Art profile picture

Art

Service above self...

About Me

I moved to the state about a year ago, so I'm still getting to know the area. I definitely miss Los Angeles and the ocean, but I've got good friends here. I'm down to earth, witty and intelligent. I'm an honest guy — I say what I mean, and I mean what I say. I love listening to and playing music - I've been getting into the more indie singer/songwriters like Rachael Yamagata, Joshua Radin, and Ani DiFranco. I can also jam some Dave Matthews Band and Cold Play on the guitar myself. I exercise regularly — I try to swim at least three times a week, but it usually ends up being 5 times a week. And yes, I fall into the Asian stereotype of being a martial artist (unfortunately though, I am not a ninja). I'm adept with computers (geek alert!) and I daub a little in graphic and web design. Back home, I volunteered with the YMCA weekly and the Union Station Foundation seasonally, although I'm still looking for a place to volunteer at here in Dallas. I kind of have this crazy idea in my head that I can help make this world a better place, even if it's just one person at a time. I just recently got into salsa dancing and I love it!
Links
Hotel Cafe Tour 2006 - Dallas, TX
My music (me on guitar and vocals)
KCRW - Eclectic Music, World News and NPR livestreaming from Santa Monica, CA
Digg - Techie news & interesting articles

My Interests

Jujitsu, salsa dancing, playing the guitar and violin, seeing live music, museums and art, reading (sci-fi, fiction, non-fiction, historical), hiking/outdoors, swimming, photography, poetry, sushi!, philosophy, history, and making people laugh.

I'd like to meet:

You. (yes you!)

Music:


Dave Matthews Band

Rachael Yamagata

Jack Johnson

Jem

Rilo Kiley

KT Tunstall

Muddy Waters

Stevie Ray Vaughan

Al Green, Deathcab for Cutie, Third Eye Blind, Queen, U2, Pearl Jam, The Beatles, Creedence Clearwater Revival, Sarah McLachlan, Jewel, Zero 7, Imogen Heap / Frou Frou, Eric Clapton, The Shins, Ani DiFranco, John Mayer, Mozart, Vivaldi, Beethoven, Bach, Delerium, Live, Cary Brothers, The Push Stars, Prodigy, The Extremes, Bob Marley, Matisyahu, Marvin Gaye, Lifehouse, Lightning Hopkins, John Lee Hooker, Junior Walker and the All Stars, The Temptations, The Beach Boys, System of a Down, Nine Inch Nails, The Killers, Radiohead, Red Hot Chili Peppers, The Police, Lisa Loeb, Nirvana, and great many more. My taste in music is kind of eclectic - I enjoy all music including the blues, rock, alternative, world music, jazz, and some beat music.

Movies:


Serenity

Office Space, Monty Python and the Holy Grail, Army of Darkness, Lord of the Rings, The Harry Potter series, KPAX, Love Actually, The Princess Bride, all of the Star Treks (KHAAAAAAAAAAAN), Band of Brothers, Saving Private Ryan, Amadeus, Forrest Gump, Indiana Jones, Memento, Howl's Moving Castle, Super Troopers (meow!), Pi, The Shawshank Redemption, Dead Poets Society, Heaven and Earth, Matrix, Stargate, Evil Dead 1 & 2, Austin Powers, The Red Violin, Pirates of the Caribbean, The 40 Year Old Virgin, Dogma, Shakespeare in Love, The Last Samurai, Robin Hood Men in Tights, Spaceballs, History of the World Part I, and a great many more I am too lazy to list.

Television:


Firefly

I don't really watch TV too much, but when I do catch them, I enjoy Heroes, Battlestar Galactica, The Colbert Report, and the Daily Show. Also, classic favorites are Star Trek: TNG and Quantum Leap (remember that one?). Oh yeah, also Good Eats with Alton Brown (yum!).

Books:

Lord of the Rings, The Hobbit, The Harry Potter series, A Wizard of Earthsea and the Earthsea Cycle series, Reading Lolita in Tehran, Terror and Liberalism, When Heaven and Earth Changed Places, Children of Cain.

Heroes:

Dr. Drew Pinsky of Loveline. He's out there helping people while breaking through the generation gap. He's insightful, filled with medical knowledge, and he genuinely cares.

My Blog

Peskatarian

So in the past few months, I've been hanging out with some friends who are vegetarian, but they eat fish/seafood. I've been looking to cut down on meat myself, so I've migrated to being a "peskatarian...
Posted by Art on Sun, 27 May 2007 01:32:00 PST

Taste of Addison

This is an event where all the restaurants in the Addison area come together and you get to sample their food... at a price, of course.I had some pretty nice and authentic Thai food from the Thai Orch...
Posted by Art on Tue, 15 May 2007 04:11:00 PST

Doctor Bills

Okay, so I received this doctor bill from way back in 1st or 2nd quarter of last year. This doctor comes to see me when I was hospitalized, asks me how I am, shoots the breeze with my doctor, and then...
Posted by Art on Tue, 13 Feb 2007 11:40:00 PST

The One (revised)

Okay, so this is a revision of my previous blog. I reread it and damn I sounded like a cynic when I was trying to be encouraging. So here it is:Mathematically speaking, finding the single individual y...
Posted by Art on Wed, 31 Jan 2007 10:12:00 PST

The One

So I've been pondering this idea of "the one" for a while now and have come to a few conclusions.Personally, I'm not sure if there is only a single person out there for each of us. I mean, if there wa...
Posted by Art on Thu, 07 Dec 2006 12:45:00 PST

A Paradox in Buddhism

I have begun reading about Buddhism recently, and I have come to ponder the ideas and beliefs behind the religion. In my contemplation I have come to an interesting paradox, which I'm sure many in my ...
Posted by Art on Fri, 08 Sep 2006 11:15:00 PST

Mountains and Oceans

So this labor day weekend I went to California to attend an annual jujitsu convention. What I didn't foresee happening was how much being back in the Golden State would really affect me. I have been l...
Posted by Art on Wed, 06 Sep 2006 09:54:00 PST

NEVER go to Firestone for your car

So I took my car to Firestone in McKinney on Eldorado Pkwy on Monday to get my oil changed and my air-conditioning fixed. They couldn't get the air-conditioning fixed before I went to work, but they c...
Posted by Art on Fri, 21 Jul 2006 04:07:00 PST

Beware of the Triangle (no, not the Bermuda one)

Karpman's Drama Triangle is a model for social dysfunction. It is an analysis of the roles that people take on in a dysfunctional relationship. The model consists of three roles: persecutor, rescuer, ...
Posted by Art on Tue, 27 Jun 2006 12:52:00 PST

It's fun to stay at the Y-M-C-A!

So in an effort to get off my lazy ass, I have joined the YMCA. Until my ankle gets better, swimming is the only real cardiovascular exercise that I can do. The YMCA that I joined is AWESOME. It has a...
Posted by Art on Tue, 06 Jun 2006 04:54:00 PST