last year was the most frustrating year of my UCSD career. to relieve frustration, i used to go driving around sandiego at night, alone, with music cranked up. on other days when i didn't feel like driving or wasting gas to keep myself sane, i would go to the beach. i would sat on a bench and stare at the wave for zarquon knew how long. sometimes i brought my guitar along so i could fiddle with it and sing some songs while at it. this method also worked well in keeping me sane althroughout the schoolyear.
i'm moving out of my apartment and leaving san diego tomorrow (friday), so i thought tonight i should pay a visit to the beach that had saved me from going insane last year. i thought once more, before i part with it for good, i would enjoy the wave and let it relieve me from my anger and frustration. so i did. i drove down there, parked my car, and sat on that same bench i used to sit on all last year.
then i saw a flash of light.
and sounds of laughter.
and more flashes of light.
staring into the dark corner of the beach to my left, i saw three or four people, seemingly college students, playing at the beach, taking pictures of each other. i thought they would get over it after they got everyone in the camera, they didn't. the flash kept flashing for over five minutes. apparently ucsd accepted more dumb people this year than they did last year.
it is understandable that they would've wanted pictures as a proof that they had gone to the beach. what is not understandable is that they went to the beach at night, when the nearest streetlight is five-hundred yards away, and you have to get yourself used to the darkness for a few minutes before you can even see the tip of the wave that comes crashing into the beach. did they really think that the flash of a 35mm camera would show the background that is the beautiful pacific ocean, in addition to their pretty faces? if they were grade school kids, i would tolerate that kind of stupidity, since i didn't develop an intuition about the strength of camera flash until 6th grade, but they are college students. and they supposedly got accepted into UCSD, which is in the top 10 public universities in the united states. this sort of incident kinda made me wonder if our school is overrated, or that dynes used university money to bribe the judges.
what made it worse is that these kids took pictures with the camera right in front of their faces. while the flash might not be bright enough to illuminate the waves that were 10 feet away from them, standing right in front of the camera means that you'll be seeing your mugshot very very clearly, up to the point where your face would be completely white.
marianne madden from the UCSD guardian once wrote a brilliant article, "The MySpace Generation: 40 Million Morons Strong," bashing the existence of a horrid thing that is myspace. this article, throughout my four years of reading the guardian, has become my favorite article, next to bryce warwick's satirical sport articles. there, madden claimed, and i quoted, "There is a reason why successful Web designers only make up a select portion of the population. Most people have the design sense of half of a dead swan (or, on a good day, a half-dead swan)."
apparently, these kids i saw at the beach today didn't even come close to half a dead swan.
Thursday, June 29, 2006
Wednesday, June 28, 2006
303K
it's been ridiculously hot lately, and the heat is certainly taking up the energy that i've gathered from food and sleep.
webcomic was updated... last week. not very productive at all, it seems, but that is because (excuse) i've been working on something else. another unpaid project that involves drawing, meaning another project that will follow the usual "make up story - draw - get bored - abandon project entirely" pattern. but that's okay; after all, if we were able to break that pattern so easily, the term "starving artist" would never have existed in the first place.
so much to say lately, yet so little willpower to say them. "i think it's the heat" is the excuse that i've given many people regarding my (lack of) recent activities, and i think i will re-use that again for this case.
my corolla was 400 miles overdue for an oil change, so i went to sears to get it changed this monday. while waiting, i walked around the mall, found a nice seat outside a nearby starbucks, grabbed myself a grande java chip with cinnamon, and started inking the other unpaid project i was talking about earlier. i plugged in my earplug/phones and listened to t-rex's 20th century boys. during this hour and half of bliss, i realized something that i should have realized a long, long time ago.
us human beings like to live inside our own little world; sure, that's a common thing. what most of them have done but not realized is that living inside their own little world feels better when done out in the public. when one sits alone in his room, listening to his favorite music, sipping a cup of coffee and staring out at the moon, the serene atmosphere would make him feel content. but when one is outside in a crowded place, yet is able to recreate such mood as if he were alone in his room, he would feel the ultimate bliss, because not only he feels the serenity and the happiness, but he also feels that he has conquered the entropy of the world. this latter accomplishment is what turns good into better.
the ipod in-ear headphones that i got a while ago because my regular ipod earphones had gone awry twice in a period of less than three months has given me much bliss in this chaotic, changing world. it is both earphone and earplug, which is great because it lets you listen to only what you want to listen, and not what you don't want to listen. people might say that it is another result of capitalism and commercialization, and it probably is, but if it allows the recreation of tranquility that one usually gets only when he's alone, whenever, and wherever, for once i will thank capitalism and commercialization.
in fact, it doesn't even have to be earphones. i use these earphones as a medium because i lack the ability to focus and ignore. i am the type of person who turns his head whenever he hears a noise that he does not recognize. i lack concentration, and these silly little devices composed of rubber, magnets, and coils helps me filter out these noises that tend to distract me. if you are able to filter out these noises by yourself, props to you.
try recreating that blissful tranquility outside when you're around people, and see it for yourself how much better it is.
webcomic was updated... last week. not very productive at all, it seems, but that is because (excuse) i've been working on something else. another unpaid project that involves drawing, meaning another project that will follow the usual "make up story - draw - get bored - abandon project entirely" pattern. but that's okay; after all, if we were able to break that pattern so easily, the term "starving artist" would never have existed in the first place.
so much to say lately, yet so little willpower to say them. "i think it's the heat" is the excuse that i've given many people regarding my (lack of) recent activities, and i think i will re-use that again for this case.
my corolla was 400 miles overdue for an oil change, so i went to sears to get it changed this monday. while waiting, i walked around the mall, found a nice seat outside a nearby starbucks, grabbed myself a grande java chip with cinnamon, and started inking the other unpaid project i was talking about earlier. i plugged in my earplug/phones and listened to t-rex's 20th century boys. during this hour and half of bliss, i realized something that i should have realized a long, long time ago.
us human beings like to live inside our own little world; sure, that's a common thing. what most of them have done but not realized is that living inside their own little world feels better when done out in the public. when one sits alone in his room, listening to his favorite music, sipping a cup of coffee and staring out at the moon, the serene atmosphere would make him feel content. but when one is outside in a crowded place, yet is able to recreate such mood as if he were alone in his room, he would feel the ultimate bliss, because not only he feels the serenity and the happiness, but he also feels that he has conquered the entropy of the world. this latter accomplishment is what turns good into better.
the ipod in-ear headphones that i got a while ago because my regular ipod earphones had gone awry twice in a period of less than three months has given me much bliss in this chaotic, changing world. it is both earphone and earplug, which is great because it lets you listen to only what you want to listen, and not what you don't want to listen. people might say that it is another result of capitalism and commercialization, and it probably is, but if it allows the recreation of tranquility that one usually gets only when he's alone, whenever, and wherever, for once i will thank capitalism and commercialization.
in fact, it doesn't even have to be earphones. i use these earphones as a medium because i lack the ability to focus and ignore. i am the type of person who turns his head whenever he hears a noise that he does not recognize. i lack concentration, and these silly little devices composed of rubber, magnets, and coils helps me filter out these noises that tend to distract me. if you are able to filter out these noises by yourself, props to you.
try recreating that blissful tranquility outside when you're around people, and see it for yourself how much better it is.
Tuesday, June 27, 2006
more procrastination
when i'm supposed to be drawing, i play guitar instead. eventually finished tabbing song for lover by kids alive, though i'm not quite so sure about the last part of the solo. it's very difficult to tab a song when you're musically challenged.
lyrics from eien no love song.
lyrics from eien no love song.
intro: G D Em D Cadd9 D
intro solo:
-------7-10---------15-14-10-10-8-------------------------
--8/10------10---12---------------8---8-------------------
------------------------------------9---------------------
----------------------------------------------------------
----------------------------------------------------------
----------------------------------------------------------
G D C D G
Onaji kisetsu Onaji basho de kimi to kizandekita koi
G D C D G
Hajimete da ne Boku no mae de namida wo nagashita no ha
Em Bm Am D G
Otagai no michi ga chigau kawa itsuka kounaru koto
Em Bm Am D
Wakatteitahazu dakedo Doushite mo kuyashikatta...
G D C D G
Atowazu ka de hanareteyuku Bukiyouna bokura no koi
G D C D G
Jikan ga sou Tomareba ii Matataki sae shitakunakatta yo
Em Bm Am D G
Donna toki mo boku no senaka wo sotto oshite kureta
Em Bm Am D
Sukitootta sono yasashisa ga mne wo shimetsukeru yo
G Bm C D G
Kaeru basho wo nakushita futari Kimi ni deaenakattara
C D Bm Em Am D
Shiawase no imi Setsunasa no imi Nani mo wakaranakatta
G Bm C D G
Ai ni narenai mama no koi ha Shizuka ni nemutteyuku yo
C D Bm Em Am D
Saigo ni kureta Egao wasurenai... Soshite boku ha arukidasu
-------7-7---10-7-----------------------8-7------------------
-3/8-8------------8---8-----8-8-------8-----8----------------
--------------------7-----7-------7-9---------9u-9u-7--------
-------------------------------------------------------------
-------------------------------------------------------------
-------------------------------------------------------------
------------------------10h12-10---------------8-7-8-10-12--------------
-----8-7-------------------------8---8----8-8---------------10d-10d-8---
-7h9-----9-8-9/11-9--9-------------9----9-------------------------------
------------------------------------------------------------------------
------------------------------------------------------------------------
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Em Bm Am D G
Takusan no omoide wo noseta Ano akai fuusen ha
Em Bm Am D
Mou modotte konai yo Takaku Takaku tondeiku
G Bm C D G
Kanashimi mo yorokobi mo zutto Wakeai nagara miteita
C D Bm Em Am D
mirai no katachi Akogareteita mono ni ha naranakatta
G Bm C D G
Ai no imi wo nokoshita mama de wakareteshimatta keredo
C D Bm Em Am D
Kitto bokura ha kagayaiteita ne... Soshite kimi ga kieteiku
G Bm C D G
Kaeru basho wo nakushita futari Kimi ni deaenakattara
C D Bm Em Am D
Shiawase no imi Setsunasa no imi Nani mo wakaranakatta
G Bm C D G
Itsumademo utaitsudzuketa yo Boku no koe ga todoku made
C D Bm Em
Saigo ni kureta Egao wasurenai...
Am D
Dare yori mo hoka no nani yori mo Suki datta kimi he...
Saturday, June 24, 2006
this entry will be picture heavy
i guess the warning was too late, since as you're reading this the pictures are already loading, but then that's just too bad.
sam, david, and i stayed at stratosphere, which has an observation deck on the 108th floor. here are some pictures from the observation deck:
even 108 floors above the ground, there is still no escape from starbucks.
so i gave in and ordered a grande java chip with cinnamon syrup.
pictures from the strip:
arvin told us that bellagio has a really good buffet, so we went there to feast. the inside of bellagio is pretty nice, with all the miniature decoration:
at bellagio, three of us paid a total of $80 to eat as much as we can and vomit. we started out with seafood and steak,
but eventually ended up killing many many crabs to get our money's worth.
this is the crab killer.
the chocolate eclair killed me.
david became a nickel slot junkie after buffet.
and a sucky one at it, too.
the strip at night:
same scene as above, but played around with the aperture and shutter speed a bit.
monte carlo.
two wandering idiots:
on the way to excalibur.
inside excalibur.
luxor. we enter through the sphinx's ass hole.
rumor has it that the these stones, despite the hieroglyphic text carved on them, are actually made in china, like everything else in this country. i guess the chinese now speak mandarin, cantonese, and hieroglyphs.
inside of luxor:
mandala bay casino:
by this time, they all started to look just like each other, kinda like asians.
sam, david, and i stayed at stratosphere, which has an observation deck on the 108th floor. here are some pictures from the observation deck:
even 108 floors above the ground, there is still no escape from starbucks.
so i gave in and ordered a grande java chip with cinnamon syrup.
pictures from the strip:
arvin told us that bellagio has a really good buffet, so we went there to feast. the inside of bellagio is pretty nice, with all the miniature decoration:
at bellagio, three of us paid a total of $80 to eat as much as we can and vomit. we started out with seafood and steak,
but eventually ended up killing many many crabs to get our money's worth.
this is the crab killer.
the chocolate eclair killed me.
david became a nickel slot junkie after buffet.
and a sucky one at it, too.
the strip at night:
same scene as above, but played around with the aperture and shutter speed a bit.
monte carlo.
two wandering idiots:
on the way to excalibur.
inside excalibur.
luxor. we enter through the sphinx's ass hole.
rumor has it that the these stones, despite the hieroglyphic text carved on them, are actually made in china, like everything else in this country. i guess the chinese now speak mandarin, cantonese, and hieroglyphs.
inside of luxor:
mandala bay casino:
by this time, they all started to look just like each other, kinda like asians.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
