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| Saturday, October 24th, 2009 | | 1:54 am |
DAMN YOU PANDORA!!! *shakes fist at sky*
Many years ago, I started using Pandora, the internet radio station. It was cool and introduced me to lots of new music while gradually getting a better handle on my musical taste for future recommendations. Then it started sucking more... introducing ads, then instituting a monthly limit to the hours you could use it. I continued using it reluctantly... I could give in and buy a subscription to make the annoying stuff go away, but that seemed like caving to terrorist tactics. Today, though, after exhausting my monthly limit, I gave in and bought the subscription. They do provide me with a valuable service that I would be happy to pay for... but god damn do I hate feeling like I was coerced by their successful attempts to irritate me :-(. Current Mood:  annoyed | | Tuesday, October 13th, 2009 | | 3:40 am |
the office effect
So why is The Office such an effective comedy? For the first several seasons, they were constantly struggling with the threat of cancellation, but now the pseudo-documentary style has proven popular enough to not only make that show thrive, but spawn numerous imitation shows like Parks & Recreation, Modern Family, Community, etc. Has drama somehow evolved (or perhaps reverted) in some fundamental way that leaves actors free to acknowledge the camera, offer soliloquies, and otherwise mess with the fourth wall indiscriminately? I don't have any good insights, but this seems like an important shift in modern entertainment, and I harbor the drunken hope that this attempt at Socratic inquiry would spark discussion amongst my smarter friends. Current Mood:  contemplative | | Wednesday, June 17th, 2009 | | 5:17 pm |
ice cream trucks
I took a walk to the library today, and noticed an ice cream truck ambling through the neighborhood blaring its jingle. I've never really thought before about how nefarious a business model they represent: creeping past your home broadcasting an inducement to panicked demand for the ice cream RIGHT NOW MOMMY HURRY!! I imagine a roomful of fat, cigar smoking men trying to determine the exact volume level and truck speed that would allow for practical purchasing but optimize the instilled sense of urgency. Ok, that might be a paranoid fantasy, but I like the image. At the library I got a collection of John Irving short stories. Supposedly these are all the short stories he's ever considered "finished," and given his reputation as a methodical stickler for story structure I'm eagerly anticipating some highly polished nuggets of literary bliss. | | Sunday, May 3rd, 2009 | | 12:39 am |
wage slave again
I milked unemployment for 6 weeks, but ultimately a nagging voice in the back of my head convinced me I should try to find sustainable and gainful existence again. So I went back to Trader Joe's. Hey, it's no dream job, but it's easy and no one else has ever offered me better compensation. The store I was at wouldn't rehire me (some noise about a new store opening just north of them and cutting into their traffic), so I started working at the La Jolla store. A new group of co-workers to meet and befriend, and a new bevy of beautiful women to lust after (and ultimately fail to woo, given my MO). Amongst the staff, there are already two girls I would happily marry--Mackenzie, who is a boisterous professional beach volleyball player and a perfect 10 (with maybe some fractional point subtracted for sun-damaged skin), and Lauren, who is a cutie and classic Pollyanna type with a perpetually friendly and cheerful smile for everyone. Amongst the clientele, OMG there are so many beautiful asian girls. I feel like I'm working in some imperial Chinese harem. Many of them come in with their white frat-guy boyfriends, too, so I know it's possible. God knows how the motherfuckers pull it off, though. Probably voodoo. Looking back over the last paragraph I wrote, I realize I'm still barely drunk enough to think it's more funny than offensive. Must be time to post! | | Wednesday, March 25th, 2009 | | 9:46 pm |
some random tidbits
I went back to Trader Joe's yesterday to ask for my job back. They said it doesn't exist anymore, and it's too slow for them to consider hiring anyone. I might try some other stores in the region. Today was the one year anniversary of the local surfing legend and ex-coworker Colin W's untimely death. I went to a memorial service on the beach for him today. While I was there, I saw Bree, the cute girl I used to work with... I've had a big crush on her for about a year. I cornered her on the beach and asked her out. She said she was flattered, but she was waiting for a dude that shared her faith (Jehovah's witness). We talked religion a bit, but predictably neither of us was able to convince the other of anything. Oh well, I'm glad I at least finally asked her. So no idea what I'm gonna do for money yet, and I can't find a compatible girl to save my freaking life. Oh, also the new computer I bought a month ago stopped working last night. Better finally apply for unemployment tomorrow, I can't seem to take care of myself... Current Mood:  morose | | Sunday, March 15th, 2009 | | 11:52 am |
putting the "bum" in beach bum
The economy finally caught up to me on Friday and I got laid off from the best job I've ever had. They were relatively nice about it, at least, saying that it had nothing to do with my performance, they had directives from up on high to cut X people, I was the most junior person in my department, their hands were tied, blah blah blah. So now I have to figure out what comes next. When I left Trader Joe's they said they were putting a note in my file that strongly recommended me for re-hire, so I probably still have that option to fall back on. What I've been thinking more about is teaching English abroad. I know a couple people who have done that, and it seems like a cool adventure to do someday. If not now, when? Anyone reading this have some advice about those programs? I've started browsing some websites and FAQs, but it's safe to say I know very little about it. In the meantime, I'm going to take a couple weeks off and just think about what I want my life to be about next. It's never really fun to lose a job, but the self-reflection and reassessment it forces on you is probably not without value. Current Mood: thoughtful | | Wednesday, February 25th, 2009 | | 9:41 pm |
upper
I feel like too often livejournal is used as a way to vent and complain. Especially by me. Today I'd like to do something a bit different. I'm overwhelmed by how well my life is going. I'm living in paradise at the most exciting time in history. I have my dream job. I almost never experience pain or suffering; on most days my hardest choice is what awesomely fun activity to participate in. If I ever become slightly bored, a million incredibly fun options are at my fingertips. Now if only I could find a cool girl to share this with... crap, that almost turned into bitching after all. Life is great! Current Mood:  ecstatic | | Friday, January 2nd, 2009 | | 7:30 pm |
monthly status update
I played in a magic tournament last week for the first time in a while. It was up in LA, and the prize was a free trip to Japan to play at the pro tour there. After six rounds I was 5-1, needing one win to make the top 8 and play the elimination rounds. My opponent and I split the first two games, and in game 3 my opponent has to spend a lot of resources to deal with one threat, while I had a card in my hand that would win the game on my next turn. I show him the card and say, "Sorry, man, you played well and you have a good deck, but I got the cards this time." He grunts and slumps in his chair as I fill out the result slip (indicating myself as the winner), sign it, and push it toward him for him to sign. At this point I start picking up some of my cards, and he calls the judge over. "He didn't actually make any play, he just flashed a card in his hand and started picking up his cards." The judge rules that I have shuffled away a couple cards, so he can't verify the game state and he has to assume I conceded. So that was a pretty frustrating way to lose the tournament, and I'm still pretty shocked by the sleaziness of my opponent. For New Year's I was in LA again, this time to go to a rave called Together As One. I had VIP tix to the party (I find the whole concept of vip tix at a rave with that theme pretty hilarious), but it's not clear to me that it was worth it. For $90 more you get a shorter (but still substantial) line to get inside and free drinks all night in the vip area. If you're planning to drink a lot anyway, it makes sense to avoid the concession prices, but I had to avoid getting hammered since I was planning to drive home. The rave overall was good but not great. Armin van Buuren is a fine DJ but most of the stuff he played didn't exactly blow me away. I also didn't go up with anyone this time, and I failed to meet up with any of the friends that were supposedly there. The outfit I wore was a purple robe with a leopard-print fur collar and matching fuzzy leopard-print hat (purchased at a vintage clothing store a couple days earlier). Unfortunately I no longer have the hat. A hot chick asked me for it and I handed it over, thinking she'd just asked to touch it. In fact she wanted to keep it, and I let it go rather than demanding it back. Freakin' hot chicks think they can just demand people's clothes *mutter*. I have a date on Sunday! I met her online and have traded some e-mails, but this will be our first time meeting in person. I'm taking her to a swanky Italian joint; here's hoping it goes well. | | Saturday, November 29th, 2008 | | 2:34 am |
assorted news of me
Whew, I haven't written anything here in six weeks, and I've been going through some eventful times. I've started working in game design, and it's as cool as I hoped it would be. My boss and co-workers have been very encouraging about my work so far, but the company is currently in a hiring freeze. What will happen in mid-January when my contract runs out is anybody's guess. In the meantime I still work some hours at Trader Joe's to keep up my benefits and hopefully have some kind of fall-back plan if the new gig doesn't work out. I think that's a smart decision, but it is definitely rough going from a ~35 hour work week to a 50+ one. I got a new roommate who is something of a disaster. He's a fun guy, but he's a compulsive gambler and an alcoholic. I know he has a coke habit also, but he's usually too broke to indulge in that particular vice. He apparently has worked as a telemarketer for like seven years, but just recently got laid off. He has an air of impending, inevitable tragedy that makes me both nervous and shamefully fascinated to watch the train wreck. I've seen him make outrageous drunken bets that he later tried to renege on or steal back. I've seen him drunkenly drop his friend's infant child. He begged me once for a loan of $100. He initially pitched an offer to repay me $150 in a week, then offered $200 when I seemed reluctant. I refused a couple times, but after he dejectedly gave up I felt bad. I mean, it's probably a con, but what if it's not and he really needs help? I'm fortunate enough to have enough financial independence that $100 is not a huge deal to me. So I gave him the cash and told him not to worry about the interest. "Just get me back the principal. I'm trying to do the right thing here; please don't fuck me." To his credit he payed me back + $10 of interest that I tried to refuse. People who have known him longer cynically advise me that he's just suckering me in for a bigger con later on. Sigh... trying to do right is hard. I finally caved in and set up a facebook page. It's been surprisingly addictive looking up high school friends I haven't seen in years. I was especially amused to discover that one of my more memorable high school crushes is now married to another woman, and they just had their first child together. Today I had my first turducken encounter. It was good, but I'm not convinced that any of the birds cooked similarly well wouldn't have been just as delicious presented individually. Afterwards went back to JG + CG's pad to get intoxicated and play rock band, which was predictably awesome. Current Mood: awake | | Monday, October 6th, 2008 | | 12:55 am |
housing and occupation upheaval
I've moved into my new house, and so far I'm loving the modern amenities and the close proximity to work (I've walked to work most days this week). There was some friction with the roommates when I invited people over for a housewarming party last weekend without asking permission (they were all out of town). One of their friends was staying here though (presumably at their request to keep an eye on me), and alerted them to the party. BO, the girl who basically runs the house, called and demanded we leave... so everyone left and JG salvaged the party by moving it to his house (thanks man!). I can sort of see how they'd be nervous about me throwing a party here with people they don't know, but their reaction still miffed me. It's not like they're doing me a solid letting me crash here; I've given them ~$1600 in rent and deposits already. I feel like I've purchased some right to use the house, especially when they're not here to be bothered by the noise. Anyway, in employment news, it looks like I will finally be leaving the grocery store business after 6(!) years. At JG's birthday party 5 months ago, his friend DB got talking to me about game development and told me I should ship him my resume. I didn't hear anything else about it until a couple weeks ago when he e-mailed me and told me there was a position opening up in his R&D department and I should come in and interview if I was still interested. I went to the interview and apparently it went well enough... I got a job offer! Working on games for a living has been a long-time dream of mine, so I'm jumping at the opportunity (even though I'll be taking a small hit in pay, at least initially). Current Mood: excited | | Sunday, September 14th, 2008 | | 1:40 pm |
Nocturnal festival
Last night I went up to LA to a rave called Nocturnal. The main draw for me was the chance to see Infected Mushroom play there, which is something I've wanted to do for many years. In fact I turned down a Vegas trip with my always beautiful and amazing friends CG + JG to get to this rave instead. I went with JB, his girlfriend S, and some of her 17-year-old girlfriends. I have to admit it was a chore keeping my eyes and hands off of those beauties all night. One of them in particular was just blazing hot... she's half-Japanese and half-Irish, which are probably my favorite two human phenotypes. Anyway, I thought most of the music I heard there was pretty meh, but the Infected Mushroom set blew me away. I'm pretty sure it was the best concert experience of my life so far. I've seen some other big-name electronic artists perform live, and it's usually just a dude standing in front of turntables. Usually the music is good and there's a light show and a crowd of people, but it always kind of bothered me that the dude on stage could be some Paul van Dyk lookalike playing a pre-recorded mix and I wouldn't really be able to tell the difference. Anyway, Infected Mushroom was not like that. They had a full-on rock band setup, with drums, guitar, vocals, keyboards... and they had equipment to give it all the trademark IM distortion and trippiness. They had awesome lights and videos playing, and for a while there were some fire spinners/swallowers on stage. I'm pretty sure my face was irreparably rocked. Current Mood: deaf | | Sunday, September 7th, 2008 | | 2:39 am |
housing and utter failure with women
As you might know from my previous posts, I'm looking for new housing due to my roommate's eviction. I found a really nice house with a room for rent, and I gave them the deposit today. The drawbacks: it's a chunk more expensive than my current room, and farther away from the beach (though closer to work). The upside: very modern and luxurious house, and the housemates are friends of a friend, so I'm more likely to get along with them as opposed to Joe Stranger. Hours after I handed over the deposit check, however, I heard about a co-worker who is trying to rent out a room in my current neighborhood for $275/month less. That's a big chunk of change for my income bracket, so I'm planning to check the place out later today and (assuming it seems ok) see if I can somehow recover my deposit on the other place. Last night I was at a bar with a bunch of co-workers to support a band that a couple of them are in, Black 7. I was eyeing this chick M all night; she's new at work. She's very pretty, friendly, and intelligent. Towards the end of the night, I managed to corner her and start up some get-to-know-you chit-chat. She politely obliged for a couple minutes, then excused herself and walked outside to talk to some other people. Shortly afterwards, my buddy JB walks up and starts in on some story about, "Man, that chick M is freaking desperate! I couldn't believe that..." I interrupt him and say that she's not so desperate as to flirt with me. His response is "Um, yeah, of course not..." as though I am so hideous and pathetic a loser that the thought of even a very desperate girl flirting with me is laughable. I left the bar in a huff, but the bitch of it is that he's right. I've never had any success with women, I have only a foggy idea of what I'm doing wrong, and I'm not getting any younger. I try to put myself out there, but every time I seem to get slapped away in rejection, which makes it more difficult to keep trying. The other day I invited my long-time crush BD over to my apartment for cocktails. She politely declined, and today when I said hello to her she bit her lip in apparent nervousness before replying. I'm so tired of rejection :-(. /whine Current Mood: depressed | | Friday, August 15th, 2008 | | 10:49 am |
more roommate drama unfolds
My roommate TO got arrested last Sunday night on a battery charge after a fight with his girl JK got out of hand. I wasn't totally sure where he was or what was going on, and I had no idea how to get in touch with him (tried his cell phone but no response). Apparently he was taken to prison, where, distraught by his situation, he tried to kill himself. He did that by removing a tongue piercing, sharpening it on the floor, and scraping his wrist with it until he hit vein. They found him unconscious from blood loss, and took him to a hospital. He returned home on Wednesday night, alive but clearly still depressed and angry. The battery charge was dropped, but he's still dealing with a DUI from earlier in the month, a break-up with JK, and uncertainty about whether he still has a job or a place to live next month. Apparently the rental property manager and owner were informed of his arrest and were discussing eviction. Last night he apparently tried to cut his wrists again. This morning his friend CB found out about it and got the cops involved. They just took TO back to the hospital, where they'll keep him for 72 hours. All of this probably means that I need to start looking for a new place to live. Current Mood: worried | | Monday, August 11th, 2008 | | 1:03 am |
my roommate TO
So, I have this roommate who is a little bit crazy. I didn't really know him when I moved in; I just knew his girlfriend JK. My first hint that something wasn't quite right with TO was a story he told me about a party he threw a few months back. There was some dude there who TO found annoying, and TO promptly demanded that the dude leave. The guy started leaving, but spat on TO's car as he was walking away. TO at this point lost his temper, jumped down from the balcony, and started to chase this guy while hollering abuse. The guy made it to his car and started driving away... so TO JUMPED ON THE MOVING CAR AND CONTINUED TRYING TO PUNCH THIS GUY THROUGH THE WINDOW. Huh. TO eventually fell off the car and smashed his head on a fire hydrant, requiring an ambulance to the emergency room. Suffice it to say that TO is not someone you want pissed at you. Anyway, I just came back recently from a trip to Boston to discover that JK had moved out of the apartment. She and TO had been fighting a lot and apparently needed some space. She is still "with" TO in some sense, though, and she has come over a few times to hang out with him. Flash forward to tonight, I'm coming home from work, and there are three squad cars parked in the street in front of my house. I walk inside to see cops in the living room questioning TO, and apparently there are more down the street huddling with JK. I gather there was some sort of domestic disturbance call, but no one is telling me anything. The cops took TO into custody and JK left, so I'm sitting home alone right now wondering what sort of colorful characters I've moved in with here :-P. Current Mood: pensive | | Monday, July 21st, 2008 | | 2:40 am |
update potpourri
I haven't posted in weeks, but now I'll try to give a quick sense of some of the things I've been up to. On the 4th of July, my roommates and I threw our first party at my new apartment. A bunch of my friends from work were there, JG + CG made a brief appearance, and there were a couple drunk and horny Texas girls there I hadn't previously met. I got the cuter one's phone number, but both of them ended up hooking up with other dudes at the party. Everyone was pretty wasted, very little property was destroyed (one blanket got a bit scorched from a tiki torch), and some people got laid. Overall, a successful party. This past week I've been up to all sorts of shenanigans. On Tuesday I went hiking with TK at Torrey Pines, on Wednesday I went to a rock concert with JG and family (Slipknot, Disturbed, Dragonforce, and Mastodon played), on Thursday I won $55 playing poker with some buddies, and on Saturday I (finally) met Ben, the dude I will be teaching English to as an adult literacy tutor (he's a smart 20 yo Chinese guy who's been living in the States for 7 months). Today I got a small raise at work (with no additional responsibility attached). Yay! Tomorrow I'm leaving for a two week vacation to Boston. Double yay! I haven't seen my family or friends out east for about 9 months. Anyone in that area want to meet up while I'm in town? Current Mood: excited | | Sunday, June 22nd, 2008 | | 4:15 am |
female beauty
I adore female beauty. Hell, it's the only reason I'm not gay. If I was gay I would understand better what I was up against and I would probably get laid more often. But lately I wonder if I appreciate female beauty as simply as my fellow men. When I see a beautiful woman, I can't help also seeing the old woman she will become. When I see any given woman, my first thought is typically, "Wow, she's hot!" Then my second thought is "Huh, I bet she hates the way she looks. I wonder what feature she hates the most?" My tertiary thought is typically along the lines of "Well, I guess her nose is a little big" or "That mild acne must drive her crazy!" I wonder how often I'm right about her biggest complaint. I also wonder how often other guys go through this thought process. Is it totally neurotic and weird? Probably. Current Mood:  drunk | | Friday, June 20th, 2008 | | 4:37 pm |
first day of summer
Summer officially started today, and I realized I hadn't been swimming in the ocean in the entire eight months I've been living in California. I had to fix that, so I stripped down to a pair of shorts and waded out into the sea. I didn't go out too deep, but it was fun experimenting with different techniques to jump into a wave and try to ride its energy. Some folks apparently are quite good at this bodyboarding sport, and I'm always fascinated by sports or exercises that don't require any equipment. I still want to start learning how to surf, but I haven't felt like dealing with acquiring a board or shopping around for lessons yet. After I got out of the ocean I took a shower and walked to a nearby Mexican restaurant. I was famished, so I ordered a ton of food. Now, this is probably racist or something, but I always feel a little weird eating a large amount of an ethnic food from a poor country. It's like going to an Ethiopian restaurant and stuffing yourself with a large feast; the cuisine wasn't exactly developed with the idea of a "feast" in mind. A lot of Mexican food seems to be designed to deliver maximum calories with the cheapest possible ingredients, so it's probably especially bad to choke down a big pile of it. Sure was yummy though. Current Mood: full | | Thursday, June 19th, 2008 | | 4:58 pm |
June drum circle
I enjoyed the last drum circle at Black's Beach so much that I decided to go again. This time I went with my 21-yo friend Runy, his 17-yo girlfriend Sophie, and a few of their friends (the same crew I will be going to the Electric Daisy Carnival with next weekend). They're all a bit younger than me, and they seem to look up to me with this odd species of respect because I have been to more parties than them. That's a little new and strange for me (for most of my life my friends have been older than me), but they're all intelligent and fun people whose company I enjoy. I wandered around and talked to people a bit more than I did last time, and I met several interesting characters. There was "J," a very extroverted and good-looking dude who desperately wanted to get laid and was probably trying a little too hard. He did manage to get at least one girl's phone number while I was hanging out with him, though. Then I met Thomas, a very drunk Frenchman who apparently has a fondness for Christian philosophy; we argued for a while about dualism and the necessity for a theory of the soul to explain consciousness. After wandering away from him, I bumped into J again, who introduced me to a long-haired hippie dude named Daniel. Daniel was experimenting for the first time with Ecstasy, and his friendly, articulate demeanor combined with his obvious intellectual curiosity reminded me strongly of my good friend and past roommate WG. He told me a long and entertaining story about the last time he used acid; apparently he and two friends climbed a cliff face that they weren't supposed to be on, one of them fell and got badly hurt, and all three had to deal with emergency rescue teams and news reporters while they were tripping their faces off. There were a lot more people at this event compared to last time (perhaps because of summer vacation?), and the large crowds, permissive drug use, nubile girls, and natural beauty of the beach all reminded me of being at Burning Man. Current Mood: happy | | Thursday, May 22nd, 2008 | | 11:29 pm |
apartment search over!
I looked at two potential apartments today. One was in Encinitas, with the large perk of being walking distance to work. The house was beautiful also, but the current tenants are a 50 yo twice divorced woman and her two teenage kids. I don't think I'd be very comfortable there; they seem to have a very high standard of cleanliness and I would have to do any drinking or smoking on the DL. The other place I saw is a real find; and I've agreed to move in next week. The rent is about the same as what I'm paying now, but the location is just a couple blocks from the Pacific Ocean. I'd be living with an awesome party girl I know from work, her boyfriend (who seemed really cool when I talked to him today), and one other guy I haven't really met yet. The room is small, and there's only one bathroom for the four of us to share, but there's a large living room and an awesome deck with an ocean view. There's even a recently installed bar on the deck, and it's clear that this is a total party house. Anyway, I'm psyched to find such an awesome location; now I just need to deal with the pain in the ass of actually moving. Current Mood: excited | | Sunday, May 18th, 2008 | | 12:31 am |
My Life as an Old Lady
Phew, it's been a long day. After getting home from work last night after midnight, I got up this morning and went to a five hour class on being a literacy tutor, followed immediately by another eight hours of work. The tutoring class was entertaining to me because of the demographic represented; of the eleven of us who showed up to volunteer, I was the only one who wasn't female and ninety. One of the guys running the class mentioned that in both of the previous groups, someone had been knitting (!) the whole time. So that's my new crew, post-menopausal do-gooders fighting empty nest syndrome. I can't wait for bingo night! In all seriousness, I still think tutoring will be a fun and rewarding experience. It will take a while to get started, though, since they take a month to run a background check on me and make sure I'm not too dangerous before unleashing me on one of the seventy folks on their waitlist. I'm still looking for a new roommate/apartment situation, and starting to get stressed with less than two weeks left in the month. No place I've looked at has been too exciting, with two of the front-runners being a roommate who practices his drums daily and a roommate who lives with her twelve-year-old daughter. In other news, I just relaxed with a rootbeer float. Man, those things are delicious! I should drink that more often. Current Mood:  tired |
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