A Look Back at the Decade

With a new decade approaching, one can't help but look back upon the yester-years and forward to the future days. I had a blast getting up to this point but theres still a lot more I want to do, see, experience, eat, try, fail, succeed, dream, achieve, and eventually remember after everything is said and done. This blog post is a list of all the important, memorable and worthwhile moments of my life over the past decade. Going through the emotional roller coster of bliss and sadness, everything listed here happened to be a big deal in my life. I've tried my best to keep everything in chronological order, listing things that happened in the beginning of said year at the top, and things happening at the end of the year at the bottom.

2000

- 8th Grade Middle School
- When I finally got to know my core group of friends, The Boys.
- Was a student of Mrs. Chong for English. I was in her worst class, where students hated her guts and made her cry almost daily for trying to be a good teacher. I saw how strong she was and what it was like to be hated for doing an important job for the sake of others, and learned how to endure ridicule and disrespect.
- Pixie sticks with Cha Cha, was my most important bonding moment with him
- Learned how to ice skate
- Got Everquest, Ruins of Kanark for my birthday (First MMO)
- I meet Mr. Madela for the first time as he does a presentation about the high school and his elective that he teaches, which is graphics comm.
- Had our first 4man Melee with Nick, Ian and Aukai at Ian's house playing Smash Bros64. Spent that whole day geeking over the fact that Ian had a real sword behind his bed and how much I wanted to swing it around

2001

- Was offered to be sponsored by a store to ride RAZOR for them. Mom rejected since I was under 18 D:
- First heartbreaking relationship during the summer. She cheated on me.
- First job, towel boy at the hotel my dad works at.
- Got into a huge car accident. The reason why I value my friends so much is because of how devastated I was losing one of my friends in that accident and I make it a point to let people know how important they are to me. I used to be an obnoxious little punk throughout middle school until this point and I finally learned how to like myself without being afraid of what other people thought of me. Life's too short trying to hide your self from other people, and to not having an impact on other people's life in a positive way.
- Freshmen year of High school
- Did Air Riflery, but only as a manager. Good times to be had, including tricking Goodheart into running into a tree.
- Learned how to screen print and make stickers. Helped on school printing projects such as each sport's fundraiser shirts and school banners.
- Made a catapult as our Team project. Actually we dicked around for 3 weeks, and the day before it was due Scott's dad built it for us, also became better friends with Rick and Scott through Family Guy
- Adult Swim! Enough said.
- Joined Go-Gaia (Gaiaonline) with Savvy, Mika, Krystal with Extended Discussion as my stomping ground. At one point I practically had all the old donation items in my inventory. Yes, even the original Halo. This is where I learned the fine art of rhetoric and discussion.
- Mr. Yamashita's class and our fascination with his missing arm. Told us stories of pineapple picking and did a hilarious skit with Rick, Goodheart and Scott about forced labor.
- Larry stabbing a pencil into Gilbert's thigh for calling him Lester in the middle of class.
- Mom woke me up at 5AM to watch 9-11 going down. Realized how quickly everything turns to shit, and how important other peoples lives are despite them being complete strangers. It had a profound effect on me.

2002

- Tried to get into the track team but was never fast enough or jump far enough to qualify.
- Becoming better friends with Josh and Aukai, going up to Aukai's house to play Counter Strike.
- Decided over the summer to finally be good at drawing since everyone somehow naturally assumed I was good at art despite no evidence of it.
- Unhealthy comic book obsession begins
- Learned how to really use Photoshop from Tommy. My first mentor and fighting game guru.
- Got a Gamecube to play Smash Bros Melee, unhealthy gaming obsession begins
- Feel in love at first sight with a girl, the first day of Sophomore year. Would only talk to each other through email because of how nervous I was around her, despite sitting next to her in English throughout the year. We never spoke to each other IRL.
- Began to learn how to draw from Savvy and Justin in Yamada Sensei's Class.

- First sketchbook, though it was full of anime D:
- Was anthrax for Halloween that year (baby powder) and got in trouble for it.

2003

- Learned how to survive lunch by savaging off other people's lunches. Important lesson on not wasting food.
- Skittles, my cat, dies.
- Sophomore Banquet
- Witnessed Jeremy tearing up his homework in front of the girl who grabs it without asking as she always copies it from him in Japanese class right before class starts. He then pulls out another copy of his homework and turns that in. Everyone in the back row is stunned and she never bothers him, ever, again.
- RJ's birthday party where I met and become better friends with Crystal, Caitlin and Cassie, known today as The Girls.
- Went over to Cali for an Armored Core (video game) tournament. I was the youngest there, and it wasn't so much a tournament as it was a huge BBQ with 70 people and playing video games the whole time.
- Start going out with girl from Sophomore year. I had spent the past year trying and doing anything to convince her into giving me a chance. Helping her family around the house, babysitting her little brother, shopping with her mom, even joined cross country. It proved to me that hard work does pay off and that no matter how impossible a dream is, if you work diligently and overcome immense obstacles, anything is possible.

- Did cross country, quite possibly the craziest thing I've ever done. On Wednesday we'd run up Makakilo to the park at the top, back down to the Middle school and sprint from there to the high school which was something like 10 miles. Even though I was in the middle pack during the meets, I learned how to concentrate, mind over matter, and how to clear my mind. Best mile was like 6.20~
- Learned how to use Final Cut and all the video equipment at school. Begin interest in film industry.
- Toor Sensei in Japanese 3 and learning just how bad our Japanese was in comparison to other schools. Also learning a lot about Japanese Culture
- Mom gives away all of the Ninja Turtle memorabilia in my room, which I'm sure would have been worth hundreds on eBay, to my relatives in the Philippines. I am devastated.

2004

- I get my dog Kristy
- Supporting my friends in VICA by visiting them during their practice days, learned how to memorize speeches by watching David, Glen and John.
- Video game documentary for our academy team project! Spent class time playing video games, "recording footage". Best school quarter, ever.

- Uncles and aunt move into our house because their house forecloses. There are now 12 people living in a house with only three bedrooms. We turn the dining room and garage into rooms while I bunk with my brother and grandma. This event reminds me how important family is and the sacrifices you make for them.
- Did wrestling, and had my ass handed to me during the meets. Wrestled at 130lbs which was also the weight class that our school's best wrestlers competed at. Learned how to defend myself and to have fun sparing with other people. At one meet my mom came with and witnessed a guy dislocate his elbow during a match. Promptly pulled out to my dismay, and being depressed because I didn't have the support from my friends and family to continue.
- Helped Mika's family in opening Livewire Kapolei PC Gaming . All of the boys help out in some way. Cha Cha, Mika and I spend the week before it opens installing all the games learning the register and programs. Learned how to use flash and the cyber cafe management program because I make all the log in screens and ended up working for them on and off again.

- Team Livewire is born.
- Savvy smack talking on Counter Strike, which prompts guys on the server to feel bad about themselves for losing to a girl. They ban her multiple times thinking shes hacking when it's actually our friend Tommy playing with Savvy on the mic and they just keep switching computers whenever their ip is banned. Everyone in the cafe who witnesses it laughs and I realize that it feels good to have an attractive girl gamer in the group to make other guy gamers feel bad for their inadequacies.
- Introduced to World of Warcraft and does BETA with friends, beginning CRAZY UNHEALTHY obsession with WoW.
- Senior year of High school begins.
- Become Mr. Madela's TA for Graphics. This is where I learned how to teach people.
- Joined VICA for the first time despite always being associated to the club for 3 years.
- Mrs. Kawamura and even more Japanese culture from her. Finally began to learn Japanese. Made awsome Happy Family Plan video with Savvy and Nikkie which was totally off the hook.
- Senior sneak away! Busted out into break dancing at Zanzibar because no one wanted to dance, did shoulder rolls and flips until the bouncer got a hold of me. He said "Careful, you don't want to break your neck" in a half serious half threatening tone. Almost no one knew I could break dance and my display prompted everyone to go wild on the dance floor.
- Half Life 2 and Doom 3 change my PC gaming experience, forever.

2005

- Paul, one of my wrestling partners, classmate and one of Kapolei High School's most beloved, dies in a car accident on his way to work. I'm devastated when Mika's mom tells me as I come into work that day. I help his family create the pamphlets to be passed out at the funeral, I have never cried as much and felt as sad since my last friend died.
- Created the year's Department of Education's School Assessment booklet. Learned how to do all nighters, how to work in a professional environment, got to see how the DOE works and it was my first experience taking on a leadership role for something huge.

- Smash Brothers Tournament with Nick at the Blaisdale which was hosted by The Zone. We won and with it I promptly paid for the Limo, Photos and Tux with the prize money for Senior prom.

- Become friends with Leighton our future boss at the Waterpark and Teo because they become regulars at Livewire. We know him as the HWAP guy who always plays Gunbound, but soon after we learn the ways of the fighting game from them. Nick plays MvC2 against Leighton, loses, and hates the game forever because of how badly he lost.
- Got 3rd place for Advertising Design in VICA despite screwing up during the competition. It was ~30 minutes until the final designs were due and I forgot that I hadn't saved. Just as I was saving it, the computer froze and I lost all my work, thus prompting me to create everything from scratch. The judges saw what had happened to me and I realized that my failure recovery earned my metal not because of the design.

- Project Grad! Dumb Hardrock Cafe all niter with rainbow doves at the end, but it was nice having fun with everyone.

- Owl hunting with The Boys. We'd all go driving around Barbers Point late at night when Livewire closed and one night we all had an argument about whether or not there were owls in Hawaii. Not 30 seconds after the argument ended, AN OWL SWOOPS IN FRONT OF THE CAR and flies in front of the windshield for a few seconds before flying off. Rick is the only person who didn't see it, and will always be the person who never sees an owl whenever everyone else does. I am convinced that god has waaaaaaaay too much free time on his hands.
- Started working at the Waterpark! Cha, Nick and I are the first of The Boys to start and we eventually become the Kaukau crew. Good times and lots of shenanigans to be had.

- Freshmen year of college! I dorm with David, good times are to be had. Learns how to do laundry, have better study habits and picked up longboarding. The Boys sleep over at the dorms some times and have fun experiencing the college life with me.
- Become friends with Tony, Leighton (another) Dana, Travonte, Torey and a whole mess of other people from classes and dorm life.
- Learned about 4chan. I'm desensitized, demoralized, decolorized and full of lulz. It occupies a large amount of time spent on the internets.
- I get my first phone and people are finally able to get a hold of me.
- Begin going to the gym with the dorm crew and learns that Dana was the leader of Starcraft's US BNet ranking for 2 years straight and was even invited to do tournaments in Korea. Travonte gets Kingdom Hearts 2 when it comes out in Japan and he translates it for us as he plays. My mind is blown by all the cool people and things to do in college.
- Gen, another wrestling partner and classmate dies. He was one of the coolest and shyest guy anyone knew, and the fisherman to end all fisherman. He loved his hobby so much that it became his end, and even though he died young everyone knew that he was the happiest person in the world whenever he was at the beach or in the ocean. I really admired him for living life to the fullest and continue to do my best to living life as he did.

2006

- ANTH252. A class for sophomores but filled with Seniors who major in Anthropology. Apparently, nearly everyone in the major forgets to take the class until the semester they graduate, so the teacher treats the class as a 400 level one. Being the only underclassman there I quickly learn how to deal with an upper division workload, learned a lot of anatomy from the Lab class though, and I still remember how to put together a skeleton and a bunch of skeleton facts.
- We discover about the tumbling room at UH in the athletics department. Learn how to do all kinds of crazy flips, how to run on walls and how to swing from rope to rope. Dana and I convince Cha Cha into learning how to do a backflip with the strict rule of not 'opening up' as hes flipping in mid air. He opens up mid flip, punching me in the throat and knocking Dana aside, falls head first into the tumbling mat, scaring any potential learners away.
- First time drinking. Dorm mates were watching over me but got drunk themselves, ended the night puking in my bed and sleeping in it. I had a final the next day. It was amazingly fun though I steer clear away from alcohol from then on and it becomes the main reason why I only drink at most, 4 times an entire year.

- Logic class rapes my GPA, hard.
- First time going to Kawaii Kon (When it was at Ala Moana Hotel). While I like Anime and Manga, I'm glad that my friends are who they are and not Narutards. ._. I can never see myself going crazy overboard like some of the people I meet there.
- Work Project grads that happen at the Waterpark. One crazy schedule was something like 8AM-2PM, sleeping in the office until 6PM, work from then until 5AM with half hour naps in between. Sleep, come in at 9AM that same day, work until 2PM, sleep, 6PM-6AM again D:
-What is Hawaii Video! Inspired by the dude who traveled around the world dancing, we made our own video showcasing Hawaii.
- Working the Wedding receptions at the park, making fat tip.
- Went to Cali to meet girlfriend's dad and family. First time eating Mexican food, subsequently, Chili Relleno becomes my favorite mexican dish ever. I stay with her family for two weeks, and then go to...
- OC2 with The Boys! A Smash Brothers tournament in Cali hosted by then best in the world, Ken. The Boys have an adventure like no other, meeting players from around the world representing Hawaii while playing the best. We got to meet KillaOR (Was on MTV's TrueLife) the best from Europe and Japan and had a blast playing with like minded people. Camping in the backyard, night time shenanigans and IHOP fun though druggies end up stealing stuff from us while we were away from our host house, like Elson's Labtop and camera and my UH hoodie. As soon as we get back the lot of us retire from the tournament scene, but we all have shit awesome stories. The crew paid for their trip by fundraising. Seriously, we fundraised by selling chocolates, and now I am shitting you not.

- Bought my wacom tablet, major ownage begins as I get into the digital medium.

- Clearing AQ and Naxx in WoW. After almost failing a semester I formally quit WoW soon after BC comes out. Lots of fun online and I never regret all the time I put into it, but when life came a knocking I had to reorganize my priorities.
- Daniel, one of my best friends since Elementary, gets into a horrific car accident nearby. I'm stunned, utterly depressed and literally break down. Back when we were kids the both of us would learn how to do flips, played video games all day, and were pretty much peas in a pod throughout Elementary, Middle and High school. Sure we drifted apart after high school but I consider him as much a brother as my own. I visited him once in the Hospital and couldn't handle it. He was in critical condition but I'm unbelievably thankful that hes alive.
- Begin to take 18 credits per semester. This semester I had three art studios, two art histories and PSY100.
- I join Facebook...yeah
- I finally begin my formal education of the arts and illustration
- I go to Maui with Leighton (my dorm neighbor) for a 3 day adventure. Unbeknownst to me, on the 2nd day the earthquake that shook Hawaii happened. I woke up with to stuff falling on me and spent the day kicking it old school hawaiian with his family.
- I barely pass ART176 with a C- and it bites me in the ass for the next three years.

2007

- ACM255, one of my favorite classes ever. I meet my later to be ACM friends here and begin to have an interest in the major.
- Girlfriend begs me to take two kittens from her neighbor. Trace and Tomiko are introduced into the household, they surprising get along with my dog and she protects them as if they were her own like a mom.

- Ended my dorming days and got my own car! Got my permit, license and car within a 2 month span...at 20 years old. Car insurance rapes my bank account. Hard.
- Livewire closes. Scores of gamers and friends lose a home. Without a stomping ground the Kapolei gamer community breaks apart until...
- Garagefest at my house begins. At one point I had 5 TVs set up around the garage and a grill running to feed upwards of 20+ people who show up from around the island to play Smash Brothers and other games.

- Girlfriend of 4 years breaks up with me. We separate on good terms, as her reasons were understandable. I'm heartbroken for months but we've been able stay friends ever since. I'm thankful that her family still sees me as a family friend, regardless if I'm with her or not.
- Nikky in my photo class saves my ass. With 30 minutes before class starts she cuts out the frames for my photos that I had just printed. She pretty much saved my life and my school semester, and I've never been as thankful for anyone for a selfless in my entire life. If I could, I would go back and redo the semester differently because of her.
- Begin working out at UH's gym, as I finally got sick of being a lanky twig (5'11" 130lbs). First goal, 150lbs which I make by the end of the year. Glen, Nick and Nico and help me out with exercises and nutritional advice.
- Working the Bobfest at the waterpark. Weed, fucking, everywhere. I got to be the runner for the bartenders when they run out of liquor, during one trip I get jumped by a bunch of people who try to grab the bottles from my bag but luckily I was carrying around empty bottles from the bar. FAT TIP
- Working Lovefest at the waterpark. Sex, fucking, everywhere. Orgies happening around the park, a lady wearing only stilettos and a belt, a VIP room with shit going down, dozens of people ending up dehydrated, got to meet one of the members of Daft Punk, and I worked as bar back for main bar. ULTRA FAT TIP
- Next day I come into work and kids (Scouts? Clubs?) are cleaning up the mess from the festival. Dozens of used condoms are found, which prompts me to remember the kids walking around the park with trash bags. I thought "Holy shit, that is fucked up"
- I start working at the High school as a PPT for Mr. Madela teaching Final cut, Photoshop, Soundtrack pro and lots of other editing programs for film and the digital medium. I pass on everything I learned from my film class into my students like making storyboards, shots, rules of thumbs and all that good stuff. I learn to love teaching, but more importantly I love being a catalyst for my students dreams and ambition. I tell every single one of them that dreams come true and that nothing is impossible when you have the drive to chase after it. This makes me feel like Tommy, my old mentor who had my same position years before, and I do my best to inspire others as much as he inspired me the years before. Also, the fuck awesome pay was fuck awesome even if I had limited hours.
- Lifedrawing with Professor Fong, Intermediate Drawing with Mrs. Kawabata, Human Anatomy with Mrs. Whaite. Learned so much from these three classes its not even funny. Without these classes I wouldn't be where I am now, and without these teachers i wouldn't have learned anywhere as much from anyone else.
- The Boys find out of Kazoku Sushi at Kapolei. We become regulars and good friends with one of the sushi masters there, scoring more food and good times to be had.

- I find out that one of my friends since elementary, Lopo, is in Finland currently married to a model. He was the biggest otaku I ever knew and he just flew up to meet her. They met on Pantasy Star Online, I REMEMBER PLAYING ONLINE WITH HER
- Interns from Japan start working at the waterpark. 23 year old Yuzuki is devastated when she finds out that the guy she likes already has a girlfriend...and that hes 17. I start a relationship with one of the interns after Kalakaua fest in Waikiki. I learn a shitload of Japanese, especially Kansai-ben and to her surprise I'm 4 years younger than her.

- She teaches me about One Piece, and my head explodes. Begin CRAZY MODE obsession with Manga.
- I become a labby for Professor Rodeck, head of my art focus. I have a second home base in the ART building, and find myself sleeping over whenever I have projects due.
- Had to work Thanksgiving at the park. 1AM until 4PM. Shit is bananas as I spent 4 of those hours cooking stuffing, and another 2 making mash potatoes.
- Special ACM meeting by Chris Lee inviting students to see what ACM is all about. He pulls out 6 binders full of work and concept art from Superman Returns, information about movies hes worked on, and of course what ACM is all about. My first meeting with Linda Dorn (Futurerama, Calarts faculty, Disney concept artist), my next mentor and the catalyst of my own ambition and dreams
- Girlfriend goes back to Japan, we continue with a long distance relationship with emails full of broken English, broken Japanese but heartfelt messages.
- UH football team owns. Most spirited I've ever been and watched all football games that year.

2008

- Cloverfield BLOWS MY MIND and becomes my favorite movie of all time. I love the movie so much that I re-recorded the movie onto a DV tape so that I could watch the movie on a handheld camera. It wasn't a movie for a lot of people, but trust me when I say, that movie was made just for me.
- Mudbutt hiking. The crew goes out hiking the Aiea Hike trail, our first hike together, and make lots of bad decisions. Half of us show up in jeans, skate shoes, no water and no idea what the hike is going to be like. We dick around for 1 hour, spend the next two in shear agony but despite that we have a lot of fun.
- We become friends with our later to be favorite waitresses at iHOP Aiea, Ann and Rianna. Lots of food to be eaten, more fun to be had, and lots and lots of shenanigans. Nick's quotes, "Could I get this, but instead of salad...could I have bacon?" or, "Hey, this drink is endless...so uh, just bring me the pitcher. It'll save you the trouble of running back and forth filling my cup up, and I don't have to wait for you to run back and forth"

- I sit down and actually watch Dog Whisperer. I apply everything from the show and was able to control and finally taught my dog tricks. Caesar speaks TRUTHS!
- Rodeck goes on sabbatical for a year so other than taking ART309 I take a break from my art focus.
- I start the Animation program and my mind is blown. I fall in love with animation, and I realize exactly what I want to do for the rest of my life thus my goals for character animation and my dream job of working for Pixar. By the end of the semester my future is the clearest it's ever been.
- Visual effects with Kaveh similarly blows my mind but more as being the illuminator for showing me behind scenes of visual effects and how to do it. I learn Maya and 2D animation, ownage overload.

- Japan trip that didn't happen. Nick and Frank went and I was suppose to go but my dad lost his job so my trip money went to help the.
- Dad ends up pulling money out of his bank account and goes to Vegas with his coworkers who also got laid off for a whole week. Of course, I'm pissed and salty for months.
- Girlfriend breaks up a week after birthday after 7 months. She breaks up with me because shes at the age to start looking for someone to marry (24) and I don't blame her. I'm still going through school and I had just figured out my life goals.
- Had the CRAZIEST two weeks of work at the waterpark, ever. Racked up 104 hours (80 regular, 24 OT) and earned over 1k but got taxed $200 afterwards though. Taxation without representation D:
- Start of YMCA smashfeasts on fridays! Video games up the wazzo, and reconnecting with the smash community makes me happy inside.

- Enter complicated love triangle.
- Interns from Taiwan and France start working at the waterpark. Feeling obligated to show them how awesome Hawaii is, me and the crew show them how awesome Hawaii is. We drive around the island to different beaches and show them the sights and sounds. This is also when I learn how to drive around Hawaii, and not just around Kapolei, on H1 or around UH.

- Finally picked up surfing. I had gone a few times before but it wasn't until I brought the interns out surfing with Bill that I finally began surfing. It becomes one of my favorite hobbies, not so much for the adrenaline rush, rather it becomes a de-stresser and I totally meditate out on top of the waves. Clare and Marc become my surfing bros!
- I pursue a relationship with one of the Taiwanese interns and learn a lot of silly phrases in Chinese, like "Fuck your mom in the vagina" or "I beat up adults"
- Big Island trip with the interns before they leave, shit is bananas! Videos here
Girlfriend leaves for Taiwan and we begin a shaky long distance relationship.
- Marc is the last intern to leave, we have another awesome party, whooooooooooo. I regret not trying to learn any French from him but he did teach me about all these European Comics that I should look up.
- Begin hardest semester at UH I've ever had. 4 classes, all ACM, 7:30AM until 9PM Monday and Wednesday. I learned how to go into Hikkikomori mode while working on projects. It becomes my 2nd most important school semester as I learn a shitload of stuff.
- I stop working at the waterpark part time, and become on call, and begin to work more at the High school.
- I go to the Middle school and do a presentation about the academy I PPT for, representing Mr. Madela. Similarly to what he did when I was in middle school, I do my best to educate and inspire the kids there, hoping to leave the same effect I once had.
- I become incredibly depressed because I barely see my friends and family and miss out on a lot of memories. This is the first time that I've ever been depressed that hasn't been about someone dying so it was difficult to cope with. For a while I didn't even know what I was depressed about.
- First animated film.. 500 drawings full of blood sweat and tears thats only 40 seconds. My mind breaks and animation finally connects.
- Last Garagefest of the year, which also happened on the same day as the Island wide blackout. With Glen's Truck we have electricity to continue playing video games and eat BBQ under candle light. Craziest game of truth or dare, ever. "Hey Arrow, who's your favorite porn star?" "Uhhhh I don't know" "Hentai counts bro" and Bobby's hammis covered ear licked by Eugene.
- Girlfriend breaks up with me on New Years. Was completely blindsided because I had finally gotten out of my depression and was thrown another curve ball.

2009

- Decide that it's about time I should fulfill my language requirements to graduate. After nearly 4 years of disuse I begin immersion learning. I change everything into Japanese, begin to read mangas RAW, watch dramas and anime without subs and download a shitload of programs to help me catch up. I begin studying for my placement test, which produces less than expected results ._.
- Begin working on individual semester long animated films, at this point I rarely see anyone outside of class during the semester and I flake out to a lot of parties and get togethers. Shit is rotten bananas.
- Watchmen comes out and instantly becomes one of my favorite movies of all time. I read and loved the comic years ago and I was surprised at how much the film honored the source material. It was the Watchmen film I've always wanted to see, but never expected to get.
- Hit my goal of 170lbs from working out in the gym. I'm content and I stick to this weight as I don't want to get any bigger least I turn into one of the crazy thick alpha males you run into at the gym.
- Applied for the Pixar internship with two other classmates. Formally rejected but not giving up.
- Finally catch up with friends, only to find out that group had broken apart and become segregated. I'm absolutely clueless as to why it happened and I blame myself for the rift between friends. I no longer have the time to dedicate myself to anything other than school, and my core group of friends break apart. Its my opinion that working at the waterpark, which was super cool as we all worked with each other when we first started out, ultimately caused friendships to deteriorate. I propose that everyone leave the park and get new, better jobs.
- Last Garagefest of the decade. 3 birthdays at once, Tom, Terrence and I with gamers from around the island party like its 1999.
- Began learning how to play guitar from the rest of the guys. I specifically learn how to play one song so that by some insane chance, I could play it to the girl I liked.
- Attempted to pursue a relationship with a classmate, totally mess up the first date and she subsequently rejects me at the end of the semester.
- Interns from Brazil at the waterpark! Latisha and Maria are super cool but at that point I decide to stay as far away from interns as much as possible least I repeat the last two years again.
- Went to graduation and see a lot of friends and people I knew since freshmen year walking out with their diplomas. Urgency to graduate finally sets in as I feel like I've been floundering around in school until that point.
- Trace disappears, I fear hes been run over D:
- Picked up rock climbing with the Williams. I have an absolute blast hanging 100ft off a cliff face with Caitlin and consider buying my own gear to have more adventures over the year.
- Interns from Japan again, Sono and Yoshi! I don't see them as much as the rest of the guys but I learn so much Japanese and culture from them that it isn't even funny.

-Skydiving with Tracy! I have an absolute ballah time falling and encourage EVERYONE to try skydiving at least once in their life.

- Mom ends up in the emergency room before school starts. She works two jobs but with this shes now out of work for 4 months. All the money I had saved up for a December trip to Japan and a possible trip to Paris the following year is used to support my family.
- FURLOW'D. My hours at the high school drop to less than 5 hours a week, hardly enough to pay for school or rent, or bills.
- Because of my workload for school, I can't spare time to work at the waterpark. Our family is living paycheck to paycheck just to get by until my mom starts work again. Begin semester full of hardships
- Caught a fly with my chopsticks. Pretty much the coolest thing I've ever done in my entire life thus far.

- Begin license plate hobby. It started when I found a car with a license plate that said HAWAII. Mind was blown, and began taking pictures of silly or cool plates ever since.
- Become Director for the class film in ACM 420 after a shit load of drama. Spend the rest of the semester doing what felt like damage control and begin semester long depression.
- Begin formal education of Japanese and final art history class about contemporary Japanese art which becomes the only two class where I enjoy being in school.
- Rejected a girl in one of my classes. The reason wasn't because she wasn't pretty or didn't have an attractive personality, but because I didn't have the time or resources I felt comfortable enough to invest into a worthwhile relationship. I knew it would have been a shitty deal for her and I didn't want her to go through it.
- Class film is due, and is unfinished. It was an amazing learning experience and the most challenging project to date, unfortunately, because the film wasn't done I'm given an incomplete for the class.
-End of the decade, beginning of a new adventure.