Facebook Notes

I logged onto my Facebook the other day as I do every so often (hourly, really), and I was somewhat surprised to see that I had been tagged in a note. Now, I knew that I hadn't recently hacked onto Sean's account recently or anything, so I knew it wasn't some grotesque note about Sean's sexual tendencies (I do love those notes. You guys should check them out). Also, I knew it wasn't one of the Andrew-Writing-As-Sean notes because I had tried to write one a few weeks previously only to find that the moron had changed his password.

Jerk.

So it was to my somewhat pleasant surprise that Christian Deguzman tagged me in a random survey about random facts, entitled "16 Candles". Now, in the old days of MySpace notes and Xanga subscriptions, to which I'm sure many of you still follow, surveys were plentiful and manifold. They were generally pointless ramblings, asking about specific questions regarding the surveyed. And normally, other people were chosen to continue and spread the survey love. They consisted of lame questions on random things, about which I knew few people really cared. In short, I generally despised them, seeing them as a cheap, easy way to fill up space and time.

Regardless of my blatant disrespect, however, I filled a few out, contributing to the insignificant myriad of words to waste time. We all have done things about which we may not necessarily be too proud...especially in boredom.

Anyways, the purpose of this rant is not to condemn surveys, even though I must add that they are worthless and pointless. The point of this rant is to fill out another one. Mr. Deguzman was not the first to tag me in such a survey. Helen Nguyen and Tiffanie Lee have also graced me with mention. Thus, I am triply obligated to fill out this crap myself.

I particularly enjoy this one because while most surveys ask random things, this one simply asks to write anything. That freedom itself makes it appealing. That, and the fact that a 2 hour lecture at 8 in the morning cannot possibly sustain its excitement in the allotted time.

Oh, and my last note was a result of a tag from Francesca Lomotan. Thanks, Franny =)

"The brief: "Once you’ve been tagged, you have (can if you want) to write a note with 16 random things, shortcomings, facts, habits or goals about you. At the end choose 16 people to be tagged, listing their names and why you chose them. You have to tag the person who tagged you."" -Xtian

1. I'm a huge fan of Disney films, mostly musical films made after The Little Mermaid in 1988, which was technically the beginning of what is now known as the Disney Renaissance...

2. I once wrote a lengthy research paper on Disney and the Little Mermaid.

3. I've seen close to 800 films, and my favorite three are Beauty and the Beast, Pride and Prejudice and Lost in Translation.

4. I love my friends more than anything. I value interpersonal relationships above all else, and my religious views stem from this (See previous entries).

5. I usually don't do things in moderation. I'll eat a meal or two a day, but they'll be meals large enough for two healthy people. If I work out, I'll go as hard as my body can humanly handle (or if I cramp...), but I seldom work out. I either pull all-nighters or sleep in excess of 12 hours at a time. I am a child of extremes, but I'm trying to change it.

6. I was born in Worcester, Massachusetts and moved to the Bay at an early age. This justifies my being a fan of the Celtics, Patriots or Red Sox. I'm not a fan of any of the three, but I could justifiably be one! (PS Go Warriors and 49ers!)

7. Before my current permanent residence (what some call home), my immediate family had never lived at one address for longer than two years. My former addresses include 609 San Miguel Ave. Santa Clara, CA, 95050; 1454 Don Ave. Santa Clara, CA, 95050; 244 Smithwood St. Milpitas, CA, 95035; and my current address. I lived in two places prior to the San Miguel house, but I was too young to remember the addresses.

8. When I was young, living in a duplex before we moved into the San Miguel house, I was once woken up by the sound of a police interrogation in the middle of the night. For some reason, I was sleeping in the living room that night. As it turns out, the Mexican family to whom we let out the other side was in the middle of a feud. That night, the husband stabbed his wife and killed her outside our place. It was all over the news, and our house was on TV and everything. I wasn't scared because I knew it was over, and the guy was caught. They were survived by at least two daughters near my age, who were then raised by grandma. The mom was buried out front. Her name was Charlotte.

9. When my brother and I were younger we both had our own favorite bedsheets/blankets. His was Barney and mine was the original Mighty Morphin' Power Rangers. While Matt's Barney blanket was soft on one side, mine had the Power Rangers on it. A fair trade off in my opinion.

10. Though I'm an Eagle Scout now, my first Scouting experience was as a Cub Scout in Lien Doan Ra Khoi, or Troop 285, in San Jose. My first camping trip was horrible. I think I cried and missed my mom. I remember doing push-ups for doing something wrong. Looking back, it wasn't so bad, but I was new to it, and probably whiny to begin with. I was then a Boy Scout in Troop 74 until my parents moved us to Milpitas, where I joined 101 Lac Hong, which later split into 101 and 111, Lien Doan Hoa Lu. It was with 111 that I earned Eagle Scout. I know this doesn't make sense to lots of you, but I hope it was random enough.

11. I played the flute for a year in 4th or 5th grade. Manly, I know.

12. In second grade, I pretty much thought I was a badass, flipping off all my friends and whatnot. Then I transferred to St. Justin's in third grade. I suddenly became the only Vietnamese boy, and one of like 5 Asian kids. It was weird, and I was quiet and shy around these people until I left them in 8th grade. I mention this because I got in trouble my first few weeks for pretending to flip someone off. The jerk told on me. I learned.

13. If I ever come off as someone who is very aware of his grammar, I attribute all such awareness and grammatical knowledge to my middle school English teacher, Mrs. Wayne. She had us write often in our headings, "English is my favorite subject in the world!" and had us analyze and diagram sentences. *Shudder*

14. I secretly love and enjoy analyzing and diagramming sentences.

15. I used to play with Barbies with my cousin Phuong, Chị Bé, when I was much younger, but it wasn't like dress-up or hair-combing play normally found in young female circles. It was more like I-have-control-over-someone's-fate play where I enjoyed controlling or living vicariously through the dolls. In my defense, GI Joe dolls are played similarly, but yes, it's still feminine because they're Barbies. And lastly, for some reason I can't seem to understand,

16. I'm still single. I'm picky too, so that may have something to do with it. But I'm sure the Barbie thing doesn't help much.