Texas - day 2+3

Log start: dudes... I lost track of time... I don't know if it's a good thing or if it's a bad thing.. But gee... I'm in so much pain, I really don't / can't / not-able-to care

Note: this post was originally written to combine day 2 and 3 into one... If I give up later and keep it to day 2 only, I'm in too much pain to keep pressing buttons on my blackberry.

So. Day 2. The team wakes up at 8am and meets at the hotel lobby at 8:45.
Let me just say that this messes up my normal sleeping schedule HARDCORE.
My usual schedule is to sleep at about 4am and wake up at noon. To sleep before midnight and to wake up when normal people wake up is something really different.

So we meet at the hotel lobby and we walk together to the YMCA across the street. (I know, super convienient! Can I get a steak sauce on that?? YYYYEEEAAAHH) <- reference to How I Met Your Mother
We're probably the last ones to check into the tournament because we were supposed to be there wednesday night but our flight got delayed so much that we missed it and just left it for today.
So we get our stuff and we sit.
we're all playing in seperate divisions so all of our game times are different, some are at 10am some at noon and some at 4pm. I believe mine was at 11am so we sit until the first ppl play. This is my first collegiate handball tournament so the atmosphere was pretty new to me. Everyone was on a different skill level and everyone was from different parts of the country. The best part of the trip is probably this part. Just meeting new people that you usually don't meet, get to know them, and you either see them next year in the tournament or you don't. Lol.
So let me explain the divisions. The division I originally signed up for was called "contenders." It basically means that I'm not that good at the sport but I'm not completely trash. LOL.
The placed about 5 divisions together in 1 bracket so that we can play each other to find the correct placement. With this in mind, a few weeks before the tournament started, I actually decided on losing my first game so that I could drop down to the correct seating.
My logic was that I didn't want to play games that I couldn't win, so I might as well keep it real and play people that aren't better or worse than I was. I would be playing people around my level so that I would have an equal chance as anyone else to get a trophy!
When I type it out now, I feel like such an underachiever... But that's what some of these competitions are about, playing it smart. (Although... I wouldn't call myself that smart....)

The first game I was in, I didn't want to lose that badly, just a few points here and there so I could see how well I could actually do against this fellow.
I played against some dude from missouri state I think... Not 100% sure. But he actually wasn't that good. At first I was winning at 15-6 but then his coach came along, figured me out and gave the fellow some tips...
Good job.
See, the only thing bad about being just a club is that we have no coach. We live off of peer advice and we learn the sport faster. But without actual training and tips during game time outs, our style cannot surpass coaching tips.
Needless to say. I lost my first game.
No worries I told myself. The match was best out of three. Since I lost my first game, I planned on winning my second and losing at the tiebreaker.
Didn't happen.

Seems like mr baldy coach gave the fellow some godly advice to destroy my weakness and it actually worked for half the match.
The score is 15-3 him and I see some of my team gather around. I got some tips and I finally figured out what to do against him.
The only problem was is that his score was too high and I didn't have enough leeway to win the second game. It ended 21-18 him. See the comeback that I made? :p

If only I had more points to spare againt him... Gee.

My next game is tommorow so I just chillax and watch my teammates play. I can't stress how important supporting your team is. That's what I love about us. We're pretty damn supportive of our teammates. That's what you have to do and that's how we rolllllllll.

Other things happened too but it was pretty boring...

And I'm tired... Day 3 written tommorow as I go to sleep to play in day 4 right now..
SSSSOOOO SORE!!!

So much pain...

HakoneDayDreamer, gonna bring back a trophyyyy (I hope)

Texas day 1

Log start: 12:25am central time february, something...2010

Cellphone entry #1

Texas, day 1:::
So, 4 team members left the stony brook lirr on the 6am train. Believe it or not, that's the second time ever that I've rode on the lirr... The first time was the 2nd week of my first semester at stony where I went back to get my car. Ever since that, I've relied on my car for everything else. But this was not a situation where a motor vehicle could be relied on. I'm not paying about 100 dollars for 5 day parking at laguardia.
So the rest of our team meets us at the airport and we head on over to the security gate. I am not being racist or anything here but they pulled our brown friend aside and he gets chosen for some "additional" screening. LOL.
Ok, so he called beforehand that this would happen, everyone laughs it off and we head over to the gate to wait for our plane.

Turns out that our plane is first delayed by 1 hour 30 mins because originally, it was a flight from cleveland and they had some snow problems so they delayed our flight. Cool. But... 2 hrs later, they told us all flights from cleveland are cancelled. Greattttt so now we have to split the team up and board 2 seperate flights to go to houston, miss the orientation, AND miss the houston rockets game...
Gee man, let a yellow brotha catch a break... Life isn't about drinking tea and building railroads.. Sometimes, we want to ride the planes too!!

So we split up into flights that are either 3:10pm or 5:30pm. I told myself that I was lucky to be on the earlier flight but it seems that it's not the case...
The first flight kept on having delays and it didn't even have food@@@ just some pretzels and some OJ -_-
The second flight had sandwiches and everything good... Blehhhhh

Ok, so we get there and then we have to take a bus that runs every 45 mins from the airport to houston. We fiiiiinally get there after 1 hour because the bus driver had to take a dump at every gas station that she saw...

After we met up, we went ti buffalo wild wings for dinnahhhhhhhh. And let me tell you. NOTHING is better than some blazin wings for dinner :p

That basically ends day 1.. I wanted to recap day 2 (today) too but my fingers REALLY hurt from typing on a blackberry and my stony suitemate ivan is snoring too loud now in the hotel.. So I'm going to stop here for today.

HakoneDayDreamer, to become one of us, you need to become none of us.

Affecting the effect

Log start: 5:49pm February 23rd, 2010

Couldn't think of a title... so i took a quote from "How I Met Your Mother" and spun it around :D

So.... i'm leaving for Texas tommorow for a 5 day (FREE!!!) trip to play handball, NCAA style :D
110% Psyched about going to Texas actually, didn't think that i would actually land myself a spot, so i'm thankful for that.
I wish that i could take my uber-hax camera there though but our luggage is limited so i'm forced to take my Sony one... *sigh* the pictures that i could capture if i had my Canon with me.... AIYA.

Writers' Notes: [I had this MOTIVATIONAL post all ready and all of a sudden, it left my mind as fast as it came to me... now i can't even think of productive things to write about... damn writers block. it could be that something else is on my mind, i can't exactly get a grasp of what it is yet. but it's acting like an iron wall between my stream of thoughts and this blog... what a nerd...]

t h i s
i s
j u s t
h e r e
t o
t a k e
u p
s p a c e
w h i l e
i
t h i n k
o f
w h a t
t o
w r i t e
n e x t
a n d
h o n e s t ly
,
i t ' s
n o t
w o r k i n g
. . .

i know 1 thing that i'm not psyched about though, all this work that i have to do within the next 6 hours. i have to complete so much shit before i leave for Texas...
AND OH NO!!!
i'll be away from so much technology for 5 days... i don't know if i'll have the will to live by friday... no laptop... no tv... OH MY GOODNESS... NO EPISODES OF HOW I MET YOUR MOTHER FOR 5 DAYS!?!?!? SHIT, SON!

all i'll have is my blackberry and my nintendo DS, LOL.
and bomberman can ONLY keep me happy for so long -_-

i can't even think about that right now x_x
to be away from technology from so long *shudders*

but thinking about the swimming time that i'll get when i come back makes me feel somewhat happy. yep, swimming makes me happy... for some odd reason...
see, when i was swimming for high school, my favorite event (even though i didn't admit it) was the 500 freestyle. that's 20 laps of swimming nonstop...
don't make fun of it, i know you're saying "OH GOD! 20 LAPS!? THAT'S SO BORING"
mmkay. well. that's 20 laps of no worrying about anything, your mind is completely clear, and all you're focused on is your pace, your breathing, and how awesome you look because.
your mind is completely blanked out and 100% concentration is upon you.
do you know what i would give for 100% concentration sometimes? sometimes my mind just run wild and everything else messes up after.
the affect of 100% concentration effects your ability to swim 20 laps at the same speed <-- see what i did there? ;)

But seriously, 20 laps of swimming isn't a race to see how fast you are (metaphorically)
it's a battle between minds. same thing with the 72 lap (1 mile of swimming) that i did once in college :x (and i came in first out of the whole class@@@) well... technically i cheated... i signed up for an intermediate swimming class. el oh el

sorry that this post is just random babbling, i really had something planned out to write about but it just left my mind... and this is the best improv that i could do on the spot >.>

GOTTA GO NOW! i have a date.... with schoolwork... it wants to rape me... HALP!

HakoneDayDreamer, only have to concentrate on swimming and archery when i come back from texas. yey.

edit: thank god for autosave... almost lost this whole post because of a misclick, LOL.

110%

Log start: 5:39am February 21st, 2010

I can't stress how important it is to give it your all in a certain something that you do. some of the people that i've met this semester and the people that i know from the past all have one thing in common; ambition.

it has only start to catch up to me now.
it's almost like one day i was walking and then ambition tapped me on the shoulder and said "hey bro, i'm the best. what are you going to do about it?"

what am i supposed to do? let ambition push my goals further and further or should i round house kick him in the face?

truth is, i haven't felt this way since high school ended. yeah, that's right, the last time i felt that i really needed to accomplish something was back in highschool during my swim team days.

ooooooohhhh yeah. the swim team. the meaning of my life and what i've done since i was a young little dude.
see, when i started swimming, i HATED it.
absolutely HATED swimming.

the first time i entered the pool, my instructor told me to put my face in the water. i sucked up so much water in my nose i wanted to cry (don't laugh, yo! i was 6 years old!)
every saturday i had swimming lessons i tried to give my mom an excuse on why i didn't need to know how to swim and how swimming is for girls. (yeah... the young me... so stupid)
but a few months into my swimming lessons, a brother and sister pair who were 12 at the time enrolled in my beginner class because the YMCA wouldn't allow them to go into higher classes because it was their first time enrolling in lessons there.

this bro/sis duo knew how to swim pretty damn well. from what i remembered, i thought they were the fastest ever. all the people around me were like "WOW, THEY'RE SO GOOD!"
at that point, something in my head clicked. i wanted people to say "damn, he's good!" to me. a sense of accomplishment and being praised was what i wished for when i was 6 and swimming took a 180º turn for me.

For the first time, i rode ambition like a cowboy on a horse. (ok, i admit it, bad reference)

for years i trained. i remember that i failed the beginner swimming class (i think it was called some weird name) 3 times and the second level, goldfish, once.
after i passed goldfish and moved on to level 3 (forgot the names...) i was the best in my class, compared to the other students, i was the equivalent of Micheal Phelps in that level.
at the end, i finally made it to the level where the brother/sister duo swam in. needless to say, i was slower than them -_- but i slowly swam more and more and i beat them. when i left the YMCA, i was the fastest of the level "Porpoise Club"

People need goals, my goal was to take someone better than me, put them on my hitlist, and excel far beyond their greatest potential.

When i got to highschool and joined the swim team, i never got to swim in the meets (competitions, to all you non competitive people)
during my first year, i'd be the cheerleader (along with other ppl, of course) of the team on the sidelines. i wanted to succeed.

110% mode on.
2nd year, i was a substitute for some events.
3rd year, i had my own events.
4th year, i was on the "Starters" list to swim the starting events and i had my own events to swim.

Succeeding is great.
I think that if you're aiming for something, you can't do it half-assed.

"oh damn, he's better than me, i'll TRY to beat him"

Nah idiot. No. it doesn't work like that.
i was talking to some friends online one day and with his help, we made the quote "Trying is having the intention to fail."

The meaning behind it is that if you're only TRYING, then you have failing as one of the end results. I do not want failing as an end result. Failing is not even an option when i find something that i truly like to do.

That's why you need to dish out the impossible, go above 100% and break the limits.
I will not fail. There is no room for failure. Failure is NOT an option.

2nd thing in my life that the 110% light turn on for was driving. oooohhhh yeah.
driving was a sport, a way of life, and about how quickly you can think.

from the first time my mom let me drive to right now where passing every car on the road is a boost of adrenaline, driving has always been apart of my life (since i was 16)

to me, driving isn't about getting from point A to point B. it's not as simple as that. driving is an art. an art that you express with raw emotion. if i'm sad, my driving will be sluggish and slow. if i'm happy, my driving will be smooth and enjoyable.
the car is an extension to your body and other people who take driving as serious as i do will notice every little detail on the way your car moves and how you're driving.

there was this one fellow that i knew since middle school who started driving before me (you know who you are!) and was pretty good at it.
to this day, i don't know who has better technique and style, but i hope we will soon find out. i've been practicing, get ready!

The feeling of dishing out 110% at something is truly the best ever. I just hoped that i felt this way about academics, but that's not happening now :x

But at the start of this semester, i felt the need to pull out the 110% card again to achieve something better. something more. something where i can brag about and say "yeeeeahhhhhhh. that's right. AND WHAT!?"
if you haven't seen my recent Facebook pictures, this refers to the ancient sport of Archery.
- notes to my hidden archery goal hidden - (not ready to be revealed to the public)
Archery....

[INSERT SECTION ABOUT ARCHERY HERE]

can't really reflect on this sport yet because i just started it.
BUT.
let me tell you something, the 110% card has already been played and i'm going to get pretty damn amazing at it, just you wait.

I know, what a pretty lame cliff hanger, but it's going to have to wait. and it will be good. trust me :D


If you find something that you really like, you have to push yourself until you drop. push yourself to be the best, push yourself to your goal, and push yourself to become legend (wait for it....) ary. <--- Reference to "How I Met Your Mother"

Never settle for second best.

HakoneDayDreamer, Ready, Aim, Destroy.

Above all else

Log start: 3:15am February 1st, 2010

So after the longest hiatus that i've had off of blogging, it seems that now i have the time and patience to keep typing once again.
Actually, i don't know why i stopped on the last day of October in 2009, maybe i was too lazy (as usual) or maybe i was just too busy... can't remember... i don't even think the reason matters as of right now.

WELL, since my last blog entry, we have entered a new decade, mmmmm i can smell the fail that will come before me this decade.

I've also built the craziet and best schedule that i have to date in Stony Brook.
Check this out.

I'm taking 15 credits this semester and they are::

POL 372: 2:20pm-3:40pm MON/WED
POL 327: 3:50pm-5:10pm MON/WED
AAS 221: 5:20pm-6:40pm MON/WED
HSQ 270: 6:50pm-9:40pm MON
POL 330: 6:50pm-9:40pm TUES


So i've basically spent 3 and a half years building the best schedule ever!
mon-wed classes + 4 day weekend. oh damn. and i thought that a 3 day weekend was hot. LOL

I know, i know, much criticism was received as i was building this bad-ass schedule.
"OH BRIAN, THIS IS INSANE"
"WTF YO. LOL."
"why do i even bother....?"

basically, it's all classes that i seem to enjoy (SO FAR) *knocks on wood*
and the ONLY thing that i mind right now is my mondays, which you can see, lasts about 7 hours and 20 minutes straight, without a break.

after the first week, i find that the class that i recharge *cough* nap *cough* in is the asian studies class, AAS 221. To be completely honest, i feel that i'm learning the same things as in AAS 220 -_- so it's really not much that i'm missing, and for the record, i DID calculate that this was my napping class. all going along as planned. so it's all goooooooood.

Oh, i forgot to talk about winter vacation@@ lol.
HONESTLY. Winter 09-10 has been my best winter ever, hands down. i got to meet up with my old kindergarten buddies, i got to hang out basically every day of the vacation, and i got to meet a lot of new people! what more is there to ask for? the last week of my vacation sucked though, because everyone was already back at school :p

As the semester started, i feel like i've been more productive that i've ever been. it's the first time i'm concentrating in class, first time that i've actually cared about anything else instead of eat/sleep/slack-off.
i admit it, i used to be a bum, sitting around waiting for things to happen, trying to let life pass me by without saying hello.

WELL. LIFE ISN'T IGNORING ME ANYMORE. going to punch it in the face if it ever does again. I really don't know what sparked the change this semester, it's very different from the previous ones. it could be because of the amazing winter vacation that i had. but it's no use trying to decode the past. things happen for a reason and no matter of it's good or bad, the motto that i've heard people use mostly in life is "SHIT HAPPENS"
so for good or worse, you can't question the bad things and you definately can't question the good things in life.

Although, i would like for one thing to happen... GETTING A JOB. Lol.
Brian + fun = gradually decreasing capitol. <-- replace your name with mine and if that equation isn't true for you, then you and i have a problem. and to fix this problem, i suggest you call/text my phone ASAP. and tell me your secrets.

but above all else, no matter what the reason is for my new-found-emotions and dedication, i would like to say that i won't take it for granted again. this time, i'm going to play this game called real life with everything that i have, risking everything that i have, in order to receive the best possible outcome.

no more slacking around! :D


On a less dramatic note: I found a nice pool hall (billiards -_-) around Stony Brook, if anyone is interested, you should call me. :D



oh shit, i forgot to order my books! LOL;

HakoneDayDreamer - JUICY JUICE IS GOOD! well, one specific product is... details soon