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.

Creatures of the Night

Have you ever been the only one awake in the house during the wee hours of the night? At this very moment, I happen to be that guy. I'm sitting in my room with all the lights on, composing this blog entry, while watching The Office. As the number of people online on Facebook to chat with dwindles, I become more and more restless, I begin to search for activities to engage in. I suppose subconsciously I desire to prolong this special feeling of solitude.

As a matter of fact, the last person I was chatting with just signed off. I don't know what it is, perhaps it's the possibility of events transpiring that cannot be prevented by maternal authority figures. Just an hour or two ago, I surmounted my struggles against laziness and retrieved a Coca-Cola out of the refrigerator. I highly doubt such actions would go unpunished had a parental unit been present.

It's not only nighttime loneliness that I'm fond of, I appreciate immensely the times when I am home alone and limitless activities available at my disposal. Exam week may have been my ideal week for such time, as we were released from school at noon each day. I spent up to 6 hours at home alone watching television, eating, and sleeping. Not that I engage in infinite amounts of tomfoolery and shenanigans while my parents aren't home, but the concept supervision's absence fills one's entire being with a sense of satisfaction and superiority incomparable to anything else.

But for now, the most I can do is cherish the hour I spend at home alone between the time I get home from the bus and the time my mother and sister arrive home from work and school, respectively.

Now I'm left to wonder when my next afternoon of [mis]adventures may occur.

Random Thought of the Day #2: Fist Pumpin' Like A Champ

I know it's not that intricate a dance, and people get annoyed by it, but I believe the Fist Pump is the best dance ever developed by "guidos". Have you ever wondered what dance to do at a party? It's simple, just follow the directions to the right or click on this link: http://tiny.cc/lHyKl

Now go tell your friends and don't stop pumpin' that fist like a champ!

iTunes TV Shows

Lately I've been putting a lot of TV shows on my iTunes library. This is because due to lack of parental consent, I have no television in my bedroom. So I've proceeded to put the first five season of The Office and all six seasons of the Fresh Prince of Bel-Air on my computer. I also have shows such as That '70s Show and Fight Quest. How did I get all of these shows on iTunes [legally], you ask? Simple, a program called PQ DVD. It is a program that takes videos from DVDs and makes them iTunes/iPod compatible. Rather than spending tons of money on downloads from iTunes, spend a one-time fee of $20 and the program will more than pay for itself in two movies alone.

This program can be found online here: http://tiny.cc/wYH0x .

But anyway, back to my point. Due to this discovery, I have been watching The Office non-stop, in an attempt to catch up with the new episodes playing every Thursday night at 9 EST. I have discovered that I love TV. I understand that most people enjoy watching television and have some favorite shows, but I'm almost positive that if given the option, I would watch TV forever. It's not so much that I love every show on TV, but more the fact that I love being entertained by skilled actors and actresses who pursue activities in shows that I could never begin to think of.

This leads me to believe that my latent reason for enjoying television so much is that I subconsciously am fascinated by the idea of living in every culture and social scene or in the shoes of one of the characters from my favorite TV shows. Even if it's a reality show, somebody in real life IS doing the displayed action and I suppose that somewhere in the back of my mind this registers and I feel as if I'm actually there, just as a hidden or silent observer. I'm not going to lie, when a TV series ends, I do get a bit sad at the thought of the end of no longer having access to the aforementioned perspectives, at least not new episodic perspectives.

I think if I could have one present of my choosing, it would be a day in the life of each of the characters in my favorite TV shows including but not limited to: Friends, The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, The Office, Scrubs, and That '70s Show.

Man, that would be swell.

My First Meal at Bonefish Grill

So there I sat: in the car on my way to dinner. The car radio blared a country song that my Dad chose, as our car plowed through what seemed like a hurricane. We were going to some new restaurant called “Bonefish Grill”. I must admit, the name made me skeptical. I imagined a fish filled with bones which, personally, I don’t find appetizing at all.

As we pulled in the parking lot, the first thing that I noticed was a rather large fish skeleton statue perched on the façade. I hoped, with all my inner being, that this alleged high-end restaurant would meet my expectations, as my father cracked it up to be an eatery with chefs qualified to make your taste buds dance the Hora.

We sat in a booth near the window, menus in hand. As I examined mine, our waiter informed us of an unlisted topping, “Oscar,” for the Chilean Sea Bass with lemon-butter sauce and a variety of fresh veggies. Since I couldn’t manage to find anything else to tickle my fancy, I decided to try it.

This could have been one of the best decisions of my life. The expert display of veggies, lovely contradiction of flamboyance and modesty, and flavor, had my eyes and taste buds engaged in a Hora followed by a Tango.

If I had adequate funding, I would purchase a unicycle, ride it to Bonefish Grill and order Chilean Sea Bass “Oscar” every day for the rest of my life.