Filed under: daily inkless | Tags: Jay Leno, Jay-Z, job, Kanye West, life, love, Monterey Bay, Rihanna, Roc-a-fella, work
Sometimes I just write random blog posts before I sleep and this is one of those times.
I’ve been listening to a lot of hip-hop and rap recently with Jay-Z getting rediscovered. I forgot how sick the American Gangster album was. The performance of “Run This Town” on tonight’s new Jay Leno show was also very good. I don’t really give a f*** what Kanye does in his free time – his performance was strong. What can I say? Roc-a-fella has their sh** together.
I’m not going to write too much about work other than the fact that I may have to change jobs soon due to random restructuring up top. People are still hiring and I have some experience so I’ll see where those leads … lead.
Right now, I’m still adjusting to this post-college world – waking up in the eary morn’, meeting deadlines, being serious, haha. Hell, it’s not so bad at all. I’m saving up some money to move out maybe early next year. I really (spelled: hella) want to move back into the City. I’d eat PPQ like.. 6 times a week. Straight. But honestly, to afford 1.8k/month rent, I’m gonna have to split the space with someone. That person knows who they (grammatically incorrect on purpose) are.
Here’s the thing I’ve realized about life after school. It ain’t the end. Life is still dynamic – plans can be made, weekends can be maximized and excitement can still go down. In fact, with steady cashflow, the possibilities are greatly enhanced. I know a lot of you out there are still looking for work in this quasi-depression job market of ours. All I can tell you is, to keep trying. I threw out about 50 resumes for 4 interviews, 1 offer, 1 job. Keep chuggin’ along and something will come your way. I promise.
In the end, you all know me. I’m in a solid relationship and so life is good. Hell, my job security is insanely uncertain, but all is well. Haha, I’m such a sucker. But who the f cares? As long as we’re personally good with it right? If I owe anyone a drink, now is the time to claim, just FYI.
Otherwise, I want to plan a trip down to Monterey Bay one of these coming weekends. Get in touch if you want to go/drive/eat. Let me know.
Ah – gotta work tomorrow, night.
‘Tis all.
I don’t post much on this blog anymore, but I hopped on a few nights ago and read this comment in regards to this post in the past about WoW and addiction:
Wow, this article has changed my life.
Thanks so much!
What undeserved praise. It made me really happy.
‘Tis all.
Suraj asked me why the blog was not being updated ever. Here’s my attempt at updating more often-an iPhone app for wordpress. Here’s the first test run of that post.
I attached a photo just to see how it works.
‘Tis all.
Filed under: posts | Tags: apexi, cars, do-luck, Evo, rexpeed, stikiller, tanabe
[via STikiller.com]
If you know me, you know I love cars. Like any good owner, I love my evo. It’s a USDM 2005 GSR. Now that I’m actually employed (!!!), the range of possiblity on where the evo is going has expanded. The first thing that is going change is my GReddy counter-weighted shift knob. It has been great, but it is extremely scratched, the fitting is off and I want a different feel. But that’s a small fry detail.
Powerwise, I am going to be very gentle. ECU reflash, some tinkering with the boost psi (no annoying BOVs) and a turbo gauge are given. I am also liking GST’s open air solution sounds about right, but may be a bit on the ricey end. After all, I will NOT be making enough power to say my intake in my bottleneck. I will be going for a catback /w nothing touched from the catalytic converter up (I know this will restrict my possiblities). The Tanable Touring Medallion and the Apexi NOIR are strong contenders for being realtively quiet (under 90 decibels) as well as allowing for better breathing. However, I believe they both taper at some point so they are not true 3” exhausts.
With that said, I don’t want to make too much more power, but just enough to get an extra “kick.” The evo is fun stock, and I’m not trying to beat z06s in a straight line (hah).
Cosmetically, there’s some carbon fiber that is going on. I’m looking into a replica Do-Luck front lip. I love how this lip looks. I also love how the JDM rear looks, but it is around 700 dollar and requires mods to both the license plate holder and the rear low-speed crash beam. “Evo-dave” JDM lights front and JDM evo 7 lights in the rear. I don’t believe the crazy prices vendors charge for JDM lights when there’s a reputable evolutionm forum member who does them for a fraction of the price. Oh yeah, I’m definitely going to put a HID kit in there. Finally, I am debating whether or not to swap my huge wing for a rexpeed c-style wing.
Misc. stuff I need to do. Get that keying mark taken care of, so I need to find a reputable detailer in the Bay Area. I need to get my 30k service and get that 80 mph whine taken care of. (T-case of death?)
Eventually, going to slap some all black shoes on those Falkens. Yup. Obviously, this plan will not be carried out overnight, but this should be a fun ride.
‘Tis all.
Filed under: posts | Tags: cars, economics, Fang Datong, Fast and Furious, happiness, Nintends DS, Rhythm Heaven, Shanghai, sights & sounds
A few things going on right now, the most important of which is an agonizing wait for the results of of my final round interview with a leading economics consulting firm. I feel I did fine during the interview and case, but who knows? These things tend to have a way of surprising you.
(This next paragraph is for those who are interested in the otherwise boring on-goings of economics)
My thesis which is about the One Child Policy and its Effects of Women’s Education, is coming along daintily. I have found a newer, more trustworthy dataset, but it will limit my usage of certain statistical methods. I will have to check in with my advisor to make sure it’ll work. I am getting a nice self-led crash course introduction to SAS though. 
On the entertainment front, a few items of note.
Fast and Furious was good. It wasn’t deep, or intellectually stimulating, but from a auto-head POV, it was pretty sweet (minus that atrocious MY2009 STi). I really liked the beginning which paid homage to one of the forgotten greats in American muscle history – the Buick Grand National. These turbo’d Regals are in my mind, still the epitome of no frills American power.
Of course, this movie featured a lot of great cars, including a whole myriad of American classics as well as an awesome scene with an R32, R34 and GTR Nissan Skylines. Honestly, I even thought the fighting scenes weren’t half bad. If you can get over the cringe of a few typical F&F lines, then go watch it!
Rhythm Heaven (リズム天国ゴールド) for the Nintendo DS. With the release of the “new” Nintends DSi, recently released games have not been given the spotlight they deserve. I recently started playing this gem of a game and it is wonderful. It’s like a good mix of Warioware with Elite Beat Agents. It is a collection of rhythm-based mini-games that are all very original and clever. This is the kind of game the DS was made for. Hours of boredom assassination! Check the quick vid of the mini-games in action:
Khalil Fong, a.k.a. 方大同 (Fang Datong). Mr. Fong here (courtesy of my wonderful Serena) has answered my prayers for some different Chinese music. Born in Hawaii then moving to Shanghai (yes!) when he was 6, Khalil possess a less prototypical sound. He a stronger idea of bass and rhythm than his peers and I personally think he sounds Mraz-ish. An added bonus is that his English pronunciation is native, so when he adds that English phrase between the mandarin, it doesn’t add all that cheesiness.
Here are few songs of note:
(1) Love Song from the album Wonderland
(2) Singalongsong (English) from the album Orange Moon
(3) 三人游 (pinyin: san ren you) from the album Orange Moon
Whew. That was a good, long post.
‘Tis all.
Today was the last day of the last spring break I am going to enjoy in a while. What a damn fine day. I woke up at around 10 AM in order to get to Napa by 12:30. I was going to attend a birthday lunch @ Cindy’s Backstreet Kitchen. After quite a hectic ride, (a guns-drawn arrest by the highway, incredible traffic and poor signs), I finally arrived at the quaint little restaurant. The food was quite delicious – I had the Braised Lamb Shoulder – and I went away feeling quite happy. We then hit up a sparkling wine winery, where we saw a middle aged couple make-out like it was Senior Prom. Quite awkward.
I took some pretty pictures of Napa, but here’s a nice little surprise in the parking lot of the winery:
Nothing like a Duc under a nice day. I’m pretty biased towards Monsters, but these are fine too.
I arrived back in the Bay Area around 6 PM and went out to eat with Bo and (surprise!) Jaeman, plus Susanne. We ate some ramen and got to the business at hand – a bowling competition. It was UCLA vs. Cal (as usual) with Bo and I having a handicap as it was technically 3 vs 2. However, the other team’s lowest score was divded by 10 to keep things reasonable. Cal won 3 of 4 games. I bowled terribly, but usually ended strong. I did have a terrible game of 94 though. I haven’t bowled under 100 since elementary school. Fail.
Not to be a smug bastard, but I have a damn great life. I need to remember that more.
And tomorrow I get to spend some good time with the person that makes it so great. See you in Berkeley!
‘Tis all.
I was up in Tahoe last weekend with my girlfriend, her sister, her sister’s friend (who was celebrating her birthday) and some random people who are now friends.
First of all, I improved my snowboarding abilities. I can now create large, slow S’s down a green-level mountain. Yep. I did have a nasty fall where tumbled a bit and strained my left shoulder, but no long-term harm done. I am painfully sore however. On the mountain, with adrenaline, wind chill and fear, you don’t realize how much energy you are exerting but boy does it hit you the next day.
In other news, I have a Chinese Economics Midterm tomorrow. The professor is this badass who decided to tell us nothing about the midterm other than that it would be fair. I am a bit worried about the vagueness of that information, but since I know a bit about China and have been following the lectures, I don’t think I will epic fail.
On a totally unrelated note, I was walking to class today and had forgotten both my keys and my wallet. As luck would have it, these two women pulled over and asked me if I could spare two bucks because they were empty on gas. I looked at the driver straight in the face and told her I was sorry,but I did not have my wallet on me.
She shot me this look which can only be described as pure mistrust and hatred. Her passenger just looked despairingly at me. The driver asked me:
“Are you Christian?”
Me: What? (A truck just passed by)
Driver: “I said, ARE YOU CHRISTIAN?!”
“No.”
They drive off. The fact that I was not Christian fended off what was surely to be a series of guilt-provoking lines about responsibility and such. I think people should really reconsider using religion as a means to attack people. It really doesn’t give off the right message.
Now, I could be totally off-base and she was only going to give me a free bible, but her eyes told me otherwise. Anyways, that was the most eventful part of my day – plus my unexciting A-/B+ first paper for my public policy class. Damn, that paper was bad – I’m pretty lucky getting what I received!
Okay, that’s all I gots.
‘Tis all.
1. Phoenix beats L.A. sans Nash and Amare.
Muahahaha. Yes, I know we were blown out last game and L.A. has no Andrew Bynum, but I don’t care! Grant Hill has an amazing defense:age ratio.
2. Everyone I know needs have watched Dr. Horrible by the next time I see them, okay?
http://www.hulu.com/dr-horribles-sing-along-blog
In particular, know this number right here:
3. Second-round interview with aforementioned economic consulting firm. Yum.
4. I have 5 more pages to write … good night!
Filed under: posts | Tags: employment, food, left 4 dead, nba, Suns, Valentine's
I haven’t updated inkless in a while, I know. I’ve been both busy and distracted. I’ll try to keep updating as the time continues, but no guarentees.
The only downers in my life: unemployment and the slow, agonizing fall of the Phoenix Suns. Tomorrow, Amare (or rather, Amar’e) is being put on the free-agent list and most likely going to leave Phoenix. Terry Porter is going to be cut and Nash is going to be the best point guard in the league surrounded by lackluster offense. I think the only awesomeness that could come from this trade is if Luol Deng goes to Phoenix. Hah!
This weekend was Valentine’s weekend plus Tobias’ birthday party, PLUS the All Star game. Had some breakfast in the city with the girlfriend and some friends on Sat. @ Mama’s in North Beach. Good stuff, great service. Highly recommended if you can bear the hour+ wait.
I also recently put together a desktop with a wolfdale processor and a mid-range graphics card. Technology really does become exponentially better as time progresses. The thing runs remarkably quiet, cool and fast. A few friends and I picked up a copy of Left 4 Dead. I have now lost a few hours of my weeknights to INCREDIBLE fun.
In other news, I have an interview with an economics consulting firm on Tuesday. Wish me luck!
That was a quick little update. More to come, hopefully.
UPDATE (2/18): Looks like Amar’e is staying a Phoenix Sun!
