random camera phone pictures throughout the year.

so....
its been a while. guess its time for a random post.

these are the pictures ive been taking with my phone for the past year. i was surprised when i found them, i didnt realize i was keeping all these pictures. these are pretty much random pics from when i felt like taking a pic with my phone.



october. shot of the fires last year from nebraska st, in front of bell.


november. took a trip to vegas for archie's birthday, the last of our group of friends to turn 21. great times. cant wait for round 2.



january. changed my work schedule to three half days a week, due to the school semester, while maintaining close to a full time workload.



march. decide to participate in critical mass. picture was taken at our "halfway point" at the OB pier. rode my bike from balboa park to PB then back again with a group of a couple hundred cyclists. the group split up and dwindled down to about 50 or so by the time we got back to balboa. im surprised i made it. pretty much died from soreness the next day tho. for all you bike riders they meet at the fountain at balboa park every last friday of the month.



march. chillen with the fam at the airport waiting for my dad's boarding time. pops went to oklahoma for some annual work related training for the post office.


april. too cool for school.

april. after 3 month of getting work piled on my desk, i finally have a fairly clear desk.


may. chillen at my auntie's house with my lolo and dad.


june. my friends jenn and chris get married. congrats guys!


july. my cousin finally turns 21. im proud of you cuz. had a crazy night with the cousins at D&Bs


july. summer's in full swing. gas prices blow up.
i actually took this picture as proof to my sister that i did not use up her gas when i borrowed her car.


july. bowled a 266. yes, i'm the second "J" i have witnesses.


august. took a trip to orlando with the fam. didnt really expect this vacation. dad kinda surprised us with it. i was lucky i was still had some annual leave for the vacation. american airlines suck. saw some thunderstorms while we were flying over texas at night. it was a pretty bad ass sight to see. felt like at any moment a lightening bolt would hit the plane.





the only representative filipinos have on its a small world.


mark twain's stuff.

fireworks behind epcot's japan pavilion.


big ball thingy at epcot. there's actually a ride in that thing called spaceship earth. this was pretty much my dad's favorite ride.



went to cape canaveral/kennedy space center. really interesting exhibits and presentations.
overall the vacation was pretty cool. nice quality family time. i dont usually spend much time with my family besides going to church with them and eating weekend meals with them, so i t was nice to just chill as a family. the extreme heat and humidity killed it, but we made the most of our time there. good times. i guess i dont really think about it much, but family vacations (or any type of family time) for my family come few and far between, so i guess this latest vacation is something i can appreciate. i realize that i take my family for granted and sometimes put more focus and importance on chilling with my friends. i regret it, but i guess it is what it is. all our schedules always seem to conflict, especially with my dad working the swing shift at night. i guess what im trying to say is that i enjoyed the vacation and i love my family. and i wish that hanging out with my family was as easy as hanging out with friends.


august. went to the del mar horse races for the first time.. i think i'll stick to the casinos and caliente.


september. went to the chargers season opener against carolina. 26-24 carolina. =(


october. a 15 year old morse high school student starts a fire in the canyon. my neighborhood pretty much goes crazy. i found out later that the news reported my street was under evacuation, but no one in my neighborhood actually left. the whole ordeal was pretty surreal.
im glad none of my neighbors' houses burned down. thank you firefighters.









stuff without pics:
december 07: RIP Lola. miss you, love you.

january 08: RIP Jeff Pascua. miss you bro.

february: turned 22. dont even remember what i did this year for my birthday. either it was that good, or that uneventful.

august: the homie felix moves to chicago. bon voyage shindig at jackie's house. good times. take care of yourself felix, godspeed.

september: shaved my mustache. broke my nose playing football, which resulted in a septal hematoma and infection in my nose. my nose is pretty much fucked up and there's still a chance it might get worse and need reconstructive surgery. funny thing is, of all the times i play tackle football, this injury happened when i was playing flag football and it was my own team mate that accidently headbutted me while we were going for the quarterback. haha

october: RIP Mischelle Gallardo, we'll miss you.



so i guess that was my year since last october. had it's ups and downs just like any other year. after posting this, i realize that i need to take more random pictures like these. i know there are so many other events that i can't remember, it'd be so much easier to recall those memories if i had the pics. so i'll try to make more of a conscious effort to take more photos.


yeah, that was a pretty random post.

a friend of mine from high school just passed away. im writing this entry after just attending her funeral service. my prayers and condolences go out to her family and all her friends coping with these tough times. under different circumstances the services could be considered a high school reunion. i saw some faces i havent seen in a long time. its a shame that we all had to gather together on these terms. rest in peace Mischelle.

dealing with death in general has been a difficult issue for me. i don't know why but i always have a hard time of expressing my emotions. i dont really know how to explain it, but its almost like i dont feel anything. i know and think to myself that im suppose to feel sad. and in my mind, i do feel sad for the loss, but in regards to expressing those emotions, nothing comes out. i felt bad that it took so much for me to cry at my grandmother's funeral, . i miss my grandma, my friends Jeff, JR, Mischelle, and all the other loved ones that have passed away. i love them and i wish i showed more emotion at the time of their loss. i almost feel jealous towards people that openly cry and express themselves. and it's not like im holding myself back from my emotions, its almost like i lack them in a sense. i just dont know what it is, but it really bothers me sometimes.

i hate realizing that as im getting older, i find myself attending more and more funerals. i guess growing up, you never really think about losing loved ones, you kind of expect them to be there forever. but that's the reality of life; death is something everyone has to deal with. and i guess as people get older, we realize the interactions and connections we have with people and experiencing the death of close friends/relatives, especially those you have interacted with a lot gives you a perspective on your own mortality.