What a weekend.

Last Friday before the rest of Senior Year... cruise control, yeah?

For some reason, Jordan decided to show up. Cute.


Anyways, one hell of a hectic Friday. Recycling, Boat Races, CIF, Duct taped, etc.

Took Kyle to Flossie's for some fried catfish, 3 sides, and sweet tea for $12.01. Definitely recession-friendly. Still liking Honey's better than Flossie's, but Flossie's is local. Bonus points for that.


Back to Max's after the game, blowing shit up, when his parents yell at us to come outside. What are we greeted with? The best TPing job that I've seen in some time.


Strangely enough, getting TPed got us off of our lazy asses. The night definitely improved after that.
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Armed Forces Day Parade. Tagged along with the TYC Kids and got to go to a snazzy luncheon with the veterans. Twas interesting and humbling to be surrounded by Medal of Honor recipients, admirals, and generals. These are people who did something with their lives. Countless Thanks to all of the men and women fighting for our country.

The parade itself was quite amusing. We received some great visors and mini American flags. Totally looked like tourists...


While sitting in the stands, I witnessed one of several surreal moments that I would see that day. Two soldiers who fought during World War II, one from the illustrious Big Red One. Both were thanking each other endlessly for helping the others' infantry divisions during the Pacific Theater. I got chills up and down my spine listening to them talk with such sincerity and gratitude. That's brotherhood.


And now, the parade. F/A-18 flybys, Abrams, Humvees, Tuskegee Airmen, and lots of brass.


on a sidenote, I just happened to sit next to the wife of some Rear Admiral or something like that. Interesting conversations abounded.

Then rushed over to Ashley's choir concert. You sang wonderfully, love.

In other news, we finally managed to clear out my stock. Getting some new goods for the summer :D
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And on to Sunday...funeral time.


Twas my cousin's grandfather's funeral. He was 89 at the time of passing, so it was a bit expected, but still difficult nonetheless. I don't have much to say about it.

He did, however, make it a point that the funeral was not to be somber or mournful. There was little crying or wailing. My funeral will be similar. Something festive and vibrant, to celebrate my life rather than to mourn for my death. I don't want people to have to cry on my behalf.

And that, my dears, is the conclusion to a hectic weekend.

끝

Finally done with APs, pretty much the last hurdle of Senior Year. Now, I can spend the rest of my weeks in a complete daze. Lovely.

Oh, but before I forget, a friend mentioned that I never took a picture of In-and-Out. So here ya go, to show off to all your Boston buddies.


Went out to Santa Monica to pick up a tux for prom. Fail. But I did get to go to Anisette Brasserie again! Ah, definitely one of my favorite restaurants. The tarnished mirrors, dim lighting, wrought-iron spiral staircase, wall of wine bottles...the place has a sort of old world charm to it.

Excuse the triptych. I'm playing around with different presentation techniques to compensate for my sub par photography. It also saves me from posting 10 pictures of the glassware from the restaurant.

Ate some delicious Pâté Maison - a foie gras and duck liver parfait with a thin layer of berry preserve served in a chilled jar, with sliced toasted baguette and miniature pickles on the side. Tastes great spread on the bread or alone; the flavor is buttery and a little sour, with a creamy texture that goes down great with some sparkling water.


Also had a chilled seafood platter with assorted oysters (har har), jumbo shrimp, and snow crab salad served with cocktail sauce and some kind of vinaigrette. Tasty.


Finally, washed it all down with some espresso. What a meal.


I must say that I am quite satisfied with this post.

Korean BBQ, please

Manna, an eat-until-you-explode Korean BBQ restaurant out in LA. For $16.99, you get an unlimited supply of assorted meats, plus banchan, jigae, and lots of other goodies. They also have some "specialty" lemon and pineapple soju, which sounded interesting enough. Seemed that a lot of people around me were ordering them.

The place is pretty much under a tent in a parking lot. Not much of an ambiance, but who cares? The beef is tasty, the kimchi pungent, and the service quick. I must say, I am quite happy with this place.

Cup of Tea

My favorite pictures are mostly from my first few months of photography. Why is that? It seems that when I first started, all that existed was my own interpretation of the world in my mind, so it was easy for me to express my vision through pictures. However, as I saw more peoples' photography, looked at articles online, and whatever, I have generated a preconceived notion of what dictates a "good" photograph. I no longer have my vision, but an amalgamation of others'. I have lost my sense of personality and originality that I feel used to manifest itself in my pictures. Now, I'm stuck taking pictures that might be technically decent, but lack any character. Damn it all.

After the slideshow, I'm taking myself to square one.



Inspire me.

Things are heating up

Quite literally. Friday was definitely shorts weather.

Talked to the other Photo kids for the first time in a while...without a doubt worth sticking around for. What a great group of kids... I should've hung around in Shea's more often. We all had our cameras, so of course we took pictures of each other taking pictures. I mean, what else would we do with our cameras?


Then over to Fantastic Cafe with Ray, after a failed burger excursion. Ate some decent, reasonably-priced diner food instead. Yum. Chili burger with fries.


Some fun with some cool kids, dancing around, ridiculous jerking, and some Chocolate Teddy Grams.

Saturday: ASB stuff! Turns out that neither Kelly nor Tori had eaten a Locomoco before, so I had to show them.

Seriously, what have they been missing this whole time?!

Got kicked out of Ashley's house -__-

STAR TREK WAS AWESOME. I never watched the show, but I still found the movie quite exciting. That's all I have to say about that.

And an early Mother's Day dinner. Scallop-shrimp-pepper kebabs on the grill...nicely seasoned, piping hot, and overall delicious.


Fresh King Crab legs, red wine, Guinness, and an awkward fork jutting into my frame.


Very very very tasty. My stomach was happy. And it's always nice to spend time with family, yeah?

The way to a man's heart

is through his stomach. Well it might not be the only way, but it's probably my favorite.

So as I was doing my post-AP test loafing, I heard my doorbell ring. Upon answering it, I see Ashley and Tree standing there with a tray full of assorted sugary sweets to fatten me up :D


Thanks love (and Tree) for contributing to my unhealthy tendencies.

My heart just stopped.

I swear, I'm going to die from barbecue overdose. From Saturday to Saturday, I went to Jay Bee's four times. Four. Freaking. Times. I just can't get enough of it. The melt-in-your-mouth pulled pork, smokey brisket, rib-sticking mac-and-cheese, and sweet corn bread are all so ridiculously delicious that I find myself craving it at every possible moment! What the hell am I supposed to do with myself?!

Well, since nothing else interesting has happened in my life these past few days, here are the pictures from my various barbecue excursions.

Pulled Pork (they call it pork shoulder) sandwich, extra sauce, on a bun with a bed of coleslaw.


Meat Combo: BBQ Beef (brisket) and Pork Shoulder (pulled pork)


Large order of Pork Shoulder. This one did me in with a piece of cornbread. All I needed was some Nehi Grape Soda or Sweet Tea. That's one complaint I have...their drink selection is sorely lacking. But if anything, it brings the focus back to the barbecue.


In other news, I had the case of the drunchies since Friday. I craved fried chicken! So after getting out of school ridiculously early (thanks to the APs), Curstina, Sarah, and I made a food run out to Culver City. Where did we go? Honey's Kettle Fried Chicken, of course.

Taster's Deluxe Combo with chicken and fried catfish, a delicious biscuit that was simply orgasmic when dipped in honey, and some lovely fries that also went great with honey, tasting somewhat like a Korean treat that I love to eat. As usual, Honey's thick, crunchy, salty fried skin didn't let me down one bit. That's the way to do it.


Really, all I've been doing for the past week is eating. I better go make my life more exciting somehow.