It.

Another game of tag is going round. Once again, my brother has decided to pick on his younger sibling and tag me, among others. Actually, it's fun and I'm grateful. Below are the rules and my answers...

Rules:
The rules of the game get posted at the beginning. Each player answers the questions about himself or herself. At the end of the post, the player then tags five people and posts their names, then goes to their blogs and leaves them a comment, letting them know they’ve been tagged and asking them to read your blog.

Ten years ago:
I was in my junior year of high school...being a foolish kid, acting stoopid and just being a 16 year old. I was enjoying my time as a junior, spending time with friends, developing some of my closest friendships that have lasted to this day. It was also around the time I first felt what I thought were really serious feelings for a girl. And while it may not have been all I thought it to be at the time (everything of the time), it was a defining period which I learned and grew from.

Five things on today's "to do" list:

1. write a review of the new Lyrics Born album, Everywhere at Once on my music blog.
2. write this blog entry
3. buy some new shoes for the kanYe West concert [and just in general]
4. check my funds for buying shoes
5. take out the trash
   

Things I'd do if I was a Billionaire:

1. pay off my debts, my parents' debts, my brother's debts, and the debts of those i love
2. invest in an intelligent manner such that i could live comfortably off of the dividends
3. buy a mini cooper and another car
4. buy a sweet place to live in the City
5. donate money to good causes
6. continue to work, but at something i truly love and would want to do with money not a concern
7. open up a club with Peter
   

Three Bad Habits:

1. continuing to eat even after i'm full, just cuz it tastes good
2. having an addictive personality when it comes to things like people, music, and video games [thankfully not booze or drugs tho]
   
3. being bad about cleaning the kitchen
   

Five places I've lived:

1. Hartford, Connecticut
2. Ann Arbor, Michigan
3. Los Angeles, California
4. San Francisco, California
5. Glendale, California
   

Five jobs I've had:

1. DJ
2. "attorney at law"
   
3. working the booth at Cottage Inn during Art Fair
4. Urban Outfitters during Art Fair
5. UCLA Concessions
   

Five People I'm Tagging:
Peter, Lisa, Sperry, Jospeh, and Swiyyah

epic weekend

Friday afternoon I made the executive decision to head north for a friend's concert and another friend's birfday, as well as Bay to Breakers. As is always the case, it was definitely worth the time driving. The usual rundown of some highlights...

• making a surprise appearance
• the unnecessary run to Danny Coyles for last call
• the double flavored bag of Doritos
  
• playing some golf for the first time in ages and have some good laughs while doing so
• seeing a good friend sing for the first time in a long time
• San Francisco burritos
• me: "Los, have I ever told you that your existence brings happiness to my life?"
  Los: "Your trips to San Francisco bring happiness to my existence."
  
• the dancing crew having a good time at Medjool even if the music was whack as usual
• Los' newfound distaste for Medjool
• breakfasting up, Johnny Drama style
• short shorts, headbands, and wristbands
• Los: "I wish it were socially acceptable to dress like this all the time."
  
• Bay to Breakers and all its craziness
• Ed's new school boombox with it's old school aesthetic
• randomly running into ppl i know for the 3rd straight trip to the Bay
  
• holding down Bay to Breakers with multiple dance parties
• Los: "You girls are smokies!"
  
• Rick Rolling Bay to Breakers
• the dood who broke the door on the MUNI bus
• listening to Mariah Carey's "Side Effects" way too many times on the drive home [what can i say, it made sure i stayed awake]
  

i guarantee u there are quotes from the weekend i'm missing...it was a truly legendary time. looking forward to a visit from those up north down here in LA in a couple of weeks...but until then it's time to rest up. i'm exhausted a lack of sleep as well as a general exhaustion from trekking out Bay to Breakers. but it was all worth every minute of it.

legal reasoning

As odd as it may seem, I'd like to take some time and write seriously for a moment (as I lay here on the familiar lumps of the couch of good friends after a quality nite out at the bar...obviously my reasoning could be impaired at this point). Yesterday the California Supreme Court overturned a ban on gay marriage. Aside from any personal beliefs I have on the issue (which I'm sure anyone who knows me well at all already knows said beliefs), I have taken issue with some of the reasoning of the dissenting justices (or at least what I have heard of it from bits and pieces).

First off, by no means are my thoughts here fully thought out and fully informed. I base these opinions on the bits of information read in news articles over the past few days, as opposed to the actual opinions of the various justices. Second, I am not a legal scholar but just someone who managed to make his way thru law school and actually enjoyed it at times, especially the more intellectual/academic exercises that were not always the most practical.

With the disclaimers out of the way, I noticed that some of the dissenting opinions were based (in my words, as much accuracy as they may maintain) on the idea that the judiciary should not usurp the power of the people and that the issue should have been left up to the legislative process and the people at large.

While it is easy and obvious to agree with the principle at first blush, it is also incorrect. Our governmental system is one of checks and balances; this is true on the federal as well as state level. Certain issues or matters fall within our outside the purview of each branch. Certain matters are to be subject to legislation and the will of the people. Yet at the same time the judiciary is to serve as s check on this branch.

The simple fact is this: sometimes the legislature, sometimes the people get it wrong. At the time that the California Supreme Court first struck down a law banning interracial marriage, I doubt public opinion was in favor of interracial marriage. As paternalistic as it may sound, sometimes we need someone to tell us what is right and what is wrong. In fact, the government tends to serve that purpose on many occasions.

Aside from any form of paternalistic argument, the point is that sometimes it is the courts that must step into the protect the rights and liberties of the minorities, of the groups that do not have the political power or general sway of others. At the end of the day, sometimes it is the courts that make major decisions and alter the path of our nations. And it should be exactly that way.

I'd say more but it's not after 3 a.m. and I've been up since 7 a.m.

weekend recap and a game of tag...

highlights from the weekend in the Bay...

• virgin america
• walking most of the way to where i was going
  
• the funky smell of muni
• the PDA couple at Bocce Cafe
• do u like laundry?
• touching the pole
  
• an inability to find good food
• a day up at Tiburon
• Sam's
• "Barack and Roll"
• Los: "Johnny Drama is my hero."
  
• Los' excitement at the dance mix of "Since You've Been Gone"
  
• rolling deep
• rolling with more than half of the Paulus crew
• Darude - "Sandstorm"
  
• all the craziness of the nite out
• text messaging City Wide Dispatch
• the Finnish dood mugging on Los
• French Toast
• flipping into the bushes
  
• brunching up at 2pm
• Squatting and Gobbling
  
• and all the other laughs, jokes, and good times from celebrating PWT's birfday

a few pics from the weekend on the flickr thanks to the Little Wilson-Tobin.

____________________

so my brother tagged me, thus making me (and four others "it"). from his blog...

The rules of this game of tag:

1. Pick up the nearest book.
2. Open to page 123.
3. Find the fifth sentence.
4. Post the next three sentences.
5. Tag five people, and acknowledge who tagged you.

This is Your Brain on Music, Daniel J. Levitin

"Not all keys fit all locks; there are certain locks (receptors) that are designed to accept only certain neurotransmitters.

Generally, neurotransmitters cause the receiving neuron to fire of prevent it from firing. The neurotransmitters are then absorbed through a process called reuptake; without reuptake, the neurotransmitters would continue to stimulate or inhibit the firing of a neuron."

Makes me sound pretty nerdy. Good book, need to finish the last 20 pages or so still tho...eeks. It's funny, of all the stuff in the book, that is a portion I remember learning about at UCLA as a psych major. Sometimes I think back on how much I enjoyed psychology and how I was able to wrap my head around it and understand it at times...how it still is of interest to me. Makes one wonder and think about the different options and paths that existed at different times in life. Some people don't live with regret and I try not to for the most part. It's not that I regret the choices I've made...but that doesn't mean I wouldn't do some things differently. A good friend and I have often discussed how things would have been different if we could go back in time with the knowledge we have now...and how we would rock out. In all seriousness, some things I would do differently not because I regret the decisions I've made but because those decisions taught valuable lessons and now I know things I didn't before...

Back to the game...

I herebey tag: Peter, Swiyyah, Lisa, Sperry, and...i don't know if this breaks the rules [altho in my defense it is not one of the enumerated rules] but I tag my brother back [sorry Nick, u are the fifth and final person I know of with a blog that is still up and running].

____________________

In other things...all I have to say for now is that life has been a little chaotic and messy of late. I feel it stems from some of the mess(es) around my house and I look forward to the weekend of cleaning house and organizing. It's definitely time to get some of my routines back in order (like going to the gym after a bad week, cleaning up around the house, and so on). Hopefully getting back to the old will lead to something new...cuz it's time for some changing.

find a penny...

pick it up...
if it's heads...u'll have good luck*

I found a penny today and I picked it up. It was heads...so how was my luck?

To be honest, this is/was not the best day of my life. Nor has it been the worst. It was just a weird day and one that probably could have gone better. Nothing in particular went awry (at least not that I know of yet...) but there were small things that could have gone better or turned out differently. It just felt like the things I could have been lucky about didn't turn out so...

As I drove home (forgetting to check out the taco place I wanted to try that I hear straight amazing things about), I thought about my perspective. I thought about how nothing went horribly wrong, how in some ways I was lucky to have work to do, that nothing blew up in my face, and so on. I thought about all the little things we don't normally appreciate and how in many ways I am lucky. Yet I still felt pretty blah...

The thing about perspective is that it really can make all the difference in the world. When you look things from different perspectives, it can lead to new feelings, new thoughts, different opinions, different and/or better understandings, etc. Sometimes it's all you need to feel better and be put in a completely different state of mind and mood. But other times it's just not enough...because feelings are powerful. (I think it's really a matter of it taking time to reach a different perspective and for it to effect you in the way it can) Also, it's not necessarily the case that one perspective is better than another...but sometimes you just see things from different perspectives at different times.

well...i gotta do a little more work and then it's back to GTA IV for a bit before sleeping...


* some say: all day long u'll have good luck

traveling south

my usual weekend trips as many know are towards the north but this weekend i made my way south to the greater san diego area. my brother had performances with the the san diego symphony over the weekend. the usual highlights from a weekend away spending time with some of my favorite people...

• spending an afternoon with two really good friends and having some great old school laughs
• grabbing a few drinks
• a quick change and making it on time
• seeing my brother perform
• spending some time with my brother
• bacon wrapped filet mignon
• a good brunch
• seeing a good teacher form my high school
• a nice Easter dinner with my brother with some strolling around after
• a nice drive home with my thoughts and my music

it's time to rest up and recharge for another week. the next weekend is already planned and looking like another good time: this time heading north. can't wait...

exhaustion

after once again spending the weekend in the Bay, i'm lying in bed ready to pass out as i pump the tunes into my brain with my big @$$ headphones. i wanted to get to sleep a little earlier and almost passed out around 10:00 pm yet i felt a need to do a little rambling and writing. to start, the traditional list of highlights...

• amazong weather all weekend long
  
• ordering way too much really good indian food
• Djimon Hounsou
• morning buns [that sounds more perverse than it actually is...]
• bbq'ing up at Stinson beach
• the beach
• pink mountains
• all the Johnny Drama moments [Los hydrating, Los cooking it up, turning a nice maple syrupy brown]
• "I'm taking a survey."
• the rooftop at Medjool
• late nite Cybelle's
• not waking up and sneaking out b4 the homies wake up
• brunch
• Pier 23
• seeing a good law school buddy for the first time in a while
• running into an old college friend in BART
  
• finding out that many of the things i've felt in my time are more universal than i believed at the time

it was an absolutely great weekend. i don't have one thing to actually complain about to be honest. the only problem with such great weekends, with spending such a great time enjoying the amazing weather and the company of great people is how hard it makes monday.

beyond the difficulty of a monday after a fantastic weekend i felt something more over the weekend, a feeling that persisted thru the joys and laughs that really made the weekend. the past couple days also came with a certain melancholy; a feeling of being overwhelmed. one way to look at it is to think of it as being overpowered by how great a time the weekend was...to see that really it's just hard to come down from that kind of high...to realize that what makes the time so great and so special is it's rarity. i feel all of that is true and has been a part of the feeling.

yet i know there is more to it. it's not really a feeling of being depressed but more of a feeling that goes along with knowing that right now, back in the "real" world [i.e., not the City with the homies] i'm not quite comfortable in certain respects, important respects. i honestly know what the heart of the problem is but it's best to not go into detail at this time and in this forum.

but on the positive note, all things are a learning experience and a chance to grow. while the present contains a certain amount of discomfort, it's good to learn to how continue on in such a state. also, it's definitely a temporary set of circumstances, one that will change when the time is right and the circumstances present themselves. until that time comes, there's a lot of fun to be had in the "real" world. and at the end of the day, it was a great weekend...and it's always hard for the new week to start.