Happy '3 Years Of Living in the Bay Area' To Me

Yesterday was my 3 year anniversary of moving to the Bay Area. It also so happened to be my Mom's birthday.

It's really hard for me to believe that:

• I've survived living on my own for 3 years
• Lived in Sunnyvale for this long
• I look completely physically different since I moved
• I've worked at the same company for this long

I really do love the Bay Area. I foresee myself living here for quite some time. I'll most likely live in San Francisco at some point in 2009 if I still have a steady income. Truth be told, I really like Sunnyvale, too. Even though there really isn't anything to do in the city itself beyond going to Target. (Which FYI will be knocked down in January '09... so what do I have to live for anyway?)

Craigslist Talk: "Why do all the white guys only like asian guys?"

It's no secret i enjoy reading Craigslist, especially the SF Bay Area M4M Missed Connections.

I suppose it shouldn't be in the 'missed connections' thread, but the topic of: "Why do all the white guys only like asian guys?" recently came up.

Given my past, one would most likely put me in the above category. I don't categorize myself as a 'Rice Queen' and find it semi-offensive. I'm open to dating all races, find all sorts of men attractive (various ages, race, heights, weights, etc.). It just so happens that I like dating Asian men. I also have a lot of Asian friends. I always have, from grade school to college to work. But If you look at my friends as a whole, I would say most are minorities (not white; female).

While I was in the Midwest, I would say I started to think about dating White Guys more. I feel one is open to dating what you're mostly around, given your current environment. In the Midwest, I was surrounded by mostly white and african-american guys. I probably would adapt to dating them more in the Midwest.

Given that, here was the initial Craigslist post with the Headline, "Why do all the white guys only like asian guys?"

in all honesty, i just want to know why is it that all of the white men in san francisco are only into asian boys?
ive lived here for about 4 years, and ive noticed that MOST of the white guys are into asian boys and vice versa..
so i just want to know?
i have no prejudice towards it at all because I LIKE IT ALL, but i just feel that theres this new hot craze over asian boys lately.
lemme know :)

Some chatter back to this initial question:

• "Because if you're a white guy and you are NOT attracted to asian guys, they're likely to accuse you of being racist when you turn them down.
  
  Being that these same asian guys are wanting to get with me based solely on my race, it strikes me as a double-standard, but whatever helps ya deal with rejection, I guess..."
• "you like what you like. can't change that much.
  
  i have a friend who's asian and thinks that every time he's rejected by someone, it's only because he's asian and for no other reason. i've always thought that maybe it's because he's short, or lean, or he's stuck on himself. who knows why anyone ever gets rejected or accepted, just is what it is."
• "I prefer old. Therefore, I'm bitter at the Asians for stealing a portion of my market share.
  
  Asians like old dudes, as do I.
  
  White-old-dudes.
  
  HANDS OFF MY OLD MAN, GAYSIAN!!! I SEE YOU LOOKING AT HIS CROW'S FEET! BACK IT UP BITCH!"
• "But to say that Asians take away your market share is to say that you and all the other Asians (as well as whites who like older) are all the same, and it's just a matter of chance. And though I admit that chance has a lot to do with finding "love," whatever that means to anyone, there is also a huge element of 'je ne sais quoi' that each person possesses that is unique. I guess what I'm saying is not to sell yourself short and think that one would only be attracted to you or anyone else because of skin color. While there are people out there like that, I think there are more of us out there that appreciate a person for the intangibles, the sheer 'chemistry' of it all. OK, off my soapbox.
  
  Good luck! :)"
• "Guys, guys, guys!
  What's all this? Are you all bored sitting there and has nothing else to talk about? I think the only missed connection here is simply 'grow up'!!
  We should be proud and fortunate to live in a city that's so rich with all the different ethnic groups in it. Everybody, gay or straight, is up to individual to choose who or which race one likes. Just because you can't find the right guy to out there, you just don't make such or any assumption out loud!
  And how can one say that this 'white like asian ' is the trend lately? Are we talking about Project Runway here? Please people, if you really want a real topic to talk to, how about Obama VS Clinton? Or share your favorite mom's recipe? So what's missing here again?"
• " They give great blow jobs, and make great bottoms."

Of course, I don't endorse any of the above comments. I find some offensive as well. But I think it was an interesting thread.

Thinking 24/7: These topics are on my mind

My mind is a bit off today. I didn't get any sleep and tried to recover this afternoon, but with that said, I have a lot of thoughts running through my head:

• I'm happy to be back in California. It's home and always will be. But I still have the desire to live many other places.
• I'm excited to have a social life again. Not that I didn't have a social life in MIchigan, but it wasn't MY social life to some extent. Again, it's the being taken out of your comfort zone thing. Dating, movies, working out, dining out in SF... all things I'm looking forward to!
• The Staph Infection hitting the Castro is scary. Although the drug resistant bug has hit LA, Boston, and New York, it seems to be making the biggest impact in the gay community in San Francisco's Castro District. As reported in the SF Chronicle, one out of every 588 is infected with the drug resistant form of MRSA. This is super scary.
• Strangers have been super nice to me. I try to help out where I can. But I've been in a lot of random binds lately and complete strangers usually step up and help me out. I'm not sure if it's Karma, but I truly believe what comes around goes around. I had an unbelievable amount of luggage to carry around via mass transit, and many people helped me out today. It was cool.
  
• I like mass transit... a lot. Even thought it's not the most time efficient necessarily, I love living in an area where I can get around via Mass Transit. I got from SFO to my car in Mountain View for around $12 -- mixing BART, CalTrain and a Cab. How great is that?
• I'm sad I left Michigan a bit earlier than I wanted. This week is very big in Michigan. You have the Republican Presidential Primary and the Detroit Auto Show in one week. I found it pretty cool to see the Republicans duke it out in Michigan... via Advertising on Radio and TV. The Detroit Auto show is a huge deal. It's all that's covered on the news and it's all people are talking about. It's very cool. And the best part? I feel optimism in the American Car Industry.
• I've added the Volvo C30 to my Test Drive list. I saw an ad in a magazine for the Volvo C30. I thought, what a cool little car! It's pricey, but I love the modern Scandinavian interior. So far it's hit most of my future car requirements... hi tech advanced features, awesome audio, available sunroof, power but still decent gas mileage, smaller design for city living, ipod connectivity and something visually unique (stand out from the crowd).
• I'm excited for MacWorld! So when flying from Detroit to SFO, I sat next to Troy, who was heading to MacWorld. We bonded and he reminded me how excited I am for whatever Apple has up it's sleeves tomorrow. I'm most excited for the new ultra thin laptop. Wired has mock photos of what it thinks Apple will release.
• I'm excited to put my Digital SLR to good use. I got a Nikon D40, an entry level Digital SLR camera. That might require me to travel around the bay more.
• Sunnyvale gets an Art Institute of California! The newest Art Institute of California is in none other than my current home of Sunnyvale! I saw an ad on TV and I got a little excited. If I ever wanted to take classes on the side, I'm excited to have a legit institution nearby. :) It joins the other California Art Institutes in Los Angeles, Orange County, San Diego, the Inland Empire, San Francisco, and Sacramento.
• American Gladiators on NBC. Even thought it's one big testosterone fest --- an overload to some extent --- American Gladiators is entertaining and reminds me of my childhood. I'm not sure how I feel about Hulk Hogan and Laila Ali as hosts. I do like some of the over the top effects... like when the bullseye is hit during Assault. Explosions and Water Drops, oh my!

Go Kart Racing!

Nai's GF came to the Bay Area to celebrate with him. Nai, Audrey & I hung out on Saturday Afternoon, although Nai's birthday is on Sunday.

We went to indoor racing course, Go Kart Racer, in Burlingame, CA. It's hardcore go karts, not your 'Malibu Grand Prix.' You need jump suits, neck protectors, and training videos. The competition is stressful, entertaining, and surprisingly a good upper body workout.

I went here once before for a team offsite. It's kinda pricey... like in the $50-$60 range. But it's fun and a different experience.

After Go Kart Racing, we went to the Cheesecake Factory for an early dinner.

RACING RESULTS


(1) Preliminary Race Stats & (2) Final Race Stats

PICTURES

Weekend Plans: Christina Aguilera & Random Bay Area Travel

So this weekend will be super fun. Cindy, my college buddy, will be coming up to Nor Cal on Friday.

I have the Christina Aguilera / Pussycat Dolls / Danity Kane concert on Saturday night in San Jose. I'll be going with Alex. We bought our tickets like in October of last year. Craziness. There are TWO parties going on Saturday night that I would love to go to, but with the concert and all, it will be nearly impossible.

I'll be hanging out with Cindy on Saturday night after the concert and Sunday afternoon. I'm still trying to decide what we should do. I was thinking Santa Cruz or maybe Half Moon Bay. Something picturesque and away from SF. Or maybe we'll do both... I dunno.