Dec 21st 2009 Day 8

Apologies for my infrequent blog entries.

It's interesting how time flies when you're on break. You think you'll have plenty of time to do what you want but find that you either squander the time or spend so much doing one task that multi-tasking is rendered ineffective. Like helping Mom bake persimmon cookies and fighting over how much cups of sugar to use and duhhdah^3.

SO I did some errands with my mom. We braved the heavy downpour and I stayed in. Well, we stopped by the library to drop off some dvds, only to find that I borrowed more. I got caprica, the new mini-series prequel to ronald moore's reimagined bsg and also bryan singer's "the usual suspects"

Just saw ordinary people last night; very touching and sentimental film. I think coping with the grief of the lost of a loved on has helped me value this film as a gem. That "messes" happen and you can't just pick up the pieces, clean up and move on. You take that pain with you but find the strength, courage and hope that life is precious and all worth holding onto despite all the "normal" stuff going on.

I guess that's how nostalgia is like a pain in your gut that won't go away. Like overstuffing yourself and hoping that one glass of barq's root beer at the all you can eat buffet can push down all the food you've just eaten in the last twenty mins from the sashimi to the sweet and sour pork.

(that's another story to be told at another time/if you're interested in hearing about it, talk to me.)

Well, a well-made film. Always appreciate dramas from time to time that don't involve love stories, babies switched at birth, far too many subplots and forbidden love (ok, so basically I outlined every sappy east asian melodrama, sorry to spoil the fun...)

Ok, so this is my second cup of tea and I better end here lest I slack off and not work on crammin for my us constitution test.

Day 7 of Winter Break (WinBre) Sunday 12/20/2009

Today I was awoken by my mother.

I apparently overslept after spending a long winded day gift shopping, running errands and then tending to the persimmon harvest at home on sat.

So I saw two films back to back as well as an old episode of stargate universe, the finale before the new season after xmas.

The films i watched were valkyrie and the postman always rings twice. gosh, what a overdose on suspense, drama and extreme tension.

So Valkyrie in short is Bryan Singer's film starring Tom Cruise about the 20 July Plot within Nazi Germany when some Nazi officials and military officers conspired to oust Hitler from office. un fortunately, it was unsuccessful, but worthy in the books of history.

Postman was a 1981 adaption of a 30s crime novel about a hitchhiker who has an extramarital affair with a road stop's owners discontented wife as they conspire to kill the innocent husband so they can live happily ever after. The film kinda felt long and protracted at times. But there's lot of good acting and the scenery looks really authentic to the period. Unfortunately, I wasn't swept away.

So next, some films to watch. Infernal Affairs II, Happy Together, and the first years (a documentary on first year teachers.)

I'm also re-watching the original source material for Harmony Gold's Robotech: Macross, Superdimensional Fortress Macross. It's quite interesting and fascinating. More risque than the more commercial and family friendly American adaptation.

Well, Sunday involved a lesson about the concept of worship between man and God.

Then immediately afterwards, I went downtown in SJ to hand over some PS memory cards my friend's been wanting to get back. We ended up waiting uber long to get into the old spaghetti factory because of all the family events that night. But it was kinda cool hanging around in the alleyway near the restaurants entrance, taking snapshots, making funny poses and chatting about dim sum and what to order; which made us all the more hungrier.

I had the manager's special with a mitzhra cheese/browned butter and mushroom sauce which i must say was amazing.

Lots of dinner conversations, parlor games such as mime and talking about history, the power of memory within narrative esp. family stories (how we came to America etc.) and more importantly I got to know a few people around the dinner table a little more. TO reference this post, my friend's fellowship were a part of a holiday event involving xmas in the parks a white elephant and dinner at osf.

Well long story short, I ended up almost getting stranded in the parking lot cuz the ticket machine wouldn't read the cash i kept inserting. So i ended up scrounging up two ones and some loose change and managed to pay my three dollar fare and leave.

Got home, didn't even brush my teeth and then i just crashed.

didnt "wake up" until ten this morning.

I know, its break mode....

Day Four: Walking around my ex-Hometown

So a little background before you read my post; It'll help explain my state of mind.

I emailed an old HS teacher to observe his classroom and Im told by the powers that be that I am not allowed to visit without documentation or prior authorization. So having gone to this high school, just coming back to visit and see what's up, I'm being treated as if I am a stranger to this place. That's disappointing.

Ok, so I take the VTA bus, its drops me off in the local strip mallish area where the old library used to be. I call up a friend and whine about how this sucks.

I stand above an overpass whether the tracks stand. A train is coming and it honks its loud horn. I'm standing above it watching it plow through on its tracks, doing whatever its supposed to be doing. Cars swish behind me; the 237 is a busy road.

Then I walk to the library only to find that its not open. I watch a good amount of Star Trek that I just got in the mail yesterday and I get absorbed. A man opens the door and the deluge begins. People rush in and the library is warm.

SO I'm waiting on my mom to pick me up so I can write some more later.

Thursday, why can't you be like friday?....

Day One of Break

December 14, 2009

For my own memory which is horrible, I pledge to keep a record of this break in the form of a journal.

First off, I woke up late. I knew I had to wake up earlier and observe a classroom, but I decided to rest for a few mins. What happens in a few mins became a half hour. Way late.

I rush into my car, steep some strong green tea and I grab some quick breakfast at a burger king drive thru. fast food, ugh, but its food.

With the smell of grease permeating the interior of my P.O.C. (piece of crap) car, I am lost in the web of freeway overpasses and strip malls. It's Story and King and I think I'm in Little Saigon. I finally realize that I missed the street sign, hidden by the glare of the bright afterrain sun and I make a left turn.
I'm in the classroom, my pen in hand cradling my notepad. My friend teacher's trying to appeal to her student's common interest by relating a letter to a teacher as a form of setting lifelong goals.

Such a uplifting story, to share how as a high schooler she had high aspirations and looking back after college and receiving that letter written a long time ago, like a time capsule, everything seemed to fit and work itself out. Ah, the joy of teaching....

Ok, I'm running some errands, spend a great deal of time shopping for a USB/AC power outlet adaptor. I'm home, slurping on my mom's noodles and chomping on wontons submerged ina light chicken stock and I'm watching Spike Lee's "When The Levees Broke" and it brings me to tears.

My mom returns, and I retire to my room, set on working on the household finances. I work on em some more, dinner arrives. Some friends are leaving out of the country, I hand them a Xmas present and bid them safe journey. Order a few things on Amazon, listen to my podcasts, twittle my thumbs for a bit and here I am.

Another unproductive winter day.

End of day one. 37 outta 38 days left of break...

touch: a human sense

"hands..touching hands, reaching out, touching me, touching you...sweet caroline....." - Neil Diamond

"you've got the touch...when all hell's breakin' loose you'll be riding the eye of the storm..." - Stan Bush

I've noticed that couples have different ways of showing affection to one another.

For some it's back scratching, another pinching cheeks, another poking the face where as for some its the hand around the shoulder.

I remember my friend even stating that the way you hold your sig other's hand symbolizes affection. It can be the take by the hand, or hand in hand, like two parts that make a whole.

I'm fascinated by how intimate relationships are revealed by touch.

so much to do yet so little time,

"it still means something even though before you didn't know it did. Now it means what it is now that you do know."

The following a quick paraphrase of what a master teacher told me.

In the past, she used to work on vocabulary words. Ten a week, and five would be written in sentences. Then at the end of the week, the difficult ones were explained further in class. She would look words up on google and then have deeper interactions. She'd spend an hr a day on word study.

Fascinating work.

Meh...my new playlist

My friend in high school was pretty chillax. She'd say meh when there was nothing to be said. Touched by that memory, i thought of some relaxing songs I think of when the stuff hits the fan. Here they are. Whether I'm feeling like million bucks or the zero in closed bank account, this kind of music goes great with a afternoon ride from class on friday when you know the weekend's coming and you are going to just call it a holiday.

iTunes, Gmail and Skype

You try to get work done. So I hook up the laptop next to my desktop and lo and behold, the time flies. I'm constantly checking my email to see if my group are all one the same page while Switchfoot's "American Dream" blasts into my ears through my Panasonic headphones, Gchat is chiming every once in awhile, I'm editing a lesson plan, cutting and pasting other people's work into one work. The music is shuffling, time's flying and I haven't even started my readings for tomorrow. And I'm a week behind. Ok, gotta get off line, burn the midnight oil. And all the while my mom's asking if i want the rest of the boiled peanuts. Hmmm...difficult choices.

Red nail polish

I'm frantically trying to run errands. first its this thing then the other. how disheveled is this life. So may responsibilities yet the time seems to go by in the moment. time is so precious, it perhaps trumps cash. How can you buy time? It's like those two Pink Floyd songs. Puts things really in perspective.

depositing a check in the bank, sending post by attaching the correct postage and certifying it to make sure it gets to where it needs to go.

Decisions, outcomes, lives hanging in the balance. All the while I sit staring at the red light to turn green while the hot afternoon sun tans my forearms.

From moment to moment, I'm in the zone. a few minutes here means less time to do something else. the opportunity cost of prioritizing. Makes me wonder the meaning of life. I seldom think of it since I am so caught up in something that it rarely dawns on me.Until its important.

Agh, I still have to get this done.

I depart

Knowing that this wave will break into the ocean into other waves. There's always bigger fish to fry. You never stop. Running. You keep going until you give your very best.

red nail polish.

Returning to Los Arboles

Dear Journal,

I cannot believe it has been a week. Fall Break went by so fast.

I'm sure the students had a fun time during their break off.

As for me, all I did was sleep and finish my homework. Of all the days of last week, the most memorable one was Tuesday. It was raining really hard. The wind was so strong that I ran after a plastic bag.

Staying at home made me realize how I missed going to class to see my friends or going to Los Arboles in the morning to observe Mrs. Patton and her students in room B4.

Tomorrow I am going back to teach another lesson. I hope that I don't keep the students too long. Then they will miss out on recess.

Till next time,

Mr. Ow (aka Jay)

Driving Home

It's been a long Saturday with my mom helping her buy groceries and hanging out with my grandparents in North Beach. We park in front of the delicatassen across my grandparents but the owners don't give us trouble so we leave it there for a bit. Then we repark it a few blocks away up.

My mom and I venture into Chinatown. It's hot, strange for City weather and so I'm wearing my green GAP fleece, a book under my arm that I've been wanting to read called "The Last Lecture" by Randy Pusch.

As I read and wait, a stranger waits as I adjust my gaze from the book to her eyes. She's wearing a red sweatshirt and is hesitant. I ask her what she needs and she's deliberating whether or not to take a box among the heap alongside a Chinese bakery. It's a typical take out place with hot dim sum piping hot from the racks; the steamy aroma of mantou buns waft around, they wander out and find themselves within my nostrils. It really bugs me that find this dirty, crowded, and smelly place delish in its food offerings, unique in the eavesdrops of everyday chatter, a smattering of different languages, and the different denizens who frequent the long stretch of road that's Chinatown

She and I talk for a bit, and then she decides to locate the manager. My mom returns from her errand and she sets off for another store. I part ways with this female acquaintance and wish her luck in procuring a box for her stuff
I situate myself inbetween two vendors and think about how often I've been here growing up and in the recent years.

Maybe its the old Chinese guy who asks for a nickel in Chinese/English in case you don't know either. Or its the suburbanites like myself who stay with their parents cuz they're forced to. Perhaps its the locals who live in the area or the City and are just doing some groceries for next week's meals.

Regardless from the old stock of retired, aged Chinese immigrant or the young, cosmopolitan foreign exchange student these people intermix. It's a world of shuffling, buying/selling, and getting where you wanna go.

As I am about to continue in reading my acquaintace takes a brief moment to greet me; the wooden pallet attached to her stowaway impresses me. She told the clerk behind the counter at the bakery that she would compensate her a dollar for the pallet which she then handed over to the boss. Success!

A few moments go by and I'm breezing through me read, waiting for my mom and guarding my mom's parcels. Then all of a sudden two Chinese women bark at each other. I cannot understand a word they're saying cuz they speak a different dialect than I but its so commotional. Spectators' reactions vary, some pass by indifferent while others smirk. They find amusement in this? This altercation lasts for another ten-fifteen minutes. An African American male sticks his head out of the car and is puzzled, trying to locate the ruckus. He darts ahead, cuz he knows the traffic behind him will get upset.

And so they take their drama, and the move down. Loud exchanges back and forth. Fingers pointing and spit flying around. The argument subsides and everything's back to the good ole hustle/bustle.

As I'm finishing the last chapter of the book, my mom arrives. We walk back to Grandma's and call it a day. After checking my email and trying to figure out the name of the HK Drama I used to watch back to back on my Saturday afternoons and Sunday mornings, I'm disappointed I cannot locate it at the library. I'll have to watch it streamed online i suppose if i can find it.

Dinner is my mom's specialty, baby back ribs on sale from safeway glazed with bbq sauce, my uncles famous ginger and onion coated dungeness crab, some snow peas and a dollop of white Thai jasmine rice. At the end of the meal, I'm licking the sauce off my hands which are pruny and wet with all the crab meat I've consumed.

As my mom and I go home, I think about times on this hwy when this one time my mom got lost on the 380 going back home. She had to stop and ask someone to guide her back. Or the last time my dad promised to treat me to innout after fixing the integra at my uncles shop but we ended up going home to eat. Perhaps it was the last time I took Caltrans when the semirig turned over and a clean up caused the 101 to shut down.

These memories are resurfacing and pervade my thoughts as I look at the passing yellow street lamps. And the radio plays my favorite song by Journey as I converse with my mom. There's something about driving, the music, and these thoughts that arise. It's like I'm processing it all yet at the same time I am still here in the present. Quite trippy yet it is cathartic.

Tonight was a good night. It's good to have relations in the City. I'm glad I live close enough to visit yet far enough to not get caught up with all that pressure. Allows me to be sane.

Now what was it?

I'm trying to remember but I was going to write today. It's funny how sometimes you have a a - ha moment but then you forget what you recalled which dawned on you. Walking around a vast body of water, talking in dialogue with my cohort I feel a sense of continuity in my experience. That some where some how we have our prior knowledge and experiences that have brought us to this point. Some are married, working, about to be married, are in relationships, have children, made career switches. And its all for the same purpose, the same goal of becoming a teacher. It's funny, I look back at how I wanted to be a teacher in my undergrad years. I remember reading Jonathan Kozol's "Ordinary Resurrections" and Mike Roses " Lives on the Boundaries" and it made me see the educator not one who simply teaches and receives tenure after a few years. But I saw such hope and vision that the future could be better, that we, in the present may not know or see how our pupils turn out or how our instruction may lead or guide them.

However, its in the day to day, the relationships and conversations in the classroom with our students that we the teacher create the culture, make change happen in ways that we ourselves never thought possible.

Perhaps this is what Rafe Esquith said when he referred to "teaching like your hair's on fire" or when Robin Williams urged his pupils to constantly "seize the day."

each time I think about what made me want to become a teacher, I go back into my memories of who I was. I still have a letter from sixth grade teacher who could have given up on me due to my behavior problems. But nonetheless she persisted. She taught us in ways that led us to believe that we were not just sixth graders, but young adults maturing and eager for life's next steps.

I think back to those teachers who had such intensity that it was attributed as a sign of respect or a sign of some way of adding to their eccentricity.

Well, i've digressed immensely and i didn't even remember what I was supposed to journal about.

Now what was it?

Reminesce - HS

I'm sitting in a conference room. Dark blue sweater, slim black fedora, my plaid Vans listening to a HR staffperson brief me on fire drills, evacuation protocols and lockdown procedures and in the back of my mind it brings me back to that one time at Milpitas High when we were on lock down.

Back to the huts built at the end of the overhangs that provided shelter from the sun, cover during the rain and zones for classes, from frosh to senior. It's funny now I remember this odd ends and knickknacks that are meaningless.

I recall a time when I hung out on the outskirts of the popular areas, in between academic buildings, in a stair way that was held in place by concrete barriers. There was a small courtyard in the middle of a set of descending and ascending stairs where we, our clique hung out.

One time I remember back in the day before cell phones were popular ppl used walkie talkies. And one time my friend was prank calling using his walkie and the funny thing is the person on the other line knew who he was. He demonstrated this by describing his clothes, build and so forth a couple miles away. We panicked, and hid in our concrete bunker, to avoid identification, lest the angry person on the other end wallow out some justice.

Or there was Vinny, a friend I remember from second grade who moved to the area and then transferred to my school. He was a quiet fellow, very sensitive and perceptive. Yet, he was full of a lot of pent up emotions. One time, he was quite upset and he used some wooden sticks and shredded quite a few inches of bark from the tree.

Pink in the face and screaming, that somehow allowed him to diffuse his anger, if not in a more holistic way.

But then he moved, down south to be with his mother. He told me that his mother could make peanut butter, from scratch, that the film of the oils and grounds formed a perfect texture on the bread that it was remarkable.

As time moved on people went different places. They went back to their home group. And I as well. It's funny how these memories come back in the most randomest times. One minute you could care less and would rather cue towards the end or credits yet in another you want to hold on and never ever forget. But that's life's moments. You are in the moment and out the next. You just have to keep going and be humble. As my friend told me, in a personal conversation "Humble, but hungry."

another side conversation with my self.

day three (with milk) *yawn*

so yeah. third say without coffee.

wow, see how i just wrote say in place of day. I must be at it. Crazy windy day yesterday. shoot. i was chasing a plastic bag yesterday cuz i didn't wanna litter the parking lot.

well, today's mellow out. It's actually more humid or moist. funny how it works out that way.

im festering over this piece of food between my teeth, I'm too lazy to floss so I try using my tongue. quite annoying.

Well, its another long day in the CRA. one more class to go, the water workshop and its the weekend!

Time to unwind and then buckle down for some more turbulent weather.

And I thought El Nino was bad.

Day 1 w/o caffeine

Today I had class. Yesterday I forgot to blog cuz I was preoccupied with stuff. So this is my first day again with out caffeine. I'm starting again cuz on the consecutive day I was supposed to not have caffeine, my mom made me a cup. So now i'm starting again, this fast or not drinking caffeine.

So lately I've been sipping ginseng tea. It's not as bad.

Class has been pretty insightful. I look forward to discussions yet I find that I am always learning from the interactions. It's interesting how we can be educated yet miseducated. The non examples and examples still allow me to learn in ways that I never thought possible.

Confucius wrote:

" Our greatest glory is not in never falling, but in getting up every time we do."

This is so insightful. How encouraging it is to know that even when we fall we are still able to rise up and try again.

I suppose I've a bit to learn from humility and my mistakes. I must own up to them, and understand that its all a part of learning.

How exciting it is to be able to learn not just from school but from my experiences. It's funny. I was thinking about the rain this afternoon and the persistent downpour reminded me of Porter Run from my college days and also how in sixth grade, El Nino hit our summer camp which mean the electricity was gone. We ended up not showering for three days, ate spaghetti and drank tomato soup by candle light and braved the persistent down fall.

The rain is crucial I suppose cuz California is in a drought and also lots of snow for those who love to ski. I guess its a good/bad thing.

Day 4 with Caffeine

So I broke my fast. My excuse is that my mom brewed the usual cup of instant stuff half with reduced fat milk. But still, a cup of joe is still a cup of caffeine.

Well tomorrow I will continue on the fast!

Today after church I filled up at Costco and bumped into an old friend from MHS. He was buying stuff as I was waiting for my mom to check out the brown rice she wanted. 14.99 for a 25 lb bag of brown rice. Yikes! Well we bought it any way along with eggs and four farmed rainbow trouts.

You know its been awhile since I've had a hot dog at Costco or a pizza. Or even the free samples. I mean one time my mom was nagging me to go some place with her and I was like ok. I missed out on a phillycheese steak sandwich. Then again, Amato's is always the real deal. Love the bread. And how they cook it up right in front of you at the grill so you actually see them make your sandwich.

I have a craving for that place again....

No, must resist. Money doesn't grow on trees...

I'm a unemployed grad student with alot of Tupperware and homemade sandwiches.

Gotta save up for them books.

day two no caffeine

So far I've been hanging in there. Yesterday was quite rough. My head was paining and I felt like so disoriented. I just went to my bed and just rested for a good hour. I think lately I have been not valuing my rest. Staying up late at night cramming or watching a a film that I know I shouldn't be doing.

Lukewarm water and ginseng tea.

That's all I need.

To make my life caffeine free

A fly is on my arm; it rests forlorn safe and warm

I hiccup and my body moves.

It flies away

I wonder how long I can go without caffeine.

In fact, I wonder how I managed to wake up

At six in the morning for zero period P.E.

I should try that

Do my workouts bright and early in the morning

And see if I can get past this.

As Beddingfield remarked

" I gotta get through this..."

Day One: w/o caffeine

SO I'm teaching my students at my school site about non-fiction specifically journals and diary. The lesson was well-purposed but in the end it became chaotic. Directions were unclear or not understood, people's eyes were glazed over and so forth. Well, it reflects on my instruction. Looks like I have a lot ahead of me to work on.

I gave them a charge, to do a reading journal and to see if they could "put themselves in their place" that is look at the perspective of the main character of a book they were reading. Now, I'm not going to follow that prompt but instead I'm going to return to the diary that we explained in class.

A student makes an effort in self-control to stop watching tv for a week to get five extra points on her test.

I think I will see how far I go this week starting today without caffeine.

In fact, this afternoon I was so groggy and tired that I just came home from my student teaching seminar, (which was awesome, thank you Kelly Mack!) laid down on my bed and just passed out. I got awoken by a call but that happens.

Have you ever given up something? What did you you give it up? Why? How did it feel practicing an act of self-control? Would you do it again? Explain.

Well, I'll write later. I've got laundry to do and a movie to watch. Finally. I haven't seen a film in ages.....

If you wanna comment, see if you have answers to my questions. if not, think about it. i mean you're taking time to read my stuff. Might as well make good use of your time cuz I can talk for ages....but you don't have all the time in the world so yeah....

Post Di Yi

Quote/Lyric of the Day: " My stomach is sick/And it's all in my head." - The Killers

Hello, my name is Jason. Welcome to my blog. If you know me personally or by now you know one of three things:

my name
that I watch lots and lots of movies (till the later hours of the night)
and I write often.

This blog is simply a place for me to journal my thoughts and allow what is on my mind to be put out there for others to comment, critique, examine and so forth.

A little about myself.

I'm a grad student at SJSU, part of the Critical Research Academy which is a cool term for simply stating that I am a critical thinker, one who advocates for social justice and equity and all that jazz. Pardon me if my summary does this fine program a disservice. Basically I question stuff.

Also I like movies. I believe I said that already.

I'm from the South Bay of the San Francisco Bay Area, grew up here most of my life and let's see

something interesting about me...

I drive the car my aunt used to drive me to elementary school with. talk about commitment. This car is definitely been in my family enough to be considered a part of my family.

Well, my brain's tired and I really should go to bed. I've got class observations bright and early tomorroah.

Well, toodleloo, more in the future 'stead of random, tangential brain farts. Oh, and random's my middle name.

So if I say something out of the blue, I'm just being myself.

I hope I don't offend anyone...cuz that has happened before and I'd feel like a total jerk.

Ok, gotta go.

talk to you later.