Back in my early senior year of high school four years ago (four years ago? I’m getting oooold!) I was
hanging out with my friend, Carrie, a lot and it was through her I met someone who I’d never realize would be my best friend until the end of time, Alex Robinson. Up until then, I never had a constant best friend. Before high school, my next door neighbor, Marcus, was my best friend, but he transferred middle schools and then we drifted apart so much we don’t even talk anymore. And then in high school, I drifted among friends, and never really had people I hung out with consistently through the years.

Anyways, back to Alex, he is one of the few people who knows everyone, and I mean EVERYONE, and no matter how popular or unpopular you are, he really makes you feel like you and him are best buddies. He always sees the best in people, always strives for smiles, and always recounts the beauty in things. He is quite a personality to say the least, and loves to help others along with the environment.

He’s been there for me through the bulk of my breakups, and met most of my girlfriends, and I have been there for Alex through most of his breakups and met his boyfriends. Oh yeah, I forgot about that, he is gay which I think makes things better (because then we’re not trying to date the same person!). He’s always been there for me, and I recently got the chance to be there for him when his mother passed away due to cancer. It’s certainly amazing to see how happy he is about life amidst the things he has been through. When most people would crack, Alex is the few who don’t.

My most prevailing memories of Alex has got to be all the nights I spent at his dad’s house staying up late playing games/watching movies, or all the downtown/pool outings by his mom’s apartment. During the summers, we used to hang out like 24/7- man what good times

I must say I’m surprised we’re still friends. Whenever I disagreed about something heavily with him, I used to let it get to me and affect our friendship, but I usually end up apologizing and kicking my own ass about it, yet feeling better about the whole situation because we grew stronger as friends.

He is always telling his friends about me, and I usually tell my friends about my stories with him. I’ve always been grateful of him, but I don’t think I’ve ever truly told him that. He’s the guy who I know will be my best man at my wedding someday, and he’s rightfully earned that position. He probably knows me better than my mom or any girlfriend I’ve had, and I think I know Alex pretty darn well too.

So readers, who’s your best friend? Feel free to write a small paragraph in the comments below!

“No matter how much you have grown, there is always room to grow.”

I mean this every sense possible. I believe this quote is why we have people who don’t settle with just being the best, or being really good. I don’t know if I read this quote from somewhere and it randomly popped into my head. But I think this is a very important quote to realize. Then I thought of posting quotes that I live by, with small explanations. The quotes I live by are things are usually things that aren’t over used like, “Live everyday as your last.” They don’t hold meaning to me, because I feel like there wasn’t enough thought put in to that phrase. I’ll use another quote that I love:

“Don’t ever let somebody tell you… You can’t do something. Not even me.” – Chris Gardner (played by Will Smith) in Pursuit of Happyness

This quote speaks volumes to me. This quote was used in the movie just after the fact Chris Gardner told his son to stop playing basketball. The movie Pursuit of Happyness is an amazing movie, definitely one of Will Smith’s best movies. This quote has helped me further reach my potential. Everything that has hindered me, from my studdering to my fear of being outgoing on my own. I envision that part of me telling me “Don’t ever let somebody tell you… You can’t do something. Not even me.” It has helped me get through so much, and continues to everyday. I hope this helps you.

What do you think about these quotes? Or if you’ve used them, how have they affected you?

-Philippe

Sorry for now blogging much, I have been quite busy. But now I have a new Zune HD to blog from.

Well I got class soon,
See ya guys!
-Phil

Commando is a simple game to play, here’s how it works. You need a good number of people to play — say about six people? More people, the better. So the game starts by someone being the Commando. The Commando then chooses a place he/she will stay, and four to five bases that could be anything (hub caps, the second handicap sign, or even zig-zagging through trees). The objective of the game is to go through or tag each base then tag the commando. So I’ll simulate one round so you, the readers, understand how it works.

Every is standing infront of the commando. The Commando closes his/her eyes and starts counting down from a random number. Within this time you’re supposed to tag as many bases as possible then hide. If the Commando didn’t give you a lot of time, then you just go hide, but it is whatever you want.

Then after time is up, the Commando open his/her eyes and looks around to see if they can spot anyone hiding, any one chosen has to start back from the beginning, and re-tag all the bases. Then the Commando closes their eyes and starts counting from another random number.

It is a great excuse to run around like an idiot and this game is best played at night. Well I’m off to further recover. Commando isn’t a game where you get hurt; but it can help keep you in shape.

So as of now I’ve seen the movie twice; and I have been very eager to do this review.  If you haven’t seen the trailer for it yet; you live under a rock, but here it is nonetheless:

I’ve heard that the movie sucks; yet others who hail it the best Harry Potter film yet.  I taken into account the book, and all points of view for this post.  Eager to know what I rated it? I remember the book starting out with a scene with Snape (I’ve lost my copy so I cannot verify this) yet the movie starts off where the last movie ended which made the beginning seem like a smooth transition. Props to the makers of the film. And then action. It was nice to know that I didn’t have wait for something awesome to happen, consider that the movie series being almost over; I’m expecting more and more action each time.

People have claimed they added scenes and deleted scenes. I read the book when it first came out like everyone else. I know the general summary of what happened, so if they left out scenes I didn’t notice; but honestly, haven’t you guys come to terms with that by now? This is the 6th movie, and it’s a hollywood movie. Also the movie is 2 hours and a half; do you want a literal interpretation of the book, and sit there even longer? They covered what they needed. And for people who do not know, the last book is split into two parts, so what they didn’t cover that is important they’ll cover in the two up and comming parts.

Now that that is out of the way. The movie was really well done. They put a lot of effort into the special effects which really made the movie good. The acting was great, but there was one thing I didn’t like. The romance chemisty between Ginny and Harry is so fake, I couldn’t believe it, I thought they could do better. But the whole movie was good. From the action, to the plot, to the character development, it was far better than any harry potter movie- there is even a scary part, which I didn’t think would be so scary. I just hope the next movie is rated PG-13 so they can do more. So I give it 4.5 stars out of 5

]]> http://mychatbubble.wordpress.com/2009/07/22/movie-review-harry-potter-and-the-half-blood-prince/feed/ 1 pbatigne Harry Potter and the Hlaf Blood Prince star star star star halfstar copy http://mychatbubble.wordpress.com/2009/07/03/new-jobs/ http://mychatbubble.wordpress.com/2009/07/03/new-jobs/#comments Sat, 04 Jul 2009 04:34:40 +0000 pbatigne http://mychatbubble.wordpress.com/?p=187 ]]> So as of today I am employed at two places! Horray for money! I decided today that I’ll write a short post about both places. I’m really excited to start both! And don’t forget about my food blogging job along with everything!

First: Swift Staffing [link to webpage]

A full service staffing company that was started in 1989 as a franchise of a national staffing service. Our team of dedicated professionals have staffed more than 30,000 positions in the areas of Finance, Education, Public Utility, Non-Profit, Government, Small Business and Fortune 500 Companies.

Our use of state-of-the-art technology enables us to provide a high degree of service to our clients. Our service area encompasses the Baltimore-Washington metropolitan area.
[Taken from the Company Profile from www.swiftstaffing.com]

Swift Staffing, as it says in the name, is a staffing agency. I applied for a PC Technician position which I found out about on CriagsList. I had to do an XP proficiency test which I obviously did well enough to go in for an interview, then to later get the job. So the job is simple: I go into Baltimore and go to a Baltimore Public School (I go to different ones each day) and take apart their computers, get people to put them on a truck so they can be transported to another Baltimore Public School. Then I put the computer back together, and update anything that needs to be updated on the computer. I’m guaranteed 40 hours a week (8:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m.) and I’m getting paid 10:50/hour. It’s pretty exciting.

I only have one problem. I accepted the job last week, and I was supposed to get a call so I know when I start and where I go on Monday, and I called and left a message on Tuesday, called Wednesday and Thursday. So I’m a little angry obviously. Also This position would only last until mid-August because of school.

Second: Teavana [link to site]

Mission:     We live by this goal: To provide fresh, high quality teas and the products to serve them. And to create a unique tea experience in each store by encouraging a positive, healthy outlook for all who enter the Teavana environment. [Taken from Teavana's Facebook Page click here to view]

Ah, Teavana, this is going to be my more permanent job. As stated above, Teavana is a Tea Store. It is kind of like Starbucks as it as a Barista, yet you buy any type of tea and you can buy it by the pound. Also they have all the pots and cups and EVERYTHING you could ever want; even different kinds of lounge music. I’m really excited to work there because it is a laid back position, and the people are cool.

I’ll tell you how things are once I start working. I think I’ll be starting Teavana sooner then Swift, but who knows! What about you, have you had any good jobs? Any weird situations? Tell me anything job related!

Hey everyone,  I know I’m a little late but nonetheless here it is!

THE REVIEW OF TRANSFORMERS REVENGE OF THE FALLEN!

So I’m going to do the best I can to not give the ending or parts of the movie away.  So the plot is something similar to the Terminator movies;  the Decepticons (the bad guys) are back, but this time they want Sam Witwicky because he knows some vital information that will help the Decepticons rule the world.

One thing I enjoyed was that there is A LOT of action scenes, but I do have one complant about one action scene. Near the end they have an action scene which is way to long, and it got to the point where I didn’t know who was where, it was confusing. I heard from other critics that there wasn’t enough action, but I thought there was. It was enough for me.

There is some talk that there is a pair of Autobots are racist. I didn’t realize it, mainly because I saw the pair as some modern day goblin-like twins. I didn’t think it was racist, but maybe because they’re green and red (not black)?

Also, with the last action scene, it ends very anticlimaticly and seems to end too rapidly. Yet after realizing that I had just spent 2 and a half hours watching the movie, I’m glad it ended abruptly.

All in all? I give it a 4 stars out 5. I was a little dissappointed that there were a lot of unnamed Transformers, but I left the movies back in a Transformers crazy, now with a Transformer backgroud/ringtone/text tone on my phone. I would see this movie again.

UMBC’s accommodation to the Asian crowd.

“Konnichiwa”, or “Hello” in Japanese! Since the birth of Jow Jing this year, I know I’m one of the UMBCers who was excited to see sushi roll out in the college with probably one of the highest Asian ethnicity population. If you live in a hole and have no idea what sushi is, sushi is a Japanese cuisine that takes things like cucumber and raw fish or crab and rolls it into this combination of specially made sticky rice and seaweed. I know for a fact, I would eat sushi everyday if I could. They have many different kinds of sushi at Jow Jing, but my favorite is the eel roll (you don’t buy eel ‘sushi,’ you buy ‘rolls’ because they are made in rolls and then cut up). So obviously, I’m here to review Jow Jing’s eel roll.

$6.00 or so gets you a roll (12 pieces) of the eel sushi. Since sushi seems like its own art form of cuisine, the box in which the sushi comes in looks perfectly cut and placed with complementary ginger, soy sauce, and wasabi (it is this real spicy paste). But after digging in with your chopsticks, assuming you can use chopsticks, and taking the first bite, you’ll instantly taste the burst of flavor. The flavor mainly comes from the stuffing inside the roll, but the rice and seaweed do contribute to the taste of the roll as well. Comparing Jow Jing’s sushi to others that I’ve had, I would say it’s the same as what you can get anywhere. I’m sure it is nothing compared to going to Japan and trying it. If I had to rate it using a 5 star system, I would give it 3.5 stars. The sushi is above average but not enough to be a whole 4 stars.

With sushi, you can also add some small changes in the taste with soy sauce and wasabi. One thing that I’ve done in the past is taken the soy sauce and poured it over the pieces of sushi. Another thing that I’ve gotten my friends addicted to is mixing the soy sauce and wasabi, it makes for a real nice dipping sauce that one could fashion for almost any Japanese delicacy at home.

This is the only logo I could find and I got it off of the twitter page.

I’ll make sure to keep you guys updated when a post of mine goes up on their site. In the next couple of days I’ll post up my submission entries! Well I gotta go guys, talk to you guys later!

So about a week ago, I decided to embark on the journey to become a

buddhist, and here’s why. So far up to about a week ago, I had lead my life with a “I don’t care, I just go with my flow” attitude. Even though it has lead me to do some pretty amazing things, I realized there were more disadvantages then advantages. In light of this, I needed discipline, something that I’m not morphed into another follower, but someone with general rules to follow. I’ll blog about Buddhism in a couple of days if you want me to so you all know what it is about, just denote it in a comment.

So I’ve been watching So You Think You Can Dance (in the future refered to as SYTYCD) and I stumbled on to this YouTube video: and it has spark the want to be in a dance crew. I think I’m going to start dancing for serious. In Buddhism, in my readings, I’ve come to realize that buddhist are the living product of “Do or do not, there is no try.” They don’t live with this invisible wall that we call laziness or procrastination, and in light of that, I will begin as soon as possible. And along with that, I might start looking for dance crew members.

Along with that, I’ve been studying up on some computer stuff so I can add more to my nerd reputation by learning JAVA’s J2EE. It’s like HTML but way more advanced. And on top of that, I’m trying to get a job in any place possible.