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just another ordinary weekend...

friday went to filippe's in LA...so good...i'll miss going back to school and not being able to just drive around LA and see all my friends and go to all these random places.  Then saw the dodgers (pronounced doyers by all of the drunk mexicans i sit with in the cheap seats, the most loyal people ever reminds me of my big italian family) beat the cardinals. yes i said it.  we beat the best team in baseball, too bad we lost the next two games.  either way, we're getting healthy and only four games out.  As of right now, the diamondbacks at 52-55 are winning the division. yes, the entire division is below .500 and the padres look like they could get beaten by me and my friends if we played a good game.

saturday was spent driving around all of southern california picking up rushees to go to magic mountain, then sitting in traffic then getting to the park and paying a whopping 9 dollars to park on an unpaved lot about 2 miles from the entrance to go on roller coasters in 100 degree heat.  but it was cool, good amount of rushees, good amount of brothers, lots of frozen lemonade.  we got those refillable cups and got our moneys worth. between every ride we swapped spit on those bad boys and tried not to pass out.  some highlights of the day included...me and keats (a big hairy canadian) riding in the log ride and scraping against the bottom of the ride while taking in water from the sides, riding x (if you have been on the ride than u know what i'm talking about), and every time we got to sit down.

afterwards, we went to the houses of one of the rushees where they were having a baptismal party.  his family was so hospitable, not only were we the only ones who didn't speak spanish, we were the only ones who weren't mexican.  however you dont have to be mexican to enjoy the food  and the culture.  in the span of 2 hours, we finished about a dozen plates of food, 100 coronitas (7 oz. bottles of corona, one of the most amazing things ever, and we were wondering why they were going down so quickly), and carl, who was the only other white guy present, partook in the tradition where the godfather and godmother take a shot of tequila with all of the men or willing persons in the audience.  Not only did carl not wait for them to approach him, he came up to them and, three shots and three stories of berkeley later, carl had helped them polish off the two bottles of tequila they were working on.  thank god i was DD or i might have been there with him.  then we went to a few house parties in umm, well, areas where carl and i were again the only white people.  kinda makes you think.  if i can be so conscious of being the only white person, how do minorities feel on a daily basis? it's not fun feeling as if you are struggling trying to find things to identify with in other people.  no wonder people tend to gravitate towards people like themselves whether ethnically or socioeconomically.

sunday the guys were gonna go to morongo and enter a poker tourney at 10 am, but i hadnt slept past 9 am in about three weeks and said screw it and slept in.  liu, who theoretically is in summer school in berkeley was home for like the third time in the last month and a half because he sprained his ankle while rock climbing.  lunch turned into a visit to his "doctor" who ended up being an old filipino lady who was at least 70 yrs old who had "medicinal hands" that have healed lius back, shoulder, hand, and knee problems in the past from the comfot of the add-on to the back of her house. watching one of your friends wince in pain at the whim of a frail old lady is saddening, but on some decrepid level entertaining in it's own right.  afterwards we went to church like good little boys, he left for his girlfriends and i went to play soccer which was followed by dinner and later a few hours of swimming at a friends house.  unfortunately my bathroom is still on the fritz so i had to wake up dad to take a shower in his bathroom, always a fun thing to do.  afterwards, however, i couldnt sleep. went to bed at 1230 and "woke up" at 5, but i dont think i slept more than 45 minutes.  thats never happened to me before, maybe i was too anxious to go to work, blah. summer's coming to a close, if i havent seen you yet, fix that.

Pay Day!

i came to a revelation today.  they take a lot of money out of your paycheck for taxes.  i mean i've had jobs and paychecks before, but i was getting paid less than what i do now and was so happy to just have money that i didn't care what they took out as long as i ended up on the positive end in the end.  however, trying to save up for a year of rent, dues, 21st birthdays, vegas, mardi gras, and hopefully europe, the government is taxing the shit out of me.  i know i'm not the only one and i know everyone already knows this, but it sucks.  then i realize i'm at an awesome job at a top notch company making twice as much as any other job i've had because of things like the school i go to.  although we all bitch about the bureaucracy of UC Berkeley, let's face it we don't pay as much as other students and we get a top notch education.  i think i'm still young enough to be idealistic and say go for it.  take my money now and don't give me a tax cut check at the end of the year, but improve medical facilities, improve schools, give funding to people who need ANY money as oppose to people who "need" more money.  Who knows, when I get older and have more money and am feeding a family, making multiple car and insurance payments, bills, etc., maybe I will feel different.  Probably not, but maybe. We'll see.  All I'm gonna do with this is use it on alcohol and rent.  To secure my room at the house where I can pass out after a night of fun on the Berkeley campus.  God I love life.  It's too short to bitch and be unhappy.  It's too short to expect the Dodgers to actually play up to their potential and act like they deserve to be the mostly popularly (?) attended baseball team in the nation.  Man we suck.  But in lieu of the paycheck, even though it shrunk a little bit so I can do my part to give people social security now only so Bush can ruin any chance of me getting social security in the future,  I think I'm going to buy my Republican Dad a beer at the mauling, I mean Dodger game tonight.  We're playing St. Louis, only the best team in baseball.  Bottoms up!

P.S. Anyone excited about the Cal Football season? In a "retooling" year we still have a very outside chance at winning it all.  Just enough hope for me to lean on.  Aight back to earning the paycheck...

so yeah...i reread my xanga and it sounds pretty deep and depressing. so we're gonna spice it up with a top ten list of high and low lights of summer...so far.

Top Ten Worst Things

10 - Having to share one shower with my Sister, Stepmom, and Dad for a week while the bathroom got remodeled.  The clog in the drain should have received an award of some kind.

9 - Sliding while in shorts while playing softball.  Blood everywhere...but hey I was safe bitches.

8 - While backing up on a foul ball hit over my head by someone who weighed less than the bat she was swinging, not only did I fall on my ass, but I also almost got hit by the ball in the process.

7 - Waking up at 5 am everyday for work, this is not funny, it's sad and it better not be a preview of the rest of my life.  I want to go to law school why?

6 - Getting wasted in La Quinta by starting drinking at 7 am, being obliterated by 3 pm, passing out til 6 pm on a three person couch with ben AND thomas, and waking up at 9 pm too hungover to eat and too tired to care

5 - Freezing at the Dodger game when a line drive foul ball almost decapitated my sister sitting next to me, only for the ball to hit the little old lady behind me, hehe but she went to StanfUrd like 40 years ago so I didn't feel too bad.  Either way, not diving or going for the foul ball is absolutely inexcusable...even if it is a heater and whizzing at your sisters face.  I froze, I'm sorry.  Those of you who know how much I love baseball will understand how sad I am and disappointed in myself.

4 - Getting challenged by my friends drunk Mom to a drinking contest where the first 30 beers "would just be a warmup"...and being told by everyone there that I stood no chance...then being called a p*ssy by my friends all night for not trying when I was already drunk...but we have the date set for next year, I'm scared...it's one of those scary yet impressed feelings.  300 pound men can't live up to her claim.

3 - ALWAYS LOSING AT BLACKJACK WHEN WE GO TO CASINOS.  Fucking ben and thomas always win, or at least lose a respectable amount in comparison to the amount of free beer they drank while at the table.

2 - Sleeping outside at La Quinta being woken up by the sunrise at 7am only to find that your body was the site of a bug bite orgy throughout the night

1 - Being on the phone with a female friend at my friends 21st birthday party while wasted in the corner and being interrupted by my friends drunk and sober mothers who start moaning "oh andy" into the phone to get me in trouble.  disgusting, repulsive, i will need therapy.

Top Ten Best Things

10 - Finally getting to our hotel floor in Vegas on the Fourth of July after driving up to school, spending a day in Vacaville, a day in Berkeley, going to the airport, flying to Vegas (without me knowing I had a stop along the way which freaked me out I thought I got on the wrong plane), being the last person dropped off in the fucking airport shuttle to walk down our hallway to see the three non-english speaking cleaning ladies identify my room to me as the one with the smoke coming out from under the door that smelled like a weed factory.  I have stupid friends.

9 - (same as my speed dial )  Walking back up from the bars at Berkeley playing the "let's see how far we can go without opening our eyes and leaning against each other for support" with natalie all while calling and leaving albert a message that both of us have trouble remembering that we left.

8 - My friend passing out on his bathroom floor drunk on his 21st birthday only for us to have to piss about a foot away from his face because it was the only bathroom.  Something about a man being that close to that part of my body that just is unsettling.  Oh yeah, I broke the seal and had to go twice more.

7 - Having my baby cousin getting confused for being my son, not my godson.  Oh wait, yeah that should go on the other list.  Although I've discovered an awesome way to attract women...as if I needed one HAHA.

6 - Going to Tamber's year-end banquet for afterschool tutoring at UCLA, getting drunk in the back of the car, in the bathroom at the place and cheering all of the hot volunteers as they came up on stage...while being the only non-tutors or UCLA people for that matter at the "black tie" event, needless to say we were still in our work clothes.

5 - Watching Thomas try and fall asleep for the night on top of a floaty bed...while still in the pool, then waking up to see him lying in a puddle on the concrete next to me when I woke up four hours later with a dog sniffing his crotch...HAHA

4 - Losing 15 pounds...and counting bitches.

3 - The cab ride home from Alisa's 21st birthday when the four of us got into the cab with a driver who 1. got four hot chicks to flash us 2. drove us home 80 mph down sunset in the middle of beverly hills and 3. told us of how he wanted to have sex with a midget so he could spin her around like a propeller just to see if she would fly off.  (sorry for those this offends)  At that point, I nervously laughed and was so scared of this fool I didn't say anything until we got back to UCLA and fell out of the cab in fear.

3A - Having a drunk Alisa puke every block in the cab on the way to the bars on sunset for her 21st birthday.  The driver threatened to kick us out, charged her a 50 dollar cleaning fee and stopped at the gas station to use the free water to water off the inside of his cab.  After leaving his phone in the cab, Thomas eventually called him back and had to pay him 50 dollars to return with the cab so he could get his phone back.  Note: this was like his 5th new phone in the last couple years, he tends to break them.  That driver made so much money off us.

2 - After falling out of the cab, it was our luck that the cops were at Peter's apartment complex breaking up a party.  Ben, who as you know likes to sleep, decided to pass out on the floor outside the elevators and sleep there.  With the cops shining their flashlights on us, particularly him, he got up just in time to jump in the elevator and we went up as the cops went down the stairs looking for us at the same time.  Ben, you're an idiot, and I love you for it.

1 - While we were drunk in Vegas and on like our 5th consecutive hour of playing blackjack at the same table...Thomas stands up after splitting, doubling, and losing on a rediculous draw by the dealer only to shout at our dealer named Myong by saying in an excited drunk tone, "You know what Myong...You're too good.  You either need to get a raise...or get the fuck out!"  The last part was accentuated with a drunk flailing in the direction of the dealer and him tipping her by throwing a chip in her direction...a no-no in Vegas.  One of the funnier moments of my life.