Thursday 16 December 2010

Life: Part 2

December 13, 2010
Now that the LSAT is over, I want to be productive these days. I guess that comes with the work ethic that you get from constantly having the LSAT on your shoulders. Now that it's been lifted and the hardship of law school is somewhat on the horizon, I need something to fill my desire to be constantly doing something and also just live life while I still have it.
One thing I have to do is make sure that I get sleep. Instead of a 9-5, I try to go into the office a bit earlier, like 8:30. That means I have to get up way early and I'm not the type that can operate without sleep. If I sleep at 1:30 and get up at 8:00, I end up having to go home and waste a chunk of my afternoon napping for an hour or two.
When I get home, I should have a plan. No schmoozing around. I have my YouTube videos playing in the background when I work, I have no excuse to be dilly dallying on the Internet at home. My rule: Always be productive.
So today, I guess I'll check it off as an off day. I don't really get anything done. I get my workout in and I Ebay one thing for my Christmas shopping (still more to do on that).

December 14, 2010
I run some errands, I get home, have some Egg Beats, nap from 6-7:00. Then I go to Queens Center Mall. First, again I get ask if I'm an employee at PacSun. I also realize I need a good 3-4 hours at a mall. Then again, I checked 80% of the stores I wanted to anyway. Picky shopping. I get pair jeans at PacSun that actually fit (W29 L30). My old jeans are W30/31 and almost to point of awkwardly barely fitting even with a belt. I actually returned jeans I bought because they gave me a $25 off card. Return product to buy the same product back with discount, true shopping. $40 for 2 pair, dd.
I get a peacoat for $30 (70% off from $100) from Aeropostale. It ends up not really fitting when I get home, though I felt it didn't when I tried it on at the store. If it's not perfect, return it. So I need to go back to the mall tomorrow. Ugh.

December 15, 2010
For things on my list to get done:
I should catch up with Bowen before he goes to China for his school break and also ask him for tips about Paris.
More importantly, book my flight for Paris.
And about Paris, I need to step my game up. If I'm schmoozing on the computer, I need to be constantly playing Magic to get my chops up. Only hours and hours of practice get to good play.
Send out my Christmas cards. I was actually planning on making gingerbread biscotti and sending that too with my cards, but that seems like work.
Finish up my Christmas shopping and wrap that shit up.
Figure what schools I want to apply to, then actually apply.
On the back back burner is relearning Spanish, but that's also work.

I call the Hasbro travel agent and she says I can plan the flight by next week, so I'll do it that way.
I go to Roosevelt Field. H&M, which is sometimes my go to store, doesn't really have anything, despite their sales. They really do put up the shittiest, ugliest clothes on sale. Stuff that you ask, "Why would they even manufacture this?" and then you realize some chump bought this ruffley pirate shirt and is wearing that POS.
I check Gap's sale, but realize I'm kidding myself I think I could find fitting clothes there.
At Aeropostale, they're having a sick sick sale. Usually there stuff is "regular" in first place, $40-50 hoodie, $30 button up, $20 graphic tee, $40-50 jeans, etc. However, it's going wild clearance style where things are at least 50% off.
I spend a good hour or so there checking shit out. I find the pea coat ($30 from $100) that I want in XS, which is perfect. Every man needs one. It's not the best 100% wool pea coat, which is a real investment, but hey, screw the outdoors, I'm staying inside these next few months as much as possible.
I get a biege hoodie ($25), which isn't too logo-ey. By the way, their brand sucks for being so logo-ey. Nobody wants your stupid "Aero" or "Aeropostale" on their shirt. Just make a design and leave your brand off of it. It's on every collared shirt and graphic tee. There guys in their late 20s even joke that they would never wear that stuff, but it's fine for "the girls." I guess they're shopping for younger family or something.
I actually get a nice maroon t-shirt, though I realize it does have their brand on it, but the shirt is busy enough that it's not too noticeable ($9).
I also get some really warm "shoe slipper" things ($10). Hard wood floor, it's winter, a must have.
A gray wool cardigan ($15). Sort of like granny-style.
Shit's cheap, so I decide to break tradition and get my cousins a shirt and a scarf ($18), though I don't think I want to go down to Virginia for whatever family shindig. I'm a true family fella.
I almost buy a Northface looking fleece, but I realize, I'm too old for this shit. Despite being hella practical and warm for fall, you look like a dipshit kid with that on.
I go by the rule: "Would I wear this out?"
People have too many clothes that are casual or for home. The more clothes you have that you feel are an "upgrade" and make you dress "up," then it's just a positive overall for your general wardrobe. For example, why would you fuck fat chicks and occasionally fuck hot chicks? Makes no sense, just fuck the chicks. Period.
Once you get out of high school, and especially college, and into the real world, you need to start dressing like an adult. Granted, I'm not going to rock a button up and sweater everyday, but it's still a philosophy to mostly abide by.

I have yet to go to the mall and not get confused as someone who works there. This time, I get it like 3 times. Even once, I just give up explaining and help someone out who's reaching for a shirt on a high rack. And yes, the lady was quite short if I'm the one that's reaching for something "high." Laugh away.
It's past 9:00PM now and I need dinner so I scope the pretty empty food court. It's late and the mall is closing soon. For some reason, "Sanku" is way crowded with a line that wraps part of the food court, while everything else is barely busy. I go with the hype and order their $4.99 chicken terayaki. The food is so-so, but the appeal is that it's made to order right in front of you, stir fried on the grill. At least it makes sense that this place is so busy. "Made to order" anything is always better.

December 16, 2010
I guess my brother is in China by now because I left him a message a few days ago. My mom left me a number to call him with, so I'll do that.
By the way, this sobriety thing is going pretty well. I hadn't drank for a week or two before the LSAT. Even after it on that Saturday night, I chilled wiht CNF, Miah, and Kenny and didn't go too wild.
With this productivity ethic, drinking just doesn't fit into that equation too well. Hangovers are no longer a myth to me. Even a few drinks affect me the next day. I need to sleep in more, but most importantly, my entire body and mind is just sluggish. I'm fully content to just eat, drink water, and watch stuff on my computer all day. I never do anything productive nor can I even multitask well, like write for Yelp or my blog while watching something. With this frigid weather, I think it'll all work out well. I won't be going out freezing my ass off. I'll be getting to bed at a decent time. I'll be saving some money. And I'll be able to do stuff on my weekends instead of going out one night, recovering the next day, going out another night, recovering the next day.

Tuesday 7 December 2010

The Three Lines

December 3, 2010
Miah, Spamps, and Bolanos are hanging at my place and we smoke up some weed. It’s been a while and it’s good times, but I just need to mention a few highlight lines:
1. “That’s not something you usually offer someone.” - Darwin
Bolanos and I were at the Comic Store and one of the little kids was eating a burger and wings from Hickory BBQ. That’s a serious meal. I’m very impressed by him. He’s probably 11 and eating a man’s man meal. He kindly offers a wing to me and insist that I have one. I retort, “That’s not something you usually offer someone.” Wings are just a horribly messy food. Bolanos mentions that not only did I refuse his kind gesture, but scorned him for his genourosity.
I tell the guys this story and I joke that it would be a really good reality TV segment to use this. Imagine an outdoor flea market and you have a booth where you offer free buffalo wings, super messy saucy ones. People eat them with their hands and then ask for napkins and you reply that you do not have any. No bathrooms nearby, they’re outdoors, they’re around a bunch of random booths that sell useless knick knacks, and they’re stranded with their faces and hands covered in sauce.

2. “Apparently they had no chance.” – Bolanos
I think we all know that Bolanos is a supporter of his people, the Jews and Israel or whatnot. He tells us of this story that forest fires are going on in Israel. I’m pretty sure he over emphasizes the importance of this story in the news and was blown away that I had not heard about it. Granted, I’m extremely ignorant of the news.
He starts off telling the story with already a pro-Israel slant. “Well first of all, Israel is a big desert, but they put trees there because they’re sophisticated like that, but that’s beside the point...” He goes on to say that a bus full of people were engulfed in flames and died.
While it is extremely unforunate, I just could not wrap my head around this. They were in a bus. And someone a fire killed them. It makes no sense to me. I can understand a fire killing someone trapped in a building, but a moving vehicle. Unless you purposely drive into a fire or the bus blows up for no reason, there is no reason why a bus and fire should ever result in any mishap. The only way I can envision it is a bus driving down a road and a huge fireball and shoots right at the bus and engulfs the entire thing into flames. Like a fireball rocket launcher. Or some horrific scene out of Dante’s Inferno, with Pierce Brosnan. I explain my confusion to Bolanos. He says that he had read the news story on this and replied, “Apparently they had no chance.”
The pro-Israeli-ness has even suggested that fireballs react differently and there was no way these people could’ve avoided the fire. There is just something about the emphasis on “No” in that sentence.

3. “You’re going to make me endure major suffering!?”
Miah, Spamps, and I had smoked and Bolanos wanted to get back home. He did not have his car over. Spamps and I are not in the state to drive, so we do not really have a solution for him. One of the possibly solutions is to have him walk home. He contests this option and complains to Spamps, “You’re going to make me endure major suffering!?”
Granted, it was a rough situation for him, but the three of us were just not in the mood for that Debbie Downer-ness, a fucking buzzkill. I bring up Oregon Trail or Trail of Tears. It’s clarified that Trail of Tears is the sad one where the Native Americans get shipped across America on basically a death march. The words “major suffering” were just a ridiculous hyperbole. I continue to joke that he would have to ford a river in order to get back and avoid cholera.
We eventually decide to get food at White Castle and drop of Bolanos. We walk over to Spamps’ to get his car. On the walk, it’s cold, but I just can’t stop continue laughing about “major suffering” and “Trail of Tears.”

Three lines that I will push to be used more.