yah so.. i kept wanting to update a post but i wanted to update the pictures along with the posts.. so i finally have all the pictures now so ill actually.. make a few extra posts with pictures!

guess i should fix my gallery too.

its been a pretty damn busy time since my last post so ill make it easy!

• overcame stomach flu
• saw coldplay live at verizon amphitheater
• celebrated my birthday with great friends
• will missed my birthday because he was carjacked due to his other crappy friends
• reactivated my wow account
• realized that wow still isn’t fun
• I’m still not any nicer. i still hate everyone
• started my japanese class
• learned and memorized all my hiragana characters
• capable of writing japanese words and sentences phonetically
• bought a new easel that doesn’t suck
• finished sam’s painting
• bought dungeon siege 2 to play with ppl i like
• capable of utilizing student discounts
• bought a new tumi bag for schoolbooks
• cut down drastically on caffeine
• eating a lot more healthy
• hung out with my sister while she visited for labor day weekend
• have 2 new friends i really like that are female
• still waiting for my wheels to come in from japan
• cleaned out my tivo and added a ton of new shows for fall lineup
• completely caught up on old tivo shows
• still hate driving in monday morning traffic from irvine
• joel now owns 3 pairs of jeans he wears regularly
• bryans moving out
• i like my life
• mom wong went in for surgery to get her gall bladder removed
• tiff gave me gir for my birthday
• hoping for new action/adventure or rpg multiplayer games to be released and not suck

so. thats kinda it. in no particular order. now i need to make a list of things i need to accomplish. pictures will be up soon.

i can tolerate most long drives. I commuted between sunnyvale and monterey everyday for 4 months (85 miles each way). People thought I was insane but the truth is, in the same time it took most ppl to move 20 miles in gridlock rush hour traffic i could cover the same ground. I moved against traffic and the drives were fast and pleasant albeit long.

every monday morning i make the trek to the office all the way from fucking irvine. my offices are located in culver city. the commute from my house takes me 10-20 minutes based on traffic. on monday mornings they take anywhere from 1 hour – 2 hours. with no traffic i can do this drive in 36 minutes if im rushing and 40-45 minutes if i drive at a “legal” pace. if i followed the speed limit id never get anywhere at a reasonable time.

the 5 usually moves rapidly. i can get from the 5 to the 91 with relative ease. i can usually move between 80-95 mph the whole way. the 91 to the 605 is hit or miss. if i leave early enough i can miss the mad rush for the 605 merge and make it across pretty quickly. the 605 to the 105? thats just about 2 miles and easy as hell to make. enter the 105.

for some reason, regardless of how wide the 105 is, its the king of nervous breaking, rubbernecking, inconsiderate drivers.

1. i hate automatics. automatic drivers are notorious nervous breakers, not only do they constantly break without cause, they dash and dive all day long. floor it to go, floor it to stop. This causes so much rubber band traffic its disgusting.
2. as if the automatic driver habits aren’t bad enough, they like to talk on their cell phones. yes there are studies to prove everything, but here’s one for all you fucking cell phone driving mother fuckers.
3. California Highway Patrol. Yes they’re doing their job, but i wish there were giant walls to block off pulled over vehicles. you can guarantee that if anyone gets pulled over, all of traffic comes to a standstill. either out of fear that the police will decide to take after their speeding car, or out of basic nosy rubber banding.
4. Railway stops on the 105. I do not know what’s so goddamn interesting, but at every railway station, the cars come to a nauseating crawl. onlookers either trying to check out the goods to the left or they have to stop and wave hi. whatever the reason, its ridiculous.
5. Opposite direction accidents. Please stop rubbernecking. I hate you so much.
6. Foreigners and Women. Look this is not about being racist or sexist. I’m a female asian driver, and the biggest crap driver offenders I know are female and foreign. anytime i get stuck behind a retard they end up being either female or foreign (or someone on a cell phone). Spend more time driving on your off time. take a few driving courses, anything, just get off the roads and get away from me.

its not about speed. If i could move consistently at 20mp across the whole 105 id be happy. but the stop and go traffic blows. when i lived in nor cal, the nervous breaking there was significantly worse, but the traffic down here is so significantly more and the nervous breaking just makes any bearable drive a complete nightmare.

monday mornings, stay clear of me. you can guarantee ill be pissed off and cranky from enduring the drive to test all patience.

yah yah yah, im taking strides to improve my mood. reminding myself there’s nothing i can do to change it so just relax. playing uplifting music, breathing and thinking positive thoughts.

fuck you very much 105 drivers. i hope you all get the runs.

as im on my way to work, having passed 1 police station (i pass this everyday) several cops in cars, some cop on a bike decides he’s just going to pull me over. I knew it was going to happen too.

At the intersection of Sepulveda and Manchester, they installed red light cameras. I already see him finishing up a ticket, and as I’m passing him he keeps staring at me. I knew he was going to get on his bike and pull me over for whatever reason. I check my rear view mirror and I see him getting on his bike. I see an available right turn for me into a residential area. I should have taken it. I was stupid not to have. I knew i should have.

Seconds later, i see him racing up after me and on go his lights. This street is hella busy and I still have to pull over. He comes up to me, walks around to the front of my car and checks to see if my front plate is there. Comes back to my window and says “just making sure its the right car, they have red light cameras behind you so they have us cracking down on no front plate cars, have you ever gotten a no front plate ticket before.” Not only have i gotten a no front plate ticket before, due to LAPD and CHP incompetence my license ended up getting suspended over a fucking no front plate ticket. “I know this is a busy street, and lots of ppl are just trying to get work, let me see your license insurance and registration and we’ll make this quick so we can all be on our way”

whatever bitch. thanks for the ticket. I saw him promptly pull over someone else afterward. cops are cunts.

-jamie

so back when i lived in huntington beach i worked at good guys for a discount. i worked with this guy who i never got along with, in fact its probably safe to say we hated each other. though he was never really anyone important. years later turns out he’s the boyfriend of a friend, etc etc, small world. though i didn’t have a reason to hate him, i suggested she bring him around. i figured we’d probably just get along.

i guess we got along, we were never friends, but we were acquaintances. and then…

[23:23] COBRA: HA. deviantart has some tight shit. dude i might jack some of these fools shit and put them on shirts
[23:23] imaje: heh thats lame
[23:24] COBRA: whats lame
[23:24] imaje: jacking ppls art and profiting form it without their knowledge
[23:24] COBRA: pff. everyone can blow me
[23:25] imaje: well when you get jacked maybe you’ll learn to empathize
[23:25] COBRA: i’ve already been jacked
[23:25] COBRA: heavily
[23:25] imaje: well maybe when you grow up you’ll learn to empathize
[23:25] COBRA: and i still dont give a shit. probalby because 2% of all things are original, everythign anything is a copy
[23:26] COBRA: oh i see you’re still a cunt

well, at least i figured out i wasn’t wrong about him 5 years ago.

-j

at about 8am i hear faint knocking. i head downstairs and open the door. all that awaits me is a UPS notice, failed first delivery, upon it a note scribbled

“delivering large box approximately 130 lbs, will try again at 2:00, leave this signed if you are not going to be able to accept delivery”.

oh goodie my west elm bookcase is here! so at around 1:00pm i go downstairs and await the UPS man. 3:00pm rolls around and i finally hear a knock. I run to the door and open it and he hands me the UPS signing thing-a-majiggy. I sign it and he points to the box at the bottom of the staircase.

UPS-guy: Is there a man around?
me: a man? no, just me
UPS-guy: Okay well that box is about 130-140 lbs. Its very heavy to carry.
me: okay well I can help you
UPS-guy: there’s no guy around at all?
me: no.. we don’t need a man I can help you just fine

So we head down to the bottom of the stairs and there is my bookcase, in all its glory.. packed away piece by piece in a box. He proceeds to look at me then up the stairs. He moves his dolly and says

UPS-guy: I don’t think you can help me with this, it is really heavy.
me: i have carried heavier things up these stairs we will be fine.

he attempts to LIFT it on his own and just decides he cant and wont do it.

UPS-guy: man forget this. its too big and you wont be able to help me. I am NOT gonna carry this up the stairs. no way. i suggest you wait for some guys to move this or open it down here and move it up piece by piece.

then he leaves. fuck you weak ass bitch UPS man. at which point I’m left to either leave it out or to open it up and carry it up. after some time i finally move it all piece by piece up 2 flights of stairs into my room. as i begin to assemble the bookcase, i look at the hardware provided and start matching it to the instruction manual.

Oh yippee. More than 1/2 of the entire hardware set is completely missing. the provided wrenches are gone, half the screws are gone, almost all of the washers and all other components are just gone.

I immediately call west elm and explain the situation.

WestElm-girl: okay i have to write a letter to my manager who then writes the warehouse and only when the warehouse receives the letter from the regional manager will they okay the hardware and ship it out to you. this will take 2-3 weeks.
me: I have to wait 2-3 weeks? I paid a surcharge for this item and it didn’t arrive complete and i have to wait 2-3 EXTRA weeks?
WestElm-girl: Yah i know.. it seems long. So, is this okay?
me: well i don’t really have a choice do i?

so here i am, after all the money i paid and the ridiculous surcharges, i have to wait another 2-3 weeks to even put the fucking thing together. I am writing a very unhappy letter to west elm and to UPS. I was so excited to get the bookcase too and put it together, my room has needed it for some time. boo.

so i was reading my friend, sean’s, blog. just the heading “if you are explaining, you’re losing” made me think about a lot of things. while what i thought of was one of those unrelated applicable subjects, i couldn’t help think of how it was such a double edged sword.

i had the pleasure to have to defend personal thoughts today. not just defend them but have to explain them. its like you read about those people who get fired for their blogs, i guess the same logic applies. your thoughts are just no longer your own. regardless who you are talking to, for whatever reason, your emotions are subject to scrutiny. what you think is yours or even private is public domain. you cannot say, do, or even breathe a certain way without having to justify your actions or your intentions. and in the end all thats generated is a feeling of loss.

the person who questions you doesn’t believe you. you had to explain yourself, you lost. and it doesn’t stop there. you cant help but want to explain yourself. to try and convey exactly what you feel or think, and then you lose even more. its a downward spiral. you just cant win. all we seem to have anymore is explanation.

i guess its to make up for all the times you were the one listening to all the explanations. do you guys just ever think explanations are excuses or lies?

in the end, i take with me the simple and absolute fact, someone is always watching, prepare to explain yourself

thursday evening, after eating some delicious kobe beef at some elitist restaurant in west la (they lock the doors and you have to knock to get in and if they don’t know you they wont let you in), courtesy of frank, i went home to el segundo to drop off rent, pay some other bills and collect some of my belongings. after i got what i needed i headed down to irvine to joel’s.

so lets discuss the current situation at hand. i was driving my car without registration. and yes im completely retarded, without insurance as well. not because i didn’t want to pay, but because i didn’t have the duckets to do so. the simple catch is, i couldn’t renew my recently expired insurance (last month) without current registration. i couldn’t register my car without paying the taxed transfer fee’s. im not blaming anyone, this is completely my fault, but i was working on getting the money to take care of anything.

so close yet so mother fucking far. i was sooo close to having the cash to take care of EVERYTHING. i was going to be able to take care of all of the money matters this month. i was going to be able to pay for title transfer, registration fees, and insurance renewal. but alas, i only have myself to blame.

yes, i was pulled over by the irvine police, literally a few feet from joel’s house. i explained my situation to the cops and after listening he was almost sympathetic. i told him how close i was to being able to pay everything off, and that my drive had been an emergency cuz i had to pay rent at my legal residence.

he decides to call in my license anyway just to double check if i had any bench warrants. turns out my license is suspended! and on file it lists that i was not notified and he then issued me a citation to officially inform me that my license was currently suspended. due to the fact that my license was suspended he couldn’t let me off the hook and had to impound my car. yay i just got issued a ticket with 2 infractions: no registration, no insurance, and 1 misdemeanor: driving with suspended license.

why was my license suspended?? good question! so today at the dmv, i show up with the issued title transfer form, pink slip, and my citation. joel has been nice enough to be my sugar daddy and cover the transfer fees that im going to pay him shortly, waiting for a lovely check to clear. 1523.00. good news, my car is finally registered until january 2006. after we got my registration and title fixed up, he issued me a one day moving permit, as my car is still underivable because of no insurance. and well i cant get insurance until my license is valid.

i asked the gentlemen at the DMV if he could look up the hold on my license. the guy who helped me was the nicest DMV person i have ever met. he was very nice and courteous and extremely helpful. he looked up the hold on my license and it turns out, im suspended because of the OLD ASS fix it front plate ticket. THAT I PAID FOR!

I took care of it because i knew there was an issue. I had gone into the culver city court offices and took care of all my tickets. done and paid for, however the court clerk did not mention i still had to go into the goddamn CHP and pay them an additional fee with a front plate. she had told me, after i paid the fine, that it was all taken care of. in fact i had my license renewed the same day.

funny thing is, joel is in a similar situation. ticketed for expired tags and no front plate. and like me, he did the same thing, paid the fine, never went into CHP and he’s FINE. theres no hold on his license, but theres is on mine!!

whitey is keeping the yellow man down!

so now i get to call the culver city courts and see wtf is going on. why my license is still all fucked up after i took care of it. and i have to make sure i take care of this because i have to go to court on the 15th in irvine to deal with the misdemeanor charges of driving while suspended and the 2 infractions of no registration and no insurance.

cant get insurance until i fix my license. cant get updated registration until i get my insurance.

all in all. i am a fucking idiot. i guess i got my well deserved ass kick from the city of irvine and los angeles. but i guess its good to know my license is suspended! fucking dicks. this is all my fault but i was sooo close to taking care of all of this! i guess the extra cost was just the tow and impound, 235.00.

anyway, lesson learned, offer to suck the cops dick immediately maybe you’ll luck out.

-j

a while back, about the middle of summer, there was this ant infestation in our kitchen area, and in the upstairs near my roommates bedrooms. there wasn’t really any ants in my room, however i bought ant traps anyway. the ants seem to pretty much exist in my bathroom.

overtime i would see ant trails leading around my shower and i would instantly kill them, then clean up the area i killed them in with clorox wipes so that they didn’t leave their gross ant trails to attract more ants. obviously the more i cleaned the less i would see them.

at one point i found them lining the bottom of my shower. now i dont have a bathtub. i have a giant bathroom, but for some stupid fucking reason the shower itself is incredibly small. its just like a small shower booth, about 3′x3′ or so. its quite ridiculous. anyhow, so i ran the shower to wash them down, wiped up the area. less and less ants would appear and i figured overtime i would just keep killing them, and with my combat ant traps.. they would eventually leave or die.

every time i go in my bathroom i look around and ill see a few stray ants, and i always check my shower, just in case. tonight, as usual, i found a few ants around my sink, i killed, wiped up the area then decided to check the shower. i saw a trail like i had before and washed it all away. i figured that was it.. i couldn’t have been more fucking wrong.

it was disgusting. as i washed the ants inside my shower down, i could see through the shower wall ants on the other side. now let me describe my shower walls. its like Plexiglas with this lame ass looking gold colored metal tubing, so to speak, holding it together.. for those of you who have had these kinds of showers, you know what i mean. the Plexiglas is lined with bathroom caulk along the tubes to keep in water and what not. the house is older so are the bathrooms.

the other side (outside) of the shower just had a mass of ants swarming in the lower corner, i immediately got up and started spraying them with 409. killed them fast. then i thought phew i got them all… WRONG!

i look back in the shower, and i spray down the same wall and a mass of ants just flush out, i notice on the inside of the shower, both bottom corners have small cracks and openings in the bathroom caulk. ants are just pouring out in hysteria because they know they’re being killed.

i even see the larger female ants pouring out dying along with their little minions. and as soon as i would wash all the ones on the inside away id see them swarming outside. anytime i would rinse down one crevice, the others would sprout a river of hysterical ants.

i did this for a good hour and theres still more!! its so fucking disgusting. i have no idea how im supposed to get rid of them. im’ pretty sure i destroyed a good portion of their colony but its still just fucking gross. i dont have any caulk so i used white toothpaste to close off 2 holes. i left one open because i didn’t want them to start trying to find a new way out, possibly creating a new hole or something.

tomorrow i get the pleasure of calling my land lord and complaining about a filthy ass fucking ant invasion. i wonder what they will have to do. its completely in the stupid glass wall of the tiny ass shower.

im so completely grossed out. i feel little tinglings on my arm, legs, neck.. face and i keep thinking ants are crawling all over me. at least now i know where these ants have been hiding all this time. i could never figure out why i couldn’t get rid of them.. now i know why. im pretty sure the past two weeks was when they setup shop in there, because i wasn’t home to keep kicking their little fucking asses.

i fucking hate ants.

im tired. fuck you ants. you are so going down!!!

-j

this is not an actual dig at mac users, more for my lack of access to a non osx mac with ie5. i have been playing ping-pong for over a month with a client about discrepancies in mac ie5.

my frustration level is at an all time high. while it is probably my fault for not qualifying her appropriately when we discussed all the style elements she wanted, but i figured since she was a web master she would have been aware of the countless cross platform conflicts and issues and had made it clear to me that it was a requirement for her site to be working in mac ie5. unfortunately, this information only came to me after the entire site was like.. done. had i known this i would have taken a different approach or had probably changed the elements of the site completely and let her know what was and wasnt viable for an ie5 solution.

i want to pull my fucking hair out. i am going to have to rebuild the entire site because the problem isnt going away and at this point i dont know what is breaking anymore. this project is so far overdue, it is pissing me off to no end.

oh my god, jesus christ kill me. i’m tired so i will rebuild her fucking site in the morning.

on a side note, after finishing the navigation for my site, nian messaged me and ridiculed me for having used javascript instead of css for the image rollovers.

[21:20] PluckYewToo: come on … there’s such a thing as CSS rollovers

i changed the image rollovers to css.. cept it has this annoying delay/flash bullshit mother fucking anomaly on the rollover in IE, it fucking irritates me, but it looks nice in firefox.

i cant fucking win tonite. i am irritated and miserable. i need ice cream and a fucking hug.

-j