YEAR OF THE DRAGON! RAWR!

It’s been a terrible start, i’ll get into this in another post later. I’m also running low on vicodin. :(

<3Kaje

01.19.2012

07:00AM This is my usual time of waking up. However, I didn’t have to be at work at 8AM today. Instead, I was getting my wisdom teeth pulled at 9AM.

09:00AM The dentists are prepping getting things ready

??:??AM We get started. The surgeon and I chit chat a bit. He went to dental school AND med school at UCSF and specialized in plastic surgery in the face and neck areas; and wisdom teeth. Did his undergrad at UCLA for biochem. Cool.

He starts by giving me local anesthesia. The needles look like they were from the 80’s or earlier, and these needles hurt. I got four shots on each side - and I was fighting. These REALLY REALLY HURT. Super uncomfortable. Right before he started, I think I was anticipating the pain, so I kept my eyes closed. He finished my bottom right tooth without problem. As he started working on my top right tooth, I could feel pain, more specifically, him cutting into me. I stopped him and he numbed me some more before continuing. He finishes that one and moves on to my bottom left tooth, which again, had no problems. The top left tooth, the anesthetics wore off again, so he shot me up.

Once it was all over, they stuck gauze in my mouth and put me in a resting room. I paid and left after about 30 minutes, and headed to work. I get some work done, but the anesthetics were wearing off. I couldn’t stand it any more and went nearby to fill my prescription. While waiting for my prescription to get filled, I was in a crap ton of pain, and I started crying. I had back up vicodin, so while waiting, I took one. I became more bearable; I grabbed my meds and left for home.

At home, I tried to rest up. I got an hour or two of sleep before more of the anesthetics wore off and I couldn’t find any comfortable position to sleep in. I took some more of my back up vicodin, but it didn’t really work.

This whole time, I had an extremely hard time swallowing or feeling my cheeks. I was bleeding a lot too and my mouth just kept filling up with blood.

I knew I couldn’t take anymore pain meds without eating something cuz I already felt like throwing up for swallowing so much blood.

Water made me feel a lot better, and I was then able to drink some soup.

I still feel somewhat miserable and I’m still swollen like no other. I’m so glad, I’ll never have another wisdom teeth pulled out. This may have been my worst experience in my whole life.

<3Kaje

Screen shots of websites as of 10:08PM PST (CUPERTINO, CA);

<3Kaje

to the new year.

<3KAje

The next time you pick up your iPhone, or any other material good, just think about the blood and sweat that came from it. 

I personally know some people who are addicted to their personal electronics. This is the American way: to be materially addicted AND to be ignorant of the origin of product - especially when it’s been outsourced to lower labor costs.

I can’t help but to recognize, I’m probably guilty of owning a laptop, and for using a computer at work, and owning 2 expensive cameras. However, I will not in the near future, switch to any Apple products. I do understand that, it’s not just Apple products that are subject to these building conditions, but from today forward, I want to be a better consumer. I will do my best to research the origins of the products being made, and make smarter choices.

There’s the argument that, without these sweatshops many of these people and family’s would not be able to get money otherwise. I am opposed to these working conditions. 

I don’t expect you to agree with me. I just hope you have these people in the back of your mind the next time you purchase an electronics product (including but not limited to Apple products).

<3Kaje

I’m not great at articulating the things I want to say, but I hope this time the message comes out clear. Often times we really do take our lives for granted and we imagine that those terrible things that happen on TV, only happen on TV. It’s not until you’re affected that you start taking action and really evaluating your life. Nobody said it was going to be easy, but nobody said it would be this hard.

I have a friend named Jack Chin. I met him back in high school (Monta Vista) in speech and debate. Jack did a dramatic interpretation of a soldier story, and he did it really well. In the next chapter of his life, he went on to fking West Point, which is ridiculously bad ass, then later continued his education at UCLA.

Last summer, Jack was experiencing some leg pains and went to the hospital. he was diagnosed with Acute Leukemia Syndrome. He has undergone a few rounds of chemo with no success. His remaining option: bone marrow transplant.

This next paragraph comes from my good friend Thomas, who is also a good friend of both me and Jack. Thomas is helping to spread the word and he writes:

“the chances of him finding a match are almost zero. Even his genetic twin brother, who has already donated during other phases of his treatment, is not a match. In the words of his brother Jim: “Jack needs a bone marrow transplant. If going by total strangers in the registry, the average statistic for a match is 1 in 20,000; so the equivalent of Luke Skywalker blowing up the muthafuggin Death Star. Fortunately, he is a boss. Unfortunately, he needs some upgraded proton torpedoes, and by proton torpedoes, I mean bone marrow.” Despite our optimism, he and everyone around him knows the truth: if we cannot find a match soon, he will die. His family and friends are currently mobilizing every resource they have to find a donor, including Reddit, the TC registry, and crowd-sourcing on Facebook. His family is some of the best people I know, and writing this email on their behalf is the least I can do for them.”

I don’t know what it’s like to lose a friend like this, and I’m not ready to find out what it’s like. I’m asking you, my fellow readers for help. Here’s what you can do:

1) Take five minutes and apply to be a donor at the National Marrow Donor Registry (link below). Read the FAQs, answer a short questionnaire, fill some some registry forms, and that’s it. If you agree to be a donor, they will send you a cheek swab kit to obtain a sample of your cells. Alternatively, since we are waging a losing battle against time, you can find a local bone marrow drive to register immediately. I will even find one for you if you ask. Afterwards, if you are a match for someone in need, you will be contacted by a medical professional. As for Jack, he will have a greater chance of matching someone with Asian descent, so I encourage all those in the category to apply.

http://marrow.org/Home.aspx

2) Spread the word about Jack and others like him. Help me save a life, even if you are not a matching donor.

If you have any questions, shoot me a message on facebook. If I cannot help answer any questions, I will forward it to Thomas or Jim (Jim is Jack’s twin brother). You can find my facebook at www.facebook.com/KajeYomama .

Thanks,
<3Kaje

Got Questions? ask me on tumblr.

Photos from google search.

Holy fck. what a game.

<3Kaje

In his bid as a presidential candidate, Mitt Romney has revealed that he believes income inequality is pretty much just envy. He believes that the poor and the middle class are envious of the rich, and supports the income inequality. Why? Because this income inequality show that we are a nation that is merit-based and not entitlement-based. 

I’m conflicted. I believe many of the rich have worked to get where they are, and we’re in fking America. However, we as a society all abide by a standard set of rules, and the rich are getting away with buying out new rules, and disregarding rules (and not getting penalized for them). The income inequality isn’t strictly because of envy, it’s because of the unfair playing field. People in America are here for opportunity, but the rich are severely limiting those opportunities by not playing by the rules. 

I absolutely agree, that we should be a merit-based nation, there needs to be a sense of being a collective nation at the same time. There’ll always be people complaining, but I will complain a lot less when we are all equal and all playing by the same rules. If the rich want to set the rules, they should play by them too. There needs to be a sense of a governing board that acts as a neutral/fair referee, and with all the lobbyists in the government’s pockets, we’re far from a unified nation. The poor complain the inequality is unfair, the rich know the inequality is unfair, and in choosing a person that is part of the system, we can never change.

Romney’s views are extremely skewed - because he himself is rich. Sounds to me, he doesn’t connect with the working class. He doesn’t understand where we sit, he forgot what it’s like to make a living. This is what happens when a rich corporate businessman wants to play politics. In the context of the words he says, it’s clear he’s extremely corrupt and does not represent the views of the American people. Republican’s on the East coast are voting for him, because they’re not hearing him. Oh, what it’s like to be naive. 

<3Kaje

Source: http://money.cnn.com/2012/01/12/news/economy/romney_envy/index.htm?source=cnn_bin

A nurse lists the top 5 regrets she hears from people who will die:

1. I wish I’d had the courage to live a life true to myself, not the life others expected of me.

2. I wish I didn’t work so hard.

3. I wish I’d had the courage to express my feelings.

4. I wish I had stayed in touch with my friends.

5. I wish that I had let myself be happier.

—————————

So from me (kaje) to you: Look at the list above, and look at your life. Will you have any regrets if you didn’t make it another day?

<3Kaje

I’ve recently been surrounded with some sadness. I’d like to share them with you to kind of get the heaviness off my chest.

1. I couldn’t find my wallet. This is probably the least sad of everything, but driving around without a drivers license, no cash, no credit, no ID; nothing. It makes life kind of difficult. It was more frustrating that I couldn’t find it, despite the limited number of places it could have been.

2. The Life and Death of Private Danny Chen. It’s unreal to me that as much admiration I have for the soldiers that fight for my freedoms, will also degrade the very humans that fight along side them. This is completely unacceptable and it’s so disheartening to see that we’re going backwards.

3. Vucko - Kids placed a fire cracker in this german shepard pup’s mouth and taped it shut. If that line doesn’t already make your heart sink… sigh. It makes me so frikkin sad.

I apologize for bringing down the mood, but hopefully there’ll be better days in humanity. I guess we’re still a long way.

</3Kaje