Photification

A recent Hawaii trip summed up in photos, no words. Photoshopped just a little bit.

Giving Hip Hop a Second Look

I usually hate Hip-hop. I don't like its vulgarity, don't like its aggressiveness and the topics it discusses. I find it hard to relate to. But, these guys are good. I'm tight with one of the rappers A-live, who starts talking in his rap-lingo sometimes which I don't quite understand. But what I do understand is that he makes rap that is different from what you hear on the radio, and its refreshing in a scene full of gat's, weeds, blunts, stunnas, and ballahs. Take a listen, and if you like them spread the word. These guys deserve to be recognized. Check out their myspace, sample their stuff.

The Light Burns Bright Through the Headphones

A few weeks ago John Mayer released a 2 CD music recording of a performance that he put at the Nokia Theatre in LA last summer. The concert was for benefit, with ticket sales going to charity. I was jealous personally that I wasn't able to attend, as it was a three set performance. It began with John's acoustic set, with just him playing some selected songs with just him and the guitar. The second set was with John Mayer Trio, where John Mayer teams up with the super talented musicans Steve Jordan and Pino Palladino. The last set is John's full band where he performs tracks with a full set of brass, drums, the whole lot. Once I got a hold of the video and audio for this performance I was blown way by it all. It is a seriously fantastic compilation, whether you're a Mayer fan or not. This has been the most hit playlist on my iPod during my long commute to work and I haven't gotten tired of it at all. There are no new songs, but yet they sound so refreshing. His acoustic set takes me to a relaxing place, while his JMT and Band sets really blows you away.

Whether you were turned off by him when he sang those sappy "Wonderland" songs or hate the way his face contorts when he sings, I would seriously implore you to at least take one listen of this compilation. If anything, he does a great cover of "Free Fallin'", which has just jumped into my lists of songs that I can just lay back and look at the sky. John has progressed so much as a musician, he doesn't have to satisfy the pop requirements and he beats as his own drum. He has began to create his own with the guitar, a style that is distinct like Clapton's slowhand delicacy or Jimi Hendrix's loose riffs. If anything, the lyrics in his songs have really hit me, as they are more than just trash that the radio will like. His lyrics explain a story, a story about his life, a story that you can relate to, relate to your story. Mayer doesn't speak through him, he speaks through his lyrics, his guitar. And this compilation really exemplifies it. Give him a chance, and I'm sure your opinion of him will change. Even if it doesn't make you a fan, its plain to see how he has changed from when he first came out to now.

Here's the video to "Free Fallin'"

Salad Freshness Intervention

So after months and months of eating salads in New York I have bought some groceries from home and began making my salads at home. It is to make up for all the packets of Top Ramen and Spam & Egg - over rice meals I made during summer school. I feel like I need to purge myself of the oily junk fat foods and clean my insides through eating more fruits and vegetables. Not that I'm going to take away meat from my diet, I'm just going to do this thinger where I drink a glass of OJ (w/ calcium, I found that I'm lactose-intolerant this past year) and eat a bowl of salad when I wake up. I can't help but snack throughout the day, so I bought a huge box of Sun Chips and munch on them when I'm bored, along w/ Mrs. A's salsa with tortilla chips. I thought eating salads everyday would be hard, as they were in New York, but I forgot how much better California produce is. I don't mean to be conceited, I'm just letting you know that there's better stuff here in the golden state. I remember telling my friends in the east how I missed California avocados, but I never realized how much better they were than the ones I was getting at Trader Joe's in New York. They're sweeter, tastier, and just hold together better. I ate a bowl of salad and was just aghast of how much better tasting everything is out here. Man on man, no wonder vegetarians are so happy here, they don't have to sacrifice much (well, except for the whole meat thing). I have to say, I really miss California produce, and not to mention its about 2/3 the cost of the produce in New York too, and 50000000 times better. This is about as tree-hugger, save the earth, go green as I will go. I think I'm going to go eat a barebeque tri-tip sandwich now.

Love, Peace, eat more avocados.

Embracement of Internet Popularity Cults

New Weezer music video for the song "Pork & Beans". You might have already seen it, but its a cool video for a cool song.

Zesty Flavorful Pairment

Once I got back to my neighborhood grocery store I immediately went to the produce section and got a couple tubs of Mrs. A's famous Salsa. Its one of the best tasting salsa's I've ever had, much better than the stuff by Pace and Tostitos. Mrs. A was an art teacher for my high school, and she used to bring a few tubs along with chips to class once in a while, and the entire thing would be devoured in minutes. Everytime you open it its fresh, and the wide opening is great for any size chip. Basically I've been munching on that and I've forgotten how much I missed having that salsa. Its really bomb, and if you guys are near any local grocery store or Whole Foods in the Bay Area, be on the lookout for Salsa Buena. Support local foods, support organic salsa, support Mrs. A, munch on some tastey salsa with your tortilla chips.

Skyline Revelations

So I'm back home now, and as I sit in my unfamiliar room sitting in my unfamiliar chair in front of a monitor I'm not accustomed to seeing, I'm left listening to U2's "New York" realizing that I'm no longer in New York, and it's back to suburbia for me. I sit in my room at home which is twice the size of my room back in my dorm, and yet I feel less at home here than I was on floor 14 overlooking Union Square.

When I was still in high-school you'd be shocked to find me living in the east coast. I was all about staying in California. My sister went to school out east but I dared never to go that far. California was too comfortable, too perfect, too ideal, to hard to leave. And yet, the closer I got to graduation the more I wanted to get out the Golden State. Not so much that I hated the place, but I wanted to branch out, try something new, experience new things. I wanted to write a new chapter, and carry along with me great stories that I would be able to joke about over a bonfire back home.

But now, halfway through my college years I have difficulty defining where my home is. Is it the place where I grew up, or the city which I have fallen in love with? Is it the comfortable, quiet, sunny suburban lifestyle that I was so accustomed to, or the hustling, loud, obnoxious, concrete jungle that I have come to grown accustomed to? As I packed my belongings to go back to California for the summer, it finally hit me how much I had become a part of New York City, and how I have embraced the place. I caught myself staring outside my window just watching the cars go by, the people walking in and out of traffic with a purpose. And as I sit in front of the computer monitor, my window is open to the street, and yet I hear nothing. No car noises, no yelling, no police sirens. I feel more antsy here than in the city. The quiet is unnerving, different, something I haven't heard in months. And I begin to feel this weird feeling of homesick, and yet I am theoretically "home". But each time I come back to California, I feel home is slowing drifting out of this place and more so into the city which I spend the majority of my time in.

I remember getting countless advice from adults when I was ready to set off for school in the east coast. "Do everything you possibly can, because college is the best time of your life", "Don't let college pass you by". I took these words for granted, and as 2 years have gone by I have yet to do two-thirds of the things I was looking forward to doing when I arrived. If it wasn't for me staying in the city over the summer, I wouldn't have even done one-fourth of the things I want to do. Also have to give credit to the fact that I did the majority of the stuff 4 days before I left for California. Yankee/Shea Stadium, Shake Shack did those. Hanging out w/ my friends watching the games at the bars, did that. Hoping around and not getting back home until day-rise, slogged through it. Yet, the list is never checked off, I have so many things I still have to do.

I think what kills the most is the connections that I've made with the city in and of itself. I've got friends, commitments, classes, teams, dates, credit card bills, sleepless nights, puke remains, lamb & rice joints, late night drunk-food stops here. I didn't just go to school in New York, I became New York. And it has changed me so much. I remember coming back after one year and having family friends comment on how much older I looked. I don't know if I matured, but New York I knew had to play a part. The place chizzles you, makes you tougher, more self-dependent. And it definitely matures people much quicker. I remember having a talk with friends over a few drinks about how much different they are now compared to their friends back home. They've got finance/marketing jobs in the city, paying their own rent, doing things on their own, while their friends are still working at the local grocery shop bagging stuff. I'm not saying either is better, but its just a different lifestyle. New York has changed me so much its hard to adjust back to the California lifestyle. I tell people I'm working at a hedge fund back home, and very few understand what that means.

Things are different here, sometimes for better (the weather is to die for back home), sometimes for worse (I just want a FREAKING PIZZA AT 2AM). I'll probably be in my California groove in a few days, but right now I am missing New York unlike any other. Not just the city, but my friends there, the commitments I made, the memories. New York is a special place, and I'm bummed I won't be back there until January.

Enough emotional nostalgia, better things. Watched the Rays sweep the Boston Red Sox on the plane back home, those guys are legit. Been rocking out to the new Coldplay album, you guys should take a listen to it, no matter what you previously thought of them give them another go. Horrible day for Bay Area fans, losing Brian Campbell to the Chicago Blackhawks, and Baron Davis to the LA Clippers. Next time I know Timmy Lincecum is being shipped off to some other team. Someone hold my hand now.

Over and out, and pinch me.