Going back to Seattle only made me realize how much life sucks in Syracuse. I know it's an unfair comparison but when I'm in Seattle I feel like a rockstar partying amongst rockstars and when I'm in Syracuse, I feel like shit. My friends in Seattle really know how to make me feel like a local celebrity even though it's just hanging out and watching TV. Perhaps it's just the drastic difference between Seattle and Syracuse. Yeah, I hate Syracuse. The expression can only be properly communicated through the use of the HTML Bold tag. Yeah, take that.

After asking myself repeatedly, "What the hell am I doing here?", the only rational answer I came up with is that "I came here to Syracuse to die alone." Straight to the point, no messy excess. Yeah, you might want to be careful asking yourself these questions because the answer might be a little scary.

I know the last couple of months have been a little negative. But this time I actually have something positive only because I'm freshly back from my vacation to the Pacific Northwest. I've also been sick of myself being sick of myself. It's a self-feeding loop with no end.

So the vacation was a very busy one. The same way I've always done vacations. I don't give myself too much time to sit down and usually end up more tired when it's all over. Since I had extended family visiting from Las Vegas and various parts of Washington State, my time was divided between family and friends and I burned through a lot of resources running between Bremerton and Seattle.

My priority right now is just to get to pictures up. The rest will come later, I guess.

The first few days were spent at my parents' house. I ended up getting a new cell phone. I know that I must be one of the more difficult people to shop for a present. Once I mentioned to my mom that my phone has been acting retarded, we immediately ran off to a Sprint vendor and she got me the MOTOKRZR K1m. It's supposed to be the successor to the popular RAZR model. Now it's just a matter of time before everybody and their cat has this phone. From what I understand, different cellular service providers have claimed specific colors of the KRZR. Verizon has claimed the grey models, Cingular has a blue one, and Sprint has the all black (w/red accents) model. And since I'm Sprint, I have the all black one. I've been so obsessed with keeping the front clean since it's a glass plate and therefore, a fingerprint magnet. I'm totally OCD about it. So yeah, this was my Christmas present from my parents. I also have a Bluetooth headset (HS850) for the phone. I've been playing around with the various voice commands the phone recognizes. One thing I noticed is that the phone doesn't like Vietnamese names. The phone doesn't recognize silent h. So when I want to call Thao or Thanh Thanh, I sound so retarded since the 'Th' has to sound like the 'Th' in 'That' or 'Thunder'. Bah.

So yeah, my old phone has been acting retarded. It hasn't been charging right for a couple of months now. I have to hold the plug into the phone at a certain angle or else the thing won't charge. I'm actually surprised at how long that phone managed to survive under my care. I usually burn through cell phones in 3-4 months time. (cracked screen, dropped to oblivion, faceplate swap mishap, etc.) This one lived for a good two and a half years. Now I'm hoping this new KRZR will have a similar lifespan. Especially since I have some Bluetooth accessories and I'm picking up the Motorola software to sync it with my computer.

So now that I had a new phone, I was ready to take on the world. Or so I thought. On December 20, my sister asked me if I wanted to check out Bodies... The Exhibition which was going on at the University of Washington. I just had to meet her at her condo by 6:30. So then I drive out to Seattle a little early to hang out before I had to meet with my sister. I tried calling around and everybody had some kind of excuse. Except for Kris. So Kris was stuck with me and I was stuck with Kris. CarLo's excuse was that he had to do laundry. Chan's excuse was that he was watching CarLo do laundry. 0_o Others just didn't pick up their phones or didn't have as weird of an excuse as CarLo and Chan. Eventually, Kris and I ran into Ben at Kicks.

Soon enough, it was time to meet up with my sister at her condo. I got there and when my sister answered the door the lights were off. It was then when I knew what was going on. Surprise party time! I was suspicious about something. There were various oddities I noticed but didn't pay much attention to them. Such as my mom making pancit earlier in the day. That stuff is made for special occasions especially in the quantity she was making it. Then there's the weird ass excuses I've been given. Also, parking at my sister's place was pretty bad. I've lived in the same complex for a year and it was never like that before. Oh well, it wasn't a total surprise, but there was a lot of WOW involved. Man, I love these guys.

Shannon, Carlo and Ben drinking monkeypiss beer. My sister's not a beer person so she wasn't sure what to get. It's ok, once the good stuff arrived most of these were left orphaned in her fridge.


Marco and Rus.


Matt and Aaron ready to get their karaoke on.


Rus is picking songs.


Brian, Tracy, Ben and CarLo.


Thanh Thanh arrives.


I wonder who inflated all these balloons.


My sister, the instigator of this madness.


Rus summoning the dancing queen.


Chan with his sexy camera I helped him pick out while I was in Japan.


Me and Thanh Thanh.


Me and Thanh Thanh redux with Aaron in the back.


Shots!


Sexy.


Too sexy.


Ganpai!


Chasers needed.


Group photo!


Nina, CarLo and Rus.


Scarf fight.


I think Nina won.


But CarLo gets to keep it.


TT gave him some cake to get her scarf back.


Kristi and me.


The place got really hot with everybody in the apartment.


Marco's turn to feel the wrath of the scarf.


"Finish him!"


Me, Kristi and Chan.


Now, that's hot.


Wow, that's a little close there.


Kazar and me.


Brian, me and Kazar.


TT and Nina.


I get this a lot.


CarLo belting one out.


Good times.


Yeah, I have a couple more pictures in my phone, but I don't have a way to get them onto the computer until my cable comes in. The next couple of days were spent running around between Seattle and Bremerton. Most of the hanging out in Seattle was at Kris and Tracy's house.



Rus, Chan and CarLo Wii-ing.


Des and Tracy.


Tobey Danger.


Giftwrap fury.


On Dec 23, Kris and Tracy hosted a Christmas party.


When I went to the bathroom, i quickly constructed a make-shift Dick in a Box^TM out of an empty Kleenex box, my belt and my phone clip. Ben was unimpressed.


Des and Chris.


Camera showdown.


Brian, Chan and Kris wii-ing together.


"Ugh."


A heart-shaped meringue...


... from Rus and Joysha.


What Christmas party is complete without a NERF gun fight?


Lock and load.


Unpacking.


Makeshift holster.


Ben's Dick in a Box^TM. It took him an hour to make which is why my 8-second version just didn't cut it.


Since CarLo was the only one without a NERF gun, we decided to ambush him downstairs.


Tracy brandishing her firearm.


Chan emerges.


CarLo after his slaughter.


One more dart for good luck.


Aaron dual wielding.













Kris and Tracy got this Lazer tag game that shocks you when you get shot.


Brian decided to try it out.


Shocked and shaken.


Super Monkey Ball on the Wii can get very competitive.



I spent Christmas eve with the family. The entire house was occupied. My dad's side took over the family room and my mom's side took over the living room. My sister and I were running in-between rooms. I ended up staying up until 3am because of Elite Beat Agents for the Nintendo DS. I got my sister a DS for her Birthday/Christmas present and I eventually picked one up for myself and got the same games. (Elite Beat Agents and Trauma Center) I got her a white one and I got myself one in manly, manly Coral Pink. That's right, don't be jealous now.







After Christmas, I met up with Gina for a pigeon fix. Since all the other places where we've had pigeon (squab) closed down, she did a little research and found a restaurant in Kirkland that served it. So off to Kirkland we went.

Since it was just about sunset by the time we got to Kirkland, Gina suggested running down to the waterfront for some pictures.


I haven't been taking pictures in a long time. I guess it's because I'm so not inspired in Syracuse. Before I felt as if I could just take pictures anywhere and they'll turn out great. Maybe I'm just jaded, uninspired or my subconscious hates Syracuse more than I'll ever know.


The waterfront was loaded with ducks.


I took a picture of Gina while she wasn't looking. I photoshopped this one to make this. It just felt appropriate.


This is just a little park in downtown Kirkland.


"Mine! Mine! Mine! Mine, mine, mine! Mine! Mine, mine!"


We settled in at the restaurant and ordered up some pigeon. I wish I got a better shot of the bird. Its little beak was open and its tongue was curled up frozen in a little 'death scream'. Man, now I wish I kept the head.


Gina's TEH AWESOME!


After Kirkland, I made several trips back and forth between Bremerton and Seattle.

I took this picture facing Bremerton from the ferry at around sunset. I also snapped this with my phone and is currently my background. Good stuff.


For New Year's, I wasn't sure if I wanted to spend it with family or friends. Since CarLo went to the Philippines for New Year's, the rest of us weren't sure what to to or where to go. After a lengthly debate with myself, I decided to go to Seattle and meet up with Carlo, Shannon, Ben and Marco. We met up at the Salmon House to wait for Matt and Sky to get to Seattle.

We met up at the bar and grabbed some food. That night for some reason, they had some karaoke going and since the majority of the crowd consisted of an older group (40s-50s), Ben and I decided to belt out some songs that weren't appropriate for the patrons.

Ben did "Freak Me" by Silk and I did I Believe in a Thing Called Love by The Darkness. The bar, save the waitrons and the 'youngsters', didn't know what was going on. It was hilarious.

We were supposed to meet up with Matt and Sky but they didn't know where they were and they were too drunk to give us directions. Eventually, they found their bearings and told us they were at a bar on Aurora Ave. Carlo, Shannon, Ben and I left the Salmon House and found the bar. Man, it was this nasty looking hole in the wall dive bar. It also looked really packed. Yeah, we weren't really interested in going inside once we saw it. Instead, we went back to the Salmon House and watched the Space needle blow up at midnight.

Afterwards, we grabbed some Dick's and called it a night.

As a New Year's resolution, I need to put a lot more effort into keeping in touch with friends. I've been horrible at this especially since I dropped off the face of the planet a couple of months ago. So yeah, that's what I'm doing.

The First of January was my last day I'd spend in Seattle on this trip. I ended up kidnapping Rus, Ben, Tracy, and Chan and taking them to Everett to visit Aron and Rosanna. We stopped by Carlo and Shannon's condominiumiumium since they know how to get to Aron's apartment. Not only did I need to see Aron and Rosanna, but I had to see the baby. Six weeks and growing.

Elijah looks confused as Carlo holds him.


proud parents Aron and Rosanna.


Elijah, Carlo, Ben, Rus and Tracy.


Aron and Baxter.


Elijah with mommy.


Rus, Ben and Chan.


Well, that's it for the pictures. I have a couple more stories I never got to that I should post eventually.

What's left? There's the 12-egg omelettes, Lunch with Thao, Lunch with Jhoana, getting cupcakes with Gina, the search for a DS, text message/incoming call confusion, hanging out at Jillian's, Gears of War all-nighters, CarLo's car, driving stick on Seattle's hills, et cetera.

Good stuff.


music: Justin Timberlake - Losing My Way
And it's breaking me down
Watching the world spin 'round
While my dreams fall down
Is anybody out there?

It is breaking me down
No more friends around...
And my dreams fall down...
Is anybody out there?

It was great having you back here dude! All of us missed you a lot. If you ever need a recharge, give us a call. We'll hook you up... hopefully without shocking laser tag guns....
-Brian - 070107 - 2237EST



It was good to see you. I'm stealing some pics...
-Carlo - 070111 - 1940EST



Sounds like you had an awesome time back here. Wish I was around, maybe I could've crashed a party or something.

Hurry up and become a man of power so you can will your way back to Washington, dude.
-Lee - 070111 - 2013EST



Come on, Rich. .you're still a rockstar :-) I know it's gotta suck being all the way across the country from the people you care about and have to change departments and all. . but it's only a few more years, and you can be outta here if ya want. You're a great guy, don't be too hard on yourself. Hang in there, dude!
-Tiffany - 070609 - 1204EST

telarict@upstate.edu