On This Day in 2005: My First Skydive!

Today marks 20 years since I went skydiving for the very first time! The jump took place at Skydive San Diego from an altitude of 13,000 feet...which was also the same altitude when I leaped out of another aircraft above Skydive Perris nine months later. I went on to skydive three more times—in 2013 with the HALO jump in Tennessee (at an altitude of 29,190 feet), in 2014 at Skydive Elsinore for my 35th birthday (at an altitude of 12,500 feet) and in 2018 at GoJump Oceanside for birthday #39 (once again at an altitude of 13,000 feet).

Will I go skydiving again, you ask? Hm. If my finances weren't dogshit right now, yes!

On This Day in 2013: Remembering My HALO Jump!

"When once you have tasted flight, you will forever walk the earth with your eyes turned skyward, for there you have been, and there you will always long to return."
-Leonardo da Vinci



So today marks 12 years since I flew to Tennessee to do a HALO jump!

According to my jumpmaster on that flight (who's also the owner of Halojumper.com, the website that I booked this jump through), I was apparently the first Filipino ever to do a civilian HALO tandem skydive! Pretty cool...if true.

I found out in 2022 (through one of my brothers, who also told me about the Tennessee-based HALO jump back in 2006) that I can travel up to Northern California to leap out of a plane from 30,000 feet in the air! (I live in Los Angeles County.)

This comes courtesy of SkyDance Skydiving...which is based in the NorCal city of Davis.

Unfortunately, the SkyDance Skydiving website doesn't mention the price of a HALO tandem jump—but I'm guessing it might be in the 4-figure dollar range like my skydive in Tennessee! If it is, then it's all good if I don't end up doing it; my goal was to jump from the altitude that passenger jets cruise in on their flights at least once.

I have other activities remaining on my bucket list to achieve! Anyways, here are photos from my high-altitude, low-opening skydive in 2013...

LINK: Click here for more images from my HALO tandem skydive















"Sometimes you have to go up so high to realize just how small you really are."
-Felix Baumgartner (October 14, 2012)

On This Day in 2013: Remembering My HALO Jump!

"When once you have tasted flight, you will forever walk the earth with your eyes turned skyward, for there you have been, and there you will always long to return."
-Leonardo da Vinci



So today marks 10 years since I flew to Tennessee to do a HALO jump!

According to my jumpmaster on that flight (who's also the owner of Halojumper.com, the website that I booked this jump through), I was apparently the first Filipino ever to do a civilian HALO tandem skydive! Pretty cool...if true.

I found out last year (through one of my brothers, who also told me about the Tennessee-based HALO jump back in 2006) that I can travel up to Northern California to leap out of a plane from 30,000 feet in the air! (I live in Los Angeles County.)

This comes courtesy of SkyDance Skydiving...which is based in the NorCal city of Davis.

Unfortunately, the SkyDance Skydiving website doesn't mention the price of a HALO tandem jump—but I'm guessing it might be in the 4-figure dollar range like my skydive in Tennessee! If it is, then it's all good if I don't end up doing it; my goal was to jump from the altitude that passenger jets cruise in on their flights at least once.

I have other activities remaining on my bucket list to achieve! Anyways, here are photos from my high-altitude, low-opening skydive in 2013...

LINK: Click here for more images from my HALO tandem skydive















"Sometimes you have to go up so high to realize just how small you really are."
-Felix Baumgartner (October 14, 2012)

Some Tidbits from My '23andMe' Genetics Report...

Earlier today, I received an e-mail from 23andMe informing me about how my DNA report was ready...after I mailed my saliva sample to the biotechnology company last month.

There is so much information to blog about here, but I'll just mention the most obvious and interesting details:

- I'm 99.7% Southeast Asian (surprise, surprise—'cause I'm Filipino)...with my lineage probably originating in Luzon island's Ilocos Region in the Philippines, or possibly Taiwan

- I'm 0.3% Southern East African...with my descendants (who spoke Bantu, a Niger–Congo language) migrating from the highlands of what is today Nigeria and Cameroon

- I have 2% Neanderthal DNA...which is more than that in 98% of other 23andMe customers (in case that image above wasn't enough to inform you about this, heh)

- Two traits that apparently resulted from my Neanderthal ancestry is me having difficulty discarding rarely-used possessions (which is completely accurate!), and me being less likely to have a fear of heights [which is obviously true seeing as how I went skydiving 5 times since 2005... One of those skydives being my HALO jump from 29,190 feet above Tennessee in 2013 (shown below)]

- Another trait that this genetics test accurately predicted is me preferring vanilla over chocolate-flavored ice cream... I love vanilla!

- One trait that this test inaccurately predicted is that I wouldn't have dimples... People kept pointing out that I had cute dimples when I was a child

Anyways, that's enough tidbits about my genetic code for now. 23andMe also offered the option of me knowing what health issues I was predisposed to in the future...but I declined it. This was one of those situations where ignorance is bliss. Happy Wednesday!

On This Day in 2010: Chillin' in Pasadena...

Just thought I'd share this photo of me, my high school friend Sarina and a couple of her other buddies hanging out at the condominium of my other high school friend, Adam, ten years ago today. It was back in 2010 that Adam decided to move to this condo in Pasadena to be much closer to his job at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (in La Cañada Flintridge a few miles away)...which he has been working at since 1999, I believe!

So why am I sharing this photo, you ask? Well— As mentioned in this Blog Entry, December was gonna be an emotional month for me as I commemorated 20 years since I had one last final exam with Yenny in college, and I marked one decade since things started to change drastically (for the worse) in my life. This Pasadena hangout was the last social gathering I attended before s**t would hit the fan (job-wise) a few days later...and this past ten years was gonna be a painful one for me.

Granted, I achieved the goals that I set out to attain in the previous decade (such as doing the H.A.L.O. Jump in 2013), but I was very content with my life until I would unfortunately make mistakes that caused it to change ten years ago next month. I briefly got that life back in 2014, but it was apparently just a fluke (as it lasted only eight months) and I'm back to reminiscing about days long gone.

Anyways, I could go on and on about how I wish I could go back to the way things were, but that would be a huge waste of time. The only constant in life is change...and I, just like everyone else, must accept it and look to the future. Or is that also bad advice and I should just focus on the present instead? Whatever. Only three days till 2021!

Back in the Day: My HALO Tandem Skydive...

"When once you have tasted flight, you will forever walk the earth with your eyes turned skyward, for there you have been, and there you will always long to return."
-Leonardo da Vinci



Five years ago today, I conducted a HALO jump above Whiteville, Tennessee...from an altitude of 29,190 feet. Here are a couple of photos from my webpage that's devoted to this awesome jump; you can check out the rest of the images in the link provided below. Chances are I'll re-post these pics again in 2023—to commemorate the 10-year anniversary of my HALO tandem skydive! Carry on.

LINK: Click here for more images from my HALO tandem skydive















"Sometimes you have to go up so high to realize just how small you really are."
-Felix Baumgartner (October 14, 2012)

Photos of the Day: Images from my iStock Portfolio...

Just thought I'd end this month by sharing some pictures that I posted on iStock.com recently. As of this Blog entry, I have around 400 photos in my online portfolio...which was created on April 18. For those of you who don't know what iStock is, it is one of several websites devoted to microstock photography—generic images that people can purchase online for (legal) personal or business use on the Internet and elsewhere. Folks, like me, who contribute pictures to these websites receive a certain percentage of the profit that is gained when someone buys photos from our portfolios.



I signed up with other sites like Shutterstock, but I am currently focusing on boosting the amount of pics I have on iStock (which is now a part of Getty Images) since it has a higher acceptance rate (at least for me). Based on its criteria to approving submitted pics, it seems like I would need to invest in a DSLR camera [the photos I'm currently submitting online were either taken with my Fujifilm and Sony Cybershot point-and-shoot cameras, and (other stock photographers will be disgusted if they read this) my Android smartphone] before I post images on Shutterstock...which has rejected my first two photo uploads as of this entry. I'm in the process of applying to other microstock sites like 123RF and Dreamstime, but I'm also focusing on getting 500 (great) pictures uploaded to my iStock portfolio as quickly as I can. I read online that a contributor needs at least 500 to 1,000 photos on their iStock page (and every other microstock site) to begin earning a decent income from this endeavor. Hopefully that will be the case soon.



I don't have the funds right now to spare on a Nikkon D3300 (which is one of the cheaper DSLR cameras—at a cost of a little over $400 on some online sites)...so I'll have to make do with what I have now. Anyways, click on the link below to check out (and purchase hi-res photos from) my iStock portfolio! Carry on.

LINK: Richard Par's iStock Photo Portfolio

Back in the Day: Soaring 13,000 Feet Above Perris...

Today marks 10 years since I went skydiving at Perris Valley in Riverside County, California. Good times! Last year marked 10 years since I went skydiving in San Diego, while 2023 will mark a decade since I did the HALO jump...and 2024 marks the 10-year anniversary since my birthday skydive above Lake Elsinore. I have no idea why I'm looking that deep into the future—it's freakin' me out. Anyways, have a great Memorial Day weekend!

So True...

Just thought I'd end November with this interesting meme that was posted on my Facebook news feed a few days ago. I could definitely relate to it...ever since January of 2011. Won't elaborate—but the amount of fun and memorable memories that I have of last decade is equated to the amount of memorably tumultuous experiences I've had over the past five years. It's true that a lot of cool things have happened to me since the start of this decade (finally being able to do the HALO jump in 2013, appearing on my favorite TV show The Big Bang Theory two months ago, etc...), but if I can go back to the feeling of contentment (not complacency, mind you) that I felt in December of 2010, I would. Happy Monday.

Back in the Day: Soaring Above San Diego...

Today marks 10 years since I went skydiving for the very first time! The jump took place at Skydive San Diego from an altitude of 13,000 feet...which was also the same altitude when I leaped out of another aircraft above Skydive Perris nine months later. I went on to skydive two more times—in 2013 with the HALO jump in Tennessee (at an altitude of 29,190 feet), and last year at Skydive Elsinore for my 35th birthday (at an altitude of 12,500 feet). Will I go skydiving again, you ask? Hm. What do you think?

Photos of the Day: Another Jump for Parman!

Earlier today, I celebrated my 35th birthday (woohoo) by doing another tandem skydive...this time at Lake Elsinore in Riverside County, California. Unlike last year's HALO jump—which was from an altitude of 29,190 feet, or my previous skydives in 2005 and '06 (both were from 13,000 feet)—the Elsinore jump was from 12,500 feet. However, for some odd reason (maybe it's because I'm getting old!) I felt like I was gonna pass out during the free fall, which was not a feeling I had in San Diego and Perris Valley almost a decade ago (and definitely not during the HALO jump, seeing as how I was breathing comfortably through an oxygen mask). I also felt like I was getting windburned...which might have to do with the fact that it was 100 degrees in Riverside County today. (I was protected by a blue coverall during my Perris skydive and was totally shielded in military gear during the HALO jump. It also helped that both dives took place in the relatively cool springs of 2006 and '13, respectively...and not during the hot days of early fall in SoCal.) I was obviously stoked once the main parachute deployed a minute after free fall, moreso this time around since the jump was more intense than my previous experiences.



Will I do another tandem, you ask? Good question. I probably shouldn't have told the awesome folks at Skydive Elsinore that this was my fourth time being strapped to an instructor and jumping out of a plane...seeing as how they were all trying to convince me to train (understandably so) to become a licensed skydiver next. I knew that this was gonna happen though, since the HALO jump was supposed to be my swan song from this extreme sport. However, I couldn't think of another cool thing to do to celebrate my 35th birthday (unless I went to Catalina Island again), so I opted for another skydive. I'd rather just enjoy the ride instead of having to worry about constantly staring at an altimeter to see when it was time to pull the ripcord on my parachute...nor do I want to worry about having to pull the ripcord myself! As far as everyone is concerned, I'm a 4-time tandem skydiver. Not as cool as being called a professional skydiver, but I'm still a skydiver nonetheless! Carry on.

LINK: Click here for more images from my Lake Elsinore tandem skydive

Food for Thought...

Apparently, I'm meant to do a HALO jump in Tennessee but not chillin' with a girl I like at work and getting free ice cream with her in Los Angeles this evening. Yep, I'm talking about Nancy. And no, I never spent time with her outside of work before. The plan to hang out today was set up last Thursday but quickly fell through like a tree crashing through the roof of a mobile home in an Oklahoma tornado about two hours ago. (Great analogy, eh?) I'm typing this entry while still feeling the disappointment... Carry on.

H.A.L.O. Jump...

Today marks one year since I did a 30,000-foot tandem skydive above Whiteville, Tennesee—courtesy of the awesome folks at HALOJumper.com. This was no doubt one of the coolest experiences of my life... Can't wait to supplement this by winning the lottery one day and affording the money to pay for a trip (which costs more than $200,000) aboard Virgin Galactic's SpaceShipTwo, hah. Anyways, play the video below to see my HALO jump!