i tried to get into an mba class on wednesday. that did not go too well. do you ever walk into a classroom on the first day, and just know that you're the 'nerd' of the class? well, i guess nobody else really has that feeling, but that was how i felt. i felt like these bullies were eyeing me, scheming to use me to do their homework and partner with me whenever there was a project. i felt out of place. that's when i was scheming to pretend i was dumb so nobody would try to use me. wait. i don't need to pretend.

but in any case, the director of the MBA program came in and announced that the professor was in a car accident and would not be able to teach the class since she busted up her leg.

so this one other asian guy in the class, his first question out of several, was not "is she okay?" or "how is she doing?" but rather, "the class isn't cancelled is it? i need this class to graduate." straight off the bat, that was his first question. thinking of his own well being instead of some nice lady who can't even walk anymore. i mean, it's a relevant question, but i thought it was rather rude the way he phrased it right away. no surprise that he was a chinese fob. i guess that's b-school for ya.

would you ever buy jeans from sams club or price costco? i don't think i would. my jeans selection process is extremely selective. it's because i don't really like jeans. i don't like long pants really... i like shorts.

so for my birthday, my mom told me she'd buy me clothes (including jeans) from sam's club... polo brand! for some reason, i find that funny.

went to the house of prime rib... saw a magnusta parked out in front. crazy.
ordered the king henry VIII cut... couldn't even finish half. crazy.
on the next table, there were about a dozen huge, huge, tall, huge black guys... they were Oakland Raiders. crazy.
aileen drank red wine... and actually said it was 'okay.' crazy.
one of the best meals of my life... and aileen paid for it. crazy.

as of late, Fox has been airing a show called "american idol" where each week one person is eliminated from a pool of 30 people, when eventually it will be narrowed down to one winner. the winner receives a one million dollar record contract. one person is eliminated through either 3 judges (which includes paula abdul... one step forward and two steps back indeed), and telephone voting. to everyone else, this is the show to watch and talk about. i hear about some aspect of the show every day. on the radio, coworkers, tv interviews, magazine covers, random eavesdropping, it's simply everywhere. to me, this is the show never to watch. i guess i just don't like reality shows.

yesterday, i hung out with aileen. it was definitely an awkward moment because we fought over the remote control... like we were either a married couple or brother and sister( i still can't figure out which analogy i like more). in any case, my Padres were actually being televised on tv against the Braves. definitely an exciting moment for me, since they are rarely on national tv. they were on the top of the 8th, up 6-2. they were winning for goodness sake!!! aileen whined and complained since "american idol" was on at the same time, not giving a crap damn about my Pads actually winning a game. so what eventually happened was the ritualistc commercial switch-a-roo. if one show was on commercial, then i pressed the r-tune button right back to the other. still, aileen was not satisfied as she obviously hates watching baseball despite my desperate attempts to explain to her why it was so exciting. "see? that's called an error. he overthrew the pitch, so the guy on first ran to second! see? isn't that cool? isn't baseball cool and fun?! ooh! bonds is on deck!!!" (in actuality, this was the giants/mets game since the padres game was on commercial. i flipped to that game instead of 'american idol' because i seriously did not want to watch it... but of course, all in vain)

aileen eventually won the bout keeping the tv on 'american idol' and only switching back to the padres game when there was a commercial. needless to say, i only got to watch half of what i could have since she kept on flipping back to Fox to see if the commercials were finished. but the padres game eventually ended, and we stayed on 'american idol.'

'american idol' should be called 'american poopheads.'

after watching the first 30 minutes of poor performances, the judges bagging on each other rather than the contestants, paula abdul wearing some weird outfit (more on that later), the weird looking contestants, the weirder looking family member close-ups, and of course the extremely boring and non-entertaining hosts, i decided to clean the kitchen, do the laundry, and do the dishes.

on second thought, maybe i should be forced to watch the show more.

so obviously, i am not a 'survivor', 'the great race', 'dog eat dog', 'fear factor' or any fan of reality game shows... but this one definitely takes the cake. i'm not doubting that the contestants don't have that much talent, because some of them could actually sing. but if i want to watch someone sing patti labelle, i'll watch patti labelle, and watch her sing it in tune and correctly. if i want to watch someone sing alanis morisette, why not just watch alanis? they should at least have their own material to be considered to have 'musical talent.' dagnabbit, i'll even watch my roommates michael jackson DVD collection that i got him for christmas rather than watch someone try to sing michael jackson.

i think i would rate my experience watching the show as 'punishment.'

claaaaaasic:

click me!

sidenote:

aileen wants to point out that robin williams should stick to comedy.

i guess playing scary psycho bad guy roles (insomnia, and the new one hour photo) just reveals the other side of robin williams' true psychotic self.

so i took a practice GMAT yesterday and my scores were just horrendous. it made me so depressed to see scores so low. true, i didn't study. true, i didn't even know how many sections there were. true, i ate, talked, worked, and watched tv in between. true, i was singing along to weezer. but no matter what the excuse, it's just too depressing. as my coworker would say, 'crap damn', it was crap damn depressing.

so determined to convince myself i really am not that dumb, i took it again at work. i can't say i redeemed myself, but i am certainly more satisfied.

my scores:
yesterday - 430
today - 590

my goal? break a 700.

bring it haas. bring it harvard. as reese witherspoon said in 'legally blonde', "like it's hard?"

with europe flooding all over the place, i say that people should show support to europe just as they showed support for us when four planes crashed almost a year ago.

here's a sad realization that i had this morning:

sometimes going to church in college was more out of commitment to people than to God. i had a responsibility as a small group leader, a transportation team member, and a welcoming team member to help serve, teach, welcome, and drive people to church. i had served continuously for 3 and a half years ... and slowly, it became a job for me to do it because it was my responsibility and my job. i remember there were times where i was doing it to serve God, but honestly now that i am not serving in a church anymore, i don't feel the "must go to church" attitude as much as i used to.

i think people should take breaks when they serve at church. this way, they can remind themselves of why they are going to church in the first place.

being a pastor with the right mindset must be so difficult...

i really hate to make fun of some guy i don't know, but it was just too funny.

so i found this on a local community posting site for resumes... and this is what one guy wrote:

Hello,

Thanks for checking out my resume. I am looking for an opportunity to help retailers create greater efficiencies and enhanced selling environments so that they can grow their businesses...

and after droning on for a while about his experience:

I also teach in-line skating in San Francisco, and the current URL(until 8/18)is XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX, in case you, or your company need to learn a new way to reduce stress -). Special offer this week>> FREE Group Lesson if I am asked in for an interview for an appropriate position!!

Thank you,

xxxxxxxxxxx

then he posts his resume

i don't know about you, but i found it quite entertaining.

yet another uneventful day at work...

in terms of getting things done at work today:

- paid some bills
- talked to the IRS about a tax question
- scoured ebay and craigslist
- decided to take a vacation next week, so trying to figure out what to do
- am going to enroll in MBA class next semester at SFSU, and found all the things necessary to do it.

in terms of ACTUAL work... nada.

here's another thought:
how many guys still use blow dryers these days?

was today that meaningless?

yes... yes it was.

worked... came home and just played video games all nite... tried to watch tv, but nothing good was on... so i played some more.

gonna go to bed early tonite. waste of a day, or a good use of a day?

last week was a very hectic week in two regards:
1) everyone was out on vacation, so i had to pick up the load
2) trying to get first row weezer tickets for their concert last saturday.

it was originally planned as a surprise for aileen, but it turned out to be a big as a surprise for both of us. i went to see weezer... front row and center. it was such a great experience, and one that i will tell for days and days.

highlights of the concert:
- aileen figured out where we were going after the radio was talking about the weezer concert that day, along with other clues... like... me following signs to the chronicle pavilion... but was still surprised when we went allll the way to the front and center.

- watching dashboard confessional as support... they have one song out on the radio right now, and it's just okay... but i definitely have more respect for them now after watching them live.

- rivers (lead singer of weezer) talk:
"my children!!!!"
"thank you jesus... for the rock... we are about to receive...."
"fork yeah."
"i'm going to talk to my band now... hey guys, when we get to the last chorus... let's play it twice... because it's just too good...sorry, but sometimes, you just gotta shred..."

- me and aileen are on weezer.com!!! they took a picture of the audience, and as we were front row along with aileen's devastating looks, how can you miss? click here scroll down to 8/10/02 post to see pics from the concert

here are me and aileen. notice the red wristbands we get when we sit first row? hehehe..

amazing. a crow that can make tools. the article may be impressive, but wait till you watch it at the science magazine site itself! simply amazing.

another amazing note:
i think someone flicked a booger onto my windshield on the highway.

some updates:

1) pictures at my website.
2) took out the scream in my 'blog you!' intro. apparently, people had to turn down their speakers at work everytime they visited my page.

i had a pretty adventurous dream last nite, and it was all attributed to video games.

i don't remember the chronological order, but it had to do with these scenes:

1) i'm in the ocean and i am facing a shark attack with a friend, trying to protect her. it's a great white shark and it's circling us, going down deep, then surprise attacking us at different angles. i try to punch it in the nose when it comes for it's kill.

2) i wake up, go to the bathroom, and feel sick.

3) i am training with the army, playing a sniper of some sort. i die 3 times, but then in the next round, i kill off everyone and my record climbs 12-3 in one round. it was sparked by a snooty comment coming from a group of asian guys. i walk out of the place after killing everyone, and as i'm walking by the asian guys - they don't say anything this time.

4) my dad and i are parking on the street, and a car is going crazy behind us and tries to run my dad over. the driver is some old lady. she's trying to run my dad over so i jump in her car through the window and she pulls out a 6-shooter. i grab her gun as she tries to shoot me, we struggle, and i make her fire all six bullets so she has no more bullets left. in the meantime, the car is swerving in and out like crazy.

that's the last thing i remember, and i wake up. and i felt sick... just like how i did in dream sequence #2.

CAUTION: RANDOM TRANSITIONS AHEAD
today was my second attempt to bring lunch to work so i can save money. so this morning i woke up, showered (yes aileen... i showered for once), and proceeded to make lunch. my sandwich ingredients are: ham (any brand), cheese (costco sells the best american cheese ever), the mustard (any brand), and the bread (any brand). yes... that's how i make a sandwich...and i am satisfied with it. i was raised to eat everything, and never really developed my taste buds... that and i eat gorges of hot sauce which killed off any taste buds i had left. i opened the bread bag and as i grabbed a slice - it was rock hard. "hmm..." i thought to myself, "is this still edible? i mean it's just hard...oh! only the crust is hard. i can just cut the crust out." so i pulled my hand out of the bag and opened the knife drawer. it was then i noticed my hand was actually wet from the bread. it was definitely rotten. rats. i guess i gotta go to taco bell again... awww shucks.

speaking of fast food restaurants, my coworker found this great website that has health stats for almost any fast food restaurant you can imagine:

http://www.dottisweightlosszone.com/Restaurants/

make sure to check out costco... because man.... so fattening.

and speaking of fattening... i gained 10 pounds since i last weighed myself in june. i told my mom this yesterday on the phone and she was silent for a moment, then said "oh my gosh" quietly, then all of a sudden exploded barking the usual commands of "work out! run! eat fruits and veggies!" (the same sort of reaction to either a tragic event or the padres winning the world series or the clippers winning the nba finals... it was a huge shock so it has to sink in...) so i asked her what i could make that's healthy with rice, mushrooms, chicken, and cucumber. she gave me about 5 different recipes in one sentence... and basically walked me through making my very first bi bim bap. moms are so great... especially my mom.

speaking of moms and being fat, i need to stop making 'yo momma' jokes like pj does. i made a 'your mom' joke to my coworker once, and he was like "HA HA! my mom's passed away, so there!" i really didn't know if he was serious or not, and to this day, i still don't know. i think i should only make fun of people that i'm really close with.

speaking of parents that have passed away, eric wrote a poignant yet strong entry today about his 10th year since his father passed away. i'm glad he wrote it, and it just goes to show how awesome his parents really are. i mean, there are so many screwed up people in the world because of their parents either through divorce, death, etc.... but eric and his brother... wow... you can't help but just say wow...

some entertainment

CAUTION: PESSIMISTIC ENTRY AHEAD

this morning i was reminded of how desensitized we have become. when someone dies by a bullet, how often do we become shocked or scared for more than 3 minutes (unless it's someone we know of course)? the whole catholic priest fondling little boys, has that already become trite and old news? for goodness sake, priests are molesting boys!!! but we have heard it so often, it just simply isn't a big of a shock to the most of us. we just simply say, "geez. not again. oh well." how about all the innocent mothers and children that are being blown to bits and pieces in palestine and israel?

in high school, mr. gaston, our amnesty international advisor, asked us one day, "what if the news headline read 4,000 kids died today?" i remember thinking to myself, "dang. that would be crazy." it was actually true, he explained. around the world, especially in africa, many kids die every day because of malnutrition, disease, and violence. it's just that the press and the world has become so desensitized to kids dying in africa, that it's no longer "interesting." (i'm not sure how exact the figure he gave us was, but still... that's still a lot)

so the latest clamor that out nation is currently making is about little girls being kidnapped. i'm afraid that the more i hear about it, the less i will read about it on cnn. moreover, the more it shows up on cnn, the less likely i will be inclined to read it. seriously...how many people are still following the details of US troops still searching for Al Qaeda in afghanistan right now? i really hope that they are not risking their lives to protect a country who doesn't even think twice about how lucky we really are if it weren't for soldiers and troops like them.

i think that's a major problem i have with some christians today. they constantly think about how great God is for giving them forgiveness and mercy and for sending Jesus Christ to die on the cross to expiate and propitiate our sins, etc etc etc. not to say that this is bad at all.... probably better than me actually... but i think it's depressing that that's the only thing some usually ever think about: themselves and how their undeserving raw hide was saved.
for example:
person: "Thank you so much Father for saving me from eternal damnation... (goes on for about 10 minutes basically saying the same thing)..."
after he is done praying, he reads headlines about 2 kids and a mother dying by gunfire... and he has no second thoughts about the headline at all.
but what can i say... we're only human.

is all this because our hearts have become so hardened or is it because our heads are so huge and involved with ourselves, we think it will never happen to us or our family? probably a bit of both... but that's always the easy way out of questions of that manner. why? because it requires the least amount of thinking... especially with something we don't really care about.

on another note: what's up with "moisturizing beads" or "exfoliating beads" in soap nowadays? it only makes you feel dirtier... like washing your hands in sand mixed with glue. it only wants to make me wash my hands again with normal soap.

updates:

- will take off the scream on my flash "blog you" intro.
- after writing about saving money on thursday, this is what i did to alleviate my problem:
- friday ate at unamas for dinner, then treated my high school friend wayne to in 'n out (his first time.... i had to)
- saturday: dim sum for brunch, chinese restaurant for dinner
- sunday: pho for lunch, pizza hut for dinner.

i never listen to myself.

i have been spending so much money lately, it just has to stop. i used to be very good about bringing lunch to work 4 out of 5 days a week, thus going out to lunch once a week (sandwich, yogurt, and a bag of chips in a brown paper bag... all i was missing was the juice box). the same would apply for dinner, i'd go out for dinner once a week too. but for some reason, i just exploded and have eaten out practically every meal. so after treating two coworkers to lunch yesterday (for their birthdays... and i just happened to be the only person that went) and eating out for dinner, i decided not to eat out anymore this week. so this morning, i packed two sandwiches so i can't find any excuse to go out.
during lunch time, my coworker came up to me and asks, "did you bring?"
"yeahh...." i say reluctantly. already i was itching to go out to eat.
"okay. well i'm gonna go and get hawaiian drive inn...you sure you don't want to come?"
now i don't even LIKE hawaiian drive inn... but because i am addicted to spending money... i had to reply with: "hmm... how about taco bell?"
"nah... i don't feel like mexican."
"okay. hawaiian drive inn it is! when do you want to leave?"

and just like that - i was sold... leaving my lunch in the fridge for tomorrow, or more likely, till next monday where it will already be gross so i have to go out for lunch again.

so we get to the restaurant, and i notice a music store next door. i love music stores because i love to try out all the different instruments - especially their drum sets. i have been craving to play drums for a very very long time. whenever i am bored in traffic, i pretend i am drumming to weezer or rhcp or any band for that matter. sometimes i even pretend the clutch is the bass drum and step on it every beat (when the car is stopped of course). so in any case, i walk through the store and see a bucket full of drum sticks for only 2 dollars a pair. an offer you just CAN'T refuse. so after grabbing them and getting ready to pay at the cash register i realize i only have 6 dollars (mind you i had 25 dollars last nite at 8 pm)... and that wouldn't cover lunch. "better get some more stuff so i can use my credit card! because... it's an insult to use your credit card for a 2 dollar purchase, right?" so i go back to the rear of the store and get a drum practice pad. the sticker said 22 dollars, but the guy who was helping me said he'd give it to me for 18. wow! another great deal!!!
"cool. i'll take it." i said. in my mind i am thinking 'WHAT am i doing?!?!?!'
the total with tax was around 22 dollars.
so i brought my lunch to work to save money - and i end up dropping another 28 dollars today when i should not have spent a single dime.
but now i have the drumsticks!!!!! all i need to do is just figure out how to hold these darn things...

today i got a chemical burn at work. man, does phenol burn fast. i wasn't really wearing the proper attire, and a few drops splattered on my arm. i know have these black spots where it used to be skin. a coworker of mine got 500ul or 0.5 mls on her once and it was a pretty bad burn. luckily, mine was just a drop.. enough to leave a scar the size of finger nail. man, that is some pretty dangerous stuff - i never realized the potency of just a small drop of something called phenol.

my company team won the palo alto softball championship yesterday. we won 10-0 with only one man reaching 3rd base. it made our manager/coach amy cry .
i played first base with some great catches and also went 2 for 2 with a two runs scored. overall, a great game.