy and her sister Marissa, and Michelle. A big reason I'm posting is because I'm tired of all of Waldman's crap about not posting to my blog! So dammit Waldman, enjoy your time in Hawaii!

So what has happened to me that is new? Hmmm... nothing really. Which is sad. I did buy myself a laptop though! I bought a Sony VAIO A150 laptop. Its a 1.5 ghz Centrino, with Sony's XBRITE technology. Let me tell you that XBRITE rocks! They put one of those fancy glass coverings on the LCD making it really bright. Hehehe. There was a time when I prided myself in knowing all about the technology, and I would have bored you with the technology behind XBRITE. But now I'm lazy, and all I do is look at my pretty screen...

Wireless technology rules. I'm chilling in my living room using the internet, and making a post to this blog that I neglect. I'll try to post more. But you know me, I can't make any guarantees!

Hello again!

2004-07-05T15:38:00.000-07:00

Believe it or not, it's me! It has been a long time since I've made a blog post. Work has been incredibly busy, and I haven't had much time outside of work to get on the computer and make a blog post.

So I'm sitting at Jin and Min-a's place in San Francisco right now. Michelle went with them to get their nails done. I had no interest in getting one, so I ate a burrito, and now I'm chilling in their house, watching the Wayne Brady show, and making my first blog post in a LONG time! Right now, they're talking about these 2 women who just had plastic surgery. Plastic surgery makes me really sad for 2 reasons. First off, I'm very sad that the society we live in puts such a high value on physical beauty. This leads into my second reason. Because of society treating unattractive people so poorly, people are unhappy with themselves, and we have all these problems with self esteem. I'm a firm believer that you need to be happy with the way you look. I mean, I know I'm not the most attractive guy, but I would never resort to plastic surgery to correct any deficiencies I may have. I really don't think anyone needs to either. If someone can't see you for the person you are on the inside, then they aren't worth your time.

In any case, I'm out of things to say for now. I find it funny that since I haven't posted in such a long time, I almost feel out of touch with my blog. Give me a few days to get back into the swing of things!

4:20 am

2004-06-22T04:19:00.000-07:00

Well its 4:20 am, and I'm back at work. I meant to come back in after taking a nap at 9:30 pm, but that "nap" ended up lasting till about 3:30 am. I tried to go back to sleep after that, but I couldn't so I decided I should come back into work and do what I was going to do last night. So I figure, the next person gets in around 8 am, so I should have almost 4 hours of work time to myself. I should be able to get a lot done.

So I should tell you all about the awesome concert that I went to over the weekend. It was the last show of the "Tour of the Curbside Prophets." It featured Makana, Raúl Midón, and Jason Mraz. It was an awesome concert. All 3 are talented in their own way. I'll tell you about them, and you can make the call if you want check them out.

Makana is this 24 year old kid from Hawaii that plays ki hoalu, or "slack-key" guitar. This is basically tuning your guitar to open tunings. I'm a big fan of this style right now, and I'm trying to learn it. It's called slack key, because in order to get to an open tuning, you generally tune the guitar down. This is accomplished by loosening, or slacking the strings. In this style of music, you will notice that the guitar incorporates a bass line alternating with the melody. Its really a beautiful form of music. For those interested, check out Hawaiian Slack Key Guitar Masters - Instrumental Collection put out by Dancing Cat records. Anyway, Makana is probably the most technically gifted slack key player to come out of Hawaii. He plays SO fast, and so cleanly, its amazing. He also played this awesome song called "The Poi Song" where he used his hands and arms and even his feet to create a sliding type sound. It was awesome. I've got 2 of his cds, and would highly recommend his album Ki Ho'alu: Journey of Hawaiian Slack Key. It's a great cd with a lot of Hawaiian classics, as well as some of his own stuff. The man is very talented. The only drawback is he has an interesting voice, and a slightly obnoxious vibrato, but the kid can really play the guitar!

Raúl Midón is another really talented individual. He's got a very clear baritone voice, and sings very well. Very reminiscent of black singers from the 50s, but with a hip twist to it. He also plays the guitar like no one I've seen. He does a lot of slapping of strings, and ridiculous finger picking, and using his guitar like a bongo to provide some percussion effects. Its really cool. I can't describe his music. You can tell that he pulls from a lot of other types of music. You just have to check him out. Oh, he also makes his voice emulate a trumpet. It's a really cool vocal effect!

Now what can I say about the man, Jason Mraz? I've been to see him 6 times in concert since last year. I try to catch him whenever he comes to southern california. He never fails to impress me. While his talent on guitar is no where near Makana or Raúl, he has an incredible voice. It's so clear and he can sing so high. Of all 3 I would say he has the best stage presence, as well as the best lyrics, the best melodies, and the best flow. You can tell he's a more polished performer. He also can improvise very well. He always changes up the way he plays the songs. I think this is really cool. He's been known to come up with alternate arrangements of his songs. He's got a really cool disco version of "Sleep All Day". He's got a live cd that is coming out in August. If you liked Waiting For My Rocket To Come, you have to check out his first Live album, or wait until August, and pick up the new one. Then you'll understand why I see this guy whenever I can. His concerts are always a great time. If you can't tell, I'm a huge fan of this guy.

Ok, this took me way too long to post. It's already 4:47 or so, and I haven't started working! I'll post more later.

Good eats

2004-06-19T22:14:00.000-07:00

I'm going to dedicate this post to my good friend David Vo.

On Friday night, we went to the Blue Agave, which is located on Cota near the Palace. We went there for a friends birthday party. I ordered a Pillsner Urquell to start off the evening. I then ordered a Chicken Mole at 8 pm, and waited till after 10 pm to receive it. Besides the horrible service, the Mole was wonderful.

Today, I went to my favorite Vietnamese restaurant in San Diego, called Pho Hoacali. I had something the Vietnamese Beef Stew served with French bread. It was excellent. However, I do wish they would have used leaner cuts of beef. I would say that only 30% of the beef I got was edible. But, the broth was tasty, and the bread added a nice touch.

For dinner tonight, I went to a restaurant called Kaiserhoff. It's a german restaurant/beer garden located on Sunset Cliff Drive. I ordered a beer that had the name Hacker in it, and that was a pretty funky beer. I ordered something called a Sauerbrauten, which was beef in some kind of sauce. And it was excellent. We had all sorts of sides including sauerkraut, red cabbage, german potato salad, and a bread dumpling. Just as good as what I remember having in Germany!

Anyway, if any of you are confused about my post, I do apologize! But some of you will get it!

It's been a while

2004-06-18T09:39:00.000-07:00

It's been a while since I've updated the blog. I've been really busy at work these days. I've got a lot to do with GoToAssist going live. Not to mention I'm not getting much help, because QA doesn't have the resources.

So I should have come back in to work to get a bit of a head start last night, but I was WAY too tired. I decided to go to bed around 9:30 pm, and I figured I'd wake up around 5:30, and get into work. NOPE. That didn't happen. Of course my lazy ass stays asleep until 8 am. And even then its next to impossible for me to get out of bed. At least I feel well rested!

Alex and I are discussing racing to San Diego. It will be a corolla vs. a civic. This naturally got us talking about other Toyotas, and we started discussing the evolution of the Tercel to the Echo, and how the Echo is a funky looking car. After seeing that car in 1 hour photo, I can't look at it the same. Robin Williams was so creepy in the film, that part of that creepiness extended to his car.

I'll be in San Diego this weekend so I can watch a concert. Its the "Tour of the Curbside Prophets." Jason Mraz, Raul Midon, and Makana will be playing. Jason Mraz is my favorite artist these days, and I'm really in to Hawaiian Slack Key Guitar, so this is a perfect concert for me.

Anyway, I have a log more to do here, so I'll post more later!

All about the weekend

2004-06-14T09:40:00.000-07:00

So I never post much on weekends. I'm going to attribute this to me not wanting to sit on a computer over the weekend since I do it so much during the week. And when I do sit on the computer, I don't really want to post anything. I'd rather just buy something over the internet!

But this weekend was a hectic weekend, so I'll share with you all some of the highlights...

On Friday night, I went to see "The Chronicles of Riddick." I read nothing but bad reviews of this movie, so I wasn't expecting anything. But I really wanted to watch it after seeing "Pitch Black." I thought Riddick was an awesome character. And the movie was pretty fricking cool. In any case, I was rather impressed with the chronicles. It was a really fun and entertaining movie. The ending was dumb, but the rest of it was thoroughly entertaining. In any case, if you want something fun to watch, check the movie out.

It was Alli's last weekend in SB, so we got together at Dargan's and had drinks. We were situated in the perfect spot. We were in a back corner that was a little secluded, so we could talk, and we were right up against the bar, so we could order drinks very easily. We got Alli good and drunk. I think she had 11 or 12 drinks. I'm proud of that little girl. She held her liquor! Alli, you'll be missed!

We had a bbq for Carrie on Sunday. She is leaving us to go to Texas for grad school. It seems this seems to be the time that people start leaving. And it makes sense. This area is so expensive. It's really on the difficult side to make a living here. In any case, there must have been something in the air yesterday, because we saw 2 fights at Leadbetter beach. The first fight was between 2 women. I'm not sure what it was about, but I heard them yelling at each other, and a bunch of people separating them. About 30 minutes later, a hippie fight broke out! I have no idea what happened, but basically one of them stepped on a piece of glass that the other guy broke, and all hell broke loose. The cops came, and ended up booking one of the hippies. And boy was he resisting arrest. As entertaining as it was to watch, I ended up feeling sorry for the guy. I'm not sure he instigated the fight, and I wonder if he was used as a scapegoat.

Then we head over to Waldman's for a bbq and to watch the Laker game. 2 bbqs in one day! I think I'm a little BBQ'd out. Michelle grilled up some fabulous burgers while I sat on my fat arse and watched the Lakers get pummeled by Detroit. You know what, I'm going to go on the record. I love the Lakers, but they aren't stepping up. They are not playing like champions, so they don't deserve to be the champions. Detroit is doing a good job clamping down on Kobe. Kobe is doing a good job passing out of double/triple teams, but the supporting cast is NOT doing a good job hitting open shots. This in turn causes Kobe to have no faith in his cast, and makes him take bad shots. I mean really, I'd rather have Kobe taking an off balanced shot, than Devean George taking a wide open shot, given the way he and the bench have been playing. Enough of that. Lakers, step up, or go home.

A matter of mass debate

2004-06-11T10:08:00.000-07:00

So my friends and I have been having a debate about what exactly a chode is. I was under the impression that it was the spot between your anus and your scrotum, but my friend Fred told me that it was a penis wider than it is long. During camping, the topic of the chode came up, and Luke and Josh also stated that a chode is a penis wider than it is long. They also told me the place I was referring to was called the "taint". I of course was skeptical, but I went along with it. Last night Colleen asked me if I had looked it up on Urban Dictionary and I said I hadn't. So of course, I decided to do it this morning.

Can you believe there are 31 pages of definitions for chode? Don't believe me? Look for yourself http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=chode&f=1 and scroll to the bottom. Indeed, I was wrong. It is a penis that is wider than it is long. I also found out that the area that I originally thought a chode was could be called a "Gooch".

Chode - chode, as many have so elequantly put it does in fact mean a penis that is wider than it is long...the space between the ball sack and all of you, in other words the anus, is called the GOOCH. ALso an insult...

So of course I looked up gooch and got:

Gooch - The piece of skin connecting the scrotum and testes to the poop chute. The gooch is also attached to the bacon strip which is located directly on the undercarriage of the testes.

and taint, and got:

Taint - the flap of skin between a man's ball sack and his asshole.

So there you have it. Definitions of chode, gooch and taint!

EDIT - Colleen just pointed out to me that on one of the definitions of taint it says it's also sometimes interchangable with 'chode', so wasn't as wrong as I thought!

1:11 AM

2004-06-11T01:12:00.000-07:00

It's 1:11 am and I am still at work. YUCK!

To be fair, I did leave to watch the laker game, then I came back for an hour, then left to watch Pitch Black then came back at 12:20. So its no where as bad as it sounds! But still. No one should be working at 1:11 am.

I'm looking forward to watching The Chronicles of Riddick after seeing Pitch Black. He's a badass, and I love watching movies about badasses. Of course, the remake of Shaft with Samuel L. Jackson in it sucked, but that's beside the point! Movies about badasses still rule!

You still need to make some crazy exceptions though. I found it way too coincidental that the crew happened to crash land on some planet on the exact day of an eclipse that happens in the same month every 22 years. Also, this planet happens to be infested with creatures that only come out in the dark, and they happen to have someone who can see in the dark. It seems way too convenient. But besides the plot being ludicrous, it was still a fun movie to watch. Definitely no where near as bad as it could have been. I've read some bad things about the sequel, but I'm still going to see it tonight.

Oh, and about the laker game. That was terrible, horrible basketball played by the lakers, and they should be ashamed of themselves. How can you get blown out by 20 points by the pistons? How can Shaq only score 14 points? How can that be the highest point total of any laker? How can they only score 68 points? Pathetic. But in any case, I'm sure Phil has something up his sleeve for the next game. Come on guys, you need to put up a better fight!

Man's Body Lies Undisturbed for 20 Years

2004-06-10T15:07:00.000-07:00

ARE YOU KIDDING ME?! Wow. Just read it for yourself.

An interesting adult ed class

2004-06-09T11:42:00.000-07:00

So I took my first SBCC continuing education class yesterday. It's a class called beginning singing. It was an interesting experience, considering I've never sung with a group before, and I've never had any kind of training.

So, its basically an older hispanic crowd. There are 3 of us that are young. 1 is this girl Tasha, who I think is a few years younger than me, and it was her first class, just like me. Then there is this guy Manuel I think, and he is either my age or a little older. Other than that, we have 2 or 3 people in their 30s, and the rest of the 17 are 40+. And, because its a hispanic crowd, we're going to sing mostly hispanic music. We started off with a song called "Spanish eyes", then moved on to "Guantanamera" which is pretty fun, and finished with a strange song called Heart of my heart. However, we've been asked to perform in 2 venues this summer. This could be interesting. How strange is it to see an Asian guy singing mexican songs! But its ok, I'm there to learn how to make my voice better.

So the class is more like a choir. I was hoping to get instruction on how to sing, but it doesn't seem like the class is heavy in that. I talked to the teacher, and she said that she would be willing to do that if I was willing to get up in front of the class and have a lesson. I'm not sure that I'm ready to sing in front of people. She says that everyone can benefit from it, because everyone will learn by observing. Not what I was expecting, but singing in a group should still be fun!

BBQ, Alcohol, and more BBQ!

2004-06-07T10:10:00.000-07:00

I figured I'd finish up about the weekend. I've got a little bit of time at work so I thought I would take advantage of it and finish what I started.

On Saturday, I went with my friends Alan, Wendy, and their baby Jade to a picnic at the Firestone winery. I guess if you are a member of their wine club or something, they throw a huge picnic for you. And you get to bring some friends along with you. I'm not sure how much it cost, because they wouldn't accept my money... In any case, they had all you can eat food and all you can drink beer and wine. I would just like to reiterate that Firestone makes some of my favorite beers. They had their porter, lager, pale ale, and of course, their double barrel ale. And they had the standard fare of wine (cab, merlot, syrah, chardonnay, riesling, etc). I had a glass of the syrah, which was pretty tasty. However, I'm not really a wine connoisseur so I'm not sure how good it was.

On a more interesting note, at about 12:15 or so, we drove past a sizable fire. It was on the south side of 101, and it was burning a 30 yard area or so. It was right after you come out of the tunnel if you're driving north on 101 to Santa Maria. I believe the fire was north of Gaviota. That area is pretty dry, so we immediately called 911, and they already knew about it. At the picnic, they announced that both 101N and 101S was closed off because of the fire. The only way for us to get back into Santa Barbara was to take the 154. A drive that should have taken us just over 30 minutes, took us over 2 hours! The traffic on 154 was awful. It was definitely entertaining that my friends car was running on empty, and we were quite nervous that we were going to stall in the one lane sections. Luckily, the drive back to SB is mostly downhill. Wendy, if you're reading this, notice I said MOSTLY... As of last night at 11 pm, the fire was only 20% contained, and had burned over 7500 acres....

On Sunday we had brunch at El Paseo, and had all you can eat food, and all you can drink again! I love weekends where all I do is eat and drink! After that, we went walking all around downtown looking at stuff. I decided I need to have some Birkenstocks. I've always wanted a pair, but never bought some. We walked past this store called Crispin's Leather (which is never open when I remember to check it out), and after looking at some birks, I've decided its time I buy some. So if I can remember to get there before 6, on a day that is NOT Sunday, I'm going to pick some up (lots of other places have some, but they have the best selection).

Then I convinced Matt to put his BBQ together (told him Alex volunteered to cook), and Alex, Matt, Kelly, Michelle and myself bbq'd some carne asada, vegetables, and a chicken for Michelle. We figured it was a perfect time to bbq because the laker game was on. Disappointing game, but great bbq.

Ok, there goes my allotted time. Back to work for me!

Plotting revenge is fun

2004-06-06T22:37:00.000-07:00

So on Friday night, we went to go see the new Harry Potter movie. I would like to say that the security at the Camino Real Marketplace, as well as the employees of the Metropolitan theater suck major donkey balls. If any one that works for Metropolitan theaters reads this, I just want to say one thing. YOU'RE A VEGETABLE, AND I HATE YOU! Hehehe. I've always wanted to say that in some form of publication. My dream is to say that on national TV one day, but this will have to do for now.

Anyway, let me tell you why I hate the Camino Real Marketplace, and the stupid monkeys that work for Metro. First of all, they have one line for 2 movies. The first started at 9:10, and the next started at 9:35. This is a recipe for disaster. Anyone with a brain the size of a pea could tell you that. When the people get called out of line for the 9:10 show, all the ravenously psychotic Harry Potter fans from the back of the line will bum rush and trample everyone in front of them. And to make things worse, the security didn't really set up the markers for the lines very well. They didn't think that one of the more highly anticipated movies of the year would draw a huge crowd. So of course the lines starts to curl in all sorts of funky ways. It was a mess, but we all knew how the lines were supposed to be, and it would have worked. Of course, the jackasses came, and said what we did was dangerous, and had us move all around. In the process about 50 or 60 people that were behind of me cut in front of me. That's great. Then for some reason, before the people from the 9:10 show were let into the theater, they realized they needed to have 2 lines. So they started pulling the 9:35 people out. And of course people in the back saw this and immediately bum rushed to the front. I mean how could they not see this happening? Luckily I caught on before too many people cut in front of me and thwarted the next attempts. In any case, I got in, got decent seats, AND the movie rocked. So I guess it was worth it. So on top of that long rant there is my review of the movie. I give it 2 thumbs WAY up.

So now I'm going to have fun plotting my revenge. To all the maniacal Harry Potter fans, just you wait!

I'm tired, so I'll post about the rest of my weekend tomorrow.

Travelers: 5 tips on tipping

2004-06-04T16:44:00.000-07:00

Travelers: 5 tips on tipping

Ok. I just want to come clean and say I'm a good tipper. If the service is great, I don't hesitate at tipping 20%. However, if the service sucks, I won't hesitate to leave a very low sized tip as well.

Michelle hates that I do this. For her, she always wants to leave 15% or more. The restaurant could totally screw up our order, take an hour to deliver our food, and when I want to tip 5% she is incredulous and insists I leave 15%. No way. Dammit, waiters have to work for their tips. I'm not going to leave someone a good tip unless I'm taken care of. That should be incentive for a waiter to do their damn job.

That being said, the service in Santa Barbara usually sucks. That's because too many people like to eat out, and too many restaurants don't want to spend the money to hire enough waiters/waitresses. So really, I usually take that into consideration. I don't want to penalize the waiter for the owner being stupid.

I hate people that steal my coffee

2004-06-04T10:20:00.000-07:00

So I'm pretty tired this morning. I go in to get some coffee, and of course there is none left. Dammit people! If you drink the remainder of the coffee, brew another pot. I mean if its fricking 5 pm and everyone is gone, and you drink the rest of the coffee, that's fine. But come on people, it's 10 am. People will still want coffee!

So of course, I have to brew a pot. But I'm really tired this morning, and my brain isn't working right, so I dump a portion of the coffee bag into the container without putting a filter on it. DOH! So I clean it out, put a filter in, and start brewing. So of course, some jackass decides to cut in front of me, and steal the coffee as its brewing. So, not enough coffee grounds, plus someone stealing the coffee as it starts to brew equals a VERY weak batch for the rest of us. Sure enough, when I get my cup, its a very light thin blend. DAMMIT. I'm standing right in front of the machine. Of course I'm waiting for the coffee to brew. What in hell makes you think you can just cut right in front of me and take my coffee? Wait your damn turn!

Another post

2004-06-03T20:04:00.000-07:00

I unlike my good friend Big Al, I don't have a 1 post a day limit.

Hehe. So I logged onto Orkut, and got a message from someone named Holly mentioning they were taking part in the Yahoo! live messenger thing.

So of course I check it out. It was strangely addicting. I was listening to a few conversations, promptly decided to support Holly, and partake in the conversation. I have decided that I must be a voyeur. It was kinda cool being able to listen in on the conversation and partake in it. Another thing that lends credence to this is that there was a trilogy of books called the Griffin and Sabine trilogy. These books showed the correspondance between the two people. So you got to read their letters and stuff. And I felt guilty reading them, but it was strangely exhilarating. So I must be a voyeur!

My first random messaging

2004-06-03T17:29:00.000-07:00

So I'm working furiously on all of my numerous projects that I have, when I receive a message from someone named LiLMissWolff. I have no idea who this is, but decide to take the message anyway.

Turns out she's a 16 year old junior from Mississippi. Very nice girl. Just bored and wanted to chat. That's pretty neat. I wasn't sure that anyone I didn't know whas reading my blog, but I finally got confirmation! So if you happen to be reading this, and are bored, send me an IM, and we'll chat!

By the way LiLMissWolff, it was nice to talk to you, and don't be afraid to ask me for advice! I'm sure you're situation will work itself out! ;)

The winds of change

2004-06-03T14:00:00.000-07:00

Dammit! So I'm reading my friend Al's blog, and I realized how boring mine is. He's quite the writer! He always has something entertaining to share, and comes across as very witty. You should all check it out. Then I read mine, and see how its just a boring recant of the daily activities of my life, which is readily apparent to me is really just the "same old shit, different day." I decided that my blog title is rather negative, and I think that is somehow subconsciously holding me back. I think I have sunk to a whole new level of patheticness for a title of a blog to wreak such havoc upon my life.

So I'm turning a page. I think I'm going to start sharing my thoughts more. I know I'm jumping on the bandwagon here, but I'm tired of being boring.

A link to some camping pics

2004-06-03T13:53:00.000-07:00

Waldman's camping photos

I realized I should have posted this link in my last post. Oh well. Check out the pics.

This is late!

2004-06-03T13:42:00.000-07:00

This is most certainly late.

Over Memorial day weekend, Michelle, Aaron, Colleen, Alli, Luke, Josh, Missy, Shane, Jess, and I went camping up in Kings Canyon/Sequoia National Park. We were in bear country! Of course, for whatever reason, our campsite didn't have any bear boxes. We were told to put the coolers in the car. And much to my dismay, I never woke up to bears attacking our campsite, or to bears tearing into one of the cars to get the food. That would have been COOL! Hehe, well amusing to see, but would have sucked if one of us got eaten, or had their car wrecked.

It was relaxing. We rolled in about 4 pm on Saturday and we drank beer, and sat around. Luke busted out his guitar, and I was very impressed. We sang a bunch of songs and had a great time. The next day we did this boole tree hike, where we saw the 8th largest tree in the world. That was a HUGE tree. Quite impressive. They don't call it a Giant Sequoia for nothing. More guitar, more singing, more drinking, more eating. My favorite moment was when this Christian group was singing really loud, and Luke started playing Master of Puppets, and Josh started singing it. It was pretty hilarious!

Anyway, a weekend update coming on a Thursday. That is just sad. But oh well. Work is busy.

Yahoo! News - Jason Mraz Longs for Days of Small Gigs

2004-06-01T10:20:00.000-07:00

Yahoo! News - Jason Mraz Longs for Days of Small Gigs

My boy is going big time! Now while I can't say I've been a fan of his from the days of Java Joe, I can say that I've been a fan from the moment I heard the Remedy, have been to every single concert that I can make that he plays in Southern California, and own his live album, and have downloaded many of his concerts.

This guy is talented. He's pretty good on the guitar, and has an incredible voice. Anyone who hasn't heard his stuff should check him out. If you didn't care so much for his album, check out his live stuff, because its WAY better.

Ok, back to work. I'll post about my weekend in a bit.

Weekend!

2004-05-24T12:00:00.000-07:00

Well, I never made it to the Piano Sale. I realized that I can't afford a piano right now, and I'm going to move soon, so I don't really want to be lugging a piano around. I'll buy one after I buy a house (whenever that is...).

So we went up to visit Michelle's parents this weekend. I had an awesome Korean dinner. All sort of dishes that I have no idea how to type out. My best guess is as follows: daen jang chigae, kaktugi, sam chu, some kind of unseasoned meat that you dip into sesame oil, salt and pepper, and some other pan chan that I'm not sure what they're called. Man, that was a GOOD meal.

On Sunday, I visited Andrew at his "Monkeyhouse" in Sunnyvale. That was a good time. we slacked, had some coffee, and had a rematch at Super Puzzle Fighter. After I DOMINATED him last time, he beat me 3-1 this time.

The we had dinner at this place called Sushi Maru. They serve the sushi on boats, and they charge you by the dish. That place was really impressive. They still serve thick cuts of fish on the nigiri sushi. Very fresh, and very tasty.

Excite - News

2004-05-21T14:20:00.000-07:00

Excite - News

Now this is funny...

Work...

2004-05-21T10:13:00.000-07:00

Work is busy. No time for me to post.

Ever notice that when things come in, they all come in at the same time? Of course I've got many different areas that need my attention, and not enough time to do it!

Matt's Birthday

2004-05-18T21:57:00.000-07:00

So I got back a little while from Pizza Mizza. We had dinner there for Matt's birthday.

I just want to say that I LOVE that place. Its not traditional pizza. Its the same idea as CPK, so there are funky pizzas there. Except they use a thin crust. Probably my favorite non traditional pizza place in Santa Barbara (of course the only competition is CPK, and I love that place too).

So we all pitched in and got him a Char-Broil charcoal grill. Its good for him, and good for us because we can have bbqs at our place now. Hehehe. I love presents with ulterior motives. ;)

Yahoo! News - Stolen Stradivarius Cello Found Damaged in L.A.

2004-05-18T14:23:00.000-07:00

Yahoo! News - Stolen Stradivarius Cello Found Damaged in L.A.

Now that is bizarre. What are you doing keeping a 300 year old cello on your porch? That cellist should be smacked for failure to take care of a musical treasure.

The Weekend Update

2004-05-17T10:43:00.000-07:00

Saturday we went to the Oxnard Strawberry festival. It was the the first time for David, Aaron, Colleen, and Michelle. This year the food was good, but the strawberries were quite disappointing. This years crops were just not up to standard. What a bummer. Oh, another note, don't use their free park and ride service. We waited in line for almost an hour, and all it got us was $1 off admission. We should have just driven there, because when we pulled up in our bus, there was tons of parking.

Sunday was an awesome day. We just walked downtown, did some shopping, walked around some more. I bought a copy of Stephen Donaldson's "The Lords Foul Bane" which I've been wanting to reread, since I last read it when I was in 6th grade. After that, we went back to Michelle's and had bloody marys...

Piano Sale at SBCC

2004-05-14T22:24:00.000-07:00

Talk about great timing. I've been in the market to buy a piano for some time now, but believe it or not, there is NO place to buy a piano in Santa Barbara. The closest place is in Ventura.

So I'm over at Alli, Aaron and Colleen's house, and I see they got a mailer for a piano sale to take place at the music department at SBCC. I think I'm going to call them and make an appointment for the Friday, May 21st sale. This will be the private sale, and whatever they don't sell on Friday will go on sale to the public on Saturday the 22nd. They'll have some used Yamahas, which is exactly what I was looking for.

So now I'm excited. A piano is a little hard to lug around when moving, but if the prices are good, this may be an opportunity too good to pass up!

Spurs Protest Denied

2004-05-14T13:48:00.000-07:00

NBA.com: Spurs Protest Denied

Haha! I admit it was close. But come on... You lost the game. Deal with it. But then again, if it would have been the spurs doing that to the lakers I might have done the same thing.

Wow! The Lakers won!

2004-05-14T09:46:00.000-07:00

Wow. I meant to post this last night, but I got back from Chevy's and starting playing slack key, and the time slipped away from me.

Wow, Lakers up big. San Antonio rallies to within 1. Duncan hits a huge shot with .4 seconds left. San Antonio up by 1. Lakers inbound. Can't inbound the ball. Called a timeout. Successfully inbounded the ball. Derek Fisher hits a huge shot at the buzzer. Lakers win by 1!

What a game. San Antonio really deserved to win that game. I mean the Lakers fell apart in the 4th quarter. But hey, who am I to argue? I'll take the win!

Lakers need to win!

2004-05-13T16:57:00.000-07:00

Ok Lakers don't let me down. Let's see if they can do this!

Mornings... YUCK!

2004-05-13T10:01:00.000-07:00

It's official. I hate mornings. I also have picked up the horrible habit of snoozing. Back in the day, I used to hear my alarm, and either immediately get up, or turn it off and sleep through the day and miss my classes... Unfortunately, missing work isn't an option these days.

So Michelle and I were driving to work, and I heard the most shocking news on the radio. America is retarded and voted off LaToya London on American Idol! Yes everyone. I am an American Idol fan. I'll admit it. You heard me say it. Spread the word! I'm not sure how this happened. She was by far the best singer in that competition. I guess she was a little boring, but still! I love Jasmine, but it really was her week to go. But in any case, America has spoken, and America, YOU'RE RETARDED!

Ok, that's my rant for this morning.

Wireless phones

2004-05-12T17:22:00.000-07:00

So I just had a conversation with Derek from work. He's rather knowledgable about wireless phones and PDAs and such. He's also the project lead for PocketView for GoToMyPC (allows you to access a PC with an internet connection, and a Windows CE device). He mentioned there are some really cool devices coming out.

I wanted to know about whether you could use PocketView with the Microsoft SmartPhone OS phones, because this Samsung SCH-i600 phone from verizon looks really interesting. He said it doesn't support it yet, but it may in the future.

In any case, he said to wait 6 months, because some cool phones are coming out. My contract with Verizon ends in August, so I guess I'm not in too much of a rush...

My first post!

2004-05-12T15:36:00.000-07:00

So this is a bizzare thing. I've been reading about blogs for some time, and several of my friends have one, so I finally bit the bullet and decided to sign up for one of these and see what the big deal is!

I guess the reason I've been so resistant to this is I can't imagine that my life is interesting enough for anyone to actually want to read about it. But I guess we'll have to see. My friend David pointed out to me "Who determines what is interesting?" I guess after hearing that, I decided to jump on board.

Well I'm looking forward to seeing what this is all about. Hello to anyone who happens to read this!