Other birthday news...

Aside from Wilson's birthday, Friday was also my grandfather's Chinese birthday (goes by lunar calendar). He turned 96. We still have some birthday cake if anyone wants some. A week before that was Kristen's birthday. Unfortuntaly, and also fortunately, I was in Colorado at the time. Two days ago was Lisa's birthday. I went up to Boston to hang out, ice skate, watch movies, and eat Coldstone. It was fun. Yesterday was Roger's birthday. The Board went to the Upper East Side. I had just gotten back from Boston that afternoon then went straight to New Jersey for a team meeting last night without stopping off at home first, so I missed that. I also picked up my diploma yesterday morning while I was still in Boston and showed it to my dad this morning before he left for China. I was happy to do it. He seems to be the only person who really cares about my having my diploma. Tomorrow is Jeanie's birthday. It is also Wednesday which means free open bar and karaoke at Bar Room. All are welcome.

Out of the Blue

Friday night--Wilson's birthday--a night of magic and wonder. As fun as hanging out drinking and busting phat moves on the dance floor with everyone was, the real earthshaking events that transpired that night for me actually occurred before heading to BRANCH. In the spirit of doing things I never thought in my life that I would be doing, I found myself on stage in front of a few hundred people, some with cameras, at NYU taking part in a Krumping battle. For those of you who don't know; Krumping (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Krumping), also known as Clown-dancing; is a variation of hip hop dance that is gaining popularity on the West coast and is featured in the movie Rize. I was told by my friend Diana after hip hop class the night before about some Rize thing at NYU. I thought this "thing" consisted of watching Rize and then a performance. I found out earlier Friday that it was a workshop and performance; okay, another hip hop class this week...no big deal.

We're loosening up doing whatever kind of dancing we want to. The guy MCing starts calling randomo people on stage. They're doing what everyone else is doing except on stage. We start working on chest pumping. I was dressed in basically all blue: blue jeans, blue shirt with white writing, blue bandana with white lines, blue armband with white writing, and white shoes. The MC all of a sudden looks at me (I'm standing right near the front) and reads my shirt to everyone: "To think is to create." He then calls me on stage to be in front of everyone. I happily go on stage. It was awesome. I got to stand in front of everyone and be an example for the class. I was actually excited about it instead of freaking out like I probably would have in the past.

The class eventually broke up into groups of eight and all of us on stage were one group. We all worked on our own stuff, and then we found out that we were a crew and were going to battle one of the other groups in the workshop. There ended up being two battles in which a couple of people from each crew went one at a time to show up the members of the other crew. I ended up going third from my group. A girl went before me and finished with a split, so naturally I had to show her up with a split of my own. After a series and movements and girations, I finished off jumping up in the air and landing into a full split. It was quite an experience--totally awesome and unexpected. It was cool when after the show people would ask me where I dance and if I've done B'boying before and stuff like that. What an experience!

Dr. Laura says...

LauraSHV (2:54:00 PM): I think that a lot of your dreams have to do with change
LauraSHV (2:54:08 PM): You've been dreaming a lot about how you were
LauraSHV (2:54:15 PM): Like HS and seeing friends
LauraSHV (2:54:22 PM): And I think you understand now that you are ready to change
LauraSHV (2:54:30 PM): You love your friends and your memories (and even your hair)LauraSHV (2:54:53 PM): And you know those are the events and the people that got youto where you are today
LauraSHV (2:54:59 PM): And you are ready to embrace that, but yet change
LauraSHV (2:55:10 PM): There have beena lot of things going on in your life that are reflective of this thinking
LauraSHV (2:55:21 PM): And I think these dreams are allowing your transitions to happen more smoothly
LauraSHV (2:55:31 PM): Even if they are a little strange and seem meaningless

No Intention

Apparently I have no intention of going to workout in the morning anymore. I overslept again and spent my entire morning have strange strange dreams. This morning's was weird because first it was just something really weird, then it was one long continuous dream. Even after I would wake up I'd still end up continuing the same dream when I would fall back asleep.

Anyway...in my dream I was on a snowboarding trip. Basically everyone who I talk to regularly was there. We were staying at a cabin somewhere near the mountain. We spent a lot of time at the supermarket getting things to eat. I decided I wanted to go every day so that I could get things to eat. I pointed out the brownies that I had taken from the seminar to Jose. Roger wanted to split a 6-pack of Vanilla Coke with me. They were advertised in the circular as $2.99. I was not so excited about paying $.50 a can plus deposit and tax. Back at the mountain, I was late getting there since I took a little longer to leave the cabin. On my way up to meet everyone I saw lots of random people on the main floor of the building where we bought our lift tickets from. I saw Noel Angeles and Pamela Yang. There was another member of their party, but I forget who it was. Maya Goer-Palenzuela was sitting at the seat closest to the stairs going up.

I had left my helmet and goggles in my car and wanted to go get those. While I was getting my ticket and directions to the mountain, the bags I had left by the door were picked up by some woman who was trying to steal my belongings. One bag had my ice skates in them. The other had some glasses (like cups, not glasses that you wear) in it. I chased her outside around the corner and into a bar where she dropped my stuff off since I was going to catch her. I picked up my things and started walking back. I noticed two guys were following me. Were they fellow conspirators working with the blonde-haired woman or just two hooligans who wanted to take my things? I don't remember. They tried to take my bags though. I would have to fend them off with some kicks. My Kung Fu brother from BU who I just visited yesterday, Rafael, appeared out of nowhere to help me out. After a while, I had given my skates to him and he had gone back. I was left to fight the two guys on my own while holding the glasses. They were quite cocky. Eventually, I was strangling one of them with my legs, and the other I had in a rear naked choke. I was waiting for them both to go unconscious when my dream ended. I think I was prepared to kill them if it came to that. This is about when I woke up.

The first dream I had before this one involved me at a concentration camp for Chinese boys. We were all just chilling naked and fending for ourselves. They would feed us these black pellets and capsules which we assumed were vitamins, but I was a little skeptical. I only had one of each. Other people started fighting over them. There was another part that was pretty strange. There was a room that had a floor that was the same surface as what the vendors grill meat on in their little carts. It was separate from everything else. We were wondering if we could use it to grill food for ourselves. One person had gone into the room. I was talking to him afterwards and found out that we'd have to grill our own meat (bodies) as food in that room. I was not so keen on cooking and eating chunks of flesh from my body.

I've got my mind on the road!

I had a lot of trouble sleeping last night. I would have random periods where I'd fall asleep with my mind wandering, but I never had any periods of sustained restful sleep. I guess I've had a ton of stuff on my mind recently. With all the stuff from the seminar on my mind, balancing my existing life with new challenges I want to take on I guess has had some effect on me after all. I have a job interview coming up next Wednesday thanks to Derek and some positive thinking on my own part. I got in touch with a couple of good college friends who I have kind of fallen out of touch with. I have a bunch of commitments in terms of other seminars I have decided to take on over the next few months. On top of these things, I feel like I finally have independence from my parents where they no longer are covering my expenses; it's a good thing aside from the mound of debt that is accumulating, which will probably be a good experience for me anyway.

So yeah...a lot on my mind. My mind wanders a lot. My dreams have been erratic and very diverse involving lots of people I know and lots of strange and random events that haven't taken place, but may someday. Every once in a while I'll be doing something routine -- like taking a piss -- and I'll remember something I dreamed about and ask myself, "When did I do that?" Then I'll remember that I dreamt it and try to remember what everything was about. There was one dream where I was strutting like a model. It was a brief spontaneous thing that I definitely could see myself doing, which is why I wasn't sure if I dreamt it or not. In another dream; which is really fuzzy right now, as are the rest of my dreams right now; a girl who I know asked me if we were dating exclusively or if we were seeing other people. I agreed we were dating exclusively and then realized that I liked someone else and I meant to say that to her. It was weird. I was very confused when I woke up, and now I'm so removed that I don't even remember who these girls were anymore.

Now that I've seen the future I will know what to expect and can act appropriately when the time comes.

Speedskating and curling are amazing.

Go Brian! (Take 2)

So I just realized that one of my posts from the early morning of February 4th has mysteriously vanished. Anyway, I'll try to reproduce it as best I can; just pretend it's the morning of February 4th...

Good luck to Brian on the LSAT tomorrow. I haven't supported you vocally as much as I should, and I just want you to know I've got your back. You rock that crap! Also, I wanted to apologize for my comment. I misinterpreted what you wrote. My comment was uncalled for anyway.

I forget what else was written...that was the gist of it.

Weekday Update with your hosts Kevin Chau and Laura DeMarzo

NYRGUY1321 [4:29 P.M.]: EEE EEE EE EE EE EE EEE
LauraSHV [4:29 P.M.]: ?
LauraSHV [4:29 P.M.]: Hello
NYRGUY1321 [4:29 P.M.]: hi
LauraSHV [4:30 P.M.]: what's up?
NYRGUY1321 [4:30 P.M.]: lots of awesome things
NYRGUY1321 [4:30 P.M.]: this week has been amazing
NYRGUY1321 [4:30 P.M.]: i can't believe it's friday
NYRGUY1321 [4:31 P.M.]: the last 8 days have been a blur
LauraSHV [4:34 P.M.]: That's great Kev
LauraSHV [4:34 P.M.]: What have you been up to?
NYRGUY1321 [4:35 P.M.]: staffing the seminar thurs-sun
NYRGUY1321 [4:35 P.M.]: i ended up chilling at the hotel it was at all of sunday night and monday
LauraSHV [4:37 P.M.]: That's great! I'm glad you had such a nice time
LauraSHV [4:37 P.M.]: I think it woudl ahve been a good idea if I had gone
LauraSHV [4:37 P.M.]: lol
NYRGUY1321 [4:39 P.M.]: well....
NYRGUY1321 [4:39 P.M.]: if you're really interested
NYRGUY1321 [4:39 P.M.]: our goal is to have another in the next 3 months
LauraSHV [4:41 P.M.]: That's awesome
LauraSHV [4:41 P.M.]: Yeah, I would like to go
NYRGUY1321 [4:41 P.M.]: :-D
LauraSHV [4:41 P.M.]: If I knew that I could def attend, maybe Brian and I can start saving
LauraSHV [4:41 P.M.]: I know he was interested too
NYRGUY1321 [4:41 P.M.]: awesomeness
NYRGUY1321 [4:42 P.M.]: do you know how far kingston is from potown?
LauraSHV [4:44 P.M.]: Umm...
LauraSHV [4:45 P.M.]: It's probably about half an hour to 45 mins
NYRGUY1321 [4:45 P.M.]: okay
NYRGUY1321 [4:45 P.M.]: cool, cuz the next one will most likely be there or nyc
LauraSHV [4:47 P.M.]: That's great
LauraSHV [4:47 P.M.]: Tell us way in advance so we can see if we want to go
LauraSHV [4:47 P.M.]: I think it would be good
NYRGUY1321 [4:48 P.M.]: yay
NYRGUY1321 [4:48 P.M.]: hehehe
NYRGUY1321 [4:49 P.M.]: so yeah, if you would like to hear
NYRGUY1321 [4:49 P.M.]: my week's been kind of crazy
LauraSHV [4:49 P.M.]: Sure tell me all
LauraSHV [4:49 P.M.]: I'm doing work
NYRGUY1321 [4:49 P.M.]: coolio
NYRGUY1321 [4:49 P.M.]: haha
LauraSHV [4:49 P.M.]: I would like to hear
NYRGUY1321 [4:49 P.M.]: so i was hanging out with them all day monday just in the hotel room
NYRGUY1321 [4:49 P.M.]: then we split up, one person's car got towed so me and diana went with cindy to get her car
NYRGUY1321 [4:49 P.M.]: and corinne went to send ty to the airport
NYRGUY1321 [4:50 P.M.]: they missed their flight and went back to the hotel that night
NYRGUY1321 [4:50 P.M.]: cindy and diana came back to my apartment and we all stayed here that night
NYRGUY1321 [4:50 P.M.]: cindy went home at 7am and i went with diana and met up with ty and corinne and we all went around lower east side and financial district the rest of the day
NYRGUY1321 [4:51 P.M.]: found this awesome little coffee shop, went to trinity church and st paul's chapel
NYRGUY1321 [4:51 P.M.]: nyse
LauraSHV [4:51 P.M.]: :-)
NYRGUY1321 [4:51 P.M.]: ty gave his jacket to a homeless guy
NYRGUY1321 [4:52 P.M.]: and we went to buy a disposable camera and century21 was right next door so he got a nice new leather jacket for really cheap
NYRGUY1321 [4:52 P.M.]: so we were hanging out, eventually we got to the airport to send ty off
NYRGUY1321 [4:52 P.M.]: while we were watching him at security i agreed to go to colorado next week for the 90 goal program
NYRGUY1321 [4:53 P.M.]: which i can tell you about later
LauraSHV [4:53 P.M.]: That sounds like a great time!
LauraSHV [4:53 P.M.]: And you've learned a lot?
NYRGUY1321 [4:53 P.M.]: so while i was talking to corinne, i told her i'd have interviewed somewhere in a week, so by next tuesday
NYRGUY1321 [4:54 P.M.]: yeah absolutely, these people are so awesome
NYRGUY1321 [4:54 P.M.]: they made me more aware of just how your energy and stuff like that affects everything around you
NYRGUY1321 [4:54 P.M.]: so that night eventually we all went our separate ways
NYRGUY1321 [4:55 P.M.]: on wednesday at the bar there was this girl who was with a friend of jose's...they had both gone to hs with us but were 2 years older
NYRGUY1321 [4:55 P.M.]: same year as my ssiter, turned out the girl dorothy knew my sister
NYRGUY1321 [4:55 P.M.]: and it happened to be my sister's bday so i called up my sister and had dorothy talk to her
NYRGUY1321 [4:56 P.M.]: now dorothy might go visit this next week since she's a flight attendant
NYRGUY1321 [4:56 P.M.]: and has 8 days off
NYRGUY1321 [4:56 P.M.]: and she offered me buddy passes for continental which is awesome cuz i'm going to colorado and california a couple of times the next few months
NYRGUY1321 [4:57 P.M.]: so we got our drink and eat and karaoke on
NYRGUY1321 [4:57 P.M.]: brian and i sang collide
NYRGUY1321 [4:57 P.M.]: everyone was touched, i'm sure
NYRGUY1321 [4:57 P.M.]: haha
NYRGUY1321 [4:57 P.M.]: i drove bri to penn station and roger and wilson to union sq
NYRGUY1321 [4:58 P.M.]: then i went to diana's place to drive her to the aiport in the morning
NYRGUY1321 [4:58 P.M.]: when i got home i slept from like 11am-8pm
NYRGUY1321 [4:58 P.M.]: and today i've been figuring out how i'd go about getting that interview
NYRGUY1321 [4:58 P.M.]: and what my goals for the 90 day thing are
NYRGUY1321 [4:59 P.M.]: i called up my friend who works at citigroup, to say hi and i want to meet him for lunch so we arranged a monday meeting
NYRGUY1321 [4:59 P.M.]: i told myself this could be an interview because it'll be somewhat informational and stuff too
LauraSHV [5:00 P.M.]: Wow
LauraSHV [5:00 P.M.]: you should use this conversation as your blog
LauraSHV [5:00 P.M.]: lol
NYRGUY1321 [5:00 P.M.]: so i felt pretty good, and then when i got out of the shower a little while ago, derek called me and said he was submitting my resume on monday and i could have an interview within the week
LauraSHV [5:00 P.M.]: You're typing it all out here
LauraSHV [5:00 P.M.]: :-)
NYRGUY1321 [5:00 P.M.]: yeah i might
NYRGUY1321 [5:00 P.M.]: haha
NYRGUY1321 [5:00 P.M.]: i told derek i was leaving wednesday for colorado and asked if i could do the interview tuesday then and he said probably
NYRGUY1321 [5:01 P.M.]: so now i actually did get the goal
NYRGUY1321 [5:01 P.M.]: and since it's basically guaranteed i can use this job to fund all my travels and stuff for the next few months
NYRGUY1321 [5:01 P.M.]: and after 3 months there he makes 400 dollars because of the referal
NYRGUY1321 [5:02 P.M.]: and then i can use that experience and move to a bigger company or do whatever else if i want to
LauraSHV [5:02 P.M.]: Wow...that's great
LauraSHV [5:02 P.M.]: :-)
NYRGUY1321 [5:03 P.M.]: :-D

One of my greatest nights ever...

Awesome people...awesome support...I doubt I've ever felt better about myself or more important/empowered in my life than I did tonight. We'll see if I can top this tomorrow night. Thanks to all those who supported me; it means the world to me.

Time to Make a Difference

Everyone is always complaining about something or making a big deal about something. This weekend the Basic Seminar starts in NYC -- the seminar that I helped bring here. While everyone is out drinking or making a big deal about the Super Bowl or gambling trips or just hanging out, I'm proud that I'm actually doing something that matters this weekend. I've never missed a Super Bowl in probably at least 10 years, but I honestly don't care at all that I'm missing this one given what I'm missing it for. I'm helping people who want to improve their lives. It's great being around people who actually want to move forward. I feel like not being around those people is a disservice to myself because otherwise I will probably get stuck in a rut not going anywhere either.

I've been worried about staffing because I need to become what all these people want to become, and a lot of times I don't feel like I'm in any different situation than they are (in terms of state of mind). Staffing and going through with everything for this weekend will really be a big step in getting out of my comfort zone and moving forward. I also need to set some goals for myself very soon.

I think it's going to be really cool seeing everyone and how they start off at the seminar. They're often very negative and standoffish. The first day the staff members will be dancing around and providing lots of energy which will be fun, and hard. I remember when I was taking it and I saw them dancing around. Everyone was just thinking, "What's wrong with these people?" Anyway, it should be fun. And seeing how people change and move themselves should be fun. It will also be frustrating, I'm sure, but everyone moves at their own pace.

I wish I had more people I know taking the seminar. They all found one reason or another to to back out. It's too bad people are so afraid of change or challenging themselves and just going outside of their comfort zone. I wish my friends would trust me more. It's not like I'm asking them to do something for me. I'm asking people to do something for themselves, and no one found themselves deserving enough to take that step forward. I've been through a lot with a lot of people, and one thing that I have taken from this experience is that money is something that could damage some of my closest friendships. Fact of the matter is, I have put down hundreds of dollars on a whim based on speculative things my friends have told me that turned out to be a waste of time, whereas now, something that I can guarantee worth the trouble -- and money -- gets shot down by everyone including all my closest friends whose trust I feel like I deserve but still don't get. I feel lucky that at least I'll get to be there again, and after this weekend I hope that I will seem noticeably changed for the "better."

And I get to break out all my suits and sport those. Yay! =)