cuong phu trinh

sunday morning i was waken up by a labrador licking at my hand.

"crema, get out of here," i muttered. my sister's latest adoption, a rescued (and formerly abused) dog, he's full sized, creme-colored and very people-oriented. he clamors for peoples' attention and always comes back. a bit less obedient than "napa," my sister's golden retriever (via breeder.)

so after eating breakfast early in the morning (close to 8 a.m.) my sister and i headed over to thunderbird conservation park in nearby city of glendale. started on trail H-1 which led to H-3, up to the highest point in the park. at just under a 500' elevation change, it is pale in comparison to the summit trail's 1200' change heading up to piestewa peak.

to clarify things: my sister never made it up piestewa peak as she was too tired and turned around at some point. she has done camelback mountain's echo mountain/ summit trail, which is just as steep (or a tad steeper) than the summit trail for piestewa peak. i hiked up the summit trail for piestewa peak late friday evening.

so this sunday morning, my sister and i decided to conquer a more forgivable trail. the loop was about four miles long. with plenty of water and the experience of piestewa peak's summit trail under my belt, hedgpeth hill was just long. rolling hills, unlike the stair stepping workout at piestewa peak.

all of the pictures were taken atop. we didn't really stop on the way up or down, until we got to the top.



the devil's horns on a nearby hill


now my feet are officially tired. i don't think i've completely broken in those hiking boots yet. they still feel awfully uncomfortable when worn more than an hour!

google picasa web album: hedgpeth hill (60 and on)

leaving the suburbs behind friday afternoon, i drove through the entrance gate of phoenix mountains park and ascended the narrow two-lane road in search for a parking spot. at 1400' for the base parking area, it is above most of the city as is. once i parked my vehicle i only had to croon my neck and look towards the southwest, where i saw what looked like colorful ants crawling up the mountain (as well as down) on the freedom/ summit trail. i found my starting point and started my ascent towards piestewa peak.

given the recommendation by fellow grad student alex clayton, i decided to do what the tourists do. as for the saying, "when in rome, do what the romans do," i knew that hiking pistewa peak in the phoenix mountains park, is what the phoenixians(?) do. finding a parking space involved a search for open patches of asphalt starting from the gates of phoenix mountains park. after the third or fourth lot, i found a space, up a hill, off a sign labeled "mojave." i strapped my trusty camera pack on the left side of my belt and secured my phone to the right side of my belt, strapped on my camelbak hydration pack and set off.

climbing up, step by step, seemed like an eternal stair stepper. except that these steps aren't uniform, come at varying sizes, intervals and angles, and sometimes were slippery.


a fork in the road served as my halfway point.


towards the top i had to scale the face of a rocky wall on all fours, as it seemed that the face was in excess of sixty degrees.


once i reached the top, i called my sister and my best friend olga called me. my sister had hiked camelback mountain (of similar caliber, though i hear slightly more technical) in the past.



my sense of accomplishment was pretty keen. i saw numerous people turn around at varying points of the hike, as it seemed to get a tad steeper. for those who need a google earth link, here's a link to a .kmz file with the trail. (enable terrain view to see the vertical depth of this trail.)

on my descent, my ankles began to throb. it's about 1200' over 1.2 miles, which is a pretty steep grade. it was at this point where i felt that my vasque hiking shoes were being tested. firm supportive sole with knobby tread, purchased at REI two years ago. i haven't gone on a decent hike in a while, so piestewa peak was my break-in period for these boots.

i want to do camelback mountain, however my sister isn't as keen (or as fit) on these big mountain hikes (for phoenix standards, as only camelback mountain's echo mountain/ summit trail has more of a rise than piestewa peak's summit trail.) she wants to try thunderbird park sunday morning.

nonetheless it's amazing that the valley that phoenix and its suburbs lie are interrupted in brief chunks by mountaintops that rise from the floor. steep enough that they are parks, and that suburban encroachment has not scaled (although completely surrounding) these geological anomalies.

google picasa web album: piestewa peak (first 59 pictures)

i came across my first significant other over five years ago.
it called out at me. i couldn't pass up all three aspects of it.
i learned how to balance with it. i learned how to turn with it.
i tried to carve it back and forth with it, but never succeeded.
so when the opportunity came knocking, i stepped away from it.

i came across my second significant other four years ago,
while shopping with the failed (and wanna-be-forgotten) friend,
i quickly became better at dealing with it than the previous.
i carved back and forth with it; exponentially added to my skill set.
so when the opportunity came knocking, i parted with my first.

i came across my third significant other two years ago,
while shopping around for something for my dear friend mercy
i started hopping around more with it, as well as my second
but ultimately it slipped away (sorta) leaving me battered and bruised
so when the opportunity came knocking, i went back to the second.

i came across my fourth significant other this past monday
while shopping around for something for the third s.o.
it's currently my trophy as it's still virgin (scar and bruise-free)
i find that i don't want to de-virginize it (take off its wrapping)
so when the opportunity came knocking, i just don't know...

eventually i'll have to stop seeing all of them.
the first one was not a proper fit. mercy took it off my hands.
the second one is battered and bruised, but very predictable.
the third one is feisty and has let me down more than once.
the fourth one, i just don't know; i'm fearful of commitment.

i might end up having to take the fourth one back.
i don't want to see a future of misery as i already enjoy the others.
but once the usefulness of the others passes, i must look elsewhere
i feel the signs of age on my bones. i really don't want to think about it.
thus, i eventually have to stop seeing all of them.

it's just a matter of time when i will find someone else
maybe it's been too long since i've found someone human
those i have liked are far and few between
from lamar dragon to M3, LTD hetz to (a new) M3 talon,
those four mean a lot to me, more than a significant other human.

see, i have failed attempts and no successes in finding a human
so i find things i can dominate; eternal bliss of winter it is.
always carving the exhilarating and thrill-seeking run.
where i totally enjoy my friends, and exercise tremendous restraint
it's saddening to me that those i like are very far and few between.

so my four significant snowboards are etched in my mind
they're always there for me, supportive and almost always kind
sure i run into fixed, hazardous, sometime immovable things
and gather scrapes and bruises; what life ultimately brings
and i make this ode to my significant others, as the real thing eludes me.

dear livejournal,

finals week is just around the corner and i've been out and about. socializing, working and of course, being "schooled" (by that canadian professor with a wit, among others.)

last night, i had the chance to meet the significant other of a friend of mine.

it made me happy to see my friend joyful. my friend's sense of pessimism, as well as longing, was transcended by the state of euphoria (which comes with the significant other's presence) that overcomes "all sorts of" negativity. this being said, since my friend doesn't get to see the significant other often, as their relationship is long distance.

hey friend, if you read this, take it as a (not quite backhanded) compliment. (after all, why would i do anything to harm/ hurt you? janice, this doesn't necessarily apply to you, though i can give you a backhanded compliment, any day, after you return from mumbai.)

it also reminded me of my unyielding, uncompromisable character with all of its eccentricities. (yes tran, i admit that i can be eccentric... at times, as you assert.)

peace, cuong phu trinh.

the girl i liked (that's her) just graduated from georgetown at the end of may, with an M.S. in foreign affairs. of course things never worked out between her and i, as she moved to washington D.C. once she became available (in that order.)

i finished my first year in the urban and regional planning graduate program at cal poly pomona (a.k.a. california state polytechnic university, pomona.) at times throughout the past several quarters, i wondered what i've really gotten myself into. it's been a wonderful (nearly) seven months since i left the troubled (just about last place) news station (and the only thing i miss about it is the money.) i also gave up my rent-controlled apartment near santa monica, which is about 4 miles from the beach. now i live back at my parents, a 60-mile drive to the beach, but only a thirty minute drive to school, door to door.

i serve as the (freelance) network administrator for a small west los angeles law firm. nine months of major upgrades were delayed until the start of summer, when i had time to go there several times each week. these pictures are the fruit of my labor. (picture 1) (picture 2) setting up the network device required tens of hours of transferring data from the old server (whose hard drive conveniently died just days after relieving it of duty) as well as a lot of patience. this was the firm that i started employment with, after i returned from D.C. in 2003. i resigned my legal assistant duties in 2005 and have stayed on board in a consulting role, to do network administration.

i have two internships; one with the los angeles county metropolitan transportation authority (paid); the other with the city of monterey park (for free) in the transportation planning departments. the latter is more hands-on as i am helping the sole transportation planner to purchase new buses, reroute/ reschedule the existing city bus routes, whereas the former is administrative (in which i attend progress/ update meetings daily.)

i am currently taking one class this summer, which focuses solely on the california environmental quality act (modeled after the national environmental protection act/ NEPA.)

i've met some really interesting people in the program; some of whom i go cycling, swimming, hiking, concert-ing (if that could be a word), eating and drinking. in fall quarter, i discovered a curious interest in one person (jackie) but (like expected) all the good ones are taken (especially at my age.) my cohorts are from all backgrounds (parents, yuppies, displaced financial/ real estate sector workers, fresh out of college folks, career-changers, etc.) but one common (generalizing) trait among all is that we're treehuggers (to an extent.)

dear livejournal,

i'm heading on a vacation to the san francisco bay area in two days. i'll be taking a friend with me for the ride. after all, she could use some well-deserved attention.

one of my friends (that we will be staying with) asked me to provide a 100-word description of her, just for kicks. so here it is:


so let me know what we should do in northern california. and if you're gonna be up there, or in the area, feel free to give us a ring.

cities that we're gonna be hanging out (in no particular order): santa rosa, olema, (napa valley), berkeley, fremont, san mateo, cupertino, san jose, santa cruz, san simeon.


peace, cuong phu trinh.

i just don't know where to begin. really, i seem to be at a loss.

a week to remember...

four years ago... my stomach hit the floor.

23 months ago... my heart sank.
(and also one and a half years ago, too.)

one year ago... conflict. my heart sank (from two years ago.)

and this week... reminded of the conflict.

how circumstantially things never work out.

i left the death star, i gave up all the comforts of the los angeles life.

but i can't seem to give up the past, or rather, what could have been.

dear livejournal,

circumstantially things never work out with me and interpersonal relationships because...

- i erect barriers between myself and a person
- i am capable of and do exercise emotional detachment (applicable to the above)
- i am very welcoming to all and find it hard to put trust in one
- i'll like that someone who is, rather unattainable
- the qualities that i find appealing aren't typical to what is normally desirable, or typical in general (applicable to the above)
- the reasons why people do not get into relationships, or don't need to further things along? (applicable to the above)
- those that have liked me and informed me such, i have repeatedly refused
- i've got quirks that would effectively make things quite challenging
- those quirks would make others find me undesirable (applicable to the above)
- who would want to date, or be with a person engaged in such discourse? (applicable to the above)
- no job, little income, deters/ does not allow me to share what (little that) i have
- dedication to the winter sport leaves little time to sacrifice for someone else
- it would not be fair to anyone to only hang out on my terms/ schedule (applicable to the above)
- maybe i don't want, or can't let myself desire drastic change (applicable to the above)
- maybe all the good ones are taken (like parking spaces)
- maybe i should have spent my high school and undergraduate collegiate years searching
- there are probably reasons why some (at my age) are still uncommitted
- as a (former) objective journalist, i see things on both sides. half full, half empty and nothing is absolute

could i be a hero? one who hasn't been pushed around as much by the tug of emotions that one quickly/ intensely/ normally act upon?

two days ago, a family friend proceeded to belabor me on my lack of progression with interpersonal relationships. i told him that i find it incredibly difficult to chart an expedited course with such.

peace, cuong phu trinh.

a friend's perspective...

"you're in a unique position.... you've come this far without having your heart completely thrashed by girls and love and sex and all that crap... you get to a certain point and you realize you lost your original ideologies-- you forget those things the younger you used to live by..... and you find yourself doing things that are odd and insane..... but fun, at least... and you realize that you may be too far gone to hold any real realtionship together.... there needs to be a certain innocense to it all-- and once it's gone, you can't do it... you're lucky becaues you have the knowledge of age (that is, you're not a stupid 19 year old) but you haven't been killed inside.. i hope....."

"i suppose thats a way to put it."

"yeah.... it definitely depends upon your perspective..."

this coming from a guy who i've known since 1999. he's had many dalliances in the time i've known him; all of which have not lasted more than many months, for the most part.

more pictures

From: Cuong Phu Trinh
To: @KCBS/KCAL TV Website
Cc: Diane Brounstein
Date: Dec 5, 2007 7:08 AM
Subject: Moving forward

Dear Web staff,

I would like to inform you of my departure from the company during the second week of January 2008...

Through the soon-to-be 32 months that I have spent at CBS (27 of which, will have been spent in the Web), I have worked with three content management systems (and two Web site launches.)

Time flies. I wish all of you the best of luck in seeing clearer with Iris...

--
Cuong Phu Trinh
KCBS-TV/ KCAL-TV Online News Producer
CBS Studio City Broadcast Center
4200 Radford Avenue, Studio City, CA 91604
http://www.cbs2.com and http://www.kcal9.com are Always On HD

dear livejournal,

i took in a snow day at 'southern california's closest winter resort.'


more pictures

now on mountain high forum as "secretasianman2"

peace, cuong phu trinh.

one of my rare commentary pieces, not entirely about or reflective upon myself. this was written in an email directed to my peers and boss.

-----

I had the opportunity to see the following:

KNX anchor and panel moderator Frank Mottek
NPR anchor and USC professor Judy Muller
KNX and KFWB program director David Hall
KMEX (Univision) news director Jorge Mettey
CBS radio anchor/ correspondent Christopher Glenn
KTLA news director Jeff Wald

- at Radio and Television News Association's "State of the News Business" event on 9/19/2006 at USC's Annenberg Auditorium.

Jorge Mettey (KMEX - Univision) began his speech with "We're number one in television news (regardless of language) in Southern California. We treat our viewers with respect and give them stories that the entire family would care about and want to have their children see." The other day, their lead story was the Los Angeles Times issue. If anyone hasn't already heard, the Los Angeles Times is in a bitter struggle with their corporate parent over further, relentless budget cutting:

Tribune Investor Sues 8 Directors - http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-tribune20sep20,1,3515971.story
The Times, Tribune and the City - http://www.latimes.com/news/printedition/opinion/la-oe-letterprecede19sep19,1,7427833.story
Tribine Defends Its Ownership of the Times - http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-tribune19sep19,1,7054931.story
Local Leaders Urge Owner of The Times to Avoid Cuts - http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-times14sep14,1,1114048.story
Finding Billionaire to Buy Times May Be Tall Order - http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-lopez23jun23,1,3959744.column
Free the Press From Corporate Profiteers - http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-lopez21jun21,1,3042236.column

Tribune to Consider Sale of Some Media Assets - http://www.nytimes.com/2006/09/22/business/media/22tribune.html
At Los Angeles Times, a Civil Executive Rebellion - http://www.nytimes.com/2006/09/21/business/media/21tribune.html

To other media outlets, the Los Angeles Times' struggle with its corporate parents is a big, big deal. (Yes, I've been reading the newspapers about this issue.)

Meanwhile Jeff Wald (KTLA) managed to dodge most questions regarding the objectivity of KTLA's news. As the underdog (of both the Los Angeles television market and the underdog of all the other panelists) he stumbled and slurred on practically everything he said until the very end, in which he said that his goal is to deliver a quality news product (say what?)

After the discussion I managed to corner the roundabout news director (Jeff Wald) about the Los Angeles Times and the corporate parent (who also owns KTLA.) I asked him, "How much airtime in your newscasts have you devoted to covering the Tribune and Los Angeles Times conflict?" He responded, "Well they're paying my 401K, (so no coverage whatsoever)" and ducked out the south-facing door at the USC Annenberg School of Communication's lobby before I could get in another question.

By the way, I searched the web sites for text and video of the issue at our main competitors' sites:

ABC 7: blurb of the Los Angeles Times' job cutting - http://abclocal.go.com/kabc/story?section=business&id=3700996
ABC 7: Three Billionaires Want To Buy L.A. Times - http://abclocal.go.com/kabc/story?section=local&id=4413517
NBC 4: Trouble At Tribune - http://www.nbc4.tv/money/9403220/detail.html

Pretty sad. And by the way, our station has done ZERO coverage as on-air packages go. Though our station does not tout that we try to present the most objective news possible, like FOX and KTLA (now the CW) alleges.

The panelists also pointed out the problem with radio news. Lots of people were still listening to it, but with less duration, according to the KFWB/ KNX guy (David Hall). I guess people weren't giving KFWB the time of day. (So goes the "You give us 22 minutes, we'll give you the world" slogan. Perhaps a radio listener e-mailed them, asking KFWB to give him/ her back the 22 minutes spent listening to the broadcast.)

Strangely enough, most of the panelists pointed their fingers at CBS Corporation president Leslie Moonves for latching onto the reality show craze, which they attribute (the generated interest in infotainment, lost interest in hard news) and the erosion/ degeneration of broadcast (especially local) news.

Since when is Paris Hilton important enough to become the lead story on the news? (This question was posed by a KNX radio board operator.)

(Historical fact: the Boeing aircraft company created the B-52 bomber fleet somewhere in the middle of the 20th century. Not to be confused with the female band, the B-52's, which is almost irrelevant to current events going on within our government.)

I thought the KMEX/ Univision guy was a pompous ass. The very first thing he said was basically "We're number one." It was only later in his speech (marked by his win-win and arrogant-at-times personality) his intentions behind that tirade against the other broadcast media outlets. I guess he cares about that canine-named bounty hunter ("Dog the Bounty Hunter" a.k.a. Duane Chapman) as much as the KNX radio board operator, as well as myself.

Also the panelists discussed news blogs, talk shows and talk radio networks. (Does KFI AM-640 ring a bell?) When many people listen to these talk show formats and don't read a newspaper or get their information from slightly more objective sources, it's a very scary thought, I mean, really. (Howard Stern, the ferociously ugly Rush Limbaugh, and others from the purported Fair and Balanced news sources...) News blog sites tend to be full of opinion, they said, like with talk shows, and the panelists don't seem to trust it. (Remember Thirty Mile Zone... TMZ.com ?)

Does anyone else see things that are shockingly wrong?

Remember Hurricane Katrina? Some networks showed the damage for a few segments and then totally changed the subject, which blindsided the horrors and devastation that occurred in the Gulf Coast region.

-----

omigosh! this became an opinionated blog entry resulting out of observation.

peace, cuong phu trinh.

dear livejournal,

so i had the opportunity to catch the beach boys after i got off work on saturday, july 15. after having dinner with the trusty jennifer shar, she broke the news that she wouldn't be able to stay around for the performance due to her ethics-related assignments.

i headed back to downtown alhambra by myself and snapped away. those that i kept, were posted to the company's web site. it was a pleasant surprise to see john stamos (full house's "jesse" character) doing vocals and percussion as he's got TV shows to work on.

the remaining beach boys (mike love and bruce johnston) are still very alive and well. does mike love play any instruments? he's the only one who didn't play anything, as he's the primary vocalist for the current beach boys setup.

peace, cuong phu trinh.

i finally put together my first-ever video news report, otherwise known in the media world as a "package" at an event i covered in alhambra.

let me know what you think. i've already received lots of constructive feedback regarding this piece, which is far from perfect.

peace, cuong phu trinh.

i spent the entire first day in manhattan at WCBS-TV. turns out they have a job opening in the equivalent department in new york, that i currently do at KCBS-TV in los angeles.

dear livejournal,

this morning i clocked into work at 3am, only nine hours after i clocked out sunday evening at 6pm. shortly before i went to bed, i was thinking of how if i had to redo college all over again, i'd pick urban planning.

in high school i had no idea what urban planning was. i saw housing developments like heritage and hunter's ridge sprout out of nowhere in fontana, as well as victoria in rancho cucamonga, but i had no idea nor the curiousity of how housing was planned in the inland empire.

at that time i wanted to be an aerospace engineer, or a pilot.

then college came around. i did moderately well to very well in my high school classes. freshman year math classes weren't that bad. it finally started to challenge my mathematical ability. by the end of my freshman year, i hit a brick wall and switched majors to biology...

unfortunately i found similar math class requirements for both biology and engineering majors. i showed myself the door and made an exit, to a new university in a somewhat new city. by now politics started becoming somewhat interesting to me, and my interest in law was fledgling.

my experience in attending a university in a newer city sparked my interest in urban planning... but i already committed myself to political science. the way the trees were planted, the streets were paved, the traffic lights functioned, the buildings shaped and the police... packing those (obviously fattening) donuts out of sight, intrigued me. a city where perfection was desired and built to a plan laid out in the 1960's... that such a corporation had a plan laid out so far in advance.

after i left college, i took up an internship that exposed me more to journalism... which i totally loved.

now i have a journalism job, as a producer. it's not exactly what i wanted, but it's a job that's allowed me to grow and mature in many aspects.

but really, what is it that i want to do?

i seem to be living in the moment (to a degree), rolling with the punches.

peace, cuong phu trinh.

log into your livejournal account and make sure you are designated as a friend for the next entry.

been snowboarding at least once weekly. big bear twice and mountain high several more times. personal life is still in shambles. work's been coming along. trying to squeeze in more time with the friends but despite what kristy says, i feel that she has a far more prolific social life than i.

over the past three months of non-updates i've had many bouts of sushi in laguna beach with karina, janice, naomi, MLA, her husband adam, christine, emmett and linda c. pretty soon i'm gonna add angie to that list.

i've been consumed by work like i wouldn't believe. after all, media knows no holidays and i've worked every holiday on the book since the day after thanksgiving.

and being lonely, that's how life's been!

i met up with the ol' boss fred at CSU fullerton. "where are the trees?" i wondered, for as soon as i set foot on the campus, i was bombarded full blast by those troublesome UV rays. i dropped by fred's office where i see he's quite pleased of his directorship position. we caught up with lunch at the hat and came back to the campus to see 'the 88' play outside the titan student union. what an interesting group they are; not your typical lunchtime band on a college campus; (they front for larger bands and must have cost a fortune) at least a crowd of 200 stood in front of them.

my laundry is done. cya!