Don't you realize? Vienna waits for you.

So it’s been nearly 5 days since I first stepped foot off that train and into what would ultimately be the stage for my next/new but exciting/scary stage in life. I sometimes hate to get melodramatic about things (and have been characterized as so), but I must answer back with “with what authority do you have to judge my reactions? Are you out here where I am?”

guess this makes it official.

And so it’s not like I didn’t make the realization before, but I think it really started to hit me that I’m taking a radically different direction in life than I was, say, 2 months ago. February 4, 2009, I was knee deep in the grind of things, working a full-time job, living from paycheck to paycheck just to pay the bills and rent, and would spend my evenings watching re-runs of I Love Money and Scrubs over cooking whatever it was I was making for dinner, so I could eat, and browse some off-the-wall articles on digg and reddit before I would pour myself a glass of merlot to put myself to sleep, so I could wake up 6 hours later to start the process all over. April 4, 2009, I Love Money and merlot are still there, but at the very least I can say I’m doing it in a different part of the country.

But it’s definitely different here. No, I can’t say that. That simplifies it way too much. It would be immature and one-sided for me to say that this place is different in the sense that it’s just not California. Sure, the differences are obvious. The weather is colder, the transit is better, the bars are a little less posh and there just aren’t as many Asians, mind you. But like every other American city, and really, like any other city in the world, you’re gonna find that everyone has one thing in common: we all struggle. And we struggle to do the same thing. Everyone’s struggling to pay for something, no matter where you are. In Manila, you may be struggling to pay to feed your family, while in LA you’ll probably be struggling to pay off your BMW. The rat race is everywhere, to what extent and how intense is the biggest variable.

Let’s take into account something I noticed last night, as I spent my first Friday night here in the Windy City at a bar with a pool table and a bunch of 35+ folks. Was definitely not my scene. But why wasn’t it my scene? Well, yes, I was much younger than everyone else there, but it was a simple detail that I failed to notice at first: I’ve never played pool in a bar in Los Angeles, and I can’t recall ever seeing a pool table in a bar in Los Angeles in the first place. Now that may seem like a simple and minute detail. But my uncle made an interesting point when he mentioned that it seems in LA everyone’s too busy with trying to advance themselves that no one takes the time to slow down, have a beer, take off that tie and relax for goodness sake. There’s nothing wrong with trying to make money to make money to later squander it on your designer bag or your lease to your sports car, but there are a lot of other places where there’s less money circulating and the dollar is harder earned, and likewise, priorities are different. With that said, drop some quarters on the table and let’s play some pool.

I think what bothers me most at this moment is everything and everyone I left behind. Maybe I’m only saying or feeling this because I haven’t really met too many people out here yet (and really, it has only been 5 days), but coming home at night at around 9 with my family already asleep leaves something to be yearned for. No longer is there someone to see or hang out with a few blocks up the street, 10 minutes up 280, or even just in the apartment downstairs. And although the wonders of the internet (thank you twitter) have ensured that I will always know what everyone is doing at every single hour of the day, I think right now it’s not helping when I would much rather be at that LA pillow fight, at that Duke Ellington tribute concert, or even at that formal.

Eh. Can't dwell on that forever. Anyways, all that depressing prophetic philosophical shit aside, let’s get onto the interesting stuff: Chicago sightseeing!
Fortunate enough with a lot of time on my hands to explore this small town in the Midwest, I was able to take the time to take the train somewhere, get off randomly, and wander around aimlessly until I no longer had the motivation to. The skyline is beautiful and the architecture is amazing (and I like my architecture).





What does suck, however, is the lack of hills or mountains from which I would be able to get a higher vantage point of the city. The whole area is flat, and while that’s nice for walking or biking long distances, it sucks if you’re trying to look for a view similar to the one you would find from the Coit Tower, the Hayward Hills, or the Hollywood sign.

Of course, one of the first things I looked for was a place to finally get that coveted “Chicago-style” pizza (it’s just called pizza here though). Without any suggestions from anyone, I figured I would drop by the first place I saw as soon as I got hungry. Kinda ironic that the place where I get my first taste of Chicago-style pizza is a place called “Rosati’s Authentic Chicago California Style Deli ”

The pizza was…alright. This sausage deep dish variety was fairly dry, the crust was nothing to die for and the meat scarce. I suppose this is what I should expect for $4 at a fast food “California” grill. I’ve since gotten suggestions for better places to find pizza, even a place that will, for a fee, send a pizza via mail to an address of your choice (so I WILL be able to follow through on my promise to send everyone pizza!)

Wandering around further led me to the Lake Michigan waterfront, the closest thing to a beach I’ll find out here. But don’t get me wrong, it is definitely a nice waterfront. On good days, I hear you can even see across the whole great lake and even see the shore of Michigan. Michigan. Eh. Been there, seen that, not impressed.

But something that stuck out at Millennium Park on the lakefront was a large, metallic, kidney bean shaped structure that is so aptly named the “Cloud Gate.” Many, though, have already dubbed it the "Chicago Bean." Even the postcards refer to this sculpture as the bean. Inspired by liquid mercury, it is said to be shaped in the form of a gate to welcome visitors to walk through and under its mirror-like surface, which itself reflects the Chicago skyline.



But to me, it’s still just a fucking bean.

"...and we'd be like 'daddy, why do we keep cooking fresh chicken for dinner when we never go to the store? and why are there only 3 chickens in the back now?' "
-SM

“No Lines, No Reservations, No Waiting”

For those of you fortunate enough to follow my twitter, you’ve been updated with every turn, scenery, and interaction I’ve managed to run into on this past 52 hour journey across half the continent. For those of you who don’t…sign up for twitter and request to follow me.

I think I had a realization today that my life has made a completely drastic turn and from this point forward, it's going to be so very very different...but I'll go more into that in a later post. For now, my travels:

A lot of people said I was crazy for deciding to make the 2,438 mile trek to Chicago via train instead of plane. Well, 52 hours, 4 microwaved sandwiches, 6 diet cokes, 2 flasks of whisky and a fun sized cabernet sauvignon later, I can agree. I am fucking crazy.

But it was all worth it.

In case you don’t know me very well, then you’d know that I seem to have a penchant for doing stuff just for the sheer hell of it. And why not? I love telling others “how many people can say that they…”

But yeah, why, when traveling across this long of a distance would I decide to take the road (literally) less traveled and go on a trip that lasts 10 times as long as it would if I had flown instead? Cause getting there is half the fun, to quote Clark Griswold (who? Never mind.) I mean, I could have paid a few extra dollars, I could’ve spared another day at home, I could’ve put on my headphones, gone to sleep, and wake up 5 hours later in a different state. But then I wouldn’t have been able to see Nebraska. And that would have been a tragedy.

The Amtrak “California Zephyr” which travels from the San Francisco Bay Area to Chicago has often been called one of the most popular and scenic train routes in the United States, passing through the Rocky Mountains and California’s historic Donner Pass. I can attest to that. Yes, it is indeed. There are majestic mountains, mighty rivers, and historic natural landmarks:






But for every amazing view, there’s a whole lot of this:





That’s right. Turns out a lot of the western half of America is full of barren deserts, endless snow plains, and empty cornfields. In other words, I never realized that there is a whole lot of nothing in between California and the rest of the country. Well, I did realize it. I just had to see for myself, and in doing so have reaffirmed the fact that I should never visit Iowa again. Davis and Sacramento have got nothing on the cow-town-ness of Nebraska and Iowa, to quote my tweet (seriously, if you don’t have a twitter already, you really should get one!)

Maybe it just means that train tracks run through these boring and empty places on purpose. No one wants to live near a passing train (but maybe Mr. John Deere shirt and NRA cap-wearing with the Bible in his hand might think otherwise).

Needless to say, I had to find something to pass the time while I would ride through the (very often bare) buttcrack of America. So what did I do? Watch movies! I purposely held back on watching a lot of the movies I had downloaded recently, for the purpose of this trip alone:

Religulous: Funny man Bill Mahr calls into question and attempts to compromise the religions of people all over the world (and he picks on everybody!) Spoiler alert: he doesn’t succeed.
W.: A sort of biopic/reimagining of the life and coming of age of our 43rd president, which really focuses more on his relationship with his father than on his actual presidency and legacy. Spoiler alert: George Bush wins the election in 2000.
Zack and Miri Make a Porno: Turned off after 20 minutes for the lack of actual funny jokes. Maybe I didn’t give it enough time, but the problem was that I could tell when they were trying to be funny, but it just wasn’t. You disappoint me, Seth Rogan.
I Am Legend: The last living man on Earth attempts to find cure for a disease that has already wiped out the rest of the world’s population anyway. Spoiler alert: the adorable dog dies. Kinda wished it was Will Smith that was killed first.
Lars and the Real Girl: Awkward loner Lars falls in love and has actual conversations/arguments with sex doll he orders online, while oblivious to the fact his coworker and his doctor is soo hitting on him. Overall good movie, but seriously, the best part is the shocked look on his brother’s and sister-in-law’s faces when they finally meet Bianca, the doll. Spoiler alert: the doll dies, somehow.
The Day the Earth Stood Still: Keanu Reeves plays every role he has ever been in, this time in alien form. Came to destroy the Earth for some weakly explained environmental reason, and decides at the last minute (literally) to change his mind after he sees some mom argue with her stepson. Kathy Bates is Secretary of Defense and John Cleese is a physics professor. Who the fuck did the casting for this movie? Spoiler alert: as adorable as he is, you will want Jaden Smith to die in this movie. I take that back, Jaden Smith is too annoying to be adorable in this movie.
Role Models: Stopped watching after I realized the bootleg copy I have of it cuts off the whole right side of the screen.
Milk: San Francisco gay activist Harvey Milk’s political career is followed, leading up to his assassination by the same guy who plays George Bush in W. How about that? Spoiler alert: Sean Penn wins Best Actor. Too late?

Aside from all the things I did to pass the time that seemed to pass by very slowly, I’ll say it was a fairly good experience I had the past three days. I’ve met and ran into lots of interesting people, saw a lot of scenery that most people would never view, and found a legitimate excuse to not shower or change clothes and sit, watch movies, read, and play video games for 3 days straight.

But don’t ask me to ever do it again.

“Hello everyone and welcome to the East-Bound California Zephyr on Amtrak. My name is Johnny, and I will be your lounge conductor for the duration of your trip. Down here in the lounge we’ve got a variety of assorted foods, such as quarter pound cheeseburgers, piping hot pizza, all beef hot dogs, hot and cold turkey and swiss or ham and swiss sandwiches, Italian and Chicken breast hoagies and your choice of ice cold beer and or wine. Bloody Marys and Screwdrivers are in effect. Oh, and good morning everyone.”
-Johnny C, the lounge conductor and snack bar worker. This was the speech he gave after every single stop, and with 35 stops, well, you get the idea.

Leaving on the Midnight Train to Chicago...woo woo!

And so here we go, the final few hours of my melodramatic countdown to the day in which I would be making my foray away from the life I had grown to know (woo melodramatic-ness!) While I may maintain a mellow and even low-key nature about my plans for the future in person, those of you who read my blog may know that for the most part, it's almost all I've been talking about. And I say, hey, I'm pretty level-headed in person, I'm sure...why not let all the drama out online, huh?

The past month has been fun, exciting, and full of the scariness and anticipation that comes with knowing your life is about to change. I've come out of it with a little more nostalgia and a lot more memories, thanks to seeing people I hadn't seen in weeks, months, years, or even decades (okay, not so much decades) and appropriately ending with people I would see everyday. Good times. The past week has been just as fun, exciting, and full of the scariness and anticipation that comes with knowing your life is about to change as well. Packing to unpack to only pack it all up again to later unpack, I've managed to keep myself busy with family, old friends and even new ones. I've come out if it with a little less bitterness, and alot more hope. Also good times.

Thank you.

And so that brings us to today, right now, while I wonder why Matrix Revolutions is on BET and continue to finish packing what will be my life into four bags. To answer the question I have been asked 23 times today (I counted), I'm feeling a mixture of emotions. That's all I'm going to say. I'm tired of people asking me how I feel about leaving.

This isn't "goodbye." It's "good luck."

"I had an interpretive dance for I believe I can fly lined up for you...and it involved a cocoon!"
-JRT

if it's one thing I learned recently...

it's that although the rent is cheaper in Chicago, so is the pay for alot of the jobs I've been looking for there. it's all relative people!

2 days till I take the midnight train to Chicago (woo woo!)

"wait, Chicago has a basketball team, right? the Illinois...Pacers?"
-LI

"Don't text back yet--but we finished the end of an era!"

...and really, that pretty much sums it up.

sure the end of many eras can come in many different forms. I finished an era when I left home for college, I finished one when I moved out of the dorms finally, when I retired from "the business," when I quit working at on-campus housing, when I graduated from college, when I first started working full time after college (which ironically was two days before my college graduation)...

but this one is big. in case you don't know me at all or have no idea what I've been posting all over the place on facebook, twitter, and here, I'm finally moved out of a small town named "the angels" in the southern part of a relatively sunny but unknown state on the west coast. and it only took me 5 years.

for now, I find myself in the world I left behind (and I really did truly leave it behind...I don't talk to ANYBODY who is still in the bay), leaving me to reflect on the other world I left behind. the questions have been coming in (do you miss LA yet? when are you gonna come back and visit? are you gonna send me a pizza?) the way I figure it, I'm sure I'm gonna miss the wood in the west, but it's gonna come in stages. being that I knocked out on the floor early last night because I couldn't find a good place to sit and use my laptop and didn't have anywhere to sleep makes me miss my bed down there. and I'm sure I'll miss having a good job in Santa Monica when my savings begin to deplete. and I'm sure I'll miss everyone I've come to know and love as soon as I make it to Chicago and realize that I don't know anyone there.

but I can't dwell on that too much right now. I've got some packin' to do (amongst other things).

one last thing. I referenced this back in an old August post and I figured now would be an appropriate time to continue the list. I said I'd eventually come back to this...and here we are. 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
-worked from 9pm-5am, partied till 7am, got breakfast, knock out the rest of the day and wake up in the early evening to start the whole process all over again
-started playing guitar hero at 8pm, your friends would go to work, and by the time they got off work at 5am, you'd still be playing
-could get away with taking a few shots at a party that's happening 8 floors above your work while on your 30 minute break
-walked from apartment to apartment, depending on whose door was open, and drink a beer at each of these places regardless of who you knew
-could attend or host parties that would occur every single friday night for 3 months straight
-have friends who lived downstairs and would have cute little dinners by candlelight every week in each others' apartments
-could go barhopping on a Tuesday night. I mean, it is Tuesday night, of course.
-stayed up till 3 am writing a paper that's due in 6 hours, fell asleep partway through until an hour before it was due and then somehow spewed out 3 pages, printed it and walked it over with 3 minutes to spare
-it's 3am, and you've got work at 7, but hey, your friend wants to go get pho. let's go!
-it's 2am, you've just had 4 beers and you're craving some garlic fries...but you ran out of oil! but wait, there's some pam. spray that shit on the fryer and throw in the potatoes! now you're totally making fries!
-walk down the hall to your friend's room, knock on the door, and just chill there cause she and the rest of her roommates are "just chilling" too
-walk down the street to your friend's apartment, knock on the door, and just chill there cause he and the rest of his roommates are "just chilling" too
-be in class from 11am-5pm, have meetings from 5-8pm, and work from 9pm-5am everyday...and still have enough time to study, party, and have study-parties
-spend a whole day trying to speed run through Zelda: A Link to the Past or Super Mario Bros 3, and not feel bad about not stepping outside the whole day
-spend the whole day in bed till 6pm, and not feel guilty
-get up at 3pm and still be able to get pancakes and bacon at 4pm in the dining halls
-have the time to rehearse and learn multiple cultural dances within only a few months time to perform it in front of an audience of at least 1000...I mean, I never did, but I applaud those who did
-have the time to hold a directing position in 3 different community service groups all at once
-enjoy winter, spring, and summer breaks...with the ability to do so on your own terms because you're not at home anymore!
-completely furnished a living room for free, thanks to the many nights spent driving around the neighborhood searching for furniture left on the streets
-took a school bus to a club (once again, I never did...but to those who did...ha.)
-but I did take a university owned van that's meant for community service to a club
-and also thanks to the aforementioned van, we also picked up all the free furniture on the streets!
-rode on a crowded stretch hummer to hollywood

...the list will continue! when I find the time and effort to continue it.

and the countdown starts over...5 days till I take the midnight train to Chicago (woo woo!)

"hey, a handicap space...you know, my hip does hurt"
-RS

Happy 100th post!

I've finally finished 100 posts! And it only took me 564 days. Which is equal to exactly 1 year, 6 months, and 17 days. It could also be 13,536 hours. Or even 812,160 minutes (try singing that, Rent!) It's even 48,729,600 seconds.

I would like to commemorate this moment by recognizing all 100 of the funny things that I have overheard or read from other people that have made my blog as witty and intriguing as it could be. Thank you, quotable friends and strangers.

09/03/2007
09/17/2007 "I don't get it, Mark. You're not that great."-LT
09/23/2007 "Rieber 1 to OCH Dispatch, I'll be signing off my radio for the year. If you need to reach me, you can do so via facebook, email, or landline. Thank you and have a good night. I have officially stopped caring." -Solo's last radio call
09/24/2007 "I applied for a job at the mental hospital today. They said I need 24 hours experience with a retard. So uh...do u want 2 hang out?" -RM
09/28/2007 "it is in the nature of us Filipinos to complain to get what we want. that is the only way to make change." -Prof. Andersson
10/03/2007 "Kids, if you really wanna piss off your parents, buy real estate in an imaginary place." -Imaginary Places - Busdriver
10/10/2007 "I thought by this time we would be having rampaging sex." -BM
10/17/2007 "you are full of wisdom =)" -TC
10/28/2007 "you better be gettin laid." -EB
11/01/2007 "getting my degree has been the worst thing ever" -LN
11/10/2007
12/01/2007 "Stop being emo and find some damn meaning in your life!" -SK
12/27/2007
01/07/2008 "maybe now you can find out how the orange slayed the rake. probably had a rotato. something to think about while on the john." -CT
01/21/2008 "On a side note, if you're one of those people who type f*ck or f_ck, my respect for you has been lowered considerably. If you don't wanna curse, just use another word. Censoring the vowel means you're acknowledging that it is a curse word, and you're using it. Get bent." -SS
02/13/2008 "Wow, it actually happened. Youre gone forever. I'll miss you always and I love you forever. <333" -MVS
02/17/2008 "Okininam!" (the spelling is questionable, but that's what it sounded like...you Ilocano speakers probably know what I'm trying to say) -FS
02/25/2008 "Wow. Your students are so...urban." -an observer of PREP's 25th Annual Day In A Life High School Conference
02/29/2008 "Come on! Turn that frown upside down and take a flyer from me!...(silence as 5 people pass her by)...oh God help me." -As heard and seen on Bruin Walk
03/10/2008 "...then out of nowhere, she just goes 'the black eyed peas are hip hop royalty.' fuck the black eyed peas." -KV
03/19/2008 "Don't stress out. You are going to die anyway." -MH
04/06/2008 "has anyone given you a hugh hefner-type robe for this?" -RI
04/20/2008 "You know, Michael Jordan was a geography major. Maybe there's hope for at least some of you." -Prof. Fan
4/20/08 "donde esta...the music room?" -lady who assumed me and the group of filipinos I was with were Mexican and spoke Spanish...our reply: "you mean schoenburg? that's up the hill."
04/29/2008 "i post, therefore i am." -JW
05/07/2008 "Whatever you do, don't fuck Mark Solomon." -CB
06/05/2008 "I wanna go down on u & make u extremely happy, come back up slowly, and fuck you real good. Yours truly, gas prices." -EB
07/02/2008 "yeah you know, the greek drink ouzo. it's like being bitch slapped by a christmas tree." -JC
07/14/2008 "...and feel free to shit on my pillow and toothbrush too." -BM
07/18/2008 "our fucking couches are haunted!" -CV
07/31/2008 "uh, look, I'm probably about to get laid right now, so is it okay if I email you afterwards?" -JU
08/02/2008 "I wanted to be a geology major but I'm fat and I can't walk" -SN
08/04/2008 "guess who got a B+ in art history? not me, cause I got an A!" -NB
08/12/2008 "I don't read blogs-I look for pictures and bold lettering so I can skim through" -JRT
08/17/2008 "fuck growing up...wandering around in the mountainside with crazy youthful abandon forever" -KV
08/26/2008 "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
08/30/2008 "I have a pimple on my nose that's making me cross-eyed." -JG
09/05/2008 "How am I? Well, I'm down to 8 cigarettes per day." -MC
09/09/2008 "you know, this inner turmoil of mine? it's hungry. give it some nachos." -AS
09/24/2008 “I now know where the bad Asian driver stereotype developed.” -AR
09/24/2008 “So you know how they eat balut on the American version of Fear Factor? Do they eat burgers on the Filipino version of Fear Factor?”
-AR
09/24/2008 “We get raped and pillaged and colonized by the most powerful nations of the world, and what do we do once we get our freedom and independence? Build the biggest malls in Asia.”
-ES
09/24/2008 “Tita Ming and Amanda look fine. You look like you just got darker.”
-BS
09/24/2008 “Wow Mark…you certainly got darker. A nice tan.”
-EL
09/24/2008 “Boracay made you dark!”
-Mom’s neighbor and friend
09/24/2008 “You look red, like roast pork. Have you been drinking?”
-Lolo Asterio
09/24/2008 “I’m not shy, you are the one that is shy…(to the tune of that one backstreet boys song) tell me why…ohh…ay jusko…”
-G
09/24/2008 “Lolo always said when in Rome, do as the Romans do. You’re not trying to do that at all!”
-ES
09/24/2008 “Well since we’re all together, shall I bring out the Jack Daniels? The Johnnie Walker? The weed?”
-RR
09/24/2008 “Maybe I should upgrade my phone. You know, to a redberry.”
-VS
09/24/2008 “Two years ago, 500 people died at the taping of Wowowee. They were trampled because the prize was 400 pesos. Imagine that.”
-YL
09/24/2008 “I just got married 2 days ago! Life is beautiful! God bless.”
-The 57 year old Caucasian man with the 22 year old Filipina woman
09/24/2008 “And to your right, are jail cells where Spaniards imprisoned many Filipino revolutionaries. Today, it is a bar.”
-The calesa driver
09/24/2008 "Gas goes down, pan de sal goes up"
-The Manila Bulletin
09/24/2008 “Ah, back to work, na.”
-The guy next to me on the plane
09/24/2008 “Have you met Ina? She is so pretty. And you are so guwapo.
…But you are cousins.”
-TR
09/30/2008 "it's kinda mean, but it feels good" -NR
10/01/2008 "today, I am going to research the average lifespan of yellow highlighters." -JG
10/12/2008 "no I'm not gonna pick you up right now, I'm at the DMV! go get up and find yourself a damn bus!" -overheard at the Department of Motor Vehicles
10/19/2008 "we may suffocate, but at least we won't starve. at this rate, we'll run out of oxygen before we run out of tacos" -ST
10/25/2008 "you don't need to use all these facial creams, just eat bananas...have you ever seen a monkey with a pimple?" -RB
10/28/2008 "wow, the moment you said that, I imagined you about 30 years older." -CP
11/01/2008 "I feel like I should be dodging fireballs" -KV
11/04/2008 "if you don't like the heat, get out of the kitchen. I can eat my garlic wherever I want." -Motor Coach Operator Ranshowlee
11/05/2008 "you've got Eucharist crumbs on your shirt" -JCB
11/11/2008 "The toilet paper is softer here" -JC
11/16/2008 "Happy birthday, Mark! Please do something illegal." -FM
11/23/2008 "...but what if pigeons could become lawyers?" -was said drunkenly, probably by me
11/25/2008 "how could I forget the guy who gave me Christmas in my mouth?" -LS
11/27/2008 "so...what do you think of the dunkin donuts conspiracy?" -JW
12/02/2008 "what if someone put a spell on me?" -VS
12/04/2008 "I'd wanna be friends with Snoop Dogg someday. He seems like a cool guy." -BS
12/07/2008 "Oh God, he's so conceited, he actually thinks he has a chance with me." -JG
12/08/2008 "Who's Hitler?" -VR
12/10/2008 female:(whistles) male: (looks up) is that Bob? female: do I look like a Bob? -heard on the streets of Westwood
12/15/2008 "you remind me of my stepdad." -JRT
12/21/2008 "he wanted white cake, ain't that ghetto? "naw, chocolate cake is ghetto"
-CB
12/24/2008 "Bing Crosby? Is that the black guy or the white guy?" -VS
12/31/2008 "ooh you know its brand new when it's not opened" -VS
01/02/2009 “could you get me a crappy souvenir from every state you stop by?” -BM
01/11/2009 "I totally thought that was a penis on my McDonald's bag, but it was really a chess piece" -KE
01/18/2009 "once during truth or dare, we had someone make out with herself in the mirror. that was awesome." -FS
01/19/2009 "I am in respectful awe of #14" -CK
01/20/2009 "black people arent the only-people who have crazy sex you know " -YK
01/22/2009 "This is Riverside? This sucks." -KV
01/25/2009 "will someone sign me off please? I wanna get out of here!" -as heard over the loud speaker at Ralph's
01/27/2009 "I've had 6 wives, and currently on my 7th. But I know I've lived my life, and I have no regrets. Well, except for all the money I lost." -AR
01/28/2009 "i remember you said you were gonna throw up and we totally didn't take you seriously and you totally did and we were bewildered." -PV
02/04/2009 "Wait, that was an inside joke. You're not supposed to know what I'm talking about." -JG
02/05/2009 "Pomegranate juice? You are old." -JC
02/07/2009 "keep eating burritos, you're gonna start looking like a burrito" -MG
02/08/2009 "don't wanna end up pulling my hair out...even though I don't got no hair" -WP
02/12/2009 "Watch yo' back skank, or i might have to start spreading rumors... juicy juicy rumors. Have a great day =) *HIGH FIVE*" -KI
02/18/2009 "Have you ever lived on the East Coast or the Midwest? No? Ha-ha, ha-ha, you're gonna freeze, you're gonna freeze" -AT
02/22/2009 "Come on Mark, lie to me, tell me everything's gonna be alright after graduation" -JCB
03/04/2009 "just seeing if a visit could possibly be in order and if you would have the hospitality skills to meet my…meet my…oh whatever, if I could crash at your pad…"
-CT
03/11/2009 "too bad I can't hit them." -ED
03/14/2009 "I miss this." -RI
03/16/2009 it's all about the color. if it looks beautiful to you, it will taste beautiful to you." -SN
03/19/2009 "Why the hat? You look like a beatnik." -LT

here's a few more fun things to entertain yourself in case you didn't bother reading any of the above. a video with people aged 1-100 from all over the world, beating the same drum:

and 100 movie quotes, 100 numbers, all in over 100 seconds


see you at the next centennial! ...or even the next post. whichever comes first.

1 more day.

"if you chase 2 rabbits...they will escape"
-a fortune cookie

#1 On My Charts, Pt. 6

My favorite Beatles, Michael Jackson, and Radiohead tracks

So I decided to switch things up a little this time around. Normally I would concentrate on a particular genre, encompassing many artists, some obscure, others not, whatever whatever you know what I mean. In case you hadn’t noticed, I didn’t include any of these artists in any of the previous playlists. I mean, they’re just that good that they deserve their own category.

By good, I mean influential, musical, revolutionary, experimental, world renowned, etc. I really can’t find the words to describe the amount of artistry and talent that was required to create these tracks. No really, I can’t. My vocabulary isn’t that large.

So why these three artists? For one thing, on more than one occasion, I’ve been asked “What are your 3 top (Beatles)(Radiohead)(Michael Jackson) tracks?” I remember I was asked once. Figured out a list off the top of my head. Then I was asked again. That’s what I realized that it was time for me to make a post about it (hey, being asked twice is still more than one occasion). And to those of you who have read this and actually partook in that conversation, you’ll noticed that I changed my mind about some tracks being my top 3. Believe, me, if it were up to me, I would choose all the songs of these artists as my top…I mean there’s just too much good music. But I can’t. A playlist with over 500 songs wouldn’t work out, and it would probably crash your computer if you were gonna try and read my blog.

#1 On My Charts Pt. 6

The Beatles
Let’s face it. Love em or despise em, they’re still the most influential group in all modern music history. No one doesn’t know who the Beatles are. If you don’t, well, either you’re 6 or you have dementia. Wait, I take that back. My 90 year old grandma (RIP, Grandma) had dementia. Even she could sing the Beatles.
Now, I’m no expert on them, I will admit. That job’s for my friend, whose blog you can find here.
I’m simply here to appreciate and enjoy the music.

In My Life
Across the Universe
A Day in the Life

Michael Jackson
There’s been too much press coverage and too many things already said about Michael Jackson that I really have nothing else to say about him. His recent buzz and popularity about his tour in London is enough to prove that Jacko can still draw a crowd.

Billie Jean
Remember the Time
PYT

Radiohead
While not nearly as commercially successful as the previously mentioned artists, I’d have to give these guys a spot as one of my ultimate favorite bands of all time. If any group has influenced my taste on music the most, it would be these guys. Maybe this is just me, but I see a parallel in styles of Radiohead and the Beatles. While both groups may have begun as just another rock group, their sound evolved as they aged. Over the years in their respective times, both groups evolved into something more “experimental,” that while accepted by some was questioned by some. Radiohead may not be for everyone, especially in their work as of late. It’s a little too much for some to comprehend. But the same could be said for the Beatles’ later stuff, when experimentation and psychedelic-ness dominated their style. And, the fact that they just dissed Miley Cyrus just bumps up my respect even moreso.

Paranoid Android
How to Disappear Completely
Talk Show Host

2 days.

"Why the hat? You look like a beatnik."
-LT

On this day in 2004...

5 years ago on this day, I received a letter from a certain school in Southern California, stating "We are pleased to inform you that you have been accepted for admission to UCLA. Congratulations!" ...or something to that effect. I don't entirely remember exactly what it said. You know what I mean.

Just wanted to point that out.

5 days.

"it's all about the color. if it looks beautiful to you, it will taste beautiful to you."
-SN

The Final Countdowwwn

As my time here at that which defined my life for the past 4 and a half years whittles down, I've gotten the chance to spend time to reflect and do and experience all the things I won't be able to do and experience again once I leave. Now feel free to hold this against me in the future and I will eat my own words if I do end up contradicting myself...but let's face it. I'm not planning on living here ever again.

As a result, I've also managed to get the chance to reconnect and talk with alot of the people who have played some sort of role in my life here. Some of these people I haven't seen in years, others more often. All these people have had an impact on me in some way in the past 4 and a half years, whether they be former coworkers, old friends and floormates, fellow org members...

Though it's sad that I'll be leaving this all behind, it's still a pleasant reminder of all the companions and memories I've gained here.

It's nice.

7 days.

"I miss this."
-RI

FAQ

In the past few weeks, since I've made my official announcement to move on with my life in a completely different city, I have been inundated with inqueries as to what and who (yes, even who) I'm doing and where, why, and how I'm going. And since then, I've probably told the same answers and stories to at least 603 different people on numerous seperate occasions. And though answering the same set of questions in the same order (you'd be surpised at how similar the progession of questions is with everyone) can get tiring, I secretly enjoy flaunting my accomplishments (but who doesn't, really? I addressed this in a previous post.)

Those of you who read my blog or who talk to me on a regular basis already know all the answers to the questions that have flooded my conversations in past month. But I say it doesn't hurt to have the answers down in writing (and to use as a reference in case for whatever odd reason, I forget what it is I'm going to be doing). I guarantee you that at least over half the time I have this same conversation:

Upon mention of me leaving...

What?? You're leaving? Where to?

Chicago.

But why?

I was accepted into this grad program.

At where?

DePaul University.

Oh...what city is that in?

Um, Chicago.

Oh yeah. Wow, well congratulations! What are you going to be studying?

GIS, geographic information systems...

...uh...huh....?

...um, satellite imaging, GPS, the stuff google earth is made of.

Oh! Ha, that sounds...good, I guess...

Yeah.

So is this like a master's program?

No, it's a professional certification program.

Oooh...what's that mean?

It's a shorter program that's more hands on and less theoretical in terms of experience...so I'll be doing alot less reading about the kind of work I might be doing and will actually be doing the work I could be getting into.

(obviously stopped listening to me at "less")...oh that sounds interesting. So it's not an actual master's program?

No.

Oh. (their admiration slightly fades...) Are you going to be living alone while you're out there?

Actually I have relatives I could stay with in Chicago. They're like, 2 miles away from the campus and they're going to help me out while I get settled in.

That's nice of them.

Yup.

Yeah.

Mmhmm.

Are you going to drive out there?? What are you going to do with your car?

Actually I think I'm going to fly or take the train out there initially, since I will be staying with my family and won't need everything just yet. Then when I find my own place I'm going to fly back, pick up the car and the rest of my belongings, and make drive out to Chicago.

OMG! That's such a long drive! Are you going alone?

Possibly. Unless someone wants to come with me on the 2 and a half day drive.

Ooh I would definitely come with you, but I might have work or school **I get this same response 90% the time**

It's alright. It's only 2100 miles. It'll be like that one movie, National Lampoon's Vacation.

What movie?

Never mind.

What are you going to do about your job?

I already told them I was leaving. My last day is on the 12th.

Are you gonna work in Chicago?

Hopefully. I'll only be a part time student, so I'll have the time. If I can't find a real job while there, I'll probably just work on campus. I may be working for access control again!

Haha!

Hahaha!

When are you going to be leaving?

I'll be leaving LA on the weekend of the 21st, gonna spend a few days packing and preparing the bay, and then leave for Chicago probably on the 27th or 28th.

That's so soon! We should totally hang out before then!

Yeah we definitely should (but I guarantee if this is someone I don't talk to on a regular basis, it probably ain't gonna happen)

Dude, you should throw a party on your last night here.

Eh. Too much effort.

Or get wasted.

That's probably more likely.

Or smoke out.

Nah.

10 days.

"too bad I can't hit them."
-ED

Can't you hear me knockin?

They say when opportunity knocks, you should answer. If something big or exciting or interesting is coming your way, there's no reason you shouldn't take a chance to revel in the impending awesomeness that might ensue (yeah, like remember those old honda commercials? mr. opportunity is knocking on your window).

Now I can safely say that there were times in my life in which I shouldn't have let opportunity in that door (the story of both my middle school and high school debacles comes to mind), and plenty of times when I just didn't answer when opportunity was ringing the doorbell and yelling at me to get my ass out there. Case in point: I SHOULD have accepted the offer to go to Japan with my high school my first year in college. I turned them down because I thought I would have midterms to worry about. The trip turned out to be on 2nd week. I SHOULDN'T have agreed to sell my brother's ninja stars from Tijuana to my classmates in 8th grade in 1999, when Columbine was still fresh on everyone's minds.

So let's fast forward to today, well last year, really, when I've matured and learned the dire consequences of attempting to establish a lucrative business in dangerous and exotic weapons on a Catholic school ground. It's the latter half of my senior year in college, and I'm down to my last 2 classes I'll need to finish my major. The class was Remote Sensing (studying images of surfaces through remote or external sources...or rather the stuff google earth is made of), and as a class project, we had to study a certain region of our choice. There was a special project that we could have opted to join, a team project per se. Since this was a geography class, and my professor, Tom Gillespie, was a biogeographer at heart, placed the special team project to study the region of Afghanistan. Using geographical theories, such as spatial theory, the team would try and discover the whereabouts of Osama Bin Laden.

Now, originally I was a part of this group. I couldn't think of any other region I'd wanna do, and joined. A few weeks down the line, the work piled up for this project. Longer hours of research had to be done in order for this project to fly, and our professor held our hands along the way. He wanted to make this as realistic as possible, so he even contacted government agencies such as the FBI to offer some advice and some information. He always joked that we could use this project to actually find Bin Laden and collect the reward money for it....

But my laziness got the best of me. It was halfway through my last year of college, I enjoyed my free time, and I was starting to get back into making stupid parodies of commercials again.
someone on facebook told me this shit is sick. I'm validated!

So with all those factors coming into place, it was only natural for me to pull aside the professor, and tell him I wanted out of the project. Why, he asked. I told him I wanted to pursue a project in a different region...say, Dubai. And he made sure I wanted to do this, and I did, and so just like that, I was free to wallow in my lethargic sloth-ish self at home.

Fast forward a year. My friend sends me this link to a video of Rachel Maddow (on MSNBC, for those of you who are 24 hour news cycle-illiterate), and she asks if this guy was ever my professor. I watch. My jaw drops. My heart sinks.

Huh.

Turns out my professor was serious about making this official. Turns out he published the project that the team that I was formerly a part of onto a reputable science journal. And it turns out that the team that I was formerly a part of and the fruits of their labor got major mass media attention. Not only did my professor interview in the aforementioned video, the published project popped up on major news sites everywhere, including The Telegraph (a UK based publication), USA Today, the LA Times, and apparently here, here, and here.

Super. Imagine that. I could have been part of a media praised (though technically flawed) theory that would have provided accolades, national attention, and one hell of a point to put on my resume. But no. Instead, I decided to research and praise (according to my report) the "the most fantastic and fastest urbanizing and growing region on the planet," a region today that is literally stewing in its own shit.

So there you have it. I could've been part of a major university study that has caught the eyes of scientists and government agencies all over the world, but instead I decided to research a small, relatively failing country which shares the same name of a cheesy Filipino romance flick.


But my lesson is learned now...again. When opportunity knocks, check and see who it is before you open that door and let him in (unless opportunity happens to be delivering a pizza). Then let him in regardless. I'm hungry.

17 days.

"just seeing if a visit could possibly be in order and if you would have the hospitality skills to meet my…meet my…oh whatever, if I could crash at your pad…"
-CT

VH1's Worst Week Ever

So I got into a car accident the other day. Yeah yeah, I know what you're thinking, yet another collision. It seems that whenever I decide to have some sort of foray away from LA, I run into car troubles (note my post right before I took off for the Philippines)

Given that I had just finished 2 weeks straight of 12 hour work days, I figured I'd have enough of a happy paycheck to finally pay for all those repairs I needed on good ol' Markmobile (I'm not very original when it comes to naming cars). So I had the brakes and tires changed, and finally figured out why the service engine light was on for the past few weeks (and it cost me about $200 to fix). Things are looking good, I had another huge paycheck coming my way, and it was all going to go towards replenishing my savings and setting aside funds for when I make the big move.

Cue a garbage truck. Parked in front of my driveway. Now here comes me, trying to maneuver around it. Seems like an easy enough task. I'm careful, I check traffic on both sides, but what I don't realize is that I'm turning too sharply, and before I know it I'm driving into those forklifts that lift dumpsters. Luckily, it only hit the corner of my door and near my windshield, creating a huge dent, a bent door, and a shocked me.


Doesn't look too bad from the picture, but it's the nature of the damage that makes it the most painful. Had the lifts missed the door and went through the door and window only instead, it would be a simple matter of replacing the door. But take into account the huge dent on the body, and now the whole left side of the car has to be replaced. Then again, had it missed the door and went through my (open) window, my face could have been sliced off by a huge sharp piece of metal.

But at least I wouldn't have had to pay $1,900 to fix my car, right?

So yeah, there goes my next paycheck, a good chunk of my savings, and some of my sanity out the (now very dented) door.

But I try to look at things in a positive light. I've been relegated to taking the bus to and from work as of late, but in all honesty it's not that bad. There's something oddly liberating about not having a car in LA, given the fact that car culture thrives here and getting around can be a bitch without a vehicle. But being car-less, I suddenly feel free of the possibility of parking tickets, moving violations, car accidents, traffic (to some extent), and yet more repairs. I mean, you drive to and from work, you turn on your ipod, you go on autopilot and you fail to notice the world around you. Sure, I've been driving through the streets of West LA for years now, but this is the first time in years that I feel like I've really experienced them.

But that all aside, yet another expense decides to slap me in the face. So remember a couple of weeks ago how my Sansa decide to die on me, leaving me mp3 player-less? Well I decided to start using my 4th generation ipod again, and it worked fairly well, until...

Ah, damn, dude, would you look at that. Even the animation of the dead ipod is hella sad.

Man, for me it always seems like when something in my life breaks, everything else decides to break down at the same time. Reminds me of the time my girlfriend broke up with me a while ago. The next day my rice cooker stopped working.

27 days.

"Come on Mark, lie to me, tell me everything's gonna be alright after graduation"
-JCB

Seriously baby, it's me, not you

Dear Los Angeles,

Let me start off by saying that what we have shared together can never be replaced. I’ve spent the best years of my life with you, and I’ll always cherish all the memories. I mean, seriously, we’ve had some really amazing times together, and it all really means a lot to me.

But lately, I think there’s been something missing in my life.

You see, we’ve been going at this thing for nearly 5 years now. I remember when we first started this thing. It was something like September of 04, I think. Oh, I was so young then, so naïve. I remember in the beginning it was tough for us. I was reluctant of this whole thing at first, and even wanted to leave you. But we all go through that, don’t we? I couldn’t stand being around you, and took every opportunity to get away from you. But I stuck it out, and it was worth it. I eventually made peace with the fact that we were in it for the long haul, and gave you a shot. And I’ve turned out better for it.

But it’s not to say that we didn’t have our really dreadful, awkward, and dreadfully awkward moments. Sure, there are a few moments in the past 5 years that I would’ve done differently, you know, to make it easier on both myself and on others. But what’s done is done, and there’s no point in dwelling in what’s already happened. It would have been nice to avoid those really shitty moments, but hey, we can’t focus on the negative, right? I think we both came out of those situations understanding a little more about ourselves and what we had to offer each other.

And we’ve had our good times together too. A flurry of parties and concerts and get togethers and museum visits and restaurant hopping and club nights and even simple hang outs have left me experiences and exposure to sights and sounds I would have never known if I never met you. Remember those long nights at the dorms? I’d have to work till 5am, but that didn’t matter, cause we partied till the break of dawn anyway and didn’t care, cause we were still young and stupid and living our lives because we could. We would eat breakfast as soon as the sun rose, slept through the day and till the evening, and stated the whole process all over again. Good times, my friend, good times.

But that’s all beside the point. See, something changed after I graduated. I think it was the sudden realization that I had been doing this thing with you for a fairly long time now. I’m no stranger to people coming in and out of my life, but I don’t think anything prepared me for the mass exodus of people who had played some sort of role in what I had built with you from my life.

I figured I was lucky when I decided to stay with you for at least another year. I landed a good job, I live near my closest friends, and for a split second I almost felt like I could settle with you. But something inside me clicked. Blame facebook or other people’s blogs to give me the chance to snoop in and read about other people, but I realized something about some of those who had graduated with me. It seemed as though a lot of these people I had shared so much with moved on with their lives and were doing their own thing now. Big things or not, everyone seemed to be doing something different. Looking at people’s profiles and seeing them visit foreign countries, move to different cities and start new lives, or move back home and reunite with old friends left me thinking “me too.”

I thought it would be nice to have the best of both worlds, you know? Stay here with you, enjoy the life I had before while at the same time starting a new life in the workforce with no school to worry about. It really looked good on paper.

But it’s not enough. I feel like I could be doing so much more, could be experiencing so much more…

…and that’s why I’m leaving you, Los Angeles.

I’ve found somewhere new. You know this one, her name is Chicago.

I feel like I have so many more opportunities with Chicago than I currently have with you, Los Angeles. I mean, we’ve had good times together. Terrific times together! But right now, I feel like I haven’t moved on with my life since college ended. Day in, day out, even though I’m not in school anymore, just still being in Westwood is smothering.

But Chicago adds a whole new level of opportunity, uncertainty, and excitement to my life. I feel like there's a chance to experience something with Chicago that I just wouldn't be able to achieve with you, Los Angeles, and this something will definitely be worth it.

Maybe I just miss all the fun times I had with a lot of people who used to still be here. But it’s not like everyone I know is gone. I’m still having fun, and I love everyone who is still around, but at times I feel as if I’m still doing the same thing over and over and over, and to some people and groups I can only stay around for a cameo appearance before the uncomfortable unfamiliarity settles in.

So that’s why I must leave you, Los Angeles. Though our times together have been both memorable and fun, I must move on with my life. I feel as if I’ve outgrown you, and I will only be able to mature if I find a change of scenery. I feel as if being with Chicago will give me that chance.

In all honesty, it was me, not you, Los Angeles. Please don’t take offense in this. I simply feel like I need some time away from you.

I don’t know much about Chicago, but I hear she can be cold sometimes, especially to newcomers. I’m sure she’ll warm up to me eventually though.

"Have you ever lived on the East Coast or the Midwest? No? Ha-ha, ha-ha, you're gonna freeze, you're gonna freeze"
-AT

this worthless piece of...

So once again, I must must mourn the passing of a product of mine, this one slightly more annoying and much less expected.

As a self-proclaimed music geek, I have this penchant to always having my music around with me in portable form. When my ipod died last year, I researched and discovered the Sansa View 16gb player. It got pretty good reviews, and as a 16gb player for less than $100, it was a pretty much a steal.

But alas, "you get what you pay for-itis" decided to rear its ugly head, and much like clockwork, poor ol' sansa decided to die on me today. At first, I thought it was just the battery at first, or perhaps it was experiencing another one of its signature hiccup freezes (more on this later).

But no, turns out my sansa breathed its last song (Hung up on my baby by Isaac Hayes, fyi), and once again I was left with a dead mp3 player. The timing couldn't be any better either, especially since I'm driving 6 hours home tomorrow.

What a waste, he didn't even die for a cause.

So maybe it's because I bought it refurbished, or it's because I dropped it once on my hardwood floor, but come on. I bought my ipod refurbished, and dropped it on the sidewalk multiple times, and that thing served me for a good 2 or 3 years.

But I guess it was an inferior product to begin with. The sound quality was quieter than other models I have experience with, and along with sluggish menu navigation, sometimes the whole machine would just freeze and malfunction if you pressed the next button.

In other words, DO NOT BUY THIS PRODUCT.

So now I'm on the market (and I'm looking for an MP3 player too). Anyone have any suggestions where I should start? I like the physical size of the ipod nano, but 16gb just isn't enough (unless there's expandable memory), and I've since been spoiled with video playback.

In other news, since I officially made the announcement to move to Chicago, I've heard nothing but bad things about the city. It didn't worry me too much, until Yahoo came out with an article stating that Chicago is the 3rd most miserable city to live in.

Aw come on. You've gotta be kidding me. But still, I say eff it. The very thought of Chicago-style pizza (over there, they just call it pizza) being readily available is enough to nullify any survey and article put on by any reputable national news site.

36 days.

"Watch yo' back skank, or i might have to start spreading rumors... juicy juicy rumors. Have a great day =) *HIGH FIVE*"
-KI

A Retrospect

15 Years Ago: 1994
1. My favorite cartoon to come home to after school was Gargoyles (I distinctly remember this because the show would always refer to 1000 years in the past, which was incidently 994
2. I still lived in Union City
3. I was currently in 2nd grade, about to go into 3rd grade, which was also when I switched from public school to Catholic
4. My brother and I used to tie our skateboard to my bike with a rope, and we would ride around the neighborhood while he sat on the skateboard and I pulled with the bike. How no one got hurt, I have no idea.
5. My Grandma would spend the weekdays taking care of us, while we would spend the weekend at her house in San Francisco. When there, we would always watch the same tapes over and over (because they were the only ones there): A poorly dubbed version of National Lampoon's Vacation, Home Alone 1 and 2, Angels in the Outfield, and a 3 Stooges tape with 3 episodes on it.


10 Years Ago: 1999

1. I was in 7th grade, wore schoo uniforms, and had the reputation as the loud mouth in the back of the class; my teacher did not like me
2. I got braces - it also gave me something in common with my crush
3. I also experienced my first rejection from said crush
4. I would hustle Super Nintendo games from Blockbuster and Wherehouse by renting games and changing the labels of more expensive games with cheaper games, and return the cheaper ones with the labels of the more expensive games
5. I also used to hustle my classmates. My brother would buy cheap/fake stuff from Mexico like "Rolex" watches and ninja stars. That practice would eventually get me expelled from Catholic school.


5 Years Ago: 2004

1. I graduated from high school and moved to Los Angeles for college
2. I joined a student group that serviced high school students (PREP); this particular group would consume my life for the next four years
3. I first experienced living away from home, and even got homesick
4. I met new friends from all over the world, and lost touch with others. Reality hit me when I realized that there were people I would probably never see again in my life.
5. I had my first drink, my first drunken rant, and my first blacking out. All three were with my parents.


3 Years Ago: 2006

1. My Grandpa died, and my Grandma starting having major health problems. She moved out of our house for the first time in 6 years.
2. I traveled to Japan with my high school jazz band. I also performed my last piano solo ever with them, since I don't think we'll ever all be playing together again.
3. I arguably had the best summer of my life, which lasted until November 18. We had partied every weekend since the summer up until that point, which was my 20th birthday. I blacked out at 11:45 that night. The party lasted till 4am.
4. I had four different living situations in a span of four months.
5. I still thought hyphy was a legitimate genre of music (I'm not hatin', my style has just matured)


2 Years Ago: 2007

1. I first experienced living alone.
2. For a quarter, my days consisted of class straight from 11am-5pm, meetings from 5-8, and work from 9pm-5am.
3. I first moved to BMV Properties, where I still am today.
4. I finally turned 21, and celebrated thusly.
5. My parents moved away from Hayward, where I had spent most of my days. Home began to feel less and less familiar to me, and I made fewer trips back north.


1 Year Ago: 2008

1. After a long fought battle from dimensia, and being bedridden for 7 months, my grandmother passed away at 90. It was the first time I had cried in years.
2. I went through that obligatory college senior year panic, not sure of what I was going to do after I was released from the confines and comforts of university life.
3. I was the first of my brother and sister and cousins to graduate from college.
4. Started working full time for the first time, and quelled all my post-college jitters. I even missed it for a while.
5. I went to the Philippines for the first time. Had a hell of an experience.


This Year: 2009

1. I officially got sick of intellectual pretention.
2. I found myself to be the one telling "those kids" to "keep it down" because I have to go to work in the morning
3. I bought the Ronco Rotisserie (set it and forget it) and have already cooked some form of ever domesticated animal already
4. As of today, I still haven't seen any of my family members in 2009
5. Reality hit me again when I once again realized that there are alot of people I knew and met in college that I may never see again

Yesterday:

1. I made a southwestern pork loin, roasted potatoes with rosemary, sangria, and lemon garlic vegetables for dinner
2. I got to "sleep in" till 7am
3. I wrote the address of my cousin in Spain on a postcard I was going to send to her. I've been meaning to send her something for the past 5 months. I'm such a procrastinator.
4. I discovered that all the clubs in Los Angeles are overrun with guys. When will I learn my lesson? I'm really not into clubbing.
5. I told my friends about my decision to go to DePaul University for a grad program in Geographic Information Systems, in Chicago. I'll be leaving Los Angeles in 6 weeks.


Today:

1. I had to go back to Ralph's because I planned on making spinach dip and had bought every ingredient yesterday but spinach.
2. I began what would be the first of many sessions of packing up my belongings to bring home. The moving my life out of LA is going to be a logistical nightmare.
3. Had a potluck dinner with my roommate and floormate from first year.
4. I started playing my DS again, mostly because I have scoured the internet for interesting articles enough for the past week.
5. I discovered how to sync non-ipod mp3 players with itunes. I hate the Apple Corporation, but damn, they do make good products.


Tomorrow:

1. I Will be going to work at 8...whooo I get to sleep in
2. I will probably drop my car off at the shop, now that I can afford all the repairs.
3. I will be eating leftover bbq chicken for lunch!
4. I will watch I Love Money on VH1 at 9
5. I will am probably going to continue packing up my life into easy to move boxes.


If you could go back 10 years in time and meet yourself back then, but only get 5 minutes to speak to yourself, what would you say?
"Dude, she's not worth it. And by the way, here's a recipe for some kick-ass spinach dip. You'll win many hearts with this."


Maybe I'll try and post this up on facebook and make it the new "25 things" thing that everyone seems to be tagged in nowadays.


Also, yeah, make this my official announcement: I'm leaving LA in 6 weeks.

"don't wanna end up pulling my hair out...even though I don't got no hair"
-WP

Professionally Doing It Live

People blow up all the time, going off on tirades spewing curse words left and right, mostly left. It's normal and it happens.

But when celebrities do it, with the help of creative editing, hilarity ensues (NSFW):

(look for Christian Bale's original rant yourself).

Sure, most clips online are taken out of context, twisted, laughed at, then later remixed, and laughed at some more. It seems that no celebrity caught on tape is immune to this, including this guy (also NSFW):

Barack Obama is tired of your motherfucking shit.

These little snips of the president with his, not so presidential language are excerpts from his audiobook. I'm not sure what the context is, but when taken out of said unknown context, more hilarity ensues.

"keep eating burritos, you're gonna start looking like a burrito"
-MG

#1 On My Charts Part 5

Classical Overtures
Classical Music. That which defines musicality, composed by those whose last names you probably couldn’t pronounce or spell, and the basis of much of our music today. Now, I’m no classical music snob who will sneer at the thought of anything that was composed in the past couple of decades, but I would say that 12 years of piano lessons and enrollment in the high school band and orchestra has allowed me to develop some sort of appreciation for this music. So I’ll admit, that I was one of those kids who didn’t listen to anything but classical music for a while, and even in high school, the majority of the CDs I would put in danger of playing out were those of the orchestral nature.
What’s also great about classical orchestral music (and instrumental music in general) is that it requires solely on the music itself to convey feeling and emotion. For many songs in which the singer is featured, the background music becomes a footnote, there to fill the gap while the singer takes a breath or sip of water. In classical orchestral music, the music is the melody and there ain’t no stopping to catch your breath (except in opera. But unfortunately I dislike opera – sorry.)
I know not many people can really appreciate the sheer artistic effort that is exuded in these pieces. In many ways, classical music is an acquired taste that grows better with age, not unllike wine, cheese, or even old comedy routines.
Would I call this my favorite genre? Hard to say. I think string quartet tributes to popular groups such as Radiohead or Incubus are crap, and there only a few “orchestral” renditions of more modern music that are actually pulled off fairly well (refer to the orchestral version of ‘Fountain of Dreams’ or the rendition of ‘Stairway to Heaven’ for an example of decent renditions that were translated well onto the 80 strings format).
Collaborations are cool too:

(That’s Cypress Hill, supposedly. And apparently there’s no youtube link to the English version of this scene, sorry. That’s illegal. The scary part for me is that I know exactly what they’re saying without having to translate it at all)

#1 On My Charts Pt. 5 - Classical Overtures

Rachmaninoff – Piano Concerto 2: Moderato Allegro
Man, Rachmaninoff had huge hands. If you’ve ever listened to any of his works, you’ll hear chords that are even bigger than 12ths. How the man managed to play what he wrote, I have no idea.

It is rumored that this piece would be impossible to play with only two hands, so the above method is the only way you can actually hear the song as it was written. If you ever see someone play it live, then they’re most likely dropping some notes for the sake of the actual reach of their hands.
But this wasn’t the track that’s on my favorites list. Though the one I featured up in the playlist is still pretty awesome.

Prokofiev – March from ‘The Love for Three Oranges'
Marches are fun to play and to listen to. Alongside with Pomp and Circumstance, this has to be one of my favorite marches.

Vitali – Chaconne
When this piece was written, it changed keys more liberally than most other music of its time (Baroque). And that’s what makes this piece wild for both its time, and ours.

Smetana – The Moldau
A friend of mine once said this sounded like something John Williams would compose. I’d say that was an insult to Bedřich Smetana.

Kozhevnikov – Slavyanskaya
Now here’s a fun track. I first heard this piece while playing for the UCLA Symphonic Band. And for the record, it does sound 10 times better in person.

Grand Russian Fantasia – Carnaval – Wynton Marsalis
I still haven’t figured out who originally composed this piece, but once again, I must feature Mr. Wynton Marsalis (he was on my jazz list too). Either way, this piece, which features the coronet, definitely showcases the talents of this man, proving that he can do more than jazz.

Shostakovich – Jazz Suite No. 2
I’m not normally a fan of waltz (and I sure as hell suck at dancing it), but there’s just something about this piece that really tugs at my heartstrings. That and it reminds me of something you’d hear while riding a Merry-Go-Round.

Ravel – Bolero
Anyone who knows this song will either love it for its dramatic and momentous buildup, or hate it because it is 13 minutes of the same line played over and over again, only louder. I rather enjoy the ever so slight crescendo.

Tchaikovsky – Waltz of the Flowers
Who doesn’t enjoy or know the Nutcracker Suite? My particular favorite part of this song is the call and response line with the strings and the winds.

Verdi – Grand March from Aida
I’m sure you’ve heard this song at some point in the past. The perfect piece for any pops orchestra.

Brahms – Hungarian Dance No. 5
Yes, Brahms also wrote the Lullaby too.

You wouldn’t expect any less from one of the three B’s. (Beethoven, Bach, Brahms)

Tchaikovsky – Slavonic March
Another score for Tchaikovsky on the list! Can you tell I enjoy the Slavic-influenced pieces?

Mussorgsky – Night on Bald Mountain
Thanks to Fantasia, this piece is almost always associated with the deepest, darkest, most evil, immoral, wicked, disgusting, loathsome, despicable, vile…
What was I describing again?

Sarasate – Zigeunerweisen, Op. 20
This particular recording features Itzhak Perlman, the world renowned violinist who played that second rate piece by John Williams at the inauguration. Oh wait! He didn’t play! That was a recording of him, while he pretended to play! This is still a good piece though.

Chopin – Prelude No. 15 in D Flat major (raindrop prelude)
Chopin has so many good pieces, and it’s difficult to choose only one. I first heard this song on the “Chopin and Champagne” CD, and it’s stuck with me ever since. And yes, I do realize this was the piece that was played on that Halo commercial.


Gershwin – Rhapsody in Blue
One of the most popular pieces of contemporary times, and really, who doesn’t enjoy this song? Integrating jazz influences, this piece is especially exciting when heard live at the Hollywood Bowl (great show, by the way). Much popularity can be attributed to Fantasia 2000, or even those Southwest Airlines commercials.

Schubert - Symphony No. 8 in B minor ('Unfinished'), D. 759: Allegro Moderato
I’ve always wondered what else Schubert planned on adding to this piece. There were only two movements (most pieces have at least 3), and it wasn’t like he died or anything. He lived 6 years longer after he deemed this piece ‘unfinished.’

Liszt – Hungarian Rhapsody
Again with the Slavic-influenced musical themes here. I think I enjoy this song because it reminds me of Tiny Toons. You know those sequences in which they would play instrumental music over Tiny Toon animations? Yeah, I think they used this piece once.

Yup, they did.

Grieg – The Death of Ase
Grieg is mostly known for his ‘In the Hall of the Mountain King,’ but this piece, also in the same suite, I think I enjoy more. The mountain king may be fierce, but this piece has heart.

Dvorak – From the New World
Doesn’t the first few bars of this song sound like Jaws? This is one of those really majestic pieces I really enjoy.

Tchaikovsky - Piano Concerto No. 1 in B flat minor, 1st movement
The intro of the song is still my favorite. The way the pianist covers the whole keyboard in three chords is still amazing to me because I know I’m way too lazy to ever put up the effort to ever learn how to do that.

Shostakovich – Symphony No. 5
I once read that Shostakovich was commissioned by Lenin to compose music that would reflect the greatness of the Russian Revolution. People, I present to you the original Communist theme song.

Shostakovich – Galop
The best part of this song comes at 2:46, but lemme tell you, this piece is just as fun to play as it is to listen to.

Grieg - Concerto in A minor - allegro molto moderato
Would it be weird if I admitted I get shivers when I hear the first 26 seconds of the song?

Berlitz – Two Guitars
There have been many different variations of this Russian Gypsy folk song, some of them more cheesy than others (the Paul Mariat version? Bleh.)

Next time: My all time favorite Beatles, Michael Jackson, and Radiohead tracks

"Pomegranate juice? You are old."
-JC

Machine operated voice recognition is still a whiles away

Calling to pay my credit card bill
---
Scene: I’m outside of the building at work, which is in front of the bus yard (i.e.
lots of buses present)

Automated voice: Hello, please enter or say your card number
*enters card number*
Automated voice: Thank you. According to our records, this phone number you’re calling from is a number that is registered as you. Thank you for calling! If you would like to pay your balance, please say pay.
Me: Pay
Automated voice: Sorry I didn’t get that, could you say that again?
Me: Pay
AV: Your current balance is XXX. If you would like to pay by your bank card, please say bank card. If you would like to speak to a representative, please say representative. If you would like to hear your balance, please say balance.
Me: Bank card
AV: Your current balance is XXX. If you would like to pay by your bank card, please say bank card. If you would like to speak to a representative, please say representative. If you would like to hear your balance, please say balance.
Me: Bank card!
AV: Please say the amount you would like to pay, or say minimum balance to pay the minimum balance
Me: Minimum balance
AV: Sorry, I didn’t get that, could you say that again?
Me: Minimum balance
AV: Sorry, I didn’t get that again, could you repeat that again?
Me: Minimum balance!
AV: Sorry, I didn’t get that again, could you repeat that again? Or press 1.
*presses 1*
AV: Thank you. Your payment has been received. Your confirmation number is 5434. If you would like me to repeat this, please say re-
*bus honks*
AV: Thank you. Your payment has been received. Your confirmation number is 5434. If-
*bus honks*
AV: your confirmation number is 543-
*bus honks*
AV: your confirmation numb-
*bus honks*
AV: your conf-
*bus honks*
AV: your conf-
*bus honks*
AV: your conf-
Me: augh!
Call ended.

"Wait, that was an inside joke. You're not supposed to know what I'm talking about."
-JG