$%^@#!!!

This was my response to a failed purchase from eBay. Let's just say Microsoft 2, Asianpixie 0. Damn.

Let me back up a bit. Freakscout recommended this really awesome game that I decided to purchase for my Xbox. I rarely use my Xbox because the first person, 360-degree games make me dizzy and nauseous, and 99% of the games available are like this. So when my friend told me about Alien Hominid, I was thrilled that there is a 2D game with super cute characters. In fact, this was the first Xbox game I was actually excited about.

[On a side note, I am really considering selling my Xbox and games since I rarely use it. It is more of a dust catcher at this point. If you are interested, let me know.]

So I went in search of this game and found it for Xbox from a seller in the UK. I bid on it and won since I was the only bidder. After a week of waiting, the game finally arrived and I was like a kid on Christmas morning. I pop it in my Xbox and get an error message. The damn machine cannot read the disc because (after investigating later) the UK utilizes PAL format, and the US uses NTSC format. The two are not compatible. Motherfucker.

Granted, I should have been more careful when ordering and read the fine print. But I was too excited and impulsive and alas, learn from my mistakes. But really, it should have been in large fucking print, "PAL FORMAT WORKS ONLY IN EUROPE!!!" Just like on condom wrappers, there needs to be bold, large print, "99.9% EFFECTIVE!!!" You know, for us impulsive, excited people that are thinking more about satisfying our id than doing research or thinking.

In the end, I am out 20 bucks. I should have just taken a 20-dollar bill, ripped it into pieces that are half the width of your pinky nail, then taken a big, fat, diarrheal shit all over it. So since my money went to something completely useless, if you or someone you know lives in Europe, has an Xbox, and wants this game (lot of conditional statements), let me know.

Oh and if you are wondering why Microsoft is up 2 and I have 0, the second point was scored when I purchased a computer back in the day with Windows ME as the operating system. 'Nuf said.

A Milestone

Well, this is the 100th post! Yay me!

Took me a while to get here, but I am here now and the view is the same.

I think I have more posts left in me. But don’t expect the 200th post to come around any time soon. I don’t need that kind of pressure.

Now to mark this momentous event, I leave you with…


I am so going to this exhibit.

Connectivity

I have been thinking about the “six degrees of separation”* theory a lot lately. The older I get and the more people I meet, the more I think this theory is applicable. After all, I am only three degrees away from Kevin Bacon. So if you are not already connected to him in a way you know of, you are now the fourth degree.

If you don’t already know, MKD and I met online. You think you meet complete strangers online, but it turned out that we had many common links when we dug deep. The idea that we could have eventually met through our common links brings on the “what if” mind wanderings. That and fate/destiny…but those are topics for another discussion.

So every time I meet someone ‘new,’ I question if I know him or her from somewhere else or what common links we might have if we really investigated. Plus I find that new people remind me of people I have known and tend to have very similar features. Then I get stuck in what I like to call, ‘The Truman Show’ mindset where everyone are actors playing multiple roles, hence the familiarity. Very egotistic, I know.

*BTW, I recently saw the movie and have very mixed feelings about it. I am leaning toward, it just wasn’t that good.

A Reflection:

I have a job, but not a career. But if I spend enough time in this current job, it will soon become my career.

Recently, I have come to a point where I have no idea what I want to do for “the rest of my life” or what I want to be when I “grow-up,” but I really want to figure it out. I have a feeling that many people never resolve this issue and are constantly in limbo. As time passes, we end up settling for something “okay,” but do not realize we have settled until we look back and wonder.

I went through all the possible jobs/careers that are out there and not one fit me. Then I began to berate myself for being too lazy or picky. After all, it is called, “work” for a reason. But I want to find something that I love or at least like a lot in which I can wake up during the workweek and not loathe where I have to be (I never want a job where I have to work weekends ever again).

But that brings me to another problem I have, waking up. It is something I have battled with my entire life. I just cannot get out of bed in the morning. I love to sleep and stay in bed as long as possible. I do the minimum to get ready so that I can sleep longer. Going to bed earlier does not help; it just means I sleep longer. I might wake up when I am supposed to, but I go back to sleep indefinitely 99.9% of the time. This has recently caused an issue at work since I am late ALL THE TIME. My boss had the talk with me the other day and told me that I have to start getting to work a lot earlier than I have been. If I am going to be in after 10 a.m., I have to call and notify the office (I gave up calling many months ago because it would just mean I would call everyday).

I guess all this means that I am not going to get a big, fat raise on my upcoming two-year review. Boo.

So it is time to find a job with flexible hours that pays a butt load. Oh, and I have to like it a lot and possibly love doing whatever it is that I do. While I am being so unreasonably demanding, how about also throwing in world peace, cures for all diseases, and a brand new car? Nothing American though, I like me some foreign cars.

The Bone Room is my new favorite store!

I came across this site when I was looking for a birthday present for my mom. There is just too much cuteness! I must purchase:
The Pimple (Propionibacterium acnes)

AND The Bookworm (Anobium punctatum)

But you have to go to the site to see all the other types of microbes they offer. Who ever thought they could be so cute and cuddly?

Oh and they sell insect candy. I wonder what a scorpion tastes like...

Look here!

I have added a new section of links called “Promoting/Plugging.” This consists of websites of people I know and deeply respect and admire. Their talents have yet to make it big, so I am doing my part to help facilitate that process.

Go and visit and pass along the info. Support the arts, dammit!

Assimilation is never enough

So when I was picking up MKD’s suppositories last week to help with her deathly illness, I had an encounter with someone I like to refer to as “The Good Intention Bigot.”

[Begin encounter with The Good Intention Bigot]

CVS Pharmacist: “What’s the last name?”

Me: “D----.” (to maintain anonymity, but it is a white name because MKD is the whitest among whites)

CVS Pharmacist: “First name?” (probably asked because last name is so white)

Me: “M----.”

The Good Intention Bigot (TGIB): “M----. That is an interesting name. Was it given to you at birth or did you change it to that when you got here?”

Me: “Um, neither. I am picking up a prescription for someone.”

TGIB: “Oh. What is your name then?”

Me: “------.”

TGIB: “That is a really beautiful name.” (had a quizzical look as if expecting something more Asian sounding) “I am always curious to hear what you foreigners change your names to when you come here.”

Me: “…” (speechless because I had been awake all night with MKD in the hospital and brain not functioning enough to rip him a new one)

[End encounter with The Good Intention Bigot]

Although harmless and well intentioned, TGIB really pissed me off. “Foreigner?” WTF?! How many generations do I have to have born in this country until I am no longer considered “foreign?” Is five enough? I don’t have an Asian accent at all since English is the only language I know fluently. I only look Asian or “foreign” as some would call it, but I am not “fresh off the boat” by any means. In fact, TGIB is more of a foreigner to this country than I am, genetically speaking. Asians are closely related to Native Americans (hence the similarity in features), and Native Americans are the only people that are not “foreigners” to this country. So fuck you, Mr. White Ass Fuck Piece of Shit Bigot. You live in a metropolitan area with lots of “foreigners” that will soon become the majority. You might want to hold your tongue and keep your racist thoughts and curiosities to yourself. But never mind, us “Orientals” are mild-mannered and can take this bullshit with our obedient demeanor.

At a loss

There has been something bothering me since high school. I have a favorite song…but do not know what it is. It is one of those “I’ll know it when I hear it” situations. I have only heard the song twice in my life during the high school years, and I distinctively remember where I was, but cannot remember enough of the song lyrics or melody to search for it. The song is by a female artist, would likely be filed under the “Pop” category, and that is all I got. The strange thing is that even though I have only heard the song twice, I felt like I had known the song forever and it resonated perfectly in my brain. So there is a chance that I have heard the song before when I was a lot younger and was not fully cognizant of it at the time, but it lingers there in my subconscious. Memory is a fascinating thing.

I wish I could go through a music library of every song by a female artist that could have been popular enough to be aired on the radio many years ago. Sort of like in an episode of John Doe (am I the only one that has seen this show besides MKD and Center?!) where he goes into this laboratory and some guy in a white coat hooks him up to this super computer which generates every song ever made to try and trigger any lost memories. I need something like that.

I feel like Al Bundy in that episode of Married With Children where he is struggling to know the name of a song he can only hum a few notes from (I took the time to make sure I am not suffering from a faulty memory and it is season 5, episode “Oldies But Young’uns”). But unlike Al, I cannot remember squat.

[Okay, I think I watch too much tv.]

I am constantly on alert to hear this song again in my life. Unfortunately, I cannot make this a collective effort and will have to soldier on alone.

If I ever find this elusive song, will it still be my favorite? Will all my hard work be for naught? Like many things in life, only time will tell.