Monday, February 16, 2009
Sunday, February 8, 2009
Old Friends
Bumped into some old school friends today... some of my closest intermediate school friends actually, Steven Ly and Brenda Hao. I'm not sure how we became friends, but I eventually got roped into Steven Ly's posse of friends and as he was he quintessential politico-nerd of the school (being a geek was cool back in those days because of all the gang affiliations) I got caught in a bit of crossfire with the rest of the school. But we were all kids and we were all stuck together so it didn't stop me from making friends at least superficially (it was my intention those days to not get too close to anybody back then). Brenda was... that really cute girl that sat in front of me during social studies. I don't remember much besides that (like what we talked about exactly because we did talk...), but for awhile I looked forward to class just because of her. Guess its not surprising she didn't remember (or recognize) who I was. It's been practically 8 years since I've seen these people anyways.
Friday, February 6, 2009
Work
I got a job offer today. Looks like I'll be headed back to San Diego... yay. The not so hot part about today... I'm still sick...
Thursday, February 5, 2009
Race
Now the question arises... was it really that bad back then? At least I never got lynched... How much of it was racism and how much of it was really kids being kids? Kinda hard to say now seeing as I don't remember much anymore.
I do remember being chased around campus by the entire class. I was presumably running away from my problems, likely coming from the fact that I looked different from everyone else. My comrades were... the fat kids, the nerds, the... well she wasn't an orphan but she was living with her grandparents and great grandparents cuz her parents were missing for various reasons, and the other outcasts. But I usually went home on the bus, cuz I lived outside of the housing communities. Things were a little worse there. The children were usually from migrant worker families, a lot of which found their daily bread at the local dairy farms. That's mostly where I got the name 'Chink'. Most of the other nicknames I got were racial in meaning. But was it really any worse than what the other kids were facing? At that school? How about here in Rosemead? Or... the inner city schools? It's hard to say... I managed to escape that reality when I came here.
BTW... the day I learned the word melancholy... I thought it was a flower. It was sunny that day and I was standing in line for lunch because my dad didn't have time to make lunch for me like some of the other kids.
I do remember being chased around campus by the entire class. I was presumably running away from my problems, likely coming from the fact that I looked different from everyone else. My comrades were... the fat kids, the nerds, the... well she wasn't an orphan but she was living with her grandparents and great grandparents cuz her parents were missing for various reasons, and the other outcasts. But I usually went home on the bus, cuz I lived outside of the housing communities. Things were a little worse there. The children were usually from migrant worker families, a lot of which found their daily bread at the local dairy farms. That's mostly where I got the name 'Chink'. Most of the other nicknames I got were racial in meaning. But was it really any worse than what the other kids were facing? At that school? How about here in Rosemead? Or... the inner city schools? It's hard to say... I managed to escape that reality when I came here.
BTW... the day I learned the word melancholy... I thought it was a flower. It was sunny that day and I was standing in line for lunch because my dad didn't have time to make lunch for me like some of the other kids.
Sunday, January 25, 2009
Andy Pacheco
I was driving to Walmart today when I noticed a friend's name adorning a street sign. It was a name I had forgotten long ago, although I remember his story quite well because it never quite left me. Once I saw it though, I instantly knew... On the way back, I could see how that alleyway overlooked our intermediate school... Roger Temple Intermediate.
I didn't realize they named a street after him, but I guess it makes sense. He was, as far as I recall, much loved by the community and had a promising high school career ahead of him. To me, he was one of my first friends in California, albeit not a close one. Jocks and geeks don't get along THAT well =P but at the very least he wasn't cocky about it. We did share a table in English... along with Annie Lim (I wonder where she is now... She ended up going to another high school for whatever reason) and together we did the little activities that 8th graders did in English class. I'll leave the reminiscing there.
Anyways... here's my New Years resolution (It's kinda coincidental that the posting conditions are somewhat similar...):
Cut my sleeping hours (9+ each day is ridiculous) and push my wake-up time back to emulate working conditions, which likely means waking up at 6am.
Study goals: Week-long foreign language, weekday GRE and self-improvement
Physical: Follow a 6x/wk workout regimen, Weeklong taiko/fue regimen
Raise my weight by 10lbs and keep it there
Re-instate 3 meal days.
Start using my daily planner more.
I didn't realize they named a street after him, but I guess it makes sense. He was, as far as I recall, much loved by the community and had a promising high school career ahead of him. To me, he was one of my first friends in California, albeit not a close one. Jocks and geeks don't get along THAT well =P but at the very least he wasn't cocky about it. We did share a table in English... along with Annie Lim (I wonder where she is now... She ended up going to another high school for whatever reason) and together we did the little activities that 8th graders did in English class. I'll leave the reminiscing there.
Anyways... here's my New Years resolution (It's kinda coincidental that the posting conditions are somewhat similar...):
Cut my sleeping hours (9+ each day is ridiculous) and push my wake-up time back to emulate working conditions, which likely means waking up at 6am.
Study goals: Week-long foreign language, weekday GRE and self-improvement
Physical: Follow a 6x/wk workout regimen, Weeklong taiko/fue regimen
Raise my weight by 10lbs and keep it there
Re-instate 3 meal days.
Start using my daily planner more.
Saturday, January 24, 2009
Sickness
Mom's down with Bronchitis (apparently...) Dad's sick too... and the soft tissue in my sinuses have been irritated by my demonstrated use of my inhaler... this isn't looking good.
Not to mention I wanna head down to SD today. =/
It also doesn't help that I got something like 2.5 hours of sleep last night.
Not to mention I wanna head down to SD today. =/
It also doesn't help that I got something like 2.5 hours of sleep last night.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)