a great show and a new nose

jo and i went to stubbs tonite to see jonny lang. the show was PHENOMENAL. absolutely amazing. if you ever have the chance to see this guy live, do it. you will not regret it. his fantastic band, a crowd with some highly entertaining people to watch, and wonderful weather added to the greatness.
i also got a new addition to my nose (see pic). you might be thinking this was a poor choice seeing as how im looking for a new job. however, here is my response to that. nose piercings are a lot more common now, it's not even that noticeable, and it's not like any companies are calling me back anyways so why not. i love it already and it was quick and pretty much painless. happy friday!

thoughts from a pondering asian

being unemployed has been...different. there's the obvious good things - sleeping in, watching ellen, doing basically whatever i want, not having to report to "the man." there's the bad things - no one is free to play bc..well..they have jobs, no money comin in, being in close proximity to the fridge more than usual, becoming lazy, wondering why no one wants to hire me.

along with unemployment comes thinking. i think on a normal basis however i feel like ive pondered a bit more lately. this photo gig has been great - im runnin all over town, seeing things i never knew existed, seeing things i will definitely not recommend to anyone, seeing things i might revisit later. but it's a one person job so there's a lot of time to think as im walking and driving around for hours...

as a christian, i think it's pretty common to realize how much you need and depend on God in the hard times. kinda like the saying, 'you don't know whatcha got till it's gone.' but instead it's like, 'you don't realize what you got until it's the only thing left.' but in this whole mess/blessing/situation of not having a job, what's hit me is not how much i need God now but moreso how much i don't depend on Him ALL the rest of the time. and maybe that's one in the same but i think we often focus on the former.

right now the church i attend is going thru a 4 week series about what the church is, how that involves its members, what the vision should look like etc. and im not talking about the church so much as a physical entity, but as a spiritual body of believers. and with that, they have created some take home devotionals to go thru during the week if you wanna. this first week has focused on worship. and i know that for myself, if you were to have a word association game and said worship, i would probably respond with "praise and," "singing," "christian songs," etc... and not that it isn't these things but really it's so much more. worship is the automatic outpouring of our love and affection for whatever we are passionate about, what we long for, what gets us excited. worship isn't just sunday mornings and sunday nites with guitars and a sound system. the devo says how whether it's being in traffic and worshipping the idea of being at home or standing in kyle field yelling for the aggies, it's worship. (ok the devo didnt specifically cite the ags but it should have). but anyways, what im getting at, and i really do have a point, is that when i think of 'worship' i don't want it to be a churchy word. bc it's an everyday, all the time thing. it looks different for every person but in the end, it's who we are, what we're passionate about, what gets us excited. so...what does your worship look like?

think on that. those are my pondering thoughts. enjoy them...they don't get published often. and since it's one in the morning, i take full responsibility for any rambling, run-on sentences, and incoherent babbling.

thoughts from unemployed asian

well ive been unemployed for about 6 weekdays now. seems like years though honestly. being unemployed has been ok so far. im taking full advantage of the sleeping in, going to bed at ridiculous times, watching terrible daytime television, etc. dont worry, ive done my fair share of job searching as well...i even applied for unemployment so im actually required to apply to 5 places a week. yeah..about applying for unemployment...that phrase makes me think of old, gray haired men for some reason. but anyways, i figure i might as well take advantage of that while i can...unemployment that is, not old gray haired men. plus i hear that its kinda annoying for companies to have to fill out the paperwork for that and im ALL about inconveniencing my company at this point.

so yes, ive been applying here and there. haven't really had any GREAT opportunities come up yet. so i might not really be able to snag that dream job im envisioning but when you dont have any money, you start to lower your standards. plus, not having a clear sense of direction in life still makes it a tad bit challenging to know what that "dream job" even is. what do i want to do? well, in an ideal world i would put together soundtracks for movies and tv shows, or be the manager of a band. the former b/c i think ive developed fine musical taste and could put together some great compilations. the latter b/c i dont wanna be in the band but i would be great at the details, behind the scenes work and would still be able to be with the band.

so those are my wishlist dream jobs. as far as real life goes, i will just continue to sit around and pray that one of these dang companies will at least have the decency to call me back.

i started the contract photography gig today. got my workout, that's for sure. i tried to group the sites by general location and today i tackled the ones within walking distance of each other downtown. however i still dont really know my way around downtown so there was a lot of walking. quite an adventure. its fun though bc im learning where everything is and seeing a lot of things ive never seen, or even heard of, before. i think i got about 20 of the sites done so that still leaves about 60. yikes. but im not complaining - i love it.

oh and can we talk about this weather? FANTASTIC.

good news

like how im posting every point two seconds? yeah, being unemployed gives you LOTS of free time. dont worry, i am being productive in my free time - looking for jobs etc., but when you dont have a job that takes up 8 hours you still have lots of time that you dont know what to do with.

but anyways, i have some exciting news. no, i dont have a new job yet but i have recently been chosen for a contract photography project. i will be taking pics for approximately 90 sites in austin (restaurants, stores, parks) that will be used on a website company called homeandabroad.com. it's basically an online congierge that helps you plan your vacations and trips based on info. you give them. i think it's a neat idea and it's linked with expedia.com so hopefully itll be pretty successful.

the "job" was posted on craigslist (yes, just another reason for me to love that site) and i emailed back and forth with someone about the details and after sending him some samples of my stuff, he picked me! and i do get paid for each pic which is pretty great. its kinda a long process though - taking the pics, sending them in, them being picked out, sending me the check, etc so it wont necessarily be an immediate source of income. however, im not really doing it for the money anyways. sure, that's a bonus but more importantly it will give me more experience, more exposure to the public, and hopefully more credibility.

there's that saying, "when one door closes, another one opens." i'll take this as my open door. wish me luck - it might be tricky for me to find all these 90 places seeing as how i get lost in austin on a daily basis...

ACL recap

ACL was great!! the weather was great, although still pretty hot on friday and saturday. i have crispy brown shoulders, legs, feet, neck, and a peeling face to prove it. but enough about that...let's get to the important stuff - the MUSIC!! here is who i had a chance to see and my thoughts on each:

FRIDAY~
david ford - started out my acl weekend and did not disappoint. of the singer/songwriter genre and he ended on a song called 'state of the union' which was awesome. he did this pedal action where you sing or do some sort of beat or melody on your guitar and record it and it plays back. then you keep layering more and more and pretty soon it's like you have a full band and backup singers. if youve been to a howie day show lately, he does it and other people are starting to do it more and more. if that makes no sense at all, sorry.
paolo nutini - hes become a recent fave and i cannot tell you enough to check this kid out. i LOVE him
guster - didnt play any of my ultimate favorites but the set was still good
matt nathanson - listened to a few songs but he's so obscene in between songs that i lost interest and headed to gnarls barkley early
gnarls barkley - pretty good...lots of energy
gomez - very good. played my fav - "see the world"
los lonely boys - great guitar playing, great singing. had to get my fill of some 'texican' music
ray lamontagne - love him...always good live
john mayer - absolutely fantastic. played some old stuff, new stuff, get his new album if you dont have it - its very very good
van morrison - good ole van - who doesnt love van morrison!?

SATURDAY~
wasnt too excited about sat so we got a late start.
galactic - jam band and they did just that. very good
ben kweller -almost - we walked to his stage halfway thru his set and everyone was walking towards us. he had evidently gotten a bloody nose even before he started his set yet played for 30 minutes with blood going everywhere. yeah, im kinda glad i missed that treat. maybe he needs to take it easy on the nose candy? yeah.
nada surf - eeh...ok
the shins - pretty good. i was actually super tired at this point so i might have taken a brief nap during the end of the set but that in no way reflects their show
calexico - eeh...ok
what made milwaukee famous - eeh...ok
iron and wine - very good...he had quite a bit of more upbeat songs which i wasn't expecting but they were surprisingly good
willie nelson - honestly im not the hugest fan but it's willie, you can't not hear him right?

SUNDAY~
rocky votolato - it was pouring during his set but it didn't stop him from playing. and it was great...so great
the stills - a good little rock band
kt tunstall - i was looking forward to this show a lot and it was fantastic. she also does the pedal thing i was talking about earlier. she ended on 'suddenly i see' - my favorite!
matisyahu - you can't understand a word this guy is saying but it's entertaining. definitely a crowd pleaser
matt costa - didnt get to hear as much of him as i would have liked but what i heard was good
new pornographers - heard bits and pieces as i was walking around on a hunt for a fan. good though
ben harper - 3rd time to see him at acl and still good. he did a cover of neil young's 'heart of gold' and g love came out during another song
new orleans social club - one of my favorites of the entire weekend. these jazz groups are ALWAYS the best. there is so much energy at their shows - i would love to see them at one of the big stages one year
tom petty - closed out the weekend and it was awesome. there was a short break in the middle when it started pouring but he came back out, finished the set, and then did a 3 song encore. played all the crowd favorites -free fallin, last dance, learning to fly, american girl etc. etc. i loved every second.

so, all in all, a success in my book. always is. and now i get to start looking forward to ACL 2007!

pics now, words to come

here are the acl pics...in no particular order...

festival entrance

new orleans social club - so sweet. one of my favorites of the weekend

kt tunstall was great

matisyahu. cant understand a word he's sayin...

iron and wine. just one guy though and he's fantastic

me and ck enjoying our 3rd acl together

always entertaining to see what flags people bring..the show was the shins

i love me some guster

how am i? im stinkin hot...and here's my crazy chaco tan to prove the blazing sun's existenceben harper...always an acl favoritedavid ford..sooo good.

here's what happened...

alright...if you dont wanna read a post hearing of all the details of me losing my job, and my thoughts on the situation, and of my company currently then just stop reading now.

sidenote...it's about 75 degrees outside right now and i could not be more happy about that. and i will give you a nice little ACL recap tomorrow. it was AWESOME. stay tuned!

as you all well know, if youve been reading on a normal basis, my job was changing these last few weeks. bc of the financial state of our company, i was being asked to do outbound/proactive sales (which in my mind is comparable to sawing off ligaments with a dull knife...ok not really but close.). so i was taking on these new job responsibilities (calling x amount of people per day and trying to get them to buy our stuff) against my will but nevertheless doing them in order to keep my job while i looked for a new one.

well, thursday rolled around and it was the end of the day and i was called into an office. the conversation lasted about 5 minutes and it went a little like "theres no easy way to do this but bc of the financial state we're in we're gonna have to let you go...you are not the only one...you are not eligible for severance pay...here's a check for your work up until today...please return your keys etc...this will be your last day." yeah, no severance pay (im pissed, shocked, and now have an even more affirmed feeling that my company is real unprofessional). but it gets better..

i go back to my office and i go back to finishing an order...not bc i really care about the company at this point, but bc i care about the customer and i want to make sure that they are going to get their order b/c it's a pretty significantly large order. within 5 minutes of me being fired one of my coworkers comes in and asks me if i need to get any personal files off my computer. i say no and she then says "ok then you need to turn your computer off right now." and she wasn't necessarily nice when she said it. so i say "i am finishing an order for the benefit of the company so im going to go ahead and do that and then ill turn off my computer." (yeah, maybe i was a little sassy but i feel like when someone has just lost their job that maybe you would treat them a little nicer. so then the lady has the nerve to tell me to hurry and then leaves. im pretty much furious at this point.

then my old boss shawna comes in (she's the one i loved and we have a really great working relationship and friendship but unfortunately they had moved people around and she wasn't my boss anymore). they have just told her that they are letting me go and she is shocked. at this point we're both kinda freaking out bc im realizing all the stuff i do that no one else knows how to do or where things are on my computer and she's realizing she's going to have to do everything i do and find everything somehow b/c come tomorrow, they aren't bringing in someone to do my job. so i immediately start telling her everything random thing i can think of - call this person, send this out, order this, this is where this template is etc. and again, not bc i really care about the company but bc i care about our customers not getting their stuff and i care about her as my friend having to somhow do her job and now mine as well. and it gets better...

the same lady and lady 2 come in. lady 1 says..."ok kate..you really need to turn off your computer now." (ok evidently the med institute has this idea that after you get fired you're going to try and go into their system and steal all their medical stats and info and either destroy them or maybe resell it...maybe its happened in the past but honestly im like do you really think i even care??) so at this point im wanting to maybe scream at this lady and throw things at her. wisely, i dont. so i say "i am showing shawna where important files are that she's going to need to know about; i am not opening anything or taking anything and she's standing right here with me...when i am done THEN I WILL TURN OFF MY COMPUTER." i dont yell this but i say it pretty matter of factly. lady two (whom i think was going to be responsible for maybe resetting my passwords etc) then kinda rolls her eyes, utters a loud sigh, and makes a remark under her breath yet loud enough for all of us to hear that she needs to leave. and i guess i was keeping her there. i am wanting to yell "you get to come to work tomorrow..i just lost my job...and you are getting upset with me bc i am taking up your time?? youve GOT to be kidding me" but no, i dont.

so they leave again and me and shawna are left again. and she's being great...trying to get everything down that im telling her...helping me get all my stuff together...packing up my car with me. and at this point she's the only person i respect in the company and the only person i would want to walk me out. i give her my work keys and im out of there.

since then i have learned that two other people were also let go including the front office receptionist who has been there over 4 yrs and she didn't get any severance pay either. i only know this bc i emailed her after i left to tell her bye bc she had always kinda been my work mom who knew everything going on with me, knew i wasnt happy, knew i was looking for another job, consoled me when i had terrible days. so yeah...no severance pay for her either and i find that to be utterly ridiculous.

in the grand scheme of things and after a weekend of fun (more to come about ACL later) and not thinking of it, im doing good. i know that the Lord is in control of this situation and i know that it is FAR better that im out of that company. granted, i would have liked for it to end differently and more on my terms but that's ok. i still believe in the medical institute and support the mission of the company and what they're doing to educate the public. i have however, lost almost all respect for the management and they way that the people there conduct themselves. i can only hope that they realize how poorly and unprofessionally they treated some of us.

so with that, my time there is done and now it's time for something new. im not sure what that's going to be at this point. ive already started applying places and need to continue that. i might have to take something more temporary like starbucks just to keep me afloat financially while i find something more "real." but thats fine bc im hoping my patience and willingness to do that will pay off in a job ill really enjoy. so wish me luck and if you made it thru this whole post then props to you!

not really what i was expecting

i lost my job today. ya know...thats a weird way of putting it...like i misplaced it or something. i know where it is..its just not mine anymore.

it was handled pretty unprofessionally and maybe ill go into details at a later point. but yeah, just thought id share.

tomorrow is acl so im going to just focus on that for now....great live music is a much happier thought than my crap company, my crap coworkers, and making $0/hr.

sorry for the venting and obvious crabbiness...but im allowed that for at least a short while right?

all about music

ACL is just 2 days away and i'm EXCITED! it's going to be a packed 3 days of some great bands and solo artists - most of which i haven't ever experienced live and that's something to get very excited about. with that, there's some people i really think you should check out because they're great.

paolo nutini - the kids only 19 but you wouldn't guess it by his voice. kinda has an amos lee sound so obviously i like it. and if you dont know who amos lee is by this point then get with it. rocky votolato picks away at his guitar...occasionally throws in some harmonica and you got some good music. and as far as people you probably have heard of, ray lamontagne, john mayer, tom petty, and bob schneider all have new albums out that are all pleasing to the ears. give em a spin if you haven't already.

so yeah, ACL is this weekend. my weekend actually starts tomorrow nite bc i'm taking off friday AND monday - yeah, that's the way to go. i got friends coming in town and i cannot wait. i will return with a full review of the weekend next week. the forecast has rain and tstorms predicted which is kinda a bummer but ill take rain and mud over heat exhaustion and the blazing sun. but this is also texas so im preparing myself for rain, shine, hurricanes, and/or snow.

if you're an apple fan, and i dont mean of the granny smith persuasion, then you might be excited to hear about a bunch of new ipod/apple/gadgetlike things that have just come out. there's a microscopic shuffle, more colorful nanos, and a brighter and CHEAPER video ipod. and now they have an 80gig ipod. kinda ridiculous...why cant they meet somewhere in the middle like 50..thats my suggestion. anyways, they also have this new thing called itv coming out next year which allows you to hook up your ipod to your tv. that's pretty great and im suprised they hadnt come up with this sooner honestly. unfortunately, it wont come cheap - you'll have to shell out a few hundred bucks. oh well. read ALL the details here.

a tribute to john andreacchio

5 years ago thousands of people were killed in a terrorist attack. A project was started called 2,996 with the idea that on today, 2,996 different people would each honor one of the victims from that day through their blog. I have the honor of telling you about a guy named john andreacchio, fondly referred to as "jack" or "jackie" who is strongly missed by friends, coworkers, and of course family.

On September 11, 2001 Jack was 52, working in Human Resources dept at Fuji Bank in the World Trade Center. He was close to his family, especially his twin sister Louise. He would call her at 6AM in the morning on their birthday in order to wish her happy birthday first. Their family would gather each year in Brooklyn to celebrate his birthday. Many friends have great memories of hanging out with him and his wife Fran. They looked forward to his visits because of his pleasant company and jokes. People that knew him say he was a great guy to be around with a great sense of humor and kind, generous, outgoing personality. He made the people around him feel good about themselves and was remembered for his warm smile. The world lost a great guy on Sept. 11th and he will not be forgotten.

To read more about Jack, you can go to pages here, here, or here.

Also, check out the 2,996 site and take some time to remember some of the others that we lost that tragic day, 5 years ago.

are you there God, it's me kate...

remember that book? well, it was margaret, not kate but still. it was popular back in elem school i think... anyways, not the point. and im also not saying that i don't think God is around. He obviously is but honestly sometimes i put Him in a box and kick it in my closet. not intentionally.

however, this morning God reminded me He's around. i just took an order over the phone from this real nice guy. i can't remember if he said he was a pastor or a teacher at a Christian school. anyways, he was having trouble placing the order so i was walking him thru it. as we were doing that he started some small talk - asking me about texas, where i went to school, how i liked the company, my job, whether or not i felt like i would be there long term. and maybe it's not professional to tell your customer that you don't like your job but he seemed safe. i didn't say anything bad about the company. in fact i said it was a great company, that they had been good to me, but it was just time for me to find something else. he was understanding and told me that the Lord has a plan for me etc.. and it wasn't what he was saying that was necessarily profound or really affected me. it was the fact that we strangers 5 minutes prior but that didn't stop him from taking time to talk to me, hear my story, and encourage me. he has 3 kids around my age and told me what they were doing and how the Lord was working in their lives. then he asked if he could pray for me. i said sure. so he did, right then on the phone. and normally that would kinda weird me out (i don't know why but it just would), but again i was so impressed/touched by the gesture that instead of being weirded out, i was truly appreciative.

so theres a couple of things i took from this. first, it was just an encouragement bc ive started this whole process of job searching and it's annoying and tedious and at times overwhelms me with feelings of hopelessness. but to have a complete stranger pray for you is pretty cool. another thing was this guy in general and his character. the ease he had in talking to me led me to believe that this wasn't like a once in a lifetime thing he did. he probably meets new people all the time and prays for them. and if you ask me, that's pretty dang respectable. and im not saying im going to go stop every stranger i meet and pray for them. however it probably wouldn't hurt for me, and maybe you, to get a little bit out of my comfort zone once in a while. and thirdly, and this is completely random, but last nite i went to a free dave barnes show at hyde park church. i went to check the order the guy placed and saw his name...david barnes. obviously im not saying that it was the same guy since dave barnes doesnt live in cali nor does he have 3 kids. but talk about a coincidence huh?

in other news its friday and that is maybe the most fantastic thing EVER.

in honor of steve irwin

at a&m there is something called ring dance. it's basically like a senior school dance you go to once you get your aggie ring. well, there was a bunch of us who didn't really want to go to ring dance but still wanted to do something fun. so we decided to get dressed up and go to san francisco steakhouse in houston. that day ben evidently rummaged around in his costume collection and found all this australian garb. you can't tell by the pics but those are definitely khaki shorts, not pants...and the outfit is finished off with some hiking type boots. and yes, ben went with us to san francisco steakhouse. and no, he didn't change. so while the other guys were in slacks and ties...ben looked like he came straight from a safari. fittingly, we named him "crocodile hunter" that nite. when i heard the sad news that the real crocodile hunter, steve irwin, died a few days ago i couldn't help but think of ben and his crocodile hunter gear. thus, in honor of steve irwin, i decided to share this pic and story.

in other news...yuna got a couch and now our house is even better! i updated pics if you want to see our "new" living room. see them here.

also, i finally got some disney pics up. see them here.

labor day happenins

lots of stuff to report. ill try to keep it organized.

friday i saw invincible - the movie based on the life story of vince papale playing for the philly eagles. it was pretty good - i love sports movies. however, this leads me to some discussion about my movie theater pet peeves. there are two things that drive me nuts. movie talkers/predictors and movie clappers. first, the former. please dont sit next to me in a movie and give me a running recap of what's going on, state obvious things that im obviously seeing for myself, or audibly predict what you think is going to happen next. i bet if we just watch the movie we will all eventually know what will happen unless perhaps the movie explodes in the middle and we are escorted out to get refunds. however i dont think that happens too often. second. movie clappers. we do not need to make the movie experience interactive. leave the clapping for award ceremonys. so yeah, case and i were so lucky to sit between two couples over the age of 50. we could have probably worn blindfolds bc them old folks definitely stated everything that was going on. and then not once, not twice, but at least 3 or 4 separate times during the movie the entire theater would clap when they felt it was necessary. ugghh..it killed me...really killed me. so there you have it...next time you watch a flick with me, keep those things in mind.

yesterday (sunday) i sporadically went to dallas. literally got home from working out, had a message from my friend jax, showered, packed, and got on the road and headed to dallas. my good friend patin is moving far away to D.C. so we had a little goodbye shindig/hangout for him. and well, i didnt want to miss out and didnt really have any labor day plans so i decided, why not? thus i went to dallas. and it was great. UNTIL i had to come home....prepare yourself for a story of utter frustration.

for your understanding i have come up with the following equation. im asian so mathematical type examples come naturally. kidding. ok anyways. I35 + rain + terrible drivers + LOTS of wrecks = SIX HOUR COMMUTE FROM DALLAS TO AUSTIN = angry asian. yes, thats right. i left dallas around 430. walked in my door at around 1015. there was a good 2 hrs spent traveling a 1/2 mile distance in good ole waxahachie. it was the situation where people are actually getting out of their cars b/c they have come to the realization that they arent going ANYWHERE anytime soon. so yeah, 2 hrs later we got moving again and i was able to drive faster than 2 mph. and as frustrating as that was, i can say that im actually lucky that that was the only wreck that backed up traffic going south b/c northbound traffic was even worse. about every 25 miles there was another wreck that had traffic backed up for about 5 miles per wreck. i predict that some of those people are still trying to get home as of now....

so theres not much else i can say about that. i dont really have a solution for the problem. i avoid I35 like the plague to start with but unfortunately it is the only dallas-austin route. so yeah, thats how my holiday came to a close. and now its time to get back to work tomorrow. i kinda lost my voice this weekend which im actually pretty dang excited about b/c you can't do outbound sales calls if you dont have a voice, right?! yeah, ill avoid that job responsibility any way i can. hope everyone elses labor day weekend was super fantastic!