weyes

lots of [secular] choir these days. exhausting, but we have 3 concerts coming up. you?

i find it odd that it was posted after it happened .

when an inflammatory, upsetting, disgusting, ridiculous, or other type of annoying conversation somehow finds its way in someone's personal earspace, s/he has two options: to get involved and start debating or to leave the area. quite often, the choice that best supports one's sanity and general inner peace is the latter. tune in tomorrow.

this posting is kinda sketchy-looking... spundae, when it was at circus, was my favorite club OF ALL TIME. is it really back at circus? their own website disagrees: http://www.spundae.com/clubs/la.php please elaborate.

announcing important events/happenings in one's life on one's facebook/myspace/blog/etc. page is NOT an acceptable substitute for informing one's family and friends directly. an e-mail, even one sent to many people at once, counts as such "direct" contact! if these friends and/or family are at all important, they deserve a little more respect than any random naked guy in his living room trolling for porn who happens to come across the news. tune in tomorrow.

here's a clue that google maps has produced shitty directions: when the last street mentioned in the instructions doesn't match that of the address . if directions from a site seem fishy, one should try using another one. another tip: when going somewhere one has never been and time is an important factor, one should seriously consider using a map and figuring it out for him/herself! tune in tomorrow. p.s. a "fuck you" to google maps, who literally sent me to a dead end and almost made me miss seeing joel mchale tonight. i should've known from the aforementioned streets-not-matching thing, but i just figured they'd be around the corner from each other - no such luck .

credibility, like trust, should be earned, not granted automatically. when taking in advice, hearing stories, and even being given statements that are presented as "facts," one must always consider the source. doing one's own research is advisable before passing along anything important; being cavalier with what one hears is an easy way to spread rumors and misinformation, even when it's unintentional. tune in tomorrow.

while it never feels good to be insulted, usually insults come from people who don't respect the person they're insulting to begin with. relationships require mutual respect; no one should respect someone who doesn't respect him/her in return. it only follows that the insults of a disrespectful person need not be respected, either. tune in tomorrow.

attn: snorers (and yeah, you know who the hell you are ): if you're so loud that you keep the NEIGHBORS awake, then it's time to get some fucking breathe right strips. snoring is NOT cute and the rest of us deserve to sleep as well as you do . tune in tomorrow.

even in times when everything seems like a battle and the world seems against a person, it's important not to give up. when many events hit at once, it can make a person not want to fight anymore, but just because there's a run of bad luck doesn't mean that each individual event is any less important. if one doesn't fight for him/herself, s/he should remember that no one else is guaranteed to. tune in tomorrow.

when writing anything important, i.e. filling out important forms, writing specific instructions, making a presentation at work, even penning an emotional e-mail - if it really matters, it's worth having someone else read it before sending it where it needs to go. when one spends a lot of time on something and/or has a lot invested in it, it's easy to lose perspective on how it comes across to others. also, no matter how good a speller a person is, running spell check never hurts ! tune in tomorrow.

"oh my god, how was it? i wanted to go so bad, but i couldn't find anyone to go with me in time." i've heard that from people so often when referring to concerts and other types of performances or events that they've chosen to miss because they didn't want to go alone. i also like some quirky stuff of which i sometimes can't find a fellow admirer - i.e. british grime artist lady sovereign, but i'll be damned if i'm gonna miss lady sov when she swings by on a very rare visit to l.a. just 'cause i can't find someone i know to stand next to me. some people are afraid to be seen out alone for fear of what strangers may think. here's a tip: no one notices and no one cares. everyone else is too busy having fun, and so too should all the parties of one out there . tune in tomorrow.

understanding injustice can be very difficult, and often the answer is to try to empathize with the offenders. when one can't do this, sometimes feelings of desperation and hopelessness can set in. one can stay up nights trying to find answers to why s/he is being hurt by someone or something that s/he has no power to help. some people are even troubled by the ills of the world at large so much (i.e. war, poverty, etc.) that they find themselves driven to sleeplessness and distraction. as with many unanswerables, the only thing to do is to let go. not an easy task, but one worth its reward . tune in tomorrow.

the fashion police - whether those who consider themselves "official" because they're paid for their opinions or just regular everyday haters - are always on patrol. beauty will always be in the eye of the beholder and people will always have their own opinions... it's important to remember that the only person one has to worry about pleasing, whether when dressing or at any other time, is him/herself . tune in tomorrow.

one thing most people find even harder to take than criticism is hypocrisy. before one doles out criticism, insults, or any other type of negativity, s/he should be sure that s/he is neither guilty of his/her own accusations nor projecting them onto someone else to make him/herself feel better . tune in tomorrow.

giving and receiving gifts are two of the finer things in life. they're also quite simple acts, when people let them be. unfortunately, a lot of people find themselves complicating this exchange, making it anywhere from unpleasant to hurtful. something to remember when receiving a gift: a gift should not be expected in return, if one is given in the right spirit. if one is expected in return, then something is wrong with the entire situation or relationship, and the problem is deeper than this particular act of gift-giving; the receiver should therefore not be upset about not having a gift to give and should focus on working on the actual issues at hand. in turn, if a gift is given in the right spirit, with no strings attached and with no ulterior motives, the receiver should let go and allow him/herself to truly enjoy it without any feelings of guilt whatsoever . something to remember when giving a gift: as explained above, one's motive for giving a gift should be nothing more than to give. if a gift is expected in return or if the gift is given to gain feelings of acceptance/obligation/affection or any other emotion, one should reconsider why one feels that giving an object is the way to obtain these goals; this is NOT the proper way to win someone over. tune in tomorrow.

back after a ridiculous hiatus and it seems that the format of the board has changed... we need more people posting! i feel bad 'cause i've been neglecting this forum. i sincerely apologize and hope other peeps will post again. at any rate, here's today's column, brought to you by my stressed out last week and a half. if one feels stressed out by situations that seem totally out of one's hands, one has two options for regaining sanity: find a way to be proactive, getting involved in one's own situation. not feeling helpless can reduce stress. if one finds that s/he can't do anything about the situation, that everything is out of his/her hands, one has to work hard to let go of the stress, as difficult as it may be. this has to become a priority - part of taking care of oneself . tune in tomorrow.

is anyone else going? the gig was moved from last week. i'm super stoked and i'll be there, rain or no rain !!!

being entrusted with a secret is an honor, and, particularly when the secret is of a sensitive and/or personal nature, the person telling the secret is almost assuming that s/he has entered into a contract of sorts. one is expected to keep this information to him/herself as a duty to the person who divulged the information. that all being said, if a listener feels that s/he cannot be depended upon to keep the secret, s/he has a duty to inform the speaker to not pass along those private thoughts . tune in tomorrow.

a note to add: one shouldn't expect updates from ticket brokering websites (or even from the artist's mailing list) about re-scheduling... lady sov had some visa issues and had to reschedule her u.s. tour dates. i didn't get an e-mail about it, even though i had already bought a ticket for the date that got cancelled ! the show was set for tomorrow and i still haven't gotten an e-mail about it. i would've shown up at the venue tomorrow, had it not been for my brother, who cruised sov's myspace page the other evening, where an announcement was posted. i double-checked on the venue's website, and everything seems to add up. lucky for me, no funny (or not-so-funny, really) business went down; they took care of everything and my ticket will be honored on the new date, which is just a week from the original. just delaying it exactly a week is also pretty cool; same day of the week is awesome. more on the gig in another thread .

it's only practical to dress according to the weather - not to one's geographical location or the current season. this means that, when traveling, one should check out the forecast of his/her destination for the coming days instead of assuming that any "normal" or even average weather will be transpiring. this also means that, even though one lives in california, it is not appropriate to wear shorts and flip-flops when the temperature is 36 degrees (f) . it also means that uggs are not appropriate in hot weather. well, actually, uggs are never appropriate, but that's another story . tune in tomorrow.

when involved in disputes, it can be tempting for people to try to communicate through their mutual friends - to ask a third party questions like, "how does [s/he] feel?" or "what does [s/he] think about [enter issue]?" not only does this put the mutual friend in a difficult position, it generally leads to mixed and/or incorrect messages being relayed. it's the classic idea of things being lost in translation. the third party may misinterpret what s/he hears and s/he may also pass it on in a way other than how it was intended. the best way to communicate is directly, as opposed to the situation above and just in general. it sounds like such a simple concept, and it truly is. but it's so often forgotten that it's worth thinking about every once in a while. tune in tomorrow.

becoming a smart shopper and developing money-saving habits can have their downfalls. for instance, one may get so used to and excited about hitting great sales and/or using coupons that s/he just can't fathom spending full-price for anything anymore. unfortunately, there are a great many things in this world that don't go on sale, or that won't go on sale when one really needs them. one good way for such a person to justify paying full-price every once in a while is to think of the good reasons to pay that amount: s/he doesn't have to make another trip, which saves effort and transportation costs. it saves time to buy an item when one sees it, and time is money! yes, that's a cliche, but another lesson there is that one should vale his/her time more, too. one has more time to enjoy or get use out of the item. there's no more stressing about keeping on top of whether or not the item is on sale and where that'll be... paying for convenience is a nice luxury for one to afford oneself every once in a while. our selves are worth it and more . tune in tomorrow.

yeah, it did.