. . .

I was gonna write something that I think was supossed to be funny...

but now I can't remember what it was. LOL

Oh well.

Some of them Days

You know what's the only thing worse than when you're having a bad day..."one of them days"? How about when you're having more than one bad day? "Some of them days."

Last Friday, I'm out having a nice time at the club, then get to my car and take off a couple of flyers that were on it. And oh, what do I find? Yep, a little white envelope from the city of L.A., which a nice little $50 parking ticket! WTF!? Apparently it looks like it was a permit parking section??? I've parked on that same street many times...never had a problem. But then again, this time my usual side of the street was full, so I parked on the opposite side. I didn't really think to read the signs there, I just checked that it wasn't red or green or any other color on the curb. So perhaps it was my bad. I'll have to read it next time I'm there. So yeah, a ticket sucks. But I paid it and just going to forget about it now. Can't dwell now can we? At least I didn't get towed.

Then on Saturday I'm out having a nice lunch/dinner with J, when my cell phone screen starts to act up. At first it was flickering to a white screen, and then just completely died on me. The screen died...the rest of the phone was still working. I just couldn't read my texts or see who calls. I could only receive calls and make calls if I knew the number (or speed dial number). Long story short, I ended up borrowing one of J's old cells for now. I already sent my cell off to Samsung to get it fixed. Fortunately, it was still under warranty and I don't have to pay anything. Again, could've been worse but it wasn't.

And then there was today. After a long, dull day at work, I decide to drive straight to the gym. I get there, find parking quick (which is always a plus in the busy evening gym hours), and then head to the locker room. I change into my workout clothes, put everything inside the locker and then put my lock in place. And JUST as I had pressed on the lock to "lock" it, I immediately noticed that it felt different. I tried to reopen it, but it was stuck. The combination dial kept getting stuck. Upon closer observation, I noticed that it looked like it may have been tampered with. Part of the bottom looked a bit bent and the top a bit scratched. The only thing I could think of was that maybe it had been messed with at another gym? Someone trying to get into it but failing? Who knows. I just don't remember ever dropping it hard or banging it. In the end I had to ask one of the personal trainers to cut the lock for me. He then verified it was my stuff with my gym ID that was inside. At that point I didn't even feel like staying, so instead I just went to Target and bought a new lock (two actually...they came in a pair lol).

So yeah, hopefully that's the worse of the week. I want no more drama! lol These things are mild in comparison to some of the crazy stuff that goes on in this world...so I guess we just gotta see it as the glass being half full, sorta.

Edit: Ok, seriously! Did I suddenly become "random bad luck clumsy guy"!? Just a few minutes ago I knocked over a glass of water in my room! It broke into pieces of course, spilling water on my carpet. I soaked up as much as I could and picked out as many glass pieces as I could find. It's too late in the night now to be making too much noise, but tomorrow when I get home I'm gonna pass the vacuum to try and pick up any last pieces of glass. Grrrrr!

Isn't it ironic?

There's some graffiti on the wall of one of our work's restroom stalls. Next to the graffiti, somebody wrote "stop putting graffiti, it's dumb", with an arrow pointing to the original writing on the wall. Now, would Alanis Morissette consider this second writing ironic? Oh, the things I ponder while I'm sitting on the John! lol

Pigeon St.

So you're driving down a street, music playing, having a nice ride and minding your own business...when all of a sudden you see a pigeon (or group of pigeons) standing in the middle of the street just up ahead. Half a block away...the pigeons are still there. A quarter of a block away...yep, still there. You're getting closer and closer...in just a second or two you'll be right on them. At this point, what do you do? Do you slow down and give them time to fly off? Honk the horn to scare them away maybe? Or do you just keep going at your normal speed, telling yourself "They'll fly away just in the nick of time...they always do"?

Personally, I HAVE TO stop. Maybe it's the animal lover in me, or maybe it's that I don't like the thought of a living creature being squished and splattered all over the street because of me. I seriously believe that had I not stopped all those times, I would've run over a few pigeons by now. I'm not a fast driver, I don't like to speed, so I usually approach them at a decent speed. Still, they just stand there, pecking at the floor, not budging until the very last second. Crazy little feathered bastards! As I get closer and closer and see that they haven't moved...I literally get a nasty feeling in my stomach. You know...that feeling you get just before you hurl, after seeing something you find disgusting? Yep...I get that exact physical feeling in my stomach. It forces me to slow down. Anyone else ever get that? Or are most people just able to keep on driving, no regrets, and let the birds decide if they want to fly out in time?

Side note: this all reminds me of that Seinfeld episode, too. When some girl George was seeing was upset that he hit some pigeons with his car. George explains the incident by saying that he believes they have a deal. That pigeons are suppossed to move out of the way and in return we'll forgive them for pooing all over our statues. lol

I Could've Been...

There are times when I can't help but wonder if at some point in my young life I just stopped believing. I used to dream of being a teacher, an artist, an animator, a graphic designer, a computer programmer, a web developer, a photographer, a magazine writer and a few other random interests that came into my head at any given point. Some of them were mostly just dreams. I probably didn't have much (if any) experience or skills. Others were a bit more possible (such as teaching or art fields). I think my problem was that I could never really decide on one main thing I wanted to focus on. So all through college I just took many classes that interested me, got my degree and then just hit the working world. A regular ol' 40-hour-week office job. Sure, it's for a company that's in a field I was interested in. But the job itself didn't exactly turn out to be what I had in mind back when I used to think about my future jobs.

So I don't know. They say it's never too late to go back to school and whatnot. But honestly, I don't think I have it in me anymore. I can barely get enough energy to get myself to work! lol I don't want to have to worry about night classes and all that again. Maybe it makes me look lazy, but that's just me. I enjoy my off time. I love being with my family, friends, partner or just myself, taking in my hobbies. In the end, being able to do all those things is what really gets me through each working day.

I know I'm not exactly at retirement age yet, so anything can still happen. Who knows, next new job I get might end up being something I love and probably never imagined. (Cross your fingers!) Still, I just can't help but wonder if at some point I lost a step toward a promising creative/artistic type career that I'd always imagined. Maybe I should've gone to an arts college? There was a point where I was even looking at the brochures. But oh well, can't dwell too much on the past can we? I just gotta be grateful for what I do have now. And hopefully the future will offer a bit more. :)

Five Days of Summer Vacay

No matter how many days you might take for a vacation, it just never seems like it's enough, does it? The days just fly by and before you know it, that morning you dreaded has arrived, the one where you have to wake up early again, no more sleeping in, and head back to work. For me, that morning arrived today! Grrrrr.

I took three days off this week, to have a little 5 day extended weekend vacation. I wasn't planning to head out of the country again this time, like back in January, and definitely wasn't planning to have to serve on jury duty again. lol This time it was just to relax and enjoy a few days of the summer, work and worry free.

I got out of work early last Friday (part of our summertime schedule at work) and just hit the gym and packed up some stuff at night. At the time, we were planning to head out of town to either San Diego or the Santa Barbara area on Saturday. But due to Comic Con, San Diego hotels were probably too booked. And for some reason, so were the Santa Barbara ones. Maybe we should've planned it more sooner. hehe But oh well, instead we just took a drive down to a beach in northern San Diego and spent the day just relaxing, enjoying our Subway sandwiches for lunch on the sand. hehe We came back that same evening and the next day, Sunday, we just relaxed at J's house. Then on Monday we hit another beach, this time a bit closer to home, Seal Beach. Since it was Monday it wasn't too packed, so it was nice to have a pick of where we wanted to sit at the beach. The sun was nice and bright, the water was warm and the sand was soft. It was a nice beach, very relaxing, not too many people to get in your way. We relaxed a while, took in some sun and water, then took a walk on the pier and through the shops on the main street. The shops were kinda quiet though. Although we were only a few mins drive from J's house, it felt like we'd gone further away from the city. hehe So it was nice.

Come Tuesday, we just headed over to my house and spent some time there, after first experiencing the earthquake over at J's place while getting ready to leave to my house. He lives on a second floor condo so at first he thought it was me shaking the room by jumping, as I do sometimes. So he tells me, "Stop shaking the room!" And I just stare at him and say, "I'm not doing anything!" It then took a split second for us to realize what was going on, and we just kinda looked at each other. lol We just felt the room swaying back and forth, it wasn't rough or shakey...just felt almost like being on a ship. Nothing really fell there, but when I got back home later that day I found a bunch of my little toy figures I have in my room had tipped over. But no major damage. We hadn't felt a relatively big shake here in a while! So Tuesday night we spent at my house, just hit the gym, had dinner and watched some TV. Wednesday we then ran some errands (J's car got an oil change, hit the gym, hit Target, etc.) and at the end of the day chilled back at J's house. It was more of a normal day, but hey anything definitely beats working, especially when I'm with the one I love. :)

Overall, it was a five day weekend spent mostly in town, a lot of sleeping in, relaxing, having lunches and dinners, some gym time and beach time thrown in. And I loved every single minute of it! It took every bit of strength I had to get myself out of bed this morning. I wanted to sleep in so bad. I almost felt like calling in and saying I won't make it today. lol But I toughed it out. It's only one full day of work and part of tomorrow (I get off early). I can do it! Before I know it, another weekend will be here!

Batman For My Bday?

So who wants to be the sweet generous person to buy this for me? lol It's out on November 4th, just a few days before my birthday. Coincidence? I think not! And for what it's worth, the price below is just the SUGGESTED retail price. I'm sure it'll be a bit cheaper on the weeek it's released.

I'm just sayin'!

Night Job

I've noticed something over the past few years that I've been working at my current job. Being an entertainment related company, several of my co-workers are in bands, make movies, play instruments, sing, act, dance, etc. I see them posting flyers all over the office for their gigs, movie releases, art shows, etc. Now why don't I have a night job? So that I can then go to that night job and say how much my day job sucks and that my true passion is what I do after I clock out at 5. LOL Maybe it's time I dust off that old Casio Keyboard from the 80's that's been forever under my bed. ;)

Just Smell It!

Three random things that I usually like how they smell, but I don't like to drink/eat:

1. Coffee Drinks. In particular, those with a hint of vanilla, hazelnut or other similar type of scents. I usually do find the smell coming from a warm cup of coffee quite delightful. But I've never been a coffee drinker, not even the Starbucks variety cold/hot types. I'm more of a smoothie guy, or at least just a regular ol' cup of hot chocolate on a cold night. Still, at times I do wish I was into coffee, especially when I'm dozing off at work. lol

2. Menudo. And no I'm not talking about Ricky Martin's old band. I'm talking about that warm dish that is served in many Latino homes. Wikipedia describes it as "a traditional Mexican dish; a frequently spicy soup made with tripe. It is often thought of as a cure for a hangover, and is traditionally served on special occasions or with family." I've always liked the smell of Menudo in the morning, but I've never actually liked the dish itself. I'm more of a posole person! hehe (Side note: The smell from when the tripe is being cooked the night before....now THAT is a nasty one! lol)


3. Fried Chicken. I've passed by Popeyes Chicken before and found the aroma of greasy deep fried chicken emanating from their restaurants to be quite tempting. lol But I don't like fried chicken that much. I hate all that greasy gunk and that nasty feeling in my tummy after I eat that. I'd much rather just have flame grilled white chicken breast meat. :)

Lost . . .

Don't you just hate it when you lose something and you can't find it, so it ends up driving you crazy looking for it and wondering where the hell you could've left it? Earlier today I put something into my pocket, nothing really important, and then when I reached in to get it later I had lost it. So I was going around the house retracing all my steps in the last hour when I'd last seen it, but to no avail. So it drove me crazy just wondering where the hell it was! And of course, as always, I'll end up finding it when I'm not even looking for it anymore in the most random place! Uggh.

Cents and Sensibility

What goes up, must come down...right? Apparently that works with my bank account as well! lol The past couple of months I've kind of been spending a bit too much. Some things were necessary (paying bills and people I owe)...others were not fully necessary, but at least were good investments (the gym membership). Then there were some things that were from the kindness and generousity of my heart (several birthday presents). And finally, there were the stuff I really didn't NEED at all, but WANTED enough to not be able to resist (mostly my comics, music and DVDs). hehe But all in all, what good is working my ass off day in and day out if I can't indulge in a few pleasures, right? At least it's not drugs. lol Still, now that I got all those things done with I really need to try and focus on saving up a bit. My bank account's frightenly low! And pretty soon my car's lease is up so I either have to return it and get a new one, or try and see how much more I'd have to pay (if it's worth it). Then again I could always go back to the bus. I did it for many years and I know it'd save me money! BUT...I've gotten so used to my car and being self-relient and on my own schedule. I don't think I could go back. Hell, I don't even love driving much. I only do it when I have to. If I can avoid it, I will. lol The only good thing in all this...tomorrow is Pay Day! Woohoo!!!

Active Me - Week 3

Almost three weeks ago, on June 21st, the first day of summer, I began my new gym routine. I'd never been to a gym in my life...at all! Not even for a day trial or anything. So needless to say, I was in pretty bad physical shape. I knew I had to go, but like many other things I just kept putting it off. Finally, Juan came to me with a deal I couldn't resist. The price was right, so to speak. "Sign me up," I said.

Three weeks later, I've been going almost every day! I've only missed three days so far, usually because I didn't have time those days. But each other day that I do have time, I've gone. During the week I go bright and early in the mornings, and on weekends I just go at whatever time is convenient. Weekdays I don't get to work out as long as I'd like, but I try to get more done on the weekends. Overall, I've been enjoying it. I don't see it as a hassle like I thought I would. I've worked it into my routine, made it a part of my daily to-do's, right up there with eating, breathing and sleeping. hehe

It's still a bit early for me to see any physical changes in my body. But hopefully it happens! hehe To be honest, even if it didn't change too much, just getting some physical activity on a daily basis has helped me feel better. It's a great feeling. Actually, I did already lose a few lbs. Not a huge amount, but it's working at least. Maybe over time I'll try more of the other equipment, and maybe even hit some of the weights. I'm still a bit self-conscious about doing weights, because I seriously have no muscle and can barely lift anything. But that'll be later on, if I decide to try it out. For now I'm sticking to my cardio. :)

There He Was Just Walking Down The Street

Driving home yesterday evening, I saw a guy walking down the street. He was a young black guy, probably in his 20's, wearing tennis shoes, shorts, and a backpack...no tshirt...nicely toned body. So naturally I was doing a bit of rubbernecking. I'm human, after all. lol But as I got closer, I noticed they weren't shorts he was wearing. They were boxer briefs. lol Why he was walking around the streets in just his boxer briefs, I have no idea. But just another one of those little reasons I must say... I Love L.A.! LOL

No Money, Mo' Problems

Holy Crap! Why do I keep spending? LOL I just saw that my checking account is getting dangerously low. I've made some big payments and purchases in the past month or so that really took a toll, since it all happened at once. I always have my savings as back up but I don't like to dig into it unless I REALLY have to. But good thing is that I get paid this week, and early too since it's a holiday on Friday! Still, I really need to restrict my spending more...at least for a while.

Drinks and Robots

Oh what a weekend! It just seemed to come and go so damn fast. I got off work around 5 last Friday, went home, ate, showered, changed and then waited for Juan to arrive. Once he did, I drove us out to the hotel where Felipe & Co. were at. Luckily, I found a good parking spot right in front. So I grabbed my iron from the trunk (he'd asked me if I could bring one) and we headed in search of the room. Then I find out he'd also told a couple other people to bring one, just to be sure. So there were three irons there. lol And here I had this whole little dumb joke planned out about how they could call me "Iron Man" lol j/k So anyway, we hung out there for a while, having a couple drinks, taking pictures and listening to music. We then got into a taxi-van, six of us in total, and took the short ride to the club. At that point I was already feeling a bit tipsy. It was the first drink that did it for me. I never mix drinks and don't know what's strong and what isn't, so when Juan was making mine I told him to pour more vodka in it. lol So it ended up giving me a big buzz right off the bat. Needless to say, I was pretty buzzed all night. But I had a great time! I usually drive so have to limit myself and can't really "let loose". lol So it was nice to just enjoy myself after the long slow work week. Plus it was fun celebrating Felipe's bday with some of our friends and meeting a few new people (his friends). Everybody was cool. There are still bits and pieces that kinda seem fuzzy from the night. lol But I remember most of it at least, which is good. When we ended up going back to the hotel, I started getting sleepy. I didn't fall fully asleep though until everyone was all tucked into the beds.

Come morning, I got up around 7:50 because I had to move my car from my parking spot. After 8 am the parking was no longer free. I was still feeling slightly out of it, but I knew I could handle moving the car around the block. What I didn't know was how much trouble I was going to have parallel parking. lol Even when I'm 100% myself I struggle, so add to it a slight morning hangover buzz....took me a few good back and forth motions to get into that spot. lol At least nobody was around to make fun of me. And I was able to find a spot literally around the corner, on the other side of the hotel. So it was perfect. Later that morning, around 11, after we all spent some time reminiscing about our favorite childhood TV shows, it was then time for us all to leave the hotel, so we headed out to breakfast at a restaurant in West Hollywood. I had an omellette, which I never get but it just seemed tempting this time around. Juan got a salad...but barely even touched it. lol It was nice having breakfast with the group after a fun night.

The rest of that day, after Juan and I came back to my place, we mostly just chilled and regained our energy. Come nighttime, we were ready to head out. But no drinks though. lol Instead we went to see Wall*E. That was such a great movie! So sweet, so heartwarming, so cute, so funny....just well-done all around! I mentioned elsewhere that if I had to use one word to describe it, I'd say "emotional". It was very touching, and that's even with the lead characters being robots! Who knew that animated robots can bring more emotion to a film than some human actors can? lol I loved the movie a lot. It made me wish Wall*E was real so I could have one of my own, kind of like what I felt when I saw Gremlins for the first time and wanted my very own real Gizmo.

Sunday was my usual day of running errands. But we also hit the gym for a bit. I'm really loving going to the gym now. I've managed to work it into my routine so that it's just become part of my daily things to do. I don't get grumpy when it's time to go, I look forward to it. I just hope that this feeling is permanent! I want to keep going for as long as my body can take it! lol I've only been going about a week now, I started on the first day of Summer, June 21. But already I'm feeling a lot better. I'm not worried too much yet about whehther I physically see results, 'cause I know that takes time to develop. But when they do start to appear (hopefully)...I'm sure it'll be even more motivation for me to keep on going. :)

So yeah, that was my weekend in a nutshell, surrounded by people I love. That's what makes life worth living after all, right? The people in your life that mean a lot to you. Those are the moments I always look forward to the most.

Who are you, again?

The internet, now more than ever it seems, is a great tool for socializing. You can meet people from around the block or around the world who share your views, interests, hobbies, etc. People you can relate to, have long discussions and perhaps even start friendships with. Some you'll just get to know online through various communications (emails, chats, social site comments, etc.) but others you might invite out for a drink, a movie or a party that's going on. That's all pretty cool right? Never would I have imagined when I was younger how easy it would be to make friends worldwide. Sure, there were "pen pals" and such, but that was usually a slower process. So many things happen in between letters, as they are traveling those thousands of miles for days. Now, you can tell someone not only about what's happened a week ago, but what's going on at that very moment (live chats, video conferencing, pc-to-pc mic conversations, etc.).

All this is great, but there's one little problem I often find myself running across. Sometimes when I run into friends I've made through the net, for the very first time, in person...I totally don't recognize them! I know there are people that can use just one photo as reference and pick out someone from a crowd without any problem. Me, on the other hand, I tend to struggle with that. lol Even if I've met the person before, through another friend for example, and then I see that same person later on there's still the chance that I may not recognize them. Maybe I'm just not that great at making physical observations? Luckily though, I've gotten a bit better at this over the past few years. I'm not as bad at recognizing "new" people as I used to be, but it still happens. Latest incident wasn't more than some weeks ago at the club, a friend from MySpace saw me and I was kinda puzzled at first when he called my name, 'til he said his own name then it clicked. lol So if you ever see me out and about and it looks like I'm ignoring you...I'm not! I probably just didn't pay close attention and recognized you were there. hehe

And don't get me started on movie stars! I'm horrible at recognizing people, especially actresses. Maybe it's because they tend to change their looks a bit more than the guys. So when I'm watching movies I often turn to whoever I'm with and ask "who's that?" And it's usually someone quite famous that I should've known. Maybe this would explain why, after living all my life in L.A. and spending the past ten plus years studying then working near the more star-prone areas of West L.A./Beverly Hills/Hollywood/Wilshire, I don't think I've ever seen any celebrities. Well, I'm pretty sure I probably HAVE seen some...but with my bad visual memory skills I probably didn't realize who it was. :) Plus, it doesn't help that almost everyone walking around here usually looks like they'd be an actor or model, too.

But as I mentioned earlier, I've gotten a bit better at recognizing people, the famous and the friends alike. Not yet perfect, but improving. I just hope I'm never a witness to a crime, because I'd probably end up picking the wrong person out of the police lineup.

Joss Whedon's "Dr. Horrible"

DOCTOR HORRIBLE'S SING-ALONG BLOG

I'd heard bits and pieces about this project, but got caught up with all the Dollhouse stuff that I'd almost forgotten about this. "Once More, With Feeling" was awesome, so I can't wait for this one! I don't know exactly what the plot details are yet, but who cares! Put Whedo on it, and that's all I need to know.

From the wonderful mind of Joss Whedon comes Doctor Horrible's Sing-Along Blog, an online live action musical series. Directed by Whedon himself, and starring Neil Patrick Harris, Nathan Fillion and Felicia Day (among others), filming finished in March and nowe there is a teaser trailer!


Teaser from Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog on Vimeo.

N-R-G @ J-O-B

So...I've finally been able to get to work in the morning feeling more awake and with some energy this week. I started doing some morning exercises, after 28+ years of being a lazy ass! It was time to make some changes. So far I'm loving it. It really does make a big difference through my day. But...of course, it just so happens to be a slow week at work (so far) with not much work to do. Go figure!

Ch-Ch-Ch-Changes

I've been told that I am scared of changes...that when big changes happen in my life, even if they are for the best, I often stress out too much and worry about them. Tough as it may be to hear those descriptions, I have to admit...they're true. I don't know why that is though. I guess I just like the stable feeling. I don't mind routine. Is that so bad? I like knowing what's coming up and being ready. So when big changes happen, I tend to worry a bit too much about them. In particular, jobs tend to stress me out a bit.

I remember when I started my current job, the first few months I would freak out at times. I'd get super nervous about meetings, worried that I'd look stupid and not understand what was going on. Which, granted, I was new...so it was understandable. But I guess I always want to be on top of things, and when I feel like I don't have total control yet I freak out. Now, after a few years, I got the hang of this job. I know it inside out and any problems that arise I can usually handle effectively and with complete confidence. And if I don't know how to do something, I at least know the right people and resources to use. But what if this was all to change again?

I've been thinking about this the past couple of days because of some changes that are stirring up here at work. I don't want to get into all the details just yet, since I just heard about this on Monday and many things are still undecided. Point is...I've just started thinking about my job. Do I want to continue here and accept a possible new position? Or do I want to move on to a new company soon? The people here are great, the location is nice and convenient and the occasional perks...I love them! But a bit more in the paycheck dept would be nice. A change of jobs might help freshen up that feeling of "same ol' same ol'" that one gets when being at the same job for a while. So we'll see. Right now I've made no decisions. Once the dept leaders start telling us what's going to happen next, and any possible offers are placed before me, then I'll really have to figure out what I want to do. In any case, wouldn't be a bad idea to start brushing up my resume. lol

The Big Picture

"In Loving Memory - May 1987 to June 2007" I saw those words on the back of a van as I was driving to work this morning. I see those kind of words on vehicles quite often, but for some reason this one got me thinking about a few things this morning. That guy was only 20 years old! He was still so young, had so much ahead of him. He fought for his country, for what he believed in, to protect all that we as Americans are able to have. I never knew him personally of course, and come to think of it I really don't know exactly how he passed away. Because of other stickers on the car, I knew he was in the military. But it all just got me thinking about how so many of the things that bother me on a daily basis can really seem so trivial compared to what other people face.

It made me think about all the scary things people out there in the world face on a daily basis. I have a job to earn money, a home to go to at the end of the day, a bed to sleep in, food to feed me, etc. I need to start looking at the bigger picture more often. There are bigger problems out there in the world. What difference am I making, if any? I'm not a bad person, I'd like to think that I'm not contributing to the problems...but then, am I helping? Hmmmm.