My Misspent Youth

Where My Bike Was Stolen

2006-04-20 09:49:18.176051+00:00

When I was in the 5th grade, I rode my brand new bmx bike to Golfland one day, locked in outside on the bike rack, and went inside to play video games for a couple of hours. When I came back out, it was gone...disappeared...stolen. I immediatedly felt sad and confused as I walked home, kicking dirt and rocks along the way.

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Where a guy in a big truck threw his hamburger at me

2006-03-30 19:36:34.631528+00:00

I was driving peacefully in my car one day until a maniac in a BIG truck cuts off another guy in also a BIG truck (though the other one was slightly BIGGER). And the guy in the less slightly BIG truck must of flipped off the BIGGER truck guy because he threw his hamburger out of the window at him! But consequentially, he missed...not taking into hand Newton's law: force = mass x acceleration or realizing that we was going approx. 50 mph as his burger took flight and scattered wildly in the air and hitting front left-side of my car! I was pissed. "Why the hell did he have to do that?" I asked. He obviously cutted off the guy with the less slightly BIG truck and could of flipped him back or cursed, "Fuck you, assshole!!" or something. But no, he *had* to throw his burger like a lunatic into traffic and hitting me.

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Santa Clara, CA

2006-04-01 13:02:14.992917+00:00

My aunt and cousin, Vince, lives here. Vince's dad died of a sudden heart attack when he was twelve. His father was in the military and they didn't have a lot money, so he and his mother lived on welfare much of his life. He did received a full scholarship to UCI with all expenses paid for such as tuition, housing, books, etc. I remember taking him to his orientation with my aunt and touring the campus, which ended when we got to the computer lab where about 100 network PCs were hooked up with Starcraft on them. At times, my aunt would call me and ask me to go see him - and I would do so by bringing him food bought from Costco and free t-shirts I got from work. When he graduated with a computer science and engineering degree, I was extremely happy for him. In some ways, I always thought we are similar in that we were raised by our mothers for the most part. Vince is socially awkward, biracial, and suffers from obesity (something that is in his genes). He went back home to the only place he had ever lived. Remindedly, "...it's not how long you're here but what you do while you're here."

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Chased by cops for trespassing

2006-04-19 00:02:50.798668+00:00

Huntington Beach High School was one of the best places to skate when there were no skate parks in the area. This place was also notorious for cops because of the nearby police department. They would arrest you for skateboarding/trespassing, but that didn't deterred any of us. I remember on a couple of occassions, one or more police officers would come and tried to arrest us, but everyone would scattered and take off in different directions and they could never catch us on foot.

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La Quinta High School

2006-04-09 20:04:05.491918+00:00

Where I went to High School for most of my formative years.

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One Good Summer

2006-03-30 20:02:42.077608+00:00

My earliest memory as a child was swimming in public pools with my father. As I grew up, my friends and I would float at night in swimming pools the temperature of blood; pools the color of Earth as seen from outer space. We would spend our summer days and nights bathed in chlorine - lit by the pure blue lights installed underneath diving boards. I used to think that the heat would suck every last drop from your swimming pool or redden our skins until it had the hue of raw flesh. I remembered you saying... And some people like summer. "Have a great summer," their yearbook inscriptions bellow happily, as if they actually want me to enjoy myself, as if they actually would notice if I imploded in front of them. But with graduation here and the fact that I will probably never see any of my school mates again hovering in my brain, I can honestly say that I am going to have the best summer of my life and even my new manager at work can't stop me. So here's to you being able to fling your problems away like the fleas off a dog's back and by the way, have a great summer.

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Long Beach, CA

2006-03-31 12:34:45.307238+00:00

The first place I lived when we came to the U.S.

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Garden Grove, CA

2006-04-01 01:07:01.197188+00:00

We lived here for 4 years on the edge of poverty.

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Playing with fire

2006-04-09 17:32:17.851282+00:00

I lit our garage and backyard on fire one day in summer. My cousin and I found gasoline in the garage and decided to light it. Fire is such a rare thing. The only times we ever see fire is when we light candles and when we're involved in a disaster. While other kids are attracted insects or swimming pools, I was fascinated with fire. I find amusements in sitting on the sidewalk on a hot summer day and watching my spit sizzles on the hot asphalt, burning anything with a magnifying glass, or using a cigarette lighter and a hairspray can as a torch. On this day, we first poured a small amount in the garage and lit it with the garage door down. That wasn't very smart, because it got all fumy real quick and we had to hosed it down right away. We later moved to the backyard and poured a large ring of gasoline on the grass and lit it! It was awesome!!! We jumped up and down for while as the flames grew bigger. I don't remembered who yelled out first to put the fire out but we did put it out with garden hose, leaving a burnt circle the middle our backyard.

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Sold my sketchbook

2006-04-09 17:37:59.615963+00:00

I used to draw in my sketchbook tirelessly when I was a kid. One year, while in the 7th grade, I sketched and colored about 70+ robots and later sold it to a guy at a video store for $50 who I knew. I used to be obsessed with Transformers, Marvel Comics, and G.I. Joe at the times. My friends and I would create characters, sketch them out, and make figurine pieces for our role playing games. I wished I hadn't done that because it would be fun to flip through it now.

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Western Banks

2006-06-28 21:05:00.480076+00:00

Mike and Donnie at a bank near Western Ave. and Industrial Way in Stanton, California (circa 1990). The area is in "the heart of Crow Village" as Donnie stated, where the Crow Village Gang claims territory. The banks are very rough, steep, and hard to skate, but Mike got pretty good at it after several runs. No one really knows about the spot or skate there for that matter.

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Where The Canyon Meets The Stars

2007-03-29 22:46:36.170138+00:00

It was 4:00 AM Sunday morning when we've gotten into some silly arguments, having been drinking and strung out for days. We all came to Laura's dad cabin in Big Bear for a weekend of heavy partying. I couldn't stay here any longer and wanted to leave this instant. The two girls who came with me did not want to leave then; you intervened and agreed to leave with me in the middle of night.

We drove home when the night lingers on beyond the point where the day had to start. Coming down was the hardest part of our nurtured youth. 1/2 mile into town, I pulled over on the side of the road and asked you to take the wheels. You drove us out of town and through a passageway between firm canyons and shadowy skies. I turned my vision towards the vastness of the universe. The constellations of heavenly bodies above look like chandeliers of shining stars. Do so yet again; and everytime my gaze will fall back upon you, dazzled and tired. You asked me if I was okay; smiled at me when I said "Yes". What I felt like was blacking out; my mind is drifting off and I'm thinking about all kinds of things; my body starts feeling numb and weightless. I feel myself splitting into two. I feel my astral body getting loose from my physical one. I am half floating. The experience is so real. I am not dreaming. The landscape begins to blur and wash out into a blinding white; what felt like inbetween (the universe); an idle play or drug overdose.

The sun will overtake the moon. Eventually the two will be back to their original positions.

Do so yet again, and my gaze fall back upon you. You asked me if I was okay. I told you I will be when we get home. I looked at the landscape and now it is day. There are large trees or small bushes or shrubs along the roadside; that white speck over there, that is a seagull.

I told you what happened when we made it back.

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