// california dreamin'

Migrated

2010-07-08T22:07:00.000-05:00

http://alexmach.tumblr.com/

Yadiggg?

How to Make a Rap Song

2010-05-25T13:28:00.005-05:00

Step 1) Watch this video and this video at roughly the same time.

Step 2) Listen and enjoy.

2010-05-25T13:07:00.004-05:00

I've never had a dog before but this is probably one of the saddest videos I've ever seen.

2010-04-24T01:27:00.002-05:00

kevin trans the shit!
and i am a faggot!

EDIT (5/25): Wow it took me a whole month to find this post..

2010-03-16T09:39:00.001-05:00

Someone convince me not to shell out $350 for Lady Gaga tickets.

More than six months later...

2010-02-01T04:09:00.005-06:00

I have all sorts of things to write about. Recent events, random thoughts, rants and raves. Unfortunately my time management skills won't allow this. Hello, Spring semester!

This is my first post in a while, but possibly the most pointless. Wah wahhh.

Time is runnin' out, please don't make me wait

2009-07-12T23:59:00.007-05:00

This morning I woke up extremely hung over and sick feeling. On top of that, I had no idea where my glasses were. I looked everywhere in both my place and Danny's place. No where. Made a phone call to Alan, who I somewhat remember helping me get to bed, and he didn't know where they were either. I blindly searched the ground from Danny's place to mine... And eventually I found them in the backyard on the window sill, caked in dirt and vomit. Gross.

This was the aftermath of Danny's 21st birthday party. We cleared out one of the rooms at his place for beer pong and spent a ton of money on alcohol. A lot of people came and I had a blast.

I got pretty throwed at one point and barfed... Then I apparently passed out on the futon in the backyard - definitely don't remember doing that, but I guess that explains why my glasses were back there. AND it set up one hilarious situation. Here's how it played out, according to Danny:

*Cops come to the party and bring Danny outside to talk*

COPS: Are you the owner of the house?

DANNY: Yeah I am.

COPS: So what's going on here?

DANNY: It's my 21st birthday, so we're just having a party.

COPS: Oh it's your birthday? Are you having fun?

DANNY: Yeah.

COPS: Alright, well we can't have people standing outside like this.

*The cops walk to the backyard to point out the cars parked there.*

COPS: And these cars need to be moved... And who's that?

*Points to my passed out body*

DANNY: (Thinking "Oh. Shit.") Uh... That's my brother.

COPS: Well take care of him and get him home.

I vaguely remember being carried to my place and put in bed with a trash can and a water bottle. Thank you to everyone who helped take care of my drunk ass.

Definitely the best weekend of the summer so far. Next on the agenda: ~~Houston~~ Austin then California. Stay tuned, kiddos!

I Almost Died. Twice.

2009-06-16T02:06:00.002-05:00

Last week I was talking to my dad about some friends of his. Apparently one of his friends saved my life when I was around 5 or 6 years old. That day my family and I went to Frontier City. I was really skinny when I was a kid, and just barely made the height requirement to ride on a rollercoaster. I got on next to my dad's friend and began the ride. And about halfway through I began to slip out of the restraints. My dad's friend saw this happening and grabbed ahold of me before I fell out.

Luckily he saved me, or else I wouldn't have been able to almost die again.

Fast forward to this past weekend. I'm in Dallas with some friends to see Quest Crew and hang out with my two favorite Texans. We just left The Bank to go home for the night - Bobby is driving. According to Bobby the stop lights looked close together, so when he saw the green light in the distance, he proceeded to drive through the red light right in front of us. Luckily he saw the FUCKING VAN that was about to T-bone my side of the car and slammed on his brakes in time.

Because that would have sucked.

On Deaf Ears?

2009-03-22T00:56:00.005-05:00

From the day we are born until the day we die we are constantly learning. Learning from ourselves, learning from others. We learn from our own experiences. We learn from people who choose to preach unto others what they believe is right.

However, a lot of what we learn is wrong.

People are taught so many different things. To believe in and worship God, the all-powerful, all-knowing creator of the world, or that the world is not ruled or created by a God. To pursue a career that makes lots of money in order to comfortably raise a family, or that they should do what they love and what makes them happy. Some are taught not to interact with those who are different from them, while others learn that no matter what race, religion, or ethnicity a person is, they can still be great people.

So who gets to decide what's wrong and what's right? Your parents? Your peers?

The only one who can make that decision is yourself. You decide what you believe in. You decide what you want to do with your life. Why does it matter what others believe? Why does it matter what others want you to do?

Learn how to say "fuck it" every once in a while. Live life to the fullest. Have no regrets.

Don't let someone else live your life for you.

2009-03-19T02:19:00.002-05:00

I have so much to write about, but at the same time I don't know what to write.

2009-02-24T02:42:00.007-06:00

It's amazing how something so little can change so much. One minute you think you're at the top. Everything is going the way it should be. Nothing can stand in your way. Then what happens?

BAM. It hits you like a fucking train. You realize how stupid the illusion you've created for yourself is. You realize how stupid you were to be so blind.

~~Maybe I'm thinking too much.~~

The Failure to Succeed

2009-02-17T10:23:00.009-06:00

Why do people set themselves up for failure? Is it the fear of knowing your best may not be enough? The fear that there may be another person out there who will one-up your every move, your every action?

From what I can see, it's definitely not a matter of incapability. In contrast to a recent entry of mine, I believe anything can be accomplished as long as you set your mind to it. Actually, scratch that. The mind is simply not enough to achieve the so-called impossible. The desire to succeed must not come from the mind, but from the heart and soul. Minds can be manipulated, altered and reshaped with false aspirations. False illusions that define the gap between success and failure.

What is success, really? And what's failure? I believe the two must go hand in hand in order to truly appreciate the sweet taste of success.

For example, if you've lived your life making nothing short of A's in school, how gratifying will that next A be? In comparison to the student with the C average who earns the A because of sheer hard work and dedication, the two just don't compare.

So there you have it. To me, success is achieving the goals that require every single ounce of your blood, sweat and tears.

What's failure, then? Have you failed if your life falls short of your expectations? Have you failed if you've dug a hole you can't seem to climb out of?

Neither of those is correct. Failure is not having the desire to climb out of the hole you've dug for yourself. Failure is hitting the bottom and deciding you're just going to lay there and accept your fate.

Without failure, there cannot truly be success.

"There are as many nights as days, and the one is just as long as the other in the year's course. Even a happy life cannot be without a measure of darkness, and the word 'happy' would lose its meaning if it were not balanced by sadness." - Carl Jung

2009-02-16T03:03:00.000-06:00

Back to square one, I suppose.

Between Passion and Practicality

2009-02-13T16:10:00.006-06:00

I don't know if it seems like it, but I consider myself to be a philosophical person. I like to think. About people. About life in general.

One thing I've noticed as a college student is that many students really have no idea what they want to do with their lives. In particular, what I'm referring to is their declared majors. Their dream job, if you will. It seems like 8, even 9 times out of 10, if you ask an Asian college student what they're major is, they will respond with pre-medicine or pre-pharmacy. I myself fall into this category. I don't mean to come across as an asshole, and maybe I'm being hypocritical and not realizing it, but I really don't think that many people are cut out to be what they claim they want to be.

Being Asian myself, I understand the pressure one gets from others. Whether it's from parents, relatives, or even friends, it seems the social standard for our current generation is to become a doctor or pharmacist.

Don't get me wrong, it's great to have dreams - to shoot for the stars. At least then, if you miss then you know what you are or aren't capable of. However, I think it's foolish to keep shooting and shooting, knowing you're going to miss every time. Even more foolish is to hit your target knowing deep down inside that, frankly, you didn't want to. You only did it because someone else wanted you to.

Life is too short to spend it unhappy. If you're unhappy with something, change it. Don't let yourself get caught in a situation where you wake up every morning dreading the day to come. Be passionate about what you do and the decisions you make.

It's your life - don't let someone else live it for you.

I found this blog entry written by a man named Shekhar Kapur, which I think could be a real eye-opener for some.

"For me, and I guess for many others, life is a constant battle between following your passion and being practical. I fought 'Practicality' a long time ago, and followed my passions, but never quite completely, for......

...the world will not completely allow it. More than that, your education, the way you were brought up, others dependency upon you will not allow it. Your own insecurity will not allow it.

For following your passion would, on the surface in any case, imply giving up control of your life. Of giving into madness.

But quite the opposite. Giving in to your passions implies being in harmony with the universe. It implies that you are now breathing and living on a much larger and much more universal level, where the mundane everyday practical things do take care of themselves. If they are meant to. And the everyday practical things do not become the demons that you conjure up in your mind, and THEREFORE you are unable to take care of them.

Giving in to your Passions does not equate with irresponsibility, as the world would like you to believe. Of course the world would like you to believe that. It's the only way the world can control you. Giving into your passions implies the ablity to embrace the everyday practicalities of life in a much larger, more compassionate way.

Allow the universe to take care of what it is supposed to. If you are passionate it will."

(http://www.shekharkapur.com/blog/archives/2007/03/passion_and_pra.htm)

2009-02-12T05:21:00.004-06:00

Today was the first good day I've had in a while. While I did have a few bad days, most of my days have been pretty empty and repetitive, which I suppose I can't complain about.

I really wish I didn't have work in the morning, because I definitely think a good long night's sleep would be the icing on the cake, especially since it's 5:30 in the morning...

Strange Day

2009-02-10T12:42:00.003-06:00

Today started out weird. Last night I had a weird dream. I won't elaborate any further, but it definitely got me thinking. I woke up an hour before my alarm was supposed to go off (I usually press the snooze button at least a couple times), and I couldn't go back to sleep even though I was dead tired. So I laid in bed for an hour and got up at 9.

I got to work on time (this never happens). My boss decided to take an early lunch (10:00, as opposed to his usual 12:00), and still hasn't come back at 12:50. The light keeps automatically turning off in the lab, which is annoying because I have to stand up in front of the sensor to turn it back on.

So I'm sitting at work, and I have to go to the bathroom. I walk over to the bathroom, and get ready to take a leak. To my surprise, I can't find my... you know. Turns out I put my boxers on backwards this morning.

At least I found $2 on the ground on the way back.

It's raining outside

2009-02-09T04:18:00.002-06:00

Lately I've been thinking more and more about the future. Where will I be 10 years from now? Will I be where I want to be? Will my friends drift apart?

Maybe I'm just thinking too much about a discussion I had recently with some friends, but is it wrong to be worried about the future? Right now it seems so far away, but in reality it really isn't. I know what I want, but I really don't think I'm doing what I need to be doing to get there.

I'm thinking too much. I can't sleep.

2009-01-31T21:41:00.001-06:00

Why does it feel like everything is slowly falling apart?

2009-01-30T02:22:00.000-06:00

I feel like shit all of a sudden.

2009-01-28T13:57:00.000-06:00

I love snow days, especially when they come in threes.

Some thoughts to start off the New Year

2009-01-26T04:18:00.000-06:00

Since college began, I've become a bit more mature - or at least I'd like to think so. And as I mature I've begun to understand a lot more about life. I try not to make a big deal out of little things like I would in the past. I mean, what's the point? You don't always get your way, and you can't change how other people are. That's life, and you just have to bear with it.

Most of my views on life were shaped by personal experiences, either with friends or family, while the rest were influenced by the way I was raised by my parents. I'm glad they didn't hand me everything on a silver platter when I was little. Having to work hard for things has really helped me appreciate what I have.

Every once in a while, my dad and I have these deep conversations about life. They're usually about life in general - his past, family, friends, school, the world, and sometimes (surprisingly) women. These talks show me how similar he and I are in a lot of ways. The way we feel about family, school, and women are nearly identical, while our views about friends are a bit off. I won't go into much detail about that, though.

A lot of times I tend to stray a bit from my goals, but these discussions always seem to put my life back into perspective.

I think if my dad was around my age he'd be a pretty cool guy to hang out with.

Long Overdue

2009-01-24T00:49:00.004-06:00

It's been more than a week since my last update. In a way that seems like a while ago, but at the same time it feels like just yesterday I was at Couch soldering paperclips together for a good 3 hours.

2009 started off fairly slow, but it's definitely picking up the pace. I'm happy to see everyone back in Norman. I can already tell this semester is gonna be awesome.

Most of my classes shouldn't be too hard (besides o-chem, of course), which is a big plus. However, although my workload will be easier, I have decided that I will be studying a lot more this time around.

Here's to a good semester.

Awesomeness

2009-01-16T18:24:00.010-06:00

I had the most productive day all break at work today. Don't get me wrong, I didn't actually do any real work.

Chris had been working on a big paperclip car already (soychristopher.com), which inspired my own piece of paperclip art - a guy playing the guitar, made solely from paperclips, a soldering iron, and a pair of pliers.

Here it is, pictured in front of Chris's brand new tube amp which, by the way, sounds badass.

It really brings out a distinct difference between listening to music from vinyl versus CD/MP3/iPod/etc. Needless to say, I am now a believer in vinyl.

Bummed

2009-01-16T01:29:00.003-06:00

Break's almost over, which means school is just around the corner. Am I bummed? Somewhat. I was expecting a whole lot more out of this break, but it just didn't happen. People had work, people had class, people just didn't go out. BUT I had my fun, but I guess it's time to buckle down and focus. Hopefully that'll happen this semester, 'cause I really need it. :X

I'm bummed about being sick this whole week. The last week of break, and I'm sitting here coughing my lungs out - literally. I think I might have bronchitis or something. I should probably go see the doctor, but I'm just too lazy to. Being sick gets in the way of so much.

I SHOULD have gone to Stillwater with Chris for $5 all-you-can-drink-beer tonight... But apparently acetaminophen (Tylenol, pretty much) and alcohol can cause acute liver failure, and possibly death. One half of me wanted to say "fuck it, what are the odds?" while the other half wanted to be a punk bitch and stay in Norman. The second half won. Fuck.

Extreme Overtime

2009-01-12T12:39:00.004-06:00

I forgot to clock off my shift at work on Friday....

Randomness

2009-01-10T20:35:00.002-06:00

So I was just browsing around Facebook, and a random thought occurred to me.

Why is it that when girls are commenting on photos of other girls, they always have to mention how pretty/gorgeous/hot the girl in the photo is? It seems like it's become some kind of unwritten rule that girls have to compliment each other as much as possible, whether it be on Facebook, MySpace, or Asian Avenue.

SO I've decided. I'm gonna start complimenting other guys' photos on Facebook every chance I get.

"You are GORGEOUS"
"You handsome man!"
"Sexy ass!!"
"Damn, you lookin' SWOLL today!"

Wait, that would be gay. Nevermind

2009-01-10T01:15:00.003-06:00

For the past week or so I've been sick - the usual coughing and sneezing, no big deal. Which is weird, because I usually only get sick about once a year, and this has got to be at least the fourth time in the past 2 months.

I guess my immune system is just giving out on me.

On a side note, I've been blogging for a month now. Neat.

2009-01-07T14:20:00.002-06:00

For the first time in my life since 4th grade, I am reading a book for fun.

Crazy, I know.

2009-01-05T12:21:00.003-06:00

I'm tired of repetition. I want to break out of this daily routine. I want you to step outside of your comfort zone.

Let's go places. Let's make things happen.

Senseless ramblings

2009-01-03T03:51:00.004-06:00

It's 4:30 in the morning. I'm dead tired, but I can't stop tossing and turning.

I have a lot on my mind. Days have been going by so quickly. Every night as I'm going to sleep I try to look back and reflect upon the day. But lately, I haven't been able to find much to reflect upon. I guess there's just this feeling of emptiness that I can't seem to explain.

I need someone to talk to. But at the same time, I don't want to talk to anyone.

What the hell am I doing?

Happy New Year!

2009-01-01T22:40:00.002-06:00

Although it hasn't really hit me yet, it's 2009. 2008 is gone. It's over. Hey 2008, fuck you.

Every year, most people compile a list of New Year's resolutions. I'm not going to.

Happy New Year!

2008-12-30T01:00:00.003-06:00

I wish I could live in California and Oklahoma at the same time. Or rather, I wish everyone in Oklahoma would just move to California.

I never thought I'd say it, but I miss Oklahoma.

California Dreamin'

2008-12-25T15:20:00.002-06:00

Since I'm in California on vacation, I figured I'd take a little time to briefly explain the title of my blog.

I was born in Renton, WA, a town southeast of Seattle. At the age of 2 my family moved to Oklahoma, where I lived until I was 7 years old. During those 5 years, the majority of our family trips were spent visiting my grandmother (on my dad's side) in California. Almost all of my aunts and uncles, as well as my cousins, live nearby.

In 1997 my dad got a job transfer to good ol' Lancaster, a tiny town about 2 hours north of my grandmother's. I lived there for 3-4 more years. Thus, most of my childhood memories were from California - from the time my brother and my cousin Chris convinced me to jump off the second story of my house twice (Which, I might add, resulted in me sprained ankle, but that's for another time) to the countless days spent at that ghetto elementary school in Lancaster that consisted entirely of portables.

I've grown to love the state, and it's always been my plan to move back here when I'm done with college. In particular, I have always had a soft spot for San Diego, although I have no idea what the reasoning behind this is. Maybe it's because all I remember of the city is wide open roads, perfect weather and beautiful scenery. In fact, the picture at the top of my blog is of downtown San Diego at night time.

So, my plan has always been to move to San Diego, CA, where I would raise a family of 5 (three kids: two sons and one daughter two years apart from one another). Well, until recently, that was the plan. I used to think Oklahoma sucked, for lack of better words, from the completely random and spontaneous weather, to the shortage of places to go and things to do. Now I don't think it's half bad. I guess it's not about where you are, but the people who are there with you.

Afterall, home is where the heart is.

Looking Back

2008-12-13T18:57:00.000-06:00

This semester literally flew by. It seems like just yesterday, I was sitting in Calculus discussing living arrangements with Alan. And now I'm sitting here, staring finals right in the face.

A lot has happened in these past four months. Bonds formed, bonds broken, bonds re-formed. Drifting apart. But you know what? That's just life. Shit happens, deal with it.

I like to think college has really helped me grow up. A friend once told me that college is about personal choices. At the time it seemed so simple, so obvious. Of course college is about personal choices. You're on your own now - you do whatever you want, whenever you want without having to listen to others. No biggie, right?

It's much deeper than that. College, as you all are fully aware of, is the first step into the "real world". The choices you make during these years will impact you for the rest of your life. Some people choose to spend their time being responsible and studying. Others spend their time going out and neglecting their school work. I see myself as a balance of the two. Nowhere near a healthy balance, but a balance nonetheless. Again, that was a personal choice.

Do I have any regrets? I want to say yes, but honestly I don't regret anything. Not one bit. My grades have suffered to a point where I'm going to have to study my ass off next semester in order to retain my scholarships. When I should have been studying, I spent my time having fun and making new friends - finding my "social circle", so to speak. So what? I'm glad I did what I did. Call me stupid if you want, but here's to my BROs.

Let's see how this goes...

2008-12-10T15:55:00.000-06:00

Well, I've decided to start up this blog, where you'll find some of my thoughts, my rants, and sometimes just plain old news about me. Not sure if any of you punks are gonna even look at it, but here goes...