What I'm In To in 2010 pt. I

Why do I write these things again?

Bud on a Saturday afternoon. GOLD.

I keep this blogspot so that I can go back and read them in the future. I like to have messages with each post, so it's like I'm giving myself advice that I might need in the future.

Still into photography a week later. I feel that if I make it past the one month marker, then I can start calling this a hobby. I'm still pretty bad at taking pictures and I don't really know what I'm doing, but it's a fun pastime.

I've been going to these spoken word poetry sessions on Second Street in Pomona. It's called "A mic and dim lights". I usually go with my buddy Ravi from Chapman, and I started getting Dennis and Mike Adame to go, too. It's a pretty cool concept, this spoken word thing. Basically you pay 3 bucks to get inside, and if you want to perform, you just put your name on a list, and you get called up. People range from poetry, to rap, to a capella, to acoustic stuff, to short stories, pretty much any type of art form that is verbal.

It's interesting to watch the different types of people perform. There's all different walks of life that go up there. There's a few emo kids, some folky guys, some feminists, just every different type of person that normally would not go near each other are mixed in this one room and they all get along. It's a mind-opening experience, I tell you. My favorite performer last night was this older guy, probably about 30 or so. He told us that he had gotten out of prison a few months ago, and started going to these dim lights sessions to stay off the streets. He said that after going every week for some time, he got inspired to get his life together and started enrolling to go back to school. Then, he went up and busted some 90's old-school gangsta rap song that he had written. He was like a mixture of N.W.A. and Public Enemy, saying both some super gangster stuff and then some political stuff. It was kinda funny, but at the same time, I found myself really getting into it.

Each time I leave the dim lights, I feel refreshed, and inspired. It never ceases to amaze me that so many of these performers are from working class families. Some of them are first generation citizens in America, others are fucked up on drugs. A lot of the people that surround me seem like the type of people that are going to struggle a lot in life just to get by. Yet, it amazes me when they step up to the mic and speak pure knowledge. They're so talented. In a way, I feel like these people are much more wise than those going to fancy universities getting big degrees. These people have suffered more. They're not as privileged, so they work harder. I look at myself, and I see that I really have it easy. I middle class home with a comfortable lifestyle. I don't have to work 9 to 5 to put food on the table or clothes on my back. My parents support me, both financially and emotionally. I drive a nice-ass car that they bought me, I didn't even pay a cent. Even when I'm out of work, they still support me and give me extra money to get food and gas. They pay for my school. I have it so easy.

Each time I see someone perform at the dim lights, I am moved by their talent, and their struggle that they express.

I'm thinking about getting up there some time.

Spring Break 2010

This week was my spring break. I didn't do much except play basketball with the boys and started brainstorming for some music videos I'm going to shoot for some of my musically talented friends. I kept trying to find something cool to do, since I had so much free time on my hands. I decided it would be cool to start taking pictures. So, I picked up a cheap Diana MINI half-frame camera and started fooling around with it.

When my mom found out I was interested in photography, she handed me a 35 mm Canon AE-1 that used to be hers back in the '80s. This thing is a beast. I put the Diana away and started carrying the AE-1 around with me wherever I went. I'm pretty excited because I just finished a roll of film about 10 minutes ago, so I'm gonna head to the photo lab right after this to get it developed.
This photography thing is probably going to be a phase, but we will see.

My girlfriend went to Hawaii for spring break, so I didn't see her until Saturday. This was a new thing for me. I'm used to calling her up whenever I'm bored or don't have class, and since I was very bored this week and also didn't have class, I missed her. It was a weird feeling not having her for a week. I know that sounds pathetic, it's only a week, but it was still different.
I was so used to seeing her all the time, and when all the sudden I couldn't reach her, I realized how much I did miss her. In long-term relationships, I think people often take advantage of their significant other. It becomes a comfort zone, more than a relationship. After a long time, people throw the romance out the window.

Spending a week away from her made me appreciate having her, and so when she came back, it was extra nice seeing her.

Another thing that happened when she was gone, I gained independence. This is crucial in college. Maybe I was too dependent on her, but now, I realize that I have to be my own man, and she has to be her own woman. College is all about YOU, and that's why relationships often fail during college, because people get swept up in their own priorities.
In college relationships, people are scared about creating priorities, because they don't want them to get in the way of their girlfriend/boyfriend. But they end up sacrificing so much for their lover, that in the end, they are still not happy.

So maybe, before this freshman adjustment comes to an end, I will figure out how to balance a little better.