Song Cry (Something About Us)

Solvang, California. Quite possibly the biggest town in all of California devoted to Tourist Trap-ism (second only to Los Angeles, but that's another story) Yeah. I hate Solvang. Solvang is this small little (Danish) town in Santa Barbara county. It's flanked by the all-elusive Wine Country nestled in central California. As if that weren't boring enough already, right? Well, this place takes it to a whole other level. Let's go over this nice and slow.

It all started as a "spur of the moment". My uncle and auntie were up in Santa Monica visiting friends, so my dad gets the gradiose idea of hauling all of our asses up there and to venture into the great town of Solvang. I insisted on not going, by my dad counter insisted that this was to be a "quality family bonding time". Yeah. Okay.
My ride consisted of watching Ironman on the built-in TV. American ingenuity at its best, I swear to god, that shit kicks ass. The TV, that is. And I only call it american because only a fatass American person would think of putting it there. You know, to satiate their dumbass kids as they are ferried back and forth to soccer practice. Oh, yeah, Ironman was good too. A little too plot heavy for my tastes, could've used more action. Tony Stark is a badass though!
After our wonderful in-transit entertainment, I had nothing else to do, other than take half-assed photos of the rather scenic Highway 101 that runs along a pretty huge strip of California coast. First real time I was able to use my 200mm lens! It's nice, but pretty damn unstable. For precise work (unlike the above), you'll definitely be wanting a tripod.

We met up with my auntie and uncle in Santa Barbara...I think. I don't remember anymore. But in any case, I had fastfood twice in a row, something which I detest. Hell, it was even Carl's Jr.! I love that shit! but its way gross when you factor in all the nutrition. -___- Oh yeah, I bought a random flannel too. Target, 20 bucks, I liked the random ass colors (I have an affinity for green.)
Sup Ansel Adams? Hahaha! Just kidding. Yeah, this is another one of those random-ass window shots I took, and this one happens to be just spectacular. I was blown away at how good a picture I had gotten–out of a window of a SUV travelling 70 MPH no less! In anycase, its not perfect. Because of the fact we were moving, I had to open up the aperture real wide to get a high enough shutter speed; not to mention have a pretty high ISO as well. The result is a slightly out of focus, hazy and grainy picture. Oh well, I still like it. Not bad for mobile photography. :D
And so, after another hour or two glued to the carseat, I arrive into the quaint little Danish town of Solvang. One thing you'll notice there is the fact their economy is driven by 3 things: Bakeries, Wineries and Gift shops. Seriously, its fucking ridiculous. All of these damn places are the same. The bakeries serve the ubiquitous Aebleskivers, the wineries all have wine-tasting rooms, and all the gift shops have danish Chinaware. Its sad.
In anycase, Olsen's bakery happened to be the most prominent in the area, so we went there. Its kinda funny, they force all of their female employees to wear traditional Danish costumes. So its kinda random watching a mexican lady walk around in a Danish outfit. Idk, I found it amusing. >_>
My auntie and uncle. Nothing much to say here, other than the fact that this picture is insanely noisy and I hate the red-overtone. I needed a filler. Oh, and that gigantic gingerbread house looked disgusting in person.
Solvang has a penchant for having a lot of little niche stores. I think this definitely qualifies as one of them. Ho-ly fuck.
As a testament to our boredom, I give you this. Yeah, we found those fake mustaches tucked away in one of the niche stores that lined the alleys and avenues. We got some laughs out of the other tourists, to say the least. Hell, even one guy asked me where he could find them. Hahaha
Officer Dangle of Solvang 911! My auntie had aviators, I couldn't resist. The only thing thats missing are the hot pants. But trust me, you wouldn't want to see that. -_-
In keeping with the Danish theme, Solvang has like 3 different windmills. Their functionality is debatable, and they all sorta looked in a state of disrepair. They were more of an eye-sore than anything.

Again, with the niche stores...Yeah, it's everyones favorite As-Seen-On-TV product to make fun of! The snuggie! God, why anyone would want something like that is beyond me. But then again I think I'm being hypocritical when I think those would be awesome for late-night XBL sessions. Amirite? Amirite?!After a rather tame night's stay at Vandenberg Airforce base (where they launch a whole slew of satellites and rocket tests and what not), we went to The Greenhouse Cafe. One of the many little breakfast houses that are also ubiquitous of the area.
Auntie and uncle, again. Actually, the food at that place wasn't too bad. I quite enjoyed my Ham and cheese omelette.
After breakfast we went strolling around looking for more shit to do (And really, there isn't much in Solvang, other than to eat and take pictures of shit. Both of which I ended up doing. -_-) This is the best of example of the ridiculously shallow depth of field my 200mm lens can churn out. I was pretty surprised when this picture came out on the screen, to say the least.
I don't know, I gotta hand it to them though. Solvangs got pretty trees. Cool spires and what not too. Danish architecture, although bastardized in Solvang, is interesting.
We ended back up at Olsen's. I hadn't ordered anything the first time around, so I decided to indulge. I got the Queen Elizabeth cream tart. It wasn't exactly what I was expecting, but it was damn good! A bit on the dry side, I was expecting a lot of cream, you know? Oh well, it was tasty, nonetheless.
I have no idea what Marzipan is, but it looked tasty. Well, more like it reminded me of random little Japanese sweets. You know what I'm talking about?
We started moving toward the parking lot to head out. I spied this spare tire cover. It looks like that faux-Deer got dome-checked.
Back on the road. This picture wasn't taken very far from Solvang. Considering how goddamned podunk it is, I was surprised to see any form of graffiti, let alone something of this scale.
We ended up in Burbank to visit my Uncle Art. And for lunch, we decided to drop in here. Porto's. The fucking greatest little bakery ever.
Why, you ask? This little bastard right here. Their signature Potato ball. Spiced ground beef stuffed into mashed potato, then lightly breaded and thrown into the fryer. The end result? Fucking delicious, dammit. I can eat a dozen of these racquetball-sized bastards, and not regret a bite of it.
Well, it turns out Porto's also makes bitchin' sammiches as well. Not as if I'm a stranger to Porto's or anything, though. But seriously. I had the Torta de Pollo, and it was fucking awesome. The black bean spread made it taste soooo good. Hell, those plantain chips aren't half bad either. I await the day I'll be reunited with them. :D

Well, yeah, that concludes it for now. This post was such a fucking drain. I usually like to end with a little anecdote or a small little thought-provoking statement, but I'll forego that. I'm too sleepy. Expect something to compensate for it though!

Scarborough Fair

What a low-key Christmas. Honestly, first Christmas ever where I didn't wake up at the ass-crack of dawn to open my presents. I don't know, I like to think of it as the embodiment of my melancholy and self-imposed depression that has plagued me for awhile. The only thing that amplifies it is this image that likes to jump into my mind once in awhile (The image itself is actually kinda LOLworthy, in fact, I'm chuckling to myself thinking about it.) It sends the most peculiar feeling of anxiety, depression, and overall unpleasant-ness when it manages to get into my head. To be honest, I've been growing a lot more tolerant of it too, which I'm displeased with. I mean, I'm running out of mental images that can bring me in a circle of emotional self-destruction here, dammit! Hahaha.

But I digress, my Christmas was otherwise fruitful, jubilant and chock-full of carbohydrates!

Rewind to Christmas eve: Annual Christmas Party...thing at my Ninang and Ninong's house. To put it simply: Food, lots of people I don't know, boredom and a shitload of hyperactive kids. Like, I'm not even kidding, these kids wreak so much havoc, its ridiculous. Especially this little turd:

And I say "turd" in the most endearing and non-offensive way possible. I only call him that because, well, he's insanely hyperactive and childish. Oh well, can't blame him, gotta live it up while you can, right? Anywho, yeah, HE SPIT ON MY FUCKING CAMERA. ARGH. Something I'll never forget for the rest of my life. >:[ Moving on!
Woke up at like 9-ish to open up some presents. Nothing special. And I don't mean to say that to sound like a materialistic douchebag, alright!? Gloves (Which I need, admittedly), T-shirt, Memory Card case (I only have 1, dammit), so yeah, nothing "awesome" (But then again, I got my camera, why am I complaining?)
Hopped in the Suburban, Ubiquitously-Vehicle (That's a Yoda-speak bacronym, mind you) and headed off to PH. Above is an interesting shot that I thought embodied my Christmas season experience. Rainy, deflated and constantly on the move.

You see that bastard? Yeah. We had Lobster for Christmas Lunch. It was quite a fiasco to get them to the table. Apparently, the package carrying them was lost at the FedEx shipping center, and couldn't be located for like, an entire night. Apparently they were found this morning...or last night. I don't know, either way, they ended up in butter, then promptly into my stomach.
My uncle, taking a decidedly more–hands-on approach to getting to the succulent lobster meat. Shelling lobsters is gay, by the way. Seriously, I don't know how to do this shit. -_-
Apparently that green shit–affectionately called the "Tomalley" by its conissieurs, is the Lobster's Hepatopancreas (Hepat/o-, meaning Liver, thank you Medical Terminology!) Honestly, that shit looks straight up disgusting. No lie. I cannot even begin to fathom how people get past its look, let alone its taste, given what it is. Egh.
"Dawwwwww!" Yeah. That's my baby cousin. She kicks ass. TAKE THAT CLARISSE HAH!
My other cousin. I seriously took this picture within a 45 second-span of sunlight that decided to break through the upstairs window and shine upon my cousin, who was playing with his Bakugan things. To quote my Uncle: "Hey! Quick, Matt, take a picture of Nick while he's under the God-light!" LOL
My grandma with her Christmas gift from us. I look like a badass in that picture, I'm sorry. :]
Those Bakugan Brawler things. Pretty ingenious, really! The design of those little marble-figurines is pretty interesting. They pop out when they rest upon trading cards with magnets in em. Trading cards and toys? Quick, give the man who invented this shit a Nobel Awesome Prize.

My sister got a pretty badass Hello Kitty vinyl toy. I want these! They're like 7 bucks though, and I have to go to Urban Outfitters to get them. I swear, that store gets awesomer everytime I hear word of it/go there.
Me looking like a total asshole in my family portrait from my other grandma's house in Scripps Ranch. Yeah, I had just awoken from a nap and was bitchy. I tend to do that. >_> My maternal grandparent's Christmas gig was a distinctly more quiet affair. It was nice though, a good change of pace considering the two previous outings were really loud and fast-paced. I feel bad, because I took a nap for like an hour or so. :/ Oh well, I spent like another hour and a half in a good state. So yeah. I guess its okay? :|
After my grandma's, we stopped by my Uncle Mark's house, which isn't too far away. He keeps a bitchin' salt-water aquarium stocked with two Clown fish. They were too fidgety for me to get a good picture of, but I got a really nice shot of this sea anenome shit. If only it weren't so grainy and noisy! O:<
(I don't know either.)

But anyways! You may have noticed that my photos this this post were a lot warmer in tone (okay, more RED.) Yeah, I kinda like photos that are like that. I was trying to counter-act the blue flourescence that the damn lamps were giving off. Today was nice. I hope this weekend will be the same. I've got some post-Christmas shopping to do, what with recieving like 90 bucks in total. Can you say new pair of Half-Cabs?! Yeah, I can! Whooo! Haha. I'm kinda excited. Plussssss, I'm getting new drumheads, since the pack of heads I received today weren't the right sizes. Also, I think I'm going to be travelling way up north over the weekend. Something like Santa Monica? Oh man, I feel a Photo extravaganza coming up!

Can you feel it too?

Head Over Heels

That little bastard on the cup is actually a quite accurate illustration of my emotional constitution and psyche, if there ever was one. His blank, demented gaze, his crooked hesitant smile. It's seriously as if my life consists of the day to day scramble to set aside the blank and morose feelings and switch gears into the crude and oft-hilarious escapades of me and my friends. Eh, this, more or less, has been running on fumes in terms of effectiveness. Today was a pretty good example. I'd really love to divulge, but my time-tested philosophy (and unintended slogan) of "Loose lips sink ships" is holding me back. Honestly, I wonder if I'll ever man up and decide to talk about my thoughts freely. If you think this is me talking freely, you honestly have no idea...

I'll go into detail about one thing, however. I've been becoming so god-damn self-conscious and insecure lately. And yet, that is in no way disturbing to me, especially given the circumstances that fuel this perception.

I like to think of my self as physically inadequate. A qualitative step below of what is socially acceptable in all things superficial, to be more accurate. I'm so woefully out of shape, its driven my self-esteem rock bottom. I get really depressed and irritated whenever I look into the mirror, or so much as take off my shirt. Meals are becoming a battle of morality; Should I give in to my morbid appetite, or really consider what I'm eating and the effect that it'll have on my body in due time? Its quite the dilemma, really. More so than anyone's ever made it seem, as I never thought I'd experience it. But dammit, I am.

And you know, my inherent apathy and laziness doesn't help out either. I never get to go to the gym, I swear to god. I keep telling myself: "Exercise is vital to healthy and effective weight loss" but I can't seem to find the motivation to make time in my self-proclaimed "busy" schedule. I feel like shit, but at the same time I don't do anything about it. Its like a circle of self-destruction that is caused by my own insecurity and unwilling demeanor. I just want to be skinny. I want to be that guy with the nice body, whom everyone would compare themselves to. But dammit, I can't find the motivation to become that, and its killing me on the inside.

Enough of the self-piteous slop of incoherent writing, and time for the daily narrative!



After a slow start in the morning, things began to pick up after Mr. License decided to drop by the manor and pick me up. Of course, it wasn't his car, it was his moms. Thusly, it smelt like Vanilla. Insanely overbearing and nauseating vanilla at that. It would've smelt like 10 times better were it not for its potency! Moving on...

See Snoopy?!

This is what you're greeted by upon walking into Josh's room. Well, if you turn around immediately afterward, atleast.

Josh's room is a fucking disaster area.
A little while later: We're back at my house, sans Frank, but Daniel and Justin enter the fray. Dan's "stern" discussion face
My Xbox's coffin arrived on my doorstep today. I loaded 'er in and gave 'er her last rites. It'll be a long and lonely rest of break, but I've got my camera to keep me company.
After some light graffiti experimentation, we decided to walk to Paolo's house to catch a glimpse of Josh's haircut. Hoh man, you guys are in for it...
Josh's dumbass looking like a donkey...

But although he may be looking pretty whimsical in that photo, by the end of the ordeal, he wasn't. Long-story short: Josh was getting a design cut into his hair. And so, while Paolo wasn't paying attention while cutting it, Josh moved his head, fucking it up. I'd post the picture, but he'd get SUPER butthurt if I did. So there, Josh. It's not up!

Trying to get over his fuck up using Ice Cream cake...
Eating at Josh's...the hood was strategically placed
I don't know. I just happened to like this shot. O_O

I think with this post I'm finally able to embody my Blog name. Totally unintended, but I'll let you think about that for a second. And I'm off, to think of better days and contemplate my importance in this grand scheme of things, intelligently planned or otherwise...