As to continue with the trend of posting videos...I bring you the masterpiece that I had the pleasure to be a part of.

One man.

One desire.

He was...Ali Minhaj.

The American Dream: Ali Minhaj 2


Big ups to Sumair, Imran, and Hasan!

This song reminded me of my adventures yesterday at the bar..

Track of the Day: Obie Trice - Got Some Teeth

Okay rolie polies everywhere
Gotta find a slim chick's atmosphere
Obesity's glarin and she got me fearin
She's gonna come over here and try to eat me literal-ly,
like a box of Cherrios
Carry cupcakes and chocolate Tootsie rolls
I'm outta order cause I gotta big girl disorder
So better cover up that blubber or I'll split
And I ain't got time to play
Let's investigate another place today
Ladies less in weight and the dress they shape
Dresses pettite, no window drapes

Word to mother, the god damn Okra and beans
Got ya Opera and jeans
Seems to me a little lean cuisine
Wouldn't hurt much, I don't touch!

Check this out - on Saturday someone had the AUDACITY to call me immature. Me? Immature? What an absurd claim! I mean sure, I laugh at silly jokes sometimes, do silly things, and laugh at the occasional "hoe" joke..but I am NOT immature! An immature man could not do half the things I do or accomplish the things that I accomplish. Furthermore, an immature man would not be able to produce coherent sentences such as this one - A voracious reader with a passion for history and great men, he was a droll raconteur with a grandiloquent style.

But then I saw this ad in a magazine that made me laugh. I looked up the product online and I laughed even harder. Then I realized I really am immature....

Brondell


What a good feeling!

Aight maybe I should go back to studying for my midterm tomorrow...

Track of the Day: Red Hot Chilli Peppers - Dani California

Ya know, I get alotta spam emails in my UCDavis account. Especially that crap about enlarging my penis...I wonder if any of you ladies get those. Probably not, because all of mine are from my ex-girlfriends...

Track of the Day: Janet Jackson & Nelly - Call on Me

Yeah I'm in on a Friday night...but this is the life I chose. Much peace is found in solitude and that is where I am content being. But regardless of that, there is a story in which I'd like to share with all...the ancient Chinese story of the Stone Cutter

There was once a stonecutter, who was dissatisfied with himself and with his position in life.

One day, he passed by a wealthy merchan't house, and through the open gateway, saw many fine posessions and important vistors. "How powerful that merchant must be!" thought the stonecutter. He became very envious, and wished that he could be like the merchant. Then he would no longer have o live the life of a mere stonecutter.

To his great surprise, he suddenly became the merchant, enjoying more luxuries and power than he had ever dreamed of, envied and detested by those less wealthy than himself. But soon a high official passed by, carried in a sedan chair, accompanied by attendeants, and escorted by soldiers beating gongs. Everyone, no matter how wealthy, had to bow low before the procession. "How powerful that official is!" he thought. "I wish that I could be a high official!"

Then he became the high official, carried everywhere in his embroidered sedan chair, feared and hated by the people al around, who had to bow down before him as he passed. It was a hot summer day, and the official felt very uncomfortable in the sticky sedan chair. He looked up at the sun. It shone proudly in the sky, unaffected by his presence. "How powerful the sun!" he thought. "I wish that I could be the sun!"

Then he became the sun, shining fierceley down on everyone, scorching the fields, cursed by the farmers and laboreres. But a huge black cloud moved between him and the earth, so that his light could no longer shine on everything below. "How powerful that storm cloud is!" he thought. "I wish that I could be a cloud!"

Then he became the cloud, flooding the fields and villages, shouted at by everyone. But soon he found that he was being pushed away by some great force, and realized that it was the wind. How powerful it is!" he thought. "I wish that I could be the wind!"

Then he became the wind, blowing tiles off the roofs of hourses, uprooting trees, hated and feared by all below him. But after a while, he ran up against something that would not move, no matter how forcefully he blew against it - a huge, towering stone. "How powerful that stone is!" he thought. I wish I could be a stone!"

Then he became the stone, more powerful than anything else on earth. But as he stood there, he heard the sound of a hammer pounding a chisel into the solid rock, and felt himself being changed. "What could be more powerful than I, the stone?" he thought. He looked down and saw far below him the figure of a stonecutter.

What does this all mean? We all play our roles in this world - appreciate who you are and what you do because that is what makes this wold the way it is...which is a good place. Understand your limitations, your strengths, and your weaknesses, live by them, and you will be happy. As I've always said - Oneness only comes from Oneness. Remember to smile because really It's all good.

And now some nerdy pics of me.





Track of the Day: U2 - One

One last thing - remember to follow your Way.

Before I hit the town tonight with the fellas I thought I'd share with all y'all some funny skits from one of the most controversial, racist, and funniest comedians of all time - Dave Chapelle.


Racial Draft

Racial Draft

I've always wanted to say this...For Shizzle.

Dave Chapelle (GTA)


Pee on you


Remix Remix Remix

Pee On You Remix


And my very favorite skit..

Dave Chapelle Samuel Jackson


It'll get ya drunk! You'll be fucking fat girls in no time! mmmMMM BITCH!

And I'm out to go get in trouble!

Track of the Day: The Federation - Hyphy

That's right I'm gettin stupid doo doo dumb dumb!

As predicted yesterday, I'm in my lab at a ridiculous hour. Sigh...oh well.

Today we're going to discuss the idea in which I've been living my life in accordance with these days - discipline.

Just about everyone who knows me knows I lack discpline and self control. I'm always the one to cave in to eat the crappy food (mostly cookies), do a lotta stupid shit, or live in the extremes. To quote Obi-Wan from Episode 3 - "There are no extremes. Only the darkside lives in extremes." Well, enough of the Jediness..point is, I've always known that there are many things in life that you can and can't control - might as well take control over the ones that you have power to so you'll be happy in that regard.

One day, I decided to do just that. Where and how it started who knows (and who cares?) but the point is I'm living a good life - lifting and running daily, staying focus in an extremely boring class, being dilligent about my lab work, keeping up with my responsibilities, and going back to being a vegetarian.

Happiness comes from within...and that's where I started.

Oh yeah, and on my run to the middle-of-nowhere Davis, I saw the river flowing again...interesting...

Track of the Day: Jack Johnson - Upside Down

Today we're going to try something new...an on location post. What the hell does that mean you ask? It means I'm in my lab at 8:45 at night and I'm going to finally describe to all you loyal fans what it is I actually do in here...

In the good ol GBSF (Genome and Biomedical Sciences Facility) I do research in the Biomedical Engineering Department with Dr. JK Leach. In his lab we do tissue engineering - specifically bone and vascular engineering using stem cells. Sounds pretty cool right? Well it is!

So my "summer project" (I use qutoes because this somehow turned into a "week project") involves working on the finding the optimal environment to be used for inducing the stem cells to differentiate (change) towards bone cells in hopes of being used in implants. So, I create 2D films out of a polymer and change the properties of the films to see which better suits the cells. Once the proper experiments have been done with the 2D films, the data collected will be compared to the data from the 3D scaffolds to see which one would be better fit for the cells. Obviously, it's goign to be the 3D scaffolds...but whatever.


Sound boring? Well its not! Think about it like this...ever break a bone? Well I have. And let me tell you, that was a miserable miserable couple of months. If things work out properly in this field, we could potentially heal broken bones in a matter of weeks instead of a matter of months. I don't know about you, but that seems like a Very Good Thing to me.

Why am in my lab so late? Besides the fact that I'ma geek (which I've come terms with mind you), it's like I said - my "summer project" has turned into a "week project." The grad student that I'm working with (an MD/PhD student that's 21...makes me feel like a failure) told me this morning that it was time to get going with the cells and such.



Thus, I've got to get all my films ready in a week so I can add the cells to them once they're done growing. To make the films, I have to make microspheres (which takes 4 hours a batch) within 2 days. Then I have to take the time to do the modifications to the film which is a week's process. Something tells me it's going to be a loooooong week with no sleep...


The things I do as a scientist...

Track of the Day: Kanye West - Spaceship

After a long day of journeying yesterday, I was given this from a friend.





It meant a great deal to him - a meaning which I do not understand yet. Perhaps soon I will understand its meaning...or maybe there is nothing to understand...it just is what it is.

Symbols are kind of funny like that - are they meaningful because we establish something within them or have they possessed that characteristic all along?

Who knows...

Track of the Day: Makyo - Devabansha (Tantric Laswell Mix)

I decided to cook dinner today - I know, I know..me...cook? What the hell? Either way, I decided to give it a go cause I figure if I get good at it I might pull in some ladies. Somehow, I ended up creating a new recipe that ended up tasting pretty good, so I decided I should share it with all of you. Try this at home kids.


How to Make Redder Burritos

1. Stir Black Beans in a frying pan at medium heat.

2. Dice onions and a green bell pepper.

3. Pull out a tomato and begin cutting.

4. Accidently miss the tomato and take a slice out of your index finger. Bleed thorougly over the tomatoes.

5. Warm up a tortilla.

6. Place beans, cheese, onions, bell peppers, and red tomatoes into the tortilla.

7. Serve warm and with plenty of water to account for the liter of blood loss.

Perhaps I'm extremely lame for finding this funny...but whatever. At least I'm enjoying it all. Something bout P'u and an Uncarved Block I think...


Track of the Day: Selena (RIP) - Dreaming of You

Everybody says I have no shame, and I've always wondered why...til today...

Twas a normal Sunday afternoon in the ARC with the homies. We decided to lift the worst muscle (fuckin legs) and so we started our routine as normal. Everything was normal...well sorta...

Before coming to the ARC, I left my roomie Mike at home with his girl...don't get me started on that one. How does this man have a girl? I've known this kid since first grade and he has barely even talked to a girl since then. TALKED TO A GIRL! And there he was on the couch with this chick...a sight that made me leave. I never thought I'd see the day come when he'd have a girl and I didnt...I swear the moons aren't aligning right in the cosmos. Anywho, he's been spending a lotta time with her lately making me think he's been gettin some...


So back to the ARC. About 15 minutes after I arrive, I see him and the girl (Hannah, by the way) and of course me and the homies have our comments. They walk off somewhere, and I see him come back BY HIMSELF to talk to us...

And that's when it all happened. It felt just like a prime moment to use a line from Harold and Kumar - I mean come on, he's the dorky Asian guy and I'm the premed chill Indian guy. Remember that scene in the elevator after Harold talks to that chick by himself?

It went down just like that. He walked up, and before he could say anything I popped the question, "Did she touch your penis?!?!?!"



As silly as that all was, in retrospect, it was funny and here's why...

1. It was done in a public setting where the majority of people in the room knew where the line came from - I had the whole room bustin up.

2. As soon as I said it, I saw a chick laughing in my peripheral vision. It was unfortunately Hannah.

3. Mike had the Asian glow without being drunk.

4. Basically, I made a complete ass outta myself in public - one of my specialities.

I guess at the end of the day, I'm glad he didn't kill me for saying that...but at least I had people laughing. Hahahaha...and the haters try to say I ain't funny..

Man..here's the worst part. I think he's still with her (1 AM) and he's got work down in the South Bay at 9 AM. How is this man getting more than I am? It's all good...I'll always have my special homegirl MJ..



Track of the Day: Akon - Mr. Lonely

Time for another book review...


The Namesake by Jhumpa Lahiri is now on my list of classics. I decided to pick up the book when I saw a preview for the movie which just happens to star one my favorite actors Kal Penn - the star of Harold of Kumar go to Whitecastle, Van Wilder (yeah I said it, HE was the star!), and Superman Returns (aight...he doesn't have any lines in that one but whatever...)


Either way, the book was amazing. The Namesake describes the story of the Ganguli family, straight from Calcutta, and how they learn to adopt their new lives in America. They give their first child a unique name - Gogol - one that doesn't seem to fit in to the standard American culture (hmmm...interesting...) Not give away too much, but the story follows Gogol and how lives his life and his struggle to define his identity - whether it be Indian or American - and how the ultimate choice of changing his name in early adulthood affects the rest of his life, mentally and culturally.


I'm not even going to point out the obvious reasons why I enjoyed the book, why I felt like I could relate, and why I'm probably going to enjoy the movie when it comes out later this year. Reading this book reminded me of the things of the past - old lessons and old thoughts and feelings that were once expressed through my artwork. It all showed me about the cyclical nature of life - how we end up in the same places over and over again, yet each time there is a new lesson. I know I find myself running in circles all the time, often not seeing the good in it all and not seeing why I am where I am. It's only when I stop to think and take the time to realize that happiness starts at the beginning of it all - in my name.


Track of the Day: 311 - Amber

As I kick back on a Monday night with the homies, I took some time to chill and let things be. Sure sure, sittin back and watch some TV and gettin my ass kicked in video games is always fun, but doin it with the right company and with the right amount of shitty Coors Light makes it all better. Now thats some dedication on my part - I'm kinda fuzzy, depresed that Mike is out gettin some from a chick and I'm not (really..when does that happen?) and I'm still writing for my fans! All two of them that is...


Anywho, things went just as planned today - woke up kinda late after seeing a late showing of Superman Returns, headed to the lab and made some PLG microspheres (don't worry about the scientific jargon, I'll explain one of these days) and headed the ARC as usual to get my lift on. As always, the dedicated steroid-using gym rat friends of mine were there doin their thing and were prepared to push me past my limits as soon I got there. Don't get me wrong - that's a good thing. These fools want to see me get big and get a six pack. Especially cause I said I'd get a "Thug Life" tat on my six pack if it shows up by the end of the summer (I hope I don't really do this...I don't wanna really look like 2Pac). Anyway, I started doing my chest work out by myself, but then I hopped on the bench, grabbed the homie Kris to spot me, and said fuck it. Ya, I said fuck it! I was gonna push myself harder than ever before and reach the goal of benching a plate (135 total pounds - my body weight) on each side!! And I did! THAT'S RIGHT!!

Trust me, this shit is relevant. Since all y'all faithful readers wanna know what I'm about, here it is. The point of me working out and lifting is more than just to get big, sexy, and get all the ladies. There is a zen to lifting, a meaning that I find everyday during my daily workouts. The process ends up being a thinking process mostly - I'll put up reps and a few sets here and there, but I spend the majority of my ARC timing contemplating. Throughout the repetition and constant struggles, I see the light of it all - that life in essence is the same as lifting. You push hard at times, you sit and wait at times, and then you push hard again. There are the good days and the bad days - the days where you're proud of what you put up and the days where you knew you could have done more. Yet at the end of it all, no matter what you did, it all added together to make you who you are and as long as you kept pushing, you'll see results.



Sure sure, a lot of that was that Ram bullshit, but I do have a point and it relates to everything in life. There is meaning in it all - from the trivial tasks of washing the dishes or cleaning up a room to the most "important" ones - the trials and tribulations. All of it happens for a reason and there is something to learn and to understand from it all.

Track of the Day: Eye of the Tiger - Rocky 3 Soundtrack

Oh ya, here's a dope quote I once heard a loooooong time ago.

"The only Zen you find on top of the mountain
Is the Zen you bring up there."