Congratulations, you are a skirt chasing moron with an unjustified superiority complex. You enjoy killing defenseless animals for fun and delight in having the best of everything at your beck and call. While no one denies that you are somewhat pleasant to look at, you're not really the god on earth you think you are. You're not even that great of a villain, you're too concerned with your looks and manly prowess to create a reign of terror or have women and children tremble at the sound of your name.

Take the Disney Villain Test Now!!

north beach bouncing

on thur my lumps small group had a tiramisu jazz adventure in north beach. my idea...i'm not very happy with ho-hum hangouts and seek after creative experiences. it was a pretty cool nite. however it was a little odd that the ratio for our co-ed small group was 6:1. where have all the girls in our group gone? walking around north beach with my felt a little like the bachelor dating show, but in this case...the bachelorette. (this majorly skewed ratio has become the unfortunate social norm in the past months. it's sorta been like this for a lot of other hang outs...8:1 with ao, 7:1 with kh, 3:1 with lk...i'm sure there are more. oh well. god's blessed me with a lot of great brothers. that's what really matters.)

after grubbing some slices at golden boy, we chilled and listened to some jazz group called "freaktet" at the blue bar under neath the black cat. it was really cool seeing one guy play two saxes at the same time. (i couldn't get a good pic of it, cuz i'm sure that the necessary flash would have blinded the band.)

afterwards the 1/2 us that didn't have to work and could still hang out. (that made the group ratio 3:1, just like elimidate.) we went to cafe greco and got a bunch of desserts there. good stuff. tiramisu and some cake that starts with the letter s.

more adventures of the special ed sub

from my last two days with the M high school special ed...

* one spanish speaking girl was extremely uncooperative. wouldn't participate in class. had the answer, but wouldn't read the written question or answer. wouldn't even attempt to say anything in english. our class sat in silence as a result for almost 10 minutes. i'm glad i had mark, my instructional aide (who's actually 10-15 years older than me). he stayed with her while i had to take the rest of the 8 students all by myself for a little field trip to albertsons.

* at albertson's, just two blocks away from the school...the students and myself had to get ingredients to make mac & cheese and strawberry sundaes. two of the other spanish speaking girls were stealing loose candy and eating it. i had to force them to put it back. those sneaky rascals...but i knew better. i also was sharp enough to notice candy still in one girl's pockets after she put it back. it was a little stressful trying to keep track of 8 kids on my own just on my second day with them!

* we made mac and cheese from scratch. no fake powdery cheese. it was great. sorta wished that i had chicken and broccoli to add in and make it a full meal. also made strawberry sundaes for dessert. all good stuff. i got stuck washing a lot of the dishes on thursday tho. the bell had rung and the students had to catch the bus. this was my first time in a home ec room.

* showed harry potter on vhs to them. i was kinda tired from the nite before. i think i need to watch it again to get the whole story. i can't really remember the last part of the movie...i guess i was zoning or something. anyone have it on dvd for me to borrow?

Your Likelihood of Committing Murder is -36%

If you have a score of 0 or Below: You are the perfect being. Any psychotic tendencies you may possess are neatly balanced by you desire to help others and your devotion to the lord above. Well you could be an excellent human being, but you're most likely in denial. Try the test again, and try to tell the truth this time. If you still get a score of 0 then you may very well be the savior of the entire human race.

havn't done this in a while...

the friday five

When was the last time you...
1. ...sent a handwritten letter?
last month when i sent a long over-due thank you card to my friend's parents for letting me stay the nite.

2. ...baked something from scratch or made something by hand?
today. i taught my special-ed class to make macaroni and cheese from scratch. took em to albertson's to buy the ingredients too (what an adventure) and cooked in the home ec room. (they didn't have home ec at lowell.)

3. ...camped in a tent?
last year. i went on my third ky camping trip. it was the first of the two she did last year. i can't remember the name of the place but it had tons of mosquitos. it was a really odd group of people who went.

4. ...volunteered your time to church, school, or community?
seems like i do something every few days for my church/church group. but the last destination vollunteer event was speaking at our church's court hearing for redevelopment (which was a miraculous victory!)

5. ...helped a stranger?
can't think of anything major. help lots of new students as a sub. give directions on the street...but nothing like stopping for a stalled car on the side of the road. giving cpr. hmm...i need to try to be more conscious of doing "pay it forward" types of things.

it looks like my server woes are done for. the same problem here was also affecting the fellowship e-mail and web stuff...darn servers.

yesterday was a great day at the cannery comeback party. free bbq salmon, free bears, 75 cent anchor steam. alll a deal. more later.

the special ed summer school sub

today i started my first ever multi-day sub assignment. i taught special ed at M high schol. not remedial this time around...mentally retarded kids...at the iq level of 35-50...around the level of 4 year olds, according the regular teacher. that is not an exaggeration by all. they're all around 17 years old. it takes em an hour to write 5 sentences and they have really difficult times spelling the simplest 4-5 letter words... today was a reading day. everything is pretty light. the regular teach said that the purpose of summer school is to offer them social interaction and help them gain independent skills. things should be slow, easy, and fun, according to the regular teach.

i was so tired from sleeping super late the nite before. i felt so zapped. my normal nite owl habits does not mesh well with 8am class. good thing the day ended at 12:30. i'm thinking that a couple of the kids and my instructional aide noticed my long heavy blinks when i was sitting down (but i'm not too sure)...the instructional aide asked me if i was ok...i had to resort to pepsi to give me a boost during brunch time...i got schooled playing horse by one of the girls during about 30 min at the end of the day on the courts. she's good enough to be on the high school team.

it's an interesting experience with these kids. some of them are sweet. (more so than regular high school kids.)
tomorrow is a field trip to albertson's (two blocks away) where we'll get ingredients to cook mac and cheese (not the boxed kind...from scratch) and make strawberry sundaes. friday we'll be watching harry potter. i never saw that movie. should be interesting.

i thought M high school would be nicer...but it seems a little more ghetto that lowell and the other high schools i was at. aragon was so nice in comparison. i didn't notice too many classroom computers at M, like i did at the other schools. this was practically the first time EVER that i didn't have a computer in my class.

i better sleep now. gotta big day tomorrow with mac and cheese. all i have to do is supervise. the kids will be doing the grating and stirring.

the family minority report

i just talked to po po about what she thought of the movie. she and auntie t thought it was a little too gruesome and didn't like the stuff with the eyeballs (which did make me squirm too). po po liked spider-man better.

unexpected sub

i just got the call to be a sub at M high school this week. (i've been waiting a while to sub there.) again special ed. know anyone in summer school there? i doubt you know anyone in special-ed tho.

usually they don't use subs for the summer, but this time they really needed to find someone. yay for me. i get a full day's pay for being there from 8-12:30.

i'll be there from wed-fri. (my very first multi-day assignment!) anyone around there wanna have lunch?

checkin out century 20 daly city

today was an interesting trip to the movies. j2 and i went to see a minority report bargain matinee at the brand new century theatres 20 in daly city. this new multiplex not too far from where i lived just opened up. i missed an exit getting there, but what else is new. j2 was there looking for parking ahead of me, but i managed to park faster by going to the southern parking lot right by the starbucks. i didn't know that there were two lots, cuz i was coming from the south, after missing my exit. i think it's a little farther, but you'll probably have better parking karma by going that way.

it was grand opening weekend. we caught the 1:30 show and took advantage of the $6 bargain matinee weekend price before 2pm. we got there a little early so we could explore the new place. two floors of theaters. everything seemed clean, modern. today and tomorrow, there's an attractive deal of 50 cent hot dogs, 50 cent drinks, and free video games. i played police 911 2, which was very cool. a police shooting game in which you duck, bob, and weave to dodge bullets and reload your gun. it was a good work out for my legs.

the bathrooms were clean. one of my cousins would really like the sink. it was all automated. not just the faucets. but even the soap dispenser! i've never seen that before. it was a little tricky to use. i tried waving my hands, just like activating the water...but that won't work. that's why they have the funny signs in place by the sink.

i think that if there were gonna fully automate the sinks, they could at least have gone all the way...

some of the lines for minority report were long. our screening time wasn't too bad. after exploring, we finally walked inside about 30 min early and found pretty good central seats right on the middle aisle.. (the textbook perfect place to sit in a movie theater is 1.5 screen height and in the middle.)

the theater soon packed up. actually ran into dcw and cy in the same theater. 5 min before showtime, a handicapped person came in and tried to bump us for her two non-handicapped friends, which i think is totally wrong...when there were other seats available for them to sit elsewhere...and when we came in 30 min before them! of course would given up the seats, if it was the handicapped person had to sit in a designated seat, but that wasn't the case. anyhoo, it worked out another way. she ended up bumping one solo guy to move elsewhere (for her non-handicapped friend) and we moved down one. so it worked out. except that those 3 ladies had these weird, obnoxious, loud reactions during the movie.

i wasn't overly impressed by the actual theater that we were in. (screen #13). the picture on the century theatre mailer we got must have shown a bigger one. i think this was smaller seating wise than most of the theaters at amc 1000. the seats are more comfortable at 1000 also. here the head rests only go half-way up your head (for us on the tall side), our particular seats did not rock (altho most did), and the armrests are hard and not plush like at 1000. it's stadium seating too...but the first rows were flat. if it wasn't a matter of parking or promotional free food, i'd prefer to go to amc 1000. their seats are also wider.

my current ranking for comfortable screens and seating are
1) amc 1000
2) metreon
3) century theatres 20
[ this preference is regardless of parking, location, or price ]

i'm trying not to pay full price for movies anymore. not with the $9-$10 full ticket prices and when i can legitimately get student tix or else at amc those movie passes good after 2 weeks. that's one of my motivation for seeing the bargain matinee today. but i'm realizing how it's a much better experience seeing a movie at night with a general audience which is younger, cooler, and more like myself. i really don't like seeing a movie on opening weekend and the crowd doesn't get into it. not cuz it's not a good movie...b/c it's a dull crowd! no one cheers or anything. no one boos or groans. ugh. the excitement is just gone in the daytime. well, i'm excited whenever i go, even if it's by myself! i'm used to being the only one making noise (not too obnoxiously of course).

i was so hyped to see the daredevil trailer. it was sooo cool. i knew it was gonna be screened with minority report and knew when i saw the 20th century fox stylized studio id and the winged gargoyle on the building that this was it! i wanted to cheer loudly then...but i knew that ppl just wouldn't have a clue why i was doing it (and think that i was a real freak)...so i held back. (i wish i didn't now.) well i did cheer...a little. i also applauded after the trailer ended (backed up by j), and people just kind of turned around and looked at us...somewhat befuddled. i really need to watch the exciting movies with a cool city crowd who show up at night. (it was like this for spider-man and star wars, just not so bad.)

i realize that i do get more into movies than the average person. a good thing and sometimes a bad thing. i whelped loudly twice during the movie when no one else did. first time when john was "touched" unexpectedly. second time during the first murder in the movie.

minority report: everybody runs

this was a phenomenal movie. definitely the most satisfactory and thrilling blockbuster that i've seen all year. really solid as a story. a twisty turny detective story full of action. incredibly rich and believable depiction of a future world. (not like the one.) exhilirating. artistic. dazzling. intelligent and imaginative. loved the slick technology. this is a movie i want to own on dvd. i think this is worth watching multiple times. (maybe again in the theater.) amazing attention to details plot wise and setting wise. the film is more than what's portrayed in the trailer (so it exceeded my expectations.)

this is from the official website...

in april of 1999, steven spielberg and the minority report production commissioned a think thank that was brought together to develop the framework for a world, specifically washington d.c., that could exist in the year 2054. a group of experts who we call "futurists" came together and brainstormed on topics ranging from city landscapes to futuristic weapons. all of this is done in an effort to create a futuristic world for minority report that is based on realistic theories from leading experts.

i think this movie is like this generation's blade runner. go run to the theater as soon as you can before you pick up too much from reviews and other people.

i just saw minority report. i think it was the best movie i saw all year. go watch it as soon as you can. more to share on it and my experience at the brand spankin new century theaters daly city later.

baby sara

woo hoo! x-warp is back with a new family member. welcome back, ds!

distant friends

niceguy: hey, A was in the neighborhood last night
me: oh did you see him?
niceguy: C [his fiance] called me around 10 and said they were hanging out at noriega and 22nd
niceguy: i didn't see them though...didn't get the message till like after i got home
me: theyre prob too busy to see the old sunset ppl
niceguy: yeah...prolly
me: he emailed me earlier this week but didnt tell me that he was coming
me: which i can understand
me: i knew he was gonna be here soon, from you
me: i wonder if its worth going far away for ppl's weddings if youre not close enough for them to look you up when they're around
niceguy: hmm...good point
me: something i thought of before...you know...when the last time you'll see them is probably at their wedding...and you wont be in touch with them really in the future
niceguy: yeah, it's ur last chance to see them and say, have a nice life
me: ha ha yeah

better blog browsing

i bet most of you get frustrated from time to time checking blogs and finding them not updated. (sorta like the current zits comic strip storyline. but i think most of my readers don't read the newspaper, so they won't have any idea what i'm talking about. go pick up a chronicle and check it out.) anywhoo...i was messing around with IE and figured out the subscription feature. it makes blog-browsing so easy. esp if you have a bunch of blogs to read.

all you gotta do is add the blog links to your subscription list. then go the favorites menu and subscribe to it. you can set the browser to automatically check for updates, so you don't have to yourself. after automating the update checking, i know which ones have been updated since i last read them, and don't have to waste my time on update-less ones. so easy. now i can easily keep track of the 2 dozen blogs i read.

i bet at most, only one...of my known readers might have already been doing this already. is this you? lemme know if this works out for you.

a week worth a thousand words

public hearing planning

i just got home from a three hour planning meeting at church. it was long. there's a public hearing tomorrow at city hall for our redevelopment zoning case. i'll be giving a short public testimony representing the young adult demorgraphic at our church. not really nervous. but i think you can see me and everyone else on the channel 26 or 27 cable broadcast. it should be on next week. leland yee was there tonite. it'll be an uphill battle. we expect to not get the green light, but not get the red light...just get a continuance. ultimately we know it's in god's hands and will b/c we'll have tried our best.

perpetual tourist

i love sf and exploring the neighborhoods, but after the last week i think i played tourist enough for a long long time.

thur
- went to tonga room for happy hour buffet. lots of fun. got a group of 18 ppl together. made everyone change seats everytime they got a new plate of food. people mixed and ate.

fri
- went to a wynton marsalis jazz concert at masonic auditorium. cool stuff. afterwards we gave someone a driving tour of the city (haight, fillmore, cow hollow, marina, fisherman's wharf)

sat
- brunch in noe valley. tried miss millie's. maybe the best place i've been to in sf. atmosphere and food.
- after a wedding, chinese family dinner, bbq, went to karaoke in j-town.

sun
- irving street after church. mostly south bay for the day.

mon
- "north beach by night" walking tour. free by sf city guides. very cool.
- drove down crooked lombard street, didn't really plan to until i got to the intersection. pretty spontaneous.

tue
- lunch in the castro at chow
- "market street: path of gold" walking tour. we walked up and down the historic parts of market street. saw historic buildings.
- took the hyde st. cable car to the wharf area again.
- walked around aquatic park and ghiradelli.
- walked to the marina greens and then to chestnut and lombard to eat.
- walked from lombard up fillmore to california st for coffee. i'm kinda walked out now.

need to take care of lots of business now. it was fun playing tourist in the san francisco sun.

life in motion

starting to think more about what the end of summer will hold for me. a new page, a new horizon. i caught some glimpses from some milestones for other people.

on sat i went to aj's wedding. an old high school church friend. there were a few people i sorta knew in high school there. saw one girl i knew from elementary/middle school. she said that i looked familiar but didn't really remember me. i got to thinking a little about how the newlywed couple are moving on with life. they're both graduated med students, so there were a bunch of med students there. next to come for them is residency career, and family. i'm sure. they're moving to la for two different residencies. (coincidentally, my college bud ry is also moving there for residency too. who else is going to move to la? i'm sure i'll be bumping into some random peeps.)

today i went to cc's uop graduation. i met him nearly 6 summers ago at aacf ltc. i got to really know him a three years ago when he came up here for school and came thru lumps. time sure has flown. in another year he'll be married and be practicing. dlu's in town now, and in october it will have been 4 years since i met him. that's right when i came back from china after graduating...coming back home was an interesting time for me. it was very much a reestablishment of my identity. i remember how some of the things which defined me in college, particularly people, seemed to disappear quickly. not at all from lack of effort from my part. but from the natural growth of adjusting to a new place and people here while things remained much the same over there.

after father's day dinner at straits cafe in palo alto, we stopped by my sister's new studio near by. we checked out the empty room. pretty nice. she's all excited about planning out her new room. that really got me to thinking about what's in store for me in less than three months. a physical fresh slate for what i'll call home for possibly 2-3 years. new bed. new furniture. finally get set-up. still sorta living in a transitional mode since college. never got completely set-up. having a new place to live will be just one corner of the fresh life-canvas ahead of me. i love the potential to reinvent and define myself. i just don't really look forward to all the work and cleaning that it entails. ugh.

so this past weekend, my next phase and place in life is feeling less theoretical and more of a foreseeable reality. gotta figure out the nitty gritty now...car, place, lifestyle, etc. strange. i still tell people that there's a chance that i won't go...say if the right paying opportunity openned up for me. but i'd put the chances of me heading south to be looking around 80%. i'm still flexible and will be open to doors around me.

there's so much that i gotta do, that even though it's about 3 months away, i have so much stuff that i could be fully busy everyday. i don't intend to just fade away from my involvements and community. it's rather time for me to up everything to another level. one thing i wanna do for my fellowship body is to add a little umph into the lumps life. rather than fade away, i'd want to help it out as much as i can to continue to change and transform into the group it was originally intended to be. a lot of these particular areas intersect with personal interests. i'm pushing my personal interests of city exploration and hanging out to hoptomefully help bring different people together. i really enjoyed kicking it on the golden gate and chilling and conversing at the tonga room. more on those things still. (btw, i plan on going to the north beach city guide tour by night tour tomorrow (exploring stories of the most eclectic watering holes there) and tuesday on the historic market street tour. will definitely get a cable car ride in too.

it seems that a lot of things are slowly beginning to weigh in on me. i think it started friday night at the jazz concert. when i listen to jazz, my mind can really start to wonder and different thoughts are finally free to roam about my consciousness. kinda heavy, huh? maybe it was the purple and blue lights.

i've been lapsing a little here on the blog. but i'll make up for it now with a lot of pix. i'm trying to not play too much and get the stuff that i do the stuff i really need to get done. i try not to play too much during weekdays, not when i'm trying to clear my plate of a few projects.

wanted to post a lot of pix from my gg bridge stroll in the sun day, cheeky tiki tonga room hang out, and a few other new experiences. but it seems that my server is cranky. more to come still.

street grubbing with po po

went to two new places with po po the past few weeks. on tuesday we went to street. it's very cool. i passed by last year and noticed that it looked pretty cool from the outside, and have been meaning to try it out since. it was mentioned 5 times in sf weekly's best of list, so i knew that it was a must, esp since it's so close to po po.

both of us being the visual and creative types, we admired the design of the place. cool green walls. original painted artwork mirroring the green and yellow earthy motif. contrasted reds and blacks around. high bar. lights embedded in the walls. a good branded environment study. perfect for the cool upper polk street crowd. foods not too expensive. entrees are in the 'teens.

we got there around 6, when it was pretty empty. but within 20-30 minutes the small place was pretty filled. people eating at the bar and the small tables. we shared the caesar. i had the ahi tuna. po po had the ribs. finished it off with the apple and berry cobbler. both were really good. service was really friendly. menu changes regularly. food is fresh, nicely presented. this place is really famous for it's comforting bread pudding, but i don't eat pecans, so i'll be missing out.

street is now on my very short list of favorite neighborhood restaurants in san francisco. nice, cool casual places...moderately priced. this place is well-designed and the menu's good. too bad they don't offer lots of seating...otherwise i'd go there for my next big dinner party (maybe a birthday/farewell meal or something). po po and i plan on coming back soon to street.

ristorante milano

another great restaurant we went to in the neighborhood is ristorante milano. po po used to come here with gung gung. one of the best italian restaurants listed on citysearch.

we went there a few weeks ago. good food. nice quaint place. i'd go again. (especially now that i'm leaving sf by the end of summer, i'm starting to reflect on all the places i've explored the past few years and which ones are worth going to again.) good italian food. this place gets crowded i think.

while there, po po noticed the floor tiles and commented how artistic and different it was. i thought that was funny at first, but i agreed. you don't see too many black/white/grey floor patterns now do you? it was in a sorta funny pattern too. i don't know if anyone else in our family would appreciate or talk about the floor tile arrangements.

spy guy screening tactics

last nite saw the entertainment weekly preview screening of the matt damon spy movie, coming out on friday. jc and i barely got in. got to the kabuki just an hour in advance...not really early enough to guarantee you a good place in line for these promo screenings. they always overbook. if you have the time it's better to go like 90 min early, and do some work or read while in line. one of my other buds was earlier up in line (he got there 15 min ahead of us), but we didn't cut for fear of angering the guy behind him. (personally, i really don't think the stranger behind would have cared. if that does happen, it's b/c a whole mess of people are trying to cut...not just one or two...and if you're way up at the front of the line. but we only ended up maybe 40 people behind. )

it turned out that they were started to stop the flow of people with passes into the theater. after a minute pause of not letting anyone in, i sensed that and knew that we weren't gonna make the cut on our own. our bud who had earlier gotten in saved us seats. (whew.) i knew that i could only leverage that to get jc and i in with the right timing. so while the admittance line was paused, b/c they were counting available seats inside, i went up to the front and told the security dude that my friend was holding seats for us. i also was sure to mention that we didn't want to cut in front of other ppl (but really it's the exact same outcome in the end). the dude had me call my friend and tell him to come to the front to verify our seats. he came. i gave jc the nod to get out of line and come up to the front with us. some people around him were probably wondering what the heck is going on.

right around that time, the theater people were about to make the announcement to everyone in line (maybe about 80-100) that they were going to be turned away. (the movie was playing on a smaller screen, not the largest one at the kabuki.) i think if i were to have waited and tried after that a public announcement, we may have still been able to get in but it'd be much harder. it's all about timing and being observant. (i learned these valuable skills many years ago being a fan boy at comic book conventions, trying to hustle for a place in lines for autographs and freebies.) i think i could make a good spy guy. it's all about wit, memory, and perception. if i really try to be, i can be pretty observant. (btw, the meaning of the name "greg" means "watchful one.")

we sat to the far right near the front, but that's ok. better those seats than nothing. (i usually try to sit smack-dab screen middle, one and a half screen heights back from the front. (this ratio was recommended by my berkeley american studies professor...she was right. it's the perfect place.) i still got pretty into in the movie from that angle. i jumped and yelled out loudly twice at two suspenseful moments, much to the embarassment of my friends. i get pretty involved, ok?

the bourne identity

the action in the bourne identity was pretty good...esp for pg-13. everything was pretty fast paced. but to me the premise and backstory wasn't told too well. you're just sort of dropped into the context and the movie doesn't do a lot to convince you of it or explain too much. the romance was pretty weak. i didn't really care too much about the characters in that respect. i didn't have trouble believing matt damon to be the top spy guy (b/c it's a brand new role for him as an action hero.) he has amnesia and pretty much is going from place to place following whatever shreds of leads he has on who he is. one leads to another, to another. the girl from run lola run plays the love interest.

Set against dramatic European backdrops, The Bourne Identity is the story of a man (Matt Damon), salvaged, near death, from the ocean by an Italian fishing boat. When he recuperates, the man suffers from total amnesia, without identity or background…except for a range of extraordinary talents in fighting, linguistic skills and self-defense that speak of a dangerous past. He sets out on a desperate search—assisted by the initially rebellious Marie (Franka Potente)—to discover who he really is, and why he’s being lethally pursued by assassins.
[the rotten tomatoes synopsis]

see this bargain matinee...maybe, full price. it was ok, but not incredibly super great. i think the plot and the character relationships felt pretty mechanistic. to me the premise wasn't really overly orginal. i'm still looking forward to minority report more.

eclipse watching at sutro park
such a nice day on monday. we used paper with pen holes as well as looking thru two pieces of exposed film. it works!

give yourself the southpark treatment!

kelly hu is lady deathstrike



yay. asian representation in x-men 2! info's on comics continuum. i can't believe that she doesn't know that she's going to play a villain.

looks like they're switching things up a bit from the comics. lady deathstrike's real name was yukio.

And then yesterday afternoon, Kelly Hu told E! News that she will be playing the part of Lady Deathstrike in X2, leaving fans of the comic book scratching their heads. The character of Deathstrike, who in the comics was a razor-clawed adversary of Wolverine, is markedly different than what fans believed Hu's character of Anne Reynolds was supposed to be; the latter is believed to be based on a supporting character that first appeared in the X-Men graphic novel God Loves, Man Kills. Of course, it may also mean that parts of both X-Men characters have been fused into one for the sake of the movie... [ corona productions coming attractions]

get educated (or get help)

from the social issues research center's guide to flirting...

* At 4 ft (about two small steps away), you are on the borderline between what are known as the 'social zone' (4 to 12 ft) and the 'personal zone' (18in to 4ft). (hmm...i think i interact with people better in a personal zone, not as well in the social zone.)

* In normal social encounters, we avoid eye contacts of more than one second. Among a crowd of strangers in a public setting, eye contacts will generally last only a fraction of second, and most people will avoid making any eye contact at all. (i think i'm usually pretty good now about making eye contact with people when talking to them, especially when shaking hands. i'm really bad at making eye contact from across the room with a new person. i think my natural tendency has been to avoid it.)

* Males may adopt [attractive] postures which make them appear taller, larger and more impressive, such as placing hands in pockets with elbows out to enlarge the chest, or leaning one hand at above shoulder height on a wall to appear taller and more imposing. (mom and dad never taught me that. i did learn not to slouch.)

* Researchers have found that nodding can be used to 'regulate' conversations. If you make single, brief nods while your partner is speaking, these act as simple signs of attentiveness, which will maintain the flow of communication from the speaker. Double nods will change the rate at which the other person speaks, usually speeding up the flow, while triple nods or single, slow nods often interrupt the flow altogether, confusing speakers so much that they stop in their tracks. So, if you want to express interest and keep your partner chatting with you, stick to brief single nods. (i'm gonna randomly nod to try to confuse someone next time. heh heh.)

* Spontaneous smiles produce characteristic wrinkles around the eyes, which will not appear if your target is 'forcing' a smile out of politeness. 'Forced' or 'social' smiles tend to be asymmetrical. Unspontaneous smiles tend to occur at socially inappropriate moments in the conversation. A manufactured smile tends to be held for longer (what is often called a 'fixed' smile) and then to fade in an irregular way. (i think i smile a lot. i wonder what if it looks forced or social when i meet someone. gotta scrunch the eyes!)

* Unless the context you are in provides such a convenient ritual, use the IIC (Impersonal Interrogative Comment) formula. This formula can be adapted to almost any situation or occasion. Just make a general, impersonal comment on some aspect of the event, activity, circumstances or surroundings, with a rising intonation or 'isn't it?' type of ending. (so that's how you do it!)

* Compliments are almost universally welcomed and do not have to be witty or original. In an analysis of 600 verbatim compliments, linguists found that they tend to follow a tried-and-tested formula, with the word "nice" occurring in nearly 25% of the compliments studied, and the word "you" in almost 75%. In other words, you should not be afraid of paying simple, unflowery compliments such as "That's a nice jacket" or "That colour really suits you", as they can be very effective. (i know i don't pay people compliments nearly enough.)

interesting, eh? i'm always pretty fascinated by interaction dynamics and how people give first impressions. a lot of it's for self-realization for myself.

i'm a really poor or inactive flirt. i remember that one girl told me that when she met me, she naturally touched my arm warmly, and i flinched! another girl told me that when i talked to her, i always looked at her out of the corner of my eye (and not directly). not good. that was a couple of years ago, i think. i also rarely recognize a flirty, friendly smile. i think i just expect people to be genuinely friendly nice people.

i hope that i've shaken the shy guy shadow, but i dunno. what do you think? analysis or advice? (you can tell me offline if you want.) i certainly do wanna know.

My Bloginality is ENFP!!! (although according to meyers-briggs i think i'm ENTJ.)

home-bound summer

looks like i'll be here at least through early july. a chance still exists for singapore. i'm not betting on anything though.

library reader

i'm at the library cuz i wanted to read the wsj. that's one thing i can't do at borders. it's been months since i read it. felt a little like i was exercising and stimulating my lazy brain. gosh, the net connection here is fast! and man, do people around me here stink!

the short list

i was originally putting this post as an addendum to the question below about which blogs i admire for writing skills. (but then i lost the update, so here goes again.) some mini-capsule blog reviews, descriptions of friend blogs. generally it tends to be that the most updated blogs are often the better in quality.

* the evil wahine - lots of cool random pop culture stuff. short and brief. pix and links. pretty popular in the blogging community. updated daily.
* miscellaneous musings - an introspective journal about ups and downs in her life. pretty open and honest. deep. updated daily.
* the millbrae files - daily updates on his personal life. small little things. creative stories. funny. too bad rarely any pix. updated daily.
* got-rice - nice personal sharing and stories. check out the yblog and random ramblings. i don't really know the difference tho. updated nearly daily.
* piece of blog - recent interesting attempt in blogging by emulating other styles of lumps bloggers. updated frequently.
* a day in the mind of me - used to be more of my regular reads when it was more consistent. deep with often melodramatic sharing and stories. creatively written. updated sometimes.
* sola fide - gotten pretty good with regularly sharing, stories, and pictures. updated nearly daily.
* generasian x - an old cal friend with lots of similar interests. dinky window and you have to click a couple of times to get to his latest entry, but it's usually worth it. cooleyville, his quest for a gf, and lots of pix. updated daily.
* procrastination station - it used to be better a while ago when he was updating regularly. it reads just like he talks. a lot of the oh, phooey personality in there. but the blogging has slipped a bit since he's been devoting all of his time to creating downloadable jonho.com music mix cds. check it out or send him e-mail for a cd. they're pretty good! freestyle and modern rock. if you're really nice, maybe he'll send you one. (there's your plug! happy?)

no friday five...so here's another list...especially since i just had multiple conversations about blogging today...

Ethics/Personal Life:
Has a blog post ever got you into trouble?
- nothing too major. well, perhaps.
How many people do you know face-to-face who read your weblog?
- 35+
Have you met any of your regional (or even remote) bloggers?
- yes
Do you modify or delete posts? How often? Why?
- modify...for minor typos and stuff
How much is your weblog a part of your personal identity? Do you feel like people who don't know about your blog don't really know you?
- i just joked with lk tonite that i'm an open book on my blog. i think it reflects a lot of my identity and interests. of course, what i present is intended to be palletable and accessible for a larger readership than the people i hang out with regularly.
How has blogging changed your life?
- somewhat. it's helped me to deepen and initiate relationships with some different people.

Technical/Design:
Do you know how to code at all? Did you learn how to code by blogging?
- i think i do...but i'm still an unproven coder. blogging has helped me to be very familiar with html stuff.
What weblogging tool do you use and why?
- currently just blogger but planned integration with dreamweaver
Does the design seem like something that is just something that has to be dispensed with in order to be able to write publicly, or is your design an integral part of your writing and presentation?
- i havn't paid too much attention so far to the design of this site, since i'm using a template. there are so many things that i'm planning to change. i already have sketches sitting around of my planned i need to just take a day and do it! next week!! it's very sad that i want to be a designer and still have this template design.
How many times have you changed your weblog design entirely (or nearly so)?
maybe once. i think.

Readership/Motivation:
How many people would you guess (educated guess based on hit counts/logfiles) read your weblog on a weekly basis at least?
- maybe 30 or so weekly. very hard to say. in the past two months, my highest week had ~250 unique hits (which includes people who randomly stumble across me).
What have you done to get more people to look at your site?
- not too much. i've told people my e-mail address mostly. some people figured it out. some don't. i'm waiting for a designed site before i promo it too much.
What one or two characteristics make a blog really popular? Are there things that you could do to have more people read your weblog that you conciously do not do? Why?
- regularly posted interesting content. one could have the best content...but if ppl keep checking the sitein vain, then it loses a lot.
What really popular weblog do you think most deserves it...and/or least deserves it?
- you can ask me offline.
How do you feel about your readership? What makes for a quality readers hip to you?
- i enjoy hearing how some of my stories have entertained or inspired. i also like positive comments or random e-mails spurred on by a blog post.

Influence of Other Bloggers:
What other blogger is most responsible for you starting your own weblog?
- the retired mareciless universe
Who was the first other blogger (that you know of) who put you on thier sidebar, and how did you feel? How did it influence your blogging?
- it was mareciless again. pretty cool. mareciless picked it up from my e-mail address.
What other blogger do you most admire for her writing skills?
- i really enjoy bloggers who have interesting introspective thoughts and pay attention to good formatting. (does not use large paragraphs.) hkh is ok.
What other blogger do you most admire for her design skills?
- i've stumbled across tevis.net while i was searching one day for info on the friday five. i enjoy pitcures and design well integrated into the blog. i rarely read it tho...but i think it looks kinda neat.
Who is a blogger that you think is really good but doesn't get nearly the attention they are worthy of?
dunno. no one really fits that qualification.
Do you feel obligated to have people on your link lists/sidebars that you never read?
no. i check em all. i also delete links if the blogs become really stagnant. (not updated).
What one or two characteristics define a really quality blog (in your humble opinion, of course)?
consistency and creativity.

the waiting room

i got a few calls tonite. just got moved from the boarding room back to the waiting room.

looking like i will likely be here for more than a week. possibly for the whole summer (and not going away). not really bummed (at least not yet). just waiting and hoping in god's perfect timing for my life as doors open and close. as things continually are changing around me, my hope stays constant. that's the way to having a content attitude and not getting bummed out with every little wave.

looks like i'll have to update the people i told that i'd be leaving, so that news doesn't spread. (i was holding off on really making plans to say good-bye to people until it was a done deal. if you knew that i was probably going, you're special. you're in my inner circle of communication.) it was 90% sure that i was going before. now the future is unclear again after a couple of days of clarity. perhaps a 30-60% chance of me going? i dunno.

as far as i know, the door hasn't shut. it's just not wide enough for me to go through...so i'll now be living my life here with doubled efforts as if it's my last week in the bay area. at the drop of a hat, i could be gone in less than a week if i saw the opportunity. i realize that things could still work out a variety of ways better than if i were to go next week. i'll just wait and see.

classroom convicts

had another sub teach job today. this time was at P0 high school. it was nearly impossible to get to. imagine a school in the district where all of the bad kids who had troubles or some disability attended. now imagine a small separate program which had all of the expelled kids from the san mateo high schools. i had that class. by law they're not allowed on any school campus. all was provided for in their classroom. not allowed to mix with any other high school kids. the classroom felt a lot like jail. two way mirror windows.

these kids were definitely nearly all rowdy. had to be pretty forceful in regulating. i was filling in for a long time sub for english and history. a lot of policing in order to teach.

jing ding again

* tonite, i was calling my singapore contact, and she was on the line. i left my home number for her to call back. about 30 seconds later she calls my cell phone. it turns out that she was calling her husband to find my number at that time. wowzers!

* yesterday the spedometer and mileage meter on the car broke. in retrospect, sort of like my mileage here in the bay area is at an end.

btw, i just saw serendipity again on dvd. jing ding is what my family calls all of those coinkydinks.

gone?

i'm stoked. odds look very very good that i'll be going to singapore the country for two months. next week! do you have friends there? lemme know! more later! must now tie up loose ends, do last minute things in sf, and get packed!