I Left My Heart In San Francisco

I'm going to do another photoblog with pictures from a couple days ago. Over Spring Break, Selena and I took a day adventure into SF with a Nikon D90 pretending we were legitimate photographers. And yes, it was an adventure in every sense of the word: we got lost in Chinatown, almost got run over by cable cars and even snuck to the top of a hotel to get a great view of North Beach. What follows is San Francisco through the lens of an amateur's camera.

















(If you liked any of those photos, it was probably mostly the camera. But chances are that Selena took it)

The best part of that day wasn't the actual photography, though. The best parts were those spontaneous moments that you don't plan out. As time passes, I know I'll forget most of the locations that we took pictures at but the candid memories will remain.

Hate It Or Love It?
Don't you love when the best moments of a trip come unplanned? Plans give a trip direction, but it's the candid, spontaneous moments that actually make the trip.

"C" Is For Center

What Is This?
This is San Jose about 1000 feet up. It's the view out of my window during my flight back to L.A. just after take-off.

Hate It Or Love It?
Don't you love it when you're one of the last ones to board the plane but still get a good seat? Alternatively, don't you hate it when you're stuck with the center seat between two strangers?

Southwest Airlines runs their seating on a first-come first-serve basis. You can check in online 24 hours before your flight and you're assigned a letter based on how early you check in. People with A board first, B second and C last. If you get an A, you're pretty much guaranteed a good seat. If you're a B, you generally have it okay as well. But if you have a C...well, you know what C stands for. C stands for center seat. Yes, the awkward center seat where both arm rests are taken up by the people sitting next to you and if you fall asleep, then it's probably going to be on a stranger's shoulder.

Today, on my flight back to L.A. after Spring Break, I boarded with the early C's. Please don't let me sit in between two people weighing over 200 lbs, I prayed. But to my amazement, I found a window seat near the back of the plane. I snatched it up and sprawled out with my copious amount of space. Of course, on an airplane, space is a relative term, but I'll take as much as I can get. And I even ended up giving the guy in the center seat the arm rest on my side. I feel for you, man. I really do.

Life In The Slow Lane

What Is This?
This is the car driving in front of me at 25 mph on Johnson Ave, which is a 35 mph zone.

Hate It Or Love It?
Don't you hate it when you're on a one-lane road and the car in front of you drives below the speed limit?

You're driving along a one-lane road with a 35mph speed limit. A car turns and starts driving in front of you and starts going 25. Then a stop sign. The guy in front of you hits the brakes 100 yards in front of the stop sign and then stops for the full three seconds before driving again. Bikers begin to pass you. The guy behind you is getting impatient and honks at you. It's not me, it's the guy in front of me! The worst part is that neither you nor any of the five cars behind you can go any faster because it's a one-lane road. And unless you want to go into the opposite lane against oncoming traffic, you're stuck right where you are. Finally you get to an intersection and it's time to turn right. You pull up next to the guy and take a good look at him. If the guy is talking on his cell phone, he's definitely getting the death stare from me. But if it's an old grandma in a Buick that can barely see over the steering wheel, I can't help but smile. How cute is that?

Silence Is Golden

What Is This?
This is me sitting in a hot tub gazing up at the stars.

Hate It Or Love It?
Don't you love how relaxing a quiet, clear night is?

What do you think of when you hear "Los Angeles"? Definitely not quiet and definitely not clear. My short time in L.A. has been dominated by honking cars, flashing lights and overcroweded city buses. It's definitely an experience. But I think I've lost my appreciation for the slower lifestyle of Cupertino (and suburbia in general).

At home, the air is clearer, the streets are less crowded and trees actually exist. As I sat there in the hot tub, I heard something I hadn't heard in six months: true silence. It was the kind of silence that fills your ears with nothing (it's a weird sensation). The stars were almost equally as amazing. It was nice to see something other than a constant gray glow in the night sky for once.

Being back home is a mental breather. Hopefully I can catch my breath before I go back to the rat race next Monday.

March Madness: Hate It Or Love It, The Underdog's On Top

WARNING: Non-sports fans may experience a level of confusion and/or boredom while reading this post. Read at your own risk.





What Is This?
Picture 1: Watching New Mexico vs. Washington at my friend's house
Picture 2: My bracket. Note all the red (wrong picks)

It's that time of year again. A time of excitement. A time of broken hearts and dreams come true. A time of Davids, Goliaths and sometimes even Cinderellas. Put on your Dancing shoes sports fans, it's time for March Madness.

By now, everyone's probably filled out their brackets with overanalyzed picks for their dorm/high school buddies/office pool. And that bracket probably just got busted up when both Kansas and Villanova lost today. Don't you hate when your Final Four teams get knocked out early and you totally lose interest in your bracket? It's really discouraging. So in that spirit, I've decided to do a March Madness Hate It Or Love It list.

Don't you love the excitement of filling out a bracket?
The prospect of year-long bragging rights among friends and co-workers is so exciting!

Don't you hate it when someone who knows nothing about basketball ends up with a better bracket than you?
Forget those bragging rights.

Don't you hate it even more when that person is your close friend?
It's going to be a long year of hearing trash talk.

Don't you love the way anyone can win?
Old Dominion over Notre Dame? Murray State over Vanderbilt? Northern Iowa over Kansas University? I don't even know where Old Dominion or Murray State are. And how did Northern Iowa field enough people for a basketball team?

Don't you love the way March Madness brings together the best of friends?
I always look forward to going to a sports bar or a friend's house with a group of my closest friends to watch the games

Don't you love the feeling you get when you predict an upset?
I saw that one coming and you didn't. Which means I'm better than you.

Don't you hate the feeling you get when you pick an upset in your bracket and you're wrong?
Now I have to listen to "Hahaha, why would you pick THAT team to win? You're so stupid! What were you thinking?!". Time to come crashing back down to earth.

Okay, that's it for now. Enjoy the Madness! (UCLA Bruins 2011 NCAA Tournament Champs, you heard it here first!)

Free At Last

Finals Week Series Part 7

Hate It Or Love It?
Don't you love the feeling you get when you step out of your last final?

Who cares if you didn't remember that formula. So what if you ran out of time. As you open the door and look up at the beautiful cloudless sky, you can't help but smile at the prospect of two simple words: Spring. Break.

Perfect portrayal of how I felt walking out of Dodd Hall today (UCLA marching band HOLLA!)

Studying And T.V. Do Not Mix

Finals Week Series Part 6



What Is This?
This is me streaming an NCAA basketball game while simultaneously trying to study math.

Hate It Or Love It?
Don't you hate how hard it is to study while watching T.V.?

Today was a day of internal conflict because there were two things I could do:

A. Watch the opening round of March Madness
B. Study for my Math 32A final

Naturally, being the ambitious person that I am, I figured I'd try to do both because they're both pretty (equally?) important. So I sat myself down at a desk with my laptop streaming an NCAA game and my Calculus textbook opened in my lap. After an hour passed, I learned something very important. And it had nothing to do with math.

THIS WAS NOT GOING TO HAPPEN. Trying to study with the T.V. on is just a huge waste of time. Don't try this. It's a horrible study habit. Especially when your final is the next day. (This rule applies to Facebook too, you Facebook mongers, so power down or deactivate your Facebook for Finals Week!)

Looks like the general trend for these Finals Week Series Hate It Or Love Its has been this: focus on one thing and stick to it. Multi-tasking and studying for finals do not mix. Anyways, one last final tomorrow and it's back home to the Bay Area for some quality R&R. Can't wait; all these Hate Its during Finals Week kind of make me depressed.

I'll have a separate Hate It Or Love It specially designated to March Madness coming soon, so check back.

Suffering From Information Overload

Finals Week Series Part 5



What Is This?
This is my desk. You can't actually see it, though, because it's covered with a pile of notes.

Hate It Or Love It?
Don't you hate it when you memorize something only to forget it after you try to memorize something else?

When I'm studying for a huge test I don't like to leave anything to chance. I try to memorize everything, down the last detail. Great. I know Chapter 13 like the back of my hand. Then I move onto Chapter 14. Nice, got that one down too. But wait, what was that equation from Chapter 13 again? Time to go back and review. And as soon as I go back to Chapter 13, well, you can probably guess what happens. I no longer remember the Chapter 14 material. How frustrating. I think its the appropriate time to use the saying: If you try to chase two rabbits, they'll both get away. Perfect logic for not studying as hard!

Trivial Pursuit

Finals Week Series Part 4

What's up. This is Steve, Bryan's friend and D6 (represent) floormate. Another finals themed post? I think so.



What Is This?
This is my book for poetry class: The Norton Anthology of Poetry (NAP).

Hate It Or Love It?
Don't you love it when the one thing you actually studied shows up on your final?

We've all been in the same crunch. The same, "oh wow. my final is tomorrow" crunch. And at that moment, for some reason, we cling to one piece of trivial information. Be it a physics equation, pituitary gland function, or single poem, we recite it over and over again, saying "at least I know something!" Then of course, after a short night's sleep, we are faced with the test itself. Nine times out of ten, that one thing we know isn't even mentioned on the test. But for me, the rare occured. The one poem I knew in and out showed up on my test and I dissected it like a fiend. It was great.

So hopefully you too had some piece of random information bouncing around in your head that ended up answering a question for you. If not, well there's always next quarter. Good luck with your finals!


--Stevo

Uh Oh. Time Crunch.

Finals Week Series, Part 3



What Is This?
This is a picture of the classroom right after my Computer Science 32 final.

Hate It Or Love It?
Don't you love it when you can't figure out a tough problem on a test and then suddenly realize how to solve it with only a couple minutes to spare?

Yes, today was the day. The day of my dreaded Computer Science final. And it definitely lived up to the hype as one of the most mentally draining tests of my life.

The first two problems were fine. I flipped the page and proceeded to meet #3 with a blank stare. Nope. I'll come back to it later. Two hours and a couple of problems later, I gave #3 another shot. More blank stares. I asked the professor a question, hoping he would slip up and reveal a hint on how to approach the problem. No luck. Seconds ticked by. Those seconds turned into minutes. "THIRTY MINUTES LEFT". "TWENTY MINUTES LEFT". "TEN LEFT". What? Did I really get nowhere in forty minutes? Then something funny happened. Something clicked in my head and I suddenly had an approach. After a couple of scribbles, I had my answer down. "TIME'S UP. PENCILS DOWN". I let out a giant exhale. I did my best and that's what counts, even if my best translates into the class average. Hey, could've been worse.

Locked In

Finals Week Series, Part 2





What Is This?
The first picture is a screenshot of my invite to watch UCLA play Cal in the Pac-10 Basketball Tournament at the Staples Center. The second is a screenshot of me watching score updates of the game on Yahoo.

Hate It Or Love It?
Don't you hate when you have to sacrifice a once-a-year opportunity because you have to study?

The chance to watch my school play live in the semifinals of the conference playoffs? At Staples Center? For only $10? What a no-brainer! Yes, the choice was pretty obvious to me. Don't go.

I have my Computer Science 32 final tomorrow. After spending late night after late night studying for it, I knew what I should do. Spend another night studying. As much as you want to take advantage of such a great opportunities, I guess you have to have priorities. And I wasn't about to let a quarter of endless computer programming go to waste because of one bad test.

In college especially, there's a tough balance that needs to be struck between work and fun. When do you say, "You know what, giving this up really isn't worth studying a couple more hours for a few more points on a test"? Or when do you tell yourself, "I should stay in tonight. I'm in college to prepare myself for the future"? To tell you the truth, I don't think there's one right answer. It varies from person to person. And I guess I'm still struggling to find my balance.

Time to look on the bright side. As it turns out, UCLA lost to Cal and I didn't miss much. Nikola Dragovic is gone for good (Bruin fans, did you think he would go out any other way?). And there's always next year, for both UCLA basketball and me.

You Hit Snooze, You Lose

Finals Week Series, Part 1

Ah, Dead Week is here. A week of social isolation, unkempt facial hair and questionable hygiene. Starting today, I'm going to be doing a Hate It Or Love It Finals Series through the end of Finals Week. Warning: be prepared to see mostly hate its this week. But hey, as Selena posted yesterday, the struggles will make Spring Break all the better.



What Is This?
This is a picture of my cell phone alarm clock, waking me up for my first class of the day.

Hate It Or Love It?
Don't you hate it when you wake up to your alarm, start to get out of bed, turn off your alarm, decide to just put your head down for one more minute and fall asleep for way longer than you expect?

It starts with finals studying. Most Finals Week hate its do. For the past couple days, I've been up 'til 3AM reviewing algorithms and data structures (what fun!) for my computer science final. And each morning, I wake up, turn off my alarm and decide to rest for just one more minute. One minute couldn't hurt, right? But as soon as my head hits the pillow it's lights out again and this time with no alarm to wake me up. When I eventually do wake up on my own, I immediately get that sinking feeling. I don't even need to look at my cell phone clock to know that I've missed physics lecture. Great. Now I have to read about angular momentum in my physics textbook along with more computer science tonight just to catch up. Then go to sleep and repeat. What a vicious cycle.

Welcome to Finals Week, my quarter system friends. We're in for the long haul.

Sometimes You Need The Mix

Selena here again!



What is this?
This is my Chex Mix bag filled with mostly pretzels.

Hate it or Love it?
Don’t you hate it when you get a mixed bag of snacks that contains mostly the snack that you like the least?

I don’t know about you guys, but pretzels in Chex Mix are evil. They’re bland and boring and get in the way of those delicious golden chex. I don’t mean to be dramatic about my food but come on; there are TWO types of pretzels in Chex Mix. And I’m sorry to say but something bland and circular shaped is still bland no matter how cool it looks as a little window.

This is like getting all oranges and yellows in a Skittles packet, Lucky Charms with only a few marshmallows or (God forbid) a Starburst pair with no pink! Well, to each his own I guess, but you get my point.

But then I got to thinking and I realized that Chex Mix wouldn’t be as satisfying if it was only the chex. I think it’s because I work so hard to get rid of my pretzels that when I finally get to my chex it’s deeply satisfying. It’s sort of like how the weekdays make you appreciate the weekends, how dorm food makes you appreciate home cooking, and how walking makes you appreciate your car. In a nutshell, sometimes the bad times make you appreciate the good. So the next time I eat my Chex Mix maybe instead of seeing them as tasteless pretzels I’ll see them as necessary tools for maximum chex appreciation!

Good luck on finals everyone, hang in there because these bland few days will make Spring break all the more tasty!


--Skuo

Cilantro, An Ingredient For Disaster

What Is This?
This is my Chipotle burrito from dinner.

Hate It Or Love It?
Don't you hate it when the cilantro from a Chipotle burrito gets stuck in your teeth?

The cilantro that Chipotle puts in its rice to add flavor is also good at something else: getting stuck in your teeth and embarrassing you. It's insidious. You don't even feel it. The only way you find out is by looking in the mirror a couple hours after you've finished your burrito.

Beware: Chipotle isn't the only restaurant that uses cilantro! Quizno's and a lot of other restaurants like to use it too.

Did You Know?
Chipotle and McDonald's share the same owner. Your Chipotle meal (burrito, chips, soda) also has almost as many calories as your recommended daily value (1700 vs. 2000. Thanks to Shaun Moinpour for correcting me on this). Now the cilantro doesn't seem so bad, right?

Stars Are Everywhere! Or Are They?!?

Hey guys. This is guest blogger Alex Frost (aka A-Fro if you have ever seen me comment) calling in straight outta New York. I just wanted to call to your attention a little bit of my own thoughts.



What Is This?
This is a picture of the owner of this blog, Bryan Yasukawa, with Toronto Raptors basketball stars Hedo Turkoglu and Andrea Bargnani.

Hate It Or Love It?
Don't you hate it when your friends see famous people but you always seem to miss out?

Seemingly every day there is a star sighting on the campus of UCLA. Although this is not surprising considering we are in LA, the home of most stars, I have yet to see anyone. Luckily, its not just me though. Russell Park has been experiencing the same frustrations. It seems as though we just have bad luck and are at the wrong place at the wrong time.

For all those wondering here is a list of famous people that have been spotted at UCLA since September, all of whom I did not see...I just heard about them:

NBA stars:
Hedo Turkoglu, Andrea Bargnani, Kevin Garnett, Ray Allen, Paul Pierce, Rajo Rondo, Elton Brand, Jrue Holiday
Tennis stars:
Serena Williams, Venus Williams, Pete Sampras, Andy Roddick, James Blake
Olympians:
Nastia Liukin, Michael Phelps, Ryan Lochte
Other Celebs:
Usher, Justin Timberlake, Will Smith, Adam Sandler

However, I must say that on a random trip to Ralph's I did manage to see Courtney Cox. But, who cares about her anyway...I would rather see any of these stars over her!

Anyway, I am signing out for now. Hopefully next time you all hear from me I will be able to say that I have seen a celebrity.


--A-Fro



UPDATE:
Hey guys, Bryan here. Just wanted to announce that the random winner of this week's Monday Contest is Chanel Hung! Congrats, Chanel, you will get some face time on the Monday Contest Wall of Fame (coming soon). And if you were one of the others nice enough to send me a picture, thank you.

You've Got Mail!

What Is This?
This is a letter from Selena Kuo.

Hate It Or Love It?
Don't you love it when you get a letter in the mail?

I decided to check my UCLA mailbox for the first time in a month. Among the stack of Bank of America bills and other miscellaneous junk mail, I found a pleasant surprise: a letter from a friend. (For those of you who can't read it, the cover of the letter says "I'm more interesting on my blog". Funny, Selena)

Wow. Who really writes letters anymore? What a waste of time when you can send an email or text message in a second. Yet getting a hand-written letter can really make your day. Yes, despite the glaring impracticality of communicating through snail mail, letters have a certain appeal. And I think it's more than the knowledge that the sender put time and effort into them. They have a kind of tangibility and nostalgic nature that emails lack. Plus, can you display an email from a friend on your desk? I don't think so.

Maybe we're all just too busy or too lazy to write a letter. But in a day and age dominated by cell phones, social networks and video chatting, it's nice to communicate in a more personal way. I think it's worth putting your pen to paper once in a while to make a friend's day.

I want to turn my thoughts into actions. To all you Monday Contest entrants, write your address here and check your mail soon.

Tooth Freeze Is Worse Than Brain Freeze

What Is This?
This is me eating my Diddy Riese ice cream sandwich (two cinnamon sugar cookies and strawberry cheesecake ice cream is the best combo!)

Hate It Or Love It?
Don't you hate it when your two front teeth get really numb and hurt after you bite into ice cream?

Brain freeze isn't even the worst part for me. Sometimes my front teeth actually hurt for a second whenever I bite into ice cream. I was curious about why this happens and my conclusion: I have sensitive teeth caused by exposed roots. Uh-oh. That doesn't sound good. Time to adopt better brushing habits. After a little more digging around the Internet, looks like there's a perfect solution for us exposed-roots people:

Taking A Step Back

I think it's always good to take a step back once in a while to take a look at what you're doing. Why are you doing what you're doing? What's it mean?

So I'd like to take a break from my daily "hate it"s and "love it"s in order to throw out some of my thoughts on this blog and what I've taken away from these past couple weeks of writing.

I've noticed... working at a hobby is a refreshing break from doing work for school or a job.

I've noticed... that much of your happiness depends on your attitude. It's all about how you look at things. Go through your day to just get by and you'll most likely be disappointed. Go through your day looking to try something new, take a risk or achieve a small personal goal and you'll be much happier.

I wonder... if my outlook on life has shaped my blog or if having my blog has shaped my outlook on life.

I've noticed... that it's much easier to write a "hate it" than a "love it". Call me a pessimist or a complainer but I think it has something to do with general human nature. We expect everything to go right. We only really take notice when something doesn't. For example, do we ever say, "Hey they prepared my sandwich just the way I ordered it! How great is that!" No. We only notice when they mess up and then we grumble about it. Why is there only bad news on TV? When people hear good news, they just dismiss it as something that's supposed to happen. People only really take notice when they hear about something that went wrong.

I suggest... that we take the time to notice the little things that go RIGHT in our day for once. I've kind of touched on this point in my last couple of posts, but I guess I can't emphasize this enough.

Here are the Monday Contest entrants so far:
Phil Ting, Davis, UC Davis

Phil says: "people wanting to go to class but there is a strike"

Selena Kuo, La Jolla, UCSD

Selena says: "I see this view from my lounge everyday but somehow i fail to notice it sometimes"

Archit Sheth-Shah, New Haven, Yale

Archit says: "The view from my common room a few days ago hahaha looks like the lion the witch and the wardrobe"

Bryan Tran, Westwood, UCLA

Bryan says: "Walking back from looking at the rally, I see this beside Janss Steps. A little hard to see, but aerial silk practice on the left and tightrope practice on the right. Always something interesting going on"

Andrew Shu, Cupertino, De Anza

Andrew says: "crazy protestors campin out lol only some of em are left cuz the others are probably in jail"

Andrew says: "some place where no one goes to in deanza. used to be like mr. deanza's swimming pool and they made it into a fountain after he died"

Chanel Hung, East Los Angeles, USC

Chanel says: Driving through LA is a bitch because there's too much traffic. Normally I'm just focused on getting to where ever I'm trying to get to; trying to find gaps to weave and such. But on this one particular car ride back to campus, I noticed a lot of graffiti art that I love. There were a lot of them, but this was the only one I had enough time at a red light to take a picture of. It's my goal in the next year or so to go on a photo hunt through LA to find interesting graffiti art.

Brandon Liu, Irvine, UC Irvine

Brandon says: "This is the interior side of the UCI student center main building, with the anteater mascot. This is the main center of UCI, where most students preside in, eat food, and hang out"

Grace Sun, Tacoma, University of Puget Sound

Grace says: "The view from my lounge" (look at the mountain in the background!)

Grace says: "The view from my favorite study spot. You can even see the bay from this spot :) I wanted to give you pictures of the typical Washington weather, but the sun decided to come out and play :)"

It's On The Tip Of My Tongue

What Is This?
This is an almost completed crossword puzzle. I just figured out 24-Across. And that's Alex Frost's hand because he wanted to "be in the picture".

Hate It Or Love It?
Don't you love it when you think of the perfect word after being stumped for a long time?

This isn't just exclusive to crossword puzzles. It can happen when you're writing an essay or making casual conversation. And if you're not a really...what's the word? Oh yeah, eloquent. If you're not a really eloquent person, translating thoughts into words can be surprisingly difficult.

Sometimes, you can perfectly describe the word you need but just can't quite think of it. You know it exists and its on the tip of your tongue but you just keep losing it. So much for studying those SAT vocabulary flash cards. Then...BINGO. A light bulb goes off in your head and the word jumps out of your mouth. Perfect.

Hint: If you're typing something up and you can't think of the right word, you can usually use the Right Click -> Synonyms function of Microsoft Word. It works wonders. Unless your name is Joey Tribbiani.

Don't Drink And Walk

What Is This?
This is me trying to drink my Brisk Peach Iced Tea and walk at the same time.

Hate It Or Love It?
Don't you hate it when you try to take sips from a cup while you're walking and the drink spills a little each time you take a step?

Every time I have a drink with no straw and I'm walking somewhere I convince myself I can take sips without spilling. But right when the drink is about to enter my mouth, I take a step, my hand shakes the cup lurches forward. More liquid ends up on my shirt than in my mouth. It makes matters 10x worse when I have to stop and talk to a friend because I know exactly what he's thinking. Yes, that is a stain I'm trying to cover up by folding my arms and no, I don't need a bib next time. Or maybe I do. Hey, extreme tasks like the simultaneous drink-and-walk call for extreme measures.

My Daily Commute

What Is This?
This is footage from my walk to class today.

Hate It Or Love It?
Don't you love how relaxing it is when you stop rushing around and start paying attention to the little things in life?

This is my first real "vlog". Just a reminder, the Monday Contest is going on throughout the week so take a picture of something on your daily walk and post it here. Other than that, I'll let the video speak for itself.

Road Block

What Is This?
These are three students who are walking right next to each other and taking up the entire sidewalk.

Hate It Or Love It?
Don't you hate it when the people walking in front of you take up the whole sidewalk and decide to walk really slow?

I just hate it because I have to awkwardly try to squeeze past them. I'm sure I'm guilty of this too though. It's hard to talk to the back of your friend's head. And it's just one of those things that you don't pick up on unless you're thinking about it or people behind you are yelling at you.

Anyways, not a big deal. Just a little annoyance. But I try to spin the "hate it"s into something positive when I can. As I was walking behind this slow group of friends, I took a look around. It's amazing how you see your surroundings differently when you're not in a rush. It was a sunny day in L.A. and I think it was one of those rare times when I actually appreciated how beautiful the campus is. Then I realized that the ONLY times I really appreciate the beauty of what's around me is when I'm stuck walking behind a large group of people. That's a shame. We take everyday beauty for granted too often.

So tomorrow, I've resolved to not rush everywhere I need to go. I'll walk slowly and take a look around for a change. I encourage you to do the same. And throughout my day, I'll record my findings on my Flip camcorder. Check back in tomorrow for the footage.

Monday Contest!
If you're walking somewhere (anywhere!), slow down. Look at what's around you and soak it all in. Then take a picture of something funny, exciting, interesting or just plain nice that you see during yoru walk. Send it to me at (408)624-7198, email it to bryan.yasukawa@gmail.com or post it in a comment here. Next Monday, I'll select a random participant as the winner.
Some contest notes: Even if you don't find anything spectacular, take a picture anyways. Sometimes it's about noticing the little things, too. If you can't take a picture for whatever reason, an anecdote will do fine. This is an ongoing contest throughout the week.

The Best Raspberry Smoothies

(This is not my photo, I forgot to snap my own picture while I was there)

What Is This?
This is Union Bagel and Union Station in Los Angeles. They serve the best raspberry smoothies.

Hate It Or Love It?
Don't you hate it when a restaurant doesn't have your favorite menu item on the day you go?

"Sorry, our blender is broken." These five simple words and mini chaos erupted in my head. I felt a sense of disorientation and insecurity. When I came back to my senses, I hurriedly ordered some other random drink off the menu.

Personally, I'm not very adventurous when it comes to food. I like my bread-and-butter favorites and I stick with them until I grow tired of them. And when a restaurant doesn't have them for whatever reason, its a deflating feeling. I guess it's kind of a blessing in disguise though. When you don't want to make a change yourself, life has a funny way of doing it for you. Variety is the spice of life. You might come away from the whole experience with a broadened horizon and a new favorite food.

Still, Union Bagel, get that blender working again soon please!