dang, i scratched my laptop screen!!

who's got new year's resolutions?

i have, courtesy of my mom, a three year all-club pass to 24-hour fitness. so guess what my new years resolutions for the next three years will be?

hopefully by the end of these three years, i'll have the body of a guy who looks like he's been at the gym for at least three years.

i also hope to eat better, all the time. maybe i'll start by reading fastfood nation, even though that's not really eating.

also, i'm gonna play hecka more video games, dammit. i've had my wii for a year now, and i haven't even beaten zelda yet!

and i'mma need a job hopefully by the end of february.

SO LET'S DO THIS THING!

goodbye 2007

there's a lot of things that happened in the past year, to me, but i don't really like talking too much about myself on this thing.
but at the same time, it's not like i wanna wrap up everything that has happened that i felt was pretty relevant, everything is relevant!

anyways, i love things that wrap up the year.

- sfgate has a day in pictures for the year.
- vh1's best year ever.
- all the sports channels usually have the top plays of the year, which is always pretty cool.
- ANNNNDD, skillz does his yearly rap up, here's one of my favorite lines from this year's song:

"soulja boy hit the scene
and i don't wanna see
YOUUU
doin that
unless
YOUUU
under eighteen"

you can check out that song at okayplayer.com
or the video at soveryfresh.com (nice name)

i must admit, i was pretty late to discovering what "crank dat" meant, and by the time i had hit the scene, i was like, that dance is kinna whack. but i grew attached, for like a day. now i'm ready to let it go.

what happened to dancing?
i remember being at a club, and i went up to these two girls, and was like, "is it ok if i dance with you two?" and first they were like "is that your game?" and i was like "game? why do i need game? i just wanna dance." but game is another story. anyways, after like 30 seconds of dancing, one girl was like "you wanna dance with her, she's the better dancer" and then the other girl starts doing these moves, like the ones you see in music videos. and i mean it look cool and all, but it don't even go with the song, and i'm like "oh is that dancing?" and they both laugh and about 2 and a half minutes later, they both leave.
what happened to dancing?

anyways, here's to another year.

word, mom

every year, all the little kids, and some big kids, would ask my mom why she doesn't buy a christmas tree for christmas. and why i knew they we stopped buying christmas trees awhile ago because she would get allergies with christmas trees, i always just wanted to tell folks to shut up and quit questioning my mom, dammit. but i knew better.

however, my mom is pretty religious, and she has a ceramic nativity set that she has taken good care of for awhile now, and she religiously puts this set out every christmas. and now when folks ask why she don't put up a tree, she just says "cuz i put out a nativity, and that's all you really need for Christmas."

word, mom. preach.

well i guess that's it

maybe i'm wrong

but going to college at berkeley (or any other college, i guess) is kinna like losing your virginity to a hooker (not that i've ever solicited one, but just stay with me for a second). i mean, for one, you're paying for something that you feel that if you tried hard enough, you could get for free (except without the degree). and you go into it on your own, intimidated, but excited, and not really knowing what you're doing. once you're in, you have to learn new things at a really fast pace, and have to improvise and learn how you like to do things, what works for you. once it's done, you're like "wow that was fast" and then you're spit out back into the real world, supposedly now, you're a real man, but you don't really feel like it. all you can say is "well i guess that's it"

wandbagon fans

i don't consider myself a bandwagon fan, but i also can't say that when a bay team loses, that i watch the game to the bitter end(unless i'm at the game). but seriously, it's not easy when you see your team on tilt during a game, you just wanna scream and throw stuff and run on the court and kick kobe/tom brady/alex smith/nate longshore in the face!!

i'm glad that this year, 2007, was when the warriors became the team in the bay to watch. cuz dang, ain't no other team around here to watch anymore, i have something to look forward to every couple of days.

a couple of thoughts on the lakers(106) vs. warriors(108 bitches!) game
- derek fischer deserves an oscar for some of the calls he gets. good thing he's made some incredibly clutch shots in his career, cuz i would hate to be known as a really good flop artist. even when he was a warrior i didn't like derek fischer, he never made those clutch shots for us! little punk.
- you have to live and die by the way steven jack plays.
- monta deserves more shine. sure it was baron that made all those clutch shots, but it was monta that kept them in the game with his hustle and consistent shooting.
- actually i take that back, i hope monta gets his shine on a bigger stage, like during the playoffs, so that he can be basketball's version of andruw jones, minus the overrated-ness.
- yes i said it. andruw jones is OVERRATED! i'm glad we got rowand, even though rowand made the last out of the allstar game.
- the bay area is a place where professional sports "media jerks" are loved. bonds, owens, davis, jackson, will clark anyone?

christmas(time) is here

OMG I CAN'T WAIT
TO GET


some
normal
sleeping
hours

paula "the devil" deen

oh you know it.
at first, paula was cool. i mean, her recipes looked tasty, and she wasn't afraid to use butter. she gave us all her classics, everything she learned how to make on her own. it was all very nice in the beginning.

but then, she infected us all with her overly southern charm, y'all, and now she cannot be stopped. she's out to kill us, people. she's infiltrating our homes and our arteries. she won't stop til our blood won't flow anymore, only butter and bacon fat and velveeta cheese.

don't believe me? fine then.
go ahead and try some deep fried butter
or how about some bacon wrapped mac and cheese

she's even sneakily attacking our children.
how?

she married santa claus himself.

bah humbug bit(e) me

i don't hate christmas. actually, i'm almost indifferent to christmas. i'm glad i get to see family and friends and folks more during the season, but it's not like i wouldn't be happy if it weren't christmas time. i trys to do my best to "make it feel like christmas" all the time, you know, i trys to be happy just to be happy.

maybe it's because the holiday season has now collided with finals season for 5 straight years, but i don't really like the whole holiday season thingy. the holiday season thingy is not happy. especially when i have to wait almost a WHOLE FRICKIN HOUR to get onto the bridge. and forreal, shopping during the holiday sale season is close to the least jolliest thing ever, especially when beezies are out there trying anything to get a parking spot.

and now, especially in the mass media market, christmas completely overshadows thanksgiving! they start advertising for christmas in the beginning of november now! how come thanksgiving don't get no shine!?! forreal though, thanksgiving is a way better than christmas anyway. *gasp* yes i said it. cuz thanksgiving is a day devoted to food and giving thanks. that's it, that's all you have to do, just give thanks and eat. you don't have to worry about getting presents, or giving presents, or if santa knows to give presents to filipinos too, or whatever. all you gotta worry about how big your tummy is gonna get, which is pretty minor, if you REALLY think about it.

my parents and other related old people tell me that christmas at Home is a very fun ordeal because it's not marred by all these commercials and stuff. i've always wanted to spend a Christmas there.



anyways, here at work, miracles happen. really.
MEMS were first fabricated here, email was invented here, we create new technology every day, and even pigs fly..
really.

why you ain't gon ever see me in a texas suburb

via poplicks

JOE HORN: NEIGHBOR OF THE YEAR?

Do not rob these people or their neighbors

In the town of Pasadena, Texas, Joe Horn saw two men -- Miguel Dejesus, 38, and Diego Ortiz, 30 -- break into his neighbor’s house. Horn called 911 and eventually stated that he intended to shoot the men, despite the dispatch operator's attempt to dissuade him from doing so.

Horn went outside and fatally shot the two men.

You can listen to the eerie 911 call by watching this clip:

While there is no evidence (yet) of racial motivations, the protests have quickly divided along color lines. Dejesus and Ortiz, the deceased, are black and, from what I can tell from photos, Horn appears to be white.

As you can see from the photo of the protest/counter-protest below, white men with confederate flag tattoos confronted and attempted to drown out Black Panther Party leader Quanell X and a group of largely black protesters. Some national reactions have also veered in similar directions, with Horn supporters praising him for taking on "hoodlums."

Quanell X believes Horn should be charged with murder. Horn's supporters are praising him as the neighbor of the year.

There's obviously a big moral debate over whether Horn was right to shoot the two alleged burglars. There's also the legal question of whether Horn would be protected from civil and criminal action by claiming self-defense. I'm going to leave those aside from now.

Here's the real kicker: According to my basic legal research of Texas criminal laws, there would be absolutely no criminal case against Horn ... had the burglary taken place at night.

(Thanks to Kristen for pointing out that the shooting took place at 2 pm.)

Here are the relevant passages of the Texas Penal Code:

§ 9.43. Protection of Third Person's Property

A person is justified in using force or deadly force against another to protect land or tangible, movable property of a third person if, under the circumstances as he reasonably believes them to be, the actor would be justified under Section 9.41 or 9.42 in using force or deadly force to protect his own land or property and:

(1) the actor reasonably believes the unlawful interference constitutes attempted or consummated theft of or criminal mischief to the tangible, movable property; or

(2) the actor reasonably believes that:

(A) the third person has requested his protection of the land or property;

(B) he has a legal duty to protect the third person's land or property; or

(C) the third person whose land or property he uses force or deadly force to protect is the actor's spouse, parent, or child, resides with the actor, or is under the actor's care.

*

§ 9.42. Deadly Force to Protect Property

A person is justified in using deadly force against another to protect land or
tangible, movable property:

(1) if he would be justified in using force against the
other under Section 9.41; and

(2) when and to the degree he reasonably believes the
deadly force is immediately necessary:

(A) to prevent the other's imminent commission of
arson, burglary, robbery, aggravated robbery, theft during the
nighttime, or criminal mischief during the nighttime; or

(B) to prevent the other who is fleeing
immediately after committing burglary, robbery, aggravated
robbery, or theft during the nighttime from escaping with the
property; and

(3) he reasonably believes that:

(A) the land or property cannot be protected or
recovered by any other means; or

(B) the use of force other than deadly force to
protect or recover the land or property would expose the actor or
another to a substantial risk of death or serious bodily injury.

Horn clearly saw two men taking property from his neighbor. He believed deadly force was necessary to prevent them from fleeing after immediately committing burglary. He didn't have other means to stop them. Depending on his relationship with the neighbor, he probably can successfully claim that he had the duty to protect his neighbor's property.

Thus, Horn was legally justified in fatally shooting the next-door burglars except for the fact that the alleged crime took place in the middle of the day. Had the alleged crime and shooting taken place several hours later, there would be no debate as to Horn's legal innocence.

In my opinion, that's the craziest part of this whole story.

It seems that those who are outraged at Horn should really be angry at the Texas legislature for empowering Horn (and future neighbors) to serve as judge, jury, and executioner.

--Junichi

josh says: WORD?!? RIDONKULOUS! i don't even know what to say. i wonder what the other Joe Horn thinks of this, cuz this white dude is giving a bad rap to the very recognizable name, "Joe Horn".

a little rap in the middle

when i was little, and was listening to mason betha, dmx, and the like, i used to dream about being a rap superstar. i loved the art of storytelling through rhythm and rhyme, so much so that right around 6th or 7th grade, i even started to right my own raps on sheets of paper, just like eminem in "8 mile". they were about how i was so better than you, and about every line used the word "like", and i had pictured it perfectly. for a 11 or 12-year-old, i had some pretty good wit and a pretty good vocabulary, i was on my way to stardom. now isn't that little dream of mine just precious?

i learned soon enough that my hardly-urban neighborhood in pacifica would not give me enough street-cred to be a rap superstar in amurrica and that i would have to restrain myself from writing anymore rap sheets in order to prevent any embarrassment if i were to run for office later in my life. i would also learn later in life that i would never survive a freestyle battle, or even a casual cipher, as i discovered that my mind and my mouth aren't always together on the same page as each other. rap was never meant to be and my outlet for expression would have to be of a different medium.

enter poetry.

poetry is nice because in a lot of ways, it can be very similar to rap, but at the same time it can have nothing in common in rap. i can write with or without rhythm, with or without rhyme, with our without fries on the side, it doesn't matter! i do prefer, however, to try and incorporate rhyme and rhythm into my poems whenever possible, just for fun.

maybe for about a year now i've been wanting to write a poem about myself. kinna a self-affirmation poem and kinna i'm better than you poem, you know, cuz poems like that are cool and make people in cafes snap their fingers and "mmMm!" when you get it just right. the problem i've been having is that every line i think of has that generic artsy BS feel to it, which i hate. kinna like "i am a swirling thunderstorm/i am an peaceful river". i also want to have it so i don't use the phrase "i am" in the poem, ever, which is pretty hard when you're trying to write a poem about yourself. go ahead, try it.

anyways, as ashamed as i am, i must admit that i've resorted to attaching some sort of media to my blogs, because i learned somewhere that that's just what good bloggers do. also, because nicky told me that sometimes he doesn't read the blog, he just looks at the pictures or watches the video. and really, most of the time the media attached has nothing to do with what i'm blogging about, it's just there so at least you have something to look at if you don't wanna read my blog. most of the time it's prolly just some picture or video i took note of sometime in the past week.

here's a picture of something i wish i was better at.
no, not being a skinny white dude. drawing/sketching.
even though you can see where the corner is and this dude has the absolute blankest look on his face and his hair slopes down to the left quite a bit, it still makes a pretty good myspace picture.

gonna miss these days

the handful of times
when i was completely alone
completely
alone
and had to figure things out
college is where you learn to eat on your own
digest
another day

when i had hella eggs
cuz eggs were cheap
and i could cook an omelet
in 2 minutes
with my eyes closed
behind my back

when i had to stay up
so much
that sunday monday and tuesday
all seem like one

r e a l l y l o n g d a y

when all i had was cold water
so just shower faster

when even though i hated ipods
i had one
so imma tune out the world
amel can sing to just me

when berkeley winters are hella cold
and berkeley apartments are hella old
too old to know the globe is warming
and that those hella old heaters
in those hella cold apartments
inefficient and expensive
so this is how imma keep my face
warm

gonna miss these days

eye-dent-it-ee

(i get a lot of self reflection time during school vacations, or just whenever i get to go home to pacifica. i'm pretty sure almost all of the posts i've written about myself have come from my computer in pacifica.)


i think i've said somewhere before that, even though i'm pretty sure that all my friends and families accept me for who i am, i've never felt that there has been a group of people that completely understand me. (there are some specific people that i'm i feel completely comfortable around, but i guess i've watched too many Friends episodes or something, and sometimes have longed for that over-idealistic "gang") and the wannabe-artsy part of me used to think that this was because i have a super over the top complex personality, or some BS like that. but now i'm pretty sure that i feel it's that way, because i don't completely understand myself.

that's all, i think i'll have to marinate on that thought for awhile.

it's kinna funny how i started thinking about this: i was at thanksgiving dinner with my cousins and we were all kinna just sitting around, and i said something that i've been thinking about for awhile,

me: "when does everybody feel their cleanest? like, that feeling that you don't wanna touch anything cuz it'll make you dirty again?"

(confused looks, and silence)

me: "i feel my cleanest when i take a dump and shower right after. after that shower, and until i get sweaty or dirty, go to bathroom, or fart, i feel like i'm as clean I as can be, cuz i feel clean on the inside AND on the outside"

cousins: "where did that come from?"

me:*sigh*


i am really happy with my life, though. happy enough to go around twice.


what's up kat? you're cool too, thanks for always being down to get hella drunk on the seriously the most random nights possible, and having hella fun doing it

every drank is unique

so i was pretty thirsty and i was looking at this glass half full of juice, but i knew that that glass was sittin on that table for awhile, and i'm like "i'm not gonna drink that lukewarm shit". and at that time, i was thinking to myself, "there's no drank worth drinking lukewarm! it either has to be cold or hot. ain't no such thing as halfway drinks!"

but then i started thinking more, what drink are you supposed to drink lukewarm?

and like it always does, vino came to answer my questions. although the optimal temperature for serving wine is a couple degrees below room temperature, vino is the only drink i can think of that is served somewhere close to room temperature. and thanks to Peezy and a yearly tradition, i have a couple more wines under my belt.

i can't remember the name of the red that was delish, but that's ok. the world of wine is vast.


anyhow, speakin of dranks, i've always been intrigued with what constitutes a "manly" drink. i mean, how are some beers manly, and some not manly? according to my recent research:
- fat tires are manly, blue moons are not.
- also, martini's are more manly than (real) daiquiris, unless that shit is an apple-tini, don't be drinkin that MAN!
- gin martini's are more manly manly than vodka martini's, unless that shit is a gin-apple-tini, don't be drinkin that MAN!
- long islands are the standard manly way to get drunk
- patron is gangster manly
- guiness is irish manly
- heineken is another standard manly beer


one of my favorite non alcoholic drinks is swamp water.
i think im gonna make that shit right now

joshua is currently wondering about this

When crack cocaine possession means 24 years in prison and manslaughter means only 3, you know something is seriously wrong with the U.S. criminal justice system.

i think i'd like to mention this article in honor of my purchase of frontline's new album. i also wanna mention frontline cuz i'm 99% positive that i saw Left purchasing some frozen yogurt behind me at michelle's on durant. i wasn't sure it was him at the time cuz i didn't know he had a mohawk.

but in all seriousness, ridiculous is the word that comes to mind when i think about this law. minimum 5 yrs for trying to sell two sugar packets worth of crack, 5 grams. in order to receive the same penalty for selling powdered cocaine, 500 grams. a hundred times more. frickin ridiculous.

Since crack is made by cooking powder cocaine with baking soda or another base when it reaches the street retail level, the 100-to-1 ratio has served to exact harsher punishments on low-level dealers than the kingpins supplying the raw material. According to USSC data, low-level crack sellers are punished 300 times more severely than high-level, international cocaine traffickers on an imprisonment-per-gram basis.

so uhh, it's more important to get to poor crack dealers, because, uhhh, in the bigger scheme, they're the bigger bad guys, bigger than the doods that supply the cocaine.. that sounds right, right?

at least we know whitney houston won't EVER get caught with crack. why you ask?



cuz crack is wack!

word??..

pancakes are surely one of my favorite foods. i love making them, i love eating them, and i even enjoy cleaning my griddle after i've made a batch.

one of my earliest memories as a child is a saturday morning with my mom letting me stand on a chair next to her and letting me flip the pancakes that she was cooking. we used bisquick back then, because even though she cooked my favorite versions of anything pilipino, there wasn't really anything close to a homemade pancake recipe in her head of cuisine pilipino. but that's ok, cuz my mom's a savv and eventually she got her wings with some american cuisine, and now she makes some crackin oatmeal pancakes. how crackin? so crackin that she made me put crackin and oatmeal together in the same sentence. word.

i, on the other hand, have not yet learned how to play around with my pancake batter recipe. once in awhile i'll dot the pancakes with blueberries or chocolate/peanut butter chips, but i never have ventured into the vast world of pancake variety, like using milk instead of buttermilk, or changing my kind of flour. i follow the alton brown buttermilk pancake recipe (this was before i discovered he was an ass), cuz even though the batter comes out HELLA THICK, it produces some thick and fluffy pancakes, that are hella filling.

i'm not sure but i don't think you're supposed to drink wine for breakfast, but if you were to pair a wine with my pancakes, i think it'd have to be a white wine. even though i just said the pancakes come out of the heartier side, and i think you're supposed to match red wine with hearty meals, i just don't think red wine and pancakes is a good match. so white wine it is.

which one?
try a chardonnay.

in fact, try the super-ultra-rare (as in, doesn't exist) ratatouille chardonnay. word

i do hope that my love for homemade pancakes prevents me from resorting to using this peculiar product, the Batter Blaster.
word??

thissss weeeeeeeek

the semester has been pretty challenging , but i really have learned to appreciate school for what it is. i mean, i get to come into class and learn something new every time. i know that when i (hopefully) start working in industry, that that will almost never be the case.

today i got blasted by my professor on my sloppy contribution to the presentation. and he was right, it was pretty sloppy, and the part i hate about it is that it didn't really represent how much time i put into all the other work for the lab, and that sucks, because the professor didn't see my last presentation which went a lot better, and prolly won't see my next one, which i have promised to improve upon. 

i feel that pretty much 90% of your monetary success in the professional world is dictated on how well you professionally present yourself. and although i've admitted to myself that this is a pretty big problem for me, i have never strived to improve that aspect of myself while in school. i really hate how it has to work that way. i mean, i know it doesn't have to be this way, and that you can have success by "just being yourself", but more often than not, people tell me that the more interviews that you do, the more you'll know what to say because you'll know what they're looking for. to me, that sounds kinna like you'll know exactly what to say to get the job, regardless of how qualified you really are. 

then what's the point? what's the point of trying so hard to do well in school, when all this studying to be able to work as engineer comes down to how well i've learned to present myself? we only take one class on technical communication, which i guess counts as professional training, but that was an easy class. so still, i'm pretty much lost when it comes to being able to professionally present myself.

that being said, i would like to point something out about berkeley engineering as the gold standard for studying engineering. if you look, most of the ranking done for engineering schools is usually actually ranking the engineering graduate schools, and not the undergrad. and while this high rank distinction for the grad schools might translate to a good undergrad program. that's not always the case. and in my opinion, for the most part berkeley focuses more on engineering research, and not engineering practice. this is good because many important technological discoveries happen because of research, but bad because i still don't have a solid idea of what it means to be an engineer, as opposed to just a scientist, or other technician. 

that being said, sleep has been irregular this week. and i haven't gotten much fresh air. and i'm staring at a computer for prolly close to 80% of my awake hours.

i have managed to improve my omelet technique, and my biscuit technique as well. i have a bottle of 2006 charles shaw merlot that i've been wanting to open for awhile now but i don't have a bottle opener in the apartment! maybe i'll start buying the twist cap wines, since i prolly won't be able to tell the difference in my young sommelier career. (i spelled that right on the first try)

can't wait for the weekend. i love gameday (food)!

miss lead

that last post was misleading..

berkeley doesn't force you to care about politics.

rather, like many other colleges, i assume, berkeley forces you to be aware about politics. i'm pretty sure you can get by without having a real opinion about anything, but that'd be pretty hard. 

it just so happens that i care about a lot of issues centered around the issue of race. hence the frequent blogs on race. i also care about the environment, a bunch actually, but not as much as some of the folks here. and recently, i've been caring about animal rights. not that i'm planning on becoming a vegetarian anytime soon, but i'm TRYING to buy more humanely produced foods.

do you how they make foie gras?

or what makes a cage-free bird cage free?

it kinna sucks. the more i learn about these things, the more inclined i am to pay for the more expensive organic/free-range stuff. but at least it's forcing me to eat my vegetables. 

i do offset my spending on food with not spending on movies that i can download or copy, or cds from artists that like to flaunt their wealth on tv. they deserve it!

i love school

college football is americana

the cal bears football team needs a new defensive coordinator. incumbent, bob gregory, is a way too conservative. and we all know, berkeley is not a place to be too conservative.

actually, i take that back. berkeley has a surprising number of conservatives. people just don't know that because their view of berkeley is a place where drugs run wild and hippies don't wear shoes and don't cut their hairs or shower, and pierce every inch of cartilage possible. i'm almost certain of this. for work, i once made a call to a company located somewhere in southern california, and the dude was talking to me, and was like "oh your name is Joshua? is that the biblical Joshua? i bet a name like that in berkeley is difficult, huh?"

yes, he really said that shit. like berkeley is SOOOOO liberal and anti-conservative/anti-catholic that ANY reference to anything related to conservative side is gonna spark a protest. i really didn't know what to make of that. i mean, this fool wasn't from texas, but from california. i guess it goes to show what the world thinks of us wild and crazy UC berkeley folk.


a lot of times, when i come back home and see old friends, they'll always say something like "you only care about that stuff now cuz you go to berkeley" or something like "why you so against white people, josh?". you know, the type of stuff that makes you feel that your friends think you think you're part of and elitist group and that you think less of them for not caring or knowing about the things you care or know about, all because you went to berkeley. when in the back of my head, i'm thinkin, "why the fuck don't you care about this? it's screwing you over too!" or "why don't you racist hate white people too?" i mean, i never thought that i thought of things that differently from the people around me, but every time that i come home back from berkeley, that's what it feels like, that i think differently from everybody. but at the same time, i'm only thinking through the same head that i've always been thinking. it's quite a lonely feeling. whenever i come home, i feel like more and more people don't understand who i am anymore.

i don't think i'm any better than any of my friends or anybody else back home. i used to think that i was special/unique cuz i got into berkeley, but really i wish everybody i knew got into berkeley too. i wish they could go through this experience, so that maybe they'd understand me more. berkeley doesn't make you more political, per se. just because i care about politics doesn't mean that i wanna be a politician or anything close to politics. i think that berkeley just really helps you to think on your own, which really isn't as common as it should be in this world.


....


shit, i just took a break from writing, and i totally forgot how i wanted to end this blog.
ehh.. that's ok.

shoutout to bob marley

ain't too proud to brag

that title doesn't really make sense now, does it?

well i'm not bragging, but i would like to mark this day.
cuz i spent 12 hours today, from 3pm to 3am, in 2107 etcheverry.
which doesn't even account for the 5 hours i spent at work in cory, from 10am-3pm.

but it wasn't like a was working the whole time.
i had to eat dinner while working,
and i also had to draft bball players while working.

i maybe coulda wrote the program faster, but still, you gotta admit, 12 hours in one room is a pretty cool accomplishment, if you can even call it that.

youze a FUCKIN PUNK!!

i've been meaning post this one since last friday, i think..
and then i saw something else, and wanted to post it again on monday..
and now it's thursday and something happened today, and now i have all the emotion i need to post it...

alton brown, foodtv celebrity via "good eats" and host of the next iron chef - YOUZE A SNOBBY FUCKIN PUNK!
alton brown made his stardom hosting a show that claimed that good food was not that hard to make for the home chef, pretty much what every tv chef is aiming to do, but brown did it in a nerdy but entertaining way.. so more of a general audience was attracted to watching the show.. so much so that he's gotten pretty fatter since his earlier days.. cuz you know that's what happens when normal people get famous fast (see beyonce, chandler from "friends", me, except i didn't get famous, just fatter).

in fact, i used to really like alton brown, i have all three of his books, up until last monday, when i read an interview he did, and in the same day watched an episode of the next iron chef. in his interview, alton brown dissed one of my favorite tv shows, Bravo's Top Chef, while trying to promote the next iron chef, saying that top chef had no credibility because their contestants "are barely out of Denny's". excuse me? top chef is judged by credible judges, they have some of the top restaurant chefs in the nation guest judging every week, and their head judge, tom colicchio, is a james beard award winner. alton brown, my friend, you have never won anything, and prolly wouldn't even be able to make it on the line at denny's (neither would i, but i ain't the one dissing top chef) you cook way too slow on your show.

and on the show, the next iron chef, alton brown gets to boss around some of the most promising young chefs in the kitchen like he's the shit or something, when we know in fact, he himself has no actually chef credibility, just a popular show. who do you think you are?? a punk!!

prince fielder - first baseman of the milwaukee brewers, son of old time great cecil fielder, YOUZE A SPOILED FUCKIN PUNK!
i was watching espn and i saw this special on how prince and his father don't talk anymore. actually when prince hit his 50th homerun this season, he took shots at his father calling him "not that bright of a guy". they stop talking around the time when cecil and prince's mother divorced, and his mom gained custody of prince, i think. but anyways, cecil went to one of prince's games, to be able to talk to prince, but prince wasn't havin it, he didn't even want to see him, and when cecil asked prince's wife if she'd at least take a picture of him and prince's kids, cecil's only grandkids, she replied "i'll have to ask their father first".

WHAT?!? you spoiled shit. everything you've ever been given in your life was a result of your father's success in baseball. you prolly never even had a real job because your father had the richest contract in baseball at that time. and you don't have the decency to even show some respect to the man. grow up you little punk.

(it should be noted that they couldn't get a hold of prince fielder for the espn special, so my view is pretty biased, but i still think there are some valid points)

asian intramural referee, thursday 815 game - YOUZE A FUCKIN TWINKIE PUNK!!
i don't really have any history on this dude, but if you were there to see the game, you'd know what i was talkin about. this fool was prolly the biggest reason that our team lost that game. not only was he a jackass, he was a jackass specifically to our team. the most BS travelling call coming when i jumped to get a rebound, get knocked down while trying to call a timeout, when our team was up by 2. only calling the close calls against our all pilipino team while your partner, a white referee was playing fair. YOU LIL SHIT YOU DIDN'T EVEN LOOK ME IN THE FUCKING EYE WHEN I MADE THE EFFORT TO SHAKE YOUR HAND AFTER WE LOST!!

i hate you, you twinkie shit. i bet you drive a yellow car with a white interior. i hope you become famous for being a twinkie, and that calling somebody a twinkie is replaced by calling them your name instead. and then i hope they make a movie about it, with a soundtrack by an emo rock band called "the twinkieshitz". because i had to deal with you personally, you take the title of FUCKIN PUNK of the week, you twinkie punk shit!

okies.. it's out of my system.. i feel better..

no more greener grasses

even though i didn't register my blog for blog action day, which i intended to do so, i would like to do a blog in honor of the environment. even though i have a well documented angered opinion of the heavily media-covered tree people, i do consider myself an semi-environmentalist. and with al gore winning a nobel peace prize for being a loud environmentalist, we should all join the band wagon!

forreal though, almost every one of my engineering professors, which are all leaders in their respective industries (meaning they're certified geniuses), has preached to our class about the dangers of global warming and the current state of consumption throughout the world. one professor even allowed a student to make an announcement that we should all watch "an inconvenient truth" and then went on to back him up. just goes to show you that all those "if every californian..." commercials are no joke, and forreal, all this environmental practice stuff is gonna be big time in pretty much every kind of industry soon, so maybe being green or learning to be green and think green will make you a pretty penny somewhere.

i do admit, in my modest sized apartment, with my part-time budget (plus "emergency" mom funds) sometimes being greener isn't being cheaper, so i might stray from many of the ideal practices. but when i am able to fully support myself, there are a couple of things that i'm really gonna try and work on, on top of all the traditional methods of recycling, washing my own dishes, hanging washed clothes on a clothesline, trying to get a gas stove, using CFLs, and what not:

1. stop buying/using bottled water - all consumer products use energy in order to be produced, but bottled water is something that we really can do without. if you think about how big the bottled water industry is right now, and imagine how much energy is being consumed making all those bottles of water, then you can get the picture. work towards filtering your own water with a pur faucet or a brita pitcher.

2. buying local - the farther your food was grown from where you buy it, the more gas was used to bring it there. even when faced with a choice of buying organic or buying local, i choose local. gotta save that gas. this is easily achieved through shopping at farmer's markets, or just being savvy enough to know where your local grocery gets their produce and meats. and supposedly, eating honey that is local to your area is good way to stay healthy and free from illness.

3. save the environment with pb&js - i just thought this was kinna different. and i like different.

4. purchase a bike - and use it for taking me places anywhere within 10 miles of wherever i end up living. i've become extremely fascinated with fixed gear bikes, and i plan to buy one. let's all do it! i don't plan on joining critical mass or anything, but i think it'll be pretty fun to weave through cars in traffic. i also plan to continue to skateboard, but that shit is tiring, and you can't really do that uphill.

5. cloth napkins - this one is prolly gonna be a challenge, but i figure having cloth napkins and having to wash them every time i use them will teach me how many paper napkins that i've been using. check back with me on this one, see how it's working out for me.

6. being more frugal - frugality will set us free, folks. even though products in stores have already been produced (since they already made it to the store) and therefore have used energy in order to be made, not purchasing that product will give you piece of mind that at least you are trying to do your part in reducing consumption on this earth. and you'll be able to save your money and eventually be rich enough to not care about the environment anymore...... just kidding.

as you can see i focused a lot on food related things. ahh. if only i had the money to go to culinary school.

drums check, bass check, keys check, mic check 1 2

sometimes, i think a lot of college kids need to keep themselves in check too. forreal, if that problem set is the hardest thing in your life right now, then your life is pretty good.

i wish i was able to keep myself in check more often. like, sometimes when i think about how much i complain, or if i think about the things that i actually complain about, it's like, damn, when did i need to be so particular about things.

for instance, i recently have been complaining a bunch about my weight, because i've cut back on my eating and have at least tried to lead a more active life, and even though it has led me to a little more healthier lifestyle and diet, it hasn't led to much success in the losing actual weight department. but damn, do i really need to be complaining about that? i mean, when did knowing i was fed well enough get overshadowed by "i'm starting to not look the way i used to"?



i wish my dad knew how much i appreciate him.

obligatory desperate housewives post

i guess everybody has to have an opinion

first of all, the line wasn't that funny. i really think lois lane should just stick to doing radio shack commercials with howie long.

second, that was pretty much a direct shot at the philippines. i mean, i'm pretty sure the racist-ass writers had some bad tocilog somewhere or something, because it's not like the philippines is the motherland of all bad medical education. actually, i think there's this thing called "brain drain", which in this case basically means that the philippines is drained of virtually all of its medical and other professionals that seek work overseas because work overseas pays substantially more than work back home, actually, i'm pretty sure that i remember reading that pilipinos that are practicing doctors in the philippines end up studying to be nurses overseas. why? maybe because it pays more to be a nurse overseas than it does to be a doctor in the philippines and maybe because THEIR PHILIPPINE MEDICAL DEGREE WOULDN'T BE ACCEPTED IN AN OVERSEAS HOSPITAL. oh yea, and this place "overseas" is usually america.

back to my point.. why else would the racist-ass writer have put the line in there other than to take a direct shot at philippines? i mean, damn, you can get a phony degree in the US, off the internet. why the fuck would this white doctor have gone all the way to the philippines to get a medical degree? that makes no sense. how the fuck is that good humor?

‘Desperate Housewives’ and ABC Studios offer our sincere apologies for any offense caused by the brief reference in the season premiere. There was no intent to disparage the integrity of any aspect of the medical community in the Philippines. As leaders in broadcast diversity, we are committed to presenting sensitive and respectful images of all communities featured in our programs."

i'm sorry, does that say "there was NO intent", like in at all?? i don't really get that, so that line was supposed to mean what?? she didn't want a doctor that was trained in the philippines because she's, uh, allergic to doctors trained in the philippines, you know, uh, she gets, uh, darker around them. and you can't be a dark person on desperate housewives. i'm sorry ‘Desperate Housewives’ and ABC Studios, i cannot accept your "sincere" apology.

Okays, so i've said my spiel, i got it out of my system.
i sign the petition, and, in theory, i accept the apology, or at least i accept the fact that we made it a big enough deal that abc doesn't get away with this shit.

i won't, however, knock on those pilipinos, the ones that wrote the petition and are boycotting abc altogether, for taking this protest "too far". no no no, we can't knock those that are defending OUR HOME. even if a boycott was a little overboard, i certainly will not diss them for being too militant. because if it ever does happen that some racist BS happens to me, and the rest of the world is saying i'm over-reacting and that i'm playing the race card, i know these are the folks that are gonna be behind me, even IF i didn't happen to sign that petition (which i did).

"but josh, you always make racist jokes about white people"
yes yes yes, you are certainly right. i ALWAYS jump at the opportunity to make fun of white people. that is unfortunately a vice of mine. i know it's bad, but it's still fun for me to do it. but in my defense, i do not advertise this blog to white people, at least, i'm not actively advertising it to them. i only know a couple people that actually read this blog, and i either grew up with them, or met them through college, and they know who i am, really. and, for the most part, when i do crack jokes, i'm either making fun of white people and privilege, or white people and racism. which is not to say that i'm generalizing that all white people are privileged, or that all white people are racists. i'm just trying to recognize that fact that privilege and racism are still very much a part of today's "integrated" society

also, i do not go up to random white people and make racist white jokes straight to their faces, nor will i ever do that. if a random middle-class white lady came up to me and made a racist AND DEROGATORY comment to me, i'd prolly spit at her, on her face (in theory)... "but it wasn't like teri 'lois lane' hatcher was up in my face making a racist joke to me." touche. that line was on PRIMETIME television, on a SEASON premiere. abc had so much hype on that episode, they had a commercial that ALMOST made me want to watch it (which i didn't), and i'm sure abc wanted everybody and their mama's watching it. you cannot tell me that abc was so stupid to not expect the giant population of immigrant health care professionals in the US to not be watching their stupid television show.

case closed.

why yes, i'll accept my award for "best obligatory desperate housewives post".

forget the trees

thanks for this, rick.

In Bayview-Hunters Point, the stress created by environmental problems, racism, poverty and crime may explain why so many babies die young. Infant mortality is twice as high here as in the rest of San Francisco

it's kinna a long read, but it's definitely worth it..
i mean, damn, i just don't get how we can all get so caught up in the trees... TREES, people!
where are all the environmentalist "tree-people" when we really need them. yea yea yea.. these trees don't have a voice (or vocal chords) so we just gotta speak up.. hunters point is a community, so the people living in that community should be able to speak for themselves.. yea.. if only they didn't have to worry about their babies dying..

crepes n turon

i don't really know why i'm blogging about this.

ok.. that's a lie. i do know.

i'm addicted to food blogs. i love reading how other people describe food. and i ESPECIALLY love how they photograph their food.

but this would be an example of a horrible food blog entry. the description prolly will be lackluster, and the pictures are horrendously amateur.

nevertheless, i will shamelessly make a terrible attempt at a food entry.

crepes and bananas
i don't really know how i feel about crepes. i mean, they're cool and all, but they're so thin and you go through a whole lot to make this thin piece of sweet filling delivery vessel. but at the same time, it's not like the crepe isn't providing anything in terms of flavor. the dish wouldn't be the same if you just ate the bananas. but damn. why go through all that measuring and mixing and all that time on the stovetop for something so thin, when you can just make some real pancakes? cuz everybody likes them, and you can eat a bunch of them without feeling a FOMA like you would from a shortstack of pancakes.

i don't really know what kinna wine i would serve with crepes and bananas. damn.. maybe just some milk. or strawberry flavored milk, like back in highschool.

bananas with sauce were started by melting butter and dissolving brown sugar. didn't measure this one, just went rachel ray with the proportions. when the butter and sugar looked good enough, we added the bananas cut side down, til they were nice and COLORED.. then we added cream, to make the sauce a little fatter, i'm sure it affected the taste somehow, but i couldn't tell you how.

crepes were made like that.
flatten out crepe, add bananas to one quarter, fold and fold, and serve. so this was my attempt to present my food in a delicious manner. but it kinna looks like the crepe is throwing up the bananas, and the caramel sauce. whatever then, it was still hella good, you just won't have any if you actually agreed with that description. just kidding.
since there was extra heat in the pan after we finished cooking the crepes, i melted some latex so that i could make my own homemade balloons.
just kidding

the bananas tasted like turon.

here you go

this is a long, but good article

gracias wally

on the side note

i just have to post this before i forget..

i think it's really funny about the things that liberal white people protest about.. and i'm really not trying to knock on liberal white people.. but if you ever come to Berkeley and see some protests and demonstrations, you'll know what i'm talking about..

usually, if you see a lot of colored people congregated somewhere, it usually means that we're trying to earn some rights or rightful representation, or fighting against an injustice that is apparently centered around race.. you know, pretty legit stuff..

but a strange occurrence happened last year or so when i was tabling on upper sproul.. i saw a protest, but it was a bunch of white people.. and i thought to myself, "are you serious? are the white people fighting for equal representation?"

but as i took a closer look at their signs, it all made sense.. the white people were fighting for the trees, that were gonna be cut down to make room for the new sports facility.. i thought to myself.. TREES?.. there it is, the white people don't really have any racism or injustice to fight about, so they fight for other things.. like trees..

and forreal, those white people fighting for those trees got WAY MORE media time than ANY colored protest that i've ever seen.. WHAT THE HELL IS THAT ALL ABOUT?..

but when you look at it.. it is pretty funny..

too much mayn.. too damn much

awhile back, i was driving the company truck with my boss, and we were on the 880 driving past downtown oakland.. while talking about cops (i think that's what we were talking about) my boss says to me, "i feel sorry for black people".. the first word that came to my mind was "racist".. but he explained what he was thinking.. "black kids usually don't have fathers, they're all locked up" and statiscally, especially in oakland, this has a fat amount of truth.. but in my head i was thinking, he still didn't have to generalize it to all black people..

fast-forward to now, or the past couple months, i think.. with the story about the jena 6.. are you kidding me?.. giving poor Mychal Bell prison time for a schoolyard fight that some racists instigated??.. and frickin prosecutor reed has the nerve to say that it has nothing to do with the fact that he's black.. oh my lawd.. and then i read something about how racists ass white teens drive through a protest in a truck with FUCKIN NOOSES hanging out the back.. and how the fuck does this not make any headlines i'm readin?.. oh that's right, there's worst shit going on.. thinks like barry bonds being a cheater, michael vick fighting dogs and then killing them, and other high profile black people doing things worse than being an outright racist..

my heart goes out to those black folk that have to deal with that BS, but i'm not gonna say i feel sorry for them.. i feel sorry for all those racists that have to stand before Him and prove to Him that they are worthy of salvation..

yea.. your president may be a racist and a catholic too, but that won't save your ass..

speaking of michael vick, wally had this really good article written by a black writer at ESPN about the deeper story of all this focus on michael vick.. and how it divides our country.. so if you'll be ever so kind, walter, to hook me up with that link somewhere, on my facebook or in the comments.. or something..

this is still kinna new to me

i think i age too quickly..

no that's wrong, everybody hits that metabolic wall eventually, but for some reason, this one hit me out of nowhere.

maybe this is confusing, "no context, josh!" you must be screaming..

i'm out of shape, and it's not like it happened all of a sudden, but it just feels that way..

today i played some IM bball with some of the youngins, and mayn, i can't run up and down a court like a used to anymore..

i was pretty much active (and sickly skinny) for most of my childhood and the pubescent years (or as i like to call them, the wonder years).. and i usually was always the last one to get tired when we played.. i remember going all day on my rollerblades.. til like 8 or 9 at night.. and on top of all this, i always ate the most food.. always.. like i said, the wonder years..

but now.. shit we were playing for like 2 hard minutes and i start huffin and puffin hard.. i mean.. everybody gets that way when you sprint right out of the gate.. but mayn.. it just feels soo horrible..

i remember high school, when we had to do PE and bball practice in the same day.. times was relatively rough.. cuz i didn't really have much of a social life back then, so it wasn't like i was looking good for anybody.. and being active for my own health wasn't really an issue with me, so i'd be like.. mayn, why am i running so damn much??.. i guess i never realized that that shit pays off during the hustle of the game.. but we didn't win anyway, so really, did it matter??.. i mean, coach was gonna yell at me anyway so why torture myself.. i wish i coulda told myself back then, "just keep at it man, cuz pretty soon you gonna be old and fat, and you needa keep active like this or else you gon throw up at your IM game"

i think i've used this blog way too much to complain about the state of my health..
actually, i think a lot about the purpose of my blog.. i don't think i've been dropping as many fevers lately.. i think it has all been my slow submission into online pop culture.. you know? making myself seem more important than i am.. maybe i'll change that..


this USED to be my favorite tshirt EVER.. it's a white tshirt.. that's standard, but it shows home.. or at least a better looking part of HOME.. i've actually heard that that place is just for gringos, but whatever, i got a pretty fly shirt on that kinna represents where i'm from..
it used to be my favorite shirt because i used to think that i was the only person in the states sporting that shirt, but last summer i went to the pilipino parade and festival in the city, and i see this kinna old "tita girly" lookin lady wearing my shirt.. i don't think i've ever been so heartbroken, my flyest shirt being sported by tita baby..


this one is pretty cool cuz it's from a telegraph faire.. actually it's not that cool, the first time i wore it i didn't feel that i'm fly rush that comes to you when you put on your nice tshirts.. but it still works, got the microwave, spray paint cans, and my favorite part, the rice cooker to the right.. can't really see that too well though.. the people that sold it to me were cool though.. just tryin to get by..

in need of some new music

it's not that i've tried to completely avoid downloading music, but i have been making the effort to buy my own cds..

and since many of my mp3 sources have graduated, i haven't had a batch of fresh picked mp3s in awhile..

so.. that means that i've had to listen to pretty much the same old ish on the ipod/tunes.. but that's ok.. it makes me more appreciate a couple certain things..

one being that kanye's new album isn't really all that good.. i mean his lyrics are still pretty fresh, not as controversial in this day as his first albums were back then.. but beats aren't much different.. i mean.. for me at least, i can find an equivalent song from his first two albums to most of the songs in graduation, meaning they kinna have the same feel to them..

the second is this.. graduation doesn't flow like college dropout.. the progression isn't as smooth.. i personally like when artists connect songs together.. it makes a whole cd.. not just a bunch of their best beats and lyrics put together on an album, but a carefully crafted display of musical artistry.. case in point, little brother's - the minstrel show.. i know i've talked about that album before, and that shit was soooo 2005.. but i still can't stop listening to it.. i mean, once i start the first track, i have to listen to the whole thing, or my life won't make sense anymore..

okies.. it's way too late..
homework is an evil mistress..

tshirts #1 and #2

this is an appropriate start to my tshirt blog.. this one was bought from the Solano Stroll.. i usually like buying at least one thing from a festival or faire, and more often than not, it's a tshirt.. you can never go wrong with the golden gate bridge on your t shirt.. notice the little piece of cloth that was stitched onto the backside of the shirt.. that's a pretty fresh idea.. it makes every t shirt unique.. you know, artsy-ish..


now i normally wouldn't go bragging about a white t shirt.. but this one was free.. and for a free white tshirt, this one is pretty fresh.. i personally like the lettering..

oh lawd

this is me and my friend, Big Daddy Kane, at the Roots Hip Hop Honors concert at the Fillmore, featuring MC Lyte and my friend, Big Daddy Kane.

Big Daddy Kane is now telling me that he wants me to do the wop with him.

that's Skillz in the background with the black shirt. Skillz is a hella funny dancer. ?uestlove is on the drums, i'm pretty sure he's a closet nerd, and the guy in front of him, right behind me is Black Thought, who's just plain FRESH.

MC Lyte is to my right. She's pretty fly too.

Oh yea, and on my shirt, that's Manong Philip. Don't worry, i still keeps it real.


This is a better picture where you can see Black Thought better, except i think he and Skillz are laughing at my dancing. And i hella have this moded-ass face you get when somebody takes a picture of you in the middle of you getting your groove on.

By the way, THEY KILLED IT THAT NIGHT.

Thanks April for taking me to the concert! and to every other concert that i've been to in my life.
and thanks Holly "sunshine" San Miggy for her good luck with getting on stage. She got frickin serenaded by Common. check her FACEbook
and thanks Roel for the pictures!

party like a rockstar

nothin' mo'
ironic
than drinkin'
a rockstar
so
that you
can stay
up
to finish
ur hw


(i thought that last line looked better than "your homework", that's all)

ain't no half steppin'

HOT DAMN! WHAT A CONCERT!

though i'll shamefully admit that i didn't know more than half of the songs that they played, the mere fact that i may never see something like that happen ever again is something to celebrate.

the legendary roots crew, big daddy kane, and mc lyte all doin covers of hip hop's most classic hits. i shook hands with all of them.

and so much more happened!

t-shirt culture

i know there's a very vibrant thriving culture of shoes out there.. i know a couple shoe-heads myself, but the thing is, you gotta have a little bit of capital to be into shoes.. and it feels like you gotta devote most of your capital to shoes.. which i don't think i can really do.. but what if i like that artsy, can't-buy-this-shit-anywhere-else kinna thing.. what's a person to do if they're caught in this conundrum?

i propose tshirt culture. there are a lot of cool tshirts out there, enough to make other people actually jealous of your coolness.. but still, that shit is still under $20, well within most people's weekly/monthly budget.

i think i will start documenting my tshirts, because i like buying shirts that no one really knows or cares about, but it's still pretty fly to me. i just need a camera.

my brain unstable and i'm just too handsome

i think i wanna write a poem for the next open mic

about my group of friends

it'll be cool. hopefully.

fuckin' tyra banks

i think tyra banks is the anti-christ..

have you seen her show? i can't believe she gets to prance around like she actually knows shit, when we all know she don't really get it. too much privilege for that one, and too much forehead.

i think i hate her.

she makes me want to rip out my ears and gouge out my eyes and serve them on my severed ears so that i never have to see or hear her again.

i hope my kids don't want to become top models, or i swear to allah, i'll fucking shave your head tyra banks..

go bears murrfockrrr

the way i joke around with my friends now is completely different than the way i used to joke around with friends.

even though my major at Berkeley is heavily technical, i have learned a lot about other things, one being political correctness.. don't get me wrong, my jokes aren't at all always politically correct or aware, but now, i have an appreciation for what's cool to joke about, and what's downright asshole to joke about..

case in point, michael vick. i'm sorry, but american media just took this one too far. don't get me wrong, the crimes are inhumane and wrong, but shit, you're gonna go out and make michael vick the frickin devil, for what? for not being able to let go of where he came from?.. [tangent warning] i mean, there are other powerful rich white americans that do worse shit, such as treating other things inhumanely, let's say, people, or maybe just women, and they get away with it.. but they never make a frickin headline..



and so, we get to joke about it.. it's not like we're trying to poke fun of michael vick.. but more of the situation.. and don't worry.. it'll make him a better person anyway..

but for now, we shall always have our fantasy dogfighting league, with the bad newz kennelz, the good newz puppiez, and the across the board winner "kibbles'n'vicks"

(ever reread your blog and it turns out not as good as you hoped it would be?)

i'm all heart, no plan

fresh start, old hand

i'm using my last-chance semester to try and greatly simplify my life. i think i've spent all four years of college with a leash of dependence to my parents. i mean, i never expected to pay my way through college, but i think i expected to learn better how to live on my own, more than i have actually learned in the past 4 years. i have yet to learn how to responsibly manage my money (or my weight), or how to keep a single room as clean as my parents can keep our entire home.

it's not so much that i want to break away from my parents, but more, that i want my parents to be able to break away from me, or at least, from most of my financial burden on them. like many immigrant parents, they sacrificed a lot to get where they are, and to get me where i'm at today, and like most kids with immigrant parents, i've probably taken all that for granted too many times. but now, with this blog as my witness, i'll do my best this last semester, and try and prove to myself that i did, in fact, achieve more in college than just a degree. (by the way, i do get a BS, suckas)


this is way off topic, but i think my mom secretly wants a grandchild, just to play with at home.
maybe i should buy her a pet chimpanzee or something..

i'll show him

a couple of weeks ago, i was greeted by fellow fantasy baseballer, mike peezy, in a club in a moment of semi-drunkeness, saying "hey, mister i-update-my-blog-once-every-two-weeks"

needless to say, i was a little taken back by this greeting. i felt that i could update my blog whenever the hella i felt like it (i hella meant to put that there). but i also knew, that inconsistent blogging is not good blogging etiquette.. so in an effort of "i'll show him".. i proceded to update my blog for three days straight, as seen by the previous 3 posts... only to update it more than 2 weeks later.

sorry peezy, i'll keep trying.
but for now, this one is dedicated to you. i'm very fascinated with your blog.. and we used to have the same background.. but i thought you were doing more justice to it than i was.

bros before h*$
holla

756, and now, no one will be watching the giant's anymore

And just so you know, grown men do cry

i wake up every morning holding my....

there was a point not too long ago when i wanted to be able to wake up in the morning at like 7 or even 6am and be able to do stuff. i wanted to wake up this early because waking up early meant that i had more time in the day to do stuff that i wanted to do. like read more, and cook a nice hearty breakfast, stuff like that.

i have however, come to a conclusion... umm.. well maybe it's not a conclusion yet.. maybe it's more of a theory.. that if i woke up earlier, that i would not, in fact, have more time in my day, but that i would, in fact, prolly have the same or even less time in my day, because waking up earlier would mean that i would get sleepy earlier and hence lose my ability to stay up later..

i am still on the quest of getting up earlier.. it's hard times with a comfy bed.

if you don't think that my title is from a song, boy are you in for a surprise
Little Brother - The Minstrel Show - Track 10 Lovin it - joe scudda's verse

ya mama got a glass eye with a fish in it

i must say, that this weekend with my cousins & more was pretty fun. quite expensive, more expensive than i planned, but still pretty awesome.

fyi we went to san deezy. and got to stay at my relatively newly married cousin's house and also, we did a couple things while we were down there.

don't really like detailing what we did, cuz that would make me a blogger that likes to believe that people really like reliving my day in words on my blog, and let's face it, you know you sometimes like to do that, but i won't do that shit, because i'm hella old and grown now, and got a belly to prove it. i will however, try to relive some revelations that occurred to me while i was down there, and for the sake of the point i was making in this paragraph, i'll do that shit in chronological order.

1. there's no frickin point in getting a california burrito.. just order either a regular burrito, or the carne asada fries.. don't be trying to satisfy both urges with one stone.. that shit is dry and flavorless, adalberto, whoever the hell you are, take that shit off your menu..

2. i fuckin hate padres fans (except you, nicky ;) ) , especially the white ones that have the fuckin nerve to hold up asterisk signs.. umm excuse me??.. was it not the late ken caminiti that started all this shit??.. we shoulda came down there with a ken caminiti jersey with a fuckin asterisk where the number shoulda been, you white shit prolly racist fairweather murrdddthafurrkers... and don't come to me with that barry went 0-for-3 bull-ish.. which opposing player has the most fuckin homeruns against the padres??.. you basically built your outfield to protect against barry bonds.. and one last thing, don't be yelling out of your car sayin "giants suck" to me when your with your mom and you guys end up stopping right next to us.. good thing my wit wasn't as sharp as it could be.. i woulda blasted your 12-year-old wanna be a super sweet 16 ass if i was a little madder..

3. i had a dream that i was on the field when barry bonds hit 756. that was kinna funny.

4. next time we get to stay at a house. i'mma gonna cook better and we're gonna save all our money to go out and eat somewhere really nice once. we just gotta prepare better.

5. my kuya ronald has never been really that close with the rest of the cousins, he's really old like 30 something, and he was never really around when we all started growing up together. that being said, we got to watch on his tv, which is a satellite dvr, and it's pretty funny that he records all of the shows that all the other cousins watch, and not just prime time shows, but like man vs. wild, and ace of cakes.

6. always try and remind people of their cameras.

7. seaworld is not really that happening. it's cool though. at least they had some good food.

i'll post the funny pictures when they get emailed to me.

away from heeeeeeere

"call me dumbo again, i dare ya!"

i think this is funny: notice how the words "install" and "instill" are just one letter a part. and that's prolly no coincidence because they mean close to the same thing. but at the same time, that letter makes all the difference. i mean, in your everyday vernacular, try replacing the words with each other and see how funny you sound. like when talking about your son, as a father, it'd be funny if you said "i try to install a sense of pride in my sonny-boy".. or as a computer technician, your geeky friends would laugh if you said, "yea i just finished instilling the hard drive on that computer".. oh geez, my life is funny...

that all being said, i can't wait to get away from here.. i really wished all of my cousins would go on this road trip together.. we're totally gonna try and make an eliminate us sign to get on tv.. sooooo if you're watching tv on friday at around 7pm turn to fsn bay area (channel 40 for me) and watch the giants/padres game.. you just might see somebody you recognize.. (unless you don't know me, in which case, i don't really know why you're reading this, you frickin fbi agent shit you)

i used to mash the gas, now control set on cruise

i think song lyrics make the best blog titles. i can confidently say that more than half of my blog titles are taken directly or at least heavily inspired by music.

right now i've been on a pretty heavy r&b ladies tip. i've been playin angie stone, amel larrieux. amy winehouse, and goapele pretty consistently, which leads to the reason why my title is what it is.

however, i am trying to change my driving style to become a more laid-back driver. that however, risks the chance of looking like a weak driver, and people might be lead to believe that that makes you a weak person. this however, can be countered, with (say it with me now) perfect parallel parking.. That's right, if i can perfect parallel parking, that'll make me a stronger looking person. cuz first people will be like "mayn, this fool is weak, he drives hella slow!!".. but when i break out my perfect parallel parking skillz, they'll be like "whoa, that was sick, such a strong person is he".. my logic is flawless!!..


here's a throwback, to the old apartment, and handmade shirts. look how messy that shit is in the background.

hella busy

dayum.. my boss just gave me hella work to do..

maybe it's cuz last week he was on vacation, so i took the liberty of coming to work late and leaving work hella early.. and sometimes i even slept at my desk..

anyways.. job list posting #2

Jobs for joshuam (note * denotes a recharge)

Index Pri Need by Job
----- --- ------- ----------------
1 1 Locate source hose end replacement. [7/19/2007]
2 2 Replace ballast in R2 light fixture. [7/19/2007]
3 3 De-algae ln2 vessels. [7/19/2007]
4 4 Locate source for garden hose sprayer. [7/19/2007]
5 5 Locate source liquid algae remover for ln2 vessels. [7/19/2007]
6 6 Update the voice mail call-by-name system. [6/26/2007]
7 7 Make Microlab property signs and install. [6/26/2007]
8 8 Write Hoffer Model# /tech info into online manual. [6/21/2007]
9 9 Check silver and orange dewars 2wice weekly. [6/21/2007]
10 10 Safety inspect and update ln2 fill station. [7/6/2007]
11 11 increase line diameter to dcl cascade, 409cory. [7/6/2007]
12 12 Store light bulbs in equip. cab. [7/19/2007]
>>> Press RETURN to continue...

and i'm hella sore.. why do the basketball nets have to be so far away from each other in a full court game..

all dressed in white

i loooove weddings. they are, by far, my favorite type of family get together, even if it isn't my own family. there's just too much to be happy about at a wedding.

first of all, everyone that comes to a wedding is dressed up, and i'm a believer that parties are funner when you have to get dressed up to go to it. because if you're wearing your sunday's best, you're less likely to get so drunk that you spill that red wine on your sunday's best. and let's face it, nobody likes it when anybody gets that drunk. and getting dressed up means that guys and girls spend time to look better for each other.

second, the food is already ready for you to eat it at a wedding. no need to have to ask people to bring their dishes, and no need to go and buy extra china to accommodate everybody. throwing some rib get-togethers in my day, i know how stressful thinking about food can be. also, that shit is served to you, and usually with reasonable portions. and who can forget the free wine? if you're tight on your alcohol budget at the bar, just refill that wine glass once or twice or eight times, and say ADIOS MUTHAFUKKA.
(second, part two, AN OPEN BAR, which your high end wedding receptions will feature, is a wedding's best friend. my dad took advantage of an open bar at my cousin's wedding and had 3 or 4 long islands, and he ordered me a couple too. at a regular bar, that shit is like 50-60 bucks plus tip, but my dad prolly paid 10 dollars in tips for that, which is a savings of like 86%)

third, you don't have to worry about driving home, just stay at the hotel. if you're smashed full of alcohol, or even if you're just tired from that money dance, you can always rent a room, of if you're frugal, have the groom's parents pay for it. in any case, you can get as drunk as you want (of course not so drunk that you get that red red wine on anything) and not have to worry about being repsonsible for anything afterwards, at least until you have to check out. something i learned this past weekend, is that if the bar isn't open, or free, then you can use your hotel room as your party headquarters, cuz remember, ice is free in hotels and a hotel bathtub is just like a cooler, so all you gotta do is provide the software (costco anyone?)

lastly, everybody is happy, or should be happy, at weddings. it's not just the young people or the old people that are having fun on the dance floor. weddings are fun for everyone.

i had more to say. but i forgot, and i'm at work..
i have to go run the eyewash and shower sinks in the lab now.. to check that they're working..

get married people!!

means the inability to read

i have to quote that dood from illiteracy for his "fuck you" piece... pretty funny.

fuck lunchables.
cuz all the other kids had them but me, and they wouldn't share.

fuck justin timberlake, robin thicke, joss stone, and amy winehouse,
for doing black music,
better than black people,
right now.

fuck the hennessey corporation
for doing that marvin gaye commercial.
i love hennessey


haha.. i don't remember any more.. but piece for some reason made me wanna start writing again..
maybe i'll make a fuck you piece too.

hot is why this i am

these are the coolest pictures on facebook featuring me.. with appropriate comments..

I'm so hot i don't even have a real tassel, i have a ray of light as my tassel..


the yearbook photographer thinks i'm hot tood&b's don't got nothing on me.. suckas. this is what you call value arcade playing.

our default color is gold, bitches.

homemade shirt, homemade photography skillz... via iciwici

arrrrrrrrrr... and it wasn't even a pirate party..

jumping pictures look better when we do them..

beauty and the beast ballroom with the photogenius, herselfwaffle irons are hot too.

changing your tire on the bridge is illegal.. that's hot.

there's a lot of shit on my work desk right now

to my left there's a temperature recorder, an airflow measuring device, i think it's called a velometer, a flow totalizing thingy, called a BATCHtrol, some signs for me to spraypaint, and a electric pencil sharpener.. behind my desk is 10 or more feet of teflon tubing, which i am told probably costs about $500.. and to my right is my computer case, and my report.. inside the drawers of my desk are miscellaneous parts to miscellaneous machines, and these parts probably total in value to at least $1000.. i could so make money of it, if i only knew people that would be these random ass things..

on my job list:
Jobs for joshuam (note * denotes a recharge)

Index Pri Need by Job
----- --- ------- ----------------
1 1 Clean awn breezeway. [6/26/2007]
2 2 Call Hoffer Controls and have ??s answered. [6/18/2007]
3 3 Update the voice mail call-by-name system. [6/26/2007]
4 4 Change lamps above lam4, lam5 in tylanschase. [6/27/2007]
5 5 Make Microlab property signs and install. [6/26/2007]
6 6 Write Hoffer Model# /tech info into online manual. [6/21/2007]
>>> Press RETURN to continue...

not so cool.. but whatever, i'm hella bored..

i'm addicted to my google reader.. i think because it does such a good job helping me pass the time at my desk.. but if you have any good blogs that you read, send them to me!... i go through that shit like water..

i'm trying to become a morning person.. this shit is hard.. i wanna wake up eventually at like 6 every day, but right now.. we're shooting for 8.. long way to go.. but at least i'm trying.. that way, when i get an actual job.. i'm like, "man this shit is cake!"

ebyam i duolhs etirw ni edoc

alas, but gnitirw ni edoc would be of no use to me, because it feels like my heart needs to be heard by my friends and random people and not be heard by my friends and random people at the same time.. and so gnitirw ni edoc would prolly make sense to nobody..

i think i'm in a funk.. actually, i know i'm in a funk.. i could also say, i know why the caged bird sings.. but i don't fancy myself any kind of bird.. especially a caged bird.. singing for me is kinna like when you're not really listening to somebody asking you a question like "how have you been?" and you're like "yea... you're right" looking hella moded and stuff, except for me, i'm singing cuz i don't wanna listen to shit around me but at least i'm singing so we all know that i'm not even paying any attention to you.


but then again, this blog shouldn't be so much about me.. i should be dropping feverz about what's going on in the world..

sf giants: what happened to you guys?.. not so much fun to watch anymore. i hope your age kicks in in the latter half of the baseball season when things start to really matter.. (not that the giants are young or anything, the giants currently have the second oldest roster in the bigs in the last 50 years) meaning, i hope your veterans are just saving their juice for the final stretch..

speaking of baseball, mike tells me that em tells him that i need to be an oakland a's fan, because i'm more of an a's fan than a snooty giants fan.. i agree with part of this.. some of the giants faithful are just rich up their ass.. like board of directors-old-rich-white people with their fancy ass jewelry on at PacBell... actually, i remember i was sitting in the bleachers one game when i see these two middle aged white ladies walk across my row and are saying something to the effect of "i don't wanna sit here with these poor dirty minorities".. actually, they prolly said it more politically correctly... but i was like "bitch please, i paid fuckin 19 dollars for this spot on the bleachers.."

now that i think of it.. that was back in my less informed youth days.. when i didn't know much about social structure or anything about race politics..

paris hilton: i wonder if the sheriff, i think his name was baca, got anything by letting paris hilton free for a day.. like i wonder if he got a "THAT'S HOT" shirt or maybe something dirtier from paris, like a smell of her hair.. but anyways.. i wish she would've gotten off without spending her full sentence in jail.. not that i'm a supporter of hers or anything.. but if she did manage to escape all that jail time it would have been such a great example of everything wrong with the system.. or maybe systems.. like the mass media, the judicial system, the COPS, and all of fuckin white LA, or SOCAL as people like in college call it.. i wish she would've gotten off, because then when people come up to me and are all like "why isn't the carpool lane in effect all the time, like it is in LA?".. i'll just be like "you know what??. you fuckin released paris hilton from jail, so stop complaining, the bay rules!"

i wanna write about gov. schwarzenegger talking about how spanish people need to stop watching spanish people television, when homeboy still is holding on to his austrian accent for authencity's sake, like yan can cook.. but that can wait..