/mike

/mike travelblog will have to wait until sunday. We're having a great time though... can't wait to blog all about it.

I'm back in a computer lab looking up sports scores one minute before class. Is this what progress looks like?

As you can tell by my frequent posts, the medium is fun for me again. I'm back reading a lot of blogs. I've joined a loose blog community called LA blogs.

Tomorrow we are going on vacation so /mike will be a bit of a San Diego travelblog. I just hope I find a place to plug in my laptop...

I guess it’s going to be official. When I took down my Trash Can Sinatras poster, I knew it was over between me and Torrance. I’ve already been back with my folks for two weeks but I had only taken the essentials. Now, everything is packed in the trunk of my car, waiting to be unloaded in Pasadena.

I had been toying with the idea of looking for a new place or going home, but the decision became clear when my host family’s situation changed. I wouldn’t be an extra hand in the house anymore, just a body getting in the way.

In a way, I’m glad that the decision happened this way. It fits something that I’ve been trying to do, which is take things as they come. What I mean to say is that I think that for most of my post college years, I’ve had very specific goals and ideas about what I wanted and expected my life to look like. Unfortunately, I found myself fighting things that were out of my control. I’d fight against the wind, force the issue, and end up very disappointed (which was really stupid of me). So my response has been to try and keep my eyes open and take my opportunities as they come. Not only that, but I’m trying to keep my goals open too. Just because things don’t happen as soon as I want, or even the way I imagine, doesn’t mean it might not be good.

For the most part, I had a leisurely evening of cleaning and watching sports. I also made a quick stop at the senior grad show at ArtCenter.

The school was packed. There was a lot of youthful energy in the rooms and hallways. It was a huge party with incredible decor. I walked by the photo and illustration exhibits but spent most of my time checking out the graphic design room. ArtCenter students really crank out professional level work. I'm just a design critic novice, so I enjoyed walking through each booth, formulating opinions, and comparing notes with Cindy's impressions.

Oh, and we also saw what could have been the hottest Korean guy that has ever existed.

I heard a brief Pat Tillman interview from September 12, 2001. His story has been the big news item on the radio, and like many others, I’ve been affected by news of his death in Afghanistan. He’s not the only one, but his is an example that many of us can collectively understand.

Thinking about him reminds me of others (and the other) who genuinely sacrificed themselves for greater good. I’m not simply honoring the idea of self-sacrifice, either. For me, it is also the righteousness of the cause that ultimately gives such actions its great significance.

I agree with the L.A. Weekly suggestion that we shouldn't try to design L.A. to be a copy of old ideas and other cities.

"Had I been God at the time, I would have put Disney Hall in Wadsworth and the Cathedral in MacArther Park."

What [Frank] Gehry was acknowledging may be the inalterable fact about Los Angeles: that the patrons of Disney Hall are West-siders and the patrons of the Cathedral live around, but not in, downtown proper. Los Angeles is balkanized, which may be the best, not the worst, of its many layered environments. Perhaps this is a crabbed view, a mite undemocratic. Certainly it is politically incorrect in its failure to embrace the bon mot du jour, diversity. The promoters of Reimagining Grand Avenue [and therefore, downtown Los Angeles] are sincere, and their desire to carve out commons, a place where all citizens feel they've got ground to stand on, mingle in, use and, yes abuse, is wonderfully 19th-century. But it may be that Los Angeles just isn't headed in that way. It may be that the city is composed entirely of hot zones and cool zones, perpetually subject to collapse and rediscovery.

I buy it. Trying to force L.A. to be like another city is akin to pressuring a girlfriend to morph into your favorite celebrity; it's insulting, impossible, and wouldn't be that great if it worked. The exciting question then becomes: what to do with downtown? We have an opportunity to pave a new urban design form. I’m looking forward to seeing what our best and brightest come up with, sprawl and all.

I can't help but also comment on Gehry's God line. Even in jest, architects are such egomaniacs – as opposed to Planners, who obsess over making everyone happy. Is it any coincidence that the machine "God" in Matrix Reloaded was called the Architect?

This Walmart blog is really good. April 19th's post on Aldi (Trader Joes) was especially informative. Apparently, everyone's favorite grocer is owned a huge cost cutting German corporation. I'll still shop there. I don't necessarily have anything against cost cutting corporations anyway.

On Tuesday nights, I'm taking an International Business class at Harbor community college. The instructor is a retired Port of LA employee and the class has been a good, low pressure introduction to the subject for me. Yesterday, we saw a video that contrasts the different management/labor relationships in Japan, Germany, and the US.

According to the video, Japan has a very strong social contract, where loyalty is a higher priority than short term profits. When Nippon Steel was devastated by market forces, they refused to lay off employees and instead retrained them to work in new low-or-no profit ventures. The example used was this engineer who was retrained to work for an amusement park. This was contrast with the way American steel companies laid off most of their employees in order to keep profits above water. It whet my appetite to learn more, including the implications of different business pracitices.

I'm glad to be in this class. I really do need this kind of simple introduction to international business. Unfortunately, it's somewhat discouraging to go to class. Harbor community college is really underutilized. I can see how it is difficult to teach there. The quality of student isn't very high, and lately, only three or four students have been showing up. Heheh. If I could do UCSD all over again, I think I'd appreciate it more.

As could be expected, Bono makes the Time 100 (most influential) list. There's nothing new about Mr. Hewson for those already initiated in U2-fandom, but I find it funny to see what the brief summary leaves out - namely, Pop.

Lists are a great way to sell magazines. I love em but they hardly ever hold up to the slightest bit of scrutiny. The list, which is broken up into five categories: Builders & Titans, Heros & Icons, Leaders & Revolutionaries, Artists & Entertainers, and Scientists & Thinkers, has a lot of throw in candidates. I enjoyed Hey Ya at Gary's wedding but is Outkast really that influential? And is Katie Couric still on tv?

But that's just me. Currently, my personal list includes Cindy Hu, my Dad, and Pastor John Lo.

Every once in a while, I go through a blog-identity crisis. Oddly enough, finding the right blog style/topic has proved more difficult than finding myself. I'm much more comfortable with who I am vs. what's on /mike.

I have an inner desire to pour everything out online. There's an inner blog-streaker in me. Fortunately for everyone involved, I have better sense than to go naked much (online or not).

Boston has hit two homers in the first inning (so far) and they are up 3 - 0 on the Yanks.

Vic and I went to the Angel home opener on Tuesday. The stadium improvements at Angels Stadium look good. The game was even better. I was so into the action on the field, we didn't get much of a chance to talk.

An interesting thing happened during the game. A guy hit a beachball into the face of some young asian kid. The guy got all tough and threw his beer back, getting the first guy wet, everyone between them wet, and the first guy's toddler wet. As you can imagine, everyone booed the poor bastard. The macho guys behind us kept talking jumping the asian guy. Their trash talking had a distinctive racial angle to it all. I felt weird inside. On the one hand, I was pissed at the asian guy for being an idiot but I was also annoyed at the guys behind me for joking about his ethnicity.

I felt conflicted because part of me wanted to defend all asians, but in this case, it would be for an hothead who threw his beer and tried to apologize afterwards. Besides, he wasn't even wearing any Angel red.

Update: Error by NY (second of the inning) and it is now 4 - 0.

Did you know that Mel Gibson's production company made a claymation Jesus movie before The Passion? It was well done.

Can you believe that I'm a victim of credit card fraud!!! I'm glad that Bank of America thought it odd that "I" would charge $212.79 at 3:33am in a gas station.

The Angels look good. Serious good. I just did an Angel dance.

I was just thinking that I need more work on my public speaking, especially in a business setting. Blah. Whenever I'm around my boss, I can't get the words out right.

Oh it's so on now.

I guess LA did stop Walmart because all the recent news is about Inglewood, which is not part o the City of Los Angeles but is strategically located next to LA. This article in the Daily Breeze gives good background on what's going on.

From what I understand, government resistance to Walmart's proposal has prompted the big box retailer to go directly to residents for a vote. As a planner, I find it hilarious that the Walmart proposal (Measure 04-A) completely circumvents city processes, elected official input, and public comment. I suppose I should be offended, but somehow I'm not. I guess since there is a vote, this is still akin to the democratic process, albeit a bastardized corporate version of freedom.

So for all those evil empire haters, who is more evil: Walmart, Microsoft, or Starbucks?

I also went to the Del Amo mall. There was a production company outside the McDonalds filming Cold Case.

Has anyone else noticed that a majority of actors have disproportionate head to body ratios? Their heads are much bigger than their bodies (and I don't mean egos). Somehow, this look translates well on camera. I think about this all the time because I also have a big head. In fact, that's why I'm convinced that I should be on TV.

Last night, circumstances had it such that I had dinner with an older couple. He is blind and she has Alzheimer’s. They were both so frail that it broke my heart.

Doing my taxes is strangely satisfying.

Today's LA Times had a good baseball preview, so I went to the lunchroom scrounging around for a leftover copy. The funny thing is that I always find the paper sans the sports section. There must be a bunch of us all looking for free sports sections. Anyway, of all the leftovers, only the weekend calendar section was worth going through.

Did you know that Roger Ebert gave Jersey Girl a thumb up? I've only seen the commercials but already have been bashing the movie. That's hardly fair. Besides, I'm a fan of Kevin Smith's comics and always give him extra points for being vaguely Catholic (I'm guessing 20 proof).

Also, there was a very LA article about hipster t-shirts. I'm still not accustomed to purchasing my shirts, though I'm clearly past the "it has to be free" stage. I'm still looking for my personal style. Cindy and I went shopping for some shirts, but I still haven't found too much that I like.