Eight Things Meme

OK Jersey, here goes...

Eight things I am passionate about:

1. Learning. I love to learn. I randomly dip into intriguing subjects and just absorb the information like a kid in a candy store. I don't necessarily have particular subjects that I like more than others, it's just whatever grabs me at the time. When I was a kid I took it upon my self to learn everything I could about planets. Then I moved on to Dinosaurs and had such an extensive knowledge at 5 and 6 that I started a club where I was the president and taught a new Dino everyday. I taught myself how to draw all of the Disney characters at 7. Adults would pay me to draw things for their kids. I've taught myself some basic Japanese (the only thing I know how to say now is "No", which is important if a Japanese girl tries to take it too far :). Now I'm teaching myself Tagalog (a Filipino language) and I'm studying dance again. A few months ago I was learning everything I could about graphic and web design, before that production and the film industry.
2. Dance. I've been dancing since I was a kid, but nothing serious. When I was 16 I realized I had a natural rhythm and started studying different dancers like Michael Jackson, Fred Astaire, and BBoys. My main style of dance is Hip Hop. I went on a dancing sabbatical for 3 years but am practicing daily again. I used to go to L.A. every year to compete and meet up with other dancers. I plan on taking some jazz and tap classes to freshen up there too. No matter where I am I find myself practicing moves or articulating moves in my head, discreetly of course. And Jersey, like you, I dance in the shower (mental images are go)... always practicing.
3. Cooking. I love to cook. I'm a natural chef like Ratatouille the Rat or something. With just some of the basic knowledge of cooking that I've garnered from watching cooking shows, something I've done since I was a kid, I have this innate sense of how to season and prepare foods properly and deliciously. I can't imagine what would happen if I actually went to a culinary school. I also love feeding people, so that goes hand in hand with my loving to cook. If I have the chance to I will probably cook something for you. I'm also the rare guy that loves to go grocery shopping... yay me!
4. Money. I have this insatiable desire to be rich and powerful. Disgusting right? I subscribe to Forbes just to read about these rich and powerful people and hopefully pick up a thing or two. One of my goals is to be on the cover someday, not even joking. There are trillions of dollars out there that exchanges hands daily, both physically and digitally. All I need to do is come up with a product or service that reroutes some of that wealth to my bank account. I once heard that money has a sense. If you are someone who will take care of it and use it wisely it will be attracted to you. If you are the type of person that uses it carelessly it will be repelled by you.
5. Filipino Martial Arts. Arnis De Mano, Modern Arnis, Eskrima, Kali. I have been studying the Filipino martial arts for about 8 years. I am part Filipino and love that part of my heritage so I took it upon myself to study the ancient fighting styles of the Philippines. We're BAMF too, let me tell you. We once held off an entire Japanese army with bolo's, rattan bastons, espada's y daga's and stifled the Japanese occupation. There were reports of some pinoys getting shot with high caliber rifles and pistols and not even flinching! That's BAMF. Mabuhay!(Live long or Peace)
6. Books. Until a couple of years ago I would usually have my nose in a science(NOT SCI-FI), business philosophy, economic/money sense, biography or personal development books. I have been reading much more fiction lately. I have tons of books. Probably... over 100. I have not read all these, but I do feel smarter just having them. I love reading and as a kid would spend time in my room reading anything I could get my hands on. As a kid I read the Bible, the dictionary and science books as they were readily available.
7. Family & Friends. Admittedly I am a terrible friend. I hate that I fail as a friend on so many levels. Sometimes I'm a terrible son too. (My mom and dad might argue that I'm always a terrible son ;) I do love and appreciate the people that are always there for me. JNS, one of the dearest people on earth to me, I'm gonna marry that girl one day. My brother Jonathon, also one of my best buds. VJC is one of my best friends. SH is my boss, my mentor and has taught me more about being the best person I can be than any book I've read or class/seminar/lecture I've ever attended.
8. Fashion. I was deliberating on whether to put this here. Then I looked at the rest of my list and said, "WTH I'm read like a homo-geek anyway so why not." :) I love looking good. I am usually the best dressed of my friends, and think myself quite sexy. I spend a lot of time ruminating on what I should wear. Even if it's just shorts and a t-shirt, I'll change three times to get the right look. I am not a high end fashion label whore like but I have my brands and I'm loyal to them. Banana Republic is my number one store. Abercrombie is another favorite of mine. I also love J Crew and the Gap. I HATE A|X, Ed Hardy, and those other Guido brands. Yeck! I also get compliments on my hair quite a bit, but I'm never happy with it.
   

Eight things I want to do before I die:

1. Visit Asia. Japan (Tokyo, Okinawa, Mt Fuji), China (Shanghai, Hong Kong, The Great Wall), The Philippines (Manila, Quezon, Cebu)
2. Visit Europe. Um, All of it. Every square mile.
3. Financial Independence. I really do want to be rich and powerful someday. When I am I will probably be giving money to causes bigger than myself, that's how I want to make a difference.
4. Make a difference. See 3.
5. Be completely accepting of the person God made me. I am always wondering what it would be like if I was an apple instead of an orange. Asking myself, "What if I was born into this situation?"or "had taken this direction in life?"... I just want to be the best orange I can be. All sweet and juicy.
6. Become fairly proficient at Japanese and Tagalog. See 1.
7. Own several successful businesses. See 3.
8. Either marry JNS or remain a hot sexy single and rich bachelor all of my life. And maybe be a single father, because kids are great and so are single fathers.
   

Eight things I say often:

1. "What up Yo" mainly as a parody of my non-hipness.
2. "Brrr freaking muda" When I'm cold.
3. "How much?" I once asked this question in my sleep. Evidently I don't like spending too much money on any one single item.
4. "I'd like a student/senior citizen/good customer discount for that please *smile*" I really say that to about everyone I purchase from. Usually after they ask, "Can I get you anything else?" I've gotten a discount several times too. "Ask and you shall receive." The best advice I ever got as a kid.
5. "What scotch's do you have?" I'm a huge huge fan of scotch. Single malts and blends. Johnny walker is my favorite fiscally attainable brand, but I like Balvenie, and Glenrothe's as guilty expensive pleasures. I also enjoy some Irish Whiskey's as well. Bushmills Black is tasty.
6. "You my little kiki gurls?" I repeat this in rapid succession when doting on my dog, Kiki.
7. "You come here often?" Just kidding.
8. Movie quotes and or funny sitcom quotes. Especially Will Farrell. My favorite hit or miss is "Ze gogglez! Ze do nozhing!" because not everyone knows what it's from.
   

Eight books I’ve read recently:

1. My French Whore - Gene Wilders Debut Novella
2. The Woman Who Wouldn't - Gene Wilders follow up Novella
3. Search Engine Optimization for Dummies
4. Multiple Streams of Income (I've read this probably once a year since I bought it.)
5. Sly Moves - Workout book
6. Modern Arnis: Remy Presas
7. Harry Potter
8. Cook Books
   

Eight Movies I have seen Eight times:

1. The Karate Kid
2. Superman 1 (well most of them)
3. Top Gun
4. Talladega Nights, Elf and the rest of his films...
5. Batman Begins
6. Tommy Boy
7. Spanglish (This was the only DVD I owned for a while and with no cable to boot)
8. The Notebook, Titanic, How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days, The Sweetest Thing... NONE OF THESE BY CHOICE.
9. Young Frankenstein best movie ever. :)
   

Eight people who should do this meme:

1. L.C.T.

2. Angela

3. Miss Em

4. Classy Fabulous Filipino

5. Stream of Consciousness

6. And...

7. how about...

8. YOU!

Playing catch up and 2 of my current favorite songs...

I'm running out of new pictures unfortunately to put on my blog. I haven't taken any recently because I work too darn much to do anything fun. Boo me. I'm going to a friends party this weekend so maybe I'll get some news pics, she's got a new place and wants to celebrate. Maybe I'll get something to write about :) So I am meandering down my blog roll link by bloody link and trying to catch up on all my peeps blogs. If I haven't made it to you yet it's because I love yours the most and I want to save the best for last. Thusly if I've already gotten to you it's because my love is that much greater than had I not. [It's not supposed to make sense its called being diplomatic and playing politics:] Anyway, so in other news I love the following 2 songs and they both remind of good times with friends, dancing, drinking and kanoodling. Wait- I don't have a clue what kanoodling is, let alone if that is the correct spelling. [EDIT: its even funnier in this context when you know what it is]

The songs are:

1st Song - David Guetta - Love is gone
2nd Song - Bob Sinclair - World Hold On (Children of the Sky)

Oh and wait for the basslines to kick in... cause that's when you get ants in yo' pants.

Very stupid video I think but great song to get down to:


Another great song that reminds me of a friend of mine who just loves to dance as much as I do:


Now, forget about your troubles and dance :)

Luuucy, i'm hoo-oome...

Wow, so I am very sorry to have disappeared on my blogging friends. As you may know from reading my previous post I have been working an excruciating schedule. A lot got dumped on my shoulders at once so it's been hard to have the desire to do anything that involves writing... especially for leisure. However, I missed my blogger buddies so I can't stay gone for long, tired or not.

So I'll catch you up with what I have been doing lately. This past week I have been creating a marketing and sales system for a client of ours. I'm working with my old boss, who's pretty well taught me everything I know about sales and marketing, and has now started his own company. One of his first clients are needing to market a product of theirs and I am given the reigns. So it's been tedious to say the least, but I'm making it through. Then I am working with outback, but I'm not actually out of training yet, so just imagine how busy I'll be when I'm on the floor. I actually haven't really met anyone as of yet since I'm taking tests and stuff.

Not much else has happened that would be interesting to write about... I did learn how to cook a really mean steak. Did I ever tell you guys that I liked to cook? I'm actually quite the chef I might add. I take a lot of pride in it. From preparation to plating. I should probably go to a culinary school to broaden my "talent" but alas I have no time and I probably would never want to work as a chef for a living. Anyway, whenever people come over I try to cook for them, I just like to feed people for some reason.

Selling my car has proven to be pain, I don't have the money to purchase the car that I want either. Fortunately I live a stones throw away from the village and am able to walk there whenever I need something.

I purchased the video game Metal Gear Solid 4 but I haven't played it yet. I did watch my brother annihilate it in one sitting however. It was a great game with a lot of cinematics which made it feel like a Hollywood summer blockbuster. I have always loved that game since the first one came out and so I had to finish the series.

I'm really hoping to be able to go out more so I can have a life... soon. Anyway, thanks for those of you who inquired about me, it made me feel really special. :) I won't disappear that long anymore 'k? 'K.

Funny. In a disturbing kind of a way. Employees willingly get punched in the face in slo-mo

So evidently this production company named Action Figure did this elaborate PR move to garner publicity, virally via the interwebs. The funny part is that all of these people are said to have agreed to do this with no questions asked.

“The disturbing thing is that no one questioned it when all employees were asked to meet in Stage One so that we could punch them in the face,” says Matt Hovis, Director and Principal at Action Figure.

It gets a little disturbing after watching the skin literally shift off of their skulls, but for some reason I couldn't look away... and couldn't help but laugh either.

source

I can't believe it's Friday, and I can't believe I haven't written anything since last Sunday!

Sorry guys, I guess I haven't had anything terribly exciting happening this week. I did get into a medium heated argument with my roommate today. There's a director that will be in Manhattan next week and I asked him if he would come with me to meet him. He asked a series of pointed questions to determine if he would be able to make it according to his schedule. He finally determined that he wouldn't be able to come citing "work-load" and "missed money" as the issue. Well, that's where it started. I said, "Ok, no problem." and began to walk away. As I'm walking away I thought, "ya know that's a lame excuse, he up and leaves for Jersey at the drop of the hat all the time, makes plans to take off a day at the drop of a hat and tells me he is unable to do so because of missed money and work-load?"

Now what you don't know is that he, DP, is practically a self-employed graphic and web designer. He also works part-time for a small online company here in the village. He HAS NO SCHEDULE. At least no one to dictate it to him. He really has no "deadlines" with his projects in queue either. He does, but they are movable based on his availability and what not. I mean a majority of the work is with and for friends and family. Not big corporate accounts that have a set deadline. Granted he is in a film school right now too. Anyway, that's what I'm thinking as I back myself up to his door and say, "that's a really lame excuse. If you didn't want to go you could just say that." "Well I am saying that, It's true I don't know much about this director or anything but I wouldn't mind hanging out with you, it's just that I can't afford to miss that day of work." I started to get really annoyed at this point because I felt like he was patronizing me and insulting my intelligence. I continued with, "You leave all the time to go a whole week out to Jersey or make snap decisions to go to a Coldplay or Counting Crows concert but you're going to act like this can't be done because of all the work you have to do now?" "Hold ONE MINUTE, I don't have to explain to you what I do and when I do it, but I'll have you know that when I go to Jersey I do get reimbursed and I haven't even decided to go to the Coldplay concert because I may not have the money to do so. I can't afford to miss a day on these projects." Still not buying it I say, "But there's a disconnect with what you are saying and what you are doing DP. You say you're busy doing this and busy doing that, but the only time you are able to work on these things is when you are on the computer and I just don't see you working as heavily as you are letting off right now. So don't say to me you can't go to the city "because of" and patronize me. Just say you don't want to." "Well I am saying that, again, I wouldn't mind hanging out with you that's why I was hemming and hawwing trying to determine if I could go with you. Because I genuinely considered it." So now we're getting somewhere. "DP, I can understand you're getting behind on things. I just didn't want you to assume that I would believe that you are balls to the wall busy all of a sudden when you take random times off all the time." "You're right, you bringing up these types of things makes me remember how busy I need to be and how much work I need to be getting done. When I think about planning time for myself, especially in advance I feel guilty for not working on these things." So that's it.

Anyway, we worked it out from there. Chances are great he is not going to the city with me, and as an indirect result, I may not be going either. I'm really not that type of person that "has to" meet famous people. Well not everyone. This director guy is incredibly talented and never comes to the U.S. but still I'm not sure that I'm willing to wait in line for hours by myself with a bunch of fanboys just to meet another human being.

Decisions, decisions...

I am also starting a new job. All this talk of people working in restaurants (Jersey, ThisDay, Angela) now I'm working in one. Outback. Should I say that? I think Jersey said something about remaining anonymous at times can be good. Anyway, so I start waiting tables in about a week. woot

This is on top of another 40 hour a week job. AND I START CLASSES IN
THE FALL!!!!!! I must be on the crack pipe. Some one help.

Guid's, Guido's and Guidettes... or Guidle Dee and Guidle Dum

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Can we talk about how creepy this is for a minute?

Any of you interested in pinching his little cheeks?


And this is how you remember him....

Going into the city today, South Street Seaport to be exact...

So, I've got a couple of posts I'm working on since blogging is my new fav hobby. I can't finish them until I get back and since I knew all 8 people that read my blog are REEELING to see more I'm leaving this post. And a picture of me, my cousin and brother. Not the best pics, but I'm in a hurry and I dislike posting with no real pics.

Not ready for the shot!

My cousin is the guy on my right hand side and my brother is the guy in the hat.


K, a lil better

Kiki and flora

Oh and this is my dog, KiKi... Actually her full name is Sakura Keiko, but I call her KiKi.