Useless survey

Every once in a while I fill one of these out.  It is useless fun.

FIVE things you wish you could say to FIVE different people right now:

1. I think you are a horrible manager and you should stop calling people out during team meetings.  Rude.
2. I wish you would talk to me more often...
3. Can I have a hug?
4. Drew Remenda, will you ask me 20 questions? 
5. Do you know how hard it is not to fall in love with you?

TEN things about yourself

1. Loud
2. Sore loser/winner
3. I will disappoint you
4. Bacon...
5. Narcissist
6. I have more self control than you would think
7. Sleep deprived
8. Attention whore
9. Constantly changing
10. Never satisfied

SEVEN ways to win your heart:

1. Have the voice of an angel
2. Surprise me with useless things
3. Buy me a beer, two bucks a glass
4. Be open minded
5. Be a lady
6. Have fun doing nothing with me
7. Know every line from FnF, True Lies, Friends, Arrested Development, Rush Hour 1 and 2, etc.

SEVEN things that cross your mind a lot:

1. Random violent thoughts e.g. "I wonder how many people I can throw off the Golden Gate Bridge before anyone stops me?"
2. "WHY ME?!"
3. Where did I leave it last...
4. What's for lunch/dinner?
5. Did I flush?
6. Is anyone looking?
7. I could totally pull that off...

FOUR things you do before you fall asleep:

1. Floss and brush my teeth
2. Shower
3. Set alarms at appropriate times
4. Warp myself up in my blanket, cross right leg over my left, and put my hands across my chest like a vampire

FOUR things you see right now:

1. Clorox disinfecting wipes (shut up...)
2. Kleenex
3. Lamp/alarm clock
4. Sharks tickets!

THREE songs that you listen to often (at the moment):

1. Track 4 on the CD from Andy
2. Skrillex - Scary Monsters
3. Avicii - Fade into Darkness (Vocal Club Mix)

TWO things you want to do before you die:

1. Finish my bucket list (it will reach 100 items soon)
2. See above

What are the U.S. states that you have visited?   Nevada, Oregon, New York, Washington D.C., Pennsylvania, others?
What countries outside of the United States that you have visited?   None
If you were to form a band, what would you name it?   Mustard Beats
If you were to create a professional sports team, what would you name it?   Stepdads - cause we beat you and you hate us.
What was your favorite Saturday morning cartoon as a child?   Power Rangers count?  If not then probably Batman Beyond or X-Men.
What was your personal favorite doll / action figure as a child?   Any and all of my Spawn action figures
What was the first or earliest movie that you can remember seeing?   Batman
What was the first music album/tape/cd that you ever bought?   N*Sync
What is the one musicial instrument you would like to learn to play?   Piano.  Can not beat the classics...
If you could pick any song as your "theme music" what would it be?   Lost Prophets - Last Train Home
What is the first video game that you ever played?   Super Mario Bros./Duck Hunt
What is your all time favorite newspaper comic strip?   Charlie Brown?
Who is your all time favorite comic book character?   Spider-Man
What is the dream car that you wish to own once in your life?   Conquest Knight XV with optional smokescreen
What famous person was your boyhood / girlhood crush?   Tiffani Thiessen.  She still got it.
What is the one band you absolutely love that you wish more people knew?   The Hush Sound
Name one poster or picture that adored your bedroom growing up.   None
What is the one thing guaranteed to make you laugh?   Speed Cooking 2.  Made me laugh so hard the first time I missed more than 20 seconds because my eyes were closed shut from laughing.
What is your all time favorite television commercial?   Trucktober or any of the Jang and Associates commercial
If you could have lived in any era of history, when would it have been?   Any era where I could be dressed in full knight's armor.
What is the one song that ALWAYS can get you out on the dance floor?   Any after a few drinks
Who is your all time favorite sports figure?   Rocky Balboa
Where is the one place you would like to visit once in your life?   Rio de Janeiro for Carnival
In your mind, who is the all time greatest stand up comedian?   Two way tie of Mitch Hedberg and Bill Burr
Do you like horror movies and if yes, what is your favorite?   The genre makes no sense to me
If you were to be reincarnated as an animal, what would you want to be?   Bald eagle.  America.  Fuck yeah
What is your all time favorite music video?   You Belong With Me
What is your all time favorite television series?   Arrested Development
What was the first or earliest Halloween costume you remember wearing?   Dinosaur.  Went twinsies with Doug
What has been your favorite Halloween costume to date?   Greenman
What is the best book that you have ever read?   Detectives in Togas!
What is the one thing that scares you the most?   Silence
What is your favorite beverage of any kind?   Soy milk
What is the one song that "moves your soul to new heights"?   Star Spangled Banner
What is your favorite color?   Red or purple
Who is your all time favorite U.S. president?   Chester A. Arthur
What is your dream job?   Defense with Douglas Murray with San Jose Sharks
If you could date any celebrity for one month, who would it be?   Carrie Underwood (Sweezy would be wifey)
If you could have any superpower, what would it be?   Mind control
What would be the name of your biography if your life story was told?   Louder Than Loud: The Chronicles of an Angry, Misunderstood Chinaman Narrated by Samuel L. Jackson with Special Guests Gordon Ramsay, Gilbert Godfrey, and Tyra Banks

-Thundalists

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

Fun, Fun, Fun, Fun

Big ups to the birthday boy.

First things first.  The Sharks were eliminated last week in a devastating fashion.  Another year, another disappointment.  Here are some of the upsides:

• "There's always next year..." -Sharks motto
• Most of the core players are locked up beyond the next season
• No shame in losing to a superior team
• Facing adversity will help the team grow - nothing came easy this season

Downside?

• No parade
• Longer wait for start of next season
• Guch up as restricted free agent
• More ammo for critics to call them chokers

Since school has ended, things have been fun again.  But fun means bad things for my body.  I can already see the extra calories from the alcohol affecting my body.  And my brain.  I feel slower...  But at least I am enjoying myself.  Need to start exercising a bit more to balance out the heavy drinking.  I think I drank almost everyday in the past two weeks.  And I have exercised twice.  Not good.

A lot of things have happened, but it's past midnight so I will continue this later.  I have missed you blog.  See you soon.

-Thundalips

Beyond saving

She kind of looks like one of my coworkers...

Dream.  I am standing in front of the biggest church I have ever seen in my life.  The steps up to the front entrance would be equivalent to more than three flights of stairs.  I am surrounded by hundreds of church-goers and everyone is slowly trickling into the church.  Chad, Andy, and I are still standing at the bottom of the steps when Jon comes walking over and says: 

"Are you going in?"

"Yeah I think so."

"You're going to love it.  There's hella hot girls in there.  Church girls are the hottest."

He starts walking in.  We stand around a little longer and Chad and Andy are trying to convince me to go in and check it out.  I am not a religious man in any sense, but I finally give in and we start walking up the stairs.  As we're walking up the hundreds of steps, an old lady who looked like a real life version of the sorceress from Beauty and the Beast start mumbling something.

As we walked by, she pointed her finger at me and said "Not all souls can be saved..."

Ominous...

We go inside and there is a sign in sheet in the lobby.  I ask Chad to sign me in and he picks up a Crayola marker.  As he uncaps it, he realizes that it is not a marker but a stamp.  I have not seen those things in ages!  We sign in and walk through the doors and see that the hundreds of people outside have withered down to about 20 people.  Where did everyone go?!  Sorcery!!! This is why I do not go to church.  They will make you disappear.

While looking for the picture above, I stumbled across this excellent post from another blogger.

http://jacksfilmblog.blogspot.com/2009_04_01_archive.html

Definitely the funniest thing I have read today.  Just brilliant.  It is a rather quick read if you have the time.  Enjoy.  Cheers.

-Thundalips

Woman of my dreams

Literally. 

Last night I met Taylor Swift.  She was stunning.  I am not exactly sure what happened but someone I know had won a chance to meet Sweezy.  It was a chance for a private concert in their home and she came to Calvin's house.  Her band was setting up in the kitchen and I was playing chess with Chad in the dining room while Anjuli watched TV.  I realized no one else was going to watch the concert besides the three of us so I went into the kitchen and asked her if she just wanted to perform an acoustic set so it would not take so long setting up.  She thought it was a great idea and she came out and sang a song on her guitar.  It was wonderful.

After a few songs, I asked her if she wanted to play some board games.  She asked what we had and I went through the list of board games I have and mentioned Taboo.  As soon as I mentioned it, her eyes lit up and she said, "I LOVE THAT GAME! I'M SO GOOD AT IT!"  She mentioned that she and Adele were "beastly" and undefeated.  I went around the house to look for my people to play and found Andy sleeping.  I tried to wake him up but he did not want to play.  Oh well.

She said she had to leave so I walked her to her car.  Amazingly, no one recognized her as we walked through a crowd of people.  Then, out of no where, some crazy Asian girl screams, "TAYLOR!"  Waves of hysterical fans start running toward her and I try to hold them back.  I had my back turned to the fans and boxed out as many as I could while Taylor got into her car.  Some 13 year old reaches from behind and grabs my neck.  At this point Taylor is already in the car and drives off.  I turn around and slap the girl across the face and walk away.  Bitch.  Trying to grab me...

Not really an exciting dream but it was the first time I met Taylor.

-Thundalips

Lucid dream

Andy.  Listen to that.  I think you will like it.

Last night I think I may have had my first lucid dream.  It began with Gary, Andy, and me in my car.  We were driving around my block looking for parking and as I pulled into a spot, I see a car coming at me from the other side of the road.  It was almost as if he were trying to pull into the same space but facing the wrong way.  As he got closer, I got nervous and put the car in reverse to try to minimize impact of the head-on collision.  When he got close, I could see that the driver is actually Lil Wayne.  He got to a point where he was inches from hitting my car and I stuck my leg out under my car, past my gas pedals, and kick his front bumper.  I am not sure how that would be physically possible unless there was no front ends to either of our cars but it was a dream, not reality.  Anyhow, I kicked his car but he still hit my car anyways and the force drove my car up the curb and into a car behind me.  My car had been damaged in the front and back while his car was in slightly better shape since only his front end was damaged.  We got out of our cars and somehow instead of Lil Wayne, it was Julian.  He approached me and asked if I was ok.  Everyone was fine and we started talking about what we would do in terms of insurance and damages.  Julian refused to go through insurance and offered to pay me cash for the damages but would only cover the front end damage.  He was saying he only hit the front of my car and the back was my fault for not stopping in time.  It was pretty ridiculous and we argued until he got mad enough to walk away.  He went into the home we were standing in front of and a few seconds later, Josh Tran comes out.  He starts jabbering about how it was my fault to begin with and Julian was not going to pay for the damages.  At this point I am just flabbergasted.  I think to myself, "I wish Anjuli was here to deal with this ass hole."   Then out of no where Anjuli comes up from behind me and punches Josh in the face and he falls to the floor. 

That was all I could remember but towards the end I felt like I was actually aware that it was a dream and willed Anjuli into it.  It was kind of cool.  Hopefully I can control more of my dreams soon.  That would be most excellent. 

I changed my mind about scarification.  It looks way too hardcore for me.  Infection city. 

WARNING! THE FOLLOWING VIDEO IS NOT FOR THOSE WITH WEAK STOMACHS!



Until next time,

Scarification is more pronounced when kept open for a longer period of time.  Toothpaste and citrus juice is often used to produce more defined scars.  PASS!

-Alex Thunderlips

Hole in my shoe

So last night I had a dream that was pretty strange.  It started out at my grandma's house.  I don't remember who was there or what was going on but it was probably a family dinner since that's what we usually do there.  After that, I decided to hit the clubs downtown.  Sometime during the middle of the night I lost my right shoe.  Not knowing what to do, I went back to my grandma's house. 

Across the street, I noticed four guys hanging out in front of a restaurant.  Paying no attention to them, I start walking towards the house.  Then, out of no where, one of the guys throws something towards me and misses me by a few inches.  I look down at what was thrown at me and it was my shoe!  How did it get there?!  I knew it was mine because of the hole in the front of the shoe (this shoe in my dream is actually from a pair I own).  I looked at it, looked back at them, and then picked it up and started walking up the stairs. 

The four guys chase me down and start yelling at me telling me that was their shoe and they wanted it back.  I looked down and pointed at my feet.  One with a shoe, and one without.  We argued about who's shoe it actually was and it started to get ridiculous.  I recognized two of the four guys and tried to reason with them.  One was Jeremy (of Amy and Jeremy) and the other was a neighbor of mine in San Jose.  He bears a striking resemblance to Hiep (as he does in real life).  The only difference is he has long hair and always wears sleeveless shirts with basketball shorts.  At this point, we're arguing in the front door of the house and I'm just tired of arguing.  Jeremy, who's being the most difficult, is clearly the leader of the group.  I push him and try to get him to back down.  He doesn't dare fight me.  I'm too awesome.  He finally gives up and he calls his group off and walks away. 

Inside the house, Amy, Rainbow, and Andy are sitting around the living room.  Amy (of Amy and Jeremy) is clearly upset and starts to yell at me.  She's absolutely hysterical.  I don't understand anything she's saying until these words came out of her mouth:  "You lied to me!  You and Andy aren't gay!" 

Let's take a moment to just process that and laugh. 

It was so ridiculous.  She was crying and freaking out about how the two of us are just heterosexual life mates.  She charges at me and tries to hit me but I use my height advantage to turn the tables.  I eventually get her backside and choke her out.  And that's the end of my dream.

Just to add some more flare, I thought I would add my written version of this.  After I reread my dream journal for this post I couldn't help but laugh at how dumb it was.  To give you some more information, when I wake up from a memorable dream, I write it down as fast as possible while it's still fresh.  I keep a pen and notebook inside my headboard for dreams like this.  Most of it is just useless words unless you have a demented mind like mine.   Here's what it read.  Word for word.

"Gma's house down town club lose shoe gma's shoe thrown confrontation no one wants to fight amy rainbow me and andy gay fight choke her out can't hit girl"

Until next time,

In a speed demonstration, Bruce Lee could snatch a dime off a person's open palm before they could close it, and leave a penny behind

-Alex Thunderlips

Without distraction

My online class started on Monday.  So now I am taking Bus 210 "Managing and Developing People" and RA106 "Regulatory Affairs".  The combination of the two is destroying me.  My mind is being blown by all the information thrown at me.  I have probably read more in the last month than I have in the last two years.  This is definitely one of the hardest things I have ever done.  There's so much work that I am taking Monday off from work to catch up.

To help me concentrate on school work, I have eliminated two of the most time-consuming activities: TV and Facebook.  Andy and Kevin came over today and helped me move the TV in my room to my sister's room.  I can't remember the last time my room didn't have a TV... I still remember when I had three TVs in my room.  I could watch TV, listen to sports on another, and play game on the third.  It got so bad to the point where my room looked like this...

This is how my room actually looked in high school.  And it was not intentionally set up this way.  It took weeks of abuse and neglect to get it this messy.  Those were simpler times... 

When I study, I usually have music in the background since I'm sedatephobic (fear of silence).  Since I can't concentrate when listening to music with words, I turn to Pandora for generated playlists.  My studying playlist is a combination of Yiruma, Escala, and Bond.  Almost everything they play is pretty good with that lineup.  That's where I found the song above.  Pretty nice music to listen to.  I've listened to Pandora so much that I've already hit the maximum hours allowed.  I've already played 40 hours of music this month on the site and if I want to continue using it, I'll have to pay.  Did you know there was a friggin' limit?!  I think I'll just wait until October...

Without Facebook, there isn't much left to do on the web.  I check the sports pages and the news every half hour or so, but there's nothing really left after that. 

On the plus side, now that the TV is in my sister's room, I have a new place to work out (if I ever have time).  Her room has windows and gets plenty of air so it'll be perfect. 

I'm also thinking about getting an iPad for my mom.  If she likes it, she can keep it.  But I have a feeling she would be too frustrated with learning how to use it and give up.  In that case, I'd take it.  So it's really a gift for me.  I've been debating about which iPad I want.  I definitely only plan on getting the 16GB (smallest one) but I'm not sure if I want to go with the 3G or just the Wi-Fi.  With the 3G, I have the option of using internet where ever there's a 3G hotspot but it costs a whopping $130 for that feature.  In addition to that, you also have to go through AT&T to get the data plan which is 250MB/month for $15 or 2GB/month for $25.  The good thing about the plan is that you don't have to pay for it unless you use it since it's month to month.  So I think I will buy the 3G iPad but hold off on getting the service until I need it.  It would be a great asset if I ever go on that road trip around the U.S. that I've been working on...

Until next time,

Some interesting facts I learned from my readings:

• 54% of Americans are using prescription medication; 35% use 1-3 and 19% use four or more
• Only 2 of 10 marketed drugs return revenues that match or exceed R&D costs
• Since new medicines were approved in 1995, the AIDS death rate has dropped more than 70%
• The death rate for cardiovascular disease fell 26.4% between 1999 and 2005. This includes a 29.7% decrease in stroke death rates an a 34.3% drop in death rates for coronary heart disease. Nearly half of the decline is attributable to medical treatments, including increased use of prescription medicines such as cholesterol drugs and blood thinners.
• In a study, a $1.00 increase in prescription drug spending saved $2.06 in hospital spending
• Generic medications account for 74% of prescriptions filled - up from 49% in 2000

There's a lot more interesting stats and things but I don't want to number you to death... Interesting though ain't it?

-Alex Thunderlips

You want to dancing?

Not normally the type of music I post on this blog but it's just too damn catchy to avoid it.  Song courtesy of UK's Top 40 - week of July 4. 

This weekend I missed a dubstep event at Club 6.  To see what I was missing out on, I started youtubeing some dubstep songs which led me to dubstep dancing.  DO THE MELBOURNE SHUFFLE!



The Asian guy or girl at 2:25 is a beast.  I'm 70-80% sure it's all in the pants.  Here's another one to keep your mind exploding:





"hahaha girl is dong shuffle
tits are doing jumptsyle xD"
-masterboymanuel

Best comment on that video.  If you're not familiar with jumpstyle, it's dumb but here it is:



And here is the epic dance party!



I wish I could start something that epic...

Gary came over yesterday and tried to melbourne shuffle.  Of course, like everything else, he was pretty good at it.  And it was his first time trying it.  He was shuffling around Tupac and confusing him.  Tupac thought he wanted to play and was barking at Gary while he shuffled all around Tupac.  It was hilarious.  Time to break out my parachute pants and neon suspenders cause it's time to shuffle!

Until next time,

The name Melbourne shuffle originated from ravers in Melbourne, Australia. 

-Thunderlips

Back to blogging

That guy is ugly.

I finally finished my applications for graduate school!  That means more time for blogging, COD, and just general merriment.  But technically I'm not done completely.  I still have to actually apply.  That doesn't make sense to you yet but let me explain.  I have already sent in my application for the program that I am most interested in, but I am still waiting to apply to two other programs.  Both websites don't have open applications for the semester I am applying for and both schools are currently on spring break.  What does that mean?  I have to wait until Monday to call both admission offices to get help.  And the kicker is: I've already asked my professors to send in their letters of recommendation so the schools might get it before my applications.  I already have all my information ready to be thrown onto a form but I still need access to the site. 

In the mean time, I have loaded up on hours of COD and lounging.  After a few more days of this, I'll probably start cleaning my room again.  Something that is long overdue.

Last night I was talking to Andy about my birthday plans this year.  I have none.  Ever since graduating college my birthday's just haven't been as good as the college years (to be honest nothing has been better than those college years).  This is by no means a cry for a surprise party or anything of that nature so keep that in mind.  I really have no energy to do the things that I used to do.  We discussed possibilities to celebrate the occasion but nothing really tickled my fancy.  Maybe I really am just getting too old.

Lately work has been great.  I'm seriously starting to hone my ass-kissing skills, and they're coming along quite nicely.  I find myself in my manager's office at least once a day just chatting.  She gives me advice on life and tells me things from her personal life.  It's a pretty nice situation.  She even made me "assistant manager" a few weeks ago.  This was an unofficial title and had no benefits except having power over my other coworkers.  I had the opportunity to create the assignments for everyone and take charge of the project for a week or so.  It was a great learning experience.  What did I learn?  I'm glad you asked.  I learned that I love the power of being a manager.  I can seriously see myself as a power-hungry tool in the future.  I'm sure you can see it too.

Ah, and last but not least, my romantic life.  Or lack thereof.  My dad mentioned a few times in the past week that I should start looking for a nice Chinese girl to settle down with.  This was very unsettling.  You know that you've been single too long when your parents start telling you these things.  The only thing that could have made it worse is if he tried to set me up with someone.  It would be nice to settle down soon though. 

Recently my dad has been exhibiting symptoms of Alzheimer's.  The other day he showed me an old $100 he had (the one with the small heads like the $1).  He complained that the casino had cheated him out of $100 and gave him fake money.  Apparently he forgot that that's how they used to look.  I spent the next few minutes explaining to him that these were the old printed hundred dollar bills and that they had changed the design to curb counterfeiting.  He honestly forgot, which was scary.  He just had no recollection of a hundred dollar note ever looking like that.  A lot of little things like that are starting to add up and it's very obvious now that there may not be a lot of time left before he becomes completely senile.  It would be nice to bring a girl home to make him happy (and myself too). 

Until next time,

-Alex Thunderlips

Time to kill

Been listening to Cheryl Cole a lot lately.

Just a quick blurb while I wait for my Ipod to charge.

Something made me think about being in a coma today.  I don't remember what it is, but I thought it would be a good idea to make some requests in case I die or become a vegetable.  That being said, I thought it would be easiest to make a video will.  But I don't have a webcam.  When I get a new laptop (with webcam), that will be my first project.  To be updated yearly.

I'm going to start off with a general video with my typical requests and progress to individual videos targeted toward the important people in my life.  A final farewell.  I thought about zipping all the videos into one file and uploading it to a private account and give access to three or four people.  Those people would probably be my mom, Andy, Jennifer, and maybe someone else.  I figure if anything were to happen to me, hopefully at least two of these people will be able to access my will.  Of course access would be prohibited until I actually pass.  Haven't worked out all the details.  Just a thought. 

Hope I don't die.  If I do, I leave everything in my name to my mom.  If I become a vegetable, pull the cord after a year if I haven't made progress.  You have my permission.

Until next time,

Look both ways before crossing the street!

-Alex Thunderlips

Ominous beginnings.

Lately I have been getting a feeling that some terrible things will happen soon.  Call it a hunch, gut feeling, or paranoia. Whatever it is, it's consuming my life.  I am not a believer of fortune-telling, astrology, or any of the pseudosciences, but I can't seem to shake this feeling.  Whatever is going to happen, I think it's going to happen soon.  Within the next three months or so. 

Last night, I had a quasi-nightmare.  It started out with all of my friends hanging out at my house in the living room.  My parents storm in through the front door.  My mom is yelling at my dad and he has no reaction or response to anything she's saying.  I can already see that something terrible was happening.  My dad tells me he's quitting his job and my mom is stressing out about money.  My dad then says a bunch of things implicating he is also giving up on life.

He pulls Andy aside and lectures him for a while.  I wasn't close enough to hear the conversation, but I could see whatever my dad was saying was making Andy angry.  In a few seconds, Andy started swinging at my dad and it took everyone in the room to hold them back.

I couldn't deal with the situation so I left and walked around the neighborhood.  I ended up in a back alley somewhere.  It turned out to be a dead end so I turned around.  In doing so, my Gameboy inside my backpack flew out, crashing on the floor.  As I bent down to pick it up, I saw a hidden compartment outside of the house I was standing in front of.  I open the compartment to find a slew of video games.  Inside, I can see N64, SNES, and NES games of all kinds.  I take a quick scan to make sure no one is looking before I start to take some of them.  When I look up into the house, I see a little girl playing Wii (notice that all of the gaming systems in this dream are manufactured by Nintendo).  I try to sift through the games as fast as possible without her noticing, but I'm caught before I'm able to find anything worth taking.

As I ran back home, I began to feel the tension from the situation earlier.  When I get inside, I can still see that many of my friends are still hanging around, but most people had left.  I went to my room and found one of my lady friends in my bed sleeping, fully clothed.  When I look down, my shirt is missing.  Oh well.  I get into bed with her and pull the blankets back over us.  She tried to comfort me (nothing sexual).  We end up spooning. 

Until next time,

How did my shirt disappear so fast?

-Alex Thunderlips

Losing my marbles.

Today was my official first day working in San Leandro.  While I am about to bitch and moan about the East Bay life, I must first admit for some reason the place feels very home-y.  For no reason at all, it was just comfortable to be there.

My schedule hasn't been set in stone per se but I have a general idea of when I need to get things done.  The commute wasn't as bad as I thought but still took about an hour and fifteen minutes from door to door.  Hopefully it won't ever take longer than that.  I was surprised at how little people were on the 31AX at 7:20.  The last time I took the 31AX it was shoulder to shoulder, wall to wall full of passengers.  Today there were only six people standing in the entire bus. 

When I got to work, I did the usual routine of booting up my PC and checking my email in Outlook.  Then I tried to log into meebo and yahoo mail.  Denied.  The new website security the building has is ridiculously strict.  Most of the yahoo main articles are blocked due to content deemed inappropriate for the workplace.  That includes external email, instant messaging, forums, social networking, and many other filters.  This means no yahoo mail, no meebo, no slickdeals, no blogpsot, no Facebook (which I've never used at work), no nothing!  I began to complain to my coworkers that all the good stuff on the internet is being blocked and everyone had their own complaints.  My cubicle is about half the size of my old one but it's still big enough that I don't feel claustrophobic.

It took me less than an hour and a half to unpack while most people still haven't unpacked half of their belongings.  Breakfast was provided by vendors and there were donuts, muffins, and coffee.  I almost drank the bottle of half and half since they put it in a carafe without a label.  I wanted milk.  I had no assignments and nothing to do so I began to read the binder of information provided by the building.  I went through all the security protocols and such (which I will be talking more about tomorrow).  I eventually got to the most useful page in the binder.  Local restaurants!  The page listed close to 30 places to get food within five miles.  About half was fast food like KFC, Wendy's, Mcdonald's, etc. but the other half was local places.  I had nothing to do so I yelped all of the restaurants (not the fast food ones).  There actually is a lot of places I would like to try on that list.  I have until December. 

Then I found out lunch was provided as well.  Unfortunately the food was bland and was not worth getting seconds.  It was catered Chinese food from some restaurant.  Nothing tasted good and it would have been a better idea to order Panda Express over that place next time.  I couldn't even TASTE the pandas in this food.  Not finger-ling-ling good at all. 

Eventually I volunteered to do some work so I spent two and a half hours creating a spreadsheet of all available ATMs.  I figured since I was the only one doing actual work today, my manager might not be too upset if I take off early.  I finished my spreadsheet at 4:30 and asked for the rest of the day off since I couldn't complete any assignment before leaving at five.  I also told her that I took a shorter lunch so I should be able to leave anyways since I already put in my eight hours.  She was fine with it and I began packing my things.

The only reason I wanted to leave early was to catch the tail end of the Sharks game.  The game started at four which means it would end around 6:30.  If I catch the Bart and bus fast enough I could easily catch the end of it.  When I get to the platform of the Bart station, the train was just arriving.  "Great timing!  I'm off to a good start," I thought.

When I get off the Bart it takes me a few seconds to realize where the bus stop was and in a very uncharacteristic move, the bus skips my stop.  It was not even close to being a full bus.  So I decide to try a new route.  I knew the 21 ran somewhere along Fulton at some point and I didn't see a bus for the next three blocks or so.  I decided to give it a shot.  Never again!  The 21 moves so effin' slow it was ridiculous.  I could've just taken the 38L which was right behind it. 

When I get to 8th Ave or so, I realize I had left my house keys at work.  There's no way I'm going all the way back to get them.  I have no way of getting into my house now and in a panic I start calling people before thinking it through.  I called Andy and Anjuli hoping someone would pick up so I'd have somewhere to go.  After I called, I remembered my aunt has a set of my house keys.  I tend to panic and act irrationally when things go awry.  When I called her she was still on the Bart at Embarcadero.  So I decide to kill time by going to the ATM and Gordo's.  Time well spent I must say.

By the time I got into my house, the game was over and I was only able to catch the post-game live report.  Looks like I missed out on a bunch of stuff because I left work in a rush.  Fail. 

I need a longboard.  Fast.  I don't like to walk. 

-Alex Thunderlips

Poetic Justice

On Monday my family and I went to a lunch buffet in Daly City called Kome.  My uncle suggested it because it was a new restaurant.  He had already eaten there a few times and said the food was really good.  Since I'm almost always up for new eats, I went with my mom, uncle, and aunt.  If you know where Todai used to be in Daly City, that's where it's at.

When we get there, we see the line is ridiculously long.  The restaurant opens at 11 and we arrive there at 10:45.  The entire lobby is wall to wall of people trying to get a table.  Meanwhile, my uncle arrives and tells us there's no wait.  So we follow him and the four of us walk all the way to the back of the room and sit down at a table.  Apparently my uncle knows the owner.

I have never seen so many Asians in my entire life.  Chinese people have a tendency to try new Chinese restaurants in bunches.  I thought the line to get a table ridiculous.  Little did I know, the line for food was worse.  The restaurant has the exact layout of what used to be Todai.  There is a separate island for sushi and salad, an island (more like a row) for hot foods, a noodle station, and a dessert section.  Since I had sushi on Sunday night, I opted for hot food.  I lined up all the way in the back of the line which moved as fast as molasses.

It took more than 20 minutes for me to reach the plates.  All the while, I was harassed by a toddler standing behind me with an empty plate he grabbed from another section.  This fat Asian boy had no sense of personal space and kept bumping into my behind.   As you may know, my rather large posterior isn't exactly impossible to avoid, but this kid had every intention of ignoring my personal bubble.  He bumped me at least 20 times while I was waiting in line for food and each time he did I turned around to stare him down.  After about ten times, the kid's father finally tells him not to stand so close.  Finally.  Some relief.  That's what I thought at least.  Next thing you know, the kid lifts his plate, digging into the bottom of my ass.  He literally put my ass on his plate.  At that point I'd had enough.  I waited and baited him.  Slowly the line moved and I stood still hoping he'd get closer.  Then,                      (for dramatic effect)             I totally let one rip in his face.  He was at the perfect height to eat every fecal particle I had to offer.  Victory is sweet.

Enough with the story.  Onward of the review.  The food was actually pretty tasty for a buffet.  I would definitely recommend it even though Yelp users gave it low scores.  Considering lunch buffet is 10.95, it is definitely worth a shot.  My uncle tells me that a few of the chefs were actually from Koi Palace so you know at least some of the food is made by professionals.  The Chinese BBQ and dim sum section is definitely the highlight of the buffet.

As we left the restaurant, we all got a peek of the line.  The line at this point (1PM) stretched past the next two or three store fronts.  My uncle told me that the owner of Kome got many complaints from the neighboring restaurants about its patrons blocking the entrances to their shops.  Most of the reviews you'll see on Yelp complain about the wait but if you have the inside track or don't mind going early this is definitely a place to check out at least once.  [End review]

Last night I had a very strange dream.  Chadwick, Andy, Gary, Anjuli, Kevin, a few other friends and I were sitting in a circle somewhere outside.  For some reason in this dream, Chadwick had a baby (his) in his lap and was bouncing him up and down.  Chad turned to me and asked me if I could hold the baby while he grabbed something from a bag.  I take the baby and hold him so he's facing outward.  With one hand under the baby's bottom and the other across his body, I wait for Chadwick to grab whatever he needed.  I look at the baby's face and I know what's coming next.  Doo doo butter.  I yell at Chad and tell him to take the baby before he defecates on me, but everyone just watches as the baby craps all over my hand.  Everyone there starts laughing at me which upsets me.  I look at Chad and he's laughing so hard he's on the floor.  With the crap in my hand I chuck it at him and hit him square in the chest.  Everyone continues laughing and Chad throws it at someone else.  Next thing I know, everyone is throwing doo doo at everyone and I'm carrying the baby under one arm and diving out of the way while throwing doo doo bombs at people.  [End dream]

Poetic justice...

Until next time,

Keep the doo doo to yourself.

-Alex Thunderlips

POWER METAL!

Craving power metal lately.

Crazy dream last night.  I had to write down everything I could remember before I forgot.

It started with Andy, Gary, Chad and me at a ghetto high school.  We were surrounded by hundreds of black people and the four of us were preparing for a rap battle.  We all had our notebooks out with our scribbled rhymes deciding who would go first.  Then our names were called and we walked toward the stage.  I dropped my notebook and when I looked up the three of them were gone.  Out of nowhere, four white guys (wiggas) jumped me from behind and the smallest guy gave me an atomic wedgie.  At that point I'm not feeling the rap competition so I walk away.  All the black people I walk past are asking me where I was going and how they wanted to see me perform.  Apparently, in my dreams, I'm a very good rapper.

I left the high school and got into a car where I met up with my black girlfriend (why are there so many black people in my dream?).  I told her about the atomic wedgie and decided that I wanted to get even.  We knew where the wiggas were going so we drove to a parking garage where they were going to wait them out.  At that point, we find the perfect vantage point to watch the entrance of the garage.  The plan was to seal them inside and fight them.  Then, my dream girlfriend hands me a box of C4 rigged together as a car bomb.  I said that was too drastic and I just wanted to get even.

We wait for a bit and Andy, Gary, and Chad meet up with us.  As I step out of the car to approach them, the four wiggas turn the corner and are right in front of me.  I immediately throw the small one through the window of the house we're standing next to and the other three guys run.  The small wigga is stunned after I had thrown him through the window.  I grab a wooden chair and smash it over his head.  Out cold.  Awesome.

As I walk away, someone suggests going to Henry's house to play Call of Duty.  I agree and we start to drive over there.  When we get there, I look at the TV and it has the most absurd dimensions I've ever seen.  It was ridiculously long horizontally but very short in terms of height.  It was so distorted I had trouble seeing all four players on the screen.  Oh yea, and for some reason Virginia was already at Henry's house when we got there.  [End dream]

Until next time,

Gotta love the blacks...

-Alex Thunderlips

This is war.

Talented man that Jared Leto.

Wednesday was a great day.  The day started with a bunch of errands.  I went to Costco to return some gifts and buy stuff for the house.  Then I went to Best Buy to return some more gifts before returning home.  Nothing special yet.  I made plans with My to have lunch in Oakland.  Since I was going to the Sharks game with Ya, it was easier if I was already in Oakland.  So I bussed and Barted to Oakland where My was supposed to pick me up.  I waited at the West Oakland station for about 15-20 minutes.  During that time I stood at the bus stop while listening to my Ipod.  After a few minutes of waiting, I hear someone behind me say, "Excuse me."  I turn around and reply, "Yes?."  The black lady then says, "I don't mean to be too forward, but I have to say, you have a really nice ass."  I couldn't hep but smile.  I said thanks and she started talking to me and the conversation went something like this:

Black Lady:  Are you waiting for a ride?
Me:  Yea.  My friend is picking me up.  She should be here soon.
Black Lady:  Is she your girlfriend?
Me:  No, just a really good friend.
Black Lady:  Where you guys going?
Me: Meeting up some other friends.
Black Lady:  All guys?
Me:  No, there's going to be some girls.
Black Lady:  Girlfriend?
Me: No I don't have a girlfriend.
Black Lady:  Really?  Handsome guy like you with a nice figure like that and no girlfriend?
Me:  Yep.
Black Lady: You gotta get on that.  I'm 37 and I've only complimented four men in my entire life about their ass and you definitely have a nice ass.
Me: Thanks.

And then we exchanged goodbyes and My picked me up.  What a great compliment to get from a black person.  Black people know great asses and apparently someone likes mine.  Anyways, continuing with the great day.  My picked me up and wanted to take me to a restaurant called Scend's.  When we got there we found parking right in front and we went in and looked around.  Nobody there.  And by nobody I mean patrons.  The owners and workers were standing around and My asked for a table for two.  They told us that they were actually closed for cleaning and they were replacing some kitchen stuff.  I jokingly said, "But I came all the way from San Francisco!"  The lady there told us that the day before an entire family drove up from San Jose when they were closed and she had to turn them away.  We chatted a bit more before we left and we wished them a happy new year on the way out.  We sat in the car in our parking spot thinking of what we should eat.  As we sat there, the owner came out and knocked on the window.  My rolled down the window and the owner asked us if we wanted to have some fried chicken.  She offered to cook something up for us even though the restaurant was closed.  I'm pretty sure she would've made us pay for the food but it was just a really nice gesture.  She said she felt so guilty she didn't want us to leave empty handed.  I don't care what anyone else says, Oakland folks are nice.  I love colored folks.

Somehow we ended up eating pizza and a spot called Lanesplitters.  I ended up eating three slices which was about half of a 19" pizza.  Yes I am fat and yes it was delicious.

Me and Ya drove down to San Jose and picked up Kevin for the Sharks game.  Kevin brought down some beers for us and we drank after we parked.  The game was intense.  First period was a little boring until the final 5-7 minutes or so.  After that the entire game was pretty high-energy.  The Washington Capitals are one of the top ranked teams and have the most electrifying player today.  Alexander Ovechkin.  The Great Eight.



^HD available and recommended.



Two of my favorite goals by Alexander Ovechkin.  The game was incredible.  In the final minutes, one of my favorite D-men, Douglas Murray, and Alexander Ovechkin really got into it.  Ovechkin put three really good hits on Murray in the same shift.  It was an intense ongoing battle between the two.  I've never seen Murray take so many hits.  Murray held his own and fought back and put a few good checks on Ovechkin.  That was definitely the match up of the night.  And what's even better, our section was selected randomly to receive free Chipotle burritos!  The HP Pavillion crew passed out cards to receive a free burrito for everyone in our section.  It was a take-one-pass-it-down-honor-system type of deal.  We all just took one since we wanted to be fair.  To add to that, the Sharks also scored more than four goals which means FREE PIZZA!  Not really.  It's a free personal one topping with any purchase or $5 off any Large or X-Large pizza.  Probably will claim it tomorrow as I only have a few days left to claim it.  The only thing that could've made it better would have been the Chipotle Hat Trick.  If any player scores three goals, everyone gets a free burrito.  Pavelski was one away from having a hat trick.  Oh well.  Sharks won 5-2 in a highly anticipated match featuring two of NHL's best hockey teams this season.  I wish more people were interested in hockey.  There's no one to talk to about this stuff.

After the game, Kevin gave me a ride back to San Francisco.  It was about 11PM and we were looking for something to do.  We made some calls and it turned out that it was Sterling's birthday and people were drinking at Yancy's.  Kevin decided not to go so he dropped me off there.  It was a good night.  Met a stranger and talked to her for a bit while everyone was outside smoking.  She invited me over to another bar cause her friends were there but I respectfully declined since everyone was having fun at Yancy's.  Had some drinks and hung out with the good folks there.  After the bar closed, Gary and I tried to go look for food, but we ended up just going home. 

That was Wednesday.  Great day right?  Thursday was good too.  I scheduled lunch with a friend at 1.  I completely spaced.  I was up at 10 and completely forgot.  I sat around watching TV and playing Gameboy the entire morning.  By 1 o'clock, I decided to go run.  I put on my running shoes and went up to my room to grab my phone.  Five missed calls and three texts messages.  I totally forgot about lunch with my friend and had to call her back to get some more time to get ready.  We ended up at Sai Jai Thai after she said she didn't want BBQ for lunch.  After lunch we went to Zephyr's and just talked until they closed.

The NYE night started off really late.  I was hooked on my mom's Chinese series and completely lost track of time.  By the time the disc was over, it was 10:15.  I called around and plans got changed.  Andy and Kevin decided to do the Polk street crawl instead of Brenda's house party.  I was ready to call it a night and just stay in to play COD: MW2 but I convinced Brian to go.  He picked me up and we went to meet everyone on Polk.  By the time we got into the first (and only) bar on Polk, it was 11:30.  The countdown was disappointing.  Nothing special and we didn't stay at the bar too long.  We decided to bail and go to a house party.  That's where the night really began for me.  Met some good people, had a few drinks, had some food, and had a blast.  Didn't get to bed until 5AM.

Tonight will be my chance to catch up on some rest.



CALL OF DUTYYYYY!!!

Until next time,

Go Sharks.

-Alex Thunderlips