Category Archives: Personal

Reflection: Fighting Exhaustion

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I like to keep busy, like really really busy. Like so busy to the point that the only time I am ever home is to sleep and even that’s only a few hours a day. But when exhaustion hits, what do you do?

When I was in high school I remember waking up at six in the morning and heading to school by seven, then I’m in classes til four to which I headed to my after school job at the local mall where I start work around five until closing which was nine. Then it was home and staying up til midnight working on homework. I also did my homework during classes and my lunch hour. Weekends weren’t much better, I was working for morning til early evening then it was homework.

There were summers during those years where I would work up to seventy (70) hours a week. Which, when you look at numbers doesn’t really seem like much, until you add in chores, homework, etc. I was always busy.

College wasn’t much better, beyond the full class load (or since it was me definitely more than the minimum full class load), and homework and studying (mind you I majored in electrical engineering), I was also holding down two part time jobs at twenty (20) hours per week per job, AND tutoring kids in high school and college out in the western suburbs… kids as in plural as in up to four kids per semester at up to two hours per kid. I don’t really know the meaning of rest.

Adulthood I work like crazy, but I also have hobbies like crazy… to give you an idea of what I do for fun, just take a look at my “original bucket list” post.

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Fleeting: Poking fun at Ignorance

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Below are a few stories I have that have some interconnection:

THE NGUYEN DYNASTY
Before I begin let me show you an image and news article that made me chuckle a bit a while back:

Now in case you are wondering… if you were to read the words underneath those eight student’s pictures it would have read:

We know … what … you’re … thinking … and … no, … we’re … not related.

For a bit of a history lesson, the very last monarchy to rule in Viet Nam was the Nguyen dynasty (closest English pronunciation would be wynn or win). When the Nguyen dynasty came into power in the early 1800s many of the populace promptly changed their surnames (or family names as it is more widely known at the time) to Nguyen as a way to curry favor with the monarchy or to avoid persecution.

When the last monarch of the Nguyen dynasty abdicated his seat and transferred power to the State of Viet Nam, a fair number of the population stuck with the last name of Nguyen.

I suppose the English/American equivalent to Viet Nam’s “Nguyen” would be “Smith”. If you’re still kind of confused.

What annoys me (and many others in similar situations) is the common, “oh you have this last name then you must be related to…” No, not always. So the eight girls decided to really to poke fun at the average person’s ignorance and pull a prank on their yearbook quote… and honestly I found it funny even if others might not. 🙂

Anyway, seeing the above image and reading the corresponding article(s) is what drove me to write this particular post with a little of my own experiences with racial ignorances:

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Reflection: Regret is a Funny Thing

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Once upon a time… a guy was visiting his family in the States from Europe. He met this girl that caught his attention, but she was with someone else at the time. She agreed to take a few days off from her life and work schedule to introduce him to the city and keep him company and they hit it off well. A few years later after he dated around and she moved on from the previous relationship, they struck up conversation again via email and reconnected. It came off that they were both still single and both were interested in meeting the other, so the guy flew back to the States to visit the girl but the chemistry wasn’t there, the girl had placed her job as more of a priority over the guy.

The girl spent as much time with guy as she thought she was able, but the connection, the chemistry from before and from online just wasn’t there. Guy left the States disheartened and girl knew she made a mistake. Girl vowed that if given the chance she would have guy be more of a priority in her life over work/career, but that chance never came… guy emailed later saying the chemistry just wasn’t there and he didn’t want to make another trip if it just wouldn’t work out. Girl agreed, regretfully and both parties moved on…

Over the years, though girl never heard from guy, she still grew as a result of a mistake she felt she made with guy. She learned to place family, friends and life above her job/career and as a result lived a fuller life, she vowed that in any relationship that she would find herself in down the road would take precedence over her job… She never really thought about guy except in passing and hoped to reconnect with him as a precursor to a possible trip through Europe but that never materialized either. Deep down she always knew that if an opportunity arose or if they had lived closer she would have fought to keep him in her life, because she had always regretted letting him go. So when word came to pass – seven years after their initial meeting – that he was engaged to another she didn’t experience loss as she had expected, but rather happiness and joy. For in her mind, he found someone that he felt he connected with in a way that they were unable to all those years ago.

And so it was… the one guy I ever really regretted in letting go has moved on and found another. And you know what? I’m ok with that, because he deserves all the joy and love in the world. So I suppose in hindsight… I don’t really regret him anymore and in some ways I’ve moved on as well.

Fleeting: The Viet Khang Movement

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Politics, the art of the possible… So says the military in the now revived show of Andrew Lloyd Webber’s Evita (starring Ricky Martin, Elena Rogers and Michael Cervaris), but this post isn’t about Evita, or anything remotely Broadway related… but because I had the song stuck in my head and I feel like starting this post on a musical note:

Anyway! So I was at my grandparents for dinner and on the television was a programme talking about what has been happening around the world. Two months ago an artist/musician was arrested by the secret police and there is a movement in Washington DC to force the US hand in releasing the political prisoner. In fact, the movement take it a step further and is calling upon the U.S. government and others to investigate the human rights abuses and oppression in a country that the U.S. had a hand in many years ago.

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Entertainment: The ‘Auror’s Tale’ by Red Phoenix Pictures

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Yes I’m a huge Harry Potter fan. So when I heard that a group of people over at Red Phoenix Pictures based in New York City was developing a web series called the “Auror’s Tale”, I was about as giddy as a kid at Christmas.

So when MuggleNet posted a 10-second video sneak peek from the “Auror’s Tale”. I was positively thrilled. The sneak peek is fascinating enough for me to want to watch later… Though, later in the day a full minute trailer of the Auror’s Tale was released, and now I can’t wait til the webseries air.

My understanding is that this is set in New York City where Dark Magic controls the underground and it is up to the NYC Department of Magical Law Enforcement (DMLE) is the only defense against them. For anyone that is a fan of the Harry Potter series, this is a web series made by fans that grew up with the books, for fans that grew up with the books. Releasing the web series in 10-minute increments they plan on a DVD release upon completion of the series of 10-minute increments on the web.

Entertainment News: The Voice is coming back in the Fall

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Why am I not surprised? The Voice, NBC’s summer smash hit in 2011, and made new waves in spring of 2012 is going to come back in the fall 2012 lineup.

Not only that they are planning to cycle in additional judges to the panel. Not necessarily because of the chemistry of the current panel, but on the contrary TPTB (The Powers That Be) feel that since the judges are all working musicians, to ask them to schedule time for the show would be asking too much as it is.

To say that I’m excited is an understatement. What I am most worried about is whom they would bring on as coaches, after all the chemistry between the judges panel now (CeeLo Green, Adam Levine, Blake Shelton and Christina Aguilera) was a total unknown when the show premiere last summer and it soon became such a massive hit. I mean take a look at the Superbowl promo they filmed:

Anyway, I’m getting off the point. I think the only way that the Voice can sell in the Fall is if they make just as huge of a knockout with the judging panel as they currently have. But who to bring?

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Personal Endeavors: Stage Musical “Wish List”

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Ask any actor/actress that enjoys being a part of theatre, chances are they probably have a short list of shows and/or roles they’d love to play. I’m no different despite this being more of a hobby for me than anything. Although I don’t have a stage play short list (I am usually game to most anything) I do have a musical theatre short list… two of those musicals I have either already done or am doing, so what do I have left?

Well let’s start with what I have already done:
– City of Angels
Yes, I was even willing to grow a beard for a show. =) I loved the musical: City of Angels ever since I first heard “The Tennis Song”, so when I read up on the synopsis of the show and started listening to more of the music I knew that this was a production I just HAD to be a part of. Little did I know what the director at Theatre-on-the-Hill had in store for me…

City of Angels is NOT based off the Nicholas Cage movie of the same name. Instead it is about a writer whose is hired to adapt a popular book of his for the big screen. As we follow the writer go through the perils of working in Hollywood we are also watching scenes from his movie unfold concurrently. Changes he has made in the script are seen live on the stage as it happens.

What I love about this particular show is how two seemingly separate storylines are intertwined. There are particular moments in the shows where you see only one story or the other, and sometimes you see them both happening concurrently. Sure it forces you to think more than the average show, but once you get it, it makes the whole thing even funnier and worthwhile.

There was one conversation I had with a friend whose career is in the performing arts and we agreed that if someone is truly serious about acting and performing they better damn well be willing to make a fool of themself on stage. Pride, image, ego, etc goes right out the door, there is simply no room for it. If you’re not willing to “look ugly” on stage, then you’re not really serious about acting.

I swallowed my pride for my art and to this day people still remember that role. That’s making an impression. People don’t always remember the leads or the straight forward roles, they tend to remember the crazy, off beat, quirky characters. Plus you have fun along the way. =)

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Entertainment News: Into the Woods in NYC and MN

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At first I was so excited that Into the Woods was going to get the outdoor treatment and seeing who was cast in the show at Shakespeare in the Park nearly convinced me to make the trip to NYC towards the end of July just to see it happen.

Now after just reading the possibility of The Public Theater talking to investors and raising the funds to see it make a turn on Broadway, it just makes me giddy with anticipation.

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Fleeting: Mother’s Day’s Dark History

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Who really knows what Mother’s Day is about? I sure didn’t, I was taught in elementary school that Mother’s Day is a day to celebrate the mother in your life. To take a day to spend time with her and revel in being their son or daughter and to thank your mother for all that she did.

Mother’s Day started due to the efforts of Anna Jarvis, a woman who never had any children of her own and was moved by the death of her own mother. So she wanted everyone to send an intimate day/evening/time with their mother where she wouldn’t have a chance to do so herself.

However, as it was for all “special occasion” days, it quickly became commercialized and Anna’s original idea of an intimate Mother’s Day dissipated. How? She felt that the idea of giving your mother a greeting card as opposed to writing a letter or creating a card yourself promoted sloth and idleness.

So when Mother’s Day became more and more commercialized, the woman that originally fought to create Mother’s Day in the first place, now found herself fighting against what it had become.

In the end, Mother’s Day is as it has become today… and I think in a way that Anna couldn’t see over a century ago is that people still spend time with their mothers. The joy of the freedom of choice is a chance to spend time with your mother in the best way that you see fit. For some it may be a few hours. For others it may be just the day… or others still, like myself… it’ll be more of a weekend, if not a week. =)

So happy Mother’s Day for all the mothers out there… and for everyone else, how are you planning to spend Mother’s Day?

Inspirational Poetry: “Letting Go”

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This was something I came across years ago… I don’t remember nor know why.

==========

To “let go” does not mean to stop caring,
it means I can’t do it for someone else.
To “let go” is not to cut myself off,
it’s the realization I can’t control another.
To “let go” is not to enable,
but to allow learning from natural consequences.
To “let go” is to admit powerlessness,
which means the outcome is not in my hands.
To “let go” is not to try to change or blame another,
it’s to make the most of myself.
To “let go” is not to care for,
but to care about.
To “let go” is not to fix,
but to be supportive.
To “let go” is not to judge,
but to allow another to be a human being.
To “let go” is not to be in the middle arranging the outcomes,
but to allow others to affect their own destinies.
To “let go” is not to be protective,
it’s to permit another to face reality.
To “let go” is not to deny,
but to accept.
To “let go” is not to nag, scold or argue,
but instead to search out my own shortcomings, and correct them.
To “let go” is not to adjust everything to my desires
but to take each day as it comes, and cherish myself in it.
To “let go” is not to criticize and regulate anybody
but to try to become what I dream I can be.
To “let go” is not to regret the past,
but to grow and live for the future.
To “let go” is to fear less, and love more.
Remember: The time to love is short

(Unknown Author)

Review: NBC’s Awake

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When I first heard about Awake, I was equally one part thrilled and one part apprehensive. Awake appeared to me to be a series that would require a lot of thinking, a lot of analysis, and a lot of patience. Precisely my cup of tea…

ABC’s Lost was much in the same vein… except after the first episode I lost interest, whileas with Awake, I actually wanted to know more. Unfortunately time was not on my side as me free time started to dry up considerably, so I stopped watching with the intent of reading up on the episodes online.

What I dislike about television is that when a show is just getting good, they cancel it due to the overall slide in ratings. A lot of time a show needs more than just one season to find it’s legs, a big example of this would be Star Trek: The Next Generation.

Unfortunately, cancellation is exactly where Awake is headed. *sighs* Depending on how the first season ends will decide on whether I could handle simply owning one season of a television series that I enjoyed, no matter how minor.

If you haven’t heard of the show the premise is this: A detective is a survivor of a car accident that claimed the life of either his wife, or his son. Neither the detective nor the audience knows who had passed, because he is living two totally separate worlds now. The detective could be living in a world where his wife is alive and his son has passed away, but then when he goes to sleep in that world he’ll wake up in another reality where his son is alive while his wife had passed.

Which reality is real? Well, we as the audience don’t know for sure, and part of the joy of the series is discovering bits and pieces of the story as it is told between the two realities.

Jason Issacs portrays the detective, and if anyone is a Harry Potter fan and has seen the movie adaptations… well you should recognize him as the patriarch of the Malfoy family: Lucius.

Personally if this show makes it to DVD, I may actually purchase it just to enjoy the storytelling. In some ways the concept of two parallel realities colliding reminds me a lot of a favorite movie of mine: Sliding Doors starring Gwyneth Paltrow. But that’s another post for another time.

I sincerely hope this show does make it to DVD with a lot of extras explaining what would have happened in future seasons, or even still have an additional episode that helps tie every up in a neat little package. Hell even if a book series would make me happy… but anyway, I’m crying over spilled milk. C’est la vie.

Reflections: 25 Things…

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This was posted as a note on my Facebook page probably a few years ago. I’m thinking about 2009-ish. So a lot of people haven’t really seen this from what I can recall.

The “25 Things” is suppose to represent twenty-five things about you that most people wouldn’t know about right off the bat and that you wouldn’t mind letting people know about. So the first time I did it, the list turned out to be very depressing so I deleted it and decided not to do it. Then I tried again and was a little bit happier with what I came up with… so I took it off of my Facebook page and brought here instead.

Ironically, looking at this now, there were some things that were meant for the year of 2009, but in the end also works for 2012. So for those of you that have seen this already, I apologize, but for those that haven’t, well enjoy!

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Reflections: Facing the Inevitable

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Since this has been a subject that has popped up on occasion between myself and a few friends from various quarters, I figured I might as well write about it here… Or rather at least some of my thoughts on the matter. But first a story:

Growing up I knew quite a few people that decided to go down the medical path, after several years in medical school, one such acquaintance talked about their experiences. Originally when they entered medical school they did so with the desire to work with babies and children, but as time went on they started changing their tune and decided that they wanted to work with the elderly.

When pressed upon why the change of heart, they said: “Well doctors are humans too, and they make mistakes. So if I am diagnosing a baby or a child and it’s wrong it becomes a very complicated and messy situation, but if I work with the elderly and I am wrong, it wouldn’t matter as much because they are old and will die soon anyway.”

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Entertainment News: Backstreet Boys… the Musical?

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Recently Broadway.com had a poll asking their readers to decide which boy band should get their own jukebox musical? Number One: N’Sync, Number Two: Backstreet Boys. Since I am more likely to listen to the Backstreet Boys over N’Sync this post is going to be about BSB… well that and the fact that it was recently announced that Kevin Richardson will be rejoining the group for their upcoming studio album. Thank goodness for that, because Kevin was the bass in the group and I personally felt that when he chose to leave the group, it just didn’t feel just right.

In any case… so a jukebox musical featuring the music of the Backstreet Boys? I don’t know… looking at some of the songs that they have over the years, they all have a similar theme… some kind of love song about heartbreak, loneliness, deception, etc. There isn’t much variety beyond that.

Some of the more known jukebox musicals that have graced the Great White Way over the years include:
– Mamma Mia!
– The Boy From Oz
– Jersey Boys
– Million Dollar Quartet
– American Idiot
– Rock of Ages

Thinking about this further, some of their music videos did have somewhat simplistic storylines within them, some of my personal favorites include (in my opinion):
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Entertaining Email: The Power of Mathematics

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Mathematics is in my blood… so I happen to enjoy things like the following…

This just proves the Beauty of Mathematics.

1 x 8 + 1 = 9
12 x 8 + 2 = 98
123 x 8 + 3 = 987
1234 x 8 + 4 = 9876
12345 x 8 + 5 = 98765
123456 x 8 + 6 = 987654
1234567 x 8 + 7 = 9876543
12345678 x 8 + 8 = 98765432
123456789 x 8 + 9 = 987654321

1 x 9 + 2 = 11
12 x 9 + 3 = 111
123 x 9 + 4 = 1111
1234 x 9 + 5 = 11111
12345 x 9 + 6 = 111111
123456 x 9 + 7 = 1111111
1234567 x 9 + 8 = 11111111
12345678 x 9 + 9 = 111111111
123456789 x 9 + 10 = 1111111111

9 x 9 + 7 = 88
98 x 9 + 6 = 888
987 x 9 + 5 = 8888
9876 x 9 + 4 = 88888
98765 x 9 + 3 = 888888
987654 x 9 + 2 = 8888888
9876543 x 9 + 1 = 88888888
98765432 x 9 + 0 = 888888888

Brilliant, isn’t it? And look at this symmetry:

1 x 1 = 1
11 x 11 = 121
111 x 111 = 12321
1111 x 1111 = 1234321
11111 x 11111 = 123454321
111111 x 111111 = 12345654321
1111111 x 1111111 = 1234567654321
11111111 x 11111111 = 123456787654321
111111111 x 111111111 = 12345678987654321

Mind Boggling. Now, take a look at this…

101%

From a strictly mathematical viewpoint: What Equals 100%?

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