~:[Day 31]:~ Nature's Beauty

~:[Day 31]:~ Nature's Beauty

Today I saw many plants and creatures but the most magnificent of them all was this peacock. The male peacock is decorated with the brightest of colors and a tail feather that is so amazing! Just staring in awe, the peacock struts back and forth and show the amazingness of nature! (Yes, I made up my own word.) The Arboretum of LA provided a great relaxing walk and a great place to reflect. To recover from exhaustion Father's Office was a great stop to eat the office burger, fries, and the super delicious jumbo shrimp accompanied by green flash fizzy yellow jacket :) ... after a long day's work, I was able to catch up with a few alums before heading back to Cerritos.

~:[Day 30]:~ What the Duct is That?

~:[Day 30]:~ What the Duct is That?
I got caught up in the whole duct tape creation craft last summer and have been hooked every since. After making my own wallet, I wanted to try to do something different and so I tried making women's duct tape wallets as well since almost all the wallets I have seen are "male" styled wallets. Anyway, this is what I came up with. For those who follow my FB, I came up with a mini purse for a toddler yesterday too! It's on to the full size purse (for the female) and a full size messenger bag (for the male). Can I do this??? :) Yes I can! Who will be my first customer?

~:[Day 29]:~ Productivity at Its Finest

~:[Day 29]:~ Productivity at Its Finest
Today had to be one of my most productive days, even though I fell back to sleep after my original wake up call. Today was a scheduled work day since I had nothing on my calendar and everything to do! I started cleaning out the garage and ended up with four donation bags full of clothes and a lot more items that will be going to school tomorrow! It looks a lot cleaner, but there still is so much more to do! I also filled up an entire trash can so I will have to ask my neighbor & cousin (Marcus) to use his this week! I also went shopping yesterday so I could cook today! I made chicken curry with sukiyaki beef, gyoza and natto :) The natto was overboard since it ended up with a double serving of rice, but hey, it all worked out in the end. The day culminated with the Clippers taking out Denver and me, completing the Hello Kitty duct tape wallet for Nalani's birthday! It feels so great that I've finished almost everything so that I can have such a relaxing day. I hope that I have a lot more of these, but with three games this week, I'm not so sure :)

~:[Day 28]:~ Delicious Day Trip

~:[Day 28]:~ Delicious Day Trip
A plan-less day became a fairly filled day very quickly. I woke up early and hit the local Target to collect me a hello kitty duct tape roll. They are selling on amazon for about 16 on average including shipping, while it's 1/3 of that in stores. What a joke! I'm planning on making Nalani a small purse :) I then got some work down and headed down south. I hit up a Target and then an animal shelter! It was so sad to see so many homeless animals, but at least they are being take care of! There were a few that were likeable, but so many pitbulls! For Dinner, I hit up Wa Dining OKAN, which was delicious. I actually debating putting the picture from dinner up here, but since I purchased food from Nijiya Market to make dinner tomorrow, I figured tomorrow would end up being a food picture blog! It was a very small restaurant but delicious, Japanese run with a cute waitress :). I ordered Sausage/Potato Tapa, Pork Wrapped Artichokes, and Japanese Premium Beef & Vegetables on a Magma Plate. I also added a onigiri with umeboshi. Delicious! I ended the evening finishing my shopping for tomorrow's dinner at Ralph's before heading over to Cerritos Lanes to watch Makoa and Co. bowl. Makoa, great win over Debs! :)

~:[Day 27]:~ Work in Progress

~:[Day 27]:~ Work in Progress
I figured that another food picture might be excessive, so I'm saving that for tomorrow :) So what you see is my almost arranged music and video transfer station! After I clean out those papers and hook up some instruments on the back side of this shelf, I'll be able to get a mini-recording studio, good enough for my music video tracks! I'm so excited since my previous videos (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V5mXX6zwVrI&list=UUBXHvHQGXvtnLd_0phrK6BQ&index=2&feature=plcp) were not done as well as my future ones can be. In any case, it's a combo windows tower with a iMac, a sound mixer, a blue mic and a monitor plus video units. With a new screen and speakers/monitors, it should be pretty good. First, I must throw away a lot of old papers (hard for me to do), but I got ride of one trash bag full of stuff in an hour! Time to take a tech room into a super techy CLEAN room!

~:[Day 26]:~ FUNraising

~:[Day 26]:~ FUNraising
Today was our freshman Rubio's fundraiser and so I headed to Rubios for a "gourmet taco." I only go to Rubio's when there are school fundraisers, so I haven't tried anything from their menu in awhile. My normal burrito especial was passed up for this and I am glad that I did. On a corn tortilla, they seemed to have cooked in a sauce (similar to an enchilada sauce) onto the inside of the tortilla until it crisped. With the charbroiled chicken, bacon, avocado, special sauce, cheese, and the onions, cilantro, salsa, and lemon/lime juice I added, the taco was quite delicious! In any case, I will definitely be back sooner than later. Paired with a milk tea, it was even better :) The day was quite relaxing and enjoyable considering I finished grading most/all of my papers heading into finals week and in class, we held our annual philosophers' forum which ended as a success. The students did a fairly good job, especially consider that they were freshmen. Practice was tough, but the group is working hard and I hope that all this work pays off. I just hope we can fill all the gaps that we have and we are slowly doing so. Finally, the day ended (along with a relaxing evening), with a win against Memphis. We weren't as sharp as we could have been, however, they were able to pull out the victory before hitting the road. Here's to raising the fun on Thursdays and soon it will be TGIF!

~:[Day 25]:~ Looking Ahead

~:[Day 25]:~ Looking Ahead
Today I got food from New Peking for my "LINNER" meal before the game, which I finished after. With my usual hot and sour soup and friend rice, I enjoyed a good meal along with my fortune cookie. Many of these fortune cookies really do not do much or say much, however, today's gave me very detailed instructions, "Accept the Next Proposition You Receive." While good things may wait, I wonder what kind of "propositions" I might get. I guess I better stock up on ammo to protect myself who come to me with inappropriate proposition. Marriage, date, activity or more? Who knows what this proposition will be? #scared.

~:[Day 24]:~ Living Large

~:[Day 24]:~ Living Large
I wanted to post my lunch (a gift for lunar new year) picture for my daily picture, however, since I posted it earlier, I figured I'd get a new picture. Today, I brought in eight large pizza's for our MUN grill session. Our small group of seniors will be traveling to Duke in two weeks and we were prepping for the conference. A few hours together, eight pizzas, and a hoard of MUN information later, means that they SHOULD be ready for the conference. We actually have a fairly decent group attending and so I am confidence in how they will perform. A few weeks following that conference, I shall take my juniors to New York and we had our grill will 16 boxes of pizza last week. While we are on a numbers game, I am still grading position papers and have only ten more to go! I've made progress and will be able to finish them out by tomorrow! Yahoo! No more MUN grading means time to clean and proofread/format my poetry book (finally).

~:[Day 23]:~ Awaiting Happiness

~:[Day 23]:~ Awaiting Happiness
It felt like hours as we waited for the monorail to arrive to take us to the happiest place on earth, but it finally did and we were able to get into the park by about 6:40pm with about an hour to hit up as many rides as possible. To our surprise, the park was fairly empty as we went to Finding Nemo, Mr. Toad's, Peter Pan, Snow White, (Pinocchio - Broke Down), Casey Jr. Circus Train (Caboose), Big Thunder Mountain, and Astro Blasters. We power walked most of the way around the park, but did all that and finished just a tick after 8. Quite the fun evening to celebrate the true lunar new year! We ended the day at the Jazz Kitchen for their beignets! Almost as good as the ones from New Orleans, yet no waiting! I am truly sorry Selena that you were unable to enjoy the experience with us. I promise that when you can, I will get you some! Yahooo!

~:[Day 22]:~ Lunar New Year

~:[Day 22]:~ Lunar New Year
Today we celebrated Lunar New Years and the farewell to meat for Kat and sweets for Selena. One of the reasons why you see so many random dishes of meat, was because of the need to get rid of the meat or to indulge one last time. Huey and Co. made some delicious Mini Chicken Pot Pies and everyone brought delicious food. It was a great way to just relax and enjoy a night together. Definitely great to see everyone today! Happy Lunar New Years!

~:[Day 21]:~ I Don't Feel Like Doing Anything

~:[Day 21]:~ I Don't Feel Like Doing Anything
I guess Bruno Mars was smart when he wrote (or someone wrote) his Lazy song. It was just one of those days where kicking back and relaxing felt oh so good! I had to go to the Apple Store this morning to exchange my iPad2 since I had a bad pixel, however, after that, I stayed home, did my taxes (just waiting on my credit union to send me paperwork) and graded papers. I guess I also had time to watch some basketball, take another nap, and play with JD :) It was a fabulous day and after seeing what I'll be getting back on my tax return, the day became even better!

~:[Day 20]:~ Restaurant Musical Chairs

~:[Day 20]:~ Restaurant Musical Chairs
We searched for a restaurant to eat after our game today. After checking Buffalo Wild Wings (a long wait), BJ's (1 hour), and El Torito (45 mintes), we settled at Red Robin (yum!). I wasn't particularly hungry, however, it was hard to not eat when everyone else was so I ended up with an Ensenada Chicken Platter, Jalapeno Coins with Sweet & Spicy Ketchup, and Speckled Lemonade. The night ended up being pretty good despite the dagger from Kevin Love ~ the three pointer. The Clippers blew that one and it was their worst loss of the season. Oh well, at least we got W today in league :)

~:[Day 19]:~ Work Station North

~:[Day 19]:~ Work Station North
I worked on work station north today preparing the starting lineups video for tomorrow's game (Come out and support us at Cerritos HS tomorrow at 6:30pm). For those who never have been in my room, I have three hard drives in this area and fifteen more in use in my room currently! Wowzers! Anyway, I have also been grading position papers for Nationals! I have about thirty more to grade this weekend, but have been moving along these past few hours and hopefully will get through it by Monday or so. They have actually been pretty good and no huge bombs yet, but of course, there still are many chances for one of those :P ... Finally, I think I just wrapped up most of my Duke plans for my February trip! The countdown to travel season is now enacted and sits at 24 days til Washington DC, Maryland, Virginia, West Virginia and North Carolina with a quick stop over in Georgia and 43 days until New York.

~:[Day 18]:~ Shot Shot Shot

~:[Day 18]:~ Shot Shot Shot
It may be the last thing you'd think I'd have the most of, but I think one of the things I have the most of are shot glasses. Why? I'm not sure where my fascination for shot glasses came, but somewhere along the line, I picked up shot glasses from around the country and the world. New Orleans, Detroit, Vegas, New York, the Carolinas, London, Disney World and more! Whenever I see a cool one from a place I've been, I pick it up! I usually try to keep my collection to places I have been, but since I've experienced so many different cities, I am starting to compile a bunch of them. In any case, it's something I must look at every day as I leave my room for the day or before hitting the sack, as it is displayed in my wonderful shelf that has served me well. The collection now occupies five sections, but soon, it will expand even further!

~:[Day 17]:~ High in the Sky ... Almost

~:[Day 17]:~ High in the Sky ... Almost
It's hard to tell in this image, but that is me with a pole for pole vault. One of the perks of taking over track is that I have had to learn techniques in the vault and it's been quite the experience. It actually makes me want to go after it and try it. Will it happen? I doubt it. If I try, I may end up providing too much pressure for the pole to sustain and it might snap and send me flying somewhere. In any case, I figure in the next week or so, I will be giving it a shot, so it'll be the here goes nothing technique. It's all been possible because of alumni! (Thanks Neehar) In any case, today was quite the long day ending at about 9pm with four hours of MUN grills. I ordered 14 pizzas from Domino's today and it was quite delicious! I guess it's what they deserve since I kept them after school for so long. We have two more of them, of course, no more free pizza! Muhahaha! Who misses Nationals grills? Well I guess it's time to sleep to finally put this cold away! I felt ten times better and helping for ten times more of that ten times tomorrow = 100%

~:[Day 16]:~ You Japanese?

~:[Day 16]:~ You Japanese?

I love Japanese food with all my heart and so when I get the chance to eat it, I jump on the opportunity. Tonight was one of those nights and I thoroughly enjoyed my tsukiyaki meat, gyoza, and tofu. What's funny is that some people don't even think I am Japanese. I always get an array of responses, but usually not Japanese first, unless they know my last name. It made me think of this one time when I was in New York and I kept ordering from the same Chinese food place near our hotel. The first time the guy came to my door, he pointed at me, and exclaimed, "You Japanese?" I thought it was funny how he was so excited that I was Japanese. The same guy delivered my food three times during the week. He must have thought I lived off Chinese food, in reality, it was just that their lunch special was such a great deal! Speaking of Japan, my car is now the Mecca of Honda Odysseys. I have had my party van Odyssey since 2003 and my dad and mom now both have one. In our driveway sits three minivans across. Of course our newest one is our best one. My plan is to replace mine next year if I have the money to do so. Seeing the prices of them though, I better start saving now (something I am not good at).

~:[Day 15]:~ JD and Me

~:[Day 15]:~ JD and Me
I figured I used something along the lines of the movie Marley and Me for my title today since it was JD spending the day with me at home. I wasn't feel so hot when I woke up today, so I made it into a workday where I was able to grade some papers, catch up on MUN and track, do my laundry and clean, and catch up on some TV as well. The Green Bay Packers played a horrible game today, which could have spoiled my day, however, I didn't allow it to. I know that this season was a good one, but they had a lot of flaws that were exposed today. I also will be glad when all the bandwagoners leave this year and root for another team. Be loyal to a team. It's like at the Clippers game last night when some fans were cheering for both the Lakers and the Clippers. That is a no-no. In any case, I love JD with all my heart and am glad that we got to spend some time together. I am sorry that I didn't leave my house today though because if I did, I would have been at the Happiest Place on Earth in my onsie celebrating Janie's birthday. Sorry for bailing! I'll go with you when I kick this cold!

~:[Day 14]:~ I am Your Godfather

~:[Day 14]:~ I am Your Godfather
Today was quite the blessing as I was able to become one of the godfathers of Nalani :) She is quite the animated baby and surely will be a social butterfly with lots of love and support around her! The ceremony was held at Holy Family in Artesia, then we headed to VIP buffet, however, they tried to make us wait 45 minutes (WITH A RESERVATION), thus, we headed over to Asia Buffet in Buena Park. I had no complaints, as the food was delicious! Yoshinoya was the pregame meal, so I was already happy going to the Staples Center with my son (Thien-Nam). Sitting with a bunch of Laker fans brought my enjoyment down a notch, however, it brought me even more satisfaction that we pulled out the victory. A little concern with Chris Paul's injury, however, we'll see how bad his strained hamstring is. I also came home with two signed bowling pins (Randy Foye, Eric Bledsoe) and a basketball (DeAndre Jordan). What a day! Shout out to all the godparents!

~:[Day 13]:~ Jeepers Creepers

~:[Day 13]:~ Jeepers Creepers
It was quite funny to see Janie and Jamie in the same forever lazy, however, they did it. Later on, Jamie fell asleep in her super comfy forever lazy. Her hair was hanging off the side which resulted in the picture above. After a long day where I went to bed at almost 4am, it was great to end with a relaxing warm meal thanks to mis amigos such as Andrew (I still owe you man!) In any case, the food was delicious, however, I just have to bring double next time since I did not have time to pick up anything on my way to hot pot. Andrew wouldn't take my money, so yes, that is exactly what I will do :) Until tomorrow, I shall see no more daylight :) Happy Birthday soon enough Janie and save me Albert!

~:[Day 12]:~ Roots in Tokyo

~:[Day 12]:~ Roots in Tokyo
Today I wore my I <3 Tokyo jacket from the World Cup (not this past one). It has been sitting in my closet, not worn too often since it got messed up when setting up for a dance at school. In any case, it made me think about my roots and I figured I could use it to explain where my roots are from! I am an American-born Japanese-Okinawan via Hawaii. My dad is from the Tokyo area and my mom is from Honolulu with her family coming from Okinawa. Since both my parents and grandparents had fairly large families, I have a large number of relatives in Japan, Hawaii, and probably some in Okinawa. I was able to meet a lot of my Hawaiian relatives on the "Chinen" side at our last reunion, while I met some of my relatives in Tokyo over a decade ago! I'm sure everyone I met over there looks much different and I probably wouldn't recognize them if I visited. Anyway, I love family and looking into family history, thus, one of my projects in the next few years is to finally assemble a full family tree, some of which is already completed! We'll see what can come with a little research. I also guess I must get on it and make sure that I help to expand our family tree in the near future :) Marriage anyone? Haha jkjk :P You won't get me that easily :D

~:[Day 11]:~ Picture Hunting

~:[Day 11]:~ Picture Hunting
I had quite the busy day with school, practice (our highest number of preseason attendees!), and a game, however, after the enjoyment of watching the Clippers beat the Heat, I went back to search for the pictures taken of our group at Surrender this weekend. It was great to be with the group celebrating Kirsten's birthday! While a few of us were on a LONG turnaround, it was great to spend time with them before heading back to work this week. Plus, that was the last night I was doing alright before I came down with this dreaded cold that won't go away! In any case, good times! I guess now that the only clinic I can find that has what I need when I need it is in Vegas, I'll be headed back in about a month! I guess I can rest well because of that and because Chris Paul helped raise the Clippers up tonight. It is a long season, but a great start to one nonetheless!

~:[Day 10]:~ Battle of the Banana

~:[Day 10]:~ Battle of the Banana
It may seem weird to simply have a bananas as my picture for day 10, however, bananas are a common morning tradition in my house on workdays and every day, I leave with a banana (for the dirty minded, insert dirty joke here). Today was no different, as I had the choice of three bananas (two pictured above). Why three? Because every day my parents "bet" with each other which banana I will choose. Many times when there are multiples, there is a super ripe banana against a super green banana. Monday was like this and I chose the super ripe banana, since the others were green. Unfortunately, it was a failed decision and aside from being mushy (yet super sweet), the banana fell to the ground halfway and no longer could I consume my breakfast :( ... today, was a much easier decision, with three equally greenish yellow bananas. While I did not end up eating one today, I decided to pick the middle of the three. Maybe tomorrow it will be ripe and ready to eat, we'll see! From the looks of it, it will be by tomorrow. However, will my parents be sad that I do not select one of the bananas laid out on the table? We'll just have to wait and see tomorrow! :)

~:[Day 9]:~ Return to the Court

~:[Day 9]:~ Return to the Court
The Dons returned to the court after a five day hiatus due to the bye. The Dons came out fired up and ended up taking the victory 80-54. It must have been tough to play on the first day back at school, however, they looked like they kept themselves focused for most of the game. It was a rough way to start the week after a fairly loaded week (a 14hr workday). Of course, class went well, track practice went well, and the game went well. Thus, all in all, it ended up as a great day. Tomorrow is a much lighter day, but that only means I will have time to grade all the papers that are rolling in today and tomorrow! Position paper grading time for Nationals, here we come!

~:[Day 8]:~ Domo-kun Carries the Load

~:[Day 8]:~ Domo-kun Carries the Load
It's a bird, it's a plane, it's domo-kun! This weekend, my Domo-kun bag carried my belongings as I did a day trip to Las Vegas (arrived back this morning). However, it was quite interesting to bring my Domo-kun bag on the trip for the first time. I love Domo simply because everytime I see "it," it just makes me smile. I got into the debate today of what Domo actually is and of course, Wikipedia defines it as a creature that was born from an egg, it also is stated online that it's the mascot for a television station, but could it really have been created as the poo monster? No matter its origins, Domo continues to intrigue me and to provide me an up boost whenever I need it. Why? Who knows but it does and I will continue to rely on it to do so! So whenever, you hear me RAWR, imagine me as Domo, but that is probably how I feel inside when I do! PS ... For those who joined us, we know the different situations Domo can get into (insert caption here).

~:[Day 7]:~ Day Trip to Vegas

~:[Day 7]:~ Day Trip to Vegas
A 3:45am alarm, a 4:30am departure, and a four hour drive, is not the ideal way to start a Saturday morning, however, it is if you're visiting a good group of friends with a good group of friends :P Setting out on an adventure, Andrew, Jamie and I braved the 27 hour trip together in the weeeeeeeee hours of the morning. We arrived in Vegas as the sun rose and hit the ground running and welcoming the generosity of the tables at the Palazzo, unfortunately the Monte Carlo was not as nice (Right Janie and Andrew?). However, it did provide us with a place to rest up and relax before celebrating Kirsten's birthday! We hit Firefly and stuffed ourselves into a table made for eight. It made for good fun as the tapas were delicious (Filet Mignon Slider pictured above), maybe not a four and one-half star place though? Raising Cane's was a good dinner (Thanks to Ty) before celebrating with a cake with a cool, yet annoying Chinese candle. Then it was off to Surrender where we celebrated. (Thanks for hooking us up Kat!) McDonald's was what would hold us down as our group + 1 newbie headed back to our homes just 27 hours after we left. A great day indeed :)

~:[Day 6]:~ The Chef is In!

~:[Day 6]:~ The Chef is In!
I find it funny that I was born where the current Ranch 99 is, however, it's true. I was born somewhere in that plaza and possible right where I bought all the ingredients the dinner I made tonight. In any case, while running errands after grading all morning, I decided to buy food to cook dinner. I haven't made dinner (excluding holidays) for a little while, so I figured, what the heck. Heading to Ranch 99, I decided to make seafood pasta. I picked up manila clams, squid, shrimp, scallops, baby clams, ground chicken, various mushrooms and bell peppers, onions, tomatoes, Italian squash, parsley, basil, and dill. Aside from the seafood pasta, I made a quick appetizer, a spicy shrimp and scallop that had dill, wasabi, garlic, ginger, oyster sauce, shoyu (soy sauce), hot chili paste, and various seasonings. Both turned out fabulous and I thoroughly enjoyed scarfing it down. Want me to cook for you?? Despite being on a diet, I ended up eating two plates, drank one small bowl of soup made from the sauce, and then went back for one more small bowl. I also packed one for lunch on my ride to Vegas! In any case, it's an early trip to bed tonight, as I am heading to Vegas at 4:30am tomorrow!

~:[Day 5]:~ Farewell to the Holidays

~:[Day 5]:~ Farewell to the Holidays
I guess today was the day to officially say farewell to the holidays. It will probably be the last time I'll be at Disneyland during their holiday setup and thus, the last of the decorations from the holidays will be taken down. However, I guess you can never remove the holidays from your hearts and your minds, if you truly had a great holiday experience. Disneyland provided a relaxing day before the storm that is coming, as school is about to begin. With a rush upcoming, it was nice to have a day to just sit back and enjoy the rides (Splash Mountain, Matterhorn, Astro Blasters) and of course the delicious food of pizza port :) The fireworks were a great sight to see and the weather was perfect! It doesn't seem like winter weather, but I know how quickly that can change. Thus, I bid farewell to the holidays, but keep the memories of them alive forever!

~:[Day 4]:~ Tough Loss, Good Win

~:[Day 4]:~ Tough Loss, Good Win
Today was geared mostly to tonight's game versus Artesia. Unfortunately, we did not play as well as we could on the offensive end, despite a decent effort on the defensive end. Coming back late in the game, we were unable to close out the game. The girls almost did the same, but were able to get the game back at the end to take the win. At the game, I got to see Dylan :) What a cutie! (Damon). After the game, I kept an eye on the Clippers game who scored 41 points in the first quarter! They ended up taking a 20+ point win against the Rockets using their bench most of the fourth! A great win! To close out the day, I ended up loading up on McNuggets and Golden Fries during boys night out (eight boys, one cup) before heading to MVP, Round One and Half and Half. Let's just say it was a failed visit except for me mid-300 point game, which wasn't bad despite being a little rusty. Of course it could never keep up with Kendall and his 422 effort (not his best, but pretty darn good). You may not have been posted on their wall yet, but hey, now you're on mine!

~:[Day 3]:~ A Wicked Geisha

~:[Day 3]:~ A Wicked Geisha
Today was an adventure to LA as I headed out to watch Wicked for the (too many to count) time. As usual it was good and this Elphaba and Fiyero were up there on my charts for overall performance. In any case, I got to sit in the fourth row (D) in the aisle so it was a perfect place to be, except for the fact that I got hit in the face with a ROLLED piece of confetti that shot out at the beginning. It is normally a nice gentle fall for the confetti, not this one. I noticed so many things that I do not normally see, which is great because since I've seen it so many times, attention to detail is important. Prior to Wicked, I ate at the Geisha House and had their filet mignon, surf and turf (filet mignon w/lobster), ocean dragon (eel), and red samari (spicy tuna) with pomegranate juice. It was delicious, however, Jeannie made me eat most of the food so I left more full than I wanted to be. (SMH) Also, I used my bloomspot gift certificate, so I the bill ended up being very cheap! Even though we walked to the restaurant, no cocktails because of my company, the one shot wonder. I also ran into the now famous Yoshi (Don't forget who took your headshots for you way back when). For most of the morning, I worked on the starting lineup for tomorrow's game versus Artesia (Check it out at http://vimeo.com/user7792852/cbb12vartesia PW: cerritos12). I still need to work on getting some shots for the first 15 minutes and also on redoing the voice overs since my voice was gone, but the new and improved video will be completed soon enough! I also got a great surprise in a visit from Shannon! It was already a great enough surprise, but she also brought me a super cool new camera! I'll be sure to work some magic with it!

~:[Day 2]:~ Get to Know My Throne

~:[Day 2]:~ Get to Know My Throne
Today was a workday for me. I was able to get a lot of the work that I needed done completed. However, it also kept me from finding a good photo to post of the day. I thought of posting a picture of the boba I had when hanging out with Andrew, but I figured that is too commonplace. It got me to thinking though, there is a place where the conversation NEVER goes that I spend each day of my life when I'm at home, my throne (aka my bathroom). I guess I'd figured I could share my wonderful view with the rest of you, which is properly themed with my fascination with the animal, the monkey. My middle name in the Heina era was translated as Great Monkey (http://www.onmarkproductions.com/html/monkey-koushin-p3.html#masaru) and is also similar to my late grandfathers name, Masei. I guess that's where the fascination began. Just a random fact on Day 2! Have a great second day of the new year!

~:[Day 1]:~ Starting Off on the Right Foot

~:[Day 1]:~ Starting Off on the Right Foot
I thought maybe 2012 would not be starting out on the right foot when it took me all night and all day to find someone to go to the game with me today. I had to try to figure out who would want to go to a Los Angeles Clippers game and so my search began. While I didn't want to go down the route of a Laker fan, I brought JT since he loves basketball and it worked out since a few of his guys in his fantasy match up were playing. In any case, JT also spotted the family of Chris Paul who were sitting one row in front and two seats over from us! It was his parents, his wife, and his son. They were fairly calm through the game, but you could see the competitor come out in his mom towards the end of the game. The win was a perfect way to start off the new year. In any case, most of my day was spent in the Staples Center area, however, I also was able to get some work done this morning, as well as eat some delicious ozoni! (http://norecipes.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/01/osechi-11.jpg). My day was topped off with pork over rice and milk tea with egg pudding from Dolphin Bay since Tapex was closed. In any case, hope your new year started off on the right foot and here is to many days of wonderful memories and experiences.