Thank you, everyone!!

Thank you, everyone, for all the birthday wishes! I feel so young turning 21 again for the 7th straight year! My phone would NOT stop buzzing all day cuz of all the @replies, facebook notifications, tumblr posts and text messages...birthdays like yesterday remind me how blessed I am.

  • _melistar
  • 9natran
  • adrian
  • adrieee
  • ajiiizzzle
  • akachrisTOPS
  • akbdc
  • alexjohn
  • aline-m
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  • anthong
  • ari
  • arielmariee
  • ashish patel
  • auroraempire
  • b0otayx3
  • babytoes81
  • bing87
  • bm-photography
  • bored44
  • briceorbryce
  • bkeeeezy
  • cathy-nguyen
  • cedricjoshua
  • chaaaany
  • charlenedang
  • chrisanne
  • christina-b
  • christina-luna
  • christinieweenie
  • cindyboo
  • confidential
  • cookiemunstarr
  • cristie suzukawa
  • cristina-dg
  • da1flipguy
  • dad
  • dailo
  • dajark
  • danielszetho
  • danitokyo
  • darweeenie
  • david-choi
  • dee-celera
  • dessiegirl
  • devinxrenee
  • djblinks
  • djmajik202
  • DoctorRico
  • donnaaa
  • dreamingoutloud
  • droidoid
  • eddieparas
  • eddymyla
  • eelyajekim
  • elisa
  • erniesbudolab
  • ey_mikz
  • farsid3pin0y
  • fizzi
  • flipgal77
  • francisrochino
  • FTWSammie
  • FUNK_CHINK
  • gabeezy
  • genix
  • goldylox
  • goshNicole
  • gotkatzy
  • h20ballz
  • halfsensed
  • hayleigh
  • hayley watson
  • hazeldb
  • henry-s
  • heyitsthatgirl
  • heylisajue
  • hollisterloser
  • hollykins
  • hsustyle
  • huskyboydrew
  • hypnoticasia
  • iiamjelly
  • iknowrenato
  • imjenni
  • ImVeryActive
  • ira-dg
  • itsCHELLAbaby
  • itsjonsense
  • itstoofragile
  • j0anne
  • jackielyn
  • jacraig34
  • janicexp
  • janiise
  • janne
  • janNYC
  • jaypwnsyou
  • Jdiep08
  • jenny-suk
  • jer0meskee
  • jgibs
  • jimb0
  • jimmychenpiano
  • JJANGNAH
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  • joseph-diaz
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  • JSQUARED
  • jtam7992603
  • julianna_amerie
  • juliannemariee
  • kabannaboyroy
  • kame88
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  • kat-blanco
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  • kevinbognot
  • kim-o
  • kirsten-p
  • kishan
  • konradthompson
  • kris-cunanan
  • krismark
  • krystalderosas
  • krystovalina
  • kulayberde
  • Kuya
  • KuyaDeejay
  • ladykitay
  • lifeisfilm08
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  • linhmonster
  • LionGali
  • loval
  • lpina
  • marichris1
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  • markque
  • marlo_t
  • marnz
  • maykimagination
  • meganfromTC
  • meggggan
  • melissa-v
  • melvinsings
  • micahmarie
  • michael-tajon
  • michellepark
  • mirtheous
  • misschanto
  • mizzamanda
  • mom
  • mquerol
  • mrfuijikicker
  • msclumsiee
  • mynameisroth
  • nadsmustafa
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  • neil_84
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  • nessarica
  • noa-martinsen
  • not_june
  • nykko_x3
  • olee
  • omgitsrobb
  • ooobbyitsloveooo
  • paka79
  • patflynn
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  • peteeee
  • phatts
  • philchao
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  • r0ckingreen
  • rachel-s
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  • raelynnerosales
  • ram_ree
  • randolph-permejo
  • raineezy
  • raycel98
  • reggiesee
  • reii
  • renC
  • rhezamae
  • rina-dakanay
  • rjay23
  • rock-star
  • ron_palustre
  • rosemary bales
  • rosmel-ramos
  • rowdysaudi1
  • rtran
  • ryan-shin
  • ryanhurley
  • safaricat
  • samchy
  • scarlett
  • scikotik
  • scottyoshimoto
  • sean-doyle
  • shazadsk
  • shireen-h
  • shraddha
  • sinxjae
  • slackerSC
  • slimbeats
  • sogooey
  • spideyudh
  • stefansinging
  • stephanie-chiang
  • stephbaloy
  • sun_tzu
  • thatsajudy
  • theapradioshow
  • thisGIRLis_
  • tiffany-o
  • tl2eesa
  • toekneekay
  • tpm_music
  • udh7
  • uhmberr
  • uhohitsari
  • ulysses
  • usarmymich
  • vankho
  • vinimack
  • vjayyy
  • vobot
  • whattheda
  • xxflipxpryd3xx
  • youlikepoo
  • zeephunk

Hopefully I got everyone in here that gave me a shoutout (over 240!?!). Love you all! <33

-Mel

Fall Quarter 2005

yeah yeah, i've been neglecting my blog for the past several weeks. for those of you that are feeling mel my finger withdrawal, here's what i've been up to:

School

entrepeneurship class (EBZ306) was aight. i had the professor in the past and he knows i know my shit. finished with an A-.

biggrin smilie

internet law class (FRL410) was cool. class was mostly computer geeks like me, along with a nice ratio of girls. lotsa times our discussions went off track and bunch of us tech saavy guys ended up talking about the not-so-legal stuff we've done on the internet.

chill smilie
on a side note, the classroom's theromostat was broken, so the whole quarter we were freezing our asses off. (oh yeah, on another sidenote...god bless hard nipples.
gayhehe smilie
) exams were easy and the 20 page research paper was a breeeeeeze. finished with an A.
bigthumbup smilie

finance class (FRL301) was a biaaaatch!! i retook the professor that completely and utterly failed me for the prerequisite finance class. the entire grading system was based on 3 exams. the first exam i got a 51%. :down: but hey, the class average was a 50%.

happysad smilie
the class average for the 2nd exam was a 50% too...but this time i scored a 28%.
oh smilie
i know the professor curves at the end of the quarter, so basically i had one last chance -- the final exam. i studied my ass off and...

i got a 100%!! in your mouth, biaaaaatch!!!

happyfawk smilie

volleyball class is always fun. my original volleyball coach was laid off so we ended up with the weight-lifting coach. my god, she has to be the buffest woman i've even met. i got pretty tight with her...but it wierded me out when she started saying things like "you have great arms."

wtf smilie
these pathetic things??? here i am, standing in front of Ms. Weight-Lifting of OC, getting complimented for my arms.
confused smilie
"you have great calves too."
uhh smilie
i do???

she's cool though. finished with an A.

yababy smilie

basketball class is always fun too...except this quarter, i sprained my ankle and i was out for 5 weeks. get this: i sprained my ankle walking to the gym to play basketball. walking. i stepped into a pot hole and totally jacked up my right ankle.

oh smilie
butt its all good because when i got back, my team, Monstars Part II, marched onwards to our second straight championship. Spring 2005 & Fall 2005 Champs, baby!! that brings me to a total of 13 seasons, 5 finals appearances and 4 championships for me.

trophy smilie

so yeah, a very productive quarter...i'm officially left with 7 classes before i graduate!!

woohoo smilie

5-Year Highschool Reunion

i forgot to make a post about this...but i had my 5-year reunion at Webb in october. i hardly took any pics but it was really chill seeing a bunch of familiar faces again. seriously, a bunch of these faces i haven't seen since graduation (or should i say, the after-grad party). one highlight was getting drunk with the dean.

yababy smilie

oh yeah, the night before, some of the guys got drunk and snuck onto campus, knocking on the doors of freshmen in the dorms.

rofl smilie
wish i was there for that.

Drama

many of you guys know about my drama this past quarter. pretty lame but whatevers...i know who my real friends are because of it.

speaking of real friends...

Amy's Wedding

ahh yes, good times with the 577 crew in mexico. my god, that was a long ass fucking drive butt it was soooo worth it.

congratulations again, amy!!

Sausage Fest 2005

the greatest thanksgiving tradition ever!!! ten dudes, one house, unlimited alcohol.

Food Journal Entries

here's a quick rundown of my food journal entries this past quarter.

  • Cheesesteaks @ Philly's Best »this place is freakin' awesome!!! they ship the ingredients straight from philly...can't get any more authentic than that outside of philly.
  • Mongolian BBQ @ Claremont »
  • Bacon Pineapple BBQ Pizza @ Papa Johns »
  • Sausage, Egg & Cheese McGriddle »
  • Teriyaki Bowls & California Rolls @ Jinza Teriyaki »
  • Chicken Bowls @ Yoshinoya »
  • Deep Fried Snickers, Twinkies and Oreos

What I'm Listening To...

lotsa R&B this quarter.

  • Dru Hill - These Are the Times
  • Ryan Cabrera - Photo
  • Drop N Harmony - It's Over
  • Default - Found My Way Out
  • Kevon Edmonds - Move It Slow
  • Joe - Understand

Quote of the Moment

ganked from daniel (cpp)'s profile:

A great teacher once told me that your personality and character should be comprised of what you Like and Love, not that which you dislike and hate. Dwelling on these things only allows them to consume you. There are a lot of things to hate....but what a waste of life.

that's all for now. have a very merry christmas, stay away from yellow snow and use protection!!!

How I spent my summer vacation v.2005

// ah man, the first day of class...summer is officially over. just a quick recap for shits and giggles.**one new toy that kept me entertained throughout the summer was my new digi cam. this baby entertained me when i was alone for several nights.

chill smilie

classes were actually really cool too, even though they were all freakin' freshmen classes.

oh smilie
i've been pushing back my public speaking class for years because i dreaded the subject, but i managed to make the best of the situation with my speeches (How to Gain Weight Fast, Imperfection).

once again i maintained my straight A's and B's.

headbang smilie

(on a sidenote, i slept in on the fisrt 40 minutes of my history exam.

oh smilie
but the cool thing is i still pulled out with a B.
yababy smilie
)

almost everyday after class i'd kick it at the pool with chin, where he would teach me the art of the bellyflop.

biggrin smilie

we even collaborated on the invention of the backflop.

bowdown smilie

the crappy nights in my crappy apartment are finally over with. i'm finally living in the village with a buncha montecito crew OGs.

bigthumbup smilie

for phoebe's birthday, chin hooked us up with tickets for disneyland.

biggrin smilie

towards the end of august, some of the saudi crew was back in the states so we had a little saudi shindig at my place.

cheers smilie

beginning of september, the highlight of my summer, was eating white castle julie's wedding.

aww smilie

last weekend, mike and i decided to road trip over to arizona to visit chelsea. maaaan, that was a long ass drive...but it was worth it. (sorry, we only managed to take a very few pics)

Songs of the Moment

  • Craig David - Hypnotic
  • Jane's Addiction - Superhero (Entourage Theme)
  • Green Day - Wake Me Up When September Ends
  • Switchfoot - The Setting Sun
  • The Ataris - In This Diary

Imperfection

// this is my persuasive speech for my public speaking class. its a much more elaborate version of my original Imperfection deep thought a few months ago.

A couple years ago I was having dinner with two buddies of mine. Originally we started out talking about girls and sex, you know, manly stuff. But then somehow we eventually got to talking about love & relationships; and it was one of the most deepest conversations I've ever had.

I remember my friend Chris telling me about his ex-girlfriend. He said, "I hate her so much. She put me through so much pain."

I asked him, "If you could go back in time, would you do it all over again?"

He looked me dead in the eye and said, "Yeah. Even though it hurts now, I did love her at one point. And we really did have some great times."

We kept talking about it. I started asking him questions like "What do you look for in the perfect girlfriend? And the perfect relationship?"

He said to me, "Mel, you need to stop looking for perfection; you're not gonna find it. No one's perfect. Nothing's perfect. Everything has flaws. But its these flaws that you have to deal with to make it work."

I thought about this idea of imperfection for several weeks. I finally realized that this theme of imperfection applies to so much: it applies to people in the form of flaws, to relationships in the form of heartbreaks, and to life in general, in the form of failure.

We all have our fair share of flaws, heartbreaks and failures; things we'd rather not have or rather have not experienced. But I'm here today to tell you that these imperfections are okay.


First, I'd like to explore the idea of imperfection in people.

When you apply imperfections to people, it comes out in the form of flaws. Let me ask you this: what if everyone in the world was perfect? And if everyone was perfect, what would seperate one guy from the next? What would make people unique? What would make your boyfriend or girlfriend more special to you than everyone else in your life?

Lets look at TV as an example. What would the TV show Friends be like without Chandler, who's insecurities cause him to make witty comebacks all the time? What would the movie American Pie be like without the bluntness and cockiness of Steve Stiffler?

You see, our flaws give us personality. It gives us diversity. Our flaws are what make us human. If we were all perfect, we'd all be the exact same.


The second aspect of imperfection is the idea of failure. When I think of failure, I think of what happened to me just over a year ago.

Just about a year ago, I received a letter from Cal Poly. That letter cited my 2 consecutive quarters of straight Fs. I knew it was coming but I couldn't believe it -- I was academically disqualified. I was kicked out of Cal Poly.

After reading the same letter over and over and over again -- in hopes that I was just misreading the whole situation -- my denial finally gave into reality. I had to admit it -- I was a failure.

For the next few days I'd come home and just look around at all the things I have"¦and I'd just feel guilty. I'd think to myself "a failure like me doesn't deserve any of this." It was just painful trying to think how I was gonna break the news to my dad.

I eventually decided that I would not tell me dad about it. This was my mess; this was my hole that I dug myself into and it was my job to get myself out.

And that's exactly what I did.

I talked to my advisors. I took classes @ Mt. SAC. I paid $200 a unit for classes here @ Cal Poly through the Open University program.

One year later, it all paid off -- I got back into Cal Poly. I get straight A's and B's now, I haven't ditched class in a year, and I am finally reaching the potential that my dad had been preaching about for so long.

I remember feeling so depressed when I first got that letter. But now, I almost feel proud of it, because I look back on it as the turning point in my college career. I have no regrets whatsoever.


And now I'd like to talk to you about imperfection and relationships.

Imperfection in relationships comes in the form of arguments and heartbreak. This topic in particular reminds me of my relationship with my dad.

My dad and I would get into pretty big fights once in a while. A little over a year and a half ago, on my 22nd birthday, I had the biggest fight with him ever. I don't want to get into what that fight was about. Instead, here's a small portion of what I wrote in my journal after that fight:

My Journal:

Do you even love me, Dad?? Do you??

Cuz you have a funny way of showing it...by not showing it at all.

When I was younger, I promised myself that one day I would make you proud.

Maybe I should devote my life to PROVING YOU WRONG.

I AM NOT A FUCKING KID ANYMORE.

WHY WON'T YOU LET ME BE ME???

THIS IS WHO I AM.

THIS IS WHAT I WANT TO BE.

I'M SORRY IF THAT'S NOT GOOD ENOUGH FOR YOU.

I'll never forget how much hate I felt that day.

Fast forward about 18 months later. October 22nd, 2004. I was lying in bed when exactly at 12:55am, I got a phone call from my cousin, Rosemary. She was in tears and at a complete loss of words. When she finally managed to catch her breath, she said to me, "He's gone. My daddy's gone..."

I woke up my parents and we headed over to her place. Her dad, my beloved Uncle Rolly, had passed away to lung cancer.

Even though we all knew that day was inevitable, it was painful, nonetheless. I will NEVER forget the tears on my cousin's face as the coroners came and slowly strolled away her dad's body.

That night opened my eyes forever. I could see the love and the loss on Rosemary's face. I promised myself that I will never take my dad for granted again.


Its sad to think that it took the loss of a loved one for me to realize this. Bad things happen to good people; and we can't change that. Imperfections are just a part of life; all that we can do is accept it and learn from it.

So this is what I ask of you: to embrace all of the bad as well as the good. Its okay to have imperfections in your life. Know that its your flaws that give you personality and make you who you are today. Know that failure is just another opportunity to succeed. And lastly, know that heartbreaks are just a dramatic way of keeping things in perpective; it opens your eyes to important things like who you really love and who you can really count on.

Don't let imperfections hold you back.

Dance like no one's watching. Love like you'll never get hurt.

Thank you.