2010 Summary

WOW.

That's all I can say.

Happy 2011!! Yes, yes I know I promised an update in December, but it got really busy really fast.

So. That's that. 2010 is done. I can't believe this blog is stale already.

Looking back at everything, that was, in my estimation, the quickest year of my life. Seriously. It seems like yesterday that I just decided to make a blog about resolutions. And now I'm finished.

I've learned a lot of thing from this blog. I learned how hard it is for me to make consistent updates. I get lazy a lot and lose that "fire". I also learned how effective it is to write down goals. It really is inspiring to see goals being chipped here and there until finally achieving it.

With 2011, I'm gonna do the same thing. Although this time, I won't be tracking it in a blog. Instead I'll track it internally. I'll post thoughts, hardships, and satisfactions relating to those goals. I'll need to make a new blog of course. It can be found here: http://MuralOfThoughts.blogspot.com.

Now, let me summarize how I did for my goal list. Here they are!

1. Make blog
   Check.
   
   
2. Learn Ilokano
   I learned 10 phrases! Definitely reached my goal! Here's a summary of them:
   - mai mai sah "by yourself"
   - awai "farm"
   - sing sing put "good/nice/kind person"
   - awan un "nothing"
   - awan pai "(person) not here"
   - gur ka "wait"
   - baam lat an "never mind"
   - basit la ing ti amok nga ilocano "I know a little Ilocano"
   - add napintas a dammag ditoy "There is beautiful/good news here"
   - nab sug "I'm full"
   
   
3. Improve Tagalog
   Though I don't have a list or anything like that like the above, I still feel that I've improved my Tagalog quite a bit! Magaling na ako (I'm amazing) if I do so so myself!
   
   
4. Learn to cook a new meal each month
   - January: Fried Rice
   - February: Yema Candies
   - March: Mac and Cheese
   - April: --
   - May: Flank Steak Pinwheels
   - June: --
   - July: Seared Steak with Caramelized Onions and Gorgonzola
   - August: --
   - September: --
   - October: Pork Adobo
   - November: Dinoguan
   - December: Pancit Bihon
   Went 8 of 12. Not bad!
   
   
5. Find new hobby
   Well I did. It was ballroom dancing. Took it up for 9 months! Learned all kinds of cool dances and met cool people. But after then 10th month classes repeated, so I stopped. It's cool. I'm glad I did it. Great experience.
   
   
6. Befriend someone new
   Well I'd say I made many new friends. Especially at Church. So I think I got this goal down!
   
   
7. Consume an average of 1800 Calories per day
   It's gonna be hard to summarize ALL my Calories. Wish I had a spreadsheet in 2010 (I have one for 2011.) But the general feeling is, I ate around 1950 per day. It was 150 Calories over, but it has definitely made me aware of how much I eat and how much I just need to eat. Lost a couple of pounds too (about 15) so it's all good!
   
   
8. Read 5 books
   I read waaaay more than 5 books here. I think I've read 5+ books from Lewis alone:
   - Mere Christianity
   - The Four Loves
   - The Problem with Pain
   - The Great Divorce
   - Screwtape Letters
   And others. It would definitely take up a lot of post room.
   
   
9. Maintain $40 / month on video games
   I must confess, I went over. Way over. I was doing fine until December. Then the Kinect released and I caved and bought it. In the end I spent around $600 throughout the year.
   
   
10. Make Facebook app
    Spectacular failure! Me and my friend just made a game design document. It's not quite done but it's nearly. Right now, as I type, I'm installing Adobe Flash Builder so hopefully I can redeem myself this year.
    
    
11. Walk the dogs for 20 minutes each day
    Started off with a bang. But as the days progressed and the rain started coming, I got lazier and lazier. I probably only did about 10 minutes a day if I'm honest with myself.
    
    
12. Don't curse for 300 days
    I stopped counting after a certain point. I'm pretty much golden here. I've been swear free since mid 2010 or so.
    
    
13. Make money off investments
    Well I can't really control the stock market. But I did make a few dimes. I'd say about $2000 in investments were made (that's pre-tax, so who knows how much of that I get to take home.)
    
    
14. Don't miss Church
    Amazingly, I did this without missing a single mass.
    
    
15. Find new prospective job
    This one cannot be achieved. This is because I plan to go back to school 2011. Stay tuned for that.
    
    
16. Buy own place
    Unfortunately I couldn't. I still have hope though. It was a tough year for my Dad, so I had to pick up the slack. No worries though; this goal was low priority anyhow.
    
    
17. Learn five new piano songs
    I learned a lot. More than five I'd say. Just to sum up:
    - Don't Stop Believin'
    - Faithfully
    - Empire State of Mind part 2
    - 100 Years
    - Amazing Grace
    And still others. Gotta continue learning!
    
    
18. Learn five new guitar songs
    I learned on and off, but I can't list any particular five. I think 2010 was more piano focused. My music's biased on the piano now I'd say.
    
    
19. Teach Charlie new tricks
    I actually DID teach him some tricks!
    - Sit
    - Stay
    - Lie down
    - Paw
    - Roll over
    Good job Charlie! I thought you were hopeless, but boy was I wrong!
    
    
20. Read the Bible
    I managed to finish the Old Testament. I think just before the the year ended, I was on Luke (read the other 3 Gospels). I plan to finish and re-read it this year.
    
    
21. Volunteer
    Well I'm glad I put this one down! And I'm glad I accomplished it too! I'm a proud member of St. Timothy's choir.
    
    
22. Draw
    Only a few here and there, but I mostly failed this goal.
    
    
23. Compose
    I composed exactly 0 songs.
    
    

That's it! That's a long list, but that was my 2010. And it was a year to remember.

Anyhoo, thanks readers for keeping up with this blog! I hope 2011 finds you well. Remember, as of now, I've moved! Visit my new blog here: http://MuralOfThoughts.blogspot.com. See you there!

November Wrap-up

And then there was one.

11 months have past. And I can't believe how quickly it has gone by.

I think that 2010 marks a turning point in my life. For 26 years I've wandered and coasted, not really wanting anything. But this year -- my 27th year -- things were different.

This blog has been a great tool. It has helped me focus in achieving goals and things I thought I'd never be able to do. What's more amazing is that I more or less stuck to those goals. I even stuck to this blog! Fancy that.

It's amazing really. At the beginning of 2010, I honestly thought I wouldn't achieve half my goals. In fact, I thought that I wouldn't continue this blog anymore! I think I'm overall more happy, healthier, and friendlier.

---

Thanksgiving past by like a twinkle of an eye. It was pure family fun and food. Lotsa turkey. Lotsa potatoes. Lotsa albacore fish. Lotsa desserts. I ate a ton of food on Thanksgiving. Almost all my cousins were there. We had a blast.

Didn't really get anything that Black Friday. I did shop for my exchange presents for my cousins. Having said that, I have spent a crap ton of money on December alone on bills and my plane ticket to Toronto (gonna go during New Years!)

Ah yes, I must confess something. I bought the Xbox Kinect + Dance Central. Yes I know. There goes $200. So that's $ 400 / 480 of my gaming budget. I dunno if I can afford any more. I have to buy Cataclysm, too so that's another $X amount of money. Damn games burning a hole through my pocket.

Welp the good news is that I've surprisingly controlled my eating the last 15 days of November! I ate about 29,600 Calories during that time, or about 1,973 Calories per day. Not bad for a month where food is the primary focus.

Unfortunately I didn't prepare any meals that month, unless helping stuff and cook the turkey counts. But I do plan to make pancit (Filipino noodle dish) for my company's potluck! It'll be great.

Just wanted to mention that December has been an awesome month so far. I got to carol to some old folks in retirement homes. They were super grateful for having the caroling group come over. It really gave me a real sense of Christmas. I can't wait to sing on Christmas mass with the Christmas choir. Should even be more awesome!

Welp that's it folks. Thanks for reading. 2011 is quickly approaching and this blog will probably need a new look and new name. Til next update, have a fun December!

1.5 months to go

I just realized something scary. There are only a few weeks left in 2010. My blog name will be obsolete! So I'll have to think up of a new name for it soon.

"So Mark, what have you been up to these past days?" you may be wondering. A lot actually. And it's been a fun and busy 2 weeks so far.

First, I'd just like to mention what a blast it is to be participating in my church's choir. I'm not that good, but the rest of the singers are amazing! In fact, I enjoy singing so much, I even joined the Christmas choir! I am way WAAAY below their level. I'm just in for the ride, and I just wanna be around them to improve my singing.

I'm gonna head back to Canada and hang with my buddies for New Years'! I still haven't booked a flight yet. Better get on that pronto.

Lemme get on with the show. How is my progress report?

Calorie count. I've behaved these past 15 days and only ate about 27,880 Calories, or 1858 Calories per day. Which is where I want to be each day. I wonder what the total is for the year? Oh well I'll calculate that later.

My pastor mentor gave me a new book to read called, "The Gospel According to Rome" which compares the Catholic teachings to Biblical teachings. Fairly interesting stuff.

What about my Facebook game?? Damn, this is cutting it close. I think I just want to make a Hello World type of program on Flash by the end of the year, and then start fresh in 2011. I'll have to talk to my friend about it.

Anyhoo, I'm almost done the OT. Just need to finish up on the minor prophets, then I'll be reading the NT! Actually I've read a few books in it already (couldn't wait). Never has the Bible felt so alive. There are some really interesting insights that book offers.

And I guess that's it. I'll have to think about a lot of stuff for the rest of the year. Stuff like what to do with this blog, the Facebook game, where my career should be heading and all that jazz. But that's for next year. Until the end of the month/beginning of December, cya!

Alright, I've delayed long enough. Here is my October wrap up!

I can't say much has happened in those last 16 days. Well there was Halloween. It's the definitely one of my most fun times I had. I had a blast just making pumpkin carvings and dispensing treats. In total, I'd say about 80 kids came to my house to ask for candy. We just had enough.

Oh and pictured below is one of my pumpkin carvings. Took all of my soul to carve this thing!

I'll talk about happenings in November next update. But for now, let me run through my progress report:

My language development goals are pretty much stagnant. I haven't picked up any new words or phrases in Ilokano, nor have I been trying to use new phrases in Tagalog. I've been pretty awful at this.

To make up for that, I have been cooking more Filipino food! Pictured below is Dinoguan (dee-no-goo-an), aka "Blood pudding". It's definitely an acquired taste. It's one of my favorite meals!

Speaking of food, I haven't been doing too well on my Caloric intake these past 16 days. I've consumed about 32,950 Calories or 2059 Calories per day. Ouch. That was a bad month for me. This month may not be good either cuz of Thanksgiving and all. Gotta try to watch how much I eat even more now.

Now from food to hobbies. My ballroom dancing, I think, is finished. Last month and even this month has been repeats of what I've already done. As long as this keeps up, there's no more incentive to go to ballroom dancing anymore. But hey, I enjoyed myself for these past 9 months though!

Games. Well not much spent at all in games all year. Which is really surprising. The only new games I've bought are Civilization 5 ($50), Battlefield: Bad Company 2 ($30) and Minecraft ($15), which totals to $ 95. That brings my total up to $295 (out of $480) for the year.

What about my Facebook game? Well I'm having problems with it. I'm still trying to figure out an algorithm to account for movement. Also trying to set up my developer environment for Flash. Neither are working for me right now, so I'm taking a little break from them.

Books. Ah my newest hobby. I hated reading. Now I don't hate it as much. I've been reading all kinds of books. mostly C.S.Lewis ones. Just finished Screwtape Letters and it was a very entertaining and informative read! Onto G.K.Chesterton's Orthodoxy.

Music. I've been learning a new Alicia Keys song called Empire State of Mind (part 2). But my guitar's still in its case. I want to play it, but the piano's draw is too strong right now.

Pet Training. Charlie now knows how to sit, shake, lie down, and rollover. I want to teach him a new trick "play dead" but I'm not sure how I'd even approach this. Suggestions?

Bible Reading. Well, what can I say? I'm liking what I read. The more I read, the more Christianity makes sense. I'm on the book of Jonah now. I'm also reading some of the New Testament Gospels and Epistles too.

Volunteer. Mwahahaha. I've joined my local church's choir. Yes I sing (not well). And it is fun!

So that's that folks. Not much else I can write. It's definitely been an interesting October. It is my month after all. october 16th is my day. Always is, was, and is to come. Thanksgiving I'm looking forward to you. Chow.

October 1 to 15

Hey everyone.

It’s the middle of the month, already. There’s been a bunch of things happening to me and in the world. I praise God that He was there with the Chilean miners. Much credit goes to the people who worked on the rescue effort. Without their efforts, we wouldn’t have this amazing story of survival and of hope.

With that said, what have I been up to? Well let’s begin with my weekend. On the 16^th of October I celebrated my birthday! Most of my cousins came by and just had a blast. Good food. Good games. Good fellowship. We played Taboo. We sang Journey songs. We entertained CJ (my cousin’s kid, i.e. my “nephew”!) It was a blast.

Next morning, I go to church. Not the regular church I usually go to. I went to an Evangelical church somewhere in Garden Grove.

So how did this come to be? Well my company’s CFO walks into my office and issues a bet with me and my coworker. The loser of the bet takes the other two out for lunch. So I lose. During the lunch I find out he’s an elder pastor at a non-denominational church and he invites me over! I was curious so I took up his offer.

I was expecting a chapel and pews, but what I got was a regular building with metallic fold out chairs. There was nothing fancy about it, but it was full of people hungry for the Word. They started off with a welcoming prayer, then praise and worship. Followed by an offering, sermon, and then communion. The sermon was a great message about Truth and Freedon in Christianity (Galatians 2:1-5 was the reading.) Communion was interesting; they called the body, “elements” and we ate it together rather than immediately. It was a very interesting experience; one that I won’t forget.

That’s that. Now on to my progress report!

My Tagalog has been a little dull lately. I still say a few phrases here and there, but not as often as I should be. But, I have learned a new phrase in Ilokano! Adda napintas a dammag ditoy which literally means “there is beautiful news here.” Many useful words in that one phrase. Nice.

With regards to my general health: I had a sinus infection earlier this month, so I went to the doctor. It turns out that I have high blood pressure and asked me to cut back on the salty foods. Also asked me to have blood work done. In light of that, I don’t think I’ve been following doctor’s orders quite well this month. So the first 15 days of October, I’ve eaten about 28,650 Calories or 1,910 Calories per day. Ouch. That’s 110 Calories above my goal. Gotta fix that.

I know I’m done reading my “book list” but I continue to read in my spare time. So what have I been reading? Right now I’m reading a biography of St. Thomas Aquinas by G.K. Chesterton. So far so good. The “Dumb Ox” is what he was referred to. He played a huge role in the intellectual revival of the church of his time.

My Facebook app’s in a stagnant state right now. I’m done documentation, but I’ve been so lazy to develop it. Right now I develop software for a living. I just see implementing (coding) this app as very work-like an unenjoyable. But it will get done by the end of the year.

I finished up the book of Jeremiah. I’m onto the next prophet Ezekiel. These past books have been pretty difficult to understand, so I’ve constantly gone back to aides to help me out.

And finally, I signed up for my church’s music ministry! I just got an email regarding that. Apparently there are tryouts. Haha. I don’t think I’m gonna cut it but I’ll try out anyway!

So that’s it! That’s what’s been happening. Hope you like what you read. Keep this blog bookmark and I’ll see you next time!

September Wrap-up

Hello readers!

It's been two weeks, but I'm back!

September went by fast. Faster than milk ('cuz it's pasteurized before you know it; get it?!).

"So when are you gonna tell us about your one month hiatus?" you may be wondering. All in due time.

But I've made some excellent progress with the Facebook game I'm making with my friend. The design is complete. I just now need to implement everything so I can get a prototype to test it out.

Regarding my Calorie count: the last 15 days of September it's been about 28,430 or 1895 Calories per day. My swearing (or no-swearing, really) I've lost track of because I've gone completely clean for ages.

And of course, monthly meals! I didn't skimp out on September. I cooked Filipino Pork Adobo. And it was easy and tasted amazing:

You can check out how I made it here: http://cookmenext.blogspot.com/

As far as my other goals, they're still being chipped at. I don't think I'll finish the entire Bible by the end of the year (slow reader). I'm trying to "get out there" more by enrolling with some of my local parish's ministry (like music). Still trying to learn new Ilokano words; still trying to improve my Tagalog. A lot of things getting done bit by bit on my list.

But the biggest "goal" that's missing in my list, if I'm honest with myself, would be to "find my call." More than anything right now, I'd like to know what the meaning of my life is: my purpose.

And to help me find my purpose I've been reading Os Guinness's book The Call and it's been a great guide for this internal longing I have.

"So Mark, what're you gonna end up being? A priest?" you may be wondering. Probably not. I have a lot of problems with Catholicism (read: the Catholic teachings) before I even consider becoming a priest. I have a lot more "Soul Searching" to do (and here I thought I was done when I moved from Canada to the USA!)

Til next update, keep hitting F5 for me!

Midway September

These two weeks have been really interesting for me.

First of all, I've decided to take a break from Ballroom dancing. I plan to continue, but not this month, and maybe not next month.

Secondly, I got to see my parish priest again. I asked him some pretty tough questions regarding Catholicism. Especially the dogma surrounding Mary. Still, he stood his ground and gave honest answers. Mad respect to him. He's definitely not an intellectual lightweight.

More than that though, that follow up meeting was very important to me. I'm struggling with what I should be doing with my life right now. I've lately been wondering what I really am meant to do in my life. Talking to my priest, he's suggested a few things (pray, discern) and I'm more than likely gonna have another follow-up meeting with him again.

With that out of the way, how did I fare in my last two weeks? Well here's my progress:

I've learned a new phrase in Ilokano! Adda napintas a dammag ditoy which literally means "There is good news here."

As far as my Calorie counting? Well these past 14 days I've eaten about 25,600 Calories worth of food, or around 1,828 Calories a day. I'm surprised because on September 4th my cousins and I went out to the LA County Fair and gorged on deep-fried everything.

Speaking of food, I'm gonna be cooking Pork Adobo by the end of this month!

And another thing I'll be doing by the end of the month will be finishing up that Game Design Document. It's been a while since I've touched that, but I plan to finish at least a proof of concept by the end of the year.

Books. Ah books. I never thought I'd be reading so much. I used to hate books. But I'm finding more and more that I really don't hate it so much. I finished Mere Christianity (brilliant book) and am onto The Everlasting Man by G.K. Chesterton, who is another Christian Apologist. I love how these guys use rational, coherent thought and logic to explain the Christian faith.

And that's it! How's my swearing? Well I feel weird now if I ever say a vulgar word. I'm pretty sure I haven't used any swear words these past 2 weeks. So I give myself a pat on the back for that one.

Until next time, keep hitting F5 on your browser!

One month later...

Hello readers! I am back. Where was I? Well let's just say I went out on a journey. Lemme summarize a few key things that happened while I was away.

At the end of July I went to Las Vegas over the weekend. It was awesome. To my surprise, two other sets of friends were going! I met up with one of them, but the other eluded me. But most the time was spent with my buddy from Canada. I'll detail this in a later blog post

Mid-August, I had to say farewell to a (relatively new) friend of mine. I've known her for a bit over a year (if that; in total I've probably spent only a day with her =]) but for some reason I felt she was a very good friend. She's off doing mission work in the Philippines for the Sisters of Cabrini. I really admire that.

Finally, I had good one on one time with my parish priest. I found myself in a situation where I was the best one to pick him up from John Wayne airport, so I did. Interesting talks we had. I'll have to write about that in another post as well.

I've decided to change things up a bit. I think I went wrong with my goal list. I've been trying to achieve goals for the sole purpose of just achieving that goal. I've been reading books just so I can cross it out of my list; playing songs, the same reason. I think it was too cold.

So to warm things up again, I'm going to be re-doing some of my "crossed out" goals. Moreover, I'll be posting in a little less structured manner, but with a little more "heart" in my posts.

So here's Warm Progress Report #1. Enjoy!

I've managed to progress with my Tagalog-ing and Ilokano-ing skills. I've been speaking to my coworker (also Flip) in Tagalog more and more, and he wants to learn so it's all good.

I've also managed to miss cooking meals 2 months in a row! Booo! BUT! I've decided I'm gonna focus on cooking Filipino meals from now on. I have my recipe set on pork adobo.

Speaking of food, I've still been keeping track of my Calorie count. So in the 37 days of absence, I've eaten about 70,060 Calories, or 1893 Calories per day. That's still within range. It's really a amazing because of all the food I ate in Vegas and during the Farewell parties. Reached almost 3000 Calories on some of those days alone.

I've managed to control swearing pretty well. I've only sworn (to the best of my knowledge) at most 3 times these past 37 days. So where am I at with that? 195 swear-free days. Nice.

As far as books, I'm starting to re-read some of them. I've re-read C.S. Lewis The Four Loves. I'm also re-reading Mere Christianity. Wow. I didn't realize how brilliant he is. His writing and insight are just amazing. I can't believe I read these just for the sake of saying "I read it." I am kicking myself right now.

That's it! I'm gonna be updating in the coming weeks some of my "adventures" during these "37 Days". I'll try to keep this posted every week. Thanks for reading! Until next post.

July week 3 of 4

Whoops, forgot to update yesterday. A thousand Internet apologies for that.

Anyhow, three weeks of July are gone. Let's see how I measured up.

Learn Ilokano

• Nothing new here. BUT! My Lola's here for a week. That's like a sure-fire way of learning new Ilokano phrases.

Improve Tagalog by speaking a different sentence a day

• I actually impressed my Lola today with my awesome Tagalog-ing. I forgot what I said, but it was awesome.

Learn to cook a new meal each month

• I think I missed the boat with this one. Unless I cook sometime mid-week. We'll see.

Ballroom dancing

• I really struggled with my last lesson with advanced Rumba. I really couldn't get the steps down and it frustrated me. I will be back with a vengeance on Monday!

Consume an average of 1800 Calories per day (381,675 / 657,000 calories total for the year)

• I think I under-ate last week. Consumed about 1,748 Calories per day for that period. It seems like a miscalculation, but it's a pretty good estimate I'd say.

Make Facebook app

• I'd say the Game Design Document is complete. At least for the Gameplay section. I'm working on Implementation section (the technical details of how I'd code it, etc.) Boy, it seems like this is work all over again.

Spend at least 20 minutes a day to walk the dogs

• Man. I'm getting as lazy as Wilbur. I gotta walk them more and for longer periods for sure.

Don't curse for 300 days (accumulated) (161 / 300)

• Easy 7 of 7.

Don't miss Church

• I haven't missed one yet. I think it's worth mentioning that my Church's new Priest, Father Paw (yes like how dogs have paws) is an awesome sermonist! Big ups to that man.

Learn 5 new piano songs (5/5)

• Sure I've learned five. But what's stopping me from learning another? Nothing! So i'm learning Sun and Moon from Miss Saigon.

Learn 5 new guitar songs (0 / 5)

• I'm currently working on worship songs right now. I want to say I'm done with one, but mebbe one more week to polish it up.

That's how the week went. The coming weekend is Las Vegas! Gonna see my buddies all the way from Canada. Cannot wait.

July: Week II

2 weeks are up. Two to go.

Can't say anything exciting happened this week. Went rock climbing again. Like last time, I'm sore everywhere.

Learn to cook a new meal each month

• Probably need to cook next weekend. What am I cooking? Who knows.

Ballroom dancing

• Went back this Monday. I'm taking Intermediate Waltz and Advanced Rumba. It's pretty easy still. I missed the Beginner's class (Samba) and it looked like a blast. Shoulda went.

Consume an average of 1800 Calories per day ( 369,435/ 657,000 calories total for the year)

• I consumed 13,100 the past week, or 1,871 Calories per day. No family functions = controlled eating for me!

Read 5 new books (5 / 5)

• Even though this one's done, I'm still reading. I'm reading more C.S. Lewis. This time it's The Four Loves. He explains there are four loves that one should know: Affection, Friendship, Erotic, and Divine. Pretty good stuff so far.

Make Facebook app

• Deadline's coming up. I think our Game Design Document is maturing nicely. We probably need a final review from someone other than the two of us.

Spend at least 20 minutes a day to walk the dogs

• Ugh it was so hot this week. I got lazy and walked them 5 out of the 7 days. Damn heat.

Don't curse for 300 days (accumulated) (154 / 300)

• Haha so rock climbing made me say the S-bomb again. I slipped and thought I was gonna plunge to my death. 6 of 7.

Make money off investments

• Stupid stupid stock market why don't you stabilize? Not making much here. Just the initial $ 500 I made in the beginning of the month.

Draw & Compose

• So sad. I need something to motivate me to do these. So so sad.

And that's that. Half of July's gone. My trip to Las Vegas is coming up at the end of this month. Gonna see my comrades from Toronto. Should be a blast!

And the 1st week of July blasts by

Ah missed the update. It was supposed to be yesterday.

Last weekend was fun. Got to go fishing with my cousins on July 4. Launched some fireworks in their backyard. Almost burned down their house. Good times.

"Burned down their house?"

Yep. It's true. Their backyard was full of dry grass. One of the fireworks just spark around and the grass caught fire. Thankfully, I was brave enough to stomp the fire down with my mighty right foot! It's on video too! Waiting for my cousin to upload it on Facebook.

Anyhow, here's how my first week of July went.

Learn to cook a new meal each month

• Again, I need a new recipe. Thankfully I have this: http://cookmenext.blogspot.com/. Now I don't even have to think about what I can cook next!

Ballroom dancing

• I missed last week because of laziness :| I'm gonna attend Monday's classes. I've got beginner's Samba, intermediate Waltz, and advanced Rumba to learn.

Consume an average of 1800 Calories per day (356,335 / 657,000 calories total for the year)

• First week I only at about 12,920 Calories, or 1,845 Calories per day. Right on target. The past two weeks have been good since there hasn't been any family functions so I can stuff my face full of food.

Maintain budget of $40 per month for game related purchases ($ 210 / $ 480 for the year)

• Bought Bad Company 2 on sale last weekend. I was weak and couldn't resist the $33 price point.

Make Facebook app

• Got called out for not contributing. I'll be editing, revising, and updating that game design doc tomorrow.

Spend at least 20 minutes a day to walk the dogs

• Ah, I couldn't walk them at all last week. Wilbur got sick =[. But he's got his meds now and should be fine.

Don't curse for 300 days (accumulated) (148/ 300)

• Nothing new here. 7 for 7.

Don't miss Church

• I went last Saturday. I met the new assistant-pastor Father Paw Nguyen. Dunno if he's good or not yet. I'll see tomorrow.

Learn 5 new guitar songs

• Picked up my guitar again. I've been learning praise and worship songs, but none of the listed. Just warming up.

Read the Bible

• I'm on Isaiah now. Not sure what to think about this book. But the prophecies are pretty interesting to read.

Volunteer

• Gotta find volunteer work.

Draw

• Slack. Er. I'm gonna draw tonight or tomorrow. FOR SURE.

That's it! See y'all next week.

(2010.5) Update

So sore. SOOO sore from rock climbing. I managed to prevent myself from whining at work. Good job me.

That's that! Half the year has past. Wow. 6 months. This blog has served me well. It's been an interesting half year. It definitely helps when you see your goals just being chipped at little by little.

Recapping June:

Learn Ilokano

• Didn't learn anything new here, unfortunately. Gotta keep my ears alert.

Improve Tagalog by speaking a different sentence a day

• This has been going well. Although I have no real discipline, I still think I'm improving. I even talk to my Filipino (born in US) coworker in Tagalog sometimes. He's usually like, "wat".

Learn to cook a new meal each month ( 5 / 12 )

• 
  Deliciously easy to make.

Ballroom dancing

• I've graduated intermediate Rumba! I'm gonna move onto Advanced! And Intermediate Waltz too! We'll see how both go. I'm not gonna be taking the beginning classes (it's getting too expensive now.)

Befriend someone new

• Nothing really here, but I did go out with my coworkers for rock climbing yesterday. It was blast!

Consume an average of 1800 Calories per day (343,415 / 657,000 calories total for the year)

• So after 10 days, I've consumed about 18,180 Calories, or 1,818 Calories per day. Right on target! Looks like it's gonna be tough. I'm already past 50% of my total Calorie count. We'll see.

Read 5 new books (5 / 5)

• Finished My Life with the Saints by James Martin. Highly recommended book. It taught me about praying to and with the Saints is not only okay, but also encouraged. Restored some of my faith in Catholocism. =]

Maintain budget of $40 per month for game related purchases ($ 177 / $ 480 for the year)

• Bought a game off Steam for $7 last week called "The Witcher". Haven't touched it since. =]

Make Facebook app

• So my friend and I are kicking butt with this one. We've created a Game Design Document on Google Wave. It seems to have inspired him (and myself). We've got some early concepts and ideas down. Now we're gonna chip at it and solidify the ideas. We gave ourselves til the end of July to finish up the Design portion. Fun.

Spend at least 20 minutes a day to walk the dogs

• Ah I must confess I haven't done this very diligiently. Gotta keep up.

Don't curse for 300 days (accumulated) (139 / 300)

• Ah I actually said the S-word when I slipped from rock climbing. Ah well. The numbers look bleak (less than 50%) but I actually have about 6 x 30 = 180 days left. I can still achieve this.

Make money off investments

• Oh stock market I hate you. Everything's down. Oh well. I'll keep parking my money.

Don't miss Church

• Still good here.

Find a new job (or prospective job) by the end of the year

• I think instead of a new job, I'm gonna be heading back for school. Go get some teaching credentials and teach in high school. Once my Dad gets a job that is.

Buy own place (house/condo)

• May be a while before this one happens.

Learn 5 new piano songs (5/5)

• All done. Faithfully is mastered. Gonna move onto Guitar.

Learn 5 new guitar songs

• First song to learn: Daughters by John Mayer.

Teach Charlie (new dog) new tricks

• Ugh, I need a slap on the wrist for this one. I haven't taught that dog anything new lately.

Read the Bible

• So Ecclesiastes. That was an interesting book. I'm actually past Song of Solomon and am now on Isaiah. But Ecclesiastes is an autobiography of King Solomon. It's great because it contains a lot of useful wisdom and practical knowledge that can be applied in today's world. "Vanity of vanity, all is vanity. What profit is there in life under the sun?" It concludes by advising the reader to enjoy what you do, know what you have is given by God, and know you must fear him. Great book.

Volunteer

• Spring Fling in June. Dunno what July has in store for me.

Draw

• Yeah I've been slacking here. Gotta do something about this.

Compose

• And I haven't touched this since I've added it. Pure fail.

There I have it! I'm past the half way point of 2010. In 6 months the name of this blog will make no sense and most likely will never get touched again! Looking forward to that time.

Until then, keep on truckin'.

Happy Canada Day!

Need to delay post. I can barely type after rock climbing today. Post update tomorrow.

Goodbye Third Week of June

Three weeks down, one more to go. Short progress report again this week.

Learn to cook a new meal each month

• I am desperate here! This is my last weekend to cook something. ANYTHING. Post a comment/Facebook/e-mail or something to get suggestions to me.

Consume an average of 1800 Calories per day (325,235 / 657,000 calories total for the year)

• Did well last week. At least I kept it in the 1800s range. Ate around 13,110 Calories last week, or 1,872 Calories per day. Not too shabby.

Make Facebook app

• Wow! The game design document's coming along just fine! Thanks to my partner in crime, we're on our way. Gonna finish up the implementation section by the end of this month. In case you're curious, here's a link to the document: http://docs.google.com/View?id=dfmj8vqw_2979g4f5cd

Spend at least 20 minutes a day to walk the dogs

• Redeemed! Didn't miss a single day (even weekends!) walking the dogs.

Don't curse for 300 days (accumulated) (130/ 300)

• 7 for 7. I'm rockin'.

Find a new job (or prospective job) by the end of the year

• I haven't been feeling the fire in my job. I don't think I've ever felt it at all. It was just safe. Reflecting on this, I think I'm gonna head back to school after I leave. Get my teaching credentials and teach!

Learn 5 new piano songs (4/5)

• I'm really hesitant to mark this 5/5. I'm pretty much done Faithfully, but I've forgotten how to play Ave Maria without the notes. Gonna keep pushing myself to memorize five complete songs on the piano.

Read the Bible

• Finished up Proverbs. Lotsa good wisdom being taught in that book. I'm on Ecclesiastes, an "autobiography" of Solomon. I'll post a summary of it once I'm done (about next week.) It's really interesting.

Draw

• Been too lazy to post anything as of late. Random sketches of the dogs again. I'll be putting some of them up sometime this week on Facebook.

And that's it friends. See you next week!

Week II: June

Oops, yesterday's update completely slipped my mind. No excuses on my end. I just plain forgot.

Second week is done. Pretty mundane week I'd say. Just the usual:

Learn to cook a new meal each month

• I STILL need a recipe here. Suggestions?

Ballroom dancing

• Waltz is starting to get good. Learning proper form and posture (and this is only beginner's class!) Also I'm taking intermediate Rumba. My "cuban motion" sucks; I've never used my hips so much before. Now I'm starting to feel the aches that come with Rumba.

Consume an average of 1800 Calories per day ( 312,125 / 657,000 calories total for the year)

• How did I ever do this? Anyhow, another party (my nephew's 1st birthday) thus another pig-out weekend. Ate about 13,980 Calories last week, or 1,997 Calories per day. Weekends should stop being so eventful dagnabbit.

Maintain budget of $40 per month for game related purchases ($ 170 / $ 480 for the year)

• I've decided not to buy anything (including you Super Mario Galaxy 2) for this month. I figure since I'm still hooked on Monster Hunter 3, why bother getting a new game.

Spend at least 20 minutes a day to walk the dogs

• I've failed quite a bit on this one. I've been oversleeping for the past few days because my dogs keep sleeping in my room. And when that happens, they always move around, fidget, and even snore. If I close my door, they'll start to scratch it. Ack.

Don't curse for 300 days (accumulated) ( 123 / 300)

• Went 7 for 7 here. Doing really well I think. Dunno if I'll hit 300 or not.

Make money off investments

• I am so glad I bought Nintendo stock. You may or may not know, but they're coming out with the successor to Nintendo DS. It's the Nintendo 3DS, and as its name implies, it's 3D. Here's the catch: no glasses! So if I'm to give a good piece of trading advice it's this: invest in NTDOY shares while they're still cheap!

Learn 5 new piano songs (4/5)

• Learning Faithfully. It's quite an easy song. I'm almost done learning it actually. Next week I'll probably be finished memorizing it.

Volunteer

• Volunteered some of my time at my church's event called "Spring Fling", which is basically a big family-friendly carnival in the parking lot. I manned the roulette table! It was a ton of fun. Made a lot of people lose, but it was all in good fun! I'd occasionally tell them "if the ball lands on this color, you win!" Never ended up happening though. =[

Draw

• I'll post something up mid-week.

Until next week!

June: Week 1

Okay folks, the first week of June is done already. There are a couple things I want to mention before I continue.

First, I realize that HALF THE YEAR HAS FINISHED. That's crazy. It's where in the world did my time go?

Second, since there are only 6 months left, I may have to cut some of my resolutions back (sad, but true.) Which ones? I don't know yet. I'll assess my list again at the end of this month.

With that said, here's my progress for the week:

Learn to cook a new meal each month ( 4 / 12 )

• Need suggestions. Anything. I am a total noob when it comes to cooking, so something simple, yet something tasty.

Ballroom dancing

• Started Waltz. This is THE classic ballroom dance. I'm definitely digging it. I'm also taking intermediate Rumba, just to see how it's like. It's not that any more difficult than the previous few lessons in Rumba.

Consume an average of 1800 Calories per day (298,145 / 657,000 calories total for the year)

• So, once again, I blame family functions for my consumption of 13,780 Calories (1,968 Calories per day). It's tough, but I can persevere.

Maintain budget of $40 per month for game related purchases ($ 170 / $ 480 for the year)

• Not sure whether I should bite on Mario Galaxy 2. I'm still playing Monster Hunter Tri. We'll see next week.

Make Facebook app

• Ugh, that document needs to be updated. HEY ALVIN UPDATE IT WITH ME DAG NAB IT.

Don't curse for 300 days (accumulated) (116 / 300)

• 7 of 7 again. It's getting easier. "Oh mah Buddha" is a great phrase.

Learn 5 new piano songs (4/5)

• Alright, so here's the thing. I finished up Lamb of God, but I have forgotten how to play Storm by Lifehouse. So I'm back to 4. I think I'm gonna start learning Faithfully by Journey for my final song.

Read the Bible

• Psalms is complete. I'm on Proverbs now. So far it's been very practical.

Volunteer

• Spring Fling 2010 here I come!

Draw

• You want pictures eh? I'll upload em. Wait for some mid-week posts.

And that's that. Not too bad, not too good. Til next week (or sometime this week).

And May Ends

I just realized something. I'm getting old. Fast. I'm twenty-six already. It feels like it's just been yesterday since I've started this blog. But nope, 5 months have past. FIVE MONTHS.

And lately, I've been getting lazier and lazier in updating this blog. Why? Hate to say it, but I've just been one lazy kid.

That's bad. It's bad because this is the very first goal I had for 2010. If I can't maintain this blog and achieve my first resolution, how can I expect myself to follow through with the rest of my resolutions?

So from now on, no more laziness! I WILL update this blog weekly. I WILL achieve my goals monthly. I will finish.

How'd I do for May?

Learn Ilokano ( 8 new phrases learned)

• Didn't learn anything new, but here's a review of all that I've learned:
  1) mai mai sa - "by yourself"
  2) away - "farm"
  3) sing sing put - "good/nice/kind" (person)
  4) awan un - "nothing"
  5) awan pai - "(person) not here"
  6) gur ka - "wait"
  7) ba am la tan - "never mind"
  8) basit la ing ti amok nga ilokano - "I know a little Ilokano"

Improve Tagalog by speaking a different sentence a day

• I'm improving everyday. Even my accent's becoming thicker (when I try). Gusto ko yan. Yaaan. Hindi yan. Yaaan.

Learn to cook a new meal each month ( 4 / 12 )

• Last week I posted something delicious. I'm very proud of cooking that. So what's in store for June? I have no idea! Suggestions are welcomed.

Ballroom dancing

• Finished up Rumba. The last steps we learned was called "Cradle Circle", which is definitely not a beginner's move. In June, I'll be taking Waltz. I'll check out intermediate Rumba and see if my feet can handle it.

Befriend someone new

• Not new, but I did re-connect with some of my old high-school friends. It's been at least 8 years since I've seen either of them. They were visiting OC from Canada and we had a blast!

Consume an average of 1800 Calories per day (284,365 (2,057) / 657,000 calories total for the year)

• Okay, so I've been doing very poorly for this goal. I think for May, I've consumed an average of 2,000-ish Calories per day. Just this week I've eaten about 2,057 Calories per day because of all the parties and good food. Ack. I really need to control my eating.

Read 5 new books (4 / 5)

• Still on the 5th book My Life with the Saints. Taking my time with it. But to review, here are the 4 books I've read so far:
  1) The Great Divorce by C.S. Lewis
  2) Return of the Prodigal Son by Henri Nouwen
  3) Mere Christianity by C.S. Lewis
  4) On Earth as it is in Heaven by Warren Wiersbe
  As you can notice, these books are mostly (if not all) Christian books. It's definitely opened my eyes, and as a result, I now have a much stronger faith. All of them are highly recommended.

Maintain budget of $40 per month for game related purchases ($ 170 / $ 480 for the year)

• Only bought Monster Hunter Tri for the Wii in May. Squeezed out a good 200 hours from it. One of the best games I've every played. I may pick up Super Mario Galaxy 2 for the Wii this month, but we'll see.

Make Facebook app

• I've failed with my sub-objective here. I stated earlier in May that I'd at least get the design documentation finished. Unfortunately, my friend and I haven't touched that document for a while. We will get something done there, for sure, this June.

Spend at least 20 minutes a day to walk the dogs

• I've been pretty good with this. My dog Wilbur seems to be getting lazier by the day. As soon as he's done doing his business, he'll look at me and refuse to walk any more. What a lazy dog. Have to drag him (literally!) almost the rest of the walk.

Don't curse for 300 days (accumulated) (109 / 300)

• Pretty proud of myself with this one! 7 of 7 last week. I don't know if I can make the 300 mark any more (there are only, what, 7 months (including June) left?) but I'll try to get as close to 300 as I can.

Make money off investments

• Market's settled down. I'm still at the $1,000 tier. I'll keep an eye out on the market and trade more.

Don't miss Church

• Still haven't missed a single mass. Let's see if I can get perfect attendance for the year.

Find a new job (or prospective job) by the end of the year

• Kind of scary times ahead. For some reason, I don't feel the company I work for is stable. My instinct keeps telling me we're on wobbly grounds, even though the upper people say otherwise. I'm going to start looking for a new job once my Dad get's his (and hopefully that soon!)

Buy own place (house/condo)

• Nothing new here. But a bunch of my friend have bought houses or condos already. Ah how time flies and how quickly we've become real adults.

Learn 5 new piano songs (4/5)

• I've been pretty lazy with this one too. I've been practicing minimally because of Monster Hunter Tri. Anyhow, to review, here're the songs I've finished playing (first four I'm done; other ones I'm learning or want to play):
  1) Don't Stop Believin' - Journey
  2) 100 Years - Five for Fighting
  3) Storm - Lifehouse
  4) Ave Maria - Gounad/Bach
  5) Lamb of God - Twila Paris
  6) Faithfully- Journey
  7) Umbrella - Rianna
  8) Empire State of Mind - Alicia Keys

Learn 5 new guitar songs ( 0 / 5 )

• Haven't started, but I will do this once I'm done learning my fifth from above. Here are the five songs I'd like to learn:
  1) Daughters - John Mayer
  2) Here Without You - 3 Doors Down
  3) Collide - Howie Day
  4) If You're Gone - Matchbox 20
  5) Love, Where is your Fire - Brooke Fraser

Teach Charlie (new dog) new tricks:

• He knows how to:
  1) Sit
  2) Lie Down
  3) Roll Over
  I plan to teach him:
  1) Stay
  2) Spin
  3) Crawl
  4) Beg
  5) Dance
  He WILL learn these, I swear.

Read the Bible

• Ah this is the best part of my resolutions. I've continued to read and learn from the Bible. I am still in Psalms, but occasionally I'll take a peek into the New Testament and read some scripture from there. The Bible is so full of insight. This goal has definitely reinforced and strengthened my faith in the Lord.

Volunteer

• Didn't find places to volunteer last month, but in June we're having another "Spring Fling" event. I've signed up and it's on June 11th. Should be a blast!

Draw

• I haven't uploaded anything worthy as of late. I've been doodling here and there, but I'm still finding it difficult to draw on that tablet due to the lag. I'm trying to tweak some settings so hopefully things'll get better.

Compose

• Pure fail. I need to pick this up again.

And there you have it. May was full of ups and downs, but I feel like I've accomplished plenty. I really want to make a new friend soon; reconnecting with my old ones has given me that hunger for new friends.

Until next week. Ja ne.

May: Week 3

I should explain myself. "Why haven't you been updating your blog?" you may wonder. Well, it turns out there is no good reason for not updating it. Just pure laziness. And for that I apologize. (My first Internet Apology!)

Well it's been a busy 3rd week. This report will consist of my activities the past 10 days (May 15-24). So with that said, here's my report:

Learn to cook a new meal each month ( 4 / 12 )

• I call it May's Flank Steak Pinwheels! Much harder than usual meal to make. 9/10. It tastes as good as it looks.
  

Befriend someone new

• I guess this is related. Not someone new, but I did talk to two of my buddies from high school. I haven't seen them in a while. It's been at least 8 years. I went out with them for some lunch and we had a good old time just reminiscing.

Consume an average of 1800 Calories per day (269,805 (2,057) / 657,000 calories total for the year)

• Still not controlling this one well. I've consumed about 20,575 Calories in the last 10 days, or 2,057 Calories per day. Why? Weekends are my weakness. There's always an event, and I always end up overeating. These next 3 weekends are booked too, with, I bet, awesome food.

Make Facebook app

• So how's our game design document? Well it has a title and a template, but that's it. I want my friend and I to finish it (at least a rough draft of it) by the end of this month. One weekend to go!

Spend at least 20 minutes a day to walk the dogs

• I've redeemed myself with this one! I've been diligent and have been walking my dogs each day for at least 20 minutes. Good job me.

Don't curse for 300 days (accumulated) (102/ 300)

• 8 for 10. I don't even know if I can make the 300 mark. It's already May. But I'll keep trying. "Frig" is the bane of this goal. Gotta fix that.

Make money off investments

• So, the stock market is sucking. Any money I've made this year are pretty much gone. I'm back to $ 500 tier. Eh, that's okay. I'll just have to be patient and let my shares ride the ride.

Volunteer

• Don't know if I have volunteer opportunities this month. Next month for sure. Spring Fling here I come!

Draw

• I've been sketching a whole bunch, but I'm not proud enough to post any of them. Besides, I'm still trying to find the best software for me.

And with that bullet point, that's it! Next week I'll wrap up this month on Tuesday. See you all.

Update tomorrow

I'm getting bad at this; tomorrow'll be a new post. Stay tuned.

2nd Week of May

Okie dokie. Had a blast this weekend. Went to the Califronia Strawberry Festival in Oxnard. Very interesting indeed! Ever had a Strawberry Pizza? What about Strawberry Nachos? Strawberry Popcorn? Man there is strawberry EVERYWHERE. It was faaaantastic.

So here's my progress report. Pretty hyped:

Ballroom dancing

• So my hips have now started to move in ways I've never thought possible. Thanks ballroom!

Consume an average of 1800 Calories per day (249,230 / 657,000 Calories total for the year)

• Bad week. Really bad. Ate about 14,410 Calories for the week, which is about 2,058 Calroies per day. That festival did not help one bit.

Maintain budget of $40 per month for game related purchases ($ 170 / $ 480 for the year)

• Got a Starcraft II beta invite. Should I go?

Make Facebook app

• Progress for this one. Made a game design document. Sharing it with my friend. So far we have a title ("The Last Epic") and that's it. Still a good start!

Spend at least 20 minutes a day to walk the dogs

• Missed this weekend, but I'll try to walk them for longer periods of time from now on.

Don't curse for 300 days (accumulated) (94 / 300)

• Went 7 days without swearing. Not even substitute words. Imagine that! Will I make the 300 goal? We'll see!

Read the Bible

• Still in Psalms. I think my favourite Psalm is Psalm 23: "The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not be in want...Even though I walk through the valley of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me."

Draw

• I call it "Sleeping Charlie". Got my tablet, pretty hyped! Gonna start drawing at least 1 sketch a week.

And that's that. Productive week I had, I think. Pretty hyped about drawing again. Feels good to be doing something artsy for once. See you all next week!

•