JAMESAWOCKEE

Sink or Swim

2011-07-19T22:15:00.004-05:00

i'm back from my vacation in the caribbean and i loved every moment of it. the white, sandy beaches. the blue, serene water. i remember arriving at those waters for the first time and i stood there, spellbound, by the sea. i just wanted to jump in there... but wait. hold it. this fish can't swim. if you can picture a fish out of water, that's what i usually am when i'm IN the water. legs flailing, arms waving, i'm pretty much the definition of the word "relaxed" when i'm in the water. i attribute this phobia to something that happened in my childhood. regardless, i cannot swim.

until now.

i enrolled myself into swim classes (shoutout to groupon: keep sending me coupons on things 99% of the time i won't use). now, the groupon claimed that the class was for adults only. however, i had this idea in the back of my head that it would be me with a bunch of kids and that i would be the WORST student there and they would all laugh at me. this is not the case. there are about 9-10 adults in the class with me and we are all learning together. but literally right next to where we are learning, there are tons of kids who are training that make it look so easy. it's very discouraging for some people.

i'm getting there, slowly but surely. my freestyle doesn't have much style right now nor does my backstroke have any stroke. regardless, i got my feet wet... and then my legs, then my body, and then my head. i plunged headfirst into this and can only hope to stay afloat. hope's all i need, right? since hope floats? alright, i think i've reached my limit for horrible swimming jokes.

thanks for reading.

-jdv

For someone Special

2011-06-26T13:17:00.007-05:00

i usually don't write about my personal life in these blogs, but i figured i would break the rules for this special someone. i mean, when you're in love, real love, don't you just want to shout it out from the mountaintops? isn't this my very own mountaintop? www.blogger.com? the internet is a vast land and i would definitely put up blogger.com as a major mountain range next to google and yahoo. so i put together a little something for you, yes you. you know who you are:

it all started with a roommate situation,
that led to a ride "home." innocent flirtation.
your laugh broke my concentration,
and your beauty led to my adoration.

we began hanging out, catching one of our favorite shows, dexter.
who would have known that you would become my favorite texter.
to you, i am "mr. sarcastic",
but to me, you are "funnier than me"... fantastic.

i still remember our first date, catching alegria by cirque du soleil,
i hoped i wouldn't get shot down, screaming mayday, mayday!
but everything was alright, everything was okay.
you had me at hello, not to sound cliché.

what we have is the beginning of a saga,
anything else would be considered gaga.
truly, you are a woman. my one and only lady.
the rachel to ross, the beyonce to jay-z.

looking deep into your eyes, the perfect shades of blue,
i have fallen, fast. and that, you can not undo.
against them, i am a hopeless case. i surrender.
you accept my love which will never have to be returned to sender.

from the times that we drove places,
to the day that we rove ranges,
it's you and me against the world.
there's no one else i would rather have by my side than my girl.

thanks for reading.

-jdv

Going into Rapture

2011-05-22T17:06:00.002-05:00

well, it's NOT the end of the world as we know it. rapture has come and gone and humanity has prevailed. looks like there will be a day after tomorrow the day after tomorrow. move aside evangelical christians, the mayans are on the clock with their 2012 prediction. anyways, the apocalypse got me to thinking about what i would do if i somehow stepped into a bomb shelter or dove under water for when the so-called rapture happened and i was the last human being on earth. here's my to-do list in no particular order:

- go to the nearest lexus dealership and commandeer an LFA. go to the indy 500 motor speedway and drive as fast as i wanted.

- hook up an xbox 360 to the big screen in the dallas cowboys stadium and play call of duty.

- walk on the grass.

- feed the animals at the san diego zoo (yes, animals have survived because i say so) and touch the glass

- run the bases at either fenway park or wrigley field. naked.

- go to the supermarket and load up on chips and salsa and twizzlers making sure not to touch the groceries on that magnetic pad after scanning them.

- finding a sniper rifle (barrett .50 cal if i had a choice) and trying to headshot all the mannequins at the mall of america.

- get a dog.

- watch "i am legend" and laugh at the irony of the situation. then barricade myself from vampires knowing they don't exist.

- become the next american idol.

- go to the energysolutions arena (where the utah jazz play) and recreate michael jordan's "final shot" (at the time) from the 1998 NBA finals. the shot must go in.

what would you do?

thanks for reading.

-jdv

Who let the dog Out

2011-05-21T20:18:00.003-05:00

i've always been a dog person. always have and always will be. don't get me wrong. cats are... unique. i just never got along with them and they have never got along with me. the litter box, the ball of yarn, the scratching post, furballs. no. not for me. i'd much rather take fetch, shaking hands, sitting, barking, and tail-wagging, thank you very much. to me, there's no competition. and to put the matter to rest, i have some evidence:

THE definition of "puppy dog eyes"

meet cooper. he is a puppy cavapoo and my best friend. quite literally, he is man's best friend. however, we're not best friends when he poops and pees inside... but at ALL other times, we are best friends. you can't tell me you can look at the above picture and not say outloud "aww." you can't. if you can, then you don't have a heart. ok, that was mean. if you can, then i hope you never own a dog. ok, nevermind. just look at the above picture and think whatever you want. i know your heart will melt a little bit... like the tiny runoff of an ice cube out of water.

having a dog is no walk in the park. even when you are walking one in the park... it is still no walk in the park. as the title of post indicates, someone let the dog out, and that would be me. i have to let cooper out at least 30 times a day at his age. his bladder is probably the size of a grape and his metabolism is the complete opposite of a professional sumo wrestler's. however, those eyes... those puppy dog eyes... i think i have a weakness for eyes.

anyways, here's to potty training and treat giving. take care.

thanks for reading.

-jdv

Just Dance

2011-05-15T09:24:00.003-05:00

well well well... looks who's come crawling back. yes, i'm back. i have come out of my dental school shell not fully a dentist yet, but a quarter of a way there. we'll save the dental blog for another day since this one is titled just dance which has nothing to do with dentistry.

this blog struck me the other day when i was watching america's best dance crew... more affectionately referred to as ABDC. (it comes on at 9:00 CT on MTV if you were just wondering and if you didn't have anything else better to do and since there is nothing better to do at that time, you should just watch it). i have been a fan of the show ever since the first season when the original champions, Jabbawockeez, who obviously inspired the name of my blog, came full force to the show. the moves, the comedy, the music, and for lack of a better word, the *nsyncness that they all show is amazing. yes, i realized that it's in sync, but one of the judges on the show is jc chasez. if you don't know who that is... then, that pun was totally totally horrible. the show has challenges that each crew has to do during the performance and the way that they incorporate it is sometimes jaw-dropping. this season has been amazing so far (minus a crew that has way too many members cough cough street kingdom cough). i'm rooting for the hometown crew, I Am Me to take it all, so vote for them!

in other dance news, dance central for the xbox 360 kinect is an awesome game. you feel like a fool doing it but once you see the highlights of yourself dancing, you fully realize that yes indeed, you look like a fool. a fool who's learning how to jerk, crankin' that soulja boy, or plainly just dancin', lady gaga style.

thanks for reading.

-jdv

No rest for the Weary

2010-12-26T14:13:00.003-06:00

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

There will be Blood

2010-09-16T13:44:00.007-05:00

blood brother.

hello. my name is james. and i am an addict. it's not meth. not cocaine. not any drug.

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

2010-09-15T21:19:00.004-05:00

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

2010-06-19T15:37:00.002-05:00

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

2010-06-02T18:04:00.003-05:00

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

2010-05-18T23:29:00.003-05:00

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

2010-05-02T22:49:00.005-05:00

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

2010-05-02T20:52:00.005-05:00

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?

now, i realize that i put entirely too much thought into this. so, my joke answer would be 1) michael jordan, 2) lady gaga, and 3) christina hendricks. but that's no fun. i actually want to survive and thrive on the island. oh, and of course, my family would obviously be first, but that doesn't make the game fun. not that i'm saying my family isn't fun, but you get my drift.

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

2010-04-27T23:48:00.004-05:00

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

2010-04-24T15:49:00.003-05:00

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

2010-04-23T08:45:00.009-05:00

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

2010-04-14T01:35:00.006-05:00

nowadays, people, places, and things are revolving around gaga.

yeah, i'll admit it. i may have a slight gaga fixation. let's face it. she's super crazy, but i absolutely dig it. who isn't crazy? am i right? what's there not to like? ridiculous fashion sense. check. singing/dancing ability. check. confidence in who she is. super check.

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

2010-04-10T23:48:00.003-05:00

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

2010-04-05T01:19:00.003-05:00

all eyes are on tiger this week as he plays in his first tournament since his absence from golf

i'm tired of the endless berating of tiger woods. tigergate? seriously, come on. the man has apologized already. he said sorry to his wife, family, friends, fans, and sponsors. he's gone to rehab. what more can he do? we've already symbolically crucified him as a public figure. we've run his story across every magazine headline, every newspaper front page, and at the top of every news cast. he's been the punch line to many comedians' jokes. he's been the conversation piece at parties. enough is enough.

i'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

2010-03-30T11:21:00.007-05:00

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

2010-03-27T01:00:00.004-05:00

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

2010-03-24T23:53:00.004-05:00

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

Civility costs Nothing

2009-09-15T20:12:00.007-05:00

HEY YOU GUYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYS! (ripped from sloth in "the goonies"... if you haven't seen it, then what is wrong with you?)

so, what's been going on? first off, i have to say, fantasy football is the greatest invention ever. screw the wheel, electricity, and Oxiclean (RIP Billy Mays), fantasy football takes the cake. it's amazing how sunday, i literally become a couch potato. i veg out (go ahead, laugh at the bad joke), watch football all day, check stats, and that's it.

anyways, onto my blog. so, apparently, there is a thought out there that america is becoming "less civilized." the proponents of this notion have been events such as the "you lie" comment made towards President Obama, the Michael Jordan acceptance speech and his berating of his opponents, the US open comments made by tennis greats Serena Williams and Roger Federer, and most recently, the infamous Kanye West "incident" at the MTV VMAs.

let me start anti-chronologically. yes, the kanye west comments were mean and in bad taste. but let's face it, he, in addition to MTV, has been controversial. putting the two together just creates some sort of super controversy monster. however, the fact of the matter? it was staged. kanye was scheduled on jay leno's opening night of his new show the monday night after the sunday night VMAs to perform with jay-z and rihanna, and that's it. but what happens? he has an interview with jay leno about what? surprise surprise, about the "incident" the night before. way to boost your own ratings, leno. and plus, it's not like he hasn't done this before... oh wait, he has. just google jay leno and hugh grant. and another thing, nobody else found it weird that literally a SECOND after kanye west says what he says, there's a shot of beyonce? as if that camera was ready to catch her reaction? hmm, yeah, i guess that cameraman just happened to be at the right place at the right time, right? come on. ok, done with this. on a side note, lady gaga is crazy, but amazing. i can almost guarantee that besides the michael jackson tribute, her performance is the most memorable. my hats off to you, lady gaga.

the sports events such as the US Open and the Michael Jordan acceptance speech. what can i say? about the US Open... look, who hasn't flipped s**t over a game before? be it friendly or in a competition... be it a board game, video game, or any kind of game... people can get angry over anything. now transfer that to some of the greatest athletes who are ultra competitive and what do you get? the US Open. the only difference is that they got caught in their moment of weakness and dare i say, humanity. who are we to judge that what they did was "uncivilized"? and onto michael jordan's speech, well, i will just say that it was a great speech given by the greatest competitor.

finally, the president should never be called out like that. he is the president for a reason. i'm glad for the apology and the bottom line is that the US is not becoming more uncivilized. the thought of that is absolutely ridiculous since we are basing that idea on events concerning a few individuals.

open doors for people, say "thank you" and "you're welcome," and be polite. civility costs nothing, so let's act like that.

thanks for reading!

-jdv

A penny saved is a penny Earned

2009-08-25T20:55:00.000-05:00

how hard is it to save money? i mean, honestly. how hard is it to save money? money goes to gas... money goes to food... money goes to xbox live... all necessities of life. and don't get me started on credit card stuff. i never considered myself a spendthrift, but i mean, a guy's gotta get his fix of fast food. and i 99.99% of the time get value menu stuff. VALUE menu.

quick bump: i was watching tv and i saw perhaps one of the most disturbing commercials. it was a breast milk commercial. yes yes, it's a beautiful thing, but a commercial? www.breastmilkcounts.com? don't worry, it's not a link to a dirty website. i promise. anyways, it was just weird. i feel like ross from that friends episode when he freaks out about the breast milk.

ok, back to life. back to reality. those dollars add up. those mcdoubles, hot 'n spicy's, crunchy tacos, large powerades from mcdonald's, really do add up. wow, when i put it that way, no wonder it's hard for me to save money. what a revelation! by george, i've got it!

so anyways, what am i doing to counteract this? well first off, i'm taking some classes. i've enrolled myself in a principles of accounting course and macroeconomics course. perhaps, i can control my spending and monitor my expenditures with a magnifying glass and a fine tooth comb. i always wanted to take some business courses just to familiarize myself with financial terms so that i sort of know what people are talking about when it comes to words like 0 down APR financing or consolidation or liquidity or variable rates? yeah, need to read up on those again. secondly, i started investing my money.

another quick bump: thanks laura for letting me borrow your investing for dummies book!

yes, i'm looking to become a day trader... yeah right. swing trading is where it's at. all i've heard is NOW is the time to invest... start when you're young... etc. etc. so, i'm going to do so. i have a penchant for gambling and i guess playing the stock market game is sort of like gambling. ups and downs, peaks and valleys, bears and bulls, buying and selling, stocks and bonds. don't worry, i, for the most part, still don't know what i'm doing yet. to make another friends reference, i feel like monica in that episode where she goes crazy buying stocks and invests in ones that sound cool, like ZXY because it sounds ZEXY. nice reasoning, mon.

hope you're doing well, scrooge! to all you kids, start saving! buy a piggy bank if you can... however, ironically, you would have to pay for the piggy bank. sometimes life can be so cruel... oh well. this little piggy is going to the market... the stock market that is. all you other piggies can stay at home, have roast beef, or have none. either way, at the end of the day, we're all going wee wee wee all the way home.

thanks for reading!

-jdv

Good to be Back

2009-08-17T20:52:00.001-05:00

ok ok. so i haven't been in the philippines for the past months that i haven't made an entry. i actually got back a couples months ago but have just been LAAAAAZY to put in an entry. and that retroactive diary of recounting my EVERY day in the philippines/malaysia.... yeah, not going to happen. why? probably because of what i just said. "LAAAAAAZY." anyways, i will say that the trip was quite a trip. it was good getting back to the roots and seeing all there was to see there. it made me truly appreciate what i have here and even more so, what my parents left behind and will end up going back to one day. although i won't do the retroactive diary, i will post the promised picture of "neckstache".

isn't that awful? will i ever get one of those? to quote one of the little pigs answering the wolf: no. not by the hair on my chinny chin chin.

so so so, what's new? i'll start with the most recent and work backwards. so i literally just finished watching this show on abc i think called "dating in the dark." it is exactly as it sounds. people getting to know each other in the dark. and yes, it is as creepy as it sounds. there were 3 girls and 3 guys talking to each other... in the dark. then, they went through each other's cars to find out more about them. and then, they picked who they thought would be most compatible and entered the "dark room" and the light was shed individually on them so the other person could see what they looked like. and finally, the guys sent invitations to the girls to see if they would meet up on the balcony and the girl could choose to do so or leave the house.

i must say, why did i even watch this kind of a show? easy. it came on after millionaire (which makes me feel smart since i know most of the $100-$1,000), and i couldn't find the remote. and plus, the show was HEElarious. one of the girls said about one of the "dark dates" that it was one of the best dates she'd ever been on. really? .... really??? maybe she's literally been on ONLY "blind" dates. are there people out there that strictly go on blind dates, literally? wow. i must say though, the show did make me think. making a connection with a person that you can't even see? getting to know them without seeing them? it is an interesting twist. as weird as it sounds, i got a glimpse of seeing through the eyes of the blind. and then i thought about if a person went through my car, what would they think of me? hmm, an umbrella... he must be afraid of water. an iPod dock with iPod... he must listen to music, let's see what party shuffle song it's on. "mickey mouse club theme song." what is he? a 5-year old? what else? what else? a million taco bell/mcdonalds receipts. wow, he must definitely watch his weight and eat healthy. why else would he be getting hot n' spicy's and double cheeseburgers BUT with a powerade? and oh look, raspberry brisk iced tea from taco bell with 4 crunchy tacos. he watches what he drinks. so many empty calories in coke.

quick quick tangent: so at mcdonald's the other day, i was ordering the double cheeseburger, plain. (that is, just meat and cheese and the bread. that's how i like it). and for the longest time, it's been on the dollar menu. i say i want two double cheeseburgers and my total is something like 2.50. now, i'm no finance major, but the last time i checked, i'm pretty sure tax on a two dollar purchase wasn't a fourth of the cost. i got to the 1st window to pay and asked about the price. apparently, APPARENTLY the double cheeseburger is $1.16 or something like that and that the "mcdouble" is the one on the dollar menu. the difference? one slice of cheese. the double cheeseburger has two slices... the "mcdouble" has one. what the?!? thanks mcdonalds for officially confusing me. they both have double in their names! anyways, i digress...

what else in my car... oh. an EZ tag. he must always be late if he needs an EZ tag to rush through toll booths. and finally, 24 inch rims! ohhhhhhh snap! what. a. thug. ok, that last one i made up. but anyways, yeah... that's my car.

speaking of cars, i was watching sportscenter (big surprise there.... not really) and one of the highlights was of a nascar race. it showed highlights of the race, but the interesting part to me was at the end. when the guy won, he and his pit crew literally pulled out bottles and bottles of champagne out and starting drinking like crazy in celebration. who's the designated driver? if i was a cop, i would work at those speedways and wait for the winning driver to leave and bust him (or her, right danica patrick?) for drinking and driving. BAM! gotcha.

anyways, there's more for me to ramble about... like a full-time job at a dental office, and "preventing sexual harassment as a whataburger manager." ok, that last one was random, but that is what i just heard coming from the computer in the other room. apparently, my dad is taking an online course on that.... yeah.... i'm just as weirded out as you are, don't worry.

"get your hands off my buns!"

thanks for reading! hope you're doing well.

-jdv

Philippines journal, day One

2009-05-22T06:55:00.000-05:00

hello from hong kong!

i'm currently waiting in the hong kong airport terminal for my connecting flight to manila. thankfully, they have free wifi in the airport! isn't that awesome?!? geez, asians and their technology advancements... anyways, i thought i would take this opportunity to tune you in on how things have gone so far.

well, i only got an hour of sleep last night given my flight was at 7 AM and my parents wanted me to be at the airport at 5 because it was an "international" flight, even though my flight out of houston was to san francisco... anyways, i was just glad that they drove me and packed most of my things, i'm really thankful for them.

onto the flight, i expect to just sleep the entire way through because i'm EXHAUSTED, but lo and behold, they put on an office episode. what?!? oh, hol up girl. you diin't just put on my favorite show. anyways, it was the rabies awareness fun run episode which was hilarious. unfortunately, they followed that up with paul blart: mall cop which i understandably snoozed through. i wake up and it happens to be about 10 mins to landing, YES!!

quick side note: so, i have a window seat, right? so it's just common sense that i have power over the window, right? so i closed it to sleep and when i got up, it was still closed. however, this kid of about 14 or 15 who looks like a cross between donald duck and alfalfa from the little rascals leans over and opens it about an inch. really?! and then he has the gall and audacity to do it again, and then AGAIN! i wanted to slap his hand like bender did to brian during the lunch scene in the breakfast club.

back to the story. i arrive in san fran, grab myself a wonderful, amazing, delicious club sandwich... mmm, my stomach just grumbled thinking about that mayo, and bacon, and lettuce... wow, talk about comma splices, but who cares thinking about those turkey slices... and while in line, this older gentlemen in front of me turns around and says, oh, i've read that book. in my hand was a book given to me by my brother titled outliers: the story of success. we chit chat while in line and he turns out to be from houston as well, but he's going to osaka. anyways, i just thought that was cuuurazy. there are literally millions and billions of people out there for me to meet. also, there are millions and billions of sandwiches out there for me to try, but i'll take a good ol' club sandwich any time.

my 13 hr flight to hong kong was delayed about a half hour so that was a little disappointing, but it shortens my layover in hong kong, so no biggie. i must say, that was the LONGEST flight ever. no disrespect to amelia earhart, but wow, they had a time countdown and i swear, when i took naps, i would wake up to time being added to the countdown. oh, it didn't help that their audio and video controls weren't functioning. great, no movie or office episodes.

however, we did have food!! and it was terrible airline food, either. the first meal was some beef and potaters with carrots, a ranch salad which i didn't even touch, and a brownie. oh, and all the apple juice you could drink. and the second "meal" was half a cup of ramen and a lemon cookie. psh, you're damn right i asked for a second cup and another lemon cookie, a man's gotta eat! but at least i had a hilarious plane mate. so unfortunately, i had an aisle seat and the guy, i'll call him "neckstache" had the window seat. now look, i call him neckstache for a reason because this dude had a neckstache. he revolutionized the term "facial hair" and added the neck area. no moustache, no goatee, no side burns, just a neckstache. i will most definitely upload a pic at some time because i didn't believe it when i saw it.

anyways, that's pretty much what's happened up to this point... oh, they're boarding!!! see you in the philippines!

thanks for reading!

-jdv

p.s. - listen to eminem's new album relapse. not that i'm a fan or anything, but seriously, listen to it. if you don't want to buy it, youtube these tracks: 3 AM, insane, hello, same song & dance, and underground. sick, sick rhymes.

Finally

2009-05-15T00:10:00.000-05:00

how fast time flies. seriously. my undergraduate college career is officially over and barring a world history I disaster, i will be graduating. it's unreal, surreal, SOREAL (h-town represent), but the day has finally come. so many classes, many late nights and early mornings, a few all nighters, drives to whataburger at 2 in the morning, it's all done... i will miss it. i will. probably more so in the future, but as for right now, i am glad and need this break in my life.

quick plug: rockets, game 7, sunday.

speaking of breaks, i will be heading to the motherland, PHILIPPINES in a week. that's right, ladies and germs. in a week's time, i'm leaving, on a jet plane. who knows when i'll be back again? oh wait, let me check that... mid june. i'm ecstatic. the last time i visited was 8 years ago and a lot has changed since then. until then, i will be resting and relaxing. oh yeah, i'm also taking a side trip while at the philippines to kuala lumpur, malaysia... so that should be exciting as well. maybe i'll have some pics for ya'll. until then, stay in school, kids!

take care and thanks for reading!

-jdv

Green around the Gills

2009-04-24T01:11:00.000-05:00

ok, so green is one of my favorite colors. the color of leaves, frogs, chameleons (sometimes), sprite, eggs and ham, and so on. it's a great color, not going to lie. but as of late, i've been getting sick of it.

it is its environmental connections that get me "green around the gills."

green = in vogue

now, i'm not trying to be "anti-earth," and don't believe that our dear Gaia (for you mythologically illiterate, "mother earth") needs a break, but seriously, EVERYTHING seems to have an environment-friendly side to it nowadays. i'm beginning to think st. patrick's day is around the corner again. for example, i'm watching the office episode i DVRed right now and guess what color that little logo is.... green. i watch an astros game and all of a sudden, our hats are the color... green. i'm watching the NBA playoffs and the players are wearing warmups that are the color... green. the consumer products... green works, green light bulbs... geez, i want to puke. eco-friendly plastic bags, eco-friendly paper bags, eco-friendly pencils, eco-friendly toys... i'm beginning to think if i'm not eco-friendly, i won't have any friends. oh, but that's okay, i can just grow my own friends.

what about all those environmentally friendly cars? all competing to be the most "fuel efficient" and "less harmful" to the environment. what has changed so much in the past months/years? so, al gore makes a movie... big whoop. i'm just wondering what we're headed towards... i wake up under my recycled blanket, head over to the plastic shower and use organic soap and shampoo, put on my biodegradeable shirt and pants, and drive in my hybrid smart car to work. honestly, if companies just slap on the word "organic" or "green" or something of that "nature" (haha, come on... laugh with me) in front of their product, it will sell. it can be the exact same thing... green clorox, organic snickers, etc. it's really quite ridiculous. oh, i forgot, that disney movie wall-e showed us the future... really wanting to puke.

so, i'll end my rant on this. i don't mean to sound so complainy and whatever, but come on... eco-friendly pencils?!? i feel like a real life zoolander "derelicte" show is just around the corner. now that would make me green with envy.

remember kids: reduce, reuse, and recycle. oh yeah, and rockets.

hope you enjoyed. thanks for reading!

-jdv

The new workout Plan

2009-04-20T23:50:00.000-05:00

this blog title is an old Ye track (Ye = kanye... that's what his friends call him, me not being one of them). it's a pretty good song, kinda catchy.

anyways, i myself have decided on a new workout plan... well, maybe not new, per se, since that implies that i had an "old" workout plan. i have a workout plan. there. not really sure what impelled me... maybe it was me catching the fast and the furious on FX and seeing vin diesel's yoked-up bod, or that new movie called "fighting" coming out, or whatever. on a side note, what a great title for a movie... "fighting". brief and to the point. yo dude, what movie are we watching again? that fighting movie.... BAM, title of the movie right in the sentence. unforgettable title. i'll be totally and utterly surprised if it doesn't gross as much as another one-worded title, titanic.

but yes, i started last saturday, and i am one out of shape mother f'er. i got on this stair stepper thing and confidently set my timer for 30 minutes... yeah, that was wishful thinking. i felt the burn almost 30 seconds in and had to hop off for a break about 3 minutes in. you may laugh, and i will laugh with you. push-ups, crunches, leg lifts, lather, rinse, repeat. it was all good. i realized that i actually "enjoyed" it. i've heard that it releases some endorphins or something like that, so that was probably it.

however, the next day, my body felt like a huge tub of jelly?. mmm, jelly . i probably slept 12 hours because my body was so exhausted and tired. but give this tub of jelly a couple of weeks and months, and hopefully, it'll turn into a umm, hmm, can't really come up with a proper metaphor... maybe i should've went with cream or milk and then in a couple of weeks it could be whipped into a nice butter. yeah, that makes sense.

here's to hoping i actually follow through with this. thanks for reading!

-jdv

Celebrity lookalikes (american idol Edition)

2009-04-18T12:09:00.000-05:00

Justin Timberlake and Matt Giraud

Kelly Clarkson and Allison Iraheta

Anoop Desai and Big Bird

-jdv

It's all the sun's Fault

2009-04-13T15:53:00.000-05:00

i had a revelation last night. it was magnificent. mind-blowing. earth-shattering. heaven-shaking. etc. etc.

i finally understood why i'm such a lazy bum. i take that back. i finally understood why i'm such a bum. yeah, i'm graduating and this is my last semester, blah blah blah. but no, this has been a pattern dating back to high school. and i finally understand why.

it's all the sun's fault, with a little help from the earth.

so i'm a procrastinator, but who isn't? but i realized something very important as i started a 7 page paper last night.

i am superman.

i feed off the energy of the sun. when the sun is out, i still believe i have time to waste. this is usually constituted by this pattern:

- check facebook
- check my school e-mail
- check g-mail
- check cnn.com to see if there are any eye-catching headlines like 'man gets eaten by tiger' or 'tiger gets eaten by man'
- click on entertainment section of cnn
- check facebook
- check g-mail
- put on a song on youtube that i'm currently into
- check g-mail

you get the point. and this vicious cycle repeats until the sun goes down! such a waste of time! so why is it the sun's fault that i become a slacker? it's because in the fall, the sun goes down so much earlier! that way, i feel like i have to get work done since it's dark. the sun's not out, so i can't go outside and play. and then in the spring, the sun stays out for so much longer! so i don't get started until 8 or 9 at night, which is ridiculous. case in point, i started that 7 page paper at 8 and didn't finish until 5:30 in the morning. i'm really not a slacker, really... ok, maybe just a little bit.

see, it's not my fault. it's all the sun's fault.

thanks for reading! take care.

-jdv

I'm lovin It

2009-04-11T11:04:00.000-05:00

first off, i have to preface this blog by apologizing to my dad. he is a manager at a whataburger, so if you stumble upon this dad, no hard feelings, ok? ok good. don't worry, i still wuv you.

alright. mcdonald's has THE best breakfast menu among the fast food chains. hands down, i repeat, best breakfast. not that i'm scarfing down a delicious sausage, egg, and cheese mcgriddles along with a crispy hash brown right now or am biased or anything like that. i'm sticking to my guns. best breakfast.

the variety just blows the the competition out of the water. if mcdonald's is the titanic pre-iceberg, then the rest of the competition is just flotsam (SAT word, thanks testmasters!) afterwards. what's that jack? you're serving breakfast bowls? honestly, i believe the only item that should be served in a bowl for breakfast is cereal. how dare you spoil cereal, jack. how dare you. wait, wait... the king is serving a croissan'wich for breakfast? yeah, THAT sounds enticing. a croissant for breakfast. this is not france. i believe you have been dethroned. should i rag on whataburger? sure, why not. a taquito? actually, i can't really complain. those things are scrum-diddily-umptious. and then when they're in the 99 cent seasonal phase, even better. so much for whataburger, name it whataquito. i know, i know, why not whatataquito? because look at that name. it's both repetitive and too long to say. relaxy cab is sooo much better than relaxy taxi, ya feel me?

from the flaky biscuit sandwiches, the warm muffin sandwiches, the all-inclusive mcgriddles sandwiches, and new bagel sandwiches to the hash browns and breakfast platters, mickey d's definitely has a leg up on the competition. on a side note, this blog is makin' me huuuuungry. i almost literally just salivated like Pavlog's dogs at the mere mention of breakfast items. stupid operant conditioning. anyways, i'm gettin' back to work.

thanks for reading!! take care.

-jdv

Love and Basketball

2009-04-05T20:12:00.001-05:00

i love basketball. i love it so much that if it were a person, i would marry it. high school, college (go UNC!), or NBA, it doesn't matter, it's all good. the three-pointers, the dunks, the passes. amazing. i'm actually surprised i haven't blogged about this topic before.

i enjoy all sports, don't get me wrong, but basketball is my clear-cut favorite. let me tell you why. basketball has both the team and individual aspect. a good team can win, but also a team with a superstar who can control the game by himself can also win. it's extremely tough for a quarterback to win by himself given he depends on his wide receivers or offensive line to block for him. a pitcher can control the defense, but not the offense. also, two words: michael jordan. i could go on forever about that guy, but that's boring.

march madness... NBA playoffs in april... are you kidding me? screw wedding season and christmas, i'll take this every time. i actually aspired to be in the NBA... i had these dreams and visions of being the next jordan... well, asian jordan. but then i realized something very important. i am a short/slim mother f'er. quick side note: my dad just said over the phone, "how is the meat?" really dad? i would say that's what she said, but... yeah... not sure he would get that one. now where was i? oh yes, my future as an NBA star. i really was crushed when i realized that i wasn't going to cut it. it took a total of a day to get over it.

well, back to the game. hope you enjoyed reading. thanks!

-jdv

Long time, no See

2009-03-22T19:16:00.000-05:00

it has been far too long, i know. whenever i think i'm going to sit down and write a blog, something comes up... a rockets game, a call of duty from call of duty: world at war on my xbox, a new office episode, school... where's all my time going? anyways, enough excuses, i'm back so let's do this, shall we?

starting with the most recent stuff, spring break 2009 (whoo-hoo!) is now dead and gone (aww...). and what a productive week it was, playing video games... and umm, yeaaahh. playing video games. oh, and the madness, march madness that is, has begun, and i'm keeping up to date with that stuff. unc taking the title would be great. other than that, not much of an exciting spring break.

in other news, my laptop is finally dead. the toshiba i got summer entering freshman year has now gone the way of HD DVD's. being the most prepared person in the world, i, of course, had not backed up any of my stuff onto an external hard drive. therefore, i had to go through this painful process of trying to turn on my comp and keep it on long enough for me to transfer my files onto a hard drive... that sounded kinda dirty. anyways, good ol' tosh gave me four solid years of performance and it kills me to see it go the way of old yeller... yes, i am going to shoot it. just kidding.

what else, what else... OH! so, naturally being the 22-year old individual i am, i went to a 1-year old's birthday party. ok ok, i was forced to keep my mom company since it was a family friend or whatever. anyways, the party was at this school classroom and there was a magician, and balloon animals, face painting, CAPRI SUNS, and a cotton candy machine!!! oh man, when life was simple. crazy to think that at a point in time, that stuff made me happy, although the three exclamation marks after "cotton candy machine" kinda make me rethink that. anyways, i had a good time and cracked up when i saw this picture in the classroom:

isn't that hilarious? poor Lamiah... you know what? if i sat next to the goody two-shoes in class, in this case, Sitara, i wouldn't want to get any good behavior stickers either. i'd probably be making fun of them as much as possible which is why you probably don't have any stickers, pal. oh, those days where stickers were our number one motivation and not a career or family or anything like that...

anyways, there's other stuff i want to talk about... quick interjection: i say "anyways" a lot... but it escapes me right now. probably because i've procrastinated all my school work until tonight like the 99.999% of my fellow college peers. back to the grind... just a few more weeks left!

thanks for reading! feels good to be back.

-jdv

If concerts could Kill

2009-02-04T21:39:00.000-06:00

tonight, i was a victim.

i have never been to a real live concert before in my life. ok, ok, i lied. i went to a TRL concert headlined by destiny's child in eighth grade, you caught me. but seriously, our seats were in the nosebleeds and i already mentioned it... destiny's child was headlining. come on, independent women? you're damn right. independently doing their own thing. ahh, such group love. anyways, i digress. i went to an actual concert for the first time. i'm talking about standing the whole time, jumping up and down, singing memorized lyrics with about a thousand other people, people fainting, and yes, even people throwing up next to me. it was an absolutely crazy night that i will not forget.

who killed the show? funny you asked. the killers did. they did an absolutely amazing job. brandon flowers surprised me with his showmanship and his vocals. you know how those songs sound on the radio? they sound the exact same, if not better, live... and he maintained for an hour and a half! (that's what she said.) incredible. on the opposite end of the spectrum, i left the concert hoarse and in need of something to quench my thirst. (gatorade, anyone?) american idol, i clearly am not. the visuals were stunning. different backdrops, the lighting effects, the bubbles dropping over us, the confetti, and the finishing pyro. i didn't care about the fact that i was about to pass out since i hadn't eaten in a few hours and that my hearing had temporarily been lowered. i had experienced something mind-blowing.

here's a little taste of the concert. it's a little song called "somebody told me," maybe you've heard of it. NB: if you suffer from motion sickness, do not watch the video. now i didn't go around shaking my camera like a polaroid picture (thanks outkast), but i may have rocked the boat a little bit (and thank you aaliyah, RIP).

hope you enjoyed reading. take care.

-jdv

Such great Heights

2009-01-11T02:21:00.000-06:00

the view from my roof... i wish

what is it about getting as high as possible? drug jokes aside, i actually mean high in the altitudinous sense. as kids, we stack legos or blocks one on top of another. a deck of cards can become a house of cards. a wedding cake can have levels upon levels of cake with the groom and bride right on top. and the greatest example, skyscrapers across the world. mankind has this penchant to look down from what we created as if we were a divine being... or maybe we all feel like jack when he said, "i'm king of the world" on the titanic.

but anyways, my tip to you: the next time you're able to go to the top floor of any kind of building, preferably more than three floors, go. just press that top floor and go. look out across the great horizon, and take it all in. you won't be disappointed, i promise you.

hope you are doing well. take care and thanks for reading.

-jdv

Random Musings

2009-01-03T10:02:00.000-06:00

- things never go according to plan. cliche, but absolutely true. no matter how organized a person you are, there are just outside influences beyond your control and you can't compensate for these unforeseen circumstances. unless you're a fortune teller, then you absolutely have no reason for things to go awry.

- the houston rockets don't care. watch a lakers game. look at the team chemistry there, look at how the players have the fire for winning, look at a star player who actually shows some emotion out there. all of this is nonexistent in a rockets team that has so much potential. it's frustrating.

- being a grownup is hard. after babysitting three kids, i realize how much i miss the carefree attitude of a child. they're truly in their own little world. whether it be playing the wii, staring at the tv watching the disney channel for way too long, or playing with barbie dolls, life is easy. that used to be me... playing super nintendo all day, watching nickelodeon religiously, or playing with wrestling dolls.

- sleep is definitely not overrated. i would venture to say it's underrated. there is no substitute for a good night's rest.

- i wonder what will happen to those people who work at those factories that produce those new year's eyeglasses that have the two 0's as lenses. it's 2009, we can't make glasses for 2010!!! oh no! i hope they don't get laid off. they had a gOOd run.

- just once, one new year's eve, times square should be filled with prepubescent boys so that they can ring in the new year with a citywide balldrop. as the crystal ball counts down to the new year, the boys count down to their transition into manhood.

- is there any other proper time for a countdown other than new year's?

- it's 2009, shouldn't we have been in flying cars and eating meals in pill form a couple years ago? probably in asia they are, but not in the us. we're so behind the times.

- i feel bad for people born on christmas day. sure, it's awesome, born on christmas day, yay! but, think about it. your day of birth is overshadowed by christmas.

- hypothetically, if an alien is green and it loves to garden, would you say it has a green thumb? that doesn't make any sense. then again, neither does an alien loving to garden, unless your name is E.T.

- danica patrick (girl nascar driver) got a ticket for speeding? yeah, that's not ironic.

- is it me, or are the jonas brothers just hanson reincarnate? three brothers... making catchy pop music... teenage girls going crazy over them...

- the price of gasoline is great. i want to store barrels and barrels of it somewhere and then get maggie gyllenhaal so i can recreate that scene from the dark knight.

- putting christmas lights on a house is just a beating-around-the-bush way of saying, hey, check out my house.

- does santa sweat? my two major issues with this: he lives in the north pole and he has elves to do his work for him. also, now that i think about it, it's not like he works out.

ok, back to work. thanks for reading!

-jdv

I lost my text number, can i have Yours

2009-01-01T16:25:00.000-06:00

the other day, my friend leila and i were talking, and in the middle of our discourse, there was the occasional *beep *beep vibrate sound that is associated with the receiving of a text message (well, i guess it depends on your carrier... other variations are *beep vibrate *beep or vibrate *beep *beep... or the simultaneous *beep vibrate). naturally, we began to talk about text messaging for a couple of minutes and it got me to thinking.

what did we do before texting? luckily, i've been able to witness such extraordinary events in my lifetime... michael jordan, the double-popped collar, a new millennium, and the dawning of the text message, and in saying that, i am implying the cell phone in general. i remember eighth grade, graduating class of 2001, no one in my class had a cell phone. at the time, AIM (aol instant messenger) was the means of communication between friends. sure, we would talk on the phone sometimes, but it had to be the house phone and at the time, some people needed their line to be free for internet purposes, or they didn't have call waiting, or if they received a call, their internet would cut off... it's actually pretty funny to think about it now. anyways, i got a trip to the philippines as a gift. in the summer of 2001, i headed over there and had my first encounter with the cell phone. quick side note: sure, i'd seen then them in the movies (the most famous one being the one from the matrix that morpheus had that slid down when he pressed a button... badass! oh, and those mirror glasses that somehow stayed on his face without falling off despite not having any ear rests), but this was a personal encounter. given that the far east is so technologically advanced, at that time, everyone already had their own cell phones. i remember watching all of my cousins dialing away, or what i thought was dialing. in fact, it was texting. i was so intrigued by this. so intrigued that when i got home, i demanded my own cell phone. i got it, along with a badass package, i think something like 200 minutes and 100 text messages a month. however, the fad had not hit the states just yet. luckily, i had AIM on my phone so i could still be in the loop. i remember trying to text friends and they'd respond, dude, just call me. really? because all i have to ask is what the geometry homework is which takes, what, 15 seconds... but t-mobile doesn't see that as 15 seconds... that's a minute to them. so bam, i'm left with 199 minutes. i was about to give up until the trend finally arrived, along with some of the most hideous phones.

so, i repeat, what did we do before texting? it's amazing to think about. texting is a way to have a continuous conversation throughout a morning or even an entire day. as opposed to talking on the phone when it's live, there is no pressure to break the awkward silence. the lulls in texts could be due to anything... maybe you get something to eat, maybe you grab a nap, maybe forrest gump is on... but you can text right back and pick up from where you left off without skipping a beat. talk about instant gratification. also, there's something about a text message that a person just has to read it. a person doesn't have to pick a phone call up, in fact, they can just send that sucker to voicemail... however, i guarantee you, if they get a text message, they'll read it and either respond or not. as i said, there's something about that characteristic *beep vibrate combination that just forces a person to check their phone. if not, then your phone is on silent!

happy new year and thanks for reading.

-jdv

Double Feature

2008-12-29T17:28:00.000-06:00

i'm back! i apologize for the unexcused absence... i got sidetracked with different things: projects, school, text messages, christmas, etc... but don't think that i have forgotten about you. how have you been? i'm fine, thanks for asking. actually, i'm better than fine. i feel like a million bucks. i don't even know what that could mean, but it's a saying.

speaking of bucks, i got some pocket change for christmas, along with a blazer (it's off the hook! well, not literally off a hook per se... more like off the rack, but i digress), some loafers (i know, what am i? a 50 year old man?), my first digital camera (perhaps expect some photos in the future that attempt to show my sensitive/artsy side... yeah right), boxers, boxers, and even more boxers (how does that spice girls song go? too much of something is bad enough... and too much of nothing is just as tough. i think that about sums it up. although, they are the most practical gift.. along with socks and undershirts), the dark knight (no comment. movie speaks for itself), the first season of arrested development (underrated, hilarious show that i find incredibly funny. catch an episode, they're all good), and the coup de grace, killers tickets! (i keep looking at them the way tom hanks looked at the picture of helen hunt in the locket while he was on the island in castaway. i still can't believe it.)

anyways, onto my actual post. the title as you see is "double feature" and this, of course, refers to a movie double feature. recently, i just experienced my first double feature at the theater. for those of you who do not know what context clues are, a double feature is when you go to the movie theater and watch two movies. i must say, i loved it. first off, i'm a huge fan of the silver screen and plus, a gajillion movies are out! the movies were yes man, with jim carrey, and valkyrie, with tom cruise.

yes man is a romcom (romantic comedy) about a guy very much like that david spade character in those capital one commercials where he says no to everything. given it's a romantic comedy, he has to meet a girl and fall head over heels for her. spoiler alert: he gets the girl in the end.. i know, i know, big surprise. boy meets girl, boy loses girl, boy gets girl back.... that general plot has never been done before. his love interest, this spunky Bjork-like girl played by zooey deschanel. quick side note: was zooey deschanel the girl that sang that song about kissing a girl? oh wait, that was her identical twin, katy perry.

anyways, i liked it. jim carrey hasn't had a movie out in a while and it was classic jim carrey... the downright bizarre nature of his comedy, the facial expressions, everything. my hat's off to him on a job well done. to yes man, i say yes!

another actor without a movie in a while is tom cruise and his holiday movie is valkyrie. this was a lot more dramatic than the first flick and i enjoyed it greatly. i mean, this is the last samurai we're talking about... agent ethan hunt, lestat, jerry maguire.. i could go on. in this movie, his role is claus von stauffenberg, a german, one-eyed insurgent against the one and only adolf hitler. while watching the movie, i was intrigued by the eyepatch. is it me, or are eyepatches badass? don't worry about hiding your loot or booty, the inner pirate in me won't plunder it. i'm just saying, tom cruise with no eyepatch... regular guy. tom cruise with an eyepatch... one badass mother f'er. i believe the reason is, you always have to wonder how the person got the eyepatch. more likely than not, it was due to a war and soldiers losing any body parts in war are beasts. prime example: lieutenant dan from forrest gump. he lost his legs and surprise surprise, bags an asian chick in the end. anyways, yes, the one-eyed tom cruise delivers in this movie. action, suspense, drama, it's all there. you just have to be on the lookout for it. keep one eye on the screen and the other... well, if you have a spare eye, keep it on the screen as well.

thanks for reading and merry belated christmas. the new year is almost here so goodbye 2008! take care.

-jdv

Will the real slim shady please stand Up?

2008-11-29T10:41:00.001-06:00

so yesterday, i went to the bookstore (borders), and gave myself an early christmas present. i figured i'd been good, so why not? you gotta treat yourself times. anyways, my weapon of choice? eminem's autobiography the way i am (pictured above). em has always been an elusive figure, in my thought. blowing up some years, disappearing for others. i have been engrossed in the book. life stories have always intrigued me... each person has different circumstances, different situations, different choices. em told his story through his music, from "cleanin' out my closet" to the "the way i am." however, it's something else to hear about his experiences with no beat, no melody, no bass. just the words. it truly seems like he is just talking and his personality shines through. his sarcasm is hilarious and enlightening as he recounts being under the limelight.

why am i a fan? good question. it's the lyrics. it's his ability to make miracles out of words. ok, that may be a slight hyperbole, but it's somewhat true. i have a penchant for all types of word play (i wrote a blog on parts of speech for crying out loud) so this includes rhymes as well. he recounts how a friend of his went crazy after he rhymed "birthday" with "first place." see, it's stuff like that. those two obviously do not rhyme... but, they sorta do. it's amazing.

i can't wait to finish the book. i honestly can't remember being so excited about reading, but i must say, this book has rekindled that old fire of mine. i flip pages at the rate super mario skips stages. ok, that took me about 10 minutes to come up with. clearly, i could not make it as a rapper, but em did.

thanks for reading.

-jdv

Will the real comedian please Stand-up?

2008-11-26T18:15:00.000-06:00

in fear of plagiarism, i must note eminem for giving me the inspiration for my title.

i love to laugh, almost more than anything. comedy movies such as dumb and dumber and wedding crashers are some of my favorite movies. i can't help but watch an episode of either the office, family guy, or the simpsons each day. i even enjoy sketch comedy, from roundhouse (who remembers that?), in living color, all that, some stuff from madtv, and SNL. however, it seemed that my penchant for comedy was strictly either through the boob tube or youtube, for that matter. so, i figured i would go for the real thing. no sets, no laugh tracks. everything in person, in living color.

i must say, i was hesitant at the idea. i mean, could a professional comedian actually make me laugh? yeah, that sounds like a dumb question, but it went through my head. it's like i was about to watch my first episode of seinfeld... you hear so much about it, it's going to make you laugh, etc. etc. in saying this, however, i kept my expectations at a minimum. drinks arrived, food was served, and the lights came on.

i loved every minute of it. the main act, dan cummins, was phenomenal. a solid performance. i almost felt embarrassed at how much i was laughing, til i realized everyone else was laughing just as much as i was. the way he would just compound jokes... amazing. honestly, i thought i was a funny person, but after seeing the show, i pale in comparison. it's like the complete opposite of the david & goliath story. however, i think the most surprising part was that he was just hanging out after the show. he wasn't getting ready for the next show, but rather, selling t-shirts and talking to people. it was just great to see a person doing what they love doing and then connecting with the people afterwards.

anyways, i'll step down from my soapbox now. hey, it's thanksgiving! give thanks for the people around you and all that you have. if you're not busy shopping, go out to watch a movie, or if you're feeling sick, kick back, relax, and put on a funny movie.

laughter is the best medicine.

take care and thanks for reading.

-jdv

Get your ears Lowered

2008-11-22T15:48:00.000-06:00

i heard the expression of my title when i was very young. from whom? doug funnie of course. i was watching doug one day on nickelodeon when an episode came on about doug's wavy-shaped lines of hair and how he was terrified about getting a hair cut. geez, doug. how much more of a pansy could you be? while we're on that note, kudos on finally asking out patti mayonnaise. we all knew she liked you, you just had to be a man. quick side note: i believe chucky from rugrats was also afraid of getting his hair cut... eerie parallel there. anyways, i digress.

one of the most frustrating things to me is how perfect your hair is once you leave the salon/boutique/barbershop, whatever. it literally is perfect, and i mean that in the most non-narcissistic way possible. now, it's not frustating that it's perfect. it's frustrating that you can never ever recreate it again, no matter how hard you try. funny story: as a kid, i noticed this right away... the whole perfect hair out of the salon/not being able to recreate it thing. so, you know what i thought? i believed that it was either the shampoo or the water or whatever they used at the boutique that made it perfect. therefore, i wouldn't shampoo my hair for maybe a day or two to see if it would work. sadly, it did not. and my hair smelled funny.

anyways, hope you enjoyed reading. take care.

-jdv

A numbers Game

2008-11-22T13:31:00.000-06:00

i have never been a numerologist. sure, i have a favorite number (23) like regular people, but beyond being the number of my favorite basketball player (michael jordan, you may have heard of him... his claim to fame are those hanes commericals with charlie sheen. that's it. it's not like he was any good at basketball... oh, and space jam. can't forget that.) i don't associate 23 with much else. quick side note: the number 23 with jim carrey, awful movie. don't waste your time. on the other hand, se7en with brad pitt, amazing movie. one of my favorites.

it seems that recently the number "20" has been showing itself around here and there, and by that, i mean it's come out twice. (the reverse of 02 is 20??? see what i mean? ok, yeah, that's a stretch.) anyways, i got a 20 on the DAT which is the equivalent of the MCAT for future dentists. i improved from an 18 to a 20. (20-18=2... which reversed is 20?? ok, yeah, still a stretch.) and then, i went to bingo the other day and my winning number? you guessed it, 20. i was surprised i didn't yell "twenty," instead of bingo. people probably would've thought i was crazy. i would've thought them crazy for thinking i was crazy.

anyways, i've been super busy... what with work (i work once a week), and school (i'm a senior), and ummm, watching tv (i DVR two shows), i haven't been able to blog a lot. but don't think that i don't have ideas. future topics: haircuts, stand-up comedy, christmas of course, movies, and procrastination. until then, look out for significant numbers here and there. and if say five or six numbers call out to you, i highly suggest buying a lotto ticket. however, i get a cut of it. how much do i want? you already know. 20%.

thanks for reading!

-jdv

Virtual Insanity

2008-11-15T10:55:00.000-06:00

so, i'm at work and casually surfing the net when i come across this article. take a quick look... it's a short read, i promise, and there's also a picture.

what is the world coming to? no, seriously. tell me. i'd really like to know. if you did not lol at all at any point during the reading of the article, then you really need to rethink your sense of humor. now, i'm not totally insensitive. i'm sure ms. taylor is very hurt and my heart goes out to her, but come on, lady. listen to yourself. "'it may have started online, but it existed entirely in the real world and it hurts just as much now it is over.'" one question: you do realize that second life is not the "real world," right? it's one thing to catch your spouse in bed with a real prostitute. it's another thing to catch them in bed with a virtual prostitute.

are we that detached from our lives nowadays that we have to create a "second life?" the story is kind of sad, the more i think about it. apparently, millions of people have a second life and their reasons probably vary. some may have it for leisure. some may have it for business. and in some cases such as this, some may have it as a gateway to an alternate reality, filled with farfetched, fairytale functions such as a wedding.

the guy's reasoning is priceless. "'we weren't even having cyber sex or anything like that, we were just chatting and hanging out together.'" riiiiight. be honest, buddy. first, you took her to the virtual cheesecake factory to have virtual cheesecake, then you took her to the virtual bar for virtual drinks after, and finally back to your virtual place to have virtual sex. i wonder what he said to his wife when he got "caught." maybe something like... "oh, come on sweetheart. it's not like i double-clicked her... it was just a single-click. JUST A SINGLE-CLICK!"

at least the story has a happy ending. the woman is now happily in a new relationship with a person she met via world of warcraft, another online activity. one would think that she would've learned from her first "relationship," but hey... who am i to judge? there's no first date like slaying monsters, earning experience points, and looting caves for gold. allow me to reiterate... there is no first date like slaying monsters, earning experience points, and looting caves for gold.

thanks for reading and talk to some people! strangers are friends you haven't met yet...unless they have a second life. then, you're virtually strangers.

-jdv

Theory of natural selection, Modified

2008-11-01T18:46:00.000-05:00

why is it that whenever you're listening to music or watching tv and pick what you want to listen to or watch, it's just not the same as randomly hearing it on the radio or finding it while channel surfing?

this is a fundamental question of my theory of natural selection. what is the significant difference between naturally selecting and randomly finding?

so there you are, relaxing, listening to music via iTunes, windows media player, winamp, youtube, iPod, iTouch, etc... and you keep clicking the skip button. and then, you find that one song that you're really into at the moment (say, m.i.a.'s "paper planes"), and you make it through that song, but as soon as the next song comes on, you skip along. why?

quick change: so there you are, driving on the road, listening to the radio... commercial, commercial, static, BAM! no doubt's "don't speak" is in mid-chorus and you sing right along to the very end... in no other scenario would you do that, but when you're in the car, it happens. why?

change the scenario. so you are wanting to watch some tv, so you stick in a DVD from season two of the office or volume three of family guy and pick an episode. you get halfway through it and turn it off. however, when that same exact episode is on TBS, you watch the whole episode and laugh harder than you have before. make sense? didn't think so.

media players have evolved and some have acquired a characteristic known as "shuffle," and tv providers have provided a service known as "DVR" which allows one to record and fast forward through programs. these are admirable attempts at achieving an analogous ambience that randomly finding a song or program gives, but unfortunately, they do not succeed. there's nothing quite like the real thing.

take care and thanks for reading.

-jdv

p.s. - thanks to daylight savings, the saying "one hour's sleep before midnight is worth two in the morning," actually makes sense. set your clocks back!

She said What?

2008-10-30T15:07:00.000-05:00

that's what she said.

i'm a big fan of nonsensical, random comments. throwing out idioms when they do apply, and even if they don't, is a habit of mine. sometimes they're funny, but most times, they're not. you win some, you lose some, right? you just gotta pick your battles.

however, there is one phrase that'll always garner either a laugh or weird looks. "that's what she said." if i had a dime for every time i've heard that phrase... scratch that. if i had a nickel for every time i've heard and used that phrase, i'd be quite wealthy. sometimes, the funny part is not the actual phrase itself, but rather the justification behind using the phrase. the explanations some people come up with are priceless.

"twss" could very well be the most versatile joke on earth. do you want some more? twss. it hurts a little bit, but it's not that bad. twss. how's the weather outside? twss. from "the office" to offices around the world, twss can be applied everywhere, even in the classroom. i got a kick out of this article and fail to see how it didn't win any awards for article of the year or anything of that nature. and finally, in our political realm, sarah palin has some thoughts. the sphere of influence is truly growing. twss.

my question is: what did she really say? and who is this mysterious "she" people are talking about? think about that long and hard.

that's what she said.

-jdv

Out with the old, in with the New

2008-10-29T17:43:00.001-05:00

come walk with me for a moment.

i hate to do it, but i had to say good-bye to my trusty pair of shoes... shoes... shoes... omg shoes. i've had the same pair of gray nikes for a couple years now, and they've been nothing short of reliable. feet turn into yards, yards into miles... if my shoes could talk.

as you can see, i didn't stray far from the design of my original shoe. i thought, well if it ain't broke, why fix it? it took me a while to find the right shoe for me, but i'm glad i took my time since it is a good fit. (pun intended)

this brings me to the topic on my mind: shopping. i absolutely loathe it. ok, those are strong words. i don't prefer it. i mean seriously, in the whole mall, there are probably three or four stores that i actually go to, and to make matters worse, they are as far away from each other as possible. and then once i get into the store, i feel like indiana jones trying to choose the holy grail. thankfully, with these shoes, i have chosen wisely.

i definitely am not one to shop 'til i drop, but you may be. set up shop, close up shop, talk shop, or just plain shop, enjoy it. take care and thanks for reading.

-jdv

No time to Lose

2008-10-28T16:26:00.000-05:00

so, i want to do a blog on procrastination... but i'll get to it later.

-jdv

Video killed the radio Star

2008-10-25T22:00:00.000-05:00

as i mentioned in an earlier post, i absolutely love the piano. be it the inner asian in me or whatever, the instrument is amazing. i've been a few years retired but like stella, am trying to get my groove back. here is a short clip of me playing my favorite section i alluded to in my "play it again, sam" post. yes, i know this isn't the best audio and video quality (the piano hasn't been tuned in forever), but bear with me as this is my first video using a camera that's way too old. hopefully next time, i'll have practiced a lot more and have some better lighting.

hope you enjoy!

-jdv

Traffic-king

2008-10-25T19:58:00.001-05:00

what's wrong with this picture? look closely... the speed limit is 65 mph and people are braking?!? how does that work? i'll tell you.

traffic. while houston is not the traffic king, it rounds out the top 5 in the nation. you sit there, inch up a few feet, and brake. lather, rinse, repeat.

has anyone else played that traffic game? you know, where you see how far you can go without braking. slyly, i let the car in front of me move up as far as possible while concurrently not letting the driver behind me get upset and begin to honk (if he/she does honk, then that automatically cancels out that round). allow me to define a "round." a round is the length of time between consecutive brakes. moving on, once you take your foot off the brake and move up, you see how long you can go before having to press the brake again. my personal best is 23 seconds. you should play sometime. don't knock it, 'til you try it.

traffic does have some upside. in addition to burning gas and wasting time, you get to catch up on your lyric knowledge. what better time to roll down the windows, pump up the volume, and blast some tunes... and people wonder how i know so many words to so many songs. i simply reply, i've been stuck in a lot of traffic... hours and hours of traffic. you may get weird looks from your traffic neighbors, but guess what, at least you're enjoying your traffic experience.

thanks for reading. take care and drive safe.

remember, click it or ticket (unless you live in new hampshire).

-jdv

So many blogs, so little Time

2008-10-22T16:34:00.000-05:00

i haven't forgotten you, don't worry about it. unfortunately, i've been busy. i've got tons of blog ideas, i just don't have any time to write them in... but to give you a little preview: 10-course meal, poker, shopping, traffic, and "that's what she said." yeah, that last one seems kinda weird. i thought so myself, but hey, it should be fun.

signing off,

-jdv

A wolf in sheep's Clothing

2008-10-16T21:03:00.000-05:00

move over, tina fey, there's a new kid in town. you may be wondering, wow, you got to meet the hockey mom, senator palin?!? and my answer would be no. no, dear friends, that is not the lipstick senator herself, although looks can be deceiving. the resemblance is striking, huh? i thought so myself. spot on.

the pic got me to thinking about dressing up. so, halloween is around the corner and that means costumes galore. unfortunately, i can't pull off the sarah palin look as well as my friend did, so i won't even go there. in fact, i'll probably just steer clear of the whole political theme. if i were going to dress up, i would want to do something original and outrageous... something like my title, a wolf in sheep's clothing. or maybe placing a dorito or lay's potato chip on my shoulder and walking around with a chip on my shoulder. or maybe carrying around a couple of toy horses and i'd be holding my horses. to go along with the animal theme, maybe carrying a toy bird and occasionally throwing it in the air and catching it, and i'd be flippin' the bird. good ideas? yeah, i know, super lame, and i think people could be offended by that last idea.

anyways, keep churning costume ideas in that melting pot mind of yours. you still got a couple weeks. good luck!

-jdv

p.s. - shoutout to the kid.

Aller-geez

2008-10-13T16:29:00.000-05:00

every year this happens. right at that transition from summer to fall and before winter, my allergies spring up on me. i can't walk outside for a minute without sneezing. i am sitting in the comfort of my room when a sneeze attack hits me and i'm left with watery eyes and a runny nose. and then i experience those half sneezes, ya know what i'm talkin' bout? where you feel like you're about to sneeze, and then somehow it goes away, but that sneeze is still lingering around. you inhale, ready to explode, but nothing happens. very, very frustrating.

oh, don't get me wrong. i love the weather change. i love the change in general. fall fashion, Red Apple sales, earlier sunsets, harvest themes, changes in leaf color, etc... but one thing i do not love is the proximity of pollen particles present. you're not welcome here, so make like a tree, and leave.

let me take the time to quickly thank the manufacturers and distributors of benadryl and claritin-D. without you, i wouldn't be able to sleep, so give yourselves a huge pat on the back. you deserve it.

if you don't have any allergies during this time of the year, then i envy you greatly. you're lucky. however, if you do want to experience what it's like for me, perhaps carry a tiny little pepper shaker and occasionally shake some around your nose. let me know how that goes? thanks.

remember ya'll, allergies are nothing to be sneezed at.

-jdv

Play it again, Sam

2008-10-08T20:51:00.000-05:00

the piano. my home away from home. (ironically, this piano is in my home. ) growing up, i played the piano like a good little Asian boy from when i was four to eighteen. it was either the piano or violin, how stereotypical. countless hours were spent at the bench playing, replaying, and after replaying, more replaying.

the piano and i have had a love/hate relationship. it has brought me pleasure and pain, success and sorrow. i sacrificed many afternoons and evenings with friends for it. i remember the late nights and early mornings of practice, the lessons on the weekends, the competitions and recitals. tears of happiness and tears of heartache.

i become another person, so i've been told. when i sit down at that bench, close my eyes, and place my hands on the keys, a metamorphosis occurs. it's funny, i've always said that i can't hear myself when i play the piano. i don't hear the melodies, crescendos, descendos, etc. i just play, as if the piano is not an instrument, but rather an extension of my arms and fingers.

i miss it, i do. it's weird how things are sometimes (that's a generic sentence, if i ever heard one). i wanted to stop when i was young, and now i want it back. you always want what you can't have, right? well, that's what i think.

thanks for stopping by. this was one of my favorite pieces to play... the middle, slower part being my absolute favorite. enjoy!

like a good piano, stay tuned.

-jdv

Keeping the Faith

2008-10-06T16:24:00.000-05:00

all sarcasm and witty remarks aside, i figured i would post a semi-serious blog (i say semi-serious because, hey, i just have to throw in a joke or two... that's how i roll). anyways, the topic on my mind is faith...

it had been maybe a year or two since i had attended a mass, and naturally, i was afraid of going. each week that passed made it that much harder to go back. my friend, laura, asked me if i wanted to go to the night mass and i was hesitant... would i remember what to do and what to say? was i ready?

i felt like i had found what i was looking for, maybe u2 can find it. i had been a person of strong faith until my college years where i struggled, and it felt good to come back. in a way, i was the lost sheep that had strayed from the flock, i was the seed that landed amongst the vines, i was the prodigal son.

not to sound weird, but i am sort of thankful i went through a spiritual drought. we get knocked down, but we get up again (thanks chumbawamba). the highs in life are made that much higher with the lows that come along with them. the sweet just ain't as sweet without the bitter, ya feel me?

i would like to regain that passion i once had for my faith, and i believe that i am on the road to it. just as i had said in an earlier blog... baby steps. take care and God bless.

-jdv

Go Figure

2008-10-01T21:19:00.000-05:00

what do you see? because all i can see are the spectacular, sleek s's in the smooth scheme of iron wrought. if you hadn't noticed by now, i love figures of speech: alliteration, assonance, puns, idioms, etc. it's all good. allow me to tell you about my day.

so, my brother is very close to closing on his house. i went to go join him, along with my father, for the final walkthrough of his house to point out touch-ups here and there. when i got there, my brother had butterflies in his stomach. this house seems to be worth an arm and a leg and proves that rome was not built in one day. the vivid view from the balcony, the ample amount of backyard space, the intense incandescence in the living room. the builders definitely went the extra mile. after walking around for what felt like the time it takes for the cows to come home, i pulled a garfield and hit the hay under the sun's rays. after i cut enough logs and counted enough sheep, i woke up to realize that the inspection had been completed. my brother had a long laundry list of last-minute things to be done and after they are completed, he will close. figuratively, literally, physically, and clearly, a house divided against itself cannot stand.

the dog days of summer are over, and fall is here so it's time to turn over a new leaf. i hope this post wasn't mumbo jumbo to you. however, sometimes i also feel like it's all Greek to me. remember, this is all tongue and cheek.

-jdv

A mere twinkle in my father's Eye

2008-10-01T01:30:00.000-05:00

a father, strong and silent. he does all of the behind-the-scenes work without recognition and always sacrifices for the family. little things... it's the little things.

my dad's birthday was just a few days ago and we celebrated as a family by going out to dinner to this restaurant, fogo de chao. their modus operandi is simple and genius: you sit down and immediately waiters walking around with skewers of all kinds of meat (braised beef, chicken, filet mignon, etc.) come and serve you. there is a circular cardboard cutout given to you that is red on one side and green on another to signal you don't want any more and you do want more, respectively. i could have all the meat i want (that's what she said). the one repercussion, however, is i have to be a vegetarian for a couple days post fogo de chao because, well, i'm sick of it after eating so much.

i must thank my father for, just being my father. he does the little things that go unnoticed and i am grateful. a man of few words, he is the cornerstone of the family. it was great to see him have his day and if you looked closely enough, there was a mere twinkle in his eye.

-jdv

oh, that's crème brûlée in the picture... absolutely delicious.

Sense and Sense-ability

2008-09-25T22:59:00.000-05:00

it hit me like a ton of bricks. inspiration. my next topic is ready to go.

i was on my way to the restroom in the library today and once i entered, the room went dark. pitch black. i would not have been able to see my hand if i put it right in front of my face. i slightly bent my legs and outstretched my arms while my eyes adjusted to the dimness. slowly, i moved around the edge of the room just as a young child who cannot swim clings to the side of a pool. if i strayed just a little bit, i would have drowned in the darkness.

just how important are the senses? we rely on them to carry out simple tasks to the point of them being almost second nature to us. it got me to thinking, which sense could i live without? additionally, could i live without a sense and which one would i absolutely need? from my quick episode above, sight and touch are clearly the two most important senses. ruling out farfetched situations like, well if you didn't have taste and you ate poison, you would die so taste is the most important or if you couldn't smell and you inhaled poison, you would die so smell is the most important, sight and touch are needed to survive. what about music? could i really give that up? it's a scary thought, no doubt about it. however, i believe that touch is the most important sense. it allows us to continue on as human persons and without it, our race would come to an end.

do we realize how our senses can creep into our speech and play a role in our means of communication? do you see what i'm saying? ..... allow me to repeat, do you see what i'm saying? i hear you, loud and clear. something doesn't feel right. keep in touch. something smells fishy. victory is so close, i can taste it. really? you can taste victory? i bet it tastes good.

see ya later.

-jdv

Running on E

2008-09-24T23:42:00.000-05:00

i am as busy as a bee, neck deep in books and reading. literal devices aside, i am exhausted. so many people want my attention... peter the great and louis xiv want me to read about their involvement in imperialism, darwin wants me to read about his theory on natural selection, John wants me to read, well, the gospel of John, and so on. please, fellas, give me a break. give me a break. break me off a piece of that kit-kat bar.

snicker if you want, but time is off the essence and it's hard to give equal attention to each. by far the most important material i am reading right now deals with the DAT: biology, gen chem, and organic chem. in that case, good ol' darwin will just have to wait his turn.

other than that, i've been doing well. no adventures or unique thoughts, recently. i know, pretty boring, but i haven't been inspired yet. one thing that i am always thinking about in the back of my mind is that i want to go to the philippines when i graduate for a quick vacation. i went after my middle school graduation, not after my high school, and want to go back after my college graduation.

i will expound on this more at a later date. i need to get back to reading.

one thing i will say is that i am slowly building a dislike for mechanical pencils. i mean, i press the button for the lead to come out and try to write, but it goes back in. why tease me like that?? why? it's not right.

-jdv

O sister, where art Thou

2008-09-20T23:42:00.000-05:00

we've all heard of the popular book Men are from Mars, Women are from Venus. why did the book come to mind? i'm glad you asked.

i work at a dental office, and primarily, i work with five or six female coworkers. due to hurricane ike, the office i worked at was closed and so we had to merge our saturday with another nearby office. at that location, there were another five or six female coworkers. so there were around eleven girls, myself, and the dentist, who happened to be my brother at work.

oh, but james, stop whining like a little child and be serious. you're surrounded by girls... isn't that your dream?

good one. my dream, really? that's not a stretch, at all.

but seriously, today was quite a learning experience. first off, i absolutely enjoyed the company. you have to understand, i wasn't blessed with the chance of having an older or younger sister. i don't see my coworkers as "workers," but rather as, for lack of a better word, "sisters." we joke, we laugh, we talk.

Kids Say the Darndest Things? sure, but i think a group of girls say and do equally, if not more, funny and ridiculous stuff. two examples: a girl brought a huge bag of old clothes, shoes, and accessories she was going to trade into a clothing store. so each girl went through the whole bag commenting on each thing, and when i say each girl and each thing, that's exactly what i mean. second example: when we were closing the store, they talked about hair for the last fifteen minutes. then somehow, they all agreed to show up to work the next day without doing anything to their hair in the morning. just a shower and towel dry. then this part cracked me up... and if there was an "emergency," a girl could flat iron her hair during lunch break.

it's something else... the quirkiness. i wonder if girls think the same about guys doing similar weird stuff, like talk about football or look at cars. who knows?

i do plan on giving the work i mentioned at the beginning of this post a quick read through and evaluating it myself. i personally think that we're not so different. every person, regardless of sex, wants to be appreciated, wants to feel a sense of comfort, wants to be loved. it is this natural desire that makes us human, and ultimately, similar.

-jdv

Lost in Translation

2008-09-17T21:57:00.000-05:00

i'm lovin' it. me encanta. c’est ça que j’m. نا أحبه (ana uħibbuhu). ich liebe es.

we've all been to McDonald's and seen this advertising slogan, which i think is pure genius. they have globally appealed to the people by breaking a barrier that is rarely broken, that is, language. i don't know a shade of German, but i know what "ich liebe es" means.

using this notion as a diving board, i will jump into my pool of thought. i recently visited the home of one of my best friends who is of the Arabic background (hey Laura and Leila!). the major thing that caught my ear like a good beat (listen to this and I double dog dare you to not bob your head. it's impossible.) was the means of communication in the household.

in contrast to my household where english is spoken between family members, their native tongue is the primary language between theirs. i was very wary to say anything to not let them think that i was a few sandwiches short of a picnic. however, i was not completely lost. in a way, i could sort of read between the lines... the expressions on the faces, the tone of voice, and the gestures. these "context clues" were my aid. i may not have known precisely what was said verbatim, but i knew the overall message behind it.

there may not be a universal language, but there are universal context clues to every language (except the japanese, they just sound like they're pissed about everything: first Godzilla, then atomic bombs. you know what, i don't blame them. jk.). but seriously, the way in which a mother lovingly addresses her child is constant, no matter what country you're in or what language is being spoken.

thank you. gracias. salamat. شكرا لك (shukran). danke.

-jdv

special thanks to laura, leila, maria, and family and extended family, for without them, this post would not be possible.

Pictures are worth a thousand Words

2008-09-15T20:57:00.000-05:00

-jdv

Weathering the storm, part Two

2008-09-12T23:35:00.000-05:00

Picking up from where I left off:

3:30 PM: I step out for a bit to see how it's like outside. It actually feels awesome. I really want to go for a quick bike ride, but on second thought, I don't want the scene from ET to become a reality.

4:45 PM: I guess it's back to watching the news. Is there really nothing else on? This is getting kind of boring. I mean, they didn't even broadcast Jeopardy. At this point, I know this is serious.

5:52 PM: First power surge. We lose it for a couple seconds and it's back. Crazy to think how reliable we are on electricity. Our sense of taste depends on it to keep our food from going rotten, our sense of sight depends on it for vision. Benjamin Franklin, what would we do without you? We thank you for your theories on electricity, bifocals, and being the poster child of $100 bills.

6:01 PM: Take a nap. I'm hurricaned out.

7:14 PM: I hear some scraping across the yard and think possibly some debris was flying around. Nope. Our neighbor from across the yard is mowing his lawn. I really don't know what to think. Either A) he's insane or B) he's a visionary.

7:35 PM: Wedding crashers is on?!? Sweet. This'll be a good break from the hurricane. I love this movie. I can't believe it's already on cable now, has it been that long?

7:36 PM: Check wikipedia. Wow, 2005? I guess it has been that long. I am humbled.

8:00 PM: MTV is doing a Top Pop group show? What is this? Mario Lopez? Circular stage? 3 judges? Do my eyes deceive me? This looks like an America's Best Dance Crew clone. Hmm, if there were a way to mute their voices, then it would be like America's Best Dance Crew.

8:18 PM: You just knew that McDonald's commercial where the people start dancing with their food would come on, huh?

9:13 PM: Hear from friends on how they're doing. Some are in Austin, some have decided to brave the storm staying in Liberty, some are playing Monopoly, some are playing chess, and some are just watching TV. To each, their own.

That's good enough for now. I figure the next couple of hours are going to be spent just waiting for the storm and that's boring. At least this day was spent with my parents...

Every cloud has a silver lining. Too soon? I don't think so.

-jdv

Weathering the storm, part One

2008-09-12T16:14:00.001-05:00

First off, I think a sense of humor is going to be needed in the next couple of days. I acknowledge the severity of the current situation so any jab at the news is purely sarcastic. In saying that, I figured I would experiment with this blog and try something new. It's sort of an up-to-the-minute what-I-am-thinking type of entry so hopefully it's entertaining. If not, I will never ever write another entry like it.

11:38 AM: Wake up to my mom yelling on the phone to relatives. Apparently, ike has not only taken over TV in the greater Houston area, but also around the world.

12:01 PM: Flip on the news to see the latest ike information. Winds, gusts, eye, storm surge... if I had a nickel every time each one of these words is said...

12:11 PM: CNN has a piece about McCain/Palin. So wait, let me get this straight, there's other stuff going on in the world besides ike?

12:16 PM: Flip back to local news weather. I find it ridiculous how there is that one person, plus camera crew, who is asked to stay at the shore. Something like that scene in Deep Impact where Tea Leoni, who ironically plays a reporter, is at the shore with her dad could happen.

12:33 PM: Our living room is a virtual arboretum. I had to bring in plants from our backyard into the living room. I wonder if we'll get some kind of oxygen poisoning from the sheer number of plants in the house.

12:45 PM: First mention of a freighter out at sea and how they can't rescue it. I hope they're okay.

1:00 PM: Eat a dish from the smorgasbord that is available to me. I think for the last couple of hours and for the next few, my mom will be cooking nonstop. Maybe this hurricane thing isn't a bad thing.

1:11 PM: Neighbor comes over and tell us that there's a parking garage that he works at and that we should put our cars in there. My mom and I heed the advice and do so.

1:12 PM: Turn on the car and the radio is playing "A Bay Bay," by Hurricane Chris. Wow. Not only has ike taken over TV, but he's also moved his sphere of influence to the radio. Amazing.

1:44 PM: "Certain death." Things don't look too good. But then again, things didn't look good when we had an ice storm and that turned out to be okay. I remember thinking at the time that people from the northeast probably laughed at us for having a "freeze warning." They probably sunbathe in that "ice storm" we had.

2:01 PM: Take a shower. Don't you hate when there's a piece of hair on the bar of soap, and you have to hold the soap at the right angle just so it washes off and then you think it works but when you turn the bar of soap over, the same piece of hair is there? Very frustrating. To all you luffa or loofah users, I cannot sympathize with you simply because you cannot sympathize with me.

This is all for now. From the title, you can safely conclude that there will be a part two hopefully coming at you soon. Maybe the family will watch some movies tonight. I suggested either The Hurricane starring Denzel, Twister starring Helen Hunt, or The Perfect Storm with George Clooney.

Stay tuned.

-jdv

Rock you ike a Hurricane

2008-09-10T18:49:00.001-05:00

Don't rub your eyes, that's not a typo in the title. I saw Blades of Glory and am fully aware that the correct title is "Rock you like a hurricane," but I believe at this time, my title is more appropriate.

For my west coast, east coast, midwest, and global audience (pretty much anyone not from the south, although why would you want to be from anywhere else?) it's hurricane season once again in our part of the world and the latest terror is hurricane ike.

Hurricanes, tornados, tsunamis, volcanoes, and earthquakes: all of these are ammunition in the arsenal of our dear mother. Shoot.

To all those in the future path of hurricane ike, our prayers and thoughts are with you. Buckle up or buckle down, whichever one, but be prepared for a bumpy ride.

-jdv

p.s. - if nature is our "mother" and time is our "father", what would their offspring be? Jesus? Just kidding, just some food for thought.

Music to my Ears

2008-09-08T01:39:00.000-05:00

I figured I would take a break from the picture blogging and throw in a pictureless post. If you find it boring, then scroll down and see the Tina Fey-Sarah Palin comparison.

Moving on, I have always been meaning to do a blog on music and I finally get my chance. I don't know where to start, honestly. Music is a humongous, gigantic, size-of-the-titanic part of my life. I truly believe that music is the universal language. Who doesn't know the macarena? (Don't be embarrassed, I know the other dance that goes to it.) Who doesn't know artists such as the beatles, michael jackson, madonna? Global icons, to this day.

Music transcends time. I hear the song "I Never Had a Dream Come True" by S Club 7, and I'm back at my 8th grade dance. Kansas' "Carry on Wayward Son," and I'm back in the stands of Strake watching the football game. Anything by the Killers, and college comes to mind. Music, and only music, has this power over me.

Music has also spawned a couple passions of mine, singing and dancing. While I'm mediocre at best on a good day, I keep them away from the public eye. Trust me, it's for your own good. Nevertheless, let me live my life on stage, performing for all of the masses, please? Thanks.

I'd like to close this post with a quote by Aldous Huxley: "After silence, that which comes nearest to expressing the inexpressible is music." Don't only keep your eyes open, dear friends, but also your ears.

Take care.

-jdv

Politics, Schmolitics

2008-09-04T23:05:00.000-05:00

First off, I would like to preface this entire blog by saying I am completely ignorant when it comes to politics. Red vs blue, democrat vs republican, elephant vs donkey... I have almost no idea what these things mean and represent. Yes, I know, shake your head in disgust. I have failed as an American citizen, but hey, at least I acknowledge my ignorance. (Big ups to Socrates)

Now, moving on, I've been sucked into the presidential election. I don't follow it religiously, or stand up and applaud after any word or phrase is said, or cry whenever there is a shot of someone else crying on TV, but I'm definitely more involved than I have ever been before. I almost watched all of the democratic national convention, watched Obama's speech later on Youtube, and I currently just finished watching McCain's speech.

Honestly, this whole thing seems like a junior high student council election just placed on the biggest of stages under the brightest of lights. I'm not saying the candidates are mere children; rather, they are great men who deserve the nominations they earned. My point was that the election seems just like a popularity contest, which essentially it is since we, the people, vote for who we think will be best as president. "I will do this... I will do that," say the candidates. How can I be so sure? I must say, however, I do love the play on words that the candidates use against each other, for example Palin said something to the effect of, "Some people use 'change' to promote their careers, while John McCain uses his career to promote 'change.'"

Quick side note: Senator Palin looks kinda like Lynne Spears (mother of Britney and Jamie Lynn Spears), and hey, both their teenage daughters are pregnant. Coincidence? I think not. But more of a lookalike is Tina Fey from Saturday Night Live. Wind back the hands of time for Palin or hit the fast forward button on Tina Fey and change the hair and you got an exact duplicate.

But anyways, I will continue to keep up with politics as much as I can. I honestly don't know how I feel about each candidate yet, more reading and research has to be done by me to become better informed.

In the meantime, hope ya'll enjoy this music (video) by this fella named A.P.T. I wish I knew how to imbed a Youtube video on here directly, but I don't think that's possible. So, in the meantime, here is the link. It's a piece about Obama set to Lil Wayne's "A Milli."

Enjoy!

-jdv

Who is so Real?

2008-09-04T00:10:00.000-05:00

i am.

For those of you who have no idea who Soreal is, first off, get out from the rock you are currently living under. They are a dance group from Houston (H-town, represent!) who was on the mtv show "america's best dance crew." Unfortunately, they lost and got second place, but personally I think they got robbed, not that I'm biased or from Houston or anything. I could write an entire column about their style, but that's boring for you, so head over to mtv.com and watch a few episodes. You just might get hooked.

Anyways, a couple of members from Soreal were at the roxy one night and my brother's girlfriend was able to snag one of them before they left. From the signature, it looks like andrew "goodfoot's" John Hancock, who is the member in the front and center of the picture.

I feel like a kid at show-and-tell. Remember that? When you would bring what you thought at the time was the COOLEST thing that you had. I think when I was a kid, I brought my Hakeem Olajuwon signed basketball. And now, a Soreal autographed picture. Some things never change.

Oh, if anyone finds those missing puzzle pieces that are scattered throughout my page, you'll get a reward. Not of the monetary nature, more like a pat-on-the-back kind. Thanks!

explosion.

-jdv

Under Construction

2008-08-31T17:24:00.000-05:00

"Home is where the heart is." While this is a very hackneyed expression, it is true today just as it was used for the first time. I must say that there's a sense of comfort in pulling into the driveway, sticking the key into the lock, and walking into the embrace of a home. It always seems to be just right: the temperature, the lighting, the overall ambiance, as if it knows that you're approaching.

However, this characteristic cannot be applied to my brother's home, just yet. Aside from the fact that it doesn't have air conditioning and is dependent on the sun for its source of light, I am confident that it will eventually adjust to my brother.

What you see here is one of my favorite parts of the house, the semi-spiral staircase (say that 5 fives fast). As a kid, I always wanted to live in a 2-story house, given that my best friend had one. Also, at Christmas time, I always wanted to sneak downstairs early in the morning to open presents first, just like they did in the movies. Anyways, I digress.

I never realized there was SO much thought that went into building a house. Little things such as tile designs, wiring, colors, cupboards, colors of tile designs, etc. are all important. And what about furniture?

Let's not think about that since I get a headache and move onto another favorite part of the house, the balcony overlooking the green. I don't know how else to put it, but it is amazing. One day up there, I saw a family of deer walking around the hole. Perhaps Bambi & Co. wanted to try out golf, who knows? Regardless, the view was picturesque. So, whenever you're at the golf course, come swing (pun intended) by and say hello to my brother... just don't hit your ball in his backyard since it will be his.

Keep it real.

-jdv

Are you ready for some Football?

2008-08-28T23:40:00.000-05:00

A new post, a new feature. I'm tryin' out this "add image" do-hickey. The game was amazing, this up close and personal. I literally could reach out and catch a touchdown pass if I wanted to, but I figured I would save my skills for training camp next year. Given it was the last preseason game and NONE of the starters actually play in the last preseason game, it was still exciting. Crowd was in it and so was I. It looks like a promising year for the Texans, so I will be following them throughout the season.

I am feeling a lot better, thank you for asking. After hibernating yesterday for what seemed like a fortnight (out of the 24 hours of the day, I probably slept 18), I woke up ready to start a new day. Orange juice is slowly getting back on my good side, simply because there is no other substitute for a beverage served with a mcsausage biscuit or sausage mcbiscuit and hash brown. Baby steps.

Speaking of babies, are they "in"? It seems everywhere I look, there's a cute, little bundle of joy. On the newsstand, sitting in front of me at the texans game, driving behind me... etc. Are we in a new baby boom age? Marinate on that while I peruse the latest People. Wait a second, Jamie Lynn Spears had a baby? Isn't she still a baby? Hmm...

Well anyways, congratulations brangelina, tomkat, j-lo/anthony, gwengavin, and anyone else who is expecting. Children are the future.

As always and in the future, thanks for the time. Go big or go home.

-jdv

Welcome to the Jungle

2008-08-27T01:06:00.000-05:00

Ladies, gentlemen, boys, and girls: welcome to the jungle. And yes, if you were wondering, I've got fun and games. I am a virgin blogger, so please bear with me while I fine-tune all aspects of this thing known as "blogging." First off, I know nothing about this: what to write, what font I want to use, what layout looks smooth, and so on. The possibilities are quite overwhelming and have got me in a daze. Courier new, arial, classic times new roman??? My head is in a spin.

Additionally, my head is in a spin because I am currently under the weather. In laymen's terms, I am sick. And how I did this to myself, oh you won't believe. So, I'm parched late Sunday night, and I grab myself a glass of OJ. I take one sip and make one of those bitter beer faces from those commercials. Anyways, the genius James thinks, "Oh, it's probably just the top layer that was bad." So, I drink about half of the glass and my face twisted more than a lemon sucking on a lemon. Picture that. Ok good. I felt sick the next morning, sore throat, coughing, tired, etc.

Isn't it ironic? Don't ya think?
That's what she said... Alanis Morissette that is.

I get sick from drinking OJ? Good ol' vitamin C, boosting that immune system. Even worse, what do I do now? Whenever I got sick, I drank OJ to make myself feel better. Now what? I drink that which has become my enemy? That which I consumed, now consumes me (there's my philosophical shot at the moon statement). I can't even stand looking at orange juice, let alone orange products like orange chicken. I'm almost on the verge of boycotting citrus products in general, minus Sprite. I'll take my apple, pear, or grape juice instead, thank you very much.

And thank you for stopping by. Stay healthy and stay hungry. There's no need to be getting sick in this busy world of ours. Remember, it's a jungle out there.

-jdv