Goals for 2016

What are my goals for 2016? I created a list of what I need to be doing for 2016. The past two years (2014 and 2015) have been good and bad. I need change for 2016 and here what I need to be doing

- I need to find a better job. My current job has not been great with me and I need to find a better place where I am treated well and they will listen to me on my concerns and not ignore me.
- I have to learn how to keep balance of my finances. I been spending way too much money and need to learn how to save. I have to learn how to cut back on my expenses.
- Cut back on Off the Grid. The reason I need to cut back on them is because it been dying and not many good food truck to eat from and the live music performance have not been good. I want to go to Off the Grid when there are great food trucks and great live music. Also I need to stop eating out which I am always at Off the Grid.
- I want to eat well. My main concern is eating out less and mainly eating at home. I notice that I rarely eat at home. If I eat a homemade food maybe I would have no high cholesterol.
- To become a great friend to a certain woman that I will leave un-named. I been helping her out by giving her a ride to places. I felt this woman deserves attention but not too much. I am willing to do much for her but I need to learn to limit my service.

Hopefully this will happen in 2016. I felt that 2014 and 2015 did not guarantee me any of this and I want this to happen to me badly. Let hope for the best and not another let down.

Off the Grid Music Performance 2015

Lily Holbrook “Makes Them Wonder” Neck of the Woods 11.05.15

Lily Holbrook “Running Into Walls” Neck of the Woods 11.05.15

Rafael Sarria “California” Off the Grid Concord @ Todos Santos Plaza 10....

35 Facts About Me

Since I have turn 35 I thought I should do 35 facts about me. I will try not to be so random about it.

1. I have taken photography in high school and in college

2. Lived in Hercules since February 1988

3. I used to play the piano in high school and college

4. I dated a UC Berkeley student 2000-2002

5. The longest I have been friends with a woman is 16 years (1999-present)

6. It took me ten years to get into San Francisco State University after high school

7. Had a near fatal incident that occur on my birthday 2013

8. On my birthday in 2010 I walk across from the Golden Gate Bridge from San Francisco to Marin. Something I never done before until that day

9. I hate sunflower seeds

10. I was on the Ten O’clock News KTVU2 when the San Francisco Giants won the 2014 World Series Championship

11. When the San Francisco Giants won the 2012 World Series Championship I was volunteering at the International Hotel Manilatown Center

12. When the San Francisco Giants won the 2010 World Series Championship I was cutting my evening class at SFSU to watch them at Costco

13. All my fours years at SFSU I was commuting from Hercules and working in Concord

14. I had a huge crush on my SFSU lecturer, which her name will not be reveal

15. While I was attending SFSU I was going to NIghtLife at the California Academy of Science every Thursday

16. While I was attending SFSU I was going to San Francisco Zoo in between classes

17. I met Lynn Chen at a Film Festival shown in Castro Theatre.

18. My first gay experience occur in 2002. My co-worker wanted to have sex with me, which I turn him down cold turkey

19. I have been in two statewide journalism competition (2000, 2001)

20.When I took a two weeks leave of absent from my job in May 2014 I never left my house.

21. My 36th Anniversary of the I Hotel Eviction Commemoration video was shown at a convention in Los Angeles 2014

22. I own two Nikon DSLR cameras (D5200 and D5300)

23. My first Off the Grid music performance was the Heartache Sister July 2013

24. I spend my birthday in 2014 at Off the Grid Burlingame

25. My birthday 2009 my class at SFSU was cancel

26.  My Facebook page was created at the library at SFSU May 2013

27. I was not suppose to live at the age of 33 due to high cholesterol. That almost happen October 2013

28.  When I got into SFSU I was a journalism major but switch to Asian American Studies after the death of Ronald Takaki

29. The day of my graduation commencement at SFSU I was watching Hangover III

30. When I started attending Off the Grid the company thought I was working for media. The owner ask me if I was involve with any press.

31.  Twice in one full college year I was involve with SFSU Asian American Studies reunion dinner.

32. I was involve with SFSU AAS graduation banquet in May 2015

33. I refuse to drink alcohol due to family problem with it

34. Right before I major in Asian American Studies I was coining myself as Filipino American and Asian American in my applications

35. I became a vegetarian due to a friend pressuring me into eating healthy

Not My Best Nor Was My Worse

It been a while since I have a done a blog. A lot has been going on with me. I have been applying for jobs that are not leading to an interview, working at a place that is not leading me anywhere, and going to a place that is losing their best workers. It has been a mess that has no way of fixing it.

Here is how I am doing. I am feeling lost and trap at a place in my life that is not leading me anywhere in life. I have been working for Sam’s Club since September 2006. I graduated from San Francisco State University in December 2013 with a bachelor degree in Asian American Studies. I always thought that after graduation it would be easy for me to find a new job. I been applying for jobs that would fit the description that I have experience in. I use the experience that I got from working at Sam’s Club, International Hotel Manilatown Center, and San Francisco State University but no luck. What is going on with this? I been questioning myself about what is happening to me in 2014. There is a roadblock that is preventing me from getting a new job. It is like a sign saying that I should stay at a job that does not have any benefits. Going back to school is not going to solve anything since I am in a budget situation. I wish my true friends that say that they are my friends would help me out but that are not.

A lot of people that know me well know that I been going to Off the Grid on a daily basis. My main reason that I been going there not just for the food but the live music performance that been there and the people that work with Off the Grid and the food trucks. I have gotten to known people that been at the Off the Grid market. It is a way to get away from my problems that I been dealing with at Sam’s Club and home life. I been going to Off the Grid ever since May 2013. I enjoy the live music performance and that I have been video recording the performance. I do inform the performer that I am recording them and that I would show them the video. They do appreciate that I been watching their performance.

There is something I would like to mention that most people been noticing about me. It is my refusal to mention anything about myself. Whenever I try to be close to someone I feel afraid of being a joke and it bothers me. Telling my story, which includes family, education, and work tend to be the butt of the joke. I do not want to be joke around which I been dealing with my entire life. I cannot handle being made fun of. I will admit I am having withdrawal to the public. When I try to make contact with someone I just don’t say anything. Maybe I was trauma as a child where I was not allow to make any contact with anyone. Eventually I will tell people about me when the time is right.

Not my best blog I ever posted. I just thought I would posted what been going on with me. Something that I rarely mention about my personal life.

35 and Feeling Fine

My 35th Birthday was amazing! I have to say that I have really good friends and parents that care for me. I can not thank them for celebrating my 35th Birthday with me. My friend Jenny actually took me out for a birthday lunch on Monday instead of Wednesday because she had to work on my birthday. We ate at a Thai restaurant in Albany which was great. My parents took me out for a birthday lunch at a Chinese restaurant in Pinole. It was awesome because it was a Chinese restaurant that I love going to. What was sad was that my parents felt out of place at the restaurant because they rarely eat away from home. They did not know that there were different menu for lunch and a la cart. Thankfully they knew what to order at the restaurant. My friend Lily took me to a nice Ethiopian restaurant in San Francisco. It was amazing. I love eating Ethiopian food which I rarely have. A place that I can eat healthy and had vegetarian option. I appreciate that I hang out with Lily. She is a great woman and a awesome best friend.

There was a big announcement that I was going to mention to everyone. The first announcement was that I step down as a organizer of a Meetup group. It was the right decision because I did not have any time to do any meetings. I felt like I was not getting any help from my group on doing any activities for us to do. I did offer any help but no one took it. Whenever I did a meetup nobody RSVP to come. It was a better if I stop organizing any meetups.

The second announcement that I had was that I decided not to attend way too much Off the Grid. It was time that I lesser my attendance because I felt I was not notice for my gratitude of showing up on a daily basic. People from Off the Grid know who I am but how come I was not offer a job with them? If a company heard nice things about me they would offer me a chance to join them.I been applying with the company for awhile now and they turn me down for someone else. Also the decision to attend less Off the Grid is because the live music performance has not been great. There are awesome musicians at Off the Grid that I enjoy watching. There are some that do not get my attention. Also their speakers have not been great. I been hearing bad audio coming out. It not great for musician performing with a speakers that are awful. Not only does it make the musicians feel uncomfortable but the people would watch them perform would be upset. As a audience I would appreciate hearing something good coming out of the speakers instead of something that would make me go deaf.

Also there is another reason why I am lesser my attendance at Off the Grid. I am trying to eat healthy. What that means is I am going to give being a vegetarian a shot. Most of the food trucks at Off the Grid are not vegetarian friendly. There are some trucks that has a menu for vegetarian. Certain days not one food truck has options for vegetarian. It is a hard decision that I have to do for myself.

Let hope I can keep my word on being healthy and not going way too much to Off the Grid. 35 is starting right for me.

My 30th Birthday from October 7, 2010

Original Blog from October 8, 2010

When I turned 30 on October 2010 my friend Jenny and I spend a day together celebrating my birthday. A day that was out of the blue and unexpected. We went to Berkeley, Sausalito, and San Francisco in one day. Crossing bridges like the Richmond-San Rafael, Golden Gate Bridge, and Bay Bridge. It was a great day to hang with Jenny.

Jenny and I had breakfast at Bette’s Dinner in Berkeley. We had big fluffy pancakes that were popular at the diner. I manage to finish mine, which made me stuffed. Afterward we found a store that had lots of reptiles. We saw a snake engulf a rat right in front of us, which was awesome. A store nearby gave us free My Jones drink which I appreciated.

Our trip to the Bay Model in Sausalito was a bust. The place was being remodeled. The models did not have any water running and the only things that Jenny and I saw were fishes swimming in the tank. I felt that it was a bad decision to go there.

Afterward we headed to the Golden Gate Bridge I did something that I thought I would never do. I cross the Golden Gate Bridge by foot. I walk from one side of the Golden Gate from San Francisco to the Marin side and back. A 90-minute walk across a bridge that I did not think it took a long time. I had my friend Jenny with me. She scared the crap out while we were walking on the bridge. Each time a plane flew over the Golden Gate she had me take a picture while people were passing by me. Note that the day of my birthday Fleet Week was happening and they had plane practicing in the air showing off. I was not comfortable stopping on a bridge that was above water especially with cars passing by. It was a great experience that I did not think I would ever do.

We tried to find out where the planes/jets along the Pier in downtown San Francisco which we were unlucky to find. The walk along Fishermen Wharf and Pier 39 was good. We had dinner at a pizzeria, which had a small buffet and a nice view of the city in Pier 39. Jenny and I had a nice dinner, which I can not complain. She is my best friend and it was nice of her to come along for my 30^th.

My 30^th birthday turn out to be good. I did accept the facts that I was getting older and was past my prime. I would never forget that experience I had when I turn 30 years old and I had my best friend Jenny along with me.

Turning 33 and Never Forgetting That Day

This is a blog that is very personal to me. It is something that nobody has known that happen to me almost two years ago. I felt it was time to explain what happen to me on October 7, 2013.

Did you know that on my 33rd birthday my parents thought I was dying? It was an unusual day to wake up on your birthday. Not the birthday present you expected to get on your birthday. Thank goodness I am alive to tell the story.

October 7, 2013 I woke up with a shooting pain on my right side of my body from where my neck and arm. I could barely turn around on my bed. The way I got out of bed was to drag myself out using my legs and left arm. Luckily I was laying down on my back instead of my side for me to drag out of bed. Thankfully the strength on my left arm surely help me out of bed.

My mom saw how much pain I was in. She freak out thinking that I had a stroke. I would had not gotten up if I had a stroke. Oddly my mom did not even tried calling 911 if I was having a stroke. I would not blame my mom on thinking I had a stroke. I did have some of the symptoms of a stroke. The only two that were missing was face drooping and difficulty of speech. 

Luckily the doctor was able to see me in the afternoon. My mom drove me to the Doctor’s Office to have me check up since I was unable to drive. The doctor said that the pain was cause by the way I was sleeping. I slept the wrong way meaning that the way I slept probably cause a lot of pressure on my right side a lot of pain. The doctor just prescribe me Baclofen and Ibuprofen until the pain went away. The pain was gone within eight days.

Thankfully that day I woke up in pain I did not have to go to work nor did I have to go to school. It was my day off in which I was suppose to celebrate my 33rd birthday with my best friend. She understood that I was in pain and just wanted me to rest until I was well then she would treat me out for a birthday celebration.

It was a close call of having a stroke. I would not forget that day when I turn 33 years old and woke up in pain. I think from the experience I watch what I was eating and slept the proper way. I learn to take good care of myself. Thankfully the following year I did not experience the same situation.

Life is too short to end. My theory is to live life to the fullest because I am still young and there is a lot for me to do.

Long Time and Now It is Time to Catch Up

It has been a long time since I have done a blog. A job, Off the Grid, and life keeps me from doing a blog. It is also knowing what I want to write about. It has been a very long time since I have written a blog. I forgot when was the last time I have done one.

In order for me to do a blog I need to know what to write about. I have ideas what I want to write about but I do not know what to start with first. My ideas are doing a food review on food trucks that I have tried at Off the Grid or with musicians that have perform there. Those two are the best ideas that I could come up with. I know which food truck to do a review on and I also know a great musicians that I can write about. Two great ideas but I do not know what to write about.

Crowding Out "Murder In The City" Off the Grid Uptown Oakland 03.05.15

Family Own Places

Happy New Year. Let hope I post more blogs for 2015. I have ideas what to post.

I have been noticing places that I have gone through are not family own. The places that I have seen are franchise places like Starbucks, Krispy Kreme, and Subway.I enjoy going to a Starbucks and Peets but the atmosphere is not the same as what you get in a family own place.

There is a coffee shop in Hercules that has had three owners in the past year. It has been there before Starbucks existed. It is a nice place to enjoy breakfast. What I like about this place is that it is nice and quiet compare to Starbucks where there are always people talking.

There is another coffee shop in Pinole that recently open. East Bay Coffee is a nice quiet shop. It host open mic every Thursday. It is a place that I am willing to go to. Oddly this coffee shop is across from Bear Claw Bakery, another non-franchise.

I love if there are more non-franchise places. They are not a bad place to hang out at and the prices are not high. I enjoy attending these non-franchise.

Creekside Café

1581 Sycamore Ave, Ste 9,

Hercules, CA

East Bay Coffee

2529 San Pablo Ave

Pinole, CA