Advertizzing

Advertising being manipulation sounds like something a paranoid conspiracy theory would say.  However, saying advertising is just dealing out information is wrong as well.  A good advertisement will do both things: tickle the audience's senses and provide them information on the product.  Like all things, balance is the key.

Because of this, I can't argue that it's all information or all manipulation, because that simply wouldn't be true; I'm not sure how I'm going to argue out an entire essay.  I'll just post a picture of a puppy.  Maybe he'll manipulate you into forgetting all about this post.

Awww, how cute!

Dreamception

So this one time, I had this really weird dream.  You want to hear about it?

Cool.

Something depressing happened.  I'm not sure what (I think I had an abortion or something), but I needed to de-stress; I tried smoking.  It was weird and tasted horrible.  I could feel it burning in my lungs.  But after the first one, the burning feeling was replaced by a calming one.  I smoked one a day for the rest of the dream.  I woke up in a cold sweat and with a strong urge to grab my pack and go outside.  But then it hit me - I never smoked anything (and I hopefully never will), but I was left with this realistic sensation that I just couldn't shake off.

I don't always have dreams I remember so well, but I can recollect vivid fragments of dreams I've had in my childhood.  Some of my dreams are even reoccurring, coming back as a continuation of a dream I had a couple years ago.  I love those dreams.  They're so... surreal.  (But of course they're surreal - they're dreams.)  I have kept these dreams precious to me, hoping they'll come back to me the next time I lie in bed.

The oldest dream I can remember is from when I was very small (maybe like 6 or 7, but definitely under 10).  My father had come home one day from work (to our old house, in San Vicente).  I soon after discovered he was a vampire; not like a sparkly nice vampire, but something like a demon.  I tried to tell everyone else in my family, but I soon realized my mother was a vampire too.  They weren't my parents anymore.  They chased down me and my siblings - Adele was taken first.  We were screaming and running until they caught Abby too.  I was soon cornered between a wall and my parents' bed, crouched into a ball.  I woke up when they attacked.  It was was the scariest dream I have ever had.

When I was about 10, I had another dream.  I think it happened after me and my dad went to go watch Star Wars: The Clone Wars together.  I remember that night a lot, actually.  It was the first night I had spent alone with my father, not as a punishment, but just hanging out.  I had a swiss mushroom burger at Hamilton's, down the road from our new house.

Anyways, now that I've finished that tangent, I remember the dream was from the Star Wars realm.  I had come to visit my father at work, where apparently he was a very important/rich jedi (or at least some sort of intergalactic business man).  I had to take a space elevator to get to his office.  I remember being very proud of him and the sense of adventure.  The windows to outside saw the planet Earth from space.  His desk was on this suspended platform above some sort of pit.  It was pretty crazy cool, to say the least.

And then the dream that reoccurs the most is this dream of me and either my class or some other people going on a sort of field trip to a theme park (think Willy Wonka).  Something goes wrong and an adventure ensues.  I remember lots of bright yellow pipes.

There is this one dream that always reoccurs, but I can only remember it right after it happens.  Oh well.  Maybe I'll write about it when I remember it next time.

Honeymooning

I guess you could say I love travelling.  

The little TVs are the best!

I love the smell of airplanes, the big chairs on buses, and the train stations.  There's nothing I don't like (besides maybe not being able to shower for 25 hours).  I've been travelling since I was baby; my father was determined to show me as much of the world as possible.  I remember the excitement of airplanes when I was little - waking up at 3AM to take a shower and heading straight to the airport.  Since a honeymoon is basically a trip, I guess you could say I'm more excited for it than I am for the wedding.

The honeymoon location list goes on and on.  Disney World Resorts, Tokyo, the coasts of Italy and Greece, Aspen ski lodges, and African safari resorts - you name it, I've thought of it.  But really, go back and check out the first thing on the list.  Disney World. I mean, waking up every morning and exploring the parks without rushing!  It's like a dream come true.  I imagine my fiancee should have an affinity for Mickey Mouse too, or I'll be spending my honeymoon wondering whether this marriage was really a good idea after all.

You know what'd also be great?  Renting a boat and just sailing.  Not like hardcore ocean sailing, but like sailing through the Balkan Islands or somewhere that's nice and peaceful.  Not like the Caribbean - I've lived on a hot island way too long to prefer that.  But somewhere nice and temperate.  Just living in the snug bed below deck, not having a care in the world (besides getting gas and getting lost, of course). Cruising a boat through countless islands just sort of screams adventure, don't you think?

Skiing is also very fantastic!  Also very adventurous, skiing down the slopes and eating lunch at the top of the mountain.  The feeling of skiing cannot just be described - you have to have been skiing at least once in your life to know what I'm talking about.  I just... love skiing.  That's it.  So honeymooning at a ski resort is like a no-brainer, right?  Going to the Swiss Alps to ski would be a big bonus.

A coastal Italian village at night

Actually, come to think of it, going anywhere in Europe would be fabulous.  But I'm not talking about the super-touristy places like London and Paris.  I'm talking about like taking the trains through cities like Copenhagen and Amsterdam, and little villages dotted along Europe's coastline.  Going to Russia would definitely be cool too.  Just me, my important person, our backpacks, and a couple of bicycles.  It's called backpacking (makes sense).  I like having my options open and not being restricted to a schedule or just one city; having a whole continent as a playground would be probably the most fun ever. Actually, not probably.  There's no doubt.

But really, who knows where I'll go.  It all depends on my fiancee too, right?  ....Just kidding.  His opinion will probably be very minor.  I'm already excited!!

why am I always hungry

My favorite dish would have to be sinigang.  I like to put the soup in a bowl with rice.  It's hot and sour kind of, and it tastes freaking delicious.

Here is a picture:

Sinigang with Short Ribs

Sinigang is a popular Filipino dish that we make at my house every once in a while.  You can buy the soup mix at any asian market for cheap.  There are multiple types of sinigang, variations including shrimp, fish, and short ribs.  It is usually made with kangkong, tomatoes, tamarind, and okra (although we usually leave out the okra at my house) and sometimes even guava.

Definitely delicious.

If I had a choice, I may definitely eat this dish for breakfast, lunch, and dinner.  And maybe even dessert... but I really like dessert too.  Especially ice cream and birthday cake.

Oh my god, now I'm starving.  I particularly love pairing french vanilla ice cream with marble birthday cake from Herman's bakery.

Soooo, sooooooo hungry.

My birthday is coming up... so hopefully I'll be able to enjoy this winning combination once again! 

I will have awesome kids

Six things I will to teach my kids:

1. How to not whine.

So let's say this little kid was crying (maybe he's around 8-10 years old) because his mother took his iPad 2 from him and life isn't fair.  So this kid is crying in public for like a couple minutes and the mother, instead of disciplining him, gives him his iPad back PLUS like 5 chocolate bars.

There was this woman with a crying toddler another day.  She had been ignoring his cries for two hours.  Sick of it, my uncle told this lady to hurry up and discipline this child.  The woman said she had tried spanking him, but it didn't work.  My uncle told her to demonstrate and her "spank" was actually more of a light pat on the baby's diaper-cushioned butt.

What is wrong with parents today?  Did we get so hateful of how our parents brought us up that instead of turning our children into tough kids that can handle responsibility, they've become softies that will cry when things don't go their way.  We've seen it all over the media and parents have blamed everything that can be blamed - except themselves.  Sure, I'll spank my kid every once in a while, and no way I'm always going to get them the newest toy or iPhone (maybe my kid will get a Nokia 3310 in middle school or something).  But people are actually going to like my kid.

2. How to mow the lawn.

I hate mowing the lawn.  I'll make them do it instead.

3. How to move like Jagger.

It's important to be able to move (dance) like Jagger (i.e. Adam Levine does it pretty well) in this day and age.  Kids who can't dance are subject to some social isolation, and if my kid can dance, he'll be the coolest kid ever.  Like those kids in Footloose.  They were pretty cool.

4. How to beat the Elite Four in Pokemon Red.

Maybe I won't teach them; that's something they have to earn on their own.  But my kids will be playing classic Pokemon, and you can bet they won't be playing Farmville.  Some turn-based strategy games oughtta teach my kids strategy, and strategy makes people smarter, right?

Plus, Pokemon is just an awesome game.  Every kid should play it.  Forget going outside, it's way too hot.

5. The value of money.

My family lives comfortably, which is kind of rare in Saipan.  We know where the money will come from every two weeks, we own a nice, paid-off house, and we have like three cars in the garage.  We even have enough so we can afford to go to the states every summer and even going somewhere else during the winter (and sometimes, we even have an additional trip during the spring).  But we don't have everything.

I don't get an allowance.  Everything I spend either comes from birthday/Christmas cash, or from working for hours at DFS.  I don't have the nicest phone ever.  My mom only buys clothes when they're on sale.  We always get the cheaper brand of canned corn at the grocery store.  The three cars in the garage are fairly old used cars (except for my mother's - that was a mid-life crisis thing).  The point I'm trying to make here is that we don't spend all our money on little, unimportant things; we live frugal lives.

Yet, a lot of people here that live off of food stamps drive to the food stamp office in nicer cars.  Kids who complain about not having enough cash are wearing a $100 pair of sneakers because they matched with their shirts (and they have other nice shoes for other shirts, mind you).  They buy about $10 worth of snacks during recesses and eat out after school every other day.  They blow off money on alcohol and pot, and they call me rich.  I don't spend like they spend; if anything, I feel the opposite of rich.  It's how my family spends our money and how their family spends theirs that makes us different.

So yeah, my kids will be frugal.  I'll give them a couple dollars to spend on whatever they want in the grocery store to teach them how to spend only on what they really want.  There's no way I'm giving them the new iPad 2, and if they cry, they better reread point 1.

6. Self-esteem.

Kids oughtta have some self-confidence.  Look in the mirror and feel proud to be who you are.  Don't be afraid to ask questions.  These things apply more to kids past the age of 11 and continue on into adulthood.

"Be proud of who you are, because you are of my blood and I am awesome."

That's what I'll tell 'em.