Tuesday, September 30, 2008
Sunday, September 28, 2008
MPG success
So on the 19th I filled up my tank and then set my Trip A to 0.0 miles. I wanted to see how far I could get with one tank of gas. One tank of gas for my car is about 9.9 gallons. Before this little experiment of mine, I would have to fill up from about the 1/4 mark every 3-4 days just because I drove so economically unintelligent. I would regularly drive 75-80 in a 55 zone and 10-15 over other speed limits like 25, 35, and 45. For the past 9 days though, I've gone to Maryland 2 times, DC once, school 4 times, and Springfield once. I've also been driving strictly what the posted speed limit is in my given location. Basically in the past, I would average about 27-30 miles per gallon. Also, I'd blast my A/C all the time. During the past 9 days, I only turned on the A/C on my way to DC to make the ride comfortable and also to defog my windshield and back window. All other times driving below 45 MPH, I would let my window down a little bit.
Here were my results while using all of the techniques that I've read online.
401.3 miles on 9.792 gallons. This comes out to 40.98 miles per gallon.
Here are some tips:
-Don't press real hard on the gas pedal once the light turns green just to find out that the next light is also red. Gradually accelerate.
-Don't brake so hard. Gradually slow down.
-Try to time your braking perfectly so that once you get to the next light it'll be green already and you can just coast through the light already going 15-20 MPH and not have to accelerate from 0 MPH.
-If you're familiar with your route, know how long lights are. If you know that your light just turned red and the intersection has to do the turning green first, then the normal green, then oncoming traffic gets their turning green, then turn off your car. The whole cycle until you get your green light will probably take a minute or so. Every 7 seconds that your car is idle, it is equivalent to turning your car on. So, you might as well just turn your car off and only turn your car on once.
-F the passing cars going 75 on 66 or 495, you'll both get to your destinations. One time I saw this car zoom past me probably going 75 or so. About 6 miles ahead, I was right next to him at the traffic light once we exited. So, you might think that you're passing everyone, but they'll eventually catch up to you once you exit. You can't stay on the highway forever.
-If you know a downhill is coming up, speed up a bit to get momentum and just coast until you've slowed down again under speed limit in which you should be accelerating already.
-Oh and obviously, avoid traffic. On the 16th I hit traffic taking my sister to work in the morning. I ended up only getting 335 miles on that tank. I was in traffic for about 30 minutes. Imagine people going to work everyday like that. Blower! And that's just on the way to work haha.
I hope this helps.
Here were my results while using all of the techniques that I've read online.
401.3 miles on 9.792 gallons. This comes out to 40.98 miles per gallon.
Here are some tips:
-Don't press real hard on the gas pedal once the light turns green just to find out that the next light is also red. Gradually accelerate.
-Don't brake so hard. Gradually slow down.
-Try to time your braking perfectly so that once you get to the next light it'll be green already and you can just coast through the light already going 15-20 MPH and not have to accelerate from 0 MPH.
-If you're familiar with your route, know how long lights are. If you know that your light just turned red and the intersection has to do the turning green first, then the normal green, then oncoming traffic gets their turning green, then turn off your car. The whole cycle until you get your green light will probably take a minute or so. Every 7 seconds that your car is idle, it is equivalent to turning your car on. So, you might as well just turn your car off and only turn your car on once.
-F the passing cars going 75 on 66 or 495, you'll both get to your destinations. One time I saw this car zoom past me probably going 75 or so. About 6 miles ahead, I was right next to him at the traffic light once we exited. So, you might think that you're passing everyone, but they'll eventually catch up to you once you exit. You can't stay on the highway forever.
-If you know a downhill is coming up, speed up a bit to get momentum and just coast until you've slowed down again under speed limit in which you should be accelerating already.
-Oh and obviously, avoid traffic. On the 16th I hit traffic taking my sister to work in the morning. I ended up only getting 335 miles on that tank. I was in traffic for about 30 minutes. Imagine people going to work everyday like that. Blower! And that's just on the way to work haha.
I hope this helps.
First Date
I started the day by going to Alan's house to go to the Discovery Camp meeting. The people that were there were Keisha, Chris, Alan, Jon, Aya, Matt, Mark, Faye, and Marilyn. They talked about the speakers, sharers, Friday night plans, fasting secular music, taking up this one prayer that I can't remember the name of, and a bunch of other things. Nikki came pretty late because her phone died overnight, so she wasn't woken up on time. Anyway, she and I left at 3 o'clock. We went to St. Columba to try and catch confession at 3:30. Unfortunately, there was this old man that went in before us. Dude was in there for 25 minutes already and still wasn't out. By that time, we had to go or else we would've been late to our pre-dinner thing. So, we left without going to confession. Wack!
Finally, we got on 210, then 295, then finally into downtown. We struggled finding parking, until I finally found this parking on the corner of 11th and Pennsylvania. We took a while to walk to our destination because Nikki's toe was hurting from dance. So, we had to walk really slowly. A 5 minute walk took us about 15 to 20 minutes haha. It was cool though. We had to get to the Smithsonian by 4:45 to pick up our tickets to the butterfly pavilion. We got there at 4:40 thankfully. Nikki has always like butterflies and she gets giddy every time she sees one around. So, I thought it was a great idea to bring her here. She thought that it was a one time event and was gone already. Once I told her what we were doing, she got super happy and giddy. She told me she had to try really hard to contain her excitement haha. I was so proud of what I picked to do. It was $135 cheaper than getting a stupid horse carriage ride. That would've been a bad move since it was raining. Oh yeah, before we went into the Smithsonian, we saw this huge rainbow on the left which made it that much more romantic. But anyway, it was hot as hell in the little butterfly tunnel, but the butterflies were so beautiful that the heat was worth it.
Once we got out of the butterfly pavilion, we found our way on 12th street again and went up towards Pennsylvania. Oh yeah, my camera ran out of battery so I couldn't take anymore pictures at dinner. Wack! At this point, she still had no idea where we were eating. Once we were in front of the Willard Intercontinental Hotel, I was like "Okay, we're here." She turned to me and was so happy again. Yay! We went in there and had about a 10 minute wait before our reservation at 6 PM. In the hallway, some guy was walking around with finger food. He offered us this cracker with raw salmon on top. It was so good! I was amazed that they just gave away great food like that. So anyway, we finally got to our table. I loved it when the dude said "Mr. Rio, please follow me." I felt legit haha. Oh yeah, our waiter was Filipino. That was pretty cool.
Here's what we ended up ordering:
appetizer - Sauteed Frog Legs Meuniere
salad - Mixed Romaine Caesar Salad (for two)
entrees - Grilled Mediterranean Sea Bass (Nikki's)
- Pan Seared Filet Mignon (mine)
dessert - Dark Chocolate Fondant
We got some free food, too. They gave us this great raw tuna thing in a cup. It was similar to the tuna we had at George's in San Diego. Then we got bread of course with this bomb ass butter and these tasty olives. Then at the end, we got some more free sweets/chocolate.
So yeaaaaaah, I'm completely broke now after this dinner. It's cool though. It was absolutely worth every penny. Anyway, we finally walked out of the hotel in the rain. Thankfully I brought my umbrella. We walked around the courtyard and that's when I finally asked her : ) There's no words needed to talk about that. I left her at the hotel so that I could walk my pace to the parking lot and finally picked her up once I got my car from the parking garage.
Here are some pictures.
On the way there, 295 NB.
"Hmmm, I wonder where we're off to."
Me with butterflies in my stomach, nervous as hell.
On Pennsylvania Ave I think. Is that Capitol Hill up there? I'm not even sure haha. All of these monuments' names escape me.
In line for the butterfly pavilion.
I guess they love grapefruit.
This was the giant butterfly I think.
Owl butterfly.
This one was chillin' on Nikki's leg for about 15 minutes.
Niks with the butterfly guide.
Back at Nikki's house. Alan has better pictures of Nikki and I. I just posted myself just because this is my blog damn it! Haha.
Oh yeah, of course I had to mess around with Photoshop. Here's my one attempt.
Finally, we got on 210, then 295, then finally into downtown. We struggled finding parking, until I finally found this parking on the corner of 11th and Pennsylvania. We took a while to walk to our destination because Nikki's toe was hurting from dance. So, we had to walk really slowly. A 5 minute walk took us about 15 to 20 minutes haha. It was cool though. We had to get to the Smithsonian by 4:45 to pick up our tickets to the butterfly pavilion. We got there at 4:40 thankfully. Nikki has always like butterflies and she gets giddy every time she sees one around. So, I thought it was a great idea to bring her here. She thought that it was a one time event and was gone already. Once I told her what we were doing, she got super happy and giddy. She told me she had to try really hard to contain her excitement haha. I was so proud of what I picked to do. It was $135 cheaper than getting a stupid horse carriage ride. That would've been a bad move since it was raining. Oh yeah, before we went into the Smithsonian, we saw this huge rainbow on the left which made it that much more romantic. But anyway, it was hot as hell in the little butterfly tunnel, but the butterflies were so beautiful that the heat was worth it.
Once we got out of the butterfly pavilion, we found our way on 12th street again and went up towards Pennsylvania. Oh yeah, my camera ran out of battery so I couldn't take anymore pictures at dinner. Wack! At this point, she still had no idea where we were eating. Once we were in front of the Willard Intercontinental Hotel, I was like "Okay, we're here." She turned to me and was so happy again. Yay! We went in there and had about a 10 minute wait before our reservation at 6 PM. In the hallway, some guy was walking around with finger food. He offered us this cracker with raw salmon on top. It was so good! I was amazed that they just gave away great food like that. So anyway, we finally got to our table. I loved it when the dude said "Mr. Rio, please follow me." I felt legit haha. Oh yeah, our waiter was Filipino. That was pretty cool.
Here's what we ended up ordering:
appetizer - Sauteed Frog Legs Meuniere
salad - Mixed Romaine Caesar Salad (for two)
entrees - Grilled Mediterranean Sea Bass (Nikki's)
- Pan Seared Filet Mignon (mine)
dessert - Dark Chocolate Fondant
We got some free food, too. They gave us this great raw tuna thing in a cup. It was similar to the tuna we had at George's in San Diego. Then we got bread of course with this bomb ass butter and these tasty olives. Then at the end, we got some more free sweets/chocolate.
So yeaaaaaah, I'm completely broke now after this dinner. It's cool though. It was absolutely worth every penny. Anyway, we finally walked out of the hotel in the rain. Thankfully I brought my umbrella. We walked around the courtyard and that's when I finally asked her : ) There's no words needed to talk about that. I left her at the hotel so that I could walk my pace to the parking lot and finally picked her up once I got my car from the parking garage.
Here are some pictures.
On the way there, 295 NB.
"Hmmm, I wonder where we're off to."
Me with butterflies in my stomach, nervous as hell.
On Pennsylvania Ave I think. Is that Capitol Hill up there? I'm not even sure haha. All of these monuments' names escape me.
In line for the butterfly pavilion.
I guess they love grapefruit.
This was the giant butterfly I think.
Owl butterfly.
This one was chillin' on Nikki's leg for about 15 minutes.
Niks with the butterfly guide.
Back at Nikki's house. Alan has better pictures of Nikki and I. I just posted myself just because this is my blog damn it! Haha.
Oh yeah, of course I had to mess around with Photoshop. Here's my one attempt.
Saturday, September 27, 2008
Penny II's + Fright-Induced Sleep
My Penny II's finally came in. I'm another step closer to completing my Penny Hardaway collection. Thanks to my friend who hooked me up with his swoosh account. 40% off! : )
In the spring, the III's are going to be retro-ed. Yes! Here are some pictures of the II's.
Mmmm, 3M.
Group pictures.
In other news, yesterday morning, Timmy pushed Selwyn really hard. This caused Selwyn to fall and hit his head on the bed post. Dude was crying hysterically until I calmed him down and he realized that he wasn't really hurting that bad. But, prior to that, I yelled at Timmy for being so bad and disrespectful. When I came back from consoling Selwyn and getting ice for him, here's what I came back to. Dude was knocked out in his tears. So cute, yet sad... but still cute haha.
He sleeps in this position consistently just like those tiny angel sculptures.
Will be back tomorrow night with the first date update. Yikes!
In the spring, the III's are going to be retro-ed. Yes! Here are some pictures of the II's.
Mmmm, 3M.
Group pictures.
In other news, yesterday morning, Timmy pushed Selwyn really hard. This caused Selwyn to fall and hit his head on the bed post. Dude was crying hysterically until I calmed him down and he realized that he wasn't really hurting that bad. But, prior to that, I yelled at Timmy for being so bad and disrespectful. When I came back from consoling Selwyn and getting ice for him, here's what I came back to. Dude was knocked out in his tears. So cute, yet sad... but still cute haha.
He sleeps in this position consistently just like those tiny angel sculptures.
Will be back tomorrow night with the first date update. Yikes!
Wednesday, September 24, 2008
Wise words from Warren Buffet
“I enjoy what I do, I tap dance to work every day. I work with people I love, doing what I love. I spend my time thinking about the future, not the past. The future is exciting. As Bertrand Russell says, “Success is getting what you want, happiness is wanting what you get.” I won the ovarian lottery the day I was born and so did all of you. We’re all successful, intelligent, and educated. To focus on what you don’t have is a terrible mistake. With the gifts all of us have, if you are unhappy, it’s your own fault.
I know a woman in her 80’s, a Polish Jew woman forced into a concentration camp with her family but not all of them came out. She says, “I am slow to make friends because when I look at people, I have one question in mind; would they hide me?” If you get to be my age, or younger for that matter, and have a lot of people that would hide you, then you can feel pretty good about how you’ve lived your life.
I know people on the Forbes 400 list whose children would not hide them. “He’s in the attic, he’s in the attic.” The most powerful force in the world is unconditional love. To horde it is a terrible mistake in life. The more you try to give it away, the more you get it back. At an individual level, it’s important to make sure that for the people that count to you, you count to them.
What if you could buy 10% of your classmates and their future earnings? You wouldn’t buy the ones with the highest IQ, the best grades, etc., but you’d buy the ones who are the most effective. You like people who are generous, go out of their way, straight shooters who makes things happen. Now imagine that you could short (this means betting against them) 10% of your classmates. This part is usually more fun as you start looking around the room. You wouldn’t choose the ones with the poorest grades. You’d look for people nobody wants to be around, that are obnoxious, the ones who are all talk.
If you have a 500 HP engine and only get 50 HP out of it, you’ll be beat by someone else that has a 300 HP engine but gets 250 HP output. The difference between potential and output comes from human qualities. You can make a list of the qualities you admire and those you despise. To turn the tables, think, if this is the way I react to the qualities on the list, won’t this be the way the world will react to me? You can learn to turn on those qualities you want and turn off those qualities you wish to avoid.
The best way to get success is to deserve success. I have to look them in the eye and decide whether they love the business or they love the money. It’s fine if they love the money, but they have to love the business more. Why do I come in at 7 every morning, I can’t wait to get to work. It’s because I get to paint my own painting and I like applause.
In my personal life, there are always things I could’ve done differently. But so many good things have happened. It just doesn’t pay to dwell on the bad things. Finding the right spouse is 90% of it. If you have your health and lucky on your spouse; you’re a long way home.
Getting turned down by Harvard Business School was one of the best things that could have happened to me; bad luck can turn out to be good.”
The Office Season 5
Season 5 premieres tomorrow night. I can't wait! Hopefully this season is better than the last. They spent too much time AWAY from the office last season. It was very funny regardless, but I'd like to see more pranks by Jim. For some reason though, I see a lot of off office things going on since Pam is off in NY doing her art thing and Jan is pregnant.
Things I'd like answered:
-How is Pam and Jim's relationship going to work?
-Does Pam want to go forth with her art stuff instead of being stuck in the office forever?
-Does Michael help Jan with the baby even though it's not his?
-What's good with the end of Season 4 with Dwight and Angela?
-How are Andy and Dwight going to get along since Andy proposed to Angela but Dwight had his way with her at the end of Season 4?
-Is Kevin going to keep going with his 'slow' shenanigans with Holly?
-Will Holly and Michael develop a relationship?
Season 5, don't let me down!
The following week, Pushing Daisies comes back on air on ABC, fyi.
Tuesday, September 23, 2008
Photoshop Love
I had a lot of free time today since I'm looking after the babies. So here were some things I did.
The smaller pictures are comprised of two baby pictures. If I had more, I could've done it, but those are the only two baby pictures that I have. I'm taking requests. Give me one huge close up of you or whoever, and then give me a bunch of pictures that you want the big picture to be made up of.
Here's Timi's. She only had one picture of Mon, so yeah haha. It didn't turn out too badly.
Selwyn and Timmy at the National Zoo.
These next 3 are my sad attempts at making pictures look like watercolor paintings. I just need more scenery pictures.
At KV.
This one turned out real ugly. Oh well, too many people. I need more scenery, less people.
Thanks for the photo, Timi. This one is probably my favorite.
My bro and Timmy in Canada.
The smaller pictures are comprised of two baby pictures. If I had more, I could've done it, but those are the only two baby pictures that I have. I'm taking requests. Give me one huge close up of you or whoever, and then give me a bunch of pictures that you want the big picture to be made up of.
Here's Timi's. She only had one picture of Mon, so yeah haha. It didn't turn out too badly.
Selwyn and Timmy at the National Zoo.
These next 3 are my sad attempts at making pictures look like watercolor paintings. I just need more scenery pictures.
At KV.
This one turned out real ugly. Oh well, too many people. I need more scenery, less people.
Thanks for the photo, Timi. This one is probably my favorite.
My bro and Timmy in Canada.
Something Else by Robin Thicke
I highly encourage you all to go out and support this man's album. Been a fan since Cherry Blue Skies/A Beautiful World, so you know I have to go out and get this. My favorites so far are "Dream World" and "The Sweetest Love." Hopefully, he does some decent numbers in his first week. It doesn't come out until September 30, by the way.
Monday, September 22, 2008
Generosity, Mercy, and ACCT 301
Here goes my one post of being a preacher. Well, I'm not really trying to preach. I just want to remind this to myself if ever I stray in the future. I went to the 10 PM mass at Mason last night with Nikki, Maryann, and some FCA cats. Anyway, the homily was pretty great. It opened my eyes to something that should've been really obvious. I just had never thought of it this way or been able to verbalize the idea in the past.
Basically, don't ask God for what you've earned or what you deserve. There was the parable about a rich person who gave people jobs. He agreed to give his usual employees the daily wage. They worked a long day. Then, there was a couple of very needy people I think. At the end of the day, they got the same wage as the people who had been working all day even though they only worked for a few hours. The usual people complained that they should be making more money since they worked more than the needy folks. They asked why the needy folks earned the same amount of money as they did for less work. The rich person said that they should be happy that he was generous and that they initially agreed for the daily wage beforehand. What the other people did had nothing to do with what they did.
This is how I thought that it related to me. Sometimes I find myself thinking that my glory road to heaven is pretty clear just because I'm pretty prayerful and pretty sure that I sin a lot less than the 'normal' person. But in reality, how much I sin relative to other people has nothing to do with how God will judge me in the end. So, I shouldn't be asking God for what I deserve. If he were to give me what I deserved, it would probably be hell or purgatory because we were a sinful being. Instead, I should ask God for his mercy and generosity. Heaven is a gift. It is not something that we could earn or barter for. Ahh, I guess it wasn't as easy to verbalize it as I thought. Father Peter made it seem easy haha. I guess that's why he's the priest and I'm the student.
Thank you for the words, Father Peter.
/end preaching
In other news, I had my first midterm today in Accounting 301. I didn't get a chance to study last night because I don't have powerpoint on this computer. So, I had to wait until this morning to go to school and study. My class was at 3, but I had a class before that at 1:30. I had to wait for my mom to look after the babies until 12:30, so I really only had about an hour and 15 minutes to study 4 chapters. All I know is that I'm thankful I went to the actual lectures. I'm hoping for nothing less than a 28/30. I got another midterm in BULE 302 on Wednesday. I needa get on that because of the powerpoint problem. Pray for me, please! : )
'Til next time, have a good week.
Basically, don't ask God for what you've earned or what you deserve. There was the parable about a rich person who gave people jobs. He agreed to give his usual employees the daily wage. They worked a long day. Then, there was a couple of very needy people I think. At the end of the day, they got the same wage as the people who had been working all day even though they only worked for a few hours. The usual people complained that they should be making more money since they worked more than the needy folks. They asked why the needy folks earned the same amount of money as they did for less work. The rich person said that they should be happy that he was generous and that they initially agreed for the daily wage beforehand. What the other people did had nothing to do with what they did.
This is how I thought that it related to me. Sometimes I find myself thinking that my glory road to heaven is pretty clear just because I'm pretty prayerful and pretty sure that I sin a lot less than the 'normal' person. But in reality, how much I sin relative to other people has nothing to do with how God will judge me in the end. So, I shouldn't be asking God for what I deserve. If he were to give me what I deserved, it would probably be hell or purgatory because we were a sinful being. Instead, I should ask God for his mercy and generosity. Heaven is a gift. It is not something that we could earn or barter for. Ahh, I guess it wasn't as easy to verbalize it as I thought. Father Peter made it seem easy haha. I guess that's why he's the priest and I'm the student.
Thank you for the words, Father Peter.
/end preaching
In other news, I had my first midterm today in Accounting 301. I didn't get a chance to study last night because I don't have powerpoint on this computer. So, I had to wait until this morning to go to school and study. My class was at 3, but I had a class before that at 1:30. I had to wait for my mom to look after the babies until 12:30, so I really only had about an hour and 15 minutes to study 4 chapters. All I know is that I'm thankful I went to the actual lectures. I'm hoping for nothing less than a 28/30. I got another midterm in BULE 302 on Wednesday. I needa get on that because of the powerpoint problem. Pray for me, please! : )
'Til next time, have a good week.
Sunday, September 21, 2008
Photoshop CS3
So, I finally gave in and quit on trying to get a free Photoshop. The directions they got on the torrents are dumb hard nowadays. The write protection that Adobe put on Photoshop is a lot more advanced than it was before, so it's grueling just to even download a version. So, I got the 30-day trial.
Note to self: Your trial ends October 20th.
Here are two things that I've done tonight. I'm really bored, so yeah....
These two pictures were taken today (09/20).
"P-U-S-H"
This is from a picture that I took today on the TV. Little Miss Sunshine was playing, so I thought I'd take a picture of one of my favorite scenes from the movie. This is in my top 10 movies by the way. I love love love the score! I've listened to the soundtrack on many drives before. Anyway, I cropped it a bit, added some text, stylized with the wind function, and applied the crosshatch strokes. Here's what I came up with.
Thanks for the picture, Nik. This is in front of the house. As usual, I'm cheesin' like an idiot. All I did here was lasso everything around me and applied some motion blur. It turned out all right.
I hope to OD and just photoshop anything I see haha.
Note to self: Your trial ends October 20th.
Here are two things that I've done tonight. I'm really bored, so yeah....
These two pictures were taken today (09/20).
"P-U-S-H"
This is from a picture that I took today on the TV. Little Miss Sunshine was playing, so I thought I'd take a picture of one of my favorite scenes from the movie. This is in my top 10 movies by the way. I love love love the score! I've listened to the soundtrack on many drives before. Anyway, I cropped it a bit, added some text, stylized with the wind function, and applied the crosshatch strokes. Here's what I came up with.
Thanks for the picture, Nik. This is in front of the house. As usual, I'm cheesin' like an idiot. All I did here was lasso everything around me and applied some motion blur. It turned out all right.
I hope to OD and just photoshop anything I see haha.
Friday, September 19, 2008
Farewell Dragonfly + Bachelor Party Ideas
I just talked to Erickson a few minutes ago. Erickson is a friend of mine of 13 years who lives in the city. I was like yo I really, really want to eat at Dragonfly again like we did with my family, you, and Aldrin. He told me of the bad news about how they closed last year to renovate and have not reopened since. He told me that they were gone. Here's a tribute for the restaurant of my dreams. Cool location, great interior, fair prices, wonderful service, and even better food.
Dragonfly, I know I only ate there once, but you will be missed dearly.
Anyway, I just got home from youth night. The CO got canceled because of some choir practice that was using the hall past their time I guess. It was for a youth mass either this Sunday or next Sunday. While shooting around, I jammed my finger again. It hurts like hell. But yeah, after that was done, a few of us went to McDonald's. It was me, Joe, James, Nikki, Aya, and Alan. We had conversations all over the place. It eventually led to Alan's bachelor party dreams. He said he had 3 options for his bachelor party in the future in no particular order: deep sea fishing, bear hunting/killing, or a gang fight. Ahh man, so many funny situations we thought up.
-breaking and entering
-breaking and entering in the Estorninos house and see who could stay the longest overnight
-breaking and entering, but instead of stealing stuff, we should leave things
-jumping somebody as opposed a whole gang
-mugging
-hanging the bear remains on the church wall
-ripping the bear's heart out and eating it (Joe) haha
-painting toe nails among other girly things
I could keep going, but there's too many to mention. I love hanging out with these dudes. I'm guaranteed for at least 3 laughs per minute.
Have a great weekend, folks.
Dragonfly, I know I only ate there once, but you will be missed dearly.
Anyway, I just got home from youth night. The CO got canceled because of some choir practice that was using the hall past their time I guess. It was for a youth mass either this Sunday or next Sunday. While shooting around, I jammed my finger again. It hurts like hell. But yeah, after that was done, a few of us went to McDonald's. It was me, Joe, James, Nikki, Aya, and Alan. We had conversations all over the place. It eventually led to Alan's bachelor party dreams. He said he had 3 options for his bachelor party in the future in no particular order: deep sea fishing, bear hunting/killing, or a gang fight. Ahh man, so many funny situations we thought up.
-breaking and entering
-breaking and entering in the Estorninos house and see who could stay the longest overnight
-breaking and entering, but instead of stealing stuff, we should leave things
-jumping somebody as opposed a whole gang
-mugging
-hanging the bear remains on the church wall
-ripping the bear's heart out and eating it (Joe) haha
-painting toe nails among other girly things
I could keep going, but there's too many to mention. I love hanging out with these dudes. I'm guaranteed for at least 3 laughs per minute.
Have a great weekend, folks.
Gettin' Up
A note to other artists: Peep game, take notes. Go back to the basics. No need for these ridiculous drum patterns and silly gimmicks. No need for beefs to get your sales up. Just make good music. "The Renaissance." Shouts to my homie that put me up on the song. This album and the Robin Thicke album are a couple of albums to add to the list to buy in the 4th quarter.
New York
I dearly miss New York.
I MISS New York really badly.
I haven't been back in about 2 years. So, last night I just had this plan to go. So, I planned with my boy Samer to go up in late October and/or late November. I should have some stacks by then, so I can readily splurge if need be haha.
Places to hit up:
-aunt and uncle's house
-Erickson's place
-SOHO
-Flight club
-Dragonfly
-Ground Zero
-DQM
-Supreme
-Clientele
-Goliath
I hate Google Maps. These really brought me back.
That's my home in the far right. My family occupied half of the second floor. We'd get black outs, or as my Filipino countrymen would say, brown outs, frequently. So, we had to go to the basement and reset the switches haha. The laundry was down there, too, so that was a trip. There's the church we went to in the middle. Then on the left is some school. I didn't go there, but I remember when I was a kid I kept reading a sign that said "Drug-Free Zone." As a kid, I thought that meant free drugs obviously. If you go down the street, that's Fulton Street. Another block down and you're at Atlantic Avenue. Man, I miss the subway being about a 5 minute walk from my house. If you go the other direction away from Fulton, you'll hit Jamaica Avenue.
When I used to come home from school, I would go down this street every single day. If you go toward the right of the picture, you'd hit Fulton Street and then after the intersection would be my house. The graffiti on this wall is bananas, and it extends for a good while.
This right here is John Adams High School. Both of my brothers went here for a couple of years. My mom and I used to wait on this curb to pick them up. One time, two of their boys needed rides, too. They were our now close friends Aldrin and Mike. Anyway, obviously, it was my two brothers, my mom, Aldrin, and Mike. The Camry only fits 5 people haha. So, my 9 year old self rode in the trunk. That was soooo scary, but cool at the same time. The drive home was only about 15 minutes anyway, so it wasn't too bad.
This is my uncle Richard and auntie Ching's house in Queens. Behind the garage was a little open space, and they nailed a basketball backboard and rim to the top of the garage. That's where I first got my practice at in shooting a basketball. Man, I love that house. So many memories. So much puto and croissant eaten in that kitchen. The attic was pretty great also because it was a finished attic. That's where the computer was located and we'd play Oregon Trail all of the time.
This right here is the corner Saint Thomas the Apostle church. It was the church for my school. My school is that lighter colored building behind the church towards the left. This is the church where I did my first reading. I miss this place so much. Back then, this place was so huge to me. Now it doesn't seem all that big.
Here's my school from the 1st to 5th grade. My two brothers graduated from here before they went to John Adams High School. The fence on the left is where we had our recess. Boy, back then this seemed so enormous. Now, I see that it's really narrow. I remember getting picked by my mom on this sidewalk all the time. Sometimes, it was my brother that picked me up, so I felt super cool because he'd be wearing the Jason Kidd shoes (Zoom Flight 95). My mom babysat these three kids for a couple of years after school, so we'd walk to their house everyday after school and played basketball in their driveway. Mannn, memories galore. Damn you, google maps!
I MISS New York really badly.
I haven't been back in about 2 years. So, last night I just had this plan to go. So, I planned with my boy Samer to go up in late October and/or late November. I should have some stacks by then, so I can readily splurge if need be haha.
Places to hit up:
-aunt and uncle's house
-Erickson's place
-SOHO
-Flight club
-Dragonfly
-Ground Zero
-DQM
-Supreme
-Clientele
-Goliath
I hate Google Maps. These really brought me back.
That's my home in the far right. My family occupied half of the second floor. We'd get black outs, or as my Filipino countrymen would say, brown outs, frequently. So, we had to go to the basement and reset the switches haha. The laundry was down there, too, so that was a trip. There's the church we went to in the middle. Then on the left is some school. I didn't go there, but I remember when I was a kid I kept reading a sign that said "Drug-Free Zone." As a kid, I thought that meant free drugs obviously. If you go down the street, that's Fulton Street. Another block down and you're at Atlantic Avenue. Man, I miss the subway being about a 5 minute walk from my house. If you go the other direction away from Fulton, you'll hit Jamaica Avenue.
When I used to come home from school, I would go down this street every single day. If you go toward the right of the picture, you'd hit Fulton Street and then after the intersection would be my house. The graffiti on this wall is bananas, and it extends for a good while.
This right here is John Adams High School. Both of my brothers went here for a couple of years. My mom and I used to wait on this curb to pick them up. One time, two of their boys needed rides, too. They were our now close friends Aldrin and Mike. Anyway, obviously, it was my two brothers, my mom, Aldrin, and Mike. The Camry only fits 5 people haha. So, my 9 year old self rode in the trunk. That was soooo scary, but cool at the same time. The drive home was only about 15 minutes anyway, so it wasn't too bad.
This is my uncle Richard and auntie Ching's house in Queens. Behind the garage was a little open space, and they nailed a basketball backboard and rim to the top of the garage. That's where I first got my practice at in shooting a basketball. Man, I love that house. So many memories. So much puto and croissant eaten in that kitchen. The attic was pretty great also because it was a finished attic. That's where the computer was located and we'd play Oregon Trail all of the time.
This right here is the corner Saint Thomas the Apostle church. It was the church for my school. My school is that lighter colored building behind the church towards the left. This is the church where I did my first reading. I miss this place so much. Back then, this place was so huge to me. Now it doesn't seem all that big.
Here's my school from the 1st to 5th grade. My two brothers graduated from here before they went to John Adams High School. The fence on the left is where we had our recess. Boy, back then this seemed so enormous. Now, I see that it's really narrow. I remember getting picked by my mom on this sidewalk all the time. Sometimes, it was my brother that picked me up, so I felt super cool because he'd be wearing the Jason Kidd shoes (Zoom Flight 95). My mom babysat these three kids for a couple of years after school, so we'd walk to their house everyday after school and played basketball in their driveway. Mannn, memories galore. Damn you, google maps!
Thursday, September 18, 2008
Top 25 Played on iTunes
Hey, all. I'm in a musical mood right now and thought I'd share my top 25 played from the current week.
1. Jay-Z: Jockin' Jay-Z
2. T.I. ft. Kanye West, Lil' Wayne, Jay-Z: Swagger Like Us
3. Jason Mraz: I'll Do Anything
4. Jason Mraz: Rocket Man
5. Kanye West: Love Lockdown
6. Killer Mike: God in the Building
7. Jack Johnson: No Other Way
8. Jazmine Sullivan: I Need You Bad
9. Robin Thicke: Dream World
10. Jason Mraz: I'm Yours
11. Jason Mraz: Beautiful Mess
12. Wyclef Jean: Heaven's In New York
13. Young Jeezy: Vacation
14. N.E.R.D. ft. Kanye West, Pusha T, Lupe Fiasco: Everybody Nose (Remix)
15. T.I.: No Matter What
16. Ludacris: Wish You Could
17. Musiq: If You Leave
18. Noel Gourdin: The River
19. Nas: Fried Chicken
20. Raphael Saadiq: Sure Hope You Mean It
21. Raphael Saadiq: 100 Yard Dash
22. M.I.A.: Paper Planes
23. T-Pain: Can't Believe It
24. Shwayze: Corona and Lime
25. Common: Announcement
I suggest everybody go pick up the new Raphael Saadiq album called 'The Way I See It.' If you're into soulful, happy, energetic, good music, this is for you.
I'm also looking forward to this 4th quarter. Jay-Z, T.I., and Kanye are call coming through with an album. Definitely looking forward to 'Paper Trail' and 'The Blueprint 3.' I'm a Kanye stan, but I don't know about a whole album with autotune. I trust his musical decisions though, so I'm down for '808's and Heartbreak.'
1. Jay-Z: Jockin' Jay-Z
2. T.I. ft. Kanye West, Lil' Wayne, Jay-Z: Swagger Like Us
3. Jason Mraz: I'll Do Anything
4. Jason Mraz: Rocket Man
5. Kanye West: Love Lockdown
6. Killer Mike: God in the Building
7. Jack Johnson: No Other Way
8. Jazmine Sullivan: I Need You Bad
9. Robin Thicke: Dream World
10. Jason Mraz: I'm Yours
11. Jason Mraz: Beautiful Mess
12. Wyclef Jean: Heaven's In New York
13. Young Jeezy: Vacation
14. N.E.R.D. ft. Kanye West, Pusha T, Lupe Fiasco: Everybody Nose (Remix)
15. T.I.: No Matter What
16. Ludacris: Wish You Could
17. Musiq: If You Leave
18. Noel Gourdin: The River
19. Nas: Fried Chicken
20. Raphael Saadiq: Sure Hope You Mean It
21. Raphael Saadiq: 100 Yard Dash
22. M.I.A.: Paper Planes
23. T-Pain: Can't Believe It
24. Shwayze: Corona and Lime
25. Common: Announcement
I suggest everybody go pick up the new Raphael Saadiq album called 'The Way I See It.' If you're into soulful, happy, energetic, good music, this is for you.
I'm also looking forward to this 4th quarter. Jay-Z, T.I., and Kanye are call coming through with an album. Definitely looking forward to 'Paper Trail' and 'The Blueprint 3.' I'm a Kanye stan, but I don't know about a whole album with autotune. I trust his musical decisions though, so I'm down for '808's and Heartbreak.'
Babysitting, Day 4
I don't know how much longer I can take these crazy kids! Haha. I'm kidding. They tested my patience yesterday and were really, really bad. They wouldn't listen to me or anything. It was cool feeding them breakfast and lunch though. But, washing their asses, oh Lord. Their poop is never the same either. One time it's clumpy and green, the next it's gritty and brown. Pretty disgusting if you ask me. At least it's good practice for when I become a parent. Anyway, I missed two of my classes yesterday because nobody ever came home to take the babies off my hands. My sis-in-law usually comes home at 1, giving me enough time to leave and get to school on time, but yesterday she got home late and my other sister-in-law in the basement was asleep until 1:30, which is when my class starts. One of the classes was for a midterm review. Sucks! I really could have used that time to understand chapter 4 in Accounting 301 a little bit more. It's cool though, I got chapters 1-3 down. I got this weekend to study anyway. But yeah, once I got to school, I was soooooo damn tired. So, I was knocked out in my car for a couple of hours. The weather was nice, too, so I didn't wake up sweating balls or anything. I wanted to get into school at around 4, but I slept for two hours, so I didn't wake up until 6. That meant I only had an hour to do my resume + cover letter. I really pushed it with turning it in. I had to turn it in by 7:15 on turnitin.com. My turnitin confirmation receipt said 7:14:37 haha. Thank God for accurate times on the GMU computers.
Anyway, here's a couple of pictures of the babies when they're not little devils.
^Those are their Power Rangers stances. Take your pick: PR SPD, PR Jungle Force, PR blah blah. I didn't know there were so many versions out.
Timmy's ass poppin' and Selwyn still being a Power Ranger.
Cheesin'.
Oh, and as for the room looking like crap, they're currently stripping off the wallpaper and are gonna point it soon. Biters! Haha. 'Til tomorrow, take care and have a great day.
Anyway, here's a couple of pictures of the babies when they're not little devils.
^Those are their Power Rangers stances. Take your pick: PR SPD, PR Jungle Force, PR blah blah. I didn't know there were so many versions out.
Timmy's ass poppin' and Selwyn still being a Power Ranger.
Cheesin'.
Oh, and as for the room looking like crap, they're currently stripping off the wallpaper and are gonna point it soon. Biters! Haha. 'Til tomorrow, take care and have a great day.
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