have you heard?

well, I have recently given my undivided attention to www.blue-atom.org 


I have asked a few friends to help contribute as well as have it as my go-to when people ask

Learning French

Learning French is cool, here's why I think so.

Of course France is an amazing place to visit, and even spend time at.  I would love to be able to go to France on a whim.  It would be even more amazing if I could establish myself there so that I can spend extended periods of time there.  Being able to stay in France for months at a time could be quite an adventure. 

Just like English, a lot of paces in Europe speak France.  I dont know how popular English is on that side of the world, but Im sure France ranks up there in the top five languages to know.  I do know that there are many parts of Africa that speak French, and there are also parts in Canada that speaks French. 
From those few reasons alone Ive decided to purse French.  I don't know exactly how long it will take me to learn nor how easy or difficult it will be but I do know that I want to be  fluent in it.  

finally made it through RTC

I graduated Navy Recruit Training Command Sept 10th 2010,  I was in division 304 out of ship 09.  I will always remember being yelled at to shave with 80 other guys and to be done in 2 minutes.  I will never forget running into the head to use the shower water to shave and looking over at the urinals only to see them being used as impromptu sinks for shaving.
For me, showering with 40 other dudes was never an issue, but for some people it was.  After about 2 or 3 days of being there, you were able to smell who these people were.  The term "bird bath" was used and used often, at first it was humorous, but then became synonymous with a foul stench, comparable to vinegar and salt.
You were given 30 seconds to get out of bed, put on your shoes and get on the "toe line".  This was an arbitrary line of tile just at the foot of the racks we slept in.  We were required to stand there at attention whenever the RDC yelled out "get on the toe line!!!"  Whenever we heard that and we were not getting out of bed, it usually meant we were about to endure an intensive training session as a group.  They work out out until your cloths are soaking with sweat, and one by one as people quit they documented that on their record.  I was always able to hang, often times not even breathing hard, but other people couldn't.  If one person took 35 seconds to get out of bed, they would IT the entire division.  For about the first 4 to 6 weeks they always found a reason to give us IT, and they always waited til about 45 minutes before taps and after we were all fresh and showered.  They enjoyed having us go to bed all soaked with sweat, and by "they" I mean the RDCs.  Recruit division commanders.
Towards the last few weeks, everyone started to become complacent and stopped following the rues.  This frustrated me the most.  Instead of doing or saying anything I just stood by for an IT session.  Since I didn't get as much exercise as I was expecting, I never took IT as a negative thing, or not as negative as others did.  Ive seen people snap after being IT'd whenever someone would talk or do something they weren't supposed to.
RTC for me was a walk in the park, the people in my Div just made it difficult.  There were a lot of recruits who had absolutely no military bearing, no respect for others and just didn't care about getting the Div in trouble. 
Im not going to say it was a great experience, because it really wasn't.  I wish I had got into a spec-ops program.  The 900 division seemed to have more discipline and teamwork than any other division.  If it  wasn't for the people in my div who didn't care about anything, we could have got the acedemic flag and battle E.  We were .05 away from it.
My advice to you reading this, get in shape.  If you cant do 100 pushups in 2 minutes dont even bother, if you cant run a mile in under 6 minutes dont even bother, if you cant do 100 situps in 2 minutes dont even bother.  If you are not a B average student... dont bother.  Wait, get into a spec ops program.  Bring a lot of addresses with you to write to, bring a lot of stamps, be prepared to be isolated from the world for 2 months.  Carrying the stupid water canteen and gaurd belt with the parka is a pain in the ass but you have to do it.  Dont make friends, they will either get ASMO'd or medically discharged or both. 

LAPD foothill div. ride-along

I went on a ride-along this past Tuesday with Sgt Jomini of the Foothill div.

I learned a lot from him, he was very knowledgeable and he shared with me a lot of his wisdom; I felt bad that I did not bring my notepad with me or at least a voice recorder.

He shared with me the three rules you need to follow in order to be a cop of integrity:

1. Dont make your job personal.
"There are a lot of different kinds of people on this job: some might not like black people, white people, brown people, yellow people, green people from mars, gay people or straight people, but you can never let that get in the way of doing your job. You have to treat everyone equally" I said "well thats easy, just hate everyone equally" his reply "haha yeah thats probably the easiest way to look at it, but you have to be fair to everyone and just follow the rules and run everything by the book"

2. Dont be a cop when you are off duty, just be a good witness
"There are people who still act like cops when they are off duty, they try to be a hero and would try to stop a crime from happening. The best thing you can do is just stand aside and be a good witness. You have to be smart about what you are doing in order to stay alive... which reminds me of rule number three

3. Stay alive.
"You have to trust your gut feeling, sometimes you get this feeling and you listen to it. Many times it can save your life or the life of your partner. There is no need to be reckless; you can get yourself killed, or get your partner killed. Trust me you don't want that."

Dont go to Ballys North Hollywood

After my shitty experience at Bally Total Fitness North Hollywood, I decided to send this email to the manager.


------------------

I was there today to speak with you about the 7 day pass and everything.  I was greeted by your salesman who was on staff at the time.  From what I have gathered he is the only armenian there.  I did not see his name his name tag was messed up.

He does not know how to sell me, he did not determine my needs or offer me any options.  Being as unprofessional as he was really upset me to the point where I simply left.  He wasted my time and bullshitted me.

He informed me that the "policy" did not qualify me for a 7 day pass because I was going into the service in a month.  Him and I went back and fourth for a while about this.  I told him that Jeff called me and he knew I was going into the service and that he would have told me right there and then if there was a problem.  Only after he pissed me off he mentioned that I can buy a 10 dollar/a day pass or a 30 day pass.

I originally wanted a 30 day pass way before I was even contacted by you, If I didnt want a membership I never would have filled out the free pass knowing a staff member would contact me.  He had no position to deny my 7 day pass, he wanted me to buy a membership before even setting foot in the gym.  I told him I wanted the pass to get a feel for the gym and see if I liked it.  I would not pay for a membership for a gym I am not familiar with. (this is where the 7 day pass solves that problem)

He said, before I said anything "You are going into the service anyways you dont have any intention of buying a membership" I replied "Yes thats true, but I also wanted to buy a national membership, so that I can go to any location.... New York, Connecticut, San Diego or even Los Angeles."

I am not the only person who has complained about your salesman.  Many people have told me to stay away from that gym and that idiot salesman but I ignored them because the gym was located near my work and it would be easy for me to go to the gym on the regular.

Looks like your incompetant salesman lied to my face about my free 7 day pass and access to the gym. 

"You now have full access to our huge selection of cardio and resistance-training equipment, and you are welcome to try a variety of our Group Exercise Classes*, including Yoga and Pilates Mat."

Even though ballys north hollywood is the nearest gym to my work, the poor excuse of a salesman and his failed attempt to help me out made me decide not to join and I will not be recommending that gym to anyone I come in contact with.  I will be posting a copy of this email to my website, my blog, my fitness message board and sharing this experience with everyone I know.

Please dont contact me. 

another chick in the wall

I kept it simple: while my friend mike kim was borrowing my lights and triggers to shoot a car, I used my bare canon 550ex on-camera.
We were posted up somewhere in Northridge and instead of being somewhat bored, I got creative.
I pointed my bare flash into a silver collapsible reflector.  I had my friend hold the reflector and tilt it towards my subject.
Sandra, who had no idea and against her will, volunteered to be my subject.
Light adjustments in Lightroom2, I did some skin smoothing on one.  It may have been a little more than I wanted but eh… I like it

IFA results for 5-20-10

First IFA (initial fitness assesment) (date unsure, maybe 4-01-10?)
37 push ups in 2:00 minutes
42 sit ups in 2:00 minutes

Second IFA three weeks later (4-22-10)
45 push ups in 2:00 minutes
71 sit-ups in 2:00 minutes


50 push ups in 2.00 minutes (5-20-10)
75 sit ups in 2.00 minutes
1.5 mile run in 10.22 minutes


And I was a bit dehydrated from some light drinking I did the day before.