August 17, 2011
Lucid Dreams with your host: Stevey Harvey
I wake up and see Kevin walking out of the room. Still groggy, I do not bother to ask where he is off to. I sit up in bed and look over to the other bed and see a person sleeping. I look around my room and everything is where it should be. It feels like every other weekday except that Chad is in my brother's bed. My mouth starts to feel gummy and I lick the front of my teeth. What?! Braces?! Again?! I must be dreaming! At the point Chad is sitting up in my brother's bed as well. I look at him and our conversation went something like this:
Alex: Dude... I think I'm dreaming
Chad: Why do you think that?
Alex: I have braces...
Chad: Holy shit. I think you are dreaming. You haven't had braces in years!
Alex: I know! I better wake up soon.
Then the dream ended. I wake up in my room and look around as I did in my dream. Like before, it felt like any other weekday. It was still relatively dark out and my room was just as messy as I remembered leaving it. Enter: Steve Harvey.
Alex: Steve Harvey?! What are you doing here?!
Steve: You're dreaming again!
Alex: Again?!
Steve: Here's what you do if you want to figure out if you're dreaming. Next time look at the fan over there (points to a fan), and if you can watch it... Uhh... Move... Like when it turns (makes hand motion of a fan turning)...
Alex: Oscillating?
Steve: Yeah! Oscillate. If you see it oscillate, just stare at it and if you can watch it for more than a minute then you're not dreaming!
Then I really woke up and my mom yelled at me to get ready. That really happened...
-Thundalips
August 12, 2011
Que?
Love this song... It is a damn shame what those people did to him... The girl in the video is not all that pretty but I love every outfit she is wearing.
So much for sleeping early...
-Thundasleepy...
August 10, 2011
Shut up
Mind your own business. If I want your advice, I will ask for it. So shut up and keep it to yourself. You do not know me, and you are definitely not entitled to tell me how to live my life. You can live your own crappy life and leave everyone else out of it.
-Thundalips
August 7, 2011
Smoke out
Fair warning. If you do not care about smoking meats, just ignore this post. That is all that I am going to be talking about here.
It's 7:52AM on a Sunday, and I am awake. Why? There can only be one reason...
BBQ! Well... I am actually just smoking a pork shoulder to make pulled pork sandwiches.
If someone were to ask me what my passion is, I honestly would have no real answer. Science? Microbiology? People watching? Maybe... But I would feel more inclined to say, "Barbecue."
Through the years, I have developed a specific taste for food. I tend to gravitate towards crunchy, smokey, often burnt, foods. Throw bacon in the mix and I am sold. I guess I take after my father who eats the same way. I often find myself fighting with him at the dinner table for the same pieces of meat. Because he never actually barbecued (or cooked in general...), I had to learn everything on my own (although I would happily accept an apprenticeship with Mr. Huang).
Smoking is not as easy as it sounds. I always thought it was a set-it-and-forget-it type of deal. Apparently not... The biggest thing about smoking is temperature control. With a gas smoker, one would think this would be easily done since the gas flow remains constant through the cooking process. However, this is not so.
The temperature of the smoker not only depends on the gas flow setting (high, medium, low), but it also is affected by the damper openings, wind factor, and most importantly, the wood. The wood that is used when smoking could drastically change the internal temperature of the smoker if they should flare up. My smoker went from a cool 180°F to 310°F during a flare up. After that passed, it went back down to 150°F. Not exactly a walk in the park trying to keep a constant temperature of 200-250°. That is a wide range but the temperature can be unpredictable.
To monitor the temperature, I have three thermometers set up - one of them being a dual sensor thermometer. The door thermometer seems to be highly inaccurate so I placed a second inside. Neither of these are digital... I wanted a more accurate reading of the temperature so I bought the Maverick ET-85. This will measure the internal temperature of the meat as well as the external temperature (oven temperature).
It's now 8:36 AM and the meat has been smoking for about 10 minutes. However, time is not the deciding factor on when the pulled pork is ready. It is the internal temperature. Once the pork is 170°F, it is ready to be taken out. Then, I get to use these!
They are called bear paws. The box says they can be used for pulling pork, transferring, lifting, and carving. I only see one use for this. Pulling pork.
6:XX PM - Lost track of time since people came over. The pork shoulder is finally done.
Results
I honestly think that it turned out okay. On a scale of one through ten, I would give it a six. It was definitely edible. For a first attempt, I am quite satisfied.
Since it is getting late, I must end this post abruptly.
-Thundalip
August 1, 2011
Lose a friend, gain a friend, lose yourself
Long overdue post...
Lose a friend.
I have always found it easier to leave someone behind than to be left behind. This time, I am the one who is being left behind. Anjuli has left the bay area, and she is not coming back. I grew very close to her in the past few years and words cannot describe how much I miss her now that she has gone.
After having met her in high school, we each went our separate ways for college. We kept in touch for the most part via AIM, and she remained one of the few friends from high school I talked to on a regular (or semi-regular) basis. A couple years later, on a whim, I decided to attend an outing she had invited me to. We never really fraternized publicly, so I was going out on a limb when I decided to tag along. It was one of the best decisions I have ever made.
Since then, we have become very close. One weekend led to another. And another. Weekend after weekend of good times with great company (and the occasional weekday). Trips to Reno, Vegas, Santa Cruz, and Tahoe. We went from Synergy and Element events (before we knew any better...) to more mature and classy places (excluding holy moly). Sober times, drunken times, good times, bad times, and everything in between. I would not trade those memories for anything.
I know I will see her again, but not having her around will be difficult for sure. It will be weird going out on the weekends and not seeing her around. Just another reminder not to take anything for granted. Anjuli, regardless of what I may have said, you can never be replaced. Evar.
We will always have Like a G6. I miss you already.
Gain a friend.
Around late April or early May, I was reacquainted with someone I had met six months prior. I met Janet in Las Vegas during our trip for Halloween. Unfortunately, like most people, she had a bad first impression of me. She started hanging out with Anjuli more and more which led her to our ragtag group of misfits. Needless to say, she fit in just fine.
Due to the fortunate timing of the end of my semester and Janet's reintroduction to the group, we were all able to hang out for the majority of two weeks. We took her to a bunch of places like Tomales Bay and anywhere else with alcohol. It was a good two weeks...
We all started talking more and she eventually became one of my most messaged buddies on AIM. We talk regularly during work hours and occasionally see each other at outings during the night. My text messages (which includes Instant Messages) jumped from about 800 per month to over 8,000. Unlimited text has suddently become a necessity.
During one of our conversations, I came up with an idea for my fourth tattoo. While chatting online, I tend to overuse the phrase "hahaha". The reason I throw it in so often is because it breaks the ice. Sometimes I say it just to indicate that I received the message - sort of an acknowledgment. This became an annoyance for her and she requested that I stop overusing it. I decided to avoid using it completely when chatting with her and our conversation seemed to lose a lot of emotion - to me at least. Everything felt dry and mundane. Eventually I felt like a robot with no emotions. I told her how I felt, followed by a message: "Iamarobot". However, she saw it as"lamarobot", as in "LAMAROBOT". She asked me later what a lamarobot was and it has been a running joke since.
I can tell that we are gonna be friends.
(By the way the tattoo idea is "lamarobot" on the inside of my forearm with a tiny robot at the end)
Lose yourself.
I have been doing some uncharacteristic things as of late... Without getting into specifics, I acted poorly and regret my actions. While I cannot change the past, I hope to improve the future.
This year has been difficult. Things are changing and I am finding it harder to keep up. I made a plan in the past few days that should help put me on the right path. With some luck, I should be able to find some minute nugget of happiness and perhaps even a sense of self worth.
Until then, I can always turn to alcohol and drugs.
-Spiladnuht
Lose a friend.
I have always found it easier to leave someone behind than to be left behind. This time, I am the one who is being left behind. Anjuli has left the bay area, and she is not coming back. I grew very close to her in the past few years and words cannot describe how much I miss her now that she has gone.
After having met her in high school, we each went our separate ways for college. We kept in touch for the most part via AIM, and she remained one of the few friends from high school I talked to on a regular (or semi-regular) basis. A couple years later, on a whim, I decided to attend an outing she had invited me to. We never really fraternized publicly, so I was going out on a limb when I decided to tag along. It was one of the best decisions I have ever made.
Since then, we have become very close. One weekend led to another. And another. Weekend after weekend of good times with great company (and the occasional weekday). Trips to Reno, Vegas, Santa Cruz, and Tahoe. We went from Synergy and Element events (before we knew any better...) to more mature and classy places (excluding holy moly). Sober times, drunken times, good times, bad times, and everything in between. I would not trade those memories for anything.
I know I will see her again, but not having her around will be difficult for sure. It will be weird going out on the weekends and not seeing her around. Just another reminder not to take anything for granted. Anjuli, regardless of what I may have said, you can never be replaced. Evar.
We will always have Like a G6. I miss you already.
Gain a friend.
Around late April or early May, I was reacquainted with someone I had met six months prior. I met Janet in Las Vegas during our trip for Halloween. Unfortunately, like most people, she had a bad first impression of me. She started hanging out with Anjuli more and more which led her to our ragtag group of misfits. Needless to say, she fit in just fine.
Due to the fortunate timing of the end of my semester and Janet's reintroduction to the group, we were all able to hang out for the majority of two weeks. We took her to a bunch of places like Tomales Bay and anywhere else with alcohol. It was a good two weeks...
We all started talking more and she eventually became one of my most messaged buddies on AIM. We talk regularly during work hours and occasionally see each other at outings during the night. My text messages (which includes Instant Messages) jumped from about 800 per month to over 8,000. Unlimited text has suddently become a necessity.
During one of our conversations, I came up with an idea for my fourth tattoo. While chatting online, I tend to overuse the phrase "hahaha". The reason I throw it in so often is because it breaks the ice. Sometimes I say it just to indicate that I received the message - sort of an acknowledgment. This became an annoyance for her and she requested that I stop overusing it. I decided to avoid using it completely when chatting with her and our conversation seemed to lose a lot of emotion - to me at least. Everything felt dry and mundane. Eventually I felt like a robot with no emotions. I told her how I felt, followed by a message: "Iamarobot". However, she saw it as"lamarobot", as in "LAMAROBOT". She asked me later what a lamarobot was and it has been a running joke since.
I can tell that we are gonna be friends.
(By the way the tattoo idea is "lamarobot" on the inside of my forearm with a tiny robot at the end)
Lose yourself.
I have been doing some uncharacteristic things as of late... Without getting into specifics, I acted poorly and regret my actions. While I cannot change the past, I hope to improve the future.
This year has been difficult. Things are changing and I am finding it harder to keep up. I made a plan in the past few days that should help put me on the right path. With some luck, I should be able to find some minute nugget of happiness and perhaps even a sense of self worth.
Until then, I can always turn to alcohol and drugs.
-Spiladnuht
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