Our fearless blogger enters the age of mobile blogging

Great news faithful readers...I have entered the age of mobile blogging. Thanks to the unreleneting kindness of my parents, my christmas was filled with the arrival of apple's iphone 3gs. This allows me to type up blogs on the spot, I just need to figure out how to use the website so I can upload them too. But look forward to more entries.

I am beginning to realize the reason I take the train when I travel - the airport is full of freaks and generally weird people. This is not to say that the train station only attracts the cream of the crop of society, far from that, but one can expect that. I'm sitting at my terminal about to begin a trip to see family in Seattle and the people who will joining me on this first leg worry me a bit. I've never considered myself too elistist or particular when it comes to people, but I am judging here (I will take a brief sidebar to say that I would love to have pictures to accompany my words, but I fear pointing my camera at the patrons of Sacramento metropolitan airport would lead to nothing but trouble, but I return to the original point). 

A Melancholy Tribute to BISC 320

I've given you my all, Molecular Biology. And like the stormy seas, you have tossed me about. Oh why, oh why, Molecular Biology.

LA Bucket List

One of my coworkers is about to graduate and will be heading to New York to start her new life. This leaves her with only three weeks to fully experience Los Angeles, the city, the area, the lifestyle. It got us to thinking about what a person who have to do before he or she lives LA. Here is that list:

• Rob the bank
• Develop a drug addiction
• Join a gang
• Be an extra in a movie, music video or commercial
• Swim in the Pacific Ocean
• Get arrested by LAPD
• See the Watts Towers
• Go to the Getty in Pasadena
• Spend a night in the Beverly Hills Hotel
• Get hit on by a gay person in West Hollywood
• Make friends with a homeless person
• Go to LA Live
• See a concert in the Staples Center
  
• See a Lakers/Clippers/Dodgers game
• Buy something from a store on Rodeo Drive
• Go to a USC/UCLA sporting game
• Wait in line and eat a hot dog from Pink's
• Do a drive-by
• Get stuck in traffic on a Sunday...at 9AM
• Drive on the PCH
• Get in a car accident
• Take a picture with the Hollywood sign
• Walk in downtown LA at 1AM and try not to get robbed
• Rob someone walking in downtown LA at 1AM
• Have an affair with someone who recently celebrated their 18th birthday
• Be in a tabloid for making out with a Hollywood starlet
• Be in a high-speed chase that gets news coverage
• Go to Compton with no real reason for being there
• Go to Disneyland
• Do West Hollywood Halloween
  

Comment with anything that you think needs to be on the LA Bucket List.

Reader Interaction

I appreciate everyone that reads my blog and hopefully I will have more readers in the future. In an attempt to give back to my faithful audience I am asking for a little help. One, I need stuff to ponder; so comment with ideas and I'll start giving my thoughts. Two, I'm not sure when or who I had this conversation with first, but I am in the process of assembling a playlist for baby-making. So tell me your favorite song to do the horizontal mambo to.

Bryson's Birthday Adventure Part 3

This was the most important part of the weekend (other than seeing my grandma).

Bryson's Birthday Adventure Part 2

The adventure in Las Vegas continues. More video to come!

Bryson's Birthday Adventure

I will post my random video diaries from the weekend over the next couple of days. There are a bunch of videos so patience is appreciated.

On the road. Things are starting. Woohoo!

What Happens Here...

What happens when two kids from Sacramento, a girl from Chicago and a girl from Houston descend upon the cesspool of the United States? Mild hilarity and some good times. But first, a note to my four followers (Phi, Brianna, Karen and Stacy)...

I apologize for the huge gap in between posts. I have a list of things that I have meant to put up, but not having internet regularly has made things difficult. Perhaps some retrospective posts are in order. But back to Vegas (that's the cesspool of the United States I mentioned earlier).

In celebration of my 21st birthday, I decided it was only right that I spent it in Las Vegas, Nevada, the place where dreams are realized, lived out and/or crushed all the same day. Planning this trip proved more difficult than I anticipated. I don't know if it was because of the destination or because I have absolutely no experience in planning a trip for more than just myself. But thanks to the efforts of friends we ended up in Vegas.

Rather than try to rehash the weekend's events in any sort of detail, I just post the random video diaries I took for the world's viewing pleasure.

Bryson in Las Vegas...

When $#!+ hits the Fan

One of the greatest things about the information revolution reared its ugly head today at my job. While the ability for data to be stored and recalled at a moment's notice from multiple locations has made the world much more connected, when left unchecked (or in this case, when you leave you instant messenger window open), shit can, and usually will, hit the fan.

It's 7:40AM on Tuesday, August 4th and I'm at work about to start my daily routine of random blog surfing and logging on to Meebo, my web instant messenging service of choice. My boss and I will chat throughout the day about the goingsons in the office; the topics range from the loud chats of coworkers, to the piles of crazy resumes she's received (new blog about that coming), to what we had done the night before. These convos are nothing special and wouldn't warrant any further discussions. Today, however, I wouldn't be at the desk for too long and that meant trouble. The woman's desk who I had been working at was filling in for another coworker that was on medical leave, but when she can back today, there was a trickle down effect that pushed me from my spot and made me errand boy for the office. I was given an assignment elsewhere, but I had left my Meebo window open, with a box containing some chat history from earlier days.

(The rest of this post is being continued on October 3rd)

Needless to say, when the people you are discussing find out what you are saying about them, they are going to be less than happy about it. I am still not entirely sure how mad my coworkers were at me, because no one ever approached me about. Maybe my status as a temp worker made them decide I was not worth the effort, but I found out some of their feelings through my boss. But from that day on, the office seemed just a little more divided.

A word for the wise...either keep your feelings about your coworkers to yourself; or if you really feel the need to share them with someone else, make sure it's not accessible. Lest you run the risk of shit hitting the fan.

Dangers and Obstacles of Going Commando at Work

It has been a while since I've put up a post (started working and trying to get my life together) but this is a little something to wet your appetite until I can get back to the good stuff.

1. Two words. Hot. Coworker.
2. Shifting in your desk chair causes things to get trapped.
3. Sweaty legs on the car ride home.
4. Friction.

more to come...

The Work Saga: Day One

So I finally joined the workforce today and officially began my summer. I went back to the same office, back to the same desk I had been at for the past two summers, back to the same stuff I had been doing for the past two summers...certification tracking. Just like old times, but with a twist...all new staff. Hooray for new hires! It's interesting meeting new people when you've been at an office about as long as they have, just over an extended period of time. They think the office belongs to them, but you have more stories and more history. And to add to that, the ladies that work in the office are just grown high schoolers (that's for you boss lady). Two of them are Chatty Kathys. I never experienced the typical office gossipers, but these two are definitely giving me a great introduction to what the real world holds. But back to the high schooler comparisons. These two spend more time talking about the creepy guys they have following them, or that they met on their weekly Thursday night adventures (by the way, both of these women are in their late 30s), or squealing about a weird text or Facebook message, than what is socially acceptable. I figured once you left twelfth grade that things would get better...I have been delightfully been proven wrong. Like my dad always says, "people never leave high school, they just get a little bigger and drive nicer cars."

It's always weird coming back to a summer job, especially since they've been temporary assignments every time, usually no more than a month. But there's nothing like traveling out to West Sacramento to spend your day checking up with obscure projects all over the West. Relearning the ropes didn't take that long, but getting back into the flow of having to work for more than an hour was the big struggle.

Day One. Only about fifteen or twenty more...

Ode to the Tramp Stamp

(This post was started on July 4th. But lack of internet stops even the greatest of beginning bloggers.)

Happy Independence Day America! Now that I'm a college student, I celebrate by going to the beach and by bumping up my UV intake. The family and I went out to beautiful Malibu for some special time at Zuma Beach. And it was here that I was reunited with an old friend; the tramp stamp.

(Sidebar: For those who have forgotten, the tramp stamp is/was an identifying mark of the early 2000s. Reserved for the whores, sluts, strippers and other females that felt the need to brand themselves accordingly; the tramp stamp is a tattoo positioned right above a lady's butt crack. It enjoyed quite a bit of success and ladies all over were adorning themselves with this most wonderful piece of permanence. From flowers, to stars, to butterflies and other cutesy things, the tramp stamp was truly remarkable.)

Dear Tramp Stamp,

You are truly missed. Seeing you on the backs of those three slightly pudgy ladies at the beach in Malibu took me back to a simpler time, and I thank you for that. As much as I hate to admit, you and the tribal tattoos of yesteryear were what sparked my interest in tattoos and led to me getting inked up. Thank you for giving women a reason to wear bikinis or to bear their midriffs more. So much good came from you that it is a shame that you were taken down in your prime. Make a comeback. Let's bring it back to the good times!

Lovingly Yours,

Bryson Gauff

What Not to Wear - Hair That Makes You Stronger

"We are doing this to make you stronger." These words were uttered by a cosmetologist with long, flowing blonde hair to a 50 year old after this 50 year old was crying because her large 80s hair had recently been cut.

More on this later.

Intro plus Jon and Kate plus 8

This is my first blog entry and it really is just an outlet to present all my thoughts on the world. I have no clue what is supposed to be blog-approved commentary but this is being done at the urging of my sister and Phi.

But what the hell is everyone's fascination with TLC's Jon and Kate plus 8 (J&K+8)? I made the mistake of sitting down this 4th of July weekend at my sister's apartment and watching some episodes. (Sidenote: TiVo is one of the greatest inventions of my lifetime, but it allows for the repeated watching of crap like J&K+8. But I'll continue.) First of all, why does a family of 10 deserve a weekly show to account what is a regular happening like having children? Oh, there's 8 of them, how special. Secondly, I hope I am not the only one that thinks Kate is a complete bitch. My opinion is based only on two episodes and all the tabloids that have covered all the divorce stuff, so I'm definitely biased. I have never seen a woman got out of her way to steal the spotlight like Ms. Gosselin. I will have a separate post on all the reasons why she needs to be removed from the public eye later. After watching the episode in which the whole family went back to the hospital where all the kids were delivered and hearing Kate retell every detail of every room they lived in, I developed a newfound hatred for her. This woman can tell you that the bed in her room was pushed against the wall instead of sticking out into the center of the room, but she cannot keep her marriage together. Attention to detail is attention to detail, but perhaps it is a little misplaced.