Long-form

Long-form blog posts and editorials. Topics cover both personal and the world at large. 

Let it go - 10 things I think

I've employed a new mechanism is letting things go. I simply ask myself this question: will this even matter in a year's time? If the answer is no, then whatever I was holding on to or fussing over gets dropped completely. If the answer is yes, I try my best to deal with it as quickly as possible. Letting the issue linger and fester in my thoughts is absolute poison. 

The technique works great in dealing with clutter as well. I recently did a mid-summer clean of all my belongings, and any item that I haven't used in more than a year got tossed away. The results were quite liberating and astonishing: I threw out so many boxes of things my mother thought I was (finally) moving out. Sadly for her...

10 THINGS I THINK

1. I did the ice bucket challenge that's been going viral these days, and I absolutely enjoyed it. Unfortunately it doesn't get too scorching here in San Francisco but who doesn't like a bit of water-sport during the summer? In addition to dumping arctic-cold water on myself, I also donated money to the ALS association even though doing the former precludes the latter. I challenge everyone to, at the very least, donate money to the cause. 

2. What's happening in Ferguson is completely disgusting. Images and videos captured there looked more at home in a war-torn third-world country than the supposedly gold-standard of the free-world. Police in military gear? Tear gas? Suppression of the press? Disregard for any human rights? It's all happening in AMERICA. Time for us to return that high-horse to wherever we bought it from.

 3. I usually don't get too sappy over the death of a famous person but the untimely death of Robin Williams hit me like a ton of bricks. He is somehow I quite literally grew up watching and to have a piece of childhood snatched away from me was devastating. The circumstances of his passing certainly compounded the sadness. He was one of San Francisco's most favorite native sons as well. Rest in paradise, O Captain. 

4. The best to thing to ever happen to the burrito is the "California" version that substitutes rice with French fries. I'm just waiting patiently for Chipotle to implement the delicacy in their eateries - I'd eat there everyday for lunch if that were to happen.

5. Following automotive journalists on various social media is especially jealousy-inducing during Monterey Car Week. The sheer amount of "car-porn" during that week can only be described as automotive heaven. The fact that the annual festival is only a short hour drive away from me makes it all the more difficult to accept that I'm not there. It's on the bucket list though, for sure. 

6. What's good in paying over 25 million dollars for a vintage Ferrari when you're probably not going to ever drive it? I come from a vastly opposite perspective seeing as I don't have millions to spend on just cars but in life I think it's inane to purchase something that expensive and literally get zero use out of it. 

7. Just because you've got the ability to paint a car any pigment you desire doesn't mean you should. I'm confident in saying that for a certain subset of rich people, having (insane amount of ) money definitely does not equate to having good taste. 

8. Sequels are never as excellent as the original, especially when a sequel was never intended in the first place and was only commissioned because of the surprising success of the original (read: money grab).

9. I am totally and unabashedly fan-boy-ing over the impending new Taylor Swift album and the brand new single. That said, the immensely brilliant RED album is one tough act to follow. Also, might we get a song titled "24"? 

10. American football is starting up in a month's time and that obviously means another year of fantasy football. I was absolute dead last in my league last year, so I'm feeling good about this season seeing as it can't possible get any worse than that! I'm still trying to determine a properly hilarious name for my fantasy team, though as a placeholder I've elected to go with "A.A.Ron Balakay" in homage of the popular Key & Peele skit.