Wake up before the sun rises. Drive for an hour there and back. Wait in line for an hour. Sunburn. ALL FOR NOTHING!!

Long story short, don't go to mt. high on a bad day. After a friend drove us for 2 hours, and an hour wait in line, worker tells us we can't snowboard. ski lift tickets and rentals all sold out =\

it's monday, and im done with the first week of school. overall, it was better than my usual weeks, ive been more productive but had more fun at the same time. what's different about this quarter? ive set many goals for this quarter, many of which are realistic and easy to accomplish, yet will drastically improve my life, my grades, and my relationships.

The first and most important one is, simply, don't be lazy. I realized that just by simply going to the library and cleaning a little here and there, much can be done. I don't have to pull a lot of weight and study until I die, I just have to make sure i don't fall into the deadly traps of laziness. As long as I do everything ahead of time, and preview my lessons for classes the next day, life will be a breeze.
Second goal is to practice piano everyday. How good will I get? I don't know. But I'm excited to see where it takes me, because right now, I'm enjoying it.
Third goal, and this is important, is 8 and 8. 8 hours of sleep and 8 cups of water a day. I will sleep no later than 12 [11 on thurs, i have class 7-2 on fridays] By simply doing this, it is more than likely that my skin will feel better, my immune system will be much stronger, and I will feel energized throughout the day. My mind will be much more clear, and I will be able to focus on anything better.
Fourth goal is to read and write more. I remember how much fun i had doing so my sophomore year, in moore's class. And then i stopped caring about it, because i thought i didn't need it. i was dead wrong. reading and writing is exactly what i need now.
Fifth goal: call home every week, call friends every other week. sure, you can send videos and talk about classes on AIM, but you can only go so far with a keyboard. I'm also going to hang out with my neighbors more, and get to know them better.

Back from trip with jerry, bryan, vince. Despite the fact that we were there for no reason, i still had a lot of fun. I'm glad to have been able to spend time with close friends, funny times and never a dull moment ['cept for when all of us got sick in the end =\]
*sigh* back to ordinary life. i figure that i need to read more and write more. it really has the pleasures you would find nowhere else. also i need to subscribe to either TIME or Newsweek. any suggestions? which one's less biased?

Movie Review:
AMERICAN GANGSTER-Why does it appeal?
Andrew Mai

When you walk into a movie that's of the Crime/Gangster genre, you usually expect raw, realistic action every 15 minutes, a possible love aspect, a decent turning point, and of course a sharp, dramatic climax to finish it all off. But what you get from American Gangster is something totally different. You experience depth and a great performance by Denzel Washington, but you begin to wonder where all the action is. "When will I see another shoot-out?", you think to yourself. Frank Lucas's wife shows the love aspect, but that doesn't satiate your Mafia movie pangs. And there isn't a satisfying turning point, more like a slow, not-so-180 change. So what is it that makes American Gangster so appealing to viewers and critics alike? To be continued

When I came back out of the Music building after finding out that I didn't make it to Smile and Nod [Cal Poly SLO's improv comedy group], it got me thinking. People kept telling me that I should audition for an improv team, and I did a lot of funny videos with Aaron Chen, so it really got to my head. You can't be cocky at something. Not when you think you've become an expert, not ever. Because chances are, there's probably thousands of people out there who are better at you than what you do. In my case, it was about 20 ppl who tried out for the team. And I guess at least four people were funnier than I was, because thats the number of people who made it. I came in with this ultimate scrubs-baratsandbereta-derrickcomedy mentality thinking that I could nail this and be funnier than anyone else, but it ended up with me getting slapped in the face by everyone else.

I also went to my friend Anthony's dorm today [ this guy from my Week of Welcome group] to play some music, thinking that I was a decent guitar player, but the same thing happened: I couldn't even keep up with him. His solos, improvisation, and tasteful tone changes just blew my sheet music skills away.

Two of my passions were shattered in one day.

I guess that in the end, all that really matters is that you love what you're doing. Bryan Wei told me today that you dont have to be the best at what you love, because doing it is all that matters. But I think the one thing I realized today that I should've realized a long time ago is that.....i don't practice what i love enough. I thought I was on top of comedy, but I haven't done any funny videos all summer. Vince said I'm not funny, to begin with. I guess its somewhat true. I thought I was an awesome guitarist, but I didn't practice that all summer either. Better yet, I didn't even know that much guitar technique to begin with. So starting today, instead of just knowing what I need to do to make myself better at the things I do, I need to practice. I'm going to practice music and acting a lot more thoroughly this time around. And maybe, just maybe when time rolls around next quarter, I'll be a part of Smile and Nod. And an amazing guitarist.

"Knowing is not enough, we must apply. Willing is not enough, we must do."- Bruce Lee

well, here I am 2 more weeks and im outta here. im not gonna reflect on everything i did this past summer, cause that would take too long. last week was hella fun though

newport adventure when bryan got back- never forget. possibly the funniest day of my life since chinese school lol...you know when you get only 2 hours of sleep everything just seems funny? when we got to newport, it started off as a plan to go fishing at this spot that my dad and uncle would always show me. even though we werent able to find that spot after an hour, im kinda glad we didnt cause what ensued was the funniest day ever-funny enough to awaken my nearly dead blog. it all started off when we were in the car....crazy daft punk kareoke lol
we went hopping on the rocks, which proved my good ol' friends, vince, bryan, and lyon [who ive known since 6th grade, bryan since kinder, God bless them] to be fun. something REALLY funny happened, but im no at liberty to say it lol after we got back, we went on the dirty beach, took off our shoes, placed them above the shore, then had a contest to see who can bury their feet the deepest. before we knew it, the tide rised and when we looked back ALL OUR SHOES GOT OWNED BY THE HIGH TIDE. LOL all of them just drifted away so we all headed to fashion island WITHOUT any change of clothes and each bought ourselves new sandles and shoes. stupid expensive food court. a lot more happened, but im too lazy to put it all down. but we talked about scrubs a lot and laughed at funny moments. after the newport chronicles was over, we all went home to shower and nap, then went out again to watch superbad, which REALLY made this an even funnier day. lol mclovin. cant forget cheesecake factory too, that food is BOMB. it all tastes like it made from scratch...no bullcrap. also really funny day...bustin chops on EVERYONE lol i guess you can say we laughed our way into six packs hahaha

work at raging waters- bad experience. eddie and i hated it. dont even wanna talk about the whore-ish surroundings.

i went to church more often this summer alone than my entire life, and i must say, i regret going more often. i just feel fulfilled every time i go, and i really like the people there. theyre all open, honest, real, and nice. i hope that when i move to SLO i'll be able to attend church as often as i did this summer.

i have one last thing to say. im really gonna miss my family..its rare to have one this good. i really do have an amazing family and i am truly grateful for it. i'd also like to say that, through all the pain i've been through, struggling, my friends were always there for me. im really glad to have you guys as friends. you know who you are. i really am.

its time i pick myself up. no more lagging the days. no more hours of video games. im going to write in this more. i dont care how few people write in it anymore, or people that read it as a matter of fact. im going to perform with a garage band and record a track or two. and make a few short movies while im at it. a summer job would be nice too, so i could do 3 things: stop taking money from my parents, fund for movies and songs, and have a little lift money for college. im going to fulfill the summer dreams i set out before school ended, and its been a month. time to make a change.

on a lighter note...transformers was DAMN GOOD. let me get one thing straight: spider-man, x-men, fantastic 4 all were unimpressive and left me feeling disappointed when i walked out the theatre. but besides batman begins, transformers was probably the best movie of its kind that ive seen. it was full of content, depth, and drama. the jokes in it were actually funny and came naturally. its defintely not just a kid's movie. it fits in with classic sci-fi flicks of 1980s and 1990s, like back to the future and jurassic park, not even joking. go see it, 2.5 hours of action and drama is definitely worth your money!

well i gotta go now, tomorrow's 4th of july parade and i'm walking as a new eagle scout! cya