random acts of blog
"The Things We Think, But Do Not Say"
Wednesday, July 31, 2002 ::: WOO HOO!!
I finally solved my comment script issues. Looking forward to hearing from you!
(Although I'm still confused as to why every single comment log shows the same four comments. And wait a sec, wft? Now I'm getting Java errors while I'm trying to read my comments??? Awaiting technical support!!)
NEWS FLASH! Intelligent life has been (re)discovered on Mars
Venutian almost dies of shock this week when she is bombarded with signs of intelligence on Mars. She had been researching the Red Planet for quite some time and was continually thwarted in her interactions with the natives. However the last few days have shown many signs of progress.
"It gives hope to Venutians everywhere!" she exclaims.
She found one in the desert one evening, wandering the valley with his mate. Although most Venutians would have stayed away so as not to provoke the mate, it was a friendly environment and she decided to interact with the Martian.
The Martian showed an amazing level of intelligence, undoubtedly obtained by self-examination, observation and education. Self-assured but not arrogant. Well groomed as well, which was a bonus. He was very receptive to interaction despite his mate, and despite the fact that most Martians respond best to visual stimulation. (This Venutian was in the more average category.) His command of the 5 senses was more acute than most Martians...generally having bad hearing, non-discriminatory taste buds (they'll eat just about anything), and selective vision that primarily focuses on T&A.
Communication skills were also much higher than typically documented research shows for the species.
Although this incident is a fluke in the eyes of most research...the Venutian was encouraged by the encounter to continue the search for other Martians like this one. And unlike most meetings of this sort, there was no altercation between the two Venutians. In fact, they agreed to maintain friendly contact in the future.
a random kiss is like finding a $100 bill on the ground. you really weren't expecting it to be there for you to pick up...but damn you pick that sh*t up and SPEND IT!
yet I feel kinda guilty knowing that the money was prolly someone else's. all i can admit is that i wasn't looking for it.
"whaaaaaaaaaaaaat...": picked this one up during my days at CSM, aka the College of Simple Minds, aka Harvard on the Hill. no one says it better than my girl Alexis, she's even got the sideways glance to match. it's an evolution of the tried and true "what?"...with a little more flava.
"Oi with the poodles already!": I'm borrowing this one from a Gilmore Girls episode. The Season Finale where Suki gets married, Lorelai hooks up with Chris and Rory kisses Jess. But there's a great scene in the beginning (when Rory and Lorelai are at Sunday dinner) where Lorelai talks about creating a new phrase to express emotion. So anyway there you have it. I'll try to include a transcript in a future blog...(haha, we'll see.)
"oh my!": a substitute for a similar phrase which includes a reference to the divine.
[pause for station identification...let's identify Dave Letterman for a while...]
"ooh, you did it to me 1nce again my friend,
i swear you do it to me every time
cuz you stay crazy on my mind
boy you got it goin on
on and on and on
on and on and on
yeah...yeah yeah"
another shameless plug from the wide world of blog
go show some love to my boy Sung on the east side..."new york sh*tty" as he likes to call it...
DJ extrodinaire and purveyor of hilarious/random/thoughtful insight. An Asian Ave. transplant, he's currently trying to convert me to the Xanga side. So if you can't find me on B-spot anymore, go blame him! (hee2)
...songs in the key of life... the first chapter in a never-ending saga
"time of your life" by green day and "forever young" by rod stewart always play on the last day of my Daly City visits.
"southern hospitality" by ludacris and "big poppa" by notorious b.i.g. set off any good hip hop party...
...but if a DJ manages throw in a groove from RBL posse...awhhhh shiiiiiieeeet.
"touch me, tease me" by case and foxy brown will always make me feel 18...nuff said.
paul oakenfold live...[pause for eargasm]...is an experience that is almost unmatched. runners-up include dj tiesto, dj dan, system f, john digweed (i know i'm forgetting some other notables. i'll save them for another day.)
"the block party" by lisa "left eye" lopes...sweaty afternoons at Dance Mission. shake yo azz! watch yourself!
"heaven" - the house remix by DJ Sammy and some singing chica...Club Splash in Salt Lake City. Mad love to Michelle G. and Mia Y.!
(ok, please bear with me, I can't seem to decide to use all lower-case vs typing the right way.)
"Just Like A Pill" by Pink...the official road trip song for the LV trip 2 weeks ago!
this b-spot is the domain of a longtime friend (10 years this fall!), who was actually the driving force behind my move to San Diego. she was also my first roommate. through good times and bad, turbulance and distance, she will always be one of the most important people in my life. her writing will blow your mind and make you laugh all in one sitting. check it out and enjoy!
foodie (FOO-dee) n. 1. a person who is obsessed with the preparation, presentation and consumption of great food and drinks. 2. me!
i've heard and used this term before, but i didn't realize how obscure it was until i said it to a friend today and he said "huh?"
i think there's a fine line between a foodie and a food snob. a foodie loves the way that the right beer makes fried chicken kick azz. a food snob would never be caught eating KFC, Popeye's or Church's. a foodie can appreciate the way fresh sashimi melts in your mouth. a food snob would prolly be too busy comparing it to another experience to appreciate it. you get the picture. both have a passion and love for all things food/drink related.
if a foodie was someone that was in love for the first time, i'd call a food snob someone who's entering their 3rd marriage. still has faith in the institution but has become very particular about their needs and has gained a fair sense of cynnicism.
i'm not sure why i'm not passed out sleeping at this moment. since wednesday i managed to sleep a whopping 20 hours.
i feel guilty for dozing off during blockbuster night earlier *sowee luke & phim*...and here i am blogging as I search for the right comment script. then again i could wait for YACCS to restart...
who woulda thunk it...i'm actually looking for a way for ppl to criticize me.
Monday, July 29, 2002 ::: can you see me now? good!
trivial fact #2: before the olympics, the city of SLC placed orange flags at either end of key intersections to carry while you're crossing the street. they're meant to "increase visibility." i haven't been to Berkeley in ages, but i hear that they've got em too.
Here's some trivia: the sale of alcohol in Utah is controlled by the state government. It has the lowest consumption rate per capita of any other state in the Union. After reading an article on the MSNBC website earlier today, I just realized that I broke the rules by bringing a bottle of wine in my luggage. (Which ironically I didn't open and left with friends there.) Turns out that visitors are not allowed to bring in alcohol from out of state, it must be purchased in state. But many locals break this rule, bypassing the 100% markup on alcohol by driving to Nevada and purchasing it there. So the state picks up a 100% profit AND collects the 6.75% sales tax to boot! Good gracious!
Anyways, I thought this part of the article, written prior to the Olympics, was pretty interesting:
Since 90 percent of the state’s office holders are Mormon — including the governor and the entire congressional delegation — it’s not surprising that the state’s drinking laws are unusually strict.
Bars, for example, can only serve watered-down 3.2-percent alcohol beer (most American beers have at least 4 percent alcohol). No liquor, wine or “heavy” beer. To get that, you need to join one of the state’s 302 “private clubs” — which are basically full-service bars, except you need to buy a membership or a two-week temporary visitor card for $5. You can also visit one of the 489 restaurants in the state with liquor licenses, but you must order food to get a drink.
Up until August, restaurants weren’t even permitted to advertise wine and cocktails on menus, nor were servers permitted to ask customers if they wanted a drink with their meals. That changed after a federal court ruled the laws violated First Amendment freedom of speech rights.
CAN YOU BELIEVE THAT?! Whew.
In spite of this, the two places I visited in downtown SLC were pretty nice. Both Port O' Call and Splash were multi-level bars/clubs/game rooms that were "Member Clubs". POC had a live band and a DJ, Splash had a DJ that actually knew what good house and trance was. POC had great prices at the bar (a Raging Bull w/Peach Schnapps for $4?!?!), Splash had this glass room on the second floor doubled as a shower room for an hour. POC was more casual and laid back, Splash had a fountain and pool out back and was more shi shi. I heard that there were other nice places we could have seen, but it didn't matter to me since I loved the people I was with.
Yes indeed, they do exist in SLC. Not just the ones that flew in from all over the country...there were already some there waiting for us! How cool is that.
Gotta admit there were some awkward moments while out in public. We'd be walking downtown at night in groups, and I'd hear remarks like "Damn, it's Little Tokyo out tonight." Or those "smiles", the kind that you get when people think you're "foreign" and they talk to you like English is your second language. And in some ways, I guess that last one is endearing. But the assumption made is slightly offensive. Oh well it could be worse.
Is this the way that tourists from Japan and other countries feel when they're around locals in cities that we live in?
My last day there, I asked the person who was driving us around about her perspective on living there. Originally from Seattle, she moved to SLC 9 years ago (and is ready to move back). It's a place where there's always something to do outdoors depending on the season - hiking, biking, rock climbing, river rafting, skiing, boarding, etc. SLC and Park City nearby have the nightlife cornered, since there isn't much. Certain coffee shops that are open til 4am and taking chill trips to observation points in the mountains are alternatives to movies and friends houses when clubbing gets tired. "It's the place to be if you're outdoorsy." It's diverse enough to have decent dim sum and a Lollicup franchise.
But I have the feeling that, aside from the Olympics, SLC hadn't seen such a large group of Asians (primarily Chinese) assembled. Representing OCA chapters from all over the country, members and their families and friends met to share ideas about the state of Asian America, to honor accomplishments, and of course to mingle and make friends. Although the convention happens once a year, I get to meet the executive members of the organization every quarter. So it's always like a family reunion. And the best part is that many of them do treat me like family, even though I'm not Chinese.
Meeting people from Utah, New York, Nevada, Georgia, Virginia, Texas, Florida, and other parts of California puts things in an interesting perspective. I think you get so caught up in life where you live that you can lay victim to the assumption that everyone is like you. For me, it's priceless to hear my good friend and mentor - an amazing Chinese American woman - speak to me in her native New York accent. Or to get mah jong tips from a dear friend from Houston, whose booming voice and southern drawl always make me laugh. And to commisserate on the best hangouts in the Bay Area with my friends from the Northern California chapters. It's wonderful when people approach me and ask in awe about my life in California. Or when I'm asked by parents who are East Coast based about my opinion of California colleges. I could go on and on. But I'll end this thought with a romantic note - it helps me put an image to the idea of a place called "Asian America".
I have to admit, I was really blahzay about SLC at first. I knew it only as most people know Utah...for it's snow and Mormon community. No drinking, polygamy, a church that automatically takes a portion of your income. A really great choir, and those famous missionaries. When the Olympics were there recently, I didn't really pay attention to those little featurettes about the locale. Actually, I hardly watched the Olympics anyway.
As a person of faith, I do not view LDS as something that's beneath me or wrong. My POV, based on those I know who are LDS, is that they very peaceful, caring and God-fearing people who just have a few habits and beliefs different from mine. Aside from people who prefer to believe in someone "downstairs" as opposed to "upstairs", I think that everyone else is believes essentially the same thing - that leading a decent life and having faith in divinity and miracles will make things pretty groovy for yourself. We're all trying to reach the same destination, just taking different roads. I guess that's the most PC way I can put it.
So anyways, I got on the plane with few expectations. Our early early early morning departure had me knocked out for most of the flight. But when I woke up, I looked out the window and saw a breathtaking view of The Great Salt Lake. That mug is HUGE. I have a vague memory of the Great Lakes when I traveled back east, but having the Pacific Ocean at my disposal had me somewhat spoiled. Salt Lake City (SLC) is on the southeast shore of the lake, and sits in a vast valley surrounded by mountains. Never been to Aspen or Denver before, but WOW. This is gonna come out sounding naive, but those were some mountains! I think what I fet was something like what happens when ppl go to a big city for the first time and stand in front of a hi-rise building.
"Maybe," I wondered, "this is gonna be a lot better than I thought."
Recovering from a weekend in Salt Lake City, Utah. Yes, you heard that right. Yet you're wondering what on earth a Pinay would be doing there. "Is she Mormon?" (or LDS/Latter-Day Saints, as is the more common reference) No, I'm not. Snow season is too far away so that leaves...The OCA National Convention.
Which leads to the next obvious question...what motivates a Pinay to attend a convention for "Chinese Americans" in Salt Lake City? Well, without getting too far into it, the OCA has always supported equal opportunities and advancement for the entire Asian Pacific Islander community. Gotta love that. So I trade in a few hours sleep a week to help educate and empower people on the struggles and triumphs we face, among other things. People ask me if OCA will ever change its name, and God only knows.
Either way, I love (almost) everyone I work with locally and nationwide, and I'm proud of the work that we do. From scholarships to citizenship, we're just trying to ensure that whole "life, liberty and pursuit of happiness" thing those white guys had in mind back in 1776.
The travel perks rock pretty hard too. Miami in October, Washington D.C. in January and HAWAII a year from now. WOO HOO! And I get to meet wonderful people from different cities and states, who aren't that much different from little me in California.
There's a lot to say about the past few days...but I'll try to blog it out in pieces rather than one big BLOOOOOOOG. hehe...
Tuesday, July 23, 2002 ::: "This is your brain..."
Why did my old friend in Michigan send me an IM just to tell me that he visited CA recently and had a great time? To affirm my decision to keep living here?
me: "Dood, who did you forget to call?"
dork-buddy: "Oh man, Metropolis was hella tight! The bombdiggy."
"This is drugs."
me: "Why didn't you tell me you were coming out west? Was it for family or...?"
dork-buddy: "Nah, just for fun."
"This is your brain on drugs."
Let's face it - unless you haven't seen the movie Traffic or watched Dateline NBC in the past several years, you already know that an alarming majority of ppl have drugs as part of their past, present, and/or future. Just sucks when you watch your friends come in and out of addiction. They'll go nuts over it, lose a ton of money, maybe even get arrested. Then comes the infamous "I'll never do it again" point, and 6 months later the cycle starts over again. *SIGH*
So if you choose to give in to any addiction, always leave yourself enough room so that you're still in control. Be it cigarettes, alcohol, sex, or more illegal addictions...it's all the same.
jeezus. while i was in vegas (saturday), i got a missed call from a good friend of mine in san diego. so me checking my phone, still relatively smashed, call him back cuz i'm paranoid that something's wrong. turns out he called me by accident.
i barely remember this call. barely. i almost thought he was bs-ing me.
the divine mercy of this situation is that i'm good friends with this person. God only knows what dumbass predicament i coulda landed in had it been someone else... i'm sure that those who know me realize who i'm referring to!
so again, the moral of the story is LOCK THE KEYPAD ON YOUR CEL PHONES. also cuz if your phone is in your pocket or purse and that person picks up...they can heeeaaaaaaar youuuuuuuuu...
...sucks. But it's as inevitable as the fact that "the house always wins".
A weekend in Sin City with 5 girls. And by a twist of fate, we were sometimes joined by 1 (lucky) guy. One person's childhood buddy becomes Designated Driver/Mack Daddy Escort to the crew while visiting his parents nearby. Thanks, Victor!
Friday night: ROAD TRIP! The SoCal girls book it up the 15 (forgot about the 215 shortcut), dodged tailgaters and semi-trucks, and managed to arrive at the house 2 minutes after the Bay Area girls got in from the airport & rental car pickup. Ironically, both groups were exactly 2 hours late!
Friday, midnight: Arrived like theives in the night to our rented house...and it turned out that other (real) theives had come in a few days before us! The place had been cleaned up by the owners prior our arrival, thank goodness, and still managed to look like an episode of MTV Cribs.
Wasted no time (well, maybe a little) and hit the Strip for some action. Stumbled home and shared a sunrise on the way.
>>>Ladies, mental note: no matter how great of a body you have, white panties under a black dress with slits will show and look TACKY if you decide to dance like a wannabe stripper.<<<
Saturday: Recharged batteries...started the new day with spam, smoked sausage, eggs, rice, and fruit. No tomato/onion/salt this time *oops*. Then off to the day spa!
Massages rule. But professional massages - the good ones - are worth every single penny. A few hours and several spa treatments later, the sextet returned to the house for showers and naps. (Are we the only ones who notice that after a massage, your voice sounds like you've had a couple hits of...?)
The return to the house part worked out ok. But there was a delay of game due to downpour of vodka, triple sec and lime. Not to mention Bacardi. I would tell you the rest, but I'd have to kill you. *wink*
ON TO OLYMPIC GARDENS! A good lap dance is so hard to find. But when you do...tip well and live it up!
>>>Ladies and gentlmen, another tip: despite your drunk state, try your hardest to prevent the following conversation between yourself and one or more strippers (or people for that matter): "Don't you think I'm cuuuuuuuuuute? Don't you want to come hoooooooome with meeeeeeeeeee?" Note that Miss Thang was NOT a member of our group.<<<
Next on the agenda was a visit to Rain at the Palms...and the long azz line! Moving right along...
...to RUM JUNGLE @ MANDALAY BAY. By this time it's 2:30, an hour and a half before shutdown. Only in Vegas is that not a big deal. The place was still rockin and on top of everything else, there was no line!
I remember dancing, dancing, dancing, talking, dancing, resting. Talking, talking, VIP access and tour "behind the curtain." Wait back the train?! Yeah that did happen. I make it a point not to believe everything I hear at a club, especially a Vegas club. But when the guys I was talking to told me they were working professionals from NYC who sidelined as a group of dj's, recently hired for an upcoming set of dates at Rum Jungle next month, I was like "Sure, buddy, and I invented Post-it notes." I realized that after some discussion about music...business...and the whole VIP access thing...it coulda been true. Who knows, who cares? Cosmopolitans in chilled carafes, champagne, appetizers and good ol' fashioned fun. I couldn't understand why my friends didn't want to come over, no matter how I signaled them they were happy on the dance floor. Turns out that although I could see them and they were looking towards me...that's not the same as at me.
During the "let's go" conversation, our wires got crossed and two very important details were missed: that on my side of the ropes there was free food and booze, and on their side of the ropes there were 3 out of 5 hungry girls. Go figure. The VIPs wouldn't take no for an answer, but had to anyway. We went our separate ways, and somehow made it home to pass out.
"Sunday, bloody Sunday": The Carnival World Buffet. Maybe it's cuz I'm getting older, maybe it's cuz I'm a better cook. But it wasn't as impressive as it used to be. Just big. Although the laughs at the table were as endless as the supply of food!!
A few rolls of the dice, a few hands of pai gow and blackjack, and it was time to go our separate ways. But the SoCal girls managed to catch a Bellagio fountain show and a little shopping before hitting the road back to reality.
And now, as I sit here in front of my computer, with half of my voice lost and many good memories gained...I gather up the motivation to click my heels together, wake up in Kansas and get on with the rest of my day. *sigh*.
Much love and respect to my travel buddies. I think we made history! 6 girls and no major drama. Hugs and kisses! Next stop, HAWAII...
little people:
my -ism for children. quite logically, because they look just like you and i...only smaller.
rugrats:
my cousin's three children. my pride and joy. the eldest girl is 16, then her 13 year-old brother, and their 9 year-old sister. was there for all three births, changed their diapers, went to ballet recitals and basketball games...now i answer questions about drugs and sex and how it feels when your older siblings bring you down. *sigh*
ESPN:
besides the sports channel. this is my kicked-up version of ESP. it refers to my tendency to have correct first impressions, think of someone right before they're going to call me, to turn on a tv on an early tuesday morning right before two buildings walking distance from my sister go up in flames...heebie jeebie stuff like that. or just simple stuff like knowing what drink to order your friend while they're in the bathroom, and when they need a hug. :-)
hella:
yes, it's a bay area thing. and i'll never lose it no matter where i am. for those who don't know, it's the ultimate modifier. unless of course i'm talking to my parents.
yay:
this is the way i spell it, and often i find excuses to say it. truly one of the coolest words ever to express joy.
woo-hoo!:
homer simpson, poet laureate.
pajamas:
this isn't an -ism. although i do love wearing them. i just wanted to include it so that you could say it hear how groovy it sounds. but when little people say it it's much cooler.
crackhead:
aside from the obvious, this one has multiple uses. someone that's addicted to something, anything. someone that makes stupid decisions (as though they actually were hitting the pipe). or someone that i care about that's being a dork. i've been all three of these, minus the actual crack smoking.
*bleh*:
general disgust, annoyance or gross-out. i think it looks much better in a blog than :-P, don't you?
if you live anywhere near Millbrae, CA, go visit the Mr. Pickle's Sandwich Shop on Broadway. stop going to the other ones. you want the one that's right down the street from Jamba Juice and right next door to the Japanese restaurant. order a L'Michelle (grilled chicken, melted swiss, bacon, avocado, veggies) and fohhgeddabout it!
don't you ever feel like you're Keanu Reeve's character in The Matrix, and you want to strangle Morpheous for letting you take the red pill? it's all about blue anyways! and it was a capsule!! hee hee... but seriously, i have so many moments where i am automatically able to undress a lie to leave the naked truth...too many. and unlike undressing a guy, staring at the naked truth doesn't turn me on.
then again, they say truth is sexy, which is true in some ways. someone that has the courage, the cojones, to be honest about himself and the world he lives in is pretty hot. it implies a sense of self-confidence and power. but when someone lies to you about something and you catch them...and even after you've caught them they simply don't respond or change the subject...even though they know that you're on to them...and they keep building on the same old lie as though you'll believe them...amazing.
so next time, take the blue pill.
then again, i remember a time when a certain person took the blue pill. (and another time he took the green one...etc.) and the truth actually came out. words that haunt me to this day. a surprising glimpse into a carefully guarded soul, with all the locked doors busted wide open. the turtle shell cracked and exposed a soft underbelly. observations usually reserved for the final scene of a romantic comedy.
go figure. this is only one piece of a puzzle that will be revisited many times on this journey.
Thursday, July 18, 2002 ::: ...a pebble in the pond...
Many thanks to my dear, xxcentrik, james for the inspiration to FINALLY get myself bloggin.
Who, you may ask, is speaking? Let me try-to-begin-to explain:
Preparing to begin my 2nd century of living.
Born on an island but spent most of my life on a continent across the ocean.
Raised in a Filipino household with an American address...and lived to tell! The saga continues...
Learning to believe that it's better to have loved and lost than to....yeah you know the rest.
Decided a few years ago that having a 619 phone number would be better than 650 for a while.
Attempting to learn something...and ended up with more than I bargained for.
[Why didn't anyone tell me that the whole "loved and lost" thing can happen more than once in a lifetime?!]
Writer of recipes and collector of memories.
Owner of an overactive mind, a loving heart, and friends and family that I don't always deserve.
Beliefs include God, love, people's tendency to speed up after you decide to pass them on the road, that my mom is the most beautiful woman in the world, and many more that will fill this blogspot over time.
Sometimes misunderstood, but always sincere.
Under construction.
So I've dropped my pebble into the pond...and this is the first of many ripples.
