Declare Yourself

Continuing with the political theme of this week's top news stories...

What's Your Political Compass?

Yours truly:

Some international contemporary leaders:

Just thought it was interesting.  Oh yeah, one more thing:

VOTE!

About time

First day of school today! Now I might actually have stuff to talk about on here. I'm really looking forward to my last year at UCI; I'm more determined to really push myself academic-wise since it's now or never, right? Even though I've decided I'm going to pursue a Masters after this year, but that's another story.

The breakdown for this quarter and end of the year:

Schedule/classes:
+Cell Biology
+Human Physiology
+Developmental & Cell Biology Lab
+Work 4 days a week

Stuff to look forward to:
+Dressing up for Halloween (I'm making sure of it since last year was a bust)
+Shocktoberfest? If the line-up gets better, not so sure about Three Six Mafia
+Watching my brother's last band tournaments, especially MC/Arcadia
+Another L.A. trip hopefully
+Work out at least 3 times a week. I'm making it happen.
+Make more decisions regarding grad school
+Thanksgiving Break
+22nd Birthday, yikes
+Save up more money
+6 Year Anniversary

More later, off to class. Bring on the stress! Ha.

The Harvard Hip-Hop Hustler

Every once in a while I'll post some movie reviews or stuff about shows that I love (i.e. Making the Band 4), but I think this is the first time I've posted about a particular music artist. So here's to a Not So Small Talk first, and right now I'll have to say that Ryan Leslie is NSST's artist-of-the-moment.

A quick rundown of Ryan Leslie, aka R-Les:
-Best known for producing Cassie's hit single "Me & U", but has produced tracks for Beyonce ("Keep Giving Your Love to Me"), New Edition ("Hot 2Nite"), as well as other artists including Danity Kane, Britney Spears, Donell Jones, etc.
-His Youtube Channel is within the Top 40 Most Subscribed Channels
-He sings/raps/produces/plays various instruments
-Scored a perfect 1600 on his SAT's, entered Harvard at the age of 15 and graduated at 19

Here he is in typical Ryan Leslie fashion recording "Addiction", the second single off his self-entitled album. The man is a one man band - I think his talent speaks for itself:



Before he started taking the music business seriously, here is an interview with him at age 14 before his departure to Harvard. This guy is the epitome from geek to chic lol. Hella flashback to the 90's:



Finally, here is probably my favorite video. Ryan thought his interview at The Invasion Radio Show was going to be your typical one until he saw they set up a keyboard for him. The results were improv at its finest - here he is playing over Lil Wayne's "Lollipop". R.Les over Lil Wayne any day, sorry guys!

Back to Life

I have a little more than 2 weeks before school resumes, and I'm already stressing out about what I'm going to be doing this time a year from now.  Because frankly, I have no idea whatsoever. And it's not like I can depend on the next school year to start figuring shit out - I'm freaking graduating next spring *crosses fingers*

The past couple days I forced myself to try to get back into a somewhat school mode and look up my professors, check out the class websites, figure out my school and work schedule, find out what books I need, etc.  My brain hasn't had to process anything school related in almost 3 months, so even these little tasks hurt my head at the moment.  If that wasn't enough, today my mom proceeded to ask me - as she has been doing all summer - "So what are you going to do after college?" I've been able to get away with "Mom, I'll figure it out when fall quarter starts again, ok" but damn, the quarter starts on the 25th and the game plan for post-college life I'm supposed to be drafting in my brain is non-existent.  I even sat through a 30-minute video I downloaded from the UCI School of BioSci entitled "What You Can Do with a Bachelor's Degree in Biological Sciences".  How convenient right?

The thing is my mom has been hinting to me that she would like to see me pursue more education after earning my B.S.  However, I personally have been leaning away from that option and I have always had this perception of myself entering the work force directly after 4 years. I just wish I had thought of all of this sooner.  If I really had my heart set on a medical school, I should have made sure to maintain a more competitive GPA and take the right prerequisites according to the program of choice.  Same with grad school.  As for trying to find a job right out of college, I'm not even sure if I'm better off with this alternative either.  I just really don't know what I want.  F*ck, it wasn't even until recently that I had a feel for what fields of biology I actually like. How was I supposed to figure out 1-2 years ago what specific program at what specific school I wanted to work towards?  The fact that other people already know what they want at this stage in life doesn't make me feel any more prepared for the unknown.

Another thing that has always been in the back of my mind has been serving in the Peace Corps.  I've never taken that thought into serious consideration, and but the thought was always there as something that I believe would be life-changing adventure from the norm, all while promoting peace in developing countries and serving the global community.  I never thought my life would be able to accomodate 2 years of serving overseas and being away from friends and family; the focus was always on college, then finding a job, jumpstarting your career - you know, what's expected of a typical 20-something year old.  Now more than ever that option is a little tempting.

One thing I am sure about is how little time I have to make some pretty grown-up decisions.  Let's just hope it's not too little, too late.

Somewhere in Boom-Kack, NY...

Since I love the show, here's a little something for my fellow MTB4 fans...



The singing may not be as boom-kackalicious as her dancing, but the video is ridiculous nonetheless. You betta work!


If you don't think this is fierce, Laurie Ann says "Tell him to shut up!"

Joyride

Trying to get to and from San Diego in such a hurry right after work lately almost made me forget how much I love driving at night so much more. Besides the obvious clearer roadways and avoidance of rush hour stress, night driving to and from San Diego and Irvine just puts me in this certain vibe. The silence on the road allows me for that hour and fifteen minutes to think more clearly about things, along with some KyXy 96.5 in the background - I really can't get myself to listen to anything else during this time. It's also the only time I will belt to the top of my lungs because no one can hear me, and the fact that I can pretty much sing the chorus of every song that comes on - REO Speedwagon, James Ingram, Toto - all the soft rock staples, try me.


On the most recent trip down to SD, I already had that mindset that summer is pretty much over. Although I don't go back to school until the end of the month, everyone else is back to the books. I don't even have anything going on after the Vegas trip this weekend (whoo!) except work, so Sin City seals the deal for me. I'll probably have a more thorough end of summer review in the future but I just wanted to touch on some views of mine that have been steadfast since the beginning of the summer.

Like I mentioned in Lessons Learned, I adopted a more realistic and "It is what it is" perspective towards life at the summer's start. And well, it's the end of the summer and not much has changed. I worked almost everyday since the end of finals and while I wish I could be wallowing in cash right now, this time my parents put more responsibility on me and I had shit to pay for, along with setting goals to save up money for certain things - Raf's Birthday, Vegas trip, etc. Gas, groceries, partial rent, car payments, books for school, and all the everyday essentials add up quicker than you think. Also, my laptop crashed a couple weeks ago, and although that was a bummer, I was super excited to finally get a new laptop - until I realized I would be paying for all of it. A very different story from last summer, when I spent my money about 20 minutes after clocking out every other day. Thank God I'm not working retail anymore.

My new perspective on things also affected the way I handled relationships. For me, it was very easy before to be naive about wants and needs - a very "all you need is love" kinda thing. But I realized it's a lot easier on paper than it is in practice. Sure I didn't want to admit that things like money and job quality and million other issues mattered to me in the end, but when these things come at you and force you to make decisions you needn't had to do before, it can be a very big wake up call. I've come to the conclusion that maybe a relationship really can't survive on love alone, and that mindset was something hard for me to let go. Maybe money and job quality aren't the best examples, but can a real, satisfying, loving relationship survive without faith? Support from your family and friends? Tolerance of each other's differences? I guess in the end even almighty love couldn't escape my theory about everything needing to be in balance.

This summer was full of reality checks, and I think it was what I needed. But summer isn't totally over yet, and what I reallllly need is a real vacation. Vegas post when I return!!