Twins

I’m having twins. I was just told that I’m having twins.

Okay, that’s a lie. I would need to have sex first to have twins…well, at least recently, within the past 9 months at least. So, I am not having twins. Darn!

Again, for some reason around July of last year, I had this funny fascination with Chinese music. I guess I wrote in this blog of mine about me going back to my Chinese roots with me getting into books by Chinese authors and watching the television shows that I grew up with.

So pretty much for the past year, I have been listening to Chinese music steadily. This includes Chinese classics by Theresa Teng and Hong Kong pop singers like Andy Lau, Jacky Cheung, and Twins, and some old music that my dad listens to.

I don’t understand why I am having these fits of Chinese music. It’s just weird. That’s one thing I can’t shake. I could go weeks and months without watching any of the television shows that I grew up with, but daily I would need to get my daily dose of Chinese music.

I have my designated playlists of Chinese music and Twins in my ipod and itunes. And every day I would listen to the whole playlist while I’m at work. Throughout the year the Chinese playlist would grow and grow with random Chinese songs that I would get from myspace or whatever download site I can find that would allow me to download the music.

Even now, as I listen to Twins, I’m not sick of it. Some days I would just do my random shuffle play on my lovely ipod and I would get antsy because my Chinese music isn’t coming up as often as I would like. I would get withdrawal symptoms. It’s weird.

But, Twins or Twins. Gillian Chung. Charlene Choi. The Hong Kong pop sensation. I for some reason have a unreasonable obsession with them. I don’t know where it stems from…actually I do know where it stem from (More on this later). Here are pics of them.

Gillian ChungGillian Chung Charlene ChoiCharlene Choi
TwinsTwins

For the past couple of weeks, they’ve been all I am listening to mostly. Again, I’m not sure why I have such a fascination with Chinese music and especially their music. They have some great catchy songs not unlike any other addictive cantopop and they sure have their bunch of crappy ones.

It all started about the end of the year last year when I downloaded a particular song of theirs, The Mice Loves Big Rice(Literal Translation). It’s a Mandarin song, which means I don’t understand much of it….and it’s not like I understand any Cantonese songs either, but for some reason, it became one of my favorite songs. It’s just so catchy and innocent and I don’t understand much of it. But I looked up the video for it and bam it was a mixture of Cantonese and Mandarin and I was smitten.

I showed my friend Susan and she could understood why I liked the song…that they are cute Chinese girls helped. I didn’t even notice it until she told me. They are cute. Very cute.

I know that they are big pop stars in Hong Kong and made many movies, so I rented one of their first that drew tons of attention because it was coined a “Twins’ Movie”. It is called Twins Effect or The Vampire Effect. Just let me get my mini review out of the way…two words: IT SUCKED.

But, there was this lovely beautiful girl in it, one of the twins. Gillian Chung. I was smitten.

Then came an onslaught of movies upon movies and research upon research on them and who they are. I’ve watched everything that Netflix had to offer with these two ladies. Everything.

Overall, I’m surprised by their acting on the actually good movies. They do have some bad movies. I think out of the many movies they have at Netflix that I’ve seen, there is only one that I’m gaga over and it’s just plain and simple and I love it more for the story than anything else. Just One Look…it’s a coming-of-age story about first loves, heart ache, and add a little Cinemaparadisio to it and what is there not to love?

I was really blown away by their acting, especially that of Charlene. She’s very subdued and natural. Not over the top at all, and the same can be said with Gillian, but it was Charlene’s delivery and acting that made an impression.

As I watcched more and more of their movies, I did notice that Charlene was growing on me too. I know, I’m a dork, stupid, and fickle. Sue me. But Gillian is the prettier one and Charlene is the outgoing one.

Charlene has a very playful and outgoing personality. They both are quite funny, but Charlene has a better personality, where as Gillian is very reserved. I believe that she’s loosened up quite a bit…so I’ve been told.

Anywho, again, unhealthy obsession with these two Chinese girls.

On a side note, I have a severe case of Yellow Fever right now. It’s not funny.

For the longest time I have never been an addict of youtube and watching videos online but again I’m obsessed. For the past couple of weeks, when I should be writing at home, all I’ve been doing has been watching anything that had to do with Twins and Gillian and Charlene. This consists of music videos and interviews and skits and what not that involved one or the other.

Through this I get to see their personality, especially during the interviews. Charlene is the outgoing, talkative, funny one and Gillian is the shy and reserved one. But, in recent interviews she has become more and more talkative and outgoing.

They are both cute, each in their own way.

Unhealthy fascination.

Now, through watching their music videos and listening to their songs I’ve made another observation. Charlene has the better voice, but again, Gillian is prettier (I’m shallow, I know. I suck).

Since this unhealthy obsession erupted, I have bought two albums Ho Hoo Tan and Our Love – 6th Anniversary. Our Love – 6th Anniversary is a greatest hits album, and there I found some of my favorite Chinese songs.

I would love to sit and write more about this unhealthy, unhealthy, sick and just wrong obsession about my new found crushes, but I have to leave.

“look for the dream that keeps coming back. it is your destiny.” — Fortune Cookie”

Look for the dream that keeps coming back. It is your destiny oh said the little fortune cookie I had with my dinner last night. It’s just the funniest thing.

As you all know from my earlier post, I have a particular dream that keeps recurring and it is about the fair lady Kate. Now, it is just too ridiculous to believe that she is my destiny, so I’m not even going to think about that. It’s over, she’s gone and out of my life, not that she was ever in it.

The dream that keeps recurring, I don’t know what it is. Just because I wrote about my flickering mind movies of Kate recurring, doesn’t mean that those are the dreams that keep recurring that the fortune cookie is referring about. No, not at all. It is something else…or it could just be the general theme of those dreams.

Direction. I know where I’m going; I know what I’m doing. I belong. I’m just doing my own thing. I’ve been having these dreams concurrent with my dreams of Kate (which haven’t happened in a good week now). That seems to be a strong theme in my dreams of late.

I remember when I was younger, in high school and in college; I would have all these dreams where I’m just wandering aimlessly around places. I would always be lost or I lost something and I’m just trying to find what it is that I was trying to find or that I’ll be chased by bad guys. I wouldn’t ever interact with any people unless it is to ask for directions or anything. That was when I was younger, and boy, were those dreams quite fitting of my life back then. Directionless, lost, miserable and alone.

Now, things are different. There seems to be no rush in my dreams. I have directions, I’m doing what I’m doing and I don’t care. Whether it was hanging with family or going somewhere and exploring. I have purpose. I have a feeling that I belong and that I know what I’m doing. That is my life…in my dreams. I’m not lost anymore. I have a place in my dreams, as I have a place in my life here. It’s just funny how literal dreams can be. I’m always going off alone, doing something, that I’m supposed to be doing and I’m having fun with it. I don’t care that I’m alone, because there will always be people that I interact with…family and friends. I have a place.

Maybe that is my destiny. I’m off alone just living life and doing things. I’m going places and exploring. I’m just doing my own thing and not caring what other people think. I’m not lost, I’m exploring. I’m not afraid anymore. Life.

That is my destiny. To live life and living the life in my own terms and not others.

It’s been a long journey that I’ve taken to get where I am today. A really long one. It really does seem that I have found my place in my life. I have found a certain peace. Now, again, life isn’t perfect and full of roses. It’s far from that, but it’s light years from where I was in the lost days.

My destiny. Il destino.

Now if you want to think that the actual “recurring” dreams of Kate are my true destiny, then it has to be something else. I don’t think we can take that literally. I believe it has to do with me finding a partner…finding that particular girl in my life that makes me feel alive, that pushes me, that I feel comfortable with where I never felt comfortable before.

That’s one thing I had with Kate…I never was secure with myself to talk with her. She always intimidated me and for the life of me I never understood why. Maybe it’s because she’s just very attractive and just out of my league. Who knows? But, it seems, according to my dreams, I’m comfortable with her, just flirting, just being.

If my destiny has to be the recurring dreams of Kate, then that is what it is. It’s about time that I meet someone.

* * *

Not to scare anyone, maybe I’m just being paranoid, but I’ve been having these chest pains recently. They are small dull pains in my chest, my heart. I don’t know what it is. I know it’s been a while since I’ve gone for a checkup; since right after my dad’s passing that I’ve gone. It’s been a little over four years that I went for a checkup. And now, I’m having chest pains.

I’m most definitely sure that I am fine. I’m sure that these chest pains are just indigestion or heart burn. IT IS NOTHING SERIOUS.

I have gone to the doctor to get my physical and get my blood work. I will get my results in a couple of weeks. I’m sure it will be fine.

I’m just worried that my cholesterol is high. I’ve been eating my usual one meal a day for the most party, but they have been mostly healthy, but again, I do love my fried chicken.

But, maybe it is the heart pain (whether I’m still mourning my dad’s passing or it’s actually physical pain or I’m just having emotional problems subconsciously), I have decided to start exercising.

Starting July 1st is when I will change. I will strive to eat more healthily, which means more snacks throughout the day; more fruits and vegetables; and more exercise.

I’m going to buy a small weight set to help me tone my body. I’m going to start running again and hopefully stick to it. I’m going to do more pushups and crunches. I’m going to be healthy. I’m going to change my body, my health.

Again, maybe it is the heart pain that is making me do this. Again, maybe the pain is due to some physical heart problem or some mental heart problem. I’m doing this.

It’s been pretty much a year since I broke up with Sheilah. If it is not on this day, then it is in the next two or three days that I did break up with Sheilah. It’s been a year. A year since my first and last real relationship. I’m not counting Star, because that wasn’t a relationship.

But, it’s been a year. I told myself and Sheilah that after her, I’m done. I’m done looking. I’m done with relationships, and I guess for the most part I am. I think my dreams of me being on my own, being comfortable with it and me doing my own thing is proof of that.

But I told myself that I was going to take the year off after Sheilah and the year is over. I guess this is another reason why I’m making these changes. I’m growing my hair out because I do look better with longer hair and I was bored with my buzz cut. I’m going to start watching my health. I’m going to be more responsible with my life. It is time for me to focus and get my life back in shape again, not just my body, but my life.

I’ve noticed that as I got older, my slacking on my responsibilities. I’m not studying when I should. I’m not cleaning when I should. I’m not taking care of myself when I should. It is time. I just hope I stick with it.

* * *

There’s still that large part of me that is feeling antisocial. A large part, but again, maybe with my life changing I’m making an effort to go out more. I’m making an effort to put myself out there.

I am going out tomorrow for dinner with a coworker and then poker. Saturday I’m going to go to dinner with my cousin, Yen.

Yen and I are going to go speed dating in Santa Monica in the next few weeks. I never went speed dating before. Sure there’s a part of me that would find it fun and interesting and there’s a part of me that is nervous, but I don’t know, there’s just a large part of me that just doesn’t care.

There’s a large part of me that wants to be myself during the speed dating, to be myself. This translates to being an ass. Maybe it will work. Maybe I’ll find my future wife there (I highly doubt it), but maybe it will work. All in all, I think it will be fun and it will be an experience.

My life is picking up speed from here on out. It was stuck in first gear for a while as I learned the ropes, getting my feet wet. Now, I’m on my own, comfortable and bored with that pace and know that for me to get anywhere, I need to step on the gas.

Let’s see how fast this baby can go.

Commentary

Wow, two nights in a row. How about that? A first in a long while…and another first. I normally don’t write reviews or write any commentary on movies I’ve seen or television shows that I watch, but tonight brings me to put the first. I’m not sure if I’ll write any more..but who knows.

Tonight is the first “real” Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip episode since its long hiatus. Last week’s episode was pretty much a standalone episode, so, I won’t comment on it.

Now I’m not going to write a straight out review of the episode. No, not at all. I think I’m just going to write my observations about the show.

Tonight’s episode: Breaking News is a very interesting one for me. It tackled quite a bit of things. Sure it had some elements that another Sorkin show, Sports Night had, and that was the whole rating issue. Tonight’s episode tackled other issues, drugs, and the war.

What piqued my interest in tonight’s episode is I wonder how much of tonight’s episode is Sorkin dealing with the situations that he has to deal with in real life along with his commentary on the war?

It’s no secret that the ratings of the show had dropped considerably since the critically acclaimed and damn good pilot. I enjoyed the pilot; quite a bit. It was smart writing, fresh, and what I wanted to see from a Sorkin ensemble a la The West Wing or Sports Night. But then, the shows went downhill from there. From par episodes to bad episodes and there were only a few gems and moments in between. The show couldn’t live up to the spectacular pilot.

Again, tonight’s episode is the first real episode back from the hiatus and I wonder if Sorkin wrote the episode to address these concerns. The ratings are falling on the “beloved” skit show due to the poor writing of the head writer, Matt Albie. It can be said that the Albie character is Sorkin. He’s the head writer of the show, mostly writing the whole show by himself. It is no secret that Sorkin has a little drug problem, whatever is his drug of choice. Maybe it is a little self reflecting in the sense that he’s blaming his bad writing and the failure of the show due to him writing high? The ratings are slipping and it’s mostly due to the writing. There isn’t anything to harp on on the acting, for it is good and solid. It’s just the scripts.

It seems that Sorkin is having difficulties balancing the drama and the comedy. He’s done it so well in Sports Night and The West Wing. But again, those shows knew what they were. Sports Night was a half-hour comedy show filled with drama and The West Wing was a one-hour drama filled with comedic gems. Studio 60 seems like it wanted to be a comedy, because of the skits, but it turned out more like a drama filmed like a comedy. It just doesn’t make sense. It just doesn’t flow well.

Tonight’s episode felt different. It had a fairly somber tone throughout. Looking at it as a drama, I can’t fault it. It hit its marks. Looking at it as a comedy, it sucked. It wasn’t funny at all. I guess, again, Sorkin just couldn’t decide what he wanted to do with the show. He couldn’t find the right balance and now he’s done.

A big part of Studio 60 is it’s politics and democratic righteousness. It falls in line with the idealism of “The Bartlett Presidency”. It’s just pure Democracy. Sorkin is saying quite a bit about the war and about our current Presidency. He’s just not a fan of it and the war. He’s not hiding it.

The “Breaking News” in tonight’s episode is that one of the show’s character’s brother is a POW in the Iraqi war. The fate of this brother and his two comrades was never shown, left for another episode. He’s showing us the ugliness of war. He’s showing us the pointlessness of this war; losing lives, not just the lives of any people, but the AMERICAN people. I’m very interested to see where Sorkin goes with this. I watch quite a bit of television, but I sure don’t watch nearly enough to know if another show has done a similar storyline where a family member is held as a POW in the war. I do wonder where Sorkin is going to take this. The fear of the family and friends. The fate of the POWs. Where is he going to go?

Sorkin has a deep and profound idealism about him, especially in politics as shown in The West Wing. But I never had known him to pull any punches. There’s a part of me that wants him to take that route; that dark path of killing the POWs. That would be powerful. That would be great drama.

So Mr. Sorkin, surprise me. Blow me away. It’s been a while since I’ve seen an episode of your show. Last week’s episode was a small fluff piece, building up to tonight’s episode. Again, as a drama, tonight’s episode worked. It worked on so many levels that I had to write about it. I’m sure tonight’s episode in a sense is your therapy for what has happened with your show. I don’t know if you are trying to quit drugs, but I do know your ratings are slipping and I do know that your show didn’t get picked up. Did you write this episode believing that you still had a chance? The war is still ongoing and from all the episodes you’ve written so far, you were never afraid to tackle it and the politics. I am interested to see how far you are willing to go. Just please don’t disappoint me. Just don’t.

* * *

Now I have to comment on the “new look” of my journal. It was a mistake. I tried to fix something and I couldn’t go back to how it was. This was the closest style that I can choose that matches my old style. My, how much I do miss my old style, but I am stuck with this.

* * *

Starting tomorrow, June 1st, I get to start my new script. It’s going to be a “re-imagining” of A Chinese Ghost Story. I have most of the first couple of scenes worked out, but quite a bit of stuff still elude me. Maybe I’ll be able to flesh things out as I start to write. I get to start on it soon, and I am honestly quite excited about this. I can’t wait to write my first words. I can’t wait to write that first scene, then the next one. It’s going to be a fun ride. Hopefully, I’ll finish and fulfill my scriptfrenzy.com duties. We will see.

subjects upon subjects

I’ve been wanting to write for a while. Thoughts just hang in my head wanting to get an out, but I never cave into the desire to put them into words. I just think about putting them into words, but never act on it. I think tonight might be the night when it comes to fruition and take part in my little blog.

May has come and almost gone. It just crept up on me like most everything else. Out of surprise. The day came and went and I didn’t feel anything. I didn’t even remember the day until a week or so later. I remember it like a passing thought. In and out of my head and nothing more. I never acted on it, not during that time. But, eventually my heart has a mind of it’s own.

About two weeks ago, I got really moody. I couldn’t pinpoint where that particular mood was coming from. All I know was that I’m moody. Everyone at work could tell that I’m not all there, stuck in my angst. The look on my face tells it all. I get easily frustrated and annoyed. It has finally happen. It was that time of year. I took it hard, not depressed as in last year, but just an anger filled week or two as I silently mourn my father’s passing.

Again, the day came and went. I paid it no thought, but maybe when I remember I just subconsciously mourn and get in the funky funk that I’m known to getting into.

I’m not going to lie and say that I’m over his death. That is not the case, and I don’t think it would be the case for quite a long time. He’s still there in my heart and my thoughts. I still tear up time to time when some thoughts of him creep up in my mind. I can’t help it. I miss my dad. I sorely do.

Once I figured out what was making me grumpy, the anger and the “depression” went away. It just subsided. I finally accepted that it was that, a little episode of mourning. I had every right to it. After recognition, it was gone. Lifted. I was back to my playful self, and even my coworkers notice the change. I guess I’m just not that complicated after all.

So, as May comes and goes, so does another year that my father isn’t with me anymore. I do wonder when will I actually get through a May without any problems. I still remember last May, I was with Sheilah and I broke down in front of her about it. May 2005, I had a fit with Isela. I guess I could count on getting moody around that time of the year. It’s the most logical explanation why I’m moody.

* * *

Maybe it is because it is around the time of my father’s death that I’m not feeling really social lately. Maybe I just need the time by myself to silent mourn and go through my yearly ritual of depression. I wrote in this blog just a few weeks ago about me wanting to be a hermit again. It could all be that. I don’t know what the reason really is on why I’m feeling this way. I do love the idea of being alone; being the total loner that I am, but is that really the explanation? I don’t know. Let’s just say it is and leave it at that.

* * *

Mind movies of the night. I’ve been having a recurring one lately. I still can’t figure out why I’m having this particular dream, or have this particular subject come up repeatedly. I think I had these “similar” dreams about three or four times now. They all involve an old friend of mine from my Roxbury days, Kate. I haven’t seen her since the end of October of last year, when I was still playing basketball with her. And even before then, I don’t think we were ever “close” to use that term.

I mean, we don’t keep in touch and we rarely talk while playing basketball. There were times of small talk and catching up, but nothing serious. Other than that, she seemed more like an acquaintance rather than the friend that I made at Roxbury.

But my flickering mind movies were about her. Again, there were a series of them, and they would be simple scenarios. We would meet up for whatever reason; waiting in line at the grocery store, running into each other on the streets, etc…and the weirdest thing is that we would flirt with each other. I would hold her and she would flirt back. There was a particular dream that we kissed and boy did I actually feel the kiss. She was actually surprised that I was a good kisser. In the dream of course…not that we kissed in real life.

Again, I haven’t seen her since last October and I hardly think about her. I mean once in a blue moon she would pop in my head as I go through my myspace page and see her as my friend, but other than that, out-of-sight out-of-mind. But she would continuously pop up in my dreams, in those particular situations.

I couldn’t make head or tails out of it. Dreams are very subjective; open to interpretation, and yet, I couldn’t figure it out. I couldn’t figure out how it applied to my life now. I thought and thought about it and no cigar. It couldn’t be that I met someone, because I haven’t. If it is something to do with relationships and intimacy, I couldn’t understand why it would be her because we never shared those. Sheilah would have made a better subject. So, call me baffled.

Along with the first of these recurring dreams of Kate, there was another one that followed. I knew I should have jotted these down, but I totally flaked. It was about Kimster. I don’t remember the exact details, but I believe it went a little like this. She called me up out of the blue and we were chatting and I was being charming. I don’t know whether it was I who made the suggestion that we should get together or if it was her, but we both agreed that we should get together. I, of course asked her if she was serious and she said she was. That was that. That was the dream. There was another dream in this about another girl, whom I forgot, but it was similar theme, me hitting on them and it going well. Strange. Strange indeed.

To this day, I don’t know what these dreams mean. I have my theories, but I really don’t understand what they mean. To me, I see these girls as very attractive girls. Girls I wouldn’t mind to getting to know more. One would think, or I thought that they were out of my league. Well at least with Kate I did, especially when I knew her during Roxbury. So that might have something to do with it. Maybe it is telling me that I have the confidence to find a girl that I thought was out of my league. All in all, these dreams demonstrated that I got the confidence to have them say yes, or flirt with me. Maybe it was my subconscious telling me that. Who knows? Maybe I am ready to go out and socialize and find someone. I really can’t say.

It also could mean that I’m really lonely and really horny and that I need some attention and some relationship goodies. Who knows?

Another theory is that I miss flirting. I’m not flirting with anyone now. No one at all. Before I had Isela, and then I had Star and Sheilah to play my little games. Then there was Dalia there for a bit, out of desperation or maybe because she was there, but then there is no one. No one at all. And one thing I know about my relationship with Kate, especially during our Roxbury days was that we would flirt and flirt and flirt. Maybe I just miss flirting. I miss the chase and that I need to go out there and find someone to chase. I don’t know what it is, but it seems likely that that is the case. Who honestly knows what my subconscious is trying to tell me. I for one have no idea. None at all.

* * *

I thought that this blog would have been what I wanted to write here tonight, but I don’t know, but for some reason it turned out differently than how I planned. I honestly don’t know what it is with me lately and me writing in this journal. There are other things on my mind, but I think I’ll wait until another time to get them down. Maybe something new would come up in the dream front….maybe something will come up in the real life front. Maybe.

No no strings attached

Be still! My beating heart
Keep the steady pace that drives you
There are no strings that pull you to and fro
Wings clipped to little useless stubs
You will flutter no more like the butterflies in my stomach
You are just the muscle that drives my existence
Steady as a drum, keeping the rhythm
No one there that will make you flutter
No one. So, do as I say, Be Still!

* * *

There is nothing like going on without anyone in your life. There is nothing like going on being on your own, being comfortable with the loneliness that is you, nothing wrong with having your best friend and only friend be you for the most part. Nothing wrong at all.

Here I sit in this little new café that is now my preferred writing spot on my free weekend mornings to write down my thoughts, my new adventures, or my new visions. I come out here just sit with my headphones on as the tv blares and the two employees sit and mutter their own little Chinese that I barely understand. I have no problem with this.

Again, I have come to the conclusion that I am not built to be in a relationship. Not now atleast. My friends pinned me right. I’m just too selfish. But I guess that comes with me being alone for so long. It’s hard to think of anyone else. I love my free time. I love being the lazy butt that just sits and lays on his futon watching television. Whether it is a show I’ve seen before or a movie that I’ve watched over 20+ times. I have no problem with that. It’s my life. I could go hours if not days not saying a word to anyone, or interacting with anyone. I don’t mind. I am just a solitary being that it doesn’t phase me anymore.

Friends would ask during our normal catch up since the last time we’ve seen how things are going in my life, and I honestly tell them that things are going GOOD. Because they are. The conversation would eventually lead up to the girls in my life and if there any prospects. Of course there isn’t. Like I told Luis, I don’t put myself out there to meet any of them. I don’t go out and socialize. As he puts it, I don’t have to go out and work at it, but just join a club or go out and do something that might help me meet new people.

I know I know, eventually I will get there where I will be able to do that. But, like I told him, I’m done. I’m finished. It’s over. I’m too selfish; I’m too into myself to think of another person. I can’t make the compromise with that significant other. I know it is a matter of meeting that right girl that I would want to make that commitment to and hopefully then I would be able to make that compromise. But I know for sure, at this moment in my life. I’m not. I can’t imagine myself doing that. Darn being a solitary figure.

So I am crawling back into my cave, my comfort zone. I am going into the woods and locking myself out there in my own little shack, shunning people and civilization. I need to be with myself again, mind and body, so I can regain my focus on what it is that I need to do. Perfect my skills, my hobbies, and myself.

I am perfect as anyone can be. I am perfect in the sense that I am comfortable in my own skin and I know myself inside and out. My flaws don’t haunt me anymore, as I look at them as character building aspects of my life. I’m stubborn, I know, but that makes me strong with conviction. I’m hard to bend, strong is my thoughts and personality. I am the ass that would say anything that would get a laugh, no matter how incorrect it maybe or how offensive. That’s me. Bring on the critics and the judgmental eyes. I don’t care. This is who I am and I’ve welcomed him in this world for a couple of years now.

Maybe it’s my world weariness or maybe it’s just because I’m older, but it seems that I’ve been giving a lot of advice to my younger cousins. Whether it was Ly or Michael, and now with Kent, especially during their high school days; but I don’t know what it is that makes them come to me for the advice. My advice is sound and it is right, but maybe I’m bias because I’m giving it. I am world weary, looking at it with cynical eyes, seeing all the gears and pulleys that make the world spin. I understand the mechanisms that make life go on.

I don’t know why I am like this. Maybe it was in high school where I was so depressed that I couldn’t escape it. Maybe it is that I’ve overcome my demons, finally and am ready to just go on with life, living it a day at a time. I don’t know. I just know that I’m living it, even though many do say I haven’t really lived.

What is the definition of living? Trying out new things to see what you do and do not like? Going out and gaining new experiences? I’ve gone out, I’ve tried new things, and I know what it is that I like or don’t like.

The only thing that I don’t know is what I want when it comes to my social life. Whether it is that I want to be alone or in a relationship? I really don’t know what it is that I want. A large part of me wouldn’t mind being in that dream relationship, but again, that is only a dream. Another part of me doesn’t think I can give up this loner lifestyle that I’ve grown so accustomed to. Who knows what my future holds? Who knows.

A blank white open canvas. Perfect pristine, unflecked with any marks. BLANK. Blank indeed.

Rhyme time with the lyrical mysticism of words and writing

Lost and gone are the words that come out so naturally just a year or two ago. I am only left with the yearning for the poetry that I was once able to write; the lyrical jibjab of nonsensical riff raff that graced this journal of mine. With each rambling there was a focused subject that I would be able to comeback to and focus on, so there would be a sense of purpose in the nonsense.

It is gone. Gone gone gone. I have no words to write. No problems to solve. I have lost my touch, gone gone gone. So sad. Indeed, so sad.

I went out searching for my words, but they are ever so elusive. They have their own flight of fancy that comes and goes. When I feel that I have secured them in my head and they are on their way through my fingers to do their little tap dancing performance, they stop and freeze from stage fright. Lost and gone.

Lost and gone are my “T’s” when I try to write the word “Lost”, so they come out as “los”. Strange indeed as my fingers try to fall back into habit of writing freely without the strict rules of screenwriting and making sense of story.

I have a lot of stories to tell so I’ve been told. Fun and fascinating stories of one-liners that make up the fact about a certain event. Fun indeed as they are just merely facts instead of “stories” from the writer that I am trying to be. Oh, how I fit in so well with so many people and how I just miss with others.

Getting back to the ones and zeroes that come from my little buds, they are becoming more and more foreign. I’m falling back to my language of birth and becoming more and more chinese.

Again, I feel that I am Chinese, not Chinese American or Asian American. Even though I do fit that category, for the life of me I would like to consider myself Chinese rather than a combination of both. Maybe it is just because of the technicality that I’m not a mutt or that I wasn’t born in the “America” that the term so reference. I am Chinese. That is from my blood, my heritage, my ethnicity.

Why would I consider myself a Chinese American when I don’t even consider myself Vietnamese? I was born in Vietnam, but I am not Vietnamese. Again, the blood in me is that of the Hans. So there is no American in me. None.

Funny because most of the elders in my family consider me American. I have taken up many of their cultures and ways. I grew up a mixture of American and Chinese. I did.

I think I am a good balance of both. But, I’m still Chinese. It’s all symnatics, I know, but still, it makes sense to me.

I’m Chinese.

* * *

All is lost, all is gone. NOthing comes and nothing comes. I have nothing left to say. Maybe it is the brightness of day that prevents me from writing these diatribes that I was so good at. I don’t know has gotten into me. I have no clue what happened. I usually write in the dark, the blackness of light.

Those were the days before pickles. Now, it seems I only write during the days mostly, unless I am forced to write at night, due to the pressures of dealines.

This is fun writing to keep me on my game. I guess I don’t do fun things anymore, but only do things that I am required to do.

What are fun things? Socializing or being the hermit that I am. Though my dear cousin doesn’t see me as the hermit and antisocial person that I so proclaim. She seems me as the social butterfly. Why? Because I get along with her well. I tell her my stories of going out and drunkeness. They come few and far between.

True there is a part of me that is a butterfly flapping its wings in socialness, but you can’t beat nature. I am the hermit. I like being on my own, doing my own thing, doing whatever it is that I want to do and that is to stay home and sleep, watch tv or movies. I love it. It’s such a relaxing boring life that I live and yearn to live. I love it.

I’m a lazy butt. I know it. My mom knows it and I’m sure my dad knew it. But, I don’t know. I guess all in all, I have no problem not talking with anyone, especially when I have nothing to say. Why say anything when you have nothing to say. Nothing is as bad as forced conversations. What is that? Awkwardness.

Maybe with more time and more thoughts in my head, these blank endless space of my journal will become filled once again. I have no more writing assignments to do. Not yet atleast. I just need to come up with my new idea. A short, a feature. A homage to A Chinese Ghost Story. I don’t know what my next project will be, but I am sure that I will have another next project. It will only be in time. Time.

Pushing for the push for the sake of the push.

I’ve come here time and time again before doing work that was important to me. Now I just sit here listening the the familiar foreign language of my life coming through my head phones to push out the sound of the chopping, sizzling, and useless talk that fills the air.

I don’t know is happening to me lately. I just sit on and actually enjoy that my life is just passing me by. I go to work day in and day out, come home, walk the dog, surf the web, cook dinner, and just relax. I have no qualms that I’m single and not going out to meet new people. I’m not in a rush to get married to do the things that society and family push me to do. I’m a hermit. I’m falling back to my hermitude. Hermitude.

Going home this past weekend and being around family and all these little cousins and kids; of course the question would come up. “When are you going to get married?” I don’t know. I honestly can’t answer that because, sure it is in my head as to when, but I do not really think about it. I guess I have truly adopted the philosphy, “it’ll happen when it happens.”

There is no rush. What is the rush? I’m 28. I’m 28. I’m still moderately young, though many believe that I’m too old to get married. It’s just a piece of paper, a formality more than anything else.

Family. I love them. I miss them. Being back there, it just made me realize how I fit in for the most part with some family members and others. Those who understand me I get along great. I get along with the elders great. I would like to think they understand me for the most part.

I would have to say that I’ve been the most smart ass with them this time. Especially when it comes to the issue of marriage. I would beat around the bush and play games; telling them what they want to hear; telling them what they don’t want to hear; never giving a straight answer.

I brought up issues of race and orientation and if it really matters. Of course, it really doesn’t, atleast not with me. With some family members it obviously do; but not with me. I’m so open minded that I should worry about my mind falling out of my head.

Well, I guess to my mom, race doesn’t matter much to her at all. She’s not against Tu’s marriage to her black fiancé even though Tu’s parents are. What’s the big deal?

Also, it seems that 5th uncle is totally against me marrying a black girl too. Honestly, I don’t see what the big deal is. As long as we love each other, I really think that is the only thing that matters. But again, I’m just too open minded and idealistic in that matter.

As to the issue of homosexuality, I know it’s a big deal in our familly and that it is a big no no, even thought Big Auntie says it doesn’t matter. I know it does. The elders of my family is a little too traditional to accept homosexuality. They just are.

Stretching my fingers in my yearly diatribe

It’s been a year and 4 days since I’ve turned 27 and it never ceases to amaze me how I continually grow and change and refine myself into the person I am today. It just absolutely amazes me. I’m forevery 27, forever 27, forever 27. Okay, I’m 28. I’m fucking 28-years-old.

Looking at things, looking at this blog, it just seems that I haven’t been putting the effort or the time in this blog any more. Maybe it’s just because I don’t have much to complain about any more, or that I don’t have much things about me to fix, or I’m just really busy, or lazy. I don’t know, but I haven’t been putting as much time in it as I did before and I would like to start contributing to it again. So, it’s been a while and it might take me a while to get into the flow of things like I usually do.

My 27th year has brought on many small changes in me. One of the biggest change in me is that I have gotten much more confident in myself. There is this confidence in me that came out of nowhere. I never thought I am capable of it. I guess that is something that comes with age; a huge thing that comes with age. The shitter is that I don’t even know when it crept up on me.

Another thing that kind of came out of nowhere is this innate sense of optimism. No matter what I think can happen to me; losing my job, being in an accident, etc..etc.. I just have this feeling that everything will turn out fine and dandy. Now this little new found trait is the one that scares me the most. Confidence comes and goes depending on the situation, but optimism is something that you either have or don’t.

I’m sure that there are certain things in one’s life that brings upon this sense of optimism, but for the life of me, I just can’t pinpoint what it is. Before, when I was younger, much much younger, I was the pessimist. The world is a shitty place to live and all life is unfair; it is picking on poor little ol’ me. Everything that happens is always for a negative reason. Then, in the past couple of years, as I’ve gotten older and more comfortable with myself, I accepted that life is shit; that life is unfair, and it has nothing to do with me. It just is. I became the realist. Bad things happen along with good things. Things just happen. Good. Bad. Sure I tend to weigh more on the negative side, but I do appreciate the positive. Life. Balanced.

Now, there’s still the realist in me. I don’t think it will ever leave me. Now, instead of weighing more on the negative side of things, I’m leaning more towards the positive, optimistic side of the spectrum. Weird indeed.

….I have lost my train of thought as my bladder kept pushing for me to go. I’m just going to write and see where things take me.

For the past couple of months I have been stressed and busy with work and other things in my life. Work sucks. It just fucking blows with the server issues and me spending so much time there that it’s just not funny any more. I’m so tired of it, but now that we have the new server up, hopefully things will be more manageable. Hopefully things will be better.

School. I have started classes this year in February. It is going all right. I’ve been lazy and haven’t been doing my reading like I’m suppose to. I’m bad. I’m lazy, but I will get to it and eventually, hopefully get certified.

Condo search. It is going. I’m not in a rush. I have put a bid on a place, but I just haven’t heard back. It is in Monterrey Hills, near South Pasadena. It is a lovely neighborhood. Nice and quiet. It’s out of my price range, but I’m sure I’ll find a way to manage.

Writing. Here is the big accomplishment of my 27th year. This is one of the biggest accomplishment of my life to date. I have finished my first script in a little under three years. And I do have to admit, it isn’t a bad one. It’s actually quite good. For this one, I’m actually proud. Scott even said, even if I don’t win the screenwriting contest, I should be proud of what I’ve written, because it’s good.

I could actually see it. I see how things come together, and most importantly, I see how much I’ve matured as a writer.

I think for the most part why I like this script best, or that I had a more invested interest in writing this script is because it is very personal, especially to me. There is an aspect of it that just hits me close. There is an aspect of it that was a big part of my life and that is the bond between Siu Lai and Patrick. I miss my grandmother. I think about her all the time. I miss her. I really do.

Now, I’m not saying that this script is perfect. It has its flaws, but I do like it a lot. The script has changed and changed throughout the years and even the last couple of months with me finishing it and then rewriting it.

So, I have been busy. Really busy.

There’s a part of me that has fallen back into my hermitude. A large part of it has to do with how busy I’ve been lately, but there’s a large part that has to do with a desire to not go out and do things. There’s a part of me that doesn’t want to go out and socialize. Maybe it was that drunken night of vomit, but I don’t know. I just don’t need it anymore.

On the social front, nothing is happening. I guess it is hard for something to happen when I’m not going out and meeting new people. I’m done as I so proclaim. I’m done with relationships. They just aren’t for me.

Being back home, here in the lovely and beautiful state of Washington, and knowing I’ll be seeing family again, I couldn’t sleep this morning. Sure I know a part of it has to do with the air matress I’m sleeping on, but a part of it is the fact that I’ll be seeing family again and knowing that they’ll ask me what has been going on in my life and how I’ve been doing.

Sure, for the most part, they all seem to be good things, well, at least this year, but there’s a part of me that can’t stop thinking about what Kent told me a few weeks back. He called me lame. He said I was lame. I found it amusing. It made me smile.

To him, I am lame because I am in my late twenties, now 28, single with no prospects in sight; living with my dog in my one bedroom apartment. I am lame because of that. He tells me to look at my cousins Menty and Phinney. They are around my age, or when they were my age, they were in serious relationships if not married. Now they each have a house, kids, good job, the American dream. I am nowhere close to achieving that. I should be like them. Because I am not, I am lame.

For the life of me, I don’t understand why, but I find it funny and even amusing to see how he thinks. He asked me where do I see myself when I’m 35, 40, and I told him I don’t know. I don’t think that far ahead anymore. He says I should.

Again, amusing. I don’t know what it is, maybe it is because he’s young, naive, and innocent that he just doesn’t know any better, but I don’t know. I ask him where does he see himself in say 4 or 5 years, and his answers were like mine when I was his age. There is this idealistic innocence in his answers that I miss in myself.

I told him that I don’t think that far ahead anymore and I told him that he shouldn’t either. Life is too long to just plan ahead because you have no control over your life. It just happens. You can’t plan things out and have it go accordingly. Never happens.

If that was the case, I would have found my soul mate in college and now I would be married with children and being the successful pediatrician that I so wanted.

I’m not. I’m just a single, jaded cynic living his life a day at a time. Just going with the flow of life and doing things that I feel necessary to continue my life. I don’t try to plan things out anymore. Again, like I said in my yearly year-end reflection, I’m starting to live in the present.

But damn, to be that young and that innocent again. A part of me would love to be there again, but there’s also a part of me that wouldn’t mind being who I am now and being back in highschool. I would probably have a different experience. I may actually like it. Maybe not.

No, I think my life is really good now. Great if not fantabulous. I am single, doing my own thing, focusing on my writing, relaxing at home, and taking care of my dog. I go out when I want, hang out with friends that I want, and do things that I want. I’m a selfish motherfucker. What can I say?

….I just find it hard to write in this blog. I don’t know why. I’ve lost it. So I guess this is a good place

Christmas just passed so that means one thing. It’s time for my yearly reflection.

Going back and rereading or browsing in tonight’s case, of my earlier entries of this year, I realized I didn’t write much this year. I didn’t add many entries into this blog; not as much as I wanted to anyway.

Life got in the way. ’05 was the year where my life started and I guess ’06 was the year where my life progressed and became life.

Looking back, it just seems that this year went by, zooming through time; yet everything that transpired seems like it happened years before.

Where should I start? Where do I start?

I guess the first half of the year was very eventful and very memorable if not difficult at the same time. Sheilah. She found me on Christmas of last year and we clicked. Things transpired and she made me feel something I haven’t felt with in a long time. I was able to be myself around her. No squirming, no searching for words to say, no embarrassment. I was able to say my cheesy words, my dorky sayings, and I was just able to be myself; sarcastic, witty, funny, etc…and I didn’t have any problems with it. I didn’t have any problems being with her. But, I guess sometimes things just really don’t work out the way you think it would. Funny how that always happen.

I still think about her from time to time. Our times together, some of our conversations, having someone to wake up to. There’s a big part of me that misses her, but there’s another part of me that knows that we will never work. We are just too similar in all the wrong ways…but damn, we were good when we were both on.

I never contacted her. When we broke up, that was that. There was no looking back. I didn’t want to waste her time, and I’m sure she doesn’t want to waste mine. Just different. Being with her made me realize what I do want and what I don’t want….all in all, it was something that was good that turned bad. I took whatever lesson there was to take from that and I moved on.

That was in June, and I do have to admit the two or three months afterwards weren’t fun at all. I’ve fallen back to a place that I thought I’d left behind. I was depressed, not as depressed as in high school, but depressed nonetheless. Not sure why, but I was. Maybe I missed her a little too much. That’s just life I guess…the longing for something that was so good.

But, moving on.

I don’t know, I think I really came to find myself more this year. Maybe it was the past relationships that did it, or maybe it was what transpired between my cousins and I on our family bulletin board, but I’ve really came to be my honest, tactless, smart ass self. I’m comfortable to be that. I am that and I’m not ashamed of it. I have no problem saying what’s on my mind, even if it might hurt someone. I’m not going to beat around the point to protect other people’s feelings anymore. I know that there are situations where I shouldn’t be so honest, so blunt, but I guess that is something I need to learn in the year to come.

As demonstrated in my last date with that “connected” stranger at Trader Joe’s, I’m not an easy pill to swallow. I speak my mind and sometimes I’m just too honest and open about who I am. Maybe she didn’t like that about me, maybe she just didn’t get me, or maybe I mentally sabotaged it even before the date started, who really knows why there was a major misconnection between us…but I am who I am and I was that during the date, sans the smartass, flirty, witty, playful nature that I do possess. So all that was left was my easygoing open blunt force honesty to questions she asked. I don’t censor my words, so she might have misinterpreted or took many things the wrong way…but overall, it was for the best. We were just way too different in all the wrong ways. Not a good match at all.

Onto other things, I’m writing again. Well, obviously not in my journal, but my script. I’m on my way to finishing my first script in over two years. And I’m actually happy for the most part about this one. Hopefully, I could do something with it. Maybe. I have Scott and the writing group to thank for my progress. Ever since Scott and I started up the whole betting schedule, writing has never been easier this year. Maybe I just need that push, that deadline, that schedule. Who knows?

Let’s see how it goes with my photography group. Taking pictures, another hobby that I’ve always been meaning to pick up again. It might finally happen; me dusting off my cameras and taking them out of retirement. Make use of them, train my eye again, and maybe I’ll actually do Scott’s script. Who knows?

Life is so long and there just seems to be all the time for me to do whatever it is that I need to do. I don’t feel the need to rush and accomplish everything all at once.

So, all in all, this year has been a well-balanced year. It started with a bang and it seems to end in a bang, in a totally different vein. As much as I would love to be in another relationship, to have the intimacy again with another person, the touching, embracing, the talks, and the heart to hearts, I’m not in a rush to go out and find it. I think I really did get to a point where I’m just enjoying my singleness, my independence without a need/desire to be with someone.

I think I am right when I told Sheilah, when/if things end between us, that’s it. I’m done. I’m not looking anymore. If for some reason, a girl pops in my life and I really do fancy her and she fancies me, yes, I will ask her out, but until then, I am more than okay with just being alone and being on my own.

I guess I just need that in my life right now. I just need to focus on things that are important to me. School, job (need to figure out how to catch up on everything), my writing, photography, me. I’m selfish, what can I say.

I didn’t get to see my family much this year. I went back home twice. One was planned and the other not. My uncle passed away and I drove up with my cousins for the funeral. He was my favorite uncle, because growing up, my brother and I would always go over to his place and just hang with my cousins. I’m really sad to have seen him go, but maybe it’s the realist in me, it was expected. Death is death, and there’s nothing to be afraid of. It’s just a part of life. But, it was good to see that my cousins are doing better and accepted it. His memorial is next year and I’m sure I’ll make the time to fly up for that.

I didn’t get a chance to go back home for the holidays this year. There was a part of me that really wanted to spend it down here on my own for once and I did. Another part of me felt guilty about dumping Pickles off at Scott and Rutledge’s again. They have done so much for me in taking Pickles, I owe them tons. Because I didn’t go back, I got to spend the holidays with my surrogate family, the Carter’s and I loved it. It was very chill, relaxed, and over all great.

But with my lack of family interaction this year, I did manage to get with new family. I found a newfound cousin, a lost sibling, so it seems earlier in the year. Jun or Chanh, depending, but we get along great with each other. We just clicked from day one and we were just so open. I guess it is our similar attitudes and laid back nature that made us click. We were good for the first half of the year, but then she became distant and school started so I haven’t been able to hang out with her, but all in all, I’m really glad to know her.

Along with Great Uncle and his family, I really do have a lot of family down here. It seems that I’ve traded hanging out with some family with hanging out with another. I haven’t been able to visit Fresno as often as I usually do. I guess with having a dog, it is difficult and usually life just gets in the way. It just seems that I will visit them less and less. So Sad.

Here’s another thing that I noticed this year. Maybe I’m growing up and realizing what type of people I like and what type of people I don’t like and this applies mostly to family, but I realize that there are family members that I grew up with that I really don’t hang out with anymore. It’s mostly because we are so different that it’s tough to find common ground to work on and some is because I just don’t like them. They demonstrated that they aren’t the type of person I like. I tend to gravitate towards family that are more mature, settled down, those who are open minded and those who think the same as I do. I guess it does make sense in the way, why would you want to hang out with people you generally don’t like? Hence I tend to gravitate toward certain cousins and relatives because of their personality and what not.

I guess I’m just reaching that point where my popularity within the family doesn’t really matter anymore. The only thing that matters is that I am able to be myself.

There were plenty of good this year and there were plenty of bad also. A Chinese fortuneteller told me that this year is one of my worst. But now that it is almost over, looking back, sure it was bad, but it wasn’t anything I couldn’t handle. I’m still alive.

In just a few days this year will be over and ’07 will start turning the clocks. I wonder what it will bring? Will my China trip come to fruition? Will I start another script and finish it without any problems? I’ve learned to not live so far in the future and just live day to day. Whatever happens today happens because it happens. Plans will not be made weeks in advance, but only days if not hours. I guess I’m finally starting to live in the present. The past will stay in the past, good only for reflection to figure out how much I’ve grown and how far I’ve came and the future is a blank slate ready for me to start filling when the time comes for me to.

Looking back, at the date with the Trader Joe’s lady, she pegged me correctly when she called me an existentialist. Life is life. It is just this. It goes and goes so long and I take it as it comes. But she also pegged me wrong too. I am a realist, but that doesn’t mean I’m a pessimist. Yes, I will admit that I WAS one, but over the past couple of years, I’ve become so optimistic it’s shocking. Where did it come from?

But, it’s a new year and I am going to leave it open and not think of what is to come. I want to be surprised. I want 2007 to be my year of surprise.

So come alone and surprise me 2007. It’s been a while.

Rut Rut

Thoughts just rumble in my head as I try to make sense of them. They never stop long enough for me to evaluate them. They just zoom this way and that way, passing to the forefront of my mind to the back of it. It comes and goes.

Thoughts that just range from mundane to life altering. What is to become of me?

Why can’t I just shake these fears of writing and just write? I just need to write, to compose these ideas that I have in my head to form the scenes that composes this particular script that I’m writing. But nothing comes. I’m petrified by the mere thought of not writing it correctly that it just dies before I even start.

It has tons of potential, like I have tons of unlocked potential that just needs to be released. I just need to jump right in and shed my inhibitions. I need to shake the fear that clouds my mind. I just need to put that important first word on to paper and then it will all come flushing out like a bursting dam. I just need to find the right word.

Wedding. It is a wedding. Here the lovers or the thrown together pair will unite. Here is where they make it official to the world. Here is where they make it official to their parents and permanently lock themselves in this matrimony of impulse. Will this union last or will it fizzle as fast as it came to be?

The ending just escapes me. I can’t picture it in my head. I just need to worry about the next step, the next scene and then worry about the scene after that and ultimately it will lead me to the final scene. It should come to me organically. It should just come to me when it comes, so it doesn’t feel forced.

I just need to find the right grove again. Stella’s got her groove back, but why can’t I? Is it because I am at home, writing, which I haven’t done in years? Is it because of that? I just need to break into this room, this office slash bedroom and be comfortable in it and then my mind will just be able to release the potential that is in me.

Routine. Schedule. I need to come up with one. Days where I will write. Days where I will watch television or movies. Days where I will go to school. Just focus. I just need to focus. Finish this script and jump on something else that is either new or create something else in a different medium.

I’m just at a total loss. I can’t think straight. Girls clouding my head, relationships that just taunt me.

I’m addicted now. I had a taste, more than a taste..I lived high and favored what was before me. But now it is gone, and I miss it. I miss the touch, the warmth, the nights of wrapped around arms. I just miss that certain feeling to have someone there. It just clouds my mind and it is coming back with a vengence. I just need to focus and not think about it anymore. Put it out of my mind. Brush it aside. That’s where it needs to be…to the side, out of my mind.

I’m not going to think about it. I’m not going to think of the possibilities. I’m not going to think about those that I was chatting to. I’m not going to think about the past. I’m just going to focus on what is in front of me, and that is my job and my work, my passion, my dreams and goals. Those take the main stage. They are more important to me now than ever. Life is just passing me by and I’m not even making an effort to fulfill this passing dream.

Writing. Directing. Creating. The opportunity is always in my hand, but I just look at it and not participate.