Trashed Sunset

I don't know if you've ever seen the sun set. You would think that it's a slow process that would be unnoticeable to the naked eye observing along the horizon. However, it's actually much faster than you think. It's kind of like filling up a water bottle; you can see the water getting closer and closer to the top until the bottle is full and overflowing with no more room for water. The sun sinks lower and lower until the light is but a faint glow along the horizon where the sun once resided just seconds before.

It's actually astonishing how quickly a moment like this can pass. It's a split-second of beauty few witness, and many overlook. This is what disappoints me.

Flip UltraHD

Ok, so good news bad news. I'll assume you want the bad news first.

BAD NEWS: The Flip UltraHD camcorder that broke last week, so it turns out, did not have a warranty on it anymore, according to Best Buy and Pure Digital Technologies.

GOOD NEWS: My dad created a fuss and haggled his way into getting me a brand new 8GB Flip UltraHD camcorder fresh off the shelf. I'm pretty stoked and glad that everything worked out.

MORE BAD NEWS: The factory wrist strap that comes with the camera is pretty wack so I found another wrist strap and put it on my old Flip. My dad gave them that Flip, so I'm stuck with another lame wrist strap. Oh well...

Evening on the Beach

So today my family, two other families, and a friend of mine spent the evening on the beach. We first arrived and threw around the pigskin, played bocce ball, and played games. However most of the time my friend and I spent our time engaging in some amateur photography: he scouted out some objects to get shots of, and I made it happen.

I took pictures almost all night. The problem is that (as seen in earlier blogs) I don't have a decent camera. I was resigned to use my phone camera. The shots actually came out really good, except that each one took me like 5 minutes to take, as phone camera settings are impossible to perfect. If you wanna check it, click the link below. Tell me what you think.

CLICK

Anyway, some interesting things transpired at the beachside restaurant, Frenchy's, that we ate at. As our waiter was taking orders for meals, I was talking to my friend about some shots I'd taken earlier. Then our waiter walked away and I realized I hadn't ordered. So the waiter came back to our table and swore he had my order. I never ordered my meal, though it seemed that the waiter had written down my EXACT order. Cajun Mahi-Mahi Fish Tacos. I was shocked.

Anyway, later on we noticed an interesting man walking to the deck with some buddies of his. However, he was dressed JUST like Alan from the Hangover: he had a beard and sunglasses. But that's not all, he also had the (Fake) Baby Carlos in a baby carrier. We decided we had to take pictures with him. Oddly enough, he too, was there with his friends for a bachelor party.

Peeps are mad weird.

Photography

So I've noticed that more and more of my friends are becoming interested in photography and big projects and whatnot. Some of them are even enrolling in photography classes in school. It's not odd that my interest in the field is increasing: my dad has always been quite the photography enthusiast. He's owned at least 7 digital cameras in the last decade.


I have everything necessary for such a photography project. Well, most of the requirements anyway. I have Adobe Photoshop Creative Suite 3, the perfect environment/community for decent pictures, an empty Flickr account waiting for pictures, and an encouraging paternal support system (father, for those with inferior vocabularies). However, I lack the most essential thing: a decent camera. Right now I have a Olympus C-5060 (as seen to the left), which is a dinosaur compared to contemporary photographic devices.

I would shell out the dough in a heartbeat for a nice D-SLR camera if I had the cash. That's the problem, though. I'm thinking that maybe if I get straight A's, I can get the folks to throw down half the cost of the camera. I'm hoping that might work, but I'm quite doubtful as to those possibilities.

I'll give you guys the Flickr info if everything works out. Just keep informed and I'll let you guys know.

How You Know Winter's Almost Over

You know winter's almost over when your neighbors have trash bag mountains full of fallen leaves. Even as a kid I never got my deserved "jump in the leaf mountain". Sigh.

Abrupt Misery

So for Christmas last year (as in 3 months ago) I received a pretty raw present: Flip UltraHD camcorder. I've been taking it almost everywhere with me so I can pretty much record and capture anything I see.

However, just a few short minutes ago, as I was playing with the flipping USB drive, the USB drive stopped closing. I am now left with a faulty USB drive on my still-functioning camera. I hope I'm still under the 90 warranty... We'll just have to pray and check.

Calf Workouts

So, this is gonna sound odd, but ever since around middle school, I've been told I have rather scrawny calves. I hoped that soccer and swimming and frisbee would change that, but alas, they remained skinnier than usual.

I recently discovered various methods of calf workouts to quickly enhance size, strength, and definition. I've decided that my favorite is fairly easy, requires no extraneous equipment, and can be done extremely frequently.

It involves walking on your tiptoes. Yes, it's that simple. It doesn't have to be extremely noticeable, just like every time you step forward, slightly lift your body up onto your toes, then repeat on your other foot. Though nowhere near their desired size yet, I've noticed after about a week, that mine are sore but I believe they look a tad more defined and larger. I'm prepared to continue this daily exercise until I achieve my desired leg muscularity. I shall prevail!

But, please. Don't make fun of the way I walk if you do happen to notice.

Random Thought of the Day #3: Asians

Among my friends, I am very much considered the Asian of the group because all of my friends are white or Hispanic or black. However, it has become more and more evident to me that I am considered the white kid among my mother's Asian family or Asian friends. This has created a longing in me to be more Asian. I have the Asian brains, but that's it. I wish I could dance like a beast, I wish I could be awesome at video games, I wish I were funnier, I wish I grew up eating exotic foods, I wish I could do crazy stunts and martial arts. Watching videos on YouTube of guys like KevJumba and TimothyDeLaGhetto and seeing them identify to their Asian-ness and how proud of it they are only reminds me how not Asian I am.

Mostly the dancing thing.

Monthly Update

WOW! It's been a while since I've last blogged. I've just had so much going on, whenever I'd look at the link, I thought "Ugh... Maybe later." But alas, later never came (that is, until now).

Anyway, I thought I'd just update you on my recent activities and periodic obsessions. They are fourfold: facial hair, music, parkour, and slang/composure.


So in fourth grade, I was the only kid in my classes with a mustache. People always thought I was older than I was. So you can imagine my frustration and surprise upon discovering how long it takes me to grow some fuzz on my chin. I've embarked upon a one-month trial campaign to see if I can kick-start this beard. I've decided to shave every evening after I shower for a month (well 4 weeks). According to a source that I can't recall, long periods of continuous shaving followed by abrupt stops in shaving produce massive amounts of facial hair. However, it's not the mustache I'm worried about; I yearn for the beard and sideburns to sprout from my cheeks and neck, even if it's just five o'clock shadow. I'll inform everyone how my campaign goes on March 24th, or day 1 without shaving.


Being an avid musician, it should seem unnecessary for me to blog regarding my interests in music, but recently I've developed new skills and acquired tastes in musical styles. I've been downloading more funk music and hardcore gangster rap. The funk music has inspired me to work on guitar soloing and learn new scales and modes for my band. I've had the measurable urge to jam with my boys. Regarding the gangster rap, I was browsing videos on YouTube and discovered some videos of people "freestyling", or rapping about a topic without having written or planned the lyrics beforehand. In school, in the car, and at home, I have more and more been creating freestyles in my head. Sometimes I'll spit a rhyme when I'm with some bros, but for the most part this spontaneous rhythmic poetry remains in the depths of my mind.


This may seem a bit odd, but again surfing the vast gallery of YouTube videos, I found many videos of this 'sport' or 'martial art' form called "Parkour". Parkour is basically the most complex and fun way to get from Point A to Point B. You run and jump and flip and hurdle over, under, between, through around, and off of objects. Obviously it can't be nearly as easy as it sounds, but I must admit it looks, for lack of a better term, epically badass. If I could find a spot with stairs and ramps and walls to practice such an activity, it might prove a handy ability to flaunt.


Okay, now I know what you're thinking: slang and composure? Yes, and as ridiculous as this may sound, I've been trying more and more lately to use terminology that is more "hip" and "with it", per se. Words such as dope, wack, fly, fresh, tight, sick, nasty, sick nasty, etc. In essence, words used on the Fresh Prince of Bel-Air. Now that's covered. But composure you ask? To people who know me well, this will be hard to accomplish, but I'm making attempts to come of as more of an aloof and zen, if you will, person. I've been trying not to be so uptight and edgy. When I make such attempts around close friends, they ask me what's wrong. It would seem that I need to make the adjustment more gradual for them. Not only am I trying to alter my overall personality, I'm also trying to refine my wardrobe. I'm trying to get cooler trendier stuff. To sum this whole paragraph up, I'm bored with being me. Haha.

I suppose all of these interests are a lot to take up in a matter of weeks. In theory, all of this would be hard to achieve when you consider my workload from classes and whatnot, but then again there's always the weekend and I can do some stuff simultaneously, like freestyling with modern lingo while doing parkour and growing a beard in a new jacket.

I don't know, I haven't ironed out the kinks yet.