Wingz's Xanga

11-11: A Year Gone By (Our Story)

Wed, 11 Nov 2009 04:00:30 GMT

[taken on our first day]

It's November 11th. It's already been ONE FULL YEAR since me and Hazel became official. I must say it's been quite a year. We've gone through so much in such little time. Trips to Michigan, IL, North Caroline, Chicago, and such. From a 10 hour drive away back to 20 minutes away. Almost everyday is spent with each other. We probably gross so many people out, but we don't care. Now, looking at us, I guess people can easily think why we are the way we are about each other... both Filipino, both from Jersey, both in to B-boying (I'll have to double check on this one), both of our nicknames surprisingly sound good with the word "Purple" in front of it, both look good wearing purple (scratch that, I mean look good wearing almost everything), both have FRESH wardrobes that can match each other EASILY, both have VERY similar relationship cycles, both love our family, both very cultured, but didn't grow up in towns full of Filipinos, and pretty much have had very similar upbringings. But to be honest, there's a lot more to it. There's a history that a lot of people don't really know about. Little do people know, this story has been over 5 years in the making. So I'll try to briefly go through our story.

2004 - So back in the day, in High School, I stumbled upon a site called generazn. It was a social networking site (before social giants like myspace and facebook). Like the name implies, it was centered more towards the asian population. Being from West Orange, my school was very diverse, and I tried to look outwards for friends. But not only was the site for pictures and profiles, there were games and a LIVE chatboard, so a lot of my friends in HS (that weren't asian) would go on for the games and stuff. Anyway, so I checked who on the site would be from NJ as well. Eventually, I encounter a "Baby_Haze" from NJ. I'm like "whoa she's interested in what I'm interested". We befriend each other on generazn and xanga. Later that year was East Coast Overdose. I remember seeing a girl on the bleachers and being like "whoa she looks pretty". Later during that event, along with some other b-boys and friends I had in NJ, I was introduced to that girl. That night, when we got home, we would hit each other up on AIM. I hit the "profile" button while IMing and I saw she had a xanga. When I clicked it and tried to subscribe to her, it said I was already subscribed. Little did I realize that, the cute girl I met on the bleachers was the girl I was friends with already (kinda) and by the end of that night, I was already sweating her. Little did I know (only in 2008) that she in actuality was feeling me the way I was feeling her. Unfortunately, nothing had grown from there, because my girlfriend back then completely WILD OUT on her stating "stop hittin on my boi, i saw u flirtin wit him at ECOD. (Wingz)" and "how about this stay away from my bf.. cuz he thinks u are so hot n u are like the bitch of the world.. he likes u n u dont even kno it. If u dont stay away from him then u can have him"... HAHAHA... that AND looking at the guys she was interested in (she didn't start having a decent taste in guys until college) and then looking at me, 1. bad taste is usually a turn off, and 2. I figured I wasn't her type... but it was all good we were pretty cool.
So 2004 was my graduation year. Along with me, my friend NJ (who everyone knows as Nobel), who I've been friends with since I was REALLY LITTLE graduated as well. My family attended his graduation party, and at his party I saw her there, and was like "WHAT?!". Turns out, just as my family has been friends with NJ's family since I was little, her family was ALSO friends with NJ's family since she was little as well. So we got to hang out again, we even got down a little in NJ's basement, and I tried to showoff, oh well. Later in August, I had my graduation/birthday party, and she was able to come to it. I remember a bunch of my guy friends asking about her back then... funny how that works out.

2005 - Throughout the year, I attended practices almost every week at Montclair State University on Thursday nights. Every once in awhile, she would drop by. By the summer, she had graduated, and I attended her graduation party at her house with the twins. We played basketball with the uncles (we actually lost) and I even ended up singing some Stevie during karaoke, haha. I remember thinking to myself (keep in mind, I was from West Orange).. "holy shit this is far away... shit's like the middle of nowhere". Little did I know I would end up driving there pretty frequently nowadays. Later in the summer, we would run into each other again at the Filipino Fiesta.

2006-2007 - So after her Senior Year of High School, she went away to Michigan State, so we never really ran into each other again. But I couldn't help checking out her facebook and myspace pages and leave comments once in awhile. Keep in mind, you gotta know how my mindset was/works. So I figured that she was pretty and I figured she knew that, so I absolutely did not wanna sound like a herb or have in ANY way seem like I was interested in her, so I would try to leave comments, but make sure they were very subtle like "nice pic" or "YEAH PURPLE... that's how we do now? lol ". Nothing out of the ordinary. And apparently it was the same way when it came to her comments on my page

2008 - This was the year I moved to Dover in Morris County. I don't know ANYBODY from Morris County. Then I remember "Oh yeah, Hazel's town in in Morris County" so I in January I leave a post saying "guess who's residing in Morris County for now.." and she replies "homie!.. lol.. too bad im currently in MI a trillion miles away.. hahaha.. but fo sho i'll visit you when im around". Even then, I think nothing of it. Then, in May, when she returned home from MSU, she asks to go session. At that same time, Alvin decides he wants to learn as well. So we all decide to meet up at Hazel's to practice. So when we got there, I still had that mindset, I did NOT in ANY WAY want her the privilege to get ANY vibe of me being attracted to her in anyway. Even when we went out to eat, I went to the bathroom and discussed that I wasn't really trying to sit with her, lol. Afterwards, there was a session in Old Bridge that she went to. I rolled up late of course. Not that it meant I tried harder with her around, but I can't say that I wasn't trying to showoff a little (lol), but STILL did NOT want her getting any vibe from me. Eventually we started practicing every week, got each other's phone numbers, and starting saying basic texts to each other, not even flirting cause again, I did NOT want her thinking I had anything for her. One practice in Clifton, we met at my house, and drove together, and got to talk and know each other better in the car ride. Although, I tried to keep my composure, I know I was feeling vibes, but I kept trying to deny it to myself. A few weeks later we decide we should have a fun day along with the twins and NJ at the beach, and then go clubbing. We met up at my place, since it was in the middle of all houses, and she arrived first. So we just chilled, and at a point, started whacking each other with pillows, but it was still all for fun, I didn't really think anything of it. After a fun day at the beach, we got ready at my place, and met up to go to the club (both of us wearing our "Purple" outfits). Throughout the night, we would chill as a group, and me and Haze would mostly only dance with each other to HANDLE intruders. At the same time, I didn't want to give her the impression that I wanted people to think we were together, so I'd keep my distance, but I always wanted to get near her. Eventually, there was one point she grabbed my hand, it interlocked, and we went to the dancefloor and started dancing really close. This had completely irked me in the back of my mind. Anyways, afterwards, everything was the same and normal. The next day, we decided to watch The Eye together at her place pretty closely. After that, we started hanging out more and more. I remember one time, being at Borders and she picked up a magazine to look at the horoscopes. I went over her shoulder to see what she was reading. She said "where's my horoscope" and then proceeded to point at Taurus. This had COMPLETELY tickled the back of my mind, and I said "you're a TAURUS?!?". I couldn't get it out of my head for the rest of the day, as I told her that I was a Virgo. Now I'm not really into Astrology, nor do I know who or what a Virgo is supposed to be, but I do know it's match. Now I always knew that the perfect match for a Virgo is a Taurus, but I didn't wanna weird her out with that shit, so we kept it to ourselves. As days went by, the two of us would just get closer and close and eventually lines were crossed and I was SKY-HIGH. I NEVER would've imagined it. Here I was looking at certain previous guys (back when I remember her having bad taste AKA High School) and thinking "eh, there's no way this is happening, cause I'm not her type", yet she tells me that she's always had a crush on me since High School. I'm like "NO FUCKIN' WAY..." I was sweating her since the day we met, talking about her at the lunch table and everything. So we spent the summer going everywhere together. I was dreading for summer to end, because I knew she would have to go back to Michigan. I was afraid, that I was just going to be that "thing" she had in 2008. After she left, we still kept in touch by calling, texting, IMing, even video-ing on AIM... and even with the miles of distance, nothing really changed. After I visited MI, we decided to make it official.

Again, since that day last year, we've been through so much, and have done so many different things. If you wanna see, just go to my facebook, and go to "View Photos of Reiner" and view all 77 pages worth of pictures (that's a whole lot). It's awesome to have such an awesome story, but the pages are still being written.

HAPPY ANNIVERSARY HAZEL MAY ATIENZA

I don't care how much of a herb I sound like, but I honestly do hope for plenty more... hehe... LATER.

last update was in May... OH BOY...

Sat, 17 Oct 2009 08:50:57 GMT

There's going to be A LOT to update about... there's the whole summer to now... UGUH... and of all times for me to be up to do a xanga entry... 4:12 in the morning... I am going to TASTE it at work in a few hours (9:00am)... I figure I'll just do a photo entry with captions... I'll try to be brief... if you end up tagged, you're SOMEWHERE in these pics...

Sheree's Birthday weekend/Trip to NC

For Sheree's Birthday Celebration, we (me, Haze, and Rez) took the roadtrip down to NC.

Fellas at the party

the couple

NOT a Filipino party without LINE DANCING

the familia

that's how I roll...

a day at Southpoint Mall

going out for the night

bowling with NC heads

Happy Birthday SISTER

some of the important women... I take it back girls... in my life, they're not there yet

Baltimore Trip with Atienzas

all jokes aside...

Rays and Rein

at the Aviary

Hustlers?

Twins' graduation

Uncle John's Birthday in NYC

Pinkberry + Chicken & Rice with the familia

Beach and Hibachi

waves were good

a lil TOO good

ONWARD!

enjoying the sun

of course...

Etched in Sand...

The Cavalry has arrived...

like an etch-a-sketch

BANGING HIBACHI...

Six Flags Great Adventure with NJIT FSA heads

ONWARD!

about to board EL TORO...

We made it...

we're off to see the...

in line for Nitro... SIGH...

REIGN meets WAYNE

What's up doc...

I swear she was hittin' on me when Haze wasn't looking...

cool glasses... WHACK movie...

the CLOSEST to a FULL group picture...

we play no games...

East meets [Mid-]West(Parental Discretion is Advised)

At the Diary Quadrilateral

meet up with Chris and Vidz

Red Mango

The Way to go...

Some shit going on in Time Square

was too focused on not flexing so much so I wouldn't rip my sleeves or hurt her

still a TALL ASS BUILDING...

it's time to PARTY UP

better than an "S" on my Chest...

The COOL fellas picture...

The QUESTIONABLE fellas picture...

[FILL IN THE BLANK]

where parental discretion comes into play...

Birthday visit to NC

driving down to NC

it was Hawaiian Themed

times at the Buffet.

LAP SWIM everyday...

Birthday in DC

we'll make it to White Castle in no time...

Iwo Jima... we're really not that short....

Lincoln Memorial

My Dude Abe

It Gets No Better

That's right... We're Hot

Fight or Flight

it's like watching Rocky...

the CHIEF is in the BUILDING

GOOD FOOD

Thanks for Dinner and the Cake J and J

SONA in Morristown

Casino in PA

Red Velvet Cupcakes at Magnolia Bakery

VA Beach trip with her parents

we're heeere

beginning of the boardwalk

a good workout

Lead the Way Turtle

rolling down the streets

we ate at a really good breakfast buffet

at the pier

the hotel

swimtime

piggy back?

drawn to scale

Party time once again

WILDin' out when Linkin Park went on

mahal

church the next morning

Dave and Busters

Nice Shirt babe

YEAH BUDDY... D&B CARDS

VROOM

rendering the group

finished product

The FALL

Polo ad?

no need for me to make a wish to this well

ta na - na na na na na na .... you probably can't tell what song I'm thinking of

mahal

But I... can't... help... FALLING in LOVE... with... YOU

Yeah that's all... this Summer's been a lot of fun... Anyway, it's 6:00AM, and I got work in 3 hours, so I'ma peace out to bed... I PROMISE to have a more meaningful entry next time... LATER

xanga!

Tue, 16 Jun 2009 22:40:12 GMT

long time no update!

one coming soon... probably a long one

what a weekend... Congradulations Hazel

Wed, 13 May 2009 11:42:05 GMT

Wednesday:
Class in the morning, then went home to get a couple of things ready, watched a few episodes of Deathnote, then started getting ready to head out. Drove to Newport to hangout with Eras, grabbed some coffee, and went shopping around for some gifts. Afterwards, we grabbed a bite in JC before dropping her off at her apartment. Afterwards, I went to Trade's to meet up with Odell who just returned from Cali. Mad people at his house cause he had a Street Fighter Tournament, so I didn't know nor give a fuck who was downstairs, lol. Upstairs, it was me, Odell, James, Jose, Ron, Emile, Jess, and trade chillin' upstairs until the people who were downstairs bounced. Afterwards, attempt at getting glory FAILED due to people loading accounts with over 10000 gamerpoints and then the internet FAILING. While the internet was down, we watched James play the Wolverine Origins Demo... HOLY SHIT... that game is something else, but not really on my "to buy" list. When the internet finally came back, me, Trade, James, and Emile caught glory for awhile until deciding to head back.

Thursday:
Woke up, got ready and got a fresh cut at Jersey's Finest. Went to pick up Odell at Trade's, and then we headed to Flemington to hit up the outlets over there. After being done at Flemington, we drove to Garden State Plaza to shop around some more. After our shopping outing, we went to Trade's, got money from everyone, and then drove to shoprite to buy ingredients. When we got back to trade's we [Iron Chef Rez and Soiu Chef Reign] made pasta for dinner with Jose, Ron, and some girl. After dinner, we decided to watch the MLG/ESPN TOP 10 videos. After getting hyped, me, Trade, and Teej decided to get some glory in. But before doing so, Jose came back, apparently, someone had went into his car (while it was in the driveway), and took his TomTom and PSP... after hearing this, I went to check my car, which had also been broken into. My iPod Mini had been stolen along with ALL that I had shopped for earlier that day (at the outlets and at GSP). After being heated, just DEMOLISHED people in HALO until 3AM. After getting home at 4, tossed some clothes in the laundry while trying to get things ready for leaving the next day. Then took at nap at 6AM

Friday:
Woke up at 8AM, packed up the rest of my clothes, and went over the Chapters and stories for my final at 11:30. Got back home at one, finished getting everything that I needed to be ready

took off for Michigan at around 3PM... and after the 10 hour drive, I arrived at Michigan a little before 1 and met up with Haze, Ren, Evonne, Kevin, Bobby, Ian, Dennis, and Brian at Asia House for some Pho. After Asia House, we arrived at Hazel's at around 2-3 ish, and went to sleep at 4, only to be woken up again at 7.

Saturday:
After getting ready, Hazel's entire family met up at the apartment for brunch.
Hazel in her graduation gown [along with a PASS & Honors sash]

I believe around 11:30 - noonish, we left for the commencement ceramonies. Since I was left with the D40, I followed Kevin and Ian around, taking pictures all around the stadium, as they gave me hints on how to use the camera [Thank You]. If the pictures turned out halfway decent, Haze'll probably post them in a few weeks, maybe months.

After the commencement ceramonies, we caught "wreck"s at Potbellys for lunch, along with browsing Grand River at Urban Outfitters for awhile. After taking a few pictures at the Spartan Stadium, we went back in to the apartment where me and Haze knocked out for an hour in the corner of the room until dinner time. For dinner, we all met up with Catherine and her family for dinner at Golden Wok along with their friends. After dinner, me, Haze, Ren, Evonne, Catherine, and her sister, hit up the NCG to watch STAR TREK... I must say... QUITE IMPRESSIVE... they did a good job... after the movie, we got home around 1, and fell asleep at 2.

Sunday:
We woke up at 6, the rest of her family arrived at 7 and we attended the 8 o'clock mass. After mass, we grabbed some things at the apartment, and Hazel, me, Ren, and Evonne headed off to Chicago.
On the drive to Chicago
Pit stop in Indiana
SOMEONE knocked out on the way [NOT a Surprise]

The CHI
So we left East Lansing at around 9... drove for 4 hours... and arrived around 12. Little did I realize we had gone through a shift in time-zones, so going there, we gained an extra hour. After driving through, we arrived at the Raffaelo.

While Ren was finding parking we waited in the lobby. After checking in, we went to the room, which was BEAST... Flat Screen TV, waterfall shower, and everything.
including a shoe buffer
our hotel room was RIGHT across the street from the John Hancock Center
and that would be the structure to get IN to the Parking Structure

After settling in we took a cab to the Chicago Bruhaus. The cab ride went from downtown to a bit of the hood, and then to the location of the Bruhaus.
the cab going from downtown...
... to going through the hood

So we finally arrived at the Chicago Bruhaus... we walked in there was music going on and a lady with her daughter dancing as we walked and headed towards the bar. We each ordered a different kind of sausage along with...
DAS BOOT

After picking up the tab, we took a cab back to the Raffaelo, and we KO'd again until Haze and Ren's cousin arrived. She took us for a walk through some of Downtown Chicago to Millenium and Grand Park.

Philippine Consulate
@ Millenium Park
The BEAN
The Guys
The Girls
fountain @ Grand Park

After touring the parks, it got chilly, so we walked over to Rockit Bar, so that they could chat and grab a few drinks. Later, Dennis picked me and Hazel up along with Michael and his brother. We waited at the Hotel for Ren, Evonne, and their cousin to arrive. After meeting up, we walked a few blocks to Gibson's steakhouse. The steak turned out to be about $40 - $50 a Steak, but it was good... and AGAIN, I consumed a GOOD AMOUNT of mashed potatoes... OH BOY... after dinner, it was time to KO.

Monday:
We woke up around 8, got ready, and checked out of the Raffaelo to do our last tourist stops before heading back.

Our first stop was the United Center, and took pictures by the Michael Jordan statue. Afterwards, we drove to Wrigley's field, to get a few shots outside the stadium and grabbed some coffee at Starbucks before heading out. Before leaving Chicago, we grabbed breakfast/lunch at IHOP. We left Chicago around 12, and arrived at East Lansing a little before 5 (losing the hour that we gained coming to Chicago). We all took an hour or two nap before finishing up loading the three cars with Hazel's stuff. We headed out at 9, and made 5 stops on the trip back to Jersey.

taken at the first stop in Ohio

Monday:
So we drove back in 3 cars... Hazel's Parents in their Acura SUV, Me and Haze in my car, and Ren and Evonne in the Jetta. Most of the time, alternating... I drove 9 hours, Hazel drove 1 hour
what went on during most of my 9 hours of driving
We arrived back in Jersey around 8. What took hours to pack, took approximately half an hour to unpack at her house. After unpacking, we had breakfast at the diner before heading our separate ways. Finally arriving home, I took a 4 hour nap, then studied with my remaining time for my final.

One more final to go, and then I'm done for the year. Carnival this week in West Orange, the Twins' graduation this weekend as well. Quite possibly entering World of Dance b-boy competition next month, I'll keep the details of the poss. squad on the low though.

School's out and the girlfriend's back in JERSEY! Good times heading this way.

what an AWESOME weekend... but back to business

Mon, 27 Apr 2009 02:53:08 GMT

What an awesome weekend, unfortuately, pics aren't up yet.

So we've been planning this weekend for quite some time now. Basically, the main event was Prelude on Saturday [yesterday], and Hazel was going to arrive Thursday night. Turned out, she was able to finish all her classwork and hand it in early to leave MI on Wednesday [a whole day early!]. So while waiting for her... caught IMMENSE XBOX glory, cause I knew it wasn't happening for awhile [UNTIL TODAY!]. She got to my house at around midnight, and I cooked some soup cuz I figured she'd want something to settle her stomach after some 5-hour energy drink.

When we woke up the following morning, I cooked up a breakfast REIGN style.... rice, Vienna Sausage, Tomatoes, and Eggs while baby made coffee (I don't know how to use a coffee maker). At 11, we headed off to get "my new haircut". We went to Jersey's Finest to get it done... got the low to 1 fade. Since Haze was sleepy, we went back to the house just lay and watch a movie. We ended up watching Twilight... heh, lol... it was pretty alright... not bad... so afterwards, first time in awhile... SHE was the one waiting for me while I had class. I got out of Calc early and we drove off to pick up Saigon at Penn Station. On the way to New Brunswick, we hit traffic in almost every road getting there. So we finally started getting down and practicing, and met up with Allen. After practice we hit up the grease trucks, drove Saigon back, and called it a night.

The next morning, my uncle cooked us up some breakfast before we headed back to CCM for my 11:30 class. After some brief errands, we met up with Ren and Evonne at their place. We stuffed ourselves and hung out at Penang, grabbed some bubble, and met up at the mall. After our mall ventures, we drove through to the city to support Josh's mini-jam at SVA where I was able to introduce Haze to some fellow Jersey proteges. The invited judges were late, so I was asked to be a back-up judge for most of the first round until the judges arrived. We had already planned to meet up with Alvin and Steve earlier, so we left early to make more elaborate plans. We decided to meet up in Palisades Park for Korean BBQ... it was Haze's first time, and even though we probably weren't eating it the "right way"... we were impressed... ended the night with some bubble after planning out the following day.

Saturday morning, my Tita Gigi and Tom Tom came over. We ended up having lunch before we all headed out. After numerous errands yet again, we met up at Alvin's and we drove to Journal Square and took the PATH to 34th to pick up our tickets at the venue. We had some time to kill, so we decided to grab some grub at GRAY'S! After our snack we decided to line up for the venue (while noticing many people wearing the same shirt as Al) . So after the LONG line, we climbed SEVEN FLIGHTS OF STAIRS... by the 4th flight, I was already starting to wear down as THE YOUTH were beginning to pass me. When we FINALLY reached the 7th floor, we walked into the venue... the ballroom was HUGE, but the seating arrangement was pretty whack. With such a huge competition with many people attending, the seating was not theatre/stadium style... just lined up chairs... which the people on the sides, probably missed a few chunks. Of those seats, the 3 of us, held 5 more seats for Carlo, Angela, Tank, and friends. The performances were pretty good... sucked there were a few technical difficulties. NOW... I won't say TOO MUCH... but let's see... some groups, I won't talk ANYMORE of, hahaha.... MAD OUT-of-TOWNERS (from places like the Bronx, Boston, and Montreal) handled BUSINESS. But I'm glad Rhythmology and Project D were able to hold it down for Jersey. Lemme see what I can remember...
Ridunculous: I was impressed at what an IT school can accomplish
Irratik: HOLY SHIT... these jailbait girls RIPPED IT... HOLY SHIT... I think they did better than their other Montreal family counterpart that ended up placing.
Groove Theory: CLOWNS... literally... I was too focused (disgusted) at what they were wearing/how they looked that I couldn't even focus on their dancing
Ven15: Alvin "yo, you that's Jenn's cousin"... I was like "who?"... I looked up and it was Pisa! didn't see that coming, but good job nonetheless
Choreo-Cookies: DOPE... MAD CLEAN... they made even the simplest shit DOPE...
Bryan East Project: didn't see it coming, but I like it, got to see people I know do their thing. Exposing Funk, Popping, and Locking the way they should.
RhythmCity: MAD HYPE! even after the technical difficulty, they still handled business. Wasn't a shock that they placed 1st, but that dude with the straightened hair needs to chop that shit off ASAP.
Project D: I must say, I'm definitely impressed at the way this group has grown a lot from their earlier performances WITH battery powered-tees.
Rhythmology: Had dope props and I appreciate them trying to represent hip-hop for what it is... definitely have my support. Representing Jersey with 2nd PLACE

SO when the event ended, we met up outside, and decided to grab some food. We were originally going to eat at FRIDAY's, but after being sat without menus, we decided that it was going to take too long, especially since we were going to take the PATH back, and then drive back in for the afterparty. So we got a quick bite at Wendy's where we met up with Steve before we parted ways with Carlo and Angela. So we walked a few blocks to the PATH station again, went through the turnstiles, and was inside the train when we were missing Haze's SLR bag with around $1,700 worth of equipment, so I BOLTED BACK... on the way out I bashed my theigh into the turnstile which sonned my left leg for the night... I gallopped all the blocks back to Wendy's and the bag wasn't there... I was going frantic asking almost EVERYONE in the restaurant, then I ran into Friday's looking for it... it turned out Pisa's group was sitting at the table we were, but they didn't see a bag. Then a lady sitting at another table told me that the staff had found a bag, so the manager took the bag out of the locked room... THANK GOD... However, by then, not only was my left leg was FUCKED UP, but my asthma had struck me with a VENGEANCE... so the entire ride back to Jersey and back again to NY was painful... So let me just say, we drove in, TRAFFIC in NYC was kinda a bitch around Bowery AND PARKING WAS A BITCH... so we ended up deciding to park in a lot about FIVE OR SO blocks away. Now, I know it may not seem like 5 blocks is a lot, but when one leg is disabled... it sucks... so we got to Boulevard and saw two lines. We were like "what the fuck?" so we come to find out the line on the right was ACTUAL a PLAYPEN for the KIDDIES (those under 21), hahahaha... damn that sucks... you have a major event where to be honest MOST of the attendees were either under 21 OR Titos and Titas, and then have the afterparty 21+.... NICE... so anyway, I was in pain for most of the night, but I fought through it and enjoyed the night with the gf and my dudes. I was even able to get down a little just to show a lil "sum-sumthin" along with Suitkace (I commandoed him in 1 run, but have no idea what he did). So due to certain events, I turned out being the one to drive us to Chicken and Rice, and man did traffic suck ONCE AGAIN. Apparently, they closed down the Holland Tunnel. Anyway, so we finally got to chicken and rice around 4, but the lines were GIGANTAMOS. So Steve and Hazel were KO'd in the car, so me and Alvin went to wait in the Gigantic line... by the time we were done it was almost 5... so daylight was beginning to rise as I got out of the lincoln tunnel going home... So pretty much, me and Haze were fucked cause... I had work at 10 AND my leg was fucked AND she chose to drive home when I leave...

So yeah, this morning... before we went to bed, we decided to eat the chicken and rice and OH MAN was it worth it... it was SOOOO GOOOOD... MAN... so after that we KO'd around 6:30 only to be waken up by an alarm at 8, so I could call and find out when I was working (my dumbass forgot to check earlier). So once I found out it was at 10, KO'd... to wake up half an hour later to get ready and head out. We both kissed goodbye and I went to work... So my leg was STILL killing me, and this new sign system sucks, but it's cool... mad GAMES on sale for 10 bucks... too bad they didn't have SoulCalibur4... woulda hopped on that IMMEDIATELY... but it's cool, I copped RedAlert3 and Quantum of Solace for 10 bucks each... and the 007 game came with a free 007 t-shirt... NOT BAD... NOT BAD at all... I wanna buy Dynasty Warriors Gundam 2... but gotta hold back on that spending...

ANYWAY... yeah... SO MUCH this weekend... and I gotta go from THAT.... to.... A Java Program due Tuesday morning... a whole chapter's worth of Calc hw due Tuesday night BEFORE taking the exam for that chapter... and then a paper due on Wednesday along with an extra credit paper due as well. I guess it's alright, my leg is still fucked up anyway.... OH BOY... BACK TO BUSINESS..

Odell, this shit is too funny...

Tue, 21 Apr 2009 09:50:32 GMT

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What brought you to Xanga? What made you stay?

Sat, 18 Apr 2009 14:39:23 GMT

2002. Everyone was doing it... from asians to b-boys... both of which I happen to be... I've blogged with this xanga for years, so I can always go back and remember things that I forgot. it's literally like my journal, so hopefully I'll always keep up... I don't ever plan to change blog sites...

I just answered this Featured Question; you can answer it too!

B-boying

Wed, 15 Apr 2009 14:24:56 GMT

So I've been pretty active recently. It feels good, like a part of me is fulfilled once more. I'll admit, I was MIA for A MINUTE... like a good late 2007 to mid-2008 MIA. Don't get me wrong, I never quit, but I went off to the shadows for a little and would get down only once in awhile. It probably has to do with me staying in Dover, and the lack of other b-boys around Morris County, but anyway. It was during the summer of 2008, it got re-ignited. I started practicing at least once a week, and it felt good. Haze had come back from school, and we'd practice literally every week, whether it be at her house or at the WOHS field, I'd get my work in. Come Fall of '08, I started coming back to school hardcore at CCM. Pretty much my entire week is school and home during the week. Surprisingly enough, getting an hour or so between classes with Firestorm still kept me in line. I'd also hit up random practices in Jersey, just to stay in the lab. In November, Hazel and I became official. Naturally, I came to Michigan state like once a month to visit her. During those visits, we'd go to her school's b-boy club practices. Good people to practice with, and another way I'd be able to put my work in.
This past month, I've been really active. About a month ago, I entered a 7 to Smoke in Dearbon, MI. It was my first time entering anything in over a year, but it felt good. I loved the feeling of being somewhere and representing Jersey. To me, Jersey's dope... NOWHERE else has this certain flavor that Jersey does and there are so many b-boys in Jersey that are GREAT, so when I'm able to go somewhere and represent and make somewhat of an impact where I go, I could only imagine how it'd be if other GREATs were there, I'm only just a taste. Anyway, a few weeks later, met up with SDI, the crew that I feel like I've seen grow so much since their toddler stages of b-boying, and IZM and other local heads and we were getting down a for a little at a Darfur Benefit concert before performing.
Rock Darfur Benefit Concert [1, 2]
Afterwards, we all got to chill at a park, lay down a lino, eat some chips & dip and rock for a little. Asides from my usual practice at CCM with Firestorm during our gaps between classes, I've been hitting up the other Jersey sessions from different areas from the Clifton practices to Bergen to the New Brunswick and now, I recently learned of a practice in Parsippany [the closest practice to my place, and it's in Morris County] on Fridays. Not gonna lie, it feels awesome, that part of me that's been missing is back. Even the physical toll it takes.
Right now, I've just woken up, my body is SORE and ACHING. My elbows and knees are BRUISED, so when I apply pressure to them, it HURTS... and both of my elbows have floor burns; that's from practicing at Clifton on Monday, then meeting up with Saigon and Raymond at the Bergenfield practice. Even with all the soreness, the bruises, and the burns, I'm still here thinking of things to try out, watching old clips like the Who's Hungry trailer, and getting souped at seeing my clips in the cypher highlights of the Evolution 3 DVD [so what?], and looking foward to practice again tonight in New Brunswick.
I gotta be honest though the motive and the mindset is different from before though. Whether you like it or not, I'm doing this cuz it's what I do/am... I'm not really in it to "conquer the world" anymore... at least not as much so. This new generation of kids are doing some crazy things. As I was telling Tron in the car on the way to practice, there's always something with the new generation. Don't get me wrong, I'm talking like I've been around for over a decade [almost... 7 years, UGUH!], but I'm not that old. I still learn more history when I'm around b-boys who are around that have been there before MY time; B-boys that put it down in the late 90s early 2000s. However, I've been around to see some history in the making. Like the loss or "area/region", how people can watch and learn of other b-boys just by watching them on youtube. I was actually around and IN the era when the ONLY way to know/see of someone was to GO to the events or catch them on VHS... old-school VHS's like the PRO-AMs and such... now if we're bored, we can just log on bboyworld and watch footage. "Oh you missed the event, don't worry, they posted up the battles on bboyworld". I can't lie though, I'll use bboyworld/youtube/facebook and watch footage, haha.
Now, I'm back in school, and had a good semester for Fall of '08, and this semester is going pretty good as well. I'm starting to feel that a lot of people think I can't be a b-boy and focus in school or that b-boying takes away my focus, that's why I stopped going for two years.... FUCK THAT... I would like to believe that was just MY STUPIDITY and MY IRRESPONSIBILITY. Looking up to other b-boys that did it like Kinnex, they still had the ability to get down the way they wanted, but still get shit that needed to be done done. SO I plan to do so as well, get that time management going... besides, I only have about 4 -5 more weeks of the semester, so SUMMERTIME's coming up... you know what means...

failure at updating

Sun, 12 Apr 2009 22:37:49 GMT

the last time I made a real update/entry was Thanksgiving... that's terrible... so because posting ALL the pictures and talking about all that's happened since NOVEMBER would be a troublesome GIGANTAMOS entry, I'll post the links to albums, one picture, and then write a BRIEF summary afterwards... cool...

[the dates are links to the respective albums]

12-20-2008 DEKO

So Hazel came back for Winter Break, and we met picked up the twins and headed to DEKO to party it up. "Hi Hater" performance and a performance from some group from NY (I dunno, not too impressive), but fun night none the less. Ended off with a run to HOP-KEE for some GRUB.

12-22-2008 An Early Reiny Hazy Christmas

Reiny Hazy Christmas video
We knew we were going to be spending Christmas with our individual respective families, so we decided to spend and early Christmas together. We exchanged our gifts at my house. I bought her a new point-and-shoot to retire her old one, and she got a new navy-blue Jersey fitted to retire my old Jersey hat (which was in severe need of retirement) along with a bunch of POLO gear to add to the collection. Afterwards, we drove to Journal Square and took the PATH into the city to get soup dumplings and take pics by the tree at rockefeller center.

12-24-2008 Christmas with the fam in NC

As usual, spending Christmas time with the family. I love spending time with them. After good video game sessions, we attended a Christmas party. Got down a little with the lil broseph, then we all went to visit Lolo. Unfortuantely, my last visit...

12-28-2008 In the Christmas "SPIRIT"

LEGITIMATE DATE becuase her parents knew AND CONSENTED to her coming to the movies with me. So we went to go see... The SPIRIT and I won 2 prizes at the crane game. "Chi-Chi", a pig named after "Chicharon" and "Pol" a horse named after "POLO". Oh and an orange kitten for Hazel's dog, Beamer. Every year some guy BEASTS on Christmas lights, so we took some pictures in front of it.

12-30-2008 "HARU!"

Although, we're good with our "Ordinary Life", we felt like being a little more social, so we called some people up for dinner. We called up Jolenne and Casey to come. Krystin was back in town (more like back in country) and was chilling with Kim Dumo, so I called them up to hang out to eat with us. Good time... BEASTED on sushi... at least I did.

12-31-2008 NYE [New Year's Eve] in AC

Probably THE BEST New Year's Eve I have ever had in my lifetime. My car was still at the shop at the time, so I set up a rental and picked it up. Picked up Haze, and drove to AC... we were supposed to leave at 11, but we left a little late... somewhere around 3. Right when we got in, we met up with Nobel and headed off to pick up Hazel's homegirl Catherine, who took the train all the way from Maryland. My DUMBASS brought my blazer to the dry cleaners, and FORGOT to pick it up... what do we do... we drop $125 at the Banana Republic at the Piers for a new one. After that, we drove back to the hotel and met up with J, Jess, and their friend Erin. After a bit of reFRESHing, we drove back into AC around 10 and hung out around in the casino of CAESAR'S. At 11, we went back to the PIERS mall, and headed to the top floor to the bar and met up with Matt since he worked there. He gave us the HOOKUP and we spent the countdown there. It was my first New Year's Kiss At Midnight [video]. Shortly afterwards, as if hooking us up with drinks wasn't enough, Matt gave us the ULTIMATE HOOKUP... VIP WRISTBANDS to get into the bars that were closed off down the top floor, which was normally a $40 cover. Not only was it DOPE, but Q-Tip and JAZZY JEFF were spinning... WHAAAAT! It was DOPE being able to throwdown BAC-style again. We even got a chance to make a fool of someone... just like the GOOD OLD TIMES at CHERI, hahaha.
How We TOP off 2008
Me and J's first throwdowns of 2009
Bully-A-Clown
After all the escapading, we called a night and headed back to the hotel. Next morning, we had our "continental breakfast" where Jason had his "How to WAFFLE correctly" tutorial by a grumpy old lady right before we left. DOPE way to kick off the New Year.

1-10-2009[part 1] to 1-15-2009[part 2]: MSU: Return of Haze

Hazel's winter break ended, and classes started for her on the 12th. Fortunately for me, mine didn't start until a week later, so I spend that weak in MI with her. We BOTH planned our flights for the 10th, hers was initially 3 hours later than mine. Which was fine... The ORIGINAL plan was I'd arrive early, Chris would pick me up, I would wait at her place, and pick her up in Detroit [1 hour and a half drive away] with her car. A little backwards, right? What had HAPPENED was even MORE BACKWARDS... On the night before our flights, it started SNOWING... So I make my flight, although almost missed the connecting via delays, but her flight gets CANCELLED. So basically... I spent the night in EAST LANSING in Michigan BY MYSELF in HER apratment... a lil AWKWARD. It was fine though, I brought my XBOX so that made time fly, and Bobby lent me a shovel, so I cleared out her car that was covered in approx. a foot of snow. The next day, due to her flight delays in Newark, she missed her connecting flight in Cleveland, and the only flight after was at 7 and that was overbooked, so I decided to go drive to pick her up [3 hour drive]. Now... I've never been to Cleveland... so it was my first time, so my first time there I drove COMING FROM THE WEST. BUT it was all worth it to pick her up. So that week, there was a LOT of eating done [lol] as well as a couple visits to the MSU B-boy club practices, along with her PDC [PASS Dance Crew] practices. We EVEN had a night out at the bar to celebrate P[orfirio]'s birthday [supposedely 1 out of 3 celebrations]. Flying back to Jersey, I flew DIRECTLY over Giant's Stadium along with the new one being built.

2-07-2009 A Time For Family

[My Lolo and his Direct Descendents]
On Thursday the 5th of February of 2009, my Lolo [Grandfather] had passed away. He was a chronic cigarette smoker for all of his life. A few years ago he had undergone an operation which messed with his equilibrium, causing him to need the assistance of a cain to walk. A few months earlier, around December, he was diagnosed terminally ill. My family visited everyday since his diagnosis. I've attended funerals in my lifetime, but this was the first time, it was someone who had an impact on me. It wasn't until the casket was closing that I felt the rush of "I won't see him ever again". Throughout all the sadness of that weekend, it was also a reason for all Baylons from everywhere [i.e. New Jersey, North Carolina, Virginia, Florida, and Arkansas] to come together once again.

2-20-2009 - 2-23-2009 Another One of Those Trips to MI [late V-day]

Although, I've taken part of a long distance relationship, I DO NOT like the idea of long gaps between seeing my significant other, so I took that weekend to come up and visit. The weekend after would have been ideal to attend her school's cultural vogue, but her parents were coming up that weekend, so we decided for me to come up on the weekend of the 21st. To start things off, we exchanged our Valentines day gifts. She got me more POLO gear (Shirt and shoes to match)! I got her WALL-E and EVE plushes and an engraved Reign and Haze album along with a notebook I figured suits her (it has Mice with test tubes and says "CHEMISTRY"). Although, I didn't get to attend the actual Cultural Vogue, I did attend the Rehearsal and saw the performances. Afterwards, we hit up a drive to Detroit to go clubbing that night.

3-07-2009 Haze's Return + Ren's House Blessing

Hazel's Spring Break started on the day of her brother's housewarming. In preparation for her return, I drove to Jersey City to get my haircut (where's I've gotten my haircut since I was little). After the haircut, walked to Philippine Breadhouse and bought 30 ensamadas for the housewarming. When I got there, said I to her fam, and the twins arrived. We got to chill and they told us about their performance the following day at Rutgers for Battle of the Barrios.

3-08-2009 Battle of the Barrios [multiple albums 1, 2, 3, 4]
NJIT/Rutgers Newark [Video]
So I picked up Hazel and then drove to Ren's house to meet up with him and Evonne. The four of us then drove to New Brunswick to Battle of the Barrios (mostly to support the twins). So we go to New Brunswick, found the building, but was instructed to park pretty far. When we got in the building, there was a line, that they broke up into two. One for reserve tickets and one for people who don't have reserve tickets. Because we found out about the event the night before, we were obviously NOT on the reserved list. Apparently, everyone else reserved/bought their ticket earlier. So we were in the front of a small line of people who didn't have reserve tickets. Now, you would think that by "reserved" you would get priority seating... yeah... not so much, hahaha... they let both lines in at the same time, and because of the process of finding your name on the reserved list, that line moved a lot slower. So as it turned out, we had the best seats on the 2nd row... The schools put on good performance, except maybe one *cough*. And NJIT/Rutgers did a really good job too. But the judging was HARSH, one guy being an extreme hater... 6's all the way... "Yo that guy might not have even made it to his car alright" hahaha... about judges... why was someone who was outside earlier, holding up signs directing where to park a judge, lol. After the event, we went to get our fill with FAT sandwiches at the Grease Trucks.

3-08-2009 Watchmen in IMAX [no pics]
picked up Hazel and NJ Monday night and went to Palisades and just as the name implies, we went to watch WATCHMEN in IMAX. Asides from all the Dr. Manhattan going around, and the softcore sex scene, the action was DOPE and I liked it... Hazel on the other hand... not so much, hahaha. I bought the graphic novel soon afterwards, and want to buy the game on XBOX Live Game Marketplace.

3-10-2009 Triple Date in NYC [Albums 1 & 2]

So during Spring Break, Chris and Vida went pretty much all over North and East. One of their stops was NEW JERSEY to visit Chris's aunt's place. We all decided to go to the city. After picking up Hazel and sleeping necessities, we drove to meet up with Ren and Evonne at their place. Afterwards, we took two cars to pick up Chris and Vida at Pompton Lakes and drove to Journal Square to take the PATH into the city and got ourselves 1 day funpasses for the subway. Our first stop was following our stomachs to Soup Dumplings in Chinatown! Afterwards, we stopped by Elizabeth center to do some anime/keychain/cute-shit-type [mashi-maro, hello kitty, etc.] shopping. We then proceeded to take the subways uptown to visit the MOMA. It turned out we didn't even have to pay either. We browsed almost all of the 6[?] floors of the MOMA within the remaining 2 hour duration of their opening. Afterwards, we walked approximately 8 blocks to Columbus Circle where we gave the introduction of Pinkberry to Ren, Evonne, Chris & Vida. After our short break, the girls wanted to make a quick stop into the mall across the street as I found every possible location that I could be in sitting positition. After Columbus Circle, we headed to Time Square to take a couple of pictures and stopped by the M&M store. Then, when we finally recovered somewhat of an appetite, we took the train and walked to 53rd and 6th to have Chris, Vida, and Evonne recieve their first blessing [lol, jk] of Chicken & Rice. After the LONG JOURNEY, we got back to Journal Square and parted ways with Ren and Evonne. Getting ready to go out IN THE CAR, we drove back into the city and met up with their MSU alumni friend Lem at a bar to chill and for them to pre-game a little before the club opened. We walked a block and went into the club... it was a nice place, but I was BEAT. So we drove back to Ren's to spend the night, and had breakfast at the DINER the next morning before bringing Chris and Vida back to Pompton Lakes.

3-14-2009 to 3-19-2009 END her Spring Break: BEGIN my Spring Break

Since my Spring Break was the week after Hazel's, we decided on having me fly up to Michigan when she came back. It was my first time EVER taking a flight with a significant other, it was pretty cool I must say. We even got to book seats next to eachother, with hers nearest to the bathroom of course [hahaha, lol]. ALMOST DIDN'T HAPPEN though. So our flight was at 6:00 and you had to be checked in by 5:30. I made sure I arrived early so that her parents wouldn't see me at the gate. Girlfriend, on the otherhand, misinterpretted and believed the flight was at 6:30. It wasn't til 4:45 that she realized that my consistent texts about her location was because the flight was at 6:00, so her dad SPED from Mt. Olive to Newark airport at JUST THE NICK of time, and we proceeded to board and get on with our flight. We wanted to get our exclusive club memberships, but the flight attended sonned us... oh well... always next time. So we had some time to spend in Detroit airport, so we took a bunch of pictures in the concourse, got some chili dogs, and took the monorail to our gate, and watched a few episodes of anime until our flight. When we got back to Lansing, Chris and Vida picked us up and dropped us off at the apartment. AFTER a MUCH NEEDED NAP, we started getting ready to drive off to Dearborn, MI for Last One Standing.

Last One Standing [partial preliminary circle footage]
It was my first b-boy event to hit up in the midwest, so I wanted everyone to know I was from JERSEY! Once we arrived, IMMEDIATELY got down in the main circle (not really a cypher, they're not really up on that yet). So I decided to enter... it was my first time entering something in over a year. Did pretty aight. The first part consisted of taking the top 8 of 16 in a "cypher" [they DO NOT know what a cypher is]. But anyway, I made it to the top 8, but I did more than I wanted to do. "You were a little too excited babe." - Hazel. So I was almost dry as far as coming up with what to do for the 7 to SMOKE, but I still managed to pull 4 wins, so that's what's up. Plus, my stamina has gone down the drain, so 4 wins was whatever.

4-03-2009 to 4-06-2009 Halo-Halo: FlipTube/Alumni Day at MSU [albums 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, ]

So I arrived at Hazel's apartment early in the morning [I got there fast as hell].... After a quick errand, we were MOST DEFINITELY DUE for a NAP. After the nap, we headed over to the OUTLETS [NOT healthy for our wallets, but whatever]. Bought a bunch of stuff from the POLO outlet, and got matching BEAR TOWELS... YEAH!... I also copped a pair of sneakers for $20. I will deem those my "work-out" sneakers... they will take the doggin' that my other kicks will not. Later, we went to the girls' apartment and met up with Erin and Izzy. There I met Excel, the Roxas Brothers, and some of the other performers that were hanging out there. Apparently, some people were going out to the bars that night... the rest/underaged stayed at the apartment. After settling in, and everyone [except me] taking Tequila shots, we went for a round in the hot tub... I DID NOT want to leave.

The following morning, we went to the gym to meet up with the rest of the guys from PASS, alumni, and the performers to play basketball... It was my first time touching a basketball in almost two years, but it was still a fun time. After the game, we went back to the apartment to get ready and went off to get food. After that, we attended a workshop held by the alumni of her club. After the meeting, we went back to the girls' apartment. Hazel took pictures of the performers as I chilled and napped on Kristy's Polar Bear rug until we had to leave to pick up our food from "B-Dubz" [Buffalo Wild Wings]. After picking up the food, we headed off the Union to eat and watch the game [MSU had made the Final Four] against UCONN... pretty intense. At some point, we had to head to the venue where "Halo-Halo" was being held. After, all the sound checks, Halo-Halo had begun.

Front-row [advertising Sobe Green Tea and Paper Plate fans] seating with Anthony and Erin. The Perfomances were good, the had PASS's own Cris Lazarou and the Thrify Three with a special guest performance by Vida. Out of MSU was Chris Cabatu from somewhere else in Michigan, [now] my dude Alex AKA EXCEL, The Roxas Brothers: Anthony and Volataire, and Ashley Barera [?] all four of them driving up from the "Chi", and they even flew out PASSION all the way out from Cali. Oh, and some guy named Gabe. The performances were really fun and entertaining, for the most part... the VIDEOS were HILARIOUS... the swagger video gets extreme thumbs up. PASS Dance Crew did a really good job even after the audio fucked up, playied it off nicely. I was really impressed. My girl comes up with awesome moves, too bad, by picture taking was NOT SO MUCH.

MEAN GREENS: EXCEL and REIGN
PASS DANCE CREW at FLIPTUBE [video]
After the "Halo-Halo", although going to EXCEL [the club] was promoted, I can't think of anyone that went. Instead, the majority of us (including the performers) went out to eat at Pizza House rolling like 30 deep, haha.... all in all fun day

OH MAN... I've spent like 5 hours writing this xanga entry... and that was the ABRIDGED version too... HOLY SHIT... oh well... ANYWAY... sorry xanga, I'll really try to update at least ONCE a week so I won't have to make entries like this anymore... this is the journal of my life, that is is... at least since 2002.... ANYWAY

This is BRUCE REIGN signing out... PEACE...

short random bringing up of an old entry...

Fri, 27 Mar 2009 07:31:29 GMT

"Friday, December 10, 2004

-new realizations-

-sumone teach me Halo... it looks like a game that I'll naturally own everyone"

HAHAHAHA, holy shiet, I wrote that in 2004... look at me now... I'm fuckin' ILL at it... hahaha