How is everybody? I hope that you all are doing very well and kicking things off right this new year! ^O^

Yesterday was such a lazy day. I had so much to do and ended up doing nothing at all. My laundry is still dirty and I still need to visit the school to inquire some info about financial aid. Though I was pretty dead during the daytime, things started to become lively during the night. Matt and I decided to treat our friend Devo, who turned 21 yesterday, to a small birthday surprise. Nothing too big, just cake, snacks, and a great time together with the rest of our friends. Happy 21st Devo! :)

 

Thomas: Take a picture of my shadow.

Ruiz: It’s too dark, I can’t see anything.

Thomas: Use the flash.

Ruiz: …

Lol, happy birthday Thomas.

Currently Listening To: 2PM – Gimmie the Light

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I’ll be honest. On the morning of November 8, 2009, I woke up early and went straight to work, forgetting that it was the day of my friend Jasmin’s birthday. I was reminded only by a text sent by another friend. The plan was to have scavenger hunt for her. Give her a list of clues and have her go all around Copperas Cove/Killeen/Harker Heights in search of her presents. Sounded simple at first, but properly executing it was tough. The military was delaying some people from getting started at the scheduled time. By the time they were released the sun had already set and it was getting dark. Jasmin was stressed, upset, and ready to go home. She took us to her home and just as she was about to call it a night, we presented her with her list. (Which was finely typed and crafted by me of course.) I tried to take as many pictures as possible but with many of the places being dark or indoors, it was be difficult to get a good shot. I regret not having my camera ready when Jasmin was presented with her birthday cake at the end. It was a really great cake and one of the highlights of the night. The night ended perfectly and was without a doubt one of her best birthdays. Happy B-Day Double-Jay! :)

 

While a good amount (or not enough) of time was spent studying, other than work, most of the weekend was spent making final preparations for my friend Raymond’s birthday gift. I, along with nine other people, worked on creating a custom modified arcade joystick controller for Raymond’s birthday on Sunday, September 13, 2009. For the past two months we ordered parts and poured our hearts into the creation of this monster. After the stick was finished, we had everybody who contributed to the project sign the bottom of the stick so that Raymond would know exactly who was part of this. What we ended up with was a MadCatz SFIV SE Fightstick with a custom paint job, custom template design, red/white swapped Sanwa buttons, Sanwa joystick, and a bottom cover plate dressed with signatures unique to Raymond. Though the stick was finished weeks prior, most of the signatures weren’t collected until the very last minute. We were all rushing to get signatures but managed to get them all in time. Raymond wasn’t having too much of an exciting day on his birthday. We invited him to play some Street Fighter with us to try to get his mind off things. When his turn came to play we told him that he wasn’t allowed to play with any of our controllers. He was utterly confused, but we immediately remedied the situation by finally presenting him with his gift.

A story like this HAD to be documented. We want EVERYBODY to know what we did. We filmed the making and presentation of this gift, which you can catch on my YouTube channel. Also, here’s a couple of photos from the weekend and the video for the making of the arcade joystick. All-in-all, I had a great weekend. I’m ready to call it a night and prepare myself for school tomorrow.

 

YouTube video is now LIVE! You can view it here:

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Currently Listening To: 이효리 (Lee Hyori) -- 2 Faces

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