Frisbee? 'Fraid Not

Blog No. 150: 'Fraid Not

I woke up this morning to the French Open. It was a match between Federer and Mathieu. The french dude had a weird tennis grunt... Sounded like Wah-TANG! XP

Then I made a hearty breakfast. Peanut butter and stawberry preserves on cinna-raisin toast. 4 strips of microwave bacon. Scambled egg and cheese omelet. Classico insta-coffee. An awesome breakfast indeed.

Some of you might be thinking, David, don't you avoid eggs of any nature? Well yes. I do. Restaurant eggs. Occasionally, I love scrambled eggs. However, eggs happens to be one of the foods I wouldn't voluntarily eat because it sets off my phobia of vomiting. So I avoid them. But, somehow, I found a perfect way on how I cook my eggs. If I cook my eggs the way I want to, then I won't cringe as much around them. Plus, I find smothering the eggs with ketchup helps to. XP

So yeah...

I had gotten a text from JT with the usual invite to Ultimate Frisbee at Bannister Park. Only, I checked the time and saw that JT wasn't able to pick me up and be there on time, so I said next time. Hopefully I could go during the week; weekends are really unpredictable...

There's only so much you can do to your room until you finally dub it clean. I'm planning to paint it somewhere near the end of June/beginning of July. I'm thinking of a greenish-white color for my walls. Now I just need to bring it up with my mom that I'd like to paint my room... XP

UP and Bearded Fellow

Blog 149: UP and Bearded Fellow

Taka really wanted to se UP, and I never minded another Disney/Pixar film. So today, Parkarr, King, Taka, and I saw that movie.

~~~~~

Movie Review: Up

Pixar has done it again.

Carl and Ellie share the same hero in this explorer, who had brought back a skeleton of a super tall bird creature from South America and decided to go back to bring back the actual thing after being called a fraud. Ellie talks about how she wants to live in a house on Paradise Falls and fill her book with the many adventures she'll have while down there. From then on, they got married and lived out their life, trying to make the most out of it. Then Ellie had passed on, (another sad Pixar opening). 

Carl, now widowed, lives in that house where time stood still, but all around him construction is going on to try and make something new. When a crane accidentally knocks over Carl's mailbox, Carl assaults the guy trying to fix it with his cane. After his court hearing, he is forced to live in a retirement home. A day later, just as the people from the retirement home comes by to pick him up, Carl unleashes a mass amount of balloons that lifts up his house and carries it away...

And so on.

There are many perks about this movie.

The storyline is very cute and clever. Of course, coming from the minds of animators, who would be the experts in paying absolute close attention to detail as they manipulate every angle of the scene, you would expect something on a really grand scale. It has some hilarity to it too, as far as an old man and an annoying boy scout will allow.

The characters are very unique and funny. Carl, Russell, (the pudgy boy scout), Kevin, (the female exotic rainbow bird), and Doug, (the talking, big nosed dog), all provide humor and humanity, (so to speak), to make the movie a very heart warming story.

Some of it can be flighty to some smaller children. Parents might have to explain the concept of what happened to Ellie, the shot gun, whether or not the man falling from a blimp survives or not, and how dogs are able to fly planes and shoot tranquilizers with a squeaky toy device. Of course, you would have to expect the abstract coming from the movie's concept of a flying house... XP

My favorite scene would have to be where, after Carl finally lands his house at the falls following the capture of Kevin, Carl discovers, as he tears through the pages of Ellie's adventure book, that Ellie never regretted not going to Paradise Falls. Through the pages were pictures of both Carl and Ellie through the years, all the way to the very end where Ellie leaves a note: "Thanks for the adventure, now go and have a new one!" 

Not a dry eye in the audience after that! :P

The animation is a little more detailed this time around. This is the third human-ish movie Pixar has done, which definitely shows in how they had created their characters. The modeling on the dogs in this movie is a lot more realistic than any other animal Pixar has done. Not to mention the actual breath taking scenery of South America beautifully recreated in 3-D style.

Overall, it pulls off the strong message of living everyday as an adventure and that you don't have to go far to live each day as such. The feel good, family classic film of the year!

Rating: 4.75 Out of 5 Thumbs UP--> BETTER than Wall-E in my opinion. XP

~~~~~

After the movie, Taka, Parkarr, and I decided to go to Downtown for a bit. We walked toward Hard Rock in the K Street Mall to get a Jamba Juice. Then it came up that we need a pack of playing cards because I didn't bring any. So we turned around to the other end of the mall, where we decided to just go to Old Sacramento. 

In Old Sacramento, we walked back to that Candy Heaven store to try out some samples of candy. Apparently there was a field trip going on because there were a lot of short children and tagged responsible adults. As we walked out, there was a kid on the floor, looking through the cracks on the floor boards. Apparently he had lost his camera's memory card down there. The adult with him asked for my Jamba Juice straw, seeing I was done with it. The kid asked for more gum. Taka, Parkarr, and I just stood there, staring at him. Then we left. 

We went toward the Railroad Museum, where we decided to go somewhere to eat instead. So we ended up going back to the Plaza.

In front of the tacky clothing store, there were these three guys who walked up to us, Pachunga, Annette, and Bearded Fellow, (I forgot their actual names...). Anyway, they had asked if they could talk with us and film us at the same time. We didn't mind, so we said sure. Basically, they have traveled from southern California and plan to hit cities down the coast to preach the good word of Jesus Christ. Bearded Fellow had supposedly played in a few bands and was super addicted to heroin around our age until he found the good word...

Crud... Religious talk. XP

Bearded Fellow had asked us how old we were, which school we went to, and if belonged to a church. We basically said that we went to ARC, that we had met there. Then our churches: Taka, her Nazarene church; Parkarr, Presbyterian; Me, ... 

Bearded Fellow had noticed Taka's cross, which was why they had walked over, but he was apparently surprised that I would hang out with two religious people. I guess he just remarked that we had seperate beliefs but were still easily able to be friends in spite of it. We're not that different, you and I. I don't mind anyone having their own religious faiths. I do mind if they try to preach me something they don't understand themselves, or that they try to preach down my throat to try and get me to believe their faith. It's random moments like those that make me avoid talking about religion. From that point on, I felt kinda singled out being the "non-religious" one, trying to strike a chord with me in the ways of religion, because I saw he stared at me a lot.

Thing is, I didn't mind so much. Sure he only talked about how the historical Jesus of Nazareth died for our sins, how the evil still exists as a result of human free will, because that was what he basically knew. He talked from the heart, from his own experience of searching for enlightenment. However, he also shows a religious tolerance more people should have, how we should be able to go out there and find for ourselves where God is, if and when we decide to look for her.

I would not mind a religious conversation with Bearded Fellow in the future. XP

Anyway, after they were stopped by a security guard, who happened to be a pastor, we shook hands and they left. 

Around the corner from where we stood, Jabyne, Nicole, and their two kids were walking by doing their shopping, too. They had came over to say hello. Gaby is apparently still shy because when her mom pointed me out to her, she ran back to mommy. XP

Then we decided to go to the Sizzler by the apartment, where Taka and I had steak and Parkarr had his cheeseburger. 

Then we went home! XP

I'm Really Procrastinating

Blog No. 148: I'm Really Really REALLY Procrastinating

Specifically on a week of blogs. Today, 5/28, which is actually today, have posted all the blogs I was behind on. To give you a gist of what happened this week, here's a synopsis:

Blog 140: Finals and Frisbee

Passed the Piano final and had my first Ultimate Frisbee match

Blog 141: Pops Concert and The Drive In

A concert at Foothill High School and a couple of movie reviews

Blog 142: Night At The Museum 2

Another movie review.

Blog 143: Sac Jazz Jubilee/Festival

I love pomegranate taffy. XP

Blog 144: Summer Plans Redux

Class schedule.

Blog 145: KFC, Bracelet Weaving, And A Curious Face

Family ties, or, cheap sweatshop labor.

Blog 146: Boredom At Its Finest

Some things I have done within the past few days not mentioned in the other blogs.

Blog 147: Ruben's BDay

Another family event.

Blog 148: I'm Really Procrastinating

You're reading it right now. XD

That's what I've basically done today. I suggest you read all those blogs to actually be filled in. Now I'm going to make some scrambled eggs, bacon, and toast for dinner. XP

FREE BIRD! XD

Ruben's BDay

Blog No. 147: Ruben's BDay

Ruben, as you may or may not know, is my cousin that I lived with for most of my life and is now in the marines. He was pretty much my source of video game knowledge, street culture, and manswers. Now he's off doing his own thing in the marines with a few pals in Virginia, dressing up in uniform, guarding stuff in Guantanamo, guarding stuff in Bahrain, training with the French Foreign Legion, the usual... XP

Well he's been home for a month to grace us with his presence and to celebrate his birthday with us today, 5/27. At the stroke of way-to-early tomorrow morning, he takes connecting flights to North Carolina, where more stuff will happen...

And I didn't have a gift for him yet! XP

So today I woke up early, around 8 AM, to get ready to go for a walk around Natomas. I took my usual walk over the freeway in the direction of my mom's apartment, where the party was, when my mom started texting me.

"Where are you?"

"Walking."

"Are you walking yet?"

"Yes...?"

"Where are you?"

"Halfway down [street name] toward [street name]." I took street names out to prevent stalkers showing up at my door... XP

"You might want to wait. You can get a ride at 1, it's too hot to be walking!"

Then I started typing: "Well, I'm already outside walking in the heat, doing the same walk I've been doing for the past few years, and I have a bottle of ice cold water in my shoulder bag---" When my mom called me to restate her text.

Truth is, I've been on this walk a lot longer than she realizes. During high school, I've walked from my house to It's a Grind every weekend to visit the Blonde, where, after she was done working, we would spend our lunch at the next door Panera. After she would take me home, like no one knew I was gone... Everything else is true, I've walked on hotter days, I stocked up on my water, I even wore one layer instead of the normal 2-3, and I'm walking a shorter distance than I usually do, with less side trips. 

Anyway, I walked to the Natomas Marketplace, where I stopped at Rubio's for "brunchfast", a combo of breakfast and lunch where it is more breakfast than lunch. 

Then walked over to Petsmart to see the animals. A bird escaped its cage and flew over my head to the support beams on the cieling. One of the fish tanks was haunted by a very lively plastic plant floating up and down. Then twin poodles came over to lick my hairy legs. Very odd day at Petsmart indeed. XP

At Walmart, I went over to the men's clothing section, which was just a small space in the corner of the entire clothing section, over looking the McDonald's dining area. You see, Ruben is a tough person to buy gifts for, seeing as he can only take what he can carry, not to mention he doesn't cling to most materialistic posessions. All I really had to go on was how he dresses, which was oversized grey scale T-shirts with skull and wing designs. I did have a variety of shirts to choose from, granted most only differed on the amount skulls relative to the amount of wings on the design. XP

At Starbucks, I sat down to drink a cup of iced coffee, when a KT Tunstall song came up. So I texted Kaylah to try to inflict her wrath:

"The only thing good about starbucks is that they would often play kt tunstall music..."

"Finally seeing it my way? :)"

"Well, I'm waiting at starbux and so far I've heard 'Stoppin' the Love' and 'Little Favours,' whilst sipping a venti iced coffee..."

"YOU HAVE SINNED!"

"Please forgive me Mother K, I am not worthy! DX"

"Haha. Just go to IAG in the near future and all will be forgiven. :)"

She's easy to please. XP

Then I walked directly to the apartment. A 2-hour painless trip.

I combined my purchases with my mom's card with cash inside. Then I went online while my mom watched her soaps. She fell asleep at some point. So there I am, staring at a computer screen, in a dark, dark room, with cliched melodrama in my ear, surrounded by 5 whirling fans. The inside of my mom's room could easily be a convenient way to store ice cream and other freezer items... No wonder my mom's chocolate survived this long. XP

I had to walk out of that room so that I wouldn't die from hypothermia. So I walked into the room Ruben was in to watch Charmed with him. I don't know why he likes Charmed, but I guess he would agree that there was nothing on that day.

Eventually, my aunt finally came home with 4 Marie Calendar's pies. She then started to cook dinner. My grandfather had walked, too, only he lives a shorter distance away. He and my mom sat at the table, talking and what not, while I did some crossword. We had some carnitas and mexican rice, apparently Ruben's food of choice, then some chocolate pie.

I heart chocolate pie. XP

... And yeah. :P

Boredom At Its Finest

Blog No. 146: Really Bored...

"When you find yourself multitasking on trivial things, (like crunches on a yoga ball while holding down the X button on a Final Fantasy game, or, singing Paramore while practicing frisbee throws on your indoor furniture), or making trivial things more complicated, (like trying to spread peanut butter with your feet or rearranging an already clean room and making it disorganized in the process), you find that it's about time to come up with a better routine to survive your time off."

--Rabbiman. :P

KFC, Bracelet Weaving, and a Curious Face

Blog No. 145: Bracelet Weaving

My mom stole me for the day, 5/25, in order to do some grocery shopping. I can't really get out of that, seeing as she has to get some stuff for the apartment and for my grandfather. Plus, it's a chance to grab some toiletries and some extra stuff I wouldn't ask for. Seeing as my mom is not physically able to do normal everyday chores, I came along to help.

Afterward, we ran by KFC to get my grandfather some fried chicken so that he doesn't have to cook... After we had bought some food for him to cook... Then wheeled around to his place, where I took everything up the elevator to put all the groceries away.

Then took all the groceries in, including mine, so that when my sister and brother-in-law comes over, they can take me and my groceries home. I had visited a little bit with my cousin, Ruben, talking about his life on the east coast and overseas. We had watched some bits of Final Fantasy: Advent Children, which he opened for me. I had got that movie long ago with intent on watching it, only to prolong watching the movie in its entirety. I still haven't watched it all the way through though... SOMEDAY! XP

My aunt had these styrofoam blocks out, along with strands of thread and beads. I had asked what they were for... You see, she told me that she and her husband had made a bunch to sell and told me to pick one. So I did. Mine looked like one of those surfer bracelets you would find at a gift shop with a small shell in the middle and green glass beads along the side. Then my aunt sat me down with one of the blocks and had set me up to make another bracelet. I thought this was a wonderful way to spend a day off, with extreme emphasis of sarcasm. I had decided to make a purple bracelet that I would give Kaylah at a future date.

By the by, she's expected back in Sacramento around June 14th! Can't wait! XP

Audrey, John, and Lennox came over for a bit. The parents left to have a movie day to watch Night at the Museum 2 as well, leaving Lenny in the care of my mom and yours truly.

Lenny had some bowel troubles and what not. He kinda puked on my mom's shoulder, too, which made me flinch on the inside. I find that this was one of the reasons why I can't be alone taking care of infants/children. Granted, it looked more like a spit-up than an up-chuck, which I could somewhat tolerate more of, but still.

I fled to the computer screen for awhile, IMing a little bit with Kaitlyn and Taka. After awhile, I thought it was silly to stay away for much longer, so I went and sat with him and my mom in the bathroom, where my mom had turned the water faucet on to try and calm Lenny's nerves. It was funny because he kinda stopped crying to stare at my face. He had this funny look of curiosity on his face, so I stole a picture of him:

The cutest little thing! He almost reminds me of...

XP

Anyways, while I was taking this picture, he reached his hand toward my face to try and touch my facial hair. My mom and I had a B'AAWWW~ moment. :P

Then Audrey and John came back, and we left soon after! 

Summer Plans Redux

Blog No. 144: Summer Plans Redux

I've been fine tuning my schedule a little bit. Here's what I have:

Summer:

Wester Civilization (Pre-Rennaissance Era)
Hist 300 C. Jardine MW 6:15-9:25 PM 
--->Thanks again Dictator Roze for planning to take me home over the summer! XP

[Insert +1 Class here]


Fall:

Chemistry (-of DEATH.)
Chem 400 B. Weissbart MW Lab 8:00-11:20 Lec 11:30-12:50

Italian II
Ital 402 E. Martinelli TTh 7:00-9:10 PM

Western Civilization (Post-Rennaisance Era)
Hist 302 W. Wrightson TTh 1:30-2:50 PM

Beginning Statistics

Stat 301 B. Truong TTh 3:00-4:20 PM

Piano FOUR

Muivi 351 H. VanRegenmorter MW 1:30-2:50 PM

[Insert EITHER Concert Band or Choir here]


Spring:

Italy.


FIN.

The +1 Class I was thinking may be Chem 400 during the Summer, because I kinda want to try and take Chamber Singers during the Fall. Sure, it might ruin some people's plans of taking Chemistry with me during the Fall, (*cough* Susan Surrandon and Gonad *cough*), but I kinda want my last semester at ARC to have some fun in it. RIGHT?

As for the Concert Band/Choir debate... There are Pros and Cons on both sides.

For Choir, it would mean I'd have super long Tuesdays and Thursdays, (from 9-ish AM to 9-ish PM? TWELVE HOURS?), but it would mean that'd I'd have a music class with some friends, as well as go on the Choir Camp Winthers trip.

For Band, it would mean I'd have a super long break on Wednesdays, (From 1 to 4:30, depending if I actually would go to lecture!), but it would also mean that'd I'd have a a music class with more friends and possibly sign up for Alto Sax/Percussion parts.

It was why I was kinda considering Chemistry over the summer, so that I would have that time slot open for Chamber, which has the perks of Choir, (plus the Con of school on Friday), but without extending school time on TTh. Band could possibly be added with Chamber if the school will let me exceed the unit limit, which I'll assume they will considering my steady 3.65 GPA.

Decisions decisions.... XD

EDIT: I've also been meaning to ask Difuentez if he could take me home TTh during the fall after Italian.............

Sac Jazz Jubilee/Festival

Blog No. 143: Sac Jazz Jubilee/Festival

I've been talking about going to the Sacramento Jazz Jubilee for awhile now, since the fact that going to the Fanime convention was out of the question. 

I went to it last year for an entire day while Piper, Dustin, JT, Molly, Rachel, and a bunch of other people were in San Jose for Fanime. I had a pretty cool time. I walked the span of downtown, from the Convention Center to Old Sacramento, stopping by a few concerts along the way. I stopped by a couple of ballrooms, including the one in the Convention Center for a little bit of the swing dancing lessons. There was a concert in the IMAX and the Crest Theatre that were pretty cool. Then I'd wandered into the K street mall, where I had a meal at the Johnny Rockets, then continued my direction toward Old Sacramento, where a lot of the concerts were either outside or hidden. A lot of the live music ranged from the dixieland/big band stuff to the modern/lounge stuff. At least they had variety! XP

This was the year I was going to go with everyone to Fanime. Unfortunately, the cost of the hotel room got a little too expensive for everyone to pay for. As a consequence, Piper, Difuentez, and I, as well as the guys and Susan Surrandon, could no longer go.

This time around, I didn't get a ride so I wasn't planning on going today, 5/23. However, Taka had called me at around late afternoon to invite me to the Sac Jazz Jubilee with Piper, Yowty, and Parker. How could I resist?

Parker had picked us all up and I lead everyone to the vicinity in Old Sacramento, seeing as it was pretty close to the evening and most of the jazz would be located here. Piper called JT while we were walking to Old Sacramento. JT had gone to Fanime with a different group of his friends. We ended up just getting his voicemail though. XP

First, Piper wanted to go to the Candy Heaven store, where we sampled some candy inside the store, (Don't worry, it was legal! XP). I never really had taffy before, but I had tried a few pieces and, after that, I would seriously take one of those barrels home with me full of taffy. I liked the cherry and chocolate flavored ones. Taka had me tried pomegranate, (in reference to the weird dream and her LolPomegranate drawing that spawned from it!), which, to tell the truth, I didn't really like pomegranate flavored anything. But after tasting the taffy, the pomegranate taffy turned out to be my favorite! XP

Then, Taka really wanted to go to the Evangeline's Costume Shop to try out the carnival machine they had. For 25 cents, you grip the handle and the machine tells you how great a date you are. This time, I think I got "sexy". All I know is, Taka got the highest one out of all of us, again. XP

We walked around in circles for a bit, listening to bits and pieces of jazz concerts here and there. We passed and stopped by one in the alleyway behind a couple of stores a few times. This band kinda did mainstream old school rock songs. One of the times, we walked by it from the second story, where we looked down at the people dancing in front of the covered stage. Taka and I did some silly dances up there, like "the sprinkler" or "dodge the bullets" and what not. Someone yelled out, "FREE BIRD!" to the band, which is a pretty decent Lynyrd Skynyrd song. But Taka was laughing about it and we decided to use it at random places. XD

There was a drum circle of three guys, banging on garbage cans and glass bottles in the street, which was pretty cool. Piper recorded most of the session. There was a couple of guys from the crowd that did some random contorshonist dancing, bending his arm backwards and what not. One of the drumers banged on a dust pan lid while dragging it on the street, creating sparks as it went along. It was a pretty cool display! XP

We ended up at Round Table Pizza, the second time around. We ordered a large pepperoni pizza and some garlic bread to split amongst the five of us. The band there was the type of jazz that would lean on the big band type of music, which was fun to listen to, but hard to bear if you're trying to hold a conversation with someone across from you in a booth. We played a round of Liz's Game.

After Round Table, Parker took us home...

FREE BIRD! XP

Night at the Museum 2

Blog No. 142: Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian

I went with the movies with my mom today, 5/22.

We were going to see the new Star Trek movie, but my mom wanted to save that one for a better, less tiring day. So instead, we saw Night at the Museum.

~~~~~

Movie Review: Night at the Museum 2

Larry Daley, once a security guard at a New York museum, becomes a successful inventor. Unfortunately, that meant leaving the museum at a time of need, when a bunch of the exhibits are doomed to a fate of storage in one of the bottom levels of the Smithsonian archives. The monkey stole the magical tablet thingy, which by happenstance wakes up the Egyptian's older brother, also located in the archives, with world conquest aspirations. Apparently, the tablet can open the door to the underworld, also in the archives, with the right combination. Thus ensues an adventure where Larry finds that it isn't how you move up in the world that brings you happiness, but it's doing what you love, or something along those lines...

I wouldn't watch so much for the storyline, really. What would grab you would be the comedy/visual effects that go along in the movie. 

Each character really ham up the screen and play their roles very well. Amy Adams as Amelia Earheart kinda reminded me of her role as Gisell in Enchanted, for good reasons. She really was the center of all the romantic cliched female roles. Granted, most of the comedy leans on the cliched side, some of it's still pretty funny lto laugh at. It's refreshing. XP

My favorite characters would have to be those singing cherubs. They reminded me of those Muses in the Disney Hercules movie.

To my surprise, those cherubs were actually the Jonas Brothers...

This video kinda made it better.

All I can say is that it's about time Joe got shoved into that corner. XP

All in all, Night at the Museum continues its comedic stride in this funny sequel.

Rating: 3 Out of 5 Thumbs Up---> Worth seeing at least once.