Insanely Awe-dical

While I haven't seen lightning this awesome since I've been here, the idea is clear -- I've seen lightning a bit lately, even in dry times. Of course, I can't honestly say it is only Vegas; I just went back home this weekend and experienced some dry lightning; so much for "whats so different in Vegas?" answers.

Last couple of weeks have been incredible for different reasons, so forgive me if you are omitted, but here goes....

- Last couple days at QLF, having random talks with Jae, Amber and Erika -- hearing everyone say good luck, enjoy the strip, you could be a loan officer, and enjoy the heat in LV. Good times at QLF, and I won't forget them. Best of luck to those still there -- for better or for worse, I hope you can take half of what I took from QLF. Hopefully you can take half back also =) Getting my last pay check, and saying hello and bye to the old school Call Center people, and realizing 2 years of my career experience has been with some of those people.

- Last couple days at NGC - thanks for the cake everyone, good lucks and career thoughts; no offense everyone, slacking off and learning that change may be for the best. Thanks for being understanding pop - you are more modest than anyone I know and I hope to only learn more. Learning about cubicle life and corporate politics - i hope the best to those remaining there. I actually used the comment Cost Of Money in coversation the other day, and I realize that detail-oriented pricing thought processes actually help me explain business a little more.

Last minute chances to hang out with everyone was fun planning, and busy...

- Dinner with Les and Christine -- random 80s songs in the restaurant, Christine's obvious crush on over-packaged Superman - delicious curry and foodage - lights going off and the subsequent silence for for like 2 seconds - pictures in the crazy japanese picture place where we can imagine getting murdered in a movie. Chit chatting at the boba place -- lets go before we get attacked. It's so good to hang out with both of you, and best of luck to you two at your future graduate endeavors.

- TRV Crew - dinner in South Pas was 100 miles away! fuck the damn streets there -- why is there a street that is *street name* way and *street name* drive so close to each other? Sorry for being an hour late -- maybe Linds could have stayed the whole time. To be honest, I doubt I'd be in that subset of company together for a while -- thanks for the times: Vic, Les, Linds, Steve and Claire -- TRV Crew/Team 160 for sure.

- Team Doreen - Dave, Steve, Claire, Romes -- booyah baby we f'n rock - we chilled and played smash, and thats what unites the team. hacked up mario kart and hilarious gameage; stupid sakura jumpin around or sleeping like a dog in the dog-days of summer, hot as hell, stupid property management company, but all-in-all we learned, we partied, we jammed, and we smashed for sure.

- Liz at south coast -- good times, good talks, best of wishes, I'm glad we spent some time together - good job on closing 3 loans! I hope you and your boyfriend have the most fun together, and enjoy planning your future together.

- Jenn at South Coast and Fridays -- wow why haven't we had coffee before? Awesome hliarity; coding in binaries, laughs and good times. The hilarious ICS culture we left behind, and getting caught up in working and having a minimal social life. Where did our money go? discussions ranging from computer stuff/news, sex, religion, people in general, and the things girls don't know about guys -- I hope you learned something! Petron Silver goes well with salt and lemon - see you in vegas some time!

- Jae at the pizza place in Fullerton - man who else can i gab about the hilarities of QLF and gameage at the same time? There are always new and interesting things to learn about games and computers; and it's great to hang out with you and play with your sick arcade cab. No i will not buy one. No i will not buy a cobalt ddr pad, and no i will not buy that stuff stop trying to get me to buy more stuff! I don't even have an income yet! Good thing we got to chill one more time before I left - brush up on that Magical drop and samurai showdown -- maybe i should attend one of those neo-geo forum gatherings...

- The boys -- LOYOLA CREW '01. Man this was a hellllllll of a day. Where do I begin? The bitchy waitress -- why you gotta give that look? Where are the damn chips? Three Brians at one table, the power couldn't have gotten more awesome. Fuck you and your walnut house; fuck you and your westchester house bastards! Congrats on graduation everyone! Loyola fucking rocks. my new accord and tony's new jetta booyah. chillin at brian reyes' house and just facebooking people -- wow class of '01, 5 years have really passed. Apparently I'm exactly the same. IHOP and lets go get some bitches! Man guys we need to hang out again -- when's the housewarming brian? It was amazing, hilarious, and heartwarming -- you guys kick so much ass it's barely even possibly to imagine the concept of it being formulated. booyah again.

- Lunch with Daniel at IHOP - good to see you again buddy -- good luck at Volvo and work those social skills that came from your looking-at-the-walls epiphany moment. Best of luck and keep the korean love going. No one can be so cocky, so hilarious, so stubborn, so easy-going as you, and i know you'll kick so much ass and then laugh your ass off for no damn reason. Good luck at volvo, and you should coordinate with the '01 guys when we all party in vegas.

- Earl and Olga this weekend -- haha you guys are hilarious -- what's the worst you can do? get some girl pregnant? hahahahaha -- noooooo way! who can we bum cigs from? Olga will be a threat to the girl, but she looks part asian, she's less of a threat? She msut not have many friends, cuz no one told her when she left the house. hahah you guys are too much and i had a hilarious time.

- And every day seeing Kate -- wonderful awesome beautiful hilarious strong-willed kind and sweet Kathrina. Blackjack at the tables, thinking about bingo, watching pirates, talking about ping pong, and buying a table a couple days ago, making lunches and breakfast, seeing her finally after school's over, talking about what we're doing that day, and that week and that weekend, and next month -- seeing her study so hard and be so interested; not being 50 miles apart or 100 miles apart - man this is the life. She's in school now and I should be running errands and taking care of business. Driving over 600 miles this weekend from LV to LA to Irvine, and back -- every mile spent with her is not a problem (both metaphorically and literally).

For those that haven't heard the news, I got a new job and I will be moving to Las Vegas.

Funny how one by one there are less things connecting me to where I grew up. Kate goes to UCSD, I go to Irvine, brothers move out and away, parents move to Temecula, and me leaving NGC is the final straw. I still have things connecting me to home -- family friends, the locality and the comfort zones.

I'm going to a job that fits my character and will definitely challenge me. Moving to my own place far away from family is scary, but I'm looking forward to the adventure. Best of all, Kate will be there with me every step of the way, finally in close proximity.

We are both transitioning away from what we grew up with, but I believe we are enting challenges that we are both ready for.

Today I accidentally put conditioner before shampoo. The moment I realized my error, I felt sorrow, as if I had violated some sacred canon. It isn't a big deal, but this is the first time I've done that, and I felt like there was some part of the conditioner bottle that screamed at me -- "waiiiiit you haven't put on shampoo yet!" It's almost the same as me putting on shampoo before rinsing my hair - almost like a shower faux pas.

I went into Sam Ash today for the first time, and I was introduced into a store of collaborative cacophony. Young men scattered around sets of drums, guitars, and turntables, creatively and boundlessly exploring different sets of music and sound. Some practiced their fingering, some just felt the sounds, some just banged; but it was a wonderful store to enter, where people were encouraged to try the merchandise.

I was fearful at first - most stores clearly request we refrain from tactile connections. However, here I was offered a cord, and was told to go ahead. Rows and rows of amps, guitars of shapes, sizes, colors and eras. It was gorgeous. At first I picked out a simple electric guitar -- simple and sturdy. I then grabbed a bass guitar, and fluttered as I realized it was a left-handed one. Finally, with a right-handed bass guitar, I prentended to know what I was doing, and wondered why I haven't found this place before.

The office calmly works on numbers and their relation to real-life actions. A young man carefully analyzes numbers and their mathematics - something is afoot, and he is getting to the bottom of the mess. His attention isn't focused though, his mind bouncing up and down to glorious rhythms and sounds in his head, highs and lows, bass and treble, emotion, flow, and screaming. To be inundated with a lyrical cacophony to balance the external mundaneness of the day - that is working in an office listening to your ipod.