these words

so vegas this past weekend was every so great. me and brandie are officially engaged now! i am so excited. i am more excited that brandie is so happy and excited. basically there's excitement going on.

the hell's kiten finale came on tonight, i'm glad michael won. gene called and said he and kelly got engaged tonight....craziness how our engagements happened around the same time. very happy for them...

so now it's late and i wanted to update this thing.

tomorrow brings: a day off of work, lunch w/brian at irene's, buying a new nintendo advance game, then brandie-ness the rest of the evening.

until later

you wash over me

just listening to some BSB. laura would be so proud. so now i'm starting to get bored. i'm glad brandie's coming back soon, i need human contact!

Evan called me tonight saying he got us a gig at the Anchor Blue in sierra vista on july 23rd, so keep an eye and ear out for that one.

not much else going on today. did the fathers day thing, ate lunch at nana's, it was surprisingly good. oh! i bought a dining room table and chairs set from k-mart that is really nice. arnie had seen it too in the ad, so it worked out perfectly.

when i got home i watched newsies cause we were talking about it the other day. still enjoyable. then i read some narnia. then i watched my live beyonce dvd. oh, in between there i ate. i ran around 8 o'clock, finally, i hadn't in two days. plus i needed to get outta the house.

so yeah, reading more narnia. waiting by my phone for someone to call. i'm so ronery, ha.

Listening to: Coldplay X&Y

nap messed me up

today i worked a stupid 4 hr. shift. even worse i had to be there at 7 am...it was basically a waste of gas, plus i had to get up early. oh well, more $.

my mom and i went into fashion fair today to get stuff for my dad for fathers day. i scored with a pair of black leather flip flops from gap for $10 that were originally $30. i've been needing those. we got my dad some nice stuff...couple pairs of pants and a shirt.

brandie's still gone, so i've just been chillin', reading narnia, and watching tv. i was going to run tonight but i fell asleep for an hour from around 7:30 to 8:30....it really threw me off and i woke up all confused...then i watched the backstreet boys behind the music and felt a little better.

tomorrow might kinda suck. we're doing fathers day at nana and papa's. brian won't be there, so i'm pretty much gonna be waiting to leave. then back home for some more boredom, maybe i'll finish reading narnia...two more books to go...

never gone

Worked 11:45 to close today.

Then watched What Not to Wear.

Talked to Brandie a little, miss her.

Going to bed now cause i have to be at work at 7am.

Can't wait to see Batman Begins again.

i'm climbing the walls

So my life plans have drastically been altered over these past few weeks.

First, Chris decided to move back to Fresno for a while, prompting me to also change my plans and stick around. Luckily I'm still at my same Starbucks, just upping my hours, and earning more $$.

So then I realize that I drive into Fresno EVERY SINGLE DAY and it grows very very old. So i began to yearn for a place of my own closer to work and Brandie. So over the weekend, me, brandie miki and arnie are all at Elephant bar after our FPU show, and arnie and me get to talking, and by yesterday we got approved for this really awesome place in Tower District and we're moving in the first of July!! It's all happening so fast, i never knew apt. hunting was so easy! It's actually not an Apt., it's a two-story town house with two rooms, two bathrooms, washer/dryer, EVERYTHING! And it's only $750 a month, which i think is a steal. I checked it out today for the first time and i just can't wait to move in.

So now i'm thinking i'll be in the Fresno area for around two years because Brandie is most likely taking a job at FPU which would keep her here for two years minimum.

So everything is just go great right now. Plans change, but things are working out to be really really good. I am very blessed and am so grateful that God continually is looking out for my well-being.

So! Vegas is still coming up at the end of July, as is my birthday at the beginning of the month. and i am probably going to vegas again in august with laura sally and brian to see a backstreet boys show, so i'm looking forward to that as well.

brandie's in washington state right now with a friend, so over the past few days i've been reading a lot of Chronicles of Narnia, wathced Ghost World last night (still good) and watched Mean Creek tonight (Grade: B). also today me and brian went to central fish market which is this awesome Japanese market/gift shop/restaraunt....ate more fish than i could handle, then me and brian just drove around town pickin' up stuff.....it was overall a very very good day!

With new music thanks to Coldplay, Black Eyed Peas, Shakira, Alanis, and yes, even Backstreet Boys, alongside great books, movies (BATMAN!!!! SOOOO AWESOME! CAN'T WAIT TO SEE IT AGAIN!), and great times with friends and family, this summer has been so great so far, and i'm looking forward to it getting better.

i'm getting an air mattress

i will let pictures speak for what has been going on since my last post. enjoy.


Allie, Sean and Me in the heat at Coachella, April 30th


Keane performing at Coachella (really really good)


Me, Sallie and Laura enjoying our time at Coachella


Weezer being the best band ever at Coachella


Colplay performing at Coachella (very awesome)


Me and my friend Emily - our last days at FPU


The family post-Commencement ceremony, May 7th


Jeremiah and Sarah, Brandie and Me smiling cause we're freakin' done with college!


My awesome grandpa chillin' at Me and Brandie's graduation party, May 7th


Us and our graduation cake-o-fun


The crazy ladies of the Greilich,Munoz, and Poli/Pope families


Me, Sean, Laura and Brian sitting on the fireplace - the only time it gets used


Friends at the party: Brandon, Becky, Brandie, Miki and Me


Waited outside for four hours with drunky before the show, May 19th


Kelly was soooo amazing, we had an awesome time!


Things coming up:

Tomorrow June 1 - Brian comes back from Japan
June 7 - Coldplay, Black Eyed Peas and Shakira all have new albums out!
June 11 - Ashlan fund-raising show at FPU; I move down to Long Beach
June 15 - Batman Begins opens
July 6 - My Birthday
July 28th-31 - Me, Bran, Sarah and Jeremiah hit Vegas baby!
September 4 - Me and Brandie's five year anniversary
September 7 - Kelly Clarkson concert in Irvine

Until we meet again.

orchid fever

i read "the orchid thief" by susan orlean the past few weeks for my lit and film class, and its crazy good, i love it.

so today for class i watched "adaptation" which is screenwriter charlie kaufman's film about his attempt to adapt "the orchid thief" into a movie. and it was amazing! man, it seriously blew my mind....so good. having talked about screenwriting issues in class, reading orleans book....i just connected with the movie. it was so very brilliant. i was able to get over my dislike of nicolas cage for two hours.

so i would definitely recommend reading "the orchid thief" then watching "adaptation" in that order. or read the book if you've already seen the movie...stuff will make sense.

so only a couple of weeks of school left. a lotta stuff going on still. two papers this week, working a lot, final presentations and tests to prep for....its crazy! i've read so many books this semester...some good, some bad, all experiences i'm glad i had...and still about 3 or 4 to read still! i want to keep this up after i graduate.

so ashlan's first full-length album is officially being printed, and i'm so excited for it to just be done and in our hands. we have a cd release show at kuppajoe in fresno on the 22nd, so that's gonna be really fun. here's a sneak peek:



coachella's coming up!

here's my new friend the Phalaenopsis named Susan:

friday night

i finished the first season of the o.c. tonight. maybe i shed a little tear, maybe i didn't. maybe you'll never know. good writing, good acting, great storylines, great great music....all equals some darn good tv. smallville could learn a couple lessons.

i read some of huck finn tonight as well for one of my classes.....its alright so far....don't get the hype. i'm only about 75 pgs into it, maybe the best is still to come? bring it twain i'm ready

so i 'm ready for some new music. weezer has a new one may 10th. i'm really looking forward to imogen heaps next solo album. and the next o.c. mix around the first of april.

this weekend will be pretty good. work tomorrow from 10 to 4:15-ish....then dinner with brandie and my parents in sanger. sunday brings church, watching a film for a class, then karaoke at night with miki and arnie.

equal parts pleasure and mild torture makes for a pretty ok weekend.

goodnight

R.I.P Spring Break 2005

Authors note: i wrote a very long, intense, wordy, funny, awesome post explaining my spring break and i lost it all. i am very upset. so this post will be more concise because i'm not doing all that crap again.

Here's what went down on my last spring break ever.

sat. march 5: me, brandie, sean, allie and brian drove down to santa barbara for the afternoon. laura and sally were there for a wedding. we just walked along state street. ate some lunch. we never actually caught up with laura, but we had fun nonetheless. we got to newport beach around 10:30 that night we'd officially arrived in the o.c. baby. we basically just crashed. the day was long and we had lots of shopping to do the next couple days

sun. march 6: me, brandie, sean and allie were woken up by the goings on of the morning as brian, laura and sally got ready for church. we all went to lunch at claim jumpers at south coast plaza. my salad sucked, but everyone else liked their food. we walked all over south coast plaza. i bought paul frank shorts and a paul frank t-shirt. brandie loved sephora as usual. back at the apartment for dinner laura made some bomb chicken. mad props to her for her newfound cooking skills. we went to blockbuster and rented wimbledon. it sucked.

monday, march 7: we went to fashion island first off. i bought some awesome new vans slip-ons from the closet my new favorite store ever. then we headed over to the spectrum in irvine where we ate happy hour appetizer specials at the Yardhouse to celebrate sean's birthday. good food and a good martini laura bought me! then we went to cheesecake factory and we all got slices to take back home. we went to the virgin megastore when we got back. then i finally scored some paul frank sunglasses from the closet (it's not my new favorite store for nothing). back at the apt., we ate cheesecake and watched "bend it like beckham". then we stayed up really late playing phase 10 and watching britney spears and backstreet boys videos on dvd. lemme just say that brian had some mean indigestion goind on. one word: "spladaow!"

tuesday, march 8: our last day there. we got up, got ready, packed all our crap once more, ate lunch at baja fresh then headed on out. we stopped at the outlets in camarillo. i scored 4 new pairs of boxers: 2 from banana republic, 2 paul frank from a surf shop. i also scored majorly with a paul frank hoodie for only $17.99!! overall, everyone had fun, a good spring break weekend, it will go down in the books as one of the best.

wed march 9 and thurs march 10: wed. was sean's 20th birthday, we all celebrated at japanese kitchen that night. both of these days i worked 8 hour shifts, it was intense, but i needed to be earning some cash to pay off all the stuff i'd bought! thursday night sean spent the night and me and brian's apt: we ate ice cream, drank soda and played lots of smash.

friday, march 11: i headed back down to socal. this time to finish up the Ashlan album with chris. i actually caught up with laura and sally again for dinner because chris wasn't off work yet. but once i got to his apt. it was all music business. we looked over songs and decided on what we needed to work on the next day.

sat., march 12: woke up early to record. got it all done! now just for final mixing, mastering, artwork and pressing....we're getting so close to being done, i'm excited. i went back down to newport to hang with laura and sally the rest of the time. i ran some errands with them, me and sally watch from justin to kelly while laura wrote a paper, then at 11pm we went to the yardhouse where we met up with some of their friends. good, but very long, day.

sun, march 13: went to church with the girls. then we went to cheesecake factory for lunch at fashion island. resisted the temptation to go to the closet once more. that afternoon we watched "a door in the floor". kim basinger should have her oscar revoked for that performance, it was awful. Grade: D. then it was up to l.a. for the phantom planet, maroon 5 show at universal ampitheater. the show was so freakin' good. i'd never seen phantom planet, i was impressed. maroon rocked it as usual. main highlight of the night: i met the girl who plays teri hatcher's daugher on "desperate housewives"! me and brandie love that show, so of course i talked to her and took a pic with her! after the show we went to in-n-out cause we were starving. then back to newport where i fell right asleep.

mon, march 14: woke up early and headed out around 7:30. said a tearful goodbye to laura and sally. i made it back in time for work, but i ditched 2 classes, eh.

overall my spring break was the best ever. i want to thank brandie for being the best girlfriend ever. for putting up with me when i'm cranky, and for loving to shop and eat out all the time. allie and sean: thanks for coming along, it wouldn't have been the same without you. brian: sorry for your personal troubles that one night; you provided hours of entertainment, when you were both awak and asleep. and to laura and sally: you two are the best. thanks for letting us invade your apartment. i had such a great time when i came back down by myself, can't wait to do it more often!

pics from spring break.

me and brandie at Claim Jumper


laura and sean at coffe bean, south coast plaza


all of us the last day in newport beach


me and brandie outside of baja fresh, last day in newport


the backseat of my car


sean's birthday celebration at japanese kitchen


me and sally at the yardhouse


sally, laura and me at the maroon5 show


me and andrea bowen from "desperate housewives"


maroon 5 at universal ampitheater

upcoming awesome things:

April 30th - coachells music and arts festival, indio, CA.

May 11 - Jimmy Eat World in fresno

May 19 - Celeb watching at the ivy restaurant, and kelly clarkson show!!

its been a while

it's concert season! wow, so many good ones coming up, i can't even believe it.

here's the breakdown:

March 12 - Phantom Planet and Maroon 5 - my fourth time seeing Maroon5. you might ask yourself, why is Jason seeing Maroon 5 in l.a. when they're coming to fresno? well the answer is, Phantom Planet. while M5 is playing with the (unknown to me) Thrills, i also heart phantom planet, and i have yet to see them. also, they play the theme song to one of my favorite shows....

actually, its gonna be a short breakdown, the next concert isn't until april anyway....its a big one tho, stay tuned.....

music all around

i am buying tickets tomorrow for the coachella music festival which has keane, coldplay and weezer!!! so freakin' excited!! and i just found out that jimmy eat world's coming to fresno this spring! concert season is here!! man, coachella is gonna be such an awesome time, so so so so so cool. can't wait for that, its at the end of april.

what i'm listening to: copeland, iron & wine, the postal service, liz phair (at this very moment)
what i'm watching: still finishing up gilmore girls season 2, smallville, the o.c., downloading "lost"
what i'm reading: new issue of entertainment weekly, spin magazine, paradise lost, miriam's kitchen

have a good weekend everyone, i'm at BJ's tonight, party, off to run with brian.....

return

back for my last semesetr of school at FPU. this semester is gonna be a breeze. just gotta get through it all.

over the last 2 weeks i've seen 5 movies, all of them good for various reasons. In Good Comapny (B), House of Flying Daggers (A), The Phantom of the Opera (C-), A Very Long Engagement (A-), Sideways (A-). the main reason why i saw so many in such a short amount of time is because here in this crappy city of Fresno, indie/art movies rarely come out, and when they do its for about one week, so i made some of these films priorities and i'm glad i did. thanks to brandie, brian, doug and katherine for accompanying me along the way.

music in my car right now: Bjork - Greatest Hits
song in my head right now: Kelly Clarkson - Behind These Hazel Eyes
books i'm reading right now: The Canterbury Tales, Marvels (graphic novel), The Queen of Dreams
shows i'm watching: tonight specifically, the return of Smallville!! And Gilmore Girls season 2 on DVD
stuff i'm downloading: Vera Drake, The Aviator, Kinsey, Lost, The O.C.