The Chairman's Method: Re-Education Through Labor

Hello, ladies and gentlemen of the internet. My grand extravaganza of a birthday weekend just passed. Here are a few thoughts on that said birthday, and what it feels like to be 31 in 2020. 

Life is moving pretty fast these days it seems. Yes, the pandemic has brought everything to the penultimate halt but people are still out here trying to make their dreams become reality. Today, my manager and co-worker sort of grilled me about how I need to get a real career going. I've been at the company for some seven years in retail there at the market. Things have gone okay but not great there. And now with the pandemic in full effect [and it will get much worse mind you], hours have been scarce, including for me. 

So they mentioned that I should go to trade school. And that a four year degree is worthless. Well, I agreed with that part at least about the four year degree. The way I see life and work is that I chose the road less traveled, the much harder road, the road where you'll feel your work through your blood, sweat, and tears, [like the rock band] more so than through your paycheck. 

What I mean is that I chose re-education through labor rather than the traditional college route. To be honest I have no regrets but eventually my body will feel it a lot more [this is why I must lose weight and become as healthy as possible because my 40s will be much harder] in the next decade. I've never been a follower, so consequently I've never had a leader, meaning that I've pretty much gone my own way my entire life. A real lone wolf in that sense. Scary and intense as fuck! Lol.   

Sure, I've had some guidance here and there but if I'm forced into something, that's usually a sure sign of it not working out. That's why I've gone the Chairman's Method, Re-Education Through Labor. 

Instead of going to college and getting a degree and spending a fortune to educate myself, I've instead chosen to work as much as I physically can, get as much money as I can, and spend all my time off work educating myself by reading the Western Canon, history, philosophy, [and science fiction]. I've created an online persona [this blog] where I can write about, well anything and everything I've read, learned, or experienced. Another big part of that re-education is all the music I play, primarily teaching myself how to play jazz guitar through live experience with a talented saxophonist. It ain't much but its honest work. 

I feel very good about what I've done so far and I'm very optimistic about the future. I think I'll eventually figure out a more profitable job or career, but even if I don't, I won't feel like a loser because I didn't become a master of the universe [Elon or Zuckerberg]. I won't become a bitter man because I didn't become rich. I won't look at people any less. I won't become more solitary and turn away from society like some depressed slightly older millennial who thinks they deserve much more than they have received without putting in the effort in order to achieve this godlike status. I know what all those people are like. They're miserable. But I'm not. I'm actually happy. 

The biggest lie in society is that you must have, have, have, in order to be happy. Yes, you would be happier if you kept having more and more and more but the more you become attached to these things, the less meaning they contain, and until you see that, you can only truly live in a material world, free from the spiritual self, which is where the real magic happens. Until you learn to live [and let die], you can never detach yourself from the material world. The material world tells me I need a degree, that I need a trade school, that I need to do this, need to do that. But my spirit tells me all I need to know. This is where the Chairman's Method has lead me so far. If you see me on the road, don't kill me. 

With Tales of Brave Ulysses, how his naked ears were tortured, by the Sirens sweetly singing.

Summer's [almost] gone

Summer's [almost] gone. We are in the midst of autumn. My favorite season of the four seasons, Vivaldi style. Obviously, I enjoy Fall because of my father and my own birthday, which just past on September 25th. But there are other reasons why I love Fall. 

Fall is the season of change. New beginnings. The same old humdrum routine feels different somehow even though I've already been here before, maybe even a thousand times, metaphorically speaking, of course. I'm working in a similar job that I've always worked at during Fall. The same old things remind me of old memories and experiences even though everything is slightly different. Variations on deja vu, if you will. 

I remember lots of things from Wisconsin and my last visit to Chicago two years ago. The leaves in the midwestern streets, thousands of them, littered all over, sometimes burnt in firepits, but most of the time just swept into the streets, for cars to pass them by, and shuffled into the air. The variations of colours on the leaves vary from bright, dark oranges, to reds, to browns, to dirty black. The crisp cold California air that comes in October and November. Skateboarding home from school in 70-degree temperatures to the Wisco house. 

The more I remember the more I think and ruminate on all of it. It's a work of beauty, majesterial. I'm older, different, but still slightly the same, the song remains the same. 

In terms of business its the beginning of the holiday season, which means sales, sales, sales. I've learned to control my spending habits and not waste money frivolously so I'm already much more prepared for the holidays than I was any other year of my life. The big difference here is that I'm not a consumer anymore. I just buy clothes and food. I don't need any more guitars or video games. I don't need much of anything. There comes a time when a man realizes that he should only buy what he needs. A 21st-century schizoid man has what he doesn't need.

Work reminds me of other past work experiences. Different people remind me of other people I've worked with. The young girls always remind me of other girls. The guys too. California retail is a blessing because I used to have a much harder time getting to and working at places in Wisconsin. But there's definitely an air of "I've been here a thousand times before," every time that I clock into work, every time I talk to a co-worker, every time I talk to a customer, the feeling that never goes away, during the Fall.

Perhaps this is just the worldhood of the world. Either way, summer's gone. C'est la vie. 

Working for Something

Just read a short blog post that inspired me to write another vlog style motivational post. What are you working for? Most of us have jobs so that we can spend our free time doing the things we want. Leisure and all that jazz. However, because we only have one life we have to make use of our free time wisely. 

For example, I stopped playing video games hardcore and now I have a lot more free time for reading books-news-articles, listening to music,  playing guitar, and hanging out with my friends. I stopped hanging out with my friends more than three times a week because I realized that we need more space and time between us. Absence makes the heart fonder.

At the end of my workday [1 AM shift, been on this schedule for 6 years now], all I really have time or energy for is to read books, write, and possibly play guitar [I need to play more, but that's another post]. I wouldn't even have the energy to stay up all night to play video games because I'm already staying up half the night ending my work shift, and then reading until I crash and fall asleep. 

What am I working towards? Generally speaking, I'm working towards enjoying leisure reading as well as increasing my education through great books, weather they are science fiction, classics, philosophy, history, historical fiction, and poetry. I'm also working towards becoming a better writer. Lastly, I'm working towards increasing my musical chops, learning Sequenza by Berio, as well as learning more jazz standards. It's a lot. 

There are other goals I have that seem more difficult. Like finding a girlfriend. However, the goals I have now are things that I love and would be happy to keep working on 5-10 years from now. Most of my free time needs to be spent in gainful activity. I have an addictive personality and I'm wired most of the time. Once I start something, I really get into it, mastering every bit and piece of it, until I can call myself some kind of master, even if not a 'true' master of said art. I've been doing this with the guitar, with reading novels and trying to with writing. 

I've got to keep pushing myself. You've only got one life to live. If you work hard to get just a little slice of heaven, then you need to make sure every visit is worth it when you get to the Gate. 

Spring 2019 Goals

Hello ladies and gents. Here I'd like to go on a short motivational speel about goals. Personal mostly but this can apply to anyone relatively speaking. Spring 2019 is here. Life is moving by quickly. Have you been working on all your New Years resolutions? Are you getting everything you want to be done? 

First, my biggest New Years Resolution [only one really] was to work out more. In the beginning of the year I was working out super hard. In fact, during the first week I ran 2 miles everyday for five days. That was way too extreme. Hurt my legs. But I felt great in my mind. I had a strong mental mindset about the whole thing. Then, the California winter was super harsh, so I didn't run because of the rain and cold. Now, spring is here so I have no excuse. I'm not going to go hardcore. In fact, I'll probably run one day, then rest the next. End up running 3 days, resting for 4 days. My weight is still the same, which is not good, as I'm above 200 pounds. I have a lot more work to do. 

Second, I need to learn how to eat less. Contrary to what Americans believe, it isn't the fact that I don't exercise much that I'm overweight. Its the fact that every day I'm eating too much, overfeeding my body, too many calories. If I can learn to eat less [and drink less soda, drink more water], I can lose weight the natural way, by just allowing the weight to fly off, by letting my body be hungry more. This is more difficult than working out for me because my friends all love to eat out all the time and they sure as hell don't eat healthily. In fact, they're all getting overweight too. I was doing this for a while and I managed to lose twenty pounds. Unfortunately, I went back to bad eating habits and gained the weight back. This is the most difficult task for me. My number one goal.

Third, finish my novella and show it around to some publishers. I've been working on a novella [long short story] and my goal once I've finished it is to show it around to some publishers and try to get it published. If I can't get it published its no big deal. In fact, I think just learning how to write better in the process is worth it just by itself. My goal is 100 pages. I currently have 28 pages. So I've got a lot more writing and editing to do before I even really discuss it with anyone.

Fourth, release an album for sale on Bandcamp. I've been working with an alto saxophonist named Jason Thomas. He says he can get us free studio time. Our end goal is to record at the studio and release the best tracks as an album on Bandcamp, a music website people use to sell their tunes. I also want to perform live with him more whether it just be open mics or real gigs. Hopefully real gigs. I also want to find a bass player so we can have a legit jazz trio. The guitar, alto saxophone duo is cool but we really need that bass for the low end, as well as having the complete complementary instrumentation. 

Fifth, read more books. Reading is my spirit animal at this point. Most of all my blog posts are about novels. I love reading with a  passion. Maybe even as much as music. Or more? Not sure. I want to finish reading The Illiad, read the Aeneid,  the Odysee, finish the Divine Comedy by Dante Alighieri, more Hemingway novels, more philosophy, in particular, finish reading Heidegger's Time and Being. Hopefully, I get to all those. Its a lot but I've got the discipline and reading habit to actually do it. I'm a reading machine.

Sixth, think about finding another job if my family doesn't end up moving. The family plan is to move to Chicago but I'm not sure when if ever that is going to happen. I love California and I'd love to stay here but its too expensive to live here on my own. If we end up staying in California say, another year, then my plan will be to find another job. Retail can only take you so far in life. They're not giving me that many hours anymore. Sometimes its good to know when to pull the plug. 

Life is full of distractions. In a way its good that my friends are busy working most of the time. I've found that seeing my friends only once or twice a week is a lot better for our friendship. Time makes the heart fonder, as they say. Not only that, but I enjoy more free time by myself, where I'm able to work on all my goals. A lot of my friends have moved away and others have drifted apart. Sometimes you have to realize that some people will only be in your life for a short while. Such is life. In the meantime, I'm going to keep pushing myself, and fight the good fight, so to speak. 

The Wagner Connection

I've been listening to a lot of classical music. I've found myself listening to more and more classical music after my vacation to Chicago last year, where I saw a quartet (from DePaul University) perform Messiaen's Quartet for the End of Time (check out my review for that performance here). That changed my attitude towards classical music and expanded my musical horizons. Messiaen is much different composer, albeit just as amazing as Richard Wagner. However, it has been Wagner's music that really strikes a chord with me.

Where do I start? I first heard various parts of the Ring Cycle in college, around 2011, however I didn't listen to it seriously until recently. I'm partial to favoring the instrumentals-the Overtures, Preludes, but the actual opera itself is quite a masterpiece. I plan on listening to the entire opera (many hours long) soon when I have enough time away from work, which proves to be extremely difficult this summer. 

Anyways, Wagner's music opened new doors. I've been reading the score for Tristan and Isolde, trying to decipher it, figure out how he gets the Tristan chord sound, how he arranges, how the melodies intertwine with the bass and the melodies. Serious stuff you know. I'll never look at heavy metal the same way again. Wagner's music sounds like heavy metal to me, that's what initially got me interested in college. The music is heavy but there's beauty in the melody, sometimes dark and other times tugging at the heartstrings, not just crushing chords. 

Because Frank Abbinanti, a new music composer that has been mentoring me from Chicago has sent me some pretty difficult scores for me to work on and play, I've been able to read music much better to the point where I can read and understand Wagner's score, albeit in a much less refined way than a classical musician or composer. I think about the chord voicings, how it would sound on guitar, piano, try to imagine the sound in my head as I read the notes. One of my goals is to one day be able to look at a score and know what it sounds like without hearing it on record or playing the notes on an instrument. I may never get there. But its a goal.

Wagner's music has much emotion. I tried to explain Wagner's music to my co-worker when he saw me reading the score on my break. He asked, "What does Wagner's music sound like?" I thought for a long time and explained as best as I could. I said that the music has a heavy feeling to it, like a lot in your head, but melodies that make you see the beauty in that which you didn't know exist. I told him to listen to the Tannhauser Overture and that he would know what I mean. 

I've gone down a very untypical path for a guitarist that first learned to play by playing the Ramones and Black Sabbath. My tastes have evolved eclectically and I'm all the better and smarter for it. My interest in jazz is still strong but now I have the entire classical canon to refer back to, a gift that I didn't know I had access to until recently. 

Most of the music my friends and associates listen to is not classical, nor jazz, or classic rock even. None of the stuff I'm into. Like regular young adults, they listen to whats popular, new, current and "hip", for lack of a better term here I use the word hip rather loosely because for me what's popular will never be hip in my traditional jazz musician's sensibility. I've realized that music for most people is just background noise. Co-workers listen to rap on earbuds while they work. My friend listens to death metal when he's driving fast down the freeway. My other friend listens to indie rock as he drives casually down the boulevard. I've realized that music for me is much greater, and more profound. Music for me is art, nothing to snicker or sneer at, and definitely not background music. In fact, I only listen to music on my computer when I'm sitting down, either reading , or just listening doing nothing else. 

I've found out that to be a musician is a hard life. I can't even get a band of guys together that are willing to meet once every week, let a lone a jazz group. I had a death metal band a while ago but when we didn't make money within three months the singer and bassist called it quits. As Frank Zappa used to say, "Strictly commercial." Most music these days is cheap (hence why the singles thing has become the new medium), just like our culture. We want things fast, hard, and easy. This is what I've come to find out. Life isn't easy, and making money with your art is even harder. 

Even if I never fulfill my childhood dream of becoming a famous hotshot guitar player or make a ton of money playing music I will be happy knowing that the music served it purpose, it opened the path for great artistic achievement and endeavors. And for that I am entirely indebted.

Plans for 2017

So I already did a post where I talked about my new year's resolutions and stuff. All I said was that I wanted to get smarter and learn more about the things I like. Specifically learn more about these things on a technical level. Here I'd like to outline some more plans and goals for 2017 that are more general terms and ideas.

• Buy a better laptop for late night gaming sessions
• Start playing Hearthstone
• Learn 10 jazz standards by heart, this includes both melody and chord changes
• Start busking
• Buy a cheap acoustic guitar
• Start a band
• Start gigging
• Losing weight by eating less at work
• Get a better rank in competitive Overwatch 

Learning jazz tunes and chord changes by heart will take a lot of practice but I can definitely do it. Busking will take a lot of work and I will use a cheap steel string acoustic for that as electric doesn't really lend itself well to busking due to the lack of electricity.

I'm in the process of starting a band but to honest with you I'm not too sure if its going to work out so I might continue working with my newbie musician friends in our pseudo band at the moment. Hopefully those two friends (guitar and bass players) can get good enough this year. Who knows, perhaps we could even play a short gig or set somewhere?

Another thing I've been working on is losing weight by eating less at work. I've been eating smaller lunches and watching what I eat during the day as well. I eat three meals a day-breakfast, lunch, and dinner and no meal is that much bigger than any of the others. I've been keeping the weight steady, even losing a few pounds here and there. Just gotta keep it up and I'll lose even more.

Lastly, I wanna get a better competitive ranking in Overwatch. Right now its pretty difficult but I've become so good at the game now that I feel like I deserve to at least be in the platinum-diamond level skill cap. My ultimate end goal for the game will be to hit masters but that will take a lot of competitive game grinding for probably the rest of the year. 

That's all. Sounds easy? Well, it ain't. I'm gonna work my ass off.

Gaming plans

I have some plans for gaming that I'm working on.

Getting on a semi-professional and/or rookie gaming teams
I'm interested on getting on semi-professional gaming teams. Right now I'm in the process of trying out for a smash 4 team. But I'm also interested in joining a team fortress and an overwatch team. I play games so much competitively and I want to get better and keep moving forward with my skills. I know a lot about a plethora of games. Now I want to put my skills to the test and keep improving. It will be great working together with teams and having coordination. Up until now I've mostly been a solo queue type of gamer. I wrote all about what that's like here. As a solo queue player I must say that these are.....trying times. But in all seriousness once I get on a team things will be more difficult because I'll have to play better but I will most likely enjoy it more. Although it seems like a lot of pressure I can handle it. In the past I was on a Starcraft II team called Team Peace and we did scrims twice a week and I even played in a tournament style setting. Good times.

Getting more Twitch viewers
So my Twitch account can be viewed here. While my total views has skyrocketed when I stream I hardly get 2 or 3 viewers. I'm not sure what to do. I post when I'm live on a Facebook twitch streamers group and also on my Twitter but the viewers don't seem to be coming in. I know that streaming is a tough gig and that it might take a long time to get more viewers but I've had moments where I've had like 16 viewers in the past. That was when I was playing Starcraft II. So one thing I'll do is play more Starcraft. And try to find other games that seem to attract viewers. Because right now Overwatch and Heroes of the Storm isn't bringing the noise. An important factor that I've worked hard to improve upon is my demeanor and commentary.  

Making more YouTube videos
My first YouTube video can be viewed here. Although it wasn't that great I think it was a good first attempt at a YouTube vid. I plan on making more. My friend suggested that I make guides for Overwatch. That sounds like a great idea but I'm also interested in making comedy gaming videos as well. My stand-up and general banter is pretty hilarious and I think it would be great to expand on that through viral media. The problem I've run into right now is that my friend doesn't want to help me out with making more videos. Its mostly the fact that he's not good at editing videos himself that's the problem. So I'm going to have to learn something-like in school! My next step is to download Blender and look up some tutorials and learn it myself. Good luck to me!

So yeah hopefully once I get things crackin' on this stuff things will be more interesting. I'm already having fun and enjoying everything but I'm at the point now where I want to work harder and produce better and more content. I've got a whole 'lotta work to do. Rip my free time.

Plans: Gaming and Otherwise

     So occasionally at work I get divine inspiration and ideas while toiling away in the salt mines. I came to the conclusion that I play so many games and so often that I should try to focus back on streaming. I did start it but I didn't really keep up with it but now I want to really do it, and be committed to it more. I'm going to get a webcam so I can be a true streamer. You know how people stream on Twitch and stuff but they're just playing the game with no webcam and just with a microphone. It's just not the same when you can't see the person. You don't get to understand their true persona and who they really are. It's just a whole lot more fun. So a webcam will help. Also, I'm thinking about posting Super Smash Bros videos online on a YouTube channel dedicated to gaming. I want to start by just editing Smash videos and putting hype music on them and doing a bit of commentary as well. 

     Sounds really fun. This is all really doable stuff and I wouldn't really be doing anything out of the ordinary from my regular life. I mean, I always play games so I might as well have an audience, try to make new friends online with other streamers and viewers, and just have a good time doing it. 

     Other ideas that came to mind is that I need to lose weight. It's easier said than done. A big part of it is that my lifestyle is a very languid and laid back one. The life of a gamer means little to no exercise. At least in the summer my friends and I went out to the beach and went hiking a lot. Now that its winter we mostly just go out to eat and just chill. I think I should make it a habit to start walking everyday, like maybe go out for coffee everyday as a reward for walking. For instance, I could walk to Starbucks from my house (a good workout), and get a coffee when I get there. And then from there I could go to work. And I could do this everyday. I'm sure if I started getting more physical activity I would shed some pounds easily. I think that's the biggest problem really, just not enough physical activity. So I'm going to start walking.

     The other idea that came to mind is that I need to get my drivers license. I'm going to the DMV on the 20th and take the written driving test and try to get my permit. The first time I went I failed but it was mostly because I didn't use any of my skips. It was on a computer screen and you were allowed three skips (basically three free answers) and I just completely forgot I had them and didn't use any of them. For some reason I felt like I could Rambo all the questions and get them all right. Next time I'll use the skips, and hopefully I'll be able to get the permit. Thankfully, I already have a car I can practice on but my folks will have to get me on their insurance for me to practice driving on it. I think driving will change my life because I'll be out more and doing more things. I'll definitely be driving to Smash tournaments and hanging out at Guitar Center jamming on guitars. 

      I was also interested in working on music, but maybe trying to work on electronic music stuff just messing around with music programs. It would be fun to orchestrate stuff on a computer with orchestral instruments. 

     This all just came to me today while I was at work. Good things do come out of work!

     

A Ditty (Kong)

     Just wanted to do a short little post for fun before I head to bed. I've been having a great work week so far and life has been good. Been waking up earlier, practicing more guitar(jazz!), learning more computer stuff, and listening to lots of great jazz music via YouTube. I haven't been gaming as much, perhaps that's for the best. I want to start playing League of Legends though, I'm inspired to play it because one of my friends loves the game and told me its a great game and that it's even better than Dota 2. I've played League and Dota and I've had a more enjoyable time playing Dota because I feel like the characters are more over powered, which is easier for beginners like me to operate with. But maybe I will like League if I give it another shot. I've only played one character in the game, this cute little guy who rides on top of this white winter creature. He's a pretty cool character, I believe he's a jungler. Anyways, I'll try him out some more when I get the chance. For a while I was really into playing mobas because of Heroes of the Storm, so I was playing League and Dota a lot, unsure which to devote my time to so I tried both.
     In addition, my birthday is coming up next week and I'm planning on getting the Wii-U for myself, mainly just for Super Smash Brothers 4 online. I figure if I'm going to be great at Smash and start going to the locals every chance I get then I've got to play the Wii-U version, and ditch the 3DS version. I've started to dislike the 3DS version because my c-stick and directional buttons in general on my 3DS are kind of worn out now even though I've only owned it for about 6 months, which is wiggity wiggity wack! But at the same time I've played it a lot and played Smash 4 with it. These handheld systems are kind of built to be re-bought in a way. The fact that they remade a new 3DS for bigger hands and an enhanced 3D screen is proof of that. I'm looking forward to getting the Wii-U and Smash 4, and also going out for dinner with my family-maybe something like Gyu-Kaku or Flemings, that would be bomb. It's funny how I didn't even like Nintendo before I got the 3DS and Smash 4. Now I have a Fox shirt and I just ordered a cute Kirby shirt, haha. Hope everyone is having a good work week so far. As for playing my friends in Smash 4 with the Wii-U once I get it, its on like Donkey Kong!

Update 1.06

     Thought I'd do another one of these kind irl (in real life) updates on what's up and what's been going on for me lately. First of all, I started guitar lessons on Saturday from a jazz guitarist. He gave me some really good tips for my guitar playing but also life and job advice for my future-really good advice that I'm going to consider looking into. He thought that I'm a good player and everything but that I should consider going to school for something else, perhaps taking music courses but also studying something that I could make money in as well. He mentioned taking a CAT class, something I don't know much about but involves computer assisted technology (that's what I think it means), engineering courses, and stuff involving the sciences. When I mentioned to him that I've been interested in computer science for a while he said "that's good, learn that". He also said it will much easier being a musician when I'm making $70-$80,000 a year, which would definitely be true. Another great tip he gave me was that I shouldn't just want to play jazz guitar, but also be willing to play/learn other styles like rock, pop, and blues. Great advice. I'm thinking about enrolling in some courses at some places in the area-places like Pierce Community College and West Valley Occupational Center, places a lot of the people at my work go to. Perhaps I could learn something involving computers and technology. I'm really excited about learning more about jazz guitar. And perhaps learning something that I could get a real career with as well. So there's that.
     In addition, I'm interested in improving my writing and the blog, and trying to find an entry level position in the gaming industry. Everyone and their grandmother wants a job in the gaming industry, am i right mates? I had a talk with my brother tonight over dinner about it and he thinks I should try to figure out what I want to specialize in because there are so many jobs in the gaming industry. The first thing I mentioned was that I'm interested in writing in games (gaming journalism), PR, marketing, and the social media side of gaming. But I also told my bro that I would also be willing to learn computer coding in order to do the programming side of things for gaming. I even said I'd be willing to quit playing games to work on this stuff. I might end up not playing games as much to learn. It would take a lot of hours of learning on my own to learn this stuff, even if I went back to college and had good teachers. One of the things I'm interested in that I can do right now is try to find ways for me to write for small sort of indie gaming websites (something like Kotaku) or blogs, maybe not even get paid, but just do it for the experience. That way I can say that I've had experience writing in a somewhat professional environment. So I'm going to start looking at websites and blogs that I can write for and maybe start to get noticed for my writing and maybe even for my own blog. I've never really marketed my blog (other than my Twitter and Facebook) or networked with other bloggers online (other than Ryfigueroa.blogspot). I'm sure if I did I would get much more attention and be noticed more in the gaming, music, and pop culture community. I know a lot of people write blogs and stuff but I feel that I've learned how to write pretty well in this blogging format. Maybe other people will recognize that as well.
     Lastly, other changes I want to make are with myself. For one thing, I want to start waking up earlier in the day and getting more done, like working on the guitar, learning more about jobs, and starting school. Right now I would say that I live a very privileged life that is outside the norms of society. Part of it isn't my own fault. For one thing, I work until 1 in the morning everyday that I work. Because of that I usually stay up late into the early mornings, sometimes not going to sleep until 4 or 5 am. I'm usually just messing around playing 3DS, watching YouTube, and watching Twitch streams. It's gotten to the point now that I usually wake up super late, and I even sometimes miss things I want to go to because I've overslept (I've missed two Super Smash Brothers 4 tournaments recently because of this). :'(  It ain't all that bad though, it's not like super important events happen here in the Valley anyways. But where I live everything is done during the day and there isn't anything open and anything to do past 10 pm. I wish I lived in a more lively environment, something to look into in the future. I should look on the bright side though. At my work, all the hard work and heavy lifting happens during the day. And I only work at night. Nice man!
     In addition, I've been trying to eat healthier and I've stopped drinking soda, preferring to drink water, tea, and juice lately. Got to lose weight so I can look good for the ladies! I even got a haircut recently but I have to say that I hate having short hair and I'm not going to go this short ever. Something about having short hair just puts me off. It feels like part of me is missing.
     Another thing I want to do is start going out to more events and make new friends. Like going to more concerts to meet other music fans and musicians, and also going to local Smash Bros tournaments. I've met a handful of people since I've lived out here but I would say that my circle of friends is very limited and for the most part we don't have a lot in common. It would be cool to meet more people: girls, musicians that I can form a band with, and other gamers that like the same games I play. I've met a lot of people at my work that work in the gaming industry and some of them have given me some good advice. One guy said I should look into becoming a tester. He also mentioned that if I could create a mod for a game, that's one way to get a company to look at you. He even said he's working on a game right now, and that when it's ready he'll give me a beta key to test it out. Not only that but the guitar teacher who's teaching me is someone I've met at work too. So work has a place in my destiny, not too shabby. Although the daily grind of working in a grocery store can get you down, I've learned that you should do the work with good grace. That way, people will give you credit and praise you for doing the grunt work. That's it for now, Figueroa out.