Chunky Camera (I can't bring you anywhere)

2009-02-06T14:13:00.000-08:00

I've moved.
I'm sorry but the pressure of thinking up full blog posts to write made it too hard to update this regularly...

Tillary St Tigers!

2008-12-16T12:51:00.000-08:00

RPGs

2008-11-15T19:38:00.000-08:00

I've noticed that most of the people I hang out with tend to be very unbalanced.
I don't mean unbalanced in the sense that they're emotionally disturbed or anything but unbalanced in the sense that all their attributes (geeky rpg term?) tend to lie only in one area. And if years and years of logging sleepless nights into rpgs have taught me anything, it's that specialized characters need to be in a balanced party to succeed. I mean you DO NOT create a party with nothing but mages, no, no, no. You need a healer, a fighter, a ninja type, ect.
My point being that my circles of friends all tend to be single class parties, i.e. all mages, all fighters, you get the idea.
I need to organize some sort of event that will get all my circles together and create well balanced parties.

My favorite rpg being Final Fantasy 6, which also introduced me to the art of Yoshitaka Amano, a major influence of mine!

Historical

2008-11-04T22:19:00.000-08:00

It feels great to have lived and witnessed such historic times.

Consumer/Prosumer

2008-10-18T08:10:00.000-07:00

If I was software, I'd most likely be a RC 3

2008-10-11T20:04:00.000-07:00

A few weeks ago I attended a memorial dinner/fundraiser for a guy that got killed by some girl's jealous ex. He was a EMS worker and one of my co-workers was trying to get people to come out to the dinner and not too many people were keen on going, which I can kind of understand considering the guy didn't die a line-of-duty death and he was a EMT and not a firefighter, but I felt bad so I agreed to go.
The guy already had 2 kids and another one on the way and now those kids have to grow up without a dad cause he started dating some girl that had a crazy ex. If the same thing happened to me, the thing that'd really make me sad is the fact that my kids would have to eventually learn the way that their dad died, not some noble heroic act that took him before his time but over a stupid stupid girl. My goodness, the thought of something like that is making my stomach curl right now. It's often the way I wonder what other people will tell their kids when they ask what they did during their war.

"Well Suzie, daddy was a busy office worker so he couldn't go to Iraq."

Ugh, I don't know how I'd live with myself.

I really hated visiting my sister's school before she graduated because I was usually just a few weeks removed from combat and I'd walk around in an environment where strong smart people would be passionately working themselves up for some trivial cause. The last time I visited, the school was contemplating canceling an event called Tubestock and the students were up in arms about this, when I asked my sister what Tubestock was she told me it's when the student body ride inflatable tubes out on a river and get stupid drunk. This stupid little thing made me so incredibly angry (granted I was pretty much angry 24/7 for a while when I left Iraq). I wanted so badly to fire machineguns into the stupid crowd of ivy leaguers. Americans better than you were dealing with real problems a 15 hour plane ride away you stupid brats. I was a very angry individual back then.

Accident

2008-10-08T16:17:00.000-07:00

Dammit, dammit, dammit!
Got into a car accident on the way home today. It was just a tiny fender-bender that took out the guy's rear light and dented my front (obviously my fault).
I'm happy that no one was hurt and the cost of fixing the damage is totally doable for me right now but the thought of spending money on something like this really rankles me, heaven forbid it costs me more than $400 dollars to fix this, I mean that could be a freakin' PS3 I'm buying!!!
Argh, argh, argh!

2008-10-07T18:02:00.001-07:00

It's almost time to start layering my clothes!

Venn

2008-09-27T19:46:00.001-07:00

Click here for full screen version

Awkward

2008-09-24T20:24:00.000-07:00

For some reason I always feel like I just grew out of my awkward phase. Don't get me wrong I was always pretty much a blustering ball of awkwardness all through my teenage years but when I finally graduated HS and left home and started my military phase I always marveled at how dorky and bumbling I was in high school and how different I surely was.
Fast forward to 5 years later and I'm finally starting college and I can't believe how awkward and gangly I was in my Army days, I mean, good gracious, what was I thinking with that haircut?
Now, three years later, I'm thinking back on how I was back in 2005 and I'm amazed at how insecure and awkward I felt as a clumsy 22 year old.
I'm sure that once I'm 30 I'll think back to five years ago and think, "Goodness, was I an awkward 25 year old or what?"

Window screens

2008-09-10T18:29:00.000-07:00

My window screens do not appear to be working.
As the weather outside is starting to become too cold for mosquitos, the damn buggers seem to be making a last stand in my place and now I am sporting some feisty looking bites on my body.
This is truly unfortunate since this is quickly becoming ideal "sleeping with open windows" season.

Tomorrow is a profoundly...solemn day for my profession... I wonder how it'll go.

Climbing

2008-08-29T19:50:00.000-07:00

My new hobby is rock climbing.
I spend about 4 hours at city climbers club at 59th st and 11 ave from 12 to 4 pm every Saturday climbing a tiny room with hand-holds screwed into the walls.
I originally started cause I wanted to increase my upper body strength and my gripping power, with a secondary goal of managing my fear of heights. Now I just really enjoy climbing and meeting new people at the club.
Speaking of heights, I've decided that I would much rather work on a fire engine instead of a fire truck, I want to be the guy with the hose killing fires instead of the dude climbing the ladders rescuing people. Aluminum ladders tend to bounce when you're climbing up them. Walls stay pretty sturdy.

Can you tell I'm still bitter?

2008-08-10T00:38:00.000-07:00

For some reason I'm still miffed.
Screw it, that girl will find a nice short boring korean man, and have a nice boring relationship where they never kiss outdoors, and have a nice boring marriage which will bear nice short boring korean children.
Screw it indeed.

Procrastinating...

2008-06-20T23:53:00.001-07:00

I just got a email telling me that my Cubic sq foot work is due by july 17.
Bleh, that means I actually only have like a week to finish up.
This might need to a dirty rush job.
Theme is anime; bright candy style, will sell for cheap, nothing more than $40.
Ch-ch-ch-check it out!
http://www.apwarts.com/

Dear Canidate:

2008-06-15T19:20:00.000-07:00

Congratulations! You have been selected for the position of Probationary Firefighter with the Fire Department of the City of New York...

More random

2008-06-06T13:26:00.000-07:00

I need to update the songs that I have loaded onto my MP3 player, it's the start of summer and I'm still listening to slow wintery and cold spring songs. So goodbye Ingrid Michealson and Radiohead! No more moody and atmospheric tunes for me! So long Deathcab and Cat Power! I need upbeat and fun! Yeah yeah yeah!

I stopped by the art store yesterday and bought 3/4 pounds of hi quality paper along with 25 envelopes, thus spending more money on paper than I ever want to again. Solar white cotton, very purdy.
I want to start writing letters again. I really hit my letter writing stride while I was away in the Army and I've lost all my letter writing skills since then.

Post trip recap

2008-06-02T21:10:00.000-07:00

Just came back from 6 nights in Orlando Florida and it was a blast.
I finally went to Disney World to see what all the hubbub was about and I can say that it is a must-do if you are a American. Seriously. There's something very cool and enchanting about going to a place where the main prerogative of every employee is to make sure that you have a magical experience. Orlando is also a very relaxed place to be after the madness that was my Finals. Most nights ended with me in my wife-beater sipping a beer with my friend in his backyard perfecting my white-trash look.
The cons- going from park to park and attraction to attraction can get VERY expensive, thankfully my friend Joe had the hookup so we were able to get into Disney at a way discounted price. Also the city of Orlando is built in what I like to call "Parking lot design", it's the same thing I experienced while I lived a bit in central Texas, everything seems to be built on parking lots that are connected by highways so you feel kinda isolated to your particular "parking lot".
I'll upload a video from the firework show at magic kingdom when Vimeo finishes converting it.

Disney fireworks from Jihyun Park on Vimeo.

I have more vids but they look totally cloverfield style.

Plans for between school

2008-05-21T00:40:00.000-07:00

Thurs May 22- School ends
Fri May 23- Dinner w/ lab group
Sat May 24- Museums and dinner w/ family
Tues May 27- Leave for Disney World (!!!!!)
Mon Jun 2- Back from Florida
Tues Jun 3- Summer school begins ^~^

Someone help me fill in the gaps

Friends

2008-05-14T21:58:00.000-07:00

“He smiled understandingly-much more than understandingly. It was one of those rare smiles… It faced–or seemed to face–the whole external world for an instant, and then concentrated on you with an irresistible prejudice in your favor.”

I love my friends.

Venting

2008-05-11T01:10:00.000-07:00

I feel freakin compartmentalized.
I feel like a freakin placeholder.
I feel optional.
Vent, vent, vent.
More to come.
...
I realized that one of the friends that I thought I made upgraded their friends and that doesn't include me. I feel pretty badly burned and betrayed but whatever, I guess stuff like this happens. I've let my steam out and reorganized my thoughts. I need to treat this like a bad relationship and cut it loose, there's no point in investing time or energy into a friendship that doesn't benefit me and regularly uses me as a stepping stone.
I slyly need to start collecting my stuff and say "It's been a time."

The worth of one true friend is worth multiples more than many acquaintances.

My gut hurts

2008-05-08T21:28:00.000-07:00

I just ate a loaf of bread. Yes, the whole damn loaf.

Things I'm currently listening to, so you should too.

2008-05-04T21:50:00.000-07:00

The Ting Tings
I was directed to their myspace page from another band's bulletin post and I was hooked. One of their songs were just featured in a ipod commercial so expect these two to become HUUUGE. I play "That's not my name" off their myspace and my bedroom becomes a instant dance party. Oh yeah I'll be seeing them live this summer too!

Lupe Fiasco
I'll be honest, I originally listened to his debut only because he had a nintendo DS on his album cover. The fat DS. I was intrigued. The debut "Food and liquor" was pretty much on constant play on my phone and I was expecting a mediocre sophomore effort but his new album "The Cool" basically made me forget about his first album. Seriously it's that good.

The Sounds
Rockin' poppy swedish awesomeness fronted by an even more awesome girl. One of my favorite concerts I've ever been to. Maja seriously rocks my world.

The Cribs
An english rock band that plays super high energy american style punk. It's because of bands like this that I rarely need coffee after my morning commute.

Lights
You've probably already heard this girl on the Old Navy commercials, cause that's how I discovered her. Amazingly sweet lyrics with a cute voice all mixed together with a vaguely electronic sound. Please come to NYC!

Bloc Party
I don't know how these guys managed to slip past me for so long, maybe I was just backlashing against the hype of this band when they got big a couple of years ago, but man was that my loss. I love to sing along with "This modern love".

Marié Digby
Admittedly, I might just be latching onto the trend of lovely female songstress' that make me feel all ready to fall in love or maybe watch Gray's Anatomy (Jaymay, Ingrid Michealson, Sara Bareilles, Kate Voegele, et al.) but screw it. Her songs really do make me wish I was in love.

A Fine Frenzy
Ummm... see Marie Digby. Plus she's GORGEOUS. Seriously.

Epik High
My attempt to connect with my korean roots? Maybe, but however I might have discovered this group, it's pretty much set my standard for korean hiphop. Super intellectual lyrics in both korean and english. I really like their 4th album "Remapping the human soul". Their newest album...ehhh... not so much.

Posting from the phone...

2008-04-28T22:47:00.000-07:00

1,2,3 hello mobile world?

I'm kinda vain!

2008-04-24T20:42:00.000-07:00

I got elective surgery today!
Next time you see me, try to guess why I look different!
Bwahahaha!

My electronic cloud

2008-04-23T20:00:00.000-07:00

I currently have accounts to these things online

Emails- Gmail, Hotmail, Yahoo, AKO
Chat clients- AIM, MSN, Yahoo messenger, Meebo
Social networking- Facebook, Myspace, Linkedin, Twitter, Pownce
Various Web 2.0- Flickr, Mint, Ebay, Digg, Blogger, Last.FM

so basically I have this nice electric cloud that'll follow me around for the rest of my life!
Like a robot friend!
That never leaves.
Yay.

Sigh...

2008-04-23T00:35:00.000-07:00

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/04/19/theater/19peac.html

I like to think that the world is better because of people like her.

I feel perspective-ized

2008-04-14T19:52:00.001-07:00

Sometimes I get so caught up in this college/television/emo-charged life of mine, and I forget how well aligned and blessed my life really is.

My friend Marcos finally got back from Iraq today.
This bit of news made me feel immeasurably happy!

And now for a book review.
The curious incident of the dog in the night-time. By Mark Haddon.
Very clever writing. It's basically the story of a family drama told from the perspective of a autistic child. The book is interspersed throughout with nice illustrations that are just that, illustrations of the child's thought-process. Definitely worth a borrow but I was able to finish in one day and it's didn't really leave me with enough love for the world to want to reread it at another time. Don't buy.... but that said, I'll totally let anyone who wants to, borrow my copy!

Things that need to get done

2008-04-13T23:34:00.000-07:00

Mail off Texas driving record request-done
Obtain earning statement from SS office-done
Get eyes fixed-in progress
Study for Genetics test-done
Study for Instrumental Analysis test-done
Write up Organic chem report-done
Write up Instrumental lab notebook-done
Register for summer and fall classes
Obtain override for summer and fall classes-done
Apply to more internships
Ask out cute girl in Genetics class

My first art show!

2008-04-07T19:39:00.000-07:00

I had my first art show and it was such a blast, even managed to sell 2 of my pieces. And oh my goodness! The Vietnamese sandwiches at the shop on the corner of 2nd st and Ave A are soooooo good. I sometimes just sit at my desk and start craving them. I took one of my friends down to the gallery to see my stuff but unfortunately the place was closed (what the heck are their hours anyways?) but the trip was not a waste at all since I got to indulge in some scrumptious bahn mi sandwiches! I have decided that my favorites are Original and spicy pork. Blaaarrrgh.... craving...

So random...

2008-04-03T21:09:00.000-07:00

I think I have to be able to figure out when I'm being taken advantage of faster. I feel like I've been very well and expertly tweaked about for a while now. All this talk of human intuition, experience and crap. Ugh. What a nice feeling.

On a nicer note, gallery opening tomorrow!
http://www.partartshow.com/

I highly recommend everyone watches Planet B-Boy, it's been a while since a movie made me all teary-eyed like that.

Social

2008-03-20T21:53:00.000-07:00

Ever since I started this current semester of school I feel my workload had decreased CONSIDERABLY so I've been trying to be more social at school. I realized I've been a student at John Jay for over 2 years now and I can count the number of friends I've made on one hand. I thought it would be pretty sad to graduate in a year and not have at least built up a network of future contacts or whatever, but I feel kinda funny when I try to initiate some sort of interaction, I think that I've grown much too comfortable just staying in the fringes of each other's school lives and to try and push things any further feels kinda forced and inconvenient.
It's times like this I really miss my old military environment, there was no pretense or sense of an agenda when anyone extended a hand to me. I was a soldier, you were a soldier, and damn it I know that you've got my back me so I'll protect you with such fierceness that you will have the same exact amount of faith in me. Just writing about it makes me miss it more.
I always feel kinda dirty trying to make new friends in school cause I can feel myself "working the angles" and seeing if I can benefit somehow from this contact.
Ugh, I hate myself a little bit.
I need to be more open-hearted, earnest, and true-faced.

First Post!

2008-03-01T20:49:00.000-08:00

Remember when we were in high school and we'd debate and commiserate over our xanga comments?
Yeah, me neither.

I'm always trying to break stereotypes associated with me whether it's my race, gender, new yorker or whatever. But seriously there are certain things that I just cannot escape from, I've worked so hard to dispel the stereotype that us science majors are total dorks but all my work came undone this afternoon as me and three other science dorks had a heated debate in lab about the time continuum of Stargate, and the possible identity of the final cylon in Battlestar galactica.
Sigh.