distracted at borders

went to borders to try to get some class stuff done. i ran into km and sx there. i found a counter seat in the crowded cafe, but couldn't manage to get much done. the table of state kids right next to me kept talking loudly about their friend's second abortion and her state of mind. didn't need to hear that. i ended up going over to crepevine. i'm starting to like that place to go to hang out and do some work.

dumb walgreens person

yesterday, i dropped off my film for one hour developing at walgreens. when i came back a different person was there to try to look for my order, but couldn't find it. he went back again and brought back my order with the name "Asian, Guy." turns out that the dumb girl forgot my name or didn't enter it properly. geez louise.

scary letters

scans of the actual anthrax letters.

beginning of a storyboard artist career?

i just got in touch with a commercial director seeking a storyboard artist. he needed someone for a no-budget commercial involving the top b-boy dance crew in the nation. this job doesn't pay (despite being for one of the top athletic shoe companies out there), but it looks like it can be a really great portfolio piece for me and all other people involved in the piece. (if you wanna know which break crew or shoe company, you can e-mail me.) the guy says that he has a bunch of projects with budgets which they do need storyboards on, but can't promise anything just yet.

i'll give it a shot this one time without pay. at the very least, it should be a great new experience... a fun project to work on drawing sequential storyboards of two battling hip hop crews doing it out on the street. i don't think i would have done it if it was a boring subject. i'll also get some new professional contacts out of the gig and may pick up some video skills along the way.

i've been thinking that my illustration skills are my biggest creative strength right now (much better than my design or interactive skills). i've gotten comments how i'm just about at a professional level. (i know i can draw better than most art directors and graphic designers whom i've met.) i could be a little better in my finishing skills tho. doing storyboards for commercials may be just up my alley, since i can do the compostions and layouts pretty easily in basic, quick marker sketches. as a storyboard artist, i'll be setting up the preliminary shots, settings, camera angles, poses. hopefully i'll come up with some really strong stuff which translates well into film.

perfect timing

i got this gig by replying to an old post on a job board. it was sort of a long shot since the date on the post was 10/01! but it turns out that the guy still needed someone. he had gotten a whole bunch of e-mail from interested parties earlier on, and was corresponding with them. then things got busy, was deleting e-mails, then got confused who he had told what. so then he finds himself still needing a storyboard artist. and now comes my e-mail. perfect timing, eh? (jing ding.) after replying on e-mail, i talked to the guy today, and he was pretty much just gave me the job (which of course doesn't pay anything) to me. didn't have to show a portfolio. i could bring him some samples when i meet him on thursday...but i don't think it's necessary. anyways, storyboards don't have to be perfectly finished, it's all about basic compostion and that's it.

i hope i won't really have to spend any money on paper or boards to mount them. but at the same time, i want my portfolio pieces to be nice.

jho will hook me up with a b-boy crew video to use for reference. should be cool. anyone else got some breakdancing material for me?

outlook again

hoo-ray. i just set up outlook again for e-mail. now i can have my domain e-mails showing on my outgoing, and i can hide my dumb underscore again. i'm gonna try to switch back to my gw.com emails for personal correspondance. this means that a bunch of people curious about my domain will discover my blog. i expect the number of daily hits to bump up. (if that's you, welcome! please drop me a line.)

i finally got around to sending the lumps roster, too. it takes forever trying to send mail with an attachment to over 100 people in webmail, that's why i had to do outlook.

dave brubeck

i'm listening to a dave brubeck cd right now, in anticipation of an upcoming jazz concert. "take five" is pretty good. "take five" may be the single most widely recognizable piece jazz has produced.

step mom and jack o lantern

today i carved a pumpkin. i made it like a funny looking guy with a black eye. i think i could have done better with tthe proper tools. i helped with j's pumpkin too. while i was whittling and carving, i was also watching the stepmom dvd which i got for free at the pumkin festival a while back. movie wasan't too bad.

betelnut

i had a dinner date with my grandma tonite. after failing in securing parking around polk street, we ended up around union street, where i chanced upon betelnut. i had always wanted to go here, but never did til now. it's pretty cool and comfortable, trendy interior design. we were really stuffed on dessert, having ordered 4 dishes...a spicy "seoul kitchen" chicken salad, pork dumplings, a korean pork thing, and some green onion pancakes. so stuffed! good food. i liked the place. i'd go back and try more of the menu.

no ktv

no go for jc or me. i wonder if they used any asians at all. anyone wanna check out malibu tuesday afternoon and lemme know? =)

gamecube party

i stopped by a nintendo gamecube launch party by the wharf. i hung out there with kl. it was right next to the wax musuem. i saw my cop friend cl, working outside. he and his partner were crowd control or something like that. he said that he was getting paid $50 an hour, b/c it was an overtime shift. i think on average he makes $29 and hour on a cop's pay. dang. he's been doing it for a year or two, max...anyone need a job? he told me that the sfpd are hiring next month.

got a chance to check out the new gamecube games. like smash bros, luigi's mansion, and that star wars game. they all look very cool,. luigi looks like it's a cool concept...searching for mario in a haunted house, he goes around with a vaccuum cleaner, sucking up ghost (a la shostbusters).

this party goes on for the next couple of weeks. go check it out.

café nite: MEANING in world chaos

i emceed the nite with jh. started off by introducing the theme and talked about the illustration i did for the flyer. i challenged and engaged people to find some deeper meaning in it, and closed at the end sharing my deeper insights into it. the nite was a great event of shared perspectives on life and faith in the chaotic world today. addressed themes were fear, being lost, grief, god's peace and strength, and looking towards tomorrow. the speaker dr remesh richard is very good. eloquent and sharp. using a context of fear and pain today, he went into a 5 point perspective on humanity...how we're not 1)animals, 2) robots, 3) angels, 4) demons, and 5) god. gave illustrative and supportive stories and analogies. he pointed out unique characteristic, like how we deal with intellectual pain, moral ethics, emotional pain, capability for good and evil. his message was pretty interesting and engaging, even if you're not christian. we had about 140 people come out last nite. would of had more had it not been for halloween weekend saturday.

burger king simpsons spooky light-ups

i now have lisa and principal skinner. the girl at the cashier said that they had homer, but the guy who gave me my order said that they had run out of em. crud. if i had known i wouldn't have gotten 2 hamburger kids meals.

wanna-be K-TV star

Looking for Young, hip, attractive (whatever that means to YOU!) 18 - 24 year old Guys and Girl ACTORS FOR MUSIC VIDEOS. (Do you HAVE to be 18 - 24? No. If you are a blessed 29 year old and LOOK like a college-aged student, come on down!)

We want a WIDE VARIETY of ethnicities represented. So please come out if you are unique looking, regular looking, cool or anywhere in between.

This is our second series of videos for TAO Music, inc. You can check them out at TAOmusic.tv, click on the Club iKTV section and see a sample of some earlier work. TAO sells cool, little Karaoke machines with Video CD's of current radio songs that teens can Karaoke along with!!!

this was the announcement for the karaoke video casting call that i went to yesterday with jc. just for the heck of it. i know i still look like a college student and i think i'm in between regular looking and cool. here's how it went down...

jc and i went to fort mason at about 11:00. i had just invited jc along that am, since i figured he'd be sorta free. there were about 6 people in front of us...different types of people...a few white girls, a black guy with a really huge afro, and this asian skater dude. more people came later. there were two asian girls later and an asian guy who had a mustache.

some of them are wanna be actors. it took a while for the individual casting interviews to begin. a lady told us a little bit more about the videos. they hope to show fun scenes as if it's hang out time after school. i think they're going to do videos of faith hill's "breathe", a j-lo song, and some alternative group's song that i forgot. they usually do really popular songs, i think with teenagers in mind as the target audience. tao music karaoke vcd's are going to have their big push this christmas. i think they're trying to be in big stores, like target. that would be so funny to see a picture of yourself in a promotion at target.

at the casting interview, they had us speak on camera, talk about why we're interested, past experiences, hobbies, availability, etc. i compared notes with jc afterwards. they told him that he had a unique look, has a nice leather jacket, and is tall. i think that's a pretty good sign for him. i think it may be pretty odd to have too many asians in there, so i dunno what the chances are of them using both of us. i think they let us know today.

jc had asked them what type of people they get and need. supposedly they're usually short on black girls. they also want people who look like they can be in college (or maybe high school)? they're trying to film at mailbu grand prix. i think they need about 12 people (and there were about 30 some people at the casting call). some of them look a bit too old.

anyhoo...i dunno. i'll update later when i get word.

the temp life

today i was a fill in exec assistant for udv, what i believe is the biggest wine distributor/maker around. it's a different office envionment than i've ever been too. lots of alcohol and wine on display everywhere. yet, the office isn't nearly as trendy or cool as a design shop or ad agency. still very corporate and conservative feeling. the computer that i was working on was slow, had a dinky monitor, and ran older versions of office software. not used to that. today i mostly did power point stuff, printed stuff out, and checked e-mail. not too bad.

sick of milpitas

right after work, i headed down to milpitas to meet up with family. we had dinner at mayflower in milpitas square. (i was there a few months ago for a wedding banquet.) i wanted to check out the great mall while i was down there and go to dave and busters. well...i got down to the area ok, but i got lost multiple times trying to find my way to the great mall. the problem was that i had directions to the restaurant but not to the great mall. it was terrible. i think i wasted 30 min going around with heavy traffic around me, too. i finally made it to dave and busters and did some research for my HHH restaurant project. i could definitely feel the frantic energy around me in the midway area. wish i had a digital camera to take pix. (i'm thinking about getting the cannon powershot s30 sometime next month. a few other friends have their eyes on it also.) after a quick walkthru, i was off to go to the restaurant. well, i somehow got lost again, wound up in a couple more circles and got to the restaurant 20 min late. sigh. i really don't like that great mall parkway drive. so confusing how it loops around the mall. anyways, i'm pretty sick of milpitas right now. i think i drove by a few intersections like 4-6 times tonite.

badly dubbed hk flicks

can you believe that i've never seen drunken master til today? was over at ec's place and caught the last half of it on his digital cable. english dubbed. after that i saw the enforcer (starring jet li) which was also dubbed. i was pretty sleepy during the first half of it since it was so late and i had a long day, but i perked up for the end.

better get some sleep. just for newness kicks (and for some possible pocket cash), i'll be going to a casting call for a karaoke music video!

all around town

busy busy today. met up with o for one of our late breakfast/early lunch meetings. we tried to bistro yoffi (chestnut and pierce). i had walked by this place and it looked pretty cool with a patio. however, we discovered that it was only open for dinner today. so we went to cafe marimba, since o's never been there. food was just ok this time. food would have been more plentiful if we had gotten the platters or moles.

afterwards, i headed over to a/x on union to check out a jacket my mum just got me. i wanted to see if i could find a better color or style. turns out that all the summer items went on sale another 25% today! so i called her, and she came over with my po po to get the price difference. not just on my jacket, but on an identical jacket we bought for my teenage cousin's bday. (it was a really good deal.) if you're into a/x, go today to check out the sale. i wasn't really into it too much, but my cousins had given me a couple of things from the store. the latest gift turned into a series of visits to attempt to upgrade a size, exchange, and exchange more. i had an item at home that was discounted more, so it looks like i gotta go again soon to do the return and credit thing.

afterwards, i had a second lunch with my mom and po po at rose's cafe. i then went downtown, stopped by the ad school, then headed over to rocketpostcards.com to pick up the jumbo sized postcard programs. if you wanna check em out, odds are you can now find them inside a tapioca place, cafe, or popular asian restaurant on irving.

serendipitous jing ding

more cases of serendipity in my life. a lot of it has to do with meeting people by chance.

saving and spending
stumbling across the sale at a/x, saving a lot of money (which got spent on more things).

borders buddies and guerilla postings
after picking up the postcards, i went to stonestown borders to return something. i was thinking and hoping that i might run into a familar face there who i could invite to cafe nite.lo and behold, i run into jf in the cafe. and then, it turns out that al is at the table next to him. they both go to lumps but havn't met each other til now. jf's sharing a table with this indian girl abbey, whom he introduces himself to after the three of us guys do the intros and how do you do. it seemed like the natural thing to do. i gave her a cafe nite program/flyer. maybe she'll come out.

i ended up taking jf with me to do the flyering thing on irving street. the jumbo sized postcards can be found at all three tapioca places, the two vietnamese places, go gos, and the donut place. the only place that rejected us was sheng-kee bakery. phooey on them. i left some with starbucks, but the manager wasn't there so the asian girl took them on the slim chance that the manager says it's ok. hopefully it'll get some more people to come out.

we wanted to go to burger king for dinner. (i really wanted more simpson's spooky light ups). i had thought the closest bk was at geary and 3rd so we went over there. turns out that they had no more simpsons toys, so that was a bummer.

after lumps at about 11:30pm, i realized that there were a bunch of flyers left. so i took it upon myself to do some guerilla posting. i drove over to tart to tart, and posted some up there. i also started going around on flyering on streetpoles, signal lights, and a few muni areas. just after midnight when i was about done posting some flyers up at a corner, i see someone walking towards me. it was mt, walking home from studying with a friend. i chatted with them, give the friend (who's indian, btw) a flyer, then give mt a ride home. it was pretty lucky for her bumping into me. otherwise she'd be walking alone for a bit to go home in the dark cold. definitely jing ding. i never go around that area late on a thursday nite.

lucky penny

after my branding environments nite class (HHH), i gave ao a ride home from work. she's only a block and a half away from my class. we ended up eating at lucky penny. she wanted a lite meal, and i wated to try something new, so we went there. i'd heard from x before that a lot of cops hang out there, since it's 24 hours. gl goes there every sunday with his dad for lunch after church. i always drive by it, since i take pine to masonic. finally found an occasion to go in.

regular diner type of fare and atmosphere. ao said it was like a so-cal diner. i had a hot roast beef sandwhich with fries. not too bad. service to pay the bill was a tad slow at the end tho. gl ended up joining us half-way thru. he observed that it was a different staff than sundays. i said it better be, since it's open 24!

so much to blog...so little time. this is cutting into my sleep. but i don't wanna catch up later. so...here's my busy tuesday...

illustrated books exhibit at the legion of honor

great exhibit. a mighty fat exhibit of printed, illustrated books across the ages. lots of picasso stuff too. i went on a free tuesday with jc. go check it out! also saw some academy of art students doing a live demonstration of figure drawing. man, i could do better than half of those guys. i really need to draw more.

j-town bookstore hanging

right afterwards, jc and i had time til our evening movie, so we hung out at the j-town bookstore for a few hours. i was scoping out the very cool design books imported from japan. (some of them cost us $45, jacked up import prices.) it was educational and inspiring for me. i think i need to visit this bookstore once a month.

k-pax

i saw a free preview tuesday nite at the kabuki with ds and jc and jc's friend. i got the hookups from a sfbg promotion. if you don't read that or the sf weekly, you really should if you're into free movies. weekly they give away passes to sneak peek screenings to the upcoming movies. usually that's the same screening that the press goes too. usually it's pretty easy to get passes if you want. last week friday, jc and i went to the house of magic on chestnut at 1:00, turned in a doodle of an alien face, then "bingo" free passes. the only thing after that is to get to the theater early b/c they usually overbook the place. but that's ok, if you have a book and time. just go early and hang out.

so the movie. k-pax is about a supposed alien named prot (kevin spacey) who comes to earth and ends up in a mental institution. he's examined by a doctor (jeff bridges), who's trying to figure out if he's real or just mental. along the way, prot does some amazing stuff and helps the other patients in the hospital. this is a great movie. kevin can really act.

the movie was also pretty funny at times too. and funny beyond those clips you here on the trailers. i can laugh loud in movies, and it got me going sometimes. there was one time when i laughed at something all by myself. i immediately responded to the joke. however, i didn't hear anyone else laugh in the entire theater. after a split second passed, then i think people got it (with the follow-up). everyone else laughed. you can say i was quick on the draw. lemme know if you check it out. i won't say anymore about the movie, except... "adios, aloha!"

AIM blogging: learn more here.

wowzers! i can now blog via aim!

redo. my last post disappeared. good thing it wasn't a whopper.

sloat gardens

yesterday i got an early start giving a friend a ride. i then went to the beach and did some reading and reflecting. on an impulse, i decided to check out sloat gardens, a gardening/planting store right across from the beach. i knew about it for a while and i've been meaning to check it out. getting ao her birthday present was the main motivation. i'd gotten her japanese black rocks in a nice japanese black bowl with three bulbs of paperwhites. i had figured that she needed a plant since she just moved in to a new place. plus, when i walked into the store, the paperwhites were pretty cool looking and sorta modern, with long steps and using no soil, just water. altho it was a good gift, i wanted to see at a similar store if i had paid too much.

it turns out that getting the gift at the gardener in berkeley, was worth it. this sloat gardens place had a lot of stuff and a wide selection of plants you can imagine. but they didn't carry the all black shiny stones and didn't carry a japanese vase. also all of their paperwhite bulbs were small and only had one stalk coming out. as opposed the giant ones which had three or tour at the oher store.

while at the sloat gardens, i see these extremely vivid, small flowers. they're called lasers. laser whites, laster purples, laser scarlet flames. the petals looked like they were printed on an epson printer!

non-paying design work

worked a lot today doing design stuff. worked into the nite then earlier mid-day doing a program for the cafe nite. it should turn out really nicely and will get a lot of attention. it won't just be the nite's program/keepsake, but also as a promotional piece which should make its way to the irving cafes and tapioca places this thursday. after spending probably 10 hours concepting, writing, and designing the piece, i had to switch gears and work on stuff for my class. i had to throw together a cover and two spreads for my annual report project in about 2 1/2 hours. a lot of stuff to do in a short amount of time (especially compared to the other project).

i do enjoy working on the projects. the program more, b/c of personal interest, and i know it a lot of people will be getting and keeping it. too bad neither of the projects pay. i should be putting some hours into something that's a little more monetarily rewarding today (as opposed to future rewarding by building a portfolio). it's tough to find that balance.

no money

the last mini-freelance gig i did still hasn't paid! i didn't even charge that much. by market rate, i should have really charged 10x the amount i did, b/c of all of the hours put into it. another person also owes me $$ and said that the check was going in the mail. for the first freelance gig i did, the guy (a friend) was good and paid me upfront. but for the third job it took like a month or two to get paid. now if i know if i ever do mini-contract jobs, i gotta be pretty formal in money upfront and scoping out the project.

another money gripe...there's a hold-up in getting the check from the temp gig. it turns out i never filled out the W2 (cuz the agency forgot to give it to me). the payroll lady called me up today and faxed one over to me, but i was in such a rush with the class project, i didn't have time to get my IDs copied for her. looks like i have to wait another week then for some cash flow. (just one week, i hope.)...if you owe me money, i'm waiting...

the nite beat: cafe cruising

after class, i felt like going to a cafe. a different cafe this time. so i headed up to around polk and green, cuz my friend said that there are about 4 cafes there. i followed my impulse for newness. found one but didn't feel like staying. i ended up checking out the area a little bit, figuring out what's open later. i ended up driving around looking for a random late nite cafe that might interest me. went all around town pretty much. down lombard, union street, fillmore, geary to inner clement, balboa and 6th (stopped into javaholics, looks sorta big and clean, didn't stay). after gassing up i went down noriega and taraval. i pretty much took the really long route home. part of my impulse for newness. also part to sorta relax after my long couple of days doing design work.

the city tour took me about an hour and a half maybe? when i was driving around the sunset, it dawned on me that this is what a cop's job is like. driving around town. scoping out action. seeing the late nite places still open. (gas stations, bars, a few cafes, laundrymats.) a whole lot of personal reflection going on.

ponderings

i think i've been getting more introspective with my blog. i post tangents different from the mission of my blog, to record newness...maybe, that's probably more interesting for people to read. maybe more boring. ah well...

social mapping

i often play armchair psychiatrist with the social environments i'm in. i subconsciously/consciously map out the landscape of social relations around me. how people interact. how circles and groupings form. how people react differently in thinking about these social circles, feeling included or not included. talking to various people...i see a range or responses. some get all hot and bothered about being dissed and left out. some see it in terms of getting respect or disrespect. some people shrug it off and have other more important things to worry about. a few think fairly to be inclusive and accomodating. some don't like big groups and are more comfortable with a smaller knit group.

i tend to be on the rational and inclusive side of the cube. if i get invited to bday parties, smaller outings, or personal celebrations, i don't feel like i should belong just because of the make-up of the group. one should only belong based on the strength of the recent interaction with the planning individual or honored person. when people complain about not being included, yet don't have the personal tie to the appropriate person...they really ought not to be complaining. i don't see things as a popularity manner, but more of an interpersonal relationship thing. in terms of belonging and bonding, you usally get as much as you put in.

what really sucks is when you have recent interaction with someone (like same day) and you still get overlooked. consicously or unsciously. (not just present day events, but future events in the planning.) not just that but you find out about it after the fact, and you know you have a stronger personal tie than someone else.

all of this social inclusiveness is tough when you're in a big web of connected friends and acquaintances. it's sorta like high school, so i figure. i wasn't really into all of that in high school. imagine 90210 or Friends, but multiplied in size 3 or 4 times. if you expand to a 2nd tier of peripherary people, instead multiply by 5 or 6. i've an and have been familiar with groups like this.

i dislike fakeness and vaguities that people pass off...all in order to supposedly not offend someone not on the inner circle. like when you're doing normal chit chat stuff about whatcha up been up to. when people skew truths or awkwardly refer to people you know as just "friends" or "people." the most natural thing to do in a conversation is to reference someone by name if the other person knows them personally or indirectly. it's peculiar (and extremely noticeable for me) when people do the opposite and purposely use the general reference. especially when it's done repeatedly.

it's interesting to me seeing how people move up and down the scales of popularity. how people relate to another. i've always been a keen observer for this stuff and mentally analyzing it. (greg means watchful one, btw.) i think if i didn't have any creative muscles, i'd be intersted in psychology or else being a consultant on organizational behavior. (i did take two classes in that, btw. one from the business view of it. another from the sociological side of it.)

dealerships

went car shopping with gl again today. went to toyota 101, where my bud nm works. also went to the subaru dealer and a used car dealership. the used car guy informed us a little about those car auctions that everyone here's about. he said that it's not really such amazing deals, b/c that's where all of the dealerships sell their junk cars...trade-in cars that aren't clean. if new dealerships get a huge amount of complaints about used cars they sell, they can lose their license. that's why the ones they sell probably don't have salvage titles or a dirty history. the mom and pop stores will carry them. they may repair them to get them looking good, but they won't last long term. many people are apprently deluded into thinking their getting a fat deal, getting access to an auction thru a friend who can hook them up.

talking to nm, what's important to him as an associate fleet manager is how a car will hold up and run. he also suggested that a car for my personality (in a lower price range) is a civic or a nissan sentra. still trying to figure out what kinda car i'd like.

armani exchange

since i was down that way, i went to stanfurd shopping center to go to armani exchange. i had to return the sweater i got from exchanging the shirt i got from my cousins. the original shirt was cool, but a size too small. i woulda just upgraded a size, but the union street store never carried the shirt. i sorta liked the sweater i had exchanged it for, but had second thoughts about the funny neckline. i wanted to check out the palo alto store, just to see if they have different stock. i wasn't really into anything much up at the union street store.

i'm glad i made the trip. i did find a wool sweater that was pretty cool. $10 more in price, but that's ok. it has black sleeves and brownish tan body. the sleeve shoulders kinda come up as blocks up to the neck. i like it cuz it's sorta dress casual, and sorta graphic in terms of the shoulder block thing going on. if i'm picking out designer clothes, my style is to pick something that's sorta unique, has a cool cut or design in it. especially if it's casual and has something sorta simple or bold design wise. i don't like to wear shirts with big logos. i prefer subtle, small logos if it's designer stuff. it also shouldn't be so plain or simple that it could get confused for gap or br to the style-savvy. for designer things, i tend to go for the dressy casual stuff, like something that i can wear to a party. i'm also very conscious of my existing color range of my wardrobe, and try to get something that would be unique or different. that's pretty much how i pick my clothes. (now you know how to dress like me.) according to the compliments, i guess it works.

there were a whole lotta asians at the store. just like at the union street store. i think all of the staff was asian. all dressed pretty well.

i don't often go to a/x, but my cousin goes there a lot (and that's where he got the original gift). i do sorta like the cut on the a/x clothes. it's a little slimmer and gives my upper frame better definition. things are often ribbed or have clingyer arms. that's how last year's gift from my cousins is. a black turtleneck. (which i've also gotten compliments on.) style-wise, i think i like kenneth cole a little better overall. colors. materials. even the logo thing. a/x clothes sometimes have prominent logos.

i was kinda hungry and was hoping to find a burger king down there so i could get a mini-meal. get some coke to give me a boost, some food to tide me over a few hours til dinner, and a cool simpons spooky light up. however, no luck. so i drove home hungry and uncaffineated.

had a potluck to go to. i made my famous garlicky mashed potaters. based off of a recipe i once read in the paper, i mash my own potatoes and combine it with butter, lots of roasted garlic, milk, garlic salt, and green onions. i've also been recently adding cheddar cheese, which goes very well. i figured that it goes well with mashed potatoes, scallopped potatoes, and garlic bread...so it would add a little more flavor to the mashed potatoes. i also sprinkle some more cheese on top at the end...more flavor and better presentation value.

the cafe bounce

i hung out with jc today to distribute cafe nite flyers and postcards. went all around to the main cafes where asians frequent. in order...

richmond:
zephyr's, cafe mono, java source

irving:
wonderful foods, stars (sweet house wanna be replacement), kaleo. also did a whole lotta posting on street poles on irving, especially around the taipoca hang outs. i possibly could have saved some time and left all of the flyers at the registers tapicoa places. the lady at stars was nice. she even put up a flyer in the window (cuz we asked).

before we went to the richmond, jc and i went to the marina to hang out. we picked up free movie passes for k-pak at the house of magic from a sfbg promo. review to come after tuesday nite. we kicked it at the grove (my favorite cafe on chestnut street.) we had brought magazines to read, and i had done some idea sketching for HHH.

tonite i put some more flyers up at tart to tart and the canvas. i ended up spending much of the nite doing more idea sketching at the canvas. they had a live band, called "Hi Friend!" i think i used to work with the drummer. i didn't know his name tho, so i didn't talk to him.

jing ding

while at the grove, i saw cc, a copywriter that i used to work with about a year and a half ago. got to talking to him and it turns out he's freelancing. his friend with him is also freelancing. yep, the ad market really sucks out there. he's pretty friendly and told me to give him a call sometime, especially if i ever wanted to show him my portfolio.

marvel heroes

it's gonna go to second printing. more pix posted here.

my busy thursday continued...

simpsons spooky light-ups

after going to comic relief, i went to get some lunch. earlier i was thinking about going to doug's bbq (borderline oakland emeryville) to get some bbq goat. (i never got it before, but had known about it for a while.) however... i was passing by burger king and noticed that they have a simpsons tree house of terror light up toy promotion character thing with the kids meals. so for ordering a big kids meal there, i got a bart simson scary toy in glow in the dark colors. pretty cool. i coulda gotten krusty too. maybe next time.

gift from the gardener

i have to get ao a belated bday present from me and someone else. since i was in berkeley, i stopped by the 4th street area...a section of really nice boutique shops and cool restaurants. almost like a mini-fillmore or chestnut street area. after poking around for a bit and trying to find something in my price range (also chipping in with someone), i got really great shiny, japanese black rocks. they're small and smooth. i wonder if they were formed like that in nature. (these were the most expensive rocks they had.) i know she'll like them a lot. (she is japanese.) i handpicked them myself and got a great selection. it'll be great with a few other small things i picked out. i know she'll be able to tell that this is a gift with style.

downtown doings

coming back to the city, i headed downtown to pick up my order of color cafe nite postcards from rocketpostcards.com. they turned out really well. the guy took me down to the basement to get my order. i also got a mini tour to see how it's done and to understand how it's done. they're pretty sweet. uv coated on one side. precision cut. (do you want one? i'll mail you one if you give me your address.)

after that i hiked a few blocks visit my optometrist. i had to pick up a replacment contact lens, which got bumped out .25 power. (my vision is still sorta ok, for one needing corrective lenses.) i brought my optometrist a gift - some mochi snacks from sunset super (where i went in the am). she was telling me how much she liked the ones my mom brought in for her. you can't get them around downtown. only at the asian places. i wanted to give her a little something cuz i think she gave me a slight price break with stuff.

i then came back to the sunset to stop by pirros' and hang out. i also started by cafe nite flyer distribution campaign. i also hit the skylight cafe.

today's synchronicity jing ding

- when i was parking in oakland and in berkeley, both times i found broken meters with bags on them. yay. free parking! twice, even!

- this afternoon when putting my cafe nite flyer and postcards up at the skylight cafe, i was thinking that maybe i shouldn't leave the whole stack that was in my hand. (i was getting a little stingy cuz of all of the other cafes that i hoped to hit.) so after i put it up i left, with a bunch in my hand. as i was walking out the door in front of the building, i realized that i only had 4 or 5, and started to think that i should just go back inside and leave me on the postcard rack. just as i looked up, i happened to notice mt thru the window sitting in the cafe. didn't notice her at all when i first went in. looked like she was studying with classmates. so i went back in to say hi. i got to chatting with her for a little bit, and gave her the fliers in my hand...which were also just about enough for her tablemates! met one of them and she asked if the speaker, ramesh richard, is indian. he's a 6'10" indian in fact. this girl asking and the other studymates were indian. we got to talking about how it was common for indians to change their last names, adopting american names, like "richard." that was something new i learned. didn't know that it was a common phenomenon...that was definitely all jing ding. my meeting mt. my having just about enough postcards in my hand for her table. and having an indian speaker and meeting her indian friends. very interesting.

more on heroes

my sis told me about this article in the washington post about the heroes book. i just read the book too. dang good stuff.

more on smallville

anyone got it on tape? ds missed out big time and is looking for a copy. btw, this show set an all time series premiere record for any wb show. it was #1 in a lot of markets, but #2 here. info on comics continuum.

gift from the neighbor

the excitment never stops. even at 1:20 am...

GW: some girl is on the sidewalk in front of my house
GW: i think she’s drunk
GW: she just got dropped off
GW: maybe a neighbor
JO: uh oh
GW: with another girl
GW: they went into the house now
GW: there's now a big wet spot in our driveway
JO: oh good
JO: ugh!
JO: pee or barf?
GW: i know!
GW: i think it's either barf or drool
JO: UGH!
GW: they're asian
JO: hahah
JO: were they hot?
JO: skiggs?
GW: she was crouched to the ground
GW: i dunno
GW: i never really met them
GW: i think they're probably only a year or two younger than me
GW: chinese or filippino
GW: i should meet them one day
GW: one might even be a cal alum
GW: they have a sticker and license plate on the car
JO: oh yeah?
JO: hm
JO: interesting
JO: were they making a lot of noise and looking sad or were they laughing?
GW: i heard em talking loud
GW: so i turned off the lights
GW: and peeked out
GW: the car dropped em off and went away
GW: this girl was pretty much in front of my house
GW: kinda funny
JO: heh, yeah
GW: the other girl was just waiting for her to get up
GW: i was almost thinking i should go outside
JO: how long were they there?
GW: a few minutes
GW: i kinda wanna go outside to see if it is barf or what.
JO: oh not too bad
JO: ugh
JO: go ahead
GW: this way i can thank her for barfing in my driveway!
GW: i'll go check...
...
GW: the girl did barf in my driveway!
JO: oh yuck
GW: i tried to wash it a little
GW: wasn't too much
JO: ugh!
JO: just hose it down tomorrow
JO: or i know
JO: poop in her driveway
JO: that'll be even
GW: ha ha
GW: there's an internet service that you can use to send a bag of poop to someone's house.
GW: i bet they were at the drink club
JO: heh

today was quite the productive, busy day. i like that. been running around all over town...

blogging interuption...i just got this telephone solicitation call...
phone: ring, ring
me: "hello?"
solicitation girl: "hello mr. or mrs. wong..." (what the heck?!) "i am with the native american association of south dakota..."
me: "no, thank you" (i hang up).
what really got be was the way she addressed me. gee whiz...she can't be very good at what she does....anyhoo...back to the blogging

eurythmy

this morning went over to downtown oakland to visit cd, my typography design teacher, at eurythmy studios. it was a good visit. i showed him some more of my stuff and he continued to challenge me in the way that i design to keep in mind type, readability, hierarchy, and uses of empty space. stuff i first heard in my first typo class, but something i still struggle with. we got to talking about comics, too, which was cool.

the comic book chase

i don't normally write any comic book exploits, cuz i think it's pretty boring. but i will this time. after hitting downtown oakland, i went to go to emeryvile comp usa to try and get my mum an ergonomic mouse. while there, i was using the high speed access connections on the pc to surf some of my usual sites (since i am 56k bound here at home), and read that the recent heroes comic benefit book was sold out.

(i was reading on comics continuum that the book had just sold out nation wide. this book put out by marvel is a dedication book to all of the new york city fire fighters who risked and lost their lives on 9.11. a couple of creators were featured on the today show yesterday.a transcript with pix is posted online.)

anyways, i then called up my comics hook-up guy to see if he got it for me, like i previously requested on e-mail. he had no idea what the book was. at that point i was in my car, and was thinking about visiting some east bay stores to get the book. instead of running around like i normally would, i drove back into comp usa to look up the numbers of stores on the net. called some places in sf and berkeley. a few guys had no idea it came out. comic relief on university said that they have it, so i then drove over there. i picked up a couple copies for me and one for dp (who's applying to be a fireman right now, actually).

it's a great book. been getting a lot of press. all the proceeds go the the twin towers fund. if you do manage to find a copy, go pick it up.

gotta run to lumps. more later.

if you havn't seen my updated post on my flyer, check it out.

my temp life

i went back to the hispanic agency this am for another 4 1/2 hours. it's a good thing i didn't stay longer last nite. (the account person asked if i could stay one more hour til 8.) someone told me that she has a habit of getting people to stay til 11pm! staying til 7 was too late for me already. anyways...i went back this am to finish up some powerpoint stuff. the whole experience reminded me of the stuff i didn't like about the agency life. having to deal with the nitty gritty stuff like that. seeing people's desks in media and account...them having to collect binders of information on print outs and put together regular reports for clients. (like media flowcharts.) now, i wouldn't mind too terribly if all the data was centralized efficiently, but i think most agencies rely still on an archaic donavan computer method. you have to then take the print outs and then enter and sort the info on your own into your excel files. now that wouldn't be so bad...but when you have to work with other people's files and when they don't do a good job setting up formulas or managing the info...that gets frustrating.

back when i was working at the agency...it seems that was my job often. cleaning up the books and the budget mess that other people made. i think each time i switched accounts, clean-up came to me. it sucked big time. well, now i can say that i'm an expert at excel. also an expert at power point, but i think a big part of it was that i would explore the graphical tools, b/c of my creative curiosities.

market st burrito

one of my qualms working downtown was that there were never any really good burrito places around. and if they were decent...then they were expensive. well after work (around montgomery station), i decided to walk over to 6th and market, cuz i remember reading that there was a tacqueria can-cun. the one in the mission is one of my two favorite burrito joints, so i had to check this one out. it's a block west of pearl (the cheapest sf art store). well, the burritos tasted the same. grilled on the outside. i had a super carne asada. chips and salsa the same too. this is probably the best cheap non-fast food meal you can get in the area, if you don't count pizza. only minor thing is that you walk into the borderline of a sketchy area...lots of bums. going from 5th street to 6th street you can totally tell the difference.

all about the jing ding

continuing the serendipity and jing ding thread...what if i were to keep track or follow thru on all of the conincidental happenings in my life? would my life be different? would i see some sort of greater plan in it all? synchronicity my mum says. (i don't think that.) for a while, i'll try keeping track of all of the serendipitous moments in my life. maybe i'll find an interesting pattern. probably not, but it'll give me more interesting stuff to blog about. i'll try to keep track of all the types of serendipities that happen to me.

- yesterday coming home from the temp job, i was on the muni and saw this girl from my hip hop class, which i havn't been to in weeks. didn't really know her, but ended up talking to her. she's a golden gate grad student. she told me that the class is now doing that recent michael jackson song (which i like). i'll probably try to make it back on friday. been meaning to go back for a while. she also told me that her friend in the class is the older asian guy who is always standing right in front of me in class. white tank top. light blue pants. sorta needs a haircut. glasses. how funny.

- today on my way to work, i ran into nn. i havn't been in contact with her for the past 6 mo or so...and just a few days ago i was thinking that i need to e-mail her. it was good bumping into her. i'll probably do lunch with her. when finding out that i'm an expert for powerpoint stuff, she said that maybe her agency could use me when projects come up. jing ding, that'd be cool.

- earlier today at work, the IT people were trying to set me up on a laptop. they give me a mouse too and then put out a mousepad. the mousepad they gave me was a marvin the martian one. (i used to collect everything marvin.) i used an exactly identical mousepad throughout all of college. what could the universe or god be telling me thru this coincidence? probably absolutely nothing at all.

i do sorta think that i can often find some meaning or predictability in random stuff. based on nothing more than a gut feeling (or a super rationializtion in my subconscious). i used to often correctly predict the number of people i'd run into at a busy public place like the mall or on campus at school...but maybe that was just a dumb game that i would play, keeping my mind going.

smallville

i'm watching the series premiere right now on the wb. a teenage superman story. coming of age for clark kent. kinda interesting. the girl playing lana is kinda cute. normal wb teenage formula it looks like. i really like the lois and clark show a few years ago. sorta interesting dynamic with a young lex luthor around. not so much in the way of a lot superhero action. a lot of teenage angst with a little bit of x-files thrown in. it seems that there are a lot of funny things happening around smallville. there's a wall of weird in the show, collecting everything odd that's been going on since clark's spaceship crashed to the earth. kinda reminds me of that show eerie indiana a while back. i really liked that show too.

test drive

went down to redwood city today with gl to test-drive a subaru. he almost bought the thing, but he wasn't really into the color. the guy, a professional leaser, is gonna help him look for a gx, which he says he could get. maybe i'll end up getting a car from him. he can get clean new and used cars. i took a civic for a spin down there, but wasn't really into it.

the temp

i got a quickie temp job doing some powerpoint stuff at a hispanic agency. it wasn't hard work. helped them out with their pp decks. it was pretty slow. easy money. going back for a half day tomorrow. i tmeans that i'll have to be up late tonite trying to do my sketches for class tomorrow. gonna definitely need some coffee.

discover meaning

i made this. what do you see in the flyer? what's your reaction? here are the different levels of reads and meanings i was thikning of when i designed the illustration (all done in adobe illustrator).

1) black planes of broken glass shattered. chaos. shards everywhere. (everyone sees this)

2) the wtc broken and shattered. (less than half of the people i poll see this.)

3) white light breaking thru darkness. (no one gets this, but me.)

4) the unbroken white line representing the purity of a greater meaning. with the negative space on the upper right, it makes an arrow. sort of.

anyhoo...this is the flyer i had about two hours to make last thur. i adjusted it a little to make it production ready for a printer. i'm getting 500 color postcards made (color front and back) at rocketpostcards for $100. hope it turns out ok. i'll be putting the postcards and flyers around the sunset. different cafes, restaurants and laundymats. that's the plan. also going to put them in some empty go-card racks around here.

i'm doing all of the pr for this cool event my church is putting on. they're gonna have some good food, an internationally known speaker flown in, and some people sharing some original art and expressions. aa will be singing her own music again. she wrote a song the day of 9.11, based on her personal reaction and thoughts. i know a lot of people would get a lot out of hearing it. the hope for the nite is for people who may feel somewhat lost and confused today (especially with recent events) to find a relevant meaning and peace through faith.

should be a great nite. if you're free on the sat, oct 27th, come on out. (yeah, we know it's halloween weekend and everyone has a party to go to, but you can still go afterwards.) did i mention that the nite is free? more info and printable flyer here.

half moon bay art and pumpkin festival

i really like civic art street fairs. twice as much when it's associated with a festive holiday. especially when it's free. (not like that gilroy garlic festival, which isn't worth the crowds, time, or money.) sunday was my first time to the hmb pumpkin festival. it was a great day to go down.

driving down 1

i drove down on my own to half moon bay after church. i knew it'd be a great day to spend outdoors there out in the october summer sun. the directions took me down highway 1, which i had to follow for about 20 miles or so. i havn't driven down that way in a really long time. going down 1, i noticed the great looking beaches in pacifica and futher on. they were filled with people and look better than ocean beach. hmm...i think it would be a good day-trip for me if i have to get away by myself one of these days. or if i ever had a beach date. to my left on highway 1 were this really huge foxtail plants. a whole lot of white brushes just waving in the wind. really noticeable. kinda made me wanna go pick em. also to my right were these really cool cliffs overlooking the ocean. some of them went high up. one had a really tall staircase probably going up about three floors or so with some sort of structure on top. i think it'd be pretty cool to stop off to the side of the road to venture up there...if there wasn't a risk of sliding off the side. there were signs all over the side saying that it's a hazardous area and no trespassing. too bad...traffic got a little slow the closer i got to hmb. it was sorta crawling on the one lane...but never to the point of stop and go.

the small town feel

i really can't remember the last time i was at hmb. my parents took me to the pumpkin patch when i was young...about 6 or 8. we have silent home movies of me in my brown jacket waving at the camera at the pumpkin patch. the big pumpkins came up to my chest. ah the memories (which maybe i only remember b/c of the video footage.)

anyways, going to hmb, you really get the sense of the small town community. the whole community gets into it. it's supposed to be a huge fund raiser for the town and community. population is only 10,000 or so (according to the highway sign). i somehow got stuck driving up the way to HMB high school where they were charging for parking. i didn't mean to go there. but i ended up paying to park since it was only $3 (and not $5+ like other lots) and it was for the school. i was kinda in on my walk down i realized that i could have found some street parking at a distane not too far away. oh well.

walking around the festival on the actual "main street," i got the sense of the town life more. (well...town life with a whole bunch of tourists like me filling the area.) people of all ages involved selling stuff. there was a hit-the-target-and-dunk-the-football-coach booth going on. different groups doing different stuff. one really fascinating booth to me was one where you can make wax hands in any pose you want. they dip your hand in oil then in hot wax a few times. it hardens, you take it off and add colored wax on the outside.

carving contest

i really wanted to make it down to check out the results of the carving contest. i was even thinking about getting down there early to enter. (i like carving and am pretty good at it. i won the last company contest i entered. or course, i did spend all day working on that pumpkin.) anyhoo...i checked out the pumpkins, and i thought i could do much better than most of the adult catagory pumpkins entered there. i was kinda kicking myself for not coming down earlier. well...i stuck around for the judging, and it turns out that the winners just get ribbons. no cool prizes other than the title. maybe i didn't need to enter after all. i don't care about the fame. just potential prizes.

if i were to enter next year, i bet i could come in top two. restrictions are that the carving has to be done on site. max time of about 2 1/2 hours. nothing to hold pieces in place other than toothpicks.

checking out the fair

best buy had a trailer at the fair. i was checking it out at just the right time, cuz they had a table full of free unopened dvds! stepmom and lethal weapon 4 (jet li's first american movie appearnace). i only got one each for myself. i kinda felt bad about grabbing more since they were going quickly. when i went back in a few minutes later, they were all gone. shucks. oh well...at least i scored for myself. that alone made the trip down worthwhile. (not that i would have bought those dvds at all.) i then met up with j. walked around checking out the arts and crafts booths. i like seeing the art stuff. there was this one really cool sf photographer. i think his business card is still in my pocket. i'll have to dig it out and check out his website later. really nice stuff.

went to the food area and tried a chicken pumpkin sausage. it was probably the most unusual pumpkin thing there, so that's why i had to try it. tasted pretty much like a normal chicken sausage to me. i also tried a bit of a pumpkin roll. a sort of cake thing with cream cheese. then realized that it has walnuts, which i'm very allergic to! i also didn't have my benadryl with me. (about 4 years ago, i once had a bad reaction and ended up calling 911, but nothing much came of it...a couple of benadryls and one epi-pen shots later, i was ok and didn't need to go to the hospital.) in the pumpkin roll bite, i didn't feel any some parts of the killer nut, but it could have been small. i drank all of j's water and another crystal geyser bottle more. thankfully, i didn't have any reaction...so there probably weren't any walnuts in that bite. if i had felt something, then i would have had to go over to the drugstore and get some benadryl.

free pumpkins

in addition to scoring with the dvds, i scored also with a free pumpkin. as the fair was closing down, i recalled seeing the huge box of pumpkins over by the carving contest. i wanted to go check, in case there were still some there. and there they were. about a dozen large pumpkins, untouched by the carving knife. a few kids were crawling around inside the box getting pumpkins for themselves. they offered if we wanted a pumpkin, and these helpful munchkins went about trying to find us some good ones. very cool. looks like i'll have to find my pumpkin carving kit again and do another masterpiece.

carving tips

one thing i learned from seeing farmer mike's pumpkins, is to try to carve the pumpkin on the side. it's often an unsual, creative thing that follows. i think i'd like to try carving one like he carves one.

from the pumpkin contest, i got the idea to try to cut out different pieces and arrage them on the outside with toothpicks. i can imagine doing a really great three dimensional nose this way.

i was watching martha stewart on the view today (no, i don't usually watch...altho lisa ling isn't too bad), and martha was showing her tips to carve pumpkins. some cool designs can be done with a melon scoop and with a chisel (i need one of those) along the skin. she also always cuts the bottom of her jack-o-laterns out, to place a battery operated light on the base. (of course, martha doesn't use candles.)

festival at the pumpkin capital of the world

i'm gonna go tomorrow. go check it out! i hope it works out to enter the carving contest. otherwise, i'll just go to check out the results.

jing ding

that's what my family on my mom's side says. serendipity in chinese (cantonese). luck. fortunate conincidence.

serendipity

went with my mom this afternoon to metro 280 to see this movie. could of really been doing a lot of other work, but thought it'd be good to see it with her. she woulda seen it by herself otherwise. i also figured that none of my friends really wanted to see this movie, so i wouldn't have anyone else to go with.

so the story's about this guy and this girl who have a chance encounter and it seems as if they are fated to be together, as if the universe is bringing them together, but they keep missing each other. this is a nice movie. appeals to the hopeless romantic in everyone. i can't imagine myself ever going so far as that guy and girl did. chasing that ideal of a soul mate destined, especially when they are in committed relationships and about to be married. (no, i'm not ruining the story.) maybe b/c i don't really believe in "the one" (one and only one), that i can't really imagine myself going all out chasing someone to that exteme going on nothing more than just a feeling or gut reaction. but who knows. i'm always willing to try something new for the right person.

arrgh...i just spent about 20-30 min updating the lumps roster, finally finishing it. not saving and of course closing it out. shoot. gotta do that work over again.

everytime i lag on blogging...i always forget important stuff. ah well...playing catch-up again...

awesome blossom for america

ds got about 16 people to go to chilli's last nite after lumps. it was part of the dine for america program, where all of the proceeds go to help families of the ny restaurant workers. we had so much food, it was a total feast. awesome blossom, nachos, fajitas, hot wings, and chicken crispers. i didnt' get there til 11, just when they were locking the doors. it was fun and worth the hurried drive to san bruno. i'm glad i didn't get lost. i didn't have my cell phone and wasn't exactly sure where it was.

about to see serendipity with my mom. heard it was really great.

pacbell parking lot at 5:45 am

rl im'd me at 12:30 midnight. he told me that there was a 6am AMD promotion giving away 200 amd xp chipsets. it was at pac bell park. since i figured that my day and afternoon were free, i decided to be nuts and go for it with him. they're about a $600+ each. i had to finish up some work, so i only really got an hour of sleep that nite. we drove down to the parking lot, where it was at. there were probably about 600-700 people there...mostly guys of course.

we both came away empty. the two numbers below me were called and the two numbers above me were called. maybe i should have gotten another ticket to double my chances, but i didn't really think it would be right. shoot. maybe i should have. oh well.

harry - all around the bay

after monday's class i gave harry a ride to the bart station. it's about a mile away and he usually walks! after the mile hike, he has to take bart to fremont (where he works). after getting there, he hops on the light rail to finally get to the san jose station where he left his car. this is his normal routine every tuesday. i think he's nuts.

jeremy mende design

monday i went over to oakland with dc, to visit a graphic designer's studio in oakland. jeremy had spoken before at the ad school, and welcomed everyone to come over if they were interested. he taught experimental typography at ccac. i really enjoyed seeing his stuff and getting some insight into how a one-man studio works. it's a pretty solitary life. i dunno if i could do it. (it'd probably be like my day life now.)

one of the things he showed up was a series of publicity postcards that he did for a sf art institute show. the show's name was recess. he took everyday life images and in the middle of them had a white block, with "recess" screened in. about a year ago when i was taking my art center typography class, we were looking at that poster as an example of design. pretty cool that i got to see it again and learn the back story.

he gave me a list of design shops and interactive places that he thinks are good. i need to check into them. some of them would probably be cool with giving a tour.

whoops. been lagging again. working on stuff for my hungry hungry hippos project for class tonite. i'll have to post later about the stuff i've been up to.

hillsdale borders

today after church, i went to the hillsdale borders to try to get some work done, since f keeps talking about how much better that one is to study at. supposedly the tables are bigger. f would drive all the way down to san mateo from the city, instead of going to the one up here. well, i went today and didn't see what the big whoop was about. there were a couple of big tables, but that didn't matter, since it was all pretty crowded. one good thing is that you can drive over to barnes and nobles i guess if it's too full.

i think i'll stick to city cafes. stonestown borders is just fine.

national archives and records administration

did you know that in san bruno, you can find a wealth of information on your chinese ancestors who may have immigrated, emmigrated, or just plain traveled during the years of the chinese exclusion act? the national archive of records and administration. i'm really lucky to have this resource so close to me geographically. it would be a shame not to use it. esp now while some of my grandparents are alive. (picking up from a few blog posts ago.)

i had learned about this place recently from my dad and also from lisa see (the author of on gold mountain.) she had dropped me a postcard after i had signed the guestbook for her exhibition back in august in dc. i think i had written that seeing her exhibit on her family's 100 year history, made me to really tackle the same project with my family.

it's really cool there. you can easily find info on your old chinese ancestors here in america. they have incredible records of all of the chinese people who were coming and goings because of the chinese exclusion act. photos, interviews, much more...all in case files. you can locate the case number by checking on microfiche (back to the old main library days for me) or in another index. often organized by the general time period when the chinese had to travel by ship.

i'm planning to go back this thursday equipped with scanner and laptop to record the great images we found. i know my time is now if i ever wanna the family history manifesto. esp since the archive is only open 8-4 each weekday (plus late wed nites to copy).i can't let this opportunity slip by. i hope to be able to spend considerable time once a week towards this purpose. who knows? could lead to an updated joy luck club from a male perspective.

i'm starting to look for online resources to aid in my family digging. i came across this website, ancesters in the americas. it looks like a good starting point.

i've been busy and been lagging...here's some of the smaller things i've been up to.

blondie's biondi's

on thursday after an appointment at a job shop, i met up with jf for lunch. he happened to be across the street from the building i came out of. we walked over to the shopping area and ate at biondi's on powell. it's a sit-down blondie's with an expanded restaurant. we shared a 10" combo pizza for $7. they offer thin crust, blodie's thick crust, and also deep dish. we woulda gotten deep dish, but we didn't have enough time. what's interesting is that you can get a 12" blondie's pizza $2 cheaper at biondi's downstairs than you can at blondie's itself upstairs.

in-n-out again

i went back to in-n-out on thursday. went with a bunch of lumps. this time just a normal burger instead of a double double. ds tipped me off that if you eat there, you should order a small drink since they have unlimited refills anyways. it was good...but no more in-n-out for me for a while. at least a couple of weeks.

breakfast at kate's kitchen

friday i had a late breakfast with o, at kate's kitchen on lower haight. i liked it. wish we got there before 10. they have a couple of really great specials for only $4 til then. i had 2 cornmeal pancakes with chedder cheese and bacon. ($6.) it was so filling and huge, that i was only able to finish 1/2 of it. (i think the in-n-out the nite before had still filled me up.) i dunno how anyone can possibly eat a stack of 4 of those gigantic pancakes.

last visit to the asian art museum

the museum closed today. not to be opened again til next year in a new location. so i got to visit for free last fri. i went with jho for a bit. walked around a bit later with jc and w. does a dog have the buddha nature? that was a question posed in the context of one of the zen paintings. the answer = "mu"- no, not at all.

double-double animal style at the cannery!

yay...in-n-out opened at the cannery! i found out when i visited wy today. it turns out that it just opened two two weeks ago (two thursdays ago). i got a double-double meal animal style. yum. just like all of the other locations, it closes at 1am on weekdays and 1:30 am on weekends. i think i'll be making a few more burger runs in the next few weeks.

visiting francisco middle school

i visited my bud wy today at work around noon. he's teacher at francisco middle school. he's letting me borrow his hungry hungry hippos game from his classroom. i needed to find one as research for my hungry hungry hippo branded restaurant. anyways...after wandering around the school quite a bit...i finally tracked wy down in the library on the third floor of the second building. (i bet some of the kids were wondering who this tall kid is walking around the school in circles and why it seemed he was coming from the women's restroom. i was lost. twice.) visiting the middle school in the middle of the day, really reminded me of the movie kindergarten cop. me towering over these little people. the school's pretty clean. kids doing their own thing. passing by some classrooms with teachers and students. i think this is the first time i ever went to a public middle school when school was in session.

btw, i'm calling the family restaurant either "H-cubed" (to the third power), "H3," or "HHH." these were suggestions by my teacher. hungry hippo as a name is too literal.

world financial group - pyramid scheme or promise of a lifetime?

a friend recently invited me to find out more about her financial planning service. she said that she was looking for some good people to help her with her businsess. i was thinking...maybe it could be a good part-time job. instead it turned out to be more of an invitation to train and be a part of her business. part of the world financial group. hear of it before? i talked to her about it...and the promise of the opportunity sounded interesting to say the least.

i know financial services isn't really my thing...even if it were to provide a butt-load of money. i know that i could have pursued that road, since i graduated from cal. i know that creative is more of a fullfilling thing for me personally. but still...what if there was a potential part-time opportunity that could earn me a lot of money, and even pay for the most expensive art school? what then? of course money would give you more options. i know it wouldn't be completely fulfilling to me tho.

so i went wed nite to hear a company presentation in daly city. i figured at the very least, i'd go for the experience. maybe learn a few financial pointers for my own life. that's pretty much what i got...

walked in...and it was a different crowd than i was used to. what appeared to be a lot of lower middle-class and blue collar people. you can tell by observing how people dress generally. heard this guy jacky tam speak about how great this company is, how it's a world leader, and all in some slightly incorrect english. (he was an immigrant.) he also introduces this woman kathryn wong, who also did really well in the company. a few minutes later, i went with some other people into an orientation with kathryn.

first we saw a video. it was an extremely cheesy video. the background music reminded me of the superman movie soundtrack! (pretty bad, considering production values today.) i learned the name of the company...world financial group and i was thinking, what kind of hokey name is that? sounds almost like a fake company or like a cult. the video had a bunch of super enthusiastic speakers raving about the company. they were speaking in front of fake backgrounds, which looked dropped in to make the company grander. i noticed that everyone in the video was wearing the same gold pin. (also made me think cult.) learned that the wfg is part of the aegon group, "a world life insurance powerhouse." the pitch was to be in business by yourself but not by yourself. appeals to the entrepreneurial spirit. build your kingdom. your success will be our success. company mission: create wealth for families. can you say "overhype?"

i was pretty skeptical after seeing the video. then kathryn shared about her story and her experience. (also in less than 100% perfect english. she too is an immigrant, from malaysia.) 5 years ago she was a special ed teacher. frustrated with her earning potential. she joined the wfg. now, she makes $400k a year. incredible, huh?

she went over the financial principle of 72. how if you take 72 and divide it by a percentage rate that you're earning on your money, the answer is how many years it will take for you to double your money. a sound rule. the example was that you could make like $600,000 difference over about 30 years if you invest in mutual funds which give 12% rather than leaving it in the bank, only gaining 4% over time. this is if you compound interest.

i got kinda bored by all of the numbers. she caught me in a long blink. other people were pretty sleepy too. it was hot in the room. she was pretty good at addressing people by name (just like the other speakers later). they were obviously well-trained to do that.

so...the promise of the wfg. make money, never stop. no requirement as other professional services. she supposedly made $230,000 in his first year selling/providing financial services to 25-35 year olds. a catagory which doesn't use the top financial planners very often. a ripe category to target. in 7 mo of working part-time, this person made the jump up several levels to money director. as you recruit and train people under you, you get points couting towards a promotion, advancing you a few levels, getting a higher commission. at first you start off at 30% commission as an associate. later on, it goes up as you advance. more clients. more people under you. more money. (smells an awful like a pyramid scheme.)

the wfg trains you, helps plug you into a network. for these guys speaking, they do some really good training. how to present, open, close. there was a really consistant message from all of the people i heard from representing the company. it's pretty funny that most of these people (especially the ones at the top) were really bad dressers. i'd think that if they really had all this money, that they can dress a little better. weird patten dress and suit and shirt.

the promise of the company pitches practically unlimited potential. one guy a couple of years older than me supposedly joined in 97 and now has his dream of owning his own house in ssf and also makes enough so that his wife doesn't have to work. pitch also describes self-employment, being able to wake up when you want to and being able to set your own hours. all the same message i heard from my friend earlier on.

it was weird for me to be in this crowd of new people possibly interested in the company. i know they aren't very educated. no, it's not b/c of my superficial judgement of them. one speaker asked the crowd (of about 15), how many of us had college degrees? (he didn't.) only about three people (including me) raised their hands! he was really highlighting the potential and promise of this company, regardless of education.

i told my friend i'd meet her later on this week so that she can answer more of my questions. after doing some net research on the company...i sure do have a lot of questions. i googled the company name plus the words pyramid scheme. i came up with this message board with people picking the company apart...saying how it is a pryamid scheme and kinda crooked. interesting stuff.

stop stealing sheep

nothing too new. been hitting cafes working on stuff for my classes. i've been reading stop stealing sheep, which is a basic intro to typography book. helpful and relevant for my typography class and also for my branding environments class.

time left with my grandparents

i found out from my mom that my grandparents (dad's side) just told my dad that they think they only have 3 or 4 months left to live. my grandfather has been slowing down a bit, and they think that he might have just three months left. around when my other grandfather passed away, he was physically slowing down a bit, too. and if my yeah yeah, my grandfather goes, they think that my nein nein might go about a month after...maybe the emotional sorrow would be too much. i really don't know. kind of a weird position to be in. they're not terminally ill or anything, but they are definitely getting older.

now's really as good as time as any to really spend time with them, esp since i'm somewhat free. even tho my sis isn't around, i can do the family history project on my own. really get to know the nitty gritty about their lives firsthand from them. maybe spend a whole day with them once a week?

dragon boats at lake merced

yesterday at 10am i met up with rw to check out the dragon boat races at lake merced. it's the first time ever it was held there. good for me since it's so close to my house. in the past years it was held in foster city and in oakland. i was always curious about this event, since it's such a popular asian culture thing. we knew mg from high school who participated this year.

the event was all day sat and sun. we only stuck around for an hour tho sunday am. rw went to church before hand, and i went to church at nite. there were a lot of teams from companies, high schools, and even cal and stanford. the cal band was there, too. (go bears!) rw and i would both be pretty interested in getting involved next year on a team, if we could afford the time. we're both into trying new things for the experience of it. it expands your horizons, your knowledge base, and your personal network. i'd be interested in also just vollunteering for a few hours with the event next year, for the free t-shirt. we thought they were cool, altho they said "esprit" on the sleeve. i know esprit makes guy clothes for the hk market, but not here.

we talked to a girl at the info booth to find out how to possibly vollunteer. when we gave her our names, she asked us if we went to lowell. turns out she was in our class and remembered us. i don't really remember her. she was guessing if my name was greg g....greg k... i was wondering if she knew my middle name somehow. maybe she worked in the attendance office or was in my reg. maybe i had a class with her but i forgot. i had thought that i could usually recognize most of the people from our 670 graduating class (just by face, not by name, but i guess i've slipped.

lounging at lincoln park

afterwards i went to lincoln park in milbrae to eat and play in the sun for vy's bday. it was a really great day to be outdoors. it was a little too hot tho, so most of us tried to stay in the shade. i was pretty stuffed.

the sea biscuit

before going to the late late service, i decided to try to do some work on my projects at a cafe near church. so i tried out the sea biscuit on noriega. i had been meaning to check this place out for a while. it does have a funky martime decor, appropriate for proximity to the beach. like that other cafe near the beach (on judah), this one has a bunch of people who hang out by the beach as it's clientele. the girl working the counter had really bright red dyed hair. the place was a little funky. one thing i did like was the open air and natural light coming in from the front. the couches were old tho, and looked like they hadn't been cleaned in a while. i ordered an iced-tea. it was the tropical fruit kind. so-so, but not so sweet. so i added some white stuff which i thought was sugar, but wasn't. it wasn't dissolving. i'm not really sure what it was, but it just kinda floated at the top. i had to spoon it off and add some more sugar. i only ended up drinking half of the drink. ended up leaving sooner than i had expected, cuz i got a phone call and needed to recharge my phone in my car.

maybe i'd go back to this cafe, but i don't think i'd make a special trip there. there were also a few flies flying around inside. after trying most of the cafes in the city, i think my favorite cafes in the city are circadia (portrero, great interior to lounge), farley's (portrero, great newstand to browse), simple pleasure (richmond - comfy and homey), and kaleo (sunset, really clean, and free internet connection).