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

Yes man? No man...

Been listening to a lot of house lately.  Favorites so far: Kill Everybody Fire in Your New Shoes Feel it in My Bones Dynasty

People have been asking me a lot lately if I have started my Yes Man project because I guess I have been doing a lot of uncharacteristic things.  After my first semester, I feel like I finally have the time to go a little nuts and I guess people are getting confused.  I am definitely having a great winter break so far and hope it continues to be just as good.  I have not been very productive though...

I started to clean my room but gave up when I saw how much junk I have.  I tried to fix my uncle's computer but could not figure out why it was having trouble booting up.  My work out plan is sporadic at best.  I am however getting a lot of partying done.

In preparation for Vegas in March, I have been familiarizing myself with more house, electronica, and, dare i say, trance.  More house than anything though.  One of my classmates made me three CDs of an artist that has a pretty unique sound.



The going gets good around @1:00.  His name is Parov Stelar.  He's considered the founding father of Electroswing and hails from Australia.  I have always enjoyed swing music and big band music like Hey Pachuco! but never really looked for more songs or artists. Now that I have some time between now and the 10th of January, maybe I will look for more.  Or just let Pandora take care of it for me. 

In the past few weeks I have also came up with some ideas for some new ink.  The one that I will probably get first is a falling King (chess piece) on the inside of my left bicep.  You might be thinking, "Alex, how can you make it look like it's falling?!"  "With a shadow, my friend!" I would say.  The only thing holding me back is I am not sure what size I want.  Ideally, it would run almost six inches.  But, I am afraid it will be too big and stick out of my tee shirt sleeves.  Not looking to get caught by the parentals. 

A possible third would be Vi Veri Veniversum Vivus Vici across my collarbone.  Or a smaller version under my left collarbone.  I have been back and forth on this one since I actually stole the idea from a friend who already has the tattoo.  It's also very hard deciding on what font to use.  While searching for more Latin phrases, I came across some very funny ones:

1. Animadvertistine, ubicumque stes, fumum recta in faciem ferri? - (At a barbeque) Ever noticed how wherever you stand, the smoke goes right into your face?
2. Anulos qui animum ostendunt omnes gestemus! - Let's all wear mood rings!
3. Braccae illae virides cum subucula rosea et tunica Caledonia-quam elenganter concinnatur! - Those green pants go so well with that pink shirt and the plaid jacket!
4. Brevior saltare cum deformibus mulieribus est vita - Life is too short to dance with ugly women
5. Catapultam habeo. Nisi pecuniam omnem mihi dabis, ad caput tuum saxum immane mittam - I have a catapult. Give me all your money, or I will fling an enormous rock at your head
6. In dentibus anticis frustrum magnum spiniciae habes - You have a big piece of spinach in your front teeth

A few months ago, Calvin borrowed my iTouch to crack his PS3.  After returning it, I had to redownload my apps.  While looking for more free ones, I decided to download a free version of chess.  I have been playing it everyday for at least half an hour.  I think one of my New Year's resolutions will be to learn how to play chess at a higher level.  It's always been fun but I never understood all the terminology or strategies.  After a decent Wikipedia adventure, I was introduced to some of the intricacies of the games and read up on some of the more memorable matches.  I know I will never be competing in a nationally ranked tournament, but it would be nice to go play with the gang on 5th and Market one day.  Right now one of my biggest problem is seeing all the possible moves with the clock running.  Playing chess under time constraints is very difficult...

Until next time,

A game of chess is normally divided into three phases: opening, typically the first 10 to 25 moves, when players move their pieces into useful positions for the coming battle; middlegame, usually the fiercest part of the game; and endgame, when most of the pieces are gone, kings typically take a more active part in the struggle, and pawn promotion is often decisive.

-Alex Thunderlips

It's been a long time

I completely forgot Jet Li was in this music video.

Time to play some ketchup.  Let's start off with a couple of dreams I had.  It's been a while since I had these dreams so I may not be able to recapture all the magic.  These descriptions are the best I can come up with from what I've written in my dream notebook.

Dream 1 goes a little something like this:

I start out in some sort of sex dungeon and I have no clue what's going on or where I really am but somehow I know it's a sex dungeon.  James appears out of no where and helps me escape.  As soon as we get outside we split up and agree to meet back at the Academy of Sciences.  As I get to the Academy of Science, the front door is is closed.  Still being pursued by my captors, I run around the building looking for another entrance.  Surprisingly, there was an Office Depot connected to the museum.  I walk in through the exit instead of the entrance to confuse the people chasing me (like it would actually confused  someone...).  When I make my way down the aisles inside the store, I pass by an aisle with medieval armor and weapons.  I grab some stuff and get ready in case it comes down to fisticuffs.  As I walk further into the store, I can see that the rooms are starting to look more like inside castle walls.  It's like a market with a bunch of stuff going on with hay or straw all over the floor.  In one section I see James getting suited up to joust.  He gets on his horse and goes after the other guy but they're both knocked to the ground.  As he gets up, James takes off his helmet and conjures up some sort of spell and shoots lightning at this guy and kills him.  Rainbow comes running from some corner and hugs him.  At that point, I notice Chadwick and Gary are standing next to me and all I said to them was, "They are going to have some ugly babies..."

Dream 2.  GO!

I find myself in some sort of maze.  Not realizing where I am I start to explore the area.  Then I see mice running around me, but these mice are the size of cars!  Confused and scared, I run around looking for somewhere to hide.  I then realize that the mice weren't actually the size of cars.  It was actually me who had shrank down to the size of an army man.  I start to feel more at ease and walk outside of the hole we were in.  As I walk outside, a lady, who is normal sized, bends down and tells me she can make me big again if I help her trap the mice and kill them.  Now I'm conflicted.  I know I'm still human but I felt like I had some kind of bond with the mice.  I wanted to be regular sized again so I agree.  She uses some sort of magic and makes me my normal size and I notice I'm actually at my grandma's house.  I never actually help her find the mice, but instead do something worse.  I walk towards the back of the house and my brother Doug tells me to help him bring Tupac (our dog) outside to the yard.  He's clearly upset and I asked why.  He said that our mom told us we couldn't keep the dog anymore and we had to get rid of him.  We brought him outside and put him in a small tub and Doug douses him with bottles of lighter fluid.  Still hoping he wasn't going to do what I thought he was about to do, I take a step back.  Then he pulls a lighter out of his pocket and throws it in the tub and sets our dog on fire.  Tupac sat there in the tub without flinching and just howled as he was on fire.  Instead of burning like any normal animal, Tupac began to melt instead.  One of my uncles who lives next door opened his backyard window and looks at what we're doing and yells "WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!"  Doug and I panic and run back in the house where my aunt shakes her head at Doug and says, "See.  I told you you couldn't take care of him for more than 6 months..."

Until next time,

The correct name for "pulling-out" is coitus interruptus.  Oh you fancy huh?

-Alex Thunderlips

Vegas, baby!!! VEGAS!!!

Right now I'm packing for my first Halloween in Vegas.  I know I have been neglecting this blog but I've been busy.  Lots of firsts in this month.

First car:  2010 Golf TDI.
First stick shift
First ink
First Sharks home opener game
First time I blogged in the month of October
First time I will be in Vegas for Halloween
First time I will be themed in costume (twice)
First time in Vegas with my cousins
First time I enjoyed watching a game of baseball (not a bandwagon fan.  Just a fan of the mental assassin)

October is turning out to be a good month.  Let's keep it that way.

Until next time,

The famous “Welcome to Las Vegas” sign was created in 1959

-Thunderlips

Take it to the max

Epic song.  Makes me feel like I should do something dramatic.  If I were to create a soundtrack to my life (new project?!), this song would be somewhere in the mix.  This guy's actual name?  Alexander Max Band.  Seriously.  The only thing that would make his name any cooler is if Max was short for Maximus or Maximillion.  His name is second only to my ex-landlord: Vince Stryker.  Effin' great album.  If you think you recognize his voice, it's probably because you do.  He's the former lead vocalist of The Calling.  If you forgot who they were, they sang Wherever you will go.  If you liked that song, here's another one.

In BUS210, I'm learning about organizational culture.  The topics that I have gone through include organizational behavior, organizational culture, creativity, and leadership to name a few.  After learning more about how an organization works, I look at my job from an entirely different perspective now.  It makes me want to shoot myself in the face everyday.  More than before.  I just don't want to be there anymore.  This week I probably worked a total of two to three hours in four days.

Our entire group consists of about 50 members, but only about 15 or so are actual full time employees.  Everyone else, including me, is a contractor.  Company policy decided about a year ago to prohibit any parties or extra curricular for non-employees.  Yesterday, the employees had a paid day off.  They all had lunch in San Francisco and then went to the Asian Art museum while the contractors were left behind in the office to slave away.  It's definitely created a rift between employees and contractors.  Our boss doesn't like it but he's tied down by the system.  Morale is at an all time low.  All the perks that we saw before (company lunches for end of release, retirement, etc.) are exclusive to employees only.  The contractors are just as important as the employees and more than half of them have worked as contractors for over five years.  Revolt!

So this is my car situation as of now.  Last weekend I went to test drive the 2dr Golf TDI (I stalled six times in a row, embarrassing I know...)  and had to walk away from the dealership empty handed.  Their opening offer was $33,000.  RIDICULOUS! I countered with $5.  Not really but I talked it down to $26,250 out the door with 0% APR after almost an hour and a half.  They wouldn't go lower so I walked.  After learning about how expensive it would be, I called up Bui to see what kind of deal he could get me.  After calling people he offered me same price.  I decided to give up on purchasing the Golf.

After that happened, I went back to my first choice.  The Audi A4.  And even better, the 2011 is out.  The difference between the two is $8,000.  I have been going back and forth between the two cars and whether or not to finance or just to lease.  I wanted to lease the A4 but after thinking about it a lot, I might just lease a cheaper car since I won't keep it anyways.  It'll keep my monthly payments super low and I could save up for a purchase at the end of the lease.  Hopefully I could find a car I can lease for around $200 a month.  At this point, I don't really care what that car is but it would be nice if I could get an estimate on how much a lease is on the Golf is since it's in my top two picks.  I know this car will go through a lot of abuse in the next two years.  I won't have time to properly maintain it.  Probably will look up a lease price at work tomorrow.  Any suggestions?

Until next time,

Short sentences that use all letters of the alphabet (called pangrams and great for beginning typists):

1. The quick brown fox jumps over a lazy dog (33 characters)
2. Pack my box with five dozen liquor jugs (32 characters)
3. Quick, jab my fading pink zit, evil sex whore! (35 characters)

-Alex Thunderlips