jazz the ripper

dudes from bob's old school. Most of them were in marching band...except for the pianist. They don't sound polished, but they are good. Especially the saxes. God, the bari sax is so controlled....so nice. The alto had good sound....good personality...good intention.

I think that when people are playing their own music, you can really determine what they're like...especially if it's jazz. It tells you how quirky they are, how fun they are, how smooth and in control fo themselves, or how wacky and out of order. I love jazz...and so do these guys. Listen to the pianist as well. Have fun and enjoy. I hope to buy their cd one day.

commitment

so my much better half recently showed me something on this topic.

Strange how everything seems to appear at the right time. Mind-boggling ideas and thought-provoking discourses on life always makes me want to take my brain out of its dusty, useless summer existence and blog something worthwhile. Approximately two days ago, I had a discussion with tracy about marriage. This was, perhaps, a discussion brought on by teenage sleep-deprivation and the brain's deviation toward the loopy side as the hours get closer to morning. Marriage, to me, is something beneficial, it's something horrible, and also something amazing. Sometimes when I think about marriage and such commitment, I tend to become elitist...frowning upon the matrimonial practices of everyone around me. It disgusts me to the core, and yet I find the thought of being with one person for all eternity slightly appealing. Sometimes when I think more about it, I get skeptical and that idea seems improbable. Things happen and two people who know each other at a young age cannot possibly still be together say...55 years later. Personalities collide, interests diverge, and careers create walls...basically, life gets involved. If only everything was as peachy-keen as it is in the movies or the storybooks. Happily ever after is a concept barely attainable in my mind. Vulnerability is a concept barely acceptable and the world doesn't make it sound any more acceptable. Even this blog is a horrible, horrible attempt at accepting the fact that you are vulnerable. When posting, i worry about revealing flaws, worry about sounding stupid, and everything is--for some unknown reason that I've yet to figure out--unacceptable if it's grammatically incorrect. That's how I am with my better half. However, the one wonderful thing, I think, about having such a person is that they are interested in knowing your flaws regardless of the disgust and incompetence that might be uncovered. Utter incompetence that I'm sure everyone is capable of. Oh, the skeletons in your closet, the people you've ruined/hurt, the dark side--being able to reveal those without fear. It's wonderful to see your fears being stripped down one by one over the course of the year that you've been together. Just imagine, those years add up to so many fears, which I probably have but might not be aware of. I welcome that opportunity. As Kolena told my fellow Physic Tpx classmates and I, "...be with someone from whom you can learn new things." Even though he was talking about roommates, my favorite sassy physics teacher has got the right idea. Regardless of the kind of package that person comes in, it is a rather rare opportunity and you should choose wisely.

----(2:34 am): time for an ultra rant. refer to my blog post above.

things I learned from driving

I've been waking up early...anywhere from 6:30 to 9 am to drive, and I"ve learned a few very valuable things just from driving around my neightborhood.

1) everyone needs to trim their bushes if it's at the corner of every street

2) the wooden poles that are placed to connect the electric cables are *REALLY* inconveniently placed at street corners

3) Dead End signs are also inconveniently placed so that you only see it *AFTER*
you've turned into the street.

4) Every street that you turn right into from Florida St. is a Dead End. Perhaps that's why the Dead End signs are inconsiderately placed the way they are.

5) I'm a bolder driver than my mother--and I might be turning a teeny bit too fast into roads.

6) Squirrels that are dead on the street are so because they *commit suicide* by NOT clearing the street when cars arrive.

7) Having on nice-smelling clothes help the driving experience

8) Yard sales are REALLY annoying if you're a driver because your two-lane roads have been turned into one-lane roads.

9) Driving past 45 gives you a rather alarming adrenaline rush that feels wonderful

10) If those black gansta kids don't get out of the road, I should just run them over the next time.

favorite kitchen tool

I am really amused to find that out of the videos that I watched about the top chef contestants, 3 said that their favorite kitchen appliance is the japanese mandoline and three said that they love vitapreps.

goddamn...in the process of looking for the correct spelling and such for "vitaprep"--in case it's not one of those things that is spelled like it's pronounced--I found another blog...that recaps top chef...and man is it my cup of AWESOME tea!

Here's an excerpt:

Spike: "I'm going to make a salad so good that the entire world will give me a blow job."

Richard: "The word 'salad' is so interesting, I'm going to write a very witty poem about it."

Lisa: "There are people who don't deserve to be here because their personality sucks."

Wow, Lisa's being a little hard on herself. She's not that bad.

Lisa: "I'm not talking about myself, shit-for-brains! My personality is fine!"

Of course it is. My mistake.

And another excerpt:

Stephanie: "I've been running the numbers and I've figured out that there's a possibility three women could be in the final four!"

Yes. It's also possible, but unlikely, that there could be three women in the final three. It would be virtually impossible for there to be three women in the final two, however. Just wanted to point that out.

And yet another excerpt...last one, I promise:

Team Loser is messing up all their dishes. Dale screws up his guacamole and, for the second week in a row, someone sabotages Lisa's rice.

Lisa: "Son of a bitch! Why is it so hard for me to make a goddamn pot of rice?!"

Lisa starts freaking out because she thinks Dale is freaking out:

Lisa: "I'm not going to be all 'Let's go play baseball!' Know what I mean?"

No. I really have no idea what you're talking about.

I love google

So I'm currently watching a top chef marathon, up until the unveiling of the "reunion episode". I just read Richard Blais' info on wikipedia and I went on google to search for the Blais Vs. Batali battle. This is what the google search got me, and I decided that I love the google suggestions.

anyway, in the process, I also found his website. It's a rather pretty website...simple, amazing, good music.

Here's Blais' baby photos. His new daughter, Riley Maddox Blais. There are also...wedding photos.

sam wu = hugh heffner?

me: I think sam wu needs for social things to do
me: ....
me: being couped up in a room with two other asian boys playing video games at their last iviz of the year
me: that's...just sad
"---": wow. i didnt know he did that. but when u think about it, he's pretty much set for life. he's so smart, so he'll make outrageous amounts of money. then he'll become like that playboy guy Hugh Heffner.
me: ..........................
me: ew
me: thoughts of my junior brother being surrounded by busty blond girls
me: ...
me: ew
"---": lol. i just said it to mess u up
me: *twitch*
-----------------------

still on the subject of playboy...here's the context

me: but that would be interesting "Dr. Bridget Marquardt of Playboy!!"
"---": .......you are weird.
me: ...
me: I am not weird...
me: <.<
me: I resent that
"---": *patpat*
"---": its ok
"---": the first step to dealing with a problem is to admit you have one. when youre ready to take that step, i'm here for u

Honor and integrity

I think that people should play by their own talents and such, and if that is done then everything else should play out for itself. I don't find it very appealing and "top chef-like" to uhh..."throw people under the bus". I think those things just kinda proves that people, in Season 4's Andrew's parting words, are weak.

here's a quote straight from "television without pity" (and I couldn't have said it any better):

Lisa, squirming under the realization that her claims of sabotage haven't saved her from elimination, decides to employ her new-found love of the rules, and a defense for looking out for number one, to call out Andrew on his failure to use a whole grain. "I don't want to point fingers," she says, pointing fingers. "We are aware of it," Colicchio assures her, because we know all. We just like to watch you all implode.

He did, however, lose his rule sheet early in the challenge (I've never seen a rule sheet in any of the episodes, although it does make sense that there would be one), and forged ahead without it. Lisa apologizes for calling Andrew out, and maintains that he'd have done the same to her. He wouldn't, he says, and that's the difference. "If I say any more, I'm scared I'm going to get punched," says Lisa. If only.

We who have watched her all through the season have what I call "outsider's view" and i think that when the masses all see you as something, there's probably at least a grain of truth in it. And no, it's not just ugly. It's also "slimy, a hack, and talentless".

She's not all that pleasant to work with, and you know...she's just bitchy, I feel, in all the wrong places. Here's another small passage from television without pity that I think also sums up the reasons for my frustration against her on-screen personality:

And then the episode continues, so I figured they were going to have a scene where each of the final three announces that he or she is going to win. But no. Instead, there's a kind of awkward silence after Antonia leaves and Lisa bitches, "I know you guys are upset that Antonia's leaving, but a congratulations would have been nice." Wow. Wooooooooooooow. The unmitigated gall on that woman. Stephanie and Richard are exhausted, and trying to process that their friend left instead of Lisa, and she's pissed about their manners? Did she say congratulations to them? Because they just made the finals too. Stephanie immediately congratulates Lisa, but quite angrily, and Richard follows suit. Lisa mumbles that they must think that the wrong person went home. No one contradicts her. Richard awesomely interviews, "What did she expect? I don't understand that. You won the fucking bronze medal. Congratulations. There you go." And we'll let Richard have the last word. Thanks for letting me sub in on one of my favorite shows this week - Chuck will be back next week for the finale!

Here's her response

Well, Lisa, this is what the blogs have to say about you...and well...not only are you ugly on the inside, but also on the outside *peppy voice* where it counts!

But I have to give it to her that while her food looked rather "pedestrian" and less complex compared to stephanie's, the winner, it seemed really nice. She cooked a wonderful last meal. Her personality gives a weird aftertaste, but...uhh..well, I guess you can't taste it if it's back in the kitchen.

look at their (Stephanie, Richard and Lisa) record. It's not strange to say that she "surprised the audience by outperforming Richard" because Richard has quite a wonderful culinary background.

Why do I live with pigs?

No...You know, this has to be similar to what tarzan felt when he was a human living with a bunch of apes...only these feelings are less than sentimental.

I don't understand why my sister and my dad cannot learn the concept of cleaning up after themselves. It's like...my sister had rice with this soup that my mom made. my dad took the container out of the fridge and heated it up with the rice. He ate the same thing, then someone had flan, and a banana, and then they had ice cream cake. These things were what I found when I went to the kitchen.

1) the container with the soup was left out, the lid off, sitting on the counter
2) two bowls were left out on the counter near the sink with food still in them, stacked up on top of each other
3) the paper bowls with flan and some ramen thing probably from last night were left with real utensils in them and put in the sink--this is something that I've argued with my dad over and over again. Things that belong in the trash go in the trash, things that belong in the sink go in the sink. It's that simple. I hate touching food and trash when I do dishes. It's nasty, bottom line.
4) dirty scissors that he used to cut up jenny's food--yeah she's SEVEN and he's cutting up her food--was left on the edge of the sink on the counter.

It pisses me off so damn much to live with such slobs. Oh my god....what the hell? Is it so hard to freaking empty out the bowls and put the trash in the trash, the utensils and real bowls in the sink? i had something thawing out in the one sink, the dirty dishes in the other, and he didn't even put the paper bowls in the right sink. No...he just puts it on top of the stuff I was thawing. That's disgusting! DISGUSTING! He doesn't clean up after himself, ever! I or my mother have to clean up everything! God, he doesn't do anything! *sigh* I don't even have anything to say anymore. Just...people just....need to stop and think about what they're doing, especially when other people have to deal with it.

the "everything" test

E2: The Everything Test 2

There are many different types of tests on the internet today. Personality tests, purity tests, stereotype tests, political tests. But now, there is one test to rule them all.

Traditionally, online tests would ask certain questions about your musical tastes or clothing for a stereotype, your experiences for a purity test, or deep questions for a personality test.We're turning that upside down - all the questions affect all the results, and we've got some innovative results too!
Version 2 is leaner, meaner, and features a more mature and varied set of questions than the previous test. Enjoy!

Character Traits Analytical 0% Artistic 26% Driven 40% Emotional 100% Horny 71% Independent 50% Musical 36% Optimistic 0% Outgoing 0% Political 22% Religious 18% Romantic 50% Social 0%

Life Experience Criminality 0% Intellectual 25% Relationships 20% Sexuality 30% Travel 20%

Politics Your political views would best be described as Libertarian, while philosophically you tend to think like a Conservative.

Socioeconomic Your attitude toward life best associates you with Working Class. You make more than 0% of those who have taken this test, and 100% less than the U.S. average.

You tend to think more like an artist than an engineer.

Location-wise, you would probably be a good fit for the City.

TAKE THE TEST
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