General
Just general, non-specific stuff
(BLA-BLA-ing since 2002!)
Intro-LUDE
I'm Adri, a Californian nerdette dwelling at the East of the Golden Gate who loves to blog, take random pics, and make cool web stuff. I dig reading, music, singing, traveling, tea, food, Asian pop cultures, anime, manga, video games, the Golden State Warriors, the San Francisco 49ers, the San Jose Sharks, and the Oakland A's. I am a contributing writer for Technorati, Blogcritics, and KabayanTech. I am also a happy sitter to a family of cats, in which this current blog theme is dedicated to. [Extend →]
Social-PLAYALISTIC!
Till Next Time, Mr. Paddy
Till you return…
It really does make me wonder if 2012 really marks the year the world ends.
As we go through the final stretch of this year, most of us dismissed and forgotten about the whole “end of the world” hoopla that was supposed to take place next Friday (12/21). But with all the tragedies and the disasters that occurred during these final months (the most recent one was yesterday…), I couldn’t help but wonder if the whole hoopla really was true or not. Still, I continue to be a skeptic.
Today is the last day that my neighborhood coffee shop, Paddy’s Coffee, will be present at this corner location. Yesterday was their last day of operations. I did stop by Paddy’s the day before that and took this photo you see at the right during noontime. The weather was perfect, plus I love the fact that the sun slightly shines over the complex but never over-shined Paddy’s altogether. But anyhow, I ordered my Mexican Mocha (I normally order their different varieties of chai, but Mexican Mocha this time) that day and I sat alone on a corner table just taking a few photos so I can have… Continue reading
December 2012
December 14, 2012 – 11:22 p.m. PST.
We only have seven more days until the day tomorrow ends.
This month, the final month of this bustling year, should be a joyful month. Christmas, Hannukah/Chanukah, Kwanzaa, or whatever end of the year celebration out there, they all have one thing in common: spending this precious holiday season with your family, friends, and your other loved ones.
Supposedly… until this morning.
The horrendous massacre that happened in Newtown, CT this morning isn’t just another mass murder-suicide case just like what happened back at Columbine, Virginia Tech, and the movie house in Colorado. After the mass murder-suicide case that killed five young girls at a small school in an Amish community six years ago, the one at Newtown, CT cost twenty young children’s lives, along with seven adults including the murderer’s own mother.
It’s common that we would always ask ourselves the question of “Why?” whenever we see such a tragedy. It’s a simple question to ask but a difficult question to answer. I don’t want to talk about the details regarding the tragedy this morning because the situation altogether that lead to this incident had a lot of similarities to the pass… Continue reading
End of Adri’s BlackBerry Era
After two years of having fun with the cool slider QWERTY keyboard that came with the BlackBerry, it was time for me to say goodbye. And to tell you the truth, even though I still dread touchscreen keyboards, tangible keyboards on phones only.exist on messaging phones that aren’t powered by the latest OS such as the iPhone and the Android. I had to get a really functional, more or less updated phone that can be compatible with the latest apps and a whole lot more.
I almost went for a Samsung, most especially the latest S III, but the price was definitely out of my budget. I was going for an LG but the Android OS was completely old school. And then there came a phone that stood out for me: the white HTC.One X. I purchased it on sale for around $40 and that doesn’t even include the taxes and my InvisibleSHIELD screen protector. Though I call myself cheap, I think I made a smart choice for a newly upgraded phone.
I finally get to join my friends who are whoring Instagram, and a whole lot other things. This also came with the beatsaudio system though I don’t really… Continue reading
Happy Birthday MG!
Although it’s already late, here where I live, your birthday was just the beginning.
I have been extremely busy these past few weeks because of NaNoWriMo and MMO gaming, however I tried all I can keep in touch with you, your whereabouts, and your happenings on FB, so at least I know I’m not falling behind. You’ve come a long way— a very long way— through your younger days to your teenage years. Now at eighteen, you are about to embark on a brand-new journey and a new stage in your life. Since the PBB Days, the paths and days ahead had always shined for you, and even up to now, you always continued to shine.
I’ve been thinking on what I can give you for my birthday present but because of real life among other things, I haven’t had the chance to figure out what I should really give you for that special day and I feel embarrassed because you are turning in to the important age of eighteen. So instead, I decided to write to you instead here on my blog. After all, it was how we first met/encountered each other, so what would be a good way… Continue reading
Another Story Idea
I actually got an idea for another story to write based on my experiences from playing (the currently in danger of closing) Lucent Heart (LH). I’ve tried writing fantasy genre stories before but I fail big time. I don’t know if it’s lack of research, lack of general knowledge, or simply there are just writers out there who were just plain creative. For the latter, I really give my huge salute and respect for their overwhelming yet convincing imagination for crafting exciting fantasy-based stories, such as the Harry Potter series, His Dark Materials, and even The Hunger Games.
So, this particular one would be my umpteenth attempt in to writing a fantasy-genre story. It’s going to be a hodgepodge of the past and the present, so obviously this would take place in an alternate reality world/timeline. No title yet, no concrete concept yet, but I kinda want to steal some ideas from LH and other concepts just to fit in with this story idea. There may be some changes, but you know, these are just ideas. I also wanted to base the nature of the story on possibly Greek, Roman, or even Norse Mythology (maybe a bit of… Continue reading
My Intro to U-JAM
November is demo classes month at the UC Sports Center. There are quite a lot of opening slots for fresh new fitness classes as of late and it’s about time that the sports center diversify their fitness class offerings and cater to all ages with diversified tastes. Since the beginning of fall I’ve been stuck with just the treadmills, Zumba, and occasionally Afro Belly Boogie classes and I have been looking to diversify myself in order to get back in shape, lose weight, and you know, maintain my health big time to stay alive and live longer.1 I was excited to learn that the sports center were having demo classes in hopes that these become regular additions to our group workouts. Diversity in fitness programs is as good as diversifying yourself with the foods you eat.
According to the group exercise schedule calendar, the demo classes are as follows:2
- Yogalates (11/6)
- Zumba w/ Lynn (11/11)3
- U-JAM Fitness (11/13)
- Muay Thai Madness (11/16)
Apparently, I missed Yogalates (I’ll assume it’s a combination of yoga and pilates) because I was sick with the flu the entire week, and of course, I had church on the 11th so… Continue reading
Usapang Politiko 2
Thanks to my dad and his political connections, I had a chance to do some volunteer work by phone banking. What this means is that we were given the opportunity to call registered voters to remind them of the Election Day and that their votes count, most especially towards propositions and candidates running for office other than the president.
I feel bad, somewhat. When I registered to vote at age 18 I didn’t affiliate myself with any particular party. What I did discover though is that everything (almost) we voted for in the past are the ones the Democratic Party supports. My parents aren’t affiliated with any party also but my siblings and plenty of relatives living here are registered democrats. I was phone banking on behalf of one of my dad’s friends for county supervisor, and because that friend is a democrat (he won, BTW), I ended up phone banking for other candidates and propositions supported by the Democratic Party.
Despite of that, I had a good experience actually getting involved in political campaigning even if I’m not political myself. Maybe I may do it again next year or something.
Most of the candidates I voted and propositions I… Continue reading
Dear Cancer
You claimed plenty of lives from time to time, anywhere around the world. In fact, two of you, Pancreatic Cancer and Breast Cancer, you invaded our happy family life and destroyed our closeness, our wonderful memories, and our anticipated long lives by taking lives way too early.
You, Mr. Pancreatic Cancer, must be proud that you took the lives of two of my favorite cousins whom I haven’t seen for so many years. It was truly heartbreaking that I wasn’t even able to see their smiling faces before they finally closed their eyes to the world. It really broke my heart that I was able to see them again, only that I met their gravestones and wasn’t able to give them anything else but flowers and the word “Goodbye.”
However, you, Miss Breast Cancer, are an utter failure. You attempted to take the lives of my aunt and lately, my mother. Not this time. Thanks to today’s cutting edge procedures, even if it may be painful, both my aunt and my mother survived your poisonous attacks. They may be older when they met you than my late cousins when they met Mr. Pancreatic Cancer, but the powers of medicine, the… Continue reading
National Food Day
Despite the fact that I am a Type 2 diabetic1, honest to goodness, and as God as my witness, there’s just no way that I can ever deny it: Adri + FOOD =
Today, October 24, is National Food Day, here in the U.S., at least. Sure, we all eat everyday, it’s the only way for us to sustain and nurture ourselves and live a longer life, however, this particular Food Day is a whole lot more than just eating food in general. National Food Day is about the celebration and the advocacy of healthy, affordable, sustainable, and delicious food. We’re talking about local, fresh, organic, and naturally-grown food that provides all the nutrients that our bodies truly need that becomes lacking from processed foods and foods that are, I don’t know how to say this, maybe… genetically engineered?
This is a rather perfect day regarding the advocacy and promotion of Proposition 37: The Requirement of Food Producers to provide labels on foods that are genetically engineered. For me, I’m somewhat partial to this proposition, after all, a YES vote would ensure us that our children and ourselves are eating the types of food that… Continue reading
Usapang Politiko
Four years ago, I was actually in to the upcoming presidential elections and the more controversial state and local propositions. Today, I seem to be more interested in the state and local propositions themselves and I couldn’t care less about who is currently running for the next President of the United States. The difference between today’s upcoming elections versus the presidential elections from four years ago was because both candidates four years ago were fresh faces and non-incumbents, pitted against each other to see which one of them wins the right to seat of (possibly) the most powerful leader of the world.
I was never an overly political person, nor that I’m really in to politics in general. I only get interested in aspects of it, whether if it would be something very significant that can wholly affect my entire community or something that would simply just piss me off. Despite that I still pray and hope for getting myself back in the work force again, I seem to be a whole lot more interested in the way the government deals with foreign policy and immigration. After all, my family and I had a wonderful opportunity in to entering the… Continue reading