Sam's Blog

Link: http://www.vonbondies.com/vonBondies.htm

So I finally broke down and got a new phone yesterday. It was long overdue. I love my old phone. I've had it for almost 3 years and it still works great except for the pesky battery performance and the dropped calls all of the time. It was becoming a bit annoying. I had been holding off for a long time because I used to have AT&T before it got bought out by Cingular. I had 1,000 anytime minutes (local), free nights and weekends, free mobile to mobile and text messages were 10 cents each. Not too shabby of a plan. It was actually the best plan and I never went over my minutes, ever. In order for me to upgrade to a Cingular phone, I had to switch over my entire rate plan and choose one of theirs. I would lose minutes no matter what plan I chose. Even the 900 minute plan was $20 more than what I was paying. Annoying, yes. I tried to haggle with them, but they were very firm in their policies. The plan that was the same price as my old plan only had 450 national minutes and 5,000 nights and weekends. Bummer. So I waited and waited to see if there was going to be any changes or promotionals. I didn't really like any of their phones anyway, so I wasn't compelled to switch over right away. So 4 months go by and still nothing has changed. I browsed the website last week and then I finally see this phone. It was just released. It was perfect and had everything that I wanted: Bluetooth, large display, non-flip phone (it slides instead), etc. I was sold. I tried to haggle with the salesman for a better plan, but it still didn't work. I got the phone and sighed depply knowing that I had lost 550 minutes per month. That's a sad realization. Though on the bright sode, my minutes are now rolling over (they didn't with my old plan) and it is a national plan, meaning when I go to the East Coast this fall, I won't be paying tons of roaming charges and such. That is comforting. I paid a bit extra to have my nights start at 7pm instead of 9pm and that made me feel a lot better considering that I usually get off work around 7pm or later anyway. I am allowed up to 200 text messages a month, which is good because I am doing that more and more lately. A lot of my friends text me about random things so it's nice to know that they are free now, kinda. So anyway, long story short: I like my new phone (I'm still trying to get used to the sliding feature and it's a lot wider than my old phone) but I will have to be careful with my minutes the first few months. That's going to be the hardest thing to do.

I've been watching Rescue Me a lot. It's a great show and perhaps arguably the best show on TV right now. Raw, edgy, realistic (for the most part) and great drama. I miss watching good TV shows during the summer. Speaking of which, I watched the pilot of Blade and I actually liked it. It has some issues, but overall it was very entertaining. I have always been fascinated with vampires, ever since I was little. Well, almost all vampires - I wasn't a huge fan of Buffy the Vampire Slayer. The movie was cool, but the show was mediocre, at best.

Link: http://www.mjblige.com/

I let my sister borrow my digital camera for her quick trip to Mexico and I have been without it for a week and a half and it seems like forever. I didn’t think I’d miss it so much! I am bummed because a lot of things have happened since then and I didn’t have my camera to take pictures of it! I don’t even know where I put my regular 35mm camera. I think it’s packed away somewhere in a closet in my apartment. I didn’t realize I was so dependant on my digital camera until now. My sister is dropping it off tonight and I'm excited. It's the little things...

I had a fantastic weekend. The girls came down and visited from SF and Sacramento. It was Alison's birthday and she wanted to come and hang out in LA and get a tan. Unfortunately the sun was playing hide and seek all weekend. It was cloudy, though the sun did come out every so often so it made it really difficult to go to the beach. We reminisced a lot about high school and chatted about the present state of things among all of our old friends. We listened to old school songs including songs by 112, Mary J. Blige, 2Pac, Bell Biv Devoe, Paula Abdul and many more. They are always so much fun to hang out with. Marita just moved into her own place in the city (SF) and Kristy just moved into a new place as well. Alison and her brother bought a house in Sacramento so I think she will be staying up there longer. All this moving around and yet they are able to come down here to LA and hang out with me and Jamie. They are cool like that. I am sad that I don't have any pictures from this weekend though.

Highlights this weekend included:

Dinner with Nate, Prince O Whales, Return of the Jedi at Matt & Katie's, Dim Sum, Venice Beach, Main Street, margaritas at Lula's at 1pm, shopping, O'Brien's pub at 4pm, Irish Carbombs, No Magner's?! we'll take a Strongbow then, free booze from nice guys at the next table, garlic fries, American Apparel, Irish Party at Aussie's, Baby Guinesses, White Russians, McDonald's, Three of Clubs, Patron, random hip hop club behind Beauty Bar, dancing, hookah (denied!), Alison losing faith in Persians, sleeping in, global warming and what we can do to help the environment, business ventures, Hermosa Beach, dinner at Palms Thai, goodbye girls!

It was a tiring but fun weekend. I miss them already. I don't see them as often as I should. I am planning a NorCal trip sometime next month or in early August. I'm excited!! It's so comforting knowing that we can all get together like in high school and joke around and have a great time. I've known them all for almost 15 years. Crazy to think about, but I am indeed very lucky to have them in my life.

Josh and I were abruptly awakened by thunder and lightning last night. It was around 1am and the thunder was so incredibly loud. I was scared. It set off car alarms in my neighborhood. After the thunder subsided a bit, it started to hail really hard. Josh was talking about changing pressure systems and things of that nature causing all of this to happen but I was staring outside the window seeing flashes of light every few seconds. It was an amazing thing. I am glad that no one got hurt (that I know of) and that it passed without doing any damage. Today was regular cloudiness and sporadic sunshine throughout the day. The weather has been so strange lately. I just want it to be sunny all day, everyday. Those days will come soon and I am looking forward to it.

Link: http://www.joshuaradin.com/

There hasn't been much going on lately in general. I've been working a lot, which has its upsides and downsides. I am getting to know my coworkers a lot better in the process, though I have hardly time for an outside life. Josh has been working long hours too and I am afraid that once he starts teaching next month, it will be the same, if not worse. We've been handling this transition pretty well, though we do have to figure out how to have a clean apartment during the process, but baby steps for now. Everything takes effort, even going out after work. It's not that it's a bad thing, it just feels like I have no time to do much and I hate that feeling.

The weather has been warm and quite picturesque. I love it. It makes me want to take longer lunches (though I know that I can't) and makes me want to lounge around the beach and read a good book. I am currently reading Sex, Drugs & Cocoa Puffs which is great thus far. Nate recommended it to me which means it should be a good book overall because he doesn't read much nowadays and if he is willing to invest time into something, I know it will be fabulous.

The only really exciting thing that has happened recently is that I went to Vegas. It was a very cool trip. Very laid back and not crazy at all. I liked it. Sometimes I want to go there and go crazy, but this time was a bit more subdued and it was fabulous. I went with Lisa, Jon, Sinead, & Aussie. Only five of us and it worked out well. We were all very agreeable and had a good time. I learned how to play strategic black jack and spent a lot of money shopping and such. It was HOT there, about 105+ during the day, but it would cool down to about 70+ around midnight and it was perfect no-jacket weather. Pictures are here.

Little Papa was in town and we went to Margarita Mondays with her parents. I love her parents. Her dad cracks me up. They are big drinkers (the fun kind, not the bad kind) and they are always a good time. I can't believe she will be back in only 2 months with her PhD in hand. LA misses her and I know she misses LA.

Some highlights from last week included:
* Work BBQ
* Bob's Party
* Swimming in the dark
* Prince O Whales
* Ventura to hang with Josh's family
* Game Night at The Girls place (special appearance by Josh Gregor!)
* Ramona & Kiran visiting
* Three of Clubs
* Toi
* Nacho Libre (funny but stupid)
* Tomodachi

I am looking forward to this weekend. There's tons of things going on and my fabulous girls from NorCal are visiting! I'm so excited...I'm so scared!! Haha. I crack myself up!

Link: http://www.elvis.com/

Went to Vegas this past weekend. Got back last night and I am very tired. That's all. I'll write stories soon!

Link: http://www.joshradin.com

Boy time surely does fly when you're having fun! I finally have a brief minute to sit down and breathe. I typed out a really long and reflective post last night, but my computer crashed and I lost every single word. Bummer. So I think this won't be as informative, but it will be thorough nonetheless.

Memorial Day Weekend was such great times. Kate visited from NY because her little sister, Jenny (who interned at my office for a few months) was graduating. We spent two fun-filled days together and went all over the city. Here are the pictures from that weekend and below is a brief summary:

* Alcove Cafe in Silverlake/Los Feliz
* The Grove (Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf, shopping, The Da Vinci Code (it
could've been better if Tom Hanks wasn't the lead, but who knows)
* Alexis joined us and we went to Brew Co. for good times sake (we were sad because they stopped serving their cider)
* Yahtzee madness!
* Brunch at the Omelette Parlor
* Bike riding on the beach (greasy incident with the tandem bike chains)
* Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf

After that, Josh and I went to 2 BBQs and ate and drank a lot. Hung out with Lisa the following day and watched X-Men 3. I liked all of the crazy action despite some minor things here and there that bothered me. I hadn't seen X-Men 2 at that point (Lisa filled me in on what happened) and even then, it was pretty easy to follow.

This past weekend flew by as well, highlights are below:

* Watched City of Lost Children at Josh's office
* Went to Prince O Whales and played ping-pong
* Dinner with Shahab and Emily at Kabuki
* Bowling with Matt & Katie (though bowling ended up being $18
instead of $8, so we decided not to bowl and went to Matt's place for
some wine/beer and coffee flavored hookah)
* Monthly brunch with new member (Marty) and a visit from Kurt
* Target and furniture shopping with Alexis (she's moving into a loft in
downtown LA in a few weeks!)
* Season Finale of The Sopranos (a bit anticlimactic, but still good that it showed that AJ is a pimp) and I know that it is building up for a huge war when it comes back in January
* Poquito Mas for dinner, yummy!

I spent a majority of the day packing our offices because we will be moving to the other side of the building tomorrow night. It's a pain, but it will be worth it once it's done. I will have a new space and a TV above my desk and it's also really close to the kitchen and bathroom. Awesome.

I am still tryng to upload all of my CDs onto my ipod. I only have 9 gigs filled up so far and I have at least 150 more CDs to go through. It's a long and tedious task, but I know it will be worth it in the end.

A few congrats are in order for the 2006 Graduates:

My sister (Teaching Credential at CSU Long Beach)
M (MA in Urban Planning at U$C)
Jenny (BA in Business at CSU Long Beach)
Andrea (PhD in Clinical Psychology at University of Colorado, Denver)
Marty (BS in MIMG (Biology & more!) at UCLA)
Mike P (JD from Loyola Marymount Law School)
Marissa (JD from Santa Clara Law School)
Roni (MA in International Relations from USD)
Amanda (JD from U$C Law School)

I will miss the following, for they are moving on to bigger and better things (Grad School):

Nadja (Law School - UC Hastings)
Priti (Business School - UCLA)
Buff Mike (Business School - Dartmouth University)
Gavin (Hospitality Management - Cornell University)