The Burb's Pad

All things Harry

2007-07-27T14:18:00.000-07:00

^Uli is Harry Potter^

I keep forgetting to update... I finished Harry Potter And The Deathly Hallows. As much as I enjoyed it, the epilogue was too fanfic for my taste... i feel i would have preferred a broader epilogue about the immediate aftermath of the fall of Voldemort. (Of course this is what Rowling was avoiding in the first place, because she wanted the series to end without the possibility of an eighth book.) Also, the Harry-Dumbledore dream sequence cop-out. It seems rushed and unimaginative. Ultimately, though, WHO CARES! The book was awesome. Neville and Dobby are bad-asses, and so is Mrs. Weasly. Oh, i wish I could say more, but I wouldn't want to ruin the book for anyone that hasn't read it... but man, so much stuff happens... it was intense.

I saw Harry Potter And The Order Of The Phoenix, too. That was great also. I've never felt like waving around a wand so badly! The scene with Dumbledore versus Voldemort was incredible. And the previous scene, the one where Sirius dies? That was executed WAY better than in the book, except for the curtain. When i heard Sirius say "Good job, James!" to Harry... oh man. So emotive.

Yesterday I saw the Simpsons Movie and HOLY SHIT! If you grew up with the Simpsons and you haven't seen this movie, you're a BLASPHEMER! It's so fucking good. I was expecting mediocrity at best, and got way more than I expected. In fact, I was blown away. They got away with so much, it's hilarious. Go see it, seriously.

That's the news for now.

Dick's House

2007-07-02T00:07:00.000-07:00

^Chris and Dick doing the Hos dance^

^"Hey WTF don't eat me!"^

^My muse^

Sorry I haven't posted in so long, I've been distracted... I've spent most of this week with the most wonderful girl in the world.

But that's none of your business! On to more relevant news:

Alex lent me The World According To Garp, which so far is great. She also gave me a set of mix CDs, which are the soundtrack to my reading. I've yet to lend Alex some Bill Bryson, but I've gave Krissy The Little Prince and Totto-chan, a mixtape, and a tape player.

Tali spent a week here for her birthday. Dane, her boyfriend, is cool. He spent the week with us, too, and I shared my room with him while Tali was forced to sleep with Millie. Dane and Tali stuck to their own plans, mostly, but together we idled our time every night before sleeping. I wish I could've seen more of them, but work took up most of my time those days.

Chris recently got the World Of Warcraft board game, and it's awesome. It's very elaborate but also very fun. Chris, Jorge, Dick, Nick and I tested it out two days ago. We broke night playing it; although we began at 10pm, by the time we decided to go home, the sun was already shining brightly. I didn't sleep for 40 hours that day.

That's it for now. I'll post more later.

Rest Easy, Allegra

2007-06-18T14:01:00.000-07:00

^Rainbow i saw while getting Sushi with Chris^

My friend Allegra died yesterday.

I don't have much to say about this one. She suffered a lot, and she deserves to rest. It's hard to think she's gone; she was so vivacious. I miss her.

Viva Mexico!

2007-06-13T03:06:00.000-07:00

^The people I spent a wonderful time in Mexico with^

More pictures...

Sooo, Mexico. I've procrastinated for long enough on this one. I recently had one of the greatest weeks of my life: my grandparents were celebrating their fiftieth anniversary, and they flew the whole family in for the occasion.

I missed my homeland. I hadn't been there in six years, so the nostalgia was fierce when I arrived.

The first day Tali and I saw my dad, who had a doctor's appointment with none other than my cardiologist uncle Paris's fellow. So we saw Paris, since we were at his workplace anyway. Later, when we became hungry, Tali, my dad, and I went to eat... and holy SHIT did i miss real Mexican cuisine. I had two orders of tacos de bistec, a cup of caldo de pollo, and some of whatever my dad was having. For dessert, of sorts, we blew twenty dollars on Mexican candy. I haven't eaten this well since.

That night, back at my grandparent's house, I saw my cousins for the first time in years. I grew up with these guys, so our reunion was momentous, to say the least. We talked until late, about life and whatnot. Mick and I went to sleep listening to our favorite punk-rock anthems on my MP3 player.

The next day was my grandparents' anniversary, so we went to mass, where i finally got to see the whole family together for the first time in half a decade. It was wonderful.

The day after that, Saturday, was my grandparents' grand dinner. We all dressed nicely in preparation for being embarrassed by the old people who attended the feast. There was dancing, singing, and good old cheesiness. And boredom. We cousins became so bored we decided that we'd enjoy the scene only if we became completely shit-faced. I accomplished this by downing seven shots of tequila on a relatively empty stomach. I have been drunker only once in my lifetime.

After spewing vomit over all major streets in Mexico City, I found myself at my uncle Heinz's house surrounded by other blood-related drunks. It was awesome. We danced and swayed to some oldschool music (Sublime, Snoop, and Dre). By the time we were tired, we were tired. So we went home.

On our last day, my dad, Tali, Betty, and I met Paris and his wife for lunch. Despite being slightly hungover, I found it very nice. After saying goodbye to my father, we cousins decided to go to Coyoacan to shop for a little. Pau called her friend Dani to meet us, but she pissed off Pau and we ditched her. We all crammed into a tiny Beetle taxi, and $20 pesos later we arrived.

Coyoacan is a famous district of the city, where on Sundays hippies and other such folk congregate outside the cathedral and hold an open-air market full of Mexican wares and eats. I bought a "made in Mexico" t-shirt, a beautiful handmade book, and a scarf which I'd initially intended to give Brittany but wound up keeping. At the end of the day, Mick suggested we all get matching bracelets, and we did just that, despite him not being serious about the idea in the first place. Well, once we were back home, we took this awesome picture, presently displayed as my Myspace picture.

The next day Tali, my stepdad and I left back to Miami.

This is but a summary of my time there. If I could bottle every laugh, every memory, every conversation had in Mexico... well, I'd be here a hell of a long time. It was the best time I've had in a long time, and it probably remain that way for a while. I miss Mexico, and I can't wait to go back.

Double Post and Bonus

2007-05-29T02:22:00.000-07:00

^My Squire Strat, finished finally^

^Jorge and Alex at the "Drive-Thru"^

Well, I haven't updated in a while, so a good post is overdue. The pictures above are of my newly finished guitar, and of Alex, Jorge, and myself walking through a Drive-Thru like jackasses. About the former: I finished the design after two years of artist's block. Talk about relief! About the latter: they actually gave us our food, too! They were pissed about us holding up their line, though, and they took their revenge by ruining my potato... bastards didn't give me utensils or butter.

I had a pretty good day on Saturday. Becca came to see Jibe practice, and she hung out as i unleashed my recently-restrung guitar. Last time I saw her was two years ago or so, and it was nice seeing her again. Later, she, Chris, Dick, Sabrina, David, myself, and (surprise) Abbey went to see the third Pirates Of The Caribbean movie. It was nice seeing Abbey after such a long time also. Pirates was excellent. Afterwards everyone went home (the movie was three hours, somehow), but Abbey and myself wound up hanging out at my house until late. It was a good night.

Yesterday, Chris, Sab, and I hung out at her family's house. The whole fam was drunk, and it was funny to witness. We stayed there for a while, chatting while soaking our feet in the hot tub. Chris wooed Sab's father with his intellect, and i entertained myself drinking shots of tequila. When we tired,we left, and we ended our night hanging out at Dunkin Donuts with Meli and Nick as we played our instruments. Sab got home too late, though, and her parents took away her keys.

Today was Potato Night at my house, as you can see below. I took this video with my new cam. The audio is the apt track "Digging My Potato" from the Cowboy Bebop soundtrack. I am proud to present now my first YouTube feature. Enjoy!

Camping

2007-05-21T21:10:00.000-07:00

^The only decent camping photo^

So we went camping.

Dick and I arrived after Chris, Nick Melanie, Arthur and Jo, because I had work until 5 and Dick had a date with an inept mechanic. After said mechanic screwed up Dick's alignment worse than it was, we rode into the sunset with the Peppers playing on Dick's crappy speakers. We made it to the campsite around 7. The tents were already set up, and food was on its way.

We ate sweet churrasco and kebabs. Darkness set in, and since there's nothing to do at a campsite without light, we went inside the tent. I napped as a drinking game of Risk went underway. Later I woke to a tentful of drunks, and decided to join the fun. 'Couple of shots later, I was drifting. Meli got superdrunk and puked on a caterpillar and killed it thusly. Chris drunk-dialed the galaxy. Nick sweat out five pounds of water. Dick just smiled sheepishly and listened to Third Eye Blind on his MP3 player.

Later, Dick and I got lost in the woods trying to find adventure or enlightenment or something. If enlightenment involves muddy shoes, painful scratches, disorientation, and mosquito bites, we found it just fine.

I fell asleep after calling Aless to say goodnight and who KNOWS what drunken ramblings.

The next morning we were all hungover, and someone coaxed someone else to buy us McDonald's (it's all a blur now), so that's what we breakfasted. Afterwards, we kayaked, and I dove for seashells for Kitty. Later, at a sandbar, I wiggled my toes and got a small school of little fish to nibble on them. We spent the day in idle splendor and got back home eventually.

I should have put on sunblock. Now i have the nastiest sunburn of my life.

The Squid Boat

2007-05-17T14:55:00.000-07:00

^Me struggling to stay afloat on Aless's squid^

If you read my caption above, you may notice that's the longest stream of esses I've ever had to type (ss's s).

Since Chris's car is in the shop, the boys have had a hard time hanging out. Yesterday Chris was with Sab, Nick with Meli, and Dick with Carla. I feared today the same would happen, so I decided to hang out with Aless.

I had lots of fun with her. We got in her squid boat, which was a pretty scary thing to do considering it stays afloat thanks to duct tape. One oar from the paddle was threatening to snap off, too. Still, we managed to make a small circle around the lake and make it back with only our butts wet.

She had to go somewhere, so I left early, but i got to see a graffitied train go by, since a railroad track runs by her house. It was great to be able to see one up close, unhindered by a metal shell. I thought of Brit and called her, but she was in class. Oh well.

Now I have to clean my room, before a vermin swarm moves in to clean it for me.

Too Much Fun

2007-05-15T02:25:00.000-07:00

^My first picture with my new camera^

I've been having a little too much fun. Chris and I have hung out with so many people at so many places this week, it's all become a blur. We did karaoke with Yulie; watched Lost with Tali; got drunk with Sabrina, Frank, Paul, Nick, Meli and Jorge; bowled with Gabe, Sarah, Jorge, Meli, Nick, and Aless; hung out with Jorge's crew; played guitar with Sabrina, Jorge and Alex; saw Spider Man III with Jorge; idled around with Jorge... I suspect Jorge hasn't slept very much at all since we met.

My money has flown with my endeavors. I bought a microphone to record myself on my comp when i sing. I bought new kicks for running. I bought a new camera for shooting pretty girls (mostly friends, actually). I bought some craft mags for ideas. I bought cables for my g-tar. I bought the Stadium Arcadium songbook. I bought new bearings for my skateboard.

In all, I've had a pretty busy time. It's going to be hard running around with Chris's car in the shop, but I'm sure I'll manage. I can't let inconveniences slow me down; much still needs to be done. Harry Potter wands must be constructed. A D&D adventure has to be created and a date for playing established. Much practice for my two bands is underway. This weekend is camping (dammit, no girls so far), next weekend's Mexico, later there's Metrocon, Yasumicon, AFO, a walk to the beach, the Harry Potter release AND the movie opening... and that's while balancing work and soon school simultaneously! Daunting, but exciting also.

Anyway, that's all for now.

First Jibe Performance

2007-05-01T21:51:00.000-07:00

^Chris, Dick, and Arie debut as Jibe Aesthetics^

Jibe’s debut was at Nick’s BFA show. It was awesome. Their groove kept people listening even after the event concluded. Dick might as well have been playing for years. Chris did an awesome solo during one of the pieces, and played great throughout. Also, Sergio and I got to play a little guitar, though not simultaneously. I had forgotten how much I miss playing music.

Yesterday Nick, Chris, Jorge and me played secret-mission Risk, and I won. The game was intense, but by the time I won we were burnt out.

This Saturday I'm DMing an introductory adventure for Arthur, Julie, Jorge, and Melanie. I'm making them pick prepared characters, and throwing them straight into a dungeon. Then I'm going to blow their minds with my DMing skillz. If everything works out as planned, at least one of them will want to roll with us for a little longer. And we only roll d20's. Oh yeah.

I'm out for now, so bye!

Room Project

2007-04-26T23:21:00.000-07:00

^My room, currently^

My room is a mess at the moment as organization is underway. Yesterday it was worse. See that set of drawers up by the D&D books? That was previously a file three times the size. I filtered it mostly into a trashcan, but before that its contents provided stylish, fire-hazardous flooring. Next item of business: figuring out what my new containers will contain.

I'm the only person i know that gets this excited about organization.

Chris and I have been watching the Sonic The Hedgehog cartoon on DVD. It's pretty darn cool. The story itself is impressive for an American cartoon... people die and stuff. Or rather, they get turned into robots, but much to the same effect.

Dick and I hung out with Ricky and Sergio the other day. My old bandmates are still doing the music they love, and I'm very happy for them. The bulletin-board that Brittany made for us is still hanging in Sergio's garage, and i got a bit nostalgic when I saw it. I hope the five of us can get together and go to the Denny's we once frequented. I'll even eat a sugar packet and everything. It'll be like old times.

Anyway, it's back-to-work for me!

Long Days

2007-04-21T23:30:00.000-07:00

^Chris and Dick at the Kendall Ale House^

Four-Twenty. To some, a holiday from the rules of decency. To others, an excuse to do an excess of something which has otherwise become commonplace. To me, just another lame day in the neighborhood.

Chris, Dick, and I wound up going to the local alehouse to pass the time. I don't drink, but I had a mad thirst for a good, cold, bubbly fountain soda on the rocks. Too bad it took us over an hour to get in.

No, wait, that was Thursday. I apologize. You see, days run into each other during the summer months in these parts. Of course, we're not even in summer yet.

Four-Twenty was actually spent half in idleness, half in teaching Julie and Arthur about Dungeons & Dragons. In other words, entirely in idleness.

I'm not insulting my hobby here. I don't know what it is about Dungeons & Dragons that commands such negativity. Those that don't know about the game look down upon it with disdain; those that are taught the game treat it with casual indifference; those that play it hide it in their closet. I can't understand why people don't want so much as to be seen around with the books. What is it about anything remotely involved that makes people cringe? Since when is dedication humdrum?

Maybe I'm antiquated, but I can't understand why getting fucked-up is the national pastime. People can't connect through dedication; alcohol is the only release they know from inhibition and ennui. It's pathetic. Drugs are supposed to be about transcendence. Where's transcendence in the commonplace? It's a defilement of the sacred.

But you know what? Meh. I carry those D&D books proudly, and I'm glad they serve the purpose of winnowing the intelligent from the lost. Those that know no hobby know no peace.

Cut and Paste

2007-04-18T23:27:00.000-07:00

^Myself, my new comp, and the rendered map of Mer Coroz^

My life since I got my new computer has been filled with fiddling. My comp's processed countless downloads, and many a download yet remain. I'm also in the process of tagging all my images, organizing my music files, optimizing my sidebar, and picking the right RSS feeds for my reader. On top of that, i was given the duty of installing Word and Photoshop on the laptop we bought for my grandma (who like my mom, is also writing a book).

As I mentioned last time, Dick and I are in the process of creating Mer Coroz, where the PCs will be from. So far we've drawn the map of the Isles and of Qipo (the homebase), named the Isles and its seas, created the Village of Qipo demographics by race and class, created the pantheon of deities with their corresponding domains, and began discussing the first adventure.

In all, I've been too busy to shower, eat, get dressed, or fix my hair... as you can appreciate in the pic above.

In other news, Chris and I (and Ricky and Julie) began watching Trinity Blood yesterday. It's very good so far. I hope the ending isn't a letdown.

Stay tuned!

First Week Back

2007-04-18T23:25:00.000-07:00

^Dick working on the map of the Mer Coroz Isles^

I'm through with New York for the summer! After living in the realm of Batman, Spiderman, the Ninja Turtles, mole-people, and who knows how many other types of anthropomorphic vermin, I am back in Miami.

And not a moment too soon! Dick and I are already planning our next campaign for Dungeons & Dragons. We'll be switching Dungeon-Mastering duties back and forth, but we're creating the world together. As you can see in the pic, diligent research is afoot.

Chris and Dick's band has been hard at work as well. Jibe Aesthetics plays their first show on April 27th. The debut will be at Nick's B.F.A. show. Expect them to be great, to say the least.