or watch it on Vimeo in full resolution.

Don’t get me wrong. I’m not a hater. It’s just that “I need good moral fiber for a spiritual bowel movement.”

But people say the opposite.

You’ve heard it. “Life’s a b****. Then You Die.”

Agree? Disagree?

There are times in life when you just can’t catch a break. Lately, I’ve been in the doldrums where it’s easy to play the victim. Here in this slump, I’ve found it very convenient to judge others, point fingers, and isolate myself for too long of a time. Motivation and inspiration are put on the back burner, and the hot weather this time of year keeps me indoors with the A/C blasting, cocooned in indifference. Needful to say, I’m bogged down by lies and presumptions. It’s all in my head.

If I were a celebrity, I’d g…

::hold::

…SO…

In the midst of my writing about how life may be filled with one depressing thing after another, my brother comes in from the peculiar, 100-degree stormy weather outside and says “There’s a full rainbow outside.” I got up to capture such a rare moment:

I didn’t notice the second rainbow until I uploaded the photo onto my computer.

Polychrome-Dome

I was originally going to show you a video from BBC Earth’s Life series about these Komodo Dragons that bite the ankles of animals. These dragons then follow the animal around for days waiting for the venomous bite to weaken their prey. When the poison kicks in, the prey drops, and the dragons feast. I was also going to write about how celebrity deaths are so tragic, but no one seems to note how the media and we the public bite the ankles of these celebrities so much, they just give up on life. Symbolic in a way, yes.

But after seeing that rainbow today, I was reminded of promises and encouraging words that were spoken to me throughout my life and the priceless support system of my friends and family that back up those promises and encouraging words. That rainbow was exactly what I needed to see in these oddly weathered days of mine: color in the grey; vividness in the dullness.

So while others can look at me and say “Life’s a bi…” (well you know), I can say “Yeah maybe for a bit, but I have a hope that keeps me going.” While there are times I can express that life may seem unfair or merciless, I’m reminded of this quote by the famous Chicago columnist, Sydney J. Harris:

When I hear someone say ‘Life is hard,’ I am always tempted to ask, ‘Compared to what?’

Sydney J. Harris

Maybe you’re still looking for your rainbow, your sign of hope, or you need to be reminded of the good things about your life, and yes, there are such things about your life. My burden is that you realize the hope among us and how it keeps our fibers meshed preventing a total meltdown. What’s great about Life Is… is that life is. Again, you’re still here. This series is ending, and today’s a new start. We can all hope that tomorrow will be better. Be.

::We interrupt this Life Is… series to bring you…FOOD!::

Food entrepreneurs are hitting the streets of LA, redeeming the unappealing term “roach coach.”

That’s right: Los Angeles food trucks are currently the hottest thing around. The diversity of Los Angeles is reflected by the diversity of the types of food trucks out there. There’s a grilled cheese truck, a crepe truck, a weenie wagon, a Kogi truck (Korean BBQ tacos), kabobs, and the variety is endless!

Being a Filipino-American in Los Angeles, I have been craving for a Filipino food truck that hits the spot. Well to much relief and excitement, it emerged four weeks ago.

THE MANILA MACHINE

I’ve been following the Manila Machine on Twitter and finally encountered it this week at Good Samaritan Hospital off of the 110 freeway.

The great news is that both Filipino and non-Filipino customers were already lined up waiting for it to open! IT WAS WORTH THE WAIT!

It’s only been three weeks, and word-of-mouth has been the Manila Machine’s greatest marketing. So here I write:

GO TRY IT!

The menu has the basic Filipino foods done in a creative and contemporary way. For example you can order the famous Chicken Adobo with fried rice and green onion OR you can get it shredded with caramelized onions in a pan de sal roll with adobo dipping sauce! YUM

Enough with the writing… here’s a video of my experience. I hope it gets your taste buds going!

I cannot wait for my next encounter with The Manila Machine. I’m hoping that I can get an informative interview with manager and front-woman Nastassia Johnson to find out more about her passion for food and service. It wouldn’t be a surprise, however, if she’s so busy with an endless line of hungry customers. That’s a good problem right?!

I’m happy for the Manila Machine, and I wish it great success in feeding the L.A. community with unique, delicious food and hospitable customer service. This is a common trait among the Filipino culture. Once you have a taste of the Manila Machine experience, you’ll be speaking Tagalog saying:

MASARAP! (Delicious)!

WEB: www.manilamachine.com

Twitter: @manilamachine

What’s true about my life? “I have a lot.” I have too much. If you’re reading this right now, you have a computer or at least have access to one. You’re pretty rich…err…lucky…err…blessed compared to not only the majority of the world but even to inner-city demographics.

A group of my friends just came back from the streets of Guadalajara, Mexico. While there, they invested personally in impoverished children using skits, puppets, dances, etc. My friends shared in a giving, a loving way, and their eyes were opened to a real world outside of their comfort zones. The consensus of the group was this:

We have a lot. Others have little.

We were designed to give as much as we were designed to receive. I myself have been to Guadalajara and its surrounding cities, and I can agree that we have a lot. Others have nothing. Even when these people have little (and I mean little), they give what they have.

Not Giving: Pay close attention starting at the 1:37 mark and on to the end of the time/progression bar.

When I saw this episode from BBC Earth’s Life about primates, I was hit by the words: “These youngsters, born into the right family, don’t know how lucky they are.”

At first I thought about overpaid celebrities, athletes, and CEOs, and how their children grow up spoiled. Then I thought about people I know who would never walk into a soup kitchen or sacrifice anything for the poor. Then I thought about myself and how I spend way too much on clothes, food, and entertainment.

The truth is: We can all give more.

Giving includes tangibles and intangibles: food, love, clothes, a listening ear, money, invested time, hope, and the list goes on.

We can be appreciative of what we have, while still being able to give, not just leftovers but our best. Am I saying you have to be the next Mother Theresa? Well that would be commendable, but no, you don’t have to be her. Be you, and give in ways you were designed to give. Give how you genuinely like to receive.

You can travel out of your country to realize this, travel to any metropolitan urban city, or just watch the news to see that the life we live should be appreciated and also selfless.

Life is very temperamental. You know: moody, sensitive, unpredictable.

Sometimes we can be enjoying the sweetness of life, stay in the sweetness too long, and then…BOOM! Blindsided by a harsh reality. I’m reminded of addictions that consume purpose and joy.

I’m also reminded of ignorance, a running away from problems never intended to be solved. When people find themselves in a hole they ask “How did this happen?”

The sensitive venus flytrap also reminds me of people who just snap at you for no apparent reason. There are short-fused people with tempers, and on the other side there are people who have been victimized by the actions of tempers; both sides, robbed of joy.

BBC Earth’s series Life can illustrate how quickly the walls can close in on you.

While life is full of traps, it is also full of hope. We may not notice it, but it’s true.

If you’ve been going through an awkward or uncomfortable transition in your life like I have been lately, I have no deep words or formula for you or myself.  All I can say is “have hope” and “keep going.” I understand that each of us are different when it comes to recovering, healing, and barreling through tough times. So do what you have to do.

Lastly, they say that “Time heals,” and “Sorrow may last through the night, but joy comes in the morning.” I believe these words because I’ve experienced them. So I hold on to them.

I hope you’re still holding on too. You’re not alone.

Tomorrow’s a new day.

People always compare the concept of life to a marathon or a race.

I agree.

But when I say that life is “a dash,” there’s a little play on words.

1. You may have heard that on a tombstone, one’s life is summed up in that little “-” between the date of birth and the date of passing (1901-1979).  That little mark doesn’t say much about who we are or what we’ve done in our lives here.
2. Compared to eternity and centuries of life, our own life is like a pin prick on the Great Wall of China. Simply a spec in time.
3. History, purpose, and future: Understanding where you came from tells you where you are, and realizing where you are now will determine where you can go. We are capable of building legacies, good ones and bad ones, all within an average of 70 years. That’s pretty miraculous. It can also be quite tragic. Are you doing what you need to do? Progress.

*ROADS*

BBC Earth’s Life series reminded me of the thoughts written above.  This wise little mammal, helped put things into perspective.

Meet the Sengi, formerly known as the “elephant shrew.” It’s clever and it’s a survivor. Check it out:

We all have some sort of mental map of where we want to go, and when “ancient enemies” try to come after us, it’s our endurance and the direction of our lives that can keep us alive.  So if you’re reading this and feel hopeless or discouraged in the least bit, rest assured that you’re still here, and are still capable of a new start today.

I’m not sure if I’m thankful or bitter for these words by world-renown speaker and pastor Francis Chan, but they hit home with me quite often:

Just to put into perspective the brevity of our lives:

Throughout time, somehwere between forty-five billion and one hundred twenty-five billion people have lived on this earth. That’s 125,000,000,000.  In about fifty years (give or take a couple of decades), no one will remember you. Everyone you know will be dead. Certainly no one will care what job you had, what car you drove, what school you attended, or what clothes you wore. This can be terrifying or reassuring, or maybe a mix of both.

- Francis Chan in Crazy Love

What a challenging thought!

However, it’s not impossible to become timeless. I mean, that’s why there are history books. We still remember figures that have impacted this world for better and worse. If you compare the amount of individuals in history books to the amount of people that have ever lived, then it’s a small number.

Does this mean that your dash means anything less? NOT AT ALL. If you have the access, resources, and experience in anything worth fighting for, you can still create a ripple effect in people’s hearts, turning your dash into something that creates an unstoppable momentum.

So don’t make that little “-” on your tombstone the only thing that defines your life when you’re gone. You still have time to leave a footprint and add some definition to what life is. Do something.

After watching BBC Earth’s Planet Earth series on cable, I was sold on buying their next featured series Life.

Photo taken by Justin Marimon featured on Amazon.com

So far I’ve only seen the first disc, and I’m afraid to go on because I think my mind will blow up while watching these amazing natural wonders that take place every day all over the world.

What makes me want to write this new series I’m naming Life Is… is belief that a lot of these behaviors I see in these familiar and unfamiliar animals are similar to human behaviors like roaming in packs, nurturing others, biting ankles, blending in, abusing relationships, and the list goes on. There are so many behaviors out there from humans and non that we can learn from, all for the sake of preservation and future life.

I love this quote:

Look at the birds, free and unfettered, not tied down to a job description, careless in the care of God. And you count far more to him than birds.

Jesus Christ (The Message)

The truth is that this life isn’t meant to be wasted but valued. We are valued. We’re so vital to each other and to those in need, and we all can help. We often forget this as we get so focused on ourselves, worrying about tomorrow. It’s easy to do. I know. For myself, it takes constant reminders that “it’s not about me.” I’ll even loosen it up a little bit and say “it’s not just about me” to the point that my well-being should be because of your well-being.

So yeah…I can’t wait to write this series as I know there will be much to learn from it.

Here’s BBC Earth’s trailer for Life

Always with the camera

Marlon Reynoso is a “people-person.” Growing up as a Filipino-American in the “normal” American institutions such as family, school, church, corporate America, etc., he believes that there is always something to be learned even though that “something” does not agree with social norms.  Outside-of-the-box thinking, inspiration by substance, and evaluating the popular vote are what inspire him to write.

Marlon enjoys keeping up with pop-culture and the latest trends. Understanding that materialism and pop-culture will pass away, he loves to take advantage of the times to point out that there are far more important matters that will transcend these times.

To Marlon, life is about transitions. He believes that our actions based on transitions in life are what reveal our character, which eventually create a ripple effect and a deepening of our footprints while we’re here. Passionate about something? Marlon want’s to hear about it, and help encourage you to get where you need to be.

Also, Marlon nev…

Wait did you just sneeze? No?

Well there goes the train of thought…

God bless you (even though you didn’t sneeze).

P.S. It was weird writing about myself in third person. I mean, try writing about yourself in your own yearbook or something…so yeah…

For more detail on how “SoYeah.net” came about, check out his first entry.

Contact info:

Email: soyeahonline@gmail.com

Twitter @NotTheFish

…because we’re so used to searching online. Searching for something that we don’t even know we’re searching for. Half the time, we’re looking for connections and entertainment, and blindly we lose touch of what we’re supposed to be doing, whatever that is. To me, it’s building relationships, constantly learning for the sake of others.

Trust me when I say that I’m on no high-horse. I hate heights, and I probably suck at controlling such a beast figuratively speaking. Every day, however, I do rack my brain and configure my heart to live a selfless life for the sake of others. That’s what I value.

Five major influences of my upbringing and ongoing:

1. My parents
2. Mr. Rogers
3. Church
4. School
5. Hip-hop culture

The first four may be up there for obvious reasons, but hip-hop culture has exposed me to elements of expression such as  rhyming, dancing, and even fashion, all of which I still participate in today. When I was 4 years-old, Run DMC was on Reading Rainbow rapping and telling kids how cool it is to read and learn.  I wanted to be like them.

Hip-Hop Influence

KANYE WEST:

The College Dropout (2004)

In 2003, I heard Kanye West’s first single as a rapper Through the Wire. There was something about the lyrics and conviction of the song that made me believe that he was far above what was currently popular and different from anything I have ever heard (probably because he did the whole song with his jaw wired shut).

The next two singles All Falls Down and Jesus Walks from his first album The College Dropout showed transparency and even a bold belief in Jesus. I listened to the rest of the album and officially became a fan.

Throughout the years Kanye found himself in political, musical, and other public controversy. His music evolved, and I loved it. His attitude changed, and it made me grind my teeth or sigh deeply.

Today, I don’t know what to think about Mr. West. He recently cancelled a huge tour this past Fall 2009 as he explained that he needed to do some “soul searching.”

We’re at war with terrorism, racism, and most of all, we’re at war with ourselves.

- Kanye West (in Jesus Walks 2004)

I wish Kanye the best and also hope that Jesus does walk with him just as he had hoped before.

B.o.B aka BOBBY RAY:

B.o.B presents The Adventures of Bobby Ray (2010)

With the rap game and mainstream music flooded with auto-tuned club-bangers, B.o.B has brought a refreshing vibe of what hip-hop used to sound like. My peers have compared him to Andre 3000 of Outkast and Ludacris. I confidently agree. B.o.B’s album B.o.B Presents: The Adventures of Bobby Ray shows true talent compared to the music out right now. He collaborates with musicians and artists outside of hip-hop while staying true to its roots. He sings ballads, plays instruments, and can even be “‘hood” when he wants being from Atlanta and all.

I’ve been telling my friends that B.o.B is exactly what the game needs. His release into the music world struck a nerve in me as it was the same sensation and relief I felt when Kanye first arrived on the scene. However, knowing what has happened to Kanye so far, I fear what may become of B.o.B.

You can listen to his album and read his lyrics at his official site.

But look it’s plain to see
Aint nothing in this game gon’ be changing me
I’ma always be B – o to the B me me

-B.o.B (in Fame)

B.o.B is among the few artistic inspirations in my life right now.

I’ve looked up to a lot of people in my life, placing them on pedestals. Eventually, they fell, and if they haven’t fallen yet, they soon will one way or another.

LESSON LEARNED: Stop putting people on pedestals. They probably wouldn’t want to be on one anyway, and if they did, that should be a huge RED FLAG about their character.

People, materials, and situations will let you down in life, heroes and all. Does this give us an excuse to pre-judge or assume the worst in them? No way. Think about all the times people have given you another chance after screwing up BIG TIME. Remember how embarrassed and humbled you felt? It’s ok.

Despite our upbringing and inspirations, we all fall down.

NOW GET UP.

This is what it means to be human.

Pass it on.