Fall Gaming

Here are a list of games I would love to play:

Uncharted 3
Dynasty Warriors 7
Infamous 2: DLC Festival of Blood
Assassin's Creed: Revelations
God of War III
God of War Origins
Kirby: Return to Dreamland
Need for Speed: The Run

Here are a list of games I would love to finish:

Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood
Infamous 2: Evil Side
Final Fantasy XIII
The God of War Collection

Yup, retirement or a long break would be nice.

Album Art

To anyone who knows me well or has seen my iPhone and iTunes, all my songs have album art.

I'll spend a good 30 minutes looking for any album art that is of the best quality and is over the size of 500  x 500 or fulfills one or the other as long as it is a 500 or more pixels.

What most who have dug through my iPhone will realize that even my foreign albums contain album art.

My mild obsession with album art stems back to 2005 when I first got my iPod Video. It was the second iPod to ever be capable of displaying album art and I didn't want to have an iPod that looked like everyone else's.

Here's what most people will have on their iPod or iPhone.

Neyo Becauseof You.mp3
Ne-Yo
Because_of_you2006

Mine would have

[ album art] Because of You
Ne-Yo
Because of You

And all my foreign songs will have their foreign titles, their appropriate artists in their respective names and the year in which the album was released.

A lot of people would love to have that sort of convenience but to start out of nothing will be both time consuming and a challenge. Mine just happens to be 6 years of ongoing progress that I am very proud of.

Life Optimization

...Never going to happen.

One of Those Bad Days

So yesterday was one of those days where its hard to wonder whether bad luck is merely a coincidence or just predetermined in life.

Here's a list of all the problems I faced today:

Yesterday my aunt wanted me to help her burn 6 DVD's. I got home at around 4 am and believed she was going to come over the next day to pick up the burned copies. They took forever to burn but I got it done. I tell her immediately and she tells me she'll pick it up the day after.

Yesterday my dad's iPhone froze completely and it was impossible to fix. We planned on going to the Apple Store early the next day to get it swapped. After the battery drained, it finally worked normally again so that never happened and I woke up earlier.

I was planning to get a haircut at Berkeley for a while and had my mind set on Sunday. After burning those discs, I went to check their hours of operation and it turns out they're closed on Sundays. So I never got to get my haircut.

I decide its been a while since my friends and I head to Rihu's house. After getting everyone to agree to go, it turns out Rihu locked himself out of the house and had no way of getting in.

On my way out, I decide it would be convenient to bring my check to deposit. To make everything worse, I lose my check when I was checking out my parking spot.

A scratcher I was trying to redeem is still unredeemed because no one was at customer service.

So...I don't know what to say about bad days. It got progressively worse despite my efforts to try to make good use of the remaining time I had.

Facebook

Sometimes I learn something new and sometimes old things start standing out to me a bit more.

Am I convinced that the pictures people upload on Facebook reflect their true lifestyle? Or are they simply what we want our lives to look like through the eyes of our acquaintances on Facebook?

Me being me after all, I look at my own Facebook profile as an example.

I don't have the party-life profile I see a lot of people have. Come to think of it, I'm not much of a party person myself. I don't know why I'm not. Sometimes it has a to do with the type of friends I have and other times its just me and how my own preferences of what a "good time" is.

I think I make it a good effort to have people know that I am not a party animal or a social-drinker kind of guy. I like to put myself out as just an average casual guy with my own priorities. Whenever I do go out to party or drink, its a little bit more special for me because I break out of my usual shell and therefore its a more memorable moment.

Sometimes, if we do the same thing over and over again, it no longer becomes fun and in my case, I can get really broke from it.

I'm a conservative spender (don't get that mistaken with cheap, I will buy something expensive and not buy something for another month), and quite frankly, I don't have the kind of money to always go out for drinks like how I see a lot of people on Facebook do. I can't afford the snowboarding trip at Tahoe, I can't afford the bimonthly Vegas trip or the awesome bottle service that everyone has.

Believe it or not, I have enough money to simply get by without having to worry. I'll only face a problem when I do some crazy spending. If I were a girl, I'd probably have spending issues...and free drinks.

But looking at my upbringing, its not money that is hard to obtain. In fact, if money was my biggest concern, I wouldn't be going to school this semester. I would be working the maximum of my part time job or working full time. Its simply a job that is hard to get.

I guess to wrap it all up, I'm jealous of all the fun my Facebook friends are having. I'm jealous my profile pictures aren't "Terence having a bombtastic time at the bar with his homies", I'm jealous of people posting pictures of themselves on vacation.

Being honest with myself is fulfilling, I used to bring out a digital camera when I hang out with my friends because I want to catch every memorable moment with them.

The reason I stopped doing that is because a year ago, I ended up being the photographer. It's one thing to take an awesome picture with you and your friends but its become annoying to have to ask your friend to help you take the pic.

To those who have awesome pictures of themselves having fun, be thankful someone was around to take the picture. Chances are, if you brought the camera, you end up taking pictures for everyone else.

People

Yesterday goes to show you that people in this world are completely irrational.

There are so many people in the world expecting an iPhone 5. Speculation for that mythical phone began 4 months after the iPhone 4 came out which is stupid.

And now that we have an iPhone 4s (something I thought was a more legit release), people are complaining about the fact that its not an iPhone 5 and that Apple lied to them.

Apple didn't lie to them, they lied to themselves and media speculation lied to them. I'm not one for defending Apple on this but I really do not recall Apple saying anything about an iPhone 5 or even an iPhone 4s.

It goes to show how much people worship Apple and how much people will buy into rumors and crap because it gives them a false-hope that they can improve their lives with a simple change of a number.

I'll give you this, if Apple did not have public stock to get a backlash from, maybe they would give you that iPhone 4s but just change the number to a 5.

Now here's where I get to bash on the people who hate Apple products.

I strongly believe Apple needs as much competition as it can get. I'm glad Microsoft has been pushing for a friendlier user-interface with Windows 7 Mobile and I'm glad Google puts in the extra efforts to enhance their Android software frequently.

What I can't stand are the ignorant non-Apple users who continually bash on Apple. As much as they can hate Apple, can they at least give some credit to the devil for having one of the best business models in the industry? I strongly believe Apple has incredible marketing success in both advertising and geographic scouting.

Is the fact that their brand has shifted a household recognized name to somewhat of a lifestyle really annoys the average Droid or W7Mobile user?

If the roles were reversed, will these same haters start wanting Apple products because they hate the big man?

People are irrational and...nobody is gonna read all this hahaha.

Anything New?

2 Months since my last blog about change and what not.

I think a lot has changed in 2 months. Nobody really uses blogger anymore.

I've switched back and forth between tumblr, twitter, google+ and back to facebook here and then.

On a more personal level. Nothings really changed. My tolerance for my workplace isn't what it used to be but then again, it's because I finally have my priorities straight.

In fact, my outlook on whats important to me and what isn't is finally more clear.

As of now, I want to be more focused on getting things done. Those things include school and how I handle money.

Things like how I look, what I wear...most of which were of the purpose of getting remotely noticed by girls or whatever...never worked these past 3 years...so there's no real point in fooling anybody. If there was someone left for me to impress in this world, it would be myself and honesty to myself is probably the best way to approach life.

Am I satisfied? Probably not. Nobody in this world is ever truly satisfied with how their life is going. Even those who have money aren't satisfied by everything, nobody lives forever. But I think life right now for me is everything its supposed to be.

My exams aren't getting any easier, I'm not inclined to really look for a new job because of how packed my academic schedule is. Health-wise, I'm good. Any other thing that needs satisfying will probably have to wait until I'm done with exams.

Funny thing is, nobody's gonna read this. But its a good way of letting out whatever I'm feeling at the moment.

Quitting

I'm going to accept the fact that this blog will be my vehicle for ranting and complaining.

Simply put, if I get my opportunity to leave Hollister Co. I will take it without hesitation.

It's not because I want to but because I have to.

If there was any room for improvement on the job for any part time (or full-time) associate or manager at a company like Abercrombie & Fitch, I may never want to leave.

The managers and associates have given me more than just a job at Hollister. They have fulfilled every known opportunity and experience both job related and life related that I had wanted and anticipated since day one back in 2007.

These people whether they had good intentions or bad ones shaped me to be who I am after 4 years. I have nothing to lose with a company like A&F, since I'm a marketing major.

The 481 has provided me with plenty to keep me around...good people to work with and good flexible schedule. The company on the other hand has rejected the idea of "rewarding" its workers with raises.

There are good people out there who like to get the job done but have to accept the fact that they will never amount to more than just minimum wage.

I don't want to leave Hollister Co. at San Francisco but I have to leave Abercrombie & Fitch.

Like I said, once the door is wide open...I'm going to run towards it.

Men and Women

I was waiting for my coffee at Starbucks today while I was on my break when I see a guy in line approached by I guess a friend who bumped into him at this second. (I wanna say friend because they don't seem to be a couple despite the full-contact kiss to the lips...weird)

Anyways, they chatted in line and I can see the cashier was getting impatient and annoyed...anyways, so he ends up treating her to a coffee and...she doesn't hesitate...doesn't even bother with saying "no, its ok, coffee's on me..." or "no, let me pay for that..."

I'll try to be fair with what I'm getting at. Not all women are gold diggers and not all men are desperate. We are all created equal...so I reserve the right to discriminate on an equal-basis.

So this got me thinking...from my experience around girls (sadly, there weren't many girls but many experiences nonetheless), it seems like girls out there these days do not hesitate to receive gifts or free shit from guys. (at the bar...buy her a drink...at Starbucks...buy her a drink)

And at the same time, us dumb hopeful guys really don't mind getting the bill. It's sort of the same pattern...think about this formula.

Guy walks...sees girl...checks out girl...girl does (insert verb relating to help)...guy thinks of opportunity (and possibilities)...guy approaches girl...guy tries to help...

you put two and two together and either he gets lucky and gets a number or she says thanks and everyone moves on with their lives...repeat until settled.

Now when does this EVER happen vice-versa as a norm? [btw, sometimes when guys (insert verb relating to help), women just walk away and act as though nothing happened...don't deny it, the inner-bitch inside you would do that]

Sure, girls offer to pay or split the bill here and then but is that what they really want?
Do they see a guy they find attractive and offer to buy them a drink? a cup of coffee?

Sure, guys will SOMETIMES expect something from women...usually its pussy...most of the time its pussy. (from my experience...I must've been an idiot for rejecting pussy a few times but that's a different story)
Do they sit at the bar expecting women to look at them...come up, buy a drink? (I wish)

Nope, simply because its a norm.

As far as I'm concerned...women aren't gold-diggers, they're needy. And men aren't desperate, they're horny.

...btw, Unplanned Parenthood is a fancier term for "shit happens".

Change + Work (Thoughts)

So I was presented with an idea today which has really got me thinking.

I remember posting something about how much I've never appreciated working at Hollister for 2 years before finally enjoying my stay at the start of the 3rd.

Well, that may all come to a slow halt soon if I consider the idea.

The idea was a new part time job. It was suggested to me and it wouldn't hurt to try for it since I have so much time on my hands this semester.

I'm not going to specify where I'm considering to work at but like I wrote a while back...

If I leave Hco. It won't be an easy thing for me to do.



But this is all speculation, anything's possible these days.

Change (Simplified)

Drastic change requires a hefty amount of money...

Cheap change is not cutting my hair for the next 5 months =D

Change

I would like to have a complete change in personality.

I know I've talked about how crazy people can react to change would be.

But really, it can't be that hard. Break habits and change mindsets.

Like, as of right now on a scale of 1 to 10 with 10 being the nicest guy on Earth, I feel like I am a 7.

Now, if we bring that down to a 4, I think the overall reaction would be "what the f*Cx? I'm not used to him being like that"

Deep down, I think people can change, it's just habits are hard to break.

Starting Over

I'm gonna try not to sound too cocky on this one.

As I approach 4 years working at Hollister, I a lot has changed since I've started back in 2007.

No denying that its been a bitter-sweet relationship with the company (and in particular, the store), it's going to be incredibly difficult to move on from there.

Lately I've been volunteering at school for tax preparation with a new team of people. It's amazing how different a person can feel when they're thrown into a new "pool".

When I started at Hollister, it was the same feeling. I didn't know how everything worked and I didn't go out of my way to make too many friends there. In fact, when I started, I was just cooperating for a bi-weekly paycheck and nothing more.

As people came and left, I stayed and when you have seasonal patterns of that going on, it's hard to find good help and reliability in workers.

So visually, the pond (Hollister) stays the same but the fish (me) gets bigger as smaller fish (new workers) appear. Eventually, it catches up to me and Hollister becomes a second home.

That disdain for work I had 4 years ago feels a lot like a homecoming every time I walk into the store. I no longer have that nervous feeling when I walk in, the pressure is gone and there is this big sense of confidence that has filled the void.

Now, being this big fish thrown into an ocean (volunteer work) of whales (experienced volunteers) and sharks (people with their W-2's ready), that sense of pressure returns.

I guess this means I love my job? haha

Valentines Day

I remember it wasn't until last year that I had my "first" Valentine's Day ever.

Shame because despite having two ex-girlfriends, I've never celebrated it with any of them.

In a sense, I agree with my co-worker that Valentines Day is nothing but a novelty holiday where Walgreen's are chaulked full of pink lovey Halloween candy and Hallmark sells lovey dovey Christmas cards that don't have any trace of Christmas on it.

Anyways, I guess its fair to say that my first one was good, to say the least. If I could go back and change some things, I probably would.

So what does this make for this year?

Unless something happens within the next 4 days, I'm gonna spend Valentines Day 2011 solo with junk food and alcohol or something haha.

(geeze, at least my first one didn't fall on a Monday)

WTF FUCK YOU WTF ENDINGS!...WTF

OK, First it was Inception, then some Call of Duty Modern Warfare...NOW RED DEAD REDEMPTION!

WTF...WTF endings are NOT supposed to be GOOD ENDINGS! They just make you go WTF! ARGHHHHH

I hate it when heroes die in the end =(

Hopeless

I'm a bit hopeless...hopelessly in love...