Invisible Shell

I am carrying a burden that I cannot touch, smell, taste, see, nor hear.
It is with me at all times, day and night, and in between.
Sometimes I feel trapped, and only then I feel safe.
Moments and illusions of freedom are dangerous to my ego.
Suppression turns into suspension.
Which prevents actions from all that is hidden.
Carrying tons of baggage becomes slightly easier by the thousandth time.
Attempts from angels to help with the pain prove useless.
Desire is not enough... love may triumph, but only with courage.
Without this cocoon, I would lose myself.
If I let go I would be like the air that brushes the petals of a rose...
If I let go I would be like the sunlight rays that nurture life...
If I let go I would be like the vibrations of sound...
Until the day that I am ready to let go, I will be my universal self...
Meanwhile I will continue to carry my invisible shell...

Money... the world revolves around it and most of our life on earth will depend on it if we want to live in society. I'm reading tons of books about economics, finance, banking, and other strong topics. I believe that thus far, nobody has put it more succinct than Scott Adams, in his latest book Dilbert and the Way of the Weasel. So here is his important list, so feel free to take great notes. Some of it is common sense.

Everything You Need to Know About Financial Success

• Eliminate all debt except for your mortgage
• Create an Estate Plan
• Maximize your tax deferred retirement plan
• If you have kids, save for college through a 529 plan
• Buy a home you can afford
• If you have a family, get term life insurance
• Put six months of expenses in a money market account
• Pay yourself first at least 10% of your income
• Invest your savings in no-load diversified funds:
• 60% in stock funds
• 20% in bond funds
• 10% in REIT funds
• 10% in money market funds

For another awesome blog, which provided this information go to http://ww-success.com/blog/index.php/2007/01/01/everything-you-need-to-know-about-financial-success/

Top 10 Healthy Snacks to Select at a Local Liquor Store

Here are the top 10 healthy snacks that one should look out for in any local Liquor Store to stay healthy! :) *These are in no particular order*

1. Raw Nuts/Peanuts/Almonds
2. Fresh Fruit/Banana, Apple, or Orange
3. V8 Drink or Water
4. Vegetable Soups
5. Raisins/Dried Fruit
6. Popcorn
7. Dark Chocolate
8. Low Fat Yogurt- Strawberry
9. Special K mini Cereal
10. Pretzels

Balloon Animals

Today I had five minutes to kill, so I went on YouTube and typed "balloon" in the search area and found this fun video. I learned how to make a cat/lion in less than four minutes. How awesome is that?



My new goal is to learn how to make my favorite twenty animals by next weekend! Next weekend is my friend's kid's birthday and it would be fun to get exploited by this new talent. I will invest in some good quality balloons. I just need to learn how to blow the air into them, since those suckers are hard to blow!

Graduation

It was the best day ever! I've never felt such an intense happiness in all of my life. I saw all of my dear friends from my department and from other departments as well. It was wonderful to see my family smiling. It was a day full of cheers, hugs, love, and confetti. I was very happy to see the dynamic intellectual trio: K.S.K! I love them because they are my heroes (guardian angel, helping wizard, and fairy godmother).

Walking on that stage was great! I shook President Alexander's hand and he congratulated me. I felt like I was floating in a Utopian planet.

Class of 2007 Rules! :)

L.A. Zoo

As a KIIS VIP member, I won 4 tickets for the Reindeer Romp & Zoo. On Sunday, 24th of 2006, we went along with Pauline A.K.A. The Ireland Lady to the L.A. zoo. It was a gloomy day and a few sun rays peeked from the clouds. Once we were there, we went to the first seal exhibit. The seals were circulating the giant water tank.

Then, we went up the stairs on our way to see the Santa's famous reindeer. A lot of there were eating their breakfast alfalfa, and others were still taking naps. Santa was taking pictures with the young children. Some children appeared to be afraid of Santa and tried to avoid him, while the parents forced them to seat in his warm lap.

Next, we went to take pictures in the winter stage. We realized that only children were taking pictures, and they were cutting in front of us. We patiently waited and finally took our picture. We proved that adults too, can have fun in kiddie land.

Then, we went to stalk various animals such as the pink flamingos, hungry crocodile, sleepy koalas, horny camels, energized zebras, and the kangaroo family. Next, we went to see the crazy monkeys, pissed tigers, cute giraffes, bored lions, and the cold monkeys. We noticed that the monkey was hugging a heat lamp. A lot of the African animals were frozen and needed heat, unfortunately the zoo does not provide them with the heat they need.

The birds were confined to small cages and wanted to escape. The monkeys were having carrots for lunch. An elder person said that two of the monkeys had escaped before, and that soon enough they will escape again. Those fun monkeys were clapping and being very playful throwing those carrots up in the air.

The snakes were sleeping and were motionless. The mother snow leopard had three cubs that were bugging her to death. Three hawks stared aimlessly at us. A wolf was watching a baby with the parents, whom were dangerously close. The wolf could have easily jumped out of his area to eat that baby. The mom instinctively held the baby and walked away from that wolf.

As we were leaving the zoo, we saw a cat trying to eat a flamingo. The flamingos panicked, they squeaked and flapped their wings.

We walked over 5 miles that day and our feet were killing us. We decided that we were not going to go to the Observatory afterwards, instead we went home and ate our delicious tamales!

Fun Fad Diet

I was browsing online to try to diminish my lack of amusement and I found a secret fad diet. It is one day only and it claims to lose 4-6lbs a day. Of course this is all water weight, but it will help you get into that certain outfit fast. In about another day you will regain all those water pounds.

Here is the so called prescription rules:

1) You could only eat lean proteins
2) You cannot eat anything else (exception green vegetables that are low carb like Spinach or lettuce)
3) You must consume minimum of 10 cups of water

Sample diet day:

Breakfast:

2 boiled eggs and 1 coffee with 1 tsp. of sugar

Lunch:
Spinach or ham

Dinner:
Fish, meatballs, or any meat whatsoever

Exercise is optional: 30 minutes aerobics/weights interval training

The next day, step on that scale and you will notice the pounds drop like magic!!! :)

*I tried this fad diet for fun and I lost exactly 4 lbs.*

Fey at Circus Disco

There is one woman singer that I have admired since 1995. Fey will always be my idol. I had the opportunity to see her perform live after 4 solid years! I last saw her perform in the 2002 Dodger Latin Festival. This past Friday, June 9th of 2006 I went to Circus Disco night club to see her perform.

Circus Disco is the best gay latin club in Hollywood. I went with my mother. My sdad dropped us off at around 9:10pm and we got in line to get my Fey autographed poster. After that we went in. The place was absolutely beautiful! At the entrance there was this huge Fey banner and I got all excited. In the patio there were huge trees covered in blue lights and many gay couples holding hands. We went to eat at this small TJ-like Mexican restaurant called Alejandro's and we ordered the most delicious quesadillas ever! After a while, I called Alex to meet him. Alex is the president of Fey Fans USA fan club. I met him along with Enrique who came from Wisconsin just to see Fey. I also met another guy who came from Chicago to also see Fey! It was fun listening to their meet and greets with Fey. Alex gave each of us, the cd single for "Barco a Venus" and that made me happy. Later, we went inside to wait for Fey to perform. She came out around 12:40am. She started singing her regular Mix songs. Unfortunately, my digital camera did not take good pictures because she was never stationary. I hope my other camera's pictures come out. She had such incredible moves! She was super energized! The gay couples looked at me weird because I kept screaming at the top of my lungs and singing along with her. About three times she would dance a few inches away from me and she would just look at me. I got shy for some reason and just smiled---as I took some more pictures. After she sang her songs, the drag queen and a few others gave her an award for supporting the gay community and gave her a shot of tequila. It was funny to see her drinking. Then, she sang acapella a clip from her upcoming single "Faltan Lunas" and everyone cheered! Her last song was "Barco a Venus" and then she left.

We saw Enrique and his friend for the last time and we said our goodbyes. We talked about how awesome her performance was. Unfortunately, I did not get to meet her that night. Soon after my sdad picked us up and went home. This is a day that I will never forget. I know that someday I will finally meet her in person.

The following are pictures from the event. I took the first picture and Alex took the rest of them. Enjoy!

Sweet Butterfly

A small cacoon hiding from the light
Safe within the surrounding coat
Nothing could harm it
Nobody there to hurt it
Time passes a second at a time
A small caterpillar feeds itself on the greens
Hoping to someday grow
Wishing to skip to the next stage of its life
Crawling and pouting for food
Hidden dangers arrive
Protecting itself against pain
Time passes a second at a time
A caterpillar grows its wings
The wings bring hope
The wings bring new realities
The wings bring new opporunities
Flying across the sky
Seeking places from afar
Finding places that did not exist
Oh sweet butterfly
Fly with confidence...
Oh sweet butterfly
Remember to not forget....
Oh sweet butterfly
Continue to dream....

Sweet Cry

Oh, pillow of mine
Day and night
I cry myself about sweet nothings
The heart feels helpless
The mind feels restless
The soul feels defenseless
Day and night
I cry myself about sweet nothings

Plague

A dark and strange plague feeds upon you
It leaves you breathless
A heart that you thought was yours
Taken away by something you cannot understand
Where does the energy go after it has been disintegrated?
What are all these spiderwebs clogging my eyes?
My body wrapped around with bra straps
I need your guidance
I need your care
I need your touch
But most of all I need your love
Without it I cannot go on

Wrinkles

I was walking indoors as I was admiring my precious television. I noticed an elderly hand, a hand that was wrinkled. I looked at my hands so soft, young, and smooth. Thinking to myself that someday my beautiful hands will get wrinkled and flaky. People have told me that I was lazy and that I take many things for granted. Today I realized that this was one of them. I am not living my fullest potential. I need to go out there and use my hands for the good. What a weird thought.

Men Enjoy Seeing Bad People Suffer

I was reading an article from the science writer Malcolm Ritter that made me remember conversations with my stepdad, mother, and friends. The article brought up that men might not feel empathy toward people who are bad or cheaters, while women are likely to feel empathy toward them. It made me think of my stepdad because it was describing him on many of the negative reactions described in the article. Just for an example, my stepdad says that if anyone ever did anything bad to him or his family he would seek revenge to make up for it and enjoy it. He also does not feel sorry for any violence toward cheaters or criminals. I have known a few other men who think and feel the same exact way. My mom disagrees she says that people do not deserve to be hurt even if they were bad, she says it's up to the law to take care of it. I have asked many of my friends and they feel that way. This raises the question if there is in fact any differences between males and females empathy toward cheaters or people who did something considered inherently inappropriate by others. Now what about emotional males or vengeful women? These insights still need lots of supporting research studies.

Black Umbrella

It was raining the entire day it seemed. I did not go out at all again. I am somewhat afraid of the rain. Not because of the water, but because of the way it feels on my skin. Creepy, I know. I forgot to ask for an umbrella for Christmas. I would do the robot dance in a tutu for money at the moment. My wallet is very depressed and empty. It's full of credit cards with sufficient debt for the next two months. I'm waiting for my tuition money to arrive in two weeks. That will make me happy. I can buy many things for myself, cat, and parents. Oh, and also an umbrella. A black one.

Friday the 13th

How could I have missed this? I noticed when my friend from Myspace made a comment about it. I have been curious about this day. I only knew of this day because of Friday the 13th the movie. Back in Elementary school people told me that wearing black clothing would bring unfortunate events to that person. I wore tons of black and I still do. It's the one color I don't have to worry about matching.

I was bored, so I went to read a little about it.

It turns out that some sites like about.com and wikeapedia.com made a link that in the Last Supper there were exactly 13 people in the table and that the day of crucifixion was Friday.

They also mention some Pagans and Egyptians believed that the number 12 represented life and that 13th represented death and beyond.

Some said that that the day Eve gave Adam the apple in the Bible was a Friday.

Another one said that cavemen could count up to 12 and that that 13 represented the unknown of new discoveries that they feared.

Overall, I know a little more than I did before, and it was good use to my 5 minute "research" lol.

Plus, on my way I learned a new word Paraskevidekatriaphobia, which means fear of Friday the 13th. I would love to see this type of word in a typical spelling bee.

Family Guy

I love Family Guy. Stewie rules! I spend half a day watching the show. What a great thing to do in my free time. Whoever thinks Family Guy sucks does not want to recognize or appreciate the quality of its comedy. They probably go into their private garage in their underwear, sit in their ancient sofa eating cheesy popcorn, and tune in to watch Family Guy. Haha. Stupid Bastards.

One Eye Bigger

My eye has been aching since yesterday morning. I looked in the mirror and my eye lid is red. It's so gross it looks like someone punched me in the eye. I was just sleeping. My theory is that a creepy bug crawled up in my eye and stung my poor delicate eye lid. I wonder for how long the pain will persist. Should I go to a Doctor? My parents tell me that it will go away by washing it everyday and not poking it. Why does this type of stuff happen to me? I will not cover it up with makeup either, I need to show the world my aching eye lid. Not so that they feel sorry for my eye lid, but so that they can be aware that it could happen to them.

Ridin in Da Bus

I woke up early today at 7:30am. That is such an accomplishment! I usually sleep until 12:00pm! I woke up to get ready, but my unwashed jeans and superman shirt. My mom gave me $20 bucks to pay for my cream from eBay. I told her I was only taking the cheap $0.25 bus, but instead took the Metro bus which is around $1.25! I had to go to Pioneer Blvd and Alondra Blvd to the Money Mart to put money in my card to pay for it.

I sat by the sun on the left side with the window. Then, the sun started to burn my sunglasses, so I went to the right side. An old Asian man sat next to me. He was nice. He would hunch purposefully to let me see ahead. I acted as if every other stop would be my next stop.

The bus driver was very nice she saw that 2 elder Asian ladies and a daughter were almost missing the bus. The driver stopped and waited. It was so nice to see the Asian ladies so happy and thankful. It was funny because they would be talking in their language all fast. That happened to be next to a senior community, which used to belong to section-8 people, but most of the Koreans took over and got it instead. I'm not sure why, but that's the way it happened.

I finally got to my stop. I saw Tommy's burger. It has been a while since I ate there. I was so starving for it! I kept walking. Went to pay the credit card. I saw the bus pass, so I went to the 98 cent store and bought soap and sunscreen. Great products!

As I rode back to the bus I noticed a man with his child. It was the sweetest thing ever. The man was there taking care of his child and feeding him. It was a touching moment. I was there just observing. Once the man had left the bus, I saw that he was short and he walked with his child hand-in-hand.

I then looked at the windows. I remember a statement from the movie Crash. You should all go see it and buy the DVD-- such a great movie! Well, one of the African Americans said something like "They make the windows large in the buses to make others see the people within who are the shame." Wellz something like that! I did see cars that kept looking at me with eyes like "go get a car." I then saw a local bus and the windows were tinted. I thought to myself, we shouldn't be ashamed for riding the bus, we are saving money and going were we want to go.

I then just got dropped off by the bus and came home. I ate two sandwiches. Yummy. Avocado... so delicious!

Pain in Butt

:(

First Blog

It was exactly 5:17pm earlier today. It occurred to me to create a blog. I thought-- so personal, open, and the real deal. No lies. No fears. No fake feelings. Just the bare naked truth.

Call me a laggard blogger. I haven't spend a damn second blogging in my life. So pardon my typing errors, lack of grammar skill, and what not.