Kung Fu in the Kitchen


Usually I don't post... well... ever. Nah, that's a lie. I post semi-often... well... decent-often... or sorta-often? Maybe partial-kinda-often to be honest-ish. But there are days where events will spark a need to spill your chest, so to speak. Today is one of those days.

I've noticed in the past few months, perhaps even years, that my parents have been fighting more often. I don't know if it's because harsher times tend to leave a deeper mark on memories, but it seems as if there've been more fights than laughs. The problem is, I never know what they're arguing about because they shout in Chinese. Well, whatever it is, it's probably over something stupid.

UPDATE: I found Mother Routes sitting alone in the living room and asked her what their fight was about. Apparently she asked Father Routes what was in a certain box, he didn't like her tone, she insisted she didn't have a tone, he started yelling because he felt she was yelling, she yelled back, etc.

So yeah, stupid. Or as they would say: Bing da noya! Ay ya!


Not caring enough to discuss further,

Ricky
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The Summer of Stephen


...King that is.

The first time I heard of Stephen King's latest novel, Cell, I thought he had definitely run out of ideas. Cell phones that turn people into mindless crazies? Sounded like a rejected Goosebumps tale. And then, check out the tagline:

THERE'S A REASON CELL RHYMES WITH HELL.

Whoa! Talk about words to send chills down any man's spine! Sheebus!

The book finally came out and I didn't so much as bat an eyelash (I'm not sure if it's socially acceptable for guys to use that phrase, but I did anyway... I'm just a rebel like that). And months passed without me even caring. Let's just say I forgot about its existence. The book got good reviews though, many hailing it as Stephen King's return to form.

Then a friend of mine raved about the book. She was completely enamored by this gory tale. So I asked her if this book was anything like some of the old stuff that I couldn't get into. I've only read one Stephen King book, as you may recall from way a way earlier blog, called The Long Walk. And I loved that book. Then I tried to read Dreamcatcher, which was completely unreadable if you ask me. But she assured me that she was just like me. She hated Dreamcatcher and Cell was very different in that it moves along at a very nice pace.

So, needing another book to read, I took the bait and ordered it off the Amazon Marketplace. Great place to get newly released books because people get these bestsellers, read them, and then unload them onto eBay or wherever. I like to collect books that I read since I don't read that often anyway. And so, I got the book for $2 (like new), with $3.49 shipping. Pretty damn cheap.

And I am loving the book. Page 6 rolls along and already the book gets to the point and the shiz hits the fan!

The book is also a great conversation piece. I get a lot of looks when I'm reading it in public and people ask me about it, which is neat.

Also this summer, TNT is showing a Twilight Zonesque show called Stephen King presents Nightmares and Dreamscapes. The title is from a collection of short stories; a book that I gifted to Angel Wing Jasmine back in college and she read the hell out of that thing. I read some of the stories, namely the ones about the chattering teeth and the teacher that killed her students one by one. But the TV event series is based off of many short stories from many books by King; a lot of which I'm unfamiliar with. The show has its great episodes and its dull ones and its ones with crappy endings, but I'm enjoying it anyway.

Hmm, isn't that peculiar? I'm enjoying summer. Who'da thunk?


Heat waves suck,

Rast!
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OUENDAN!!!


I've been completely obsessed in the past few days with a Japanese import game called Osu! Tatakae! Ouendan. This rhythm action game is translated to Go! Fight! Cheer Squad. But it ain't no cheerleading sissy game. This game is rocking my freakin' socks off. You basically tap around the touch screen to the beat of a song and depending how well you do, the story being told on the top screen changes good or bad. Maybe I'll post a video of it one day when I figure out that You Tube thing.

Thus explains my absence, sort of. We also didn't have internet for a while because our service provider sucks noodles.

But really, there hasn't been much going around, as always. I mean, between work and games and trying to stay cool in this global warming epidemic, yeah... nothing.

Though I have been spending entirely too much money lately. Speaking of games, I bought a Mahjong game for the DS which plays by Japanese rules (which is infuriating), the cheer squad game mentioned above for $50, Bleach: Heat the Soul 3 for PSP for Timotei's and my commuting buddy's birthday, tickets to upcoming shows (more on this later), books off Amazon, a new iPod shuffle and Airport Express, and more food than I can store on my waist. So I think I need to just cut back on buying junk. However, come September, there's a plethora of stuff I am going to have to buy, so... if you need to borrow money, hit me up now.

And speaking of upcoming shows, a popular show was recently announced coming to Los Angeles and as soon as I heard, I put in a giant group order. The theater called me back and said that I was the fourth person to be accomodated for tickets and set me up with some premo seats (and also some not so premo). But as soon as I get my order in place and seats confirmed, I'll share the news (and way of distributing these nice seats). This purchase is gonna hit my credit card hard. So yeah, forget about that whole "borrowing money" thing I said earlier.

Well then, until next month, so it seems. I still have to get that picture of me up for the July 5th anniversary blog. Some tradition that was.

Happy birthday Lee Leman!



Growing money on trees,

Forgetful Ricky... whose tastes are so damn picky.
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Meat Meets Hole


You're f'in dirty. This is NOT a blog of a suggestive nature! I'm talking about the holes left after my wisdom teeth were removed.

So I was eating some ribs delicioso for dinner. Scarfed down four pieces eating normally. You see, I learned that when food gets stuck in one of the four holes, I just dig it out with my tongue or rinse it out. They don't get absorbed into the body and disappear forever like I had thought.

But then, after I ate those ribs, I felt something jammed in my lower left pocket. I tried to tongue it out, but no dice. I tried rinsing it out, vigorously, but nothing happened. So I tried prodding with my finger. I felt the healing gum tissue, but couldn't find the lodged meat. I started to think maybe it was my gum flapping around the hole. But determined to find something, I got a toothpick and jabbed it around. I struck blood which concerned me. But I now knew that there was indeed something stuck in there because the toothpick pushed it further into the abyss.

I got way more concerned. What would happen? Would it be in there forever, getting moldy and pussy? In a panic, I tried flossing, nothing; more toothpicking, nothing; fingering, nothing. Finally, I even more vigorously rinsed my mouth, honing all my suction power on that one particular hole. In and out and in and out, I swished and swashed, never swallowing. It was tap water.

Then the most amazing thing happened. I felt the meat rising to the top--swish--bulging out of the hole--swash--dislodging itself--gurgle--ooh oohh pop! Like some ecstasassy eruption, the meat leapt out of the crater and was spat into the sing.

It was a huge chunk of a BBQ rib. I was afraid if I tried to eat it again, it'd get stuck once more, so I flushed it down the drain.

And that's my story. If you found some parts questionable for certain audiences, I think you need to get your head out of the gutter. You nasty.


Asking if that was meat in my pocket or was I just happy to see you,

Frisky
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Thrice


The years fly.

Unlike Superman. Burn!

But seriously. I've been doing this for three years and still arguably enjoying it. Yes, I hit some dry creative droughts for periods at a time. Sometimes, read "most of the time," my life is pretty damn boring and I attempt to spice it up with some fancy wordplay. And sometimes I just forget to blog for a few weeks. But I'm still going strong. Still good. Arguably.

It's amazing though what has come about since I started writing the blog. There was that whole not really graduating in time unless I took Spanish during the summer. There was my actual graduation. There were multiple trips to Disneyland with friends, beach trips with Angel Wing Jasmine, and my whole X-Games phase; who could forget my devastating skateboarding injury. The life of an unemployee, then employee. Oh yes, the big job and then the big raise (make that two). New York! New York! New York! Florida! Florida! Florida! Feeling down. Poetry. Dirtbikes. Getting drunk at Avalon Cove. 24 marathons. Rufio/Dashboard/Something Corporate/New Found Glory concerts! Backwards blogs. Karla visits. Christmas listlessness. Finding out that musicals can be cool. Cirque too! Reading some books for a change! Conquering Hurricane Ivan. Gambling...once. Starting a savings and watching it grow. Up Syndrome? Hating Philly. FerFerFer. ViveViveVive. 666. The many adventures of poo. Triple shits. TV! Nintendo! Ant rants. Popping bunny tails and shooting cats. Mac addict. iPods. Dreams at wake. The homeless. Getting fat. Series 6. Chim Chim Cheroo. Animal Crossing. Ill. Self-help. Amazing Grace! Lying in NY. Wedding Singer three times! Wisdom teeth. Present.

Wow. Three years in one paragraph. I need to get out more!

[Insert annual picture]


Summer-izing,

Ricky
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