Go Joan.
original references:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fVb7LTA4Sts
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9iYAXJ6Yz30
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QgkUeDhX4cw
I know I always praise my latest work as my greatest, but, I still think this is pretty good.
"I have a pimple on my nose that's making me cross-eyed."
-JG
8/30/08
8/26/08
a can of acadamia nuts
Thanks to the multiple occurences in which I've been asked this question, I am now very well aware that my college life is over and I've got nothing but the real world to look forward to from this point forward.
Thank you, I didn't notice.
Why yes, I did graduate from UCLA. What did I study? Geography, urban planning, and public policy. What am I doing now? I'm working for the transit department of Santa Monica. Do I want to go to grad school? Eventually.
After answering those string of questions exactly in that order and with the exact same responses for the 20th time in the past 4 days, I felt like the next step I would need to take would be to type out my answers onto a business card and just hand it to anyone who wanted to make that conversation with me. But since I secretly enjoy tooting my own horn at my accomplishments, I figure I'll probably hold out for just a little while longer.
But another question that is consistently posed to me is whether or not I miss undergrad life. Do I miss going to school yet? Do I miss UCLA yet? Am I getting sick of work yet? Really, it's a long answer yes with an 'and,' and a short answer no with a 'but.'
In actuality, the only thing I really truly miss about undergrad life is being able to sleep in till whenever I'd like. Other than that, I rather enjoy life after school. I like the job I'm at right now, since I think I've learned more relevant practical skills in the past few weeks than I have in the past few years in college courses. I'm making a decent amount of money (goodbye crippling credit card debt!). I love free time, so I absolutely don't mind coming home after work and spending the rest of the evening watching old re-runs of John and Kate plus 8, I Love Money, Blind Date, Southpark, the more obscure untelevised Olympic sports such as judo, shooting, or trampoline, and working on developing my beatboxing skills thanks to Biz Markie:
All that, and I'd like to believe that every day, my stock is rising (that's right, baby, I'm a college graduate with a stable job, and I'm only getting more beautiful by the day).
I mean, that's not to say I didn't enjoy undergraduate life. Hell, I've had the most fun I had ever had, ever in the past four years. I've gained a multitude of friends I'll have for years, I've expanded my tastes in music and my collection of it, I've learned life experiences I would have never had otherwise, and I've created memories I'll have for years. I mean, how many people can say they
-played in the band at UCLA
-MC'd a banquet for 100+ people on a yacht
-participated in UCLA's undie run (research it, for you who are not aware of it) not in my underwear, but in a gorilla suit
-have driven back and forth between the Bay Area and Los Angeles at least 97 times
-one of those drives was in the middle of the night, in which the tire blew out resulting in the car spinning out of control in the middle of highway 5 at 4am, forcing the rest of the drive to be done on the spare tire going no faster than 50 mph
-got high, cooked dinosaur shaped chicken nuggets, and watched the Land Before Time
-open up a bottle of Andre ($3 champagne!) and watch Russell Peter's only good stand up every other night
-had a roommate who would leave notes on the door asking to stay out because he's having a "serious talk with his good friend," who happened to be a guy
-walked in on the above
-had a roommate who didn't shower often, or ever
-played a role in putting together conferences for 300+ high school students
-mix pancake batter, stick in the oven, and call that dinner
-open up a can of pork and beans, open up a soda, and call that dinner
-threw parties in which there were at least 50-70 people crammed into a single roomed apartment
-got trapped in a tiny elevator with 2 other guys and a huge laundry cart flowing over with stuff, on the last day your friend is spending in the neighborhood
-completely furnished a living room for free, thanks to the many nights spent driving around the neighborhood searching for furniture left on the streets
...and oh so much more. I think an extended list of this will call for another entry.
I mean, I see why people would want to extend their stay in the college lifestyle. I visited campus today for the first time in a while, and already I had run into two people I knew. The campus is beautiful and full of beautiful people. There are still winter, spring, and summer breaks, and the living is usually easy. It's very, very convenient.
But it's got to come to an end eventually. It's been fun, it's been memorable, but all good things come to an end. College is so...temporary. Relationships are limited to the time until graduation, jobs are menial and usually don't help much for the resume, and metabolism slows down exponentially after finishing undergrad (I sense another entry topic).
So for the time being, right now I will say that I do miss undergrad life to a point, but at the same time, I know that my time has come and gone. But feel free to ask me again in a few months or so.
Total laps swam so far, 8/26/08: 60 laps x 25 meters = 1500meters
How much in shape am I feeling: The fact that I wasn't getting winded after one lap is a good sign. Unfortunately, I've taken a 6 day break as well.
"a pick and roll? a pick and roll? I fucking play football, I don't know what the fuck a pick and roll is!"
-KF
oh one more thing, how are you all digging the new layout?
Thank you, I didn't notice.
Why yes, I did graduate from UCLA. What did I study? Geography, urban planning, and public policy. What am I doing now? I'm working for the transit department of Santa Monica. Do I want to go to grad school? Eventually.
After answering those string of questions exactly in that order and with the exact same responses for the 20th time in the past 4 days, I felt like the next step I would need to take would be to type out my answers onto a business card and just hand it to anyone who wanted to make that conversation with me. But since I secretly enjoy tooting my own horn at my accomplishments, I figure I'll probably hold out for just a little while longer.
But another question that is consistently posed to me is whether or not I miss undergrad life. Do I miss going to school yet? Do I miss UCLA yet? Am I getting sick of work yet? Really, it's a long answer yes with an 'and,' and a short answer no with a 'but.'
In actuality, the only thing I really truly miss about undergrad life is being able to sleep in till whenever I'd like. Other than that, I rather enjoy life after school. I like the job I'm at right now, since I think I've learned more relevant practical skills in the past few weeks than I have in the past few years in college courses. I'm making a decent amount of money (goodbye crippling credit card debt!). I love free time, so I absolutely don't mind coming home after work and spending the rest of the evening watching old re-runs of John and Kate plus 8, I Love Money, Blind Date, Southpark, the more obscure untelevised Olympic sports such as judo, shooting, or trampoline, and working on developing my beatboxing skills thanks to Biz Markie:
All that, and I'd like to believe that every day, my stock is rising (that's right, baby, I'm a college graduate with a stable job, and I'm only getting more beautiful by the day).
I mean, that's not to say I didn't enjoy undergraduate life. Hell, I've had the most fun I had ever had, ever in the past four years. I've gained a multitude of friends I'll have for years, I've expanded my tastes in music and my collection of it, I've learned life experiences I would have never had otherwise, and I've created memories I'll have for years. I mean, how many people can say they
-played in the band at UCLA
-MC'd a banquet for 100+ people on a yacht
-participated in UCLA's undie run (research it, for you who are not aware of it) not in my underwear, but in a gorilla suit
-have driven back and forth between the Bay Area and Los Angeles at least 97 times
-one of those drives was in the middle of the night, in which the tire blew out resulting in the car spinning out of control in the middle of highway 5 at 4am, forcing the rest of the drive to be done on the spare tire going no faster than 50 mph
-got high, cooked dinosaur shaped chicken nuggets, and watched the Land Before Time
-open up a bottle of Andre ($3 champagne!) and watch Russell Peter's only good stand up every other night
-had a roommate who would leave notes on the door asking to stay out because he's having a "serious talk with his good friend," who happened to be a guy
-walked in on the above
-had a roommate who didn't shower often, or ever
-played a role in putting together conferences for 300+ high school students
-mix pancake batter, stick in the oven, and call that dinner
-open up a can of pork and beans, open up a soda, and call that dinner
-threw parties in which there were at least 50-70 people crammed into a single roomed apartment
-got trapped in a tiny elevator with 2 other guys and a huge laundry cart flowing over with stuff, on the last day your friend is spending in the neighborhood
-completely furnished a living room for free, thanks to the many nights spent driving around the neighborhood searching for furniture left on the streets
...and oh so much more. I think an extended list of this will call for another entry.
I mean, I see why people would want to extend their stay in the college lifestyle. I visited campus today for the first time in a while, and already I had run into two people I knew. The campus is beautiful and full of beautiful people. There are still winter, spring, and summer breaks, and the living is usually easy. It's very, very convenient.
But it's got to come to an end eventually. It's been fun, it's been memorable, but all good things come to an end. College is so...temporary. Relationships are limited to the time until graduation, jobs are menial and usually don't help much for the resume, and metabolism slows down exponentially after finishing undergrad (I sense another entry topic).
So for the time being, right now I will say that I do miss undergrad life to a point, but at the same time, I know that my time has come and gone. But feel free to ask me again in a few months or so.
Total laps swam so far, 8/26/08: 60 laps x 25 meters = 1500meters
How much in shape am I feeling: The fact that I wasn't getting winded after one lap is a good sign. Unfortunately, I've taken a 6 day break as well.
"a pick and roll? a pick and roll? I fucking play football, I don't know what the fuck a pick and roll is!"
-KF
oh one more thing, how are you all digging the new layout?
8/17/08
Prestidigitation.
\pres-tuh-dij-uh-TAY-shuhn\, noun:
Skill in or performance of tricks; sleight of hand.
Cool word huh? Dictionary.com's word of the day, November 16, 2005, my birthday.
But it has nothing to do with what I'm about to write.
No, rather, I've been spending some short time at home, and I've had time to reflect. I've had an excogitation if you will (another dictionary.com benefaction). Being at home is nice and all, and it's not without its perks (close to family, free rent, free food, free laundry!), but I'm just not ready to go back yet. At home, I can not work, sit on my ass all day and wander around the house aimlessly and feel good about it. But good lord, I have a life to live and bills to pay and people to meet and friends to hang out with and bills to pay and places to explore and bills to pay and bills to pay. The Bay Area is an amazing place, rich with culture and opportunity and boasts some of the most beautiful scenery of the world (and I mean that figuratively, too). This picture below of the sun setting west behind the mountains doesn't do justice of what I saw while driving on the bridge, but hey, I just learned that taking a clear picture while driving 80 mph on a crowded roadway is kinda difficult...and just straight up dangerous, especially while trying to text at the same time.
above: in LA the mountains would be brown and hazy and the sky would be a beautiful smoggy purplish-brown
Driving back to the LALA land was what you call, a bitch, however. Apparently nearing the end of Highway 5, about 60 miles away from Westhood, CalTrans decides to close off the road from 11pm-4am, starting that night I was driving on it. I arrive at the scene at 11:04pm. Damn. As a result, traffic stops to a near standstill as 5 lanes eventually merge into 1 while everyone exits onto the detour. So keep in mind that not only are there hundreds of cars trying to fit into a space 1/5 of what it was driving on before, the detour route was considerably long, and naturally, full of traffic. Expectedly, I lose two hours and end up coming home later than I should have. But, as always, I guess it could have been worse:
One last thing. Since I had been relegated to buying larger dress pants in order to avoid any more days in which my waist cannot breathe while at work, I have been inspired to start recreational lap swimming again. No, I wasn't inspired by the olympics but rather the extra 3 minutes I have to spend sucking in my gut while struggling to button up my pants every other morning. But man, today was wake up call though. I didn't realize how far 25 meters is after 6 years of physical inactivity. Since the last time I had done anything this physical, I have: started drinking, began living on my own-which means cheaper, less quality foods, smoked a few times, and, well, pretty much let myself go. By the time I finished my very few 18 laps today, I was winded, I was dizzy, for some odd reason, my reactions were slower on the drive home, and I couldn't help but what the hell I was thinking.
But no pain, no gain, right? Fuck that. No pain, no pain.
Total laps swam so far, 8/18/08: 18 laps x 25 meters = 450 meters
How much in shape am I feeling: Will someone kill me now?
"fuck growing up...wandering around in the mountainside with crazy youthful abandon forever"
-KV
Skill in or performance of tricks; sleight of hand.
Cool word huh? Dictionary.com's word of the day, November 16, 2005, my birthday.
But it has nothing to do with what I'm about to write.
No, rather, I've been spending some short time at home, and I've had time to reflect. I've had an excogitation if you will (another dictionary.com benefaction). Being at home is nice and all, and it's not without its perks (close to family, free rent, free food, free laundry!), but I'm just not ready to go back yet. At home, I can not work, sit on my ass all day and wander around the house aimlessly and feel good about it. But good lord, I have a life to live and bills to pay and people to meet and friends to hang out with and bills to pay and places to explore and bills to pay and bills to pay. The Bay Area is an amazing place, rich with culture and opportunity and boasts some of the most beautiful scenery of the world (and I mean that figuratively, too). This picture below of the sun setting west behind the mountains doesn't do justice of what I saw while driving on the bridge, but hey, I just learned that taking a clear picture while driving 80 mph on a crowded roadway is kinda difficult...and just straight up dangerous, especially while trying to text at the same time.
above: in LA the mountains would be brown and hazy and the sky would be a beautiful smoggy purplish-brown
Driving back to the LALA land was what you call, a bitch, however. Apparently nearing the end of Highway 5, about 60 miles away from Westhood, CalTrans decides to close off the road from 11pm-4am, starting that night I was driving on it. I arrive at the scene at 11:04pm. Damn. As a result, traffic stops to a near standstill as 5 lanes eventually merge into 1 while everyone exits onto the detour. So keep in mind that not only are there hundreds of cars trying to fit into a space 1/5 of what it was driving on before, the detour route was considerably long, and naturally, full of traffic. Expectedly, I lose two hours and end up coming home later than I should have. But, as always, I guess it could have been worse:
One last thing. Since I had been relegated to buying larger dress pants in order to avoid any more days in which my waist cannot breathe while at work, I have been inspired to start recreational lap swimming again. No, I wasn't inspired by the olympics but rather the extra 3 minutes I have to spend sucking in my gut while struggling to button up my pants every other morning. But man, today was wake up call though. I didn't realize how far 25 meters is after 6 years of physical inactivity. Since the last time I had done anything this physical, I have: started drinking, began living on my own-which means cheaper, less quality foods, smoked a few times, and, well, pretty much let myself go. By the time I finished my very few 18 laps today, I was winded, I was dizzy, for some odd reason, my reactions were slower on the drive home, and I couldn't help but what the hell I was thinking.
But no pain, no gain, right? Fuck that. No pain, no pain.
Total laps swam so far, 8/18/08: 18 laps x 25 meters = 450 meters
How much in shape am I feeling: Will someone kill me now?
"fuck growing up...wandering around in the mountainside with crazy youthful abandon forever"
-KV
8/12/08
can you digg it baby?
So the lack of school to take up my time leaves me free to spend my time working full time. And work full time I do. And with 40 hours of my life per week spent at work, this gives me plenty of time to steal the company bandwidth and find the randomnest crap on the interweb. And steal the company bandwidth I do. And since I don't have school to keep me occupied, I also have all the time in the world to write about this crap. And write about this crap I do.
hilarious.
"I don't read blogs-I look for pictures and bold lettering so I can skim through"
-JRT
So this week in stuff I find fairly (if not ever so slightly) interesting:
Scients unlock the "key" to music and mental illness
First up, apparently psychiatrists have finally scientifically proven that the type of music a teenager listens is an indication of what their personality is like. I rather like reading about these things, actually. Every now and then I run into these "scientific" articles that state some wildly obvious conclusions (i.e. "Scientists Conclude that College Drinking Games Lead to Higher Blood Alcohol Levels).
The article states that the type of music you listen to may make you more likely to develop a mental illness. Really now? What I found more ridiculous was this very typecast generalization:
WHAT STUDIES SAY ABOUT YOUR SOUNDS:
POP: Conformists, overly responsible, role-conscious, struggling with sexuality or peer acceptance.
HEAVY METAL: Higher levels of suicidal ideation, depression, drug use, self-harm, shoplifting, vandalism, unprotected sex.
DANCE: Higher levels of drug use regardless of socio-economic background.
JAZZ/RHYTHM & BLUES: Introverted misfits, loners.
RAP: Higher levels of theft, violence, anger, street gang membership, drug use and misogyny.
Uh oh. I have an appreciation for all these types of music genres. Looks like I'm a suicidal introverted misfit loner that is part of a gang, does drugs and shoplifts and is struggling with my sexuality.
Could pandas be proof that there is a God?
Some religious fanatics seem to believe so. I mean, think about it. Pandas are an evolutionary mistake. They have an "un-bear-like" vegetarian diet, apparent lack of interest or aptitude for sex, they spend their days sitting, eating, and scratching...I mean, how could a species who evolved so poorly have survived in the past tens of thousands of years without help from a higher power?
The article mostly centers around the panda's (nearly nonexistent) sex life. They state "The male penis is disproportionately small, females seldom go into heat, and males do not instinctively know how to mate..." Hm...a species in the males have had to be given porn, viagra, and sexercise just to learn how to mate? Of course God, Buddha, Mohammed, Shiva, or some other higher deity has had to have a hand in their survival. I think these people may be on to something...
Operator get me Beijing ding ding ding
Ah, of course. The one event that brings together thousands of people from all over the world so billions of others have an excuse to sit in front of the tv for hours at a time. But the 29th Olympiad has succeeded in other things besides blowing our fucking mind (by the way, if any of you watched the opening ceremony, I heard Toshiba is coming out with those new roll up big screen TVs soon).
It's exposed the world's obession with appearance and perfection and all that wonderful junk. Critics may attack the Chinese, but the coverage that the press is even giving these allegations of trickery and such just goes to show how obsessed we really are as well. Sure, the Chinese government switched a couple of girls around during the opening ceremony because one was too cute to sing and one was too good at singing to be cute. But I mean, come on. The Chinese don't deserve to receive that much criticism over something as trivial as that. People have gone on to accuse China of being two faced, and fakers, and so on and so forth. But really, who hasn't lip synched a concert before (Remember Ashley Simpson? And did you know that Pavoratti was supposed to sing at the Winter Olympics in Turin, Italy, but lip synched his performance as well?) This was just a simple performance. The real criticism should be about how the government displaced hundreds of thousands of people from their homes and built walls to block "unsightly" neighborhoods from the Olympic community:
...ah, that was kind of serious note to end on. Here's some other funny stuff I found online this week:
hilarious.
"I don't read blogs-I look for pictures and bold lettering so I can skim through"
-JRT
8/4/08
I won't pay, I won't pay ya, no way. Why don't you get a job
MARK SOLOMON
TRANSIT OPERATIONS, SANTA MONICA BIG BLUE BUS
-as read on my employee badge
it's got a nice ring to it, huh?
it's only been my first day of real career-ish work, but hey, it feels good to know that I'm finally stepping into a field that I'm genuinely interested in. I started my morning hungover and at 6am, and over the course of the day I was introduced to a multitude of names I won't remember and more information on the operations of a public transit system than all the things I've learned in my classes in the past year. had it been any other field, I would have been exhausted and hot and bothered. but it was different today. I was actually excited to get into this!
of course, me taking this job has effectively tied me to living in westwood for at least the next few months, if not the next year, kinda clashing with my grand master daddy plan of ultimately leaving this godforsaken region (SoSucksCal) for...
who knows. somewhere different. I haven't thought that far ahead yet.
on that note, I leave you with a cat eating corn.
"guess who got a B+ in art history? not me, cause I got an A!"
-NB
TRANSIT OPERATIONS, SANTA MONICA BIG BLUE BUS
-as read on my employee badge
it's got a nice ring to it, huh?
it's only been my first day of real career-ish work, but hey, it feels good to know that I'm finally stepping into a field that I'm genuinely interested in. I started my morning hungover and at 6am, and over the course of the day I was introduced to a multitude of names I won't remember and more information on the operations of a public transit system than all the things I've learned in my classes in the past year. had it been any other field, I would have been exhausted and hot and bothered. but it was different today. I was actually excited to get into this!
of course, me taking this job has effectively tied me to living in westwood for at least the next few months, if not the next year, kinda clashing with my grand master daddy plan of ultimately leaving this godforsaken region (SoSucksCal) for...
who knows. somewhere different. I haven't thought that far ahead yet.
on that note, I leave you with a cat eating corn.
"guess who got a B+ in art history? not me, cause I got an A!"
-NB
8/2/08
if websites came with warning labels...
seriously, yo.
courtesy of cracked.com
"I wanted to be a geology major but I'm fat and I can't walk"
-SN
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)