I’m on my 2nd post of the year and I think I’m on a roll!

So, over the past two days the weather in Houston has been warm for me and I could honestly say that it is making me completely forget the frigid cold weather of the North. My body is not reacting to it well and my thought process has been completely off. Take today for example, where like every day when I don’t get a good night sleep, I wake up and go on autopilot with my morning routine which may include a shower but always allows time to brush my teeth. Knowing in my head that its January and associating brick cold weather outside, I layered up assuming that I am about to get a rude awakening by the brisk cold air once I step out my door. But instead of the refreshing cool air that I always expect, I was met with the humid heat, which was a bit of a combination of last night garbage collection and the damp air produced from the overnight rainfall. It has been a steady 65° over the past couple days but the high lows that the weatherman predicts just shows me that any moron with a ‘made for TV’ voice can do their job. Today is supposed to be a high/low of 71°/35° and I’m out with three layers of clothes bracing for cold when people are around walking in shorts. But it’s all a part of living in the south. This brings me to an article I read in the Houston Press that really got me really feeling the racial divide here in the South.

Hudson Lounge - Houston Press

Hudson Lounge - Culture Map

(I will try to minimize my use of SUPPOSEDLY as much as I can) To sum the story up as best as I can, a group of affluent African American professionals threw a private party at the Hudson Lounge, which is supposedly the new hip place to go to for the young, rich, and the ones with the most plastic (surgery that is). Everything was planned and meetings were set well before the scheduled party but on the night of the party, the owner shows up at and takes one look at the crowd and orders his general manager to close down the bar, supposedly because there was way above capacity. But conflicting reports show that rather than the amount of people that were in attendance it was what caught the owner’s eyes, and in this case, which was the color of skin of the attendees. The reason why I wanted to bring this topic up is that this seems to be an underlying issue here in Houston, one of the most diverse cities in the US. There is an unspoken racist agreement amongst many of the posh clubs and bars, specifically in this area of Houston known as Rice Village, and it is embedded into Houston’s nightlife. I don’t want to say that it’s at every club/bar/lounge in the city but since I have been here, there has been way too many talks about how this club is for this race and that club is for that race. I encountered a similar situation at a bar in the same area as Hudson Lounge. I was with a diverse group of people and was basically told that we were not welcome there. I mean I wasn't trying to cause a large commotion, but I did let the bouncer know what I thought about his selection of people, but it always seems like it’s a losing battle. Going club/bar hopping down here, I realized that there were places associated to just one set of race and that mixing and mingling isn't welcome unless you really know people. Being from NY, I was accustomed to being around a diverse crowd and go to parties that reflected it so. Coming here I have never felt more placed within a specific race. It’s crazy that even in 2011, bigotry may not be as visible and out in the open as it once was before, but it still remains a prevalent topic of discussion.

| 0 comments

It’s a new year and along with everyone else in this crazy world, I believe that this is my year for some change. After thinking long and hard of all of the classic cliché resolutions that I could think of, I settled on a couple of things that I felt would best help me to grow creatively and also help me work towards getting out of the cell block cubicle which is my work life. I mean what could go wrong….

If I fail (and that's a big IF), I will only be right back to square one, sitting here in the same position, slouched over the dark corner of my computer desk as this anxiety sets in and the mad rush of thoughts come together to help me find the best way to get out of my dire circumstances. So, though I may be doomed for failure, with a 0-10 record as of December 31 2010, I am aiming for the following:

1. Photography

Blah blah everyone wants to be a photographer blah. Yes, I do enjoy my handy camera though I don't use it as much as I would like to. I am currently relegated to shooting the shit out of family gatherings and chasing down a soon to be 2 year old who does not understand the concept of stillness. So this year I am going to force myself to do more foot work and get out with my camera in hand to shoot the sh!t out of this city. If all else fails I could fall in to the category of being a creep or the typical Asian tourist and if you’re lucky I might even throw in a little accent in there to play the role up.

2. Writing

Let me take the time to break down the number of post that I have put down since inception.

12 post in 3 years, hmm lets divide.

That’s one every few, let’s say two of them were due.

One was so so, the other was my first post.

That’s 1 post every 3 month average.

Man that’s so lame.

So that should sum up why I’m back on the website. It’s not like I had much readers to begin with and I really don’t have much to say besides my ‘one and every few’ thoughtful post, but this is the year of change and progression. So let’s see how far this goes.

3. Patience/Passion

This will probably be the hardest thing for me to develop because I have absolutely no patience. But to pursue some of these passions I have built up inside of me, I’m going to need a lot of patience. I still have no learned the concept of patience and it has affected me in various parts of my life. For me the lack of patience only brings about anxiety and forces me to give up on things too soon. So for me to turn this new leaf I need patience.

| 0 comments

Jack's Mannequin - Holiday From Real.



Life Changing Decisions.

How do you come to the conclusion that the decisions you make are for the best.

Does it just click? Does it automatically come to you?

And when you do make these type of decisions, do you wonder what the ramifications may be; especially on how it will effect those that we hold closest to our hearts.

It could be something wonderful, when mutual goals are laid out and met.

But it could also be something horrible.

Sometimes it's hard to accept the fact that the decisions that we make can completely change our views on people, especially those that we care about the most.

We will just have to wait and see.

| 0 comments

As of April 3rd 2010, I am a happily, engaged man.

Engaged.

It still sounds weird coming off my tongue but its growing on me.

These past two weeks have been filled with offers of congratulations from family and friends, some more surprised than others but all happy for us.

We have also taken the time to bask in the thought that we are indeed engaged.

Still need a little time to get use to.

Not that, I'm nervous about whats to come. I'm actually looking forward to it all. Ever since I popped down onto one knee, A sense of calmness has taken its hold on me. I can honestly say that I am completely at ease with every aspect of my life, even though this is not where I pictured myself to be.

This was not in the plans.

Flashback to me two years ago and I would have been telling you that the idea or thought of being engaged at this age is just plain crazy talk. I was fresh out of school and ready to take this world by storm, one city at a time.

But here I am, reflecting on the events that have transpired over the past month.

Or even,

my growth over the past 3 years since I have left college.

To think about it, never in a million years would I have been able to predict that at the tender age of 25, I would be considering spending my life with just one woman.

Sh!tttttt…..

I was still getting use to the idea of being on my own and fending for myself in this brave new world of independence.

I had a rough draft of a plan for my future.

1. Travel the world, starting with South Korea.
2. After two years, come back to the states and travel from state to state.
3. Eventually settle in California.
4. Open up my café by the beach and enjoy the simpler life.

Nowhere in this list did the words “get married” fit in the picture. To think about it, I considered marriage out of the question for a while because I was just so caught up with the life I was living and enjoying the company of the people (women) that I was meeting along the way.

Not to say that I was sleeping around with a different girl every day of the week, but I was enjoying the opportunity of meeting new people in a new city.

But then it happened.

We were both in the same Salsa class and one of the things that they had us do was have the guys dance with each girl for about a minute than switch partners. Its like a carousel of swinging bodies.

This enabled everyone to practice and get familiar with dancing with different partners. Because, if you have ever tried Salsa, you would know that everybody has their own little variation of footwork.

But I digress.

Every time that I reached her as my dance partner, I would try to do something goofy to get a smile on her face.

And boy was I rewarded because she had one of the most beautiful smiles I have ever seen.

So from that point on, I tried my best to get her to crack a smile in hopes that she would feel more comfortable dancing with me. That’s when I knew I had a chance to possibly take her out on a date.

It’s funny, because when i think back to the days we first met, I also remember the very words that my co worker told me one night as we were leaving class.

-Side Story-
I was introduced to this Salsa class by one of my co-workers, we will just call her J, who was also in the class. We would car pool together since we lived in the same part of town. She was, how can I say this as nicely as I can, very fake. I mean she was nice when she wanted to be but she can also be very irritable. But being that I was new in town and didn’t know too many people I figured this gave me a chance to pursue something that I have always wanted to do.
-End-

I was talking to my future wife (she didn’t know it at the time!) after class and right when there was an open to swap information I froze up. Man I felt like a fool. I don’t know what happened but all I remembered was that I fumbled the ball before I was able to score the game winning touchdown. I just got caught up with my words and eventually nothing came out.

As embarrassed as I was, I trotted back to where J was and told her that I could have gotten her number but froze up.

The next sentence caught me off guard.

“There is no way that you could get with her”

I was taken aback by that statement, but I wasn’t going to let her knock me off of this cloud that I was on. I was a man on a mission and I knew what I had to do the next time I saw her. I knew that there was an attraction between us and I was determined not to let the moment pass us by again.

Too bad it was around Christmas time and I was off to New York for a couple of weeks. After being away for about a month, I had no idea if she would continue with the class. But fate, as you know it, was just setting up the pieces. There she was, with that infectious smile of hers, and before I knew it she had me cheesin' away, like I was back in grade school.

We still had some time before class so I approached her determined to make amends from my previous attempts. Conversation started off smoothly as we discuss winter break which eventually leading to us setting up a meet up at a local salsa club. We exchanged information and decided on meeting up with each other later on that week. From there it led to us planning to have an official date and the rest became history…..

Obviously, I have been feeling a bit nostalgic recently between the distance we had to endure and overcome the regular wear and tear that all couples go through. I mean we have had our fair share of hiccups within our relationship. But for every dark day that we underwent, there was a bright future not too far ahead.

I know it may be foolish for me to believe that fate had her hand in bringing us together, but it’s hard for me to think otherwise based on the circumstances that brought us together and kept us strong.

The one thing I do know though is that no matter what you plan for yourself, whether its that career that you have been pursuing your entire life or personal goals that you strive to reach, you may wake up one day and realize that all your plans that you have set forth was just a rough draft of your life and the revisions, whether good or bad, is inevitable. Change is part of life. Whether we like it or not, whether we can cope with it or not, whether we thrive on it or not.

Change is here to stay.

I know that in the short time that I have been living here there have been many revisions to my life but the one thing I do now is that…..

My girlfriend is officially now my fiancée and sooner or later will become my wife. Now that…..

is something I can adhere to.

| 0 comments