itsgary.com

So every time I go to this site, I see a picture of myself. I don’t really want to see it… so if I post, it goes lower down in the page.

On Friday night, I got to see Jennifer Coolidge perform at the Brea Improv.  It was my first time seeing an improv show and I didn’t know what to expect, especially from her.  Ticket prices aren’t that expensive at $22 apiece.  You do have to make a 2 item minimum purchase per person, but the food isn’t bad either and they don’t gouge you with their prices.  Its only a 90 minute show but who wouldn’t enjoy live comedy while enjoying a nice meal?

The place inside is fairly spacious and it doesn’t seem like there’s a bad seat in the house.  The music is kind of loud, I thought, but that’s only one when the people are walking onto the stage.  As for Jennifer Coolidge herself, she talks the way she talks in the movies.  I always thought it was an act.   Her jokes are sometimes dirty but that’s not all she has.   I would say she was worth watching.

I’ll most likely be back again for future shows.

I feel like I’m writing a Yelp review.

Five stars!

Thanks,

Gary

My Valentine’s Day went smoothly.  Dinner was at Parkway Grill in Pasadena.  I noticed the lot was filled with a bunch of nice cars as I pulled in for valet.  As I got out of the car, I checked around to make sure my Solara wouldn’t feel out of the place and saw a White Acura parked in the distance.  Good.  I ordered a Chilean Sea Bass as you can see here…

Myself with Chilean Sea Bass

It looks like mashed potatoes doesn’t it.  And I look like a kid.  And my face is getting a little puffy after a few sips of my drink.  Haha.  Anyway, dinner was good.  Lillian got a giant catfish.   With her and her catfish and myself with my sea bass, something fishy was going on. (Okay, bad joke).

Afterwards, we went to Monrovia Coffee Company where Lillian schooled me at Chinese Checkers.

And then we finished the night with a viewing of Valentine’s Day.  I look at Yahoo for my movie reviews.  Critics gave it a C-.  Yahoo! Users gave it a B. I tend to disregard what critics say since they rated Transformers 2 pretty poorly.  Anyway, I would agree with Yahoo! Users.  A B sounds about right.  I missed part of the ending, though, as I had to make a run for the restroom…

And that’s that.  First Valentine’s Day with Lillian… I’d say was pretty successful.

Thanks,

Gary

Even though it has been a month since I started working again, I still don’t have a routine that I follow.  On Mondays and Wednesdays, I’ll make my trip into the office for work. I’ll say I’m probably there from 11:30AM – 7:00PM.  And around 9:30PM I’ll finish up my 8 hour day at home.  The rest of the week, my hours are all over the place.  One time, I managed to work from 6AM-2PM, which was awesome since I had the rest of the day to myself afterward. I haven’t been able to wake up that early since, although I’m trying!  Just last week, I took a 3 hour break from 11AM-2PM to pick up my sister and husband from the airport. And on Fridays, my hours vary quite a bit.  My last couple Saturdays have been unavailable so I usually finish up my remaining hours of the 40 hour workweek on Sunday.  Still trying to find that routine, though!  Otherwise, I feel like I’m always in front of my computer.  Speaking of that… time to get off and do some reading.

Thanks,

Gary

This past weekend, I attended my sister’s wedding with her boyfriend of 7.5 years. That is a long time for them to be dating and I’m glad they’ve lasted so long.  The wedding took place at Calamigos Ranch in Malibu. It was a good day to have the wedding.  There were some clouds in the sky, but really, any later and they’d be stuck in the downpour we’re currently experiencing in Southern California.  The wedding went by smoothly.  There were no disasters.  There was a dance floor that nearly everyone, including my grandma, made use of.  I didn’t take many pictures, though, mainly due to my poor choice of lens to bring with me, and also because I was running around a lot myself.  Anyway, congrats to them.  Hopefully they’re enjoying themselves in Fiji.

Dennis and Fanny + 1

Thanks,

Gary

2009 came and went and look! It is already 2009. As I don’t spend that much time writing these nowadays, although I still want to write, I will make this short and simple. On a side note, I do enjoy Fontaine’s blog.  Pictures make things so much more enjoyable.   Maybe I should start carrying a camera with me at all times (since my phone cam sucks).  But I tried that before… and I never used it.  Hah.

So… memorable moments of 2009.

- Inception of Lary (Lillian and Gary)
- Started volunteering with Asian American Tutorial Project (AATP).
- Got my Masters degree in Computer Science with specialization in Software Engineering from USC.
- Grandpa passed away (April 6)

Really. That’s it? Only 4 things?  4 things that I can think of now.

New Years Resolutions of 2009:
- Don’t eat chips or fries.

So how’d I do? I didn’t eat fries for all of 2009.  I don’t even crave them anymore. I guess that will be good for my diet, but I wonder what will I happen if I taste it again. I might start inhaling them.  As for the chips… that one’s a bit iffy.  I still ate Baja Fresh chips.  And people said that the tortilla from the hard tacos were just like nacho chips, too.  So I modified that resolution a little bit and changed it to no eating potato chips, fritos, cheetos, Pringles, etc;.  And the only chips I ate were Baja Fresh chips.  I’ll give myself a pass.

New Years Resolutions of 2010:
- Get myself in the gym 4 days a week. I’m not specifying duration, I just gotta get in there!
- No drinking soda. This one will be fun to try cuz I don’t know if I can do it! I do like my root beer.

I want to add in something like… sleep by midnight.  But I don’t think it will happen. I will try to sleep earlier anyway.

Thanks,

Gary

My boss took us fishing last week. It was my first time fishing.  He rented out a large 30-person boat, but there were only 7 of us.  Seemed like a waste!

Anyway, I thought it was pretty fun but only when you’re struggling trying to pull up a fish. Otherwise it can get boring.  Dang, those things are small but strong!  I lost a couple of them and I end up with just the hook and the bait missing.  We used live bait – anchovies.  I felt bad at first and had to apologize to them before I stuck the hook through their noses(?).  Eventually I just started using the cut-up squid.  I did pull up a baby sea bass but because it was a baby, it got thrown back in.  I also caught a pelican.

Thanks,

Gary

I started counting down at 16 weeks.  And then at 10 days.  And now I’m done!  The last semester seems to always be the hardest.  Although I did enjoy it and I did learn a lot (software architecture), I am glad that it is all over.  Now I have time to focus on my next stage in life, fortify my relationships, and pursue other interests.  I wondered not long ago, $48K and 1.5 years later, was it all worth it?   Let’s look back at why I wanted to go back to school to begin with.  I wanted to learn more, to have a focused curriculum instead of a general which undergraduate education provides, and hope that it would give me more opportunities in the future.   Strictly speaking, half of it is fulfilled – the learning part, and the other half is not, although in the long run I may have to look at it again.  But still there were other benefits beyond that scope.  New friendships.  Old friendships reborn.  Volunteer opportunities.  Recreational activities.  A girlfriend.  So I’m going to take what I got and run with it, because I’ve learned and experienced so much in the past 1.5 years that I don’t know who or what I’d be without it.

Thanks,

Gary

I’ve found myself having less and less time (or maybe less and less interest?) updating this blog… so it might be time to end it.   I originally intended it to be a place where people could find me maybe 10 years or 20 years down the line.  And check out my pictures and whatnot.  But I guess thats what Facebook is for, but who knows where Facebook will be in the next couple decades.  I’m sure I’ll start up something else next on the web.  Or I might start a blog again.  I’m a very fickle person.  I started blogging back in 2002.  Too bad I don’t have a copy of everything I’ve ever worked on.  Anyway,  I’m finishing school up in about a week.  Haven’t been able to find a job.  Maybe I’ll return to my spot in Irvine if they want me back.  It is a little up in the air.  If not, then I guess I’ll go live under a bridge or something and get people to pay the toll to cross the bridge. We’ll see.

Thanks,

Gary

It took 8 years since I first started following the Lakers for me to attend my first Lakers game and it was great! Parking at the Convention Center was $20, though, but Zung generously paid the entire thing.  We got nosebleed seats and those weren’t even that bad.  It was a little hard to see who was who but not impossible.  It was a game against the Suns and even though it was a blowout it was still fun because we could still cheer for tacos!  If the Lakers win and hold their opponent to under 100 points, then everybody gets 2 free tacos from Jack in the Box. Unfortunately that didn’t happen either.   I got myself a large $9 Budlight and it reminded me of my volunteering days at Qualcomm.  These guys must’ve been experts, though, since they didn’t have any trouble filling up my cup of beer.  I do remember that I used to have trouble with some of them because they’d be spitting out foam instead of beer, and then customers would yell at us.  The hotdog itself was good. It was $5 and lasted 4 bites.  Oh, and Rick Fox was there!   I couldn’t see where he was sitting but they showed him on the big screen.  He’s starting to look kind of old.  Not wrinkly old, but I’m seeing his gray hair.  Anyway, an overall good experience and I’m definitely coming back for another game this season!

Thanks,

Gary

It has gotten to that point in my life again where I need to find a job.  I am already employed but as I’m looking to build a career, I’ve started looking for a job elsewhere.  I’ve gotten a handful of interviews thanks to on-campus recruitment and I’ve applied for a number of other jobs through company websites.  Friday is probably the last on-campus interview I’ll be having as recruitment is ending along with the semester.  After that, I’ll be on my own.  I remember I once said that I wouldn’t worry too much about finding a job since I have a fallback, but funny how things change because I don’t feel that way anymore.

My posts recently have been few and short. Interesting.

Thanks,

Gary