Aquarium and other Haps

Have come to the conclusion it is economically unfeasible for me to move out within the next six months, as I've just purchased rental property, and have no funds to move out with.

Words cannot describe my disappointment.

Instead, I will say that I went to Photographer's Night at the Aquarium of the Pacific.

Tip: when shooting pictures of fish through thick acrylic, find a spot that doesn't have a scratch in it, and wipe it clean. Also, bring a macro lens.

It was very fun, though very few of my pictures came out well. I attribute it to both lack of skill and unfamiliarity with settings. On the plus side, the event as a whole did improve my skill with DSLRs in general, so it can't be said to be a loss in any sense of the word.

Ate at Bubba Gump Shrimp Co. afterwards. Ridiculously expensive, but was fun. Will probably not go back.

Other events of note:

Girlfriend took the GRE, did not do well, apparently. We will see when the results come out.
Girlfriend also got sandwiched.

Conclusion: Week was filled with Girlfriend related shenanigans.

Not my home anymore

I got home from work today and sat at my desk, aimlessly browsing the web, seeing but not processing the images on my monitor.

My mind was on other things.

Work was not good today; several mistakes were made. I will admit that I am partially at fault, not committing the original mistakes, no. My fault lies in not catching the mistakes before my father did. And he was not happy at all.

Working for one's parents has pros and cons. Pros include not worrying about getting fired, and not worrying about requesting vacation time. Basically, all the benefits of having a extremely secure job.

Cons are a much lengthier list, but condensed:

It's hard to get paid for the work you do.
When something goes wrong, your boss will yell at you until you get off work.
Whenever your boss starts lecturing you, he brings up things that no ordinary boss would know.
You never get off work.


Anyways, as I sat there, I realized that I was waiting for something.

I was waiting for my boss to come home and lecture me.

And I realize that this is not an occasional occurrence.

Every night, my ears are trained to the sound of my father coming up the stairs to this room. I'm paranoid in my own room. I can't relax here.

Every man's home is supposed to be his castle.

I'm no longer safe or secure in this house.

This house belongs to my boss.

This is no longer my home.


Tomorrow, I'm taking the day off.
I need to clear my mind and examine my options.
I need to move.

10 Years

America had a pretty big day 'round this time ten years ago. 10 years later, things are still all kinda of fucked up, but not in the same way.

One we didn't see coming. The other, we should have seen coming.

Ain't done too much this week.
Went to a gathering, barfed from drinking for the first time(related).
Didn't eat moon cake, thank God. (Did you know there's a black market for moon cakes?


Thinking about another road trip to Monterrey/Big Sur, maybe stop by San Fran to see SuburbanDweller and eat Brenda's. Mid to late October is the plan so far.

Huntington Library, Again

Went to the Huntington Library again, but not alone this time.

See, I have a girlfriend now, and she's kinda obligated to go where I drag her.

Aren't relationships great?

Hollywood Bowl and Rum Punch

Went to the Hollywood Bowl. Unfortunately, I didn't take any pictures as they had a rule against cameras with detachable lenses.

First time I heard it stated like that.

Instead, I got drunk on Rum Punch.

Malibu Rum Punch, specifically, the kind that comes in a bag with a spout.

I was probably pretty embarrassing, but I don't remember much anything of that night.

Not even the concert.

So it was $25 for me to do embarrassing things in front of a whole bunch of people, and not much else.

Damn that Rum Punch.

15% alcohol my ass.

A very late blog post

Finally got around to editing my photos, not that there were many.

The rest will be going on Flickr soon.

Speaking of which, do I want to pay for Pro...or not?

Recounting the past week+.....

Many nap parties, fixed a bunch of things at my girlfriend's house, established that my awesomeness makes peoples'(or just girls') parents like me, and ate duck curry.

SuburbanDweller has been and gone, but fun times abounded while he was here.

Chocovine chocolate wine is complex and oversweet, but good in small quantities.
Mead is Viking Cruck Juice, and we like it cold.

Nan finally got a job, as a bartender! Guess that Mixology Certification came in handy after all.

Currently having guests over, kicked out of my own bed for two or three nights.

Watched "Into the Woods" musical. Enjoyable and witty, but can't help but draw comparisons to Congress.


In other news: remember this section?

Libya rebels take Tripoli (almost). Happily surprised at short length of armed action.
Now comes the hard part.

Home again, and drained

Taiwan was a good break, took very few pictures, and haven't had time to work on the ones I did take.

Work is consuming much time with backlog, what remains is spent with girlfriend.

Speaking of which, spent lots of time defining relationship with said girlfriend online while physically away.

Spent more time doing the same on return.

Satisfied with ongoing discussions.

Must sleep now, more to come next post, hopefully with pictures.

Time with Family

Taiwan is as I expected. Hot, humid, and swarming with mosquitoes.

Still, it's the first time in a long time I've been able to just lay back and not think about anything at all for a whole day.

Also, family is here.

Spending time with family is good for the soul, donchaknow?

Tried to go out on a photoventure, but it's raining cats and dogs. Did go out and play a bit though. And eat. Seems everywhere I go, I eat.

Still, I have mixed feelings. I feel like there's so much stuff piling up at home, yet I'm messing about here.

Also, my girlfriend is five thousand miles away, and I'm feeling nuzzly, among other things.

Here's to hoping the rain lets up a bit, the mosquitoes stop trying to eat me alive, and my girlfriend not leaving me in the 11 days I am gone!

Certified

Got my Mixology/Bartending cert. Dunno what I'm gonna do with it.

Schedule's been kinda hectic, trying to get things done before I leave for Taiwan on Thursday.

 Have noticed a few things these last few days:

Congress works on legislation like students work on homework: pretend to work on it until it's 30 mins before class and pump something(anything!) out ASAP.

Singing along to the radio does not improve my mood.

My girlfriend has a tendency of getting caught up in things when she's about to come see me.


Suppose I'll work on it, but I'm not quite sure how to.

Still have to find present for the family before I pack.

A week of bartending and tooth pains

Can't say the week was busy, per say, but...

I'd forgotten how inconvenient school could be on one's schedule. I had a toothache the entire week and was unable to go to the dentist due to bartending school.

Was finally able to go on Saturday. Got some antibiotics prescribed for my pericoronitis. That's it.

Got myself a water pik thing, will hopefully prevent future cases of such. Never let it be said I don't learn from my mistakes.

Spent all the money I had saved up on a new lens. The prima donna of DX lenses, the Nikkor 18-200mm VRII. It's in the mail(I hope). It'll likely get here before I leave for Taiwan on the 4th.