I Deserve A Second Round (or More!)

Many of you know that I had a business trip down in San Francisco last May for a week and I must say that I had a tremendous amount of fun–entertainment, networking, and adventure–and up until this point, I can say that it was the most memorable and “funnest” place I have ever been to. I’m sad to say yet again that I wish I go back and stay there for good.

Well, it turns out I might be able to get yet not only one but two more chances of being back there. One is a vacation with my good friend Gino (25, Jamaican) at the end of September since my Miami trip two weeks ago did not work out so well, and two is that I’ll be planning our annual meeting for one of my clients for the 2010 conference at the same hotel, etc. To be honest, I’m really looking forward to it. I told myself Yay! I’ll be back there sooner than I really anticipated. Good for me! I can go back and re-connect with someone. I hope he’ll still be in San Francisco. I’m sure he is–but we’ll shall see.

I had been communicating with Miguel off and on during the last month or so. It is kind of upsetting for me because of not having that much of a luck to connect with him simply because (1) I’m 3000 or so away from him, (2) I met him (he met me) typically in a visitor-localist scenario, where “Ok, nice meeting you. Let me show you the city” deal come to play, and (3) I can’t really expect too much from that “nice meeting you” experience since I’m not even ready to move to California. It has made me depressed for a little while and I’m still recovering from that and hopefully find something that interest me for the meantime. Knowing what DC has to offer, it is quite challenging.

Though for the last two weeks or so I have found some ways to detach from that depression and focus on some things more positive but keeping that thought/hope alive in the back of mind.

All I can do at this point is focus. Stay track with my goals and stick with the things I want to accomplish while I discover things that could occupy my mind, things that interests me like my older hobbies with which I’d like to get back to doing, meeting new people of course–keeping that door open–and whatever else there is to do/see. There’s only but so much things here but I’m gonna try and turn things around positively.

Too Many Fish In The Sea

Well, let’s see…lately during the last two weeks work volume has been pretty overwhelming for me. Because of the complexity of this program development that I had been working on, it made my two weeks fly by me so fast. In a way I’m glad that it did–I can finally get a sense of what else is going on outside my work world.

On top of that though surprisingly I had been able to go work out a lot more than usual. I don’t know…I suppose I had a little bit of taste of the hardwork and commitment I’ve been doing–losing weight–and I thought I’d test how far this commitment is going to take me, and fortunately I’ve seen a difference in my waist size and weight - not significant though but there’s some difference. Well, that made me more motivated in going to the gym and eating healthier faithfully everyday. I must admit though there are days - I mean days - that I sort of “Eh, Arby’s wouldn’t hurt anything!”…but I sense weight gain practically immediately. It’s amazing but I suppose when your system is already adjusted to the “healthy” way of consuming food, the body just doesn’t process it the same way. So I told myself, I can do this! Definitely can. I just need to stay on track but bend the rules every now and then.

In between last week and this past week I went out to TOWN with my good friend Gino and Tim, a friend whom I’ve known by face at TOWN for several months now. It turned out that Tim, 30, who is from Vietnam, is a member of AQUA (remember AQUA? I blogged this last week) and I was like “What!”. I’m like “Bitch! You should have told me! We could have to AQUA events together!” Well, actually I didn’t say that. I’m actually glad that he is a member so that I can have somebody I know without any special connection that I can go with and perhaps mingle with other Asian and Pacific Islander gay men in the Metro DC area. He introduced me to some of his friends, not to mention they were hot. Not because I don’t appreciate it meeting people that way, but I’d like to meet people in some other way as oppose to the typical online chat rooms or whatever. This time though I’d like to meet somebody to network professionally, socialize with while being associated with a group that has a good cause for gay Asian and Pacific Islanders. Quite frankly I would like to part-take what AQUA envision for the API and how I can contribute to their success. Not only to the organization itself but what I can do for people like myself. I just hope that this alternate way of socializing with people would work way better than typical.

As they say, too many fish in the sea! As long as I’m alive, I will keep my life surrounded with good people who has great ambitions and achieve a fulfilling life. Too many guys out there–I’m sure I’ll find the one for me.

Pass Out More Business Cards?

During my recent environmental scan of the Metropolitan DC area, in terms of organization affiliation, I discovered this non-profit organization, based in downtown DC, called “Asian-Pacific Islanders Queer United for Action”, also known as AQUA. AQUA is an organization for queer APIs, by queer APIs, focusing on queer API issues and interests. They strive to project a positive image of queer API men in the community through advocacy, education, outreach, and social events. It did sound like to me a good way to socialize and network with other Asian-Pacific Islanders in the area and get a sense of the things I have yet to discover.

I gave joining the association a thought this weekend, and I think I’m going to associate myself with them. Not only that I get socialization opportunity out of the deal but an opportunity to fork out assistance with their board of directors, in terms of volunteering to help the organization increase their membership and improve their marketing plans and strategies. I spoke to one of the Board members about the possibility of leadership in this area. I offered them my background in marketing and program development, in which I think I have a lot to bring to the table with respect to these areas. I enjoy assisting small groups in becoming larger, and I thought this would be an opportunity.

What’s interesting about AQUA is that they encourage people who are interested in making a difference in the image of Asian-Pacific Islanders in so many aspects, not only in the DC area but in general. I believe at this point in time, this particular group of gay men experiences different types of struggles, challenges, and opportunities for discrimination. The focus on involving people who can transition Asian-Pacific Islander gay men from that pool of discrimination to becoming equally and socially acceptable in the community. It’s not so much about the “What’s In It for Me?” concept but “What’s In It for All of Us?” concept. They like to think big and to bring equality to all Asian-Pacific Islander gay men.

One of the many activities AQUA holds is their monthly “rap” session that is essentially an educational session covering many topics that Asian-Pacific Islander gay men have concerns about. I do believe they address “those” issues and educate themselves and so with others how to cope up with these differences and find resolutions, perhaps in a short term but essentially they strive to implement long term resolutions through education, advocacy, and outreach.

For those of you who maybe interested in joining, visit their website at www.aquadc.org. Learn about not what AQUA can for you, but what you can do for AQUA, or in other words the Asian-Pacific Islander gay community.

I’m planning to affiliate with them and see where this avenue can take me socially and professionally. I would love to get to know Asian-Pacific Islanders in the area, who perhaps may have similar interests and/or outlook with being gay in the DC area or being gay in general. I also hope this will give me the opportunity to meet that someone who I had been looking for.

Adios for now and I will keep you posted and hopefully it will work…