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

Summer slump

Been feeling a little out of it lately... Weekends do not come soon enough and when they do, they just seem... Unfulfilling and unsatisfying.  Being 25, I feel like I am falling behind.  I thought my life would be more stable by now with more direction, but everything seems so uncertain.  I have no idea why I am still going to school or why I am working at a job I absolutely hate.

Being in this situation makes me realize how valuable happiness really is.  Am I becoming a hippie?  Is happiness really more important than money?  I guess it depends on how much happiness and how much money... Yea... I guess I have not changed...

For the most part, I have always been able to control my emotions rather well.  I could always suppress anger.  I could always bypass shame.  Subvert optimism, tolerate annoyances, etc.  But one thing that I could never control was depression which makes feeling like this so much harder to deal with.  I know it is normal to feel lost and blah blah blah, but this feels like so much more than that.  It goes beyond the normal realm of sadness and disappointment. 

Iamalostsheep...

-Thundalips

Manners

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BPBNBAcfLZk

Skip to 0:42.  Can't embed for some reason...

As I have said in a previous post, I do not usually cuss on this blog.  I try to keep it as G rated as possible, but today I will make an exception.

People need to learn some fucking manners.  A simple "thank you" or "excuse me" is not that difficult.  The worst is people who do not apologize for the shit they do when they know they are wrong.  Take some fucking responsibility.  Apologize.

It still amazes me how people treat each other.  I blame the parents.   

-Thundalips

Faceless money grabber

One of my new favorite albums.  I have a feeling I will be listening to this one for years.  Interesting note:  the band does not incorporate the guitar in their music because the lead singer is "sick of hearing it" in music.

A burden has been lifted.  I am faceless.  While I do feel somewhat disconnected, I also feel free.  Having it removed from my typical daily rounds has changed the way I internets.  Not that it felt like a burden to begin with, but it is just a different feeling.  I am not sure how long I will go faceless but I am enjoying the peace.

I recently heard someone say something along the lines of "All guys are dogs."  Hearing things like that drives me crazy.  I heard it again on the radio recently as well.  Women who have this mindset need to be burlap-sacked and thrown into a river.  Or sterilized.  I am not exactly sure what happened in their lives for them to pigeonhole every guy into this ridiculous stereotype, but it has no place in the world in my book.  If you really have such problem with men, then become a lesbian.  If you date someone with the mindset that they will cheat on you at any given time, there is no trust.  If there is no trust, there is no relationship.  Grow up.  Why even bother with men if you think you are putting yourself in a situation to be hurt.  One of two things: you are dumber than a brick or you love the drama and attention.

The funny thing is the girl who said it was actually guilty of cheating on her boyfriend herself.  Hypocrite... If I really have to think about it, I probably know more women who cheated than men.  Or at least an equal amount.  These females need to open the poppy eyes...  The world is full of cheaters and liars, both male and female.

Think about it statistically.  In some ways it is worse than racism.  Even if you stereotype all the Chinese people in the world, that's only 1 billion people out of more than 6 billion people on Earth.  If you stereotype all men, that is almost half of the human population.  More than 3 billion people.  Going back to the example, if you were to say "Chinese people can't drive," that would be suggesting all 1 billion Chinese knew how to drive to begin with.  That, of course, is not the case in the real world.  By saying "All guys cheat and are dogs," you are saying 3 billion males, regardless of age, sexual preference, etc., will cheat given the opportunity.   You are just tilting at windmills...

The only difference between the male and female cheaters is the way the situation is treated.  If you look at any media outlet, they typically stigmatize any man who is adulterous e.g. Jesse James, Tiger Woods, Jackie Chan, etc.  All of those stories were blown out of proportion forcing them to make numerous public apologies while tarnishing their images forever.  On the other side of the argument, women like LeAnn Rimes, Jennifer Lopez, Meg Ryan, and Princess Diana all admitted cheating on their spouses.  But how much attention did these stories get?  I even had to look up famous female celebrity cheaters to get that list!  That's how much the media spins "news".  Television shows like "Desperate Housewives" even go as far as glorifying female cheaters.  These characters are put on a pedestal instead of in front of a podium.  If the show were reversed (think Desperate Stay-At-Home-Husband), would the ratings be the same?  Would women find it offensive?  Probably.  Think about it...

Until next time,

Facebook has more than 500 million active users.  Minus one.

-Thundalips

Under the influence

Best album I have heard in months.  Incredible lyrics.  What a comeback after two albums of garbage.  Eminem is hands down the best rapper of all time.  Drake is a piece of shit.  What a bunch of crap...

My entire life, I have been influenced by the people that surround me.  Growing up, I looked up to my cousins and always thought of them as my role models.  They taught me things I shouldn't have learned as a youngster and put me way ahead of the game in terms of street smarts.  At the same time, my parents instilled in me the values I still carry today.  For the most part.  I had the balance of stability in my family as well as the spontaneity learned from my cousins.  Everything I did then was heavily influenced by them.  It wasn't until my first years of college that I began to establish myself as my own person.

I was no longer in high school trying to fit in.  I was not vying for most popular, most athletic, class clown, or any other title.  There was no one left to compete with but myself.  It was time to move on.  Time to work on myself. 

College opened me eyes to different things.  I began to develop my own philosophies on life and I spent a lot of time looking at who I was.  For the first time in my life, I was learning to think for myself.  It wasn't just things that I learned in the classroom that made me change.  It was the entire college experience.  I went through many phases as an adolescent and teen, but I finally began the era in my life where I felt comfortable in my own skin.

Why am I telling you this?  Because people recently have tried to force their values and beliefs onto me.  I am just starting to realize what I believe in so do not try and challenge me or try to discredit my views.  I would not do the same to you.  To your face at least.

Tomorrow, jurors may or may not start the deliberation process in the Johannes Mehserle case.  Murder one is now off the table.  There has been speculation that if the trial reaches a verdict other than murder, there is a possibility of a riot in Oakland.  Most likely near the Fruitvale station where Mehserle shot Oscar Grant.  A station where I pass by everyday to get to work.  Fearing a riot, my aunt and I may or may not work from home in the coming days.  

The past few days my aunt had been complaining about how much publicity this story is getting.  She was upset because a few months earlier a Chinese man was shot to death by an officer and that story was never heard of again after a few weeks.  She suggested that it was unfair the media covers mainly racism and police discrimination towards blacks.

First of all, the black community is more vocal.  There is no arguing that they are more likely to organize and protest anything and everything.  Therefore, it's no surprise they receive more media attention.  They have appointed leaders like Jesse Jackson who wags his finger at the white man and gets results.  Secondly, the system is broken.  There is always more appeal in current times to depict the black man as the victim.  If you've ever seen any of the earlier episodes of "Cops", most if not all of the criminals were black.  Simply put, the Asian community just does not have the same pull as blacks. 

The news of this case is not new to anyone, however.  Accidents happen.  It was not a case of police brutality or racism.  It truly is a reach for the Grant family and supporters to ask for any murder charges against Mehserle.  Hopefully the verdict will be manslaughter and there is no civil unrest.  The way I see it, this is a case that will perpetuate racism regardless of the verdict.  If Mehserle gets manslaughter, the blacks will protest saying the judicial system favors whites.  On the other hand, if Mehserle is charged with murder, it will probably be seen by most as an unfit punishment for the crime. Whites could say that the white guilt has taken over and blacks are starting to run the show.  There is no good outcome. 

My aunt keeps telling me crap I just don't want to hear.  The only thing I hate more than racism (jokes aside), is self-righteous remarks.  I am always open to listening to other people's views, but there's a line between listening and being forced to agree.  You can tell me how you feel but don't follow up every opinion with, "Right?" or "Don't you agree?"  I have my own thoughts that I might want to express but your hard-headedness leaves no room for opinion.  So stop it.

On a completely different topic.  I am sculpting my body into the exact image of a Greek God.  I've been blasting my pecs with at least 80 push ups a day for the past month.  I started on the first of June and have only missed three days (four if you include one due to injury).  What's the routine you ask?  Thirty regular push ups, followed by 15 inside, 10 diamond, and 30 outside.  That's one set I complete with less than 30 seconds between each variation.  I usually do one to two sets a day depending on how my body is feeling. When my arm gets better I'm going to up the ante to three sets a day. 

Chadwick, watch yo back.  I will match you at your own challenge.  *Flex flex*

Until next time,

The only King without a mustache is the King of Hearts.

-Thunderlips

Haiti hatin'

Watching the news is putting me in a foul mood.  All the press is focusing on Haiti and all the efforts to help save the country.  Everywhere you turn, videos, photos, and stories of the devastating earthquake can be seen or heard.  The amount of press this story is getting is ridiculous.  The United States is on the front line sending thousands (probably millions already) of dollars in aid.  Why?  I have no idea.

Facebook groups, Twitter groups, and all kinds of social networking sites and media outlets are spreading the word.  Haiti needs help.  People are opening their wallets and helping the unfortunate victims of the earthquake.  I even heard the NHL organization has donated $100,000 in aid to Haiti.  I honestly cannot find the justification for these "generous" acts.

Our country is suffering, yet our own people would rather help other countries than our own.  Our city, our state, our country is in a deficit that is growing.  You all know about the budget cuts, furlough days, etc.  So why do we help other countries when we can barely help ourselves?  We're barely getting out of a recession and people are throwing their money at Haiti like there's no tomorrow. 

Why are we even helping countries that hate us? Giving them money isn't going to make them like us better.  We have much more to lose than to gain by just needlessly throwing our money at other countries.  Why is America always responsible when a major disaster happens?  Why do we keep offering our helping hand (see video below) when we can barely fend for ourselves?  Who are we to step in and act all noble when we can't sustain a stable nation?



That statement reminds me of this.  Would you take that hand if it was offered to you?  Didn't think so.

Look, I'm all for helping people, but why not help our own first?  It's like giving away something you don't have.  It drives me crazy listening to all the people bragging about how they think they're helping the less fortunate people in Haiti while there are plenty of people that need our help here.

Call me callous, call me cold-hearted.  I just don't understand the justification of giving away money to people on the basis of "global unity".  Someone please educate me on my ignorant perceptions of global politics.  Ridiculous.

Until next time,

Let's direct headlines to more important matters.  Like the NBC late night debacle.

-Alex Thunderlips

Decade in review

A lot can happen in ten years.  Looking back at the beginning of 2000, I had no idea who I was or who I was going to be.  And I still don't.  Ten years ago is a long time back.  Almost half of my life.  I was just a spoiled 13 year old kid leeching off of my parents.  I can't say I'm completely independent, but I have learned the value of a dollar.  I appreciate everything my parents do more than I did before.  Ten years ago, I had no idea where my life would lead or what purpose I had in the world.  I can honestly say that I'm still not sure.  Some people I know are lucky enough to have already found their calling in life, but I'm not as fortunate.  But, the future is unforeseeable.  I guess some things never change. 

Other things do change.  In the past decade, I have gone through many phases of music and fashion.  Almost the entire first half of this decade, I wore only what my brother wore.  I was never a fan of shopping before and he was always trying to wear what was in.  It worked out for me.  I went from "ghetto" clothes in the earlier years and later changed to more of a skater look.  It wasn't until my college career where I began to actually take pride in deciding on what I would wear.  As for music, whatever I was wearing was consistent to what I generally listened to.  The earlier years was a lot of rap and hip hop.  Then the rock and alternative phase started.  Now, there's not much I don't listen to.  Looking back at all the dumb trends and fashion faux paus of the past I hope that my current style of dress will not make me look back in regret. 

In the last ten years, I guess you can say I found love.  But if I did find it, I guess I also lost it.  It's difficult to define that line.  What I do know is that I am more open-minded about relationships and what I'm looking for.  I did things in this past decade I would have never predicted back then. 

Never say never.  When I was 13, I thought San Francisco was where I wanted to live for the rest of my life.  I said I would never date anyone who wasn't Chinese (or Asian).  I thought I'd never get sick of video games.  I always said I'd never be addicted to gambling.  I told myself when I'd go to Reno or Vegas that I would be one of those older kids hanging out at the arcade still playing Street Fighter and Area 51.  I guess all of that has changed.  I'm sick of San Francisco, I dated a black girl, I rarely play video games now (compared to the amount of hours I used to put in), I can't wait to go back to Vegas, and the last time I went to an arcade, I was drunk and playing Street Fighter.  Ten years does a lot to people.

If you haven't grown in ten years, you haven't done shit.  If you're still the same person you were back then, you probably haven't accomplished much.  There's always room for improvement so why not improve.  Everything should be a learning experience.  Take risks.  Make mistakes.  Learn what life is about.

Until 2019,

Keep living it up.

-Alex Thunderlips

New year, new problems.

Both good albums.  Nothing great.  Something that surprised me from both albums was how different the sounds were.  Each album was very eclectic in their own way, mixing styles of their classic rhythm and blues with a bit of rock, jazz, contemporary, and others. 

During a meeting at work today, my team took about 15 minutes at the end of the meeting reflect on the year as its coming to an end.  Many had complaints saying it was a terrible year and that they can't wait for it to be over.  Maybe they don't realize the only thing that changes is the calendar.  If your life sucks, it's going to suck until you make it better yourself.  It's hard to imagine that the simple act changing the calendar year will change the future or your "luck".  Blame your life on your own decisions and faults.  I sure do.  Some things are out of your control though.  In those cases, you just have to find the good in the bad and move on.  Easier said than done. Something I'm having trouble with now.

I'm in a bitter mood.  And who do I blame?  Myself of course.  Who else is responsible for my emotions?  No one.  Got confronted for not doing much at work today, got yelled at for listening to my music too loud at home, and might be getting sick.  On the upside, I actually proved to my boss I was working and had gotten a lot done. 

Based on the current itinerary, I am not looking forward to the Vegas trip with my family this Friday.  Supposed to be a four day trip.  Leaving on Christmas morning and should be back Monday morning.  But we're driving, so there goes 20+ hours depending on traffic.  We really have two full days and that's about it.  My family is going to watch the Lion King at  Mandalay Bay, but I chose not to go since I've already seen it so I'll probably be at some table gambling.   Shouldn't complain too much though.  I know my mom really enjoys the time we spend together as a family so I'm going to try and make the best out of it.  It's the least I can do for her.  Doing the Asian thing and going to Aria to look around at the new place and then try out their buffet.  We'll see how it goes...

Until next time,

Reminder to the world (including myself): In the words of Hiep, "Quitcha bitchin'"

-Alex Thunderlips

Broken raptop = less online time.

Super caked on, super shopped, or maybe both but still beautiful. Because I have time, this will be a long read.  Make sure you have relieved your bladder and bowels before reading on.  Grab your favorite drink and snack and enjoy.

So, as of yesterday, my laptop caught the 700m pandemic going around.  The back light is loose or blew out leaving the monitor another desolate screen that once displayed beautiful vibrant images of the young lady pictured above.  I've been reading up on forums and this is quite common amongst 700m owners.  This happened to my brother almost exactly a week ago and somehow my laptop caught the disease.  Since the screws on the bottom panel have been frayed and stripped to being almost unscrewable (<


This weekend I decided to be a hermit and stay in.  Not much is going on anyways.  That I know of.  Plenty of activities that I can do indoors anyways.

This week, I received many packages from various online purchases made on the week of Black Friday and Cyber Monday.  Got my two portable hard drives from Dell a few days ago, my Tekken 6 Fightstick bundles, and my copy of Fearless: Platinum edition.  I spent much of the morning backing up all my files from my laptop and then putting all my music on the new hard drive.  Still en route are my other two external hard drives that I plan on returning, four books from Borders, and my clothes from Urban Outfitters.  Since receiving the fight sticks, I've been catching up on my SF2HD.  Purchase of the game via Xbox Live was made possible by my sister and her 10 friends, Andy, Doug, and Calvin.  Thanks!  Next game purchase will be Ikaruga, which I'm 400 points away from buying.  After playing twice online, I have come to the conclusion that Xbox Live players are much more competitive and unforgiving than their Playstation network counterpart.  

To test out the game after I first downloaded it, I played one game online and destroyed my competition.  This was at 7:45 AM right before I started doing my business to get ready for work.  I shut off the system and went to work.  I came back to a message by the person I played saying "Run scrub run".  I replied "It was 7:45 AM in San Francisco.  I was testing the game before I left for work.  Some of us are actually employed."  No response back.  Then a few days ago I had some time and decided to give it another go online.  I played one on one with some random guy and lost 8-10 (ish) before quitting since dinner was ready.  Minutes later, I received a voice message from him saying "You know why I played you like an ass hole?  Because you were using Zangief.  Playing one on one.  How cheap can you get.  Fuck you suck at this game."  First off, SF2HD is a one on one game.  How else can you play it?  One vs. two?  Ridiculous.  Secondly, if the developers put certain moves in the game, they want you to use it.  It's the same reasoning they add cheats in video games.  Games go through rigorous testing to balance characters and certain characters naturally have different functions otherwise every character would be the same.  I was practicing my Zangief's crouching jab+jab to 360 with LP (Andy you know what I'm talking about).  Basically the combo at 1:48. 



Needless to say, I caught him enough times (almost twice a round) to make him angry.  Probably got two or three perfects too.  So far, that's two for two.  Two ass holes in two sessions of SF2HD.  If I hadn't flashed my Xbox, I would have definitely reported this guy.  I do not want to cause trouble for myself.  Oh, the limitations resulting from illegal mods...

At work yesterday, our group held it's annual end-of-the-year party.  I spent the first two hours of work zoning out and napping while waiting for the company lunch.  The admin came around at 11 and asked me to go with her to pick up the food (our lunch was catered).  I said yes hoping to get to know her better since she was the youngest person in our group.  She's probably around 28.  The next youngest person is probably in their early 40s.  It's an old bunch.  After we picked up around ten trays of food, I called the team from the car to come help bring the food in.  I asked one of my coworkers to bring four or five other people to help unload the food.  After handing out all the trays to them, I realized there was nothing left for me to carry.  One of my coworkers, H a r s h i t (yes, his name is H a r s h i t and I realize it's one letter away from being Hardshit and I'm spacing out the name to avoid google searches), joked around saying that I called all of them to do all the lifting.  During the lunch, our boss, Jimmy, made gave a speech and thanked the admin for organizing the event and ordering the food and then thanked me for "being the muscle."  Harshit immediately pointed at me and smiled knowing that I didn't carry any of the trays.  I interrupted Jimmy and told him that other people helped.  Harshit busted me out saying, "Yea, Alex called all of us to carry all the food!"  Jimmy then congratulated me on my upper management skills in pawning off all the work on other people.  I guess I am management material after all.  This became a running joke throughout the party which I thought was pretty hilarious. 

Okay.  Here comes the inevitable rant of the entry.  After the lunch, the group has a traditional white elephant gift exchange.  The rules are, the gift must be a minimum of $25 and cannot be a recycled gift from the years before.  THAT'S IT!  The rules of the game in this case, was a gift can be stolen up to three times before being locked up.  The gift I bought was a large dream dictionary and Snuggie, which I personally think is a decent gift.  I drew number 20 of 50 (there were 33 people).  First pick by first person, 7" digital photo frame.  Obviously from the boss, Jimmy, and guaranteed to be stolen.  Here's why.  All the other gifts were lame beyond compare.  But before I get to the horrible list of gifts, let me first share with you the sequence of events involving myself since this is my blog.  Now this is where the game takes a horrible turn.  There was nothing I wanted to steal (you'll see why) when it was my turn, so I chose a gift from the pile.  I picked one that was relatively large with a nice heft to it.  Inside was an inflatable twin mattress (with pump).  This was definitely one of the better gifts, but I thought no one would want to steal it.  I was wrong.  A few turns later H  a r s h i t stole it from me and I decided to pick another from the pile.  At this point, after watching several picks, I came to the conclusion that anything that was horribly wrapped came from a male gifter and was almost certainly something tech-y.  I picked the third to the ugliest one because of the shape of the box.  Inside was a very good gift compared to the rest.  A clock radio with side speakers and a dock for Ipods. 

 

Something like that but not as nice of a model.  Definitely will get stolen.  A few turns pass and Serena, another coworker, steals my gift.  This was fairly upsetting because we were getting down to the wire on unopened gifts and I did not see anything worth stealing.  I took another gamble and picked another poorly wrapped gift.  This is what I got stuck with:

What...the...fuck...  Seriously?  A fucking DTV converter box?  A gift that was probably free from a government rebate?  At this point the entire room started laughing because they knew I picked gift that was almost certainly unwanted by everyone in the group.  This group of people have no fucking respect for the people who actually play the game with decency.  Now, for the list of the worst gifts:

• A T-shirt.  Obviously NOT worth $25
• A small twist-chopper thing and a bowl
• A pen set
• USED billiard balls.  Obviously repackaged poorly with loads of tape.  The cue ball had scuff marks on it.  Who would give this as a gift at white elephant?  What percent of people actually own a personal table and can use this?!
• Cheap wine that was clearly for the budget-conscious
• A teddy bear with candy.  There's always seems to be one jackass who does this (no offense to Dillon or David whoever brought that stuffed animal last time)
• A fucking step ladder.  A STEP LADDER!!! WHAT KIND OF PEOPLE DO THAT!? The best part about this gift was the wrapping.  Black garbage back.  With a step ladder in it.  Of course it was the last gift picked
• A tea kettle.  A fucking tea kettle.  And not just any tea kettle.  A tea kettle that clearly was a few years old.  The box was faded and scuffed up horribly and looked like someone bought it at Ross.  Don't get me wrong.  I love Ross.  But this clearly was the worst gift and there is no way it could have been worth more than $10.  The person who picked this had it stolen from Jimmy.  Every year, Jimmy bails out the person with the crappiest gift when it's his turn to pick.  That way the person with the crapiest gift (at the time) gets another choice.  Jimmy was sixth to draw meaning that the people who picked the crappier gifts could not be bailed out.  Like me.
  
• And of course the DTV converter box

Why?  Why do people do these things?  No respect for the game or their coworkers.  Some people at least have the decency to play the game with honor.  Highlights of "good" gifts:

• 7" digital photo frame
• 8GB flash drive (two people gifted them.  One Sandisk and one generic brand which any tech-y can tell you is not $25 but at least people want these)
• Safeway giftcard
• Clock with Ipod/dock
• Set of four great looking tumblers
• An emergency road-side kit.  Probably one of the most useful gifts.  Included jumper cables, gloves, flares, other tools, an orange cone, and other miscellaneous items.  

Jesus fucking Christ.  At least if I'm there next year I know I can get away with bringing crap gifts like a DTV converter box.  My god...  Work people are ridiculous.   If I had written this yesterday, you can bet that I would have used more profanities but I have cooled down a bit since then.  Worst white elephant in the history of white elephants.  While the gifts obviously sucked, it was pretty funny to see people making fun of everyone else for their poor gifts.  Overall, it was a fun experience even though I walked away with one of the worst gifts of all time.  People were even joking that the reason why someone gifted it was because they lost their rebate form and such.  I was a little sad that everyone didn't really like the gift that I brought either.  My manager actually picked my gift and tried desperately to give it away.  My gift ended up being stolen once and traded at the end of the game so at least a few people liked it.  There was actually another gifter who bought a Snuggie and combined it with a pair of Slipper Genies

To clean your floors while you walk around the house.  At the end of the game, I told Serena that my friend just got a pool table recently and that if she didn't want the billiard balls that she picked then I would be happy to take them.  She said that she didn't want to just give it away and didn't want to trade me for my DTV converter which is completely understandable.  But then another coworker said, "Just give it to Alex.  You have no reason to keep it."  She replied, "Oh, it's ok.  I'll just throw it around or something."  Bitch.  Huge bitch.  Let me tell you some of the things she's done.  My coworker Gary set up a slide show presentation of his trip to Europe with his girlfriend.  One of the pictures showed them in front of a very expensive store.  I forget if it was Gucci, Prada, or something like that but when that picture came up Serena blurted out "Oh that store is expensive.  You guys probably didn't buy anything from there cause you can't afford it huh?"  Everything she says is me, me, me.  "Oh look at what I've done.  I'm better than you at everything.  Everything I do is great and everything you do is wrong.  I'm right.  And everything that's yours is cheap stuff."  Clearly not true.  Before I moved my mattress back from San Jose, I was telling her that I had some back problems because of my mattress.  Her immediate response was "Oh you probably have a cheap mattress.  I have a very expensive mattress and it's very good."  Bitch I've been using the same mattress since I grew out of a crib.  What a fucking bitch.  And another time she was walking around holding a CD and asked me "Can I use your T-shirt to wipe off the gunk on the CD?" Uhh... No.  "Why are you being so stingy? Just let me wipe it with your shirt."  Ok.  One.  My mama bought me this shirt and it was one of my favorite shirts and I'm not letting some bitch use it to wipe shit off a CD.  Two.  Just because it's a T-shirt doesn't mean it's cheap.  It was an expensive T-shirt.  Three.  You have a fucking shirt.  Use yours.  "But my shirt is expensive and it's not made of cotton."  Shut up.  I dress the way I dress because it's comfortable and I don't have to try and impress you fuckbags at work who mean less than nothing to me.  Want to fire me for the way I dress? Fine with me.  What a fucking bitch.  Learn some manners.  How are you married? -End rant.

This week I moved my Xbox up to my room which finally allowed me to plug my USB somewhere and catch up on my shows.  I am up to date with HIMYM, BBT, Community, 30 Rock, and finally got a chance to watch the episode of SNL where Taylor Swift was hosting.  Next up is Modern Family, FlashForward,  White Collar.  I have all of Heroes for this season but will probably delete them before I watch it.  I quit Heroes.  Community is one of the funniest new shows on television.  It will definitely be renewed for at least another season and hopefully longer.  On the other end of the spectrum, Monk aired it's final episode of the series last night.  I'm about six or seven episodes behind and have not yet downloaded any episodes.  From what I've been hearing, the ending is going to be awesome.  I will definitely miss this show.  Upcoming shows to look forward to include 24 and Chuck.

Sharks played the Calgary Flames at the Tank tonight but couldn't come out with a win.  The Flames' goalie was phenomenal and made save after save.  McLaren had another fight but took a beating.  I like the way this kid plays.  Sticks up for his team mates and does not take crap from anyone.  I think in the last three games, he was in a fight in each game.  But rather than bore you with statistics that you don't care about, I would like to share an interesting tidbit I heard while watching the last game.  There is a contest of sorts to come up with the best nickname for the first line of the Sharks.  Currently, San Jose's top line is Patrick Marleau, or Patty, Joe Thornton, or Jumbo, and Danny Heatley, or Heater.  The first name that the announcer's said was "Team Canada".  A nickname they said was too generic and overused.  Second nickname was "The Great White" (because they're Sharks duh).   This was kind of interesting.  But the third was definitely the best.  Someone suggested their line be called "The Burger" line.  A Jumbo, Heated Patty.  Genius.  Next game will be at home against the L.A. Kings.  A game that I have tickets to.  Should be a great game considering they are not only division rivals, but it's also a battle of California. 

Big thanks to Gary who gave me his remaining Magic cards.  Haven't had the chance to go through everything but it's a good amount of cards.  From what I have gone through, I didn't see anything of value to my main deck.  Still very nice of him to give me his cards.  Wiltron get ready. 

That's all for now.

Until next time,

Beware of the Red Cyclone.

-Alex Thunderlips

A little bit of everything at once.

Rappers and singers with accents are awesome.  For a long time I didn't understand how an accent could make a woman hot, but in the past few years it's been growing on me.   I guess when I would think of a hot girl it would be more superficial.  Now, I notice more things beyond physical appearances that are very attractive.  Accents is one of them. 

It's been a hectic week or so which means no blogging.  To catch you up on my life, my post will be a significantly long one to try and cover all bases.  It will not be told in chronological order, but in the order that the events come to me as I am typing.  And the story begins with a dream.

Two nights ago, I had another bizarre dream.  In this particular dream, Andy, Chadwick, and I were all sitting down having a nice afternoon meal at some Chinese restaurant.  Out of the blue, some Arab guy, about our age, ran in the restaurant and told us that the Arabian mob was following him.  He asked if he could sit with us because he was scared of the people after him.  So being the good people that we are, we told him he could sit with us.  Then, a whole mess of people came spilling in the doorway looking for this guy.  Sure enough, it was the mob the guy was talking about.  They didn't see him right away so they sat down at a table and began scoping the place out.  All of a sudden one of the guys recognizes the guy at points at our table.  Without even getting up, they all pull out their pistols and uzis and start spraying in our direction.  I duck out of the way but Andy, Chad, and the Arab guy just sit there - backs straight, chin up, without flinching.  Bullets are flying and hitting them in the face and chest but bouncing off.  The three of them just look at the mob and shrug it off.  I ask, "What the hell just happened?"  Then I look over and see Brian in the corner of the restaurant and he says "How did you do that?!"  Andy and Chad explained that they had used an anti-bullet spray on themselves which makes them immune to all gunfire.  Brian looks over at me and I'm still ducking.  He asks me "Did you use it too?"  I give him the eye and reply "If I had used it would I be ducking?!  Of course I didn't use it!"  He stares back at me and says "I don't believe you."  Then he pulls out his own pistol and shoots me in the chest.  What...the...hell...  I look down and I'm bleeding and I can feel the bullet lodged in my lungs.  I start to panic and experience a shortness of breath.  Then I woke up.  I can't believe Brian didn't believe me.  He dream-murdered me.

The evening before that, Andy, Chadwick, Gary and I went to Poleng Lounge for Kate and Annie's birthday.  I pass by it every day on the 5 on my way to work but I never really noticed it.  It was dead and we ended up just sitting down and chatting.  It wasn't that bad except for the part where I got tricked into donating money to hurricane victims.  Now, I'm a victim too.  Had a couple of beers there and then took off to meet one of Andy's friends at Ambassador.  It was my first time there but it seemed like an okay spot.  Not too bad.  Just hung out with the boys for a while and challenged Gary to a chugging contest.  The first one was too close to call but the second round I beat him by about a half of a second.  It was pretty intense.  I knew I had the second round even though Chadwick had his money on Gary.  The official record is 1-1-1 and Gary said every time we go to a pub we should continue the tradition.  Sounds like fun.  Then we went to some pizza place across the street and it was delicious.  Greasy food after alcohol always tastes good.  Gary let me have a few bites of his slice since I didn't want to eat a whole one.  Still watching my weight.  And it's working. 

Been spending most of my time this week applying to two programs for graduate school.  Unfortunately, I think it may have been a complete waste of time.  The deadline is December 1 and I have not received any of the three letters or recommendations that I asked for.  But, I realized yesterday, that this may in fact work out in my favor.  The program I am applying to begins in Fall 2010, but the program also has a second session beginning in Spring.  If I change my application for the Spring semester, it will give me more time to complete my 18 month contract at Wells Fargo.  I guess there's always an upside.  I can't believe I'm becoming a glass-half-full kind of guy.  The program that I really want to be in has an April deadline so there's plenty of time for that one.  Probably will have a sit down meeting with the program director in the next month or so.  She seems really nice.

About this gun law situation.  Apparently it is legal to carry a gun as long as it's holstered, unloaded, and not concealed.  If I had known that earlier, I would have carried a gun everywhere.  I'm preferable to the p228.  Nice and compact.  It really only takes one bullet to kill someone if you know what you're doing, so I don't need a giant magnum or anything silly like that.  A simple p228 will do the job.  If I don't kill them with the first shot, I'll at least have immobilized the person.  Time to exercise my rights granted to me by the second amendment. 

Something has been bothering me for the last half year or so.  Ever since Chadwick's brother started playing Magic (the Gathering of course), I got sucked back into it.  I really don't mind except for the fact that I have no one to play with other than him.  Also, it sucks that sometimes it's all I think about.  I know this makes me sound like a loser but I don't care.  Sometimes all I do is think about how much better I could make my deck if I had certain cards.  I've actually gone out of my way to ask people I know who used to play to see if they had these cards.  It's just annoying knowing that my deck has not met its full potential.  But it's also satisfying to know that it beats Wilton's decks more than 50% of the time.  And it's even more satisfying knowing that he gets angry when he loses.  I love winning... I doesn't matter if I win against a four year old or a 90 year old.  Winning is winning.  FnF reference.  I need some howling mines.  When I get really desperate to play, I'll just walk down to the comic store.  There's always nerds there.  I have to buff up my deck first though so I don't get embarrassed.  I sometimes think about how awesome it would be to walk into the comic book store as an unknown and challenge everyone there.  They'd have no idea what my deck is capable of.  Yes. I am a loser.

Last night I finally got a chance to listen to the Howard Stern rant about religion and Kirk Cameron's ridiculous arguments for public schools to not just include intelligent design, but make it the main topic of science classes.  I don't like to use profanity in my blog but what a fucking tool.  Howard Stern made a lot of great points about religion and argued that evolution is the only thing that should be taught in public schools.  Agree 100%.  Kirk Cameron is such a douche.  These are the people that are so completely ignorant they just make me want to punch their babies.  Listen to this if you have time.  Part 1 of 2, totaling about 18 minutes. 



Black Friday is coming up.  I'm scheduled to work but if there are deals that I have to line up for then I might have to call it a half day.  I worked a half day on Thursday and my boss let me count it as a full day.  That's four hours of work for free.  I hope she'll let me keep the eight hours on record if I take a half day on Friday too.  This year, I'm looking for a new TV for my room.  Looking for at least a 46", 1080p, 120Hz LCD.  Brand isn't so important but I definitely would prefer a Samsung, Sony, Sharp, or maybe a Vizio.  Other than the TV, there's not much to line up for.  Also on my list for "wants" but not necessarily something I'd skip work for is a flash drive, a microsd card, It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia DVD seasons 3-4 + A Very Sunny Christmas, Monk (the seasons I don't have but I'm not sure which ones they are), Fearless Platinum edition, some board games, a new laptop, and maybe some other stuff, but those are the things I can name off the top of my head.  This is, of course, assuming there are amazing deals.  I have a price in mind for all of those items.  We'll see how it is when I get all the ads. I'd also like my own PS3.  There's no point of buying a blu-ray player when you can buy a PS3.  I figure when I move out I'll want my own anyways so if it's cheap, I'll probably end up buying one.  I know I will eventually.

That's all for now.  I'm also trying to think of a more creative sign off.  There needs to be more pizazz to my closing signature.  Time to experiment.

Until next time,

Stay classy San Francisco

-Alex Thunderlips

Good morning. Time to come alive.

Finally got my package after placing my order on 10/16.  The stuff got shipped 10/28 but due to some shipping issues with UPS I didn't get it until last night.  I don't understand how UPS works at all.  They leave a notice saying there was no suite or apartment number listed in the shipping address so they don't know where to deliver it to.  Uhhh...You left the notice at the right place.  So why wouldn't you just drop it off there?  Anyways, got my package from Triumvir.  As hoped, I received a free flannel due to processing and shipping errors (refer to previous post).  Lucky me!  Got my jacket, a free flannel, and a beanie, which I'm giving to Andy.  For some reason, I just do not look right with a hat or cap of any kind.  Tried beanies, caps, and military style caps.  You name it, I've tried it.  Nothing works.  With the exception of the hard hat apparently. 

Someone at work said something to me yesterday which confuses me more than UPS.  Why do people say "It's opposite day" to cover up a mistake?  It doesn't make sense.  If it was in fact opposite day, you would be saying "It's not opposite day."  And when you say that the other person will think that it's not opposite day at all.  So you still look like a douche.  Unless it's planned or known ahead of time, it's impossible to tell people it's opposite day.  It's a paradox.

Yesterday I had an interesting spur of the moment debate with Chadwick via AIM.  He asked me why was English important and we went on for about 45 minutes debating both sides.  I lost track of time and ended up missing my usual lunch time by a half an hour.  I took the side of English not being important.  It was pretty interesting to hear what he had to say.  And then we started talking about RASSLIN'!  It would be a pretty fun match up.  I'm the perfect weight for him to practice on but I'm a lot taller than his cousin.  We'll see.

Today, on my day off, I'm getting back to basics.  Tutoring.  Helping out my younger cousin in chemistry.  Should be fun.  I just hope she's not a super slow learner.  I really do miss school.  I tried putting those lectures in my ipod but they wouldn't play.  So I listened to music again all day yesterday.  Tomorrow I'm taking another day off.  Spending the day in San Jose and watching the Sharks game at night. 

-Alex Thunderlips

City of retards.

^^ This is how I feel.  Confused...

 ^^ This is how I want to feel.  Happy and relaxed.



^^ Kellie Pickler will be opening for Taylor Swift in April. 

Right off the bat, I knew it was going to be a bad day.  I woke up 15 minutes early but somehow ended up leaving the house 15 min late.  Got to work 20 minutes late and did my usual half an hour coast.  When I decided to start working I realized all of my test cards and test checks were missing from my ATM work space.  I started looking around and one of my coworkers asked me if I had left my stuff out.  Of course, being an honest guy, I said yes.  She told me security had their nightly walk-through of the test lab and found cash laying out in the open.  Apparently, I had left $55 in $1 bills out in the open.  She told me security was pissed and had filed a report.  I went to the security to retrieve my belongings and got an earful.  I was in such a rush to leave the night before that I forgot to clean up after myself.  Normally I don't leave my cash out, but I always leave my test cards out.  After getting in trouble like that, I always get really flustered.  I couldn't concentrate all morning.  Luckily I had a meeting which went long.  So I had 90 minutes to forget about it.  Fell asleep in the meeting again though.  Today we were talking about some genius in Texas who was cheating the machines using ridiculously smart techniques.  We're working hard and fast to try and come up with a fix to prevent people from doing this.  I'm so close to getting fired. 

Lately I've been feeling an urge to leave the City.  All of these new regulations and laws are getting ridiculous.  The City already gives tenants more power than landlords, they've banned smoking in most places (this one doesn't bother me so much), Styrofoam has been banned, plastic bags have been banned, they have all these gay rights things(which I'm indifferent about), and worst of all, they're giving animals rights.  City government has now put a ban on all declawings of cats.  The reason given is that it is animal cruelty and torture.  THEY'RE FUCKING ANIMALS!  Humans domesticated cats a long time ago.  What does this mean?  They are, for the most part, dependent on us.  Animal rights is the biggest oxymoron invented.  Animal's don't have rights.  They're for our benefit whether it be for food, labor, or entertainment.  We are on top of the food chain.  They have no rights.  We keep giving animals more and more rights.  At what point do we start to value human life?  I don't want to pay more for my steak because some ass hole wants farmers to start regulating their animals better.  It's not cost efficient and that will trickle down to the consumer resulting in an increase in price.  Whatever they've been doing, it's been working.  If it ain't broke don't fix it. 

AND ANOTHER THING! What's with this compost bullshit? If people want to compost, go ahead.  More power to you.  But don't force people to do it and don't fine them for choosing not to do it.  Now my family is forced to use another garbage can for compost.  And we have to buy special compostable bags.  This city is being torn apart by retarded politicians with their stupid agendas.  What a nightmare.  This city is becoming more and more difficult to live in.  I'm not sure about everyone else, but I'm finding it hard to see the purpose of living here if garbage and animals have more priority than me.  The worst part may be that other cities may follow suit.  What ever happened to human rights?

Help control the animal population.  Shoot an animal in the face.

-Alex Thunderlips