It's a regular morning so far. I pour myself a bowl of Honey Bunches of Oats and turn on the computer. Everything loads, and suddenly I get an instant message on AIM. "Michy, Michael Jackson's dead!!" I couldn't believe it. I didn't want to believe it, but it was true. The King of Pop was gone. My family basically grew up with listening to Michael, his music is timeless. My 60 year old grandma loves his songs, and my 5 year old sister is always dancing whenever "Beat It" is on.
Michael Jackson is considered the King of Pop for a reason. His dance moves and singing were unique. It was evident that there could be no other person that could duplicate Michael's style. He basically opened the doors for other artists to make music. Michael started it all. Since he has passed away, it seems like the end of an era. The future of music is bright however, and many musicians should strive to follow in his footsteps. Even though Michael had to overcome many obstacles, he still came out strong. People will remember him for his classical tunes and effortlessly gifted talent.
I grew up in a small home, with me being the oldest out of my two sisters. And when I couldn't get along with them, my cousin Pita was always there. Since we were small, we've always been close, causing havoc everywhere and starting trouble whenever possible. Pita and I were like best friends, I recall us always playing video games on that old school Nintendo, or just hanging out in the front of his house. Pita was like the older brother I never had. Even though he has many younger siblings and an older brother, we were able to get along better because we were about the same age, as he is only a year older than I am.
Unfortunately, as the years went by, we've began to slowly drift apart from each other. Since I started high school, Pita has been like a stranger to me. He started hanging out with the wrong crowd, and involving himself in gangs.
To this day, Pita is on trial for attempted murder.
When I found out about this incident from my mom, I couldn't believe it. This occurred probably right in the middle of my sophomore year. My mom picked me up from school and told me about how Pita tried to cut up some man's face. I haven't seen my cousin in a while, but I knew that wasn't like him at all.
I felt bad for not being able to keep in touch with my cousin. I thought that if I had been around more, this wouldn't have happened. If I was there like I used to be. But of course, it was too late now, and my mom told me that no one was to blame except himself and his parents.
As the investigation continued, I found out that Pita was sort of "crazy" when he did it. He was out of his state of mind, and they soon found out that he was on drugs. "That's what happens when you hang out with the wrong people," my mom said to me.
As time passed, I seemed to forget about this incident, for schoolwork and everything else was all that occupied my mind. Then, summer came, and Pita's court dates were still going on. The case was that; Pita shall not be immediately sent to jail, because they found him in a loony state and were trying to figure out where to put him.
So on the 18th of June, I was finally able to attend a court date with my mom and aunt, Pita's mother. When I entered the court room, I saw a long glass wall on the side. As we sat down, I heard chains moving behind the wall, and realized that was where he was kept, like an animal, along with the other "criminals." All I could see behind the wall were blurred orange suits, and after waiting for a long while, the judge then announced the name of my cousin, Pita Hing.
We all got up to stand at the opening to be able to see him. He came out in a a yellow jacket, with chains in the back. "That's what murderers wear," I thought. But he wasn't a murderer, he didn't kill anybody. Pita seemed so different, his hair was longer and he looked extremely sad tied up in that straight jacket, indicating that he was crazy. We stared at him for a long time while the judge talked. He finally glanced over at us. I smiled at him, letting him know that I was there to support him. He returned a mournful smile back, and after he did he stared at the ground for the remainder of the time. It was so sad, he looked miserable. I felt bad for him, his life was basically thrown away. He was only a year older than me, turning 17 this 22nd of June. He had dreams of studying to become a mechanic, he loved working with cars. He had his life planned out but was stopped by those obstacles in life that pulled him down.
So now, the next court date will be on this 25th of June. That is when they'll know whether to place Pita in a group home, or in a mental hospital until he turns 18. The sad part is that if he gets placed in a mental hospital, his family won't be able to see him very often because the hospital will be all the way in Southern California, near Long Beach. That is extremely far from Stockton, and we want him to be near us so we can visit him frequently. But whatever happens, I just hope that Pita will be able to have a future despite this obstacle that has stopped his life. He doesn't deserve to be in jail knowing that he was able to drive and was almost near his high school graduation.. Knowing that he has his future ahead of him.
For more pictures and vids on the A Skylit Drive and Dance Gavin Dance escapade, go visit my MySpace. :]
Thursday, June 11th was probably the best day ever. I got to meet one of my favorite bands, A Skylit Drive at Hot Topic and then see Dance Gavin Dance play at the Empire Theatre afterwards. And of course my partner in crime, Alisya, was with me the whole day!
First off was meeting Skylit at 5. My mom wanted to leave early so she could shop at Old Navy, so we left at around 3:30. We picked up Alisya at around 3:40; my mom took us to Starbucks because she knew we were early. She bought Alisya and I carmel frappuccinos, mmm.
When we arrived at Weberstown mall my mom let us wait in line at Hot Topic as she went to look around at Old Navy. I was glad that we came about an hour early, because the line was already long, and it was only about 4. When my mom tried to find us to give me some extra money, she found it humorous at how my peers in line all looked alike with our A Skylit Drive t-shirts and skinny jeans.
As Alisya and I stood in line we talked about how we would respond to seeing A Skylit Drive for the first time. "JAG, I LOVE YOU!" was one of the first reactions that I could think of. Luckily we decided that going all hectic and fan crazy was a bad idea. Alisya thought of the idea that we were going to take short videos of this awesome day, so we took two videos before we met them. After 30 minutes of waiting, we finally got to see them.
As soon as they told us that we could go to the table and meet them, I was in shock. With a quick gaze at all of the band members, I realized that they were all so beautiful. The first person I saw was Michael Jagmin, also known as Jag, and I was completely speechless. I guess I admired and was itimidated by him at the same time. I felt awkward standing there and letting him sign the CD, for I was just at a loss for words. While Alisya, next to me, couldn't stop talking as she was overly-excited. They gave us these Skylit posters for the band to sign with their pictures on it, and they drew mustcaches and boobs along with their signatures on each others faces. Also, Alisya still had the Starbucks cup from before, and she offered to let them sign it for our friend, Skyler. She told them about how we joke around and call him "The Skyler Drive" and so they signed "To Skyler," and "Skyler Drive" on the cup. The band was just really funny and they were the best, completely awesome. Once you meet them, you can never forget it.
So after the signing, we needed a ride to take us to the Dance Gavin Dance show downtown at the Empire Theatre. It was about 5:50, and the show started at 6:30. Perfect timing, right? Well, we called our friend Skyler and gladly said he would take us, as he was going to be there as well. We were overjoyed. As were going to wait outside of Dillards for Skyler, we took another video of the aftermath of meeting the band. Unfortuneatly, waiting for Skyler seemed like an eternity. We waited for him for about 30 minutes and were losing hope every minute. I called him multiple times but he never picked up. We were getting scared, and didn't know what to do but to just wait even longer. Finally, he called at around 6:40, but when the show started at 6:30. The first thing he says is, "hey guys I'm leaving my house now, I'm putting on deodorant."
Alisya and I were just shocked. I said "you know the show started already, right?" And Skyler just goes, "oh, did it?" It was a relief to know that he answered and would be picking us up, but we were angry that he didn't answer my 500 missed calls or texts. As Skyler came to pick us up, Alisya handed him the Starbucks cup with "Skyler Drive" written over it, and he laughed. We then drove off to the show where Dance Gavin Dance would be performing at.
Now, I've never been to the Empire Theatre, so it was my first time. I wanted to go when my favorite band Alesana came to town, as you recall from my first blog, but I wasn't allowed to go. That's why I made sure my parents had no idea that I was going, and I had no intention of telling them, ever. They thought that I was at Alisya's house, watching DVDs and such.
So anyway, I'm at Empire, and the uh, how do I put this? The "scene kids" sitting outside scared me. Some of them were just smoking and fixing their lovely multi-colored hair. I don't know why but they scared me, it sort of felt like I didn't belong. But as I went in to where the stage was, I felt more comfortable.
I saw Jeremy and his friend Thalia, they were already propped up right in the front of the stage, watching a band set up. So Jeremy joined Alisya and I, and Skyler went off somewhere. The bands that played before Dance Gavin Dance were mediocore. It was pretty boring because I just wanted to see the band that I came here for. After what seemed like forever, The Audition came on. They were pretty good, but I didn't like them and didn't know the words to any of their songs. So after they were done, we watched Dance Gavin Dance set up. Funn.
Finally, they played songs off of their new album, Happiness. I immediately felt stupid because I should've gotten their new album so I could sing along with everyone else. But I didn't, so I didn't now the words to any of the songs and just stood there shaking my head to the beat of the music. Dance Gavin Dance put on a great show, however, with leadsinger Kurt dancing like he was drunk. His stage moves were insane and unforgettable. It loved how he jumped in the crowd and everyone was going crazy. It was incredible.
After the show, we took another short video and called it a night. Later however, I found out that Skyler threw away his lovely autographed Starbucks cup, which made us very angry. Despite that, even though I know it won't ever make up for me not seeing Alesana, the whole day was completely amazing. Thank you Alisya. :)
On June 2nd, during an early Tuesday in the Oak Park village apartments, two unarmed security guards were found executed in their cars. Their bodies were found at 2 A.M, as they were parked alongside each other in the parking lot behind the complex. The guards, Oscar and Eugene, worked for Ad Force Private Security and were both very liked in the community. They were always described as polite and caring, even Eugene, on his days off, would come to talk and visit his friends here in the community, and even fish with them. The people that he protected were like his family, since Eugene had no close relatives.
When I come back from grocery shopping or doing laundry with my mom, I would always see her wave to Eugene, sitting in his car. My parents, my aunt and her boyfriend knew and were friends with Eugene and Oscar. My aunt's boyfriend was friends with Oscar, the other guard, and as I have seen, Oscar was always seemed chipper and excited about life; he was just in such a great mood. So, my family were close with these guards that protected us, and it's such a shame that they were found dead in the place they were supposedly loved.
As I think about what has happened, I know it isn't fair. Eugene and Oscar were always kind and friendly towards these people, and the community that they were guarding ended up killing them. Now, I live in these apartments, this village we call Oak Park. And I feel ashamed to live here. Whoever killed the guards just set a bad reputation for us, making the whole community look like criminals. Even a friend of mine said that her mom was afraid to pick me up or drop me off anymore because of this incident. The majority suffer from the minority, it's such a shame.
I, personally didn't know these guards, but to some people, they were like family to them. My parents saw them everyday, after a long day of work. When my dad gets ready to leave his car, he would see Eugene, always opening up with a "hi, how are you?!" They would then engage in small chit-chat, and it was like a part of his everyday routine. So, as a result, we have new guards but they aren't as friendly as Eugene and Oscar. They look at us as if we're going to murder somebody, and it's just very sad. The guards didn't deserve it. And this community doesn't deserve to have a bad reputation. I just hope that they find whoever killed the guards soon, as it will bring my parents and my aunt great relief.
