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.