New Phone!

Yay, new phone! Slightly overdue. I started with the razor in 2006, but it was the old model so we got it for free. My rzr had little memory, no space for SD card (like the newer models). In 2008, I got a Samsung slide phone that I liked a lot. It wasn't anything nifty, but the screen was vibrant, it had more memory and I liked it. I had the phone for less than a year when I lost it at SeaWorld somehow. It was sad (but I got to go to SeaWorld a 3rd time cuz of it). I looked at Craig's List for phone, but ended up deciding to just wait it out a year and get a subsidized phone with Tmobile when our contract ended. So I used that razor again for another year. That thing had a battery life of one phone conversation. Only able to store 30 text messages. The hinge was on the verge of breaking right before I got my new phone.

After our contract was up, I looked into getting some sweet deals for phones. I knew my mom would never agree for a data plan, so I had to convince my dad. He wanted to get a e-reader or an iPad, but then realized that maybe he should get a phone that could do all that. I told him he should because it would be more convenient, but came at the price of a data plan. In the end he agreed because he also would be getting a GPS out of it (we're like one of the few families left that don't have a GPS system, I've never really needed one because printing out directions is easy enough, and I have a decent sense of direction). Once I had him convinced, it was easier to also convince him that I should get a data plan too. In the end, he gave me a limit on the phone bill and said if I could figure something out in that range, he would do it. And I did it, with 67 cents to spare.

So here's my new phone. The LG Optimus T. I've had fun with it so far. But I also majorly failed. I went to a store to get a screen protector and I epically failed at putting it on. At first there was one little speck/air bubble, when I tried to salvage it, it just kept getting worse. But I kept trying. Finally, I ended up with something like 10 air bubbles/dusts stuck in there before I gave up. And I had a white background before but it made all the dust too noticeable so I changed it to a dark blue one to try to hide it more.

Hurray for smartphones!

I don't care that you don't care..

Just don't waste my time..

I've been in a position of authority/leadership a few times now. And I think I'm definitely one of those people who think if you don't care, you don't care, don't waste my time. Maybe this is a bit of a rant.

Anyways, I've been helping out with the drama kids at SonLight. And I know it requires extra work since we have rehearsals every Saturday, and I know kids have things they rather do than to rehearse lines with me. It's a little a bit different becomes sometimes the kids aren't necessary the ones that want to be onstage, sometimes it's the parents that want it and the kids got no choice but to comply. But either way, I've sent out countless emails to parents about our schedule. And every week, people always come late. Every week. I only have 2 hours a week (I usually use less than that, too), and the parents can't even drop their kids off on time?

Half the time, kids aren't too ecstatic to be there. They like to remind me that they would rather play video games than to be here. I need to remind them numerous times to focus. And that's when I'm like, "If you don't want to be here, don't be here, don't waste my time." I got things to do better than to come and rehearse lines with kids who don't want to be and parents who are late. And while you're there, you're there, might as well make the most of it. I don't know, I'm just a bit annoyed that I still need to call parents to remind them to come. Or that someone has yet to make a single rehearsal with the performance 2 weeks away.

I had similar feelings during captaincy. Lots of time, I felt like people went to practice simply because they had to. But no one is making them, they don't have to go. While they are there, why waste my time and theirs? If you're there anyways, make the most of it. 

A Mule

One of my big flaws is that I am stubborn. I would like to believe I am still reasonable, but I know sometimes that is not the case. And sometimes, I am willing to agree to disagree even though I know I'm right. :)

What brings me to this is that my being stubborn is not my fault. As I am settling down with my family once more (yay for college grad!), I begin to see that my whole family is very much stubborn and sometimes very much reasonable. In particular.... my whole family.

One example is my grandpa. He didn't go to college (escaping from communists can really put a hitch in your education) and while he is a very smart man, he's not extremely well educated. (My mom bases a lot of importance and character on a college education probably influenced by my grandfather's intelligence and lack of education). Anyways, sometimes he'll say things that make no sense whatsoever and when I try to correct him, he doesn't buy it. An example was when him and my grandmother somehow got onto the top of gravity and things dropping, and they claimed that the heavier things fell faster than lighter ones when dropped. Now anyone who's been through some science class probably know this is not true. But when I try to talk sense into them, no one believes me. They scold me, "Kids don't know. Adults tell you things to help and teach you." Maybe my grandpa's favorite line of all time.

What I'm saying is that while I think I am reasonable (and I can think of examples) but I'm probably not most of the time. Aside from sometimes where being stubborn can be extremely annoying for the other party, I don't completely see it as a bad thing. While I can't say this about all stubborn people, but when I'm stubborn about an issue I usually think about it, research it and form my opinion about it. And then hold it strongly. I don't just randomly form an opinion and stubbornly stand by it.

Elections are tomorrow, and some issues/candidates I've made my mind up about months ago, some just recently, and some I still haven't. Either way, good luck changing this mule's votes.

Rock the vote.

NO on Prop23.

Next Time..

This past weekend was Southwest Regionals. KnockOut went in seeded 4th with only two bids to Nationals. Saturday looked great, we went undefeated beating Safari (number 1 seed) after losing to them 15-3 at sectionals. While I didn't enjoy some of their spirit and cheers (especially considering there was peewee soccer only 20 feet away), it was an epic game with great play from both teams. Our last game on Saturday was against Mucho Gusto, I had a lot of fun playing against them. The lines opened up quite a bit and I got a lot more playing time. I played well and had a few good assists. Anyways, we were all pumped after going undefeated on Saturday and had our eyes on the prize.

Our team decided to head to Olive Garden and take advantage of their Never Ending Pasta deal. My personal record was 3 bowls with the 4th one to-go. Obviously, being at regionals and having to play the next day, it was not the time to break the record. But I aimed to at least destroy 2.5 bowls. We sat at the bar and the service was iffy at best. The key to eating the most is to eat quickly so your stomach doesn't have time to realize you're full until it's too late. If you've ever ate with me, you know I use this tactic and inhale my food. But since the service was not the best, I had two bowls but by the time the waiter came around again, my food had settled and there was no way I could finish a third. After dinner, since we were only a few minutes north of Camarillo, our car decided to hit the outlets. It was a good Saturday.

Took an ice bath Saturday night (forgot how painful those were), and I was too excited to sleep with my mind on the prize. We were to play Molly Brown twice on Sunday. One game to finish up pool play, and the second as finals (since we both had went 4-0, we were both guaranteed to make finals). We lost both games while Safari won the 3rd/4th game. Now it was time for back door bid, it was the match up that we knew we would face from the start. We were 1-1 against Safari, our most recent win being from the day before. It was game time.

We took half 8-6. Things were looking good. I was getting ahead of myself. I've never been this close to nationals before. My previous game-to-go was Regionals 2007 against UBC. At that point, the Pleiades were down to 11 players after defeating UW in a hard fought game. I was a rookie then, I didn't understand the importance nor the significance of it. Three years later, I understood. I think it is fair to say that Safari didn't beat us in the second half, we did. Unforced turns, little mistakes add up. Not that it would've changed the game, but I do think the observers made a few bad calls (though I'm sure Safari would've thought the same on a few calls in favor of us). In the end, Safari won 15-9 and our season was over. I do hope to make it to the big show someday..

Moving on.. it sucks when you hear about people who wouldn't listen to you but now realize you are right and are making the change. I mean, good for them but I can't help but be a little bitter and resent it. Though even if they did listen to me, don't know if it would've made a difference. But still, I know what I was talking about and it sucks that you had to make those mistakes in my last year. Hopefully, it'll make a difference and in the future no one will feel the way I do now. At least some people learn from their mistakes. If only you didn't waste them on me.

I'm a flake

Since graduating high school (and I guess I'll see the trend soon since I just graduated college), my circle of friends have diminished. And I honestly do think a big part of it has to do with me. Obviously, I know people that are bigger flakes than me, but that doesn't make me any less of a flake. Other than a solid core of friends that I feel really comfortable with, sometimes I don't really want to call people to hang out. And I'll half ass it, like instead of returning their calls, I'll shoot them a text. While a few of them instances were with people that I thought our college experiences changed us and I felt somewhat uncomfortable hanging out with them. Others, no good reason other than I guess I didn't care as much as I thought I did. And it's sad to think about it. Because as this chapter closed, I still care and I want to know how they are and what they are up to now. If I thought it was hard to call them a year ago for whatever reason, it's not any easier to call them now. That being said, I do like my "scrappy" friends (as Phoebe described Monica when Phoebe tried to cut her out of her life). However, I'm not purposely trying to cut people out of my life. I already have a hard enough time returning calls and for people that I'm close to, but not super close to, I just have a hard time. And I apologize for that. It's not anything against anyone, merely a flaw of mine. So if you sense this is happening, be scrappy! I appreciate those who are bolder than me.

And I will try to call one or two people that I'm thinking about in the post and see what they are up. :)

Thoughts..

Haven't actually sat down with my thoughts in awhile. Which is funny (not ironic) considering how much time I have on my hands. Just started an internship with The Green Chamber of San Diego, it's pretty neat and it's right up in my alley. Haven't really done much yet, but it's a good start.

Moved out from Davis, all my things are in boxes in the living room and garage. I always say I'll unpack tomorrow, and then go down and see everything and proceed to delay it. I figure I'll slowly go down and grab what I need and unpack like that. Or I can just try to move out as fast as I can, so I don't need to unpack. Someone find me a job? :D

Anyways, I'm sick and I'm pretty sure in the past few days I've drank my weight in honey and lemon water. It's not too bad except I'm congested and always get cough attacks right before I try to sleep. But literally, I bought a bottle of honey (16 ounces, the bottle is surprisingly small!) yesterday and I've already gone through half of it. I was trying to figure out how much sugar I've consumed solely from honey. Diabetes?

I have practice tomorrow, but not sure how much I'll actually be able to play especially if I can't breathe through my nose. It's refreshing playing on a different team because I fulfill a totally different role. It's a welcome change. A little bummed out that I'm sick because I really want to practice. Labor Day is next week, and I'm ready to play!

Last week in Davis = SUCCESS.