Stuck In An 80's Bar

Last night my brother, his girlfriend, and myself (among others) traveled out to Pomona (where the Glasshouse and Fox Theater can be found) to celebrate a friend's 24th birthday. In an ideal situation, we wouldn't travel so far to celebrate, but instead have a BBQ party of sorts closer to home. Since that wasn't possible, Birthday Boy found a bar-club hybrid out in Pomona that was hosting an 80's themed night (hence the title of this post). The club promised free admission (before 10pm), cheap drinks ($3 domestic, $5 not-so-domestic), and a good time. How could we say no?

Upon entering, my ears were bombarded by the sounds of Blondie, Depeche Mode, Animotion, and their friends; my eyes struggled to see in the darkness, for the only sources of light were the dimly lit dance floor and faint lighting emanating from two projectors simultaneously broadcasting various clips from 80's pop culture (Transformers, The Terminator, Voltron, and Star Wars were among the many clips I recognized). Like any other club, as the night grew older, the venue become boisterous with the lives of our young, modern society. 

Although the dance club scene isn't really my atmosphere, I did my best to take it all in - the people, the music, the recognizable video clips - sometimes, with a beer in my hand. I did my best to mingle with others, to dance with my friends, and just have, overall, a good time like the flyer promised. Almost immediately, however, that promise went out the window, only to be trampled by passers by and streetcars (it's overdramatic but you know what I mean, right?). My brother had inadvertently almost got into a fight with a drunken fool all to eager to prove himself to the two beautiful women he was with (I would later realize his intentions with the reassurance of my brother and our friend). 

He was a white male, approximately 5'6" in height, 265lbs., about 26 years of age, with a goatee for facial hair. He wore a black T-shirt, cream colored khakis, and black Chucks (Converse). I know because I ingrained the image of him in my mind's eye. I wanted to knock off his stupid peddler's hat and punch his drunk face in. Though, this isn't about me; this is about my brother. Even now, we don't know what exactly happened that provoked the guy. All we know was that we (our group) were navigating the dance floor to find space to for us to dance. Then, he happened. He kept shouting at my brother, trying to intimidate him, but my brother knew he was drunk. In fact, my brother's exact words were,"Go away, you're drunk." But instead, he edged closer to my brother. It was then that his two ladies, myself, and my brother's girlfriend got involved to split them up. Though my brother walked away, the other was still looking for a fight. We go our separate ways and we evaporate within the crowd. 

That incident tarnished the remainder of my stay at the dance club. I couldn't shake off the incident, and I kept replaying the whole thing in my mind. It had all happened too quickly - how did it all begin? What could I have done, if anything? I couldn't let go, and I began to withdraw from the environment. I couldn't enjoy the music and I didn't want to dance anymore, so all I could was just watch the clips. I soon realized that the clips repeat themselves every 45 minutes, I just didn't notice the pattern sooner. My night was tarnished, shot to hell. 

Some time after it had happened, my brother and I managed to have some time to ourselves, while the others were off dancing or socializing. Through my phone's built-in notepad, I expressed my anger, concern, and dissatisfaction of how it all went down, killing my feel-good feelings I had built up until then. I told him how I would have lost my temper on that poor fool had he tried to throw a punch, swearing to make sure that the copious amount of alcohol he consumed wouldn't be the real reason why he will black out. My brother, in turn, reassured me that nothing had, in fact, happened. And if something had occurred, he would finish the fight before it even really begins. My brother had already sized up the guy, and realized that the guy didn't truly have what it takes to fight ("for survival," as he put it). Lastly, he knew that he was drunk, stupidly fighting under the power of "beer balls," or as I call it, "liquid courage." He couldn't win. He wouldn't be able to. At the end of our messages, he simply asked for me to forget about him and enjoy the rest of our stay at the club. Truth is, I couldn't let it go. 

Sometime later, we all went home, with exhausted bodies and for some (mainly me), exhausted minds. After driving home by myself, I cautiously open the two doors that lead me to the living room, careful not to make too much noise. I couldn't help but to play some music on the stereo. With that in the background, I collapse upon the living room sofa. My mind revisits the night - the good, the ugly, the aftermath. I reflect on the incident one last time. Then, I let go. My breathing became heavy, eyes marred with tears, and mucus runs down my nose. Now I know what had bothered me - it was the feeling of powerlessness, of physical weakness, and the reality that I can't defend those around me when they need protection. I felt that let my brother down, but it was really me. I let myself down. I ended up crying myself to sleep. It's been a while since that's happened. 

"True Facts About The Dung Beetle"

A friend share this video with me. Thought I'd do the same for you ;-)

Unrewarding Workdays

The past few work days, as the title suggests, have been very unrewarding. What I mean by this is that work has been busy (thanks to everybody trying to cash in on the lottery for the most part) and I've been on my feet for almost 8 hours at time. What bothers me is that, after the day is done (paperwork and at all), it seems like the revenue I've earned that day didn't really justify the amount of work that I've had for that said day. For example:

A slow, leisurely shift = A lower amount of revenue

A busy, fast-paced shift = A higher amount of revenue

Unfortunately, the past few business days have been more like this:

A busy, fast-paced shift = A lower amount of revenue

I'm hoping this trend at work will end soon. I like having good work days - makes me feel like I've truly earned my wages there.

"Dude, Where's My Car?"

Six days ago (last Tuesday on Sept. 10, 2013), my car was stolen approximately between 12:55 to 4:15 in the afternoon. I say this because I was at work at that time (luckily for me, it was only a half day, as opposed to working a full shift), and it wasn't until 4:15 in the afternoon that I realized that my car was missing! "Just up and gone," as my coworker had phrased it. 

After the initial shock of realizing this, I immediately searched the area where my car was at, desperately looking for shattered glass. There wasn't any. Then, because I had parked in a public lot, I had contacted the towing company in charge of that specific, hoping that my car was towed rather than stolen. Unfortunately, they didn't tow my car. Next, I contacted the city police department, again hoping that my car was in their possession rather than stolen. Again, no such luck, so I had to fill out a stolen vehicle report. Filling out the report wasn't that difficult at all (not that it should be, but the stress and shock of losing a car can interfere with the report), since I was very detailed on how my car looked like (describing pre-existing damages, stickers and decals, and such), as well as giving other pertinent information.

For almost a whole day, my car was missing. I was informed by a sheriff in San Dimas (should give you an idea of the area where I live) that my car was found in that city. Which I thought as bizarre, since a car like mine (it's an Acura Integra LS - without the V-Tec) usually ends up in Pomona, El Monte, or even in Los Angeles! But it was found in the whitebread town of San Dimas (again, bizarre). I spoke to the sheriff on the condition of the car (usually cars like mine and Honda Civics are stolen only to be scrapped for parts) and all he could tell me that my car was in "fair condition." Crap. I thanked him for the news and the following day, I picked up my car.

When I reclaimed my car, my heart was pounding. What will be there? What will be missing? were some of the thoughts running in my mind. I was lucky to realize that most of my engine parts and all my tires were all there! However, what was stolen were all of my personal belongings and such, and as far as my engine goes, only my intake valve (and air filter) were stolen! I sound happy, but it's more like surprised. After all, if the jerks who my car paid more attention, they should have seen that my distributor and gas filter were in excellent condition, as well as some small parts such as spark plugs, some tubing/hoses and electrical wiring. All they saw was that flashy intake valve. So that's the reason I was surprised that my car was in excellent shape: It was still drivable! My mechanic later told me that I was lucky to have my car back in this condition. Lucky, indeed.

So, here is a list of what has been stolen (more or less from what I remember):

Car-Related:

• The Intake Valve (as well as its Air Filter)
• Oil, Filter, and even the cardboard for the oil change! (They were some desperate dudes.)
• Jumper Cables
• Hydrolic Jack
• Fluids (Brake, Transmission, Power Steering)
• Surprisingly, not the Radiator Fluid

Personal Stuff (Materialistically Speaking):

• Car Radio and the sound system (such as the amp, though speakers weren't taken)
• My CD collection
• She & Him - Vol. 1,2,3
• Nine Inch Nails - Hesitation Marks (Deluxe Edition, too...)
• Sara Bareilles - The Blessed Unrest
• Fuel - Something Like Human
• The Strokes - Comedown Machine 
• Rob Zombie - Hellbilly Deluxe
• Julien-K - We're Here With You
• DragonForce - Valley of the Damned
• Ender's Game (the book, though this was for a friend)
• Paperwork (Registration, Insurance, misc.)

Personal Stuff (Sentimentally Speaking):

• My Spirit Ghost (it's a little good-luck charm - I called him Frederick)
• My Rubber Band Ball (and I worked so hard on it, too...)
• My Piggy Bank (no coins yet, so that's good)
• My Las Vegas Keychain (I never went to Vegas, but it came with the car's keys)

Hell of a Long Week...

Man, as the title says, I've had quite a long week.

In short, here's what had happened:

1. My car was stolen (and it was found one day later)!
2. I met a girl (fingers are really crossed here)!
3. I got drunk (not one of my finest moments...)!

Unfortunately, I'm currently out of time (since I've got class in 15 minutes) and these three topics of discussion are lengthy.

Don't worry, I'll dish later :P

Have a great day!

Reading and Falling Behind

Once again, I've edited my Comprehensive Reading List, CRL for short (as always), for what seems like the 10th time this year. My book count, over this year, has jumped exponentially from 51 or 52 (pretty much somewhere in the low 50's) to a new total of 68. As of now, I'm at approximately 63.63% of accomplishing my goal of this year. It's been such a hard trek in trying to read as much as possible. The cool (and annoying part) of this is that I'm more likely to go down on my progress than go up. This is so mostly because I add books than cross them off, but I'm doing my best to read two books for every one that's added. So, that's a good thing. =D

However, that's not where I'm falling behind actually. For one of my classes that is studying social changes on a macro level (this meaning across a lengthy period of time - in this case, human history), we have to read this textbook called Social Transformations: A General Theory of Historical Development (Expanded Edition) by Stephen K. Sanderson. Our professor warned us that this book will be a challenging read, since the book was written for Sociology grad students, not undergrad students. And reading this book is, well, pretty damn hard. In one of my earlier sociology classes, my professor pointed out that many books academic books are written with a specific lingo or lexicon that seems to shut out any other curious minds outside of that particular field (in other words, she argues that academic books should serve to enlighten everybody, including the everyday man, instead of a select few). 

Anyhow, reading this book makes running in water an easier task to perform. I was supposed to read chapter 1 by Saturday (yesterday), chapter 2 by tomorrow (Monday, which I haven't) and chapter 3 by (Wednesday, which probably won't happen) if I'm going to fully comprehend the lectures and classwork that I'm expected to complete effectively. Hence, I've fallen behind already.

The Fault In Our Stars & Hesitation Marks (100th Post!!!)

The Fault In Our Stars...just wow. I spent almost all of my free time reading all of it. While it sucks to admit that I didn't tear up (which I thought I would), the love, the loss, and the side effects of dying were truly, deeply felt. I really appreciated the wry humor that had emerged from tragic situation, revealing the very human side from a very inhuman disease. For some reason, Hazel seriously reminded me of Juno from...Juno. At some point, I put Ellen Page's face to Hazel, for that reason alone. Perhaps I'm thinking too much into it, but John Green did an amazing job revealing just how very differently people with diseases are treated differently. This was most obvious with girl's mother at the mall, as well as Hazel and Augustus acknowledging the myriad eyes watching them at the airport. Kaitlyn, Lidewij, and even that little girl at the mall were outstanding (as far as social norms go) by not treating Hazel with unnecessary sympathy and pity. All in all, The Fault In Our Stars was an amazing read. I'm quite happy with myself for buying the book.

In other news, I've got my hands (rather ears) on the new Nine Inch Nails' album, Hesitation Marks. My quick review is that the band is definitely heading in a new direction. However, I will say that my first impression of the album is fairly positive. Musically, it doesn't sound as post-industrial as his other band How to Destroy Angels, nor does this new material sound remotely similar to any of his previous work. Lyrically, still the same Reznor we've all always known. Hence, it's safe to say that album is a reflection of the band going in a new direction. 

Also, I realized that this is my 100th post!!! Wow, I didn't think I'd spend so much time here. For a while, I debated on terminating this account and beginning a Tumblr account, but out of laziness (I'm being honest here), I've decided to stick with this quaint Blogger account. Thank you for your love, support, and constant reading. Here's to another 100 posts. Cheers, mates!