Alis Grave Nil

Not-so Independence Day

2010-07-04T15:25:00.001-07:00

Today we celebrate our nation's freedom from the British rule over us. However, we fought for the sake that all men might be free. Do those values that were written over 200 years ago still stand true today? Were we able to achieve that longed for independence from a tyrannical rule or rather did we simply shift the power to another group of persons. Over 200 years later, I believe that we have only embodied the very evils that so many true Patriots gave their lives for. Today, we may be independent from the British rule that basically enslaved us back then, but frankly I don't believe that as individuals we truly have our own independence. We are slaves to a new rule. Politics no longer work to serve the people, but to serve private interest groups and politician's salaries. Our money as tax payers doesn't really do much in the grand scheme of things. The value of the dollar just continues to spiral downward, and thus we are slaves to our own net value. For a government to make claims to support and listen to the people, they do very little to support the lowest amongst us and seem to feed the wealthy. And one nation under God? Whatever happened to that. More so it should read one nation under whoever you want to believe in even if it's as ridiculous as a spaghetti monster.

This is not the America that the forefathers had in mind, and had they known it would be like this today, I don't think they would've even declared a war. So one day I would love to declare a true independence as an individual rather than one that happened over 200 years ago.

Give me true liberty, or give me death.

Today's Stats from the Gym

2010-07-01T18:08:00.001-07:00

Basketball:

Game 1 (W): 4 points 4/5, 3 rebounds, 1 steal, 1 block, 5 assists
Game 2 (L) : 2 points 2/2, 2 rebounds, 4 assits
Game 3 (W): 7 points 7/9, 3 rebounds, 2 offensive rebounds, 1 steal, 2 assists

Bench Press: 140lbs, 20 reps, 3 sets
Squats: 150lbs, 25 reps, 3 sets

Was just too tired after basketball to go back to the weights. Oh well, it’s progress.

Physical Transformation

2010-06-29T14:12:00.001-07:00

Starting today. I've got 45 free consecutive days with LA Fitness thanks to a class action lawsuit. Which means I plan on taking full advantage of that and pushing my body for the next 45 days. I'll freely admit that my body is not where I want it to be, or where it should be. Freshman 15 definitely got the best of me, so now I'm gonna turn that around and knock of some lbs. See you later blogspot! :]

Back To Blogging

2010-06-28T23:12:00.000-07:00

So after being fed up with much of the tumblr community for there lack of common sense, or a mind frankly, I've decided to devote my blogspot to personal posts and my music as well. So I hope that you all enjoy what I post on here and to my supporters I cannot thank you enough for what you have given me. I'm not in anyway as close to being as famous as those who I look up to, but you as supporters definitely give me the feeling that I can achieve so much more than I ever imagined. I promise to roll out some new tracks soon and I won't let you down!

Life As We Know It

2010-05-25T23:44:00.000-07:00

Life changes. It's not so much that "why does life change?" but rather, "how can I change with life?" Everything is constantly in motion and transition, nothing is truly stationary nor permanent. Thus, why devote our efforts to maintain what we currently have, when the world is telling us that there's better ahead as long as we make the changes necessary to obtain it. The more you try to remain "comfortable" in your stagnant state of life, the more and more what you have will be slowly chipped away from you. The classic case of an immovable object versus the unstoppable force. However, you are only trying to make yourself immovable, your capacity to resist the inevitable will dwindle over time and you will eventually succumb to the fact that life will continue with or without you. Will there be ups and downs through transition? Of course. However, through time you realize that every good thing that happens to you can be traced back to many down times that you persevered through. Despite how difficult it is to accept the idea of change, it's something that will happen if you do or do not. Infancy gives way to childhood gives way to youth gives way to the teenage years which eventually lead to adulthood. It's simply how life works. Even if you were to find the fabled Fountain of Youth, realize that though your mind has lived throughout all those years and though your body may appear one way, your mind has matured past it. Life happens and it will continue to do so. Are you going to live life or let it live you?

If you weren't there or never saw even a video, you don't get an opinion

2010-05-04T09:39:00.001-07:00

See the problem with the whole word-of-mouth concept is that because you trust the person giving you that information, you automatically will trust the information given to you. Sure, a good amount of the time an honest opinion will be given to you and you will have the right perspective. However, when it comes to "touchier" scenarios, ones where bias can seep into it, then false or skewed opinions are created. Yes you are entitled to your opinion, however that does not mean your opinion is truthful or even logical at that.

For me, I've always been a skeptic and highly analytical. It usually takes me a little more convincing until I get on your side. Hell, I tend to look things up multiple times and cross check sources until I'm sure. It's not so much that I'm a doubter, more like a person seeking truth amidst a world in fog. So don't be set off if I don't believe you right away, it is not like I don't trust you. Humans are trustworthy, their words sometimes are not.

To You

2010-04-28T10:59:00.000-07:00

My dearest,

I believe it is customary to begin on a good note, so I'll start by thanking you for all you have done for me. You see, there's no one quite like you in my eyes. Hell, any man would be blind not to set you apart from the crowd as you are truly unique. You exude a radiance not only from those beautiful brown eyes, but that is only an outward reflection of a stronger incandescence from within. For you possess a burning passion from within, so strong that it has the sun jaundiced towards you. A mind like none other I have ever known to exist. Strong and level amidst even the greatest of obstacles. It is this combination of heart and mind that seems to have created an almost magnetic attraction between me to you. As so aptly put in the Godfather, it's "an offer I can't refuse." And thus, this is why I am drawn to you, regardless of how many times I fall away, you possess something that others have not. Something truly intangible, yet I can feel it resonate through my body at the very mention of you. For all you have done, for all you are doing, and for all the future gifts of love that you have in store for me, I thank you dearly. But this thanks is not just for items or deeds, this is a thanks for merely giving me the opportunity in life, to share life with someone like you.

Now is the time for clemency. I now wish that somehow I can clear my conscience of all that I have trespassed against you. However, I do not expect true forgiveness from you as I find my actions to be purely inexcusable, especially towards someone such as you. It pains me to know that you hurt, more so that I can do little about it, and even more I can do nothing because I am the one who inflicted that hurt upon you. I have fallen complacent in this relationship whereas you put more and more into it daily. I can pin no excuse on this, as there is none. Truthfully, I have simply gotten "comfortable". In my mind I could never lose you, and thus I slowly stopped doing all I could to keep you. An horrible, but honest truth. I wish there was some way I could go back and fix it all, but the past is past. All I can do now is right what is wrong through my present and future actions. I fully understand the wrong I have done to you, and plan on becoming the kind of man that you deserve to have. As of now, it boggles my mind how you are able to maintain any sort of relationship with the likes of me. However, I hope that you somehow still see that the very man you fell in love with is still here. He has just fallen asleep, and your tears and cries of pain have become my wakeup call.

I will not allow this relationship to end on my account. "Do it for her." And thus I will do it for you. I will do it for us. Because honestly, you are the closest thing to perfect I have ever known. I don't plan on letting you go without a good fight.

My love for you transcends the stars themselves

2010-04-28T02:08:00.001-07:00

for it so happens that you shine with greater incandescence than the stars themselves.

"Love is Not Enough"

2010-04-27T23:03:00.001-07:00

In my opinion this statement is false.

First off, people tend to confuse love with lust or just infatuation at a more innocent level. You say you love this person, but just how far are you willing to go? How much are you willing to do? You say things like “forever” or “I’d die for you”, but when shit hits the fan you’re the first person to run. This applies to any relationship, be it platonic or intimate. You are not loving unless it hurts a little. Maybe a bit exaggerated, but if you aren’t struggling, you aren’t putting everything you have into it. It’s a giving of one’s whole self that makes the relationship dynamic so interesting. You’re out there, entirely, no holds barred. They either take you for who you are, or they don’t (and vice versa).

People say, “oh love feels good” and “love is such a confusing emotion”. Here’s the problem: love isn’t something you feel, it’s something you do. Love is an all encompassing term, it’s not a singular thing that one can work on. There’s no “I love him/her so much” or “I could’ve loved him/her more”. You either love a person or you don’t. You work on the individual aspects of it to become someone who can love fully. Some say that love isn’t the only thing you need in a relationship. I beg to differ, it is the very essence of a relationship. That unselfish caring and compassion for another human being apart from yourself, unconditionally giving your 110% without any incentives. Sure there’s trust and communication and all of those other aspects, but all of those eventually fall under things that one must do to fully love their significant other.

Simply put, love is everything in a relationship. You either have it or you don’t. It’s the one thing that you must give of yourself to make the relationship work. It’s a combined effort of the two parties involved and thus each is entitled to carry their own weight. Going back to the whole loving more/less thing, in this case both parties must love each other fully, and if one doesn’t have the maturity or the will to give themselves up entirely to the other, then the relationship fails.

Love is not “enough” in a relationship. Love is the relationship.

Love Has No Distance Baby

2010-04-24T23:13:00.000-07:00

So after my show last night, quite a few people approached me about my girlfriend, Michelle Huynh. Now if you did not know, we are in a long distance relationship. She lives in Irvine whereas I reside in San Diego. About 100 miles separate us. I know for those others who have long distance relationships, they probably wish that it was only 100 miles, and to those who maintain those even longer distances, I owe you much respect. Anyways, one group of girls asked me, "so how do you maintain such a long distance?" I was kind of caught of guard. Typically you get the, "so how did you meet?" or "how long have you been together?" type of deal. I think about it on occasion, but I've never been put on the spot about it. I like to relate things to songs, being the songwriter that I am, so it basically came down to two songs that I love very much: "She Was Mine" by AJ Rafael and Jesse Barrera & "All We Gotta Do is Love" by Albert Posis. It's the same thing that you must do in any relationship. You realize that all you really ever have to do is love your significant other, and that no matter what type of "distance" it is, be it literal, mental, spiritual, trust issues, or whatever, that when you have love, there is no distance between you two. Love transcends anything and everything. To me, because I have love, I am not in a long distance relationship. In fact, I've never felt closer to anyone than I do with her.

On Selling Yourself Short

2010-04-17T21:46:00.001-07:00

To my girls:
Beneath all of that makeup, you probably have a much more appealing personality. Don't sell yourself shorter than the skirts you wear. Start living with a confidence greater than the cleavage that you show. Live a life worth more than all of your Coach purses, that you say you constantly need. Life is much more than the material possessions you acquire during the span of your life, but rather about the intangibles: the smiles, the laughs, the tears, and the deeds you do from day to day. You say you are your own individual, but your actions only confirm the obvious that you simply conform to whatever the latest magazines say is trendy or what your so-called friends demand of you to be. I say that you should demand of them a greater respect for who you desire to be. A desire that runs further than skin deep, but soul deep. A deeper longing to strive to be something greater than that photoshopped, underfed model on the latest cover of the latest tabloids. Over time, all of that materialism and conceit will become more than skin deep, and it will taint that beauty that you have within.The only guys who are into those kind of girls are the same ones that will drop you on your face every time. The kind that you fall so hard for, but end up being bruised, cut, and left alone because they aren't man enough to reach out a hand and pick you up. Real men will look further than that passing beauty, and see the woman beneath all of that. So please, on behalf of all those guys out there who wish to please a woman in more ways than sexually, but want to love a woman's soul, mind, and personality, do not sell yourself shorter than what you truly deserve. Take off that makeup and brand name apparel, and put on confidence, determination, and intelligence.

To my MEN:
Not boys, but to all my men out there. The world is trying to tell us the same things they try to tell the ladies. We have to dress like this, talk like that, and listen to this kind of music. Who are they, so high and mighty that they can tell us as men what we should do with our lives? Are we not mature enough that we cannot make our own decisions without their constant pressure to conform? I love hip hop and rap and all of that, but honestly more often then not the messages they convey don't necessarily (excuse my old language) "jive" with that. Just because I don't dress in clothes 5 times the size that I need to wear, does that somehow make me any less of a man? No it does not, and for you it should not be the case either. When you get into the world of business, your bosses won't say "yo" or "homie". You will need to be professional, no rather, you need to be respectable. Set yourself apart from the crowd and show them that you have a mind underneath that fitted cap. Talking hard and putting up a gangster front is not the way you'll make it in life. You deserve much more than that as a man. You only show immaturity, which hinders your vast potential in this world.
If you won't do it for the business opportunities in life, hey do it for the women you've been pursuing. If you want something lasting, then make yourself worth something to keep. Yeah you can be a player and say you hit up every girl in town, but when you're 40 years old and lonely without a job, no girls will be hitting you up. They want more than someone who swears they got "swag". They want to see confidence, not cockiness. Just because you've got the ego the size of a billboard, doesn't mean you've got the brains to match it. Show those girls a different kind of swagger. Show them you've got the confidence to walk around as an individual, who thinks and breathes success. Men, you have a lot more to offer a girl than one wild night or a cheap hookup because you got her a little tipsy. These are women, not objects, and they deserve to be treated as such. Think, every single woman is a daughter to someone. When you're a father, I doubt you'll want any boy to treat your daughter the way you're treating women right now. You're growing up now, so its about time you acted your age and not your shoe size. Don't sell yourself short. Show the world your potential, and don't let anyone tell you how you're supposed to live your life.

On Religion

2010-04-17T17:25:00.000-07:00

From Tumblr
(names and links removed for privacy)

"I’m sorry if I offend anyone but religion and me just don’t click. I have huge doubts and not those majority of doubts people my age have. Studying world history and how I never really went to church weekly influenced me a lot. Thinking how the use of religion hurt many people around the world who had their own native beliefs or none at all really pushes me away from it. There’s always an ugly side to anything and maybe I’m just seeing that. Even if thats true I never saw the importance of religion, I mean why would you have to go to church on a Sunday, Saturday or w.e and worship some being that is all powerful just to get into heaven? Those days add up after a while. Those day’s could be used to plant a tree, volunteer get something done in your life or just live your life the life that is said to be the greatest gift of all. I’m sorry once again if I offend anyone but I’ll try my hardest to respect your religion. This was just something I needed to rant about. "

Okay first of all, I totally get where you're coming from with the whole "days of worship thing." I actually really appreciate how you put this, as I took no offense to it at all, but I think the fact you did not go to many of those weekly masses may have skewed your view on religion a little. Those weekly masses aren't some magical guarantee of going to heaven at all. I know people who go to mass, but lead lives contrary to what my Catholic religion believes in. In reality, it's only an hour of your time being asked to go to Church. Honestly, I've had some of the biggest revelations and wakeup calls ever during that one hour. I've been affected deeper than any 2 hour movie or 200 page novel could ever move me. I see mass as sort of a sacrifice of one's self. I understand that during that hour other things could be done, but if you look at the hours when mass takes place, its either early, or theres the one late mass. Those are typically hours where you'd be sleeping in. However, I get up early for it, dress nicely, and go 30 minutes earlier than most because I play and sing for the choir. Some Sundays I'd just want to sleep in or maybe play video games, but I sacrifice that time because I believe that something truly special happens during mass, with all those people gathered together in one place, believing in the same thing. Sitting in the pews with complete strangers, of every color, age, and background, yet we all just unite in the common belief which is God.

I've done a lot of charity and volunteer work because of my faith. At first it was like a child and chores, doing it because it was required, such as service hours. But over time, especially in high school after my confirmation, I really started to just get it and it became something I just enjoyed doing because I loved helping people. Religion is a starting point to living a good and moral lifestyle. It keeps kids off the streets and in Churches. The whole message of the Catholic Church is not one of damnation, where if you aren't with us you go to hell. The message is simply this: Love. Sure, the Church does not have such a wonderful history (ie. the Crusades) but as you said, everything has a darker side to it. However, that was hundreds of years ago, when the Church was lead by some corrupt people, which is one of the reasons that the Great Schism happened. I trust now that the Church is in good hands and that we are doing only good.

I don't necessarily believe there is one "right" religion that guarantees you a ticket to heaven. I believe living a good life, and being a good person does that. Sure Catholics have separate beliefs than the other parts of Christianity, Christianity has its separate beliefs than Islam or any of the Asian religions. And then believers have their own beliefs apart from atheists or whatever else. Honestly though, behind all of those little differences that separate us, I believe that God is not judgmental, and that he is a loving and forgiving God. He created each and every one of us equally, and that is how he will treat us all. As long as one lives a good life with good morals and all of that, I believe that he or she will go to heaven.

So, to you I say that you should not give up on religion so easily. It gives hope and faith and love to those who do not have any. I've seen the faces of those who have almost nothing but were given the chance to smile because of what the Church has done for them. Religion has brought families who once fought, back together, I know it has for mine at least. There are some bad people out there in this world, but I hope you know that those who truly follow their religion, the ones who look past the literal meaning and see the real message of Love, those people are the nicest and most genuine people you will ever meet.

Culture Shock

2010-04-15T22:23:00.000-07:00

So these past few weeks have been pretty crazy. With two sets of cousins coming in from the Philippines, I've done more shopping than I do during Christmas. They are more guilty than I am however, racking up purchases pushing $900 at Costco the other day. It's sort of a culture shock having them around. They are so used to the Philippine way of life style, where as I am used to my American style of living. Oh, and the fact I've developed a subconscious FOB accent doesn't help either. Either way it's been pretty fun. They seem to take in America like one gigantic theme park. Everything is amazing and new to them, so they're so quick to pull the trigger on getting to do anything and spend on everything. Six Flags was quite the experience for them, I didn't think the littler ones would be so daring, taking on the beasts like X2 and DejaVu early on in the day.

I feel pretty sad for my uncle Peter though. Things definitely aren't the same since he was here last. He and his wife had separated due to a vast amount of reasons, and he clearly is not the same. He is no longer the "prime example" of success our family once held him as. He was once the country rep for IBM in the Philippines and lived such a high life style. Now all he has left of that is the money he had saved, and the luxuries he had either bought or can still afford. The tables have turned, and now my other uncle, Patrick, is the successful one. He started out as a upstart entrepreneur, and suddenly his business boomed. Now he owns the top Persian restaurant in Manila. Now he and his family get to enjoy all of the luxuries that they once could not. It just goes to show me that nothing is permanent nor guaranteed in this world. However, I take that as inspiration, that I can accomplish anything in the midst of adversity.

On a more personal note, I've been called chubby by just about everyone in my family at this point. I knew I had gained some weight, but to be outright called that and made fun of for it really sucks. I mean, I never really expected that from my family. However, I am now taking that as an inspiration to change my body and get it back to form. My cousins reinvigorated my passion for athletics and now I find myself itching to take a bike ride, a run, or even to shoot some hoops at my local basketball court. I definitely should be taking better care of my body, and I fully intend on doing so.

Despite the craziness and all that, I love my family. This is who we are, though a motley crew of people, we're family. We all have different minds, different styles, different everything. However, we are bound together by more than just genetics, but by the love that we all share.

On Distance

2010-04-15T15:03:00.001-07:00

Distance does not matter when it comes down to you, as I write this memoir, a lyrical manifesto, I let it manifest though. Infest your mind with inked molded fingers, that creep from your frontal lobe to your hypothalamus. You see miss, you’re truly a Sierra Mist, so refreshing, yes, you guessed it right. Your soul is the best dressed, dressed in a Vanilla skin complexion, your mind clothed by hair that floats in the wind so perfectly that the air molecules just slide through your black suede hair. Let my hands glide through the spaces that separate your index, middle, ring, and pinky. Let me relax your nasal passage with incense, let me massage your back so every part of your stress filled shoulders would just be pressed out from the pores that bloom on the surface of your skin.

You see distance does not matter, if it did then the love I have for you will not be tangible, your voice wouldn’t have been able to shatter the barrier that is shielding my heart from pain. You wouldn’t have heard the tears that smear the left side of my face, you say the physical is not there and you’re correct but let me link the ink to my blood vessel so you can see how much my pen lays out compassion.

I’m currently running towards you, the closer I get, the further the feeling that we are far from each other gets. So let time be on our side and don’t let inches, feet, miles get in the way of me making you smile. For this is for you sweet pea, the lyrical spectrum presents an insomniac confession.

-Spittinvividly

Letter to You

2010-04-15T01:56:00.000-07:00

First off, I should be saying Happy Six Months dearest <3 Half of a year with you, it's pretty crazy to say the least. You've changed me in ways I can hardly begin to describe. I dedicate this blog to you, in the style that you saw me write in a full six months ago. Here is to you, Michelle Huynh, for the greatest six months of my life.

"I don't know you, but I want to"
(Falling Slowly by Glen Hansard)

Six months ago today, we discovered that feelings between us were mutual. At the time, it was that innocent puppy love, pure infatuation and curiosity. A sense of wonderment as to whom this individual writing back to me through the computer screen might be. I had read your blogs, quite thoroughly I might add. I had seen pictures, though for me your appearance was just a way of identifying who you were among the vast sea of people. Your beauty came to me through your words, and I began to fall for you for the purest of reasons: for who you were as a person. Your mind was overflowing with knowledge. No, not the kind one could obtain through hours upon days of reading through books or classical literature. Your knowledge came from experience, from the daily struggles, learning and growing from each failure along the way. Crazy as it seems, I fell in love with a girl in a manner reverse of what is customary. I fell for your personality and your mind before all else.

But I was scared. I was falling for a girl who I have never even met before. Aside from a few conversations on AIM and a phone call here and there, I seemingly barely knew who you were. But as is the case to this very day, your love was enough.

"My life, my love, my everything"
(Life, Love, Everything by Gabe Bondoc)

My life: You've changed it completely. I felt so intimidated by you, not for any reasons that one might expect such as stature or demeanor, but no it was what you had told me one night. You called me a word: "perfect". This word, that for the longest time I was told I was the furthest from being. Hearing you say those words was bittersweet. Though flattered by your comment, I also realized that I was no where near what you held me to be. However, I took this realization to heart, and made this my personal drive. I strove to be that man you saw in me, one who I've been trying to pull out of my deepest caverns every time I glanced in the mirror. You saw in me what others did not, what I could not. And in that, I started to make the changes in my life necessary to finally achieve that sense of "perfection". Of course, perfection is some thing only to be held by God, but over time, you helped me to become the very best version of me.

My Love: is all that I have for you. You taught me to love without limits. Distance was the hardest aspect of this relationship. I had dealt with what I deemed to be distant before, a mere 20 minute drive, which now seems minuscule in comparison to the 2 hours or so that you drive from LA to San Diego to see me every few weeks. As AJ and Jesse aptly put it, "love has no distance". Every millimeter between us multiplied by the milliseconds that we are apart raised to the power of stars in the sky does not even come close to how much I love you. You've given me so much, and my heart is full with your love. On December 21st, 2009, I wanted to make it official and thus I gave you my heart, my puso, and you returned it with your love as well. I have been taught the ways of true, unconditional love. That love that I had so often been told of through my years of Catholic Schooling. This agape love, an unselfish love. I liken it to a pedestal, where I have taken myself off it, placed you where I once stood proud, and now I stand beneath it, to raise you for all to see. I do things for you and expect nothing in return. I could wait hours upon days upon months perhaps even years, just laying in wait to see your face once more. I put you before myself, and I love you unconditionally.

My Everything: Is what you have become. And this is what you have changed as well. I see the world so differently since you have come into my life. I feel unstoppable, as if nothing could bring me down. This is because you have lifted me to heights previously unimaginable. Alis Grave Nil, nothing is heavy to those with wings. And you have given me that avian ability not inherent to mankind, but granted as though by an angel. That angel being you. Seemingly sent from heaven itself to come into my life right when I needed a savior. You gave me sort of a second chance at life and love, a mulligans as they would say in golf. Since then I have not taken it for granted. There are times that my ego has resurfaced from the depths and has created trials and tribulations for our new life together. Yet, with every obstacle faced, we have not only passed them, but overcome them. I realize now that life is not a solo voyage, that every good captain needs a skipper, that every Sherlock needs a Watson. You are truly my other half, and with you I now see that anything is truly possible.

My dearest love, to you I dedicate my whole self. As cliche as it is, I somehow know that my love for you is truly forever and that you are irreplaceable in my heart. And there is no longer room for any others as you have completely occupied my mind, heart, and soul. You had me from the start, and though like medicine I was hesitant at the beginning, I now see that having you was for the better.

Now we are facing what is potentially the greatest obstacle yet. Just know that we have come this far, and accomplished so much together, that through our love and work, there is nothing we cannot do as long as we do it. My love, no matter what may happen between us down the road, my promise stays true: I shall support you no matter what happens and no matter what decisions you make. Agape: Unconditional love. I no longer worry and fret over my own wellbeing as long as I am assured of your own. You yourself taught me to love with no limits, so why should we let anything get in our way now? Regardless, I know that these times are hard on you, and I would like to be anything for you but a burden. So in these times of trouble, let me be your relief and your respite. Let me become that solid rock that you can turn to and lean on in those times when you need it. When you feel alone, you must always know that I am right there with you, if not in person, in spirit and in the beating of your heart. We are no strangers to distance, and we have not once made it a burden, but a companion. Another facet carved into the rock that is our relationship. With each new facet, a new piece of the diamond is slowly uncovered.

Just know that, I will forever be at your side, and you are forever in my heart.
Happy Six Months Michelle Huynh, and here's to many many more.

Words Of Wisdom

2010-04-15T01:15:00.000-07:00

"Love isn't about you, it's about them. I struggle everyday, working my butt off, to make sure that you guys have enough to be happy. Where's my happiness? I no longer care about that. It's about manning up and putting others before you. And seeing you happy, that's what makes me really happy."

- My Father

10 Reasons Why I Love My Girlfriend

2010-04-11T17:10:00.000-07:00

She has the most amazing mind. I honestly fell in love with the way she writs and stuff off of tumblr.
She's the sweetest person I know. She goes that extra mile just for me and has done things for me that others wouldn't.
She cooks. Nuff said there.
She is so willing to make this relationship work. We're over 100 miles away from each other, and because I can't drive, she comes down here every few weeks just to spend a few hours with me.
She understands me. I can talk to her about anything, and even though she'll joke at first, she takes ms seriously and helps me through my day to day.
Despite how often we fight, which may seem like not that often to you, she doesn't just give up on me. She really knows how to just deal with me and my stubbornness and works things out.
She helps me pick out clothes and isn't afraid to be honest with me when I'm getting chubby and need to work out.
She puts up with me.
She loves me for who I am, and it's purely unconditional. I haven't felt this loved by anyone else besides family and God.
I simply love everything about her.

Webcam with baby

2010-04-11T00:06:00.000-07:00

Today I webcammed with my wonderful girlfriend, Michelle Huynh. We webcam just about everyday on Skype as sort of a means of maintaining our long distance relationship. Today she was super giddy, so I decided to take a bunch of screen shots of her :]

I have a super gorgeous girlfriend, and I love her dearly :] You just don't understand how much joy it brings me to see this girl happy <3

StandOut Stickers!

2010-04-09T22:44:00.000-07:00

I'm not gonna lie, but this is pretty dope. 50 free stickers SAYWHA? My girlfriend, Michelle, just got some in the mail and showed them to me, and I'm pretty darn impressed. So here's to me, because I'm a sucker for free stuff. And with the quality, how can I complain? So you should check 'em out, too!

Going down memory lane

2010-04-09T22:33:00.000-07:00

12/365 "100 Years" by 5 For Fighting

2010-01-13T22:35:00.001-08:00

12/365 "100 Years" by 5 For Fighting

11/365 "Photographs and Memories" by Jason Reeves

2010-01-12T22:22:00.001-08:00

11/365 "Photographs and Memories" by Jason Reeves
Originally uploaded by Katon Del Rosario
"Cause I have photographs & memories of the times, that you were on my mind"

9/365 "Come Sail Away" - Styx

2010-01-10T19:06:00.001-08:00

9/365 "Come Sail Away" - Styx
Originally uploaded by Katon Del Rosario
raise those sails, haul in your anchor, and come sail away with me through the seas of our beautiful relationship.

122109 <3

8/365 "Will Work For Love" by: Usher

2010-01-08T21:03:00.001-08:00

8/365 "Will Work For Love" by: Usher
Originally uploaded by Katon Del Rosario
I will work, all my life to earn your love

6/365 "Spring" from Vivaldi's Four Seasons

2010-01-06T17:19:00.001-08:00

6/365 "Spring" from Vivaldi's Four Seasons, originally uploaded by Katon Del Rosario.
As I was walking out, I noticed this sole flower blooming in my front yard. Surrounded by the leaves that had fallen off of the trees, it was the first sign of spring. Though this is my first song without lyrics, I believe the entire Four Seasons are quite moving pieces. Summer and Spring are my favorite pieces.

A Photograph

2010-01-05T21:27:00.001-08:00

A photograph is to me something captured. A moment in time. Something I’ll want to remember. A picture is simply a picture of something, but to me a photograph is something with some meaning attached to it. You can say “oh thats a picture of a t-shirt” but then say “oh yeah, thats a photo of my girlfriend and I”. To me, experience does not define a photograph, but the meaning behind it does. A picture merely seeks to capture what is there, a photograph captures everything else. Capturing meaning is not something that can be researched or taught through books or in a classroom. It’s dependent on what the photographer was trying to communicate, as well as what the audience perceives it to be. “One man’s trash is another man’s treasure.” So don’t be so quick to judge. You may say, oh thats just a picture of a couple. But what you may not know is that might be the couple’s very last photo before one passed away. Exaggeration, but I think you get what I mean. I take pictures of things here and there for fun, but when I’m trying to capture something meaningful and convey it through the means of a still image, thats when I call it photography. Sure the dictionary defines a photographer as someone who does it professionally, but I think I’ll define it as someone who takes those stills with a passion and hopes to capture some sort of meaning behind each image.