My journal/blog/whatever on my home page was making the page a little lengthy, so I decided to keep the old posts here.
12/20/03 I saw Lord of the Rings with my little brother this morning. I got 3 tickets
yesterday, but the 3rd guy who was supposed to come had to bail. He'd already seen it,
though. That just means I have a pristine ticket, in 50 years or so it'll be worth
something. Yeah, right. Anyway, the movie was spectacular, I think I liked it the most
of the 3. But you know me, I can't choose the best anything for sure. I'm gonna see it
again, but I don't know when, exactly. Aside from that, I just stayed home and fought
sleep on the couch. And I think I fixed those stupid lights for good this time...
12/22/03 Well, we took care of another Christmas tradition this evening. The family piled into the car and we went to Christmas Tree Lane, and Candy Cane Lane. Both places are city streets where all (or most) of the houses are decorated for Christmas. We've done it every single year I can remember. Sure, most of the decorations stay the same, but that's part of the tradition as well. Some houses have stayed about the same since it started, back in the '40s. In the future, if I'm around here during Christmas, I'll keep that tradition going. Aside from that, I went to the gym again, up to about 6+ tons per day now (all the reps add up; overall, I'm pretty weak)
12/23/03 Arright, in exactly one month, I turn 19. Big deal, right? I know it's no milestone, but it marks my last year of being a teenager (technically, anyway). Not too much else to say today, but I probably won't update the site for a couple days. Christmas Eve and Christmas Day are usually times I'm not online at my usual night time. So if I don't see anyone around until afterwards, Merry Christmas, and I hope everyone's enjoying this time of year. Later, all.
12/27/03 Well, a few things have happened since my last post (nothing serious, but not just everyday stuff). First off, I hope everyone had a great Christmas, I know I did. I got some great CDs and a couple movies. Anyone who saw me w/ that black leather jacket before, that was an early Christmas present. Anyway, our Christmas was good. On a crazier note, I couldnt find my cell phone on Wednesday. I start calling it, going from room to room in my house, and I cant figure out what happened to it. So I start calling all the places I'd been the day before. At the last place to call, after a few calls without luck, they say "yeah, it's here." It had somehow come out of my pocket in some store in Santa Clara, I still have no idea how I managed that. Anyway, all is well again. I'm not sure what else to write, so I'll leave it at this. Only 4 days left of 2003.
1/1/04 I guess technically it's now the 2nd, but I still call it thursday night right now (its about 2 in the morning). Happy New Year to everyone, hope you all had a safe but fun New Year's Eve. To the class of '04: You are now into your graduating year. Just over 5 months left for you all! Anyway, it's a new year, a time to leave behind what should be left, and a time for new beginnings. For example, it's time for me to take responsibility and get off my lazy rear. Job hunting is now a priority. Problem is, I still cant decide what I want to do. Not that its much of a criteria anymore... So take care, don't start the year off on the wrong foot.
1/4/04 Coming down with something, probably just a cold. Man, I hate it when I get sick. The way my immune system seems to work is that instead of my getting blasted by a cold for a few days and then feeling better, I get just sick enough to be really annoyed by it, but it lasts a few weeks. Not to mention it makes it harder to get to sleep, and that tends to mess me up even more. But enough complaining. As long as I dont feel worse tomorrow, I'm headed for the gym at 8 a.m. or so. I'll also start picking up job apps at places. It is time. Also, I noticed how long this page was getting, with all my journal entries stretching it more and more. To rectify this, I'm only keeping my 5 most recent posts here. All others will be stored in the new page I added, aptly named "Journal Archives." Clever name, I know, it took me all of 10 seconds to come up with it.
1/7/04 Well, the only symptom of that whatever-I-got still hanging around is an annoying cough. Of course, by the end of the day, after coughing at least every 20 seconds, you have a dull, throbbing headache. Good times. We "undecorated for Christmas" today. Those outside lights that gave me so much trouble are a lot easier to take down than put up. They still got in a parting blow, however. I found out the hard way that a bulb needs replacing, but not from being burned out. Turns out a bulb broke, and now i'm typing w/ a small bandage on my hand. Aside from that small detail, it went well. In other news, I have discovered how amazingly cool Dave Matthews Band is. I'd heard a few songs on the radio before and thought it was alright. After hearing Gravedigger, I decided I wanted to hear more. I got one of their CDs for Christmas, and became a fan. 2 or 3 days ago, I got the album from his Central Park Concert, and I haven't played anything else since. The math works out great: 3-CD album + 3-CD Stereo with a remote = never having to touch the stereo. Well, I think that's it for now, this post is long enough anyway.
1/10/04 OK, considering that I feel fine aside from this stupid cough, I'm figuring I'm not really sick, but that it's just allergies instead. Wonderful. That means it won't go away for even longer. In other news, I actually made something on my mom's '75 MG work. And Brit cars are even more temperamental/finicky/other-things-that-boil-down-to-"Mechanic's Nightmare" than most you see. Anyway, the defroster, the right front lights (turn signal included) and the left tail lights werent working. All that ends up meaning that even if it wasn't illegal to drive it at night, it'd still be a bad idea. We figured it was a blown fuse, but all of them checked out fine. So I disconnected the wires leading to the fuse box and redid them. Well, that worked, which surprised me. So in short, I dont know why it worked, but it did, and I made one tough car drivable again. Yeah, yeah, big deal. I had to find something to write about...
1/17/04 Yeah, I'm still here, it's just that nothing interesting has happened recently. Still havent done much about finding employment, but maybe I will tomorrow. I'm thinking a bookstore-type place would be cool to work at. I guess Borders is where I'll try. You know, it was one of the places I first thought of back during the summer, I even went and picked up an app. Did nothing with it though, it'd be ironic if I end up there. I could have been there the whole time up till now, and have something to show for it (in theory) instead of being broke and kind of disappointed in how I'm doing in life. Guess we'll see. In other news, we went to Bella Vista tonight for my parents' anniversary. Bella Vista means "beautiful view," and they aren't kidding. It's up on Skyline, and you get an awesome view of the cities below. The food there is absolutely fantastic, but this is the type of place that is only for really special occasions. In other news, I've gone to the gym a little more often, which is a start. Well, can't think of much else to say. It's been a week since my last post, and this is all that's happened? Pathetic, I know.
1/20/04 How many times do they expect me to write this stupid post? This is the 3rd time, and it had better save this time... Anyway, I've changed my mind again. That whatever-I-have that I came down with a while back isn't allergies. I'm sure it's just a cold, I guess the rest of the symptoms were just a little delayed, because now I really feel lousy. And like I said before, colds take forever to go away for me. I mean, I came down with this on the 4th, and it's just now starting to really hit. I have a couple of job apps all ready to go, but now I don't know the best time to turn them in. I mean, say I turn them in tomorrow, and I get called for an interview in a week or so, and I still feel terrible. Waaay less than ideal. But I also know that the longer I delay in turning them in, the less my chances are of being picked for the job. I swear, my colds can think. They know when the most inopportune time is coming so they can strike right then. But hey, you play the hand you're dealt, right? Problem is, I don't know how to play this one best... In other news, I turn 19 in 3 days. Big whoop. I'll probably still be sick then. Even if I weren't, I can't really afford to invite my friends to some movie party or anything. Maybe if I'd found a job when I was supposed to, I could have... yeah, fun times.
1/23/04 Hey, I'm now officially 19. To be honest, I don't feel a bit different. Anyway, my uncle came over again and we just had a small family party here, which is par for the course. I got some cool things. If you see a green Chevy Lumina w/ a banged up right side anywhere, check out the new SF Giants plate frame on the back. I also got the soundtrack from Big Fish, which I'm listening to as I'm writing this. Really good music. Danny Elfman is the king of emotional music. I also got a couple cool t-shirts. Normally, clothes as presents is weird, but since these are funny more than practical, I have no objections. I also got a jigsaw puzzle, and it's gonna be trouble. Only 500 pieces, but it's a small puzzle, and it's a black and white photo. Not gonna be easy. I also got a nice watch, I need to take it to a repair dude just to get the bracelet part shortened. Got a few other things too, but I think I've talked about this enough. Kinda unlucky when it comes to AIM. Nobody on my buddy list was available to talk. That's pretty common these days, maybe I've ticked everyone off. Can't fix problems I don't know about... Sure, maybe I'm just paranoid, but recently it seems like every time I sign on, a couple people flip away messages on or flat-out leave. Can't help but wonder...
2/2/04 Well, I guess I should update this thing. I know what it's like to go to a site to read whats new and find nothing's been updated. I just wish there was a lot more to write about. At least I have one thing that's cool. On Saturday I went to see Big Fish with a couple of friends. It's a great movie, definitely worthy of its Oscar nomination. After that, we took a look at the Winchester House. It was closed by then, but we could still see it and read the plaques outside the entrance. It sounds like that'll be a stop in an upcoming trip... Man, that place is freaky. We then checked out Borders in Santana Row. Had a couple things at the cafe there, and checked out some of the music they had to offer. A fun time was had by everyone. Aside from that, I still haven't heard back from the places I applied at, so I'd better come up w/ some other places to try. Oh well, guess I'll see what happens.
2/6/04 Not too much to say today, but I did add one thing to the site. I thought I'd lost it, but I found a pic that definitely belongs on this site. It's in the Music section. Aside from that, my life is not much different. Still need to apply to more places, and all that jazz... I guess this'll be a shorter post than normal, 'cause I'm out of stuff to say. Enthralling, huh?
2/10/04 Well, at least I can put something here now. I decided since I hadn't heard back from either Borders or Books Inc. about my apps, I should try more places. I went to stanford shopping center to pick up an app for the Giants' Dugout Store, in the hopes that they'd be hiring. I get there, and there's actually a "now hiring" sign in the window. That's promising. So I fill out an app and turn it in the same day. Apparently, a number of people have applied there, which is kind of unfortunate. I'm guessing a lot of them are stanford students, so they'd be applying for part-time jobs. If they're looking for full-time workers, maybe i'll have an advantage. That would be really cool if I got to work there. Aside from that, I went to the movies w/ friends again on Saturday. It wasn't my idea, but we saw Win A Date With Tad Hamilton. I gotta say, I didnt hate it. It was decent, for that type of movie. Formulaic and predictable, but it had some entertainment value. Anyway, I hope I hear from the Dugout soon, and I guess I'm out of stuff to say.
2/12/04 I realized that my page titled "My News" was never being updated, everything new was always being written here. Kinda made that page useless... Anyway, I decided that I could always put news about the Giants there. I'll keep standings there once the season starts, and I'll update the pic once there are new ones to post, probably a pic from the game, if I have time to update then. For now, there's just preseason news, and anyone who isn't a Giants fan will find the section completely boring anyway. So that's about it for now.
2/28/04 Wow, it's been a while since I've updated... Shows how cool and interesting my life is, huh? Well, at least things arent going wrong left and right. The fact that things are neutral is, in itself, good news. I kinda wish something really interesting would happen, like maybe the Dugout gives me a call... But at least I have something to put here now. We got a new computer today. It's a Sony Vaio, and so far it's great. I'm liking the online speed better. With the old comp, it was slow, probably from the fact its hard drive crashed and was replaced. I dont think it ever fully got back to its potential. We also used an external modem, which may have slowed my connection down a bit too. Not to mention we have dial-up, which is not the fastest connection anyway. Put all those together, and you get hair-pulling frustation when trying to go online. Now, dial-up is at least tolerable. Its fast enough that i cant go get a drink between pages, so i'm happier. So that's whats new w/ me. Really interesting, i know. Man, I wish the Dugout would call me up. Actually, I'd take any place I applied to now.
3/5/04 Well, I don't have a whole lot to say. Kind of a pattern... Anyway, the Giants have started playing Cactus League. More on that on the Giants page, which has a link to their site anyway, if you want to know more about it than I can provide. I went to the Nuclear Whales concert tonight. They were awesome once again. I saw them last year too. Quite entertaining, they're a unique mix of comedy and good music. Brent, if you read this, you will see them one of these years. For all else, if you have no clue what I'm talking about, go to http://www.nuclearwhales.com. Still no news on employment. I think I have to give up on the Dugout Store, it's looking less likely with each passing day. Just watch, as soon as I do find a job, they'll call with a better deal... Such is the way luck goes in my life. Well, I guess I should go to bed, I have an archery shoot in the morning, and I have to be there about an hour before I usually even wake up in recent mornings. Should be interesting, I'll let you know what happens.
3/6/04 The Mud and Muck Shoot was today. Registration was from 8:30 to 9:30, and we got there about 8:40. This is the first time I've gotten up before 9:30 since... I dont even remember when. I usually get up at 10, so my 7:30 awakening was a little tough to handle. Yeah, I've gone soft since I've been out of school. I used to be at school at 7 every day, and now I'm complaining about waking up @ 7:30. Not that I miss being at school that early, that really took its toll on me. I didnt permamently damage any arrows, this was the second time in a row I've done that. And when one target is made of solid steel except for the scoring area, a lot of people trashed some arrows. I'm surprised, but I got both through. Guess I'm improving... I'd forgotten how tiring it is to take that trail and shoot 48 arrows though. It's a real workout for a no-stamina weakling like myself... heh. Lots of fun though, I really enjoy doing it.
3/13/04 I turned in a couple more job applications. One at Petco, which I don't think would be too bad a place to work. I like animals, as long as the amount of legs they have is fewer than 6. I also turned an app in to Peet's Coffee & Tea, which is now my first choice, since I really don't expect the Dugout to come through for me... So that was my morning. This afternoon, I went w/ friends to a bowling alley to play pool for a while, then some air hockey. After that, we went to Valley Fair and had food at the food court. Then we just walked around the mall for a while, with no real purpose. It was fun, but then I almost always enjoy hanging out w/ friends.
3/17/04 Good news today. I was giving my brother a ride to some track team dinner, when my cell phone rings. Apparently, someone from Petco called to talk to me. When I got home, I called the number they left, but the manager was on the other line with her boss, so I left a message. Little bit of phone tag there... Anyway, she calls back a few minutes later, and long story short, I go in for an interview tomorrow morning. Now I'm not sure if I want Peet's to call at all. What if I accept a job offer from Petco and then Peets calls? Or what if they call before I accept the job offer I think I'll get, so I turn them away, and then dont get the job @ Petco? I really hope I don't get put into a situation like that. Anyway, whatever happens, it's looking like I may have an income fairly soon. And at this point it's more than just something I'd like to have. Here's hoping...
3/21/04 I had a job interview @ Petco on Thursday. I guess it went OK, but I'm not the only one being considered for the job. I should know if I got it by Wednesday. I stopped in at Peet's yesterday to see if anything had been done w/ my app there yet. The manager said she hasn't had any time to look at a single application this past week, so no. She does, however, mark down when people check back, so I guess I got some points for coming in anyway. You know, to be honest, I'd rather work at Peet's, but it doesnt look as though I'll get an offer from them before Petco makes its decision. But there's no guarantee I'll get an offer from either place, so it'd be a bad idea to turn down one offer in the hopes of getting one from the other place. Well, I guess we'll see what happens... In other news, I saw MVHS's performance of "Little Shop of Horrors" last night. It was really well-done, very enjoyable. I'll probably see it again sometime next week. It was good to see some old friends there, too. But one person not only didn't say hi to me, they took off before I could say hi. Has our friendship changed so much?
3/23/04 Well, Still no word from any prospective employers. I just dont know what it takes. I'm gonna be out of town till Friday night, so I won't post until then at the earliest. I'm helping my uncle @ an expo in Sacramento. I guess it'll be an adventure, something new to do. To be honest, I don't know how much I'm gonna like it. There are some things here that I'm gonna miss, the timing for this is unfortunate. I hope this doesn't turn out to be some major mistake, it's already something I don't completely feel good about. He needs the help, and he is willing to pay me, but is it worth not being here for these particular few days? I mean, pretty much any other days would be fine, but it had to be now. Well, I guess I'll see what happens and go from there.
3/26/04 I'm back from Sacramento. The expo itself was pretty slow, poorly attended. You know the place isn't too busy if you can still hear the overhead lights buzzing after the doors open... Anyway, the trip overall went pretty smoothly. I was able to help where possible, so I wasn't just a waste of space, I guess. I'm going over to the shop tomorrow to help unload the truck, which means another early morning. I can't remember the last time I was this tired. Last night, we were all so exhausted that we were headed back to the hotel to go to bed by 8:00. Considering that I'm usually not even tired till after 1, thats a bid difference. There weren't any messages for me from Petco or Peet's. To be honest, I'm not as surprised as I thought I'd be. Well, I'm at risk of falling asleep on the keyboard and making this post waaay longer (like this: zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz). I'm done talking for the night, but this fatigue actually feels good. It means that I've actually done something other than stay at home the past few days.
3/29/04 I guess I forgot to update last night. Oh well, guess I will now. I went to the play again on Saturday w/ a couple of friends. It sold out on Friday, and Saturday was no exception either. It was a truly amazing show again, from what I heard it was the best of the 5 nights. It ended a little after 10, but we didn't leave the school for another hour after that, there were so many old friends to talk to there. After we finally left at about 11:15 or so, some of us went to Starbucks until it closed at midnight. We went our separate ways from there, and it was a really good night overall. I also now have enough money to open a bank account again, thanks to the work I did the past week. Now, if only I could find some official employment. I stopped in at Peet's again to check in. The manager said they just had a job fair, so they're sorting through apps, but will be sure to include mine. He commented on how I was available pretty much anytime, which I think is a plus for me. I guess we'll see
4/5/04 I think I'm going to update slightly less frequently than before, so that when I do, I'll have more to say. For example, I have stuff to talk about this time. The Giants started the season today, and won. I have the NL West Standings up on my Giants News Page. I'll still update that regularly. I played pool w/ friends on saturday night, it was fun. I did better than I normally do, I'd say I was good that night. Now, if only that were how I usually played, instead of just having a lucky streak... Still no word from Peet's, and I'm getting frustrated by it. I don't know what I should do about it. I really need them to hire me, or someplace does, but they're my preference now. Well, I'm drawing a blank on other stuff to write about, it seems like there was more... If I remember, I'll put it in another post..
4/11/04 I added a message board to the site. The link is at the bottom of the page. Feel free to post there, maybe it'll help me keep in touch with people better. Heh, I don't even really know who comes to this site anymore. I think a couple people saw it once and never came back. Anyway, hope everyone had a good Easter, mine was. If you look at the Giants News page, you'll see that the L.A. Dodgers are leading the division. That can't be allowed to remain. In other news, I feel like my life has come to a standstill. Apparently the fact that I have nothing to talk about gets old to other people, too. Nothing changes in my life, except for the occasional chance to hang out with friends. What I can't figure out is why Peet's didn't call me back. How was I not qualified enough? Did I need a degree in coffee-making? I thought they train people to do that stuff. I know the only job experience I have is Great America, but how am I supposed to get more if no place will call me? I don't know what to do here. I guess I have to look for more places. All I know is that things have stayed the same for far too long.
4/19/04 Well, I guess I do have some stuff to write. About time, huh? For starters, the car I drive, the Lumina, broke down yet again. We could smell something odd through the AC vents, and when we look under the car, there's a green puddle under it. That can only mean one thing: coolant. So back to its second home it goes, aka the shop. Hopefully, it won't be much trouble to fix. Aside from that, we finally got high speed internet, in the form of Comcast cable line. It's absolutely awesome, things are so much faster now its unbelievable. Last thing isnt too important, but the Giants are struggling a bit. Bonds may be on a hot streak, but no one player can carry an entire team. Hopefully their win today is the start of a real comeback. Those Dodgers can't get too comfy in their 1st place spot...
5/6/04 Even though it's 3:30 Friday morning, I call it a Thursday post. It's not the next day till I go to bed and wake up again. Anyway, wow, It's been a while since my last post. I never got back to what happened w/ the Lumina. We got it back from the shop the day after my last post. Turns out the CD player wasn't working anymore when we got it back. Here's why. Our system has something called "Theftlock," which basically renders it useless if stolen. It will refuse to work if removed from the original vehicle it was installed in. Apparently, when the coolant problem was getting fixed, the stereo was moved enough to make it think it was being boosted. So it shut down. I took it back to the shop, and they had it going again same day, no hassle. So that's that. Seems ok now. I had a bit of fun today. I saw Van Helsing with an old friend earlier, we went to the Midnight showing. We went to it more so that I could see what a Midnight show is like than because it was Van Helsing. I'd already planned to see it in the opening weekend anyway. I enjoyed it, it was entertaining. Fits the term "Summer Movie," in that it's an action flick, and doesn't pretend to be anything else. It's worth seeing again, in my opinion. I probably will. But for now, the next film I can't wait to see is Spider-Man 2. It's gonna be great. Last thing for now, the post's getting lengthy... The Giants are disappointing right now. They need to pick up their game or they won't stand a chance in the standings. Sure, it's only a month into the season, but I'd prefer more consistent wins... Oh, and one other thing, I took out the message board, nobody was using it. At least with a counter, I can see how much (or how little, as the case may be) traffic I get here.
5/14/04 Wow, I'm tired and sore. The past few days have been pretty cool. Day before yesterday, I played baseball w/ my older brother. It was the first time in about a year since we'd done that. I managed to break his bat while I was hitting that day, so that was a bummer. Yesterday, we went to Sportmart to see about getting a replacement bat, and while I was there, I was going to look into getting a pair of batting gloves, because my hands were pretty sore from the previous day. On the way in, there's a sign that reads "Now immediately hiring." Well, sounds promising. I picked up an application and turned it in later that day. I really hope they call in the next day or 2. Armed with a new bat and gloves, we played again, and now I'm really feeling it. I haven't been this stiff in a very long time. No stamina at all, I need to work on that. The gloves certainly helped my hands though. I think the next investment will be a pitching machine, that way fatigue won't set in quite as fast, and pitches will be more accurate and fast. Also, I went to the Dance Spectrum show last night, it was really cool. I got there late enough that I couldn't find a good seat, I ended up all the way in the back row. It was cool anyway, though. Today, I went around town to the various houses participating in the citywide yard sale. I didn't find anything worth getting though, all the good stuff was gone by the time I got there. I also went to the a la carte festival on Castro, they had some cool stuff, I got a CD from Groovecamp, which is basically just a rhythm section, but they play some really cool music. Well, I think the post is long enough for now. Here's hoping that Sportmart calls me...
5/26/04 Ok, I guess enough has happened for me to post some news now. I guess for starters, I've been playing baseball w/ my brother pretty regularly now. Anytime there's not a Giants game in the evening and there's nothing else to prevent it, we go and take BP off each other. Sometimes it's tough to find a field, but we make do. I'm never as sore as I was after the first 2 sessions anymore. I'm also getting better at hitting, I'm making much better contact (as opposed to my earlier bouts of swing-and-a-miss 8 out of 10 times). Unfortunately, my pitching is seriously declining at the same rate as my hitting is improving. I can't figure out why, either. Guess I need to just practice till I get it right. I went to the Jazz BBQ last Saturday, and was I surprised to learn I missed the Music Awards Night last Tuesday... I was out of touch w/ people too long. At least I didn't miss the final concert, which happened to be tonight. It was really good, all the groups played well. It was good to see some familiar faces there, which is one reason I like to go to these things. Anyway, I went back to Sportmart and actually talked to the manager there about my app. Turns out it "wasn't suitable for the available positions." Gee, I didn't know you needed to have gone to sports equipment college to sell stuff. I really hate the "experience cycle," as I call it. Places don't hire me b/c I don't have any retail experience. I don't have any retail experience b/c nobody will hire me. See what I'm getting at? I'm not the one that can break that cycle, it's in their hands. That said, I've tried applying at Gamestop now. Maybe they will decide to give me a chance. One last thing, the Dodgers' lead is a small fraction of what it was, and will soon fall to nothing.
5/31/04 Tired yet again. We went to the park for our traditional Memorial Day barbeque, and it went pretty well. We played baseball for almost the entire time, only taking breaks to eat and then later to get something cold to drink. Guess what? I broke another bat, that makes 3 since we've started playing again. This one baffled me, I hit the ball on the solid part of the bat, but it still broke. I guess it was sitting in the garage long enough that it dried out and became more susceptible to crackage. It was also one of the less expensive types, maybe that contributed a bit. We had another bat, and this one felt much more solid. I actually hit a few homers this time, I'm guessing it's b/c it was warmer out, so the balls were carrying better. All in all, I think it was a pretty successful trip. I can't really afford to break any more bats, at least not till I have some kind of reliable income... I think I'll stop by Gamestop tomorrow and check in, see if I don't have enough experience for them, either. After these guys, my list of ideas is running really thin. Guess we'll see what happens. Also, the Giants are on a 10-game winning streak, who would have even thought a 5-game one was possible a month ago? The season is really turned around, let's hope it stays positive.
6/4/04 Had a cool couple of days overall. Let's see, last tuesday was good and bad. The bad part comes in when I checked in @ Gamestop to see if anything had been done w/ my app. The manager (he took the time to talk w/ me) said that he'd filled the position he was looking to. Bummer. So that afternoon, I applied at Baskin-Robbins. The manager was who I handed my app to, and she looked it over right there. I think I made a good impression, I didn't get turned down on the spot. She said she'd pass it on to her boss. Here's hoping. Anyway, today was cool, I missed the Giants game. Normally I wouldn't do that, but I went to an opening-day showing of the new Harry Potter movie with friends. We got there about an hour and a half before the movie started, and we were still way back in the line. That was new, the other 2 years we didnt have to do that. Luckily we already had our tix off of Fandango... Very good movie, i recommend it. Tomorrow I'll probably go to the Art & Wine Festival in Sunnyvale.
6/16/04 Man, do I have some stuff to talk about this time. For starters, I'd like to say congrats to all my friends in the class of 2004, and it was great to see everyone at the graduation ceremony. I know what it feels like to be leaving high school, at least how it feels for a lot of people. I wish them all the best of luck. Anyway, I haven't heard back from Baskin-Robbins yet, which leads me to believe that I've been passed over yet again. I'll probably stop by there tomorrow just to confirm that my lack of job experience has once again shot me in the foot. But today! Today was nuts. There was a contest that I'd been planning on entering for weeks. Jerome Williams (pitcher for the Giants, for those of you who don't follow baseball for one reason or another) was going to be at the Sunnyvale Fry's Electronics today to shave his head w/ some new Panasonic thing. The contest, as advertised on KNBR.com, said that 25 fans would be drawn at random to get their head buzzed too and to win tix to the game tonight. The drawings were to start at 12. So I get there at 11 so that I could enter and have some breathing room in case the line was a little long. I get to the contest area, and find that 25 fans had already been chosen. And not randomly, either; they were the first 25 to show up, many of them around 6:00 a.m. Out of everyone who enters the drawing, there would be just 5 winners. Now that made things completely unfair. I didn't win, but considering the odds-change, I'm really not surprised. I was seriously ticked off. I still got to meet Jerome though. He signed a ball for me and talked to me a bit. I also got a picture taken with him, which was cool. Look at my Misc. pics page for it. It could have ended there, but I didn't leave it alone. When I got home, I emailed knbr.com to complain about the unannounced rule change, after they specifically said that any changes would be announced. I stayed respectful in it but still made clear my displeasure with how the contest was done. I figured I'd get some generic apology in a week or so. Less than 15 minutes later, I got a reply from the VP of promotions/marketing. He apologized for what happened, the rules weren't changed intentionally. The sponsors jumped the gun and started way early. But he then offered me 4 tix to a game sometime in the future! That blew me away. I was gonna get 2 tickets to a game in return for shaving my head, but now I'm gonna get twice as many without having to give up my hair! I think I got the better deal. Biggest problem is deciding who to take along. I can bring 3 people, but I know that there will be more people interested in going. I can't please everyone... That's gonna be a toughie, I wish I could bring everyone. But right now I don't even know what game I'm getting tix for, so I can worry about that later. It'll depend on who's free and who isn't, I guess. Well, that's it for now, I should get some sleep, considering this post is getting longer and longer and its about 2:30 right now.
6/28/04 Guess I finally got around to posting here. Let's see, where did I leave off last time... OK, I guess I'll start w/ the KNBR ticket thing. I got the tickets on the 23rd. They're for Wednesday, July 21st against the SD Padres, but I was very surprised to see where the seats are. They're directly behind the Giants dugout, and get this: 3rd row! I can't believe how lucky I was to get those. Man, it's hard to wait that long to go. It's gonna be a blast. Oh, I guess it's been so long I have another place to add that I've applied at. Blockbuster Video. It's been a while since I applied there, haven't heard back yet. I wonder if I'm doing something wrong on my apps and don't know it... Anyway, I went to a San Jose Giants game on Friday w/ Alicia & her family. It was fun, even though the Giants lost. Man, A-league ball is such a different atmosphere from the majors. All these cheesy (yet still sorta fun) promotions in between innings is probably the biggest difference. You get pretty close to the field no matter where you're seated. So yeah, that's not a bad way to spend an evening. Anyway, I think the biggest change is that I signed up for a class @ Foothill this summer, and it started today. It's just a college intro class, nothing too major, but it's official that I'm now a college student. Technically anyway. Turns out the class is only 3 days long. Wish someone had told me before I added the Spring term parking permit to my account... There's a bit of money down the drain, unless I can get a refund (something like that, I'm thinking not). But, this class will get me on the right track to finally start doing something more than sit at home and hope for something interesting to happen.
7/13/04 Has it really been that long since I posted? Maybe I should keep better track, so I don't go forever w/o putting up any news. OK, so I guess earliest news would be from the 4th. We had a barbeque here, nothing big, but thats not a problem at all. It was pretty cool, my uncle came over and we also had a birthday party for my dad. I've maybe forgotten a couple things between then and this past weekend. If so, nothing earth-shattering. On Saturday I went to see Spiderman 2 with one of my oldest friends. I really liked it, definitely worth seeing. Slightly corny ending, but excusable. Sunday, I went to the Los Altos Art & Wine Festival. I think this was the first time I didn't run into anyone I knew at any of these festival things. I always like to see whats around these things and what music can be heard. Yesterday, went to another San Jose Giants game, against the Modesto A's. Good game, out of what I saw of it. We left before it was over, b/c of the time. We stayed till the end of the 9th though, when it was tied at 7. I'm glad we didn't stay for the whole thing though; I found out online that it lasted 15 innings, totaling 5 hours and 3 minutes. Even I have my limits. If it were a SF Giants game, I'd have readily stayed to the end for that. But this was different. We were in the 2nd row this time, and at a seat, it's hard to complain. Couple of annoying kids a few rows behind us, but they didn't stick around the whole game. Watched the All-Star game today. Nothing really spectacular, couple homers of note, but that's about it. Schmidt didn't pitch, but I think that's a good thing, since he pitched day before yesterday, and 1 day rest isn't ideal for a starter going into a game. I've also made plans to join my dad on a business trip to Pittsburgh. Never been there before, and I'll have plenty of time to explore. One of the activities provided by the people running the convention is a Pirates game. Sounded cool, when I heard about it my thoughs were: 2 teams I dont care too much about, but a really nice park (I heard it's a ripoff of Pac Bell). Then I checked the Pirates schedule to see who the visiting team was going to be. Well, it just so happens that it's the first game of a series against good old San Francisco. Now that I just can't pass up. So that should be fun. I don't remember the day I leave, but I get back on the 12th of August. I'll be there about a week. I guess that's all that's new. Oh, and Blockbuster never got back to me, either. Yeah, that's a 10 on the surprise scale...
7/22/04 Well, the day of the big game was yesterday. You know, the one that KNBR gave me 4 free tickets to and 3rd row to boot... Yeah, that game. First pitch was slated to start a bit after 7. So I picked up Alicia, Ian, and Brent and headed for the train station, getting there about 3:40 or so. We caught the 3:58, getting to the park right about when gates opened, at 5:15. We took our time getting in, we walked around the outside a bit first, checking out the Cove and the Dugout store, taking pictures and just leisurely enjoying being there. We finally went through the gates a bit after 6 and explored the park a bit. I wanted to see the 2nd level, but they don't let you in there unless you have tickets for that level. Oh well, I was gonna see if I could get Mike Krukow to sign a card of him from 1988. We checked out the promenade level, and Brent and I did a race down the "Guzzler," the slides right next to each other in the park's giant Coke bottle. Cool photo finish, thanks to Ian's trigger finger. I'll post them somewhere when I get to it. We got to our seats in time for 1st pitch. It was so cool being that close to the field. I definitely wouldn't mind season tickets for that spot... The game went by pretty quickly, in my mind. The time was normal for a game, but it just flew by. The Giants were losing for pretty much the whole game, the Padres' starter had his A-game going, and Rueter didn't exactly match him that time. By the 8th inning, Brent and I had our rally caps going, and we all got some time on the Jumbotron on the scoreboard. Apparently we didnt get any TV airtime, but that's ok. Even though the Giants lost, it was still a great trip, and I'm still amazed at the gesture KNBR made by giving me those tickets. Anyway, after the game, we headed straight for the train station b/c if we missed the train that was going to leave shortly, we would have had a long wait for the next one, which left at midnight. We got on the train, and we got back to MV just before 12. After dropping everyone off, I got home around 12:45. I was too tired to post last night (aside from the standard Giants update), so here I am doing it now. I hope that everyone enjoyed the trip as much as I did. Now I really want to go again...
8/13/04 Not quite a month since my last post. Buckle up, because this one's gonna be a doozie. For starters, I'll just say that nothing really cool happened between my last post and August 7th. But the 7th was the night my dad and I left for Pittsburgh. We took an 11:30 flight out of SF Airport, so it definitely qualifies as a redeye. The flight was boring, they didn't even bother showing a movie. I guess it was b/c so many people would normally be sleeping on that flight. Whatever the reason, I just listened to my CD's and read for most of the flight. There was one really cool part of the flight, as we were nearing the end of it. I watched the sunrise while up at 33,000 ft. There's no way to describe it other than beautiful. The clouds glowed red below us, and it was quite a sight to see. Too bad our cameras weren't available (or so I thought, I found out recently they were in our carry-on). We got in around 7:00 Friday morning, eastern time. I didn't get any sleep on the plane, and I planned it that way for a reason. I'll get to that at some point. The bus ride in gave us an impressive view of the City from a distance. I was impressed by the way that it was urban and still natural at the same time. By that I mean that there was still a lot of trees and rivers around, but bridges and tall buildings were there too. We got to our hotel, but there weren't any rooms ready yet, so we stored our luggage and went to find breakfast. Lots of little diners around, so we try one of them. One big difference from CA is there are still smoking/nonsmoking sections in most restaurants. Seemed like sometimes the nonsmoking sections were the smaller areas... Anyway, when there's a room ready, we go up and I decide to get a couple hours of rest. It was sort of tough to sleep, our room's A/C was on, and try as we might, we couldn't find the off switch (never did the whole week we were there, either). After we get up, we head for the Convention Center to register for the Conference. I got a taste of just how much walking I'd be doing for the week... After that, we just walked around the city a bit, to get an idea of the layout. Nice place, for the most part. A few run-down spots, but any urban place is bound to have that. Went to some reception that night, met a bunch of the people w/ the convention. Saturday, dad had an all-day workshop thing, so I was on my own. I went to the National Aviary, everyone w/ the convention was allowed in free for the weekend. Awesome place, I could easily spend a whole day there. I used up the camera's entire memory card there. And you know what? I'll post more later, but this is enough to get you all started. I'm just too tired to keep going right now.
8/16/04 Ok, I guess I've got time to continue my accounts of my trip. If you haven't read part 1, scroll down and read that first. That being said, brace yourselves, because here comes another enormous post. Lets see, I left off at... Saturday. The Aviary. Yeah, I guess there's a bit I can talk about there. I saw this bird show, lots of trained birds doing really cool tricks. One of them, a crow (or was it a raven, I don't remember), grabbed a dollar out of my hand and gave it to the trainer. It even flew back and returned it, too. In the aviary itself, there were a couple areas where the birds were totally free to roam, and some came up real close to me. I got some great pics. If I had room to post them on this site, I would, but I'm out of pages that would work for that. If you want to see any photos of any part of the trip, let me know.
Anyway, on Sunday I went to the Convention's field day, b/c I got roped into being on some competition team. There were all these different events, from a written test to taking a chainsaw apart to untying knots and more. I ended up doing the Crosscut Saw event. If you don't know what that is, ask me, I can show you. It was fun, even though we got one of the worst times. Cut me some slack, I'd never done it before. There was also a ground workers' relay race, and I got stuck on one knot-tying section. If it weren't for that, the team could have won... Oh well. That night, there was a big party for the convention, complete w/ carnival games and tons of really good food. That was pretty cool, I won at most of the games, so it wasn't like at a real carnival, w/ rigged games. Man, one of the biggest differences about Pittsburgh, and probably more places on the eastern side of the country, is how quiet it is on weekends. Saturdays may be a bit slower, and things close early evening, but Sundays are just nuts. I'm not exaggerating when I say that the only things we found open were the hotels, a McDonalds, and a Rite Aid that closed @ 4. Everything else was just dead. It was like a ghost town.
On Monday, I went to the Point State Park. It's where the Ohio River splits into the Allegheny and the Monongahela (or however the heck it's spelled), and the land comes to a point. There's an awesome fountain there, it shoots a column of water 150 ft high, and it's really a great place. Lots to see, and it all used to be a fort back in the 1700s. There's a museum there, but apparently it's closed on Mondays and Tuesdays, so I couldn't go in. But I still got lots of pictures of the park itself. Now for the really cool part of the day. We were supposed to go to an auction/party for the convention at this hotel, the Westin, which started at 5:30 or something like that. Well, we didn't know it started that early, so we left late. We got to the lobby around 6 or 6:30, I don't remember which. Anyway, we were about to go up the stairs to the 3rd floor, where it was, when Barry Bonds walked through the front door. At first I didn't realize it was him, but then the rest of the Giants follow him through the door. Turned out they were staying at the Westin, and were just arriving from the airport. Now, I had brought along some baseball cards in the hope of getting them signed at Tuesday's game, and if I'd known I'd be standing 10 feet away from them, I'd have kept them on me at all times. But I still talked to Mike Krukow, one of the announcers (and he was whose card I had at my hotel room), and he said if I could get it to him the next day, he'd see about signing it! So that made my night.
Tuesday we explored the Strip District, which was basically a bunch of shops where you can get souvenirs and stuff. Kind of a run-down area... Anyway, we were at the History Center, and it started to rain. Then it started to rain harder. Then it turned into a full-fledged thunderstorm. I was ticked. The game was in 3 hours, and it was raining cats and dogs. There's this one pic of me that shows i'm not happy. It's funny now. The rain didn't even last an hour. At the game, I couldn't get to the broadcaster's booth, too much security, and they don't send things from fans to the broadcasters, either. I wasn't really surprised, but I was sort of disappointed. It was a cool game, but it turned out badly, since the Giants lost. PNC is a nice ballpark. I got some good pics and even sort of a video of Bonds' home run (if you wanna know about the "sort of," ask me). After the game, we sort of camped out at the Westin's lobby, waiting for the team to return. After a bit of a wait, it paid off. I got the card signed, and my dad got a pic of Krukow signing it. I was so close to getting Schmidt's signature, but he had to catch the elevator. It was all good though; I got the one I was specifically after, any others would have just been added bonus. So that day was really awesome.
Wednesday was more of a "This is your last day here, so see whatever you missed" day. We went back to Point State Park and got some souvenirs for family, and had lunch at a place called Jimmy John's. Really good sandwiches. After that, dad had conference stuff to do, and I went to the museum that was closed earlier in the week. Tons of old relics from history in there. That evening was the closing banquet for the convention. It was in a fancy hotel, and the food was amazing. There was a live band, too. I don't know if any of you have heard of the Vogues, but thats who the band was. I got a few last pics before going back to the hotel and packing.
Thursday morning, we finished packing, had breakfast at a local cafe, and headed for the airport. Pretty uneventful getting to the plane. No hassles. The flight went pretty smoothly too, but it was only to Chicago, not all the way to SF. When we got into O'Hare, we had a 3 hour wait until our next flight. Yeah, that was fun. At least we got some time to look around the airport. And our plane's gate changed 3 times while we were there, too. Talk about a long walk. Oh well, we finally got on the plane, and it was another boring flight. We got to SF around 6, and got home around 8:30. I was glad to be home, even though I had a lot of fun on the trip. I was worried at first that the trip would be 3 hours of fun (the game) surrounded by days of boredom. In reality, I was only bored for a few hours total the whole week. I'm really glad I got the opportunity to go, and that I actually decided to go. Ok, I'm not gonna post anything else right now. There's enough here already. I'll update other stuff another time.
8/22/04 Man, I'm getting lazy in terms of updating... Guess now's the time to reset the counter. For starters, I went up to the MV Marching Band's camp performance last Saturday (the 14th, not the 21st). It was pretty good, they have a real shot at taking the Lady for keeps this year. I hope they stay working hard, b/c they sounded really good after just a week of rehearsals. Uneventful ride up there, kind of boring, b/c it usually is when I'm driving alone. It doesn't bother me per se, but I always prefer company. Anyway, It was good to see some old friends again. Then yesterday (nothing special during the week happened that I remember) my mom, brother and I went to see Alton Brown live at Stanford Shopping Center. If you don't know who he is, he's the host of the best cooking show on TV, called Good Eats. He's just as cool in person as on TV. Today I went with Brent to his church, and I have to say, it was a really cool experience. A very welcome change of pace. I'm quite glad I took him up on his invitation. Afterwards we hung out at his place for a while. I'd say recently things have been going pretty well for me, which is a definite improvement over being stuck in neutral for so long. ...Is it just me, or is this post a bit light on details? I don't know if I'm just not in a typing mood or what, maybe I'm just imagining that it's different. I really don't know. Anyway, I get to register for classes @ Foothill this week. Oh yeah, I did do something interesting during the week, I took my English and Math assessment tests to see what classes I qualify for at Foothill on Wednesday. I totally blew away the English stuff, scored 113 and 117 on the 2 sections. I dunno what the max score is, but pretty near there, I think, considering how easy I found it. The math however, blasted me. I got a 49. But then I did take a tougher test than I think was necessary. In HS, I took triginometry my Junior year, and then retook algebra 2 the 1st semester of my Senior year. So on the assessment test, they asked what the highest level math I completed was, and the grade I got in my last math class. So my answers were Trig, and B. So it looked like I got a B in trig, which is definitely not the case. But guess which test they gave me... Yeah, they gave me the test on material I hadn't seen since 2002, and barely got right back then. Oh well, I got a high enough score for what I needed. I only need Elementary Statistics for my major, which I can take w/o having to take anything before it. So my test results being so low just makes me look bad, but with no repercussions regarding my schedule. Oh well, I got what I needed, I'm not going to worry about it. Ok, I think that's it for this post.
9/11/04 I can't believe how seriously lethargic I've become in updating this site, even my posting results of the most recent Giants games have been neglected. I don't know why I've sorta petered out from posting, either. I normally only post at the end of a day, but I'm feeling motivated right now, at about 4 pm, so I'm posting.
For starters, most of the family spent the better part of a week in Minnesota recently. We went to a memorial service for my grandmother on my dad's side, in the town he grew up in. It's called Onamia, and it's a pretty small area, the population's just over 750. We actually spent a lot of time at the very house he and his family lived in. I hadn't been there since 1989, so I barely remembered the place. It was weird, a lot had changed about the house and property, but was still enough the same that I could sort of remember it. It was familiar and new at the same time. Kind of an odd feeling. Anyway, we got in to Minneapolis and drove to Onamia on Wednesday night (September 1st), and stayed until Sunday afternoon, though Dad stayed longer. While we were there, I got to re-meet all my family out there. Some of them I hadn't seen in 15 years, and some I hadn't seen in just 7. Whichever length between visits you choose, they're both on the excessive side. I won't get into too much detail here about what all we did there, if you want to know, you can ask me. It was a really good trip. And it's even making me consider some other options in terms of where I'd want to teach when I'm out of school. I had been planning, hands down, to teach @ MV. But when one of my cousins heard I was planning to teach music, I was practically begged to teach in Onamia. I have to say, I really liked the town. If I were to leave this area, there are a lot of things about it that I wouldn't miss one bit. I'm very seriously thinking about maybe going to that area after getting my degree. I still have at least 4 years to decide though, so I have lots of time to mull it over. Anyway, that's all I'm going to post about the trip here.
Another thing that's happened is just totally amazing to me. I'd been scouting music stores for places that rent Baritone Saxes. I'd found only places that sell them though, all the rentals were grabbed already. My parents decided that because music wasn't just going to be a class to fill a requirement for credits, that it's going to be my career, owning one wasn't an unreasonable investment. Long story short, I'm seriously lucky to have parents as generous as they are, and there's a shiny bari sitting in my room, just waiting for my music classes to start up. If it's not a very new one, whoever had it before me took amazingly good care of it, because it's in spectacular condition. I'm still a bit taken aback at how fortunate I am. I'd better make sure I don't let it collect dust. Something tells me that won't be too difficult a task though.
Lastly, today is September 11th. It's hard to believe it's been 3 years since the attacks. Time flies by, in retrospect. I hope people haven't forgotten, and haven't lost sight of the fact that there are people that need to be dealt with. No, I'm not turning this into some political tirade, I'm just stating the fact that there is still much to be done in the world, and I hope justice is served to those that would harm innocent people.
9/17/04 Well, at least it's only been a week since my last post. Not a ton of stuff to post for most of the week. On Wednesday, I went to a "New Student Orientation" at Foothill. It can be summed up in in 2 words: "extremely boring." This event consisted of 2 hours or so of sitting in the theater, listening to a motivational speaker tell us how to succeed in college, and then we got to hear about the academic honor code! Wheeee! After that, there was a lunch thing in the quad. There was a steel drum band set up, and they sounded cool, but I wasn't there for long. I grabbed a burger that tasted very similar to McDonalds or Burger King. After that, I got in line to get my ID card. The line had a small amount of people in it, but it went reeeeally slow. After just over an hour, I had my card. I don't like the pic too much, but whatever. I don't intend for it to be made into a poster or anything, so I don't care too much. After the orientation, I gave Diana a ride to Cuesta Park to meet up with Ian, Mania, and Angela. After hanging out there for a while, we went to In n Out Burger. I wasn't hungry, so I just got a drink. After that we went to Stanford and explored a bit there. Next on the "make it up as we go along" agenda was going to the movies. As we got there, we saw Khoa just getting there to start his shift, and he totally rules, by the way. He gave us free tickets to the movie of our choice. Nothing was starting for a while, so we got the tickets and then headed for the Togo's nearby. Then it was time to go back to the theater. We saw Paparazzi, and I liked it a lot. I know it's not an accurate depiction of anything, but it was a cool action movie. After that, it was time to start taking people home. Angela had her own vehicle there, so she parted w/ us then. Dropped off Mania and Ian at their homes, then made a stop at Cold Stone. After that, I dropped Diana off and went home. It was a cool day, except for the orientation. That's about it for interesting stuff, at least at the present time.
9/27/04 School's been in for a week now. I only have 3 classes, 2 if you don't count Concert Band as a real class. The music theory class is pretty cool, I'm going to get a lot out of it. There are 2 teachers, one for the lab on Mondays and Wednesdays, and the one that does the lectures, on Tuesdays and Thursdays. They're both cool, though the lecture dude finds ways to interject politics into the class w/ little jokes that show his leanings. Oh well, as long as it doesn't become an off-topic tirade, I don't mind it. The english class isn't bad either, though I wish it wasn't so long on the 2 days I have it. Just under 2 1/2 hours. But it's going fast enough so far. The books in that class are boring so far, but it's only been a week, and we've only read out of one so far. It'll be cool though. I don't like the fact that they're doing road work right where I need to go, makes everything horrendously slow, so I had to find a different route. Anyway, the schedule is pretty easy this term. I think I'll like my stay at Foothill.
In other news, I went to work out at the gym today for the first time in... Let's just leave it at "way too long." I was totally drained after it, so much that I couldn't keep my arms lifted for any long amount of time. Not from soreness, just didn't have the energy. I'll probably be very sore tomorrow, but that's my own fault for taking so long between workouts. Reap what you sow, so I'm not going to complain how it's lame. Maybe I'll be smart, and go back regularly. Also need to get back to the archery range, I haven't shot in a while either. Not as long as my absence from the Y, but still too long. I guess the baseball season's winding down, too. It's gonna be a very tense week, because the Dodgers have a 3-game lead, with only 6 games left in the season. Man, it's gonna be close... Everyone who's able to, watch the Games and provide your rooting!
10/3/04 Hmm, what's new that I haven't talked about? Not too much happened of note during the week, so we'll just skip ahead to Friday. I went to MV's Homecoming parade and football game. The theme was movies/Hollywood (who says recycling is dead?). The floats were cool, the Seniors' one was awesome. Star Wars theme was cool enough, but the execution of it was most impressive. I still think it was really stupid how Homecoming was this early... But whatever. I'm not happy unless it's down Castro Street on a Saturday morning, like it's supposed to be. The MB was good. The parade was definitely not bad for this early in the year. The show, or what they did of it, wasn't bad either. Yeah, it needed some work, but that's to be expected at this point. Yesterday was the MB's actual unveiling of the show, and I went to that too. This time they did the whole thing, and it definitely has potential. There are some really cool things in it, but some issues that need ironing out. They've got a chance to win it all at Lodi, if they work hard and play their cards right. It sounds like the annual season video is sorta stalled right now, and I'm very seriously considering doing what I can to get it going. I'm hesitant though, because I don't know if I have the resources, experience and possibly time to do it well. If I take the reins on it and then end up overwhelmed, it would be a disaster. If I can get some help with it, if it can be a collaborative project, then I'm very willing to contribute how I can. But I can't do it on my own. If anyone knows someone who could be an asset, let me know. It'd be a real shame to not have a video at all, but me producing a lousy one isn't much better, in my eyes. Lots of people consider it an important project, and I don't want to let people down by taking it on and screwing it up. But I'm waiting to hear back on the topic and I'll go from there when I do. Today I went to the Fall Festival in Los Altos. My favorite part: the classic car show, hands down. There were lots of old cars, some going as far back as the 20's. And all were in fabulous condition. I'd really like to have a car like the ones there. Like that's gonna happen... Anyway, it was fun. Last thing I did tonight, I saw a movie that I had really high expectations for. When it was over, I felt cheated. It was just on the bad side of OK. There were a couple cool parts, but for the most part... LAME. It was "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles," the one from 1990. That's what happened to a classic series. Quite depressing. Anyway, time to turn in, i guess. School tomorrow. Oh, and one last thing, make sure your speakers are on and go to my Giants page.
10/17/04 I've seriously gotten lazy about posting. There's been stuff to talk about, but I just havent felt like taking the time to post. I'm not really sure why, either. I really should post more often, so that people aren't bombarded by enormous essays every time I update, sorry about that... So far, my classes have been easy. Music Theory is all a cakewalk so far in terms of what we're learning, but it's still helpful to learn the specifics of stuff I'd always just done instinctively. English is pretty cool, it's fairly casual, we pretty much just have class discussions the entire sessions. I'm concerned about how the essays will go though. I got an 88 on the easiest one of the course, and it was tough. I've got one coming up tomorrow (an in-class one), and I'm just hoping to do OK on it. The Symphonic Winds is a fun group. It's a bit weird being so young (nearly everyone looks to be at least 30), but the people are cool. And I'm really glad I chose the Bari over the clarinet. I hear those high-tempo runs they're playing, and I'm belting out low notes. Much preferred.
I went to the Marching Band competition at Cupertino on the 9th. I'd heard that some people were gonna be doing the video, but were open to help. I decided to show up at the event and see what was up. I got to Cupertino HS just before 8, with a fully-charged camera ready to go. I started shooting footage of all the stuff going on with MV, like the prepping for the parade. No sign of the video people. Everyone kept asking me if I was doing The Video. I didn't know what to say, so I said "if I'm needed to" or something like that. Anyway, during the parade, I finally found out that there were a few people there to shoot vid, so I introduced myself and say that I'm able to help if needed. Their response was hard to judge; they didn't introduce themselves back, or say much about if they wanted help or not. I figured I'd talk details a bit more later, during the off-time. I thought the band did really well at the parade, they looked and sounded good. Anyway, I went about my business, taping various things that I think would make good footage. After lunch, I saw one (of the 3 or 4 I had seen earlier) of the people around, but it was during a rehearsal and she was taping, as was I. After that, I didn't see any of them around, except once or twice during the off-time, and I was busy at the time. I'm curious about what footage they got if they weren't around much. True, just because I didn't see them doesn't meant they weren't there, but it's a bit curious. I freeloaded the MB dinner off the Band Moms (they were totally fine with it). I got some good shots when the band was warming up in uniform before the field show. On the way to the field, Leigh was performing. Now, back at the end of April/beginning of May, I'd predicted that they'd be doing "Van Helsing" as their field show. I'd heard sound clips on Filmtracks.com, and could all but guarantee it'd be Leigh's show. On the 9th, the wait was over, I finally found out if I'd been right back then. In short, I was. Not completely, because they didn't only do VH, but I distinctly recognized the music. I wish I'd posted my prediction on here, so there'd be written proof, but I know I told people of it. Maybe they can vouch for me. But anyway, my prediction was right. When MV performed, I thought it went really well. It sounded good and looked good. Definitely not bad for a Tino show. For some reason, they didn't get a single trophy. Not one. Oh well, Cupertino is the lowest-priority competition anyway. They did really well, and have a shot at the Lady if they continue to improve on things. Anyway, I got some good video over the course of the day, and I guess I'm going to keep going on Pleasanton and Lodi. Gonna be some looong days. It'll be cool though.
No, I'm not done. You wanna stop reading, nobody's forcing you to keep going. Wednesday was a Club Day at Foothill. All (or almost all) of the active clubs were set up in the quad to entice new people to join. I went, mostly looking for the Archery Club. Alas, nobody is running it, so it's in stasis. They gave me a sheet to reactivate it, but I just want to be in it, not in charge of it. Anyway, there were a few political clubs there. All but one were liberal. I can't say I'm completely surprised. If I was surprised at all, it'd be the fact that a Republican Club existed. Anyway, one of the Democrat people was encouraging people to register to vote. Well, I'd been thinking about it, but didn't know where to go to do so. Since the opportunity presented itself, I went for it. He was quite encouraging about my registering. ...Until he saw I didn't sign up as a Democrat. His enthusiasm sort of drained. Heh heh. It would have been even funnier If I'd gone Republican instead of Independent, but it was good anyway. Fact is, I didn't want to go fully right-wing. Anyway, I'm now registered, and will vote in the election.
WARNING: RARE POLITICAL TIRADE ALERT
I've been doing research, and while I used to just be like "Kerry's not that strong," I've now seen just how much of a two-faced snake he really is. For instance: He said himself that he picked the swiftboats in Vietnam b/c of the low chances of combat. 2 of his 3 purple hearts (and maybe the 3rd, I haven't found info on it yet) were not just from minor injury, but self-inflicted minor injury. You heard me right. 2 of his medals came from his own actions. And neither event involved hostile fire at all, according to people who were actually there. He requested the medals in order to get out of his tour of duty early. He threw them away in a protest back home. Oh, wait, the ones he tossed weren't his, but other soldiers' who had given theirs to him. Soldiers whose names Kerry can't even remember. Regardless, once he renounces his decorations, he loses any right to flaunt them as a testament to his "patriotic service to his country." This is the person that many people are pushing to get as our next Commander-In-Chief? Please. The "Anybody But Bush" ideology is just stupid, and I don't care who I offend by saying that. If the Democrats had a real candidate, a strong one, then supporting him would be more logical. But to arbitrarily pick someone just because he's not Bush is a foolish way to do things.
And Michael Moore has mislead voters, which is another reason I'm registering. It's fine to have opposing views, I really mean that. It's fine to disagree, as long as viewpoints can be supported with facts and logic. But to fabricate things and lie in order to sway people's opinions the way he did is completely devoid of honor. People need to check facts for themselves, not just parrot what they hear from a single source. Too many people, on both sides, do that. The only thing worse than an uninformed voter is a misinformed voter, and I hope people realize that.
END POLITICAL TIRADE
OK, I think I've gotten that out of my system, at least for now. Sorry for the length of it, but I had stuff to say. If you disagree with what I said, that's your right and your choice. But this is my journal, and I decide what gets put in it. You want to wade through all that, power to ya. And if so, thanks for actually wanting to know what I have to say. Man, I think the reason I don't like posting is because of how long it takes. But if I post more often, it won't take as long. Maybe I'll be more timely in my updates. We'll see. If anyone's still awake after that post, my apologies for subjecting you to that diatribe. But hey, at least it's broken into sections now, unlike my first posts...
11/1/04 Hadn't I said something about posting more freqently? Man, I'm lethargic when it comes to updates... Even when I have every intention to, I just don't get around to it. Hopefully this won't be quite as long a post. I guess there are only a couple big things to talk about. First off, I went to the MB competition in Pleasanton on the 23rd, I just went up on the bus. I got volunteered as a chaperone, because they needed someone to. The only real difference was that I took roll on the bus. Big deal. Anyway, the weather wasn't exactly what I'd call "good" that day. It rained pretty much the entire time. Never hard, but nearly constant. The band did pretty well, but a couple technicalities dropped their score again. I hope they get things ironed out by Lodi, which is this coming Saturday. Anyway, I brought the camera, and ended up exhausting both batteries by pretty near the end of the competition. That's trouble, regarding Lodi. There'll be much more to film, and I won't have enough battery life. I just hope things get covered somehow. The batteries are expensive, so getting another one is out of the question. I'm going to bring the other camera, the older one, but the reason we got the new one in the first place was that this one doesn't hold a charge for long...
In other news, Halloween went pretty well. On Friday evening I started carving my first of 2 pumpkins, at about 7:45 or so. I knew it'd be a difficult one, and planned to take my time. Little did I know that "taking my time" meant 6 and 1/2 hours... I decided to do my other one on Saturday night. It wasn't as complex, so it didn't take as long. Unfortunately, it still took another 6 hours. I need to find a better method for carving next year. What took so long was that I didn't just cut out sections, but there were parts that required just shaving away the outer skin, so that what was left would glow. I only had something that would take off a little strip at a time, which was painstakingly slow. So I spent more than 12 hours working on 2 pumpkins. That's effective time management, huh? Well, the work shows, I think. You be the judge: 
I have other pics too, but I don't want to take up all the space here. Anyway, they turned out pretty well, I think. We got more Trick-or-Treaters than the past 2 years at this house combined. Still not tons, but it seems to improve each year. But then, we add more decorations each year. Contact me for pics, if you want.
Lastly, the election is tomorrow. I have to say, I'm dreading the possibility of a Kerry win. Normally, elections aren't this serious. But I simply don't trust the fate of the country in the hands of a traitor. Not in a time like this. Tomorrow night will be tense. I'm not looking forward to having to wait for the results. But there's nothing that can be done about that. Anyway, I'm done. Oh yeah, and I have a midterm tomorrow, and one on Wednesday. Good times.
11/18/04 Ok, I think I qualify as an update punk. Whoever actually does check to see if I've posted is given nothing, time after time. Sorry about that, I just really stink at being current. Anyway, what's new that's worth writing about? Um, I aced both my midterms, 100% scores. Let's see if I can manage that when my classes aren't so easy. But for now, I'm seeminly in a good spot to start my first term of my transcript off with some decent grades. Also, for some reason my Music Theory teacher can't seem to remember my name. He keeps calling me Eugene. There was a Eugene in the class earlier in the term, but he sorta disappeared. I don't think we looked that much alike... Anyway, in English we've been doing a unit on fallacies. The headlining example? Michael Moore. Finally, a teacher that doesn't worship the ground he walks on! Anyway, we watched Bowling For Columbine in class, and I happened to bring in a stack of papers that blasts holes in the Oscar-robber. I call it that because it had no business being called a "documentary." But that could be a massive post on it's own, I won't go into detail here. Suffice to say, works of fiction shouldn't win Oscars for Best Documentary.
Non-Academically speaking, the Foothill Symphonic Winds is sounding pretty good, and we have a concert on December 8th. If anyone's interested in going (I'm not holding my breath, who would want to go to a concert if they only know one of the people in it and isn't family?) I can get you a flyer that'll get you a "buy one ticket, get one free" deal.
On Saturday is the BHU (Bowhunters Unlimited) Turkey Shoot. The last shoot I did was back in the spring sometime, so It's been quite a while since I've done the trail. My dad, brother and I went up to the range this past Sunday to see about shaking off some of the dust from our equipment and get back into practice to be ready for the shoot. The weird thing is that I was shooting just as well, if not better, than I was months ago, and I haven't been practicing. I don't get it, but I'm not griping. I was getting consistent hits on a small target size at 20 yards, and decent hits all the way up to 75 or so. I hope it'll translate well on the course. So I'm looking forward to that. Maybe one of us will win a Thanksgiving turkey this year. Came close last time...
Oh, I can't believe I'd forgotten to mention this, I guess it's been longer than I'd really thought since my last post. On the 6th I went to Lodi with the Marching Band, shooting video again. That was one loooong day. But worth it, so very worth it. Heh. I'm not even in the band anymore, but I felt very fortunate to be able to still be there with them on such an epic event. The parade was fantastic, I don't know if I'd ever heard MV sound that good. Of course, when you're in the block, it's a bit harder to tell the overall sound. But I was very impressed. So were the judges, apparently. They gave MV phenomenal scores. They only missed Parade Sweepstakes by half a point. But the evening! There's no way to describe how it was. I could feel the emotional power during the warm ups, and I knew the show would be spectacular. I wasn't disappointed. They put on one of the most jaw-droppingly good performances I'd ever seen. No joke. The crowd was going nuts, and It was definitely a weird feeling, being on the field level when not in uniform. They just barely got beaten my Folsom, which was a serious disappointment, especially for the seniors (note: this sentence has been nominated for the "Understatement of the Year" award). But even so, they did so amazingly well that their spirit that night was the closest to how Carmina Burana felt my freshman year (and no year has beaten that). I was utterly dumbfounded by how they did, and I don't say that lightly. I am definitely looking forward to next year's season. I expect great things from them, based on what I saw that night. Now, to those that were never in the Band, and even those that were but didn't get the same thing out of it that I did, I know that this all sounds overly dramatic and a bit obsessive about it all, but you know what? I don't care. I don't expect everyone to know what I'm talking about. Lodi is a very special event for some, and this year was no exception. In any case, I'm glad I was fortunate enough to go along.
Well, I think that's enough for tonight. I have to stop waiting so long between posts. Just gotta get the motivation to do it.
12/8/04 Hey, an update! Who'd have guessed? Lots of stuff to talk about, so brace yourselves. I think the first bit of news is from the 20th. Dad, Colin and I went to the BHU Turkey Shoot, and it went pretty well. First place in each category (e.g. Compound w/ trigger, Compound w/o, Recurve, Youth, etc..) would win a frozen turkey. I took second place (out of 2 or 3, i don't remember which), but it wasn't that close. The dude that beat me did so by about 100 points... It was still fun though. Dad won a turkey, so we still got to take one home. I've completely fallen out of the habit of going up to the range (apparently along with posting regularly), but I hope to get back into doing it more.
It seems like I'm forgetting a chunk of time in which something happened... oh well, if it comes to me, I'll revise this. I registered for classes for the upcoming term. I couldn't do exactly the ones I'd originally planned, because I found out they're not offered every single quarter, so I needed to rearrange my plan. But I did get the classes I wanted based on the new plan, at the times I wanted. I'll put my schedule up on the site somewhere. The classes I'll be taking are Psychology, Marine Biology, Stage Band, and College Band (aka Foothill Symphonic Winds). No excessively long gaps this time around, this past quarter there was a 3.5 hour window between classes on a couple days. So that's looking like it'll be pretty cool.
In other news, I may be on the verge of being employed (after how long?) again. On Monday I ran into a friend I hadn't seen in a while, and he mentioned that he works at Nordstrom at the Stanford Mall. They're apparently in serious need of stockers, and he told me to stop by the next day. So yesterday I went over there and applied, and when I was done, Jimmy was about to go on his "lunch" break (it was a little after 4:30), so we went to Taxi's. It was cool catching up with him. Anyway, less than 24 hours after applying, I get a call from Nordstrom. I'm set to go in for an interview tomorrow at 3. That was fast, and I hope it works out favorably. It sounded like it'd be a good place to work. The atmosphere seems pretty nice, and I think it'd be a welcome change. So we'll see what happens with that. Knowing me though, you probably won't hear about it for another month or so.
Last night was also the MVHS Winter Concert, and I went to it (don't tell me you're surprised). The groups sounded pretty good. One of the tunes Symphonic Band played was Shenandoah, and I've hated that piece since we played it 3 years ago. Sure, they played it fine, but I just despise the song. Wind Ensemble played "Hobbits," and it sounded really good. More than a little faster than it should have been, but oh well. Orchestra was very impressive, they played some really cool sounding stuff, and played it really well. I think they were the most impressive at the concert (sorry, Wind Ensemble). Saw some old friends, and had a good time in general.
Tonight was the FSW Winter Concert, and I have to say, it went pretty well. I'd never played a concert set that long and that difficult before. Now, I'd played tough pieces before, and some long sets, but not together. I was pretty much spent by the end of the concert. It was really fun though. The theater was pretty small, at least it seemed so to me. pretty well-kept though. I really enjoyed it, and definitely plan to keep going with it, even if I am one of the only people my age in it. That's it for the FSW until January, so the only thing to tide me over, performance-wise is the Saxophone Christmas on the 18th. It sounds like it'll be a blast, I recommend coming to one of the performances, either in San Jose or at Vallco. Let me know if youre interested, I won't know specifics, like times, until later. If I did, I'd post them.
Last thing for now, I got a summons for jury duty today. Problem is, it's set for the first week of the new quarter, so I have to get it rescheduled. I don't want to do it at all, but I guess I have to... Oh well, I'll worry about it later, I guess. For now I just need to send in the response form and go from there.
1/4/2005 Happy New Year, everyone, I hope you all had a good Christmas (or whatever you celebrate). Well, some things have happened since my last post. Considering it's almost been a month, it shouldn't be a surprise there are things to write about.
I guess I'll start up where I left off regarding Nordstrom, I had a job interview with them on the day after my last post. I went in and met with the assistant head of personnel. The interview went pretty well, I think, she said she'd definitely recommend me for employment to the department managers and that I'd hear from them in a day or 2. Well, guess what? I didn't hear back from for a week, the day after I decide to check back with them. When someone finally did call back, he was under the impression I only wanted a seasonal position (all of 2 weeks). I told him that I was looking for something a bit less temporary than that, but if that's all that would work, I'd start with that. So he said he'd call back after seeing what was available. Aaaaand, that was the end of that. I'm gonna apply at Tower next, see if they'll hire me...
On the 18th was the San Jose Saxophone Christmas. I'd heard about it through one of the people in the FSW, and I signed up for it. I was hoping Don Stevens would be there with his Contrabass, but no such luck. There was, however, a contra there. One of the newer ones, made as a special order. Some lucky kid from San Diego owns it. Don't ask me how, because if I knew, I'd do it too. Anyway, there were 16 or 18 (this is pathetic, it's been so long since it happened I don't remember which) songs to learn in just 2 hours. Luckily we didn't have to memorize it, and the music wasn't extremely difficult. The first performance was at "Christmas in the Park," right near the SJ Tech Museum. Those of us from FSW had lunch at the cafe that's part of the museum. Man, I hadn't been in that building since May of 03... Looked a little different this time. Anyway, the performance was really fun. I was tired by the end of it, standing up for an hour with my Bari was tough. I've always played it sitting down. But we still had another concert to do, at Vallco. That one was a lot of fun too. My right thumb literally had lost feeling in it for a couple days afterwards, I think I was doing something wrong... And my lower lip was swollen for a while too. I wish I'd thought of medicated chapstick a bit earlier than I did, but oh well. All is good now. It was a cool day, and I'm hoping to do it next year.
Christmas was great as well. Everyone liked their gifts, and I got some great things as well. Lots of music and movies, some cool books, and other assorted things. My uncle came over too. On New Years Eve I hung out with friends during the afternoon and evening. We had sort of a "belated Christmas Party," since most people were out of town until then. We watched Return of the Jedi on DVD (putting Hayden Christiansen in the end was a TRAVESTY), which was fun. We exchanged gifts after that. Then we went our separate ways, since people had things they had to do, places to be. I went home to the family's New Years festivities.
Last section for this post, the Winter Quarter started yesterday. The psychology class should be good, it's an interesting enough subject, and the teacher seems cool. Fairly big class, around 45-50. Marine Biology is a smaller class, around 20 or so. I think it'll go well too. Stage Band is a different story, however. The first session was tonight at 8. I got there, lugging my bari up the stupid hill by the theater, I wish there was an easier way up there, aside from parking all the way on the other side of the campus. Anyway, as soon as I walk in the door, I'm told that the auditions were held already... yay. That means no jazz for me until September. So I lugged the bari back down the hill and proceeded to drop the class. At least FSW starts tomorrow, it's not jazz, but it's still fun. And I know I'm in on that one...
Ok, that should catch everything up to now. I'll try to be less lethargic regarding post frequency.
2/5/05 Man, more than a month since I posted. That a record for me? I'll only talk about the important stuff, so this post won't be that long. Somehow I don't expect anyone really wants to hear every last detail of what's going on in my life, so why waste the energy writing about it?
School's going fine, my schedule's definitely likeable. Psychology isn't too tough as long as I keep up with the terminology. Lots of interesting stuff though. I definitely like my Marine Biology class, it's a bit more engaging than a chemistry class or anything that you have to memorize a bunch of lame formulas. And yes, I know, some people don't mind that, but I'm definitely not one of them. We've only taken one field trip so far, but it was fun. It was to Long Marine Lab in Santa Cruz. Cool place, not exactly large, but fun nonetheless. Next trip is on Tuesday, to Monterey Bay Aquarium. That's gonna be really fun, I haven't been there since I was in Elementary School.
The 23rd of January was my 20th birthday. No longer a teenager, but I don't feel any different yet. I got a new stereo for the Lumina, and I really like it. It plays my burned CDs with much more reliability than the old one. That one was less than a 50/50 chance that they'd work, but I haven't had any problems with this one. It also plays mp3 CDs, so that was an added bonus. I can fit massive amounts of music on a disc now, and It's definitely cool. It even has a remote control, which I hadn't been even thinking of in terms of criteria for features. No complaints whatsoever for the player.
Last thing for this post, we got HDTV about a week ago. I was just hoping to get it before baseball season started, and I guess my assertiveness in seeing how to get it paid off early. There are only a few channels that broadcast HD stuff, but the stuff that is HD is really cool. I seriously can't wait until baseball is on in all the High-Def glory. 2 whole months from today, how will I ever last? I think the Giants have made some improvements in the offseason, and I think this will be a great year. It just has to actually ARRIVE...
There, I think I included anything important without making it an excessively long post. If I forgot anything, oh well.
