We All Get Older, We Don't All Get Grown.

As I learned at a young age, knowledge is being aware or understanding different things. But wisdom, is the actual application of that knowledge and to me much more vital in life. I'd like to think that when I make a mistake I learn from it and apply it to my life. But there is one mistake that I often make which I never seem to learn from. I thought that maybe writing it down would help me to instill it in my life. So here it goes:

Brandon,

As a bachelor, you only have to look after yourself. Which means, when it comes to dinner you can make whatever your heart desires. That being the case, it is OK that you take multiple trips to the grocery store throughout the week. The only problem is that when you are at the checkout line, NO MATTER WHAT, DO NOT GET IN LINE BEHIND AN OLD LADY! It has come back to bite you too many times to count. While she writes her check instead of paying with a debit card, or uses 29 coupons in order to save 19 cents, or disputes with the cashier on whether or not celery is 96 cents per stalk rather then 99 cents, or pays her whole bill in pennies after counting it twice just to make sure, all YOU can do is stand there in regret and wait to pay for your 5 items while all the other lines seem to be going in fast forward. Brandon, in the future, please learn from these mistakes.

With Love,

Brandon

25 Randoms about Brandon Lagao: Random Fact #1 Update.

The TPB either works out at the same gym as me or is tracking me as well...or both. The other night after working out, I discovered that not only does the Toilet Paper Bandit like his privacy at the office building bathrooms, but also at 24 Hour Fitness. This is definitely a huge crack in the case, as one of the people I suspected, also frequents my gym. After my career at Jobing.com came to an end a few weeks ago, one of my biggest regrets was that I thought I might never solve the mystery of The Toilet Paper Bandit. As we all know, God sometimes works in mysterious ways and after it was all said and done He provided me with this great lead.

After this discovery, I have come to two possible conclusions:

1. It is actually the guy I have suspected after all this time. I try to make eye contact, so I can give him a nod and let him know that I acknowledge the fact that we've worked in the same office building for the past 2 years and have been going to the same gym just as long...but no, this dude never even says hi! And because of that I do not know his name(and lucky for him because I would shout it from the rooftops once this case is closed). He must know, that I know, that he is the culprit and is too ashamed to even make eye contact!

OR

2. Every time I need to use a public restroom I BLACKOUT with anxiety, you know, similar to what happens to The Hulk when his blood pressure gets too high. But instead of getting really buff and green and filled with rage, I start ripping off pieces of toilet paper and I cover every crevice of the bathroom stall right before I do my BM.

Here are pictures I snapped of the scene(i really hope the other guys in the locker room didn't get the wrong impression, haha):




The funny thing about this to me is that the TPB covered the very small openings that were BEHIND him! Who is seriously going to put their face up against a bathroom wall(especially right next to the urinals) in hopes of possibly catching a glimpse of the Toilet Paper Bandit's butt?!?! Seriously. I haven't fully decided what to do once I capture this bandit, but I'm thinking that I just might arrest the bastard.

Hi Friends!

As most of you probably do not know, for some time now I've been planning on moving back down to San Diego. It is now official that I am moving as soon as I can find someone to rent out my current room. Ideally, my last day in Orange County will be March 31st, but depending on finding a roommate it could be April 30th. This move is due partly to the fact that I am going on an adventure in the Philippines from May 2nd - May 30th. It is going to be an amazing experience for me to discover where it is that I come from, a time where I will be forced to step out of my comfort zone, a chance for me to do some international travel independently, and most importantly where I will get to spend time with my Family (grandparents, biological father, uncles, aunts, and cousins). I'm very excited and all I can ask is for your prayers for my future. I appreciate every single one of you and the impact that you have had on my life since i've been here in Orange County. Obviously, I'm not going to move too far away so I plan to still visit as much as possible.

In the meantime, I would appreciate if you could let me know if you or someone you know are interested in a room: April 1st, the Master Bedroom of our 3 bedroom apartment will be available. We're looking for someone cool, hopefully that we know, to move in. Doesn't matter if you're a guy or girl, both are welcome. The master bedroom has it's own vanity, bathroom and shower, walk-in closet, private balcony, and is quite spacious. The apartment as a whole is a 3-bedroom (Jon Manchester and Nate Zayas are in the other two rooms) and it's located in the middle of Costa Mesa; the complex is called Harbor Village. Rent is $760.

If you are interested or know someone interested please contact me here or give me a call (619) 987-2210 and I can answer any questions or figure out a time if you want to come check it out.

p.s.- If anyone has any advice or suggestions for my trip to the Philippines, I would love to hear from you!


-Brandon Lagao

Shaq earned the Co-MVP All-Star Trophy before the game even started! Amazing.

As some of you might know, last week I was hit very hard by the Flu. I was bed-ridden for over a week and I almost lost my life. Well, I didn't actually almost lose my life, but it sucked pretty bad. It seemed like a lot of people caught the same thing. Even Star Athletes such as myself, Kobe, and Garnett couldn't avoid this terrible virus.

That being said, I spent a lot of my days watching TV and movies and trying to get better. When I had enough of watching Bizarre Foods with Andrew Zimmern on the Travel Channel, I entertained myself with the list of semi-new movies that my roommate downloads. Once I started running out of choices I finally decided to watch The Happening. Wow. Maybe it was because of my sickness, but I just thought it was a terrible movie. I know at this point you might think that this entry is solely about my experience with the flu or me going off on how watching The Happening probably made my condition worse, but its actually about Love or more specifically Relationships. Took me a while to get to my point huh?


So anyways, what inspired this post was actually a scene from The Happening (don't worry, I won't ruin it for you if you are planning on renting it some day...but you really shouldn't). In the movie the main characters meet a lonely, old lady who is cut off completely from society and they stay at her house for the night. While they are eating dinner that night, the old lady asks the couple, "So who is chasing who?" The couple had no idea what the Old Lady was talking about so she explained that in every relationship there is always one person who is "chasing" the other one. This was about the only thing that really interested me throughout the movie.

The reason it caught my attention was because I find a lot of truth in that statement. In my experiences with relationships, I've been both the chaser and the chased. One thing that has been relevant in all of my relationships though, is that there was always one person who tried a little bit harder and who seemed to care a little bit more. And its not just with me, I see it all the time with the relationships around me as well. While both parties are in the relationship, or in love, or both, there is usually an obvious one that is putting a little bit more effort.

Why is that? I can't explain it exactly because I know its different with every relationship. It could be because one is more worried about the relationship lasting. Or it could be that one is just more into the other. Maybe one is "dating up" and feels reluctant to be in that particular relationship therefore they put more into it. Or it could even just be because one is naturally more thoughtful. There are tons of different situations that define a relationship, but all i'm saying is that its very rare to see one that is "balanced". And its not even that a couple has a defined "Chaser" and "Chasee" from the get go. For example, in my "most serious" relationship as an adult, at the beginning of the relationship my girlfriend was the one who was noticeably more into it. She was definitely chasing me and showing me on a daily basis how much she was into me. But then at some point, the roles changed . Maybe I just became more "in love", but there was definitely a role-reversal at some point.

One thing that I came to realize, after reflecting on that scene in the movie, is that I like, or maybe I should say that I tend, to prefer to be the one doing the chasing. What the heck is wrong with me? Why would I choose to chase someone? The only explanation I can come up with is that it must be that I enjoy "The Chase" in general. Maybe sub-consciously I see it as a challenge that I want to conquer. I can't say for sure, but one thing I do know is that being chased isn't as appealing. I actually get kind of annoyed if someone is trying too hard to show me that they like me. Maybe its a power trip or I just get big headed, but that's just how I've reacted to being chased in the past. Who knows, maybe when I meet my wifey-to-be, all of this will change, and I'll finally see what that perfect balance is all about.

This is just such an interesting topic to me and I wish I could explain the Psychology of it all. What are everyone else's thoughts? Am I missing something here?