"in the still of the night."

no one can control time.

sometimes, we want to stop it for a little while to enjoy a cinematic moment or take a break from a stressful period. other times, we just want to speed it up to get through some rough moment or arrive at some beautiful destination in our lives already. it's utterly ironic that when we surrender ourselves to life...time slows down and we get the miraculous opportunity to cherish a moment in life. we have a chance to know all there is to know about that moment and memorize it to the fullest.

when we stop trying to control the time in our lives...
we have the time of our lives.

here's one of the numerous examples life has given me...

i spent my friday night with fred, dub, arthur, mike b, matt, jay, and jee eating at yojie's shabu shabu in cerritos. it was a simple yet great time with the homies over a good (and large and crazy delicious) serving of food and drinks. there was nothing extraordinarily special about this experience. it was like many of our other numerous adventures and gatherings. there was a moment during the night where i took a rest from dining and just reclined at my chair. i looked around the half-circle we were dining in and i got a panoramic view of everyone else. dub, jay, matt, and arthur to my right with jee, mike b, and fred to my left. everyone was eating, laughing, and enjoying each other's company. i'm sure they all had their current challenges, problems, and such...but i didn't see that when i looked at them. everyone was simply...happy. i was happy, too. it was at this point where i stopped caring so much about everything else but the joy i felt in the present and everything that belonged to that moment...that time slowed down and i was able to truly and absolutely appreciate this night with friends.

the moment when i'm doing what i love with the people i love...

this is where amazing happens.