"Don't it always seem to go that you don't know what you've got 'til it's...gone" - Janet Jackson & Joni Mitchell & Q-Tip

Unfortunately I've never taken advantage of my roommates through the years. Not sexually you perverts, but rather what their interests and prowesses were. Since I'm living like Nick Lachey's last album (read: Soul-o), I think I've missed my opportunity for that. Let's hit rewind on the VCReeg and see what he missed:

Freshman Year: Tony was a crazy sk8er and surfer. Done went everyday and asked my everyday if I wanted to learn, but of course gangstas don't sk8 or surf, so I just stayed in bed. Now I wish I could do either. Rob was a crazy smoker. Done smoked out everyday and asked me if I wanted to take a hit everyday haha. Some of yall might remember. But of course I passed, not to be confused with "puff puff pass," and just played video games with them. Alas, I still haven't smoked out.

Sophomore Year: Living with a junior (special) olympic swimmer should have at least taught me to float. But CallWave couldn't even teach my in high school so I guess I'm not surprised college turned out the same.

Soph/Jr/Sr Year: We done had 4 turntables at the house for the majority of my college life. Yet I've never learned to mix, cut or skratch (besides my balls.) Maybe Nimz and E-Fresh were just too intimidating on the 1200s. They've always told me I could use their tables whenever I wanted, but I was content to just play records on them. Shoot, I could've used a TEAC record player for that.

2001-2002: Living with Fresh again, I wanted to learn to drive stick. I don't know an Asian dude who loves muscle cars more than him, so this was my opportunity to learn. Actually, he did give me the keys to the cobra once (I think I blogged about it), but still I haven't learned.

2003-2004: I lived with another car dude/smoker and another surfer. Wow, the roommate gods were giving me another chance! Ray done worked on his bikes and cars like everyday and was supposed to show me to change my oil at least. But of course I never had car problems until after I moved out durrrr. Anyway, I haven't smoked out yet and still don't know how to drive stick haha.

2005: All by myself. I've worked on my car, but still don't know how to drive stick. How does a dude with 4 older brothers not know how to drive stick? Yes kuyas, I blame this on yall. I ain't trippin' bout smoking out, since I'm high on life. And swimming lessons commence in a couple weeks!

Disclaimer: Man, I don't want it to sound like I'm all living in the past, I just had these thoughts occupy my mind the other day. I was like, why can't I do this ish? So I was reviewing earlier chapters in my personal Odyssey and came to the conclusion - I'm just a lazy mothereffer haha. Anyway, since I like geometric stuff, here's a closing quote for symmetry:

"If you have one foot in the past and one foot in the future, you're pooping on the present"

***

One of my passions is online shopping. You could shop for anything on the internet. You could shop at the buttcrack of dawn in your boxers 365 days a year. But you also could shop when you're pretending to work! Alas, that's what I did the past hour. Polo.com has a special promotion where everything is 40%, so you know I had to go like I was in an insane asylum (re: crazy). For a lot of the stuff already on sale, sizes were limited to like smalls only. And I don't like my shirts that young. Anyway, I picked up a few pieces:

The ever-evasive purple polo multicoplor logo shirt in an extra medium:



The black/white multicolor logo shirt in an extra medium:



Some new swim cargo trunks in an extra medium (okay i'll stop saying that):



A patchwork polo (this is hot!):



Haha sike...I didn't really buy this last shirt. Too bad they didn't have my size =P. As you can tell, I like the multicolor logo lots.

So all in all, I saved like $100! (But the accountant in me is saying, "No Reeg, you spent $125," but then I just tell him to "STFU!" and he hushes like a puppy.) So if anyone wants the code, just holler. It expires on July 5th.

***

I haven't had a grab bag in a minute, so here we go:

~ Last night I realized that my previous post about the checks didn't make sense. About the $3.00 check, I received it rather than wrote it. Hope I didn't confuse yall.

~ I bowled a 155 last night! Okay so its nothing to write home about (err maybe so), but I haven't broken the buck-fitty barrier in awhile, if ever. Bowling kicks here I come.

~~ $1 games, $1 shoe rentals, $1 beers, $1 margaritas, $1 hot dogs, $1 jello shots, $1 nachos, $1 french fries. Dollar dollar bills yall will take you further here than at Centerfolds.

~~~ We bowled so many games (7 in all), my body is starting to look like that dude in the upper left. (Or maybe that's just an excuse? ha sike!)

~ I hope the Spurs win it all tonight. Do yall remember that group of kids that called themselves the Spurs Club or something? Basically their mission was to devirginize as many girls as possible. I wonder how they'd keep track.

~ AnakngBayan: hey...i stumbled upon your blog today
AnakngBayan: you still haven't lost your sense of humor

I'll take this to be a good thing.

~ So my brother bought me that "Hip Hop is Dead" shirt that I posted awhile ago. In an extra medium. I suppose he visits here, or maybe we have crazy telepathy.

~ I think I need to change my hair products. Ish is beginning to flake like that Jack Johnson song.

~ Woohoo got my guitar! Watch out John Mayer. Or I just might do acoustic raps like Pac's and Nas's Thug Mansion rendition.

~ I think I'ma buy this piece to place above the love sofa. What cha think?



~ Sometimes when I drop a load, nothing comes out. But I still wipe.

~ Toilet seat covers confuse me, so I just don't use them. The toilets are washed daily so it doesn't really matter.

~ Haha I'm really kidding about that above. But really, does the shiny side face up or down? Also, are you supposed to break the preforation yourself or let the excretions handle that?

~ To understand a woman you have to think like a woman. Maybe that explains all my feminine tendencies. All 2 of them.

~ Go Spurs!

***

Usually when I see a check clear my account, I get annoyed. It could be a $1000 check or a $10 check (or a $3.00 check a certain ROoMMatE[L] wrote to me in college when I spotted him for some laundry money), since I just don't like to see my balance dip baby dip.

However, the checked that cleared today is a different story. My car is finally paid off and it got me thinking. I knew my folks would never get me a whip. Back in the day, we had like 2 cars to share among 6 drivers, excluding me. With me being the youngest, it basically made me last on the Tacorda (aka Totem) poll. So whenever I could use the car, it would be like on Tuesday morning between 4:00 and 5:30am. Whatever, I'll be goin to college so it wouldn't be a biggie (let's just pretend I had my license at this point.) So I go through the first 3 years of college carless, but towards the end of junior year, I'm wishing for a whip.

So where there's a will there's a way. I hustled that whole summer and done worked like everyday. I skimped out on meals and only bought one pair of kicks the whole summer! (Canada/Euro exclusive Air Max Plus in the Blk/Gry colorway for those wondering.) I was determined to save enough $krill to 1. cover the down, 2. make payments for an additional year, and 3. pay for insurance for the year, since I hate working and going to school @ the same time. Additionally, I wanted to pay for the whole ish myself, so my folks did me a favor by not offering me anything haha. All good though, buying crap yourself makes you appreciate it that much more. Imagine that, a not-so-poor, not-so-broke and not-so-lonely college kid making car payments already.

I was gonna get a used bucket, but interest rates were higher. As a result, I bought a new bucket instead. Since I got my mind on my money and my money on my mind, I went with the economical choice. Funny, my car in college was worth 3x as it is now. Darn straight-line, not double-declining depreciation.

Now its time to upgrade my whip! (After I stop paying rent though. Guys, please listen to E-40: Don't buy a $85,000 car, before you buy a house!)

Lesson learned: Have a goal, then go out to achieve it.

***

Confessions of a SneakerHead, part IV:

Project: Air Jordan IV Laser Package
Locale: www.jumpman23.com
Time: 05.14.05 @ 1700 Hours PST
Goal: 3 Pairs (2 for Reeg, 1 for Bro)

The Air Jordan IV is quite possibly the greatest Jordan of them all. About 6 months ago, rumors were spreading that they would release these exclusively online. When I first read that, it kinda made me firm. True they were gonna milk more money from me by throwing in a booty shirt and hat, but my eyes were on the prize - the actual kicks! I had to do my recon work however - setup multiple accounts, get multiple billing addresses and synch 2 computers – as it was only limited to 1 pair per household. And I was determined to get 2 pair. As Special Ed says, you do what you gotta. I figured they would release, I'll order my pairs, and I can commence my night. 30 minutes tops I hoped, then I could head over to the graduation dinner I planned on going.

Boy was I wrong. Pandemonium ensued in the online sneakerworld once they were officially "released." The bandwidth was crazily exceeded and we were placed in a virtual waiting room. I kept refreshing my laptop and desktop hoping to gain entrance, but to no avail. There’s a glitch in the matrix! So I tried for an hour, and still no luck. I wasn’t gonna leave the crib until I got at least 1 pair. I’ve literally read over 2000 posts on niketalk and instyleshoes about people crying and complaining, but where there’s a will, there’s a way. 3 hours into the project, and I still didn’t get a pair. Ummm it doesn’t look like I’m going to dinner. The outlook is getting bleak and I was giving up hope. My brother called and said don’t worry about his pair – it’s not worth it. Maybe to him, but he’s not a sneakerhead.

Thanks to some sneaker-computer-nerds who posted a different link straight to the ordering page, I was able to cop pair I @ 2100 PST. But soon after, that link was deaded. People gave up, dreams were crushed, and ‘heads were drained, but alas, my mission was only 1/3 complete. Through divine intervention or something, I was able to cop pair II about 30 minutes later as inventory was quickly dwindling. The sneakergods were watching over me. Even reeg needs to rest, so I took a lil reprieve to rejuice my system. Alas, I was going for the hat trick @ around 2300 PST, and was able to pull off the turkey with pair III. Wow what a night.

***

Movie Review:
Mr. & Mr. Smith

This movie was entertaining, but wasn't necessarily good. I think a deaf person could've enjoyed it by just soaking in all the visual action. And eye-candy as well. Dang Mr. Pitt & Mrs. Jolie are some beautiful people. I doubt their kids would be hot, since they say beauty skips a generation. However, my folks are beautiful, so it throws that notion out =P. Man, I wish I was like in Maddox's class. Imagine how many friends he would get simply because of his moms. Does that make Angelina Jolie a MILF? She is technically a mother, but she's never given birth. Hmmm, there's should be a different name for them. It doubly sucks because my moms name is Angelina too. Great, 2 out of my top 3 are named like my sister and moms. =/

Oh yeah, about the flick. Very cool gadgetry, cool stunts, but unrealistic action. They were on some Terminator/Robocop invincibility. The flick had its moments, including a reference to Filipinos (not necessarily favorable). Vince Vaughn's character stole a few scenes as well. And Mr. Rachel Bilson should stick to the OC (naw, he was decent...I'm just hating.) I have no idea how Nicole Kidman was originally picked to play Mrs. Smith's part.

3 out of 5 Smiths

***

The weekend that was:

Friday: Got a haircut wooooo! I usually wait 21-23 days between haircuts, but for some reason this interval was almost 5 weeks. Not sure why, since I was 'fro-ing it the last couple weeks. Maybe it was a form of rebellion. Anyway, getting a haircut is one of them simple pleasures that makes you happy. Unless your stylist effs it up, then it makes you pissed.

Had dinner @ Park Chow's with Roland and Ant (where you @ MSB?) then met up with Alan and them @ Fire-something bar. Tried a drink out called "Summer," supposedly in honor of Rachel Bilson. So you know I had to try it out! Not bad, but I doubt I'll try it again. We ate again @ JT's, and damn I straight ate like a lechon the whole day. I didn't even mention the Popeye's for lunch. Belch.

Saturday: Went to the A's game with the A's fanatics. Jefe & Nick got serious issues man. I thought I was bad with my G-Tech basketball obsession, but they take it to a whole 'nother level. I was supposed to meet Nick at Bart about 1.5 hours before the game, but homie wanted to secure a free trucker hat, so he shows up at the game like 2 hours early. I said eff it, I don't need no hat, so I show up at game time. And I still got the damn hat. The highlight of the game was reading the Jessica Alba interview in Complex Mag (woohooo I finally got my first issue!) Anyway, at least it gave me a reason to rock these.

Played in the half-tournament @ Dan's crib, and if I didn't do too well I wouldn't be posting about it yeah? 24 players, $720 in prize money. Back in college, I always used to wear a red polo shirt on days of Finals. Maybe some of you Gaucho's would remember. So anyway, I said why not try it for the tourney? Furthermore, I wanted to rock these (CoaSH installment soon coming), so I figured a red polo shirt would complement them well. I was drained, but still managed to do alright. Got a few lucky breaks, but everyone knows its better to be lucky than good. I was pleased with my 2nd place showing.

Sunday: Pops was out of town, so we didn't have a gathering or anything. In honor of him possibly subliminally, my brother Ryan and his wifey asked me to take them to the driving range. I guess the smarter you are, the less athletic you are too? (Me being the exception.) Haha just teasing, but Ryan is worst male golfer in the fam. I've improved the game of many pupils, but this one may be the most challenging of them all.

Continuing on the golf tip, I watched the US Open. Congrats to the NZ'er Michael Campbell for winning. Goosen choked, but I liked him even more when I found out he's sponsered by Grey Goose. That's so hot, getting all the GG you want. Its kinda punny too, Goosen...Goose? Get it? So if that was me, I guess I'd have Taco Bell endorse me?? (Yep that was horrible.)

Wow finally a championship-level game. I shall never call Robert Horry Robert Whorry no more. He's cemented his status as a Gamer. I just want to see him win MVP.

***

Retro shoes, retro clothes, retro music. So it was only a matter of time until the retro blog came! I came across this idea a few months ago, inspired by the RZA, and didn't feel compelled to write one until now. Me and Nimz were talking about Matty chilling in Goleta still, and it almost inspired me to come up with something. It also hit me like a freight truck - we've done graduated almost 4 years ago to this date! Alas, hit rewind and here/hear it goes:

***

June 14th, 2001

Dear ReegSpeak,

As you know its been a hectic week for me, probably my mostest hectic ever. Ish is bananas yo. Anxious and scared, grad day is in a few. After nights of partying and days of taking finals, its come down to this. Let's see the week's highlights:

~ Lesbian fest downtown. I'm not gonna name drop anyone, but if you wanna see pics, my email addy is on the right.
~ Prof. Stewarts Black Studies final, where 1. all the answers were true, 2. he gave us a "cheat sheet" which was the actual final, and 3. the final is 100% of your grade. Damn I wish every class was like that.
~ After our last final, me, Aki, Greg, Nimz and Hugo started pounding 40s on campus at around 11am in the morning. Nimz probably didn't finish his.
~ Damn I've bowled my highest score ever - around a buck-fitty! Not sure if I was inspired by the Hom-osexuals bowling prowess (dude's good), but somehow I kept knocking 'em down, just like my jumpers in basketball class.
~ Me, Matty and RZA all rocking our Patent Leather Jordans on the last day of basketball class. Damn them shoes are fresh. Somehow someway RZA robbed me of the class MVP trophy...I'll get him back one day.
~ Fresh's birthday @ E-bar. Its only fitting this was one of the first restuarants we ate at freshman year. Thanks for the group shot mayn.
~ I just remember Flaming Dr. Peppers at Dawns, Trish's, Jenina's and Liza's pad. Do not remember much else that night, and it was only a couple days ago.
~ Did I mention the Lesbian fest downtown?
~ The year-end party at Santa Ynez. Bet you thought SY could get turned out like that! That's all I could say about that.

So what's next? I'll probably go to the PI during the summer, chill @ home for a minute, then move to LA in the fall. Not like I have a choice, since I'm being forced to move down there. Then we'll see where that takes me...

***

Oh the irony of life. So yesterday after work I went to Best Buy to pick up X&Y by Coldplay (and am listening to it right now - man I use waaay too many parentheses.) I walk around the store and just look at plasmas, not because I wanna buy one (not yet anyway) but just to shop. I rocked a royal blue Polo the other day and shall never rock it with khakis. Anyway, Best Buys were made so that they're away from a mall atmosphere. When you go there, you go there for a purpose and not to casually stroll through. Think of the older Best Buys around...yep, there's nothing really around them. Not the one in Colma though. I went to Nordstrom Rack to peruse through the kicks and naturally end up buying a pair of jeans. Retail therapy works wonders. Oh yeah, I've never spent over $40 on a pair of jeans before yesterday. But at least I didn't spend over a C-Note on them.

Damn who would've thought 5 years ago I would've been listening to Coldplay and rocking Diesel denim. Please shoot me.

***

Return of the Metros, Volume II:

Some of you may recall my past conversation with the former roomy. Here goes another one. Sorry to put you on blast Nimz.

nimz1831: i got some steve maddens
nimz1831: and some paper denim jeans
nimz1831: so im full metro now, hahahaah ^^
reegsta: ...
nimz1831: nah
reegsta: yeah u are...u gotta dust off the wu-wear man
nimz1831: thats my club attire, mayn
nimz1831: i still dress the same
nimz1831: no doubt
reegsta: u got paper denim and diesel
reegsta: damn...
reegsta: too bad the inseams are always long on me
nimz1831: ya.. i get them fixed
reegsta: how much extra?
reegsta: like twomp?
nimz1831: nah
nimz1831: moms
nimz1831: !
reegsta: lol
reegsta: thats hotter
reegsta: get the straight leg and not the boot cut
reegsta: it'll eff it up when u hem it
nimz1831: how so?
reegsta: boot cut? b/c of the flare
reegsta: duh
nimz1831: how will it get messed up if its hemmed?
reegsta: i meant if u hemmed boot cut jeans...naw mean?
reegsta: nm...not sure if i'm making sense haha
reegsta: carry on
nimz1831: ya i know what ur sayin
nimz1831: but dont see how it'll get messed up!
nimz1831: cuz the boot cut will be too high?
nimz1831: the part where it gets bigger?
reegsta: not messed up per se....yeah thats what i mean
reegsta: i think...
reegsta: u heard of rogan and ernest sewn?
nimz1831: nah
reegsta: lies
reegsta: just more premium denim
nimz1831: oh
nimz1831: nah never heard lol
nimz1831: DUDE UR METRO!
nimz1831: u know those brands!
nimz1831: GTFO
reegsta: lol
reegsta: sorry man...still in the market for a pair
nimz1831: lol
nimz1831: i got a good pair of diesel jeans i know u'd wear
nimz1831: straight legged
nimz1831: crotch isnt up to ur stomach
reegsta: oh yeah...u were suppose to get me the model remember
nimz1831: i was? ah my bad
nimz1831: ill check it 2nite
reegsta: no biggie....don't wanna cop your steeez
nimz1831: lol
nimz1831: not my steeze, mayn
nimz1831: sale !
nimz1831: man
nimz1831: maybe i should move to the bay
nimz1831: everyone tells me i'd fit in better there
nimz1831: and i'd enjoy it more
reegsta: yeah we have a diverse gay population
nimz1831: ...

***

It seems ever since June happened, people have been blogging less, including yours truly. Or maybe that's always been the case, as it just applies to me now. You know like when you buy a new car, like a Lexus, then you notice way more Lexi on the streets? They were always there, its just you notice them more now. There's gotta be a name for this type of mental behavior.

How bout write a blog about why I don't blog? Wouldn't that be funny?

~ Moreso I've been away from my comp for lunch, so when I'm at desk I feel I should work. Heck, I don't even surf eBay as much nowadays, so don't be offended Ms. Blogger.

~ Contrary to belief, I still interact with people. And I talk about stuff that potentially could make it to these pages. Since I don't like repeating myself, I don't post.

~ SV has been off the air for a few weeks, so I don't have that consistency as I did before. During the summer I take a KK hiatus (save for the wallpaper.)

~ I'd much rather be a doer than a sayer (easier said than done haha.) Yeah yeah I keep talking about how I need to learn to swim. Heck, I went through the archives the other day, and I said how I needed to swim back way back in '03. It's gonna be '06 in a few months. So the next time I talk about swimming, it shall be about how the class went (right guys???)

~ It seems that I'm disenchanted with all my loves - hip-hop, shoes, sports, etc. Not sure if I'm becoming a bitter old man, but they don't strike a chord with me like they used to. Or maybe there's just something else out there that my skew my perspective.

~ Sometimes you want to be a shell and not be bothered. Be in your own little world. I think I need to create Reeg-Time (damn I think I jacked that from someone out there....props.) This basically consists of having time to myself, which basically means doing absoltutely nothing. Surprisingly though that gets boring after awhile.

***

Let's see what I could write about:

1. Shoes (umm, I'm behind on my COASH installments)
2. LA (kind of had the abbreviated version below)
3. Sports (go Spurs!)
4. Life (naw maybe I've been a lil too open)
5. Muzik (sure why not?)

When I went down to LA, Fresh was surprised that I've been listening to the likes of Green Day/Weezer, etc, noting that Greg would be proud. Truth be told, my non-rap music seeds were planted during my latter SB years. I guess he didn't take note, since I did play hip-hop primarily. Anyway, my recent acquisitions are the following, with a brief recap for each:

Common - Be
Yes it is a hot album, but people are calling it classic. Personally I think its hard to call an album a classic off the bat, since one of the traits of being a classic album is to withstand the test of time. On one hand I'm happy for the guy who invented the term "extra-medium," but on the other hand, I'm like where were all these fans when the certified classic Resurrection dropped? "I Used to Love HER" is a top-10 song for me. Go watch Brown Sugar. But yeah, I guess whatever Kanye touches turns to gold, or hopefully platinum in this case.

4.5 corners out of 5

Keane - Hopes & Fears
I'm a lil late on this album, but I wanted to pick it up ever since I've heard their first single. I'm not sure if I'm depressed before hearing the music or just sad while listening to the album, but its not really a cheery album. The music is good though. Its one of those mood albums I suppose. Song titles like "We Might as Well be Strangers" and "Everybody's Changing" (my fav song on the joint) don't really make a happy face.

4 smileys out of 5

De La Soul - The Grind Date
Another album which I'm tardy. Now this is what good hip-hop is about. Beats & Lyrics. Pretty simple huh? While I haven' bought a De La album since Stakes is High, which was in 1995, which was 10 years ago. Man this is the album where you know no song titles, you just stick it in and play it without skipping a track. I'd recommend song titles, but I don't know any!

4 buddies out of 5

Jamie Cullum - twentysomething
Now this is a cd that's different from others in my music collection, which is a good thing. Its almost like elevator music. Or background music at a nice restuarant. He's like a male Norah Jones? Maybe that's a stretch. Anyway, I do fall in the demographic he sings about (hence the album title), so maybe I'm more in tune to the lyrics. My fav song is "It's About Time," which melody so reminds me of Case's "I'll be Missing You." Its a hot song, you should peep it.

4 piano keys out of 5

Guily guilty guilty music pleasure: "Untitled" by Simple Plan. Haha and I was just poop-talking about them the other day.

***

Dear City of Angels,

Long time no see huh? I haven't been seen you in slightly over 2 years, but although some things have changed, most of you remained the same. All I really wanted was to eat at Roscoe's and Pink's, and that I did.

~ The drive back up wasn't that bad considering it was a 3day weekend.
~ Thank God I had my SK. And thank yall for endangering me with all them texts/IMs/phone calls.
~ Coalinga smells like poop, and I don't have vent shutters.
~ Its a problem when you think $2.24 for a gallon of petro is cheap.
~ Can you believe I didn't even buy anything besides food and drink?
~ Lucky Strike is possibly the coolest bowling alley ever.
~ Garlic/Shrooms/Jalepeno is a pretty interesting pizza combination.
~ Fresh has a phat arse television.
~ I remembered how vast LA is by driving through areas of the city for the first time, such as historic filipinotown.
~ I love the enclaves down there, some big (K-town) and others small (Etheophia).
~ The weather was beautiful, as were the people. Damn it seemed like everyone was fit.
~ Even if you haven't seen people in literally years, its good to know that they're the same person you remember.
~ I should visit more often. It was cool hearing people tell me that I should move back, like yall miss me or something. I miss you too.

***