greetings and salutations! i hope that life finds you well. as you can tell from the date of my last blog, i've had all the time in the world to write and write and write. that little thing known as dental school has occupied some of my time. it's going well though, thanks for asking! i've met lots of cooL and hiLarious peopLe. but anyways, this blog won't be about the vicious cycle known as dental school, so let's move on, shall we?
so, Christmas just passed (belated Merry Christmas to you and yours) and what's Christmas without a little gift-giving? this year was a little different however since we all went shopping as a family and bought everyone's gifts for each other in front of the respective recipient. that's right, there were no hidden doors or smoke and mirrors at this Christmas. what you saw is what you got... literally. and what you got was in fact, what you got a couple days later when we formally had to open presents on Christmas day. let's recap the day of december 23, 2010:
7:07 AM: i get awakened by the bright light of my ceiling fan. my dad turns it on as he tells me that my brother is on his way to the house. after going to bed probably 6 hours earlier, i willfully shut my eyes again in hopes that they could somehow filter out the brightness. i was wrong.
7:15 AM: i hit the shower. lights are all off and i'm depending on the light coming in through the window. at this time of the day, i'm not sure if it's because of the moon or the sun. i'm still in sort of a sleepy daze when i realized i was using the body wash as shampoo and the shampoo as body wash. today will be a great day.
7:26 AM: darryll has arrived and we are eating breakfast. my dad made ham/egg/cheese mcmuffins. i reach into my pocket and find a lactose pill. this day is definitely looking up.
7:45 AM: we leave for the san marcos shopping outlet. i tell myself that i will be a good navigator and help darryll get there. my eyes and body do not follow my instructions and i end up falling asleep.
9:23 AM: i wake up and put my headphones on to start my day off right... with some music. i figure that the past two hours have just been some sort of dream and that NOW my day has actually started... in the passenger seat of my own car... in the middle of nowhere.
10:50 AM: we arrive at the outlet and the first store we go to is the Nike store. apparently, i need new shoes as everyone is telling me. i look at my reliable, gray Nikes and realize one of my toes has a little sunroof because of a hole in the shoe. i blink hard and realize i'm just seeing things. maybe i DO need new shoes.
11:00 AM: nothing. no shoe in there caught my eye. disappointed? sure, but i think my gray Nikes were a little happy. they get to live another day.
11:10-12:40 PM: we go to the armani outlet followed by the polo outlet stores. i think my wallet started to cry when we walked into the armani store. i looked at my credit card and it started to laugh at me. now when we went into the polo store, i felt right at home. it's as if i was goldilocks and picked the right porridge, chair, and bed all on the first try. it just felt right being in there.
12:50 PM: lunch time. i get the stereotypical chinese food... fried rice, sweet and sour chicken, and mixed vegetables. i wash it all down with some sprite. who obeys his thirst? this guy does.
1:07-6:00 PM: go to a wide range of stores. apparently, one of the store owners said that if you were to spend just 5 minutes in all of the stores at the outlet, you would be here for 3 days. i try to do the math in my head and realize that that's a ridiculous amount of stores. i end up getting some sunglasses for my brother... in the middle of winter. i realize that i may not have the best timing. i counteract this by telling myself i will buy him a scarf at the beginning of summer.
6:46 PM-1:14 AM: we leave san marcos and decide to drive to lauberge to do some gambling (hopefully to get some money back from what we had just spent on Christmas gifts). naturally, we take about 2 or 3 wrong turns and end up in San Antonio. so, what was supposed to be about a 4 drive turns into a 6 hour drive. nevertheless, my parents are excited to go to lauberge. i wonder if i'm the only tired one in the group. i wrestle with this thought as i take another nap. i figure that i would probably be the worst 18-wheeler driver in the history of 18-wheelers.
1:21 AM-4:44 AM: flashing lights, the sound of slot machines, and the smell of smoke surround me. a second wind surges within me and the blood gets pumping. my brother and i spend the first hour or so helping my parents try to understand the slot machines and that penny slots are in fact 50 cent or dollar slots depending on how much you want to gamble. i was getting tired again and realized i needed a pick-me-up. in the words of forrest gump, "i must've drank me fifteen dr. peppers." my bladder would not be so happy with me later.
4:49 AM-7:00 AM: i am awake throughout the entire ride home. i was able to catch the sun rising on the ride home and wonder why vampires are so afraid of such an awesome sight of nature. their loss is my gain.
7:07 AM: i finally get back into my bed and realized i hadn't been in it for an entire day. i try to reflect on the entire day when once again, my eyes shut and i fall asleep. i fell AUHSLEEP after staying up for 18 hours, DAY and NIGHT! for you tv-challenged people, that was an allusion to a friends episode.
so there you go. a day in the life with my family. ridiculous, right? i have to say so myself, but all in all, i love them and thank them for all that they've given me: laughter and love.
thanks for reading.
-jdv
No rest for the Weary
There will be Blood
blood brother.i am addicted to the show dexter. it seems that my sitcom days are behind me. i've replaced the light, friendly shows with a dark, macabre drama.
the show centers around dexter morgan: forensic scientist cop by day, serial killer by night. i had always heard good things about the show, but i didn't decide to start until a few days ago. let me say, when dexter first plunged a knife into one of his "victims," i plunged headfirst into his world, his lifestyle, his struggle. why does he do it? what forces push a man to take the life of another human being? the show is definitely not for the faint of heart, however, it does get the blood pumping. just be sure to hide all the knives and plastic wrap from eyesight.
i see some of myself in dexter. no, not the blood-thirsty killer aspect. rather, the meticulous, attention-to-detail aspects. i am a perfectionist and dexter can not afford to be anything less than that. a fingerprint, a drop of blood, a loose hair. all of these can be traced back to him if he's not careful. in addition, his dry, witty remarks are on par with mine. maybe his are better. i'm afraid if he reads this, he may kill me... what am i saying, "may"? he will kill me.
he's a killer, but yet somehow, you empathize and sympathize with him. there has to be a rhyme and reason for what he does. you have to find out for yourself. if you have not seen the show, i highly recommend it. like watch it. right now. exit this ridiculous blog. purchase netflix. find dexter season 1 episode 1 and queue that mother up. you won't be disappointed.
thanks for reading.
-jdv
No man is an Island
apologies for my absence from the blogging world. a little thing called dental school has been taking up some of my time. it's like an annoying girlfriend... demanding time, testing your limits, exposing your flaws, expensive, etc. however, when the dust settles and all is said and done, you love her because she's your girlfriend no matter how annoying you may think she is. dental school, at times you annoy me, but at the end of the day, i love you.
now that that weird opening paragraph is out of the way, let's move on to today's topic. currently, i am living alone. from a previous blog, i mentioned purchasing my own condo, and now, i have finally moved into my own place.
life is different.
food is no longer prepared for me by my mom anymore. well, for the most part that is. she sometimes drops food off at my place. (hey, i'm the baby of the family. give me a break.) laundry isn't done for me anymore. bills aren't paid for. but aside from all of the material differences, there is no other person living with me. i can do whatever i want. i can put on my socks, underwear, white button-down shirt, and sunglasses on and reenact the tom cruise risky business scene. why even stop there? i could just reenact the entire movie if i wanted to. in that same outfit. i am the master of my domain.
however, i am rarely in my condo. this condo sees as much as me as vampires see the light of day. i find myself needing to be around others. i need to crack a joke. i need to say something sarcastic. i need to make a funny face. and if you think for one second that i'm an attention whore, you're mistaken. sadly mistaken. i just enjoy the company of others. there is no equal to the feeling i get when i make others laugh. and one day, i will make people smile. that's why, i will be the first dentist to also work at mcdonald's because apparently, they love to see you smile as well. who would've thought that mcdonald's and i would have so much in common? not i.
i've always been a people person. i mean, what other kind of person is there? an animal person? a plant person? those people are called zoologists and botanists, respectively. so it's hard not living with someone when i have for the past 23 years of my life. the people that join me for dinner are either from the jersey shore, or on big brother, or play football. however, this is a valuable learning experience and is definitely making me more independent. i am a chef, maid, student, investor, financier all rolled up into one. try to imagine that kind of outfit. you can't.
no man is an island. ironically, i'm from the philippines which is a bunch of islands... so... hmm... paradox? conundrum?
that is all for now. this post was all over the place. definitely need to get back into the blogging groove.
thanks for reading.
-jdv
Third time's a Charm
what did we learn from Goldilocks and the Three Bears? that bears and humans will never live peacefully under one roof? that bears love porridge? surprisingly, no. we learned that the third time is always a charm, in this case, a chair, porridge, and a bed. sometimes, it takes us a little time to figure out when things are just right.
i'm a firm believer of things falling apart in order for better things to fall into place. i think that notion got even deeper roots within me after reading a famous novel appropriately titled Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe. the novel is filled with so many different themes and motifs such as culture, struggle between change and tradition, language, and animal imagery. it is a great read and i highly recommend it. spoiler alert, better things do NOT fall into place in the novel, which is why i enjoy it so much. hmm, so why again did i use this novel as a model for better things falling into place? oh well. any reason to plug an enjoyable read of mine into the blog.
anyways, connecting this notion of things falling apart with the Goldilocks moral of finding something just right, i potentially have found my future home for the next four years. i've purchased my own condo and plan to move in once extreme makeover: condo edition finishes with the place. but believe you me, it did not come easy. i had my fair share of too high/too low locations, too hot/too cold places, and too hard/too soft bedrooms. while i meant those things figuratively, they also were true literally.
the first place we had lined up seemed nice. everything was set to go until the tenant living there told us that she had just renewed her lease for a year. what?!? so why is the owner putting it up for sale? i smell a rat. i didn't like the fishy stuff going on with that place so that was strike one.
the second place was even better than the first. wood floors, crown moldings, and did i mention, wood floors? it almost seemed to good to be true. Until that thought actually became a reality. don't you hate when that happens? we found out later that night that the owner had signed a contract the day before. strike two. So we had to pick this other place. all the paperwork was signed, all the papers initialed, and all the T's crossed and I's dotted.
however, this morning, we looked at a third place. better location, no rug floors throughout the place, and much much better location. i saw a lot of potential there and was happy to put my initials down about a million times again to cancel the contract before and apply them to the new one. sometimes, things fall apart in order for better things to fall into place.
i apologize for the lack of humor in this post. i guess this is a pretty big occasion for me and i didn't want to jinx it by making fun of it. and it's always nice to post a semi-serious blog every once in a while. ok, this is getting too emo and retrospective. make it stop! make it STOP! let the record show that i just used the word "retrospective." i think i'll just end it here before i start to ramble on about ridiculous things like feelings. you caught me in a vulnerable state, i'm a homeowner!
thanks for reading.
-jdv
Hungry like the Wolf
i think i have a tapeworm living in me today. i think that magically it appeared in my stomach this june 2, 2010. i don't understand it. i've been staaaaaaaaarving the whole day. i'm starving right now, right as i shakily type this out.
i went to bed around one in the morning. right before i ate about 8 or 9 delicious barbecue wings and some rice. i woke up at 6 in the morning (what?!?) hungry and worst of all, i couldn't go back to sleep because of the hunger. i fixed a bowl of strawberry (mmm, strawberry) mini wheats and chomped that down. you know what? i think you could either put the word "strawberry" or "bacon" in front of anything and then it automatically makes the said dish delicious. anyways, i went back to sleep and woke up at 10, stomach growling. so, i fix myself another bowl of mini wheats and then eat some tuna and eggs with rice and hot sauce. go back to bed, wake up around 2 and i'm hungry again (are you noticing a theme here?). no cereal this time or any kind of food. i wasn't giving this tapeworm what it wanted. no sirree.
i'm off to eat some chips and salsa (mmm, salsa). hopefully it gets rid of this stupid tapeworm.
thanks for reading.
-jdv
Opening up new Windows
it is finished.
my two day binge on computer installation has been finished. i learned not only how to build my own personalized computer, but also how to fully customize it as well. thanks to an anonymous resource, i have been granted access to programs that would have otherwise stretched my wallet.
but just as is the story of life, the building of my computer did not come easy. there were trials and tribulations, faults and frustrations. nothing good comes easy, my friend. you have to put work into it. you have to mess up in order to learn how and why you messed up in order to fix it. you can not give up. ever. now, this may be a tad hyperbolic applying these kinds of maxims to my computer production, but they are true when applied to life.
i almost gave up on building it. i got frustrated and was about to send a part back into the manufacturer claiming that it was defective and did not work. that would have been the easy way out. psh, actually the easy way out would have been throwing that computer under a bus. but if i had done that, i might as well have taken a good chunk of my money and lit it on fire a la the joker in the dark knight. but anyways, i was very close to shipping it back, until i made a crucial decision.
i reached out for help.
another vital life lesson. ask for help. do not be afraid that you will look dumb if you ask for help. now, keep in mind that if you ask something dumb, like what if the hokey pokey is what it's all about, then you will get a dumb response. reach out to others and know your limitations. what person wouldn't be happy to get the chance to a)talk about what they love doing and b)do what they love doing? in this case, it was computer stuff and i reached out to the right people. i may not be able to help you out when it comes to repairing computers, but if you want to talk basketball, poker, or dental stuff, i'd be more than happy to share with you.
the sweet just ain't as sweet without the bitter. i tell you, when that power button was pressed, and i saw the fans start spinning inside my computer, i felt... speechless. in a sense, i had produced life. i felt like dr. frankenstein. it's alive. it's ALIIIIIIIIIIIIIVE. much like a gourmet chef prepares a delicious dish out of individual ingredients, i had produced a machine out of separate parts.
i created and it was good.
now, it's time to rest.
thanks for reading.
-jdv
Etymology
what's this? two posts in a single day? why, that's unbelievable. either that, or i have a lot of free time.
i realized that i hadn't explained the name of my blog. what exactly is a "jamesawockee"? what does that even mean? what's with the mask on the side?
those are all relevant questions. well, "jamesawockee" is an adaptation of a hip-hop dance group's name "jabbawockeez" which is an adaptation of part of a Lewis Carroll poem from Through the Looking Glass, and What Alice Found There. the verse reads: "beware the Jabberwock, my son! the jaws that bite, the claws that snatch." apparently, the poem is one of the greatest nonsense poems ever written in English (thank you, wikipedia). likewise, the jabbawockeez are one of the greatest dance groups to walk this earth.
their claim to fame was winning mtv's first season of america's best dance crew. they did so with unparalleled synchronicity and mind-blowing creativity. their performances week after week were linked and were flawless throughout. their dances have been copied and uploaded onto youtube by so many different people. they went on to get sponsored by gatorade and now have their own show in las vegas. to say that they have become successful and influential is an understatement.
obviously, they have influenced me if i named my blog after them. the reason i have the mask over there is because all of them wear these masks when they dance. it brings a sense of unity among the group and makes you wonder just who is under each one. little does it matter since they can all dance extremely well.
here are their performances from week to week on the show.
live audition special: we came to party by tony yayo
week 1 (crew's choice challenge): apologize by one republic
week 2 (video star challenge - incorporate moves from a music video into performance): ice box by omarion
week 3 (dance craze challenge - must include illusion that they can defy gravity): lean wit it, rock wit it by dem franchise boyz
week 4 (movie character challenge - act as thieves): ayo technology by 50 cent and JT
week 5 (thriller challenge): PYT by MJ
week 6 (broadway remixed challenge - incorporate the charleston): all that jazz from chicago
week 7 (last chance challenge/ encore round - leave the final mark on the competition): the red pill
week 7 (evolution of street dance challenge - tell the history of hip-hop): mix of 5 different songs
week 8 (step challenge with other finalist group status quo)
week 8 (championship performance): harder, better, faster, stronger by kanye west
enjoy!
thanks for reading (and watching).
-jdv
LOST and Found
i've given in.
i delayed as long as i could. i didn't want to be one of those people that followed the show religiously and talked about it and all its little nuances all the time. i refused to get caught up. call it non-conformist, call it stubborn, call it whatever you want. i never saw a single episode of LOST.
until now.
starting at the beginning a few months ago, i am currently in the middle of the fifth season and am still loving every minute of it. i must say, it's nice getting "lost" in a tv show again (the first one was with friends and the second one is the office, even though the latter is lagging on me). anyways, the show got me to thinking of the desert island game.
3 people i would like to be stranded with (have to be alive since this is desert island 2010):
1) Tom Hanks [this was a no brainer. he's obviously had experience on a desert island. yes, i realize that castaway was just a movie, but he made it look so easy. plus, he just seems like an all-around nice guy. it'll be good for team morale to have tom hanks on the island. ]
see what i mean? great for team morale.2) i really want to put Lady Gaga in this slot. you have no idea. but i mean, what could she add to the group? entertainment? psh, we're on an island. although, her singing and flashy outfits could attract wildlife and therefore, food. hmm, this is proving to be harder than i thought (twss). on second thought, give me elisabeth filarski/hasselback. if you don't know her, she's from the second season of the show "survivor" and she finished in 3rd place. or if you're a woman, she's from the morning show "the view." once again, she's had experience as well which would definitely prove crucial and pay dividends in the long run. hands up if you think i'm taking this too seriously? yep, that's what i thought.
another smiling face. i almost want this desert island scenario to come true.3) easy. evangeline lilly. she plays the character kate in the tv show lost. she can track trails, run and swim like a champion, and she'll even out the ratio of guys and girls. experience and more experience. how can i stress this enough?
please, can this scenario come true? pretty please?3 items to have:
no cheap answers like cell phone so i could call and get off the island or boat so i could sail away from the island. some other conditions. if you bring something running on batteries, they cannot be replaced. also, no endless supplies of anything as an item such as "endless amounts of food" or "endless supplies of matches." ok, moving on...
1) hand-crank flashlight which doesn't require batteries or a bulb. (yes, these exist. i amazoned it.) light is of vital importance especially at night. this will definitely help during those late night hunts.
2) knife with sharpening kit. another no brainer. the knife can be used to kill and skin animals. it can be used to create spears or other weapons. it can cut fruit. an important tool for survival.
3) compass. can't get "lost" right? with this instrument, we'll never get lost and always have a sense of direction. no need to look for the north star or looking at trees to see which side the moss is growing on. we have a compass to lead us in the right direction.
joke answer: 1)iPod with headphones, 2) angel soft ultra soft toilet paper, and 3) a deck of cards. see, it's no fun with the joke answers.
who would you want on your desert island with you? what would you bring along? joke answers? real answers?
maybe one day, my lost scenario will play out. i mean, the odds of that happening are a billion to one though. oh well, i'll settle for living in the real world. wow, i think i'm way too into the show. somebody find me!
thanks for reading.
-jdv
Give me some Credit
to quote one of my favorite movies, vanilla sky: what is the answer to 99 of 100 questions? money.
when i was a young, naive kid, i had the ridiculous notion that checks could buy anything. you couldn't blame me though. we'd go to the grocery store, mom would write a check, and we'd walk out. we'd go to toys r us, mom would write a check, and we'd walk out. lather, rinse, repeat with anywhere we went. little did i know there was this whole "checking account" where money was taken out of. nope, i believed all of the buying power resided in that rectangular piece of paper.
nowadays, all of the buying power resides in a more compact rectangular piece of plastic. i'm talking about a credit card, grandma. one quick swipe, a flick of the digital pen, and the merchandise is all yours. easy as that. sometimes, there isn't even a signature needed, just a swipe and you're out the door. even more, there isn't even a "checking account" needed to purchase anything. you can buy things on "credit."
i never quite understood the whole "credit" thing. there's some mysterious score out there for everyone and it's determined by some complex equations taking your age, weight, height, and zodiac sign into consideration. there's a billion commercials out there that sing songs about credit. some people say it's good to have debt, some people say it's bad to have debt. there's APR, transfer fees, late payments, cash back, airline miles, etc. etc. it all seems so overwhelming.
my naive little kid mind is still as naive as ever. i just thought, well, why don't people just buy it all at once? am i right? just save up and pay it all up front so that you don't have to worry about more payments. i guess that's just one of my little idiosyncrasies: i hate the notion of owing people money on my conscience. but anyways, i didn't fully realize the necessity of credit until my recent LASIK surgery. if i had paid all of that up front, that would have put a Texas-sized dent in my account. when they offered me the chance to pay it off in two years with no interest, i took that deal immediately. like if i was on deal or no deal, i would've pressed that red button before the banker could even call me. DEAL!
and how did i qualify for that two year, no interest payment plan? because i had great credit.
it feels good to finish paying off a credit card. no more bills in the mail from them. no more balances to look at. no more reading "thank you for your prompt payment." no no, thank YOU for turning my dollar cheeseburger into a five dollar foot long because of interest.
then again, it also feels good opening up a new credit card. the excitement of opening up that crisp envelope knowing the card is inside because you can feel the lining of it from the outside. the first, clean swipe that makes you feel so powerful and limitless as God himself must feel when He uses a credit card. the letters in the mail that tell you that they increased your spending limit: well don't they just know the right thing to say. they might as well just send me a letter in the mail that says "you're handsome today."
if you were wondering, yes, this blog is a true story. it isn't based on a movie that was based on a novel written by sapphire. i finished paying one off and opened up another one. ironically, i'm a sapphire owner now. chase sapphire, that is. isn't that precious?
finally, one of my bucket list items is to own an amex black card. yes, i know the gruesome details of that particular card, but if i have to do some illegal things to be invited, then so be it. they don't call it the black card for nothin'.
obviously, i'm kidding about the illegal activity. give me some credit.
thanks for reading.
-jdv
Why does one choose to be a Dentist
i will be starting dental school in august and i thought i would share with ya'll what my personal statement stated. i know it's quite lengthy, but with the help of friends and family, i think it's one of the best, if not THE best, things i've written (not to toot my own horn or anything). seriously though, i'm very modest. on second thought, this is the worst thing i've ever written. there. now you have no expectations when reading it. enjoy!
At the age of thirteen, I nervously surveyed my surroundings from the dental chair. Prior appointments had outlined my need for braces and a head gear, and the day had finally arrived. Jaws aching, light blinding, and eyes watering, I had undergone an experience like no other. Although I was not smiling after the procedure, I remember the grin that my orthodontist, Dr. Stevenson, had from ear to ear. Despite my new reason to be even more self-conscious, I was pleasantly surprised that he treated me with the same level of kindness after the procedure as he did before it started. This compassion which he exhibited for another person not only led me to regard Dr. Stevenson with a sense of admiration but also lay the groundwork for a budding interest in the field of dentistry.
The years after my initial meeting with Dr. Stevenson gave me more opportunities to experience the field of dentistry with greater proximity. Because my brother himself is a dentist, I had the privilege to witness firsthand what being in this particular profession entailed. I began by shadowing him after my sophomore year in college and subsequently, I started to work for Dental Smiles, the dental office he is employed in at present. Currently, I am working full time as an office worker at the same dental clinic, and I am looking into becoming a certified dental assistant. From my experience there, I noticed that hard work, cooperation, and communication are all essential to delivering quality care to patients. Aside from the actual treatment and manual dexterity needed, a dentist must also possess the ability to talk to people. Being able to effectively converse with both assistants and patients is of vital importance to this profession.
The ability to establish a connection with people through good communication skills was not something I acquired early on in my school life. Back in high school, I was not involved in sports, clubs, or school activities because I was so focused on my classes and studies. I graduated summa cum laude, but my social skills needed improvement. When I entered college, I decided to live on campus for the first two years so that I would have the opportunity to be surrounded by my peers. Although it did entail some degree of sacrifice in terms of grades, I developed the ability to interact with people, which cannot be obtained by reading any textbook. I met people of different races, religions, ethics, and cultures and learned how to relate with them. In the process, I formed a bond with some people who eventually became my close friends. I soon came to realize that my relationships with my friends all possess the same qualities which should be found in a doctor-patient relationship: trust, openness in communication, honesty, and care.
My continued exposure to the everyday affairs of Dental Smiles has made me see that there is much more to the life of a dentist than possessing the correct technical expertise and fostering the right relationship with patients.
At the root of dentistry lies service. Pairing this notion with my high school motto, "Men for Others," I know that I have the right attitude and heart for a future in dentistry. This desire to reach out to others has been channeled through the volunteer work I have done with health-related camps and activities. For instance, I remember feeling a great sense of fulfillment when I volunteered at "The Camp that Love Built," a summer camp geared towards individuals with spina bifida who are working to be independent. I was paired with a camper and for a week, I would assist him in daily activities such as bathing, eating, changing clothes, and swimming. The week was exhausting but the gratitude that the camper's parents showed me made everything worth it. Currently, I am volunteering at San Jose Clinic, which provides healthcare to the disenfranchised and uninsured. Watching the doctors there, especially the dentists, proceed with their daily work has confirmed my desire to pursue the path towards a degree in dental medicine.
I hope that one day, as a dentist, I can give people the same feeling of happiness and self-confidence that Dr. Stevenson gave me. I experienced it personally with my braces and I can now perceive it visually through the patients at Dental Smiles. My brother has also played a huge part in pursuing a degree in dental medicine. Having been given so much by my parents, he is now giving back to the community and because I have come to look up to him as my role model, I also aspire to do the same. Not only do i desire more than anything for the opportunity to help out people, but I also want the chance to work side-by-side with my brother in a field where we can do our part in making other people's lives a little better.
thanks for reading.
-jdv
Looking at the world through new Eyes
i woke up and to my surprise, the hanging toy monkey in my room is clear to me. i flip the tv on and the channel isn't blurry. did i sleep with my glasses on? am i dreaming?
the feeling is surreal. i can see.
this story begins two nights ago. i was in the middle of my nightly routine, i.e. brushing my teeth, washing my face, flossing, when i proceeded to clean my eyelids to get ready for the big day. i closed my eyes, wiped the eyelids clean, and when i reopened them, i realized that the blur across from me would no longer be a blur soon. my stomach had a knot or two in it due to anticipation and nervousness. sleep did not come easy, but eventually my eyes closed.
the next morning, i woke up tired, hungry, and excited. Tired at the thought of getting only four hours of sleep. Hungry at the thought of not being able to eat for four hours before the surgery. Excited at the thought of never having to depend on glasses again. as the time drew nearer, my heart beat faster. i needed something or someone to calm me down, and then my friends appeared. when laura and pierre came to pick me up, my anxiety clocked out and took its lunch hour break. after much ado about nothing such as getting lost or talking car brakes, we arrived at our (hopefully not my final) destination.
we walked through the tinted double glass doors into what seemed to be a show room right out of pottery barn. lit lamps and tables with untouched magazines in a row graced the room. we were the only ones there, as if everyone else fled this place out of fear. i watched as laura and pierre ate gobstoppers, and it reminded me of how hungry i was. even gobstoppers would have satiated my appetite at this point. the nurses were ready. the big moment had arrived. showtime.
the head nurse walked in from her lunch, put her mcdonald's dollar coke away and greeted me. then, she proceeded to hand me some instructions for after my surgery. she said to me, "sorry, i got the tip of it wet." apparently, the condensation on the coke cup got on her fingers and she rubbed it on the corner of the paper. she kept on talking while i just looked down and tried to fight the laughter. james, this is eye surgery. this is a very serious matter. laura was no help pushing her leg against mine, poking me with her elbow, and fighting the laughter herself. "what, why are you laughing?" she asked. no comment. i just shook my head. "oh, i see. it's the company you brought with you. that's why you're laughing." yep. that's exactly why i was laughing.
a valium later and things were beginning to mellow down. the first part of the procedure: cutting the flap in my cornea, was by far the weirdest sensation i have ever had. the doctor made this metaphor. he compared the flap that was to be created on my cornea to that of a toilet seat. in order to access the area under the cornea, he would have to lift it up as a guy lifts up the toilet seat to urinate. i said to him, there would be no urinating in my eyes, doctor. ok, i'm kidding. i nodded my head and understood. the doctor placed the vacuum over my eyes and that's when things went black.
i'm seein' stars. i can't believe my eyes. i'm seein' stars. oh my starry eyed surprise.
you know when you close your eyes sometimes and you can see shapes or lights? or when you close your eyes really hard that certain shape or light formations start forming and zooming across your black landscape? that's exactly what i saw, except my eyes were being forced open. my eyes felt this slight pain around them as if someone was trying to force a hula hoop around a hippopotamus. finally, the flaps were made and my vision went from bad to worse. i followed the nurse where part two awaited me.
this part was a piece of cake compared to the first one. all i had to do was look at the green blinking light. the doctor carefully lifted the toilet seat of my eye and lined up the laser. look at the green light, james. the green light was surrounded by two stadium lights as if my eye was the playing field of some sporting event. i must not lose focus. the light then turned into a green smudge and the red dots seemed to be overtaking the green light. look at the green light, james. a loud whirring began and an indescribable odor entered the room. a few beeps later and the green light reappeared. the doctor then took what seemed to be like a white-out brush and glazed my eye as if it was a typo he had made while writing a paper. he covered my eye and repeated with the left one. it was finished.
now that i had finally finished the surgery, i could eat. thankfully, laura and pierre had picked up some barbecue for me. as we all know, barbecue is probably one of the cleanest foods to eat. and by cleanest, i mean messiest. mix in a moving car and a blind person and you have the perfect recipe for getting more food around the mouth rather than in. surprisingly, laura did a great job guiding the airplane made of turkey, brisket, and potato salad. i felt like i was in one of those taste tests. i had no idea what to expect, what texture the food would be, what size the bite would be. nothing. i'm pretty sure i had sauce all over my face, but laura reassured me that i was clean. then, i did the dumbest thing and lunged my head forward as a hungry hungry hippo would do right into a forkful of barbecue sauce. can't win'em all, i guess.
i got home and the numbing drops wore off. my eyes began to feel like tiny hearts and with every beat, a minor throb to the brain. i immediately took the sleeping pill and soon, my eyelids felt like they had miniature weights hanging off of them. they closed and i fell into a slumber.
i woke up and to my surprise, the hanging toy monkey in my room is clear to me. i flip the tv on and the channel isn't blurry. did i sleep with my glasses on? am i dreaming?
the feeling is surreal. i can see.
thanks for reading.
-jdv
Goo-goo for GaGa
here is a little insight from gaga herself:
“A girl’s got to use what she’s given and I’m not going to make a guy drool the way a Britney video does. So I take it to extremes. I don’t say I dress sexily on stage - what I do is so extreme. It’s meant to make guys think: ‘I don’t know if this is sexy or just weird.’”
you couldn't have said it better, my fair lady.
so, she'll be coming to town in the summer and i already can't wait for her concert. i've only heard amazing things about it. getting tickets was no easy task, however. let me tell you how stressful it actually was.
on second thought, retelling what happened probably will make me feel stressed again since her concerts sold out in about -5 minutes. long story short, i was able to get little monster vip tickets for the monday show. but i still am not satisfied. i want backstage passes. i want to meet her. i want the world on a silver platter.
gaga, i will meet you.
thanks for reading.
-jdv
Passion Play
i love the phantom of the opera and the title of this blog is an excerpt from a line in the movie. but this blog will not be about the phantom of the opera, sadly. we can save that for a rainy day.
no, this blog is about passion. not the lustful kind of passion. not passion fruit. not the Passion (of the Christ). just passion.
people will do everything in their power to do whatever in the world it is that they are passionate about. yes, this sounds cliche and non mind-blowing, but i realized this about myself. case in point: lady gaga (future blog topic? you betcha) is coming to town and i must've searched for information on ticket sales every day until an exact sale date was announced. once i heard a date and pre-sale date, i asked around to get a pre-sale code and got it. unfortunately, i didn't get pre-sale tix but i skipped work a little bit just to try to get some tix at the exact time and date that they went on sale to the general public. everything in my power to get tix.
people will make time for what or who they feel is important to them. i think back to when new friends episodes were premiering on thursdays. at that time, the Godsend gift of DVR was not available. however, it probably would not have mattered. it didn't matter if i was in the middle of homework, writing a paper, or practicing piano. once it started, i could be found glued to my couch for that next half hour. all other things did not matter. no communication with other people (except perhaps during commercials if you were lucky) was allowed. to say i was passionate about the tv show is an understatement.
an alcoholic will find a way to have a drink. a drug addict will do anything to get his/her hands on the next fix. an Olympic swimmer will eat insane amounts of food and swim all day. a marathon runner will wake up extremely early to train and squeeze in a morning run. why? simply because it is their passion. be it good or bad, it does not matter. to them, it's always good.
what are you passionate about? family? friends? work? significant other? my only advice: keep it all in a happy balance.
thanks for reading.
-jdv
Eye of the Tiger
all eyes are on tiger this week as he plays in his first tournament since his absence from golfi'm not trying to say that he doesn't deserve all of the media attention. on the contrary. that's the price to being famous. fame gave him the title as one of the best golfers and led him to become a household name. you can't bite the hand that feeds you. fame is not a switch you can turn off and on. that's the price for having your life under a microscope. one has to deal with the clicking cameras, pesterous paparazzi, and all things that encompass the media monster.
will he be able to put his game face on, put his personal problems aside, and focus on the game of golf? i, along with the nation, am wondering the same thing. tiger's eyes are eyeing another championship. hopefully, that's all they are looking at, for elin's sake.
thanks for reading.
-jdv
You cannot put new wine in old Bottles
i thought that i would always be cool. always. but two recent events have definitely made me reconsider that notion.
event 1: i was casually channel surfing one morning and stumbled upon the KCA (kids' choice awards). the fact that i didn't know what "KCA" stood for was not a very good omen. i immediately remembered a time when i was younger and made SURE i did not miss this award show. now, i have to catch a rerun of it. oh, how the tides have turned. anyways, the show ran as i somewhat remembered it: wacky award presentations, slime, slime, and more slime, and musical guests.
moment of reflection: out of the winners, i knew about 5% of them. miranda cosgrove? selena gomez? cole sprouse? who?!? oh, and when miley cyrus beats out sandra bullock for best movie actress, only on the KCA. only.
onto the apex of the night (well, for me that is. i'm sure a billion little girls would agree that their highlight was the justin bieber [who?!?] performance). it was the performance by rihanna. everything was going good. she was workin' it out and doing her thang. she showed everyone how "hard" she was. then, she started performing a song i had never heard before titled "rude boy." here are a few lyrics if you haven't heard it:
come here rude boy, boy, can you get it up?/
come here rude boy, boy, is you big enough?/
take it, take it, baby, baby/
take it, take it, love me, love me
those lyrics are just the tip (pun intended). google the full song. she then finished up her set with "please don't stop the music." sorry rihanna, i wanted you to stop.
nothing says i'm hard like a camouflaged pink tank. salutes to you, rihanna.even deeper moment of reflection: what happened to me? why am i thinking these things? am i, gasp, thinking about the children?!? shouldn't i just be enjoying the song and performance like any other kid? i repeat, what happened to me? not cool.
i thought about it more and tried to find a song from my yesteryear sort of like rihanna's "rude boy" and came across aaliyah's "rock the boat." almost the same, little less explicit. i then realized that i had no idea what the song was saying, but i just liked the beat. i guess it makes it not so bad, but still. it's the principle. i feel old.
event 2: shortly after the KCAs, a couple mornings later, i turned on the tv and a typical old people's show was on. the price is right. now, normally i automatically change the channel instantly. like a reflex. the same goes for channels like C-SPAN, QVC/HSN, and the channel guide channel. but what happened this particular morning? i kept it on. instead of hitting the channel button, i hit the volume button. what?!? honestly, if an 8 year old me was in the same room as the me now, the 8 year old would give me a look, leave, and go play mario party.
i watched it and dare i say, enjoyed it. surprisingly, there was no in between changing either. you know, where during the commercials, you look to change the channel for a quick filler in between the show's commercials and hope to change it back right when the show picks right back up. nope, watched it all. price is right, commercials and all. i found the contestants hilarious and outrageous. for example, when the middle-aged woman won a trip to japan, 3 motorcycles, and a treehouse (which obviously all go together somehow), she yelled, screamed, and then did a cartwheel. but it wasn't one of those high school cheerleading crisp cartwheels. it was an attempt at that. priceless. i call the 8 year old shadow of my former self and dare him not to laugh at this celebratory event. he stares at me with those beady little eyes, does not say a word, and then goes back to play his game. i feel old.
hope you enjoyed this blog. more to come.
thanks for reading.
-jdv
Lent me your Ears
so this whole lent thing has been slowly eating away at me. at least it's been eating. honestly, there's only so many filet-o-fish sandwiches a person can eat in a month span. i think my max is 4. right now, i'm at 12. don't bother giving me a fish nor teaching me how to fish. if i eat one more fish, i will have my own pair of gills and fins. that's how bad it has become.
i guess i'm sore because this lent season got off to a bad start when i went to subway on the first friday and got a five... five dollar... five dollar foot looooooong (any any any [hate this song. HATE it]). so, i got this tuna foot long and after finishing it, how shall i put this lightly, the tuna swam back upstream. food poisoning. so much for getting tuna foot longs at subway. therefore, i had to resort to filet-o-fish sandwiches.
the thing about the filet-o-fish and to some extent the big mac is this: the filet-o-fish is like a great song on the radio. it's awesome every once in a while, and when properly spaced, it can even get better with each follow-up encounter. but once it gets overdone, you will do anything to avoid it. hence, why i practically starved myself this past friday and waited til midnight to eat meat. pathetic? no. genius? yes.
finally, i gave up taco bell and everything associated with it for lent (the girls at work won't even allow me to use the hot sauce packets on my regular food). the battle has become an all out war and it's going to be a fight to the finish. taco bell is one of my worst vices. it is the ying to my yang, the peanut butter to my jelly, the rose to my jack. those perfectly crunchalicious shells that are heated to perfection, the warm beef set against the cold, crisp lettuce, the tiny shreds of cheese that are not too hard nor too soft, but just right every time. all these individual ingredients come together to make a symphony of taste that satiates the palate. it's been rough, but i've held strong. i'm on my reserve tank right now, almost running out of gas, but the finish line is within sight. must. be. strong. resist. delicious. tacos.
that's all for now. til next time, stay classy.
thanks for reading.
-jdv
Out of sight, out of Mind
my blogging hiatus is done and over with. the good news: i'm back! the bad news: i'm back!
i, quite literally, am out of sight. you could stand right in front of me and i would not know if you were a boy or girl. just a blob. no offense. without my glasses, i am as blind as a bat. i was that kid in class who, when the teacher called on them to read what was on the chalkboard, mumbled nonsensical mumbo jumbo.
"what's the preposition in the sentence, james?"
"umm, fjzckdw;?"
i'm pretty sure the hours upon hours of watching nickelodeon and nick at nite shows didn't help. i'm pretty sure the endless video game sessions didn't help either. i'm also pretty sure staring at the sun didn't help either. regardless, glasses are my permanent appendage.
until now.
i am looking into getting lasik eye surgery. am i out of my mind? does shining concentrated beams of light into my eyes sound like a good idea? isn't that what got me terrible vision in the first place? quite the ironical twist, don't you think? it would be like a dentist telling a kid with cavities to eat more candy to get rid of the cavities. it doesn't make sense! i know, i know, i'm overreacting. and i agree with you. i hear the procedure takes 15 mins tops. that's faster than waiting at the drive-thru at some fast food places. can you imagine that? ordering your food blindly and by the time you pull up to the window, you can see! it's a miracle!
seeing is believing, right? in that case, i believe nothing because i can see nothing. but i have my faith, which is all i need to see me through. that and a doctor who knows what the F he's doing.
thanks for reading and take care. ya'll come back na, ya hear?
-jdv
