the artist in me (more 5am epiphanies)

artists are somewhat visionary - at the least, the pioneers were. artists often see things in a completely different perspective, almost like looking at the world through a kaleidoscope. you can walk or even drag your feet for a mile in an artist's shoes - given they fit - but can never see with his eyes. aside from my pedomorphic stick drawings, i'm far from what you'd call a conventional artist. maybe lunatic visionary. i like to think that i see opportunity wherever i turn. aspiring to be a billionaire philanthropist, i suppose i can consider myself fortunate that i have these visions ideating through my head at light speed at asinine hours. or maybe asinine visions at light hours. i swear, i'm a sane rationalist. fortunately, i don't seek approval. bonne nuit monde.

5am epiphanies

with a final looming around the corner, my mind meandered for just a bit while studying. i've realized that somewhere along the line, i've matured by holding myself accountable with self-entrusted responsibilities which i've continued to throw upon my shoulders.

i also realized that i believe that if i continue to strive for more and improve, and put my sweat and blood into the things i do passionately, i can't fail. but just as glory isn't impossible, neither is failure. but with this approach, there's an unseen assurance that i may be less likely to fail. here's to hoping for the best and preparing for the worst. bonne nuit.

Ratatouille

One of my classmates sent me this LA Public Health link to grade my kitchen.

"Your kitchen has received a "C" with a score of 78." Apparently, you're supposed to wash your hands after using the bathroom before resuming cooking.

I kid. But really, if I in all my anal retentiveness rerinsing everything, washing my hands every few mins, and completely avoiding cross contamination got a "C," what the heck does everyone else get??? :O

Just when you think things can't get any worse...

The University of Southern California Department of Public Safety is providing this notice of a criminal incident that occurred in our community in order to provide information that may help in avoiding a similar crime or provide information to solve this crime. This notice is also intended to meet the requirements of the “Timely Notice” provisions of the federal Jeanne Clery Disclosure of Campus Security Policy and Campus Crime Statistic Act of 1998.

ATTEMPTED KIDNAPPING

DATE & TIME OF OCCURRENCE: September 21, 2007, 8:00 PM

LOCATION: 1100 block W. 27th Street (Off-campus).


REPORTED OFFENSE: Complainant was walking on 27th Street at Hoover when suspect 1 approached her from behind grabbed her at her face, covered her mouth and pulled her back towards a white, parked sedan. Suspect attempted to force her into the vehicle head first. Complainant began to elbow, kick and scream and was able to break free from the suspect. Suspect returned to the parked sedan, which made a U-turn and drove westbound on 27th toward Orchard and out of view. No weapons were used.

SUSPECT DESCRIPTION (provided by complainant):

Suspect # 1: Male, Hispanic, 5'4", approximately 145 pounds, 35-40 years of age, wearing a grey short sleeved T-shirt and blue jeans.

Suspect # 2: Unknown Driver

Day 16 (7/25/07): INCAP

i am a retarrrrrrrrd. thats all there is to say about it!

Día 10 (7/19/07): Atitlan -> Antigua

After a morning stroll to the lake, we spent the majority of the afternoon shopping. I bought a non-garish Guatemalan shirt and contemplated renting a moped (I'll save that for when Dr. Calderon takes us to Atitlan). For lunch, I swung by my favorite Guatemalan taco chain, Orale, and took my Q15 (~ $2) tacos para llevar (to go). Much to my amazement, they packed every type of salsa, onions, and cilantro separately (photo to come soon). On our way back to our hostel, a four-legged joined our coterie and followed us for about half an hour. By some fluke, our shuttle driver was punctual, and as the only 2 passengers on the shuttle to Antigua, Wilson and I each took claim to our own row, stretched out, and passed out. Back in Antigua, we wandered over to the pool hall to inhale copious amounts of second hand smoke and stare at the pool tables; Wilson won 3 games by default but I still won. :P Before calling it a night, we watched a pirated and subbed Russian copy of Sunshine which Mana purchased earlier in the day.

Día 9 (7/18/07): Antigua -> Lake Atitlan

Today I had an epiphany, and curiously enough, it wasn't about the terse poststructuralist arguments with references to Humpty Dumpty and Alice I was reading about during breakfast, but rather about why there aren't any amusement parks in Central America. Why would anyone pay an exorbitant rate to go to one when you can simply hop on a chicken bus for about $1 to just about any destination and experience the same nausea and have your derriere airborne for at least half of the several hour long ride. Wilson and I arrived in Lake Atitlan and yes, the ride was fairly miserable mostly because I was trying to sleep, but was plagued by potholes and cobblestone roads encompassing the majority of the narrow steep mountain inclines compounded by rain and manual shift. What's a run on? :) By the time we reached Atitlan, it was pouring gatos y perros. We wandered over to the internet cafe after checking in just so I could wallow in the misery of my MCAT score. We then went to check out the second most beautiful lake in the world where we were incessantly hounded by some man who insisted on selling us a lake tour. After deciding against flinging myself into the lago mas lindo, we went shopping and somehow got talked into buying 2 flutes. However, we didn't do this before we bargained the price for both to less than the cost of one. After dinner, it started to pour again so Wilson and I just sat under some random covered area of the sidewalk serenading passerbys with remarkably raucous melodies on our flutes. Nearing 10 o'clock, the rain wasn't letting up so we made a mad dash for the internet cafe. Mid-use of my flashdrive, the power went out and I nearly soiled my pants at the though of losing our only copy of over 1 GB of photos, but all was swell. Back at the hostel, Wilson and I played card games till 1am. In fewer words, we didn't do much.

Dia 8 (7/17/07): Antigua

What started off as a seemingly innocuous day took a quick change for the worse. About an hour before we were to leave for Pacaya, Mana came storming into the room screaming my name. Bewildered, I hadn't noticed that she had tears streaming down her face. Apparently, while getting up from a chair, she had lodged a splinter about half a centimeter wide under the entire length of her nail. To spare the details, I pulled the splinter out and after rummaging through my first aid kit along with a few trips to the farmacia, Wilson and I managed to patch her up fairly well. To ease the pain, Mana took a vicodin which left her in a state of euphoria for a bit. Once we reached Pacaya, we trekked to the top of the volcano dodging heaps of horse dung on the steep narrow trail. Wilson did this in his flip flops. The majority of our entourage and strangers alike had dubbed him with the moniker "flip flop man" by the time we had reached the top. (I think his flip flops were even melting at one point from the heat of the volcano.) Anyway, the treacherous trek to the top had paid of with an absolutely exhilarating view of luscious green mountains and hills below as well as bright red lava flow (pictures to come soon). I couldn´t help but complement the view with some of Keebler´s Pecan Sandies which I toted along a few hundred miles and 2km uphill. :P We also ran into James and Katie - friends from Los Amigos in Flores - at the top. The locals completely got a kick out of one "gringo" who climbed to the top of the lava flow and lit his hiking stick on fire. They were shouting "vas a morir" and were yelling at him to come down. (He didn't die seeing as how I idiotically exclaimed "you're alive!" when I saw him walk past my room back at the hostel.) Btw, the hike back down was near pitch black which didn't go too well with the haphazardously abandoned heaps of horse crap, rocks, and steps. We got back to the hostel at about 10 pm when I patched Mana´s volcano booboos and took out Wilson´s volcanic splinter. Having missed lunch and dinner, I wandered over to one of the few placed open at midnight for some Antiguan (French?) onion soup and papas fritas. Back at the hostel, I went to the roof level to soak in the view and the soothing patter of rain.

I´ll try to keep you all posted more frequently. All my previous entries are in my journal - and some in spanish - so we´ll see what I can do. I miss you all and I miss my not-so-paper-thin mattress, double-ply toilet tissue, and my fish.....has someone been feeding them??? ¡Ciao!

Beer at the Pump: U.S. Converts to Ethanol

What, did Bush inhale this time? What do we look like, Brazil? The only way we'd use ethanol is if we needed to strap 10 quadrillion pound rocket thrusters, that would use up all oil on this planet, on one end of the Earth to escape an asteroid - or just for kicks - and shirked the responsibility on over to Russia just so we could actually sell all our oil. I think we're more likely to see health care reform before that. On second thought...the two seem just as likely to occur. Maybe Venezuela can just get rid of our leader... ... ....

Pareto's parasites

Something's awry. I woke up this morning - for the third time - and noticed my mickey mouse platy gasping for air and discovered that it, along with a few other fish, was suffering from parasites. And while people in developing countries can't get treatment for parasitism, I put praziquantel and metronidazole in my fish tank. Now we've shifted to 99/1.

you can't spell !@#$ without MCAT

physics is dribbling out my nose
i'm defecating biology out my ears
studying for MCATs sure blows
maybe it's time to shift gears.

Alphabet Soup

In the large chasm between mundane colloquialism and grandiloquence is a misplaced (for the benefit of the doubt) appreciation for the use of words; an appreciation of the same token by which we scrawl a line between a Dali and graffiti in discerning arts. Words like colors, shroud us ubiquitously as we have managed to strew both in all contexts. Yet in mimicry, diction with its palette of prepackaged letters proves to be far more difficult as it lacks the hues and nuances of colors. Nevertheless, however crude the outcome, it still manages to project intonations and connotations evoking a complete gamut of responses. A picture may in fact be a thousand words, but that is no reason to forego the literary challenge of painting with alphabet soup.

Verisimilitude

Where do we lose certainty or is it something we were never meant to grasp? Is it an emotional or mental illusion intentionally ephemeral?

The week in picture(s)...

i used to be anal retentive. funny, huh. drastic times call for drastic measures. you don't even wanna see the left half... O.O

Ahoy

Little less than a year ago, I came up with my usual crazy shenanigans and talked a few friends into splitting ownership of a 1968 24' Columbia Challenger yacht moored in Marina del Rey. I'm glad we decided to better invest our funds, but I told the boat that I'd one day come back for it to do something like this. Who's in this time? :D

The plight of the mountain dweller...

I almost hit a coyote on my way home tonight, and the entire time as I floored the accelerator, all I could think of was how soft and cute of a rug it would make...







I kid........

LED me up Scotty

LED light bulb!!

I'm really tempted to get one of those just to burn out my retinas and make it look like I'm getting abducted by aliens every time I walk under it. Who needs the sun anymore anyway? How awesome is that though...it only uses 3-4 watts. Little more than your brain, but hey, at least it doesn't go to waste. If you get one, lemme know how it is. Thanks!!

Classic...

Reward: Lost Pet

OK. So I lost my pet...in my house. I actually caught it in my house a few days ago for that matter. Anyway, it's an awfully nice house centipede about 3" long and looks something like this:















He likes damp spaces and eats all household bugs. I dunno if he answers to anything yet, but try calling him Horace. Lemme know if you happen to see him. Thanks!

Icon't believe it...

You can usually tell it's been busy and that the school year is winding down to an end when:













It's not so much the 298 icons that worry me, but more so what I will do when the remaining 14 spots fill up....

God's Final Witness

It's true that I'm agnostic, but I ward off bigotry with hexes, a trashcan lid, and my trusty sidekick, Fidel. Like most things in this world, God relies heavily on marketing (and proselytizing). Having requested "The Prophesied End-Time" last year, I got a letter announcing the release of "God's Final Witness." Get your free copy here.

"The book reveals the Seven Thunders of the Book of Revelation, which the apostle John was not allowed to record! It also gives more end-time prophecies that will sharply increase during the next two years. The year 2008 is prophesied as pivotal for the end-time. Ronald Weinland says that 2008 will mark the beginning of final events that will thrust the world into the great tribulation...which will usher in World War III, the death of billions, and on the last day of this great tribulation, the return of Jesus Christ [homie J.C.]."

I've made room for this copy on my shelf next to "The End of Faith," "The Brief for Buddhism," "The Quest for Enlightenment," a Nostradamus, some Dan Browns, and a row of C.S. Lewises in hopes of inciting a supernatural event in the corner of my room.

Letter to Jiffy Lube

I am thoroughly dissatisfied with the lack of quality service and concern for customer and employee health at Jiffy Lube. Subsequent to each visit I have made, there have been oil prints inside my car including on the driver's side door, the steering wheel, the door handles, and the dash. I have noticed that this is a result of the mechanic driving the car forward with the same bare hands that have changed the oil. This not only exposes myself to motor oil, but the mechanic as well. Used motor oil can present a threat to health through skin contact, skin absorption, inhalation, or ingestion, all of which can occur as a result of your service. Thus, I am disappointed with the lack of concern for occupational safety in addition to customer exposure. Research suggests that occupational exposure to motor oil increases the risk for arthritis (Sverdrup et al., 2005). By implementing the use of disposable gloves, employee exposure would be limited and disposal following oil change would reduce transference of oil into the interior of vehicles. I am not certain if this is already a policy and there is a lack of implementation and enforcement or simply if it has not come to the attention of your occupational health personnel. Regardless, I appreciate your time and consideration in this matter.


Sverdrup, B. et al. (2005) Association between occupational exposure to mineral oil and rheumatoid arthritis: results from the Swedish EIRA case-control study. Arthritis Research & Therapy. 7: R1296-R1303.

Goose Down...goes with the poem somewhere below

Seung Hui Cho

What is it with everyone and their backwards racism. Yes, it's more backwards and ignorant than a hillbilly. And why is everyone pointing fingers? Let me be puerile for a moment to humor you finger pointers. Everyone who knew this Seung Hui and blacklisted him a pariah in all their social circles is to blame, no? Taunt him and ostracize him to the edge of loneliness. Sure he was mentally waay off his rocker, but isn't there a common theme to many of these killings? Shove someone into solitude until he or she has nothing left to lose and he or she will be your nemesis, delivering a message of social acceptance which your kids don't know because of your ignorance. Actually, maybe it was God's fault. This ubiquitous and omnipotent fellow. What happens is intended to happen. Yes. But maybe it's Allah or Yaweh who hates America.

And this racism. Why are people demanding accountability from Koreans? Because of his race? Lets just send all Asians back to the Orient, right? Then by the same token, fie on you for all the racist crimes and genocides committed upon millions by your grandfathers and greatgrandfathers. And shame on those of you who escaped just to perpetuate racism. Then is it the dumb white folk who send all our men to kill and be killed? Not to mention, how young these soldiers are. And I'm sure the people they kill are nobody's child or parent - these people just grow from spores. No, that's just our dumb ass politicians. Not to mention the ignorance belying the fact that race is a social construction. Nevertheless, bringing up the race issue brings up deep histories. But I suppose everybody is OK with the Columbine incident, slavery, and stealing a whole country and calling it their own. Why do we need courts when we can lynch people? Why do we bother to call ourselves Americans? Next time a white guy goes and shoots a crowd, lets see the media go out and say, "the one-quarter Irish, one-eighth Norweigian, one-quarter German, one-quarter British, and one-eighth Swedish man walked into a building and open fired on two dozen people." Not gonna happen? Why? Because they're American or because they're white? Funny thing about social constructions. Wouldn't you know it, back in 1922, a Japanese-born man, Takao Ozawa applied for citizenship claiming that under the Naturalization Act, he was in fact a "white person." The historian Barbara Fields said that "Anyone who continues to believe in race as a physical attribute of individuals, despite the now commonplace disclaimers of biologists and geneticists, might as well also believe that Santa Claus, the Easter Bunny and the tooth fairy are real, and that the earth stands still while the sun moves." I know...I hate to break it to you at such a saturnine moment, but yes, those three are fictional.

Was this shooting even racially motivated? Do you think it was retribution or karma? If such a thing does in fact exist, then we're all in for some serious shit. All the spirits of the massacred Jews, Serbs, Native Americans, Armenians, Africans, Christians, Muslims, Pakistanis, Afghans, Bosnians - and tragically, the list goes on and on and on - are gonna come and deliver some serious retribution that will make Auschwitz and Hiroshima look like a quinceañera. So if you want, drop to your knees and beg your favorite deity for forgiveness or whatever it is and find yourself a Noah to build you a Titanium ark loaded with wooden stakes, garlic, silver bullets and anything else that can bring you a false sense of security. He who is sinless shall cast the first stone, but we've all sinned now haven't we.

Sure, what this kid did was sad and despicable, but why perpetuate the hate. What good is a blind world?

Holey Shirt

my tshirt's got a dozen holes
threadbare soft, the fabric cajoles
the more it's worn, the more they grow
when the winds blow, the holes billow

Goose Down

i sleep with a flock of geese each night
you'd think it'd be noisy and quite a sight
but they've been stuffed inside my blanket
held together by a three hundred count knit.

so now you see the birds aren't here
they know the truth and wouldn't dare come near
now when i lay down to count the sheep
all i see is wool in a big soft heap.

Paper due, procrastinating some more...

over lunch i just over eated
now my stomach's pleated
open mouth the food i greeted
all the way down it bleated
now my hw's not completed
at my desk i am now seated
conquer my work or be defeated
no assistance will be needed
this poem's getting much too heated
so lemme be, shoo, i say beat it.

Happy Easter! :P

PTSD imminent

For the most part, I try to be flippant to lighten the mood and make things a bit more effervescent. That all went down the slippery slope this evening as I was jammin down the freeway on my way back home, when all of a sudden, a massive pickup truck about a hundred feet ahead completely sideswiped a sedan pulled over on the shoulder before swerving across all 4 lanes and plowing head on into the center divider. Seeing movement in the dirt next to the shoulder, I was afraid that the truck hit the person whose vehicle was already disabled. Having spent a past lifetime watching the worst car accidents on Youtube - including cars flipping over onto pedestrians - I feared the worst, nearly soiled my pants, pulled over and turned on my high beam and emergency lights before dialing 911. Thankfully, the woman wasn't in her car when it got hit. Then another lady pulled over to help and she stopped traffic so we could get to the truck. The man and his kid in the truck were fine, but the guy was crying saying he didn't have a license and that his son didn't want him to go to jail. The truck's axle snapped and it almost looked as if the man was trying to escape so the lady made him get out of the truck while I killed the ignition and put on the brakes. It seemed that everyone was in good health so I left the woman with my info and was on my way once more. In all this, all I ask is that you don't be a bystander.

Dear Tom Riddle's Diary...

Yesterday was superbly uneventful. Other than having received a letter denying my brutally honest philosophical methodical letter contesting my first parking ticket - first ticket of any sort for that matter - I pretended to vegetate in front of my computer for the most part. I left my room for a second time to whip up some delicious bell pepper, broccoli, onion, and beef szechuan stir fry. By the time I hit the sack, I kept myself up with the usual idiotic mental meanderings. Is Rogaine applied by hand, and if so, doesn't that result in hairy palms? And slightly more cogitative inquiries such as whether we are plagued by the world or simply by our perceptions.

Today was somewhat more interesting as I ran amuck at lab feigning productivity when in reality, I was furiously twiddling with those metal puzzles that you have to take apart, como estos:Dinner consisted of shrimp primavera and a delightful subtly effervescent glass of lambrusco at Olive Garden (yes, I have gotten over my fear of shrimp since the last incident from BJs). Not long after finishing my glass of wine, they asked us to leave as the customers complained of the brilliant radiance of my asian glow, but Santa took me in since Dick Cheney apparently shot Rudolph too (how's that for ethanol as fuel?).

In other news, I had an epiphany that I absolutely must go into management. Michael Dell could've been a great doctor, but made a better CEO. I hope to be a great doctor, but a splendiferous CEO as well. As Warren Buffet says (to his kids), focus your resources on needs that would not be met without your efforts. I think that management and logistics are my fortes, and hopefully I can make the best of them whether in government, private, or non-profit sector.

Now Voldemort will take my soul. G'nite. Lest I not wake from my slumber, be a pal and pierce this diary with the Basilisk's fang.

Ode to Cones

standing fearless, orange and small
a sturdy base, it will not fall
exuding unwavering authority
no sign no sound, a silent decree.

made of rubber most innocuous
yet so much power we can't dismiss
this little cone on pavement throne
demand that we go slow for the zone.

Language Letter Zaps

Now Playing: Brian Culbertson - Dreaming of You

I was sitting at a table in front of McKibben Hall today, stuffing my face and making a mess with my Baja Fresh selection of choice, tres tacos steak with corn tortilla, cilantro, and onions. The usual monkeys were traipsing about in my head and I was debating voting for Dennis Kucinich, when I flipped open to the puzzle page of this month's Mensa newsletter: Language Letter Zaps. Nothing to get your pulse going, but it kept me engrossed the whole time so I figured it'd be worthwhile to share (esp. if you're a puzzle-phile like me). :P

So the objective is to find the name of a language embedded in the phrases by "zapping" the number of letters indicated (i.e. MEN GLIMPSE HER - zap 6):

1. STAGNATE LONG (zap 5)
2. SCARY MEAN PIANO (zap 6)
3. SPORTY BUG USES THEM (zap 7)
4. HIS WATCH IS LIGHT (zap 8)
5. INSPIRING QUOTATIONS (zap 11)

Keeping up with the times

I just realized as I took a glance around my desk, how much work it takes to keep up with the times. There are at least two dozen books scattered on my desk on absolutely random subjects. I have half a dozen magazines open to seemingly haphazard topics. The most recent issue of JAMA lies on its spine revealing the faults of our health care system. Just under it lies Popular Mechanics, and under that, Time, and on my lap, Car and Driver. The carpet is strategically adorned with piles of LA Times which I have yet to peruse. The lengths we go to in order to stay afloat the flood of new information and technology is at the least like fighting an undertow. Firefox and all of its extensions, the most recent version of AIM encroaching on the Skype icon just beside it, iTunes not playing music from the harddrive, but streaming live radio, cellphones w/EVDO, wireless routers casting lines omnidirectionally. If Rip van Winkle roused from his slumber tomorrow, he would indeed be in a new world. And if all the communication signals created tangible webs, not a second after waking would he find himself trapped, victim to the bustle of the information age. All in all, here I sit with the world at my fingertips.

Marathon

my nose is running a long marathon
wipe my nose and the trail is gone.
probably headed straight for my mouth
stand on my head, will it go south?

Jazz

beep beep boop bop

Nadir...not too different from Nader and his politics

Dear Mr. Ham,

I am very pleased to let you know that you have been accepted to our medical school for the class of 2012. Our applicant pool has been the largest ever, and we would like to congratulate you for having come out on top of very competitive candidates. Just kidding. I am totally f@#$ing with you.

Yours truly,

Life


That about reflects my sentiments. I completely hyped myself up for this 1 month summer trip to China to work with their CDC and other public health sectors. I figured the shock of sitting on a frozen toilet seat earlier this week was as bad as it could get. For me, it almost feels equivalent to Bill Clinton turning down a Rhodes Scholarship to rush to his J.D. There are ultimate goals in life, but there are opportunities we come across that help us grow as a person, ultimately monumentally bolstering our greatest goals. It's not just about everything we can put down on paper and prove to others, but what we can prove to ourselves. In addition, opportunities such as these help mold our direction. In 5 years, what residency will I choose? In 10 years, what occupation and milieu? Currently, my selection would be as haphazard as most people selecting undergraduate majors. How asinine I would feel having half-heartedly made these decisions, and becoming an unpaid intern in global public health to test the waters following post-graduate residency, etc? Who decides what men get to follow their hearts and what men get to follow their minds? Back to Clinton, he was interested in medicine and thought he could be a fine doctor, but never a Michael DeBakey. The majority of physicians perform exponentially below Dr. DeBakey and a hypothetical Dr. Clinton, but who was to say that he would become the next president of the United States? I say it's the difference between getting pulled out by the current and swimming upstream. Cookie cutter my butter and let it melt as it pleases.

Not just another week...

So on Thursday, it was pouring elephants and pianos and the ham gods were getting bored. Consequently, they decided to make me the butt of their ruses. I was jammin down Foothill at a very legal 40 mph when the light turned yellow. I slowly depressed the brake and realized all too late that I only had 20 feet left. I put more pressure on the pedal, the brakes locked, static friction went to piss, and I cleared the whole intersection slicker than Sasha Cohen on ice. In addition to earning perfect 10s for completely running a red light w/the speedometer reading zero, the car never came to a stop so I hit the accelerator well past the intersection.

In other news, I wasn't feeling well since Thursday morning, and have epidemiologically concluded it to be food poisoning possibly from the shrimp in my New Orleans Jambalaya from BJs (that's not libel). As a result, I went to bed at 2am on Saturday, and woke up 33 hours later at 11am, today - and had an IV in between cause I was losing sensation in my fingers (hypovolemia?). Anywho, I've had more shots of pepto than most people do in a lifetime and passed the problem onto LA Public Health. As for now, I'm ever so patiently waiting for whatever the illness to rid itself via emesis or excrement.

Conclusions of the week: replace all CalTrans/DOT traffic researchers with chemists well versed in particle movement, legalize commercial sex workers and fit them with digital chastity belts, offer catheter implants for IV drug users to decrease HIV transmission, and leave global warming be so we can utilize the increased humidity to harvest water. Oh, and careful what you put into your mouth; food too.

Schick Quattro

4 blades, 4 times the nicks and cuts:

In preparation of the next Superman role, I installed my pull up bar in my bathroom doorway today; 6 inches shy of the lintel, I can leave a forehead stamp every time I complete a proper pull up (dangling participle..yea yea...like my workouts). After watching An Inconvenient Truth, I decided to fill up my fuel tank with sugar to decrease emissions. Not only did cinnamon rolls not pop out of the exhaust pipe, but also I ran outta gas today. So for the second time ever since I got my car, I switched gasoline from 76 to Chevron (the car was delivered with Shell). The engine acceleration is immensely smoother, but I'm not sure if it yields the same performance. I emptied out my pint sized piggy bank - and boy o boy it sure holds its own. Piggy coughed up $53.16 in change; I rewarded it with a nickel. There's a proverb in Korean that roughly translates to: collect dust and you can make a mountain...but we're not talking about my room right now.

In less recent news, I spent half my Saturday lost deep in thought on how to efficiently procrastinate...but I decided to put that off and went on a 3.2 mile roundtrip hike with Jordan in the back mountains; specifically, the 700+ acre Deukmejian Wilderness Park. Fortunately for the mountain lions, they didn't encounter us...and rattlesnake season starts in April.

Libriverm

Every now and then, I love to find my self buried knee deep in books - the key to a great bonfire or the bane of those useless rain forests. Throughout the years, I've discovered that their utility has drastically increased. Feigning pedanticalness, hiding money (and certain publications), step stools, door stops, paper weights, make shift high chairs, killing insects, projectiles, and the list goes on (forgive my lack of parallelism). There's something I'm forgetting...oh yes...the great lost art of learning and leisurely reading. So here's the list: The Social Psychology of Consumer Behavior, The End of Faith, The Tipping Point, The End of Poverty, Game Theory, and of course - to add to the inexistent culinary repertoire - Rachael Ray's 365: No Repeats. A plethora of priceless knowledge for a low $114.68. For everything else, there's Mastercard. Stay tuned for reviews! :P

the plight of the do-it-yourselfer

sooooo...of course i didn't buy enough cement boards so i headed for the hardware store at 6pm wearing a shirt and shoes. and of course they ran out of cement boards since i need them by tomorrow. so i drove all the way to home depot and bought 4 more cement boards. then, in my infinite wisdom, i stacked all 200 lbs of cement on one side of the cart and it started leaning like il Torre di Pisa...and toppled over before i could yell a dozen expletives. 2 hours, three cities, and a plethora of side streets and stop signs later, here i am, thawing by the radiation from my preeeeeeccioussss...my computer. all in good time to peel my socks off my feet, not wash my hands, throw on my pretty blue apron, bust out me whittle, and whip up some delicious steak curry up for the parents. stay tuned for more.

remodeling the bathroom by myself...seemed like a good idea at the time

made some measurements and did some planning...

made a shopping list...

window guy finally came and took the window out...

...and put an aluminum frame window in.

i did a lot of demolition after he left...

bought a hepa filter cause my boogies turned white from all the dry wall dust...

finished demolition next day and hauled 250 lbs of 3' x 5' cement boards back in my lovely camry...

barely managed to carry them in...

spent half an hour scoring and cutting a single piece of cement board using this dinky utility knife...

put up my first piece of cement board...

and left it this way since.

Gary Jules - Mad World

Kiwi!