Merry Christmas everyone!! Oops, a bit late. Sorry about that. But its the thought that counts right? And of course you all know what was on my mind all last week right? Yup. My blog.

Lets see. Saw Return of the King last week with vic and raymond. Great stuff. It even prompted me to try and read the books, and i've almost finished fellowship in less than a week. Now to try and finish the other two before classes start.

Also went over to viejas and pala with the folks, where i won $40 with one dollar. Whoo!! My mom also won something like $200, thanks to me standing there.

I decided to go ahead and present the completed list of Mike's Alltime Top Ten Favorite Movies, since if i keep doing my one at a time tactic, it'll take me till next summer to finish. But even looking at it now i'm not sure i like it, so expect a revision sometime in the not so near future.

Mike's Alltime Top Ten Favorite Movies
(i switched #'s 3 and 4)
1. Star Wars Trilogy (4-6)
2. Disney Classics
3. Lord of the Rings Trilogy
4. Star Wars Trilogy (1-3)
5. T2
6. Pixar
7. The Matrix
8. James Bond
9. X2
10. The Mummy Returns

So now that its winter break and i've got lots more free time on my hands, you would think that i would get back to updating a lot more frequently, yet here we are with the first update after 3 days. Augh!

Work has been interesting. I get to make media now, which means conjuring up all sorts of cool potions and gels, instead of washing glassware all day. And its been 3 days and nobody has complained about their experiments blowing up yet, so i must be doing things right. Yay!

Allright, not much more to say except that i saw 3 pretty girls in and around the other labs today. That makes today a success!

Well finals are finally over. Thankfully, my last two weren't nearly as bad as the horror which i will no longer speak of. I got to see jan, eric, and mario again during the physics final before they all leave san diego, so that was cool. And, the final wasnt as hard as i thought, and much shorter than they could have made it (chem professors should take notes!). Lunch with mario after at price where we saw none other than . . . Will Lee!! He joined us for lunch so he could tell mario about how we were bathroom buddies, and that he still owes vic $15 from middle school.

Still had about an hour before my bio final afterwards, so what else did i do but . . . play pool! They remodelled the game room and made it all colorful, which was kinda cool. I think me and mario are going to start an end of the quarter tradition of pool from here on. Of course, i hadnt actually finished finals yet, but hey, whose counting.

After bio, had to go to work where they had piles of glassware for me to get washed and sterilized. Lots of test tubes. I dont think i've ever seen so many test tubes before.

Today me and vic decided to hit the mall, and after missing utc we got lost trying to find fashion valley and ended up in mission valley. So we walked around there for a bit and looked at calenders with "scantily clad" women on them. They built a target in since i was last there, which is the first time i've ever seen a target in a mall, or a target with two stories, or one of those nifty cart lifter things. We also ran into none other than . . . Chuck! We caught up for a little bit while his family ditched him and he brought back memories from our childhood that had been suppressed.

Time to go and resuppress those disturbing images.

Well final are finally over. Thankfully, my last two weren't nearly as bad as the horror which i will no longer speak of. I got to see jan, eric, and mario again during the physics final before they all leave san diego, so that was cool. And, the final wasnt as hard as i thought, and much shorter than they could have made it (chem professors should take notes!). Lunch with mario after at price where we saw none other than . . . will lee!! He joined us for lunch so he could tell mario about how we were bathroom buddies, and that he still owes vic $15 from middle school.

Still had about an hour before my bio final afterwards, so what did i do? Play pool of course! They remodelled the game room and made it all colorful, which was kinda cool. I think me and mario are going to start an end of the quarter tradition of pool from here on. Of course, i hadnt actually finished finals yet, but hey, whose counting.

After bio, had to go to work where they had piles of glassware for me to get washed and sterilized. Lots of test tubes. I dont think i've ever seen so many test tubes before.

Today me and vic decided to hit the mall, and after missing utc we got lost trying to find fashion valley and ended up in mission valley. So we walked around there for a bit and looked at calenders with "scantily clad" women on them. They built a target in there since i was last at mission valley, which is the first time i've ever seen a target in a mall, or a target with two stories, or one of those nifty cart lifter things. We also ran into none other than . . . Chuck! We caught up for a little bit while his family ditched him and he brought back memories from our childhood that had been suppressed.

Time to go and resuppress those disturbing images.

Here's your update:

O-Chem final today was the meanest mf'er in the history of mf'ers.

Happy?

"Damn them. Damn them all!!"

This week is uncool. Work everyday plus trying to study for next week's finals. I can't wait til this week is over so that i can study more over the weekend and then go back to work next week and then actually take the finals and then go back to work over winter break without the person training me or the person training with me. Whoo!!

I read that AMC mission valley is playing the extended versions of Fellowship and Two Towers. I still havent seen those.

Whoo!!

Thanksgiving was pretty good. Lots of food made by dad, including some cookies and pumpkin pies that i "helped" with. Turkey and ham was good, and will be feeding us for the next week or so. We gave calvin and sam some too, but calvin got a stomach ache. I guess he doesnt like turkey that much.

Got to see Jon and Jen at In n Out on wednesday too. Seems like we eat there a lot. Jon drove Jen to her new apartment up in escondido, then came back to my place where we played lots of smackdown with raymond. Incredibly funny stuff happened, too much for me to talk about now.

Yesterday me and derek met up with jon and friends for some flag football at canyonside. I had 3 catches with a td!! Whooo!! The Chargers will be calling me up any day now, especially since i double as a defensive back also, holding derek to one catch all day (the last play of the game!). Eric showed up too, and we eventually got milkshakes at jack in the box.

So now week 10 is here, which means studying for finals for the next 2 weeks, which wont be much fun. Of course, that also means that winter break is just over the horizon. Yay.

"Is this stuff anything i should be careful with?"
"That's sterile deionized water. Just about the least dangerous thing in this lab."

Well, its been 2 weeks since my last update. You can blame a ten page essay and lots of midterms for the lack of freetime lately, but now that things have settled down for a bit, its time to get to all the great things i've been meaning to share with everyone. Of course, i've forgotten most of the good stuff, but oh well.

So i finally got a job a few weeks back. Its in a lab over at Pacific Hall, which is kinda cool since i always thought that Pacific was a pretty cool looking building. My job is pretty much to wash everything that needs washing, and sterilize them, and just about all the other little things nobody else wants to do. Its pretty cool though, and all the lab members are good people. My well toned dish washing skills are unused, however, since the washing is mainly done by machine. You might think that this would be a good break, except for the fact that the machine works by basically shooting water up at the glass, which just sits on these little prongs. So, all the beakers and other light stuff tend to fly off and shatter, which requires you to jam everything in nice and tight, which takes longer than you might think. It also takes a bit of skill in itself, as i ended up breaking at least 6 or 7 glasses on my 2nd day. Whoops.

I seriously forget all the other great and profound things that i was going to talk about, so instead ill just mention that i had a dream the other day that we were all going to go camping, and derek, vic, raymond, eric, jon, and all you other guys were waiting up in the mountains, except that i was at ucsd which for some reason had become some sort of snowy town where i was waiting for the loop shuttle, and jen who was doing something i dont remember, and then i was going to come meet everyone except that i somehow got arrested and then ended up on a beach where i had to climb up a rocky hill that had something to do with eddie murphy. I cant really remember what else happened.

"Have you ever had a dream, Neo, you were so sure was real? What if you were unable to wake from that dream?"

Friday saw the Matrix!! Yay. Better than everyone said it was, although i thought it could have used more matrix battles. Also, for the entire movie i thought that locke was captain malfoy (or whatever his name was) and vice versa. Heh. Afterwards me, vic, jon, and raymond played some 4 way smackdown, which happens to be the greatest video game ever. Vic enjoyed hitting people with chairs, jon enjoyed pounding the buttons, and raymond . . . did a lot of stuff. I kept falling off the cage.

Yesterday was the induction ceremony for NSCS. Chang was there. It kinda reminded me of the NHS ceremony 3 years ago (!!!) except without any food, and with fewer people i knew. Afterwards we ate at the new ERC caffeteria, cafe de las ventanas or something like that. Also got to see chang's apartment, and, after driving him home, his really big house in rb. It was really big.


Mike's Top Ten Alltime Favorite Movies
4. Lord of the Rings Trilogy: Amazing. One of the greatest trilogies ever, these movies are truly something special. From the breathtaking landscapes, to the epic battles, to the great characters, everything about these movies are perfect. I dont think i really need to explain what makes these movies classic in every sense.
5. Terminator 2
6. Pixar Movies
7. The Matrix
8. James Bond
9. X2
10. The Mummy Returns

I was glad that i decided to stay at school and study with mario last night, because we were able to get into revelle's meet the provost thing. LOTS of free ice cream and pie and coffee and bottled water!!! WAHOO!! Great ice cream. Excellent pie. They should have meet the provosts more often.

Matrix today!!! It is the final chapter of one of the greatest trilogies of our generation, the likes of which have not been seen since back to the future ended. This is the return of the jedi of our time, so enjoy the moment!! Until Return of the King of course. (Lets just hope Agent Smith doesnt take off his sunglasses and tell Neo that he's his father).

"It ends tonight."

Another Halloween come and gone. Thankfully this year saw the return of Raymond's Haunted Garage, or as raymond put it; more of a haunted porch. But it was all fun anyway. Highlights of the night include Dr. No, knocking down the ghost light while raymond's dad took pictures, and hidnig behind the hanging guy and making it wave at people. Well, i guess you had to be there.

You can tell something significant is going on when you turn on the tv on a sunday morning and dont see football on channels 8 or 6. It smells like ashes outside and although the dark smoke cloud has gone away somewhat, now there's a strange orange glow coming from the sky. Its kinda creepy in an end of the world sort of way. Hope everyone's allright.

On a happier note, midterms are finally over which allows me to get back to boring everyone with random thoughts. This week has several cool things to look forward too, including CHARGERS on MONDAY NIGHT FOOTBALL (cant remember the last time those words were said together), Joe Schmo finale! (if you havent watched this, its one of the funniest shows i've seen in a while, and the only "reality" show worth watching, except maybe american idol tryouts), and the new smackdown game comes out on ps2!!!. Yee haw!!

Marlins? Win the World Series?? Amazing. Well, the last time it happened the padres went to the world series the season after, so world series, here we come!!

Mike's Alltime Top Ten Favorite Movies
5. Terminator 2: First of all, this is without a doubt among the greatest action movies ever. The first R movie I ever saw, it set the standard for how action movies go. You can’t go wrong with Arnold shooting a shotgun, stuff blowing up, and a liquid metal terminator. Not to mention the fact that it revolutionalized special effects. But what really lifts it above all other sci fi movies is the emotional impact it achieves without being dopey (watch the dvd to learn the significance of Arnold losing his sunglasses . . . seriously!). The morality of technology, human nature, it all perfectly underlies the action of the movie. And what other action movie would end with a line like “If a machine, a terminator, can learn the value of human life, maybe we can too”. Sob.
6. Pixar Movies
7. The Matrix
8. James Bond
9. X2
10. The Mummy Returns

Honorable Mention
Indiana Jones: Okay, I really dont have any excuse for this one, so lets pretend its #11. Great action, harrison ford was perfect for the role, and sean connery as his dad was masterful. The best opening of all time, with one of the best endings of all time, and a middle you can skip (well, the mine chase was cool).

I just need to say that i think its the dumbest thing in the world for cubs fans to blame that one guy for killing the cubs. All he did was try to catch a foul ball. He wasnt trying to stop alou from getting it, he didnt even know alou had a chance to catch it. Its not like he ran out onto the field to catch the ball, or thought 'all i have to do to get a ball is cost the cubs an out'. The ball was foul afterall!!. Not to mention that there were still like 11 outs to be made in the game, or that their shortstop made that error instead of a double play, or that the cubs were up 3-1 and lost 3 straight. If the cubs lose two games with both their aces starting, then theyre probably not good enough to win the series. One guy didnt beat the cubs, the marlins did.

Still, a great nlcs. Well, not if youre a cubs fan i guess.

Oh, the only thing dumber than cubs fans blaming that one guy for the cubs losing is people giving that guy death threats and other crap like that. All he did was try to catch a freakin foul ball!!! Idiots.

The Rock leaves wrestling, Gwen Stefani breaks up No Doubt, and before you know it, Mike stops updating his blog!!! AHHHHHH!!!!

Mike's Alltime Top Ten Favorite Movies
6. Pixar Movies: namely Toy Story, A Bug's Life, Monsters Inc, and Finding Nemo (i know i'm cheating when i cluster multiple movies into one slot, but hey, you can always make your own top ten list :P ). No matter what kind of movies you like or how old you are, these movies are simply amazing. The humor, story, and characters are truly special, and succeed at capturing the magic of earlier disney films. Lots of fun no matter what the occasion, and pure entertainment no matter what your mood.
7. The Matrix
8. James Bond
9. X2
10. The Mummy Returns

Honorable Mention
Speed: This is a great movie. One of the best action films, and in my opinion the best "crisis" movie ever. Keanu Reeves was great even without dark clothing, and the movie barely slows down after the first 5 minutes (observe three climaxes in the last half hour; amazing). Not on the list because i've watched mummy returns more times.

I'm a day late wishing everyone else a happy That Special Day in October, which means you all get an extra day to celebrate it!

Mike's Alltime Top Ten Favorite Movies
7. The Matrix: Cool characters, cool story, and one of the best gunfights ever. I liked Matrix Reloaded better than most people, and the fact that you add one of the best car chases ever puts the Matrix series in the top ten.
8. James Bond
9. X2
10. The Mummy Returns

Honorable Mention
Pirates of the Carribean: Okay, now this was one of the best movies I have seen in a long time. The sole reason it is not on my top ten is because it has not been around long enough for me to really consider it to be an 'alltime' favorite (X2 gets around that cuz its about alltime favorite characters). If i were to do this list again in a year, Pirates would be there for sure.

Mike's Top Ten All-Time Favorite Movies
8. Pierce Brosnan Era James Bond: Okay, technically 4 movies, but since they're all basically an ongoing saga, i'll count them as one. I know many people consider James Bond movies to be over the top, highly unbelievable, and hardly worth the time, but to me they have always been the classic example of how an action-spy movie should be done. The main reason they made my list is Goldeneye, the first Brosnan Bond movie. When I first saw it, i was blown away by the action and the presentation of James Bond as a suave yet deadly spy, and ever since it has always set the standard for every spy movie i've seen after.
9. X2
10. The Mummy Returns

Honorable Mention
The Godfather Parts I and II: Classic movies, and would probably rank #1 and #2 on many 'conventional' lists. But my list ranks movies based on their entertainment value, and to be honest you don't really need to see someone getting shot in the eye or a guy waking up with a decapitated horse head bleeding all over his bed more than a few times.

Mike's Top Ten Alltime Favorite Movies
9. X2: A great movie featuring some of the coolest comic book characters ever. This movie captured the themes of X-Men perfectly (despite taking several creative liberties) and provides great action scenes. And, the movie avoids being cheesy in that comicbook sort of way, and actually has some pretty decent acting (the scene with prof. x and magneto in the prison was one of the best ever). Excellent fight sequences, where everyone's mutant powers look awesome (i can't say enough about the sequence with magneto escaping). All in all, a great movie, and the best comic book adaptation yet.
10. The Mummy Returns

Honorable Mention
Nightmare Before Christmas: This was one of my favorite movies ever when i was a kid. It still is a good movie, but after all these years i have to admit that the appeal has faded somewhat. The same can't be said for several other movies, which is why this one didnt make the list.

I've been meaning to do this for a while, and now that classes have started again i've finally gotten the time to do so. (try and follow the logic in that! . . .heh heh). So, today i will start the top ten countdown of Mike's alltime favorite movies. This should be interesting for certain, and i think some people may be surprised as to some of the choices that made my list (but probably not). To me, the point of a movie has always been one thing: to entertain. Mike's list of greatest movies contains the movies that have entertained me the most over the years, and even influenced my feeling of movies as a whole. Also included will be Honorable Mentions of movies that i like a lot, but not enough to include on the list. So, here we go with the first installment of Mike's Alltime Favorite Movies.

Mike's Top Ten Alltime Favorite Movies
10. The Mummy Returns: Now here is a great movie. The epitome of an action adventure movie, in 2 hours this film accomplished one thing, and that was to entertain. Nonstop fun and action basically pushes the movie the whole way through, and is exactly the kind of movie i can sit down and relax to at the end of a long week. And the fact that The Rock is in it doesn't hurt either.

Honorable Mention
Spider-Man: First of all, i love this movie. Great action, great story, great actors. It successfully brought to life my favorite comic book superhero, and was the movie i waited 10 years to see. Why is it not on the list? Basically, there were too many other good movies and this was one of the many i had to cut against my wishes. Still lots of fun.

Quote of the Day: "We need someone more smiley" - reason Mario didnt get a job as an elementary school tutor.

School has started. Yay. Got to see Mario and Kevin's cool new apartments wednesday. Fun stuff. There are a couple new buildings on campus too, which is kinda cool. ERC looks all shiny and new, and adds extra time to the shuttle loop. Oh well.

Professors so far seem cool. I have a young guy for bio, an old man for ochem, and an old fat guy for literature.

"9 out of 10 women marry for money, and 9 out of 10 men are fools"- (quoting from memory, so i hope the percentages are right, heh heh)

So my car has been messing up again. This time its the breaks. But its all good cuz we got it fixed pretty quickly, so it will be ready for the freeway to and from ucsd. Hopefully the brakes dont screw up at the wrong time . . .

Stopped by pic n save (sorry, BIG LOTS) the other day, where i found an opened tape of The Rock: Know Your Role for $3.99. Blah hah hah.

Quote of the Day: "Hand me that lotion. And keep both hands on the wheel!" - mom to me, while i'm driving

2nd Quote of the day: "The new Rock movie got two thumbs up" "That's all?" -dad, responding to me

I hear ERC is all finished. Can't wait to see it.

Almost time for classes. Where has all the time gone.

Apparently its national Talk Like a Pirate Day. Matey.

I was going to go watch a movie today, but they were all rated RRRRRRRR.

Old School Oldie of the Day: Bee Gees - "How Deep is Your Love"

Old school oldie of the day: Elvis - "Suspicous Minds"

Returned to ucsd yesterday to pick up textbooks and a parking permit. Good old beautiful ucsd, it hasnt changed a bit. Except for the really big structure that they're building behind gilman parking right next to the little path i used to walk through to get to class. I had a fun time carrying all my books back to my parking spot too. Bleh.

North county again with vic also. Nothing too new there. Vic got his shoes cleaned by this one guy who slightly resembled justin timberlake.

Move in weekend this weekend at ucsd, which means . . . helping people move in!! Ahhhhh!!!

Old School Oldie of the Day: John Denver - "Take me Home Country Roads"

"Almost heaven West Virginia
Blue Ridge Mountains Shenandoah river
Life is old there older than the trees
Younger than the mountains blowin' like a breeze"

Last week played volleyball with jon and his friends. That was fun, since i didnt totally suck. It made me think of playing volleyball back in sophmore year in the class with all those hoodlums, which reminded me of the time casey popped that gigantic blister he had on his hand on a volleyball.

Went to sea world yesterday. That was fun. All the shows were different than when i had last been there. I'm annoyed at the dolphin show, because i could have sworn that the lady falling into the water and getting pushed around was real, but it turns out it was part of the show. Good think i only jokingly said i'd bet $100,000. Also got drenched on the rapids ride. That was fun too.

"Country roads take me home
To the place I belong
West Virginia mountain momma
Take me home country roads"

I finally got new sunglasses!!!

Thursday made a triumphant return to boomers. Freeplay arcades was nice, it helped me keep in practice since i havent been to vegas all year!!! Jon met me there with his friend shannon from cal poly. We played some mini golf, which was fun except for the heat. I came home with a headache, which i attribute to my lack of sunglasses protection, only another example of the vast importance of wearing them. Anyway, we also played some ddr, air hockey, racing, and this one d&d type game.

Afterwards went to jamba juice since jon and shannon knew someone there. His name was Joe and he gave jon an extra drink. Turns out i actually knew him wayback in the days of sophmore year in spanish class with profe cooper. He reminded me of the nickname profe hombre. Hahaha. Good memories.

Only two and a half weeks left. Better start wasting more time while I still can.

Friday went to costco, where i saw jennifer frederick again. Freakiness. Also saw olivia at church, michelle and andre at barnes and noble, and jake at oscars.

Monopoly / clue night the other day with vic and edith. That was fun too.

"Sam Adams. Is that the stuff vic is always drinking when he comes over?" -mom.

Friday Jen called while me and vic were playing wipeout. She came over and after getting reaquainted with the dogs, we headed over to vons, where the guy told us it was too late to get sandwiches but made us some anyway. Then we headed up to hilltop to chow just like the old days. We enjoyed having our various conversations until we noticed the cop car that pulled into the parking lot and decided that we had seen just about all we needed to see at hilltop and headed out.

Derek called later and we decided to celebrate his 2nd to last day in san diego by having a picnic at poway lake. So we headed to stater bros to get some chips and soda which vic got nice and cool by hiding in the frozen foods area. We got a nice spot on the hill, where jen eventually met us after walking a ways (she didnt want to pay the $4 for parking). Much fun ensued, including the football rolling down the hill into the lake, causing me to get a shoe full of water retreiving it. There also was the time it rolled down the hill and fell into the lake again, causing vic to throw stones at it and eventually ask the guy managing the rowboats to go out and get it for us. Jon arrived there later (he didnt want to pay the $4 either) and more fun ensued, including jen putting a dead bee in her mouth (we have pictures!). I had to get back home, so we all drove over to my place where everyone got to meet the dogs again, causing them to get greatly excited. I think they got more exercise jumping around than from our walks.

I eventually kicked everyone out so me and the family could head out for dinner with my cousin grace who was in town for a few days. We ate at the butcher shop down in clairemont. The food was allright.

Got back, headed over to derek's where they had finished painting. So after listening to jon play guitar, watching snl, playing pick up stix, and starting a 1000 piece puzzle, we settled on watching spirited away, which was interesting and weird.

Today did stuff with family, and now i feel lazy again. Later.

Went to fuddruckers again on tuesday with vic and raymond. Vic had a one pound burger. A one pound burger that he stuffed about 6 inches worth of condiments into. A one pound burger that was about the size of my plate. A one pound burger that he followed up with a milkshake and asked what was for desert. Did i mention that the burger was a one pounder?

North county fair yesterday with vic. Stuff has changed since i was last there. They closed the disney store!!! Damn them! Damn them all!! We saw jennifer frederick there, but she didnt see us (or ignored us). That would be the 2nd time i've run into her this summer and the 5th time if you count last summer. Not much else interesting other than a reeses blizzard and vic not being able to stop thinking about wipeout for $17.

Happy One Year Anniversary to Mike's Blog!!! Actually, it was yesterday, so now i feel like a goober for missing it. Oh well. I was trying to think of something to do in honor of a year of my random thoughts, like a Top Ten Entrys or Top Ten Funniest Moments list, but none of those really seem like good ideas. Hopefully i'll think of something worthwhile later. But for now, lets raise our glasses and hope for another year of random thoughts from random days.

Summer continues . . . I think we're just about at the 66% mark, and classes are still over a month away. Which also means people start leaving for college all over again. This time around things are a bit different though, seeing as how i've barely seen any of the soon to be out of towners all summer. Ah well, there's still plenty of time in the world.

Beach again tuesday, that was fun. Tried boogie boarding with vic and raymond. I think i caught half a wave, and a whole bunch of saltwater. Ha.

"Um, my seatbelt isn't letting me out," -Vic, before he discovered the button that would release the seatbelt.

Car is messed up, which means I'm stuck here with nothing to do but update my blog and talk with my dogs. Seeing as how I just did one, I think I'll go try the other.

"Woof woof woof"

So its been over a week since my last post . . . oops. Funny how whenever I'm all excited about posting i have nothing interesting to talk about, and when stuff actually happens i dont have the energy to even turn on my computer. Eh.

Anyway, some semi interesting stuff happened last week, most of which i dont really remember. Me and vic went to the beach one of those days, where we tried playing football in the water, and then sat around to enjoy the sunset. That was fun. We also noticed this cute girl going into the water, only to see her being rescued by a life guard a few minutes later. That was interesting.

Other random stuff happened the rest of the week, and i cant really remember what they were. Oh well.

Its august already, in case we didnt all notice. Its weird for me to think back to last august, and realize that its been a year since that highly emotional time in life, and think of all the stuff i've been through since then. Ah, the memories. For some reason, i remember hanging out with jon a lot during that time. Haha. Anyway, i've wasted enough time, hopefully i'll have more interesting stuff to talk about next time.

"I thought you were talking about the rapper" -my sister, when i asked her why she didn't bring me an ice cube for my water.

Return to the San Diego Zoo yesterday!!! That was fun. The animals were pretty cool, although some of them didnt do much, despite raymond's encouraging. The night show was good, just like last years. Before the show these two performers were doing little things to pump up the crowd, including tossing beads into the audience. This caused the large group of kids behind us to scream uncontrollably, temporarily damaging my ability to hear. It was as loud as an nsync concert (not that i would know . . . seriously!). One of the funniest moments of the night was when the performer tossed a necklace right at the group of kids, and it looked as if one of them was about to get one when vic grabs it froom right in front of them. Hahaha. That was kinda funny. Too bad i tossed it into a tree and got it stuck.

Quick highlights of the past few days; apartment party at a friend of vic's where i didnt know anyone, got a new military id to replace the one where my picture looks like a mugshot, explored around sdsu, finally saw t3, visited dmv for the first time in about 2 and a half years, and got bit by calvin.

My cousin and his family came over on monday. Pretty cool. His kids have grown up quickly since I last saw them. Time sure flies by.

Saw Pirates the other day. Great movie.

Me and vic got our b-ball thang going. Our skillz were very intense. And the slurpies afterwards were pretty good.

I notice my post has been very brief. Of course, as our old friend edwards once said, (insert deep voice) "All that matters is brevity and clarity".

Back from Hawaii!! Got here early Saturday morning after about 12 hours of airport / airplane time. Phew.

Hawaii was fun. A bit on the hot side, but its all good. Spent most of the time driving all over the island, checking out shops, seeing waterfalls, looking at the ocean, swimming at the beach, and eating lots of food. Fun fun fun.

Relatives coming over this week, and spending a day or two. They'll be sleeping in my room, and so my dad was kind enough to clean my room and put on the cars and trains bedsheets. Ugh. I haven't seen them since summer 2001 in chicago, which just makes me wonder at how fast life goes by. 2001 seems so long ago.

Anyway, good to be home, the dogs still remember me, and i havent seen t3 yet. Lets do something people?

Mike is in Hawaii!!! Time to lose those weird tan lines and spend some time in the water (and the air). Catch you guys later . . . feel free to give me a call. We can chat if I'm not too busy relaxing :P

Adios viejos!!!

Conversations with my dogs
Me: Hey Sam, what's the key to happiness?
Sam: (licks my hand)
Translation: Kindness and compassion (either that, or food)
Me: Calvin, what's the meaning of life?
Calvin: (bites my hand)
Translation: I don't know, so stop asking me.
Me: Sam, what can you tell me about my future?
Calvin: (Attacks Sam)
Translation: Don't tell him, he isn't worthy to know.

I figure I should probably let all my fans out there know that I will be going out of town for a family vacation this friday, and will be gone for a week. Sadly, we will not be making our bi-monthly trip to vegas as you probably expect. Rather, we are trying something a little different and are going to the bright and sunny island of Hawaii! Yay! Sun, sand, and ocean, what more could you want? I can hear the music already.

So . . . hopefully we can all hang out sometime between now and friday. Give me a call and lets do something fun. Otherwise, you will all leave me with negative feelings on my trip, and then I would return angry and unkind. And we all know we don't want that . . .

Anyone else disturbed by the fact that one of the members of the League of Extraordinary Gentlemen is none other than our old friend Dorian Gray?

Happy 5th of July!

Yesterday was a long day. Got up much too early for a friday and headed down with the family to spend 4th of July at the beach. It was actually a park, around Pacific Beach. I still haven't figured out what the name of it is, but its right across from Sea World. Anyway, it was very crowded there, but thanks to my cousin who had gotten there at around 6 in the morning we had a nice spot right next to the parking lot. Lots of people, and lots of hot girls. There were also some wackos around, including this one guy who tried to steal a box of our pizza.

We also happened to bring our dogs along. I've said this jokingly before, but yesterday I found out that they are the epitome of CHICK MAGNETS. We literally couldn't walk them more than a minute or two without having someone stop to pet them and tell us how cute they were. And half of those people were hot girls in bikinis. Damn. I'll likely be walking the dogs at the beach a few more times in the near future . . .

Once it got dark we were treated to lots of fireworks shows all around us, including fireworks from sea world as well as people right next to us. Pretty cool.

Random quote: "Biochemistry, bitch!" (not said by me)

Saw x2 again with raymond at the base, still a very cool movie. We had dinner at fuddruckers, and tasted "America's Greatest Burger" (i think thats the slogan). They ask your name when you order, but sadly my receipt said that my name was Mime. Funny. Met up with vic and edith afterwards and played ps2 at my house, which was fun.

Viejas again last week, where i lost money and it was very hot. Hung out with my other cousin the other day where we lost at starcraft and it was very hot. Its also pretty hot here, in case you guys didnt notice.

Don't really have the energy to write about anything else, so i'll just end with plugging the new jewel cd, which is surprisingly really good.

Lots of stuff has happened over the last few days. I'm not sure i remember all of it, but here are a few of the interesting points.

We brought the dogs to the vet the other day. There were some of the strangest looking dogs i've ever seen there. There was this one dog that was so small you could practically put him in your pocket, and another that could easily have been mistaken for a toy. And then there was this pit bull type looking dog that was only there for about 6 seconds (3 seconds as his owner brought him in, then 3 as she brought him out), but that was enough time to tell that he was quite insane. He was all snarling and barking, and looked like he could have been an end boss in resident evil. I'm not even going to mention the bull dog. Makes me glad and amazed that our dogs are not only nice and normal looking, but are quite handsome if you ask me. Incredible considering we adopted the dogs before we even knew what they looked like.

Lets see, stopped by a few other places over the last few days. Library with vic, library in poway where i got a free magazine with kirsten dunst in black leather pants on the cover, petco where i saw none other than justin, and price club where i didnt see anyone. Oh, i did see someone in the movie theater at the base the other day. It was either miguel or andy. I never could tell the difference between them.

Also saw finding nemo on sunday. Great movie. The comidic genius of pixar never ceases to amaze me.

I've also had quite a few interesting dreams since summer started. They're pretty funny actually, and most of you have probably popped up in a few of them. Anyway, one of the more profound dreams was the one where eric got in a fight and killed a guy.

Off to walk the dogs . . . chick magnets, do your thing!!!

One week into summer vacation already . . . sorry for not posting.

Last weekend i spent some time with relatives, including my cousin who just graduated from mt carmel. Then it was mostly tv, video games, movies, and more video games. Vic and raymond came over and one point to help with the video games.

Wednesday, the old gang got back together for a bit. It was great to see everyone again. We played pa soi too, which definitely brought back some good memories (i kicked ass by the way :P ). We played some pool (as always), and came to my house where everyone was introduced to my dogs. They were pretty scared at first, but who wouldnt be considering their visitors. (haha, jk). Anyway, they got used to everyone eventually despite eric dropping them, and we all hung out in the backyard where derek threw a tennis ball and a softball into two different backyards. Anyway, everything was fun and games, and then derek left to go back up to berekely for a good portion of the summer.

Ok, back to wasting time.

Finals are all done! Phew. Which means freshman year is all over too. Hard to believe graduation was a year ago today huh? Ah!!

My lit final wasnt all that bad, but of course by then i was too numb from studying that i wouldnt really have cared if it was. Afterward, i headed over to sell my lit book back, and got a whole 13 bucks out of it. I'll have to check to see how much that book cost, but i'm pretty sure it was at least four times that. Anyway, headed over to the food court for some grub when i ran into . . . raza!!! and mario's roommate and this other dude. So i had lunch with them and caught up with raza before guess who walked by but . . . mario!! He was running errands of some sort so i said i'd drop by his dorm later since he leaves sd tomorrow. So after eating i let raza and his pals continue with the joys of studying (hahaha!!) and who did i run into on the way out but . . . justin!!! He was on his way somewhere or other so we chatted and then i headed over to mario's dorm. There has to be something about his dorm, because for probably the third time this year i got lost and walked into the wrong suite, expecting to see some guys playing video games and instead running into some girls sitting on a couch. Anyway, i eventually found mario and we headed back to price center for some much needed pool!! Yee haw. I havent played pool in a while. That felt good.

So afterward said farewell and so long to mario and drove home from school for the last time this year. Sob! Got home and then accompanied mom to price club, where from the craziest amount of chance i saw none other than . . . jennifer frederick!! At least i think it was her. She didn't see me, but she was wearing a ucsb sweater and judging from the times we ran into each other last summer i'm pretty sure it was her. Haha.

And just to continue the streak last tuesday on my way to my chem final i bumped into who else but . . . steve chang!!! Heh, i've just been running into everyone recently.

Oh, and another weird thing was that on the drive home i drove by like three volvos that looked exactly like jen's. And there was even one where the driver looked like it could have been her. Hmmmmm...

Okay, well, not much more to talk about. I think i'll save the sappy reflection on the end of the beginning of college for the weekend. Off to go waste time!!!!!

Well, one final down, 3 more to go. The next one is in about an hour, and instead of studying for it i'm updating my blog while sitting here in clics for probably the last time of the school year. Wowza. Hard to believe i just said that. I've spent so much time here in clics, its amazing to think that this will be the end until next year. Unfortunately, i do have 2 finals today, so i'll have to save the sappy stuff for later.

3 more finals to go.

Hmmmmmm, bored out of my mind. I havent even started studying yet. Just a few more days . . .

I saw a guy reading a book while driving the other day. He had a book on his steering wheel and seriously wasnt even looking at the road. Makes you feel safe doesnt it!?

Wow, i really cant wait until the next few days are over. Then we'll be chillin and spillin just like the old days! We can get lunch at rodrigos, see a movie, play some pool, get lost in balboa, and do something stupid . . . and still have the rest of the day left! Ah, the memories. Hmm, now i'm getting myself depressed, sitting here in the basement of the geisel library not writing my essay. *sob*. Oh well. Its been a year already, i guess i can hold out for a few more days.

Summer is on the way (its already arrived for some of us), see you there.

Well, i am narrowly avoiding not updating this site for a week. Sorry peoples, it being the end of the school year and all, i havent had as much free time as i would like. But dont worry, in just a week from today, i will be all done with finals and we will all be hanging out together, singing songs and playing pool!

Yesterday was my last day of chem lab!!! Blah hah hah hah. It was a tearful event, as our ta checked off each of us one at a time. I was surprised to find out that i didnt break half as many things as i thought i had. I was the first to go, and walked out to a barrage of waves and goodbyes. I had to comfort all the girls, telling them i would see them all again during the final next week. Even our ta himself had to restrain a tear. Yes, it was an emotional event. But in the end, all that matters is . . . no more writing on carbon paper!!!!

I saw derek over the weekend. Now everyone else has to come over and see all the cool new stuff i've got. I also ran into Kevin for the first time in about 2 months. He told mario that i "look the same". I'll take that as a compliment ;P

Till summer!!

Happy Memorial Day Weekend to everyone. Sorry its a little late.

This weekend was packed with family stuff. Hung out with a bunch of them on saturday, when we had lunch at this chinese buffet in poway, looked through some stores, and played some xbox. We also had dinner at fuddruckers over in mira mesa. There was this family that brought mcdonalds food there. Haha. America's greatest burgers and theyre eating mcdonalds. Hmm.

Monday we headed over to mission bay and spent the day at a really nice park right next to the water. It was nice there, and very relaxing.

Sorry i couldnt hang out with any of you guys this weekend. I seriously was looking forward to it. My mom has that habit of letting me in on her plans about 5 minutes before it happens. Oh well. The end is near, so in just a little while we'll all be hanging out again and everything will be peachy. Right?

Me and Liz have a frank exchange of ideas over AIM:

Liz: meowwww
Me: ruff
Liz: tweet tweet
Me: cluck cluck cluck
Liz: oink!
Me: mooooooo
Liz: caw caw cawwwww
Me: squeak squeak
Liz: ribbet ribbet
Me: baaaaaa
Liz: bzzzzzzzzzzzzz
Me: hiissss
Liz: heee haw
Me: hoowwwwwllllll
Liz: cockadoodledoo
Me: roooaaarrrrr
Liz: grunt grunt
Liz: do u know chinese?

Yesterday we did the bulk of experiment 7, the 2nd to last one. Exp. 8 we actually get partners, so it looks like the worst of chemistry 6bl is just about over. Phew. Thank goodness. You know, looking back on it now, i would almost say that it was kinda fun . . . ah screw it, lab was a pain and i say good riddance. Hahaha.

As far as i know matrix this weekend is still a go, although the only person i've actually talked to about it is vic. I believe raymond is in as well? Anyway, if any out of towners are coming home for the summer, make sure to give one of us a call so you can come too. Maybe we can go play pool after.

Its actually going to be a hop, a skip, and a mad dash while shooting machine guns and jumping in slow motion through finals.

SunGod last friday. See vic's blog for a more interesting description. All i can say was that there were some funny stands, TONS of people, and many many slutty girls, and some pretty ones too. (And Lesbians! Seriously!)

Hey, this is gonna seem a little out there, but wwe raw is coming here on monday june 2. Now, i know that none of you are even remotely interested in wrestling, but if nothing else think of the wonderful bonding we could have if we all went. But seriously, i think checking out the event would be fun if a good group of us got together, even if wrestling is not your thing. Anyway, tickets would be about $20-$40, so i just thought i'd throw that idea out. Let me know!

3 more weeks of classes!! Summer is just a hop, a skip, and a mad dash through finals away.

Well, the challenging road that was this week is just about over. 2 essays written, and 2 midterms taken. I thought my essays were fairly decent, but everytime i've thought that bad things happen, so ill pretend i didnt say that. Psych and bio went great, especially considering i spent half a day studying for each. And chem lab is drawing to a close, thank the goodnesses. Freakin experiment 6 is finally done. Stupid 19 procedures. And experiment 5 writeup with its 20 some calculations is done and turned in too. So i think we've pretty much made it over the last peak, and the rest of the quarter is downhill from here (that's supposed to sound good).

Oh, in case any of you out of towners didnt hear, san diego experienced its worst traffic jam in history last wednesday. Phew. Forced me to take the old miramar route to school. I havent driven through that way since almost first quarter. Ah, the memories.

By the way, i totally support the idea of watching matrix memorial weekend. Hopefully most everyone will be home by then, and we can add another notch to our ever growing list of awesome (and not so awesome) movies seen together.

Weekend was interesting. Saturday drove with my mom to see one of her coworkers who lives way over in el cajon. The drive was quite long, and it was really hot down there. Felt like palm springs. There was this one stretch of land with a lot of farm-looking houses and cornfields, and even a bunch of buildings that look like the ones in wild west movies. And we also happened to miss a turn, and ended up driving for about 15 minutes in the direction of Mexico. I think it was when we saw the border patrol that we figured we might want to turn around. Anyway, made 2 new friends, although i cant really tell how much they like me yet (more on them when i have the energy).

Got back at about 5, started my takehome midterm / essay for lit. The questions are kinda difficult . . . its like i'm not quite sure how he expects me to answer them. Anyway, it took me forever to get anything written, and what i did write sucks, so now i have to revise it before tomorrow.

Yesterday went to a Chinese buffet with some relatives for mother's day. The food was decent, but there was a really long line just to get food. I like vegas buffets much better. Afterwards, my mom and my aunts went to this make up artist, and needless to say spent the next 3 hours there. Got back around 5 and started the 2nd question of my midterm essay. Its slightly better than the first, but still needs some revision.

So . . . 2 essays to revise, a lab report to write, 2 midterms to study for, and a really big cut on my leg.

"If I could tell the world just one thing
It would be that we're all okay
And not to worry cause worry is wasteful
And useless in times like these."

This weekend isnt going to be much fun. Lab report, 2 essays, and 2 midterms for next week. Thankfully, afterwards things will settle down a bit before i have to do more lab reports and essays and finals. But matrix opens next week, so thatll be cool.

Chem lab: augh. We're currently doing the longest experiment of the quarter, and it sucks. The entire thing is pretty much; add "several" drops of this stuff, "a few" drops of that stuff, heat it, stir it, centrifuge it, decant it, do everything again with the other test tube, observe, and repeat if necesarry. Gah. Gets old after a while. Thankfully, after this one there are only 2 more labs, and one you get a partner for. So hopefully i can hold out a little longer.

So i hear from mario that jan hosted a dating show for revelle college tv. Haha. How funny. I could definitely see jan as a host for a dating show. She also gets high on kettle corn.

4 more weeks of classes my friends. Then finals, and its clear sailing through summer!! Then, after i convince my mom that we need to go to vegas, we should all get together and go to disneyland. Seriously. That would be awesome. (If we do, me, jon, and eric arent getting stuffed in the back again).

"I won't be made useless
I won't be idle with despair"

Saw X2 this weekend with Mario. We were going to watch it with jan, but turns out she was going down to fashion valley to see something that had to do with american idol, so me and mario figured we'd just watch it at the la jolla amc, which turned out not to have stadium seating. But its all good, cuz the movie was awesome. Definitely the best movie i've seen recently, and better than the first. Minor complaints here and there but overall really cool. They should have done more with wolverine and his past (the director was saying in an interview how they would delve into it a lot, but they really didnt reveal a thing), and not made cyclops so useless and whiny. They should have done wolverine's past like they did in the cartoon (which happens to be the best comicbook cartoon ever, with the possible exception of batman). Nightcrawler was surprisingly cool, and i liked iceman and rogue even though they didnt do anything. So a great start to what should be an awesome chain of summer movies this year.

On the completly opposite end from the special effects and action of X2, i also watched Old San Francisco this morning. Its a silent, black and white film from the 20s or 30s. I watched it in the video reserve room, where just about everyone around me was watching something more interesting (except for this guy watching a video about sign language). The movie was fairly interesting, and i can honestly say its the best silent film i've ever watched.

Happy Cinco de Mayo.

The only thing worse than someone in class who talks too much is someone who talks to much while trying to sound smarter than he really is. See, i can respect someone who has an opinion and isnt afraid to say it. What bugs me are people like this one guy in my literature class who talk as if he's some kind of genius scholar of the historical intricacies of mankind. I mean, who ever says "In addition to" in real life???

Anyway, the psych experiment i went to was pretty painless. It basically consisted of me pressing some buttons and reading some sentences. And they recorded me talking too. So if my professor makes some groundbreaking discoveries with this experiment, my voice will be evidence for it!

Got lots of tests and stuff back this week. I did well on some, and not so well on others. I will say that i wish professors would try and get back midterms / essays before the deadline to declare that youre taking a class pass / no pass. It would be helpful.

I saw lots of movies recently. The ring was cool, but so much of it was left unexplained, you kinda feel unsatisfied at the end. Road to Perdition was good, tom hanks . . . what can i say? Sweet Home Alabama was, in a word, sweet. And Reese Witherspoon was, how shall i put it, hot. So a great movie all in all. Identity. Now that was a freakishly thoughtup plot. The trailors do its freakishness no justice. Good movie though.

Hmm chem lab isnt as painful as before. Still, i'll be glad when its over. I have good classmates though, so at least i'm not alone.

I have to go to a psych experiment for my psych class tomorrow. Hopefully they dont do any weird psychological experiments on me that might turn me into the guy in identity (which was freaky by the way).

5 more weeks of classes. Halfway through the quarter!

I dont know how it happens, but there's something about me and waking up in the morning. More specifically, i suck at it. I'm really not quite sure how i went through 4 years of high school without technically ever getting a tardy (i stress the word technically), but i suppose having first period off for 2 of those years helped. Needless to say, one of the perks of entering the life of college was the ability to select classes that allowed you to sleep in a bit. This year, my earliest classes are at 11 in the morning. So you would think it would be impossible to accidentally sleep through a class, right? Well, actually you're mostly right. But only mostly.

Yesterday, i managed to miss my 11 lit section. I didnt actually sleep through it, but something i little more odd happened. I half woke up about 8:45ish, and glancing at the clock quickly calculated in my head that i had a good 15 minutes left before i had to wake up, which would give me an hour to get ready and an hour to drive to ucsd and walk to class. Which would correspond perfectly to my 11:00 class. So i close my eyes for a little bit more, get up, take a shower, eat breakfast, get dressed, and grab my watch, wallet, keys, cell phone and glasses when i look at the clock and think "Ah, 11:00, i am perfectly on schedule to make my . . . 11:00 class . . . what the??". So after a bit of cursing and scratching of the head, i realized that when i dozed back to sleep at 8:45, i woke up at 10:00. Of course, my natural instinct was that i had woken up on the hour, which would be right on time according to my schedule. So of course i was an hour behind what i thought it was, so needless to say i missed an 11:00 class and was a little more than annoyed since it was the one section i have where attendance is taken. Anyway, the only point of this story is to demonstrate that i even 11:00 classes are too early for me.

Last night, i saw the Ring. Not only that, i saw it *gasp* at night! Even worse, i saw it *faints* alone! Yes, i saw what has been called the scariest movie in years alone and at night. Hee hee hee. Phew, that was probably the most fun i've had in the dark by myself in a while (don't even say it you sickos :P ). Anyway, i liked the movie a lot, although i really saw most of it as more of a suspenseful mystery than a horror (a good chunk of the middle portion at least). It was nice and freaky however, and showed me some of the most disturbing images since my 70 year old literature professor rapping. Good fun, and plenty creepy. Especially if youre alone and its at night.

You know chem lab is screwing up your mind when making easy mac makes you feel like youre performing an experiment.

This week has gone by fairly well. I started out with a bad cold in the beginning of the week, but its mostly gone now. The two midterms went ok, although i dont think i did as well as i wanted. But its all good. Yesterday was my first chem lab in which i didnt break anything, get behind, or otherwise screw something up. A whole experiment and a half!! So that put me in a fairly good mood.

I stopped by vic's former abode to drop off devil may cry, which his brother has been craving so much recently. Nobody answered when i rang the doorbell, so after calling up vic and asking for suggestions, i proceeded to kick the side fence down and trespass into his backyard. I was in the process of cleverly hiding it under a bench when his mom saw me and came out. So i just gave it to her and that was that. We should break into people's houses more often though.

Go here for a cheap thrill.

Wow, i really cant think of anything to post. So . . . i'll just say that there are less than 2 months of classes left before summer. Seriously, i cant believe we're this close to the end of the year already. The first two quarters went by so fast, and seem like so long ago. Phew.

I just watched the little mermaid for the first time in a long time last night, and was reminded of what a great movie it is. Therefore, we should all go to disneyland this summer.

Allright, sorry to torture you with possibly the lamest post in the history of lame posts. I guess all the late night lab write ups and midterms have drained all of my creative power. I'll do better next time!

Chem lab is no fun. It's drained all energy and inspiration i have for posting a really meaningful entry to my blog. Sorry guys. But its ok, because after tomorrow ill be done with this lab report, and i'll be free to study for my three midterms next week, which i'm sure will produce lots of interesting stories.

"The world is a complicated place Hobbes."
"Whenever it seems that way, I take a nap in a tree and wait for dinner."

I just finished reading The Awakening for literature class. It was actually pretty entertaining, and reminded me of the often elusive reason for why i decided to have lit as my program of concentration. It also makes me wish that i had chosen it as my junior paper all those years ago, instead of sister carrie which lost all interesting value after the first 250 freakin pages (which happened to be halfway through). But its all good. Except for the fact that the notorious ending of the awakening turns out to be among the most disappointing / unsatisfying endings i've read in a novel recently (which havent been many i suppose). Whats worse is that now i have to write an essay justifying an ending that i didnt agree with. But hey, it beats writing up chem lab reports. So sparknotes it is!

"Woman, my dear friend, is a very peculiar and delicate organism . . . And when ordinary fellows like you and me attempt to cope with their idiosyncrasies the result is bungling."

Quote of the moment: "I'm so booooooooored" -my chem lab TA during our experiment.

For those of you interested, it turns out that mt carmel's prom theme this year is A Moment Like This. Ah ha!! I called it way back in september! Yes I did. As soon as that song was on the radio i said "Now that would make an excellent prom theme". You can ask Reubens if you dont believe me.

Chem lab makes me go bleh. The write ups take forever and the experiments are a lot like AP chem. Ahhh the memories. At least i have a good partner(s). We just finished our first experiment and we're already "rechecking" our data. Bleh.

Oh yeah. Happy birthday Jon! You old man you. I think i'll have another piece of cake, in your honor of course :P

Mike is back in town after his 3rd trip to the san francisco area in the last 9 months. For those of you who dont know, i was up visiting family in order to attend a funeral. It was the first funeral i've ever been in, but thankfully everyone was still friendly and things werent nearly as depressing as i thought they were going to be. I got to catch up with family members, and got to experience some new things, including preparing a eulogy in 20 minutes and being a pall bearer.

Other than the funeral, the majority of my time was spent hanging around my relatives' house. I got a chance to watch some bootleg dvds, including daredevil and die another day (which had excellent quality by the way, cant say the same about daredevil) and played some games on my cousin's xbox.

One of the highlights of the trip was playing around on my cousin's guitar. She actually has 2, one of them being an electric, so i get to mess around on both of them. When of my many deep and dark secrets is that i actually took some guitar lessons way back in the day, but sadly i've pretty much forgotten most of what i learned. After a little bit of random strumming though, i got right back into the groove, and my cousin even taught me to play part of a song. That was good fun. Makes me wish i had time to learn a little bit. Maybe over the summer. Or . . . maybe right now instead of studying my essay since it turns out my dad has a guitar from his navy days!! Now all i have to do is tune it . . .

So yeah, i also have an essay due tuesday. Seems like i say that a lot these days. I actually got all my readings done during the drive, which i am quite proud of. So i'm already ahead considering how behind i am.

Speaking of the drive, me and the folks stopped by a burger king on the way back. The cashier was especially uninviting to us. The whole time we were giving our order she said one word to us and just kinda stared at us with a blank expression on her face. Made me miss all those annoyingly hyperactive and overly joyful waiters i havent appreciated. Of course, she was also kinda cute, and in the end thats all that really matters, right?

Padres: 3-4

"In an old Indian language, the word vegetarian translates to 'doesn't hunt well' ".

So because i'll be missing my lit discussion tomorrow morning, my professor asked me to attend the other discussion time, which was conveniently set at 8 in the morning yesterday. This of course destroys all the effort i put into setting up my schedule so that the earliest class i would have would be at 11 in the morning. But of course, its just one day, and i want to make a good impression so i decide to show up. Turns out that not only are there always hot girls in literature classes, but there are also hot girls in discussions that are early in the morning. So now i'm kinda bummed cuz all the hot girls are in the 8 am discussion, which probably leaves all the slacker guys in my regular one. Bleh.

Anyone hear of that movie house of a 1000 bodies, or some title like that? I cant believe anyone would let rob zombie direct a movie.

I got to do my first college level lab today! It was calorimetry!!! Whooooooo. Just like AP chem all over again. Ah, the memories. I do have to say that the carbon notebooks they make us use are possibly the most annoying things in the history of annoying things. It sucks when i forget to put in the cardboard and end up writing through 3 pages. GRRRRRR!!! Stupid carbon notebooks. And it sucks having to write hard just to make sure the stupid carbon copies too. Gah!

After much debate, i ended up going to a presentation on safety in the laboratory (we get tested in lab safety). It mostly consisted of such statements as "Don't trip over wires when carrying chemicals" and "Avoid spilling burning acid on your skin", all presented on a brilliantly designed powerpoint through a projector that made an image about the size of my computer. Needless to say, it was hard to see and kinda pointless. So i ended up leaving a little less than halfway through. But the Mandeville auditorium is kinda cool, so at least it wasnt a total waste.

My psych class is pretty interesting, and my professor is cool too. He did this presentation on conditioning and behaviorism (psych class 2nd semester senior year . . . ah the memories!!!) where he popped a whole bunch of balloons. Ok, so that doesnt sound so great, but watching a guy pop balloons can be pretty exciting compared to some of my other classes.

Well, i cant think of any more randomness to share. Ill be out of town this weekend, so excuse me for not updating the next 2 or 3 days. Later peoples.

Padres 1-3 !!

"There's a lake in Massachusetts called Lake Chargoggagoggmanchauggagoggchaubunagungamaugg . . . more commonly called Lake Webster".

Today i got to meet the rest of my professors for spring quarter, and they are pretty cool. I like my bio teacher a lot, so this quarter should be ok. Chem lab will definitely be a pain though. And the fact that i will have 2 finals on the same day this quarter kinda sucks too. It also seems that my midterms for bio, lit, and psch will happen basically all at the same time. Bleh.

I paid a visit to mario's dorm today. I accidentally went to the wrong building (they all look the same) and ended up walking into a suite with a pictue of a half naked guy on the wall. Turns out i had stumbled into a girls suite. Oops. Luckily, mario's dorm was in the building right next door, so i only had to walk up 4 flights of stairs twice.

I doubt any of you check my abandoned and forgotten other web site anymore, and i dont really blame you. I really really meant to update it over spring break and add some cool stuff, but it just never got done what with the recovering from horrible midterms and what have you. I did actually start some work on redesigning the friends page but stupid angelfire messed it up. Oh well. There are actually one or two new pictures, and a few little things change every now and then, so be sure to look around on occassion.

March 30th . . . time sure flies by, doesn't it?

So now spring break is drawing to a close and soon we'll be back on the fastlane speeding through one more quarter before summer. It turns out that i actually escaped winter quarter with grades that keep my happy, so hopefully ill be able to continue the streak for another 10 weeks.

Friday was really hot and sunny. Me and vic drove down to ucsd so i could pick up my parking permit, but unfortunately the parking office was closed due to a 'university holiday'. Still not quite sure what the holiday was exactly. So we ended up walking around utc for a good while. I saw my chem ta there, but she either didnt recognize me or didnt like me because she looked away with a disgusted expression when she walked by.

We ended up having dinner in the food court with the ice rink (actually, it was me eating dinner with vic checking out the hot skaters). Brings back memories of broomball way back when in the good old days. I remember vic slamming against the wall and me having 3 awesome shots getting blocked. My hands really hurt after that, and i guess so did everyone elses when we got together for boat building the next day. Hahaha. Ahhh the memories.

After utc me and vic decided to stop by la jolla shores where jen was spending the day at. Despite both of us having lived in sd for a long as i can remember we somehow managed to go down the wrong road leading away from la jolla shores and had to sit in a bit of traffic. But we drove by a really cool church. Eventually we found our way to the beach where we ran into jen and her friend hanz (from harvard) almost immediately. We decided to head back to poway for more good games of pool. Me and vic vs. jen and hanz in what was cleverly dubbed ucsd vs. harvard. We got swept 4 games to none (but they were all close!!!).

So today i'm just trying to make the most of my last moments of no responsibilities. They showed a 1945 movie of the picture of dorian gray this morning. Hahaha. I watched a little bit of it. I was hoping to see wrestlemania today, but after about 2 hours of trying to figure out how much it cost, i discovered that you have to subscribe to 200 extra channels just to order it. So i guess ill just wash the dishes, finish the laundry, and maybe even get a bit of exercise in instead.

Well, here comes spring quarter. The past 2 have gone pretty fast, so this one should too . . . Here we go again!

Yesterday was fun. Me, vic, and eric headed down to best buy cuz vic wanted to look at the new linkin park cd. Jon met us there, and we played some pretty cool video games too. Me and Jon played this fun little mickey mouse skateboarding game, and then vic found a game called war of the monsters. It was actually pretty cool, pretty much consisting of 2 monsters beating the heck out of each other and destroying the city in the process. You can grab helicoptors and trucks and other stuff to fight with. It reminded me a lot of the similarly named king of the monsters, which was one of my favorite games back in 3rd gradish. Ah the memories. Vic decided that because he no longer owns linkin park's first cd, the right thing would be just to burn the new one, and the old one too.

So we headed over to family stix for a good round of pool, along with chang who met us there. The games were pretty good, consisting of the usual scratch on the break and drop the 8 ball in the wrong pocket shananigans (i know, spelling, but its vacation ok?). After hanging outside for a good 20 minutes like we usually do, we headed over to ihops for some dinner. Notable notes include all of us helping jon do the puzzles and the back of the kid menu, finding a victoria's secret catalog in the trash, and the waitress making a heart out of the cream on jon's pancake. The waitress was kinda cute actually, and her heart was obviously broken in two when she saw jon smear the heart. How sad.

Afterwards, we spent some quality time with my ps2. After some funny plays with madden, we watched vic beat devil may cry in 2 hours on easy mode. Haha, easy mode is awesome! I'm never playing it on anything above hard again!

Go here for some good fun!!

Okay, so recently i've gotten the urge to change the title of my blog. I know how much all of you like "Mike's Thought Cloud", but like most of the things that i've ever come up with, what started out sounding cool and clever has started to seem a little cheesy. Unfortunately, changing the title required that i actually come up with a new one to replace it, and after lots of brainstorming and even more cheesy title pulled out of nowhere, i decided that Mike's Thought Cloud isnt such a bad title afterall. So i'm keeping it for now. But it could change sometime. Sometime soon!

Well, spring break has begun and it hasnt exactly started on a high note. First off, i sucked and pretty much each of my 3 finals, but thankfully i wont actually know my grades until later this week. 2ndly, the net on my basketball hoop got stolen. Fine, so i havent shot any hoops since summer and the net isnt exactly the most important part of the hoop, but it still sucks to see the hoop without it. Its like getting your dog's tail cut off. And the other thing to happen on only the 2nd day of spring break happens to be the latest edition of stupid things that we've all done. Check at Vic's blog if you havent already.

So there's my little ray of sunshine for the day. And now i've got a whole week with nothing to do but put off all the little things i was putting off till spring break. Time for some fun.

"Some people are pragmatists, taking things as they come and making the best of the choices available. Some people are idealists, standing for principle and refusing to compromise. And some people just act on any whim that enters their heads. I pragmatically turn my whims into principles".

Calc final sucked, and the fools wouldnt buy back the $100 textbook. But it was the last math test i'll ever take, so there.

Now i have to go study for my chem final which will almost definitely be exponentially harder. That being said, i'm off to take a nap.

Well, one final over and done with. Thankfully, i woke up in time this time to take my 8 am ethics and society final, and i think i actually did decent. I got to drive my dad's accord today, becaue reubens is paying a visit to the doctor to get his tires changed. Mr. accord is definitely a nicer car to drive for several reasons, the most obvious being the knowledge that you wont tip over if you turn too fast and the smaller distance between the drivers seat and the radio buttons.

I had to bring a self addressed stamped envelope to my last meeting with my warren writing teacher this morning. Unfortunately, i didnt have any stamps at home so i just picked up an envelope with the plan of getting one at the price center. I walk into the bookstore and ask for a stamp, and the cashier tells me that they only sell them in tens, but that i can get a single one at the post office. Not wanting to walk all the way across the price center, i figure ill just get 10. As i go to put the stamp on my envelope, it occurs to me that i wrote my address on the return address spot. Blast!! So i end up going to the post office anyway, where i buy an envelope with a stamp already on it. And when i get to my ta's office, he isnt there. So now i'm left here with nothing to do but wait and update my blog.

Two more finals to go.

"It's too late now
I don't think I can fade
It's too real now
Fulfillment just adds fuel to the blaze"

I've been spending a good portion of the last 48 hours making outlines for answers to possible essay questions that may appear on my ethics and society final. Explaining why its wrong for a company to pollute in order to keep medications at an affordable price gets tiring after a while, especially when you have to apply your argument to a totally different situation where you stop sounding moral and righteous and start seeming evil and cruel instead. Bleh.

Me and the folks went to have lunch at souplantation today. It was the first time i'd been there since the summer, and it was pretty good. I overheard the waitress tell this one guy in a plaid orange shirt that he looked like the ghost of the dad in casper. Now does being told that you look like the ghost of a relatively handsome man count as an insult or a compliment? Theres a question for my ethics final.

Well, better get back to explaining the difference between performing an abortion and dropping a nuke.

"But of course it has to leave my clutch
But enough's never enough to make a dent"

Thursday evening, i'm driving home with vic. We're having an enjoyable time singing to "I Swear" on the radio, when as i start to make a left turn onto paseo montalban, some idiot runs the red light and amidst yells of "Whoa! Whoa! Stop! Stop! Stop!" by vic, and stop in time to avoid a disastrous crash. There are two interesting points with that event. First of all, its not the first time i've almost gotten into a crash making a left turn. So the lesson is, make sure i avoid left turns if u ever get a ride from me. The 2nd thing is i still havent quite figured out whether or not i stopped before or after vic's warnings, which makes me begin to wonder whether or not he saved our lives. Which would be strange, because oftentimes when a best friend saves another friend's life, they eventually become arch enemies. Just take superman and lex or batman and joker for example. Which makes u wonder, if me and vic ever became mortal enemies, which one would be the good guy and who would be the bad guy??

The other annoying thing happened yesterday morning. I'm walking to my car and get in when i realize that i left my sunglasses. Knowing how important they are, i decide to walk back into the house to get them. As i walk up the driveway i feel something in my shoe. Thinking that its nothing but a stone i debate whether or not i want to go through all the work of taking off my shoe to empty it out. I finally decide to, and as i take off my shoe and peek inside, i am greeted with the presence of one of the grossest beetles i have ever seen. So after smashing it with one of my dad's shoes and sweeping it onto the street with a broom, i realize that if it hadnt been for my sunglasses, i would have driven the next 30 minutes with a beetle crawling over my foot. Thank goodness for sunglasses.

So yesterday in warren writing, my teacher decides that instead of bothering to catch up on the 20 or so pages that we're supposed to have written by now, he would just show some really cool records and videos he has (we are of course studying musical subcultures). The interesting part was when he pulled out this really old record by some band called 5051, and he says something to the effect of "This is a really rare punk album from the early 80s when punk was really subcultural. If you look here on this insert, theres me screaming". My writing teacher is a punk rock star! Hahaha. Apparently he even played drums for the seeds at a concert once too. So that was interesting.

Speaking of which, i should probably start my final essay now . . .

Hmm, only posted once last week. Not much has been happening recently I guess. I had a ton of stuff i meant to get done the past few days, and i dont think i accomplished any of them. Oh well.

Theres seems to be some sort of birthday party or other celebration going on at the house thats right below my backyard. It sounds like they've got a full band playing there. Either that, or just really nice speakers. Sounds like Pretty Woman.

Well, Spring Break is almost here. Sadly, my family wont be going to vegas this year due to the fact that me and my sisters breaks fall on different weeks. How sad. Last year's palm springs / vegas trip was one of the best ones in years, but i guess this year i'll have to make due with recuperating at home (sounds like every other day).

My mom brought home the Norah Jones cd, which is what i'm listening to now (the music from the party was getting kinda boring). Now i've got the perfect mood to start coming up with a topic for my final warren writing paper.

This weekend: got to celebrate two birthdays. The first was mario's, and to celebrate we went over to BJ's in la jolla square. We consisted of me, mario, kevin, and another kevin who was also chinese and wore glasses. We had this chicken something or other pizza, which was pretty good. Kevin had a potato, being the vegetarian that he is. The other kevin seemed to have a hard time accepting the fact that kevin was a vegetarian. I'm not quite sure why.

Then, my dad's birthday yesterday. I'd tell you how old he is except i'm not actually quite sure. We drove over to an indian casino that was up north somewhere in the middle of nowhere and ate at their buffet. It was decently good, but nowhere near the vegas buffets we're all used to. They didnt have any prime rib, which basically defeats the purpose of eating at a buffet. I won a good chunk of money playing slots too. I think i one $100 bucks with one spin at some point.

Eric has a blog too now, in case you didnt notice. Which is great, because . . . well, its just great.

Quote of the moment: "Wait, let me take my pants off" -Annonymous, by request.

Friday; woke up bright and early to get ready for another day of 2 midterms. TNN was having a ferris bueller day, so i watched the first half hour or so while i looked over some calc notes. It was actually pretty funny, ill have to watch it sometime. So then i headed over to ucsd to take my first mid term of the day, and it went pretty well. Afterwards i called up kevin to meet him at plaza for lunch but being the wishywashy guy that he is he didnt get there for a good 45 minutes. I ran into raza though, so had lunch with him and mario and marios roommate.

So finally kevin gets there so we head over to our usual table at clics and study some chem. Kevin pulled a vic and spilled soda all over his white sweater. He also hit himself in the head with his pencil bag, and told us about the time he fell over playing pool.

Anyway, the chem midterm itself wasnt until 7:30 in the evening, and it went pretty well. So that leaves 2 more weeks in the quarter, then finals, then spring break, then spring quarter, then i'm home free with summer and probably an internship / job.

Kevin-Quote of the moment: "We're the best thing to ever happen to this school" -referring to him, me, and mario (he actually said some stuff funnier than this but sadly its the only thing i remember).

At the gym yesterday, me and vic discovered that discussing the concepts of gradient vectors and directional diravitives makes benching a lot easier. (i'm actually still not quite sure what they are, but its ok cuz the midterm isnt till tomorrow).

Continuing the intricate process of learning to write, my warren writing class just watched a movie called rock n roll high school. The ramones were a central part of the movie, so their music was played throughout, and i actually kinda liked it. The movie was cheesy, but a lot better than the other movie we saw with the who (not that theres anything wrong with the who). It contained such educational topics as learning how to make out with a sex doll, excuses for getting out of class, and mixing up chemicals to blow up the school. Oh, and one of my classmates from that class was talking about how her uncle designed the little gate leading from fantasy land to frontier land, and that it was named after her family. Kinda cool.

Surprise of the week: Seeing 50 cent on vic's playlist.

"When I saw the break of day
I wished that I could fly away
Instead of kneeling in the sand
Catching teardrops in my hand"

How bout them grammys? No Doubt won one, which makes me happy cuz now i can say that one of my favorite bands is grammy award winning No Doubt! They put on a pretty good performance too. Nsync did a cover meldy of Bee Gees songs, which was just about the greatest thing ever in my opinion. How can u beat nsync and the bee gees? (well, maybe nysnc and the beatles . . .). Nelly had a funny outfit if you saw it, and his performance was cool too. Norah jones was the girl of the night, winning just about every award that anyone cares about. To be honest, i didnt really care too much for her song when it first came out, but over the past few weeks i've really started to take a liking toward it. Its very soothing and relaxing. I also just recently learned that she's saying she doesnt know why she didnt come, not call. Oops. Well, hopefully she is able to stick around.

"Out across the endless sea
I would die in ecstasy
But I'll be a bag of bones
Driving down the road along"

I had a cold over the weekend, which really sucked cuz i had to write an essay. Having a cold anytime sucks, because it ruins things if you have something fun to do, and makes it even worse if you have something unfun to do. But its okay cuz i'm all better now. *sneeze*

Time for figuring out my spring schedule while trying to get some quality midterm studying in. See ya.

"My heart is drenched in wine
But you'll be on my mind
Forever"

Random stuff:

My chem T.A. is kinda cool. On valentine's day she literally threw candy it us. Really. She even hit some people in the head. But how many teachers do you know that rain candy down on their students??

There's this old fat guy in my chem class. Yesterday in chem jan ended up sitting next to him, and she was literally covering her nose with her jacket the whole lecture because he smelled so bad. Uck.

I was watching some of the american idol special last night, and there was some pretty funny stuff. Its amazing how bad people can be at singing and still think that theyre really talented. Hahaha.

2 midterms, 2 essays next week. Here we go again . . . !

Happy 2 / 3 / 4 day weekend!!

Quote of the moment: "I have two weapons; my legs, my arm, and my brains." -Michael Vick, Atlanta Falcons quarterback.

I went jogging again this morning. Now my blister hurts again and I have a cramp in my right leg. Exercise truly makes you feel alive!

So i was rummaging through some school stuff on my computer when i ran across that one romance story that we wrote way back in the beginning of AP English. Hahaha. It was even cheesier than A Tale of 3 Murders!! I couldn't bring myself to read all of it, because the first few lines made me gag pretty badly.

I've got another ethics and society essay to write. I got a B- on the first one, so i need to do well this time if I'm going to get an A in the class. That being said, i think it's time for lunch.

Wow, its been raining like crazy. Very soothing. Although the drive to school was a little interesting. It was raining so hard on the freeway that i could barely see the car in front of me. People were going like 50 mph (on the freeway!). People driving below the speed limit in the morning (not due to traffic) is something i havent seen in a while.

Me and vic paid a visit to the gym yesterday, where i discovered 2 amazing and wonderful things; jogging in the pouring rain, and cute girls in spandex shorts running on treadmills. I also have a killer blister on my foot now.

Well, its almost the time to start enrolling for classes for spring quarter. The quarter system really does go fast, doesnt it?

Remember 24? That game we used to play in math class back in middle school? Well, there's this one puzzle thats been floating around that found its way to me, thanks to raza. It took me a good while to figure out, something like an hour and a half. For comparison, it took raza 10 minutes. Anyway, humor yourselves and try it out (for those of you that forget how to play, you use each number once in order to get 24, using addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division):
21 : 10 : 5 : 3

For those of you who have never seen it, The Fly starring jeff goldblum is an incredibly gross and disturbing film. They just showed it last week, which reminded me of the first time i saw it when i was much too young to see it, scarring me for the rest of my life. Yes, its kind of interesting in a freaky sort of way, but you really dont need to see it more than once. Ugh.

Rain is best enjoyed from the warmth of your home . . . Thank goodness for no-class-tuesday!!!

Kevin quote of the moment: "The square tables are less gay". . . (???)

This weekend I . . .
Watched 3 of the greatest movies ever (or at least part of them)
Failed to talk to that cute girl
Found out what my mom's job was
Bled all over the bathtub
Beat a video game (with some help)
Saw a legend play one of his last games

All in all, this weekend was somewhat bland.

So i get an email back from the chem folk asking me for my high school so they can exempt me from chem lab. I pull out my old friend the little red planner to look for its address and number, and i'm suddenly treated to an interesting trip down memory lane. Some funny things i found:

Lots of tic tac toe games (which i won)
Vic's drawing of Balboa park with Freudian suggestions
Vic's stick figure drawings of Jen with Freudian suggestions
Lots of Stusseys
Note from Sara telling me I'm hot

Quote of the moment: "This is where they make the monsters" -yet another quote brought to you from Keven, said while we were walking down some halls we'd never been to and passed by an o-chem lab.

Well, I decided to make yet another one of those fun QuizYourFriends things. I think this makes 3? Anyway, humor me and take One more Mike quiz, with feeling!!

Riddle of the week (a question taken from an actual chem quiz, i kid you not): What do chemists make guacomole out of?

Quote(s) of the week:
"I'll pat my head for A, clap my hands for B"
"Yell out 'C' for C, and call your cell phone for D"
Me and Kev as we walk to our chem midterm.

Wow, asking that philosophical question increased my visitors per day drastically! UPN should hire me to help improve ratings. On that note, here's an all new question that we can discuss using the magic of tagboards:

If you could know the day you were going to die, would you want to?

Who is lilly?

Answer to Riddle: Avogadros

"You're beautiful, that's for sure
you'll never ever fade
you're lovely but it's not for sure
that i won't ever change
and though my love is rare
though my love is true"

Phew, what a week. Yesterday was quite an interesting friday. It started off with nice, sunny, hot san diego weather which put me in just the right mood for a calc midterm. The test went swimmingly well as far as i can tell, so that was good. Then i made the long walk down to revelle to meet kevin and mario for lunch at plaza. I havent eaten there since last quarter with chang! What memories.

So then we headed over to clics where the real fun began. It was about 1:30 at the time, which gave us 6 hours to study for our chem midterm later that evening. Studying in groups is always interesting, and jan came to join us later which only added to the fun. Between the *ahem* studying that went on, many interesting conversations came up, including jan not liking certain types of people and the fact that me, kevin, and mario all go by names other than our real ones. Turns out kevin is really jin in disguise!! Ha ha ha. Vic's talked about a guy named jin before, and all this time it was really kevin.

"Your faith in me brings me to tears
even after all these years
and it pains me so much to tell
that you don't know me that well
and though my love is rare
though my love is true"

So eventually jan got bored with us and went back to her dorm to watch seinfeld and springer. Mario got tired too and went to go play computer games. I hung around with kevin, then got bored and went on the computers to try and work on my essay. I think i wrote about 2 lines, and actually deleted about 6. So I actually made negative progress.

Eventually the library closed, so me and kev went back to plaza for dinner, where we ran into jan and mario again. We passed the remaining half hour or so distracting kevin from studying anymore. Then we headed all the way up to peterson to finally take the midterm, and it wasnt too bad (famous last words). I finished the test about 5 minutes before time, so i could get out of hall before the masses awoke. Wow, i dont think i've ever had a test so late before. And we get to do it all over again in a few weeks!. Then I drove home and watched the bourne identity, which was decent. I couldnt sleep so i did a whole bunch of other things i dont remember.

Allright, now that the 2 midterms are out of the way, i have 2 essays to write. Happy February!

"I'm like a bird, i'll only fly away
i don't know where my soul is
i don't know where my home is
i'm like a bird, i'll only fly away"

Here's an interesting philisophical question that should increase Tag-board use: Which would you choose; being remembered for 100 years, or 10 more years of life?

If you haven't already, check out Vic's blog to see the HOSSS of buddies. Hahaha. Great way to reminisce over the good ole days, although it kinda makes you feel stupid at the same time.

"I looked above the other day
cuz I think I'm good and ready for a change
I live my life by the moon
if it's high play it low
if it's harvest go slow
and if it's full then go"

Well, evil has been defeated and the streets of downtown san diego have been kept safe. Phew. What an interesting game, totally not what i expected it to be. Sure, the team that i wanted to win actually won this year, but it certainly doesnt compare with the dramatic finish of last years last second field goal, or the longest yard of 3 years ago. And the fact that i actually found myself rooting for john gruden and warren sapp actually kind of disturbs me. But what the heck, the raiders go home losers, so all's good, right?

Seriously though, with all the hype of the #1 offense vs. the #1 defense, i figured we'd see something more like the highly-unentertaining-other-than-the-halftime-show giants ravens superbowl. We actually got defense and lots of points in this one, if thats even possible. I think thats actually a contradiction. Hmm. No Doubt was awesome though.

Somewhat diversified playlist of the moment:
Beach Boys - Don't Worry Baby
Nelly Furtado - Turn out the Light
Pras - Ghetto Superstar
Beatles - Hello, goodbye

Quote of the moment: "Good thing its already as big as it can get" -Kevin, responding to a totally innocent comment by Vic.

Well, here's to a week with 2 midterms and an essay.

"Where is your logic
Who do you need
Where can you turn
In your delicate time of need"

An example of my ethics and society professor's sense of humor.

I'm back from my journeys in and around san fran. Phew, what a weekend. The drive up there was nice and long, with much of it done in very dense fog. 10 hours, with one break in the middle. My dad is a machine. Must be from all that practice driving to and from vegas. We stopped for lunch at a jack in the box about 2 minutes from the in n out we ate at leaving six flags. Brings back memories, doesnt it?

So after arriving at the hotel at 2 in the morning, we got a few hours of sleep before heading off to the baptism, which we missed. But we met up with all the family peeps, and went to get lunch at some philipino restaurant. Now, a philipino family's idea of a good time can be described in one word: food. And sometimes karaoke. Needless to say, we ate a lot and listened to some people sing. We also drove around a bit and ended up hanging out at some huge house that had a tv in the garage. The next day we headed over to san fran to see some of the sights. We drove over the golden gate, and took pictures above and below it where it was very very windy, and therefore nice and cold. Taking pictures of our 20+ group can be summed up with the word "Compress!". And also the phrase "One more camera!". Then we took a drive up and down some of the more hilly areas (it felt like going up on a rollercoaster . . . more good memories) including the famous "most crooked" road (perhaps the most inefficient architectural design right up there with those stairs going to revelle). We had dinner at fisherman's wharf, which was good, and walked around a bit before coming back home to play cards and watch movies. We played that one game called chems or kemps or whatever will called it, except the new jersey people called it gabes. You'd be surprised how successful a signal "Look over here!" was.

It was kinda cool to see a lot of the kids who i havent seen for something like 7 years. The toddlers turned to young children, the babies had become little kids, a new baby came out of nowhere, and i was referred to as "the skinny one who had gotten huskier".

Well, it has happened. The raiders are coming to san diego, and their "fans" with them. My weekend travel into the heart of the lion's den hasnt put them any higher on my list of people i like , so all i can say is dont stay out late on the streets this superbowl weekend.

I actually got some reading done amidst the 16+ hours spent on the road. That leaves me with only a little more reading, some calc problems, an endless list of chem questions, 2 quizs to study for and an essay to write. That being said, i think im going to go play some much missed ps2.