I am hazard

This past year, I've done probably 25% of my eating while driving. I call it efficiency.

I've concluded that eating while driving is definitely more dangerous than talking on a cellphone. I can name three occasions off the top of my head when eating put me relatively close to an accident - far more so than talking on my phone ever did -

1. A burrito exploded on my lap
2. A bowl of ramen burned my tongue
3. Donut glaze crumbled all over me

What's the basis for outlawing things while driving? I don't really think it's the most distracting thing. Food is so volatile and varies in shape and form, while people on phones are mostly static in their use. I'm just surprised in hindsight that eating is still allowed... though quite thankful.

Change of plans

I've always maintained that if/when I have kids, I would want sons. First-born? Male. Second-born? Another male, so he can have a playmate and foster a healthy sense of competition and drive. Third-born? Not going to be an issue.
(I'd want to top out at 2 children for 2 main reasons -
1. I wouldn't want me and my baby mama to be outnumbered
2. I wouldn't want to drive a minivan. See: Turk. )


And then when they come of age, I would in no particular order:
-teach them how to play sports
-coach their soccer teams
-talk to them about girls and how there are plenty of fish in the sea
-awkwardly tell them about the birds and the bees
-drink beer with them
-show them how to be strong yet sensitive
-take him backpacking and camping
-watch basketball together
-demonstrate lessons with tough love
-other masculine things

But today I realized that there are things that are associated with daughters, and just women in general that I might find more endearing and useful in my elder years - namely a far stronger emotional connection to their parents, which I can already see manifesting in many of my friends. Maybe continuing my family line and producing an heir become secondary later on. It's much easier to imagine a daughter caring for her sick father than a son.

A simple comparison of overall utility - daughters will be more useful and involved than a son would be, especially with my mix of Asian (communal, yet distant and respectful relationship to parents) and Western (individualistic) cultures. Also she can join girl scouts so we can get hellza cookies.

ROD BENSON!!

Me: Hey! Rod Benson, right? Mind if we get a picture?
Rod: Sure thing, man.
Me: Damn, how the hell are you so sweaty?
Rod: I think the real question is how the hell are you NOT?
Me: Fair enough. Thanks for the picture!
Proceed to awkward high-five/handshake from someone that's 6'10.

Excellent.

That was underwhelming.

I finally figured out the word I've been racking my brain for for the past 3 days.

Labradoodle.

George Gray

This poem is told from a dead man's perspective, in reflection on his life. In surrounding yourself with only comfort and familiarity and avoiding risk, pain and adventure, you miss out on the things that give life meaning.

Abstract: Make mistakes. Be uncomfortable. Expand your horizons. Live life!

George Gray

By: Edgar Lee Masters

I have studied many times
The marble which was chiseled for me –
A boat with a furled sail at rest in a harbor.
In truth it pictures not my destination
But my life.
For love was offered me and I shrank from its disillusionment;
Sorrow knocked at my door, but I was afraid;
Ambition called to me, but I dreaded the chances.
Yet all the while I hungered for meaning in my life.
And now I know that we must lift the sail
And catch the winds of destiny
Wherever they drive the boat.
To put meaning in one’s life may end in madness,
But life without meaning is the torture
Of restlessness and vague desire –
It is a boat longing for the sea and yet afraid.

Well I got my wish...

I wanted to spend as little time at home as possible this summer, because as Mees says, "Cupertino will be waiting.... always."

June 6- June 20
Japan

June 22-August 10
Taipei, Taiwan

August 17
Move to SF

Probably a one-of-a-kind post

I was talking to someone today about the subject of democracy, the voting process and the general decline of both. It's probably the most in-depth I've thought about those things since US Government at Monta Vista, a class in which I literally laid down on the floor and slept through.

The question posed was, "Why do Californians complain so damn much?" referring to the ridiculous amount of separate referendum elections we hold. Most other states hold those only in conjunction with annual elections or federal matters, so what makes us so different/special in our own minds?

The answers I could think of - a spoiled/selfish and uninformed electorate, a disproportionate amount of people below the poverty line and those wallowing in their own wealth, an inept bureaucracy, a sense of entitlement at being "the liberal state," a sense of having to live up to being "the liberal state " - could all really apply to other states as well. Even the last two; every state creates something of a self-fulfilling prophecy by buying into it's own reputation.

So what's the difference between California and other states? My uneducated hypothesis settled on the fishbowl effect. It seems to be an unspoken fact that as California goes, so does the rest of the nation. Californian politicians seem to be acutely aware of this, and over-exaggerate matters to gain further prominence. And then the citizens follow suit, believing this activism to be the crux of a well-oiled democracy... oh by the way, elections are expensive as hell and they basically come straight out of our pockets.

This led me right back to a solution that I've been championing in hypotheticals since high school - the benevolent dictator. Replacing a democracy with such would be great for efficiency, corruption, speed, action, you name it. Democracy is like a recliner with a toilet within it, it's a great theory but in reality is seriously flawed. Yes, so is a benevolent dictator, but I guess I just like imagining being the dictator.

Also, I was doing the laundry today and a couple of thoughts occurred -
1. The vast majority of my huge load was workout clothes and socks.
2. I haven't washed my jeans in quite a while because I only wear real pants 1-2 times a week, tops.

Things overheard today

A father talking about his son... "Hey, if he loses and tried his best, then he knows he tried his best and just moves on. I think that is going to make him succeed in life."

Talk about a setup for failure. Correct me if I'm wrong (I'm not), but isn't that a terrible message to be sending... ANYone? Whatever happened to bettering yourself or overcoming obstacles? Life isn't the Special Olympics, Discouraging Father.

Some possible slogans for that household:
"Settle for mediocrity!"
"We're #2!"
"A is for Average!"
"< Giveup 3"


And completely unrelated:

"No one thinks it'll work.." "You just described every great success story."
Kudos to whoever knows which movie that's from.

Closet Zen

It wasn't until I moved off campus from UCSD that I realized that I really like big closets. In fact, one of the notable things that I miss about being in San Diego is the closet at Via Andar. I realized that it wasn't because I was a clothes-horse (I'm not), or because I could stuff all my junk into it and have the illusion of a clean room; it was because I could see everything at once. All my options were laid out in front of me, and the rest I could take care of in my head.

With a little bit of closer thought, it turns out that that pretty much describes my approach towards life in general. I'm pretty much the opposite of rash, and like to weigh all my choices before making a decision. Because of that, I'm rarely as spontaneous as I'd like to be, and I plan and overanalyze things way too much.

Et tu, closet? Just like my mp3 player playlists... What about your personality manifests itself in your surroundings?

Boy Scouts: to be or not to be?

Sometimes I think about what I would make my kid do and how I could live vicariously through them. Without going into specifics, it got down to at least three sports, at least one musical instrument and one other unnamed hobby/activity. As I made my list, I understood why some parents (like ours) load their kids up so they have little or no free time. You want to give them opportunities to forge an identity for themselves, succeed at something, gain a skill and knowledge, and have fun while doing it all. Unless they happen to join "Junior White Power Leaders" or something, I think there is only positive that can come from these activities and the lessons they teach, especially later in life.

One thing I waver back and forth on sometimes though is Boy Scouts. I know, weird considering I'm an Eagle Scout, but...

+I did so many things that most of my friends will never do in their lives. The range of activities was amazing, especially for a young kid: building and sleeping in a snow cave, backpacking for 2 weeks in the New Mexico wild, canoeing, rowing, horseback-riding, spending a night on a submarine, learning and practicing three ways to kill (archery, rifle shooting and hatchet throwing), invaluable camping and backpacking experience, planning a 200 hour woodcraft project during which my garage got burned down. And yes, there was a point where I knew over 10 knots off the top of my head.

+You get a large dose of morality and ethics that you can apply anywhere.
+Lots of community service, which I think shaped my views quite a bit.

+Although this definitely wasn't the case growing up, the title of Eagle Scout definitely conjures up a certain amount of respect.

+Of course, it looked nice on my college transcript. In fact, I still leave it on my job resumes.. although that will probably stop after this year.

-I had all my Seven Springs friends in Boy Scouts with me, but I'm not sure how I would have fit in otherwise. Most of my troop went to small private schools and was largely WASPy... Even in Cupertino.

-The religious aspect was uncomfortable for me. People don't realize this, but Boy Scouts is a Christian organization and it shows. There are religious undertones in just about every aspect of it, and they attempted to drill it into our heads. A little bit preachy at times.

-It purports to be a scout-led organization, but the adult bureaucracy is really prevalent and detrimental to kids just wanting to have fun.

-I understand that they are a private organization and can do mostly whatever they want, but they kicked a gay scout out a few years ago and claimed that it wasn't discrimination? That's pretty short-sighted, rigid, hypocritical and an easy lawsuit.

Puerto Rico in bullet points

Ambulances: Whether we were walking around old San Juan or driving on one of the poorly paved highways of Puerto Rico, one of these would zip by us at least every 30 minutes. I saw a random guy driving an ambulance stripped of any hospital markings into a fast-food drivethrough... it's like there are so many that extra ones are up for auction somewhere. I just hope that isn't the case with cop cars and their bullet-proof windows and tires. Very comforting.

Medalla: Puerto Rico's Coors. The beer of choice and sometimes you won't even get a choice; it might be all that's offered. I have to say though, in a blind taste-test with Coors, Medalla beat Coors like it stole something.

Tattoos: It seems like everyone had the exact same idea of rebellion in Puerto Rico: get a borderline disfiguring tattoo and flaunt it shamelessly. Honestly, it seems like more than half of the locals I saw had tattoos and a large portion of those were tramp stamps.

Crocs: Okay, this one makes sense given the fact that it's a tropical island. But Coach Crocs and high-heel/stiletto Crocs?

Obesity: If I had to estimate, I'd put 40% of Puerto Rico's adult population as obese. And if I were to further split that up by genders, adult males would be 30% and adult females would be 50%. What's up with that? I even saw a plus-size fashion show while I was at the mall. Perhaps it's closely tied to the next two bullets...

Ice Cream Trucks: I honestly don't recall ever seeing one of these in California, though we had them come through the neighborhood all the time when I was back in Pennsylvania. In Puerto Rico, these were everywhere, even on the beach. It was pretty funny hearing the truck's bells and seeing the aforementioned obese flock to them. Like moths to light.

Pork: Puerto Ricans love their pork. I thought this was a Polynesian thing, but pigs on spits were everywhere. And if they weren't on spits, they were wrapped in empenadas or served roasted. Pork or plantains were part of probably every meal I had there.

Reggaeton: Songs heard on Puerto Rican radio stations: reggaeton, Katy Perry, reggaeton, Lady Gaga and reggaeton.

Ice cold AC: This reminded me of the library at UCSD. I had 2-hour gaps in my schedule, so I would just kill the time in the library either sleeping or using one of the computers. I hated it because even if it was 80 degrees outside, I would have to bring a sweater to school just to not freeze in the library.

Kid leashes: I have to admit that I would probably use one of these for my own kids.

Measurement identity crisis: Maybe it's because Puerto Rico is a US territory and is thus stuck at an awkward impasse between the US and the rest of the world, but there seems to be absolutely no standardization of units used.
-Lbs (standard) used to weight food.
-Km (metric) used for distances.
-MPH (standard) signs.
-Celsius (metric) used for temperature.
-Liters (metric) used for gas.

Where have the weekends gone?

"Living for the weekend."

That's usually my motto for when I'm home in Cupertino because there's not a whole lot going on here. I think two summers ago was the best example of this. Everyone had just or was on the cusp of turning 21, we were all working and had some money to burn through and could explore a whole new aspect of home that could potentially redeem it of its boredom (it hasn't).

Fast forward to this past summer and an equally ridiculous situation ensues. We had all just graduated, which was as good an excuse as any to party, and we had even more money to spend. From what little I remember, the weekends started on Thursdays and ended whenever you groggily woke up on Sunday afternoon.

Fast forward to now and things are pretty different. It's understandable; we're past the novelty and afterglow of graduation, thinking longterm, focusing on work or graduate school, might be over that scene, saving up money for cars/homes/school or maybe just trying to grow up.

I just wonder what event, if anything, will ever bring back such a carefree period of outlooks? Maybe I just want to push Daniel through another window on Castro, but does life just get too serious from here on out?


And my boy Anoop is in the American Idol Top 13! Apparently it's Michael Jackson week next week... I'm thinking "Rock With You" or "The Way You Make Me Feel."

What's Your Playlist Say About You?

I got a new mp3 player this weekend. I have almost as bad luck with mp3 players as I do with printers, none of them seem to last more than a year. This is my 5th mp3 player since the summer of 2007 and I hope it meets a better fate than any of the others:

#1 spontaneously stopped working and couldn't read any of the mp3s on it anymore.
#2 I was playing catch with as I was walking to my front door and missed it, smashing it into 4 pieces.
#3 was stolen from my car along with a sandwich bag of spare change.
#4 melted in my car on the first non-freezing day of the season a few weeks ago. I'm pretty sure it was 65 degrees that day tops.
#5 will last forever and deflect a bullet from my heart, thus saving my life.

Anyway I wanted to streamline the type of music that was on it - upbeat hip-hip or electronica to pump myself up at the gym... or in daily life - but looked at my playlist after I uploaded 100 songs and it's filled with the likes of The Temptations, Stevie Wonder, The Kooks, Musiq Soulchild and "You're the One that I Want" from Grease.

I realized that despite my efforts otherwise, I gravitate towards only one type of song: ones that I like singing to, because I think that's how I enjoy music the most. This explains two things retrospectively: my ridiculously random playlists/cd mixes and my musical ADD (anyone who I've ever driven knows this) where I spend only 10 seconds on a song before I change it to the next one. Sometimes your mood dictates what you want to sing.

So I guess it's no coincidence that my go-tos at karaoke have made it onto each of my 5 mp3 players.

I watched a girl deadlift 185 today..

My god that was sexy.

Guess who's IQ is at least 118?

(Okay, a hint. It is not me, it is Chris Brown, the new Bobby Brown. Gj Eric. Read the ad carefully.)

So I Like Animals

I show some people just about everything that amuses me on the internet and they recently pointed out a trend - the majority of them are pictures of videos of animals doing stupid things. Here are a few.

How to break up a cat fight - watch until the very end.


The pet penguin - they trained him to wear a backpack and get fish at the fish market.


Monkey sniffs atomic finger


Lazy cat on treadmill


And a lesser degree of anthropomorphism.

Helluva Amazon Review

The Secret by Rhonda Byrne

"
Please allow me to share with you how "The Secret" changed my life and in a very real and substantive way allowed me to overcome a severe crisis in my personal life. It is well known that the premise of "The Secret" is the science of attracting the things in life that you desire and need and in removing from your life those things that you don't want. Before finding this book, I knew nothing of these principles, the process of positive visualization, and had actually engaged in reckless behaviors to the point of endangering my own life and wellbeing.

At age 36, I found myself in a medium security prison serving 3-5 years for destruction of government property and public intoxication. This was stiff punishment for drunkenly defecating in a mailbox but as the judge pointed out, this was my third conviction for the exact same crime. I obviously had an alcohol problem and a deep and intense disrespect for the postal system, but even more importantly I was ignoring the very fabric of our metaphysical reality and inviting destructive influences into my life.

My fourth day in prison was the first day that I was allowed in general population and while in the recreation yard I was approached by a prisoner named Marcus who calmly informed me that as a new prisoner I had been purchased by him for three packs of Winston cigarettes and 8 ounces of Pruno (prison wine). Marcus elaborated further that I could expect to be raped by him on a daily basis and that I had pretty eyes.

Needless to say, I was deeply shocked that my life had sunk to this level. Although I've never been homophobic I was discovering that I was very rape phobic and dismayed by my overall personal street value of roughly $15. I returned to my cell and sat very quietly, searching myself for answers on how I could improve my life and distance myself from harmful outside influences. At that point, in what I consider to be a miraculous moment, my cell mate Jim Norton informed me that he knew about the Marcus situation and that he had something that could solve my problems. He handed me a copy of "The Secret". Normally I wouldn't have turned to a self help book to resolve such a severe and immediate threat but I literally didn't have any other available alternatives. I immediately opened the book and began to read.

The first few chapters deal with the essence of something called the "Law of Attraction" in which a primal universal force is available to us and can be harnessed for the betterment of our lives. The theoretical nature of the first few chapters wasn't exactly putting me at peace. In fact, I had never meditated and had great difficulty with closing out the chaotic noises of the prison and visualizing the positive changes that I so dearly needed. It was when I reached Chapter 6 "The Secret to Relationships" that I realized how this book could help me distance myself from Marcus and his negative intentions. Starting with chapter six there was a cavity carved into the book and in that cavity was a prison shiv. This particular shiv was a toothbrush with a handle that had been repeatedly melted and ground into a razor sharp point.

The next day in the exercise yard I carried "The Secret" with me and when Marcus approached me I opened the book and stabbed him in the neck. The next eight weeks in solitary confinement provided ample time to practice positive visualization and the 16 hours per day of absolute darkness made visualization about the only thing that I actually could do. I'm not sure that everybody's life will be changed in such a dramatic way by this book but I'm very thankful to have found it and will continue to recommend it heartily.
"

...Yes, this review was helpful to me.

The Perfect Warriors Game

Let me qualify this by saying that I'm a huge Golden State Warriors fan.... but the Warriors won last night and I'm pretty annoyed about that.

They've been having a season for the dumps (injuries, Monta getting hurt, trades, bad draft picks), which typically has one silver lining: a high draft pick. But by winning and getting a mediocre record, like the Warriors have a habit of doing, you do nothing for yourself and pretty much mire yourself to purgatory. Your team doesn't do well, and it doesn't really have a great chance at improving itself through the draft.

So my perfect Warriors game for this season has these elements:
-The younger players (especially Marco, Randolph and Morrow) getting plenty of run so they can contribute next year to when our core is better and healthy.
-An exciting game where we don't get blown out. For example, the Lakers game last week - it was high scoring and we were actually up in the 4th quarter, but we all knew it was inevitable that they would choke and end up losing by a hair. At least the Warriors are dependable in some regards.
-Monta shooting over 50% on his one ankle.
-Maggette doing well so we can showcase him to be traded.
-Most importantly, a nice check in the L column.

Things I've Always Wondered About

1. Why do people always slow down when they see a cop pulling someone over? It's not like he is going to suddenly jump into his car Dukes of Hazzard style and chase you down while writing a citation simultaneously.

2. What did Dr. Evil expect to do with his ransom money? It doesn't seem likely that anyone would do business with such a high-profile wanted criminal. Moreover, why wouldn't he just use his means to get the material things he wanted instead of going the circuitous route and getting money first?

3. Why when you ask someone what they're up to, the default answer is always "Nothing" or "Not much." And then they will proceed to tell you what they are up to.

4. Aren't we on the verge of potential destruction every second of the day? Suppose a nearby star suddenly goes supernova and expels its contents into a nebula that will encompass our solar system. Light traveling at light speed would inform us of the event (It only takes 8 minutes for light from our sun to reach earth), and the only lag time we would have for survival is how much slower the speed of radiation and contents expulsion is than light.

Okay, I was thinking about this one more: radiation actually does travel the speed of light because it's just an invisible part of the vision spectrum. So the question really is how damaging radiation would be by itself without its thermal or ionizing components. In any case, the window of survival just shrank considerably.

5. How my sense of direction can be so damn bad. (So's your face Sarah! jkkkk)

Bill Nye!

My favorite blogs to keep up with these days are popsci.com and wiredscience.com. I think this is because I spent most of undergrad studying things that are either completely unrelated or just completely boring.

Here's a few interesting articles from the past couple of days...

1. The Real Costs of Owning a Hybrid. Hybrids are great environmentally, but I think it's a complete fallacy that the savings in gas $ determines the bottom line to purchase them. This article talks about the unexpected costs that make buying a hybrid instead of a gas car a wash.

2. The Pitch Drop Experiment. This is an experiment that shows a substance so viscous that it's dripped only 9 times since 1930.

3. Monkey Uses Brainwaves to Control Prosthetic Arm. Shows how prosthetics have advanced in recent years to the point where electrodes on the motor cortex can stimulate accurate movement. "Gentlemen, we can rebuild him. We have the technology."

4. Liberty University Disputing Evolution. Explains the rationale behind Liberty's choice to teach literal creationism - the world was created 10,000 years ago. Proponents of

“If a frog turns into a prince with a kiss then it’s a fairy tale. If a frog turns into a prince over millions of years, it’s science,” he said, referencing the theory of evolution. “It’s almost ridiculous.”

What is Pretty Woman telling us?

Does this movie say that...
A. Hollywood condones hooking
B. employing a hooker for a week is an acceptable thing to do
C. the only thing that matters is people's inner beauty
D. hookers have hearts of gold, try them out and find out
E. all that matters in a relationship is chemistry? (Which is something I subscribe to, but it's still a qualified statement whenever I say it. Servicing other men on a nightly basis might overshadow a little bit of chemistry.)

Yo, but on the real I've always felt some moral ambiguity about that movie.

5 more random thoughts

Okay, since I noticed that the posts on sunnyvalefitness.wordpress.com that I give creative and long names get 100x more hits than other posts, I'm going to actually start titling here. Besides, the other day I was trying to remember something I wrote a couple months ago and pretty much had to click through every post because of the stupid lazy titles.

My rainy day thoughts:

There's a black trainer at YMCA that I talk to a lot. Today I caught myself saying something like "Yo, I know I ain't never done nothin' like that before, you know what I'm sayin?" This must stop.

Some other co-workers at YMCA abbreviate "group exercise" to "group ex." Is that really necessary? Why not just "ex," "group?" Might as well call it this:

Why must there be peanuts in every single mixed nuts, fruit and nut mix and trail mix ever conceived?

I just bought 2 tubs of protein online. One is Cupcake Batter flavored and the other is Cinnamon Bun flavored. I really hope I win my gamble and they taste awesome, or else I'm going to have a very gross next 3 months.

So I really think The Office kind of sucks now. It took a Scrubs-esque tumble; all the characters became static and one-dimensional, and the humor became based on stupid setup situations rather than character development/interaction. Plus Jim + Pam is epically boring - let's have them attend a Phish concert with Creed, get high and let the chips fall where they may. Cartoons on the other hand usually seem to get better with seasons for some reason. (Minus the Simpsons... does anyone actually watch that anymore?)

Random 21 - 25

Because I used to be a really quiet kid, I often feel a need to make sure that my opinion is voiced and heard, which is probably annoying.

One of the things I always look for when I'm driving is dogs sticking their heads out of car windows.

I burned my garage down senior year of high school on accident. RIP Sentra #1.

I absolutely can't stand sugar-coating, so I don't do it and will pretty much always tell it like it is.

Every month or so, I get this urge to hermit myself and be all introspective and pensive, but then I get too bored.

Random 14 - 20

Sometimes I think in depth about the steps necessary to drop everything in my life here and just move to the midwest to farm grain for a simpler and possibly more fulfilling existence.

When I graduated high school, I was 140 lbs. By the beginning of my junior year in college, I was 172, and one summer later, I was back to 150, which I still am today.

I don't like celebrating my own birthday. Something about being the center of attention only out of obligation.

I have almost been arrested.. more than once.

I really, really hate being bad at things and subsequently failure. Sometimes I think the only reason I have any drive at all is to avoid that failure.

I wish my ego was smaller.

Whenever I'm applauding something, the # of claps always falls on a multiple of 7.

Random 7 - 13

Putting aside vanity, health, my job and any other reasons, a large part of why I workout as hard as I do is because I was overweight when I was a kid.

Punctuality is a big deal to me. It can usually be remedied by leaving for your destination just 5-10 minutes earlier, so why not do it? Are people not worth that? I view it as a lack of respect and common courtesy and thus always try to be early unless I'm trying to be fashionably late.

I'm most comfortable in bed when I have a pillow covering half of my face.

I use cocoa butter moisturizer for my hands after I shower everyday.

Whenever I'm bored in a library, I try to find the oldest book I can.

In junior high, I set 2-3 school track and field records until some coach dug up books from the late 80's and I was expunged from the record book.

I'm a good deal colorblind in the green spectrum.

Random 2 - 6

In more situations than I'd like to admit, I find myself thinking WWFPD? What Would the Fresh Prince Do?

My first kiss was an ambush in first grade when I was still in Pennsylvania.

I'm very OCD about cutting my fingernails.

I used to associate the color silver with feeling nauseous when I was younger. I think it only lasted for about 1-2 years, but when I looked at something silver, I would literally start feeling kind of queasy.

I still hold my breath whenever I go through tunnels.

Random 1

A nice little cop-out from longer posts is that vestige of junior high that's making the rounds on facebook... 25 random things about me.

1. Almost without fail, whenever I eat rice, one or two kernels gets lodged in my sinus cavity somewhere and I sniff uncomfortably for hours afterwards.

And in Anoop news, he made it through to the top 36!

Outsourced

When I first started this blog, I got maybe 15 hits a day and 5 were from myself. My gym just started a blog and it got 70 hits on it's 3rd day... So I plan on contributing pretty heavily to it. That will either drastically lower the amount of posts I put here, or put me in some kind of literary mode where I write like I got beat.

It's here http://sunnyvalefitness.wordpress.com/ and I write under the name korkie77 (remember my genie story from elementary school?).

Knowledge

A little bit of knowledge can sometimes be bad.

I have to deal with this a ridiculous amount at work.
-Guy knows that marathon runners carbo-load before races and long runs sometimes, so he starts carbo-loading before he comes in for sessions. Marathon runners will log upwards of 80 miles a week, and he trains for 3 hours a week. He doesn't understand why he is gaining fat.

-Guy knows that we utilize glucose stores when we workout. He proceeds to eat three protein bars during each 1.5 session of training in order to keep his "glycogen repositories" high. It takes at least 30 mins for the stomach to start digesting food and I don't even know how much longer until it is able to make use of the nutrients. He doesn't understand why he still gets tired at the end of his workouts.

-Woman knows that the spine is relatively fragile, so she avoids all movements that involve bending over. This causes muscle imbalances, posture and flexibility problems from a weak lower back that doesn't gain strength. She doesn't understand why she still has back pain, even though she goes to great lengths to keep it fresh.

-Atkins. It's fairly synonymous with "low carb," but many also make it synonymous with "eat as much fatty and junk as I can, as long as they don't have carbs."

-Guy knows that spandex breathes well, so he wears it every day. The knowledge that he's missing is that he really should not be wearing things so form-fitting.

These statements look good on their own, but when you try to integrate them with other statements, it just doesn't work out so well. A pictoral representation:

Impact

I don't think we really realize the weight of our words. For example, here's a few sayings that have really stuck with me throughout the years:
1. There are always a million reasons to not do something. - Jan Levinson, The Office.
2. Whether you believe you can or can't, you will be right. - Henry Ford.
3. Save the drama for your mama. - Some fool that cleverly rhymed this.

If fictional baby mama Jan Levinson can direct me towards an attitude-changing epiphany, then what's the weight of my friends' words? (Someone's got to pick up the pieces - Will [I bet you don't even remember this]) Teachers? (Keep it simple, stupid - Grayson from Kennedy) For that matter, what about our parents' words? (Take advantage of your opportunities because I never had them - Dad)

I was talking to a client and found that despite his being only 33, has two kids that are 10 and 6. He knows that he is basically their world at that age, and as a result is constantly thinking about choosing his words carefully, trying to prevent his judgments from coloring theirs, etc. His kids will carry whatever he conveys to them for a long, long time. I distinctly remember disliking John Travolta when I was young because my Dad thought he was a greasy looking hippie. Trivial, but what if he had told me that it was because Travolta was white? Or [insert absurd prejudice.]

I recently realized that I sort of have the power to impact people like that at my job. I think it's because everything I say is interpreted as coming from a... "hierarchically higher source," for lack of a better phrase. Obviously I'm not, but such are the social dynamics of being a trainer. They get a good-sized dose of my views on fitness, nutrition and life in general, and I've noticed it really affecting a couple of them. One guy told me that he printed out an email I wrote him with some inspiring mumbo-jumbo in it and taped it onto his monitor at work.

Anyway, it's interesting to think about how the things you say, no matter how trivial you think they may be, might really affect and inspire someone.
:How would you like to be remembered?
:To have made an impact on people.
Well that's a little bit better than "Spreading my seed."

ANOOP

So I took a mini-break from writing... but only in relative terms, because there was a point where I was writing posts everyday and pretty much stockpiling them. Anyway, I think some of the stuff I write about is a little too heavy for daily consumption.

With Chinese New Year's on the horizon and me saving up to travel this summer, I really wish my family.. wasn't my family. Okay, that's a bit strong, but here: In my best year I think I got about $200 total, and that was a hell of an anomaly. In junior high and the beginning of high school, my haul would be one red envelope with $20 from my parents. Then when I was a junior in high school, I got one from them that had $1 in it with a note that said "It's the thought that counts." Extrapolate a few years down the line from that and I'm guessing I'll get a lump of coal this year.

I think I'm going to actually watch American Idol this year. So two things for those of you that may not know: I sang in an a cappella group at UCSD and if I'm involved in something, I'm in 110%. I got familiar with groups from all over the nation and found a particularly good one from UNC called the Clef Hangers. They have a soloist named Anoop that I've big-time man-crushed on for the past year.. AND HE'S ON AMERICAN IDOL THIS SEASON.

Here's him covering "The Only One For Me" by Brian McKnight (Seriously, how many people can cover him?)


And here's him auditioning on American Idol


And now a female crush, Kina Grannis.

Archie

Authorship (Musical)

I love oldies. In my opinion, 1964 - 1979 was the greatest musical era - there was just so much innovation, talent and real musicianship. You had the rise of Motown, disco's ups and downs, Pink Floyd's psychadelic peak, the birth of electronica and powerful songs that reflected a turbulent political scene. Basically everything heard today is derivative of something from that era.

But where did those songs come from? To what extent do we just like the writers behind the hits, as opposed to the artists themselves?

Take for example, the famous Motown songwriter Norm Whitfield. I know that he wrote a couple of songs for The Temptations, but a little more research via wikipedia showed that he wrote all of these:
Ain't Too Proud to Beg
Just My Imagination
Beauty's Only Skin Deep
You're My Everything
I Wish It Would Rain
Cloud Nine
Can't Get Next To You
Psychadelic Shack
Ball of Confusion
Papa Was a Rollin' Stone
(Also Car Wash - Rose Royce and War - Edwin Starr)

As a huge Temptations fan, I can tell you that that list covers every Temptations song of note except "My Girl" and "Get Ready." So I love.. Norm Whitfield? Lamp?

Semantics.

Authorship

There are three books I would want to write, and they have absolutely no relation to each other.

In 6th grade, I had to write a 2 page story for some language arts assignment. It was about a genie named Korkie and his cat (this is the origin of my first e-mail address and various usernames "korkie"). I got a little carried away and ended up with 5 pages, so I just lopped off the end and fabricated some generic ending. After that, I worked on it everyday for a few weeks - until my adolescent attention span ran out and I became equally infatuated with something else. Anyway, I ended up with about 12 pages, single space 12 point font, of a story about a genie who is freed from his lamp after a millenia by a cat scratching himself on it. The cat gets three wishes and thouroughly enjoys jerking his genie around. Seemed promising back then.

Remember when Cupertino and Monta Vista was the subject of this hopelessly biased and skewed article from the Wall Street Journal? (http://www.wsjclassroomedition.com/teen/teencenter/05nov_whiteflight.htm) It told about how white families felt intimidated by the influx of Asian immigrants and their emphasis on academics. It was badly written and poorly researched, but it wasn't completely without grounds. I remember meeting with a junior high friend in college who didn't attend Monta Vista, and said that only when he was surrounded by all white people did he discover that "white people also could work hard and be smart." I'd want to conduct and write about a comparative study of Cupertino vs. other upper middle class communities... namely white ones. What are the differences: Is the emphasis still heavily only on academics as it is in Cupertino, or is there a wider breadth of living encouraged? Are there similarities between Asian immigrants and European immigrants? Etc.

A book on the practical basics of fitness and nutrition. You saw this coming. I would love to dispel some of the dogma the fitness world is inundated with. Said world is for some reason exceptionally susceptible to real-life rumors; the spread of information that has no grounds, and that may or may not be true. There are certainly more educated people to write this, but I think I know what is most salient to people and what they can relate to best.

Comparison

1998
2004

As always, click to enlarge.