Motivated By Fear

This week really sucked.

On Tuesday, I felt good because I caught a mistake my boss made. He gave me a smile of approval, great. On Wednesday, I left for the gym during lunch and when I got back, I was alarmed because the boss wasn't really happy.

So... I decided just to put my ass in gear and focus on doing a good job, even though I am the company moron... for now I'm just an obedient corporate slave.

:(

Television

Yay., I've been rotting my brain on gaytv! Woot.

American Idol- I love this harmony:

American Idol- David Archuleta, Adorable, 16, Illegal. Damn.

This Girl is a Survivor - Syesha Mercado

...and and awesome rendition of Bohemian Rhapsody by Michael Lee Johns

America's Best Dance Crew: Kaba Modern
Oh yeah! Where's TL?!?


Project Runway: Christian describes Asians as... Fierce.

I wanna see his hairchive. God, he has some jacked up hair, but he's hillarious!
"that is a big deal because I've met some FIERCE BITCHES UP IN MY LIFE!"


Bon qui qui.
Security!

Life's Random, Bring a Camera

Ok, I'm no photographer, but I love having my camera because well..in addition to documenting your life, you never know when there's something interesting about to happen in front of your eyes.

Aww my dad gave me my first camera when I was in middle school. Look how awkward I am. Now I'm awkward... with a camera. Thanks Dad! You could have helped me be cool instead.

Here are a couple of things I was able to capture this passed week:

An empty street... a gay Vietnamese American


Someone dropped a party platter. I folded in horror! I hate wasted food!


At restaurant in Mountain View, I made my boys mimic this picture.
I love the paintings there that I wanted to imitate them all! Too bad people were trying to eat.


This is... a Banana case... it is bendable in the middle because "Joey's Banana might be a bit more curvy."


Look who I found at Sato Sushi!!!


After lunch with my dad, this guy was Rapping in his car for EVERYONE to see.
Sigh, I missed the good part!


Hairchive: The Ups and Downs of High School

Tet.... not Tit.

It makes sense. The "new year" begins with Spring and that's why Chinese New Year, Vietnamese New Year, Lunar New Year... Spring Festival is in February.

For my family, we celebrate Tết, which is Vietnamese New Year and.. it's a big deal. Ever since I was young, I remember going to grandma's, eating food, crossing my arms and wishing my aunts and uncles a happy new year... and then receiving money in red envelopes! For the spoiled who live in Evergreen Valley, they get up to..1000 dollars ($100 from each Aunt), for others, $50 is WELL appreciated. To me, it was what my family did and I never realized how alien it could seem to those who've never celebrated it.

It's a brilliant holiday. I compare it to Thanksgiving and Christmas combined in one awesomely delicious spicy and sour soup. Instead of bad presents you get can't-fail money. And instead of heavy Turkey and gravy, there's sweet sticky rice and pastries. But of course you have to WORK for your money. There was a lot of pressure to prove your Vietnamesness by wishing your family good fortune in broken Vietnamese. And it didn't help that people were watching and smiling. But oh, it was well worth it. And the cousins never complained. Practice makes perfect and even though you didn't know what you were saying... you said it anyway in hopes of getting approval from family. Family family family.

This year was nice. The highlight was my cousin trying to teach us how to do a proper Body roll. My auntie joined in, but failed miserably. In fact, it looked like she was doing a face plant into a wall and her knees would jiggle. Not a body roll. My family was inspired by my mom's "Low" Video.

Before dinner, we visited my grandma's grave. There, we prayed and burned "money" so that she would something to spend in the afterlife. My mom told me that they have "paper cell phones" that you could burn to send to the deceased!

I had lunch with my dad and told him that I am considering moving out. To this he responds, "If you want to move out, we can't stop you. But we want you home for as long as possible. We're a small family Christopher, and without you.. it'll only be three of us." There was a saddness in his voice... I mean, his sister just died and my grandma passed away last year. Sigh. I guess, I'll be living at home for longer than I had planned.

At dinner, the cousins sat around picking at some "treats" that were probably purchased in 2005. My Auntie comes by, "you need to cover it, or it will get dry!" To this I respond... "but isn't it.. dried fruit?" My cousin laughs at my smart ass remark, my Aunt playfully makes an upset face. I always seem to say funny things around my cousin... or she just finds me really funny. "You crack me up Christopher!" It's feels nice to make others laugh.

This old man walks in who I kind of, sort of... maybe... recognize. He sits down and points at me, "come wish me a happy new year!" I whisper to my cousin, "who's that?!" She responds, "our Aunt's older brother." Great. A stranger. He apparently remembered me. "Pho? What strange and weird sort of name is Pho!?" I respond defensively, "it's NOT strange, it's unquie and awesome." I crossed my arms and said my schpeal, "This year, I wish you a happy new year. I wish you good health and prosperity. Restful slumber and live longer than 100 years." My Vietnamese was well rehearsed from years passed. He was impressed... he responds to my family, "Pho is really good because he uses the word "kinh!" that's very advanced!..." He turns back to me and says, "I wish you happiness and always listen to your parents... blah blah..." he handed me an envelope. Hehe, $5! "that's 3 more dollars than my cousin! I guess, he liked me, too bad, I don't like him. "Pho has a big presense, like he's going to be someone!" He stated to my family. My cousin responds, "big presense all right!" and pats my tummy. Great...off to the gym and google search community orgs when I get home. My cousin who is 30 still gets money because she is not married yet. I think this Holiday has some good elements, don't you think?

Sharing Tet with Friends
Sandy was in town and her sister gave us red envelops too! Smyr was having a great time learning such strange customs. "You must bow your head Smyr. LOWER! Now cross your arms and wish her a good new year!" I felt like a dictator. "Now receive your good luck money!"

After the group picture, we went to get some drinks and found a run down shop that was run by this older Vietnamese couple. The wife had a green beenie and was missing some teeth. The husband stood by the register. The shop was dirty and falling a part. The couple probably have a bedroom set up in the back of the store. I was asked to get nail polish remover for Sandy. This is how the conversation went.

"Hi, do you have nail polish remover?" I made the appropriate gestures.
"..oh.. uhh.. we no hab." He looked confused, but was confident in his answer. His wife asks him in Vietnamese, "what did he ask for?" he responds back in Vietanamese, "I have NO IDEA!"

Great. OK... second try, In Vietnamese, I said, "Do you have... you know... when you Paint your nails... and you want to erase it!" The wife threw her arms in the air! "NAIL POLISH REMOVER!" She exclaimed in Vietnamese and dashed to retrieve it. She was cute, I was satisfied and made bad Vietnamese conversation while Smyr bowed his head, crossed his arms and repeated what I taught him. "I wish you a great fortune this year!" Smyr stated confidently. "That's my good friend." I told the wife in Vietnamese, "my parents are from Vietnam, I was born here.. blah blah." I was saying the appropriate things that all Vietnamese people like to hear from the youth. The husband smiled, the wife was friendly, she gave Smyr a hug and we walked out with our nail polish and beer. I waved and smiled. They wished us a happy new year and warned me about the red envelope that was hanging from my pocket. I told smyr that they probably thought we were doing some drunks with the purchases we made. We were both amused.

At Sandy's we were really too tired to do anything, but it was nice to see her and her boyfriend and her sister, Smyr and Janelle.

Sunday: Tet Parade!
My parents never took me to the parade, and we went to a festival probably twice total. So, I decided to just go with my boys. Pictures below:

Yeah Berkeley! Downtown San Jose was very colorful! Yay Berkeley VSA! You are SEXY!

Just Working...

My company moved about 8 minutes away from my house.
I now roll out of bed at 8:20 and leave my house at 9am. Since everyone else is tarty, I figure, 9:08am isn't that late.

At lunch, I've gone home to check mail, run errands, sell stuff on Craigslist. It's wonderful. And the drive home is now doable. Yes! But nevertheless, my job is still difficult for me.

Today was nice, I went with a coworker to the gym during lunch! It was FANTASTIC! While in the free weights room, I noticed a couple of cuties. There was a boy in a vintage T with a batman logo who was particularly adorable. We made eye contact about three times and I stared at him as he exited the gym, hoping to catch his eye one more time so that I could officially eye fuck him with a possible mutual return. But nope, he didn't look back and I'll probably have to work out more to find him again. Drat.

Could it be that his glance was homo influenced? Maybe not because a lot of guys check eachother out during "down time" between sets. No, not because they are gay, but because they are just scaling each other up. Alpha Male, my pectoral muscles are bigger than yours, I can crush a can in my hand, can you? sort of deal. Heh, I wonder what the best thing to do is if I ever see him again. Smile? Try to make conversation? Slip him my number. "Hey, um.. you're cute, and I know you have a nice body because you take your work out more seriousily than me: nancy boy on the ellipitcal; 20lb bicept curl, assisted situps, assisted chin ups, assisted everything. Yes, I want you now. Here is my number, I can be your personal trainner." I wonder.

And of course the lockeroom was full of nasty saggy naked men who should be required to wear clothes at all times. Smyr agrees with me here. Yuck yuck yuck. I think the gym locker room turned me a little straight.

February... a lot of shit going on.
Yesterday was Ash Wednesday. HAHA! I typed Ass Wednesday. Anyway, that means no meat on Friday. Does that mean, no sex on Fridays either? Wait, is it lent? Am I supposed to give something up? Ok, I give up... boredom. I'm going to find an organization to get involved with. I need some community.. I've gone too long with out it.

It's also Vietnamese New Year! I'm going to check out the Parade for the first time!! Woot!

Elections, Valentines day and... Black People Awarness Month? OMG...
Hmm... I think someone needs to throw a RED party. LOL!

Hello everyone. I am...

Hello everyone. I am blogging from my cellphone. I'm talking on the phone. If you don't believe me, just click the listen button and you'll hear my voice. Anyway, Jott is this awesome program that tapes your voice, and then transcribes it into an e-mail, or a text message or even a Blog message. But anyway, I can now blog through my phone and it's exciting. And you should join. Today was interesting. My boss is crazy and... listen

Powered by Jott

...and Jott limits you to 30 seconds.

Lol. Check out Jott.com.

Oh and it's pretty accurate, check out JV singing: http://jott.com/Show.aspx?id=249ef080-e4a1-4319-9604-e9e4ada30fad. Maybe TOO accurate. Do you think they have little workers listening and transcribing; working in inhumane conditions for 5 cents an hour?!?! OMG!!

I had fun discovering other things about my cell phone. Like connecting facebook notifications to my text messaging.. and status updates. I have 1gig in my phone and decided that I should use the other features; take pictures and mail it to people. Especially since I have unlimited text!! TEXT ME!! I uploaded this video of my mom, she's crazy. The other night we were talking about movies. "I want to see that movie.. with dancing... because it has that song I like." "Step up 2?" "YEAH!! Get. low low low low!!" Wow.. my mom is crazy.

Manual Labor
Today was ridiculous, I had to rearrange furniture because my boss thought it looked ugly. I didn't really make good friends at work except with the girls so when I asked for help, the guys just brushed me off. I managed to get some pitty from some people and moved really heavy desks and bookshelves to my boss' liking.

After lugging everything, the boss still wasn't satisfied. Long story short, I decided not to unload my boxes in case they change their minds yet again. But my new work location is only 10 minutes away NO traffic and it's wonderful. One of the account managers is off to Europe, so that means I should be able to take her place in her absense. Wrong. Anything having to do with accounts, I don't have a confident answer. And everyone knows this. .. I guess it's a double edge sword because not much is expected of me... and.... not much is expected of me. =/ .

It's really discouraging because I don't think I can ever be good at this job or this industry for that matter. Sigh. So I'll continue to do what I do best: be the office bitch. At least until I discover my dream. Brian Tong reminds me to keep looking... sigh. One day I'll be an extra in a movie with a line...

Sell your Clutter!
I've sold so many things off half.com and craigslist.org, it's amazing. I sold 3 of my old text books and 2 of my Aunt's. One of her court books is worth $100, but I sold it for $20, not realizing its worth. I found it used on Amazon is $40. Oh well. I also sold my Aunt's decorative mirrors. I tell these strangers that email/call me off craiglists to rendevous at Starbucks near my house. And do business in broad daylight as if I were at a suburban flee market. They ALWAYS ask for a discount and I usually give it to them. Shrugs, I mean, they went out of their way to drive to South San Jose from where ever. I'll give them a good deal. I wonder what the people at Starbucks think I'm doing.

I encourage you to sell your books on half.com because it's so easy (or comegetused.com). You don't need to take pictures becuase the ISBN has all the info you need. Just put the condition. When someone buys your book, you just ship it to the address and half.com electronically transfers money into your paypal. Brilliant!

I got this hillarious email about my Aunt's Pet Stroller:

Chris,

Please let me know if you still have the pet stroller. My daughter has been wanting to get one for our cat. She bought a leash with her birthday money, but I don't think it's wise to let a six year old drag a cat around on a leash....lol

I love interacting with these random people!

Poorly Planned Saturday (PPS)

Man. Nothing really worked out this weekend. But I had a good time trying to find something to do. Monyrith declared that Saturday was a mandatory hang out day for me and Szeto... hang out ... and do what? I guess, that was the poorly planned part.

1. Get our Cars Fixed
Time to do some hetero things! Like get our oil changed! My dad recommended this Asian place. Great price, but I couldn't understand them. Damn. At the end of the day I dropped nearly $200 so I wouldnt die on the road. My dad reassured me that they weren't shady. Shrugs... take my money, make sure my breaks work.

2. Distracted
There was a coupon at 711 and I was so distracted that I forgot to use it. I gave the cashier a sad face. He responded. "Don't worry! There's ALWAYS a next time!" In a strange 711 worker, swing shift, got held up at gun point... kind of way.. he was cute when he said this. Heh. I was amused.

3. Checking Out Lunardis
Monyrith picks up an orange juice. This soccer mom (sort of) on the phone looks at monyrith and says. "That orange juice is Fabulous." She grabs a big jug, puts it in her cart and walks away continuing her phone conversation. Monyrith was too slow to respond or rather, she was too quick for anyone to know what just happened. So there was only one thing to do: Buy the orange juice. And yes, it was fabulous because it was like eating orange juice. Pulp everywhere. Heh.

4. Dance?
Mony told me about this dance workshop by this Christian dance group Eight Count. "To glorify God through the art of dance." WOOT! And I sort of wanted to go, but it was PPS so I was wearing flip flops. Damn. Plus we wanted to watch The Eye at the time. I guess, I was hoping to make up for my Funkanometry fiasco on Friday. I'll elaborate when the video is uploaded. =X.

I called the guy that invited Monyrith later that night to see how it went. He was very Christian friendly. And he told me it was fun and that it was packed! Aww man. "Don't worry! There'll be a next time." Heh.. interesting.

5. Parking in Asia
At McCarthy Ranch (Asian Side) during lunch time, the parking lot is ridiculous. People start making their own rules. Seriously. If there was a fire, everyone would die because there is no order. People parked where ever there was a curb causing two line traffic to become one. When we finally found parking I yelled at Szeto to signal to claim it, but the spot was RIGHT in front of us, so it didn't make sense to signal right OR left, so there was only one thing too do: flash the high beams! "That's mine bitch!!!" HAHA And it worked. Crazy McCarthy Ranch.

Oh, and this lady was selling bok choy and eggs on the side walk. WtF?! I guess because it was PPS.


5. Desperate and discouraged
Monyrith ditched us for another boy and Szeto and I desperately called San Jose kids to hang out, but unlike us, they weren't celebrating PPS. They actually had plans. (Like hanging out with their mom. Psh) And the rain discouraged us from going downtown. (Plus the new $2 fee for parking in downtown San Jose. RIDICULOUS). I did want to go to Berkeley for the Queer Culture Show meeting, but it was raining and my car was still in the shop. Damn it, damn it. So after Szeto dropped off Mony and came back, we visited my work place, then headed to ... the mall.. how depressing.

5. Oakridge Mall
Szeto and I were perturbed at what high school kids were wearing. So I took some pictures. LOL


Case 1: Michael Jackson Thriller meets Dorothy? Maybe she wanted to be louder than the movie. Wow. Please click to zoom in.

Case 2: Skinny Jeans sagging? It may look okay from far away, but this kid had problems walking becuase 1. his jeans were too tight and 2. they were BELOW his ass. Okay. I sag sometimes, but... this is just disgusting! If you zoom in, you can see that his jeans squeeze BELOW his butt. How is this comfortable? Plus, he was walking like an oxyMORON.

6. Movie
When Mony decided to join us at the mall we concluded that paying $10.25 to watch the Eye may not be smart. So we decided to watch The Invasion that my parents already rented! Sweet! The movie was great, the ending was abrupt. But it was the only thing that went right today.

Yay, happy PPS.

To avoid PPS, we shall plan something at http://www.jumpskyhigh.com/ That's right a room full of trampolines at $9 an hour!!! Can you imagine?! mUAHahaha.. The Fun Never Stops in San Jose.

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VALENTINE'S SURVEY

1.Do you like anyone? No. Strangely.

2. Are you flirty? Very. But, it's a part of having fun.

3. Are you a player? No.

4. Would you get back together with any of your exes? Tough question

5. Have you ever kissed anyone on your top friends? Yes, I kiss all my friends. Anyone wanna play suck and blow?

6. Do you want a valentine? No, I want to be surrounded by friends and make them gifts.

7. Last Year, did you have a valentine's date? Yes.

8. Do you prefer group dates or single ones? Single dates!

9.Would you kiss light or makeout sessions? Affectionate kisses. Making out... is messy. Unless I'm drunk, that's like required.

10. Do you like cuddling up while watching a movie? Always. With anyone.

11. Any plans for valentines day? Arts and Crafts at Neils!?!?!?! Wait, he has a boyfriend. Damn it!

12.What's the best valentines day present for a girl? Chocolate, so they can eat it and get fat and leave me alone. Jk.

13. For a guy? Something to do with pictures. I am very sentimental.

14. Are you single or taken? Single.

hahaha...