jonocorp's blog

The Grand Canyon was grand, indeed, but it was hard to view the wonders from thousands of years of erosion when you're staring at the ground while you try to hike it up and down for 13 miles. I was wrecked by the time it was over.

Instead of more sight-seeing on Sunday, we decide to leave early to beat the holiday traffic. We were glad we did. Our big celebratory meal for the long hike was a burger at 5 Brothers. Not impressed. In-n-Out makes a better burger.

Monday, we met up again to grab pho and hit the hot bakery in Irvine. I picked up some stuff for the family. Moon cakes, too. 'Tis the season. I also had a sea salt coffee which was excellent.

This week is weird, so far. I don't like it. I feel like punching everything.

...to The Grand Canyon. I'll be back, tired.

Here's my favorite clip from the show "Louie." It made me laugh out loud when I saw it, and I always chuckle when I watch it. (NSFW)

Despite being super tired, I still went to class and got schooled by the young doctor. I whispered to him, "i'm gonna get you," but it didn't phase him because I was laughing when I said it.

I really want some shaved ice right now. It was super refreshing.

Today I ate way too much. I started off at Mickey D's, then to the Subway, and now I'm thinking about hogging about yesterdays' Thai leftovers.

Senoritis totally setting in. I hope most of you get a good weekend.

Lyrics after the jump. You know when they say that I'm an animal, I smile.

So I decided to write after something just to get the juices flowing. I just got back from watching the new Karate Kid at the old theater in Pasadena that my brother used to work at a long time ago. Walking in and seeing the theater again really brought back so many memories. My brother worked there for only a year or so, and I remember hanging out there almost all of the time during the summer. Since he worked there, I scammed free popcorn, soda, and movies. Everything is much cleaner than I remember it.

I must say that I really liked watching the movie there today. It felt like when you'd watch a movie as a kid. The wooden floors creaked, everything smelled like butter popcorn, and the screen was bad and misaligned. Nothing like the stale megaplexes of today. Yeah, yeah... blah, blah... character, but it's true.

The movie overall was pretty good, but also longer than it should've been. They made a good copy of the original.

I'm getting worse at this. Now it's becoming an once a week thing.

Well, let's get caught up. Sometime last week I saw "The Other Guys." I thought it was funnier than the promos made it to be. They made mediocre copwork funny.

On Saturday, I had dinner and shaved ice with black MR2. It was a delightful time. She drove my car home and was letting it rip.

Sunday I skipped class to help my brother and sister (mostly my brother) demo a shoddy room in a garage. That took all day because the previous owners really Mickey Mouse'd the room together, but nailed everything down shut to every and anything.

Had drinks with Mike at the local spot and Timmy really hooked us up.

I'm totally not feeling work this week. I want to stay home, enjoy the heat, and do some patio drinking. Mostly with Pina Coladas.

My internet is getting slower. Maybe that's a hint that I should pay the bill. I am getting late.

Are you watching "Louie" on FX? It's on Hulu, too. I'm loving it. From what I hear, FX gave Louie C.K. free reign and creative freedom to do a show however he wants to do it. Almost like how Dave Chappelle did the first two seasons before the network stepped in and ruined it and made him nutso.

After class I checked up on the Hampton HQ, grabbed a few beers, and took a nice shower. I got the nicest compliment in class by a Spaniard named Juan. John = Juan, go figure? My arms aren't long enough. Hahahaha

Let's see... On Friday, I totally chilled. I didn't want to do anything at all. That was so nice. I saw Scott Pilgrim on Saturday and had a big bowl of noodles afterwards. No, I am not Scott Pilgrim, but I'm close. A few hours later, I got my hands dirty and changed the oil on the car. Synthetic, man. Now I have an urge to wrench. That's gonna cost me some $$$

Sunday I skipped class and had a great birthday brunch with RJK. We cool? Yeah, we're cool. They snuck in cheese in one of those dishes.

This week is moving slow. I want some shaved ice or some bing soo. That'll make the week go by faster. Yeah.

I think this week just blazed on by but somehow crawled to a halt today. It wasn't even a bad day at work. We strolled down the street to check out a warehouse that we could be moving to next year. It felt like a great place to play roller hockey. It's so bizarre because if we do move, we will literally be next door to a familiar landmark that I try not to look at and avoid.

While talking to the property managers, they offered to take us out to dim sum. The older gentleman is funny because all he has for lunch is beer. No wonder he's always so jolly. He shared the wealth and bought us all beers. Yay! Lunch beers!

The best thing about my staycation was not going to work. The next best thing was spending it with the best people. Some great people weren't in the mix, but I was thinking of them always.

I got to hang at the Hampton HQ and that was always great. My home away from home. I took the time to clean out the fridge and various fruits laying around in the living space. I hope you don't mind. Another thing I did was trim some thorny rose bush vines. I got tired of almost running into them leaving the HQ.

I made dinner for black MR2 and I was disappointed that I forgot one thing. It was good, though, because the one thing I was missing ended up to be terrible. I should've cooked the steak longer, but she was nice enough not to say anything. You would've complained.

Taking a week off of class to rest, I got back and saw: A new student, a visitor from up North, and some familiar faces.

I'm used to no one giving two sh!ts about me and I find it odd when people actually miss me.

On vacation, again. So, I got lazy writing. I know it's a disappoint to all two of you who read this.

Yet again, I missed the bus on getting cheap airfare and wasn't able to visit Jesus in Canada. We need to be better organized. Maybe next time. So much time has passed since he left. It still feels weird not to see him in class.

My vacation is so far awesome. Monday and Tuesday have been pretty productive for me. I took June to the vet on Monday to get her shots updated, and got her chipped and licensed on Tuesday. She's officially legal and has her papers. "Show me her papers" sounds kinda wrong. The rest of the week is no slouch. I had lunch with black MR2 on Wednesday, and I'm getting ready to meet Billy for lunch in a few hours. Wine and tequila is a helluva mix. That's a fun Wednesday night.

I just discovered this site thanks to io9. I like their mechanical designs. My favorite one seems to be this one:

This peek at the new season of Venture Brothers is really making me excited.

Damn. I'm getting really bad at this.

I spent my Saturday with a bunch of my best friends. One set of friends and I saw "Inception." In addition to be a good movie, it also looked amazing. I rarely praise special effects, but it was done well and tastefully in the movie. It could've went the way of "The Matrix" in terms of craziness, and I'm glad it didn't.

Shortly after the movie and pho, I picked up some treats to give to my best friend and his wife that's living in the IE. Hot as heck over there. The treats almost melted between the car and front door. Many beers and a nap later, we discussed a lot about life. It seems like 2010 is the year where everyone is being hitched, expecting (or had already), and being plain different.

I hung out with black Mr2 Monday and after class and had a couple of delightful chats.

Lyrics after the jump...

This day just drained the energy away from me. I couldn't wait to get out of work, I couldn't wait to finish June's walks, and I couldn't concentrate in class. At this moment, I'm blanking out on what to write next. I feel like a zombie again.

My neck/shoulder has been really stiff and really ruining my mobility. I somehow hoped to crack my neck or rotate my shoulder in a way where it magikally heals itself, but it hasn't yet. I smell like jow.

The weekend is coming up and I'm excited to hang out with some great folk and having a good time.

Time to reset.

I'll blame the heat for the lack of updates. I'll also blame the past vacation I had that made me a little lazy to write. Regardless, I need to get back into the game.

Mike and I hit up the UCB theater in Hollywood to hopefully catch Craig Robinson talk on Mark Maron's WTF podcast. He didn't show because he was filming Hot Tub Time Machine 4, 5, and 6 apparently. Walking out of the theater I bumped into a recurring character from "The Office." It's weird to see him out of a suit. After the show we went to Blue Palms and grabbed some food and beers. Fries with truffle oil is delicious. My mouth was stinging because of the habanero mustard. UCB's midnight shows are always free so went back and watched a lame improv troupe. Good for them for trying, though.

There was something about the UCB theater that I felt enamored about. The neighborhood was vibrant and the theater was intimate. There isn't any doubt that I'll be back again. I was never a theater geek, but I can change for the UCB.

I tried to hang out for JAB's party, but he was taking forever to show up and I decided to leave. I made it up to him the next day and we hit up the Hollywood Bowl to see my Hollywood ex-wife and The Swell Season (a.k.a. the couple from the movie "Once"). Thanks for the tickets, Steve. It was a bit hard to take at some point because I was listening to both those bands at the same time I was going to some bummer moments in my life. I swear I have no idea how we finished a bottle of Jim Bean. We went to Canters afterwards where I had a pastrami and chopped liver sandwich with a bowl of pickles. Hmm... chopped liver and pickles.

On Monday, Black MR2 and I went to get some food and super shaved ice and chatted for a while. That was some good shaved ice. I prefer the condensed milk over the brown sugar, though. Whatever, still awesome. We felt bad that we closed the place down.

So I got lazy writing because I was on vacation last week. It was my burn off vacation days because my anniversary is coming up and I didn't take a lick of work off. Another reason I didn't write is because I wasn't exactly sure what I should write. Even since Friday till today, so many things seemed to be changing.

Tuesday. Tuesday, I was feeling relieved that I didn't have to work. My sister and I hung out for lunch and went to Langer's Deli where we split the #19 and #88. Damn, that #19, just so good. Best pastrami I've had at this time.

Wednesday. I woke up with a serious craving for a decent breakfast. Thanks to Yelp, I had the most delightful breakfast at Julienne in San Marino. The green omelet had more feta cheese than I would like, but it totally hit the spot. The coffee was good. Even though I finished my breakfast, I sat and read a couple of chapters from the book I kinda ignored but want to finish. One more cup of coffee and I was ready to tackle more errands.

Thursday was just chilling. I chilled and let my body re-cooperate before I got my ass handled in class. It's a learning experience and it's a whole new experience. Must... get... better.

Friday was the day where things changed it up. If I went to the beach like I wanted to, I wouldn't have met black Mr2. The cloudy skies and laziness to erect my bike rack deterred me from going to the beach. I puttered around the computer trying to find a used folding bike that I could purchase from Craigslist cash for cheap. When i couldn't find one, I went to the streets and straight to a bike shop. After perusing through some really choice bikes, I realized that money was an issue and I left bike-less. A few doors down I went to the comic shop and felt overwhelmed by what I've missed since I stopped collecting and reading (I have been reading some recently. More on that below).

Back to black Mr2. If I had went to the beach, I would've stayed till late chilling with some seafood and beers. Instead I walked June a teeny bit earlier than I would have normally and saw black Mr2 pass by. I continued to walk June without knowing that the Mr2 would make a U-turn and say "hi." We chatted a little through the weekend and hung out Monday night. It's hard to comment on what's happening because I'm still not caught up on what I should be thinking.

Everyday of vacation I woke up at the same time I usually do when I would go to work but I didn't have to drag myself out of bed. It felt great.

Happy Birthday, rjk. Thanks for being awesome. The burger is going to be amazing, but if it isn't, we'll find something better.

Oh, "Old Man Logan" was a fun read, and the Scott Pilgrim books are so damn fun and amazing. I can't wait till volume 6 and the movie. Damn Envy, yay, Ramona.

What would've been the perfect start to a weekend on Friday, wasn't. My mom yet again left the gate wide open and June ran away. During work I kept getting phone calls from people around the neighborhood saying they saw her and some were trying to get a hold of her. Right before I left work, I get this last phone call saying that they caught her and I said to them many "thank yous" and told them to jam her into the yard and close the gate. And I missed another Friday class.

I finally saw Toy Story 3 on Saturday. It was perfect. I think the best movie I've seen all year. I tried not to cry. I teared up really big but there were no tears down the cheek. On the way back, a guy cut through two lanes to get to the left turn lane and if it wasn't for good brakes, we would've hit him. It was close.

A few hours later and I headed to Michelle's place to get ready for her house party. I volunteered my services and cooked for the party. When I heard that I was doing it at first, I was excited, but as the party drew closer I was getting nervous. It wasn't so much about the food, but if I could pull it off smoothly that was getting me nervous. That same nervousness also excited me when I was doing last minute shopping.

The menu (if I can remember it all) in order of appearance:

Veggie platter (Michelle made)
Cucumber salad
Spiced edemame (Michelle made)
Bruschetta
Roasted seasoned potatoes (Michelle made)
Caramelized onion, pear, and goat cheese pizza
Vegetarian pizza
Couscous
Prosciutto and cheese pizza
The unknown 4th pizza
Chorizo, mushroom, and cheese pizza
A repeat of the onion, pear, and goat cheese pizza (I had to do something about leftovers)
Fresh cut watermelon

People said the onion/pear pizza was their favorite. That was the first pizza I thought about and felt somewhat proud of the idea of adding pear. I had fun cooking again. It really took my mind off things.

On the big J-4th, my brother invited us to his place for a carb-less BBQ. It was carb-less because he didn't feel like buying buns or anything other than meat.

When I got home I watched UFC 116 and saw some really good matches. This one didn't disappoint.

Yay! I'm on vacation. Finally.