If I could choose any day to die, I would specifically choose March 4th. It's a symbolic day. Not a sentimental one, where it only means something to a few people. Like my mom's death anniversary is a sentimental date. No, March 4th would be symbolic in the metaphoric sort of way. I've always wanted my life to mean something, to stand for something more than just myself. If I were to die on a March 4th, then my death would stand for something. It would be a message from me. My death would be a final message from me to "March forth."

Call me the comeback kid.

When I first was applying for the Office of the State Superintendent of Public Instruction (SSPI), I got a first interview and a second interview. After the second interview, I was told that while I was a top candidate, I was the third candidate for two positions. The manager asked me if she could keep me in mind if another opening comes up. I said yes, and one month later, I was interviewed an hired for an equivalent position.

As I applied for other promotional positions as I became eligible over the past few months, there was a position created in the Office of the SSPI that I really wanted. I applied and got a first and second interview, and once again the same manager told me that they were going to go with someone else. A few weeks later, they created an equivalent position and offered it to me today. I gladly accepted.

Don't ever give up. Only when you give up do you really lose.

I spoke with a McGeorge Law School admissions counselor today and picked up some good tips. After all that I've been through with the probate and then all the nonprofit law, I realize that I can hack it in the legal arena. Was all of this a sign? I'd like to think so. It's best that we don't talk ourselves out of our own great ideas. That inner conversation can be destructive. That inner conversation is the reason that most people take their greatness, take their ideas, to the graveyard with them. Most people allow that inner conversation, for whatever reason, to keep them from ever pursuing their goals. I hope that I do not fall to that paradigm.

Today was a day of firsts.

It was the first time that I did a motorcycle tune-up. I changed the spark plugs and spark plug wires.

It was the first time that I changed the oil and oil filter on my bike.

Today was also that first time that I layed down my bike. Basically, I scrubbed. I leaned into a turn, my left peg got caught and my tired slid out. I didn't hit anything, but I did get a little scratched up. That's what I get for wearing shorts and a cut-off and no helmet. The important thing however, is that I'm not scared to get back on. In fact, I got right back on and rode back home. So I fell on my motorcycle. This probably won't be the first time. It's funny, I was more worried about my bike than if I was hurt. I remember when I was involved in a car accident and the first thing my mom asked is, "How is the car?" It's somewhat similar.

When we fall or falter, at anything, we haven't lost until we give up. Keep that in mind, and one can accomplish anything.

For example, on Extreme Makeover: Home Edition, the family that received a home makeover was a family by the name of Llanes. They are a Filipino family, according to what Michael mentioned at the end of the episode of wanting to remind their lola of the Philippines, and their bio on the website. You can check it out at http://abc.go.com/primetime/xtremehome/bios/328.html. Their last name and their accents also pointed towards that direction as well. The grandmother, father, and two daughters are legally blind. Their only son is deaf. The mother is the only one with all five senses. Yet they function like any everyday family. They can't let their disabilities stop them from doing what they can. Of course, I'm particularly sensitive to the episode because I do think that they are Filipino. While I wanted to be the first Filipino family on the show, I know my story does not compare to those. The crew kept on pronouncing the family name as "lee-yan-es." I'm not sure if that's correct, but since the family didn't correct them, I commend the crew for the good work that they do each season. Kudos once again to ABC and the Extreme Makeover: Home Edition crew. I can't fault you for not choosing me yet.

"Only 23,000 black men earned degrees from colleges and universities in the United States in 1990. In the same year, 2.3 million black men and black juveniles passed through the nation's jail and prison systems."
-Jonathan Kozol, Amazing Grace

This kind of statistic is quite alarming. While I don't know what Mr. Kozol used as his sources for this, but I would like to compare it with the statistics for other ethnicities. Certainly, I don't solely blame black men for their troubles. There is inequality in this society. The system is as prejudiced as people are. After all, it is people that created the system.

How can we change it? We have to know our rights. Part of those rights are being politically active. Being a political agent is so important to our well-being. Yet so many people either don't know how politics affects them, don't want to learn, or don't think their vote matters. Yes, we each only have one vote. Yet many of my friends also have one vote. Altogether, we have thousands of votes. On MySpace, my profile says that I have 110,990,149 people in my network. That could very well be 110,990,149 votes. That has to matter.

If we don't know the rules of the game, how can we win?

Why is there so much pressure to cut taxes? I've always heard the same arguments: Taxes are already viewed as very high in California. If they are reduced somewhat, it is believed that this may spur investment, which might generate some jobs. If taxes, on the other hand, were to increase, it is feared that wealthy people may abandon California. Arnold Schwarzenegger says that a further flight of business rom the state is quite probable if taxes aren't reduced. Someone said that business owners are being killed by personal income taxes. Violence kills. Desperate people kills. Stress and illness kills. Taxes don't kill.

Yesterday, September 8, 2006, was my lola's 88th birthday. A few months ago I was not even sure if she would live this long. It just goes to show that one shouldn't underestimate lola.

At Gold Rush Days in Old Sacramento I was able to go on a tour of the historic underground city of Sacramento, before the streets were raised in the 1850s. I also cracked a 6-foot whip and just learned a lot. It's in our nature as humans to learn, so it felt good to be a part of that. It also didn't hurt that only about 596 people were able to go on the tour - the first tour for the public ever. I certainly was a part of a privileged group. I also saw yellow watermelon, not the typical red watermelon that I have always had. Overall, it has been a good weekend thus far.

We often take for granted all that is around us. There is a saying that we don't know what we had until it is gone. Far too often, that is true. I've said it before and it doesn't hurt for me to say it again - appreciate what you have and let the people around you know that you appreciate them. You never know when they are no longer in your life.