i'm totally on this, "the flaming lips" binge right now.

the song of the moment is, feeling yourself disintegrate. it's so good that it's driving me insane.

damn head hurts. body sore. no orange juice.

arrrrgh!

it's late. we just had a bbq at mark's. i want to sleep, but then i don't. it's a very confusing period of the night. should i sleep, or should i not. it's like too late to go to bed, but then if i went to bed, i'll probably wake up late. which means that i'll be out of sorts on monday cuz i'll be going to sleep late tonight. can you picture my dilemma?

i cleaned my house today. it was pretty fucking messy. months of mail, clothes, bags, trash lying on the floor. glass bottles, plastic bottles and aluminum cans in grocery bags in the kitchen and on the porch. had to separate them. cleaned my sheets, threw away odd white pairs of socks, washed my blanket and my car. the carpet was in complete need of hoovering. i could definitely clean the kitchen and the bathroom, but i ran out of time.

okay, i got lazy.

i tried to burn some of my mail. it didn't work very well. 1. i couldn't find a good location to do it at, 2. i couldn't find a good container to burn them in, 3. the tin can i used wasn't very good cuz i stuffed to much in there, 4. i was getting freaked out by all the smoke, 5. it was kinda windy. shredding is just too much trouble. i need to find a better way to get rid of my old mail.

i should really hop into bed (i changed the sheets today. after 6 weeks. i'm disgusting i know. i've been in a very lazy mode lately). i'm tired.

well what do you know...

i had no idea that csulb is also known as long beach state. i've always thought they were two separate schools. incredible.

so my interview was pretty interesting. i think i did okay. can't be too pleased with myself cuz i don't want to find out later that i sucked royal ass. but i actually enjoyed it. my voice did crack several times, but i think it was only cuz i'm sick. yeah, that's it.

the ladies who were in my group, abby and melissa, said that the interviewers (professors) were impressed with my answer to their question on how do we deal with stress. my answer was, "I LOVE STRESS." i'm not crazy, but i think stress allows a person to feel alive sometimes. it's important to dissect what's stressing you out and deal with it a little at a time. and if that doesn't work, do some cooking or music listening. STRESS RULES!

i had king taco for lunch today. i feel complete.

now, if only i get to go drinking. i miss getting drunk. i don't drunk enough i think. yes, i want to become an acoholic.

it sucks to be at work right now. yeah, it does.

dun, dun, DUNNNNN!

so i'm 4 hours away from my interview and i'm so not ready.

exciting, eh?

the gas we pass

there's nothing more disturbing to me then the sound of someone passing gas while sitting on a toilet in a very small, barely ventilated restroom.

it's bad enough that i know you're sitting in the can, dropping kids off at the pool. i don't need an audio reminder of what's going on. and i certainly don't need to hear the straining in your breathe as you're trying to squeeze out the last reminants of your intestinal products.

usually when i'm sitting on the throne and someone walks in, i try to lay low until the person is out of the restroom. it's partially trying to be considerate and partially being a little embarrassed. some people can just walk into a restroom with a magazine, book, newspaper, what have you at work. my old co-worker used to bring a book in with him.

what's up with that? why anyone wants to read in a room stinking of shit is beyond me. even if it's your own foul smell. people should go in to the restroom, get the deed done, then get the hell quick out of dodge. i can understand having things to read while you're in the crapper. but just sitting there for 10-15 or even 20 minutes so you can read... that's just fucked up.

so i have an interview tomorrow at 2pm. i'm not ready.

what i hate: not having paper towels in a restroom. not so much as wanting my hands dry, but actually not wantting to touch the restroom doornob to get back out. i'm completely paranoid about that. of course, i'm not to the point where i HAVE to have one to open the door, but i feel so DIRTY afterwards. whatever happened to the days when i couldn't have cared less about germs and bacteria? IGNORANCE is BLISS!

and the award for best parents goes to...

okay, remember when i was bitching about the fcc and how the government should find new things to worry about instead of janet jackson's nip slip?

don't you think there's something immensely wrong with this country when a five-year-old has a bag of marijuana and i don't? and to top it off, what the hell kinda school is this kid going to? they have lasagna for lunch? i remember getting shit like moon burgers, sloppy joes and, if it's a good day, french bread pizzas. we never got lasagna.

granted it could be a lunch he brought from home. but still, do parents pack five-year-olds lasagna for lunch? i mean shouldn't they be eating that nasty ass lunchables or something? or maybe a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. are kids that young even capable of using a knife and fork without hurting themselves or other kids?

anyway, what's up with the kid with the crack?

i can't believe how much medication i took this morning. in the commute to work: nasal spray in each nostril, 2 pills. after getting into the office: inhaler, a clariton pill, and an antibiotics pill. i wonder if it's okay to drink coffee with all these drugs in me.

yeah, yeah. i know. woe is me.

so in today's news, hamas vowed to "shake Israel like an earthquake," as oppose to "shake it like a polaroid picture." alright, alright, alright, alright, alright, alright, alright...

i really enjoy, "best week ever," on VH1. it's funny as hell.

you know how there are times when you're sitting at work, minding your own business, and suddenly some chick comes running down the hallway with little support in the front and pants worn low enough so that you can see the beginnings of her g-string panties? yeah, i didn't think so either, until just now. and she drives a maroon rav4.

doctor, doctor. can't you see i'm dying, dying?

well i went to the doctor's today and apparently i have bronchitis. woo-hoo!

so now i have to take four different types of meds each day, two that are pills, one nasal spray, and one inhaler. don't i feel like an old fart. furthermore, i have to go back to see her next thursday. the doctor, who isn't my usual doctor, was very good. she explained and answered all my questions (unlike my usual doctor) and seemed very nice. i would definitely switch doctors if not for the fact that i wouldn't want her to grope my balls during a physical.

i found out that too much wasabi isn't a good thing when it comes to having bronchitis. and since it's apparently contagious through body fluids, deidra has it as well. i hope i'll be okay during my interview on thursday. *sigh* i need to start preparing for that.

a new direction.

last night, while driving back from long beach, i decided to go get some japanese food at tokyo lobby. usually when i go there, i take streets because it's easier and the freeways are a bit out of the way. anyway, since i was already on the 710, i decided to jump on the 10 and exit off of san gabriel.

here's the thing, sometimes i have really good directional sense and sometimes i don't. last night, i didn't. so i got off the SG exit and decided to head towards rosemead (which is south, and the wrong direction). after driving down SG blvd for about a mile, I realized that i'm totally headed in the wrong direction and had to bust an illegal u-ey to correct myself.

i guess the one good thing about this exercise in "incorrective" driving is that now i know where don bosco tech is. the only reason why that's significant is that i remember going there once for a math competition in junior high and had the honor of watching tappan zee dry humping susan lee, doggie style. made for a great time since i had a crush on her.

anyhoo, i did eventually get to tokyo lobby and ended up getting teriyaki chicken, tempura and an uni (sea urchin) handroll. i've been dying for japanese food.

good tidings.

sometimes i wish i could make up brilliant sayings on the fly. for example,

- like a midget at a urinal you're going to have to stay on your toes

and stuff by oscar wilde,

- work is the curse of the drinking classes of this country
- there is only one thing in the world worse than being talked about, and that is not being talked about
- woman begins by resisting a man's advances and ends up blocking his retreat

my dear mr. brackets... you're all fucked up

is watching great basketball games (especially the uab vs. kentucky) worth the total annihilation of my 2004 tourney brackets? hard to decide. but i'm going to have to give the edge to great basketball games since i love the upset specials and the one seeds going down. now if only duke loses...

also, i would like to give props to the ucla women's basketball team for going into minnesota and almost squeaked out the win. exciting game. we're going to have a very good team next year.

now if only my illness would go the fuck away. damn, i mean, it's been almost 2 months. i'm still phlegming like a little bitch and the coughing is driving me crazy. it won't go away!

*cough*

morrissey is playing at the wiltern next month for five nights. that's totally insane. five FREAKING nights. at $50-$65 a pop, he's raking the shit in. i'm debating whether or not i want to pay that much to go see him perform live. once upon a time, this would have been a no brainer. but as i've gotten older, i value the concert going experience less and less. of course, i've seen him twice already, in addition to missing one of his concerts down in san diego. (that story's gotta be blogged on of these days.)

deidra is dragging me to go see, they might be giants, also playing next month. i'm a fan, but i'm not a big fan. nor am i such a fan that i would go see them play live. but then what are you going to do when your girlfriend says, "you and i are going to see them." it's so definite that you can't even argue about it. but i guess it could be worse, she could really be into celine dion.

it's been a year since deidra and i've been together (sans the several weeks that i broke up with her). it's been a pretty good year. i've definitely enjoyed spending time with her cuz she's one funny mofo. granted, i'm still somewhat moving-in-together phobic. i've definitely broke up with her less than i did with christina, which is a good sign.

*cough*

*blow my nose*

we went to see, 50 first dates, with adam sandler and drew barrymore over the weekend. it was better than what i'd expected. and drew looked damn good in the movie. have to love the wet t-shirt scenes.

this article, about colonoscopy parties, contained this little gem,

The outpatient surgery room is decorated with blue and white ribbons and signs that read, "I'm proud to be a party pooper" and "Don't neglect early detect."

"party pooper," oh, that's just too much. where's the fcc and why isn't this regulated? i almost choked on my latte... well, if i was drinking it at the time. but honestly, i'm not sure if i'll ever be ready to walk into a roomful of people cheering for me after getting a tube with a camera stuck up my ass. it's just a little too personal, you know. there's no need to broadcast it.

doh!

funny thing happened on the way to the forum.

it disturbs me that i haven't been able to bring myself to shop at my neighborhood vons. i don't know why, i just can't do it after boycotting them for so long. it also helps that the three places i have shopped at since the beginning of the supermarket strike, sam's club, trader joe's, and shun fat (chinese market) are pretty decent places to go to.

i did however shopped at ralph's several times, but only at work and only for several things to snack on. so in theory, i didn't really shop at ralph's. but vons was definitely the perpetrator and evil corporation behind the length of the strike. i may never shop there again.

it's unbelieveable how happy i am to see regular unleaded gasoline priced at $2.15/gal or lower. what happened to the days when it was like barely a dollar a gallon? do i have to start walking to work? maybe set up a cot in my office so i don't have to commute 42 miles a day. and that's if i'm not heading down to the lbc after work.

why isn't ralphie may a star yet? he's certainly talented when it comes to making people laugh and having met him once, he's a pretty friendly guy. several nights ago, when he was on leno, he said that he got a gastric bypass before thanksgiving and has lost over 150 pounds already. that's pretty fucking awesome.

it's such a nice day that i don't want to be inside. a nice, long lunch along the beach would be really nice. but too bad i'm the only person here and i can't leave the temps alone. of course they've been gone for a little over an hour for lunch. *sigh*

too bad western michigan couldn't hit shit in the second half of their game against vandy. i picked them to as an upset special, but it was not meant to be. i need some upsets today. you have to love the upset specials. so far today, i'm 6 for 8. that's just not getting it done.

i have to say that, the flaming lips, are a really good band. i'm listening to a random mix of their songs (eleven albums, including on compilation) and i don't think i've heard one that i consciously dislike.

i just had a delicious double whopper with extra mayo. definitely unhealthy, but certainly delicious.

i wonder if i'm suffering from post-nasal drip and a sinus infection. cuz i'm rather phelgmy and the spot where my mouth and nose meet is feeling mighty uncomfortable.

yo mamma is a dirty whore!

this has to be one of the funniest article i've read in a long time. how do you go from watching, the passion of the christ, to beating up on each other? silly people. btw, i loved the movie. i have to admit that parts of the movie... okay, pretty much from the beginning to the end of the movie, made me dislike the jews. but the thing is, i got over it. i don't subscribe to the notion that jews killed jesus. but it certainly did stir up some disturbingly raw emotions.

how jim carey got to be so famous and successful is beyond me. i can't stand the guy, he bugs the shit out of me. he just acts with his mouth, which isn't good at all. another "actor," and i use that term very loosely, that bothers me is jack black. sure he's funny, but it's time to stop with the overacting. there's no need to exaggerate body movements and talk several decibels louder than everybody to get your point across.

it's sad when the government comes out with a guideline of which fishes has the least amounts of mercury. as much as i love industry and technology, i prefer my food to be mercury free. speaking of fish, i'm planning to prepare one of my favorite dishes, stewed catfish, asian style (thankfully, it's low on mercury). finally got the recipe from my mum, and damn if it isn't a lot of trouble to make. certainly worth it, though.

i'm not doing so hot in the ncaa tourney. but then again, i can take solace in the fact that i'm not mark, and had arizona going all the way to the final four. i won't lie to you, that UNC-charlotte game hurt.

i'm really annoyed that i can't find the flaming lips album that jay burned for me several months ago. it's not at my VA office and i can't find it here at the UCLA office. I DON'T KNOW WHERE IT IS!!!! oh cool, you can listen to it on their official website. what a great name for an album, yoshimi battles the pink robot. the end of, one more robot/sympathy 3000-21, rocks!

i'm kinda annoyed that i got sucked into watching, the apprentice. not that it's a bad show, cuz it's really, really good. but i don't need more tv shows to watch. i'm a tv whore, or at least, "a slave to television," according to my parents. i held out and didn't start watching, the apprentice, until week six. it was a good try on my part, but people in the office were talking about it, and well... it's the peer pressure. i really shouldn't blame it on other people since the donald doesn't like excuses. and if you're not learning from DT, you are just not learning at all.

this whole anti-gay mentality in america is pissing me off. why are so many people so afraid of homosexuals? certainly, i cringe a little when i see two gay men kiss. but i don't find anything wrong with it. there's already enough hatred among MEN (read: people) in this world, so why not celebrate the love, even if it's between two men or two women?

yesterday, i read an article about two parents being upset because their grammar school child borrowed a book from the school library about two princes being in love with each other. sure, it's a rather odd topic for a children's book. but certainly i don't see the harm in it. the parents said that it bothered them since the book talks about something that they don't believe in. further down the article, it says that the parents are keeping the book, "until they get assurances it won't be circulated." hmmm... so aren't they just forcing their views on other people? what right do they have to decide that other children can or can not read this book? i can't believe how narrow minded some people are. it's incredulous.

today, i saw the headline, Tennessee County Reverses Ban on Gays . It's the year 2004, and we're reduced to having cities and towns banning homosexuals? i mean, are gay people the new blacks in america? are we going to start having heterosexual-only drinking fountains and swimming pools? oh, wait, it gets better...

Twelve-year-old Caitlin Kinney and others in a noisy crowd at the courthouse Thursday night were disappointed at the reversal.
The seventh-grader said she doesn't want homosexuals in the community. "It's not a Christian thing," said Kinney, identifying herself as a Baptist.

right, it's not a christian thing. then what exactly is it? she doesn't want to complete with the gay men residing in dayton? how is living with gay people going to affect her life? and to think i wanted the flyers to win last night. how sad is it to know that the only reason why they reverse the ban is because the county lawyer told them that it's against the law.

and if there is truly a separation between church and state, why not make same sex marriages legal? in a legal standpoint, what's the difference between a man marrying a woman and a man marrying another man? the idea that granting gays the right to marry will lead to the moral decay of america is completely asinine. i think we have more pressing problems to worry about than, *gasp* gay people getting married! how about fixing the damn economy or maybe watching what our children do once in a while, eh? kids bringing guns to school, rising cost of education, american soldiers dying each day for a cause that i'm beginning to lose faith in, and tons of other issues. and please, for godsakes, PLEASE! don't get me started on the FCC and janet jackson's boobs. where did this incredible sense of puritanism come from?

but i digressed. twelve years old... TWELVE FUCKING YEARS OLD and she's already entrenched with the hate. i must promise myself that when i have kids, i'm not going to perpetuate the hate. speaking of gays, isn't, the l word. the greatest? not only is there a nice amount of female nudity, but (and more importantly) it's a well written show. i'm encapsulated by it, even though i don't have showtime. or cable for that matter. yum!

i am tired.

why are kids so loud? and why are hallways so echo-y? the combination of the two really sucks, especially when you're trying to nap in your office.

let's see... i've been busy working on grad school applications (fucking tedious and i'm sick of the whole process to tell you the truth) and on the ADRC project at work (Alzheimer's Disease Research Center). and then to top it off, i've been sick since the beginning of february.

going back to the ADRC project: one good thing about it is that i get to spend my days working at UCLA instead of the VA. i have an office (well it's really the professor's office, but he only comes in once a week) with a big window, which overlooks out into a semi-busy turnaround. there's also a UCLA vanpool hub there too.

i am tired.

so far i've been rejected by UCLA and CSUN. i kinda expected it. the program i applied to at UCLA only admits 13 a year. then for CSUN, i just plain didn't care and didn't bother taking the master program writing test. anyway, my friend, julia, said that she didn't really like bureaucracy at that school. so now i'm down to USC and CSULB. my second and third choices. i have an interview with CSULB next wednesday. i'm too tired right now to be nervous. to make matter worse, i missed the deadline for student loans. if i get into SC, i'm not sure how i'm going to pay for it. *sigh*

deidra and i had a very nice valentine's day weekend. friday night, i took her to maggiano's for a romantic dinner. saturday mid-morning, we left for san diego to go to seaworld. i wasn't expecting much out of it, but i actually liked it. it's a nice place to relax and see the fishies. since i'm wasn't too familiar with SD and we were pretty tired from all the walking, we kept VD low key and went to coco's for dinner. (see, that's why i took her to maggiano's friday night) anyway, sunday we went back to seaworld (got the fun pass) to go see several of the exhibits/shows we missed the day earlier. so all in all, it was a great weekend.

apparently, there's a new morrissey album coming out in may. am i excited? it's hard to say. i want to say yes, but then i feel sort of "blah" about the whole thing. i'm also debating whether or not to go to croachella, sunday only, to catch belle and sebastian and the cure. is it worth the shitload of money to go see them and a number of other bands? i hate having to debate like this. and not so much the money issue, but do i want to drive down to croachella and be in the sun all day with a bunch of dirty people? not a very tempting thought.

i can't help it, but i really like women's sweatpants that have words written on them. "JUICY," comes to mind. what a great place to put words so we can stare at women's asses some more. fantastic.

i am still tired.

ten more minutes until the start of the first march madness game. #12 manhattan vs. #5 florida (upset special in the making). am i excited about the tournament even though UCLA is not in the group of 64? hard to say since they dissed me royally for graduate school. *** some guy just passed by my window wearing a tan blazer with a pair of white shorts (i'm hesitant to say that it's a pair of boxers) and socks with dress shoes. now that's just weird. *** i have stanford going all the way, it's a tough year to fill in the brackets.

one good thing about working at UCLA is the accessibility of things. like right now i want to go get a cup of coffee, so in a couple of minutes, i'm going to go down to the coffee bean and get myself a latte with a blueberry muffin. breakfast of champions.

now listening to: the postal service.