This Must Be It. Welcome to the New Year.

So, another year is slowly coming to an end. Looking back on it all, I think I've made a ton of progress. But that's not to say that I definitely fucked up here and there along the way. And I think I've finally grown a bit too.

Academically speaking, a year ago, I was sure that my efforts in school were mostly for naught; I couldn't get my GPA up to where I wanted it to be and my overall effort and attitude towards all my classes just sucked, and I knew stupid shit easily affected me. Now, I finished this semester (the toughest one yet, by far) by winding up on the Dean's list, despite skipping an occasional class or failing a class at the midterm point. I worked my ass off, and gave my GPA a shot in the arm. I'm looking forward to the remaining semesters that I have, and just doing all that I can to make the grade, and graduate. Just because I know I can do this. Let's just say that I have a new fire lit beneath my ass and I've a new attitude towards my studies.

I accomplished one of my goals by finally visiting Europe (Vienna, Austria) this past summer, and meeting some of my cousins for the very first time. I'm very lucky to have met Philipp, Cathrine (Catze), and Christine (Tin-Tin). They have really made me humble, seeing how they live in Europe. They make the most of what they have in their small flats, and they work extremely hard in school and outside also. I mean hell, Philipp makes violins. How amazing is that? Not to mention that they are fluent in at least 3 languages. Cathy and Tin Tin are also having a blast here in Chicago; they love The Bean, Superdawg, Girodano's, and Michigan Avenue. They have yet to see the Sears Tower, Navy Pier, and Kevin McCallister's house. Yes, of Home Alone fame. I'm fucking stoked for that adventure!

Speaking of personal goals, I finally saw Oasis a few weeks ago at the Allstate Arena. I don't have to say how much more awesome that concert was; I will spare you all. Besides, I dedicated a post to that already. I can't wait 'til they return to town!

I've developed a tolerance for alcohol! w00t! Yes, I am weaksauce, I'm not going to lie. But lately, I've been open to partaking in a drink every now and then. Hell, my Dad and I sipped sake a few weeks ago; it's pretty tasty. The New Year's Eve festivities will be taking place in a few hours, and my 21st birthday is less than 6 months away. Originally, I wanted to be sitting in Wrigley, scoring the game with an Old Style/Heineken and a bag of peanuts, but the Cubs are off that day. I suppose that'll be more time for me finally enjoying Wrigleyville the way any fresh 21-year-old would: absolutely gooooone.

Speaking of baseball, I miss it a lot. I miss the summer, watching my Cubbies on TV or at Wrigley. Sure, it was an extremely promising season, with Fukudome (thanks for winning our hearts on Opening Day and for giving the people yet another classic name chant at Wrigley), Johnson (for "the catch" against the Nationals and speed), Edmonds (for finally leaving the Dark Side known as St. Louis), Harden (I don't care if Lou's got you on a 90+ pitch leash, your stuff is still fucking sick), and Gaudin (nice soul-patch/goatee) being added to our roster. Sadly, all us fans got in return was another disappointing season. But as my buddy Andy says, "it's better to have disappointing baseball than none at all." Spoken like a true Cubs fan. Only a few more months left!

A New Year's resolution: Control. My. Spending. I've learned many lessons about money, but I still can't seem to put my teachings into practice. That's all.

"The love life? What? I still have one of those?" I thought that a few times during the year. But I'm glad to say that I've been over Rachel for some time; I'm happy to know that she's really happy now. As for me, I'm still being stubbornly patient, and trying to find some time before I tell this girl at school that I like her. Yeah, I'm fucking high school about it. It's lame, I know. But, I will pull the trigger in the near future. I swear.

As for my friends, I've developed more friendships at school along the way, and they'll always have a place in my heart. They're all too cool and unique not to have a spot. However, my El Groupo buddies and other friends have always been there, and no matter how many times we've hung out, I never get tired of them. Some would say to get new ones, but they're too awesome. I could never do that. But, I think I've been falling out with a few, and I really don't mean to. I like keeping my friends close to me. Some would say that's a bad thing, but I say fuck 'em. I love my friends.

And now, a few goals for the New Year:
I hope to keep in touch with a few old friends more often, even ones I haven't talked to since early high school or elementary school.
I want to try and stay in shape, despite my laziness.
I want my music to finally be heard, and stop being in the "writing stages." I've been working on one for ages....
I want to read more. Being in many secondhand bookstores lately has reawakened the bookworm within.
I want to be involved, more in tune with things around me.

That'll be all for now. I hope each one of you out there has an awesome New Year's celebration. Here's to our resolutions!
And just because, I'm putting this Zolof video in here. It's too catchy to be ignored.

Oasis: The Dig Out Your Soul Tour, Chicago. Best Show, Ever.

I just saw my favorite band, and one of my musical idols, Noel Gallagher onstage at the Allstate Arena a few hours ago. I can't describe how I feel at the moment, except for full; Dave and I had a feast at IHOP after the show. It's just an incredibly awesome feeling to see your all-time favorite band come up onstage in your hometown, singing all their greatest songs: the songs that I've learned and loved to play and listen to all these years. I knew from the second Liam started singing (extremely well, better than some live versions I see on YouTube) that it was going to be one hell of a show.

Here's the set list, from what I can remember. There were some interesting choices, and a surprising omission:

1) Rock 'n' Roll Star
2) Lyla
3) The Shock of the Lightning
4) Cigarettes & Alcohol
5) The Meaning of Soul
6) To Be Where There's Life
7) Waiting for the Rapture
8) The Masterplan
9) Songbird
10) Morning Glory
11) Ain't Got Nothin'
12) The Importance of Being Idle
13) I'm Outta Time
14) Wonderwall
15) Supersonic

ENCORE:
1) Don't Look Back in Anger [Acoustic]
2) Falling Down
3) Champagne Supernova
4) I Am The Walrus

A few last fanboy observations....
-The opening acts, Matt Costa and Ryan Adams & The Cardinals weren't that impressive to me. Costa just had his acoustic guitar and his last song was slow and a cappella.....for an arena show? No thank you.
-The new touring drummer, Chris Sharrock, is the best drummer Oasis has seen since Alan White. He fucking wails on those skins like no one's business.
-People in front of us left after Wonderwall. Lame-wads.
-Noel's acoustic version of Don't Look Back in Anger sent chills down my spine, as did Champagne Supernova; it was played flawlessly.
-I'm happy that they played Wonderwall without the lead guitar being an electric; it sounds better that way.
-I am so fucking happy they finally unleashed I Am The Walrus as their final encore.
-Where was Live Forever?!?! :'(

Okay, that's all. Oh, and you can never go wrong with a corned beef hash & cheese omelet at IHOP.

So Begins Finals Week

Contrary to popular belief, I am not dead, missing, or giving up on this. I've just been extremely busy for the past 2 weeks or so, writing papers, finishing up assignments and programs, and working.

Honestly, it doesn't seem like finals week. Last week, I took two of my finals, and beat the shit out of both of them. I got a 100% on my History of Chicago final, all I'm waiting for now is the result of my Musicianship Lab final. My Classical Guitar class audition/jury went really well. Despite two mistakes, I know I played great. I just finished my Music Theory take home exam, and despite it's seemingly simple nature, it was the most tedious exams I've ever taken. At this point, I really don't care about some of the errors I didn't already correct. I hope I wake up early enough to get down to Loyola and turn it in...stupid screwy sleeping pattern. I have my last two finals on Tuesday, and I will be studying all day for them. Then, I can kick back, relax, and await what's coming to me:

-My Starbucks gig! Recently, my friend Katrina told me about how this one Starbucks (Dempster & Karlov, if I remember correctly) has this open mic dealy on Saturday nights. Turns out that this Saturday (the 13th) they need someone to play for the last hour of the store's operation. So, I took it up. I have the cover material, it's just that I have to condense it and make a set list to fill at least half an hour, and practice. I'm really fucking stoked, yet very nervous, as usual. Oh well, at least I'll get free coffee, and get a chance to entertain all the fine folks in the establishment!

-OASIS! Holy shit, I can't believe it's going down in less than 5 days; I've been waiting for the chance to see them for such a long time, so I've been really excited. I'm going with my buddy Dave, so it's going to prove to be an awesome time. This reminds me of a time when we saw Coheed & Cambria last year in November, except this time it's my favorite band that we're going to see. I'm already predicting their set list; I hope that when they play Champagne Supernova, I don't die from shock. Well.....I would definitely die happy!

-Celebrating Christmas & New Year's with my Austrian cousins! You have no idea how excited I am for this, either. My cousins Cathrine aka Catze and Christine aka Tin-Tin are coming to the Windy City for the holidays. They couldn't have picked a better date and time to fly in: Christmas Eve, at 4 PM. Not only are me and Dad going to have to deal with O'Hare during one of the busiest times of the year, we have the party scheduled at our humble abode. So this means we have to help Mom dress up the house, get cooking supplies, and pick up various catering orders set for that day. It's going to be fucking bonkers that day, but in the end, I know it will be all worth it. It's Christmas! They're staying until the 5th or 7th of January, so during that time we're definitely going to be showing them to all the kick ass places Chicago has to offer. I've missed them since last June, so it will be a nice reunion. I hope to learn even more German phrases.

Oh, let me just say that Manny Pacquiao is a fucking beast. I saw the fight he had yesterday vs. Oscar De La Hoya yesterday night at my Uncle's house, at Brandon's birthday party. He dominated De La Hoya so much, it was ridiculous. He was way too fast for the Golden Boy; he rearranged his face pretty well. I'm sure you all heard about it. I consider this to be the passing of the boxing torch, bringing in a new era of boxing.

That'll be all for me today. I'm sure by Tuesday evening, I'll definitely have more time for this.

*Phew*

Alright. I've had my coffee, Die Hard is on TV, and I wound up getting a B on my term paper for Music History. I had myself a full night's sleep, school is on hold for the next few days, and Thanksgiving is tomorrow. AND my Christmas tree is up. I can finally....dare i say it....relax!

It's been a stressful past few weeks, involving a bizarre love triangle, a multitude of papers, a visit to Pilsen (and getting lost on the way), and Mom cussing out various insurance companies over the phone, but all I can really say is I'm happy I don't have to worry about much for the time being.

'Scuse me, Die Hard is just starting....

My Weapons of Choice

First and foremost, I kicked all kinds of ass in my musicale today. I messed up once, compared to the dozens of times I did last night and this morning's practice runs. I was actually listed as the last guitar guy out of five of us to play, go figure. Note: A bunch of other performers played along with us: vocalists and other instrumentalists....So, the pressure level was definitely up. But, I got over it once I took the stage.

Speaking of guitars, I figured I'd show ya'll what I play and cherish dearly.

The Garcia 6-Stringer


Although I use this one for school, this guitar actually belongs to my Mom. It was an engagement gift she got from my Dad way back in the day. It's a Garcia-brand classical guitar; extremely fitting for us. I absolutely love the sound of the nylon strings, especially because I changed them recently. It has such a warm tone.The action on the strings is a bit rough, but I'm used to it. I learned how to play my first riff ("Pretty Woman" by Roy Orbison) on this; my uncle Oliver taught me how to play it in the Philippines around 3 in the morning. Despite all these new classical guitars nowadays, with built-in tuners and whatnot, I'd rather stick with this one. Every now and then, Mom plays on it and it just brings be back to the time when she and my uncle used to teach me, and I'll never forget it.

Blue Thunder


The year was 2002, 8th Grade. The year when I started finding some footing and space in my musical niche. I started getting into bands like Green Day, The Offspring, Creed, Chevelle, and New Found Glory. Hell, I even remember looking up Creed's equipment list in their Human Clay CD booklet because I loved their sound. Once I read Fender Guitars, I knew I had to get my hands on one (although I soon found out that Mark Tremonti, their guitarist and my idol back then, used Paul Reed Smith [PRS] axes). Dad brought me to the Guitar Center in Arlington Heights, saying that we would only look, and not buy. Not surprisingly, we walked out of there with my new electric axe, amp, and free case and strings thanks to our haggling skills. This guitar was the reason I was soon in a band with my friends Andy and Johnny (known as The Townhouse Craka; there were a million band member changes, with my other friends Brooks, Danny, Mike, and many many others). I played a few parties, my 8th grade graduation mass, jam sessions, and a block party with this thing. It even survived being dropped from a stand! And it still kicks ass.

Ruby


Oh, Ruby. I love this baby. I got her at the same Guitar Center I bought my Fender. The reason being, I wanted to get an acoustic guitar that had an awesome sound, but looked real unique. I hit the nail right on the head in choosing her. I mostly played this in my church choir; my director, Ms. Hall, also had an Ovation. She pretty much taught me most of the major and minor chords and chord voicings I didn't know at the time, so I owe her a lot. She even ordered me a percussion guitar pick; imagine a hybrid of a regular guitar pick and a small hand-held shaker. This axe was also a huge hit in high school, especially when I was in Theater, doing the plays. Before rehearsals, I would just play a bunch of covers for my friends (I still do) and we would all have a blast. This one has been through open mics, acoustic jam sessions, many church services, and some special concerts here and there. It's also featured in one of my YouTube videos! I love Ruby's warm middle tone range, and her built-in tuner and EQ. It really helps me develop my relative pitch; sometimes I don't use it, and I compare it to see how far off (or right on!) I am.

The 12-String Beast


In the summer of 2003, I was on vacation in the Philippines. I showed off my new guitar skills to my uncle, and he was really excited and proud to hear what I had to play for him. So one day, we went to the mall, and I found this 12-stringer selling for an extremely low price; I forget how much it was in Pesos, but it came out to around $70. It's a 12-string. What more can I say? I knew I had to get it then and there. I fell in love with the sound it made; it's so textured. It's also an electric/acoustic hybrid, much like Ruby, with a built-in EQ. Sadly, it's been mostly collecting dust recently. The strings need some changing, and the bridge needs adjustment. But if I focus more attention on it, I'm sure I can find more ways to utilize this monster.

Ella Jean


I got this beauty as a birthday gift when I turned 19. With Ella Jean being the newest addition to my arsenal, I feel as if her addition brought about a new phase in my guitar playing. I have been experimenting with different tunings, to try and play more complex pieces by Andy McKee, Antoine Dufour, and Craig D'Andrea. Her jumbo body rocks; it gives such a richer sound to any piece. Plus, she's equipped with Elixer strings, some of the best stuff (read: longest lasting, best-sounding) you can get nowadays. Ruby uses them too. Her make & model, the Epiphone EJ-200 has also been used by Elvis, and my idol, Noel Gallagher of Oasis. You can see a bunch of them in the Wonderwall video. She has been featured in my YouTube videos, and I plan to put more up. I also plan on using her at a possible gig I might do at a local Starbucks on December 20th, so I'm really looking forward to that!

Not pictured: my PRS Santana SE. She's currently being used by a good friend of mine, Brooks. He's in a band of his own, and he requested to borrow her to record his band's EP. They're called Black Amber, check them out: http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewprofile&friendid=88150055

Hope you all liked looking at what I play with.

Christmas List

The cold weather and all my winter gear made me think of some things I would like for Christmas. I'm not asking for a lot this year...I may or may not make any additions to this list, but here's how it stands, in no particular order:

1) Coffee mug, ceramic
2) Wallet
3) Gloves/Glittens
4) "Hopes and Fears" by Keane songbook
5) Button-up, Western-style shirt(s)
6) Zip drive. See a few posts down as to why I would like a new one.
7) Seatbelt belt
8) Money. Mostly for the "Save Shane's External HD Data" fund.

That's all I can really think of. Sorry for the lame content. I'm in class at the moment, and I'm really getting tired from learning about binary trees and their uses in computer science.

And By The Way...

New favorite group, right here.

Thanksgiving Break, Hurry Up and Get Here.

I honestly need a break. The past few weeks have been real hellish, and they show no signs of stopping. Bullets for now, since I have to get working on a few things...

-So a few weeks ago, I dropped off my external hard drive, making it pretty useless. I shipped it in to a place in Texas to recover all my data, and it's costing me over $800 for a total recovery. Not only will I be sacrificing about a million things, but I'm going to be working all Thanksgiving break, including Thanksgiving day to scrounge up enough dough. Don't be like me, and take care of your stuff.
-I have 2 pieces to make perfect by Wednesday for my guitar recital. Memorizing has been no problem, it's all about execution.
-I also have to register for classes on Wednesday, starting at 1PM at the earliest. The recital is at noon. Hopefully, I can book it out of there when I finish, and get all the classes I need and want to take.
-I have to give a short presentation for a paper I wrote for Music History on Thursday. Laaame.
-My final History of Chicago project is due next Monday, and I still haven't visited any cultural centers of interest that I need to visit in order to finish the project.
-I have yet another computer science/java program to write and code for Friday. That evening, there's a guitar ensemble/chorus concert I have to attend and write a review on it for the Tuesday before Thanksgiving for my Music History class.
-I have a Music Lab final the week after Thanksgiving. What the fuck, mate?

So enough about the school-related crap. Other (somewhat) quick thoughts:

-I'm still kinda sad about Kerry Wood's departure from the Cubs. Kevin Gregg will never be able to fill those shoes, but I'm happy for Woody. I want him to get a ring; God only knows when the Cubbies will finally get one. As for Dempster, I hope we re-sign him; we all know what he's now capable of in the starting rotation. Although, the possibility of having Jake Peavy and/or Randy "The Unit" Johnson is pretty exciting.
-Derrick Rose = Chicago sports savior. Seriously, the man is a beast. I read that no other Bull since MJ has scored double digits in his first 10 games. In the majority of the games I've seen, Rose is clearly the best player on the court at any given time.
-My poor, poor Chicago Bears. A 37-3 loss to the Packers?! Where the fuck is the pass rush defense? It's been absent for the majority of the season! I hate you, Bob Babich! As for Orton's less than stellar game, it was only a matter of time when he would run into a roadblock. It just sucks it happened to be against the team I love to hate, other than the Patriots.
-I got a haircut on Friday for this one dance at school (yes, a dance). My hairdresser decided to go nuts and give my hair a messed up kinda look. I actually liked it, and I'm going to try it out tomorrow.
-First snowfall yesterday. How about that?

"I'll Become What You Became To Me."

Hope you enjoy this one. This is going to be all for now, since I'm knee-deep in school related crap for the next few days.

Here We Go Again.

Fuck cock-blockers. That's all I have to say.

The New Kid In Town

A little less than two hours ago, Barack Obama became the next president-elect of the United States.

Because of this, I feel that I am that much more accomplished, and I really look forward to see what this country is capable of doing in the near future. 

This election is a ridiculously huge part of our history. I really don't think it's hit me yet, but I'm sure it will. I leave you all with a quote from my good friend Sergio. It's quite indicative of how I'm feeling at the moment:

"Hope is the last thing to die. And tonight, hope lives and shines brighter than ever."

Note To Self:

Never eat anything at Six Flags. It will poison you. You're better off stuffing yourself beforehand and go on all the coasters.

I don't know what came over me Friday night, but I decided to shell out $13(!!!!!!!) for a gyro and a souvenir pop cup because they ran out of regular ones. The meat wasn't freshly cut from a spit, and the sauce was cold to the point that there was ice in it. And the grease. Oh, the grease. Let's just say I tipped it to the side, and it had the consistency of gravy. I didn't get past three bites, and it pretty much incapacitated me for the majority of the evening. Unfortunately, I wasn't in any shape to ride Raging Bull, but I went on other coasters like Viper and Superman. I still consider those personal victories because I normally wouldn't ever go on one. But man, nothing beats last year when I finally conquered my fears, being forced onto the Raging Bull.....so fucking exhilarating. 

Anyway, Fright Fest was still fun. We (meaning Matt, Nadia, Walsh, and myself) rode on a bunch of things, but the spinny teacups was a definite highlight; since it was Fright Fest it was dark, and loud spooky techno music played in the background. I mostly danced.

Speaking of music, I have been listening to really good stuff lately. I started off Friday morning with Ray Charles. In the afternoon, there was Aerosmith, Queen, and Michael Jackson (for Thriller, duh). Going home from Six Flags, we put on The Beatles and Elton John. I must have listened to Rocket Man about a dozen times or so. Then, since I was bored, I learned how to play You Are So Beautiful by Joe Cocker on guitar, fingerstyle. I can't wait to bust this stuff out in the near future.

So Election Day is in two days. I'm going to wake up at the ass crack of dawn, vote, do my school thing, and wait. No matter what the result, I'm pretty sure I'll be doing celebratory (or other just plain) shots with my sister. Get out there and vote people! We're going to be a part of history!

#$*&#^@#!!

Gahhhhh. So outraged....

Since I am stupid and clumsy, I dropped my external hard drive in class today. The same external hard drive where my entire iTunes music library, various photos, documents and lyrics, and other important things all reside. Now, it can't be read by any computer. Not going to lie, I'm really depressed about this.

I contacted this one external HD place in Michigan, and they should get back to me either tomorrow or Saturday. I really hope they can recover my data, I'll pay anything.

Hopefully, 6 Flags will help me get happier. Gotta conquer the Raging Bull, yet again. Wish me luck, folks.

A Few Photos

I feel really accomplished, looking back on my weekend. I managed to get my homework done (and then some), log on a few hours at work, and even save a few of my hungover friends by giving them a ride home. Now, a few photos I've taken from my cell phone from the past few days.

This here is Dave Elkins, the lead singer of Mae. I saw them on Thursday @ Schubas, and they put on a real good show. Quite a shame I didn't get the rest of the band though :(

This is The Fold; they opened up for Mae. I saw these guys in the Summer of '07 in the Metro, opening for Allister's last show. I still think of them the same way I did back then: nothing too good, nothing too bad either. They were all so....frail-looking. And I think their drummer was on drugs.

Meet Gustavo Leone, my music theory teacher. He is probably one of the quirkiest men I've ever met. That's my Mom's guitar he's playing; I brought it in because we were discussing triads and inversions, and we were going to play this old jazz song. Originally I was supposed to play chords to the song, but he wound up taking my guitar and playing it, while drinking his tea. For the entire class.

What can I say? I get happy when I get Grape Fanta, and Grape Fanta get happy when drunk by me!

No, this is not a hickey. It's one of 2 burns I got from work today. The culprit? Hot bacon trays.

I'm At It Again!

I put up another song cover on YouTube. I just had to. I sing this time around! I chose Oasis; for those of you who know me, it shouldn't be any surprise. I guess the fact that I have my tickets made me really happy and eager to put a video up. So, enjoy it! Excuse any mess ups; I tend to do things in one take.



I think, just for fun, I'll put up a new Oasis every week or so until the concert. God, I cannot wait for this.

Shane Is a Happy Camper!

Fuck yes. Thank you, karma.

Not only am I passing comp sci, I'm also seeing Mae with Marta tomorrow after class, at Schubas Tavern. My midterm for Chicago History on Friday won't be as bad as I thought: 20something multiple choice questions, and 4 short answer/essays, so there's a relief. Then there's after school baseball on Friday, then Fright Fest the following week on Halloween! And if that wasn't enough, my Oasis tickets arrived in the mail today; I nearly shit myself with excitement. I'm just letting the euphoria flow through my veins as we speak, and I'm going to enjoy this as much as possible.

I also ate an entire habanero pepper today, and lived. It was by far, the hottest thing I've ever eaten. The taste wasn't bad, but the heat was a different story. It sucked, but at least I can say I did it. Man, that thing kicked my ass.

Bittersweet Week

So today I found out the verdict of my doomed comp sci/java midterm, and I was correct. I had failed. But I missed passing by 3 points! If only I had answered one more (close to) correct response! It's definitely something I'm not proud of at all, but I'll take it. I did the math and considered the fact that my homework is 45% of my grade; if I do a good job on the rest of my homework assignments and do a decent job on my final, I will still pass the class, and I won't have to worry about losing my scholarship! Oddly enough, I'm not as let down as I thought I would be. It's weird, because with the exception of this one, I'm kicking all sorts of ass in my other classes, which is why I'm not worried about losing my scholarship. From this point on, I'm not going to fuck around in that class any more. I'm going to be a java coding machine. Well, I'll try to be.

The rest of this week isn't looking too bad. Sure, I have a midterm in my Chicago History class (I don't have a study guide for this yet because my teacher is dumb and keeps on forgetting to give it out), but I don't think it will be that difficult. I'm also seeing Mae at Schubas Tavern with Marta after class on Thursday. I hope to have some good photos, I'll put them up here. Friday after the midterm is another game of Zips baseball with my friends, and probably a monster movie night at Bianca and Nadia's house. Should be fun!

"You gotta roll with it. You gotta take your time. You gotta say what you say, don't let any fucker get in your way."
-Noel Gallagher

I feel I'm going to be following that advice a lot.

Lord, Don't Slow Me Down.

I've had one rough week, mainly because of insecurity involving my academics. It was pretty much a mix of taking a terrible midterm on Thursday, which I'm sure I failed and the possibility of losing one of my scholarships. I mean, I drank a small bottle of wine that Auntie Sang gave me when I got home; I never drank to get over something before. It was that bad. I won't know exactly what will happen from here on out, but I'll have an idea on what to do when I assess the damage of my midterm, when I get it back on Tuesday. There's so much I still have to do, and I really want to meet any challenges that I come across. But I'm pretty disheartened with how things worked out this week. I haven't been this down in a very long time. Plus, Dad is in the Philippines. Mom is always at work, and Ate Jen is busy with school and doing her own thing. This usually leaves me alone in the house, with more time to think. The more I think about my situation, I get more down. I'm not pleased with myself, plain and simple.

But, there's still that part of me that's still willing to push on and deal. Ultimately, it's up to me and what I can do. No more bullshitting around. I have to man up, and do something about this.

So besides all this damned academic trouble, I had a nice week. On Monday, I met up with Walter at Sally's for breakfast. I was happy to see him again, and we both needed something to get our mornings to start out right for once. Later on that day, my friend Bianca toured me around her South Side neighborhood of Bridgeport. It was for my Chicago history class; I had to visit a neighborhood and visit a local (historical) site of interest, and write a short paper and proved an appendix; I chose to take photos. I chose the Monastery of the Holy Cross. Aside from the one by Talcott and Harlem in Norridge, I haven't seen any other monasteries in the city before. Anyway, the neighborhood was really nice and welcoming. There were a ton of churches in the area. Since I'm weird, I really liked looking at all of them, and taking photos. I even saw the church that Mayor Daley used to attend. I found it cool that she knew almost everyone that we saw driving around; we even saw her sister Nadia and their Dad walking down by the Red Line! After I dropped her off, it took me almost an hour to get home, but I'm just proud of myself for driving down there and getting back, because I'm sub-par when it comes to directions. Tuesday through Thursday involved me being wrapped around my homework, and studying for the midterm. Then I got tipsy after said midterm. Friday, we played some baseball in the student lounge. But it was a huge event; we made up rules specific for the lounge, who the teams and lineups were, and we even had a bullpen! It was funny watching the people walking by the room, to see what we were doing. My team lost by a run, 9-8, but it was a real fun way to round off the day. I even made a Facebook group for it because I'm the Commissioner.

This morning at work pissed me off. I already knew that Ryan took the day off, so I expected that. What I didn't expect was Jazmin, the other opening cashier for Ryan, to be late 2 and a half hours. Opening by myself sounds bad, but it wasn't. I got everything ready efficiently, believe it or not. However, once the doors opened, the people didn't stop coming in. Lines close to the door at 8:30 in the morning was something I definitely did not expect. And to make matters worse, both of my managers were in the back room, making catering orders because they were bum-rushed by a few big ones this morning. So yeah. This got me mad. Then the customers got me mad; a couple took 18 of my bagels (I didn't have many to begin with) and one asshole wanted me to pretty much make his entire meal for him, in front of him and the fucking line. Combine that with a few texts from my Dad talking about school (he spoke with Mom this morning, apparently) and the fact that the line never seemed to calm down, and you got yourself one irritated Shane. PLUS, I had to train a new cashier. Fuck. It was so bad that I just had to request to leave early. Thankfully, Robin came in right when I was about to snap, and she let me out early by an hour or so left in my shift. I hope tomorrow isn't as bad as today was.

And now, a photo to lighten the mood.



Not going to lie, this photo made Walter's and my mornings.

I pray to God my week(s) get better. And that the Bears win tomorrow.

No Mas!

Just thought I'd run through an entry with some bullet points today, due to my music theory homework being mentally draining. Here we go...

-Dad leaves for the Philippines again next week. We had a nice Italian lunch featuring kick ass tiramisu, pasta, and really strong coffee. No wine though :'( Lame, I know, but it was still very enjoyable.
-Saw Beverly Hills Chihuahua and ate at Chuck E. Cheese yesterday with my friends. You know, the ones I go to school with. In college. Needless to say, the movie was better than I expected (still kinda horrible though, and for a Disney movie, it's pretty downright racist and awkward for the majority of it). But still, the usage of "Hero" by Enrique Iglesias single-handedly saved this movie...I think. Also, we won over 1,000 tickets at the place where a kid can be a kid.
-I'm getting sick and tired of midterms, despite doing fairly well on them. I still have one more in my Java programming class Thursday. Gaaaaah
-Currently, the Tampa Bay Rays are down 1-0 in the series, but they have an 8-7 lead over Boston in the 8th right now. Come on, I don't want to see those evil bastards in the World Series, again! But then again, the Rays kinda don't have a loyal fan base...just a bunch of bandwagon blowhards with cowbells.
-Walt came back down to visit for the weekend, which was a nice surprise. We're fixing to have some Sally's breakfast on Monday before our classes.
-Check out the new Motion City Soundtrack vid. Justin Pierre looks like a trendy Jesus.


"Fell In Love Without You" video


That'll be it for me. Gotta practice for my guitar lesson.

Money Well Spent

A few hours ago, I purchased myself 2 tickets for Oasis. They're playing in December and Ryan Adams & The Cardinals are opening for them. Ticketbastard pulled through for me for once, and found me floor seats, so I'm pretty fucking stoked for it. Now the tough part is going to be choosing someone to go along with me. By the end of the month, I'll collect a bunch of names, put them in a hat, and draw.

I've been on Fall Break since Monday and today, so I did a bunch of errand running yesterday. I cruised down to Lincoln Park to the Guitar Center, to get new sets of strings. I went into the acoustic guitar room, and played this:



Needless to say, she sounded great. The only problem was that she was over $4000. Yeah. Maybe when I'm old and rich.
Getting back to the money well spent theme, I bought Rise Against's new disc, along with the new Oasis album, Dig Out Your Soul. I still have to get through them both in their entirety, but I'm really digging the new Oasis a lot. I can't believe it's been three years since their last tour, which means my sister's cotillion was three summers ago....sheesh, I'm getting old!

Anyways, I'm pretty sure that by the end of October, I'll have no money because I would go and spend it on music....like Unearth's new CD and the Between the Buried and Me CD/DVD of Colors. A sample from YouTube:



Oh my God, I cannot wait for this. October's going to be a busy month, with two shows (Mae and The Roots w/Gym Class Hereos and Estelle), two more midterms, and holding down the fort for Dad while he goes back to the Philippines for business. Can't slow down now, just have to keep on pushing!

{EDIT} By the way, my new RAM on the laptop kicks so much ass, you have no idea.

L.G.F.U.A.D

Well......looks like I, along with the city of Chicago, will have to wait yet another freaking year for the Cubs to earn another shot at the coveted World Series. I'm not even going to talk about this year's NLCS vs. the Dodgers yet. It still has to sink in for me. I'm afraid that once it does, I will be pretty bitter; to be honest, I'm quite calm at the moment.

I'm just so...heartbroken. As Cubs fans, we have pretty thick skin; we get trash-talked and ridiculed on a daily basis. We normally fire back, take it, or let the team do the talking. But their performance in the entire series was....embarrassing.

The good adage of "We'll get them next year" will forever be our mantra, until we get a World Series title.

And on another note, I've been single for 2 years, and counting. I hope to end that soon.

The Unit!

Well, I'm not going to lie, I need something to do to keep my mind of this terrible playoff game that the Cubs are giving to the Dodgers right now, on a silver platter. Last time I checked, it was 7-0, bad guys (EDIT: Yep, we lost. Fuck...). Alright Harden, time to step up on Saturday, strike out a dozen batters or so, and remind our infielders that they do, indeed, play for the Chicago Cubs. Reminding them to remember how to field a ground ball or execute a 6-4-3 double play again wouldn't hurt either. In fact, that would be great. Time for our last stand!

Like I was saying, I need something to do. So, I've decided to profile my family and yours truly. Thought it would be a nice (cheesy) dedication.

Dad, The Old Block


Wow, I totally forgot about this photo. This was taken at the family reunion in early 2006. Probably one of the best ones I have of him! By the way, he gives Dusty Baker a run for his money when it comes to chewing on toothpicks. He's always there to give me some quick and insightful advice whenever I need it.

5 Random Facts:
-Dad moved to the US when he was 17, and graduated from Senn HS.
-He is well-versed in Star Trek, Lord of the Rings, and Marvel comics.
-He will OWN you in poker, enough said.
-His favorite bands/artists consist of Queen, The Eagles, Journey, Regine Velasquez, and Gary V.
-He's a huge night owl. I've heard him sing opera songs as he cooked breakfast around 3 AM, which tasted amazing.

Mom, The Superwoman


There's one simple statement when describing my mother: she is the hardest-working woman I've ever seen in my life. She puts a ton of effort and dedication to work and to her family. She also makes being in her early 50's and looking like her early 30's look easy. This photo was taken in Austria, I believe.

5 Random Facts:
-One of her favorite hobbies is gardening.
-She loves The Bee Gees, ABBA, and The Carpenters, in that order.
-She makes the best eggrolls, ever. I really mean ever.
-She hates cream or sugar in her coffee.
-She is the eldest sibling, in her family of 9 brothers and sisters.

Ate Jen, The A-Lister Sister


A lame title for her, I know. But it works. Though she's a year older than I, we pretty much function on the same level; we're closer than a lot of people thing. She can be plain goofy at times, and she's an extremely hard-worker; also, a better piano player than I.

5 Random Facts:
-She's extremely artistic, and can sketch pretty much anything.
-Her favorite TV show is Prison Break.
-Her favorite Cubs player is Geovany Soto, though she loves the entire club, especially Henry Blanco.
-If nursing wasn't her thing, she would gladly train to be a chef.
-A poem of hers, that she wrote in grade school, was published in a book- a collection of poems.

Me, The Chip


I love Italian Beef sandwiches.

5 Random Facts
-I shoot pool and play tennis left-handed.
-My favorite band of all time is Oasis. I'm mad fer it!
-Raw cookie dough is the key to my heart.
-The guitar I use for class is a Garcia classical guitar- my Mom's engagement gift from my Dad!
-Noel Gallagher is my idol.

*phew* That took a while. Now, excuse me while I try to get over the Cubs losing Game 2. But I will be back!

$700 Billion Dollars & The Playoffs

So, my goofy self found my way into a featured video on the Loyola website. These people were going around, asking us what would we do for $700 billion dollars. A bunch of different people gave out pretty interesting answers in this; I'm towards the end of the video, making a short but sweet appearance. I still can't believe I sound like that...anyways, here's the link to the video:

http://webapps.luc.edu/ignation/video_detail.cfm?id=1231102155

About the playoffs, I was unfortunate yesterday, seeing that I had to work. I got text messages every twenty minutes or so, telling me everything that went on during the game. But when it was confirmed that the Cubs dropped Game 1, I wasn't myself for the rest of the evening.

But I bounced back; I kicked my Music History midterm's ass, despite only studying for it for a little over 3 hours over the span of 3 days.

Getting back to the playoffs, I'm looking forward to have Big Z on the bump against the Dodgers. The Sox aren't looking good at the Rays at the present moment (I mean, Evan Longoria has been 3 for 3 with 2 homers for crying out loud), so I could care less about it. I've been neutral the entire time, until both Chicago teams are in the World Series. It's been extremely difficult so far. But, you better believe I won't be so neutral when it happens. But, to get there, we gotta dig in and play some kick ass baseball. Let's go Cubs *coughcoughandSoxcoughcough*. Let's make Chicago explode. Honestly, how awesome would a Red Line Fall Classic be?! I think it would be better than the '85 Bears, the '05 White Sox (not that I really cared about that too much), and dare I say it......the Bulls Dynasty of the 90's!

Think about it...but we have a long way to go.

EDIT: Both Chicago teams are now down 0-1 in their series. This ends today (and tomorrow).

Shit = Fertilizer

Man, I was sure today was going down the crapper. I had a bunch of things due, with little time to do it in. I knew that I had a huge midterm coming next week (two, actually) in my Music History class. My comp sci professor e-mailed me and asked if I was still in his class, due to a few missed labs, and I have an assignment due Thursday. I have a 4 to 7 page paper to write, about my El journey, due Friday. And to top it all off, I finally reached 42 GB of music on my laptop, and it's barely chugging along, with about 5 or 6 GB left on it. I can barely multi-task on my laptop anymore. I also think I'm coming down with a small cold.

But since I am awesome, I was the catalyst to get this kick ass roll going.

Throughout the day, I worked on my El paper. I am currently working on page 4, going on 5, and I haven't even started talking about my Pink Line experience yet, so that'll be finished in no time. This is ground-breaking for me, seeing that it takes me ages to write at least 3 (I kid you not). In my Music History class, our professor asked us in which formats we wanted our midterm in, so we all decided on multiple choice, fill in the blank, ID'ing select pieces of music, and writing full definitions, to be fair with our prof. He's giving us the study guide next week, so this midterm is pretty much weaksauce. As for my comp sci class, I e-mailed him back, saying that I am indeed in the class. He was just wondering where my labs were. Why he didn't ask me where my labs were in the first place, I will never know. Anyways, in the syllabus, the labs count for 5% of my grade. I couldn't do the first 2 labs, just because I was still busy with other things. So in the grand scheme of things, I'm in good shape, even if I miss a couple. As for the assignment, I finished that shit in no time at the CBC, with Ryan's help.

As for my laptop woes, I copied/pasted my entire library onto my external hard drive and switched the importing location for all my songs to my external HD instead of on my laptop. Granted, I have to plug in my external HD each time I listen to music, or rip CDs, but it's a small price to pay. And a few moments ago, I ordered a 1 GB ram chip to make my laptop run fast and free again, bumping it up from 512 MB to 1.5 GB. For $20.

Oh, and as the day went on, I felt a whole lot better. I guess all I needed was some Starburst.

I am fucking awesome. It's a shame that the Cubs lost today, or I would have been even happier than I already am.

All I have to do now is do well in my guitar lesson tomorrow, and have a good close at work, and from there, my week will be done. Boo-yah.

Step One: Check. 2 More Celebrations To Go.

So, fun weekend.

I had no work on Friday, which is always a good thing. It was a shame the Cubs lost that day, but since the tail-spinning Brewers gave up a game to the Reds, the magic number decreased to 1. Later on that day, Ryan, Sami, and I went to Bed Bath & Beyond to try and find a wedding gift for Megan. But, we wound up walking around for 20 minutes, finding things we wanted to get for ourselves. To counter this, we went to Best Buy's boring section (where all the fridges and washing machines are) and we got her a George Foreman panini grill. It'd be perfect for her; she can make Chicken Pomodoris any time she wants!

The following day was Megan's wedding out in Clarendon Hills. It was about 10 minutes away from Naperville, so it took about half an hour to get there. The service was short and sweet; it was a Christian service; no communion was had. A huge emphasis was put onto Jesus, and not the couple themselves, which was quite an interesting spin on things.

Anyway, our present was wrapped up in Bob the Builder wrapping paper. We had nothing else! So, since we wanted to show a bit of class, we went to a nearby Walgreens to get decent wrapping paper. All the while, I was glued to the radio, listening to the Cubs pound the Cardinals. Then, it happened. The clinch. I jumped around the parking lot, expressing my elation with everyone else there; I was one happy man. I immediately texted each one of my friends to spread the good news, and to share the joy of the Cubs winning back to back division titles!

The reception was a few hours later. Knowing that it was a Christian wedding, we thought that there wouldn't be an open bar.

SO wrong.

The night was real fun, dancing away to the songs, eating delicious food and drinking awesome stuff, and enjoying the company of my CBC friends. Also, I almost caught Megan's garter, but this kid beat me to it. I suppose I'll be single for a long long time.....hopefully this won't be the case so soon.

Oh, and I just got back home from riding the El for a project in my Chicago History class. I pretty much rode the Brown and Pink lines, both from the end of the line, and through the Loop, taking notes on the people I saw, and what was around me. 3 hours of beautiful insanity, I tell you.

We're a game away from getting home field advantage, we still beat the Cardinals, 5-1 with the majority of our regulars on the bench, and Marquis hit a grand slam a few minutes ago. I feel so.....alive!!

This is going to be a good week. I feel it.

Screw You, Boredom!

Here's a little something I did just a few minutes ago. I'm extremely bored, and I have nothing to read for tomorrow's classes. The Cubs game is over (nice job, Lilly!) and the Sox lost to the Yankees. So, here is my video, featuring Ruby. Ella Jean has a broken string, and I still need to get some spares. I did this all in one take, so please excuse the mess ups that occur every so often (especially that last lick...damn you!) But I like this song a lot, and I've been playing it often, so why not show y'all? I also learned this song entirely by ear, took me about 2 and a half hours to get everything down. So I'm proud of myself. :D Enjoy!

NO-NO!

Honestly, I was going to blog about how this week and weekend was, but everything I had to say will take a back seat to this:

In the evening of September 14th, 2008, in Miller Park in Milwaukee Wisconsin (yeah, insane right?), Carlos Zambrano threw a 110-pitch, 10 K no-hitter to the Houston Astros. The only blemishes were one walk to Michael Bourn and Hunter Pence getting hit by a pitch. The game tonight was downright magical, I'll never forget this one. Big Z had everything going for him tonight. What is it about the Houston Astros that attracts Cubbie history? Remember when Kerry Wood struck out 20 Astros 10 years ago? Another awesome moment.

So congrats, Carlos. Keep the W's flying, and stay healthy. We're 7.5 games ahead of the Brewers in the division, and the magic number is down to lucky 7. Lilly is on the mound tomorrow, and we have a 3 game set at Wrigley starting Tuesday against the Brew Crew. Let's make this push to October a memorable one, boys.

Go Cubs.

A Few (More) Things

1) Thank you, Chicago Cubs (and especially Theodore Roosevelt Lilly III) for finally winning a ballgame. Let's get out there tonight and make it two in a row for September for once!

2) I am sitting in class, bored off my mind; I knew it would happen someday. Lecture is almost over, and I can't wait to get home and watch the Cubs and finish up my Chicago History reading. I am a nerd.

3) I got put into a Figure Four Leg Lock today. Don't know what it is? Shame on you...but here's an explanation anyway (from Wikipedia):

"Figure four leglock

The wrestler stands over the opponent who is lying on the mat face up and grasps a leg of the opponent. The wrestler then does a spinning toe hold and grasps the other leg, crossing them into a "4" (hence the name) as he does so and falls to the mat, applying pressure to the opponent's crossed legs with his own.

This move was made popular as the finishing move of "Nature Boy" Buddy Rogers, Jack Brisco, Carlitos Colón, Greg Valentine and Ric Flair, who sometimes adds to it by twisting his opponents ankle as it is locked in, Ric Flair often uses his hands to elevate himself, causing more pressure on the legs. Also, if the referee is distracted, he will hold the ropes to apply more pain, and at least once when he was part of The Four Horsemen he held onto their hands and they pulled to help him gain leverage.

An inverted variation exists more recently used by Shawn Michaels where the wrestler takes on of the opponent's legs, turns 90 degrees, then grabs the other opponent's leg and crosses it with the other, puts one foot in between and the other on the other leg, and then bridges over.

A wrestler may counter the figure four by rolling over on to their stomach, which applies the pressure on the original applier's legs. This counter to the figure four is often called a modified indian deathlock or sometimes referred to as a sharpshooter variant."

It actually kinda hurt! How did I get myself into this? Because a few friends and I were bored, so sue us.

4) Busy weekends are coming up. Danny's party on Saturday, with work, and I've a wedding to go to next week. Don't know what exactly to wear, but I'm looking forward to it! Plus, there's Rylee's (my cousin Red's/Robert's new baby sister) christening coming up too.

5) My Music History teacher is one of the coolest men I've ever met. Ever.

6) I can't believe it's been seven years since 9/11. I can still remember every detail that happened that day, and for the following days. I'm sure everyone else can attest to this.

That's all for now, boys and girls. Go Cubbies!

A Few Things:

1) Hey, Chicago Cubs, what the hell? It's September, when the baseball race really heats up, and what happens? The bats fall asleep when the starting pitching's great and vice versa, and the bullpen doesn't remember how to close it up with authority anymore. I mean, we lost to the Reds, and the Cards just beat us, spoiling Dempter's awesome start. Are we practicing how to ground into double plays on a regular basis?! Come on, step it up. We can't rely on the Brewers losing the rest of their games for the season (although that would be pretty fucking awesome). So stop giving me and the rest of the city heart attacks. Please, just win. Beat these motherfucking Redbirds.

Oh, and the magic number is 15 at the moment. I can smell October 'round the corner.....but I'd feel a lot better if we start winning for once.

2) I had an epiphany come to me in the form of a chord progression yesterday in my Music Theory class. It just kinda hit me, after I started imagining a drum beat in my head. It's a pretty simple chord progression, I mean it doesn't reinvent the wheel. But, I can find myself listening to this over and over again. I won't write anything down that I wouldn't genuinely enjoy myself, so this one is huge. I just need to work on a chorus and lyrics, and I'm set.

3) I'm still on the ball, in terms of school. I'm keeping up with all of my readings, and I haven't really panicked over anything just yet. I await this moment in anticipation....

4) Someone has my eye at school (not literally, thankfully). We happen to have a ton of common interests, she's artsy, and our top Pixar and Disney films list are very similar. And for once in a very very long time, I've been getting that feeling in my stomach each time I see her. Anyways, I look forward to whatever I can make out of this, no matter what happens.

5) Free Chipotle day is overrated.

That's all I've got for now. I've gotta practice my guitar piece.

The Great CBC Fire

A fire broke out at the Corner bakery today. Right after I clocked out of my shift, I went over to get a drink. All of a sudden, I see people leaving the restaurant to get a closer look at this fire. Smoke was everywhere, and the flames went up about 30 to 40 feet. People started moving their cars away from the fiery bushes. By this time, I ran inside to get the fire extinguisher; I've never had to actually use one in my life, so I was kinda nervously excited about the fact that I might be able to use it. Anyway, I got out there, and the fire spread to more of the bushes, and a small bit of it got on a nearby tree. Luckily, that one went out quick. The fire department came about 4 or 5 minutes later, and doused it all. I got a photo of the blaze (if you could call it that).



Not going to lie, it was really cool. Now, I want to go to a bonfire party or something, and eat some s'mores. Who wouldn't??

Choke On This!

This is probably old news, but I can't freaking wait for this.

Back to the Grind...

So, the end Summer came and went, and I must admit that it was probably the shortest one I've been through. Right after the trip to Austria, June was somewhat of a quick month. I really don't remember the majority of it, just my birthday, a shrimp broil, and a family outing here and there. Though it was quick, much relaxation occurred and still had a lot of fun, with a trip to the beach, a few jam sessions and BBQs, and most importantly: ball games.

The first week of school was just as fast as summer. I like all of my classes for once. My Monday and Wednesday classes are all fun; I start off with Musicianship Lab 144 (essentially ear training), where I have to be best friends with solfege, my voice, and the keyboard. Right after that class, there's Music Theory. It compliments the Music Lab, seeing that it goes into the specifics and fine workings of all the notes and whatnot. It'll be good because my theory needs a lot of brushing up on. I'm also crushing hard on a bunch of the girls in those classes. I mean, they're all cute, they can sing, and most of them can play piano, if not, another instrument. It's a win-win situation. I end those days with classical guitar lessons and Chicago History. I've always wanted to take that class since high school, so I'm happy I finally have the opportunity. We have to do these different field assignments out in the city, and write papers on our findings. I think for my first one, I have to choose an El line and ride it all the way through and write a paper on it.....details are to follow I guess. It's not like I don't do that already. 

Tuesdays and Thursdays are my longest days, and I only have 2 classes! My Music History class is no big deal, though my professor has a lame grading scale: 94-100 as an A, it goes on like that. Below 70 is failing, yadda yadda. Then, I have a chunk of time to myself until 4:15 when my Java II (Data Structures & Apps) starts. It ends around 6:20 because of a lab, but on Thursdays it ends at 5:30. 

This week wasn't all about classes either. I was able to score tickets to 2 Cubs games (one of which was yesterday night, with Aramis Ramirez and his game winning grand slam.....the place went fucking ape shit! The other game is for next Tuesday, against the Astros. Hopefully it won't get rained out like last time!), meet up with a bunch of old friends, shoot some pool, and get my daily routine all hammered out. 

Short anecdote: I lost my agenda book on Tuesday, which was fucking stupid of me because I left my Tuesday Cubs ticket inside it. I realize it had been missing on Wednesday night, when I was unpacking my things. Thursday morning, I go to the lost and found, and luckily, they had it, ticket and all. Also, yesterday they were giving out free Indian food, along with cotton candy and sno-cones. Then we watched Mr. Bean's Holiday. I felt like I was a child again.

So what did I learn this week?

-Back in the day, Chicago was a shit/mud hole. People hated it. Once it was established as a city, everyone hated all the Irish people. 

-There ARE good people in the world, and they return lost agenda books to their owners, among other good things.

-Chipotle is overrated. 

-The Cubs will never cease to amaze me, ever. I'm pretty sure about that one.

-I have better sight-singing skills than I thought, and I have relative pitch. Bad ass.

-It's okay to be a possible 5th year Senior, which is probably what I will be.

-Even if you didn't have a good first week, you have Monday's off day to look forward to. Unless you start school the day after Labor Day. Then I've got nothing for you.

I can't wait to head to Wrigley again on Tuesday! Oh, and for the classes to keep on going. Because for once, I'm going to be on top of the ball on everything. Just watch.

So THAT'S What Burnt Flesh Smells Like!

The last few days have been a bit more eventful than usual. Good thing too, seeing that it's my last week of freedom before school starts. 

Sunday started off like any normal Sunday: Mom comes home at 8:30, wakes us up to get to church, we arrive 10 minutes late, I nudge Mom awake every 5 minutes in the pew, shake a few hands, get some host, leave. As we were about to leave, I see Charly coming over to hug me. Now, Charly never goes to church, ever, unless she's with someone else. A few years back, she went with Mike and Brooks for a few weeks. This was all after she met our then-new pastors at a Pascal's Teen Club meeting, with the rest of El Groupo and McManus. That day, she was with her new boyfriend, Tom. He was a nice guy; we shared our respect for Michael Phelps (and the fact that we both think he's a fucking stud). Quite a nice surprise to see them. 

(Don't worry, the burnt flesh part comes soon)

Later on that day, I went over to the bakery for some breakfast, to visit my friend Steph on her last day (until break), and to upload photos. After I finished eating, Ryan came up to me with a proposal: he had to make 2 catering deliveries. If I helped him with these, he would split the tips that he could get with me. The only catch is that people won't tip us, and we wind up with nothing. I really had nothing to lose; there was a Cubs game on the radio anyway. So I went along for the ride. Both places were funeral homes, one by my house and one in Park Ridge. The Park Ridge one was one of the nicest ones I've ever stepped in. It's still weird for me though; going to funeral homes is like going to hospitals. I can't freaking stand them. Death is death to me, you can only go so far to make it look "presentable." As for hospitals, I hate the smell, and they provide too many bad memories. Anyway. We got back around 3 o'clock. About ten minutes later, cop cars were all over the parking lot. Apparently, this one woman drew a gun on somebody. Luckily the police stopped her in the act, and immediately arrested her, guns drawn and everything. The other guy she was with was taken in for questioning. They searched her car for a long while. Needless to say, business at the Corner Bakery Cafe was halted for about an hour. Everyone came and watched everything unfold. I must say, it was a lot more interesting than the stupid teenage parking lot brawl a few months back. 

I woke up around 6 AM the next morning, with my lower left jaw throbbing with pain. It was coming from my wisdom tooth; the gums around it was all swollen. It was unbearable. So I called my dentist, set up a quick appointment, downed an ibuprofen, and hit the sack. Woke up again, drove to the dentist, and he diagnosed something called pericoronitis. Bascially, the gum tissue around the offending wisdom tooth gets infected and swells up, making it hard to swallow, open your mouth, and chew. It could get really gnarly and spread to more areas of the mouth, if left untreated. His remedy? A low-level laser to burn away my gum tissue, to make room for the wisdom tooth. Hooray! Now, all my wisdom teeth are fully grown in, so there wasn't a huge demand for any extraction. I didn't think it was going to hurt much, but I was wrong. SO wrong. The novocain shot to my cheek and gums was probably the worst pain I've ever experienced at the dentist, and I've had my fair share of fillings before. After my cheeks went numb, he prepped the laser, and burned away. Even with my cheeks and gums numb, I still felt some of the laser's effects, and jumped each time. It was not fun, at all. I took a whiff after he was done, and I asked if it was really me. Apparently, burnt human flesh smells like really bad burnt popcorn. After it was all over, he put some extremely potent purple liquid (all I had to do was spit, and I'd turn something purple) on the gums to help it all cauterize, gave me more ibuprofen, and called it a day. 

Later on that day was Dave's BBQ/pool/birthday party/jam. It was quite fun; Rock Band was played, his Dad offered us $25 to kill a notorious possum, and the cops came because we were causing a disturbance in the pool. Sure, it was late, but sheesh. Minus the part where I really couldn't eat much, when Adrian walked around with his ass hanging out, and when Squini flashed his nuts at Dave (he had a Speedo), it was a very enjoyable night.

My jaw still hurts, I can't eat anything solid, and I'm running on painkillers. I hope I don't feel this shitty when school starts. 

Until next time, take care of your wisdom teeth. 

Family Matters

Ever since the crazy rained out spectacle at Wrigley Field last Monday, I really haven't had a lot of time for myself and this blogging business for a few reasons. One, I can get extremely lazy and not do it for long stretches of time, and two, family from California visited, and stayed at my house: 2 families of 5, including my grandparents and 2 little toddlers.

 It was good seeing all of my aunts, uncles, and cousins again. That Monday night, their flight got delayed for a few hours due to terrible weather in the city, so they didn't get around to flying in until 4 AM. I tried to sleep for a bit, but to no avail. Leanne, Marion, and Marc all greeted me on the couch, and in a dazed state, I got up, and hugged and greeted everyone. Shine came down next, followed by her two lil' brothers, Zach and Zion (aka Bullet or Nah-Nee [what he calls himself]). After showing off what I've been up to for the past few months (guitar playing and collecting all kinds of tuneage), we set up all the air mattresses. Now, you would think that having 16 people all stay in one house would get pretty cramped. In a way, you're right. But not for our casa. The master bedroom easily fit 9 people, and every other room took care of the rest. 

I always like it when family comes to visit, because we get to play tourist in our own city; it's a good chance to show off your local skills and whatnot. As an entire group, we hit up Navy Pier, the Sears Tower Skydeck (where we saw one hell of a sunset), Millennium Park, Wisconsin Dells (a 3-day vacation within a vacation which involved getting a few ticket jackpots in a local arcade, late night cap gun fights, getting grub at Monk's, and riding around in a 15-passenger beast van; it all kicked so much ass), Lou Malnotti's for bad-ass pizza, and Auntie Sang's house for a little family reunion with representatives from both my Mom and Dad's families. One day, Ate Jen and I brought our cousins downtown via the CTA; they thought it was amazing, due to the fact that they never take the train and they never rode a bus before. Imagine, they loved the CTA.....they do live in a suburb in California (Stockton), so I guess that makes sense. Anyway, we showed them Wrigleyville, the Magnificent Mile, and everything else in between. I even took them to eat in at Superdawg; they were shocked that ketchup was omitted on the blessed dogs, but they soon discovered that life is better without the red stuff, and a lot of hot peppers. 

At home, we kept our eyes glued on the Olympics. All I really have to say is that I'm crushing on Alicia Sacramone (though she did screw it up for the US team event), Shawn Johnson is my favorite, and Michael Phelps is fucking unstoppable. We also celebrated Marc's 15th birthday, and had an Eagles jam session into the wee hours of the morning. 

In all, having all the family over was a real good time. If anything, I miss having a full house; it's too quiet in here now. It was a really quick goodbye at the airport, since we had to take two cars and we couldn't really stick around at the drop off point for more than 2 minutes. Hugging 12 people in less than a minute is real slick work. And we (meaning myself, Marion, and Marc) pulled an all-nighter, so we were like zombies this morning.

During their visit, I was able to hang out with Andy, Huey and his girl, Charly, and Costa for a while on Monday. We mainly played with a Nerf football on the island by Andy's place, talked in Huey's backyard and Smyser's playground, and in honor of Mike, drank a 6 pack of cream soda on top of one of Wright College's hills. I felt like I was back in high school again, except with more talk of drinking, Cubs baseball, and oddly enough, high school.

I just woke up from my second nap of the day, and saw the Cubs steal a game from the Marlins and Phelps getting his 7th gold medal by a mere one hundredth of a second. I honestly have no words to describe how good he is and how the Cubs are playing ball this year, but I have a feeling I'm going to be trying to describe them in later entries.

Sad news: Dad told me last night that my Tatay, my great grandfather passed away. He was 104. As sad as I was, I was happy that he could go finally see Pampa in heaven. He outlived him, and hell, he had an amazing and full life. It's a pity I couldn't see him at least one more time.

Well, school starts up in a little over a week, and I still don't fully know what my schedule really looks like yet. I'm actually looking forward to all of my classes this semester, and working really hard on all of them. I've gotta make the grade, and kick huge amounts of ass, with less procrastination. I really hope this all works according to plan....but then again, I can't really expect anything. 

One last thing. High Fidelity the book > High Fidelity the movie. That is all.

"Mother Nature, You Capricious Slut."

That's what I thought as I sat in the Upper Deck at Wrigley Field a little earlier this evening. 

My friends Chris, James, Lilliana and I all went to the Cubs game today, versus the Houston Astros. The weather was a bit humid, but still excellent and we got peanuts and caramel corn from Nuts On Clark. The seats in the upper deck were perfect, and I had my pencil and scorecard ready to go. Everything was going great, despite the 2-0 lead that Houston sprang on us early. But, at the top of the 6th inning, the weather immediately went to shit and it started pouring after the lightning came. The grounds crew sprang into action, and laid out the tarp across the diamond. We the fans weren't expecting much rain, but we were in for a huge surprise. Word got around that there was a tornado warning, and severe storm warnings had been issued and whatnot. The Friendly Confines were greeted with sheets of rain and flash after flash of lightening and rolling thunder. It really was a sight to behold; this was my first Cubs game with a rain delay, and it was quite amazing. I'll post pictures up, I promise. 

Anyway, two siren warnings were issued. That was exciting, but quickly got annoying. 15 straight minutes of blaring sirens can get taxing on the ears. But what was cool was seeing an Elvis impersonator and some fan get onto the field and streak across the wet tarp, slip 'n' slide style. At one point, you couldn't even see the scoreboard, the sheets of rain were that thick.

After a little over two hours, and the tarp getting removed and put back on again, the game time was set to resume at 10:20, which it eventually did. Not much could be said about the game itself, seeing that our bats weren't swinging with authority. But, you could hear a pin drop in the whole park; it was that empty. All the die-hards remained, cheered their hearts out, and the game went on. We even made it to the 7th inning stretch. When the bottom of the 8th came around and LaTroy Hawkins took the mound (wtf?!), a huge crack of lightning chased him away and the rest of the players away, and the tarp came rolling on. The crowds were told to leave, and the park was drenched. The game was called, and the Cubs took the loss :( At least Milwaukee still lost! Huge props go to the Menards grounds crew. They're fucking bad ass.

I'm exhausted, tired, wet, and my family from California will be arriving in about an hour and a half, seeing that their flight was delayed. 16 Filipinos living in the same house. This one's going to be one helluva visit. 

Happenings

I've been reading High Fidelity by Nick Hornby recently, and it's gotten me to get used to listing things. This is good for this here entry simply because there's been a lot of things going on. I'm not quite finished with it yet, hopefully I can get more into it before my cousins from California arrive. Anyway, on with the list.

-Sadly, I'm not going to Warped Tour this summer. Again. There just aren't enough good bands to see, despite Motion City, Gym Class Heroes, and Reel Big Fish being in the line up. But....
-...Dad comes home tomorrow afternoon! I've gotta pick him up. He's been away since late June, and I miss him. I'm also off work tomorrow, and that's a definite plus.

-Jac was rolled up in a ball next to me for the longest and just got up and did the longest stretch and yawn when my sister entered the room. All he does all day is perch himself on top of the living room couch and bark at other dogs, pee, poop on the carpet, and eat the food that Mom keeps giving him (including, but not limited to meatballs, steak, and fish). 

-By Monday night, there will be 16 people living in my house. Family from California are coming to visit (2 families of 5, with my grandparents) for a few days. That's one more person than the McCallister family in Home Alone, and seven more people than the Full House bunch, not including Comet. That's fucking insane. 

-Total number of tickets won by us (Jordy, Jess, Ate Jen, Brandon, Jack, and myself) at Chuck E. Cheese: 2,283. What did we get? A Sorry/Uno board game (2000 tix), and a bunch of candy. I also won 2 bags of cotton candy. I've had better outings at Skee-Ball, but my high score was 38,000. Ate Jen and I also found a faulty machine tucked away in a corner that lets you pull out more tickets than you actually won.

-Got a haircut today. My hairdresser's name was Destiny. As I somewhat expected, she wasn't that bright. But, she did a nice job and was pleasant for the majority of the session. Some quotes:

"Wait. Are you telling me the Cubs and White Sox could be in the World Series? Like, how does that work? Is that even legal in the MLB?"

"Okay, can you tell me what the Sox were called before the White Sox?"

"Yeah, the Chicago White Stockings."

"Yup. That sounds *looks around, whispers* kinda gay. Like no offense to gay people or anything like that, but that's like, so gay."

"I still call it Comiskey, forget about U.S. Cellular. And 'Wrigley Field' is too much to say. I just call it Cubs Park. Cubs Park. I mean, come on."

*sigh* At least she was a Cubs fan, and I have a nice hair cut. She also complimented my hair, likening it to the infamous Uncle Jesse. 

Enough about the Rippers frontman. Speaking of the Cubs, I'm heading to the game on Monday night against the Astros. It's 70's night at Wrigley, and I'm planning to either deck myself out in 70's apparel, or make a sign. Most likely a WGN one...we shall see. I've also stumbled upon one helluva (illustrated!) Cubs blog here. Let's hope that they can pick it back up again with the Pirates! 

That'll be all for me for now.

Let's go, Lilly. Show these Pirates who's boss.

Apple Tomfoolery

So the past few days really haven't been the best they could have been. Shitty days at work (including working a closing shift for a $11,000+ day and a delivery that involved grid-lock traffic and stingy clients), problems with the neighbors, and not seeing The Dark Knight a second time (lol) all were thorns in my side as of late.

But the biggest one had to have been my laptop. As I tried turning it on the other day, it just refused to boot up. This has happened to me before, so it was nothing new. The hard drive was messed up, and with good reason. I have a ton of music, and my photos take up a bunch of space. Luckily, I had everything backed up on a CD from the previous time I went there. Everything else is on my external hard drive. After I tried fixing it myself (which usually doesn't work; if anything it'll make things a bit worse), I brought it to the Apple store. They said they would put on a brand new hard drive and operating system, so that was exciting. Except the part that my music would be lost, and it would wind up costing me over $180. Thanks to my iPod having my entire library and third party software programs that allow me to rip my songs/playlists onto iTunes, I dodged that bullet. When I picked it up a few hours later, they wound up not charging me for the repair; they said it would be complimentary. Oddly, my laptop was out of the warrantee already. Though, I did mention that this was the second time it happened in two months; they did the exact same thing they did the last time. Then there was a whole deal about my Apple Care plan and whatnot.......I forget what they said.

The point is this: I spent no money on my laptop repair. Though my songs are lost, I'm currently ripping them back onto iTunes (I'm on the "G" artists at the moment).

Aside from all that, I've been okay. I managed to head to the beach last week with Jori and Walter. Catching a few rays (then a short and strong storm) was just what I needed. Hopefully, I'll be seeing more beach time.

I'll probably get to the "I" or "J" artists before I call it a night. I've got a 7AM open shift tomorrow, then all afternoon to myself. Good ol' summer.

Let Me Just Say...

...I just got back from the midnight screening of The Dark Night at Old Orchard, and I'm speechless as to how freaking amazing of a movie that was. You there! See it. Asap.

Note To Self:

Always get Sally's coffee before taking on learning a piece entirely by ear. You will be astounded by how much you can accomplish (read: the whole damn thing). Congrats.



"There is no such thing as a 'cheap therapist.' People need that one person in their life that they can confide in. When you're having a bad day, it's a reassuring feeling to know that when you turn around, there's someone there to pick you back up. Everybody needs one of those."
-Craig D'Andrea

I haven't felt this tranquil in a long long time...

It's Fucking Neal Schon!

Lately, I've been in a nostalgic mood, when it comes to the music I listen to. I'm talking pop punk (namely New Found Glory, Sugarcult, Allister, The Ataris, Blink 182, etc), mainstream radio, and Billy Joel. I can't seem to get out of it either, but I'm not complaining. It's pretty cool to see how my taste has been refined to what it has been now. It turns out that there's more to music than the 4 same power chords and a catchy chorus.

Speaking of music, Jeff and I went over to Dave's house yesterday for a little jam session. His Dad had a few of his friends over, so we knew it was going to be a fun time. When we walked in the door, Eric was in a trance-like state, sitting at the Rock Band drum throne. In the background, the guys were playing a standard E blues, in the 12 bar variety. Mr. Centeno was on bass, his other friend on guitar, and his other buddy, Vick, on the drum kit. On lead guitar, I saw this little guy with long curly hair, playing on a Gibson Les Paul, just shredding and tearing it up. It took me a few seconds at first, but I realized that it was Tony Okal, one of my buddies from high school. Jeff had no idea who he was until they all stopped playing. In the midst of all this, Dave was taking photos. Luckily, I brought my camera also, so I took a few of my own. Once that was all over, we had the introduction thing, and started to play more. I whipped out my acoustic, and we busted out with Feel Like Making Love by Bad Company. Siiiick stuff man. Songs by Sixpence None The Richer, Jimmy Eat World, Oasis, Sister Hazel, 3 Doors Down, and Third Eye Blind were all part of the remaining set. We would have played longer, but blame that on Franklin Park for having a 10:30 curfew for having loud jam bands playing in the home, or something like that. Afterwards, we all had burgers and hot dogs. Vick and Jim (Mr. Centeno) reminded me of my Dad and Uncle Roland, and how much they used to laugh and goof around with each other. Needless to say, we were all laughing our asses off. A few quotes, from what I can remember:

Vick: "Alright guys, I want you college kids to listen to me for a second."
*Jeff starts eating a burger*
Vick: "WHAT THE FUCK ARE YOU DOING?! LISTEN! All right, paying attention? Good. Don't. Get. Married. For Christ's sake, fucking don't get married. Please. Be free. Have the most fun that you'll have. Fuck."

Jim: "I had this crazy ass dream last night, man. King Kong came out behind that tree that I've been wanting to cut down for 10 years. He swooped down, and grabbed me by the chest! Then in the background, there were some freaking pterodactyls....just milling around man!"
Vick: "Milling around? What, were they in the fuckin' smoking lounge?"
Jim: "Yeah man! Just milling around."


Jim: "I like that word.....'Drugs.' 'Druuugsss.' I like that word."
Vick: "Yeah. You can get around through jail by saying that, Bill Gates. 'Hey man, what are you in for?' *pushes up imaginary glasses* 'Drugsssss.' 'Oh, I won't mess with you man.'"

Vick: *looks at Dave* "Stop bullshitting around man, and let's get playing! I swear to God, I'm going to take my finger, stick it in my fucking ear, and shove it up your ass!!! At the same time!! And THAT'S NOT EVEN POSSIBLE! *looks at Jeff* AND I'M GOING TO SET YOU ON FIRE! But that's actually possible!!!"

Vick: "It's fucking Neal Schon! You know who he is, right?"
Okal: "Yes, I'm pretty well aware; I know who he is."
Vick: "Don't get testy with me, Neal. Fuck." *looks over at me, playing a Craig D'Andrea tune*.......And.....Hyroki!
*everyone laughs*
Vick: "Look at how all my beers have inspired him. You're playing the SHIT out of that guitar, man. You're good. Are you Japanese?"
*laughs*
Me: "Thanks man! And no, I'm not."
Vick: "Are you Pill-e-pee-no?"
Me: "Nice guess, and accent."

Me: *starts playing All For You by Sister Hazel*
Vick: "Fuck man, I thought I was old."

My cheeks and sides were hurting the whole night, and we were sad to see Vick leave for the night. He was hysterical, as you can probably tell from the above quotes. We're going to have another jam scheduled in the coming weekend, expect some photos.

Finally, here's a song that I've been learning by ear. I can't wait to bust out in this when the moment is just right. For now, I'll keep on practicing. Here it is:

We Got Harden!

As a Cubs fan, I'm really excited for our new starting pitcher, Rich Harden, acquired from the Oakland A's. We also got Chad Gaudin, both in exhange for Murton, Patterson, Gallagher, and some rookie catcher. I'm not complaining one bit, but let's hope Harden can stay healthy and further bolster our starting rotation. And I stress "hope." I don't want another Kerry Wood/Mark Prior-like slew of injuries rain down upon us again.

Speaking of the Cubs, I met Wayne Messmer at work today. You know, the man who usually sings the Star Spangled Banner before Cubs games. I recognized him in line during the lunch rush, and I knew I had to take his order. He came down to my register and placed his order. I knew from his voice that it was him (my head was down looking at my computer), and I proceeded to tell him so, and that if he was, indeed, Wayne Messemer (lol). We shook hands, and he had told me that he was following a strict diet of salads and soup, and nearly no bread. "It's more like a lifestyle. People nowadays just don't have the will power to keep their bodies healthy. Bread companies hate me." He winked as he said that too, I thought it was hilarious.

I just got back home from recording some 12-string guitar tracks at Brooks' house, for his band, Cherry Darling. It was pretty fun, and they even let me solo on the last chorus. I shamelessly used some of Noel Gallagher's licks, but it was in total tribute to him.

And about those photos I wrote about in the last post, I'll just get to them later. I'm pretty lazy, and I plan on taking a whole lot more.

I also finished reading Fight Club. I'm a huge Palahniuk fan, and I'm ashamed to say that I just finished it yesterday afternoon. It met my expectations, and I'm going to watch the movie asap. I started reading Elanor Rigby by Douglas Coupland. And by started reading, I mean the first 4 pages. So I'll get to that now. K, bye.