RE: Alameda

Everyone always says that Alameda is hella boring, theres nothing to do here, and that they wanna leave as soon as possible but honestly, I love Alameda. I've always loved it here.

 The thing I love most about Alameda is about how small the city/town is. I don't know why but I would prefer to be in a small community than a big city like San Francisco or something. It's just hella chill to me. You know where everything is, you know how to get around, and most people know each other here.The whole environmental is just relaxing to me too. Everything about the atmosphere here is relaxing.

         

Copped this off my homie Peter. I agree with him. Growing up here, I've learned to love it. I love how small Alameda is, I can just commute to the places I need to go to. Although you can find yourself doing the samething or not having anything to do, I like to explore. I'll grab my bike, go with some homies and go to parts of Alameda I've never been to. And sometimes you'll find cool little joints here and there. I was born and raised here, and as the years gone by, I’ve made a butt load of memories here.

          Alameda is really laid back and chill. Some areas are really quite, and some are loud like busy streets. I like going to the beach, even though it sucks and it's filled with garbage, but it's uber quite at times and it's just nice to chillax. Sometimes I feel the need to get away. Alameda is a pretty good island too. Not big for it's crimes. And the people here are really nice. Plus the places to eat out here are pretty bomb. Also theres one cool boutique called District. They got the dopest gear there. I usually buy caps or shirts there. Their shoes and jackets are cool beans. They also have a cool little hat shop that sells cool caps. But they’re pretty over priced. Even though Alameda can have it’s up and downs. I don’t think I’d want to live anywhere else but here.

CE: Flooding in Thailand

 The government of Thailand is refusing to declare a state of emergency despite widespread flooding.

Flood waters have already affected one third of the country and are now threatening the capital.

Officials say any declaration will cause unnecessary panic and scare away foreign investors and tourists, worsening a disaster that has already cost the country billions of dollars.

          I think Thailand is crazy. They've had major flooding the past few weeks/months and another one may becoming towards their capital and they say there's no need for emergency warnings and evacuation? They say there shouldn't be anything to worry about.
          It's never bad to be too safe. It's for the better. They don't want to give out warnings because they don't want tourist and foreign investors to panic and they'll lose money. I'd say it's a 50/50  chance. If the flood rolls through, those dirt walls won't help. If it tears down property of a foreign owner and tourist are around, it'll be a much bigger disaster.
          A big amount of lines are at stake here and they don't want to do prepare for something that can destroy land, buildings and other house holds. If I were mayor or president, I'd tell my people to get the hell out of Bangkok and get to higher ground. Although they say people shouldn't worry and not state this as an emergency, it should be considered a big threat and everyone needs to get to safe ground.

FREE: Wednesday

          It's Wednesday, the middle of the week. I wish it was Friday. Recently Steve Jobs died which is insanely crazy. The guy changed the world, and may his soul rest in heaven. Anyway, got my progress report in the mail yesterday. My mom was extremely pissed. I not even going to deny it, I have not been doing my homework lately.
          Homework has always been an issue for me. I can never do all my homework for a whole week which is very disappointing to me. Off that subject, today was kind of lame and boring. Fell asleep in my current life class. I snored once really loud and when I looked up the whole class looked at me and laughed as did I.
          I love biking, but I grew out of my frame and now in need of a bigger one. I borrowed my friend's bike during the summer. Maybe like 5 times altogether. May not sound like a lot but I would ride that thing for hours on end. Never stopped pedaling unless there was a red light of course.
          The weather lately has been crazy. It poured Monday and half a day yesterday and now it is hot as hell. I want it to feel cold not raining but just cold. My birthday is coming up soon. November 29th. Super stoked turning 16! I could've sworn I was 10 years old last year. And Christmas is coming soon as well. Not asking for much. I just want some cash so I can save up some money for an MPC and if you don't know what that is here's a link: http://youtu.be/Os0w0HdLU3I -This is one of the dopest guys making beats, his name is Memorecks. My goodness this guy is an maniac. The grey and black think thing with the grey buttons is an MPC. I've always been intrigued with beats. And I plan on making my own.

BC: Steve Jobs Made Apples Cool.

         

When I was 17, I read a quote that went something like: "If you live each day as if it was your last, someday you'll most certainly be right." It made an impression on me, and since then, for the past 33 years, I have looked in the mirror every morning and asked myself: "If today were the last day of my life, would I want to do what I am about to do today?" And whenever the answer has been "No" for too many days in a row, I know I need to change something.

Remembering that I'll be dead soon is the most important tool I've ever encountered to help me make the big choices in life. Because almost everything — all external expectations, all pride, all fear of embarrassment or failure - these things just fall away in the face of death, leaving only what is truly important. Remembering that you are going to die is the best way I know to avoid the trap of thinking you have something to lose. You are already naked. There is no reason not to follow your heart.

—Steve Jobs, in a 2005 speech

Steve Jobs changed the world. He inspired everyone from everywhere, from musicians/producers, artist, businesses, etc. He made jobs and daily life easier with his extremely high tech MacBook laptops, computers, and other amazing gadgets. I still can't believe he's been in the business since 1970's. And that he built iTunes form the ground up. Ever since he's made the MacBook or the IPod, etc. Everyone's been trying to make something similar to it. It is amazing what Steve Jobs has done. He literally made the first touch screen phone/MP3 device. It's easy to forget how one person started a revolution.

I agree with his quote, "If today were the last day of my life, would I want to do what I am about to do today?" And he said if it was "No" too many days in a row, he knew he had to change something. Now to me, I don't understand the quote fully, but I get a sense of what he's saying.

The quote he lived by required a lot of thinking. It made you plan out your whole day. "Should I do this today?" "Well, I have to do this..." "But I really shouldn't be doing..." Another way of putting the direction Steve Jobs was going is. Live life to the fullest and live as though you'll be gone tomorrow. It's like saying, "Should I hate my teacher just because we get piles of homework?" and the answer should be no.

Another scenario, let’s say you went to the doctor and he told you, you will die in 24 hours. Do your homework, talk to that girl, and help out your mom, make a good impression of yourself. If you were to die tomorrow, people will remember you as the kid who never did his homework. Your mom would remember you as an unthankful child although she will miss you dearly. And the girl you've liked for the past month or so, who you never talked to, will never truly know the really you. Let people remember you as a successful person and not a failure.

Lastly, live today like it's your last. Focus on the present, stop worrying and stressing about the future or the past. Past should be forgotten. God gave your eyes in front of you and not on the back of your head, because he wanted you to go forward and forget about the past. "Live in the present and not the past", I once read. I like to follow that quote. Starting up a new day I wake up, shower, eat breakfast then head to school. After school I get home do my homework, talk to some friends, or play some videos games afterwards and then sleep. Starting up the new day again, living in the present try not to think about what you did yesterday and just go through your day. Every day I wake up God gives me another chance to raise my grade or improve in life. If it was my time to go and I've done everything I can I wouldn't have woken up again. God gave Steve Jobs years upon years to be successful and he did. He's done everything he can do. As I said earlier, he changed the world. And may he rest in peace.

RE: Music

Got this peace off my home girl Bridget.

There's some things that annoy me when it comes to music, now I know everybody has their own taste in music that they enjoy listening to. But for example, when it comes to hip-hop genre for me, I prefer that it's better for people to listen to old school or underground, instead of today's mainstream. Why? Because old school has better lyrics that many other people besides the artist/rapper can relate to the meaning of the song. Compared to today's hip-hop, I hear nothing but cussing, rapping about money, girls, them cocky selves, and getting laid and honestly they can't even rap with rhythm. Even though some of the beats these days sound better, old school keeps it mellow and simple.

    

I agree 100% with this. Music isn't how it used to be. Even though I didn't grow up with old school hip-hop, I always loved tuning into it. One of my uncles was into old school hip-hop a lot. I remember visiting him and seeing his garage door open. As I step out my car door I hear him blasting some music by A Tribe Called Quest. Who is still one of my favorite rap crews. The time was about 1998 which was when A Tribe Called Quest was on top of their game, and were quite known in the music industry.

Today’s music is all about sex, drugs, prostitutes, or being in jail. Basically they like to rap about things that make them seem tough. The thing I love about old school hip-hop and underground hip-hop is they rarely rap upon that stuff. Old school raps about daily struggles or the success they have, a real story. With underground music, when they rap about the sex and the drugs, they’re making fun and clowning on the people who rap about it. And continue to rap about legitimate things. I call it true lyrics. It isn’t a bunch of repeating. If you listen to both old school and underground they rarely have a chorus where they repeat the same thing all over again. It’s 4 minutes, more or less, of TRUE lyrics.

If you were to chop up the chorus of a rap song nowadays, the song will probably be a minute long. I tend to turn away from the music currently produced and look up songs and do research about old school hip-hop. It is just a lot more enjoyable to listen to. It is literally music to my ears. Scratch that, it is GREAT music to my ears.

CE: Economy

The economy fails to make it better.

Economists had expected Friday's report to say that the economy only replaced 60,000 jobs in September.

         

The economy has been pretty messed up for the last couple of years. Money is always a problem in this world. Without enough of it, it's difficult to be successful. While people are getting laid off, it changes their lives. It's hard to get a job nowadays. And probably hard to get the same amount of money they get paid from their other job.

           While people make machines, it replaces people and their jobs. It's cheaper and easier for the company with fewer employees to pay. My dad was affected by this awhile back. His job had to move to Portland for money purposes. Either my dad quits and finds another job or my family and I move. And it wasn't guaranteed that you won't get laid off in Portland.
            A few of my dad's coworkers got laid off. All that work for nothing. Packing, moving, and end up with nothing. It's insane how things work around the world. Ever since my dad quit it affected my family quite a bit. Our insurance wasn't as good as my dad's old job was. The benefit from my dad’s insurance was great, but my mom's on the other hand isn't.
             60,000 people jobless. My dad works night shifts now and i barely get to see him. We don't do the things we used like when I was a child. But I've adapted to it and I know how much help they need. I think if this never happened I wouldn't be who I am today. I don't ask for things as often. I don't ask for things I don't need like shoes, cloths, etc. I just work with what I have or buy it with my own money. I believe if this economy does not get any better, the most of the people in the world will be jobless.

FREE: RANDOM

          It's cold in this biatch. Another day at the lab typing up some shit. Feel totally outof it. I'M SUPER DE-DUPER tired. Chilling with the usual homies. Peter the Cheetah, Casandra a.k.a Long Duong, Cody Brodie, Vicky the Goblin, Ben Bulldozer and Kien Phan. Sister hooked it up Sunday with some new jams. Producer 9th Wonder is on my playlist today. I also got some new Phonte, Blu, and JR & PH7. It's finally raining! Everyone seems to enjoy it. I could care less about the weather. I just want it to rain everytime I have P.E so I don't have to run the mile test.
          I went to San Francisco in the Mission District on Saturday. Visit my homie's shop, Benny Gold. Got a new shirt. Since he only has one shop at the moment, he's always there chillin. So a lot of people get to meet him. I visit him pretty often. So everytime we go there he always hooks it up with hella stickers. DOPENESS. After I'm done visiting I roam around Sanf Francisco posting stickers everywhere.
          School is going oh so badly right now. Grades are declining. I got to pick my shit up fast. My mom has a schoolloop so I always come home to some nonsense and a bunch of yelling. But it's just a wake up call for me. School is starting to get a lot harder. I dislike my algebra 2 teacher with a passion. It's whatev's though. I ain't trippen. School is insane. I just want it to be summer again! Every morning I wake up I always want to sleep in. I try and sleep early but when I go to bed it takes me 2 hours to fall alseep.
         I'm so out of it today and I write about the randomest shit. Well then, 'till nest time my lovely peeps. RANDOM FACT: I'm affraid of the dark... Still.

CE: Officer Down

Reading some posts about current events I came upon this.

At least eight people, six of them police officers, have been killed in the Pakistani commercial capital of Karachi after an explosives-laden car drove into the home of a senior police officer.

        

Some people are insanely crazy. At least EIGHT people died. Over the years of seeing multiply deaths and death counts rising, eight doesn't seem like a large amount of people dead. Or maybe it's just me? Anyway, people who kill themselves to kill others are pretty sick in the head. Why would you want to die from a crime, unless you are already a criminal? People ask questions like, why security is so strict nowadays and why people can't bring the simplest things at times on a plane. Watch the news for a week and I'll guarantee you'll know why.

          
Teens make immature jokes about bombs. Let's say someone's ringtone sounds like a count down and a teen will say, "I hear a bomb." Or a person is wearing a turbine and a teen will say, "Oh look, he probably has a bomb in there." And also I've heard some people assume that 7Elevens have bombs in them, and you'll see people laugh about it. But when people die from a bomb or if you were in a situation that involved a gun I don't think there is a joke to be made then.

          It's insane how the ideal weapon to kill easily without a trace is a bomb. It can be planted or be in anything from daily items like a suitcase or a car etc. Bomb killings happen most often as well. And I haven't seen bomb killings raise until 9-11 happened. After that criminals say how supreme bombs were. Eight lives were taken that day. From one individual. Who was crazy enough to kill himself? I don't see the point. What do you get out of killing yourself rather than a funeral and a sad family? I wonder when all this killing and chaos will ever end. But as of right now, it seems as though it's only escalating.

RE: Common struggles of a Filipino Maid

 I feel that it is unfair that Filipinos in the Philippines aren't being treated with respect, especially when they are only working for $18 a month for endless hours. Not only do they do chores, but they also have to take care of their boss's kids. Aside from working/babysitting, they are abused and harassed after making such little mistakes, like not cooking the right food, not fully completing what they have to do. They are maids, but they are being treated almost as if they were slaves. Because of this, they are wanting to leave their country for better salary and to be treat with more respect.

          Got this piece from my home girl Josephine. The way some Filipinos treat their maids are horrible. Some get harrased sexually, some get beat up for things they didn't do right. I took a trip to the Philippines with my dad about three years ago, more or less. That is the first time I've seen someone disrespect and treat someone as if they were some sort of slave. My grandparents have a maid as well. But they treat her as if she was one of their children. She also got a good salary too.
           I'm not sure if it's just because my granparents are old and sweet. But it seems as though younger people treat their maids unfairly. One day I visited my uncle's friend's place. We were sitting outside relaxing in some shade while the sun was slowly setting. And the next minute I hear him yell the maid's name, which I can't remember. She came over and waited to recieve orders. He yelled at her just to get him a beer. I told my uncle I didn't like this man very much and I wanted to leave. But I didn't know how to get back to my grandparents house by myself so I was forced to stay
           It was dinner time the man kept yelling at her and telling her to harry up. The man ended up going in the kitchen and slapped her in the face for taking too long to make food. The lady looked terrified. A lot of Filipino people move to the U.S because they think they have a better life here. The Philippines is a crazy place. And so are the people. I believe that the maids should be treated as you would want to be treated with respect and politeness.

[FREE] Yeah Bro.

It's 8:18. It's Tuesday. It's Cold, although the sun is shining. And I'm tired. It's a block day today, really not looking forward to any of my other classes. Summer came rather late this year. Yesterday was fucking hot. Just walking to the Alameda Free Library, I was sweaty. My head is throbbing, and my eyes feel heavy. 

            My weather app on my phone said it was going to be 76 degrees today. SWEETNESS. That's like the perfect weather. Too bad summer came late. During summer vacation you couldn't do anything, clouds and showers were making some kids stay at home. I didn't give a fuck weather it was raining or not. I went on so many bike rides with my homies. We would just ride all around Alameda. That shit occupied me all summer. It was super duper fun.
            Chillin in this room full of computers while putting my IPod on shuffle. It's playing everything I want it to. It's playing Tyler the Creator, Lauryn Hill, A Tribe Called Quest to N.E.R.D. I love music. Preferably underground. Like MF Doom, Mellow Hype and Zion I. What's pretty dope is that Zion I is from Oakland. But MF Doom is probably has been my favorite since I found out about him few years ago.
            I watched the news today. First thing I heard was about man that had been shot in the Mission District in San Francisco. I always wonder what’s going in their minds. I swear, every year I grow up I notice how much more crime starts to happen.
            Well. Here’s the free post for the week. ‘Till next time strangers. RANDOM  FACT OF THE DAY: I like jazz music. It’s something I listen to while I do errands or chores around the house.


 

[FREE] School is out.

      Third week of school is done. Got a new math teacher, Miss Chaney. She seems pretty dope. This Alameda weather is so unpredictable. It's never cold or hot. It's alwas cold in the morning then hot in the afternoon and the other way around.
      School so far is alright. Not like freshmen year when everything was so new to me. Places you can eat, ways to get around school. It's my second year of high school and I'm already tired of seeing Alameda High. Haha. Anyway, my teachers seem chill.
      I have English first period with, oh you probably know already. Second peroid I have Spanish 2. Mrs.Yeo is so dope, the way she usually teaches is through games and songs. Third period I have P.E. I love P.E minus the running. Haha. Then forth period I have current life. Intresting class, learn something new everyday in that class. After is lunch time! My favorite time of the day! Then off to fifth period for modern world history. REALLY boring class. Teacher got fired so the school's trying to find a replacemeant. Lastly sixth period. Algebra 2, probably the only thing that makes that class fun is having it with my buddies Jason and David.
      Walked home, it was windy then hot with no breeze then it became cloudy. I think this year is going to be pretty fun. Even though I said that last year, but then again last year was ridiculously fun. I wish Alameda was known for their beach. Crab Cove is dirty and the sand isn't even sand, it's dirt. And it's filled with garbage like, cigarette buds, bottles, condoms, a variety of things. But if was known for the beach I would go whenever I had some free time. Just chillaxin by the sea, watching the sun set. RANDOM FACT OF THE DAY: Unless my hair is getting too long, I'm always wearing a hat or a beanie. No matter where I go. haha. Till' next time my tastey little lemon drops.
     

[RE] I want to punch this girl in the face.

Checking out my homie Gary's blog, I came across this.

While watching videos on youtube, I came across this video that I've seen and probably been on the news about Alexandra Wallace or her internet name Racist UCLA Student. Basically she posted a 3 minute video on youtube about asians in the library. She complains that asians in the library are loud and selfish. Wallace continues on with "I swear they're going through their whole families just checking everybody from the tsunami thing". She refers to the disaster of Japan when 1st there was an earthquake then a tsunami. Leading me to another christian girl that thanks god for attacking Japan.

             I found about this video awhile back on YouTube. This girl has some guts to be making a racial video to all Asians worldwide. She rants on and on about how much she dislikes Asians. When I first saw the video I became really mad. I said to myself, “If I ever see this girl, I will punch her in the face.” (Not literally) And what’s insanely crazy, is that she has Asian friends!
            Another crazy thing is, she didn’t get in trouble at all for it! I seriously can’t believe the school didn’t do anything. I’m glad that most of the people who watched the video, hated her instantly. I heard that she is getting a bunch of threat emails. If this is true, she deserves it 100%.  Being racist is really messed up. Especially when a tragic event happened and you make jokes about it.
            She rants on about how Asians are bad at driving, have small eyes, etc. Sure some of Asians are bad drivers or have small eyes, but not all. I wonder what the whole school and people around the world think about her now. I bet she gets a lot of stank eyes and what not. Jokes are funny. But taking it too far doesn’t make it funny at all. She just made herself look stupid to everyone. Her whole life she is now going to be looked at differently. A billion apologies won’t help fix anything either. She is permanently going to be “that” girl that everyone hates.

[CE] Solider Mistakens 1 Human Out of a Billion.

Some people make mistakes. But this one took a life.

A US soldier shot dead an Afghan journalist working for the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) in July after mistaking him for a suicide bomber, the NATO-led military force in Afghanistan has said.

     

This is insane. This just goes to show how people look at someone and make assumptions very quickly. As it said, the solider mistakes a man for a suicide bomber. In the world we live in anything can happen at any time. Just because he thought he was a bomber doesn’t mean you can’t think before you pull the trigger. Because of it a life was taken. The man could’ve been with his family and kids, or enjoying his life.

            I'm aware that soldiers are supposed to be very cautious and alerted. Over the years of my life, I've just seen more bad news everywhere. And more people are dying more every year. Sometimes I think soldiers can be very racist. I'm not saying that this is true but I believe some troops target people they assume they’re a threat. It's not right to make assumptions.
            I don’t understand why we’re still in a war. They say they’re fighting for our freedom. But I think they’re fighting for oil, money, etc. This war has been going on for a long time. Wars don’t solve anything. I’m really wondering what the man who accidently got killed was doing. Was he sitting down enjoying the day? Was he having a bad day? I don’t think he was much of a threat.  And the soldier who killed this man did not get punished at all. I think if you accidently kill a INNOCENT man, there should be consequences.

[FREE] What up dudes?

First week and 2 days of school have been really interesting. I already know it’s going to be difficult. But it just means I got to try hard and do my best. Don’t really have a computer anymore. It broke 2 days ago. So I’ve been scrambling around lately trying to find one. Luckily I found my cousin and he didn’t want to go to track practice. SCORE. So I wrote my five hundred word biweekly post.

            I’m glad my computer was slightly working, so I wrote down my biweekly post on a note pad and transferred it onto a hard drive. So only took me about 10 minutes to do everything. Today I’m at the library, doing 3 blog posts and some history homework. It’s kind of a good thing, because I’m forced to work rather than procrastinate like would at home.
            Today’s weather was pretty awesome. But I dislike this California weather. It’s always really cold in the morning and either really warm or hot during the afternoon. So it’s hard to pick out what to wear. School was alright today. I have a bunch of assignments. But after I’m done I plan on watching a volleyball game.
            This blogging thing is really new to me. I mean I have a Tumblr. But I mostly post photography and rant on about things. I’ve never done this in an English class before. I like this a lot better. To me it is pretty easy. So far… I’ll usually post random facts after my free post. So, random fact of the day is, I can’t go through a day without listening to music. Till’ next time my fellow readers.

[BC] Hello World!

   Hello everyone. My name is Christian Mark Villanueva. I am fifteen, turning sixteen in November. I am a sophomore at Alameda High School. First impression of me is usually, very funny, nice, lazy and tall. As my friends tell me. I'm Filipino, but born here in America.

          A couple of my hobbies are biking, playing the ukulele and guitar, and playing sports. I first learned how to ride a bike when I was about 12. I tried everything from Heelys to skateboarding, which weren't very successful. But biking was. Ever since then I've feel in love with biking. I LOVE playing the guitar and ukulele. I picked up a guitar first about 4 years ago. Took lessons for less than a year because lessons are very expensive. Plus classes were only 30 minutes which was a waste of money. After I stopped taking lessons, I would just search Google and YouTube for tutorials for songs while I already knew the basics. Then I was introduced by the sweet mellow sound of a ukulele a few years after. The ukulele, a very fun and small instrument easy to take with me anywhere. Still learning a few things here and there. Lastly sports, I play basketball and volleyball. Played both for fun, but in 7th grade joined my first basketball league and freshmen year made it on junior varsity volleyball team.

       Let us have a little talk about me personally and some of my family's history. I'm Filipino, but born here in America or "the states" as my family calls it. Since I was born here and not in the hometown of my parents, I am considered a Filipino American or my people like to call it, "Fil-Am". Both my parents were born in Angeles, Pampanga, Philippines. A little town below the main city, Manila. They moved here to America around the 1980's as immigrants. My Father living with 3 brothers and a sister in a two bedroom apartment. And my mother living with 5 brothers and 2 sisters in a 3 bedroom. Both starting living a tough life. But after getting multiple amounts of jobs and hard working. My parents are both have full time jobs and are now American citizens. Couple years after coming to America and my mom and dad getting married, they had my sister Arlene in 1988, then seven years later came me. Born November 29, 1995.

      I have a couple writing goals this year. I want to work on grabbing a readers attention. Also practice writing good sentences rather than a run on. And lastly write about exciting topics. I tend to write about boring things at times.

     Well I hope you've learned a little about my family history and some of my hobbies. I enjoy having assignments on a blog. Really changes up how I usually do things in a English class. I have a feeling that if i work hard and do my best, this year will be very fun. Till' next time my fellow readers.