February Month in Review

These past two weeks had alot of great moments. That's the main reason why I haven't been updating this blog in a long time.

Right now, I'm typing this entry from my new cell phone. Yes, I finally got a cell phone courtesy of my ridiculous tax refund, which was the LARGEST I ever got in the past 7 years that I've been working. Last year I did a brief gig as a graduation photographer at USC and Cal State Northridge. I enjoyed it, and I also ran into some old friends, and a teacher I had from middle school, wearing caps and gowns as I placed them behind the school banner on stage for the photographer to get their portrait. That literally could've been me up there if I took the ACT or the SAT in High School, despite that I maintained a perfect 3.6 GPA at Kennedy High.

The cell phone I got is the T-Mobile G2. AND I DON'T CARE WHAT ANYONE SAYS, THIS MOBILE DEVICE IS THE SHIT!

Now on one of my earlier entrires, I stated that I didn't want to get any smartphone that has Android running on it. Well, I lied... but not really. I originally wanted to get the Blackberry Torch after spending the first three weeks of the year deciding on either that or the iPhone 3GS which was being sold for $49, but the AT&T store that I went to in Encino said that I needed to put down a $500 deposit in order to start the service plan. After he said that, I just bounced out of there. I then checked out Verizon to see what they had, but all the good phones were hella pricey. Then later this past week after I cashed in my tax refund check at Bank of America in Warner Center (I'm surprised my savings account is still open since I haven't been doing transactions with them in a year), I dropped by the Westfield Promenade which is a walking distance from the bank and dropped $100 even on two books, two photography magazines, and the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue.

I then walked to the Topanga mall which is a block north, while wearing flip flops. I don't even know what the hell I was thinking when I decided to wear those, and they hurted my feet. I was about to head to the Verizon store to double check on their products, but first I had to buy this cool shirt I saw on Hollister's website. I know Hollister fell off since the beginning of the recession in mid 2008 and that not everyone buys thier products there like they used to 5 to 7 years ago. As I went inside the store, this girl that was working there greeted me like in every other Hollister store. I said hi and then decided to have a second look cause I thought that I saw her face somewhere before. So I went back to her and asked her if she went to the same high school that I went to and that girl turned out to be one of my old classmates. I won't mention her name on here just to respect her privacy, but it was great running into her. In fact, she was the one who got me into Hollister in the first place back when The O.C. was still on TV, since the characters on that show wear those type of clothes.

After I bought the shirt, I saw the T-Mobile store that is close by on the same floor next to the Macy's wing (for those of you who have been to Westfield Topanga before the expansion in 2006, that's where Robinson's May used to be at until Macy's bought them), so I decided to see what they have before I head to Verizon. I asked them about the T-Mobile G2 and they decided to give me a good deal on it. Five minutes later, I walked out of there with a brand new cell phone and a brand new number, which is on the CONTACT column on this website.

I spent the rest of the week playing with this phone like its a Christmas present I got back in the 90's. This device has EVERYTHING. From GPS to continous flash while taking video, which I never saw in any other phone, this thing is totally loaded. It reminds me of the time I got the Motorola V360 a week after my 18th birthday, which was one of top of the line phones for T-Mobile had back in 2006. In the past couple of months, I've said some intolerable shit about all the smartphones. And after abusing the G2 this week, I can see why. The reviews for this device were fairly and generally positive, about 9 out of 10. Yet, the only downfall is the battery life, which goes out very quickly, but hey, the specs are intense.

Other than that, everything else was fun. I met up with one of my old friends from elementary school in Burbank three weeks ago. We ate at California Pizza Kithchen and browsed around the Burbank mall and around Downtown Burbank while I was explaining to her why I didn't want to watch Chris Brown perform on Saturday Night Live that night with Russsell Brand hosting, which I did want to see. That day was great.

A week later, I went to the NBA All Star Jam fest with one of my friend's family at the Los Angeles Convention Center. It was like Fiesta Lakers that I went to in 2009, but only more larger than life. Dwayne Wade was the only "famous person" that I witnessed there, and I managed to get a terrific shot of him coming out to the crowd. They had a lot of basketball related activites there for the kids, which was generous from the NBA. one of the main reasons I went is that stuff like this only comes once in a lifetime, and I wanted to take great advantage of it.

One last major thing before I take off. Great Big shoutout to NBA/Lakers Photographer Andrew Berstein for getting to meet you and autographing my Journey To The Ring: 2009-10 Los Angeles Lakers book today at Barnes and Noble in the Westside Pavillion mall. I've been to many book signings, but not like the one today where Andrew Berstein, along with former Lakers coach Bill Sherman and his wife, took their time to explain about the book and why he chose to publish it. THAT'S HOW EVERY BOOK SIGNING EVENT SHOULD BE LIKE! And finally, major shoutout to my best friend Tina for escorting with me to the event. I had a really fantastic time.

I'M MAD LATE ON THE WEEKEND RECAP

Because it was THAT good. Took a charter bus to Six Flags Magic Mountain in Valencia with my house-mates on Saturday. Didn't want to, but I had to. They went for the rides, I went to go pick up my free season pass. As I went inside just to get some change, some lady was hitting on me. She look a few years older and not really my type, but I wasn't in the mood to score on her and plus she was here with her husband and kids. I was supposed to work for my uncle that night, but I couldn't reach him. So instead, I went with my friend Nicole Stetter and her friends to go watch and take photos her band Darger De Milo and Aftergloam along with some other bands perform at Space 2710 in Eagle Rock. The show was really great, even though it was at a very small venue. Met some nice people there, including this photographer who works for himself and ran into this girl that I haven't seen since 8th grade graduation back in 2002. Major props to Elvis Galvez and Tianna Edmonson for pulling a double duty by performin with two different bands.

Then on Sunday I rode my bike to one of my friends house to watch Super Bowl XLV with them. It felt like watching a regular NFL game for some weird reason. The only great things about the day was the Trailer for Super 8 that aired durin the break, which was made and based on Steven Spilberg's upstart as a filmmaker from a Sci-Fi approach, the spicy Doritos that were served during the game, and Aaron Rodgers winning the big dance and finally getting a ring.

Then on Monday, I went with my pops to take him to his Physical Therapy appointment. I got a chance to drive the 2010 Honda Civic that he rented that morning, which I thought he would never drive. Then later we went to pick up his Lexus LS400 which has been in the body shop for three months. That full size sedan looks brand new, like nothing happened and it drives well. After he picked up his whip, we went to go return the Civic to Enterprise out of all places. I thought that they only give out Chevy Malibu's and other cheap American sedans. Now there starting to rent out dosmestic vehicles.

Anyway, that was my weekend. Now time for me to get back to work as usual.

INTERNET SOBER WEEKEND

Yes, its that time again. For the next two days, I have to work with my uncle again to cover some events since last December, handle and deal with some family business, and of course, Super Bowl Sunday, which is a four hour commercial with some Football and a performance from the Black Eyed Peas. See y'all on Monday, and watch your checkbooks.

"WHY DO YOU WANT TO WORK HERE?"

Seriously, what the hell kind of question is that? It cause we want to make money to put food in the fridge, keep our lights on, take warm showers, drive our automobiles, pay our credit cards on time to maintain a perfect credit report (which is what job interviewers look at nowadays) and to score a fancy date with a girl. Every mall that I go to in Los Angeles, I always see more chicks with ass employed than anyone else. I once scared a hiring manager at a McDonald's restaurant two years during an interview for having more knowledge than him about the corporate facts of the company and knowing the names of all the district managers cause I used to work at another McDonald's two years prior to that day. There were also former CEO looking canidates who were twice as older as me that were also applying there, which shows how horrific the recession was and the effect it did to the United States economy during 2009. My little brother told me that every Target he goes to, all the employees there look and literally act like the cast of the television show Glee, without the singing.

Speaking of which, Northridge Fashion Center and the Magic Touch kiosk there can go straight to hell for laying off my little brother after 3 days of working there. Overjealous couple of bastards.