Cupcakes and Chocobos

Blog No. SHIRT: Cupcakes and Chocobos

Hallelujah for sleep! Definitely needed to sleep in! XD

Unfortunately, I did not go to my Piano final that day. Taylor had apparently heard of this and texted a big, "QUIT FAILING." I replied to him the situation and he instantly forgave me... After a change in subject.

I emailed Heidi while I was texting Taylor. I had caught her before she went to class because she immediately replied back. Heidi's emails were very nice and reassuring, in that I was still on her good side. I had apologized, not just because I wasn't going to be there, but because I wasn't there to say goodbye in person. I hope to see her again soon...

Anyway, after a few hours, Taka, King, Abril, and Alyssa arrive at my house. The baby was sleeping, so we mainly talked in hushed tones. We set up all the shirts, all the foam stencils, and all the paint, along with my paint brushes, all downstairs.

Upstairs, King was in the loft, working on his Wii game... Or rather my Wii game. He decided to try out Chocobo's Dungeon for kicks. So he pretty much stayed in the loft upstairs the entire night.

Taka showed us the work she finished on the high five shirts. Mine was a black T-shirt with a green outline of Taka's hand, along with a face and the words "High Five" in big bold font. It's pretty awesome! I really hope she does pursue this as either a hobby or a side business. XD

Taka had asked for some hot chocolate, so I boiled some water on the stove. While I was mixing in the hot chocolate, Abril and I randomly sang some Family Guy referenced Xmas carols.

The main reason they were over at my place at all was because I needed to do the Coppertone Rabbiman shirt. It is technically Taka's Xmas gift to me, but I wanted to be part of the process to make it. So Taka made the foam paper stencil, and I painted the outline of the drawing. I added a few touches, like a Star of David tattoo on the shoulder and some minor lines here and there.

After awhile of painting, Abril, Alyssa, and I ended up playing catch, using Lomo as the ball. I was up on the second floor balcony while Abril and Alyssa were downstairs, failing to throw Lomo up to me.

After that night, we got all three shirts done, finishing touches and all. XD

The Red Rings

Blog No. MALL: A Day of "Celebration"

And so begins the first day of finals.

*

I arrived early to study for the Chemistry final with King and Susan Surrandon. I wasn't so worried about the tests once I looked at the answer keys to the previous four tests this semester. Susan Surrandon was a little worried, however, because of the current grade she was currently sitting on. I'm currently at a low "C" in that class, which basically means if I pretty much get anything above a "D" on the final, I'm set. With that knowledge, I had put my mind at ease. I basically spent my first hour of studying by doing my final lab work and the second hour looking at the answer keys.

*

The final itself wasn't so hard. Of course we usually say this and end up having a lower grade than expected to show for it because of those darn stupid mistakes. In retrospect, the class is not so hard, but much rather it was because we came into this class with this loathing impression of the course from previous Chemistry classes. The Weissbart was a cool guy to talk to, especially now that we got him to call us Rabbiman and Susan Surrandon. So with this I say "So long!" to the Weissbart.

*

After the Chemistry final, Taylor decided that we should have a "celebration" for today. I originally planned to catch up on my Italian homework at home, but I suppose not having anymore Chemistry again for the rest of my life is reason enough to put that on hold and celebrate! And so ensues the impromptu celebratory Denny's lunch.

*

Taylor, Zack, and I met up with King, Susan Surrandon, and Phillip at the Denny's near Scandia. I ordered a french toast slam with hot chocolate. The hot chocolates are always good here, seeing as they usually make them extra chocolaty with extra whipped cream, not to mention unlimited refills and a few cents less than a soft drink. The only times I've ever came here was for after concert times, and whenever I had hot chocolate JT would usually engulf the whipped cream with his monstrous bear trap of a mouth and down all of my chocolate down his throat... So I was glad I actually enjoyed my hot chocolate. XD

*

After Denny's, Taylor, Phillip, Susan Surrandon and I took a trip to the Roseville Galleria. This was my official second time I've ever been to the Roseville Galleria. Compared with the other malls I've been to, this one is a lot more impressive... It's sad thinking about it really. I now have more of a firm knowledge of a few different malls now. It's weird how I look back and think I avoided the malls when now I seem to go every other day...

*

We pretty much walked in a circle around the mall, looking randomly at different things. We went to FYE, Gamestop, Hot Topic, Aeropostale (of course), and a few other clothing stores. I looked at a lot of shirts with Taylor, and a lot of posters at FYE, which mainly consisted of boobs, Edward Cullen, and the Jonas Brothers. He needed to look around for some Xmas gifts, so I kinda helped. Although, I couldn't help but try and look for myself in Hot Topic, seeing as everytime I go in there I always look for the checkerboarded stuff. XD

*

When we stopped by the bathroom, we noticed that there were a bunch of uniquely painted tiles leading up to it. The tiles were made by school kids from around the year 2000. We saw a bunch of cats and stripes and scribbly lines everywhere. Then Taylor spotted a crudely drawn Pikachu, which then sparked the Pokemon hide and seek game. I believe we found 2 pokeballs, 3 Pikachus, and an Oddish. The Oddish seemed a little out of place, but I guess it works. Taylor was so happy that we found it, too.XD

*

Taylor also needed to find some lip rings. Apparently, while he was being force fed some food, he had accidentally swallowed one of the balls off of one of the lip rings. He assured us that the piece of metal has passed through his system already... Anyway, we looked through a very limited supply of body jewelry at this little station in the middle of the mall. I suggested a pair of ruby red lip rings, seeing as he always seemed to wear red. I had also suggested the blue and silver striped ones, but Susan Surrandon said they were too gay, which I don't see why she said that seeing as the rings were meant for the gay guy... There were weird tye dye ones, ones with balls on the stars, and some that bent in different shapes that you kinda have to think about and wonder where they actually go... Taylor ended up with a plain pair of silver ones and the red ones I suggested for him.

*

After Taylor had put on one of his lip rings, we ended up going by the JC Penny to look for bed sheet. This reminded me that I still needed to get bed sheets for my bed at Santa Cruz, so I sent a quick text to Kaylah to ask what size bed would I get. She replied, "Twin XL." A Twin XL? So I'm going from a Twin bed to a Twin XL? What a luxury! XD

*

After everything was said and done, we decided to depart. Taylor took me all the way home after singing to a couple of tunes on the radio. The day trip was fun! Now if only I had time to do the Italian homework... XD

Santa Cruz Part VII: The Santa Cruz Quickie

Blog No. BLONDE: Winter Orientation

It's about time I returned to Santa Cruz. This time I'm here on official business. Winter Orientation is basically a time where the bigwigs of the University welcome the new transfer students and the one new freshman, as well as encourage the community atmosphere, answer any pending questions before the new quarter, and to enroll in classes.

*

After the train and bus trip, Kaylah and Beth picked me up for a quick trip to the Capitola Mall. There, we pretty much walked around shopping for Xmas presents. Now I would explain in detail where we actually went, but I think that will give away some of the surprise.

*

After the mall, we swung by a KFC/A&W to get root beer floats for our Toys R' Us journey. We went to Toys R' Us to try and get some possible gifts for our younger siblings. Kaylah got a soccer goal for her little brother. However, walking through the aisles, we found some of our old toy things. Kaylah found all the plastic food and plastic kitchenware. I found some musical instruments, like a small xylophone and small guitar. Look at us. The three of us are full grown adults... playing in Toys R' Us at midnight. XD

*

When we got to their home, we pretty much spent most of the time pulling up SNL videos. Kaylah, Beth, and Terry are pretty obsessed with a few of those, like "Mother Lover" and "Like a Boss" which took me off guard the first time they showed me those videos. The reason they pulled them up was because our friend, Paul, had not seen them yet.

*

The next morning, Kaylah drove me along the path of helium filled balloons, past the wonderful scenery, to Cowell college, where I signed in and grabbed some food. I had been to this dining hall before, back when Kaylah was a freshman on campus. Since then, they have remodeled the dining hall to the point where it looks like a shiny bistro. The atmosphere was very cool, and the food was simply delicious. The food is definitely a step up from the ARC cafeteria food. XD

*

I was kind of nervous of the orientation because it usually meant that I had to meet new people. I'm not really the kind of person to meet new people. It was funny though, because I sat near some cute asian girls. I was given an assignment by Dustin to find some asian girls for him when he came down. The girls I sat with were very shy, too, and I pretty much just smiled the entire time. They talked amongst themselves more though, in their own language, which made if feel so much more awkward because they would look back at me a few times... So, let the stalking of cute asian girls begin! XD

*

I sat through a few informative and funny speeches. Then afterward, all the transfer students seperate into the different fields of study, and then again for specific majors. Basically I walked up with the Social Sciences group, then branched off into the smaller Econ major oriented group. There, we went to a classroom where a few of the main teachers gave us a broad overview of the 3 main majors, Economics, Business Management Economics, and Global Economics, as well as discussed what opportunities are available to us and what we still need to do to start our core classes.

*

After I asked more about the Global Economics program, I walked into a Humanities lecture hall, which was rather huge and very comfortable. There, two advisers gave us the skinny of what other resources are available on campus and what not. I jotted down some notes and wrote down a few numbers for future reference.

*

At this point, we had a few options as to which seminar we could go to. What I did was I basically walked back to the dining hall, had lunch, then walked around to the various booths representing the different offices and clubs on campus and took a few papers and free stuff along the way. After, I started walking to the Stevenson computer lab to look and see if I could consult with people while I registered for some classes. Unfortunately, the line was atrociously long. So, I walked back to the dining hall, where it was pretty much empty now. I sat down at one of the tables and whipped out my sister's laptop, where I logged on to the UCSC portal and searched for classes. By the stroke of 2 pm, or our collective enrollment appointments, I had signed up for all three of my classes.

*

Being all proud of myself, I took a leisurely walk around campus and ended up at the bookstore. There, I walked in to try to find something for my mom for Xmas. I ended up getting her and I a shirt. After I walked out of the store, I walked next door to take a picture for my ID card, which I will get the day I move in on campus... They are putting a LOT of things on one day...

*

After, I was reminded that I should look at the Apple computers on sale on the second floor. Kaylah let me know about this sale, a regular Mac laptop and an All-in-One printer for $800, and I thought it would be a good time to look into it. When I got there, there was no one behind the counter, so I just played with the display computer for a few minutes. It basically reminded me of Kaylah's computer now. It was simple to use. However, I wanted my mom in on this decision so I decided to wait. So, after I bought some more stuff, (socks for Taka, boxers for Dustin), I walked across to the little restaurant.

*

I called up Piper, telling her about the offer. I remembered she hated Macs, so I wanted to get her POV on this deal. I also texted Abril, seeing as she was a Mac lover, to get her POV as well. After calling Terry and asking when they were returning home, I went back into the bookstore, having remembered that I should get a onesie for Lennox and a pullover for Piper. The register lady was laughing at me, asking if I was a new transfer student. She was pretty cool. XD

*

Bookstore---(Bus)---> Home

*

Dan welcomed me in. I hadn't seen him the last couple of times I visited, even though he, too, lived at that apartment with them. Last time he saw me was back when they were first paying for the apartment, when Piper came to visit. He was still as proper and artistic as ever. He called my new haircut "almost Tim Burton like, but in a good way." I looked at a few of his cartoons, which were pretty good. Corey had arrived, too, from out of town, and she was still as random as ever. XD

*

Just a few minutes after I got home, Terry and Beth arrived, too. We also decided to meet Kaylah at her work and go to dinner from there. By "meeting her at work" I mean walking from their house to just outside of downtown Santa Cruz at night. At least it worked up an apetite.

*

Did I mention Red Robin? We drove to Red Robin from Gigi's Restaurant. There isn't a Red Robin in Santa Cruz. The closest one was in San Jose. So... we basically drove for an hour for burgers... Kaylah ordered a tower of onion rings, and for Beth a basket of mozerella sticks for our appetizers. The appetizers alone were very delicious. I ordered a "banzai burger" which was basically a teriyaki slathered meat with pineapple, lettuce, tomato, and mayo. It was AWESOME. The trip was definitely worth it!

*

Now, Beth had "excused" herself to go to the bathroom. Little did we know, she actually told the Red Robin staff that it was "Kaylah's Birthday" which it was kind of true seeing as it was the first day of her new cake line at Gigi's. So, basically the waiters and waitresses gathered around our table and sang happy birthday to Kaylah, giving her a free sundae. Hooray for free ice cream! XD

*

After Red Robin, we decided to go and see some Xmas light displays. There was a park that gets closed down during this time of year for this kind of thing, where cars are able to drive through the various displays at night. That's where we basically were for about an hour. All of the lights were really neat and inventive. There was a pirate ship that had a Xmas light cannon shooting off every few seconds. There was a section dedicated to festive dinosaurs as well, for some reason.

*

After the drive home, we immediately fell asleep, after a six minute black out of course... Then Kaylah drove me to the bus stop at 6 AM, where I took an early bus back to Sacramento.

*

Yes, though this trip was a quickie, it was a fun trip nonetheless. XD

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Surprise Blog: F12 Holiday Concert

*

The Santa Cruz Quickie transitioned really well with the F12 concert, seeing as I came back early just for that.

*

F12 is the band that Taka, King, and Yowty plays in for their church. Last time, Parkarr and I went to their concert and sat in for a sermon, where they talked about one of my favorite passages in the bible.

*

This time around, F12 had their Xmas rally at the same place, where Parkarr, again, gave me a ride to.

I had left Lomo with Taka before I left, just so that I wouldn't worry about him while I went to Orientation.

*

Lomo happened to be with a row of Mienh people in front. A couple of them turned around to get my attention and handed Lomo off to me. Some how they knew who I was. I only recognized one of the girls from a video Taka showed me of her French Mienh friends... At least I think that was her... XD;

*

Parkarr and I pretty much stood the entire time they were up there. I had Lomo on my shoulders and helped him move around to the beat. After their set, there was another sermon. The lady pretty much compared Xmas gifts to the gift of worship, where she had her husband give her an empty Xmas box to prove the point that if you just left the gift unopened on a shelf, the gift given might as well not be there at all. Summarizing, she's basically telling us to utilize God's gift to us.

*

Following that, F12 played a few more, holiday themed songs. They all had Xmas hats on, which reminded me that I need to find my old Xmas hat somewhere...

*

After, Parkarr and I helped them break down the stage and set it back up for the following day. I finally met Chiam, or "Fake David" as I choose to call him. For some reason, everyone calls him David. He was pretty cool. The thing I most remembered about him was that he told me that, whenever I saw Taka, I need to pinch her cheeks, which was where he demonstrated how hard I should do so. XD

*

Most of us had hit the McDonald's up the road, like last time. I paid for Parkarr's food, seeing as he was broke and had not eaten for 2 days. I just got my usual chicken nugget meal with a hot fudge sundae as dipping sauce. Lomo got stuck with nothing, again. And yeah... Taka, Parkarr, and I just pretty much got caught up in our conversation. It was good that I arrive back in Sacramento earlier than usual, for these small moments with newer friends that are about to run out...

*

A good note to end on. C:

Band and Choir Concerts

Blog BOOM: The Band and Choir Concerts

Monday and Tuesday, 12/7 & 12/8, were very long days.

Monday night was the band concert. I had to be there the entire day because of my Chemistry class in the morning and the Piano class in the afternoon. Thing was, that morning I had forgotten my concert attire for the concert... So Taka quickly took me home to change right after Piano--

During Chemistry, it finally sunk in with Susan Surrandon that I was leaving on January 4th for Santa Cruz, permanently. There were a few dozen hugs here and there. She promises to keep in contact, thanks to the modern technology we have. She also promised to BLOG more often, starting when I leave. She was so sad though that "Susan Surrandon" won't be tagged in my blogs for awhile... That'll just be more work on my part. XD

During Piano, King and I had to do a duet on the upright. Heidi had noticed the one or two flubs on my end but she still passed us. After class, I was just fooling around on the computer, playing notes I remembered from the Romantic piece I did, the Tchaikovsky waltz, when Heidi had interrupted asking what piece it was. When I told her it was my Romantic piece, she told me that I should replay it on Final... Like I didn't already have enough to do...

--After we went on our trips home to change, Taka, King, and I went back to ARC to meet up with some Band folk. Kaitlyn ended up having to save Sarah

After the concert, Taka, King, Abril, Jacob, and I ended up going to Denny's, like last concert. Denny's this night wasn't as packed, not like after the Choir concerts. There were only a few people in Band, like Dictator Roze and Sergeant Pepper, Kevin, who was the percussionist in Choir and stole my timpani parts, and a few other people.

That table was crowded though. I ended up at the end of the table with minimal leg room. Then Lyle and Kevina arrived and sat at a nearby table, so I took that as incentive to move to that table for more legroom. I easily forget how conversations with gay guys usually end up. I tried changing subjects from transsexual teenage daughters to Scooby-Doo with no success, but I ended up being Kevina's father, with Lyle as the mom... XD

Tuesday was Choir concert day, which also ended up being an extremely long day.

The day started out suckish because of how lousy we started rehearsing for the Choir concert. I knew that I did not look at the older music to remember the words. I kinda believed that seeing as I started to sing a part of Battle of Jericho early, it got the loud tenor next to me to sing it, which snowballed to the point where it confused the majority of the Choir. Then I had to study for a Statistics test I had to do. I want to say I did pretty good on it, but as far as the tests went, that one seemed the hardest. At least Justin Pratt's doughnuts made it the feeling a little better. XD

After I dressed into my tuxedo in the ARC bathroom, I walked over to the theater once more for a second rehearsal. This rehearsal was basically for Ellen DeGeneres's practice on the two pieces she plays french horn on. This rehearsal went a little better, but it was still far from expectations.

After rehearsal, most of the Choir sat in the reserved seats in the back of the theater. JLyn arrived in tears just a few minutes later, freaking out about how Dr. Hughes was going to fail her for completely skipping rehearsal. Honestly, if someone is affected by being late that much, I think a decent human being would let it slide. Still, I thought it was a very over the top reaction. Sensitivity is fine, but only in doses.

There turned out to be limited seats, so half of the Choir had to sit in the aisles to give up their seats for the paying customers.

Most of the concert seemed okay. I know the all mens piece could've been loads better. The only time I ever spent on that piece was during the two rehearsals before the concert. Sorry, but listening for the women only piece, I could say the same thing only because there was no energy, no energy for a hyped up Xmas song... I was worried most about the Io V'amo piece, because that one was my favorite. I think this was why Dr. Hughes assigned me to be part of the octet for that piece. I remember Justin Vaughn commented on the octet after the concert, but only saying that it was cute because I was singing it...

The collective pieces, Alleluia, In Remembrance, and Betelehemu, sounded pretty good. Pratt stood next to me for the Alleluia piece, which helped because I was able to base my notes off of him instead of the loud tenor on my other side.

In Remembrance was really good. I think the only reason it was any good, sorry to say, was because of Dr. Hughes's introduction. He dedicated the performance of this song to Bert, a tenor that was part of the Choir who passed away recently due to cancer. During his introduction, I could solemnly tell that he was going to cry, only because he said the words, "I'm going to make this brief." It never turns out brief if you start with that. I looked over at Heidi, who was trying to stare at her music because she also knew of the tears welling up in Dr. Hughes's eyes. As he turned to us, trying to continue his introduction, I could hear just about a hundred sniffles all around me. What I did was I smiled and kept composure, just to try and catch Dr. Hughes's attention so that he could focus a little more. I believe the piece went extremely well because of the organic emotion that was now released because of the teary intro.

Betelehemu was just a breeze, even more for me because I faked singing it while I was playing the tambourine. I messed up on one of the beginning rolls and ended up doing alternating triplets and rolls to make up for that mistake.

So, overall, the concert went pretty smoothly, according to the many audience members I saw while I was looking for JT. While he was searching for his lost keys and music, I managed to change into my street clothes. JT drove me, Jordan the Mormon, Connie from Frisbee, and Shae. Jordan ended up shifting gears for JT while he drove with his foot from the back seat. I only encouraged it because I took off his shoe.

Pratt had sat with Taka, Abril, and King, so I sat next to him. He ended up talking about how cute one of the guys, "Dug", from Choir was. Kevin, the percussionist from the night before, also sat near us. Pratt had commented that he was freaked out by Kevin, apparently Kevin was actively flirting with him. He asked if Kevin realized what his orientation was, but just as he said that Kevin yelled out to Pratt, "Hey why don't you come over here big boy!" That answers that question...

Since the Choir had increased in size, the amount of people there increased as well. Kaity, our friend from Italian and recent member of the Choir, was there, hugs and all. Literally. All she was that night was a source of many hugs. Well, I'm not annoyed that she gives out hugs, on the contrary I'm glad because that means everyone else will expect less hugs from me, which apparently has grown to be my reputation as of late. What kinda annoyed me was the number of hugs she gave me. 32. Not even joking. That night had totaled up to 32. The most I noticed she gave anyone else was like 2 or 3. JT's hugs ended up being like 6 or 7 that night at Denny's. It just got me puzzled. It's this and other reasons that make me want to boycott hugs for awhile... XD

And yeah. Afterward, JT took me home. It was overall a pretty good couple of nights. C:

The Everything Pizza, Jim the Biker, and The Legend of Zelda Final Battle

Blog No. 7: This Week in Summary

Wednesday, 12/2, after Piano, Taylor decided to do something. I didn't know what it was, but I was being kidnapped anyway.

Taylor, Abril, and I ended up going to the nearby Little Caesar's where Taylor's sister was working. I should have predicted it because Taylor had mentioned over Messenger that he had calculated the most expensive pizza one could get there and that he wanted to get one. He beckoned her over to take our order, but he ended up going through the employee door with a set of his own keys.

I know he works at the Little Caesar's franchise, but it got me thinking what other keys he might have... It got me thinking about other places he might have keys to.

What Taylor Might Have Keys To List:

1. The wardrobe door to Narnia.
2. A Volkswagon Scirocco
3. A secret stash of Morgan Freeman memorabilia.
4. The moon.
5. The Coldplay song, "Doors."
6. The Batmobile.
7. The Castle Church in Wittenburg. (The 95 Theses)
8. Kingdom Hearts.

Anyways, twelve minutes later, Taylor's sister comes out with this square pizza completely covered with toppings. Deep dish, extra sauce, extra cheese, extra pepperoni, ham, pineapple, beef, jalapeño, bell pepper, olive, onion, and mushroom pizza, or, for those who don't like long names, the Everything Pizza. He had taken so many pictures with his phone of this pizza and the process you almost have to wonder if he is a little bit too obsessive with pizza... But of course, it's pizza's job to be awesome.

A while later, we walked to this secluded area [details withheld] where we decided to eat the pizza...

... Where Taylor proceeded to take more pictures of this divine creation. XD

Both Taylor and Abril had two pieces and I was struggling with the one. It was so good though. Every taste of the Everything Pizza had a different taste to it. It's like how he says, "If you taste something you don't like, there's plenty of other toppings to make up for it!"

On Thursday, 12/3, I noticed that I have had been with Taka for the greater portion of that day.

I had called her up in the morning after sleeping in to pick me up, then we went to McDonald's for breakfast, hung out in the cafeteria, had Choir, and headed back to the cafeteria where we stayed for a few hours. Even though she went to her English class and I skipped my Stats class, she left behind her laptop where I used it to experiment with Tumblr. Then, after her class, we get a call from a random Choir person, saying that she had Taka's phone. Taka dragged me along with her to retrieve it, partly because the person called my phone, partly because she was afraid that it was the alto in Choir that made the alto section look bad. I wouldn't blame her. When we rode down that street to her place, we could feel an odd tension as a few dozen people looked at us. That was one ghetto street... Then Taka and I picked up Yowty at her place, to return back to ARC to drop me off and pick King up.

When I got back on campus, I didn't know what to do. I ended up going to the music rooms where I practiced for my final in Piano. I also tried texting Mama Compton to see where she was. Apparently she was running late, so she couldn't see me before class. What I ended up doing was walking to Davies Hall, hide from the asian lady asking for donations while ordering a coffee at the kiosk, and sat down to wait outside Mama Compton's classroom to wait for her hug. While I was waiting, I realized that I wasn't going to be able to go to Italian all of next week, seeing as Tuesday there was the Choir concert at 7:30 and then the trip to Santa Cruz for the Winter Orientation for Friday. This wouldn't be a problem if I didn't have to do an Italian presentation on something Italian on Thursday. I told Mama Compton this and she was all, "I had the same thing happen when I was in sign language class. I ended up going to that class in my choir dress and leaving early!" Which might be my case if I have to do the presentation on Tuesday instead of Thursday... Not in a dress, but a tuxedo. XD

After Italian, I walked over to the new gym in the freezing cold to wait for Dustin to get out of class. I asked him to take me home because my mom wasn't able to make it out there. Dustin was kind enough to say yes. C:

In the car, he had put on an Owl City CD, which I told him I just got. He told me a couple of the songs I should listen to, or rather which ones were his favorites. Owl City seems to be a nice and mellow song to drive home to after a long day of school. He had also offered to take me to his place instead of going home, which I would've if only I didn't have to babysit or practice my duet the next day...

So, Dustin and I ventured to a Starbucks, where I tried a seasonal caramel flavored drink and Dustin ordered the large, extra caramel, caramel frappucino.

He likes his frosting. XD

We just pretty much hung out there for an hour. He and I rummaged through our wallets and looked at their contents. I showed him some baby pictures of Lennox and he showed me some of his family photos. He talked more about his addiction to chap stick and his fitness class. I talked about Santa Cruz and some family stuff. I also mentioned how I usually saw someone at the Starbucks, so he would ask every once in awhile if I found one yet. He pointed over to a biker outside and asked if I knew him, obviously not. Then we joked about what his name would be. Dustin called him Jim. I was trying to think up a hypothetical fake conversation I would have with the biker to make him believe he knew me. And yeah... Dustin and I just pretty much sat there talking and hanging out. It was nice. XD

Today, Friday 12/4, I woke up early to go to ARC with King to practice our duet. Jacob had come along too, I suppose to just hang out because that's all he did. We took over a practice room where we both worked on our parts separately for about an hour. Then we tried pulling both parts together, but I found that I couldn't really do much with my left hand. I definitely need to practice more of that. XD

Then, King, Jacob, and I went to a Sutter Medical building where King got his blood drawn. Jacob and I did a random Xmas word search puzzle that was on the counter. I found most of the words first and I was trying to be sneaky and not tell him where they were, but whenever I found a word Jacob would immediately find it a few seconds later. DX

We went to Burger King to get some food and we saw that Dr. Hughes was waiting in his truck in front of the restaurant. We tried to persuade him to come to the band concert on Monday, but he had to stick with his plans with the Master Singers. Dr. Hughes commented on how much he missed King, which took me to weird images in my brain for some reason. XD

After we picked up some Burger King, the three of us went to Gamestop, where Jacob bought Darkside Chronicles. While he was paying, I found a random Wii game called "A Boy And His Blob." The title caught me off guard, but when I looked at the book it seemed like a pretty interesting game. King and Jacob just laughed at the title. Afterward, we headed over to Jacobs, where we ate our food and played some Brawl. On one of the battles, where Jacob was Link, King was Gannonndorf, and I was Zelda, I had attacked the smash ball and shot an arrow right into Gannondorf's eye. The attack had a perfect angle of the hit for the dramatic affect that really looked like a good ending to a Legend of Zelda game, especially on the course Jacob made into the shape of a triforce. XD

At 3, King took me over to the apartment where I had to babysit my nephew with my mom, seeing as she still can't lift her arm as much right now. Mom was showing me a concert on PBS with this A Capella group called Straight No Chaser. The singers were actually pretty good. They were 12 guys just singing with their voices different variations of Xmas and popular songs. They did a song where they combined Jason Mraz's "I'm Yours" with Israel Kamakawiwo'ole's "Somewhere Over The Rainbow", which explains why I felt that Mraz's song sounded familiar. My favorite was their rendition of "12 Days of Xmas" which is pretty slapstick:

And that pretty much ends my day. The rest is basically catching up on facebook and blogger, editing my tumblr, and figuring out my financial situation for UCSC. This week has been pretty random, so who knows what tomorrow will bring? C:

The Key to Immortality

Blog No. 203: Kinda Backwards

Wednesday was my last required quiz and an optional class at that. All King and I really had to do was walk in, take the quiz, and walk out. This allowed the possibility of an all out awesome-fest, for a lack of a better word. :P

So King picked me up after he picked up Jacob and we went back to the asian's house. We pretty much sat around, watching an episode of Bones and Whose Line is it Anyway? and looking at their camp photos. The camp photos were mainly of people, the majority of whom were asian, from Alaska to California. XD

The King and I had our quiz. It took us all of 10-ish minutes to finish. King took his notes for the next class, while I packed my stuff, and we left! Taka and Jacob barely had any time to do much else.

Then we were wondering what to do from there. We could've gone to my place and played more Brawl, but I think we were getting tired of that game. In the end, we ended up going to our motto, "When in doubt, default to Sizzler!" XD

So that's what we did. I pretty much get what Taka gets, which this time was a 6 oz steak with mashed potatoes and a Dr. Pepper, along with our endless salad bar. I remember back in my childhood that I usually confused the word "endless" witht the word "bottomless" and questioned how the "endless" salad bar worked. Are the plates acually bottomless or does the salad magically regenerate on its own? XP

During our entree, Piper called me from camping, wondering why I didn't call. I usually called during my break during the Western Civilizations class, but this time we didn't fully attend. I was surprised that she was expecting a call, partly because it seemed I was distracting her recently. I told her where I was and she told me where she was. I told her to call Kaylah for when she and Difuentez are at the Santa Cruz Boardwalk. However, she didn't want to call her, but instead she wanted me to call because she didn't feel like she wasn't in the loop enough, I guess. I did influence her to call Kaylah after I said, "Well imagine all of the embarassing, prepubescent David stories she could tell! I can't control the conversation in any way, seeing as I"m not there, so you could ask Kaylah anything about me!" Piper was immediately set on calling Kaylah. She amuses me so. XP

After our food, we just started piling stuff into an empty cup until it just overflowed into a concoction no one in their right minds would drink. We were joking around, saying that we might've stumbled onto the potion for immortality. XD

Then, after roaming around Natomas, we stopped at the Barnes and Noble. We played yet another rendition of the Barnes and Noble Game, which we taught Jacob who suggested we mainly used whatever was closest to the manga section. XD

My Civic Duties

Blog No. 201: "Jury Duty"

I woke up to a cute little baby knocking at my door! XP

Audrey knocked on the door while holding little Lennox to say that they're going to IHOP with my mom, grandfather, and some relatives from Maine. Johnny is my grandfather's son, which is how my mom and sister say it. I don't really get family trees... I was also supposed to be on stand by for Jury Duty, so I also had to pack a nice buttoned shirt and some pants in my over-the-shoulder bag.

Anyways, John, Audrey, Lennox, and I met up with mom, my grandfather, Johnny, and Terri, (Johnny's wife), at IHOP. It was the first time I met Johnny and Terri, I mean I've heard about them through my grandfather but that was about it. They were pretty cool though. They did a lot of things just by whim. Apparently, on Sunday, they had went to Yosemite National Park and did some hiking. They also talked about how they were going to go to Niagra Falls once they leave here. Johnny, too, had been part of the marines, which is why they seemed traveled and what not.

After our conversations at IHOP and a stuffed french toast plate with strawberries, all of us, minus John, Audrey, and the baby, went to Target to get some stuff. Johnny and Terri needed luggage for their souvenirs and junk, while mom and I needed around the house things, like laundry baskets and fans. Once we sat down at the Starbucks inside Target, I made a call to the Superior Court of California to see if my group number was called in. After going through the pushing of buttons, the automated system told me, "Groups [numbers I can't remember] have finished their civic duty. No call backs are necessary. Your jury duty has been fulfilled."

Cool! Didn't have to wait in line! XP

Mom took me home, seeing as my option was either to wait with her at the nail shop and get a ride to school or ask King to come over for a bit and ride with him to class. I feel as though I made the right choice. XP

So Taka, King, and I made our usual phone charade:

• I call King, ask what they were doing, to which I get an unsure answer and hang up.
• Taka calls me, asks what am I doing, to which I replied "I'm up for anything."
• Taka passes the phone to King without any notice, which leaves me to ask, again, to come over, to which I get a more definite "we'll be there in fifteen minutes."

I love how we have a system now. XP

So Taka and King came over and we played Brawl for the greater part of the day. Then, King drove Taka home, then drove us to school for a quiz! XP

Taka, King, and Abril Vs The CPU

Blog No. 187: Yet Another Brawl Day

Yeah. In an attempt to catch up on my blogs, I tried blogging while King, Taka, and Abril sat on the floor next to me, playing my game of SSBrawl. How did it end up? Well, this is Monday's blog, and I'm posting it today, THURSDAY.

I'm almost there though! XP

Happy 4th of Ju--Ka-BLOOM!

Blog No. 185: 4th of July

Taka and King basically saved my day.

The family, what with being seperated by a freeway, had a divided holiday. My mom and aunt kept it simple at the apartment, while Audrey, John, and Lennox went to Vicky Joe's place. Then I texted Dustin and Patric if they were still coming over to paint, to which Dustin replied that Patric had previously laid plans and wouldn't be able to make it. Then I got a text from JT, whom basically flat out said that there was no Frisbee this weekend. Why do all of my guy friends seem unreliable? XP

In the end, Taka gave me a phone call, saying she was in the area, visiting her friend Jacob from High School and planned to do fireworks over at his house. I told Taka that I was home alone with no plans whatsoever. Then Taka went off her phone, trying to talk King to picking me up to go to Jacob's.

Taka, my hero! <3

Anways, King picked me up. When I arrived, I met Jacob and the immediate household. I had seen Jacob from the Pops Concert and a few times on Taka's bowling videos, but this was really the first time I met him face to face.

The four of us were in his room, watching Jacob talking to Yowty and other high school friends on the computer. We also watched some Mortal Combat parody videos, too. Taka and I text Abril on my new phone.

Once it clearly got dark in the room, it was time to start some fireworks. Taka and King had a small bag while the rest of them had a few big and *cough* illegal *cough* ones. We tried lighting some with those lighting sticks that comes with fireworks sets, only it failed miserably. They had one giant one which someone got in memorandum of his son who died in a car crash, I believe. That one took awhile to be finished, but it did put on a show! Taka loved the Morning Glory, or the 'sparklers' as some might call them. I drew a star of David on the street with my sparkler. XP

After it was all said and done, Taka, King, and I felt like it was too early to call it a night, so we quickly drove to a fireworks stand in front of the Lutheran church near the middle school. We were lucky because they were about to close just as we arrived. After purchasing one of the box sets, I had realized that it was the first time I was able to legally buy fireworks. It would've been a kodak family moment, but ah well... Then we went to the nearby Circle K and got a cigarette lighter and a 2-liter Dr. Pepper for the festivities. XP

At my house, I pulled out my painting bucket to fill with water while Taka and King sorted through the fireworks. The set we got a had a cliched Asian vibe to it, what with the 'Large Friendship' and 'Cherry Blossoms' and whatnot. XP

Taka and King decised a couple of ways in which to set of some fireworks simultanneously using paper attached to fireworks fuses. It took awhile longer, but it was worth it in the end! XP

After setting off some fireworks, Taka, King, and I played some SSBrawl in the computer room.

So I had my fireworks after all! [Insert JT saying, "Ah so it did work out in the end, didn't it?"] XP

Whoopi Goldberg

Blog No. 182: Wednesday

Right where we left off, King, Taka, Abril, and I retired to Taka's house before our class to play the CAT themed monopoly, called Catopoly.

After searching for my ATM Modern Monopoly, (and failing to find it T_T), my sister let me borrow her Catopoly game instead. I had brought in on our Random Day, but we ended up not playing it. Seeing as I left it in King's car, we decided to play it then.

My "Muk" pokemon property for this game was the "Russian Blue" cat property. This time around, I ended up with two monopolies on the first side of the board, and Abril had one after the "Jail" space, (which in this game was "Falling in the Water" X3). I won that game, or at least everyone quitted while I had most of the money. XP

Jardine's class was kinda boring, seeing as our notes was not centered into one area of Rome but instead went over a time line of the Roman Republic up until it transitioned to the Roman Empire.

Big whoop. Whoopi Goldberg. XP

Piper's Grand Pokemon Themed Adventure

Blog No. 181: Random Day

So my mom dropped me off at Piper's house on Tuesday, 6/30, for some hanging out time.

When I got there, Difuentez was playing a computer platforming game called "Civilizations" I believe. It looks basically like my course in Western Civilizations, only grossly Americanized and you can control the course of the timeline, somewhat.

Piper's mom received a phone call from Rachel's dad, basically saying that Rachel's in the hospital due to a kidney infection. It kinda got real for Piper for a second, then we ended up playing a round of SSBrawl to keep our hopes up. XP

Then we decided to see Rachel in the ICU at the Roseville Kaiser. When we arrived, we ended up outside the double doors for a few minutes, waiting for word from anyone. When we didn't get anything, we went back downstairs to the desk where the receptionist pointed us in the direction of where we just were. Then Piper used a phone nearby the doors and talked to someone for awhile, then we pushed a button for the double doors leading to the ICU to open.

Apparently, Rachel went in on the count of a high fever and not eating a lot. Then, once there, they diagnosed her for just a mild fever, until her heart rate had gotten too high. Then something about transferring from a private room, to the emergency room, to the ICU for when the increase heart rate persisted. They also evacuated a floor because it had gotten too hot, which so happened to be her floor. Her recent diagnosis was that she had a kidney infection, awaiting to do a CAT scan. Funny thing was that I kinda realized it was something along those lines because she had been complaining about unexplained back pains over the Facebook IM. I told her that she should go and see a doctor to make sure it wasn't a strained muscle or something, but she refused on the count of having the same problem before then when she finally saw the doctor her pain had subsided.

When we saw her, she was basically as cheery as ever. She complained a little bit about how she was thirsty and how she was basically immobile, what with a trillion tubes sticking out of her. XP

When Taka, Abril, and King arrived, we played a few rounds of SSBrawl. Then we got bored of it.

We moved on to Pokemon Monopoly, where I had a beginning lead. One of the "properties" I had was Muk, and I ended up getting a lot of money off of him. However, as time went on, and after King got the first two properties as a monopoly, people started fading interest.

I basically gave all of my stuff to Piper, joining Taka and Abril on the couch to play some more SSBrawl. King was also playing, only he was playing both Brawl and Monopoly at the same time. In the end, he just gave up his game of Monopoly to batter us some more on SSBrawl. Difuentez disappeared into Piper's room while Piper made some delicious won tons.

When the won tons were ready, we were bored enough to move on to playing the board game of Pokemon Master. It was basically the video game version of Pokemon put down to cardboard chips. We figured out fast that the game was not as entertaining as we had hoped, seeing as it was too easy to get a pokemon from the Unknown Dungeon or how Pokemon Trading was highly unfair. Instead of waiting for everyone's turns, we ended up speeding up our gameplay to the point of a race. Both Taka and Piper ended up playing the Elite Four Challenge. Piper won...

Then we moved on to more Brawl. XP

That was pretty much how it went down. We had fun and alot of Brawling was done! We'd like to thank the Nintendo Wii and SSBrawl, as well as Pokemon and other fictional video game characters, for letting us friends connect time and time again! XP

Fishie and Frisbee

Blog No. 178: Fishie and Frisbee

Contrary to the title, I had Frisbee first. I thought that since I had a blog titled "Finals and Frisbee" I might as well do something to that affect again for alliteration's sake... It's also kind of assonant too. XP

Anywho...

So I got my weekly text invitation from JT. I got in the shower, then JT calls as I was starting to shave that he was out front. It seems I'm growing a habit of being late in getting ready... I could blame the shower, that it adds at least 5 minutes to try and condition, comb, and tame my unruly hair, but it's getting worse... DX

When I hopped into the car, shoeless, JT, also shoeless, was texting and calling more people for Ultimate Frisbee. As he drove to the freeway, he told me that Piper had called JT back, saying that she was stranded but didn't want him to go out of his way to pick her up... I think... Well it was more like "Oh, [Difuentez] doesn't feel like going, so he's not taking me, which I guess is OK because I have some cleaning to do anyway, plus I would have to take a shower..."

JT and I didn't understand it either. So he told me to try asking. I asked the same basic questions JT did, got a similar reply, but somehow persuaded her to accept JT's offer for a ride. JT was baffled, apparently. I guess I'm more persuasive than I thought...? XP

Anyways, after we picked Piper up, we all went to Bannister Park, where we met up with a few people. Adam, Marshall, and Jeff, (or, "The Tall White Guy", "The Ice Cream Man" [Don't ask.], and "Shirtless Guy"), seem to be the regulars. We got a few extra people after like fifteen minutes into the game. It was technically the first game I was captain, which no one wanted to be for some reason. It didn't matter, all that happens is the first guy chooses JT, the second guy Jeff, then choose it off from there relative to frisbee ability. It's a concept in playing sports that I'm not too fond of, what with usually being the guy chosen last and whatnot. One of many reasons I remained at an all arts school. XP

Halfway through the game, Taka called my cell phone. I basically gave her some directions to get to our location. Then Piper was complaining about the heat and wondered if King was able to take her home, but it was kinda cutting it close, so we decided for her to go along with us.

Within minutes, the match of Frisbee was over. It was funny because I only sat down for literally 5-ish minutes. Under the shade, everyone, which now included Zach, Bryn, and a more pudgier version of "Shirtless Guy", conversed about the weather and Monopoly, for some reason. Then, within a few more minutes, Taka and King arrived. JT gave me the big giant grizzly bear hug, with sweat and smell and all, as Piper and I walked toward the car.

We had stopped at a gas station, where we filled up King's tank and I got some cash for tickets for Fishie's dance recital. Between the gas station and the elementary school, Piper decided that she wanted to go home and asked to be dropped off. It kinda made the trip to the gas station worthless, seeing as I mainly got cash for her ticket, but I could tell she was about to pass out from lack of sleep. Piper was not in her head that day! XP

So the three of us arrived at Cirby Elementary School, where we quickly met up with Fishie so that she could give us our tickets.

The dancing company Fishie belonged to is called "Anti-Gravity." It's basically a dancing school from beginning to advanced. She worked on her routines and solo for awhile, up until she injured her right leg. She was more or less crippled for a month or two after, what with the bandages, crutches, and walker and whatnot... But, somehow, she recovered to the point where she was capable of pulling off her routine. Being her friend, I should've gone to a couple of her recitals in the past. I also had promised to go to at least the one in the summer, seeing as it was possibly the last chance I got to see her perform before I transferred to UCSC. So I was looking forward to this for awhile, especially now after her recovery. XP

The routines were divided into a few sections: The soloists, the "beginners", and the veterans, so to speak. Some of the routines had little kids in them, possibly being their first recital. Then it ranged from there all the way to the adults, like Fishie, doing more complicated dance moves and solos.

The main group of dancers danced a song called "Headlock" by Imogen Heap, which reminded me of Piper because she's partly Imogen Heap freak in a good way. XP

Alina, Fishie's sister, was really good at her ballet solo. Taka was whispering to me that her dress was inspired by Belle's dress from Beauty and the Beast, which it kinda did but with more gold and purple... Anyway, point being, she was awesome! You could tell she's dedicated to ballet. XP

Fishie's solo was pulled off without a misstep. I guess she danced the Modern style, what with the ballet type movements to a more updated song. She had so much emotion on her face, which was a good thing because she was dancing to what I would call "Aztec sacrificing ritual" music. The singer sings with great emotion and soul, but when fitted with the rhythm it becomes intensifying or unresolute. Seeing as the song is moody and aggressive, Fishie had to dance in the same fashion. All I can say is that I was amazed that she spun on her bum leg for like five times in a row and still kept her composure. Taka and I pretty much cheered like proud parents, signaling a couple of turned faces in our direction. XP

You guys did a really great job!

We met up with Fishie and her family afterward to hug and congratulate her. Her father took a picture of the four of us, then I took one of just her on my cell:

I could tell she was tired and sweaty. XP

Taka, King, and I then left to grab some dinner, seeing as none of us truly ate during that day. XP

We wound up at our usual spot, Sizzler. Taka and I introduced King to the endless salad bar. According to Taka, he hadn't eaten anything for almost two days. It was why Taka asked me to get a soda for him during the recital. He ended up eating a taco and some clam chowder before his steak.

So I learned the origins of "Mjaw". Abril/Taka had texted "Mjaw" on a couple of occasions, but I didn't understand why until then. Taka says that, while she was texting on Abril's phone using T9, she tried to type in the full word "Okay", but the cell phone ended up spelling "Mjaw". Totally weird. XP

Oh, and when you try to say it, it has to be pronounced Mmm-jaw, not Ehm-jaw. Don't know why, but it's what Taka says. XP

Then they took me home! XP

Mjaw! XD

Time To Brawl

Blog No. 175: Time To Brawl

Taka called me up today, desperate to try and find something to do for today, 5/24. I suggested the standbys: Tennis? Frisbee? Watch Whose Line?

Well, Taka wanted to play Super Smash Bros. Brawl and asked if I had it. Well, I had it in my possession, but it is technically John's game and he recently let his nephew borrow it. So I got to thinking, "Hmm. I would say it's about time that I should have my own copy of this game!" Of course, when I thought of this, I said it aloud, (hence the quotes format, not the italicized format). XP

Once I said that, it was pretty much decided without me.

In thirty minutes, King and Taka arrived to pick me up to take me to the Gamestop near my house. We went looking in the store, found a few zombie shooting games Taka wanted, but could not find any used SSBrawl games.

So we headed over to the nearby Fry's Electronics store, where my mom used to work for most of my childhood. Back then, it was Incredible Universe, where there was a kids area, it had a lot more technology, and it didn't have the weird murals on the wall... I remembered being there when I was little, visiting my mom at work, and I would just end up playing some of the video games available in the center of the store. My mom had worked overtime a lot so some of those trips ended when my aunt picked me up... Anyways, Taka and King saw some other asian people they knew who worked there. XP

Then we wheeled around to Wendy's, where we each got burgers and fries. Then we decided to eat them at the house.

Around this time, my sister and Lennox came home from visiting my mom at the apartment. Taka and King got to see the baby in all his cuteness, as well as meet my immediate family. XP

We ate around my grandma's dining nook in the back of the living room. We talked about how different fast food chains had different tastes to their burgers. Wendy's burgers had square shaped burgers and some salty hamburger buns compared to other restaurants. Taka still preferred Burger King over anything. XP

Then the three of us headed upstairs, where we played SSBrawl for about 3 hours on the big TV in the loft. Taka had also fooled around with our computer's stylus and pad on Photoshop. Most of the time was spent kicking eachother's butt on SSBrawl. I think King won most of the rounds, but I got the most kills in. It's usually how it ends up. XP

King and I dropped Taka off at her place, went to school, learned about Greek thought, (which was basically a review session, again, from what I learned from high school), then King took me home.

SSBrawl is only fun when you have others to play it with you! XD

Environmentally Too Friendly

Blog No. 168: Environmentally Friendly

I remember on Monday, during class, King was asking what we should do before our class on Wednesday, today. I said a few things, like a rousing round of Munchkin (if JT were to let me borrow the card game), or a stroll through the mall, (which turned King off all too quickly), or a game of tennis.

Turns out, King talked it over with Taka and they both decided on a game of tennis would be fitting. :P

When I arrived at school today, 5/17, I walked to the table outside where Taka, Abril, and King were. We basically sat for a little bit. Taka told me the plan to meet Yowty and a few other asian dudes at the tennis court right next to their neighborhood at 4, an hour away. So, while we were bored, Taka cranked up some tunes. Taka, Abril, and I really slashed that Captain Planet theme song, as well as the Fresh Prince clean rap song...

While we were walking to the parking lot, we passed a couple of those annoying Environment California reps hanging around campus, trying to ask for donations and volunteers for the cause. I conveniently strided away from them through the grass. Taka mentioned how stepping on the grass was not being "environmentally friendly." So, further down the path, I kicked my sandal at a tree. XP

Random thought: "Can there be a thing as environmentally too friendly?"

~~~~~~~~~~~~

Drive-Thrus always crack me up. I have a few fond memories of Drive Thrus, like that one time right after prom. A friend of ours, I'll call Mariska Hargitay, wanted to get Taco Bell food while the table of eleven of us waited for our IHOP meals. My other friend, I'll call Teh Rod, (because she likes being referred to as such), was concerned for her safety, seeing as it was 2 in the morning. So Teh Rod, Mariska Hargitay, and I walked through the drive-thru of the next door Taco Bell. Fortunate for us, they took our order! XP

Today, King was taking us through the Burger King drive-thru, seeing as Taka was famished for some Whopper Juniors. Abril asked us if we could've gotten a discount as ARC students. So:

"Can we get the ARC discount?" King asked.

"Do ya want that as a combo?"

Giggles all around. XD

"Um, can I get like 5 Whopper Jrs?"

"King! David wanted a number 1!"

"Can we start over?"

"Do you not want the Whopper Jrs?"

"KING!"

He eventually got it right...

Silly Burger King drive thru window... XP

~~~~~~~~~~~~

At the tennis courts, we ate our bountiful, yet greasy Burger King Whoppers. I gave them my fries, seeing as I only wanted a soda with my Whopper. Taka was still hungry after her only Whopper Jr. :P

When King and I pulled out our Western Civilizations notes, a new person arrived. Amanduh, (misspelled on purpose), was one of their Foothill friends. She had arrived with a big AMPM slushie she drank on the way there. She's pretty cool. While King and I studied for our quiz, Taka pulled out her Payless tap shoes and tried to practice on the sidewalk, which didn't work out too well...

Then Susan Surrandon and Phillip surprised us as they arrived. I was totally not expecting them to arrive, so it just made the day better! XP

So we had a random tennis day.

Oy, Susan Surrandon...

Anyway, Phillip ended up playing an epic one-on-one match with Yowty, who, like me, still needs to play one-on-one with Dustin (our Roger Federer) at some point in time. Taka, Abril, King, Amanduh, Susan Surrandon, and I played three-on-three tennis. We basically had some fun and exercise while hitting the net multiple times, getting balls stuck in the fence, accidentally hitting some people in the crotch (TAKA!), and hitting the balls out of the park and into traffic. It was a rousing good time! XP

~~~~~~~~~~~~

At 5:45, King and I had to say so long for our Western Civ quiz today.

The quiz itself was not at all hard. After looking at the outline and repeating the important people and chronology aloud, I feel really confident. The quiz was only a page long. The 6 multiple choice straight from the outline, the 5 matching, and the 4 chronology was cake!

After the quiz, we basically sat and listened to Jardine rant about Sparta and Athens. At one point in the conversation, I wanted to step in because the person who asked a question was all snooty toward the teacher, something about the French being the first to practice of "true" democracy, but I didn't. I could've said his answer in less than a minute, but I let Jardine draw it out to 20. XP

Then King took me home!

House Sitting, So To Speak

Blog No. 162: House Sitting

During class on Wednesday, Piper called from where she was staying, reflecting on her time in SeaWorld and junk. She also mentioned that she was planning to ride every ride in Disneyland on Thursday, which is apparently doable, (need to find out when my next trip to Disneyland will be. XP). Anyways, she mentioned that Difuentez was stuck at her house, house sitting for her and taking care of the zoo of animals in her house. She suggested that I should go and hang out over there, what with the her house finally not full of people.

So, I said sure. Called and texted a few people, (while I was sorting quarters for pizza XP), including JT, who was flaky in the reply. Apparently he had bar tending school for the day, so we didn't see him until later that night.

King and Taka picked me up. We went to Little Caesar's for pizza, then straight away to Piper's house.

Taka and I were playing with the kittens while King and Tom started their game of Soul Calibur IV. We named the black one Abril, on the count of its innate natural ability of blending into the shadows. That and I could not get a picture of it and clearly see it's face. As it turns out, Abril the Kitteh might be male... It kept licking my toes while I was having a turn with SC. XP

When Taka and I had our turn, we decided to create our own characters. We tried to go for somewhat of an accurate representation of ourselves. Taka's had a dark red and white outfit, with a red scarf and silver hair. Mine had my ponytail and glasses, (green tinted), with a green jacket and blue pants with a dragon on it, as well as a dragon tattoo. Taka's weapon were cat claws, while mine was a sword concealed in an umbrella. Our first battle was an intense battle, seeing as Taka was using the weapon and fighting style of her best character while I was mashing buttons the entire way. It was funny because if we do our combos hard enough, we could take off each other's "armor", this case our clothes. At the end of that battle, I was stripped to my thong and dragon tattoo and Taka was taken down to her bra and skirt. XP

The four of us had also played Brawl, where we just played random characters and stages. After about ten rounds of random combat, King had to go to class, so he left. Then we switched over to the Nintendo 64, where we played some of the mini games on Pokemon Stadium. Taka and I also had a few roaring pokemon battles.

It was when we switched back to the Wii to play Mario Party was when I finally got a hold of JT. When he called back, he told me he was at class and was going home real quick to get food, then "make his decision" to see if he wants to hang out. In the meantime, Difuentez, Taka, and I were playing the Wii version of Mario Party, which really turned out to be a downer. I remember when we had to work to get coins on the maze to get a star. Well the stars were free, no maze, and it was real easy to skip across the board. JT had a field day with that one. Although, my favorite minigame from that one, the one I won, was "Scrubbing the Chomp" XP

It was around 9 when JT arrived and we were finishing up Mario Party. JT found a grabbing hook thing Piper's grandfather uses and started groping people. Let's just say he went pretty far up my shorts with his groping stick... I had a laser pointer, which the dog chases around and bites at, and I pointed at JT's crotch as payback. XD

Then Taka had to be home so that her parents won't be angry. So, the four of us went in to JT's car and took Taka home. JT needed to be quizzed on some of the drink combinations, so I took his flash cards and read them to him while he drove.

When we came back, JT and I taught Difuentez how to play Munchkin. Unfortunately for us, Difuentez had caught on to the game early on, what with all of the equipment and levels he had collected. The first time around, we played Epic Munchkin (up to level 20), then the second round was regular Munchkin. During the second time around, I was back at level 2 while JT and Difuentez were neck and neck at level 9. Then, within a couple of turns and a few cards, including the card that killed JT's steed, I rose back up to level 8. Then I was facing a monster I couldn't beat alone, but had a 2 level payout. JT was an elf and therefore was able to gain a level if he helps out in battle, and apparently he was not going to let Difuentez win this round. So I went from level 2 to winning with JT within the matter of 3 turns. What's even funnier is that Difuentez had to hand a card to me to have his required 5 cards, the card in question was the first level up card I had used. XP

So yeah, by this time it was near 3 in the morning. JT took me home, where I had more leftover pizza, (cheese crust!), and watched an episode of the Gilmore Girls before I slowly fell asleep in my bed by the time Good Day Sacramento had started. XP

Pretty epic night to say the least! :3

Summer/Night Class

Blog No. 159: Summer/Night Class

You've read correctly...

Only, surprise surprise, I'm not taking Chemistry. I'm waiting for Fall. I've come to my senses and realize that, if I can't get up early enough the past few days, then there's no way in hell I was going to muster up the strength to put myself through an entire two months of back-to-back Chemistry. I need it in doses.

Of course this means this sinks any plans for a performance music class. No Choir. No Chamber. No Band. If they allow me to rehearse during my time and add me in during concerts, like high school, as well as go on the field trips, then sure. But, alas, that would be impossible. DX

However, I'm not too grieved about it. I would be giving up these classes regardless seeing as I wouldn't be taking any music classes at UCSC. XP

Anyways, today was my first day of school.

My mom took me to school, after a trip to Aida's Book Shop, (which didn't have my books, so I had to buy them new from the bookstore...), then In-N-Out Burger. 

After getting out of the ARC Bookstore, I walked to the practice rooms, where everything was quiet. I had paused in the center of the hallways, listening for signs of any life. After a minute of silence, I walked over to the practice rooms, crossing my fingers to see if they were open during the summer. I sneaked into the practice room, where it was even more silent, and started playing some scales on the piano. After about an hour of that, I walked out and headed for Davies Hall. 

Dana, a vocalist from the Latin Jazz Ensemble and one of the crazy birds from my Jazz History class, was also taking the class with us. Apparently, she and I are taking all our history classes together. XP

King would agree with me when I say that Jardine, our Western Civilizations teacher, has some breathing problem. He breathed through his mouth a lot and very audibly. He also talks as if there was a crescendo at the end of each sentence. Not so much an increase of pitch, but an increase in volume, (although his voice did crack if his voice was too loud for a long period of time). Here are some highlights I made note of:

"I might bring back discussion groups if I'm BORED."

"We'll learn the Socratic method... from Socrates himSELF."

"I'm an ENerGY GUY."

"I also had a fear OVER public speaking."

He also shares my addiction to coffee. He speaks from the heart and tries to engage conversation with everyone. I got that he liked to talk... a lot. Pretty much took up the first 2 hours talking about the syllabus, even after saying that we should read it on our own time for the details. Still, he's very passionate about teaching history. For a short, long winded guy, he's pretty interesting.

The class itself should be soewhat a breeze. All we're being graded on are quizzes and the written assignment. There are 7 quizzes, one of which will be dropped, with no final exam or anything cumulative. The written assignment ties along with the extra book we had to get and the questions for the assignment aren't handed out until the near end of the summer session. 

So, as far as classes go, I think I can conquer this one flat. XD

Pops Concert and The Drive In

Blog No. 141: Pops Concert and The Drive In

My left kneecap still hurts from yesterday's "collision" with JT... XP

Anyway, I went to the Foothill High Pops Concert with Parkarr, which is basically a concert/potluck outside near a gazebo. We met up with Piper and Difuentez in the grass with those fancy, fold-up backyard chairs. 

We saw Taka, Abril, King, Susan Surrandon, and Home Skillet Biscuit, with others, performing in the first set, Taka and Abril on flute, King on trumpet, Susan Surrandon on trombone, and Home Skillet Biscuit on clarinet. It was pretty much the Foothill High portion of the ARC Concert Band meshed amongst the current students of Foothill. 

Although, when I saw Home Skillet perform, I did not recognize it was her until the set was over and she sat back down in the audience. It kinda made me sad because I would be the person to recognize her, seeing as I sat next to her during Concert Band. She's pretty cool. Her, Bianca, and I pretty much have our own little inside jokes and whatnot. Home Skillet had brought a bunch of post it notes one time, which we've used to write on peoples folders. XP

I met Taylor, Susan Surrandon's "Boyfriend" in the eyes of Susan Surrandon's mom... (Yeah, I'm not sure how that technically works out either. XD) Susan Surrandon introduced Taylor to me as the second-most-coolest-person-on-the-planet... Me being the first apparently. XP

Yowty was also up there after the first set, playing the ukulele part for the song a couple of guys performed, "I'm Yours" from Jason Mraz. Honestly, I welcome Jason Mraz songs as a refresher from the weird dance beats on the radio... Just not this song. I also used to like that Second Serenade song "Fall For You" but someone kinda ruined it for me... Stupid radio hits...

... But Yowty was pretty cool on the ukulele! XP

Then the beginning band played... And ended.

Then the bigger band played. It was funny because some of the composed songs from the alumni set were made by the same person who did the composed quartet songs for this band. All of which pretty much refered to video game music, like the pokemon center music for all the pokemon games. It was quite funny. XP

We kinda had to leave during the middle of the performance to try and get to the Drive-In on time.

~~~~~

Difuentez was leading us in his car while Parkarr and I followed in the red car. Originally, Piper and I would have switched cars so that Piper could lead Parkarr in case we got lost. That didn't happen for some reason... Instead, we just had to follow close behind while I was on the phone with Piper in the car ahead. We almost lost them a couple of times, but we followed OK, partly because we told Difuentez to use his blinkers. XP

At the Drive-In, the person who took our cash had attended the Italian class with us, Krystal. Either it's a really small world or a really big school... I vote big school. XP

Piper and Difuentez had went to Winco prior to the Pops Concert to grab a bunch of junk food. All I'm saying is that she got my favorite chips, Doritos Nacho Cheese, and my prefered movie soda, Grape Crush soda. She also got like a pound of sour worms, which kinda changed from a solid to plasma phase in Difuentez's car, which made them THAT much more delicious. XD

There was a list of double feature movies. We voted for the Wolverine movie, with Fast and Furious following right after. We had the set up of the four backyard chairs in the middle of the two cars with speakers turned up to awesome. Piper had pulled out her two Mary Poppins' umbrellas to block the wind blowing fro behind us. :P

So here are some movie reviews:

~~~~~

Movie Review: X-Men Origins: Wolverine

You know, for a movie about character development, this movie is kinda pointless...

We already know that Wolverine lost his memories awhile back in the other two movies. This movie is basically from the beginning of his mutant life, when he figures out he can push bones out of his body, to the point where he loses all of his memories, memories of his lover, of the adamantium in his body, and of how he got the name Wolverine. It also shows at what point in time the X-Men started, (when Cyclops, physically blind, is able to lead the horde of specially picked mutants out of the plant only by mental cues of the Professor), leaving it open ended for yet another possible Origins sequel. Foreshadowing? Possibly...

The beginning montage sequence really reminded me of that of Watchmen, in that it if pushes the fast forward button through some of the boring parts, highlighting only the important parts during some recognizeable time periods. This sequence mainly consisted of James Logan and his brother, Victor, later Sabertooth, battling in the Civil War, WWI, WWII, and Vietnam. It didn't really work in Watchmen on the count of it left the majority of non-Watchmen readers confused, but here it kinda fits with the storyline, seeing as there isn't any valubale information other than Logan and Victor were in those wars.

This movie would really explain why Logan is so withdrawn from people, why he has this grudge against everyone. If only he'd remember any of it, then this movie would be a successful character development story. Seeing as he doesn't remember any of it, it's kinda pointless.

Some of the lines and plot twists are kinda cliched. For example, the last line of the movie, after the credits, was totally predictable. I kinda figured that the lover, Kayla, had the power of persuasion when she had put her hand on the bridge guy in the beginning. I also kinda knew that Kayla didn't actually die, seeing as we've only seen Victor leaving a mark on the car hood then Kayla passed out, with no flesh wounds, in the forest a certain distance away. That part really shows Logan's weakness, his animalist instincts of revenge, but it makes no point seeing as he's invinceable. XP

Weapon XI was kinda cool, but with looking at some of the mutants his powers came from, you'd imagine that his battle with Logan and Victor would've been a lot more interesting. Resulting in yet another pointless rating...

Some Pros: A good storyline.

Some Cons: Utterly pointless.

My Rating: 2.5 Out of 5 Thumbs Up---> See it only if you're willing to come to grips on how pointless the movie is.

~~~~~

Movie Review: Fast and Furious

Letty dies. Cars explode. Vin Diesel.

Rating: 0.5 Out of 5 Thumbs Up---> Watch ONLY for the reasons above.

~~~~~

I went home with free Doritos and soda. XP

Taka's Band Stand

Blog No. 136: A Random Day

I woke up to this little cutie!:

Lennox, the nephew, and her mom, Audrey, rocking out to the Beatles! XP

I was going to blog today about the awesome Ultimate Frisbee Match with JT, but alas he forgot about me and didn't pick me up...

When all seemed lost, Parkarr called me up and asked if I got an invite from Taka to see her band perform at the church of nazarene in Rio Linda. I didn't really, but they wanted me to go, so I got ready and Parkarr picked me up!

Thing is, we didn't really know how to get there...

I've only been in Rio Linda a few times, so I wasn't really much help. From my house, we ended up on Norwood, then to Rio Linda Blvd, then prayed for O Street. So we didn't get too lost. XP

We've arrived in the middle of the band's set, so we scooted to the front and sat down while they performed:

I got to see her and her bass at work! Yowty was pretty much the male leading vocals/guitarist and King was the keyboardist. I could see King wailing on those keys like no tomorrow! XP

So yeah, what are the chances that the sermon that took place in that church happened to be one of my favorite passages?

The lady there was talking all about how choices matter in life and affect how the soul survives through those choices, blah, blah, blah. She turned on the stereo to pretty piano music as a representation of "God's voice" and covered up the stereo's speakers with a towel, each representing a sinful choice. With each towel, the music grew harder and harder to hear. It's no secret that I'm not religious, but that right there is a pretty cool concept. XP

Anyways... She narrowed in on a specific verse that I recognized after she made the link of choices. It was the verse that I randomly flipped to in the Bible a couple of times during trips

requiring hotels. It was the verse that was on the wedding gift I gave Audrey and John to put in Lennox's room. 

The verse, Matthew 7:14:

"Small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to Life, and only a few find it."

God has a pretty weird way of pointing out the coincidences in my life... If only I believed enough! XP

Then Taka's band did another four songs. Yowty made us stand up and sing, which is also one of the things I'm not really fond of when going to a church, but the band made me laugh a little bit so I played along. King then exploded out of his seat and grabbed a couple of people to hop in front. Apparently he was going to pull me up, but I had a text message... XP

Afterward, we all retired to a nearby McDonald's, where all of us got a soft serve ice cream cone and a meal. I got the McNuggets so I could use my ice cream as a dipping sauce! Taka thought it was weird. XP

And Parkarr took me home!

Ciao!

Blog No. 134: Start of Finals

So begins the first day of finals, on 5/14.

Before the Choir final, I did as much Italian homework as I could in the cafeteria. I predicted that if I sat at table with people I knew, it would never get done. I played loner for an hour in the corner of the cafeteria, conquering the table with my italian notes, textbook, workbook, and homework. It took me a minute to realize that I was speaking Italian out loud as I was doing it when a man asked if he could sit at the table... XP

The Choir final wasn't all bad... after the octets.

I needed to sing our favorite song, Witness, with one of every different section of the choir. Piper did not show up because she "had to do her Italian homework." I think she's just chicken... XP

For me, there are not alot of tenors in the choir, so I ended up singing twice. When I sang both times, I felt my voice sliding a little off key, partly because my mind was somewhere else, partly because of King next to me messing me up! But I kinda used Heidi as reference, because she would focus on the people who sang off key or she'd smile whenever she likes what she hears. She kinda glanced in my direction, but I fixed it as she looked over at the altos. She also smiled during the tenor solo part, which was cool. Heidi the Saviour! XD

Then we had to turn in our tuxedoes, music, and what not, so that was thirty minutes of nothingness...

Then we listened to audio tracks of our last concert, which was thirty more minutes of nothingness...

Then we said our goodbyes. Miguel shook mine and Difuentez's hands as he left, and Difuentez, Taka, Parker, and I just walked out. It was funny, because earlier during our hour of nothingness, I was kinda speaking Italian with Miguel, seeing as he is currently taking the Italian 402 class. We basically talked a minute about how tired we were, how I was on the computer and how he tries to sleep early but ends up sleeping later in the day. XP

I was talking to Taka and Dictator Roze about classes, while I was texting JT to see if he would do a summer night class with me, partly to have classes with "my husband," partly to get rides home. Then Dictator Roze heard my complaining and volunteered herself to take me home. No idea why! She lives near ARC, whereas I live in Natomas, which is not near ARC. All I can say is that I'm glad! :P

To Dictator Roze:

THANK YOU! THANK YOU! THANK YOU! THANK YOU! THANK YOU!

THANK YOU! THANK YOU! THANK YOU! THANK YOU! THANK YOU!

THANK YOU! THANK YOU! THANK YOU! THANK YOU! THANK YOU!

THANK YOU! THANK YOU! THANK YOU! THANK YOU! THANK YOU!

THANK YOU! THANK YOU! THANK YOU! THANK YOU! THANK YOU!

THANK YOU! THANK YOU! THANK YOU! THANK YOU! THANK YOU!

THANK YOU! THANK YOU! THANK YOU! THANK YOU! THANK YOU!

THANK YOU! THANK YOU! THANK YOU! THANK YOU! THANK YOU!

THANK YOU! THANK YOU! THANK YOU! THANK YOU! THANK YOU!

THANK YOU! THANK YOU! THANK YOU! THANK YOU! THANK YOU!

THANK YOU! THANK YOU! THANK YOU! THANK YOU! THANK YOU!

THANK YOU! THANK YOU! THANK YOU! THANK YOU! THANK YOU!

THANK YOU! THANK YOU! THANK YOU! THANK YOU! THANK YOU!

THANK YOU! THANK YOU! THANK YOU! THANK YOU! THANK YOU!

THANK YOU! THANK YOU! THANK YOU! THANK YOU! THANK YOU!

THANK YOU! THANK YOU! THANK YOU! THANK YOU! THANK YOU!

THANK YOU! THANK YOU! THANK YOU! THANK YOU! THANK YOU!

THANK YOU! THANK YOU! THANK YOU! THANK YOU! THANK YOU!

THANK YOU! THANK YOU! THANK YOU! THANK YOU! THANK YOU!

THANK YOU! THANK YOU! THANK YOU! THANK YOU! THANK YOU!

THANK YOU! THANK YOU! THANK YOU! THANK YOU! THANK YOU!

THANK YOU! THANK YOU! THANK YOU! THANK YOU! THANK YOU!

THANK YOU! THANK YOU! THANK YOU! THANK YOU! THANK YOU!

THANK YOU! THANK YOU! THANK YOU! THANK YOU! THANK YOU!

THANK YOU! THANK YOU! THANK YOU! THANK YOU! THANK YOU!

THANK YOU! THANK YOU! THANK YOU! THANK YOU! THANK YOU!

THANK YOU! THANK YOU! THANK YOU! THANK YOU! THANK YOU!

THANK YOU! THANK YOU! THANK YOU! THANK YOU! THANK YOU!

THANK YOU! THANK YOU! THANK YOU! THANK YOU! THANK YOU!

THANK YOU! THANK YOU! THANK YOU! THANK YOU! THANK YOU!

So yeah...

Then Taka and I rushed to Italian, where we met up with Piper before the Final test. We were all getting prepared. Piper pulled out all the stops in lucky charms; hugged Lomo, rubbed the Dustin Pin, wore the Dustin Pin, while having Lomo in her lap...

I think I did pretty well... Only I remembered on the last question, where it had asked to translate sentences. The sentence talked about sandwiches, so I had put down, "Metto il formaggio nel pomerigio," which can be a sentence...  

Only, it literally translates to: "I stick the cheese into the afternoon."

I needed to say panino NOT pomerigio...

When I handed the test in, Professoressa Martinelli reminded me to sign up for the Italian 402 as I left. I told her I already did and that I was looking forward to it. She said ciao! but somehow I felt it implied that I know you've done well on your test, I look forward teaching you next semester...

Because she's not supposed to say ciao! unless talking with her peers or someone she should talk informally with... Right?

...And I failed the last question...

Embarassment... XP