Wow, just wow

I got a surprise phone call today, as in, I had no idea who from New York was calling me. When I answer it I'm pleased to find out that it was Sensei calling me! And I'm like, yay sensei, and she's like, hey how are you and then I suddenly hear everybody singing Happy Birthday to me. It was a bunch of people from the advanced japanese class. Many of them friends I've been taking the classes with. As it turns out, I believe today was the day the Advanced Japanese 3 class does the play that is part of the curriculum and they were out eating after the performance. Well Sensei called me and had everybody sing and I'm just taken way way aback by the moment and soooo happy. I could barely believe it happened. After everybody sang I spoke a bit with Sensei and she asked me what I'd done today and whatnot. In any case, it was awesome and now I can't wait to go back and have some more fun in my japanese classes. Too bad most of my friends from class will be done this quarter but at least Corey will possibly be taking it with me... and he better *death threats* haha.

Point in case: Sensei rocks!!! XD

Colorful Haiku

During my extensive Haiku practice, I've occasionally done a series of haiku around a theme. Here is one such theme:

Colors~

Look! A red herring
its scent meant to throw you off
but you followed me

an orange sunset
crimson and gold in the sky
warmth welcoming night

yellow light of hope
in the midst of night, a sun
dispels the darkness

no more am I green
the naiveté of youth
or envy of age

a spirit of blue
burning fire cool to the touch
proceed with caution

purple's majesty
a lake's watercolor dusk
mimicking the night

indigo glasses
paint my world a hue of new
midnight at midday

© Emilio Gandara 2008

Maybe some other time I'll post another series...

Identification

So let's get the big news out of the way, I got my Ohio license. To those who talk to me on a regular basis you know I'd been sort of anxious (see: flippin out) about taking the written test. Well this morning I went (Jeremy was awesome and let me borrow his car to get there and back (which is much much better than taking a bus (and you may see why) ) ) and took the test and passed it! I suppose it's worth telling the story coz I enjoy writing it, supposedly!

Well here we go, this morning I set my alarm for 6:30 because Jeremy and I had agreed to pick me up at 7:30 so I would drop him off at work and then I'd be on my way to the BMV (normally the Department of Motor Vehicles, but Ohio has a Bureau instead). Well i got there before they opened because I found a closer place than the one I would've ended up going to (Thank God) and just waited outside playing with my Rubik's cube, that I got this week on a whim :). Well eventually the doors open and I go in and take the eye test first, which I did great at without my glasses. I took it without them because they told me if I took it with them they'd restrict me to only driving with my glasses, which I pretty much already do but just in case I'd rather not have restrictions on my license. After that I was told to sit at one of the stations to do the written test, which mind you is no longer written but digital and on a touch screen.

There were 40 questions and I needed to get at least 30 of them right to pass. It was a little bit nerve wracking but I tried to be careful and mindful and just kept praying as I'd been doing for days about this. I skipped some of the questions because I wasn't sure and it wasn't until the end that I discovered that this was actually a good strategy. The exam ended before I could go through all of the questions because I met the quota of correct answers. That's why it was a good idea to throw some questions to the end of the queue possibly saving myself from more mistakes. Nonetheless I passed and was given my slip to hand off next door where I would actually get my license. It was still very early so I didn't have to make a line here either. I would pretty much make it to work on time too if things kept going as smooth as they were. Well I finish up all the paperwork but right before I go to get my picture taken I have to pay and it's evident they only take cash or checks, neither of which I had on me (I did have some cash but not enough). So I had to leave and try and find an ATM. The person at the counter told me to go to the gas station down the road and I did but it wasn't working and so I got sent to the bank down the next road *sheesh* and lo and behold, it didn't open until 9, which is when I normally get into work. *sigh* but no matter - I thought, because I had already recovered an hour on tuesday in preparation. So I stay in line at the bank, yes, in line, outside the door. Another one of the instances where I feel like a minority because everybody else was black. But that's a different point for another day. Anyway, at 9 the doors open, I rush in to the ATM, get the money, rush out, and take my time on the road to get back to the licensing locale (because i don't want to ironically get in an accident trying to get a license). So I get there, pay and get my picture taken and shortly after my license is given to me shiny and brand spankin' new.



In other news, I was staring at my old license on wednesday pondering the 'out with the old, in with the new' motif of it all and noticed I had 188 lb as my weight. I couldn't help but smile as I realized I am currently more than 10 pounds lighter than I was when I was 16 years old. In other words, I'm pretty much in the best shape of my life! Nope, I really can't get off my crazy weight loss mindset haha. And all you worry warts out there don't worry, I won't lose 'too much'. I've already thought about it and have come up with a plan so chillax, I'm a big boy now ;).

I guess the biggest plus about the new ID, other than my old one being expired tomorrow and having a valid ID to be able to fly back home this summer, is the fact that I no longer have to go through awkward moments of getting carded at bars or otherwise. No more "what's this?" or "I can make this in my basement" as people look at my ID. Ladies and gentlemen, this is a sigh of relief *inhale*...*siiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiigh*

Old Poem

I've been meaning to start writing poetry again. I used to write regularly in middle and high school but ever since college I've all but completely quit. Not out of wanting to, particularly, but out of simple lack of action. In other words, I just didn't do it. Well here's my first step towards trying. Incited by some friends, I'm going to publish one of my old poems here, completely unedited (though I was tempted to do so). Hopefully this'll be a step in the direction towards writing more. Perhaps I'll occasionally cherry-pick some of the haiku I write at work and put those up because those are as contemporary me as possible. So here we go, a poem called Time.

Time, the unstoppable giant
Has gotten in my way once again.
Every short breath, a tick
Every long step, a year
His eyes, so full of age
His arms, as heavy as gravity
His chest, heaving a rhythmic heart
A heart that beats a sunrise,
And pulsates change,
And bleeds with memory.

That giant is in my way again
And I try to go against him,
Knowing that a loss is a certainty.

So I unsheathe my weapon
A blade called haste
And I pull over me a cover
A shield called patience
And I run, swinging haste to and fro
Inciting at least a reaction,
If anything at all
From the oblivious giant.

Yet without knowing
Through the field of eternity
As time walks, ever so slowly,
Creeping like a sloth
I run through and into a field of thorns
One I had only heard called regret
So with patience,
I try to help feeling the sting of regret.

Something changes
I start mending my suit
And I use the thread: idleness
And with not a moment to spare,
Arms heavy, eyes old
Wings spread and open and ready
And Time takes flight.

© Emilio Gandara 2008 (is this really necessary?)

And so with that, I'll hopefully leave a floating note waiting to be played, constantly reminding myself that I want to play it.

GOOOOOOOOOOOOAL!

I have officially reached 180 pounds of weight today! I have reached my goal and the following is gonna sound like an awards speech haha. First of all I need to thank God. It's because of all of the machinations of His will that I'm even able to get out of bed and work and then work out, at the Sherwin Williams Gym, in Cleveland, OH, until November. See what I'm getting at? I wanna thank my Dad for being an awesome example and an inspiration. Dad has discipline of pure titanium and I'm glad I've finally learned a bit of it. I wanna thank the rest of my family for encouraging me and believing in me and very much so my friends for hearing me spaz out about every pound I lost and for getting excited with me about my progress and commitment.

So what now? Well, I'm gonna keep going, of course! Haha. I can't stop now! I'm probably going to keep losing weight if I keep doing what I'm doing. However, from this point on I can set new and different goals. I've finally reached the weight I targeted, which is the weight somebody with my proportions is approximately supposed to be in. One idea I have is, if I lose a good amount more I'll start working on building a little bit of muscle weight, or perhaps that'll just happen anyway. We'll see. In any case, I'm super excited and happy.

Is it me or...?

Would you call it a vision if you're working on your own thing, thinking of nothing in particular or reading and out of seemingly nowhere you get struck with a very strong image that's even accompanied by emotions?

Gettin' close!

Hey all, once more with the weight loss thing haha. Seems like that's about the only thing happening lately. But it's not! I have two fun stories to tell from yesterday, but before I do, I'll have you know I'm only 4 pounds away from my weight loss goal of 180lbs!

Well apart from the whole weight loss deal, tuesday was a pretty cool day. For a little while I'd been playing around with the idea of getting a hair cut and I thought the best place to get it pretty cheap was in the barber shop near where I live and tuesday was the best day because it closes at 6:30 and I'm usually in the gym until then cept T and F and on F I may go to the bar with some teammates and drink till 5 or 5:30 and, while that would give me time, there's no time like the present, as they say, and I'd already pumped myself up so I decided to go ahead and do it on Tuesday after work. Well I head to the place and the one barber dude is there just chillin'. So we set up, I sit down and he asks me what I wanna do. At that point I honestly hadn't come to a set conclusion on what I wanted to do yet. I definitely wanted a change but I couldn't come up with any particular hair style I wanted so I went with the trusty ol' buzz haha. The guy had a million and one stories to tell. A very spirited speaker, he told me all sorts of things about his life. Early on I told him I'm from Puerto Rico and that was the first time that day I was told I don't look puertorrican. No big deal, I do get that a lot haha. He has friends that are puertorrican (heritage at least) and so that's how he figured but anyway he kept telling me of his zany stories and how he loves to travel and of his trip to europe and not having enough cash and buying weed and all those interesting things people do. I shared with him my passion for Japanese and for my dream of traveling to Japan and he much encouraged me to definitely just do it because he really loves traveling. I little while later his dad (probably the owner of the place) comes in and we keep talking. His dad mentions that near where I live there's often some concerts in the summer and here's where the quote of the day comes from. Now, I warn you this will be far from verbatim but essentially he said "dad, wtf, concerts? when you're 21 all you care about is the sexy hoes at the clubs on 6th". And if I was the average guy he probably would've nailed it but I've only gone out clubbing once, and I went to get down on the dance floor, not to go sight seeing, haha.

After getting my hair cut I dropped by my apartment to change and pick up some clothes that I wanted to take to the dry cleaners coz I don't trust myself washing my nice shirts. The girl at the cleaners, I could pretty much tell she was latina but I still always went about my business not even bothering to try and speak any spanish or anything. This is only the second time I actually go there after all. This time, though, she asked me if I was hispanic, since my last name is pretty unusual and the way I pronounce it in spanish sorta gives me away. So that just opened the door for a big ol Q&A about where I was from and how long I'd been in the states and whatnot and she went on to scold me for not having spoken to her in spanish before, haha. She was mad that I hadn't recognized her latina-ness and told her I too was "boricua". "Me debes una" (you owe me one) she says as I'm ready to leave, for I must definitely talk to her in spanish next time haha. She seems like a cool person and it was a good time overall just talkin' PR spanish and being amused at her disbelief.

So all in all it really was a fun day. Actually, it's been a pretty fun week and tomorrow I'm going to the Winking Lizard for a Team Lunch. (yes, it's a tavern LOL)

Milestone #2

This is more an announcement than a blog really. This monday when I weighed myself after my work out I was down to 190 pounds! Woot!!! I'm veeery excited. Now only 10 more pounds till I reach my goal. Of course, it's not like I'll stop working out after I reach it, but it'll be a great moment when I finally do :D. It's very rewarding working out and being careful what I eat. Probably more so intrinsically than extrinsically. That is to say, it feels good to be doing this at all and to stick to it and that likely more than getting in shape and becoming healthier. That's just me though. And so, that's that. Maybe next time some of you see me I'll look a bit different. :D

Falling Up

So I have made a mistake. Probably not a grave one though so it's alright, but since I published it here, I may as well correct it here as well. It regards my new band I love: Falling Up. That's right, not Captiva. Captiva is, in fact, the name of their latest album. Also, that myspace page I linked to was not their actual space. They actually have thousands of friends/fans, yay! I found out because I got their album in the mail today (double yay!) and when I was importing it to my library I tried to look for the artist captiva and couldn't find any, and upon closer inspection (see: looking at the album and artist columns), I came across the knowledge that Captiva is the album and Falling Up is the band!!! Well regardless of such things, the CD is awesome, of course and I'll be freaking out about Falling Up instead of Captiva from now on. On a personal note, however, I think I would've liked it better the other way around, as in, with Captiva as their name and Falling Up as the album name. But of course, I'm not the band so I don't get to make these choices, and it's pretty inconsequential anyway :) I still really like the music they play. So that's it for this post, still waiting for YMCK's album, though until then I've got this guy.

OK, guess it's not over yet coz I wanna mention that today I didn't get to have my chocolate martini I was wanting :(. On the bright side though, the reason I didn't get it was because Sherwin Williams closed at 4 given the bad weather Cleveland is finding itself in. So that last hour of work will be payed for and I got to leave a half hour earlier than I had anticipated, woot! So here's the real end to this post, quick, before I think of anything else!

久しぶり

(it's been a while) And boy has it been! My clamoring fans! I have neglected you so. Wait, where are you? Do I even have clamoring fans? Didn't think so. *hearty laugh* Well as you can see (read?), I'm in high spirits. Considering me, that's a relatively rare occurrence so take it in friend, take it in. Anyway, in regards to my previous post (which was [omg] 18 days ago!!!), I have indeed continued to lose weight. I've lost about 5 pounds since then! I'm now at 194 and I'm lovin' the progress. January was a tough month because I didn't feel like I made that much progress but lately it seems I've been going down pretty steadily and it's awesome.

So what can I say? I know, I can talk about Super Smash Bros Brawl again. *entire universe rolls eyes* Yeah, well you're reading it so you should've known it was coming! Well as of today there's 8 days that must come to pass before I can get my hands on that little handful of fun. Of course I'm counting the days! *another hearty laugh* And here's where my nerdiness starts to come out: I'm going to list the top 5 characters that I want to try out.

1. Lucario


2. Lucas (no relation to Lucario lulz)


3. Metaknight


4. Pokemon Trainer


5. Olimar and the Pikmin

But enough about my obsession with smash bros, let's talk serious business-- actually, let's not coz I'm in too good of a mood to ruin it. Instead let's talk about Captiva. I'm not surprised you haven't heard of them. Well guess what, if your musical tastes are anything like mine, and I know for several of you, there's a few similarities here and there, you will like them! I'm going to get their album, and if you've got 7 bucks to spare, so should you. Here's a few reasons why: they're awesome, they're chrisitan, their music is way cool and they're awesome . I heard their music today for the first time and I'm instantly hooked. That's how much I like 'em. So be a good little bunch of boys and girls and support this cool band. SO THERE!!!

I have been saying 'so there!' a lot lately, and for not much of a reason either, perhaps my old randomness kicking in (or did it ever leave??) Also, I'd rather keep it under wraps, but it's so embarrassing that I should just let you know- let the entire internet know: I'm saying boss instead of cool at times now. Is it 80's? Is it 90's? I don't care, coz right now, it's TaT's. Speaking of things that have changed/things I've learned or discovered, the å I often used in TaT actually gives it a pronunciation of toat (like toad but with a t) so I'm officially removing it from my nickname. It's cool having a little ring on my a but it's just not gonna happen anymore. Secondly, 波導 (hadou), using the kanji for 'wave' and '(to) guide', becomes a word that has some sort of lore rather than a set meaning. I'm sure it means something though but it would be difficult to explain. If Bleach (where shinigami (death gods) destroy baddo spiritsu) uses the same kanji then it would be interesting because it would mean it's not a series-particular word. That's my guess because I learned about it through smash bros (and oh, he mentioned it again, but don't worry, I'm not using the link to digress into it *yet another hearty laugh*). Whatever the case, in smash bros (sorry), they translate it as 'aura' but I think that's about as paraphrased as 'special move' is from 必殺ワザ　'certain death technique'(no, I'm not kidding.)

And with that I'll leave my loyal fans for a hopefully much shorter time (shame on me!). Seeeeee ya next time :D