Had a rough day at work, ego conflict with my father, turned into something huge. I really went off on him. So, to release all the tension, I drove up to Zuma Beach and got a sun tan. 4 hour lunch break, take that, mofo! After I got back, I apologized and it's all good once again. 
way back to work..
West LA, CA. 10E > 405N bridge on ramp.
look, it's Sawtelle from above..
best shot, sunday - san onofre, ca. 
look at evan, so cute. one of the cutest babies i've seen in my life.
that's bb's shoulder.
i got a facebook account now. please add me.
http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=790770342
u know, it's hard to tell if someone has updated their pulse or not unless u check them individually. that is hella pulses to check. i think it would be a good idea to insert the newly updated pulses into the 'read ur subscriptions' section. or have it scroll on the sidebar of each individual xanga. or create separate 'read ur subscription' section just for pulse entries.
resolved: under read ur subscriptions there is a pulse tab, yikes!
does anyone know who this is? he had an entourage w/ expensive looking recording equipment. people were gathered around him asking him for an autograph. the kids surrounding him seemed kinda out of place for santa monica pier tho. maybe they were hired extras.
Returned my collection of testosterone related books to the central
library. None of them really helped me too much, maybe it's because
their potential appeal got eclipsed by the book about how to create
luck.
this picture was taken inside the
central library.
i thought the artwork looked cheesey, but snapped a pic of it anyways.
Central Library, Los Angeles, CA.
This artwork was pretty cool tho. I found it behind my former elementary school, where I parked my car. Bzzzzz. Bzzzzz.
Behind Maryknolll School, Little Tokyo, Los Angeles, CA.
Masterpieces like these, can only be created by putting down the B'z.
Billions muthafuckas, BILLIONz.
5th St. View of Skycrapers, Los Angeles, CA.
Below, Little Tokyo Building on 1st St. Maybe in the hundreds of millions.
They are building hella apartment complexes in Little Tokyo. Maybe this area might be a good RE investment in the long run. Little Tokyo gonna be ge'nn some business. I see less homeless people walking around the area recently - a good thing.
Alameda St, Little Tokyo.
Not the Central library, but a library nonetheless. The Santa Monica Library, frontal view. It's almost like I live here. I am here atleast twice a week reading self improvement related books. It's funny, I think I've read more books the last year, than I ever did in my whole life, even including UC Irvine days. The difference now is that I am actually enjoying the content of that which I read.
Santa Monica, CA.
Ohyeh, here's a pic of a "cool as shit" house on the cliff at Malibu. I will live in a house like this someday. My future home requires to be on the PCH and have an elevated cliff view of the ocean.
Malibu, CA.
Can ya'll tell I love my new powershot? Omg, best investment of 2007. Irenium, i think the picture quality came up when I switched the compression to superfine. Resolution is left at 1600x1200.
Malibu, CA - Yesterday.
Driving back and forth on10 freeway, from Alhambra to Santa Monica, I
can't help but notice all the graffiti on the wall. It starts around
Normandie and lasts till the Overland exit. Every month or two, they
get repainted w/ a light beige color only to get revandalized once
again. It's pretty damn retarded. Why can't they figure out a way to
prevent this? We can put a man on the moon, create complex information
system like the internet, but we can't out-think a bunch of bored
highschool students w/ too much time on their hands? The parents are
probably to blame at the most basic level, but they are prolly too busy
handling 2-3 jobs just to keep food on the table. Putting the
sociological, behavioral aspects aside, I've thought of some practical
ideas to prevent this dumbass tug of war of paint from continuing.
1. Grow vines on the walls where graffiti is problematic. I notice that
the taggers leave the vined areas alone. Obviously spraying on them is
useless bc their "artwork" will not stand out to the commuter audience.
Or maybe they are tree huggers, eco-friendly at the core.
Malibu, CA - Yesterday.
2. Preemptive Graffitti. This idea is to paint the walls a certain
design/color so that when they graffitti on the wall, the vandalism
does not show up. For example, use colors that the vandalists usually
use and make an interlaced design. I'm not sure how aesthetic the
appearance might be, so this idea will probably not fly.
3. Grow trees in front of the walls where there is dirt where they can
be planted. Just hide the walls altogether. Let them spray all they
want, behind these trees.
Malibu State Lagoon Beach, Adamson House
4. Adpot - a - Wall. Obviously, the municipal government isn't
resolving this problem. I'm not sure if this is because of lack of
funding, lack of ideas, or a corruption occuring where the
manufacturers that are selling the paint to the goverment is getting
easy profits. In any case, let corporate america get a piece of this
action. Those walls can be good for advertising. Let them adopt a wall
and take responsibility for them. In exchange, allow them to advertise
in that area.
5. Dig a ditch infront of the wall where there is dirt. (bb's idea)
Adamson House - Malibu, CA.. frontal.
6. Round up civilian vigilantes who will monitor the walls each night, and taser anyone who tries to spray on the walls.
7. Spray over the graffitti, with de-masculinating (is this even a word) messages in hot pink.
Adamson House, rear.
8. Create areas in the inner city where kids are freely allowed to
create artwork. Designate walls that are graffiti-friendly and let them
spray to their heart's desire. Get it out of their system.
I think the vine and tree ideas are the best. It's good for the
environment, so the general population will be accepting of it. It
doesn't require tasering kids in the middle of the night. And it is
probably cost effective. Spend a few dollars vegetating our freeways
instead of using that same money re-painting walls for decades to come.
rockstar, hollywood..glamorous-glamorous
most pictures had nothing to do w/ my blog entry. just wanted to stick them up there, for the sake of sticking them up.
chisaku-han, yesterday.
i think my dad has been clandestinely feeding chisaku-han, non-dog food. she has been looking extra plump lately.
ucla - today
purchased a canon powershot sd1000 7MP at bestbuys for $250. also, a 4GB SDcard. this thing can hold 6500 pictures @ 1600x1200 resolution. lol the batteries will run out 30 times before i fill up the whole thing. actually, it will never fill up bc i bought a sadisk sdcard reader w/ a one touch button that transfers all the file at once. it's a really handy device. so far i'm satisfied w/ the ease of recharging and transfering files, but i am realizing the quality of the photos is a little weak. i don't know how to explain it, they look flimsy compared to my 3MP sony cybershoti bot in 2000. but in anycase, i'm digicam trigger happy and have the tiny little thing w/ me everywhere i go.
i'm gonna go biking w/ bb tomorrow in the afternoon at santa monica. then, @ night, drive down to irvine for poker night at alex's. last night, i got to see jay.. i hadn't met him in 7 years. i chilled w/ him at orchid w/ jj & friends. also, walt came by to my dad's store today.. i hadn't seen him in prolly 13 years. since loyola highschool. it was good seeing them both again.
santamonica - yesterday
santamonica - yesterday
did i tell y'all, i am taking a little break from red wine and trying out some beer. fda says up to 2 drinks is healthful, so thought why not. omg dude, i love beer. the beer buzz is better than red wine. i can't believe i didn't take advantage of this stuff growing up. better late then never tho. i think the stuff is really relaxing my personality. i don't feel as uptight and feel like a part of me is thawing out. the effects seem to last way beyond the initial beer buzz.
3rd st. promenade - today
hey, what the fuck is the algorithm? so far, what i know of it is that, 1. it is from jersey. (10W) 2. the unabomber hates it (10W) 3. it is banned in china (marina del rey exit 90 slauson) 4. it has something to do w/ jesus (forget which freeway) dude, that's hella money on billboard advertising, it's all over the place. and i don't even care to visit the host website, out of rebellion of corporate consumer marketing tactics. dare to be happy.
chisaku-han - today - storage room
oh yeh, dude.. some old ladies customers at the store have hired me to convert vhs tapes into dvd. they give me 3 bucks per disc. i buy them at costco for 30c. am i ripping them off? other video shops do the same thing for 6-8$ i hear. so, i'm thinking they are getting a deal. considering the wear and tear of the dvd recorder, i don't think it's unreasonable. i intend to use this income as my weekly allowance. finally, i have cash stream besides the hedge fund investment.
At Last! All the Secrets of Happiness Explained!
By Kristyn Kusek Lewis
What
would it take for you to be truly happy? A new house? Flat abs? In this
era of reality-show fantasies, extreme gratification seems like the
only key to lifelong happiness. But while we're all for the
mood-boosting power of brand-new bedroom furniture (and a bear hug from
Ty Pennington, for that matter), researchers who study happiness say
these external changes don't do much for your long-term state of mind.
In fact, positive events like losing some extra weight and even
life-altering milestones like getting married cause only a brief
"bounce" of bliss that fades fast, allowing your old outlook to return
full-force.
"What makes people truly happy is how they live ‘inside of themselves,'" says Dan Baker, Ph.D., author of the best-selling What Happy People Know and
director of the Life Enhancement Program at Canyon Ranch Health Resort
in Tucson, AZ. "Meaning that if you want enduring satisfaction, you
have to approach life with a mind-set that allows you to walk on the
bright side, no matter what's thrown at you."
Don't worry—this
doesn't mean that you have to be perpetually chipper to be happy.
Rather, decades of research indicate that true bliss stems from
possessing 12 distinct characteristics that enable you to navigate
life's rough spots with greater ease and feel content no matter the
outcome. The good news: You already have most of these qualities—it's
just a matter of tapping into them. Read on to discover the
science-backed secrets to lasting happiness.
1. Optimism
Embracing
all of your life experiences—even the really painful ones—with the
knowledge that something good inevitably will come out of them is what
optimism is all about. "It helps minimize fears about the future that
could otherwise become debilitating, allowing you to move past them
more quickly and ultimately lead a more carefree life," says Baker.
Case in point: A classic study from the University of Massachusetts
found that accident victims who had become suddenly paralyzed were more
hopeful about the future than lottery winners.
The reason: The tragedy allowed them to see that most of the stuff that gets us down isn't really worth fretting over.
To
become a more "glass half-full" thinker, take stock of how past bad
experiences may have benefited you in the long run. For instance,
perhaps getting dumped by your college sweetheart made you available
when your true love arrived on the scene. And when you're anticipating
rough times—say, a crushing week of work deadlines—devise an "optimism
emergency plan": Make a list of what you hope to gain from the
experience, and ask yourself if there's an opportunity to learn or
grow. Approaching a potentially bad situation with an open and eager
mind primes you to see the upside in everything.
2. Love.
Having
a sense of compassion for the people in your life and knowing that
you're cared for in return is one of the biggest predictors of
happiness, says Baker. Whether it's the thrill of romantic love or
nurturing parental love, feelings of companionship provide a comforting
sense of belonging that enhances overall life satisfaction. One of the
most well-documented ways to increase the love in your life: share
quality time with others.
"Feeling isolated makes it easy to succumb
to negative feelings like self-doubt and insecurity," explains David
Niven, Ph.D., author of The 100 Simple Secrets of Happy People.
"But
spending time with loved ones strengthens the human connections that
silence those self-defeating thoughts and improve mood." So keep
planning movie nights with girlfriends, and enlist the company of
others when you'd normally be alone. For instance, instead of throwing
dinner together solo, ask your guy to help out. And to experience the
mood-buoying effects of loving bonds even when you're alone, carry
photos of loved ones in your wallet and peek at their smiling faces for
an anytime pick-me-up.
3. Courage
Being courageous
means acting in accordance with your personal values, an empowering
practice that enhances your sense of self. "If you behave contrary to
what you believe, you go to war with yourself," warns Baker. But stand
up for what's important to you, and the pride you feel will increase
personal satisfaction.
For the majority of women, this means
curing the "disease to please" and speaking up even when you risk
causing a stir, such as saying no to a neighbor who's always asking for
a favor. When your life is in line with your sense of right and wrong,
you avoid falling victim to happiness-sapping self-doubt.
4. Sense of choice
Research
has found that people who describe themselves as "autonomous" and
"self-governing" are up to three times more likely to be satisfied with
their lives. These individuals know they have the power to opt out when
a situation no longer suits them, Niven explains, so when things get
bad, they make the active choice to change matters.
An easy (and
enjoyable!) way to practice your power of choice is to indulge in your
favorite pastimes whenever possible. Remember, you decide what goes on
your to-do list, so opt to add that occasional afternoon of watching
bad TV in your pj's. And if feelings of guilt threaten to ruin the
moment, remind yourself that checking off this to-do will enable you to
approach the rest of your chores with a more positive and invigorated
attitude.
5. Proactivity
The happiest people are always
on the hunt for new experiences thanks to a natural zest for life. To
fire up your inner passion, Baker recommends setting a goal of making
one mistake every single day. This encourages you to try new
experiences you might otherwise have avoided out of fear of failure
(like testing out the freaky-looking weight contraption at the gym!).
Plus, exercising your curiosity in this manner is proven to promote
happiness: Neurology researchers have found that diving into a fresh
experience triggers the production of dopamine, one of the body's
"feel-good" chemicals.
6. Security
True security means
feeling good about your current place in life. It's recognizing that
becoming rich or the most popular party host on the block will only get
you a bigger, more crowded house. It won't change you, and
that's a good thing. "Happy people simply like who they are," says
Baker. "They're not slaves to popularity or financial status."
Security
also stems from the knowledge that who you are today is the culmination
of all the little moments in your history that can never be taken away
from you. Your family history, your education, shared experiences with
loyal friends—none of these things can be whisked away by the whims of
fate, a fact that instills a sense of grounding and inner peace. So
whenever you're feeling off-kilter, Niven recommends conjuring one of
those self-defining moments (accepting your diploma, say, or listening
to your best friend's toast at your wedding). Mentally reliving these
formative experiences will help you keep your footing in the rockiest
of situations.
7. Good health
The mind and body are
intrinsically connected, so taking care of yourself both above and
below the neck makes for head-to-toe happiness. "One of my favorite
quotes is from a famous 1920s physician who said, ‘Health is the
optimal condition that allows for the ultimate engagement in life,' "
says Baker. "What he's saying is that health doesn't necessarily mean
being fit, but being able to live fully."
The easiest way to
achieve this optimal state of being: Get moving. Regular activity—be it
walking, dancing, or playing Frisbee with your dog—releases endorphins
(the substances responsible for a runner's high) and increases levels
of the feel-good brain chemical serotonin. Best of all, just 10 minutes
of exercise is all it takes to produce the mood-boosting brain changes,
according to Northern Arizona University researchers.
8. Spirituality
People
who tap into their spiritual side have greater life satisfaction than
those who don't, according to a growing body of research. It reminds us
that life may have bigger meaning beyond our knowing, explains Niven,
so we don't dwell so much on the little things. Research also reveals
that religion can have a positive effect on both physical and mental
health: People who regularly pray or attend religious services are less
likely to suffer from hypertension, anxiety disorders, and depression,
according to experts at Duke University's Center for Spirituality,
Theology and Health. Any soulful act, including meditation, walking in
the woods, reading an inspiring book, or listening to a moving piece of
music, can help you dial into the bigger picture, assures Baker.
9. Altruism
Giving
without expectation is one of the easiest ways to feel good about
yourself, your world, and life in general: "Altruism connects you to
others, gives you a purpose, and gets you outside yourself," says
Baker. Having a positive impact on somebody else's life generates
feelings of goodwill that help minimize whatever negativity might be
occurring in your own life. Looking for inspiration? Log on to
volunteermatch.org, a nonprofit site that allows you to search for
philanthropic organizations in your area that match your interests. And
if you're strapped for time, don't fret: Taking a girlfriend out for a
hot-fudge sundae when she's having a rough week has the same
happiness-inducing benefits as participating in an organized volunteer
program.
10. Perspective
Happy people mentally frame
life experiences so that the good features prominently in the
forefront, while the bad is that fuzzy, out-of-focus backdrop. For
example, one study at the University of Georgia found that happy
workers who'd just been promoted were ecstatic about the new
opportunity, whereas unhappy employees dreaded the additional work that
came with the bigger title.
To adopt a positive viewpoint, Niven
suggests comparing a seemingly bad situation to the worst-case
scenario. For instance, getting up at 5 a.m. for work isn't fun, but
would you rather wake up later for a job you hate—or worse, no job at
all? "If you measure your current happiness against the greatest
moments in your life, you might be disappointed because those moments
are hard to beat," Niven explains. "But if you measure today's
satisfaction against some of your tougher days, you have all the reason
in the world to appreciate your life right now."
11. Humor
"Finding
humor in a bad situation is a shift in perception that gives people the
guts to push forward even when things look grim," says Baker. Laughter
also causes physiologic changes in the body that make you feel good:
When something tickles your funny bone, you experience a spike in
feel-good hormones like serotonin and dopamine, while levels of the
stress hormone cortisol drop. Make an effort to experience some funny
stuff each day, whether it's by reading the comics in the newspaper or
tuning in to your favorite talk show host at night. One genuine laugh a
day is all you need to lighten up about life, says Niven.
12. Purpose
Having
a reason to bound out of bed every morning is one of the most
sustaining sources of happiness because it gives you something positive
to focus your life on. Some find purpose in being a phenomenal mother
and wife. Others find it in teaching and inspiring kids, or mentoring
junior colleagues at work.
"If you're not sure what your purpose is,
then your purpose is to find a passion," says Baker. Start by engaging
in small activities that light up your day and give you a sense of
truly being you.
For instance, sign up for an acting
workshop if you have a burning desire to be on the stage. Check out
books about pet care if you have an interest in animals. Even joining a
social group like a book club could open doors to new experiences and
relationships that reveal your true path. And once you've discovered
your passion, practice it daily. "When what you do with your daily life
really talks to your heart, you'll be truly happy," says Baker.
lately... i feel as though i am experiencing life for the first time. i am making my own choices, and fulfilling my own desires on my own free will. free from reigns of religion, free from authoritative education, free from parental direction, free from peer pressure, free from nationalistic propaganda. i really feel free lately. i don't care what society, or people think. i'm getting back closer to my animal self, the way i was born before all the propaganda and indoctrination held my soul down. i feel alive. fuckyeh,dude.
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