Category Archives: Friends & Family

Blog 069 > Vacation Day 2 of 6

by

Day Two of Six! The next dozen photos show much-much older photos, originally taken around the time of my Mom and Dad’s graduation from medical school in 1967. In mid-1967, Mom was age 23, and Dad was age 25. Needless to say, these old photos have always amazed and mesmerized me as a little kid and even today as a grownup guy, but now I’ve finally captured them in digital form. Amazing, lol.

Continue reading →

Blog 068 > Vacation Day 1 of 6

by

Okay, Gentle Readers, here’s my first batch of vacation pics and vids, set in chronological order! During the 5-hour flight from Las Vegas to New York’s John F Kennedy airport, I met a funny blond kid, about 12 years old, named Ethan, not only a self-proclaimed expert on Africa (except the cities, lol) and the solar system (except the moons, lol) but also the future husband of Britney Spears’ little 16-year-old sister Jamie Lynn, lol.

Continue reading →

Blog 067 > Return from East Coast Vacation!

by

Hey, I’m back from my 6-day East Coast Vacation! Over 300 pics! Nearly 2 hours of video! So give me a few days to sort the whole mess out, lol. Meanwhile, here’s one pic taken by me, and one taken by Mom, at the Long Island Chinese restaurant “Palace of Wong” where we picked up some dinner after my parents picked me up at John F Kennedy airport. My first day back in New York! But now I have a question…

Continue reading →

Blog 065 > Tutoring Vanessa = Chowking!

by

Definitely not your typical Mother’s Day Sunday! At a very-early 8am in the morning, Vanessa and Darrell visited my house, so I could help tutor Vanessa in HTML and Photoshop for her Web Programming class. Meanwhile, with his late nightclub job, Darrell decided to crash on my couch, lol. The original plan was 7am, but they were running late, and even then, a few hours wasn’t enough.

Fighting her allergies and our insurmountable hunger as I guided her on the details of table coding, hex coloring, image editing, inline framing, hyperlinking, and general layout according to her basic but elegant design, Vanessa didn’t finish her website project until 1pm! Five hours! But on the plus side, she tells me it saves her five weeks! Take a look at her website design in the following screenshots…

Continue reading →

Blog 063 > Another Alias?

by

A couple of posts ago, I mentioned that “Vanessa convinced me to start watching her Alias (2001; Jennifer Garner) in exchange for her watching my Dark Angel (2000; Jessica Alba), lol.” Well, after having watched the first five episodes of Alias Season 1, one thing became exceedingly clear: Jennifer Garner as Sydney Bristow looks A LOT like my ex-sister-in-law Lisa!!! So to demonstrate their strong resemblance, I’ve put together several side-by-side composites, including two more below… Maybe you’ll agree?

Continue reading →

Blog 060 > The Filipino Experience!

by

Most of you have heard of the “Star Trek Experience” thrill-ride at the Las Vegas Hilton, right? Well, today was quite a “Filipino Experience”! Weeks or months ago, when my best buddy Vanessa first mentioned the Filipino fast-food chain “Jollibee“, I was pretty skeptical. Apparently, it’s quite popular in California as well as the Philippines of course. But the “McDonald’s” of Filipino cuisine? Fast-food spaghetti? Hmmm, I wondered if it could be like Panda Express, but yeah, skeptical…

Continue reading →

Blog 056 > In-N-Out!

by

Yesterday, Thursday, while Vanessa’s car was in the shop for some major axial and AC repairs, this time she actually decided on a specific lunch destination! So I picked her up from her office, and we headed north on Dean Martin Drive till we hit Tropicana. “In-N-Out Burger”! It’s been a while since I’ve had their tasty burger and fries, and it was a change to sit at an outdoor table under the Vegas sun.

Continue reading →

post 415 ~ over the weekend

by

post 415 ~ over the weekend…

ah, even with the extra hour over the weekend, i still felt busy or that i didn’t have enough time to do what i wanted… burning more downloads onto DVD, printing more wallpapers for my DVD-case covers, trying out my Canon EOS 350D Digital Rebel XT, working on my “otaku merchandising” article, catching up page-by-page on my magazines, starting my letter to Anouck (afterwards, i’ll start one to Anna), even resisting the urge to cut some tiresome LJ’ers from my list… AND not only that, DAMN, tons of anime!… whether i was sampling an episode, starting or continuing a series, here are the 16 titles i was able to watch… from dramatic to humorous to mediocre:

Black Blood Brothers, Eureka Seven, Giant Robo, Gokusen, Gun Parade March, His and Her Circumstances, Ichigo Mashimaro (Strawberry Marshmallow), Jinki Extend, Kujibiki Unbalance, Le Chevalier D’Eon, NANA, Nana: Seven of Seven, Negima!? (Alternate Storytelling), Pia Carrot, Shakugan no Shana, Space Pirate Mito

meanwhile, here’s my first post for the LasVegasOtaku.org role-playing fiction “Firefly-Class Bebop“, a multiple-writer story based on a mix of the sci-fi “Firefly” and anime “Cowboy Bebop”…

Continue reading →

post 410 ~ barrage of random goodies ;)

by

genshiken figures!


heely’s roller shoes!

 post 410 ~ okay, a barrage of random goodies ;)

  • friends & hooters ~ yesterday, wednesday the 11th, after another visit to the local clinic (giving blood/urine samples), drove to the post office… finally mailed out my package to for her 25th birthday next week… plus picked up my shipment from japan: two circular mirror bases for my free-standing figures…

    that afternoon, another fun midday chat with anna and took some photos of my cubicle and my outside view from the third floor, not bad!… also helped vanessa clean/spruce up her resume…

    LOL, and since i’ve never been to one, anna suggested that i try a “hooters” restaurant for the FIRST time (she worked at a “hooters” during her recent 3-month visit to the US and loved it, especially the hot wings!), i decided to ask vanessa about it… in fact, vanessa had just gone there last week with don and kiyomi, and the week before!… she also mentioned how great the wings were!… so now, a group of us are shooting for lunch for this or next week (friday the 13th or tuesday the 17th)…

    interesting tidbit: the “hooters” that anna worked at in carolina was more family-oriented, waitresses wore short shorts but with regular shirts… however, according to vanessa, the “hooters” on sahara was not so family-friendly: “The waitresses wear really short orange shorts and tank tops with their boobs hanging out. Guys enjoy it… however we gals enjoy the food.”… independently-owned apparently, LOL ;)

    then that night, finally completed the composite of 4 photos from vanessa’s son’s birthday party… former and current co-workers of the legendary “RF Code” gang, LOL!

  • genshiken figures ~ over the last couple days, two more figures from the college-life otaku/geek comedy “genshiken”… the raven-haired “ohno” on the far left and the anime-within-an-anime “ritsuko” character on the far right… found them at decently discounted prices at robert’s anime corner store, and on ebay… NICE!
  • heely’s roller shoes ~ today, thursday the 12th, FINALLY remembered to google for “sneakers with wheels”… the result: roller shoes! YES!… the reason: well, for months, years, i’ve always envied kids who rolled around on these inventive contraptions!…

    i mean, listen to this little habit of mine: for months now, each week i visit the VONS grocery store, i lay my shoulder-strap case/bag into the grocery cart, then run-and-ride the cart from station to station, pick up my items, then run-and-ride to the next aisle, and the next… hahaha, i especially love the long wide freezer aisles when i can just run at full speed, hop onto the back, and ride all the way to the haagen daz sorbets (hmmm, strawberry, lemon and mango!)… and then another great long ride to the check out stations… but the BEST part comes AFTER checkout… since the parking lot slopes downward away from the store, i run hard from the entrance, then ride the grocery cart maybe a couple-dozen parking spaces down to my camry… NICE!… so why not add “roller shoes” to the rest of my day and week, right? LOL ;)

post 403 ~ nankurunaisa!

by

4


“saya & hagi” from BLOOD+

 post 403 ~ some random japanese and filipino stuff…

  • BLOOD+ ~ i finished watching this anime a couple days ago… but last night, after burning/archiving the last two episodes 49 and 50 of “BLOOD+” onto disc, i tested them on the big TV like i always do, but then i let myself be transported back to its world by watching parts of them again… such a tearful yet hopeful conclusion…

    in fact, the entire 50-episode series was such an utterly well-crafted and sublime anime, visually, musically, emotionally… so much so that it has become my #1 anime, even above “ghost in the shell” and “wolf’s rain”… and as its overall idea, nankurunaisa! (everything will work out in the end!)

  • visit to my old job ~ yesterday, before work, chatted with vanessa… how she’s still swamped as always, still looking for another job, and how the others are depressed as their boss piles more work onto them… so i decided to visit and maybe cheer them up, despite her “warning” that it wasn’t worth the trip, LOL…

    well, i did, got there at about 10:30am, and the cramped old office has hardly changed, hahaha… kiyomi and don were still there, the main developers who’ve been there since before i started there 3 years ago… plus even more wires, cables and instruments growing on their cubicles!

    hahaha, tried out my japanese with kiyomi… she asked how, and i said tons of anime!… “tadaima” (i’m back!), “baka” (idiot, fool), “itadakimasu” (i will receive! said before meals) and “itekimasu” (i’m leaving, i’m off!) and “ja ne” (see you later!)… so that was fun… talked with the others, how things were going, met the new tech writer (another new one!)…

    when vanessa finally off the phone, we chatted about the upcoming birthday for her soon-6-yr-old son tristan… showed her the ZipZaps radio-controlled matchbox car i was thinking of giving, but she said there were too many parts! and it would quickly get broken! haha… so she suggested a DVD like “curious george” or “cars” or “ice age” or something with dinosaurs or astronomy… typical smart kid!…

    i also pointed out how the others were smiling, didn’t seem depressed, but she said they weren’t trying to be, but you could tell in general… talked about the filipino food planned for the party: “lumpia” (kinda like mini egg rolls), “adobo” (like a chicken stew/gumbo), but LOL, no “balut” (cooked duck embryo still in its eggshell) which i loved as a kid… lastly, i offered to help with any document-related stuff, she could email the office guidelines draft to me if she needed to… and sadly, at about 11:30am, it was time for me to go to work, lol…

  • nankurunaisa! ~ i’ve told vanessa and morgaine how some things seem to be a battle of “guilt” versus “regret”… the “guilt” of NOT doing enough for others… and the “regret” of NOT doing the things you want for yourself… sometimes you can’t let family or friends or bosses or coworkers or others become too much of a responsibility that you feel so guilty not doing things for them… sometimes you gotta live for yourself…

    yeah, easier said than done, but “regret over oneself” can be much WORSE than the “guilt over others”… the key idea is: can you TRUST others to be able to take care of themselves? without having to look over their shoulder?… if you can, then you can smile more easily and happily in life…

    nankurunaisa!… everything will work out in the end!

  • p.s. the “unfair” issue at LasVegasOtaku.org has also been straightened out… just a simple matter of word choice and individual differences in etiquette…

post 380 ~ realizations…

by
post 380 ~ realizations…

  • personal dream? ~ like i recently told , as a result of the past few months, i finally remembered (or reaffirmed) an old adolescent dream to “write a book”… i’ve done little sci-fi fanfics over the last several years (original characters and stories within universes already created by others), but in the effort to build my own ORIGINAL sci-fi universe, i created to collect my notes and sketches (protected) as well as pieces of my story…

    note to inspire myself: “Start small! Don’t worry about how well others have written in the past. Just do it, whether expertly or pathetically, just write for yourself and for the love of your characters! If you worry too much, you’ll never get anything done!”

  • pseudo-sister? ~ just a day or two ago, another idea hit me… it’s been weird living with my ex-wife , nothing wrong, just still a bit weird… but in thinking of her family as pretty-much my family, what if i thought of her as a “sister”?… and it clicked… oddly, her little habits around the house, or chats with another guy, are no longer so irritating or weird; just as if a real sister lived around the house… kinda makes sense, right? she thought so too ;)

post 366 ~ taking things less seriously

by

writing a “less serious” letter!		 post 366 ~ taking things less seriously… wednesday, july 12th…

  • new projects! ~ well, got a new work project to review/update/edit 3 tech manuals ASAP (but sometime before august)… hmmm, ASAP? no real deadline?… yup! so basically, doing as much as i can in 40 hours per week… no reason to kill myself if no deadline is set, right? ;)
  • work stress! ~ meanwhile, one of my good friends “nessa” is pretty stressed… after going thru a recent divorce with a son, and being the ONLY admin assistant for a growing company (the last job i resigned from), PLUS dealing with school, programming class no less… so it’s difficult to offer any of my own thoughts… except perhaps to “take work less seriously”; work isn’t everything, especially since she’s decided to focus on school… and if management is over-tasking you, or under-estimating the tasks they’re giving, there’s no reason to kill yourself 10 or 20 hours beyond a solid 40 hours per week, especially for the same pay…
  • people stress! ~ similarly, another good friend “morgaine” has finally decided to stop taking bullshit from everyone… a bold if not bitter path, but one i think she must follow and see where it leads… and yet again, my own perspective is not to “take people so seriously”… sure, “little people with little minds” can be frustrating as hell, but why worry about them?… oh yeah, lol, reminds me; for example, years ago, if some driver cut me off, i used to get annoyed… but nowadays, if it’s a “skillful” cut i might’ve done myself, i’ll actually say “WOW! COOL MOVE!”… hahaha, better to smile/laugh over spilled milk, eh?
  • sign please! ~ hmmm, i wonder if this “less serious” approach has actually helped me deal with my own issues and situations… including the most peaceful “break up” in history (LOL) between jen and me!… note, the official notarized signing of the divorce papers has been pushed to friday morning due to a sisterly obligation, driving her sister to the airport (to get married in europe)…
  • please twins! ~ after watching the 4th episode of the teen-comedy anime “please twins” (sequel to “please teacher”), i finally recognized the voice of crispin freeman (a.k.a. “alucard” of hellsing!)… but this time, i just barely recognized him through the proudly-gay pretty-boy high-school character he played, hahaha!… definitely different from his super-vampire “alucard”! no wonder it took a while!!!
  • anime countdown! ~ just 3 more days till saturday’s 6-hour anime screening at whitney library, las vegas!… should bring a lunch, huh… meanwhile, here are my latest anime-watching updates for a dozen simultaneous anime series!… ah, the obsession! ;))

post 350 ~ home (bitter-)sweet home…

by

2


“battlestar galactica: season 2” (2005)		 post 350 ~ home (bitter-)sweet home…

  • yesterday, may 17 ~ exchanged emails with loan officers as we put together the new mortgage loan… the house appraiser called; we arranged the appointment for the next day… therefore, i did a bit of house cleaning… vacuuming, dishes, dusting/arranging the book shelves, even pulling out a tons of weeds from the gravelled backyard “lawn”…
  • thursday, may 18 ~ the appraiser did his job… also received the loan package via UPS… later, signing, scanning, emailing, and finally dropping the necessary documents back into the mailbox… so it looks like most of the work on my end has been completed… which is a relief…
  • battlestar finale! ~ ah, last night, finally finished watching my “battlestar galactica: season 2” downloads!… unexpected, amazing, addicting!… next to watch is the new “doctor who” and some more anime, of course!… “ah! my goddess”, “genshiken”, and DVD previews from my “newtype” magazine ;)))
  • breakdown ~ but despite everything… whenever my WinAMP plays a random MP3 of my wife singing, especially when singing tori amos tunes, i have to catch myself… from slipping into the emptiness again… after all, tori’s music is how we first met as pen-pals…

post 349 ~ distractions and attractions…

by

“Operation: Mindcrime II” (2006)		 post 349 ~ distractions and attractions…

  • tuesday, may 9 ~ finally bought the $50 divorce-forms kit for us to look over… only $400 more for convenient third-party preparation and court-related fees…
  • wednesday, may 10 ~ got confirmation that my 1800flowers.com order arrived at my mom’s house on the east coast… yep, early to get the 20% discount ;)))… then later that morning, while jen was asleep, her mom came over to pick up some stuff for the store, and when i asked her “how are you doing?”, she suddenly broke down in tears… sad to see a mom cry like that… but she has to keep a strong face for her daughter; can’t force someone to stay if she wants to leave…
  • friday, may 12 ~ this morning, called our bank to start the process of refinancing our home… cashing out jen’s share of the home equity, resulting in a near-doubled but manageable $1400/month payment… the transaction should close in about a month…
  • distractions! ~ otherwise, i’ve been distracting myself with TONS of DVDs and MP3s… including the anime “eureka seven” and “fate stay night”… the japanese sci-fi film “returner”… the gorgeous “memoirs of a geisha” (halfway thru the DVD)… PLUS music from the “fate stay night” anime OST, “ah! my goddess” anime OST, and “damo” TV OST…

    AS WELL AS the amazing return of QUEENSRYCHE’s “Operation: Mindcrime II”… i only downloaded it about 2 weeks ago, and i’ve already listened to it about a DOZEN TIMES!!!… consequently, i’ve re-listened to their original 1988 “Operation: Mindcrime”, as well as their “Operation: LIVEcrime” CD and DVD!!!… revolution!

  • attractions! ~ and pretty soon, i’ll be watching some pre-released episodes of “hellsing ultimate”, “eureka seven”, “blood+”, “trinity blood”, and “doctor who (2005)”… DAMN! lots to watch!

post 338 ~ ten days…

by
post 338 ~ okay, ten days… i’ve been away FAR too long, hehe ;)))

  • hey, thanx to everyone for all the b’day wishes and comments and meals and gifts… including gift certs to outback and red lobster ;)… an outback lunch with kim ;)… a cheesecake factory lunch with vanessa and her sis ;)… handfuls of icons/walls from like this one featuring tricia helfer of “battlestar galactica”, lol ;)… and a cute silver Targus mini-mouse from for my laptop… thanx! ;)))

  • lol, funny that both cylon “number six” and cyborg “maj. motoko kusanagi” are both artificial females with deadly intelligence, power, and beauty ;)… hmmm, i wonder if the transgenic “max” (from dark angel) would fit in here too, hehe!
  • meanwhile, work’s been so-so… same technical editing in the first-floor “dungeon” or from home… plus researching for some communication-skills training videos/dvds for our professional/customer service depts (yeah-yeah, sure sounds like HR work, don’t it? lol)… but since we don’t have an HR “department” at the moment… argh ;)
  • otherwise, been spending time watching dvds (what else?)… finished the BSG 2.0 episode “pegasus”… amazing, so far season 2 has been great; haven’t really noticed a sizable drop in action/drama… and also finished “gankutsuou” disc 3 (amazing!) and “full metal panic: fumoffu” disc 1 (hilarious!)… and when these netflix discs are returned, i’ve continued working out with “babylon 5” season 4… yeah-yeah, okay, no laughing please ;)
  • if not dvds, then i’ve been downloading MP3s, emailing, chatting, and working on another photo/photoshop remix for , well, actually, for her sister… lots of details to clean-up before the actual “remix” can start… we’ll see how much i can do over the weekend…