• Hair - It was super long winter of 07, i have since kept it short-to medium. but closer to my old hairstyle
• Body - My gosh did I balloon up to a hefty fellow in 2007.. but stress and starting work has helped me shave those pounds off. Interestingly enough, I have recently discovered that the 'gut' i would always have in the spring/summer was due to constipation from the Allegra I would take for my allergies. A battle that I am currently fighting now. haha.. I can't wait to show this to whoever my wife is in 2 years. hello!
• I am currently a nurse.. working and going home fulfilled with the sense of accomplishing something awesome every single day.
• House - I am currently living one lock to the right of the block that I used to live in... the block of the house that burnt down. Weird.. i never thought I'd be back in this area again but we have now been here for 2 years.
• Friends - I would much rather have a smaller group of friends that I can really trust and enjoy than to have to maintain a slew of them with superficial banter. Oddly enough, that small group of people I really trust and enjoy has grown a little bit. Am i finally not being shady (overall)? probably not.
• Futurama's ownership of the title "Ace's favorite show" was once shared with Entourage, it is now shared with How I Met Your Mother
• Car - I learned to drive in a 1996 Blue Chevy Astrovan in 2000. Since then, I've had a 1986 red Civic sedan (Nitro), a black 2001 Civic coupe (Delilah), In 2003 i was driving around a purple vw Jetta sedan (Voltron) ... which I almost died in btw when on my way to a party on july 4th, the back right wheel popped right off of the car. In late 2004, I had a 2005 White Civic coupe (Phoenix Ice). I returned it June 2008, then started to drive a 2008 dark gray Civic Sedan (no name only because it was supposed to be Kathleen's car) until late august when I got my black bmw 328xi sedan (TBB . The Black Buday..or BB). what a history. i miss my civics. so that was an interesting change in 2008
• That 'angry' girlfriend I talked about in my last blog is now my 'different' ex-girlfriend. Different only because I have no idea who she is or what she's about now. We ended July 2008 (at least that's when I gave up trying to get her back). The last time I saw her was during a total "Forgetting Sarah Marshall" moment in Las Vegas this past Thanksgiving where after doing my best to avoid her here in nj, the first night in the first club my friend and I go to in Vegas, I see her smooching it up with the guy I suspected made it easier for her to leave me. (whoa..a little too heavy there). Yeah, ruined my first night there.. but that was the moment I was healed from the heartbroken state i was in at the time. Still, props to her for all she meant to me before. (wow.. i dont like this section. but in order to be a good historian, I guess I needed to document this)
• I D and S way too much now.. need to cut down.
  
• Finally made the switch to a Next-Gen system. I left my PS roots and headed for the Xbox360. and then last Christmas bought a Wii (which is collecting dust as I knew it would). Maybe next quarter, I'll get a PS3
• I also finally was able to purchase and read Shawn Michael's autobiography "Heartbreak and Triumph"
• I have left the treo world and acquainted myself with the phenomenon known as a Blackberry. I got the storm, touch screen but still getting used to it.
• I am finally in a band.. and yes, they were even nice enough to agree to playing some of my original songs.
  
• My parents are now Sector Coordinators for CFC Youth.. while I am not part of anything..but we'll see. it is a new year afterall.
• Also after hitting a low point in mid 2007 to early 2008 and being broke as the dickens (which is what I wanted.. to decompress), I now find myself capable of being able to acquire most of the things that I could think of desiring. Unfortunately, that whole broke mentality never left me and I find myself even cheaper than I was before.
• My attitude.. not an extreme change but I'd like to see more not caring about what other people might say about the things that I do... so far, so good. Also have been a little more reckless in dealing with the fairer gender.
  

• House that burnt down still hasn't been rebuilt. (yup. screw you, crooked contractor!)
• I still love God but I show it in a different way than I did before but also miss the relationships forged while in that bond with Him
  
• Sunglasses still fill the empty space over my face that once housed my eyeglasses
• Still leave contacts in my eyes way more than its supposed to be in there (goin on 2 months now .. again)
• Steve Nash still the man, suns.. not so much.
  
• Still love sad movies and shows of any kind (Hana Yori Dango series 1&2 and movie, My Girl Korean Drama series... have somehow purchased all of Hugh Grant's romantic comedies)
• I still love dry, deadpan humor with a touch of silliness.
  
• Durangos forever.. summer winter spring and fall!haha
• Will always love Atlantic City.. even if it means something different to me now.
• Still underachieving like crazy. let's change that by next blog, Ace.
• Still think Georgia, Myrla, and Sally are awesome.. yeap 10 years later, still see them.
  
• Still love music of all kinds.. and try to involve myself in as many creative projects as possible
• Still able to hide my vanity and conceit with humilty and timidness
  

• In these two years, I have been to California (was taken to Disneyland by the Ex), Vegas twice and Hawaii!
• My cousin/brother Rei got married (hence the hawaii trip)
• Working as a nurse with coworkers I love and work I admire
• TJ was here, Ate Ken was here
  
• Finally got my family real Christmas gifts.
• Crossed over into the world of sneakers. current hype sneakers owned: 1 .. haha.
• Have already written three songs for a forthcoming ep
• Got a personalized Suns jersey for my birthday last year from 'the guys'
• Learned that I get more play outside of nj than I do inside of jersey
• Too many oldies, need to find some younger ones

Change is good?

• Hair
• Body Shape/Weight/Gut/what the hell is that mass around my mid-section that are making my jeans so hard to button??/DAMM
• Style
• Occupation (nurse..dam whoduh thunk?)
• House
• Vices .. MmMmm.
• Number of bottles of beer on the wall before I start feeling a little loopy (5.5) .. unless it's my best friend stella artois.. then, 2
  
• Friends
• The alias 'fire has been reduced to "that shock u get from stupid static"
• Futurama's ownership of the title "Ace's favorite show" is now being shared with Entourage (est. 2005)
  
• Retired as cluster head because of the ridiculously crappy feeling of being the 'oldest in the room' ..yikes.. and being way too "busy" to be of any worth (logistically speaking)
• Youngest sister, Kathleen (or Kat as people seem to know her by), is now the main "go-to, sector leader type but NOT of NJ" (taking over for monie)  --> which is probably why i retired .. heck if im gonna be takin orders from her (kat) .. haha .. kidding? shes aight.
  
• oh, and to make matters "better", my parents have taken over as the Cluster Coordinators for my cluster .. they already tell me what I need to do/have to do with every other aspect in my life ..  would I really want to add CFC-Youth to that list? ... answer: Im now retired.
• Finally got that motorcycle i wanted* .. slowly, I am following in the footsteps of my boy, Tom Cruise .. sans that whole Scientology foolishness. Now all I need to do is travel to the past and be a samurai or stake a claim on land in the US or somehow get injured in the vietnam war, travel to the future and be a time cop of some kind (or survive the attack of aliens), cryogenically freeze myself  in order to fix some presently unfixable medical problem all while dreaming of living this exciting life with some girl as hot as penelope cruz, join a secret sex group, travel the country with an idiot savant sibling (well, ive got a couple of idiotic sisters .. at least thats a third covered), join a secret agency that deals with things that are hard to accomplish, be a lawyer(twice), a sports agent, a football player, military cadet, a bartender, run a bordello in my house while my parents are away all whilst dancing around in my favorite sunglasses,a long sleeve button down and boxers.. just boxers.. and socks, somehow get involved with a legendary billiards player who will proceed to show me the ropes, be a motivational speaker who instead will honor the 'vag*na', make a cameo appearance in some british spy comedy, dye my hair gray while touring the city in a taxi, dress up as a vampire, stop the Lord of Darkness from marryin my woman, party in Tijuana, race my matchbox cars around the dinner table, OR i could simply just gel my hair as usual all while wearing a rolled up black shirt and try to rumble with that pesky rival gang.. whew.
  

• Girlfriend/girl who always seems to get 'angry' with me
• House that burnt down still hasn't been rebuilt
• Car (well, it's dirtier .. hmm, maybe i should move this up there)
  
• Height (Dam it, growth spurt.. are you ever going to happen? .. im running out of time here!!)
• My now six year long idolization of Steve Nash ..(i just knew hed be special)
• Progress of molding my bball game after Steve Nash
  
• The fire pose still shows itself once in a while
  
• Still have a PS2 .. eh .. maybe ill get that Next-Gen console when the prices are down by the 200s
• Shawn Michaels is still my favorite wrestler (who cares if i have no idea whats going on with the wwe these days?) .. could also add that I still haven't read his autobiography (which ive been promising myself to read or own)
• Phone - finally got that smartphone I wanted (treo 700w) to do real estate work/transactions (translation: read jokes online)
• Paul McCartney's still my favorite Beatle
  
• Still like Ms. Iya Villania (but at my gf's request, just as a friend )
• Red's still my favorite color
• Still skip important stuff sometimes (which might happen tomorrow .. supposed to be doing a rotation at a Hospice center.. but too glum there)
• my name
  
• ahh dangg it .. there wouldve been more but that whole Tom Cruise thing got me tired.

• Brought Jamie to Disney World
• Sold first house leading to subsequent houses
• FINALLY won in atlantic city (who cares if it was only 167 bucks at Roulette .. all i had was a 20)
• Finally watched SPAMALOT on broadway .. will watch Wicked in a few weeks
• My knight won at Medieval Times
• "A Moment to Remember" has taken "My Sassy Girl"s place as number one ... in my heart.
• Received a Deluxe Masterpiece Lion Voltron (!!!) for Christmas from the honey
• Also received the first 2 volumes of the Voltron DVD collection
• Transformers movie coming in July!
• Actually starred in a low budget action movie where I had to do my own stunts! (Here's a scene where I'm fighting this 6'4" 250lb or more dude: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PCyuAqVLFJ4)
  

hibernation. escape. the life of a hermit.

more and more im finding it difficult to balance the different responsibilities in my life. In response to this, Ive opted to take the path of exile .. seclusion. My weekdays are filled with studying and the nights.... ah, they were once filled with fun and fellowship, living as a 'lost boy' in a Neverland that refused to let me go. But even Peter Pan grew up.. (well at least in "Hook"). Alas, now those nights are spent alone.. at home.. studying.

this probably all came about after being told, frankly, that i was not living the high-stress no more going out, say goodbye to your friends and girlfriend, say HELLO to your books lifestyle that MOST (not all) student nurses are living. For months, I've battled it, refusing to go down.. Yet now, as the end of the semester nears .. my eyes are open and i realize that i am not putting in the amount of effort i truly need in order to succeed.

Friends may or may not accept this... but for now, ill take the bitterness or maybe even resent at my seeming disappearance from Neverland.. knowing that as soon as they begin their own journey into real life, they will finally understand why I had to leave.

goodbye and enjoy your youth while you can ..but.. be willing to let go of it when you must.