I'll be stabbing you with a needle now.

Well, looking back at some of my old posts I think it was pretty good that I was even able to blog (though very inconsistently) for a whole year. It was one of my New Year's resolutions for 2009, so I suppose we can cross that one off the list.

SIDE NOTE: The other resolution was "FINE in 09". I'm pretty sure I didn't get "fine" per say, but I did lose 15-20 lbs since last January. No, no, I'm not all cut up or diesel by any stretch of the imagination. I think those 15-20 are more of a testament of how fat I allowed myself to get.

So going into 2010 I'll try and continue to keep my Reset Button journal going. I suppose I didn't have much news to relate to you nice folks, hence the dearth of blog entries lately. I tend to hibernate more in the wintertime so there really wasn't much going on to talk about. However...

There have been new developments that I will share. They primarily revolve around the reason I decided to move back to Missouri: Nursing school. Unfortunately, I did not get accepted this first time around to my program of choice. It is an accelerated Bachelors program that has seen a spike of application numbers. Though my grades were good and my interview went stellar, my lack of clinical experience lead to me not being chosen.

I had hoped to remedy this by getting a position at the University's hospital. I had applied last summer, and after 8 long months of waiting I finally was asked to interview. After some more waiting and a couple rounds of interviews I was hired as a Nursing Technician (read: nurse's aide and clinical butt wiper). I'm actually very excited about this opportunity. Its gonna give me the hand's on experience I need, and it'll be good to work in a hospital setting. I mean, if I start passing out all the time from all the exposure, it'll be a good sign that I'm really not supposed to be a nurse.

I start week after next, the 22nd is my orientation. I'll be working the days for a few weeks (7 am to 3:33 pm) but once I get acclimated enough I'll be switching over my my regular weekend nights shift (7 pm to 7:30 am Friday to Sunday). Being a night owl myself I'm looking forward to this shift since most patients will be sleeping during my shift. And who knows maybe I'll get some Grey's Anatomy type action during those late nights.

So that's pretty much all that's new with me. I'm shifting from school mode to work mode for a couple months. I'll look to take some more classes in the fall semester and I'ma try and get as many hours and as much clinical experience as I can until then. Good times!

One thing that is gonna be really jacked up though will be my sleep cycle. First, I need to start getting up around 6 am. But pretty much as soon as I get used to that I'll be switching over to the night shift. Thank goodness for energy drinks and cocaine! Um...I mean, energy drinks and coffee!

Oh, per my last blog entry, I received a couple requests to see pictures of my attempts at mustache school. I didn't post them up last time so here are a couple pictures for you to peruse. Let me know if you think one of them might have been worthy to keep.

Handle Bars


Curly Cues


El Guapo


I think I liked the "El Guapo" the best. Of course I had to throw in a picture of my super cute niece Veronica to offset my mustache goofiness.

SLTSFMM

There's a place I know
If you're looking for a show.
Where they go hardcore
And there's glitter on the floor

"Take it off" by Kesha

I'm going to MUSTACHE SCHOOL!

Hello People of Earth!

(For those of you who don't know that's my little tribute to Conan O'Brien)

First off, Happy New Decade to you all. Its been quite some time since my last blog...I mean I haven't written since last decade. BTW I'm not sure I'm down with calling 2000-2009 the "Aughts". I was pretty lazy to write over the holiday break, and to be honest, there really wasn't much for me to relate.

However, quick recap. Christmas was spent at my place in Columbia. New Years was just spent chilling at my parents in Hays. My brother and sister came bringing their progeny with them. This meant trying to childproof my home as much as possible. Veronica, the 3 year old is pretty good about not breaking stuff, but Olivienne is only 13 months and just recently mastered ambling around and climbing stairs, so she was causing a ruckus. She is deceptively quick and strong...

Probably the only notable thing over the holiday was my decision to apply to Mustache School. For those of you who are shaking your head, unaware of this fine institution, please let me digress. The origins of Mustache School are long and storied...actually its not, but go with me. While I'm not exactly sure who coined the phrase (I have my suspicions), it is an homage to the fine young Filipino boys who grew up in Vallejo California who found it quite fashionable to maintain hair above their upper lips.

I do confess, when I first saw the high school picture of my then roommate (who we shall call M. Nozaug to protect the innocent) I couldn't help but chuckle. Positioned so delicately below his nose rested a neatly trimmed bar of black facial hair. The mustache stood silently at attention, like an obsidian guardian that would prevent any and all possible intruders from entering his nostrils.

Now, please don't think I'm trying to insult M. Nozaug. Also, I will concur that the mustache was and still is a favored commodity among both the Filipino youths and elders. If I were to wager a guess, I would think that probably 90% of Filipino gents in Vallejo rocked this look. My reaction was simply one of shock and mild amusement (tho I do wish I had that picture to post on the blog...maybe I should call his mom).

So getting back to my application to this hallowed fraternity of mustached men. I had basically been clean shaven since I hit puberty (and no you assholes, that wasn't when I was 19). My first impetus to shave came in 8th grade. When, my sister told me that one of her friends thought I was cute, but I would be cuter if I shaved. I hadn't even realized then that I had facial hair.

Roughly a decade later, I decided to grow out my chin stubble and try to form it into a pathetic goatee. I use this ruse to make it look like I have a chin. If women can wear make-up, well then damn it, I will fake a chin.

SIDE NOTE: I recently shaved off this goatee for the first time in about 3 years and I'm definitely bringing it back. As some of you who received a panicked text may remember, I realized that without the goatee I look like a chubby 12 year old. I suppose "with it" I just look like a chubby 30 year old.

So, over the holidays I figured I'd be spending most of my days lounging about the house without having to deal with any strangers. I decided to try and see what I'd look like if I had a mustache. I wondered if I could even grow enough hair to resemble something solid. I mean, I could probably count the amount of hair I can grow in my cheeks. My guessimate is 38 on the right and 44 on the left.

Sadly, my foray into the Mustache School was a failure. I'm happy there aren't any pictures (that I know of) that covered this international incident circulating on the Internet. While the shape of the mustache would probably be considered adequate, the amount of hair left much to be desired. My upper lip looked a little bit like a deciduous forest during the winter months.

Realizing that the sparse sprouting of hair made for a poor mustache, and it made me look more homeless than handsome (or "guapo" as the Filipina's would say) I quickly brandished the Mach 3 razor and ended this experiment.

Alas, unless I get picked to go on Survivor or another show that doesn't allow me access to a razor, I will continue to keep my upper lip smooth.

In other non-facial hair related news, I finally got an interview with the University hospital here for a nursing assistant position (I applied over 8 months ago!). The interview with HR went very well and she's setting me up with the clinical department managers. The two positions I'm looking at are either in Adult Medicine or Oncology. Both are full-time positions and are 12 hour shifts Friday to Sunday, the shift is 7 pm to 7 am.

The hours are appealing to me since I'm quite the night owl. While my weekends would be spoken for, I'm quite excited to be getting clinical experience. I'm also still working on getting a part-time position at another hospital in town during the week. I'm all about getting all the work experience that I can at this point. Hopefully I'll get some more news about the positions soon.

Well, that's it for me for now. I'll definitely update the blog more soon. Hope your 2010 is going well!

Turkey days gone by...

Sing with me...

Turkey days go by and still I think of you...
Turkey days when I couldn't live my life without you...

OK, that was strange, but that Dirty Vegas song is still pretty sick. And to think it will forever be immortalized by a Mitsubishi commercial. Speaking of Mitsubishi's, when I was younger I always wanted the Eclipse. Then all the sudden, girls started driving Eclipses and it became a chick car. Much like the Mustang (before the recent remodeling anyways).

I haven't blogged in a while because I didn't really have much to say. Since I'm pretty much in a waiting game with work and school...I'm just a loser who spends most of my days at home. I honestly don't have anything exciting going on.

I try to limit the amount of video games I play. I'm still kinda sucky at Modern Warfare 2. But those bastard 12 year olds have more innate hand eye coordination. They also have ADHD so I guess it balances out.

Other than video games I'm just assing around the house. I read a few nursing books (pharmacology and diet & nutrition text books). But since there is very little context, or tests I have to study for, I'm not too into it unfortunately.

Thanksgiving was good. I went to my Aunt's house to help tackle their turkey. I got to hang out with cousins that I don't really get to see that much. It's crazy to see them getting big (well, they're already taller than me, but that's not saying much). Later that week I took them to a Mizzou basketball game for their early Christmas gift. It was nice, we got to sit 7 rows from the floor and had a great vantage point of the MU dance team, the Golden Girls.

Speaking of food, I have decided that I will try eating at a new place once every week or two. This is something that I definitely should have done while living in California, but was too lazy to accomplish. I figure here in Mid-Missouri, it'll be easier to get around to the different spots. I would make a Yelp account to chronicle my culinary adventures...but I have a pretty bland pallete and am probably too complacent to give any "bad" ratings.

Fear not faithful Reset Button Readers (or my RBR army) I will keep you updated on my food choices. Here are my first two targets.

CULVER'S : This is a weird hybrid of a dessert/burger place. I would probably call it a more upscale mix between a dairy queen and an In-N-Out burger. They serve both malts, sundaes, milk shakes as well as chicken fingers, fries and their "famous" butter burgers. The butter burgers were pretty tasty. I would put it just a notch below In-N-Out in terms of fast food joints. The shake was good, I mean you can't really go wrong with ice cream and chocolate.

KOJABA : This is a Korean restaurant located in a strip mall. I guess its been around for a while but I never knew it was there. The prices were kinda high for Mid-Missouri standards ($19) for some Kalbi, but it was scrumptious. I'm normally not a huge fan of Korean food, since my favorite spice is Ketchup, but I do like dining on Bibimbap and Bulgogi every once in a while. It good to know there is a place about 8 minutes from my house that will help relieve me if I'm suddenly jonesing for some pickled cabbage.


I guess that's it for me right now. Hopefully I'll have better news to report regarding the school situation soon. I do plan to head to my parents house in Kansas soon, hopefully this weekend. Everything hinges on my car, the heater doesn't seem to want to work so my car is at the shop. Since the temperature is flirting with the 30's I figure it's probably a good idea to have heat.

SLTSFMM

Your skin so smooth, exist the mood,
You dance like you don't care,
I work the place,
You lose some space,
But still, I fell you still,

"I Feel Cream" by Peaches

Defying Gravity!

It took me a little while to post up my weekend festivities update. I guess you can blame it on Call of Duty Modern Warfare 2. What's truly sad is that I don't really have a life that this should impede, but I'm limiting myself how much I play. I'm actually getting my ass handed to me whenever I play online (some of those little 12 year old bastards are way too good).

My dead body is obscured by the smoke. I was probably shot by some kid from Alabama.

OK, back to the weekend recap. Last Thursday I saw the musical Wicked with my brother in KC. Damn, I wish I had seen it when it was in LA, and I wish I had caught it the 2 times I was in NYC. Very good musical. I've scene a good number of musicals in my time and this one definitely gets a top 3 mention. In no particular order I also favor Miss Saigon and Avenue Q.

Watching the musical actually brings us to RCCOTM.

1A. Helene Yorke

I hope she can help me with my magic wand. I think if she shakes it for a while we can get that sparkly fairy dust out.

She kicked much ass as Glinda the Good Witch in Wicked. She stole every scene she was in. Great voice and not too shabby to look at.

For those of you who haven't scene the musical or don't watch Glee, the song Defying Gravity is definitely my favorite (and most people's favorite it seems). You can listen to the Glee cast's version HERE. I thought they did a great job with it.

I've often heard of the term "Sex Appeal" being applied to male musicians or singers who were, how shall I put it, not that fun to look at; but still landed tons of female attention. It's the voice or their musical abilities. I think I have only recently been more affected by this phenomenon. If there was one talent I wish I possessed, it would be singing ability.

This brings us to...

1B. Ellie Goulding

Nerdy glasses only belong on cool indie chicks. Guys should stop wearing them.

I thank my brother for introducing her into my life. The funny thing is that I'm most enamored by a remix.

So, don't blame the alcohol, blame it on the Starry Eyed (Jakwob Remix. Click the link and listen to it damn it!


So that was Thursday. Friday was pretty much a chill day. My mom had come into KC for a dental procedure so we pretty much just kicked it with her. A Costco run yielded a bountiful harvest of King Crab Legs so we enjoyed that for dinner.

My mom drove the 4 hours back to Hays early Saturday morning so that left my brother and I to fend for ourselves in order to eat the rest of the weekend. We hit up a good Korean place called Choga. It really hit the spot as I haven't eaten Korean food in quite some time.

Normally I'm not a huge fan of Korean food since my tolerance of spicy food is negative 2 on a 10 point scale. But I grubbed on Bulgogi while my bro had Bibimbap.

After dinner and thoroughly smelling like Korean food, we headed to one of our new KC Filipino friend's house to watch the Manny P fight. In true Pinoy fashion the house was full of food. We walked up to the guys in the garage sitting around a keg and manning a deep fryer; lumpia for days.

Obviously the fight was a great success and very enjoyable. I lost all nervousness and apprehension about the outcome after the second round. Pacman was in full control of the situation.

After the fight a few of us headed back to the Power & Light district in downtown KC for some more merrymaking. The great thing that I found out is that the bars and clubs are open until 3 am! This was great since we didn't get there until 1.

After a little more drinking and a little more dancing we headed out just before 3. On our way back to the car we ended up getting some food. I snacked on a jumbo hotdog and still found room for a gyro (it wasn't until later that I realized that we had eaten dinner at 5 pm the night before so I didn't really eat anything for 10 hours). Does food taste any better than after a night out? I would say no.

I stuck around Sunday afternoon to watch a laughable NFL game between the Chiefs and the Raiders. It was definitely a waste of time.

So, all in all another great weekend. I may be making another return trip to KC this weekend. My parents will be back there for one of my aunt's birthday party. I'm as yet undecided if I'll head out...its about 50/50 right now.

Oh, the interview that will determine my nursing fate is in roughly 17 hours. Wish me luck!

SLTSFMM

Hands clap when I’m rolling my body
That’s a seven if I was rolling the dice
I don’t care, I’ll be dancing upon your table
Steal your bottle and I’ll suck it down to the bottom
Think that I’m cute to you, just smile
What you gon’ do about it now?

"Let's Get Crazy" by Cassie feat. LMFAO & Akon

TV's Greatest Competitor

So, since I've still been a complete bum (more on that later) I've been able to watch a lot of TV during the day. For some strange reason I've been a weird Survivor and Amazing Race fiend for the past couple weeks.

For the first time ever, I'm actually following both seasons and have watched all of the episodes. Also, thanks to the Chinese interwebs, I've been streaming complete seasons of Survivor. I think I've already completed 3 full seasons. The only crappy thing is that sometimes the episodes get cut off so I don't get to see who gets voted off. But I get a nice recap at the start of the next episode anyways.

So, this got me thinking. Which show would I be better at. OK, before anyone out there starts laughing let me throw out two caveats for my imaginary realty show contest persona.

1) I have no trouble flying (this would be a pretty big barrier prior to competing on Amazing Race)

2) My skin would be able to take the rigors of constant sea water and sun exposure.

Ok, so lets assume that I have taken care of both of those hurdles (via hypnosis and extreme moisturizers). Lets break it down.

Survivor

For some strange reason my face doesn't tan as well as my body. But I look pretty good after 30 days of eating only leaves and worms huh?

So this show has a great balance of deviousness and moderate levels of athletic ability. I think I have some rudimentary survival skills, well at least more than some of the folks that have been on the show. For good or for bad, I think I good enough at lying that I probably could make a few alliances then break them later. I think I could fly under the radar a little bit and probably stay in the background enough to maybe make it far.

Unfortunately, I'm not nearly as cunning or conniving as some of the other contestants. My height would probably be a distinct disadvantage in many of the challenges (add to the fact that I'd need to do about 6 months of cardio training prior to the show). Lastly, my poor, old man stomach may not be able to hold down the food that would be required to subsist on.

AMAZING RACE

Of course I had to go with my on-again-off-again girlfriend Kristen Kreuk. In case you were wondering, I was against her cutting her hair. But I guess she doesn't value my opinion much (that's probably why we break up all the time).

Don't be fooled by my odd ability to get lost while driving a car. I'm actually pretty good a orienteering and hiking and what-not. While my internal sense of direction isn't very good, with a map I'm pretty deadly. Also, I think I can stay pretty calm during challenges and not get too panicked. I think I have a healthy respect for other cultures and probably woudln't get too frustrated as the race wore on.

However, it is a race and in a lot of cases I don't like to rush too much. I'm probably not nearly as aggressive as is required to complete some of the "pushy" challenges. Also, with Kristen and my relationship, who knows, going on the race may cause us to break up forever.

THE VERDICT

So, which show would probably be a better fit for me? While Survivor would be lots of fun, I'd still much rather do the Amazing Race. You'd get to travel all over the world, sightsee for free and for a chance to win cash monies yo!

I guess all I need to do is get over this paralyzing fear of flying and I'll be good to go. Oh, that and I need to start dating Kristen Kreuk.

One last note...

I haven't put a "ring" on anything in a while but something awesome has come into my life. Welches Orange Pineapple Apple Juice. Can you say it with me? Repeat after me: FUCKING FANTASTIC.

I tried to find a picture of it but couldn't (meaning it didn't come up on the first page of the google image search). But, take my word for it, if you see this in the store, BUY IT! And when you drink it, think of me. I'll be lying naked in a bathtub emersed in gallons of that stuff. Can't you just imagine it? Glorious!

SLTSFMM

Since we in the club for now (for now)
Might as well get another round
Notice there ain't nothin in your cup
So get here and baby let me fill it up (fill it up)

"Say Ahh" by Trey Songz ft. Fabolous

Baylor? Freakin Baylor?

I just needed to vent because Mizzou just lost to a 14 point underdog. MUTHAFUCKA!!!

Time to drink?

My Magic 8 Ball says:

Yes, Definately.

2009 is flying by...

Is it just me or is this whole freakin year just flying by? Now that Halloween has come and gone, Thanksgiving is just around the corner. Christmas stuff is already popping up so that will be here before you know it. Then its New Years! What the hell?

Speaking of Halloween, I had a great All Hallows Eve weekend in Kansas City. It started off great with a good Mizzou win against Colorado. We caught the game at a buddy's house in KC. It was an awesome clear and sunny day so we barbecued, had some beers and enjoyed the game.

The timing was great since my parents actually flew back into town from Florida that day so I got to see them as well. They had taken a week vacation down in Orlando and Miami. They really enjoyed the hot air ballooning, and were going to go zip-lining but didn't think the view was going to be all that great so they passed. I appreciate that my parents like to do cool new things like that. I was shocked when my mom went hardcore white water rafting in Europe a few years back, but she's a trooper.

We went out Halloween night with the crew we were lucky enough to run into the weekend before. After a brief prepartying at one of the guys house we headed down to the Power & Light district again in downtown KC.

I went as dumb, lovable scarecrow. Evidently not lovable enough because no girls wanted to give me any brain. =P

Evidently my brother isn't a very good surgeon. Though the boob jobs that night were buy-one-get-one-free. Any takers?

The costume was actually a lucky find at Wal-Mart. I was looking for fake straw and came across a yard-decoration scarecrow for $8. I basically tore the poor guy apart to make my costume. I did have to flex my crafty skills a bit to make the hat bigger. The orange portion of the hat brim you see in the picture; that was actually from the decoration pants.

Halloween was real fun. We got to enjoy some good music and good company. Hopefully I'll be able to make it back to KC and party some more before my brother moves from there in December.

Now for some good news.

I got a call today to set up my interview appointment for the Accelerated Nursing Program. I have my interview in the first sessions. I was told that the 1st session interviews are usually a good sign of admittance. Keep your fingers crossed for me.

I'm still waiting on word for a job interview. According to the hospital they have closed the applications and are reviewing the candidates. Hopefully that falls into place so I can get some clinical experience under my belt as well.

That's it from me...everybody bundle up out there. And wash your hands often to stave away H1N1!

SLTSFMM

Dont you know that I'm one of the coldest,
courageous, the boldest, contagious
ain't no one that can face this thing that I do

"Dinner Time" by Royce da 5'9