Nemesised

Look what I found waiting for me when I got home.



Could that be a tasty delectable treat in that brown paper bag? Like a frozen yogurt? Or possibly a red vine? Noooooooo. No such happiness awaited inside the darkness of that bag.

It's a dark I know well.



Green sauce from Wahoo's Fish Tacos. Green like kryptonite!

-- Post From My iPhone

"Rara"

Since I was a little kid, I've been known to my cousins as "Rara".

Sidenote: Typically, when I refer to my "cousins", I'm talking about a group of five that technically are not even my first cousins. All of those real first cousins are in the Philippines and I've never met them. These "cousins" are the ones I grew up with and while we really are family, I'm technically on the same family tree level with their mom (as second cousins, I believe). But her kids and I have always considered each other cousins since we're in the same age group (me being the oldest).

Anyways, I guess when the first of them (Johnny) was old enough to give me a name, that name was "Rara". We're only three years apart, he and I. Which back when we were kids, at least to me, seemed like a huge difference. My nickname for him was "Sas-See". I have no freaking clue how that came about. That name had a short life (thankfully for him), but the name "Rara" kept living on with each of the four siblings that followed. At least that name made sense, right? It's easier for a little kid to say "Rara" than to say "Ryan".

Well, I'm a month away from my 25th birthday, and I'm still Rara. All of them still call me that - although the older ones have shortened it to just "Ra." (A few of my friends who learned of this nickname have started calling me that too sometimes.) It's funny when I'm visiting their house and they have a friend over and the friend comes to think "Ra" is actually my real name. Sometimes they'll correct them... I don't mind. It's funny. And it's a nice part of my childhood, of a much simpler innocent time.

The youngest of them, Tia, will graduate high school in 7 years. She'll be 18, and I'll be 31 when she does. It's crazy to think about that. But I bet I'll still be called Ra... and I know I'll be thankful for that.

Success and Juevos

So Chris and I are sitting here at the Broken Yolk Cafe in PB after Kristen's graduation at SDSU (congrats Kristen!) and we've been looking for cool apps for our phones. And lo and behold, there's this great little app to blog from the iPhone! So this is my test. If this works, I'll probably be more apt to update, like when I'm out and about.

I have stuff to say about last night's outing that wasn't but became something else, and blogs that I need to read and comment on (I'm so behind on the times) but I'll do that at the comfort of my home and laptop. For now, I look forward to the California breakfast burrito. Mmmmmm...




-- Post From My iPhone

Saturdays with a Twist

Also known as "SWAT"...

Saturday was going to be another fun symphony outing. The only ones committed to going were me and Melodi. Kasey claimed he was a maybe - and though he really wants to see the symphony, his love for the NBA (and the Lakers) is much greater, and there was a game on Saturday evening (more on that later). The plan was to head down to the Yardhouse for dinner and drinks, watching a little bit of the game, and then go on over to Copley Symphony Hall to listen to some Rachmaninoff.

I don't know much about Rachmaninoff, except for one composition that Michelle Kwan used for one of her classic figure skating programs.

Confession #1 - Before there was Lea Michele, and before Mandy Moore, there was Michelle Kwan. My celebrity crush. My sole reason for watching figure skating. The way she moved on the ice was so beautiful. In the same way I'd download a song after seeing someone use it on "So You Think You Can Dance", I'd download whatever music she used... she was just the complete package. But I digress...

Back to the symphony outing... it ended up just being Mel and I going downtown. We really should've had plenty of time, but we were just enjoying our food and drinks. I even tried something with lobster for the time time, which for me is a big deal since I don't try things that have been in the ocean. It was tasty, I'll admit. But then we looked at our phones and saw there was no way we'd make it to the symphony... so instead of rushing through our meal, we enjoyed it while watching the Lakers beat the Nuggets (in a really close exciting game).

Missing the symphony was disappointing, but there's always another one coming up, so I'll be sure to plan another outing. With our original plans dashed, Mel and I tried to see if anyone else might be heading downtown for some nightclub action. No one was, but we got a hold of Suzy and decided to join her and her roomies down in Pacific Beach. Specifically, Typhoon Saloon.

Confession #2 - Johannah and I ditched church one time to head to PB. Not like we got up in the middle of the Sunday night service, but the plan was to go to Flood that evening and join our friends like we did every Sunday. Well at the last minute, the two of us decided to play hooky and head over to what was then known as Big Bertha's to see my friend Pete Thurston. He was playing a show at the bar, and we decided to check it out. Not being PB goers, we were a little lost and hesitant, but it ended up being a nice little excursion and cool to see Pete and Cass (as always). Oh those days of "Jack and Jen's" random outings... I miss them a lot. "Jack and Jen" being a reference to Dawson's Creek, btw. I was Jack (minus the gay) and she was Jen (minus the baby).

Typhoon Saloon wasn't that busy at first, but by the time 11pm hit, the place was packed. People weren't dressed as nicely as they would at the Gaslamp. This was the first time I really paid attention to how other people get down at these places. You have your group of girls dancing with their drinks and then you have the group of guys just standing with their drinks looking around for hot girls. And on the dance floor, guys will just walk up to a girl and start dancing with her... and she'll be okay with that and then they'll start grinding. And then maybe they'll face each other, decide the other is decent-looking enough, and start making out. It's all very interesting. Which leads me to...

Confession #3 - I actually like going out clubbing. I know the idea of paying money to go out dancing in loud dark rooms with strobe lights and paying even more for drinks is ridiculous, but I find the atmosphere fun. Not to go looking for someone to hook up with (as if that's how I roll), but I like the different types of music (hip-hop, 80s, techno, pop, for example) and nice beats and getting a little dressed up. But I'd only feel comfortable going in a group of close friends. Except none of mine are into any of that stuff, so I'll take what I can get when the offer comes up from other friends.

So it wasn't the symphony, but it was still a good night out... no hangover either, which was muy importante since I wasn't going to get much sleep before waking for Kristen's graduation the next morning. Phew!

Don't Stop Believing!

Just a little video post for now :)

35 Days Later

Location: My bedroom, while people are playing Halo outside in the living room

The Date/Time: Cinco De Mayo 2009

Miscellaneous: listening to the new Mat Kearney song "Closer to Love"... and I'm in love. I see myself and Weez at one of his concerts enjoying this song, potentially in the near future...

I find myself not wanting to sleep just yet. I'm in one of those moods where I really just want to bust out in song. Like when I'm doing dishes, and I have my laptop out on the table, spinning a playlist, and I'm just going for those notes as I scrub the dried food off that plate. It makes the arduous task of dishwashing a lot more tolerable, if not even enjoyable for me...

But I can't just bust out into Jason Mraz's "Unfold" right now, as that'd just be weird. I can see it now...

Andy: Do you guys hear something?

OSF #1: It sounds like singing...

Me [singing from my room]: "My hands are hiiiiiiiiiiiigh... and I'm holding on..."

OSF #2: Is Ry singing in his room?

Random guest of Andy's: Who's Ry again? You mean that Asian kid?

Okay, so maybe not quite like that...

But instead of singing, I'm channeling that energy into my fingers and typing out my thoughts on working out for the last 35 consecutive days. And you know what, it feels freaking fantastic, actually.

It was a goal for both Chris and I to be more consistent with hitting the gym this year, and in late March I started going intermittently. And to be honest, it sucked. I hadn't worked out in awhile, and when I did go, I only did cardio. Last year, I used to hit the weights with Kasey, and we'd go pretty consistently after work, but that was back in the graveyard shift days. But since I moved to daytime hours in May 2008, I think I'd barely go once a month. It was hard getting motivated, especially as my various gym partners were never consistent either.

But I remember trying on some of my jeans/pants (around early March), and they were just not fitting well anymore. If at all. And I said "this is not going to work." All that sitting around in the office and eating out for lunch was not doing me any favors. And so there was my motivation for hitting the gym again.

Getting back into the routine was hard, but I eased into it. It was never an official goal to make it through the entire month of April without missing a beat, but it happened. I was adding weight lifting days eventually to the point where I lift every other day (and now I'm slowly increasing the weight too)... upping the difficulty (resistance) on the elliptical (I already could do incline at the max)... and being more conscientious about my eating habits. And so now it's been 35 straight days of hitting the gym, and it's weird to think that I might miss a workout... so I guess until further notice, the streak continues! And I'll read up on different exercises to mix things up...

I'll worry about gaining lean muscle mass with time (and my cousin's help/training, since he used to train hard for his hockey playing days), but for now my stomach is getting slimmer, and I dig it. :D

Romans 8:15

In contrast to the question from "Glee" character Rachel Berry -

"So you have not received a spirit that makes you fearful slaves. Instead, you received God’s Spirit when He adopted you as His own children. Now we call him, 'Abba, Father'." -Romans 8:15 (NLT)

"I believe that God made me for a purpose, but He also made me fast. When I run it is in His pleasure." - Eric Liddell (men's 400 meter gold medalist, 1924 Summer Olympics)