N'Touch With My Bad Self

President's Day weekend was pretty interesting. I actually went out on a Sunday Night in San Francisco, a rarity for a South-bay-er like myself.

Alex called me on a whim around 8:45pm and asked me if I wanted to meet up with Bill and him at N'Touch, the oldest remaining Gay Asian bar in San Francisco. He was like, 'You literally have to go in your car and meet me now. I'm meeting up with Bill at 9:45pm.'

At that point, I hadn't eaten dinner. I was planning an El Pollo Loco run, but I had to opt for something quicker. Sadly, that was my local Taco Bell, which I haven't had in ages. I grabbed a burrito and a couple of tacos and made my way on up to the City.

N'Touch is pretty far from the freeway, on Polk Street in the Northern part of the City. I found parking pretty easily and made my way inside. I think it was only Alex, the Bartender, and a few others sitting at the bar. Of those who were there, a good portion of them are usually sketch, but that makes things interesting.

I got there on time and we waited for Bill to show up. As I was looking to see if there was 'potential' around, I noticed the back of the person's head sitting right next to me. I thought, 'Oh, he's probably cute.'

The cute-back-of-the-head guy turns around and it's my friend Joe! OMG! I was so embarrassed. Haha. Turns out he was meeting up with someone he met online at Manhunt. (ya, it's gross.)

So Alex, Bill and I ended up playing pool with Joe. We had a good time. Loads of dirty talk happened. Alex was also wearing these weird cut off gloves. That and losing at pool were the few things I could remember. Lol.

Silicon Valley Weekly Yelp!

I'm thrilled Yelp decided to add a Silicon Valley edition of their Weekly newsletter, The Weekly Yelp.

I usually get good ideas from it about fun things do do around town. Previously, I was only reading the San Francisco version, but now I can do stuff around my neck of the woods with the Silicon Valley Edition.

Suuuuweeeeet!

Spicing up DC

I arrived in Washington DC via a Red Eye Virgin America flight this morning. I slept most of the afternoon.

I then caught the Spice Girls in Concert at Verizon Center with Brent and James. I also ran into Matty, who I met through Ty. It's a small world.

A bigger post will come later. :)

2008 Mantra: Focus on Myself and not Romance

So I was watching Oprah last week on the rare occasion I'm home on a workday. The episode discussed the power of positive thinking and 'The Secret.' They also discussed this in a love/relationship fashion. Basically, to sum up, the positive thoughts you put out in the universe will come back to you in a multiplied form. They gave a couple of examples of women creating lists of their ideal man/relationship and when they weren't expecting it, their man showed up. Basically, the trick is to be positive and be content with YOURSELF before seeking that ideal partner.

I ended 2007 and started 2008 with being asked out on dates. In late 2007, I ended a 4-month long distance relationship with Tony, whom I met in San Francisco but he lived in San Diego. I wasn't out looking for love, but I gave going on dates a shot in January. I kind of knew this was a bad idea, given the fact I was still in Michigan until Mid-January and was in a transition phase. I also wasn't where I wanted to be in my own life. I still have a lot of things I want to accomplish before I focus on relationships.

To be honest, I wouldn't want to date me now. When I go out and meet new people on dates, the inevitable 'So What Do you Like To Do?' question comes into play. My answer: uhhhh.

In 2008, I plan to focus on myself, not romance. The idea being, focusing on myself will lead to a solid relationship in the future.

I will focus on the following, and have action plans accordingly:

• Continued Education: I love learning about business. It's a passion. I especially love marketing and advertising. I'm also interested in other aspects of the business world and would love to continue developing my analytical skills. How am I going to foster this? Take an MBA class, courtesy of Google. I'm enrolled in an Operations Management course, which I started this week. It's also no secret that I would like to earn an MBA in my late 20's. I also took an MBA class while in undergrad at UC Riverside.
  
• Sports: I would like to take up one sport in 2008. I've been talking with Nai about this. We're thinking of doing Tennis. He's currently in a bowling league.
  
• Health/Wellness: After losing 100+ pounds over the course of a year and a half, I want to continue to improve my health and wellness. I need to go to the doctor. I need to go to the dentist. I will get this done. I also would like to learn more and educate myself on the Human Anatomy and Nutrition. Getting a personal trainer in Ann Arbor was a start, but by no means is the solution to everything. I want to subscribe to Men's Health Magazine as a start. I also want to run a 5K for the first time.
  
• Photography: I have a new camera that I plan to use. I want to explore the Bay Area landscape and photograph it like no other. I would like to at first dabble into photography and then refine my skills later in the year. Maybe a course at a community college. I also plan to get a new computer to help me re-touch my new Digital SLR shots. I took pictures this past weekend in Napa Valley. I'm excited to share them!
  
• Travel: I've got domestic travel down (except for a cross country road trip and a few more cities I want to visit). It's now onto the rest of the world. My first step was getting my passport, which I've already done. I plan to take an international trip in the Spring or Summer. It would be nice to have a travel companion, but it isn't a deal breaker. I don't mind traveling by myself.
  
• Work: I've been at Google for over 2 years. I know, I sometimes can't believe it. I've specialized in Quality Control, an area I never thought I'd get into. Over 2008, I want to seriously evaluate my career path. I need to (1) Evaluate my current path, (2) Decide whether or not to move to a different team/division, or (3) Consider other options (i.e. Self Work, Going Back to School, etc.)
  
• Reading: I've never been much of a book reader. I like magazines, but don't have the time to read them. I'm going to MAKE time and read them. I'm also going to explore books more, both fiction and non-fiction. I want to read one book a season, at minimum.
  
• Finance: In years past, I started to educate myself on 401K, Mutual Funds and Online Savings. This year, I want to learn how to do my own taxes, learn to invest in stocks a bit more, and learn other ways to invest, save, and improve my credit.
  
• Friendships: This year is the year of solidifying old friendships and making some new friends outside of work. In the past few years, I slowly realized my whole social life is surrounded by co-workers. That is cool, given the fact that Googlers are amazing. But I want to meet new friends and develop new relationships, outside of work.
  
• Cooking: I've relied on Free Google Food during the Week and Restaurant Dining on Weekends. I occasionally make a Whole Foods or Safeway grocery store run. But I rarely cook. I want to learn how to cook better. I want to research recipies, buy cookbooks, and throw a dinner party/potluck.
• Politics: I need to follow the Presidential Election. I've been out of the loop a bit. I need to research, read and make more informed decisions. I intend to watch more news (BBC, CNN, etc.) and listen to NPR.
• Attend More Live Theater, Explore Museums, Listen to Live Music (i.e. Get into the Arts): While traveling in late 2007, I started to go to more Museums and More Live Theater. I intend to keep this going. A group of my friends has set personal goals to attend 'More Live Theater in 2008.' The Bay Area has such a good scene, why not take advantage of it? I NEED to hit up SF MOMA and the de Young for sure. I went several concerts last year and intend to keep that up. I would also like to go to more low key live music venues. For example, I want to explore the live Jazz scene in the Bay Area.
  
• Volunteer: This is one area I've neglected most of my life and I really regret it. I donate money to causes I believe in, but I really want to do more. I should first narrow down which causes I want to give my time to and then from there move on to donate my time.
  

There you have it. Happy Valentines Day and Singles Awareness Day! I've declared 2/14/08 'Me Day not V Day.'

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.

Super Phat Tuesday

Um. Today was awesome.

It was all about...

• Fat Tuesday. Go Cajun Food.
  
• Super Tuesday. Go Hillary!
• A day at Disneyland and California Adventure with friends and co-workers.
• Getting buzzed on alcohol I didn't pay for.
• Not about counting calories! (Wow! Weird, right?)
• Picture Taking!
• All about the Guy in the Blue Hat!
• Loads of walking around.
• Boyscoping.
• Forgetting that Valentine's Day is less than 2 Weeks away and the fact I was dumped this past weekend. Thus the getting drunk!
  

Okay. That is all. It has been a nice 2 days in So-Cal. Back to Nor Cal Tomorrow...

NKOTB Comeback

I'm unsure as to how I feel about a New Kids on the Block reunion.

They already have a snippet of a new ballad on their official website: www.nkotb.com

I liked them as a kid, but when I listen to the music again, I feel it was a bit crap, with the exception of maybe 5 songs.

With that said, I probably would go to a concert if they came to the Bay Area. Only because I think it would be fun. Although, I think the target audience would have to be in their 30's now, no?

On a related note, I am in fact taking 2 days off near the end of February to see the Spice Girls in Washington, DC. Oh yea! Spice up my life, bitches!

Thoughts on the Economy

I'm not a fan of the two recent Federal Reserve interest rate cuts. Twice... in eight days... 1.25% total (.75 and then .5 today). My Online Savings account (HSBC) rate dropped to 3.8% yesterday. I imagine it will drop another half percent shortly. Damnit!

I get the idea. Lowering interest rates discourage savings and increases spending at the macro level.

But why fuck over the people who aren't spenders? Do you really think the $300 or so dollars Bush will give me in the form of a check later this year will make me spend? No. I'll probably save it. Why? Because I want to be prepared. Life, emergencies, etc. Ya, sure, I'll take a vacation or go out to a nice dinner every so often. I would have done that anyways, with or without your $300 dollars and cut in interest rates.

If you want me to spend, make me feel better by making gas $1, like it was when I left High School in 2001. I feel like inflation of gas prices has a greater effect on the economy. I'm paying more to travel; I'm paying more for food because of the transportation to get food to the grocery store; I'm paying more for everything else that gas touches. Get it? Fix that. Invest and pour money into clean energy. Invest more into incentives for Hybrids and they people that drive them.

Don't make my bank account suffer. Your $300 will be pretty much useless to me. I'm pissed.

NYT Article for Reference: http://www.nytimes.com/2008/01/30/business/30cnd-fed.html

Authors@Google: Armistead Maupin

Google's really good about bringing in fabulous and interesting people for their Authors@Google series. I feel like I never take advantage of it though. I get so consumed by work sometimes. I'm going to make it a point to carve out some time to go to more of them, or at least watch the YouTube videos of the talks.

Today, I did take advantage of it. Armistead Maupin, a writer famous for his 'Tales of the City' series, stopped by Google today. And the 'City' he writes about is San Francisco, in case you were curious. I actually didn't know who Armistead Maupin was, until maybe 6 weeks ago.

A Quick Anecdote:

In Mid December I made it to Washington DC to visit my friends Brent and James. A bit of the time I had to keep myself occupied. One thing I did is go to Kramerbooks and Afterwords, a famous bookstore in Dupont Circle, the historically gay district in the beltway. I was wondering around the bookstore aimlessly. I read a bit in the 'dating books' section. Then I roamed around and picked up this book called 'Micheal Tolliver Lives.' The cover was so attractive to me. I found an instant connection somehow, even though you shouldn't judge a book by its cover. So I read a bit and find it pretty witty. I also read the flap, to get to know the author a bit better.

I didn't by the book, but it's been in my mind ever since. The artwork is so distinctive and I could tell that I would actually love reading the book. I will pick up the book and the rest of the books in the 'Tales of the City' series. I am sad though, that I didn't show up in time to get a free copy. It would have been nice to get his autograph.

It's just funny that it was that one book that I was drawn to, in a massive bookshop, you know? And who knew the author would be visiting Google shortly?

First Credit Card: BankAmericard

My first Credit Card finally arrived in the mail over the weekend. I'm kind of excited. I don't plan on using it often, but I like the fact that it's my own.

It's a BankAmericard (released from Bank of America). Actually, I think they upgraded me to the Platinum Plus version, which I never knew existed. It has some extra perks on top of the normal rewards of a BankAmericard. I'm quite impressed with Bank of America's service thus far. They also started me off with a pretty low interest rate (beyond the initial 6 cycle 0% APR). I think it's something like 11.24%, which is really good for a rewards card for someone who has little to no credit history. I really should check my FICO score and credit history. I'll put it on the to-do list...

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!

Last Day in Ann Arbor

I'm returning to Northern California after my 3 and a half month stint in Ann Arbor, Michigan. Today is my last full day living in Michigan. I'm flying out tomorrow morning to return to the daily California grind.

I'll be the first to admit that this city probably isn't representative of the Midwest as a whole, but I had a great time here. The town can be described as 'college,' 'liberal,' 'artsy,' and even 'pretentious.' I'm going to even miss living in the snow a bit. I'm going to miss the people the most, though. I don't think I'll miss the food all that much --- I could do without the college town grub.

Often times I felt like I was out of my comfort zone, but I think I needed to be. You don't create memories if you're always comfortable.

I've conquered The West Coast, East Coast and the Midwest. All I have left is the South. :P

ABC's 'The Mole' Returning to TV after 4 Year Hiatus

ABC is resurrecting 'The Mole,' one of the first competitive reality television shows from early in the decade. It hasn't been on TV in over 4 years. The host is still TBD. If only Anderson Cooper weren't being all professional on CNN during a presidential election year. He is to this day, my favorite Reality TV show host. He's also my favorite news anchor. ;)

The best part: they're casting soon. I'm totally gonna apply! It's my DREAM to be on The Mole.

Casting Information Soon on www.molecasting.com.

News Source: http://www.ew.com/ew/article/0,,20169920,00.html

Weight Loss Picture Timeline

This post is meant as a preface to an entry with content. I still haven't come up with a snazzy title, but it will contain my tips, tricks, and FAQ to my 100+ lb weightloss.

I get questions all the time, mainly from girls. They always seem to be the ones focused on losing weight. Blame the media. They're usually hot.

Over the past few weeks, I've heard the following comments in LA, the Bay and everywhere else I've been:

• You're hot!
• You're beautiful!
• You look so conservative.
• How did you lose the weight?
• What's your secret?
• Do you even eat?
• You have definition in your face!
• You're a medium? I'm a medium! Whoa.

Picture 1: January 2006 @ ~300 Lbs.

Picture 2: July 2006 @ ~275 Lbs.



Picture 3: July 2007 @ ~190 Lbs.



Picture 4: November 2007 @ ~183 Lbs.

About being stupid...

I arrived back in the Midwest yesterday after a 4.5 hour flight from San Francisco.

Nai was gracious enough to wake up at 5:45am and take me to the Cal Train station in Downtown Mountain View. I then took the 6:23 Caltrain to the BART to SFO. They changed the way you get to SFO via BART. You used to be able to do a direct shot from Millbrae (the Caltrain/BART connection station). Now you have to go from the Millbrae BART to San Bruno and then shoot down to SFO. It wasn't a big deal, and probably only added 3 or so minutes to the ride.

I get to SFO for my 8:15 flight with plenty of time, well... just enough time. I get to Security at around 7:15am and to the Terminal by 7:30. So I was fine. The flight was easy breezy... and didn't nearly feel like almost 5 hours (which it pretty much was because we were delayed 20 minutes).

My next challenge. How to get from DTW Airport in Detroit to Ann Arbor? I took a Taxi with my roomie Kev when I left Ann Arbor. I read about the Michigan Flyer, a bus from a hotel near my apartment to DTW (and the reverse) for $15, vs. $60 for a taxi or sedan. I knew there was a 4:45 shuttle to Ann Arbor that i could catch. It showed up 15 minutes late. No Biggie. I get to Ann Arbor around 5:50pm. I was dropped to a hotel about 3/4 of a mile from my apartment. Now, how to get from this hotel to my apartment... when there aren't taxis around. It was 13 degrees outside and all I had was a thin sweatshirt and no gloves. I thought, why not walk? I always hear about how people had to trek miles in the snow... surely I can go this short distance with my two suitcases to my apartment. WRONG. I pretty much had frostbite on my hands after 5 minutes outside.

I made it to Briarwood Mall and in the parking lot a woman parked up next to me and said, 'You want a ride? I have kids your age and It's wayyy too cold outside.' She said, 'It's not a problem. Where are you going? You better not hope I'm a mass murderer! You know you're stupid for not wearing a jacket in this weather.' I thought, 'Um, I'll take my chances about you not being a mass murderer.' So it turns out she's a doctor at St. Joseph's in Ann Arbor. We bonded quickly because her daughter lives in Menlo Park (near me in the Bay Area) because her husband is getting a Ph.D at Stanford in Engineering. We talked quite a bit in our short 3 minute ride to my apartment.

We got to my apartment and I defrosted myself.

Someone was totally watching over me... and I thank you Deb Oberdoerster, MD.