Money does not make the world go round.

Two months removed from submitting college applications, I am still reminded every day that life after high school is creeping up and college in the fall is coming upon us. I still talk to friends about their post-grade school aspirations, and I generally hear about talk of getting into a good university, studying to get a good job, and hopefully making a decent living from it all.

My hopes and dreams are pretty much parallel with everything they set out for themselves, its just that in my case I hope for higher-- to actually make a difference in society, finding something in life worth working towards and busting my butt for, and just making an impact on something worthwhile in my lifetime. Pretty lofty for a seventeen year old Vallejo product, on the fringe of being shot off into his college years. But I believe in my worth enough to know that imagination is greater than knowledge, and some things I think up are of some substance, enough to hold some clout in life towards something, whether it be towards humankind being more energy efficient, or towards innovations in footwear that help optimize athlete's potential, or anything else I put my mind to.

The fact that I never thought of continuing my education for monetary purposes, or for much self-gain in confidence or status always makes me ponder for what really drives me to learn, study, and excel in school. I never felt poor in my entire life, but I never felt rich at the same time. Maybe it was because I knew my parents had money, it was just that they never acted as if they did, or they never treated their kids as if they did. I was never spoiled, everything I got I had to earn from my parents, working with my dad in the yard, building additions to houses, working in the summers. And really, I wouldnt have it any other way. I am who I am because of the things I have been through, I am a product of parents who own four properties and ten cars (four unused due to age or faulty engines). I am always told that when I have worked hard enough and when my dad gets old he'll give me his Escalade and 1962 Pontiac Catalina (less than 25k mileage, pristine condition).

With all this said, what in the world would drive me to excel in things I involve myself in?

It is because of the high core values instilled in me by my parents and lasting teachers in my life that motivates me to be the best I can be. My upbringing is everything to me and it shaped me into who I am and what I value. I was always told that with great power comes great responsibility, and I was also told to always strive to be better than your parents. My mom always hung motivating posters and poems in my room, prints and cut outs from magazines on my wall. My father was the one who taught me basically everything about hard work, to finish thoroughly, and to always be fair. And teachers such as Mr. Tillay, the Lawsons, Ms. Duncan, these teachers are also monumental in my development not just as a student but as a person as well.

My outlook on life is not just to go through the regular and find a 9 to 5 and pay the bills, I am looking for change. I am looking for impact. Something I can find purpose in, and that I know my actions are directly making a difference, or building collectively with others' work to make a difference. Money is not my M.O.

Money does not move me. It's extra credit.

Coldplay - Sparks

Did I drive you away?
I know what you'll say
You say, 'Oh, sing one we know'

But I promise you this
I'll always look out for you
That's what I'll do
I say 'oh'I say 'oh'

My heart is yours
It's you that I hold on to
That's what I do
And I know I was wrong
But I won't let you down

(Oh yeah, oh yeah, oh yeah, yeah I will, yes I will)
I say 'oh'
I cry 'oh'

Yeah I saw sparks
Yeah I saw sparks
And I saw sparks
Yeah I saw sparks
Sing it out

La, la, la, la, oh
La, la, la, la, oh
La, la, la, la, oh
La, la, la, la, oh




Happy MLK day, everyone! One thing I admire most about Dr. King is that he used non-violent tactics to fight. As a boy growing up, this concept used to be hard to grasp, just thinking about the plain irony in the statement. Years from that point, I realize the deeper method, not using hate but love as the answer. It's also not enough for me to realize and understand, but to apply his ideals into my own life. That's something everyone in society should take a step back on and reflect on how they could apply this. I also enjoyed how great of an orator Dr. King was, and in some ways when I get a chance to catch a few minutes of an Obama speech, I am reminded of Dr. King because Obama is such a great public speaker as well. It's just something about the two that gives people hope and excitement. Never have I seen kids so engaged and pumped up about politics as kids are now. As well as adults too, you can see that the people look up to our next president as a reason to beleive again. Tomorrow is a big day, and hopefully a day I'll never forget.

Woke up early and I cant go back to sleep

Well its 6:04am, and i woke up a good twenty minutes ago. I always have easy access to the internet, so here I am haha.

I'm just awake thinking about things. Most of the time when I'm up like this I think of my life and how it's going. Tonight I had a dream that portrayed exactly how it's going, and I woke up and felt kind of ehhh. I guess it's okay..

I'll never understand girls, or women in general. I mean, if someone doesn't like you then they don't like you, bottom line. I'm big on free will and usually when people ask me "what should I do?" I mostly come up with saying "it's on you." It's not that I don't care, it's just I'm a person very close with my thoughts and I assume people should get more in touch with themselves.

Even if sometimes I feel like exploding and saying my own opinion when people tell me about their current dilemmas, I restrain myself unless its about drugs or alcohol or some such, that I cannot tolerate. If I feel I am saying my opinion to subconciously better my position with this person, I hold my tongue.

It just sucks knowing that you liked someone alot, and you put your best into that person, and after a long time they started to come around, but things don't happen as you'd wish and it just messes everything up, even though you deny it hasnt, and no matter how many times you guys try to deal with the situation in a civil manner, it doesnt work because when one is happy one isn't and vice versa.

Maybe I fell in too deep. I always told myself never to fall that deep, but that's the only way to really know.

I think it's karma too. Sometimes I go through things now, and it's exactly something I been through except I was in her position now. Over a year ago when my last girlfriend and I would argue about whose fault it is about our split, she would say I dont seem to understand her, she would fault me because I was the one who broke it off...she even told me karma would happen.

and I would tell her sorry and that she shouldn't have fell for me that deep, that she made me break up with her because of her actions, and that I still wanted to be friends because she was the one who told me things about me that I never realized, she points out my flaws and even though I didn't like how she said it sometimes it's something I need to hear. I told her because of that she's important to me, but not because I had any feelings left.

it's just amazing to me how things I said in the past get said to me now, word for word sometimes too. Sometimes I dont wanna hear it.

So for me to try to stay around and see if there's anything left now, it seems pretty pointless. It was like, I knew how this story was going to play out, I just couldn't help myself and went with everything. But then again, it's almost like maybe it's a good thing I know.

I don't want to wait. I don't want to feel guilty for my actions. I go out with friends, I get into new hobbies, focus on school, and spend time with family. That keeps my mind off of her. But on the inside I'm pretty much the same.

Sometimes I feel like even though we say we're cool, we're not and it's just a front on the surface. We're cool to the point of small talk. I feel like we can't be totally cool unless by some miracle I get over her, or by some miracle we end up being together.

I'm not gonna be bitter and complain to her about everything. I'm not going to make her choose or make her think by saying I can't be her friend. I don't want to show her or tell her anything that's gonna stop anything that she does or plans to do, I want her to like people, go out with people, and everything else with other people without feeling that she did anything wrong in her past.

I'll continue this later.
Thank you blogger for listening! =)

Earnest Salgado

New Year, New Goals

Hello world. The past year is done, a new one is upon us. I always believed that each year gets better, and 2008 lived up to that in some parts, but at the same time it was not what I expected. I hope for a better upcoming year, starting off with a few goals of mine:

• Pray to God for growth spurts, grow two inches and get up to 155 pounds. Beasty. Nothing like some good exercise and basketball!
• Strive for A's in every class I'm in this year, including my 2nd semester high school classes, going into 1st semester college classes. I might not get there, but I'm striving...
• Pass the AP Fiziks exam. Ready, set, go.
• Read, a whole lot more. 
• Find more new hobbies. I enjoy movie-watching now, haha
• Road Trip to LA this year
• Spend extended time in the San Francisco Area
• Improve study habits greatly
• Fill up my ipod
• Of course, graduate high school

There's many more, I just probably don't have them in mind right now. But I'll add them as they come to me. 

Happy New Year to all!