welcome

the newest addition to the family:

brother and sister

i notice that i have the tendency to give a back story to almost every post. anyway, here's this one:
my sisters been looking for a dog for what seems like forever. this christmas i was planning on surprising her with the cliche dog-in-box-bow-around-his-neck gift. instead, today, roaming bored around the hometown, we found ourselves at petsmart checking out the adoption selection as we do every saturday/sunday. about an hour later and $160 broker, we walked out, labrador/german shepherd mix in arms.

merry christmas manang!

her name, initially spelled GEM but i took it upon myself to make her cooler by switching it to JEM [if you know why than YOU are that much cooler as well], is still up for review. either way, we're blessed shes here :]

[ EDIT ]
her name is now Mango.
but im gonna call her Girl.

thanks, cowboy

on our summer trip to texas and new york, we made the harsh and harmful-to-my-heart discovery that our old friend/newly-made lieutenant didnt recycle. come to find out that his neighbor/my cousin didnt either, and assumingly nor did the rest of texas.

surprisingly, all my lectures and scolding made an impression as he sent me this via email a couple days ago:



thanks lieutenant :] it definitely made more than my day.

happy thanksgiving

so i began writing this entry on this thanksgiving day as anyone would begin writing a thanksgiving entry: giving thanks in the form of a list. but then i got bored and each bullet following the 40th-something became more redundant and obvious than the previous. so i decided to take this unfamiliar, unconventional and more difficult route.

TOP 10 THINGS IM MOST THANKFUL FOR:

GOD
and my continuous battling relationship with Him. faith--its a scary feeling. but as my right wrist reads: "by faith alone." i am still learning, i am still growing, i am still mistake making, but through all my fuckups, i am most certain that He will always be there.

MOTHER
for showing me strength, beauty, and selflessness in its truest and sincerest form. she never stops moving, never stops inspiring, and i will never amount to her greatness. shes beautiful, corny, and goofy, and i feel most comfortable in her presence. she makes me smile. someday, i hope to be to my kids what she is to me.

FATHER
is the coolest. he is the purest example of what a man, husband, father, and friend should be. im discovering everyday how i take after my father more and more, and i couldnt be happier nor more satisfied. his strength, his humor, his composure, his charm and his ability to love and let people love him makes me proud and inspired. he is the definition of "man-up" and im growing anxious to teach my kids what hes teaching me.

SISTER
is my everything. shes the closest person to me in this world and without her...i dont even want to think about it. throughout all the uncertainties, the confusion, the doubt, the drama, the chaos, the laughter, the good and the bad ive been through these past 22 years, there was always one thing i knew i could trust that was unwavering, and that was if i looked to my side, she would be there with me every step of the way. shes beautiful, shes talented, shes funny. shes my best friend. and i will kill for her.

LUCA & PUPPIES
luca <3 face="trebuchet ms">they warm my heart, they make me smile, they make me scream, they make me sneeze, they make me cry, they make me laugh, but i wouldnt have it any other way. they make life just that much greater and if anyone dares to lay a finger on them i will go berserk.

MEMORIES
and the simple ability to have and keep them. there is no such feeling like the one you get when reminiscing. my memories are precious and equally fragile--they can be stripped away any day at any moment--which is why i hold mine so close and dear.

SENSES
the physical and spiritual ones. im thankful i can feel, hear, see, taste, and smell. and im most thankful i can feel, hear, see, taste, and smell pain, love, anger, greed, jealousy, comfort, laughter, joy, etc. without my senses i would not be able to hear music, to feel music, to see music. nor would i be able to dance to music, move to music, see and hear choreography to music. i wouldnt be able to sense what hurt and betrayal are, thus making me more thankful for the amazing feeling of love and loyalty.

INTERNSHIP
i truly lucked out and ive never been more grateful. to be consistently and so directly involved in the music industry is a dream. and sharing with others the kind of experience ive experienced is more than rewarding. im hoping for a promising future in this field. either way, im more than ecstactic [and still shocked] to be here.

SAFETY & HEALTH
of myself and every name i know.

EVERY NAME I KNOW
and every person ive come across, close to me or not. my friends are the best; i couldnt ask for a better group of people. my team, 909, is amazing! i love them so much. my roommates are so tight; i wouldnt choose to live with anyone else. my professors: thank you for making me that much smarter. my doctor: thank you for keeping me in check. our gardners: stop hitting on my sister, but thank you for keeping our yard pretty. luca's vet: we are truly grateful.
and etc. i am thankful for every person, great friend or not, that has walked with me on this path at some point(s) in my life.

but probably the most complicated, loving, hating, painful, wonderful name i know: adam daniel martinez. you truly are something else, you amazing, beautiful asshole.

------------------------------------------

OTHER THINGS OF LESSER IMPORTANCE, BUT AM STILL VERY THANKFUL FOR:

-going green, because i love this dirty earth and you should too
-my alma mater, my classes, my education, my college experience
-hgtv
-toblarone, and any and all chocolate at that
-magazines
-ice cream
-my filipino heritage
-america
-the internet
-rock band/guitar hero/resident evil/mario kart/etc
-photography
-microsoft excel
-card games
-beer
-anthony bourdain
-the godfather trilogy
-italians
-television
-paradise lost
-baz lurhmann
-etc [and constantly updating?]

yummy

at it again

my friend just sent me this picture:


picture location: the park up the street from our neighborhood
fire location: corona (15 mins from riverside)

wack.
be safe, my friends.

tis the season

..to spend money, and so much of it!
thats why i pray for and bank on opportunities like these to ever so graciously present themselves to my broke ass:

spent $37 on 4 items for 3 people on my list; a pretty dope steal, not the best, but beggars cant be fucking greedy.

:]

stage time

come watch the team i love so dearly at our first competition of the year.

PRELUDE SO CAL
DECEMBER 6TH
WHITTIER HIGH SCHOOL
$15 PRESALE
$20 DOOR



i<3909eversogreatly:]

yes we did

where does one even begin to address the happenings, the debates, the heightened emotions, the heated arguments, the confusion, the anxiety, the reckless nerves, and finally the sighs of relief and the discovery of a new-found american pride birthed from these elections?

ive not a clue. and havent the energy to attempt it now.
but one thing i do know: never before have i ever been more proud to call the president my president.