" lunchtime superness "

---


my ex-neighbor and good friend mariza and i went out to lunch today. delicious awesome taco truck and dessert lunch!



first of all, it is again solidified that the mexican food in california is delicious. i got two fish tacos, a carnitas taco, and some horchata.


there's really no comparison. i'd like to think that it just tasted good, because i missed mariza or i missed food on the left coast, but no. the fish was lightly battered, moist, and tasty.


the tortillas just the right size for a hand-held gripping. the carnitas flavorful and laden with just the right allurements.


afterwards, we took our leave from the taco truck, and festooned over to fruitvale proper to make our way to the churros spot. at this vendor, which is one of the stands attached to the newly revitalized fruitvale center area near the BART station, they had all sorts of fillings choices for the churros. we both got 1/2 length vanilla & 1/2 length chocolate. so so so good!



nearby, there was even a super fresh tiny little farmer's market! could the bay area be any more colorful or tasty?


i think not.

---

" hmm, maybe it was bad timing "

---


i guess i should have planned it better. who has time these days to keep all of these american holidays in check?


i suppose i should have known better than to create a social gathering on labor day weekend, but it's what all happened.


maybe next week will bring more of the things that i was looking forward to thing time around.


to clarify i guess, i am home for a little bit. anyone wanna hang out?


---

" some sunday afternoon "

---

you're sitting on the street selling your wares. the sun is high and bright in the summer sky; the clouds interspersed with glowing edges.



there is a girl with a polka dotted dress on. there are ruffles on the shoulders which extend into the empire waist, then billows out with a floating airy bell shape. the girl appreciates the fact that her dress is made of a thousand tiny red polka dots, and that that her panties are patterned with larger white polka dots on red. her shoes are golden gladiator sandals that don't look gaudy, her feet are perfect for them, and her toenails are a bold mauvish-pink. you should have asked her to be one of your portraiture models because you need more portraits and headshots on your website, but you don't because maybe it seems creepy, but it probably wouldn't be? in any case, she sort of makes your day with sharing that oddly open bit of information, while her euro-boyfriend leans on a tree in the nearby shade about ten feet away, grumpy and bespectacled in silly overly-masculine sunglasses. he's probably awesome though, maybe...probably not.

there are babies and dogs everywhere. both are interested in your shoes and pay a lot of attention to your feet.



to your right is your new friend that sells beautiful hair clasps adorned with various blooming flowers. she yelled at a man in the morning because he wanted to retain the right to be a self-righteous white man who served his country proudly and what did you do for yours how old are you i was fighting for freedoms you enjoy before you were even able to walk so think about that before you ask me to move two feet over so you too can enjoy the shade of this tree oh yeah oh yeaahhh well no one owns the sidewalk this is new york city property and i will sell my three harmonicas and a hardcover bound harry potter gift set with american pride so's i can make a living for myself just like the rest of my fellow veterans.

my friend and fellow vendor do not see eye to eye. in fact i notice that even i don't really know what to say or do, so i shuffle my feet and become fascinatingly interested in reading my horoscope in the latest L magazine.



you're selling pinback buttons and greeting cards of your own creation, and there's a perhaps 38 year-old man rifling though your wares. he seems to be really excited at all of the potential little gifts these would make and he giggles gleefully to himself as he meticulously looks at every single button in your collection. in the end he buys 56 buttons from you and you shake his hand for the mutual entertainment value you've shared with him.



a good friend of yours and her awesome b/f swing on by your spot and engage you for many many minutes of conversational blisses. she looks through your varied wares, and he talks you about how obscure some of the "world of film and television" ones are. you completely revel in the fact that he's chosen the buttons which speak to his interests and you are glad that you share the same passion for film-watching.



you realize at 4pm that you detest all of the shitty burritos you've ever eaten in williamsburg. why did you even want to get another williamsburg burrito in the first place? what a strange and odd desire. how could you possibly have been that hungry at all?

a belgian friend of the other vendor on corner regales you on the reasons why he loves thailand, and you two talk for a couple hours on what aspects of living in thailand were the best and how come all the thai food in new york city, save a very small handful are completely disgusting. he wanders around a lot and in the end, skateboards with three overweight loud kids in one of the side-streets. he reminds you to be more open to amazing mundane and profound moments, because what else are we doing here.



you make friends with a lot of people today, and in that manner span lifetimes with them all in a matter of a few sentences. skater kids, gutter punks from philly, young trustafarians, hipsters in all flavors, girls with great fits but horrible shoes, a bevvy of outstandingly clad gay men, and puppies puppies puppies!



to your left another vendor sells $10 keds which are new and varied in their designs. if you wore keds, you see yourself buying a couple pairs, but you don't so you don't. he steps away and asks you if you could help him sell his shoes while he walks off into the far distance for something. you sell a pair of blue shoes with silver dots all over them to a russian woman who's feet are large and rugged, but oddly enough, beautified by the shoes. she loves them and then drives away in her 1970's van with the semi-domed back side window. when the vendor returns, he splits the sale with you and with those $5 you buy some lemonade down the street.

your sunday ends up beautiful and fulfilled. you have money in your pocket, a lightness in your heart, and everything seems to have turned out great. you ride your bike home after packing up and walking yur vendor friend back to her studio. it takes all but 15 minutes to get home. you invite a good friend of yours over to drink beers on the roof. your subletter joins you, and you all spend the rest of the night eating mint milano cookies and drinking beers on the roof of your building, basking in the gleaming overhead moonlight.



---

" sometimes miao333 and i are the best "

---


http://pics.livejournal.com/lucylou/pic/000cqrcp

mia0333: u r so weird
baystar23: yeah? whaddya gonna do about it
baystar23: muah ahah a ahha aha haha aha h
mia0333: punch the air
baystar23: yeah
baystar23: i like that part
mia0333: i'm gonna go for a walk up marin
baystar23: okay
baystar23: i'm cleaning my camera equipment
mia0333: is that a euphemism for something dirty?
baystar23: you're weird
baystar23: and, no
mia0333: heh heh heh
mia0333: r u mad at me?
baystar23: nope
baystar23: why?
baystar23: i had a dream all of my friends came to my house to pose nude for me
baystar23: i think that'll be my next project when i come home
baystar23: cause you have to make your dreams come true
baystar23: maybe i should also ride down the street in a large cupcakemobile too
baystar23: that was in the same dream
mia0333: mmm cupcakes
mia0333: i'm hungry

---

" august possiblilities "

---

it's the end of the first week of august. the days aren't so hot as they are questionably thunderstorm-prone.

still i have a small fan, which is strapped to my bed, humming me to sleep at a low frequency; the droning on of the whirs putting me to sleep with a gentle steady breeze.

---

today i cut myself shaving. i let the cut bleed from my jaw. it's line split and expanded as it trickled down the length of my neck and onto my upper chest. i studied it's path, let it meander a bit, then wiped it from memory. if only so many painful things could just be wiped away thusly.

---

i spent a good part of yesterday morning decorating a box which will house the myriad of various 1" buttons i've crafted for fun. now along with the creative joys the making of buttons brings with it, i hope to extend it's life by selling it to various strangers on the street this sunday. come to visit my table if you wish (L train to Bedford, walk to that odd trianglular block at N. 3rd & Metropolitan, noon to dusk-ish).

this past tuesday i had a test run for my sales. it was late in the day and i hit the street with a friend of a friend right in between the home-commute and the dinner-out times.

an old man was the sole buyer of the entire evening, and he stood over the buttons like a loitering collector; unable to decide what he was really doing there - buying or creating conversations to pass the time. some people just like to talk to strangers. luckily for him, when you talk to a seller of buttons on the street itchin' for a sale, conversation comes easily.

he bought all of my panda-themed ones, and two special edition thai bus ticket ones. he seemed pleased, but i'm not sure he appreciated them as much as i did. i guess that's a normality i may have to get used to.

i made a total of $11.00 and i rode my bike a total of 10 miles there and back home.

---

so many things are in transition. the day camp across the street from me seems to be less groups of small sweaty screaming children, and more busses carting said children to exciting faraway field trips.

i never got to go to summer day camps, so i can only guess that they're having a great ole time doing all sorts of exciting things. at least i hope they are.

---

i've recently rediscovered the simple pleasure of fresh fruits in cereal. there's nothing like adding blueberries and strawberries to a crunchy delectable bowl of O's, flakes, or clustered deliciousness. it can make a morning indescribably bright no matter the weather.

---

so change. forever there will be change. living on the east coast now for as long as i have been here, has constantly reminded me that there are actual seasons. when living in the east bay area of northern california and/or in the whole of thailand, you see and feel fewer distinct seasonal shifts.

i find that more than the steady patterns and the interesting observations of weather and clothing choices, having these seasons be so distict effects my mood and energy like never before. one could say this year so far i've had an energetic winter, a somber spring, and an emotional sort of summer. in this light, i now wonder what sort of fall it will turn out to be.

---

tonight's homework:

get a piece of paper and make two columns. write out a list of all of your current dreams and desires as of yet unfulfilled in one, and in the other a list of accomplishments.

think for 20 minutes of how you can move items from your dream-list column over to the accomplishments column.

do not be afraid to ask a friend for help in setting about to do so. call me if you need to. i'll be working on the same thing.

---

" how can you tell? "

---

sunday.

the downstairs neighbor's voices echo in laughter which winds down the staircase and out the door; the jingle-jangle of keys follows tappy footsteps.

it's 3:00pm and the sun turns to overcast summerstorms. water comes down in a swift torrent, then dissipates into an overcast sky.

the day is passing by slow, and how can you tell if you're present amidst it all?

it's 6:23pm, and i realize we've run out of toilet paper in the apartment, and the light in the hallway just shuts off for an indeterminate amount of time.

i look in my planner and there's nothing written, so the day defaults to doing absolutely nothing, and making it up as i go along.

it's 9:06pm and there's shitty commercial club-hop emanating from the ride of two boys with horrible hairstylings.

teenagers on the street below talk about relationship problems and juvenile woes.

a plane is flying overhead. i hear the sound of the building's front door opening, ringing out from inside, and mirrored out on the street.

no one is coming to visit me today.

---

" short filmmaking is rad! "

---

now that i am allowed to distribute this short in a manner my team and i see fit, below please find our short for the 72-hour film shootout 2008, as put on by the aafilmlab in new york city.

i hope that you enjoy it watching it as much as we did making it.

---



---

" the sheer joys of the 99¢ store "

---

you know that feeling when you need to get only a tiny kit of assorted small screwdrivers in a glasses-repair-kit form? or a fourth-party energy-saving light, or a transformers/dora the explorer piñata, or anything else that is awesome and random?

that's right, you've just earned yourself an hour-long air-conditioned stroll through the tightly packed slim aisles of your local 99¢ store.

they have everything. well, very nearly everything. any store that has exactly everything is just silly.

i spent a fair amount of time yesterday looking for one of those large 1000 matches box of matches, you know, for candle usage, tea lights, roommate restroom cover-ups, et al. of course i never found them. why would a place that has every single mexican and italian saint on an enormous candle ever, not have matches anywhere? isn't that sort of a complete set sort of deal? i thought so.

aisle after tiny cramped aisle, i found a sense of wonderment at the potential of 25lb. turkey aluminum baking pans, an unusual plethora of gardening & house-ware tools, weird and scary-looking children's DVDs with menacing animation almost guaranteed, and the newest addition to my particular locale, a gallery of spanish-language questionable frozen foods.

i stood in a deep state of indecision, wondering whether or not i really wanted that non-brandname box of plain, powdered, and chocolate-covered donuts. in the end, i had to muster up all of my strengths and move on into the hair dyes section. i can honestly say that i was a little depressed.

but there's a sense of bliss too that stems from not only meandering around in random almost-purchases, it's the people watching. the older lady in her summer muu-muu frock, the hipster guy with that silly tight-legs/skinny-sagging with belt combo and the too-small-for-anything tote bag. it's the chubby kid begging his chubby parent for some crappy junk food, and of course it's the chinese girl yelling at the top of her lungs in mandarin at perhaps a fussy boyfriend, her sunglasses like dark plastic blackened dinner plates resting on a button-nose and a cool-because-they're-fake string of pearls.

you almost can't buy a show like this. just think, our next summer vacation is probably right down the street from where you are right now, waiting to fill your afternoon with an odd-duck sense of fulfilment.

tonight's homework:

take a photo of something completely rad at a 99¢ store, then share it's awesome ridiculousness with everyone!

---

" 35 minutes to bliss "

---

it took me 35 minutes to ride my bike from 42nd street times square all the way to my front door in windsor terrace. i;m no expert rider with the fancy biker shorts or cycling computer, but that's what i call hustle.

there's such a feeling of glee and freedom that comes with a hard ride. a sort of euphoria that washes over your whole body. it's fantastic!

i hope to feel like this for a long time, but my fear is that it won't.

in any case, wheeee!

for reference, here's a gmap of the ride:

http://www.gmap-pedometer.com/?r=2072613

---

" yeesh, who needs a hug? "

---

dear yourself,

i know you're not doing that great as of late. it's a tough gig. remember how you were so excited about those couple photo contests, trying to really be critical of your own work and present yourself openly and honestly? i mean, it's gotta be in the attempt itself which is sort of an accomplishment in of itself right?

i'm sorry. i'm just trying to be supportive. i completely understand if you don't want to talk about it. heartbreak, heartache, feeling husky, not working as much as you'd like, being passionate about your photography, but not getting a proper professional recognition. everyone goes through these waves of doubt and disappointment. something will turn up though right? something always does.

i also really really understand that at times, it truly feels like there's no real point to make an effort anymore, but there is. it makes all the difference to buck up, hunker down, and go for the gusto. any ole normal person can let it all get to them, to push themselves into a funk and not do anything about it. but you're different.

you are going to make it happen. great amazing and fantastical things are going to happen to you. you're great. you're funny and entertaining. you talk a lot, but maybe that's not necessarily a bad thing. maybe.

so don't worry. everything will be fine in the end, even though it doesn't feel like it right now. i promise, you'll be fine.

signed,

you from ten minutes ago

---

" my summer thus far... "

---
---

dear all my people,

a couple weeks ago, a few friends and i participated in the 72hour film shootout competition, put on by the asian american film lab.

we decided to get off of our lazy butts and put our talents together to craft together something awesome and entertaining.

you can now not only view and appreciate our no-sleep weekend film at the link below, but you can also vote for the "audience award" portion of the competition. you may also leave awesome comments too!!

please pass the link or this post along to any friends you have that would enjoy to see us in our short-filmmaking glory.

thank you so much for your consideration.

if we win, and if you make it out to NYC, i will take you to get ice cream or something.

wheeee,

bay

http://ningin.com/mediastream/item:show/2008/07/02/a-first-good-bye/

---

tonight's homework:

follow your dreams.

---

" mr. salty comes to brooklyn "

---

the illustrious mr. salty of boston, mass. decided to come on over to brooklyn, ny to share the lyrical flows with all of his people.

instead of a show, all he had at the end was a triple overbooked band bill to mull over, and a 6+ hour round-trip lucky star bus ride.

good thing for us, he left us with a couple tidbits of his personal thoughts on the short excursion, and a freestyle nugget to chomp on.

big up mr. salty.

---



---

" after getting my shiz stoled, this makes me feel better "

---

SCRABBLEKLOK!!!

---

" it's never just about a bike light is it?"

---

i went to the main branch of the brooklyn library today to photograph an exhibit inside. the sun rose high and all around me the heat engulfed and entangled. to step beyond the egyptian-symbol-ed doors and into the wide lobby was cool and welcoming.

after a few hours of setup and documentation, i prepared my things and walked out to my bicycle. and there, in the place of my bicycle headlight, was the brash swipe of tape residue. it had been stolen while i was inside.

the light itself, nothing special. small and compact, broken even, hence the electrical tape used to hold it onto the frame. it wouldn't snap onto the holder, so i taped it down, but i never thought that someone would steal it, especially with it in the condition it was in.

but they did. it is gone.

i stood there for a minute, then just let it go. i let the light go, but i couldn't shake the feeling of loss. it felt like someone had slipped their invisible thieving hand underneath my skin, and pilfered the contents of my being. can you truly just let things go as easily as that?

there is always sadness on a small scale; there is always a pain which lingers. like getting teased at from afar and unknowingly, then to hear about all of the nasty things said about you, the words passing your ears without their knowing...and how you just felt crushed of spirit.

and even though it's just a light, i know it's just a light for a bike, it never just feels like it's about a bike light. it always feels indicative of some larger occurrence, and sometimes it's difficult to let go.

---

" well, while we're talking about clouds "

---



---

" somedays, don't you just feel like... "

---



and



---

tonight's homework:

don't let anything hold you back. stop making excuses. don't let him or her make you feel like that; tell them what you feel, and how together, you can push on through.

take photos, listen to music that makes you happy, dance, dream, flourish.

it's the summer, and it's happening right now.

---

" tempermental sundays "

---



---

" summer heat "

---

a five-fold fleet of engaged frigates lay dutifully waterborne between our lonely isles.

an ocean of supposed differences and a sea of doubts intrude on a shared joy.

what can i do when my coast is faced the wrong way out?

afloat in this summer's heat, who can bear it but to move forward.

---

" can being web 2.0 be any cuter? "

---

---

" this is how it felt when the storm passed by this afternoon; and where were you? at home i gather. "