Things I did in October

The top picture is me and my good friend george at a 49ers game, the second picture is me pointing at something at the 49ers game.  I traveled to San Francisco for my fall break this year.  It was a really good time, I was able to spend a day in the city, hang out with my best friend from home, go to a 49ers game, and sandbag that whole bay area.

The City:

The city is dope, I love san francisco.  It is just such a clean and well organized place.  There aren't way too many people, and it is a very person friendly city.  The streets are walkable, the air is fresh, there are a lot of small businesses and shops that face the street, there is plenty to do, and it is the smuggest place on the planet.  Where else in the world would you find a white dude with dreadlocks who smelled like weed running one of the biggest retail stores in the city and employing a bunch of trendy and or emo 19 yr olds who ride their bikes to work everyday, wear the ipods, drink green plant, vote for barack obama, no on prop 8, and only eat food that is local and organic.  We need places like SF to keep the rest of the world in check.  SF reminds people to care about everything and everyone, and I really do appreciate that, even if the city needs to get over itself sometimes.

Chillin with David in Berkeley:

Berkeley is dope too, and it is even more smugtastic than SF, the only difference is that it doesn't have tall buildings and everything is closed by 9PM.  I went to berkeley to kick it with David Nguyen (see post entitled david nguyen).  We had a great time kickin it.  We got drunk, we hung out with his friends from his business fraternities, and we saw our other two high school friends in an improv show.  The show was great, and both of our friends did really well (Ale Randazzo and Ryan Field); however, when we went to the after party we were there with a group of 25 people who were good friends and who had only brought 30 beers.  That inspired dave and I to buy a handle of vodka, an 18 pack of miller, and some energy drinks.  After I put together a make shift gallon of space drink, we got to drinkin and got pretty sauced.  We then returned to the after-party and had a great time.  At 1:30 we went to his other friend's apartment, and Dave tried to get me to hook up with Korean babes.  I said no thanks (nothing against Korean babes, I am seeing someone).  I pretended to smoke like 8 cigarettes, drank a bit more, and we ended up walking home at like 4 in the morning. What a night.

The 49ers Game

The 49ers Game was a lot of fun, but they suck soooo bad in the 4th quarter it is unbelievable.  They were doing fine the whole game, but when the 4th quarter came around they essentially gave up, JT O'Sullivan threw like 7 ints, and they lost by a bunch of TDs.  Too bad, but it was really tight to get to go to an NFL game and see what goes on behind the cameras.  Those guys work really hard, and they seem to care about each other too.  I was pretty hungover and had to eat a hot dog to feel better, and then I started caring as well.  Good times.

Flagstaff

I also played rugby in Flagstaff with the Oxy squad.... Ridiculous (see bottom pic).

The Drought is Over

So the drought is over, I am back to blog again.

Topic: Parking Tickets

I think that I hate parking tickets more than anything in the world.  I am like a parking ticket magnet whenever I am broke.  I never get them when I have money, but when I have two paperclips and some string in my checking account, I manage to get a parking ticket for $32.  I realize that isn't a lot of money, but it is the emotional stress of getting a parking ticket that makes it so terrible....

It was a nice day.  It was the end of the summer, I was working for Oxy's Orientation Team (I had a group of 10 incoming students that I worked with all week) and I decided to be an extra nice guy and bring my group to 21 choices in Pasadena.  When we get there, I see a spot on Colorado and I decide to park in it.  I get out to feed the meter, but it turns out that the meter is broken and it says to pay at the next meter.  On my way to the next meter, we decide to just grab some yogurt and peace.  I spent a total of 22 minutes parked in a spot that had a broken meter.  Upon returning to my car, I see that I have a fucking parking ticket.  The parking ticket is for $32, and it claims that I parked outside of a marked spot.  I was in a marked spot, but there is absolutely no way to argue it.  I would have to make a court date, and then spend ten minutes arguing with a judge trying to convince them that I had parked somehow other than what the ticket described.  He/She would never believe me, and I would have wasted a day, time, and energy trying to get a $32 citation revoked.  A few weeks pass, of course I forget to pay the ticket and I lose it.  My mom gets a copy of the ticket in the mail and calls/emails multiple times to yell at me about how good she is at not getting parking tickets and about how irresponsible I am.  I want to punch the wall everytime she does this, arguing with her is like arguing with the judge.  Either way, she sends me an electronic copy of the ticket so I can have the info to pay it.  I finally decide to go online to pay it, and when I get to the website, they say they are unable to process online payments at this time.  Really? Fuck you online payment system, just let me pay my $32 ticket that has become a $58 ticket so I can move on with my life, but no.  Then I call in to the Pasadena City Parking Ticket Department, and the line is busy for ten minutes.  I am not gonna pay this ticket anymore. I fucking hate it soooo much. I hate parking tickets. The last one I got was when I parked in a street sweeping zone outside of a school that I was working at after the street sweeper had already passed.  That one was $60, more than I made that day working way too hard and not getting paid enough for teaching underprivileged students. Fuck that.

Senior Comps

At Occidental College, all students are required to complete a Senior Comprehensive project before they graduate. Some majors require a 60 page paper, some require a 15 minute documentary, some require original research, some require presentations, and some require students to take a nationally administered test (GRE etc.).  In biochem, we have to do a 20 min presentation, a 45 minute presentation, and take a nationally administered test.

For my presentation, I chose to research low density lipoproteins (LDL "bad" cholesterol).  More specifically, I am researching the apolipoprotein component, apolipoprotein B100.  It has been really interesting so far, and the first presentation was a success, but it took a whole lot of effort, and even more time...

Anyways, I am just wondering, why are some people's comps so damn easy?  A 15 page paper in some majors? Really?! I say, anyone that only has to do that for their comps should have to make everyone else dinner, or throw a big party for everyone, or have to donate to a "funds for people who actually have difficult comps" fund. I'm just saying.

Crazy Neighbors

What up yalls.

My front neighbor, Sam is pretty tight.  She is 19, and she is relatively grown up.  She doesn't care if we have parties, she bakes us cakes sometimes, and she lets us play with her dogs.  Her mom, on the other hand, seems to be a little bit crazy...

As Paolo and I sat in our very cool (air conditioned) living room, we saw a large figure quickly walk past that window.  We heard a loud, angry, and violent knock at the door just a moment later.  We looked at each other, and then said, "come in?!" to the figure at the door.  The door opened, a woman about 6ft in ht (to be confirmed later) stepped in, and said "Guess who I am!!??".  Confused, and a little bit worried, we guessed that she was Sam's Mom. She said, "Good guess. What gave it away, the chompers?" and we awkwardly laughed.  She then asked, "Where are the two bitches that live next door?!!".  We had no idea what she was talking about, we didn't know if she was referring to her daughter and her friend, or if she was referring to our neighbors (who aren't that mean of people).  Paolo and I, once again, looked at each other confused and said we had no idea.  I had been sitting and working on my comps for a few hours, and Paolo had been out setting up solar panels and blowing up oil refineries, or some kind of Urban and Environmental Politics type activity.  Anyways, after we informed Sam's mom that we didn't know where they were, she asked us again, "WHERE ARE THE BITCHES NEXT DOOR?!"; as if we had hidden them in our tiny tiny house.  We once again said we didn't know.  Sam's mom, looking confused and upset, then informed us that she was six feet tall, and that her daughter was almost six feet tall.  Having no idea what that had to do with anything, Paolo and I awkwardly smiled.  She then explained that she paid the rent at the front house, and that the bitches next door had messed with her daughter, and that no one messes with her or her daughter.  We agreed with her.  She then said, "It's time to kick some ass, and take some names!" and went outside.  3 seconds later, she opened the door and told us that she was usually more polite, then slammed the door again.  She then opened the door one more time, mumbled something incoherent (similar to Paolo's style) and slammed the door again and stormed off.....

Anyways, this event made me realize that it is really crucial to have tight neighbors, and I am very thankful for the neighbors that I do have.  They don't get all up in our business, they don't mind if we have parties as long as we let them know before hand, and they don't have any annoying habits.  Tonight just showed me what it could have been like if this woman actually lived at the house in front of us, maybe a little bit crazy, I don't know.

Moral of the story, if you have good neighbors, be thankful. If you have bad neighbors, kick some ass, and take some names.