Month: January 2011

  • You Can End Your Long-Winded Story Now

    Have you ever been on a the receiving end of a story somebody is telling that takes way too long to finish?  I definitely have!  RaquelHiggins005 is going to help me explain what I mean in this short video:

    So, how do you deal with people that are guilty of doing this?  Let me know!

    ***************************************************************************

    On a separate note, I wanted to update you all about what I’m going to be doing in these upcoming months.  First, let me talk about work.  I’ve been technically working and getting paid as if I was part time for the past 6 months since I was hired before they had budgeted money for an additional staff person.  Well, not anymore!  Starting this month, I’m officially a full time employee.  Besides getting a very generous pay raise, I will also be handling a lot more responsibilities at my job.  I’ll be on a three months probation period as well, so I need to really impress my boss by going above and beyond what’s expected of me.

    School wise, this will be my final semester as a graduate student.  I’m only taking one in-person class, but I will also be doing my capstone project (basically an internship) that will allow me to earn my masters.  I’m doing it with my current organization and my project will be creating strategic plans for each one of our committees.  There are many committees, so I will have my hands full.

    What I’m trying to say is I’m going to be very busy these next few months!  I think I will be able to to keep up with everything here, but if you suddenly find me MIA for a few days you’ll probably know why that’s the case.  I just wanted to give you all the heads up!

  • Tis Hard to Leave San Francisco

    After two major back-to-back trips these past couple of weeks, my vacation days are sadly over.  It has been a crazy and tiring time jetsetting around the country, but the memories and friends more than make up for it.  I am very fortunate my work and school schedule allows me to have time to go on these trips now since I know I probably won’t have this luxury and freedom in the near future.  I am also very fortunate I have the funds to pay for this expensive hobby (being a good money saver and being single really helps out a lot!).

    This recent trip of mine was to good old San Francisco.  I flew there with Bengozen last Thursday and came back on Monday evening (going from 60 degree weather to below freezing was so jarring!).  With Sonychak as our chauffeur/host, we met up with other Xangans as we explored the many sides SF as well as San Jose and Berkeley.

    Blah blah blah, enough of my talking.  On to the pictures!


    Sonychak getting back at me for what we did with his picture in Houston.  That quote is totally taken out of context!  He was putting this on his car’s window everytime we parked somewhere.  I wonder how many people saw that?


    Ruh roh!


    Bengozen took WAY more pictures than me (about 800+ shots).  He graciously gave me a few shots to use for this post.  Stay tuned for the rest of his pictures coming soon on his blog!  He certainly made great use of his new camera.


    Us in the middle of the Golden Gate Bridge.  Hmm, is there something strange going on in the background?  Let’s take a closer look…




    AH HA!  It’s a freakin’ troll!


    Who’s who?


    The water tasted exquisite at the Exploratorium!  There’s a hint of flavor in it, but I can’t quite place what it is.


    They obviously got some good blowing experience.


    Weh!!


    Awwwww, already holding hands.  I suppose they were doing so to play the musical bench, but I’ll let you guys believe whatever you wish!


     Sumoneoverthere and Bengozen practicing their levitation abilities.




    A very small sample of the yummy food we ate from all over town.



    We had to wait 2 hours for our meal at The Boiling Crab in San Jose, but it was worth it!  We managed to meet up with Manbeast and his gf too.  I suppose they were worth it too =)

    Activating more group shots…NOW!

    Eating at Sophie’s Crepes with Jess and Cognney makes me merry!


    We apparently make the room glow yellow over at 100% Sweet Cafe


    Picture with xkrazymonsterx before he had to leave us.


    Looking sleazy over at Coit Tower



    Over at Berkeley!  Thanks for the tour AJollyDork!


    In-N-Out: A good meal to end a trip in CA.


    Sonychak letting it all out, specifically for you Cakalusa!

    I didn’t take any videos on this trip, so you should go visit Sonychak’s blog for all the footage.  Come see us in all our silly, funny, sarcastic moments!  For your convenience, I’ll link his posts (and upcoming posts) below:

    Day 1:  Bridges Are Amazing!
    Day 2:  We Love Nerdy Museums
    Day 3:  Big Bell Size = RoadLessTaken’s Head Size
    Day 4:  Boiling Crab Slurpers

    Sigh, I have to say bye for now to my travels and my long distance friends.  It might be a while before I can fine myself traveling this far and often again.  As much as I really don’t want to, I must re-enter reality.  Hey, at least I have more time for you all here!  I have a lot of catching up to do.

  • Houston, We Did Not Have a Problem!

    Over the holiday weekend, I was fortunate enough to meet up with some long distance friends in Houston, Texas.  FlipGuy31O, Cakalusa, and I picked Houston to meet up this time around because it was cheap, it was the central point for everyone, and so we could visit friends from there that we’ve been meaning to see.  The trip was very low key but constantly entertaining and fun.  I really just wanted to hang out, talk and laugh with old and new friends, and I sure did all that!

    In case you were wondering, pretty much everybody I hung out with in Houston were people I’ve met online.  I normally don’t feel the need to say that, but I still hear from some people who have issues with that fact for whatever old fashion beliefs they have on “weird internet people”.  They seem to think the right type of friends are the kind you meet “in real life”.  While I do have plenty of “real life” friends that are great, my “fake” (as I like to joke around saying) friends are usually as great if not even better in some ways.

    Take FlipGuy31O for instance.  He’s a guy that I’ve initially met through Xanga back in February 2009 through a contest I was hosting.  Since then, we have corresponded many times online and have done a lot of group video chats as a way to keep in touch.  In the past 2 years, we have met up in person at 5 different locations (San Diego, San Francisco, New York City, Los Angeles, and now Houston).  In other words, we have made time in our busy schedule to pay for and go on trips just to hang out.  Each time, we hung out during the majority of the trip’s duration (usually 3-4 days).  During those trips, we have swapped many stories and secrets and have created many inside jokes.  Many times he has made me laugh so hard that I had to guzzle down water to soothe my throat.  When I was hurt and betrayed by someone one time, he was one of my friends there helping me get through it all at 3:30am.

    Yeah, I really hope you understand now why I consider Flip a true friend, period.  How him and I, as well as how other people and I, have met does not really matter when determining a friendship.  What matters is all that takes place afterward. 

    Okay, I’m off the soapbox haha.  Time for some picture from my trip!

    The obligatory group shots:

    Outside Rudy’s with (from left to right) Cakalusa, hodtos, FlipGuy31O, BranmacFeabhail, Jeannie_dot_com, and SonyChak (I’ll explain this later)


    Can you guess which one is TheTheologiansCafe??  I know I know, it’s like finding Waldo or something, but I’m sure you can find him if you look hard enough.


    Miyako Sushi with Jeannie_dot_com, SonyChak, Cakalusa, BranmacFeabhail, DangDatsTracy, blubunni326, and FlipGuy31O

    Just some random moments from the trip:


    Flying into Houston with Cakalusa.  Somebody PLEASE photoshop this.


    Water Wall.  So hypnotizing.


    It almost looks like we’re a portrait in the museum.



    How we improvised heating up the burrito without a microwave.  Check out FlipGuy31O’s vlog for more of this!


    FLLYYYY LIKE A G6!!!!


    What’s going on here?  See the rest in FlipGuy31O’s vlog.

    So, some of you may be wondering why we were carrying around this ugly and pathetic SonyChak‘s picture around Houston with us:


    In the middle of getting a forehead hickey

    The reason why was because he was suppose to come on the trip with us, but due to lack of funds he was unable to.  FlipGuy31O brought this laminated picture of him on the trip as a joke initially, but we all soon took it almost everywhere we went.  Laminated SonyChak sure was a fun companion!

    Don’t take my word on this.  See for yourselves!  As you can see, he definitely enjoyed the trip…






    ….clearly.  Feel free to use him as a meme y’all!

    Since SonyChak couldn’t make it on this trip, I decided I would go visit him instead.  That’s right, I’m doing one more trip, but this time in San Francisco!  Bengozen and I will be flying in tomorrow, Jan 20th, and will leave on Monday the 24th.  I already talked to most of you Bay Area Xangans, but if I haven’t and you want to meet up let me know.

    I’ll see the rest of you all next week!  I’ll find some way to catch up on everybody’s posts when I’m done vacationing.  Promise!

  • An Unexpected Forehead Hickey

    Well, I certainly did not predict I would be using a title with the words “forehead” and “hickey” next to each other, but that’s pretty much the most accurate way to describe what happened to swtaznxtc90 when she visited me the other day.

    Long story short, she was playing with my little plunger thingy so much that it left a nasty big splotch right in the middle of her forehead.

    Hmm, that didn’t sound right.  Let me clarify.

    I own this little plunger:


    The chapstick is for size comparision (Burt’s Bees is amazing btw)

    It was a gift from my little brother.  It is actually a novelty stand for my iPhone for when I want to watch something without needing to hold it up myself.  This is how it’s suppose to be used:


    Nifty huh?

    And this is how swtaznxtc90 used it:


    Almost looks like an ugly pimple.

    I guess she was trying to be cute or something.  Anyway, she left it on her forehead for about an hour before she finally remembered it was there and took it off.  It was then that I made a gigantic gasp as I saw the consequences of her actions.  This was what I saw:



    All together now.  EWWWW!!!!!

    When we were both done rolling on the floor laughing at what she idiotically did, she suddenly became very anxious.  Apparently, she had to attend a dinner with her mom and friend in about an hour!  How was she going to explain this to them?

    So, I looked up ways to get rid of a forehead hickey (which, funny enough, had a few Google hits) and it gave pretty much the same advice for getting rid of regular hickey.  After all was said and done, the forehead hickey was still there.  She would end up eating dinner with that mark on full display (which she probably deserved).

    Here’s a picture of her using a cold spoon to massage out the mark and a picture of her with the spoon tied down on her head with her scarf:


    Meanwhile, I’m still rolling on the floor laughing

    Just for giggles, here’s a quick video I took of her trying to explain herself (I forgot to hold my iPhone sideways for this, but it still works):

    You might be wondering what became of her forehead hickey and how her mom reacted.  From what I heard the next day, her mom got mad and told her not to leave the house looking like that (good call).  The mark was still there, but now looked more like a baby had kicked her and left a peanut/foot shaped imprint.  She ended up putting a ton of concealer on it, but the shameful mark is still visible.

    I hope everybody will learn from her poor decision.  Do not stick and leave tiny plungers on your forehead!  What do you have to say about all this, David Caruso?

    **********************************************************************

    On a different topic, Cakalusa, FlipGuy31O, and I will be visiting Houston, Texas this weekend from the 14th-17th.  I probably will not be able to blog for at least a week, but I’ll still be pulsing.

    TheTheologiansCafe is setting up a small Xanga meet up at the Dave & Busters in the Mar*E Entertainment Center.  We will be meeting this Saturday, January 15th, at 6pm.  If you happen to be around and want to come by please let him or me know!

  • Thinking of You, Old Friends

    Looking through my past photo albums have reminded me of something; I have, in fact, been a very lucky guy.  I’ve been fortunate to have encountered so many good people that have given me such a positive, hopeful outlook on my life.  I know not everybody has the opportunities to experience all the lasting memories I now have thanks to bonds and friendships I’ve developed over the years.  Reminiscing on those good times really made me smile, so I continued on browsing.

    However, as I continued to look at my pictures a wave of sadness came upon me.  While I saw a lot of my friends that I still talk to and hang out with to this day, I began seeing more and more faces of people I have not talk to or seen in a long time.  With every picture, a memory flashed before my eyes of a time when we were much closer.  Soon, all these memories started blurring together inside my head to the point where I was unable to focus on any one given memory.

     

    It is then that I realized the reason for that sadness was because I felt like I had let certain friends (and myself) down.  These people were once people I could confide in, but now they are maybe strangers at best.  Sure, I understand life can be like that.  Everybody is on different paths now and it’s easy to get caught off guard by how fast time moves.  Before we know what happened, the bonds we once had with one another have all but dissipated.  In hindsight, I really wish I could have prevented that from happening.  I wish I could have realized we had drifted apart before it was too late.

    Being the optimist I am, I like to think that in the near future there will come a time when I can re-activate those bonds I once had with some of my old friends and we can go back to the way we were, good as new.  Sadly, I know in reality this probably will not be the likely scenario.  If that is indeed the case, all I can do now is just cherish the memories and the time we did have together.

    I will remember you all, old friends.  Even though I’m not a part of your life anymore, I hope life is treating you as good as you have treated me in our shared past.  I won’t forget how you have impacted me for the better.

  • I’m Not Famous (At Least Not Yet)

    During my New Year’s Eve party, I invited a friend from graduate school that was unaware I blog.  That is, until a certain girl (THANKS) started talking to him about me and expressed surprise when she discovered he didn’t know about my supposedly “celebrity” status.  A couple other Xangans soon chimed in, confirming what she had said and adding that I was a ladies’ man that can have a pick of whoever I wanted due to my popularity, or something equally ridiculous as that (DOUBLE THANKS).

    Whoa whoa whoa!  Overhyped much?

    I proceeded to deny what they said about me, or at least explained that they were gross exaggerations.  I never saw myself as a celebrity because I truly believe I’m not anywhere close to that status yet.  For example, I don’t get recognized on the streets (although I’ve noticed some suspicious looks…) nor do I have fans scrambling to get my autograph or a piece of my hair.


    See Andre Agassi over there being swarmed?  Now THAT’S a celebrity!  I’m only a lowly scrub.  Weh!!

    Instead I see myself as, at most, a well known blogger on this one particular site.  I didn’t purposefully aim to become one; it just sorta happened.  Once I found out that there was community here I started interacting and commenting around on people’s pages.  Eventually I found myself with a nice network of friends/viewers through those back and forth conversations.  There was definitely no expectations to become famous or whatever.  Honestly, I enjoy interacting with cool people, getting to know them, and creating connections with them and vice versa.  It’s how I try to be in real life too, which explains why during college I had a similar reputation of knowing a lot of people. 

    I have to admit though, the idea of being a celebrity is appealing.  Despite all the downsides that come with it, I think it would be exciting and fun to be recognized by people in that way.  I have often times daydreamed about how it would come about.  Maybe I’ll get discovered online and be like one of those YouTube stars that have millions of fans/subscribers.  Maybe I’ll get my 15 minutes of fame by appearing in a commercial or as a background character in a show/movie.  Maybe people will recognized me if I ever work along side tennis players on the professional circuit.  Being famous isn’t something I’m actively striving for, but it is fun to think about the possibilities.  I’m content if that’s not meant to be, but I would certainly not mind it if it ever becomes a reality.

    So long story short, I want to debunk the idea that I’m any type of celebrity at this moment.  A well known guy?  Sure!  However, that’s about as far as I would go.  In the end, I’m basically just like everyone else on here.

    Uh oh, somebody’s calling for me.  Hold on for a second…

    Sorry, my personal assistant is rushing me out of my mansion.  I forgot I have to fly out to France in my private jet ASAP to attend this awards banquet where they’re giving out complimentary diamonds to all those in attendance, or something like that.  I better hurry over to the limo that’s waiting for me!  Hopefully I can avoid all those screaming fans I see outside my window.  Eh, I’ll just have my bodyguards push me through.*

    *Some details may have been exaggerated.

  • New Year’s Eve House Party = Success!

    My NYE party was the first one I’ve hosted at my new place and I have to say it was as fun and memorable as I hoped it would be!  I would have blogged about this a bit sooner, but I’m just now recovered from it.  To think, this all almost didn’t happen. 

    Originally I was going to party it up in New York with some Xangans, but plans fell through last minute.  I volunteered my place in Virginia as a host site, which unfortunately made a lot of the original guests drop out.  I eventually decided to just go ahead and invite more people to the party besides Xangans. 

    In the end, around 25 people showed up and they were an eclectic group of my friends from Xanga, my childhood, college, graduate school, and my current housemates.  Going in knowing how diverse the group was going to be, I knew the night would turn out to be very interesting!

    The party started around 9pm and didn’t end until 6:30am.  During that time we had music, deejaying, good food, large quantities of drinks, beer pong, poker table, Rock Band, dancing, a talent show, and a lot of mingling.  I did my best to make sure everyone at the party was enjoying themselves.  I probably did too good of a job with this one person, but I’ll save that story for another day!

    Alright, time for me to let the pictures and video do some of the talking:


    I told my housemate to do some light decorations, but he really went above and beyond the call of duty.  It certainly set the tone well for the night though, so good job!


    Hello_Bianca, swtaznxtc90, and me with my trusty vuvuzela.  Yup, Cakalusa isn’t the only Xangan that can have one!  swtaznxtc90 wouldn’t stop touching it the whole night =O

    Bengozen (who’s apparently my twin in many ways) here with his brother and girlfriend.  Just ignore the confetti all over my face.

    Despite how bright the other pictures look, this was actually how dim the lights were during the party.  Those glow sticks came in handy!


    swtaznxtc90 and her friend totally losing in beer pong to my other friends, even though only the guys were drinking (which you can obviously tell).  Ball in groin!

    We had quite the assortment of drinks for everybody.  I know at least one girl who will not be drinking Four Loko mixed with Vodka anytime soon!

    My friend from graduate school found out about my reputation on Xanga that night thanks to swtaznxtc90 hyping me up.  Haha, oh great.  I will probably blog about this in a separate entry later.

    SO MUCH CONFETTI EVERYWHERE!!!  I HATE YOU SO MUCH!!!  I’m still finding random pieces of confetti all over my place.  Where are they coming from??

    My housemate showing retarded_beautiful, RaquelHiggins005, and me how to do some Irish stepdancing (yes, like Riverdance!).  I had no idea what I was doing, but that’s okay!  I fear a video of this is going to leak on Xanga soon by one of the partygoers, so stay tuned for that.

    Late in the party I, for some reason, thought it was a great idea to wear bright streamers as a makeshift scarf.  Don’t I look fabulous?  Somebody said I looked like an 80s Japanese singer while FlipGuy31O said I belong in Twilight because I’m “looking quite homo plus [I'm] pale and sparkly.“  Hmm, he kinda makes a good case, but whatever!  It’s a New Year’s Eve party!

    Finally, here’s a quick video of me giving a brief tour and all of us during the countdown.  Apologies for the darkness!  I made some annotations to help you guys figure out what’s going on:

    Special thanks to the following Xangans for ringing in 2011 with me:  bengozen, retarded_beautiful, swtaznxtc90, Hello_Bianca, RaquelHiggins005, and Elimane.  I wish some of you other Xangans were there!  You would have enjoyed yourself.

    Perhaps I’ll host another house party at my place when it gets warmer so I can also utilize my two porches and two decks outside.  Maybe around my birthday in March or around Fourth of July?  Who would be interested in a meet up?  Let me know.

    What a great way to kick start 2011!