…because I’m bored and I’ve been reading way too much Esquire.
The name Brown Rug came about when I bought an Xbox one Christmas and it asked me to come up with a user name. I couldn’t think of one so I got the system to come up with a random name. It generated ‘YellowRug’ for me but I thought it would be hilarious if I replaced ‘yellow’ with ‘brown’ because brown reminded me of poo, and I thought it was funny that my name online would remind me of a crappy brown rug. Ten minutes after registering, I realized how lame the name was and I was bummed because it would cost me $10 to change it. So the name stuck. And it was my fault.
Some of my friends also call me Yew Chon, because that’s how the gwei lo pronounces my Chinese name.
Some guys’ thing is cars, cameras or computers. My thing is guitars.
There has always been two constants in my life that I’ve relied on when things weren’t looking good: God and music. My faith gives me hope for tomorrow, music gives me something to do in the meantime.
I remember my first show, it was at my high school talent show during my senior year. The band was nervous but at the same time we were stoked. My high E string broke the night before while I was restringing my guitar, and we just managed to get a drummer and a singer at the last minute to play our songs. It lasted for only 10 minutes, but after our set the auditorium exploded. From that day on, life just changed.
Even if I never play another show in my life, I still consider myself blessed to have played. It takes an amazing amount of coordination and luck to get the right people together. To have done it once and to be a part of it is something I will never forget.
A lot of people don’t appreciate my laid back approach to things. To me, it just keeps me sane and healthy.
Looking back at all the stupid crap I’ve done in the past, I consider myself lucky for having some pretty forgiving friends.
Now that I think about it, I’m pretty fortunate to have parents that have put up with me for all these years.
My guitar heroes are both named Tom – Tom Morello and Tom Delonge. Cool.
I’m 23 and it’s still hard for me to stop calling myself ‘boy.’
I don’t think people really appreciated the pop-punk era during the late ’90s early ’00s. But in 10 years, I think my musical tastes will be vindicated (hopefully).
Very few things in life make me angry, but if you tell me I can’t do something, I will go out of my way to prove you wrong. I take those challenges personally.
Did you know Tom Delonge’s middle name is Matthew? When I found that out I screamed. Fate will one day bring us together.
The one song that has gotten me through some tough times has been ‘Fix You’ by Coldplay. It’s the only song that can make my eyes well up.
What she’s got to have: kindness, compassion, honesty and a sense of humor. Plus she needs to have nice hair. I have a weird hair fetish.
A man should always know how to cook one dish really well. Which is why I have taken up cooking these past few months.
The first song I learned how to play was ‘Good Riddance (Time Of Your Life)’ by Green Day. That song taught me so much on how to play: rhythm, strumming, picking, and the realization that I could actually be good at this.
Principles are important. They made me the person I am today.
Rain or shine, I will run. The physical meditation clears my head and brings me peace.
I like making mix tapes. If you want one, ask.
I waste way too much time on Youtube. For instance, last night I watched videos on Bees last night. Bees. Did you know 20 hornets can take out a colony of 30,000 bees in 2-3 hours? Nature you scary.
Everyone needs to listen to Zee Avi. She is amazing.
I can’t seem to string together an actual post these days. I probably have A.D.D., judging from the amount of incomplete drafts I’ve compiled on my blogging dashboard. That’s why this update will be in point form, because a) I have no focus but at the same time b) I realize it’s time I need to make an update with some actual substance.
Alcan starts tomorrow, and from talking with some veterans on the team it seems like the season is starting to fall apart. But I knew this year was going to be tough. Roughly a quarter of our core from last year returned, the rest filled with first time paddlers or paddlers that were away from the sport for some time. We’ve been reduced to being a team that used to be in the higher echelon of the dragon boat community to a much lower ranked team. I think what’s annoyed me the most was that we’ve lost so much of our crew from previous years. I don’t mind the failures that this team will probably endure in the next couple of months, but the personnel loss hurts. We lost good people that made the past couple of years enjoyable. Not to say that any of the new members recruited were awful, but when you only have a few returning members come back, the cohesion and chemistry of the team isn’t as strong and the culture that determines a successful and fun team isn’t there anymore. But these are things I can’t really think about now. We need to endure and believe, and sometimes believing is enough of a push to achieve some success – small or large. While many of our crew is inexperienced, I believe we can make up for it in the fact that we can still pull through when the pressure’s on. There will be a lot of that tomorrow and on Sunday. After this weekend, we’ll see what this year’s version of Red Fusion is made of. Sorry if this isn’t making any sense… I’m tired and that isn’t really conducive to me writing something the least bit inspirational or deep. Blagh.
It’s been almost a year and I think I’m ready to move on. I’ve said that so many times, and I just hope it stick now. It’s just not worth the pain anymore.
I’m enjoying my summer for once. I feel as if I’m accomplishing things and making the most of the free time I’ve got. Doing new things, experimenting, being reacquainted with old and new friends, and staying the eff away from World of Warcraft. Gah, what a waste of time that was.
I don’t know why, but I’ve started experimenting with cologne. So far everything smells bad on me except for a nice bottle from Ralph Lauren. It was the only one that I tried today that didn’t make Sammie T. sneeze or forced Bryan to make disgusted faces at me. For some reason I still smell like that Diesel cologne after a thorough shower and washing of my arms.
From what I’m seeing on the twitter feed, the city feels royally bummed out about tonight’s latest debacle. In the past I would be too, but this year I’m feeling pretty numb. I think the loss to Calgary during the 2004 playoffs was the last time I was emotionally connected with the team. After that, I just started to gradually not care. But, on the plus side, my main man Shane O’Brien scored a goal tonight. Mike Gillis, re-sign this man please.
I don’t like making public very private things, but I will say this: it’s hard not caring, or even pretending not to. In the end I guess I still do care.
School starts tomorrow and I’m not ready. Even though I’m officially only taking one course and on the wait list for another, it seems like I really need to cut down on the things I have planned for the summer.
Graduation… how’s that going to work out?
I can’t wait for Portland. As much as I love Vancouver, I need to get out of this city.
This summer I will learn ‘Doesn’t Remind Me’ by Audioslave. That song has been bothering me for a long time now. It needs to be learned, but darn it tremelo picking is hard.
The Fray never get old. Listen to ‘Uncertainty.’ Lovely song.
What happens when some annoying lady starts spamming her garage sale ads in the neighborhood? Someone takes action.
Also check out the world-class ad email exchange. Or some nice disguised weaponry. Another good one. Not since FML have I ever laughed so hard. I’m serious, my life is going to waste now. BAAAAAWW.
Quick random thoughts, free of the excess that would otherwise take up an entire blog post for each one:
1) Olympics are over, and I am sad. But I do not regret, I had fun and for the most part did what I wanted to do during the festivities. 2) Team Canada may have won gold, but I still prefer a Stanley Cup parade in Vancouver. 3) Now that I know how you feel, would you wait for me? 4) Writing songs is hard. Deadline in April coming up fast. 5) Twitter is addictive. Please join so more people may experience more of Matt. 6) Work sucks, I know. But at least I get paid. 7) Fiji in July? Would it benefit me spiritually? Would I be allowed to come? eight) And furthermore, if I were to be offered it, would a second term of co-op be worth it? 9) These pictures won’t upload themselves. 10) More ‘beholding,’ less day dreaming. 11) Vox AC30 or a Bogner Ecstasy? Combo amp or cool half stack? 12) I have yet to venture into the art of cooking. Who’s up for helping me out? 13) Sleep is the enemy. 14) March already. Darn. 15) The Fray – Happiness.
Instead of taking the bus home after school I took a detour to Long and McQuade to try out two guitars I’ve been looking at, the Gibson J45 and the Martin HD28. Initial play tests have come up inconclusive: I can’t decide. Both sound amazing. However, I had my heart set out for the J45 – because the dude from The Fray looked so rad rocking it – but after trying out the Martin I had a feeling that perhaps that might bring me more joy over the J45. The reason was that once I picked up that bad boy there was an instant spark. I started jamming away, not caring who was listening to my poorly played versions of Jack Johnson songs in the store. It took me a second crack at the J45 to really get into it.
But I don’t know, maybe it’ll come down to which looks cooler.
