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About Me. My name is Raymond Mar. I have lived in San Jose my entire life. My last job I was a contractor at Cisco. I'm attending De Anza College to earn an AA degree in accounting. I'm unemployed and I'm looking for a job. If I find a job, then I work in the day and attend classes at night.

Outside school, I workout at the gym, watch anime, and read Japanese comics (manga). I play MahJong Japanese version or Riichi. I'm looking for a regular partner to dance more. And I want to hike more. There is so much to do and so much I want to do. I never get bored.

I'm a positive, kind, smiling, always looking for a laugh person. I seek new adventures, new experiences, and new friends. I'm not a nice person because nice people are boring. I'm a good guy.

Japanese Anime. I became an anime fan in 1996 watching Sailor Moon and Ranma 1/2. My first exposure to anime was in 1982 watching Starblazers (Spaceship Battleship Yamamoto), 1984 watching Robotech, 1992 watching Ranma 1/2 episodes 1-3, and 1994 watching Record of Lodoss Wars episodes 1-3. My first anime convention was Fanime Con 1997. My first costume (cosplay) was Edward Elric from Fullmetal Alchemist in 2004. (Click My Cosplay to view my costume pics.)

My DVD collection fills three 12 gallon containers. I read four manga titles. I have about 175 anime and Japanese Popular (J-Pop) CD music mostly from the 1990s and early 2000s. I have two PVC figurines and a small collection of plastic and resin figures. I have three wall scrolls and three posters. My art book collection totals 30. I have a small collection of anime goodies such as stuffed anime characters (plushies), pencil boards, key chains, playing cards, etc. And I have three fan art books (dounjinshi).

My all time favorite anime are the following:

• Ah! My Goddess
• Azumanga Daioh
• Bleach
• Card Captor Sakura
• Clannad: After Story
• Cowboy Bebop
• Fooly Cooly (FLCL)
• Fullmetal Alchemist
• Lucky Star
• Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha
• Maho Tsukai Tai OAV
• Neon Genesis Evangelion
• Read or Die OAV
• Rozen Maiden
• Rurouni Kenshin
• Sailor Moon
• The Melancholy of Suzumiya Haruhi
• Tsubasa Chronicle
• Vision of Escaflowne
• Voices Of A Distant Star

Being Physically Active. I workout at the gym three days a week. I follow two beginning weight programs from bodybuilding.com two days and I jog on the treadmill and bike on the stationary bike for one day. I stretch out before going to the gym. I continue to improve my workout such as finding new workout guides. My maximum bench press is 200lbs.

Hiking. I started hiking in March 2009. I hiked at two parks, and I'm looking to hike new trails in 2010.

Music. Classic rock, classical music, and classic jazz are my favorite music. I also listen to anime and Japanese Popular and Rock (J-Pop and J-Rock).

Video Games. Video games are my oldest hobby since the Atari. Today, I rarely play video games, and I have been a casual video gamer for a long time. I play Team Fortress 2 that is also my first online video game. I also play Rock Band.

I was never a die-hard video gamer. I played Starcraft and Command & Conquer for the PC a long time ago. My brother and I played Atari, Nintendo, Super Nintendo, Nintendo 64, Gamecube, Playstation 1, Sega Saturn, and Sega Dreamcast games.

Books. I started reading books during my spare time in 2001. Books became a hobby in 2002. The books I read were business, investment, self-improvement, technology, and advice. Since Oct 2008, I became interested in reading more fiction and less non-fiction. I read bestsellers and young adult fiction. I'm a sucker for recommendations from my friends.

The following are books I have read since 2001. Books with an asterisk (*) denotes my all-time favorite.

• Learning SQL by Sikha Bagui
• Uncle John's Great Big Bathroom Reader by the Bathroom Readers' Institute
• Forever . . . by Judy Blume
• Kissing School by Cherie Byrd*
• The Art of Hugging by William Cane
• The Art of Kissing by William Cane
• Don't Sweat The Small Stuff . . . And It's All Small Stuff by Richard Carlson
• How to Win Friends and Influence People by Dale Carnegie*
• Dear Mr. Henshaw by Beverly Cleary
• Built To Last by Jim Collins
• Good to Great by Jim Collins
• The 7 Habits Of Highly Effective People by Stephen Covey*
• Negotiating For Dummies by Michael and Mimi Donaldson
• Gamble To Win Craps by R.D. Ellison
• Inkheart by Cornelia Funke
• Business @ The Speed Of Thought by Bill Gates
• Coraline by Neil Gaiman
• The Princess Bride by William Goldman
• The Age Of Turbulence by Alan Greenspan
• How To Master The Art Of Selling by Tom Hopkins
• How To Invest In Real Estate With Little Or No Money Down by Robert Irwin
• Who Moved My Cheese? by Spencer Johnson*
• Mistakes That Worked by Charlotte Foltz Jones
• Cashflow Quadrant by Robert Kiyosaki*
• Retire Young, Retire Rich by Robert Kiyosaki
• Rich Dad, Poor Dad by Robert Kiyosaki*
• Prophecy by Robert Kiyosaki
• Moneyball by Michael Lewis*
• One Up On Wall Street by Peter Lynch*
• Beating The Street by Peter Lynch
• Swim With The Sharks Without Being Eaten Alive by Harvey Mackay*
• I Hope They Serve Beer In Hell by Tucker Max*
• The Road by Cormac McCarthy
• Bringing Down The House by Ben Mezrich
• Who's Looking Out For Me by Bill O'Reilly
• Unlimited Power by Tony Robbins
• Love Walked In by Marisa De Los Santos
• Negotiating For Your Life by Nicole Schapiro
• Seinlanguage by Jerry Seinfeld
• The Invention of Hugo Cabret by Brian Selznick
• Shuffle Up And Deal by Mike Sexton
• Ten Things I Wish I'd Known Before I Went Out Into The Real World by Maria Shriver
• The Eye Of The Storm by Robert Slater
• The Choice by Nicholas Sparks
• The Millionaire Next Door by Thomas Stanley
• Q&A by Vikas Swarup
• The Art of War by Sun Tzu

Cooking. I rate my cooking skills "survivable" because I have enough cooking skills to cook healthy meals for myself. (Click Cooking 101 to view my recipes.) I have lots to learn including stir-frying and making the meals taste better. I have cookbooks and printed recipes I'm eager to try.

I minimize eating processed foods for myself and my family. We rarely eat frozen foods. We don't eat deli meats. The only canned foods my family and I eat are soups, chili, tomato sauce for spaghetti, vegetables (rarely), and ingredients for big meals such as olives and tuna. My family and I must eat rice and fresh vegetables.

Games. The board games I play range from kiddie games such as Chutes & Ladders and Candy Land; mainstream and popular games such as Monopoly and chess; card games such as UNO and Fluxx, party games such as Pictionary and Apples to Apples; and die-hard games such as Settlers of Catan and Betrayal At The House On The Hill. I learned how to play Japanese MahJong (riichi). My favorite casino game is craps. I play craps only in the casino; however, if the casino is in California, then I play slots.

Dancing. I started to learn ballroom dancing in Jan 2009. My sister dances competitively and she teaches me during her free time. I learned the fox trot, waltz, tango, cha cha cha, nite club two-step, east coast swing, west coast swing, and the hustle. I'm weak at salsa.

Movies. Movies is one of my least hobbies I put time into; however, 2009 was the best year for me watching in theatres and watching on DVD. I take advantage of $4-$5 DVDs. Here are my all-time favorites:

• A League of Their Own
• Aliens
• All the President's Men
• American Beauty
• Beauty and the Beast
• Black Hawk Down
• Cars
• Casablanca
• Clerks
• E.T. The Extra Terrestrial
• Finding Nemo
• Hot Fuzz
• Office Space
• Stand By Me
• The Dark Knight
• The Godfather
• The Princess Bride
• Titanic
• Toy Story
• Wall Street
• UP!

Television. I watch little TV. I spend more time watching sports on TV then primetime. I catch reruns when I'm bored. Otherwise I watch anime. My TV DVD collection is very small. I have five Simpsons box sets, three Family Guy box sets, Malcolm In The Middle Season 1, and The Shield Season 1. Here are my all-time favorites:

• Family Guy
• Knight Rider
• Leave it to Beaver
• Malcolm in the Middle
• Seinfeld
• The A Team
• The Dukes of Hazard
• The Simpsons
• Three's Company

Sports. I follow the headlines in football, baseball, and basketball. I'm a San Francisco 49ers and San Francisco Giants fan. I cheer for the Golden State Warriors and the San Jose Sharks. I follow the headlines for college football and college basketball casually especially the bowls games and March Madness, respectively.

Vacation. My family and I started going on vacations in 2001. In the 1990s, my family and I went to Disneyland and Santa Barbara many times, and Las Vegas and the Grand Canyon once. In 2001, my family and I went to Seaworld and the San Diego Zoo. In 2003, my family and I went to Las Vegas, Grand Canyon, Huntington Library, San Diego, and Hoover Dam.

For myself, I started going on vacations in 2004. I went to Las Vegas in 2004 and 2006; Washington and British Columbia, Canada in 2005, 2008, and 2009; and Oregon in 2005. (Click Family Photo Album to view my vacation pics ^O^)

Miscellaneous:

• Taking pictures of police cars
• Write blogs at Innovating Common Knowledge and Finding Raymond Mar
• Watching ballet especially The Nutcracker