Ajiiiiiiit!!!
yea im exhausted for some reason today. im thinking its part working all week and not sleeping much at all combined with playing baseball today in the hot humid outdoors. but hey baseball was great today. and do you want to know why? because it gave us the Highlight of the Day: Ajit got hit in the head!!! hahaha, oh man it was so funny, smitty was pitching to him, and hes just lobbing them. he throws one and ajit just half squats to get out of the way and keeps his head down, then what felt like 5 seconds later the ball arrive and plonks ajit right on the head! hahahaha. so yea i was tired after that.
tonight i had dinner with my dad and then went over to hang out at bretts. after awhile we headed over to Knights to hit some baseball, and Jen Stone gave me free tokens!!! yes!!! its exciting i tell you. even jenifer hit the softball cages, you go girl. after that brian and i stopped by steves and then went to nichos. at nichos we played jenga, and then after the game, the Picture of the Day occured! I built the blocks to spell out AJIIIT and then he was sitting behind them with a look on his face right after he saw them, and then he flicked me off and i took a picture. heheheheheh yes. also at nichos house we have the Quote of the Day!!!, but i forgot it. hehehe, but it WAS said by ajit, giving ajit the Saturday Triple Crown! wahoo! you go Ajit!!!
Going to the Chapel
yeeeaaa buddy, tonight was definitly a great time. it was of course Catherine and Scott's Wedding. it was my first wedding and it was a good time. the ceremony was nice, it was at western oaks. so yea watched it all and it was nice, i do i do. god stuff.
the reception was a kicking time though. when we first got there they had these HUGE strawberries. oh man so good. i sat with tom tyty and then tytys friends anita and josh and another girl and i cant remember her name...hehe yes. food was good. but yea off to the fun stuff...taking pictures!!! so yea i LOVE taking pictures, you know when you get old all you have left of your youth is memories and therefor pictures help that. so yea pictures are delicious. catdogg and scott brilliantly had a camera at every table a la the episode of friends with monica and chandlers wedding. i took SO MANY pictures. hehe we used up our roll by doing goofy stuff, and then like once the music started up to dance and all i would take pictures and then go to tables with cameras and take them and take more! i probably took about 100 pictures tonight, no kidding. too bad i wont see most of them, sad times.
and then of course dancing is always a blast with fine ladies like adrienne hendee, sarah meningitis, beth schirding, blair vickroy, sarah thomas, etc etc and of course the beautiful bride catdogg, all of the other girls were the bridesmaids, i really should hang out with them more because they are a fun wholesome time. hehe blair wanted to try the worm and i showed her how its hard and i cant do it, but everyone crowded around to see...yes. hehe. hopefully i can figure out how to put up some pics from tonight here. that would be cool.
and yes, we requested Baby Got Back from the dj and we all of course danced to it...but yea it was in front of all the parents...and singing along to baby got back and dancing to it with all its innuendo is kind of awkward in front of parents. its definatly odd. my feet are tired from all the dancing, but hey it was a grreat night.
it ended at 12 and then tyty and i stopped by steves house since he was having people over. just a bunch of drunk guys except for like 2 girls...and i took sweaty home since he was drunk. hehe it was the first time ive really seen him drunk. and it was amusing. silly sweaty. drinking is bad. dont do it kiddies.
hmm....so my mom just called me out of the blue to yell at me...yes...and the first thing she says is that i cant drive her car anymore because my friends mess it up. bullshit. my friends keep it clean. the one time the car has been really messy? when she went out with her friends and came back with cookies all over the floor in the backseat.
hehehe ok today's blog starts off with an amusing piece of miscommunication with robbie, if you want to make it really funny, read only the things i said at first:
onerobbie 8: i didn't know what to do at the wedding
Thendxcrd: ruth ann is coming back too
Thendxcrd: hehe
onerobbie 8: where to go, what to give as a gift
onerobbie 8: oh she is?
Thendxcrd: i bought condoms
Thendxcrd: and a bathroom set
onerobbie 8: ...
Thendxcrd: hehe
Thendxcrd: aww
Thendxcrd: no "HAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHA"
onerobbie 8: for a second there i thought
onerobbie 8: that you were referring to ruth ann coming back
Thendxcrd: ...
Thendxcrd: ahahahahah
onerobbie 8: HAHAAHHAHA
onerobbie 8: i was like. WHOA
Thendxcrd: ok yea thats bad
Thendxcrd: hehehe
onerobbie 8: AHHAHHHHHHHHHHH
Thendxcrd: ahahahhaa
hahah yea...ok so yea. today was the same ole with work, it was a really nice day today. after work came home and was finally able to take a nap...mmmm, nap. i played a lot of Fifa today. and uh, yea....heh. went to steves tonight where we played fifa and whatnot. adrienne stopped by again, so thats TWO days with adrienne in a row! yes! and tomorrow is catherines wedding and i need to get me some pants because i lost mine that go with the suit...oy. ok im done now, if you need to read more you can read yesterdays entry...its a long one.
but lucky you! after steves ajit jake brian and i went to steak n shake. while there 2 girls came in. jake then made a sign that said "i love your smile xoxoxo" in a heart and walked over behind the girl in the view of the other until they saw it. hahahha yea jake is crazy.
and one more thing! i have this great feeling that TAF is going to be really great this year, oh oh oh yea.
Action Packed Adventures
ok so Wednesday, June 26th, started off with me getting 2.5 hours of sleep. TWO POINT FIVE. yea...and im still going right now without a nap. how did i manage this you ask? well i was able to keep myself constantly on the go. so yea, i finally fell asleep at 430 i think, thats the last time i checked my clock. and i woke up at 7 for work. work was the same ole good time that it usually is, although i did hang out more on the courts today than normal. so yea the end of work takes me to noon.
I went to lunch with kula at burger king where i saw beth. before going there however, we went to Hana's house to pick up her N64 to take back to her at the park and play. yea she said shed beat me. hahaha. silly Hana. yea we played a few games and she lost bad. the first game we played i beat her 10-0, and then in another game i beat her 20-0 in a 5 minute game. eh heh heh. yes.
so we stopped playing and then sweaty called me up around 2:00 and he said he and brian wanted to go to hit at some batting cages. so i went and picked them up and we headed to Boulder Creek. It was hot out and i was getting might sweaty. hehe, Sweaty was sweaty too! so yea after we finished hitting it was 3:45. As we were returning the bats Traci showed up and was chilling inside the shop since she also works there, so we hung out with her for a good 45 minutes while she ate her Monty's. so yea now its 4:30.
Dropped brian off and then took Sweaty home, but before that we went to the pool to see Brandon and whoever else was there, such as Amanda Morse. So yea that took us to about 5. i then went home and Brian wanted to come over to play some Fifa2000 since ajit let me borrow it. we played a few games till 6:00, when we left to go play home run derby at Centennial Park with brett, zkilla, brando, sweaty, and nicho. and that took up a good 2 hours until....
8:00. Jakes Birthday Party. it was a really good time let me tell you. it was at his uncles house and he has a pool with 2 basketball hoops! the pool is also drown proof, i could tippie-toe at the deep end while still having my head up. at first i was wondering how the night would turn out since it was just me and brian in the pool with jenifer watching us because she didnt want to swim without any other girls there. so yea, brian and i played bball and slam dunked and alley-ooped and it was a good time. then people started coming! sweaty came, but he wouldnt go in until girls were in the pool cuz well, thats how sweaty is. so then finally traci came and so her and jen got in which led to sweaty getting in. then tom, ashley, and jenna and another pp girl came, but only jenna brought a suit. BUT the excitingness of our basketball-in-the-pool action got tom and ashley to go home and get suits. more random people came but if they didnt get in the pool they werent really important. So we had enough girls and guys to have a Battle of the Sexes BBall game. I got in the pool around 830 and didnt get out till about 1045. yes. heh. we played bball for a long time and hey, there were a lot of girls. so good. Ajit however was a girl. ajit cherry picked. ajit is an ajit. but yea there was lots of dunking, both of the bball and of people, and mad crazy action. it was a really fun time. around 930 there was a large amount of people there, from all walks of Jakes life, since Jake is like me and knows about half of Springfield. but hey i was concentrated on the game and gaurding the attack of Traci Jen and erica quandal (who kinda looks like a white Andrea) and tackling ajit since he cherry picked. stupid ajit.
anyways, we finally all got done with the game. hehe when Jakes uncle brought the cake out we all stopped and sang happy birthday and then all started back right away. "Game Off" "Happy birthday to you..." "Game On!". hehe yes. After i got out a finally had a fair share of junk food and cake and soda, so that made up for my lack of a dinner since i was so busy ya know? Adrienne also came and that is great, because sadly i do not get to see Adrienne enough. hehe and unfortunatly i missed Sweaty snapping a towel at Brian...and hitting Brian in the testicles. hah...poor brian. well actually poor sweaty, brian will retaliate soon. sooo yes, good times tonight man, GOOD TIMES. Happy 20th Birthday Jakey. Dang...jake is 20...oh da heck...
But yea ok. the night was fun with a vast variety of people, just the way i like it. everyone happy and getting along. too bad Steph and Lori didnt jump in on our pool action, nor did adrienne. but yea its all good. Along with all my activities im also doing 3 loads of laundry and i gotta take out all the trash since im home alone. and all this without dinner...man i must be sick or something. and oh yes...i totaly forgot about Catherine Heaberlin's wedding! its in TWO days. geez. shes my age and she is going to be married. i hang out with 20 year olds. ok man im getting old. this is weird. plus i gotta find my suit for the wedding and wrap her present from tyty and i. yes. looks like ill be busy busy tomorrow again...awesome. now if i can just get more then two and a half hours of sleep tonight...
yeas, About A Boy is a good movie, its really funny, AND it was 2 dollars. sweet. Go Esquire. Undercover Brother is also there. it must not have done well at the box office or something. but you know whats sad? The Rookie still isnt there. blah. ijlaksd;l.
After the movie i took jen and ajit home and the brian and i went to nichos. sweaty called me too on the way there, he just got in from orlando for his 2 week summer break. yes. so yea we all headed over to nicks. jake steph and lori were there too. playes some JENGA JENGA JENGA...jenga is fun. sweaty jenga-ed 3 times in a row. then we went and hung out outside and played a game of backyard soccer! we used some lawn chairs as the goals, it was fun but oh so hot and humid. oy. annnd i have to be up for work in 5 hours. sweet.
Sweet Home Illinois
woohoo, jonny is back in springfield. my mom switched flights from the 7am one to the 1am flight so that i wouldnt have to get up and make everyone take me to the airport at 5am. good idea. downside is it basically combines yesterday and today into one long day since i only get to sleep on the plane. so yes, back to yesterday...
went to a noodle restaurant for lunch with my aunt uncle and sister, got some neu-ro mein. my dad cooks it better. my mom in her constant pestering and nagging and demanding that i do this and that keeps telling me to learn on this vacation. so what have i learned? well, i felt out of place at all the asian markets i went to being around all of the asians for some reason. i dont feel this way in taiwan, but i did in la. i actually missed seeing white people, i went like 3 days without seeing any. so yea i dont know why, ill have to think deeper into that. i am also a country boy. i am definatly not a major urban person. traffic BLOWS. hundreds of people shopping all at once at a place BLOWS. yea i definatly like the country-esque atmosphere. springfield is a perfect size, not too big not too small. my mom always calls me a country person anyways.
I also ate massive amounts of food, especially rice. every meal where there was rice id have about 4 bowl with my food. my relatives called me a fan-tong, aka a rice bucket. and yea i have no idea how my pin ying is. my mom even got literally disgusted and mad at me the last night we were eating out, claiming im a freak for eating so much rice. my mom and i didnt really get along well the whole trip...
so yea anyways, sunday after we went to the noodle place i went back and watched some ET on MTV. and yes, christina aguilera got implants...hehe. she DEFINITLY got them. even howa says so. britney was in the episode too and she looked absolutly cute and gorgeous at the same time. i think i should help her get over that other guy she used to be with. she would forget about him fast. fosho. shes so hot.
anyways since most of my readers are female i dont think they care...so yea, we went to pick up my cousin andrew at his camp. its like this 4 day sports camp, and it reminded me of a smaller taf. all the kids were asian, and then at the end of their awards ceremony they had a slideshow. HOWARD READ THIS: they're slideshow mixed in video, which is what i want to do for our slideshow, and it looked good so it can definatly be done. now i just hope i get to do ss. hehe i also tried a bit of taf recruiting, i asked all of andrews friends that he made if they were taiwanese, one kid answered but the others looked scared, hehe, probably because i asked in a loud voice and raspy voice. yea those kids were wild, pillow fighting and throwing apples at walls to see them explode. yes...my campers at taf better not be like that...
fast forward to midnight and jonny is chilling in the airport waiting for his flight. i started to read "Ball Four" by jim bouton, which ive been wanting to do for awhile. i bought a copy at a Borders in la. good book so far. my uncle also bought me a flat screen monitor and i didnt want to check it in in case it would get damaged so i used it as a carry on. lugging it around the long walks in the airport to my gate hurt my elbow. plus everyone was looking at me lugging this bulky cardboard box around. yea it was weird.
when i got on the plane people were taking their merry f-ing time puting stuff away. why couldnt they have just waited a bit and let everyone get through and THEN out their things in the overhead compartment?! stupid people. when i was taking my seat i also hit my head on the overhead compartment, hehe it made a pretty loud noise and some people jumped and everyone stared at me, but i was like "im ok im ok" and all was well. yea and under my seat someone must have spilled coffee before cuuuzzz my sandals were sticking to the carpet...
the flight was pretty good. i was already set to go to sleep after the take off, but then i looked outside my window and it was GORGEOUS. we were well past LA and i dont know where we were flying over, but i just saw lights on the ground from way up in the sky. i could see all these areas lit up from street lamps mostly i assume, all these towns and whatnot. i think they were on the ocean too. but yea i could see far off into the distance and see the glows of other cities, it was really pretty. Mankind really is impressive. a glow of lights here, a glow of lights there. simply amazing. i dont think i did a good job of describing it either. i think i slept for about 2 hours, maybe 3 i guess. the friggin glow of monsters inc. playing made it tough, plus its a good movie. oh yea, American Airlines charges you FIVE dollars to rent headphones for the movie, even if you bring your own you have to pay 5 dollars to listen in, isnt that ridiculous?!?! i saw it for 2 dollars in a theatre.
landed in stl at 630, lugged monitor to gate for springfield, read ball four, and then boarded the plane for a really quick flight home. its really fun when you can fly in those small planes and see your city. this whole trip id look out the window to if i can spot anything on the ground that i know. on the way from springfield to stl i saw good ole Springfield High and the Washington Park Tennis Courts. this time we flew around the other way and i saw the Fairgrounds, Lanphier high, and tracis neighboorhood. yea i wouldnt be able to find her house even if i tried really hard probably...heh.
Springfield is HOT. much hotter than la. stupid humidity. i went straight from the airport to the park to "work", since i basically hung out. but i did do some stuff. its good to be back. i love working at the park, i have fun with all the people working there and all the kids. yea its a really good time. and now i am home. and my house is a mess. and so is my room. i am home alone till friday. no one to help clean. then again no one to yell at me. although my mom already has called me 4 times since she left me at the airport. sigh. i need a shower. and then i need a nap.
man sad times for the Cardinals and all of baseball. first jack buck now Darryl Kile. rip.
A Slaying in 1982 Maintains Its Grip on Asian-Americans
June 18, 2002
By LYNETTE CLEMETSON
DETROIT - The tone for the event had to be just right -
solemn but powerful, backward-glancing, but forward-moving.
For more than two hours, in the cramped suburban office of
a group called American Citizens for Justice, a gathering
of mostly Asian-American college students mulled over
programs and speakers, buttons and T-shirts to make their
message resonate.
They were preparing to commemorate the day 20 years ago on
June 19 that Vincent Chin, a Chinese-American, was beaten
to death by two auto workers who apparently believed he was
Japanese.
The killing, in the midst of a recession linked, in part,
to the Japanese auto industry, sparked widespread protest
and a grassroots expansion of an Asian-American political
movement that began on college campuses in the 1960's. The
collective outrage led to a broadening of laws and
attitudes regarding civil rights and hate crimes.
Two decades later, many Asian-Americans say they face a
continuing struggle to be seen and heard in a nation that
still views race issues largely in terms of black and
white.
Persistent stereotypes, like the "perpetual foreigner" with
questionable allegiances or the "model minority" taking
over academic and professional institutions, foster a
social and political climate as potentially dangerous,
activists say, as the one that led to Vincent Chin's death.
This year, remembrances like the one here - which includes
an all-day civil rights "teach-in" and a screening of the
1989 documentary "Who Killed Vincent Chin?" - are planned
in cities across the country, including New York,
Washington, Los Angeles, Chicago and Philadelphia.
Organizers say the commemorations are especially important
now, with anti-foreign sentiment running high after Sept.
11 and many United States citizens under suspicion because
of their ethnicity. But for Asian-Americans the vigils also
offer a chance for personal reflection.
"The tragedy marked our political coming of age," said
Helen Zia, a writer who helped found American Citizens for
Justice in response to the Chin killing. "But we also need
to consider where we go from here."
The initial response to the death of Mr. Chin, in many
ways, reflected the relative invisibility of
Asian-Americans as a political force in 1982. Mr. Chin met
his assailants, Ronald Ebens, a supervisor at Chrysler, and
his stepson Michael Nitz, who had recently been laid off,
at a strip club in Highland Park, a small blue-collar city
surrounded by Detroit, where Mr. Chin was having his
bachelor party.
A dispute started inside the club about a stripper. Then a
dancer heard Mr. Ebens hurl profanities at Mr. Chin,
blaming him for the loss of American jobs. Moments later,
according to court documents, Mr. Ebens and Mr. Nitz chased
Mr. Chin down the street and crushed his skull with a
Louisville Slugger.
Asian-Americans called the killing a hate crime. But a
judge ruled the death was no more than the tragic end to a
barroom brawl. The two pleaded guilty to second-degree
manslaughter, and as part of the plea agreement, were
sentenced to three years of probation and $3,780 in fines
and court fees.
The court's response to the death of Mr. Chin - a
27-year-old industrial draftsman who was raised in Detroit
and whose livelihood, like those of his killers, depended
on the American auto industry - set off shockwaves through
Asian communities across the nation.
"It sent a chilling message that it didn't matter if you
worked for American companies and spoke English without an
accent, you still weren't regarded as a red-blooded
American worthy of rights," said Frank Wu, a law professor
at Howard University and author of "Yellow: Race in America
Beyond Black and White."
After the verdict, American Citizens for Justice, a
coalition of Asian-Americans and supporters from other
groups like the Urban League and the Anti-Defamation
League, organized protests.
Mr. Chin's mother, Lily Chin, had come to the United States
from China after World War II to marry David Chin, a
Chinese-American who fought for the United States during
the war. Inspired by Mrs. Chin's grief and determination,
the American Citizens for Justice took its message to the
federal government.
Federal authorities prosecuted Mr. Ebens and Mr. Nitz on
civil rights grounds, in the first such case involving an
Asian-American victim, but ultimately lost in 1987.
Mrs. Chin died last week in a Detroit nursing home.
The
fact that many of those now committed to Mr. Chin's legacy
were toddlers at the time of his killing is a sign both of
progress and of continuing challenges.
Since Mr. Chin's death, the Asian-American community has
grown substantially, both in sheer numbers and political
influence. The population of Americans with Asian or
Pacific Island heritage has increased roughly 70 percent in
the last decade, to more than 12 million.
Asian-American advocacy groups have won significant
political victories in the last two decades, from a 1988
law granting reparations to Japanese-Americans interned
during World War II to the expansion of mandates for
bilingual voting materials in heavily Asian districts, as
part of the Voting Rights Act of 1992.
As their political influence has increased, though, so have
acts of prejudice and intimidation. Anti-Asian incidents -
from vandalism to murder - ranged from 400 to 500 a year in
the mid-1990's, according to the National Asian Pacific
American Legal Consortium, a Washington-based advocacy
group.
The group received reports of nearly 250 ethnically
motivated incidents in the three months following Sept. 11,
most involving South Asians thought to be Arab.
Such tensions are emboldening a new generation of
Asian-American advocates. This spring, Asian-American
groups from several colleges organized a boycott of the
clothing retailer Abercrombie & Fitch to protest a line of
T-shirts with caricatured images of Asians and slogans like
"Wong Brothers Laundry Service: Two Wongs Can Make It
White."
Abercrombie & Fitch withdrew the line of T-shirts. A
spokesman for the retailer apologized, saying, "It's never
been our intention to offend anyone."
Roughly 60 colleges and universities now offer either
degrees or courses in Asian-American studies, and the
Vincent Chin case is frequently used as a teaching tool.
Many students, especially those from first-generation
immigrant families, still struggle against a cultural
reluctance to speak out. The Chin case "teaches students
the price of invisibility," said Scott Kurashige, an
assistant professor of Asian Pacific American Studies at
the University of Michigan.
Ijun Lai, a University of Michigan senior, cannot watch the
documentary about the Chin killing, which was nominated for
an Academy Award in 1989, without crying. The fact that Mr.
Chin was perceived to be a foreigner hits a nerve with her.
Raised in a predominantly white suburb of Chicago, Ms. Lai,
20, hung out at shopping malls with friends of many ethnic
groups and listened to the Smashing Pumpkins, Boyz II Men
and Korean hip hop. Even so, she cringes when recalling one
of her earliest memories of college - a group of rowdy
young men bowing and yelling "welcome to America" at her as
she walked down the street.
Ms. Lai is now co-chairwoman of the university's United
Asian American Organizations, an umbrella group of 26
student groups seeking to promote Asian-American issues.
For many Asian-American students, the popular notion of
Asian-Americans as a "model minority" is as damaging as
negative stereotypes of the past.
The concept of an inherently super-achieving group that
churns out violin virtuosos, high-technology entrepreneurs
and geniuses who blow the curve in physics classes, causes
Cesar Herrera, whose parents emigrated from the Philippines
when he was a toddler, to roll his eyes.
"It completely discounts diversity within our communities
and the very real problems of many Asian-Americans who are
poor and struggling," said Mr. Herrera, a 20-year-old
University of Michigan student who grew up in working-class
neighborhoods in Ohio and Michigan trying to steer clear of
Asian street gangs.
Michelle Lin, co-chairwoman with Ms. Lai of Michigan's
Asian-American student coalition, said "It's like the
administration actually uses the whole `model minority'
thing to keep from giving us resources."
Ms. Lin, Mr. Herrera and Ms. Lai acknowledge that most
Asian-American students on the Michigan campus are not as
politicized as they are. When the Asian-American student
group called a meeting to vote on a statement supporting
the university's affirmative action programs, a heated
debate broke out. The measure passed by only one vote.
But that kind of diversity is what they want other
Americans to recognize. They call it part of the social and
political legacy they have inherited from the death of
Vincent Chin.
As the meeting for the Chin remembrance ended, one last
issue remained. The final event is to be a march to Mr.
Chin's gravesite, led by a group of drummers and students
carrying banners. But the group's budget did not have
enough money left to pay for the bold banners the students
hoped to have made.
An original member of American Citizens for Justice offered
a piece of memorabilia the group has saved for 20 years, a
long white banner with blood-red letters that read, "It's
not fair" - Mr. Chin's last words before he slipped into a
coma.
The room went briefly silent, until one student said:
"Yeah, that's good. Let's carry their banner." Heads nodded
in agreement, hoping the message would resonate.
lka;dlka;lsasd. Adrienne is going to the Britney Spears concert tomorrow. Adrienne + Britney Spears + One Roof = Hottest place EVER
Footballitis
Well i woke up for the 430 pacific time US - germany game after going to bed around 2 after the england - brazil game, too bad we lost. oh well, it was still a really successful World Cup for the US. I hope Brazil doesnt win because rivaldo is a diving ho. I think im going to be going for Spain since like, i really havent heard a single thing about them all tournament. foshizzle.
i also bought 2 gifts today, one for meagan and someone else who i cant remember, i just remember someone else saying they wanted something. who it was, i have no idea. maybe traci...?
oh yea, highlight of the day. i found a picture/sticker machine that was working for FREE!!! wahahah, the cost was originally 5 dollars for like a 1/3 sheet sticker of like 10 pictures of yourself. i have a bunch. eh heh heh, my campers at taf will wear JON LEE STICKERS on their name tags!!! anyone else who wants one may as well. there is plenty of me to spread around. oh oh oh yea. any non tafers may have one as well. im going to try to go back to the machine later and see if its still working for free. sweetness.
ok yes one more quick tidbit....the local chinese radio station here in la is called KAZN. haha. yes. i thought that was funny.
hahahaha, someone searched for drunk indian girl on yahoo and came to my site, ahahahaha....
hehehe, my cousin andrew got a haircut yesterday and they lady didnt do it the way he wanted, and now he is mad because he looks like a korean kid now, eh heh heh. yess. so the past few days have been pretty uneventful, although i did have some teppanyaki last night. i love teppanyaki. so good.
my mom recruited 2 people for taf today, one is 14 and the other is um, 25...so yea maybe he could be an advisor...? yea i dunno, 25 is pretty old to be a first time tafer. i guess i can write to changer and ask him. in other taf news i had another dream about going there last night. this is like the 5th time ive had a dream where i go to taf, and once again my white friends are with me. interesting psychoanalysis i could do on myself.
go USA. beat germany tonight, make it a three-peat.
yes. california. hehe my mom got mad at me and kicked me out of the car twice today. my cousin said "can you dig it sucka!!!" yesterday, its funny since you know, hes got the taiwan accent. yess....
yes, and the aunts house is large. they have all the aformentioned stuff, and then they have this really cool bathroom where the walls are made up of all mirrors. its crazy. my cousin richard took me and my other lil cousin Andrew to starbucks, and i had my first interaction with white people in 2 days. yes. look my white friends, you should all come here to parts of LA and see what its like to be me in springfield!! mmhmm, in monterey all the buildings names are in english and chinese, like "Bank Of California" and then that in chinese as well, its weird. you drive down the street and look around and you see no caucasian people walking around or in cars. hehe im highly interested in the asian dominated la area culture, its cool.
yes, so my aunt lily let me drive us all to lunch today in her fairly big bmw suv, and let me just say that LA traffic is f-ing insane, not quite taiwan like but pretty bad, and having to drive the big car doesnt help. people here in LA also cannot drive. crazyness.
so yea this afternoon we are going to go to my aunt michelles house, and im looking forward to it. apparently its really big, they have an indoor bball court and a pool. now why someone who lives in socal which has great year round weather would need an indoor facility in their house is beyond me.
and also my aunt michelle is apparently psycho on my 2 cousins richa and weh-jeh. even my mom thinks that shes too hard on them, and if my mom thinks someone is hard on their kids...oh man thats gotta suck so bad because we all know how psycho my mom can be...aiyo.
Live From LA
Yesss, jonny here in la and all is well. today we went to some random places around here and like, i saw 5 caucasian people all day. thats f-ing crazy, i was in crowded places too but they are just all asian peeps, its tight. i had some bubble tea, good bubble tea, and i was able to purchase some stickers of japanese cartoons for the JH kiddies at taf. hehe, i discovered Afro Fred today, a dog with an afro, its pretty amusing. i also was able to recruit my cousin for taf, he'll be in the JH program with me. yea its really asian here, hehe its funny, its like a whole different country. like 2 days ago at the county fair i was counting the non white people, and today i was counting the white people, complete opposites.
yea my aunt also has like 4 stand up arcade games, including mrs. pac man. wouldnt that be awesome if i could somehow get one for the apartment next year??!?! oh yea it would, but shipping would be a ho....
finallay got to LA, and its colder here than in springfield....interesting...
Friendly Skies My Ass
So yea, my mom sister and i head out to the airport at 9 to go to cali, but good ole American Airlines doesnt have our electronic tickets and apparently my sister and i havent even been registered for out flights, this all told to us by a pretty unhelpful lady who looks like she smoked too much crack in her younger days. So whatever has happened to our tickets? oh yea, AA is retarded and sent them to Springfield, MISSOURI. it took my mom about an hour on her cell phone just to find that out and now we have to wait till 530 to leave here, even though there are 3 flights out before that...the planes arent full, its just that aa is retarded and doesnt know how to run things. so yea we are back home now waiting and my mom is on the phone bitching aa out, they damn better bump us up to first class for this...
Summer Nights
The Calling concert tonight was ok, too bad Lifehouse wasnt there though. but yea, the lead singer for the calling is um, odd. heh. yes. i went with brian jake ajit and tom and then ashley, steph cameron, and jenna met us there, and then lori and steph lex met us later. ajit got into a car accident yesterday and like he bit down on his lip before impact...and his bottom lip is really swollen. he had to get some stitches in there. aksdj;asldk. yes.
so yea, hehe, i think the whole time i was there at the county fair i saw 10 other minorities other than myself and ajit, go small white midwestern town. i also counted at least the same number of mullets, i kinda stopped since like every carnie had one, heh. around the time the fair was closing for the night i saw brooke sunderlin with her sister, who was elected Miss Sangamon County 2002. they were hanging out with the band members from the calling minus the blonde haired skinny lead singer. man i wish i could be in a band and play at a county fair and hang out with a miss so and so county queen, that would be so cool. and then a steak n shake stop after all that.
so yea i leave for cali in about 7 hours. im tired, i didnt take my afternoon nap and i was walking all over the place at the fair and i still need to finish packing. oh the sadness.
Andrea is a very intelligent young lady.
IceQbs17: and jonny's just, the best lover in the world isnt he.
IceQbs17: haha
Thendxcrd: hehe yes
Thendxcrd: yes i am
Thendxcrd: jonnys profile here we come
IceQbs17: hahahahahahahhaaa
IceQbs17: OH NO
IceQbs17: it's all downhill from here.
Thendxcrd: excellent
IceQbs17: OH NO
IceQbs17: there we go
IceQbs17: my proclamation on jonny's love.. life.
IceQbs17: hahah
Thendxcrd: hehe yeeeesss
Thendxcrd: and andrea is the supreme judge of all lovers in the world
IceQbs17: OBVIOUSLY.
IceQbs17: that's a given.
IceQbs17: tell us something we don't know.
Thendxcrd: hehe
Thendxcrd: wait did we just like, inadvertently call you a ho?
IceQbs17: hahahahahaha
IceQbs17: yeah, i missed that.
IceQbs17: damn.
Party Up In the Podunk
hmm, tomorrow should be fun, a lot of people are wanting to and talking about going to the concert. it will be a nice little cap off before i leave for California on friday seeing a bunch of peeps. Tonight i watched Bandits at ashley litviaks house with tom tyty brian and jenna. we stopped by Ice Deli before that and Ice Deli is just the place to be. Paige, Meredith Imler, and Tilldo 2 were there, as was kristy hillen, and also erin yamaoka and bree davis. Oh yea, Domino's has medium pizzas for like $3.50, its a good deal. although my stomach is feeling kinda funny right now.....
Nutsack
stupid tyty, yet another pp person, has taken me up to a warning level of 100%. and yes...downtown steven brown has just imed me for the first time, and he too is a pleasant plains boy. hmm, i wonder if he wants to warn me. well WAHA! he cant! im already at the max! wait ok so its not brown, but someone pretending to be him. well i guess there is a good thing being at 100%, and that is that it cant get any higher.....
oh yea, anyone who wants to go to see The Calling and Lifehouse at the county fair (hahaha yes, the county fair, dont even get me started on how funny that is) should contact me and you can come with a big ole group of us. its tomorrow night but we have no idea what time its at, but hey admission is only $10 dollars (thats roughly 44 francs for you frenchies out there) and that includes the concert and all rides! wahoo!
yesss, new link, new link! Welcome Meagan to my list of links. I sincerely apologize for the late addition. everyone should go to meagans site, its got quality blogs (as opposed to my totally random out-of-nowhere ones) AND its also visually appealing, good thing since meagans gonna be an interior designer eh?
so yea worked today in the morning and i actually felt the urge to hit around. its been like a year since ive last played, im rusty. and OH NUT. andrea will like this, half of pleasant plains, well just jroth brooke and shannon, imed me all at once and then all started warning me. now im at 98%. oh how lovely. evil pp ppl.
andrea = SUPER DUPER MEGA EVIL. she warn jon. jon cant im people when warned. if i cant talk to you, blame andrea. hehe i did however fool andrea as being other people, hehehe, that was funny.....
ahahahahah, everybody, you HAVE to watch American Idol on fox, its f-ing hilarious. the british guy is SOO harsh when he judges the people and some people are TERRIBLE singers, ahahahahhaha.....
standing up in the back of a pickup while driving is FUN. its really cool to feel the wind blowing in your face all hard like that. yea its pimp. yea just another day hanging out pretty much, went to damons with jen jake brian nicho and amanda patton, who i used to hang out with all the time back in sophmore year. yesss, and as no surprise to anyone, ktmac forgot to call me. everyone should IM strlit16 and tell her she is evil.
woohoo usa goal! sooo yea, tonight was the first ever Woodsfarm neighborhood party, and let me tell you it was oh so exciting. at least sarah jakowsky was there to bring some conversation and gorgeousness to the event. after that brian jake and i went to ajits to play some fifa, and yea i beat ajit twice after he talked so much trash. i dont know why ajit talks trash because he seriosuly could never back anything up himself, so it felt good to beat him in his game. nicho joined us midway through out fifa playing so we had a 5th guy in our gang. we made a steak n shake run around 11 and on the way there jake yelled out the car window to scream at kids hanging out in parking lots in german. hehe it was amusing. springfield is pretty much a spruced up hick-town with a decent mall and a bunch of government people. we really dont have much...heh, its sad. im sure most towns dont have much to do like us, but i cant imagine places being even more quiet as springfield. yea we need some nightlife....
man this weekend was a sports lovers delight; you had the game 2 of the nba finals yesterday, some interleague baseball with intriguing matchups, game 3 of the nhl finals (which went into friggin TRIPLE overtime), 1/4 of tennis' grand slams with the french open, the possibility of a triple crown winner in horse racing, lewis vs tyson in boxing, and then of course the worlds biggest sporting event second only to the olympics, the world cup. pimp.
so yea played some baseball today and that was fun, then went to graduation. going back to the high school events is always a little odd, but its like, the end of going back for me. seeing this years class finish is like coming full circle almost, im now a year removed from graduating myself from high school and ive seen some younger kids go through it. pretty soon im going to know nobody from springfield high. thats messed up, ill have no link to it in two years. imran gave a really good speech, and in it he mentioned how the american high school experience is like no other and how we will never experience it again, which is so true. sad times man, cuz its a good time. i wish i could have gone back and redone my graduation speech, even though im sure it was fine. ironic, in my speech i said to live life without regret, but i regret not spending even more time on my speech. i need to spend more time just thinking about anything. yea, thats what i gotta start doing.
so yea after graduation hung around and talked to people, then went to luca's to eat with jake brian ajit and kevin reed. tonight felt like really boring but we actually did do a fair amount of stuff. we were at luca's pizza for like an hour, then i went myself to katy neubauers graduation party. man, i know way to many people. like today at graduation jake and i talked about this. he mention sarah bozarth, and then like, i could not remember if i hung out with her in high school because i thought i did for like a week or 2 weeks. isnt that terrible??? i cant remember hanging out with someone for an extended period of time, i just couldnt remember. then jake said how shes friends with corinne and then i remembered thats how i hung out with her, through corinne. and we also talked about how when you get so many friends that inevitably you end up having friends who dont like each other. i dont think anyone who reads this will care that i say katy neubauer and kt mac have had issues (although im thinking they dont really care anymore which is good) and that like adrienne doesnt like corinne and tara weinert doesnt like adrienne, brandon doesnt like D-money and vice versa, and oh im sure there is much much more. cant we all just get along?
ok so back to my night, went to katys grad party and hung out, she had some good food there, too bad i was stuffed from luca's. the highlight was katy's cookies with snickers in them. mmm mmm mmm. so yea katy and i also hung out like every other day almost for about a year a couple months to a year. and now we only see each other once in awhile when we run into each other. every other day for a year. and now we really dont see each other. nothing bad happened between us, we just stopped hanging out. crazyness.
well after that i met up with the guys at ajits house, then we went to ice deli where sadowski and lori met up with us. then lori left, and then kevin called ajit and said we could go over to albys to watch the lewis - tyson fight! woohoo! so yea we all went over there, which wasnt good cuz it was like 5 extra people coming over not really invited, but albys mom was cool about it. we all ended up throwing 5 dollars in too so it was good for them. the fight was decent, dominated by lewis as you all know. tyson was gracious in defeat. so yea that was fun watching it. after that we headed out to the nelson center to see some girl jake knows from work, and there was a lil jam fest going on out there. so yea lots of drunk rednecks, excellent. after that went to the jewel-osco parking lot to hang out for a bit and then the night was pretty much over. so yea im tired. go hurricanes for taking the red wings to a triple OT, i wish i could have watched the game.
oh yea and um a litte worriedness cuz i think 2 kids from SHG were killed in a car accident, and um yea i know kids from there so yea....lets pray that i dont know them and that there families are going to be able to get through this...
ok so i dont feel like blogging but i am. a great list for you all to read.
- I was able to teach the kiddies at the park today, i fed them the balls for volleys, fun times. work is good, lots of fun people, too bad i dont get sleep.
- Alice has high quality blog entries.
- the past week has like been spent with only brian jake lori stephanie with a little ajit thrown in.
- um. im tired.
hmm. memento is definatly a stumper of a movie. yea. i dont feel like blogging. heh.
oww. so yea my fingers got smashed in jakes truck door. kajsdlkdasjl;asdk. thank the good Lord that they arent broken. oh man that hurt bad. went to rachels house tonight for her bday, and she made me the official photo taker! woohoo! yeas, good times taking pictures, good times. and then after we left i mangled my fingers. i did however get to ride in the bed of his truck and stand up as he drove, feeling the wind in my face, i was the king of the wooooorld!!!
yeas, once again it really sucks after waking up from a nap, i have NO IDEA whats going on. its like i was stuck in time and everyone advanced forward and i miss it all. and my contacts go crazy in my eyes and are all sticky and my head hurts. too bad id die without naps.
USA! USA! USA! woohoo, go us futbol. and go carolina hurricanes, way to make howa mad by beating the red wings, heh. hmm, both were upsets, both were 3-2 victories for the underdog. interesting. well in other news work was relaly easy today since it rained midway through the clinics, so most of us workers stayed there and ended up having a speed tournament, you know, the card game. hehe we had a bracket and seeding and everything, it was intense. hana won both times. dah. anyways, go us, im watching the tape delayed game right now and they are about to score again, hehe. oh oh oh yea.
hey i watched 2 movies tonight...hehe, ice age was pretty good, and it was also 2 dollars so thats good. and then after that i watched cant hardly wait with some peeps over here in ma crib. thats a really happy movie in the end, heh. and it has sooo many people in it. give all the random ppl in it a few years and then they all become stars themselves, like sean patrick thomas and selma blair, crazy.
and yes! the hurricanes won!!! woohoo, in your face detroit and howa. too bad i dont see them winning the cup, but hey i guess crazier things have happened in sports before. yea im just hoping for a competitive series.
ooooooohhhhhhhh.....2 hours nap is good. but now im all kinda dazed and im sitting here without a remote control and my tv is on a fishing show....l;aksd, ooyyy...too laxidasical to find the remote.........i guess it better than the sally jesse rafael though,
yess...so brian is pretty good at basketball...we played 21 tonight and lets just say brian hit 30 free throws in a row between 2 games and then 17 in a row in another. guess who won....
excellent, today was the first day of clinics at the park and it went well. a lot of kiddies showed up even though the public schoolers are still in school, so yea good times. after work went to eat at the indian restaurant which is our old restaurant, and jw works there now, heh. so that was cool, good food. and then after than a new cell phone! yes, same phone number so dont worry people, you can still call me and i wont have to change my out and about away message. having to tell everyone a new cell # would suck, just imagine if like i had to get a new screenname, that would be a frigginc catastrophe, oy.
Find out what kind of driver you are!
You are among the most intelligent and best mannered among all drivers. When you are in a hurry, you may push it a little, but you never race. When you are relaxed, you don't impede others by driving like a turtle. You are mindful of others and occasionally downright nice, but mostly you keep your wits and keel.
hmm, im not sure if thats totally accurate...but oh well
aiyo, so hot hot hot out there. went to church this morning with beth and met up with the usual cast at western oaks like tom etc, today was niki rutz's last sunday there singing. too bad cuz that woman can sing. shes a really beautiful lady. so basically shes hot, except like into her 30's. but hey, shes hot. anyways, good service, after than came home and played some gta and tom came over, then off to faire du baseball! except it was so hot out there. stupid midwest humidity. i need to buy a new glove, cuz we are obviously playing enough and mine broke a few months ago :( sad times buddy. and now i shall depart to get the sunday special, 69 cent tacos!!!
What kind of rapper are you? Take the damn quiz @ KTHXBI!!!11 W0rd up s0n!!1
fifa2002 is such a good game. hehe i beat ajit after he said he could beat me, its fun to put ajit in his place after he talks all his trash. drove around in the back of an old chevy pickup too! woohoo, riding in the back of trucks is always fun. yeas and baseball tomorrow, i think we will have enough ppl for a full game. but anyways, everyone should go to ESPN.com's National Spelling Bee Recap, its great, hehe. here are a few of my favorite excerpts:
1:28 -- Just the facts about Steven from Tennessee: Somehow he pulls off the spelling for "sericeous" (having a fuzzy surface) before nearly passing out. Very exciting. It's not officially a Spelling Bee until someone's practically hyperventilating.
1:44 -- The highlight of the day: The flashback to the 1997 finals, when the soon-to-be champion hears the winning word ("euonym"), jumps up and down (because she knows it), then shrieks each letter in crazed delight. That's like a cross between Carlton Fisk's homer in the '75 World Series and Carl Lewis singing the national anthem. The greatest spelling bee highlight of all-time, on about nine different levels.
1:54 -- Hey, somebody normal! It's Stephanie from San Francisco, who seems like she's actually ventured outside in the past six months. She just nailed "periosteal" (situated around bone). Come on, Steph! I'm rooting for a showdown between Steph and The Hyperventilator for the championship.
2:01 -- When a kid from Illinois spells "sortileger" (someone who tells fortunes), the judges use instant replay to make sure he spelled it correctly (nope). For God's sake, even the Spelling Bee instituted instant replay before the NBA did. Unbelievable.
2:21 -- Anyone who dares to have any normal outside hobbies can't win this thing. Michael from Ohio (a superb soccer player), Samira from Colorado (a kickboxer), Sarah from Tennessee (designed her own online fashion magazine) ... they're all out. There's a lesson here.
2:59 -- Reason No. 35 Why I Love Spelling Bees: when one of the kids nails a word, then skips back to the seating section and pulls the "I didn't know it!" routine with one of the other competitors, as braces fly everywhere. Just a little Spelling Bee bonding.
hehe those were all worthy of many a har har from me. go read it. ESPN is great.
its SOOOOOOOO HOT outside, but in other news....
Thendxcrd: brian be ready to wet your pants
CndnCrippler1: why is that????
Thendxcrd: ajit bought legends of wrestling AND we can play at his house AND he has the air conditioning on!
CndnCrippler1: alsjkdflkajdshfkljdashflkajdshlkjdsahfkljdshf
CndnCrippler1: agaggagagag!!!!!!!!!!
Thendxcrd: heheheh
hurrah my sore throat might finally be gone! go me for changin all my bedsheets which i think might have helped in my healing process. so yea today was pretty good, work was the usual but it was mannys birthday, and yea manny is f-ing 74 years old. damn. hes like the oldest non family person i know, i thought he was like 60 some, but no manny is 74. i guess thats what tennis does for you, heh. had some good cake at work and then tonight i actually didnt play video games, although i did buy one! grand theft auto baby. pimp. went to the mall and litviaks house where pizza hut sent us free pizza cuz they took forever. after that went to steak n shake and saw buncha peeps. yay for people. so yea that was my night. fun times. hehe i did an impersonation of tom, its really funny. and i did one of ajit and it was funny too! hehehehe. yes baseball tomm. exxxcellent.