lxaj | bittersweet memories

just give him an oscar!

lxaj — Fri, 23 Jul 2010 02:28:00 +0000

i went to see inception last week and i was blown away. i saw the trailer for this movie during the previews for iron man 2 and i remember thinking that i really wanted to see it. the movie just keeps you on your toes and it challenges the way you think – pushing boundaries and creating a new reality for your mind to ponder about. i was on the edge of my seat for the entirety of the movie. i’m loving that leonardo dicaprio was the lead in this. he’s never been on my radar for best actor or anything but after thinking about all the movies he’s been in (the departed, revolutionary road, shutter island, blood diamond), i realized that he really does know how to pick the good ones. they just should give him an oscar because he deserves it. he’s come a long way since romeo & juliet and titanic.

go see leonardio dicaprio, ellen page, joseph gordon levitt, ken watanabe, and cillian murphy in inception.

juggling life

lxaj — Sun, 20 Jun 2010 22:15:57 +0000

recently i just started a new job - in fact, i am sitting at borders right now with my work laptop trying to do some work. i can’t concentrate because this is the first weekend i’ve had to myself since i started 5 weeks ago and i am saddened by the fact that it’s already sunday and i have to go back tomorrow. after having some time to see my friends and talking to people, i’ve realized how terrible i am at juggling more than one thing in my life.

let’s take this job for instance, i am truly thankful and grateful that this job worked out. i’ve been realizing more and more that this job is starting to form characteristics of a job that i have always wanted. the problem is that, right now i’ve put this job ahead of everything else in my life. granted that i started at their busiest time of the year and i’ve just had to adapt to the long hours and cope with the stress, but concentrating all my energies on it has left everything else in my life in the dark. and although it’s all circumstantial but i’ve come to see patterns to my behavior. i am easily distracted and while i am able to excel in certain areas in my life, other parts of my life will suffer because of it. this goes for hobbies as well. i like blogging/journaling, taking photographs/using photoshop, reading, using different social networks, and watching tv shows (let’s just be honest) and i feel like all of those things have been sitting on the back burner, not just for these past 5 weeks but for an extended amount of time. and i’ve always found other things in front of nurturing my hobbies. i also think that hobbies are short-lived in my book because i am always trying my hand at different things to see if it’s my true calling. haha.

maybe balancing work/life = more sacrifice on my part. i don’t know. but i think this is the lesson i’m interested in learning this summer.

social media

lxaj — Thu, 15 Apr 2010 03:56:43 +0000

i am considered pretty tech savvy and usually i am one of the first to try out social media websites such as twitter, wordpress, four square, etc. but lately i feel unfocused and scattered because of all the things i have been trying to keep up with and unsuccessfully i might add. so i’ve decided to reorganize and simplify my usage of said websites.

i’ve had an account with tumblr for quite some time, but never found an avenue to use it because of my involvement with everything else. i just didn’t have the time. but after some exploring of it’s capabilities, i realized that there is potential. i’m not saying that i am converting over to tumblr indefinitely, but i will use it post smaller everyday things – photos, videos, funny quotes. this blog will be used for a different forum.

so, i’ll be introducing a new websites, simple pleasures that focuses more about the everyday things that make me personally happy. sometimes we’re so caught up with all the craziness that is our lives – work, school, making decisions, and transition in our lives. it’s nice to be reminded of what makes us smile.

lesson learned

lxaj — Sun, 11 Apr 2010 06:10:41 +0000

sometimes there are just some things you’re asked to do, that you just don’t want to do. and it’s not about being unreasonable, unhelpful or the debby downer of the group – it’s just that you have no affinity to participate in these events. i’m sure this happens to all of us. and on any other day, you’d be right in saying no. but if your presence brings a person you care about joy and brightens up their day, then i think a little self sacrifice is necessary. sometimes it’s not about what you can get out it, but what you can do for another person. ambivalence and negativity is instantly wiped out knowing how happy you’ve made someone else and let me tell you, it is such a great feeling and totally worth it.

check. lesson learned.

new years goal-usions

lxaj — Fri, 15 Jan 2010 19:35:55 +0000

in essence new year’s resolutions are goals that you set for yourself that you think you will accomplish in the new year but – correct me if i’m wrong – isn’t that something you should do periodically in your life anyway? but i guess it comes down to that intoxicating feeling of allowing yourself to believe that you can change things in your life that you weren’t able to because of the previous year’s baggage. i don’t normally make/share my new years resolutions because i think it’s a cheesy cornball thing to do but this year i find myself caught up in the euphoria of the new year and believing that it wipes my slate clean. so instead of calling these “new year’s resolutions”, i’ve decided to call them “new year’s goal-utions” since i believe mine have been on-going since 2009.

these are some of the goal-utions that i’ve made for this next year:

1. be on time to work in the mornings – this means between the hours of 8am and 9am

if you know me, then you know that i am not by any means a morning person. in fact, i think my entire office knows this based on what time i arrive for work. now technically i am suppose to be in the office by 8am now that i am officially part of the company but for the past, i don’t even care to count, months i have been getting to the office between 9 and 920am. it’s pretty absurd and my boss has been lenient about it but honestly, it reflects really poorly on me. which leads me to my next goal-ution.

2. re-evaluate and re-motivate myself to my work

some days work just feels like this huge burden on my shoulders and it’s hard not to build a resentment towards it. but basically on this front, i am just going to suck it up and do the asian thing – which is to work hard and perform like an all star to make myself unexpendable to the company.

3. take the GRE/GMATs

due to the terrible economy, i want to leave myself with the option of going back to school and coming back out when the job market is more stable. this means studying for this exam now while i still know how to study.

4. manage money better i.e save/invest money

so i’ve been going over my budget and i haven’t been saving as much as i’d like. it seems like everyone month i’ve had to pay for certain miscellaneous things; car maintenance/repairs, flight tickets for holidays & weddings, trips with friends, etc etc. it’s never ending. so i’m gonna have to alter my spending habits from now on.

5. photography / 365 day challenge / photoshop

this is one of those resolutions that i know that it’ll be hard to keep since i’ve been telling myself that i want to do this since forever. the 365 day challenge is new and i think even though i don’t have a dslr, it can still be fun even if my photos are of friends and daily mundane things. it’ll probably drive me nuts to have to do this everyday but i’m sure it’ll improve my photo taking skills a little.

6. be more patient with my mother

there’s no doubt that my mom loves me to pieces and vice versa but there are times where she gets on my last nerve and my temper flairs. most of the time it’s because i’m trying to explain technology to her and it’s the most frustrating thing ever for the both of us. so i’m going to try my hardest to keep my impatience with her in check this year.

7. learn that the gym is my friend

what resolution wouldn’t be complete without mentioning something about losing weight. mine is not to lose 10lbs nor is to go to the gym 3-5 times a week. but rather learn that the gym is not evil and that the only way to lose weight is to diet AND exercise. baby steps you guys, baby steps. maybe next year i’ll actually say i’ll go to the gym.

8. plan more trips with friends

concurrently with #5, i want to take more trips overseas and explore. i have never been to europe and even though i’m not the backpacking type, i would love to be able to go to all those wonderful places – especially with friends.

9. settle on a direction

it’s really time for me to stop meandering and “figuring out” what i’m suppose to do and just do it. it’s unrealistic for me to think that one day i’m going to wake up and instinctively know what i’m suppose to do with the rest of my life. i think trial and error is part of the process and i need to face my fears and get on with it.

10. grow – spiritually, emotionally and mentally

there you have it boys and girls. those are my goal-utions for this new year and hopefully i’ll be able to fulfill most of them. happy new year ya’ll :)