an apple makeover

i've been getting a lot of feedback lately ever since i placed an Apple sticker (came with the ipod shuffle) on the top face of my notebook computer. because the computer is all silver it actually does kinda look like an Apple notebook. so i decided to continue this mischief and gave my computer a complete makeover, practically anyway.

- bootup screen
- login screen
- desktop screen
- screen saver
- dash board widget
- OSX Tiger theme

bootup screen that says "Think different...think apple."

logon screen which is not exactly apple themed, but i think it looks really cool nevertheless.

OSX Tiger theme with dashboard and everything.

i've gotta be the biggest poser i know, hands down.

dos equis vs belikin

people say dos equis brand beer is one of the best tasting beers you can get. i tend to agree with that. it's a flavorful brew, it really is. but i think a brand that tops dos equis has gotta be belikin, the beer of belize. now don't ask why, but for some reason... hiking through a rain forest and getting all soakin' wet crossing rivers on foot, or paddling all day out on the ocean day and night fighting through turbulant wakes of salt water... for some reason having done all that and then having a hot meal with a belikin just hits the right spot in a way that's somehow different from all the rest. i think it's partially something to do with carribean food. i looove carribean food.

we're off to see the wizard...i mean mexico

funny title eh? well i certainly got a decent amount of chuckle out of it.
so things have changed. things always do. no longer hawaii as a vacation destination; it's cancun, mexico instead. i guess hawaii will just have to wait.

gotta think big

the mundane tasks of life such as eating, sleeping, waking, washing, and working will eventually confine our thinking into a smaller than natural arena. of course this can be prevented. but if allowed to take its natural (or unnatural) course, life as you know it might as well cease. so think big and live big.

ciao.

The Goblet of Fire

i saw my very first harry potter movie today, the goblet of fire. all i can really say is that it was too long, too confusing, and too addicting. i swear, if there were a hogwart school for prospective wizards i'd go. the way it treats and presents other worlds and dimensions and powers is just shear coolness.

maybe it was the whole fictional world presented on the movie screen that made it so attractive for me. because in that world harry has such awesome friends, and everybody dresses up really cool, and the scenery is breathtaking where ever you go.

man i wish my world was like that.

but many parts of the movie left me feeling fear. spells of transfiguration and even restoring an evil fetal-like humanoid to power, it's all witchcraft as far as i know. scary that my baby cousin and millions of others love this stuff. scary. which is why my feelings for this one are mixed.

Tuesday

How can you tell if an event or a series of events is caused by God or Devil?
How do you know if what you go through is a testing or a tempting?
And how does one learn that what is experienced is because of his own doing?
Am I being paranoid to think the Devil is after me on my every step and on every turn of a corner?
Should I be?

today i lost a court case. i know i didn't deserve the penalty, but i paid the price anyway, because that is what the law says. i have one more court appearance and i should be done for the year. i don't like getting tickets. such a pain in my fingertips, between the nail and the skin, right underneath, where it hurts.

i came home for lunch. i guess i should go make it and eat before i should go again. a couple of more months and i'm out of this rat hole....i mean cock roach hole.

there is no spoon

So i decided to go grocery shopping. and i decided to go totally unconventional. i ended up getting an unusual list of stuff, stuff to make lunch at work. this way i can save tons of money. it's true too.

For tonight's dinner i bought Campbell's New England Clam Chowder. i felt like giving it a try, just for the heck of it...you know, one of those "you only live once" sorta deals. so i go home and i can't find a spoon. so i thought to myself, "think eddie, think" and i ended up putting this ingenius apparatus together using homemade stuff.



Okay okay, so i basically reinvented the wheel. i mean spoon.
It's aluminum foil wrapped around a plastic fork! and it leaves a metalligc sensation in your mouth too! genius!

As for the clam chowder, i've definitely had better. i posted a photo of it just for kicks. if you look very carefully you can get a hint of its taste. because it tastes just like the way it looks - like vomit.

know thine enemy

lucifer. he's a sly clever one, ain't he? not to mention beautiful, the most beautiful of all angels, to be exact. his games are not to be played with. but it is his lies and illusions that fool you. i tell you he will catch you when you least expect and when your guard is away. he does this one single person at a time, for he is like a lion. he stays low and waits for the moment to prance. and when he does, he doesn't jusy bite you nor consume you; rather, he devours you. and he attacks, just like this, one person at a time, for he is not God, he can not be everywhere or more than one place at any given time. regardless, his attacks are devastating, especially to the church body.

and i know the devil is attacking. i can sense it. i can feel it. why else would i be so swelled up with stubborness to the point of almost hating somebody. whoaw now! swiftly, whip that horse without fear and yank on its yoke with all your might. stop yourself dead in your tracks and consider your weaknesses before God.

enough already. i need a bath and need to go to bed.

the new recruits

rumor has it that the company i work for is looking for a new location because we're getting kinda crowded. man, i tell ya, we're hiring people left and right. most of the new hires are artists and a few senior programmers. and of course there's always the interns and the testers. there's always testers. anyhow, these new hires...., man let me tell you, they have some passion. they want to change the world with their games. they want to make a huge splash and leave a huge impact crater amongst all the gamers in the world. they're willing to put in extra hours with no extra pay. they're willing to stay up all night hacking away at the computer. they're willing to burn more calories than they take in. they're willing to practically sacrifice their family, friends, their health, their limbs, and their lives. man, they're just like me 3 years ago.

i lectured a few of my fellow co-workers today over a Lebanese lunch today. i told them that in the end all they're developing is a silly video game; insignificant relative to almost any and all other aspects of life. and that eventually, like me and countless others, they'll grow out of their "passion" and mature into something that won't be so passionate about their current occupation. i even paraphrased everything i said for them and basically said that their priorities are not straight. i did not say it like that, of course. i put it in a more easier form to swallow for them young lads.

holy moly i sound like my grandfather.

run...we're going to die of dehydration!

what a funny title, eh? i just feel with the wacky weather we've been having and all that some day we're going to live to see the day we run out of fresh water. it is, after all, what the CIA predicts will happen in 15-20 years. anyhow it's november. and lately the weather's been pretty warm, much warmer than normal. some people refuse to believe global/local warming. and usually those same peoples refuse to believe there is a finite supply of fish in the sea. i mean, they must actually believe that fish is just so plentiful that we can catch fish everyday with ginormous fishing nets and not put a dent in the fish population. honestly, there doesn't seem to be not enough people in this world who are balanced. instead everybody has to be extreme one way or the other. and i don't care if im generalizing, because i know i am. i don't care anymore if i'm pigeon-holing things. i don't like pretending to be politically correct because i am so anti-politically correct. i really don't give a hoot anymore. i think i'm too nice. not necessarily nice to people, but just nice in general. and because of it, i think people subconsciously or inadvertently take advantage of it. and to be healthy and honest about it, i wouldn't doubt if i do the same.

the other day i mentioned that life is like a box of chocolates. well i forgot to talk about a few more things: you don't have to eat every single chocolate in the box. you don't have to try one for the sake of trying. you don't have to eat one because somebody gives you one. you don't have to always chew, you can swallow if you'd like. and you can spit out the ones you don't like.

could've, would've, should've, didn't.

could've been with my first company had i charm.
could've been manager at my current company had i desire.
could've been a successful business man had i vision.
could've been an owner of a house had i commitment.
could've been a doctor had i brains.
could've been a writer had i eloquence.
could've been a musician had i talent.
could've been married to that wonderful girl had i courage.

life is like a box of chocolates

yes, it is kinda true. life really is kinda like a box of chocolates.
the pure, dark chocolates are the best, and not to mention healthier than milk chocolates.
nobody really likes cherry-filled chocolates, because as a general rule cherries taste good only when they're in their natural fruity form. otherwise it tends to taste like cough syrup.
hold them in your hand too long and they will melt, but you can still lick on it.
it tastes pretty good with peanut butter.

on a tangent note, my plants are doing very well despite minimal care.
i so have a green thumb.

finding that adventurous spirit

it's time i set my feet on the ground, aka back to earth. what happened to me? i feel like a hamster all cooped up in this claustraphobic plastic shielded cage also known as corporate america. i can't breath. i need air circulation. if i don't i could just die.
(man i really need to stop likening myself to a hamster)


This is off the coast of Cheju Island, right off of the Korean peninsula. This is my aunt, and some statue of a lady, and myself about 3-4 years ago (has it been that long?). I had just came back from a very cold and very wet and bumpy boat ride. It was ok. Would've been better if my aunt went with me though. She's such a sweet person you'd have no idea i was related to her; so freely devoting of all her time for the Lord, every day, even though it requires of her many miles of walking (no joke), even at her age. It brings me tears thinking about it, of her, yet I don't know why. Maybe it's because she has so little, practically nothing. I'm not even sure if she eats 3 meals a day. I cry for her. She say's she so happy just to be able to serve her God. She always brings me back down to earth. She has so much more than I. Sure, I give her cash to help her. But it's only to feed her stomach. But she definitely doesn't live off it. She probably gives it away. I envy her heart. I envy her life. She's so real. It's about time that I start stepping back to earth again.

need to simplify

God's been telling me something for some time now. im just so damn slow at knowing it.
i need to simplify my life. i have too many distractions, way too many. i need to drastically simplify it. the less i carry with the less room and chance to needlessly worry. i really need to simplify.

man i really need to stop living in a bubble. if i were an animal, i swear, i'd be a turtle too scared to come out of its shell. maybe not scared. maybe too comfortable. or maybe just content.

and i gotta stop hoarding stuff. i know i can't take any of it with me. i know it as fact. it can't be done. even if i could i don't think i'd want any of it. i gotta give it away. gee... could i be any more vague? i swear...sometimes i crack myself up. man i'm so annoying.

street sweepers and rubber neckers

sit down for this....this is so funny you're not even going to laugh because it's so funny.
it's like 9:30 and im on my way to work on the freeway. and guess what? there's like 4 big city trucks sweeping the shoulder lane and hogging up all the bandwidth while kicking up dust and dirt in the air. of course they must do this at the most inconvenient times of the day; otherwise it would make too much sense, it would be logical, and the city certainly can't be logical or sensible. oh no, the city just can't. the same thing applies to road construction contractors. this happens more often than not in texas more than anywhere else, i've found.

now what's up with people driving and not paying attention? rubber neckers are the worst. of course im guilty of it too to a certain degree. after all i'm only human. rubber necking is fine as long as you don't slow down to 2 miles an hour. that's what happened today on my way home, on the freeway, due to what looked like a fatal accident (there were black body bags on the side of the road).

the worst rubber necking story was about this mom driving a van who literally slammed the brakes in the middle of an intersection, with cars behind her and all, just so that she could tell her kids to stop what they were doing and stare at an accident. i swear. that stuff just kills me.

if all drivers were considerate of others the world would be so much better that i believe crime rates would go down. if you're going to change lanes or make a turn, then for God's sake give a damn signal. don't be such a careless moron on the road. don't be such a tastless idiot behind the wheel. don't be such a selfish bastard.

other than that i had a pretty good day.

putting up with bull

the stupidest move i've made: signing up for a cell-phone family plan so that some dude who i don't even know can have a cell-phone, and only because he has bad credit (or no credit). i know. that's stupid. things weren't always this bad. things used to be pretty cool actually. but recently the phone bill has been getting kind of high, like 100%-150% higher than it should be. yikes! and the worst part of all this is that the dude lies in my face about the phone usage. it's kinda tough to lie to someone who has the itemized list of phone calls in his hands. it kills me. somebody please stab me right now.