Monday, January 29, 2007

That Thing

Last night was the first night I’ve spent on my own bed in about a week and a half. I leave on Wednesday for another trip, although this time only for one day. I have a trip next week as well as the following week.

Work has never been so busy. I come straight to the office after I wake, and the next thing I know, it’s night time and I drag myself out of the office for dinner and a little vegging in front of the TV. Then it’s back to the office until the late hours.

You know what bothers me the most? It’s not the traveling. It’s not the work. It’s not even the insane hours and sometimes crazy clients I deal with. No, it’s none of that.

After thinking about this for a while, I figured out that what bothers me the most is that I can do this schedule. I’m bothered that there is nothing that’s stopping me or preventing me from working so much. There’s nothing else going on for me to escape even for a little while.

Sure I can go out and find things to do. I can get a group of people together for a fun evening. I’m sure I can find activities on my own. The thing is though, with this schedule, all I want is someone to tell me where the fun is. Is that too much? Just throw me a bone here and point me the way. Not that much to ask for don’t you think?

I think I’m missing that thing. I have some guesses as to what that thing is, but what I am sure of, is that I’m missing that thing. I want to find that thing.

I know I say this every year, but this year’s for real. When work gets less busy, I’m going away to an island for a while. It’ll be simple there. There I can bring me back. Maybe there I’ll find that thing.

I do also need to scope out my Island Kingdom master plan.

Wednesday, January 17, 2007


I was in Vegas this last weekend for a wedding. You often hear about it or see it in TV or movies, but most people (at least me), didn’t actually think it happens. I was in Vegas this last weekend for a wedding where Elvis presided over the wedding. Sweetness.

Yes folks, Elvis wedding in Vegas. What better way to celebrate your big day then with the King in Las Vegas.

It seemed normal enough in the beginning. We all gathered in a small lobby area waiting for the chapel to be ready. There was a gift shop and a motel attached to the chapel. That you may not see in all churches, but Yay for not having to wait to consummate the marriage. I wonder if one of the wedding packages includes an hour free in one of the rooms?

Inside the chapel it seemed pretty normal. There were 2 rows of pews. At the center was a podium. There were two scantily clad show girls standing behind the podiums swaying around to the music that was playing. Just like the church I remembered.

While I busily stared at the show girls thinking how they could stand there with those insane heels on, I noticed fog coming from the stage. It started in the air, and then the floor started to flow with a layer of fog. The music got a little big louder as the excitement of what’s to come grew.

All of a sudden, the back of the chapel opened up with a blinding brightness shinning from the outside. Before I knew what was going on, a pink Cadillac drove into the chapel. The music was now blaring (‘It’s all right’ I think) as Elvis drove the bride into the chapel.

The King proceeded to walk the bride to the alter where the groom and the showgirls awaits. Elvis finished singing a couple of songs and the ceremony began.

The ceremony was quite funny and sweet as Elvis tried to incorporate as many lyrics into the vows as he could. Other than Elvis and the show girls, the rest of the ceremony was pretty normal. A very cool thing was that the entire wedding was being web-casted live. There were a few family members that wouldn’t travel so this was a great way to do it. I recommend that for all weddings.

Elvis sang ‘Love me tender’ as the couple had their first dance. It’s cheesy, but it was quite cute to have Elvis sing to you as you have your first dance. Not a bad singer that Elvis.

After the ceremony, pictures were taken and we were taken to the reception area. I use the word reception area very loosely. As the chapel was attached to a motel, the reception area was actually 2 converted bedrooms.

There was a garter toss. The garter had a big picture of Elvis attached to it. Very classy. For some reason, most of the guys disappeared when this started. It was actually just me and a 7 yr old. No, I did not end up with the garter.




At the end of the reception, I was helping to take care of everything to make sure the bride and groom didn’t have to do much. The bride shouldn’t have to do anything and the groom was still feeling a hangover from the night before. After getting most everything cleaned up, there was just one thing left to do. The top of the cake.

I guess it’s traditional to keep the top layer of the cake. The bride and groom were going off on a cruise after the wedding so they couldn’t take it. Somehow I got the responsibility of getting the cake mailed to the groom’s mother.

There was no box for the cake so we were just driving the cake around. After unsuccessfully driving to a few mailbox etc and other shipping places (closed cause it was Sunday), we finally found a FedEX Kinkko’s that was open.

I went in the store and put the cake on the counter. When the employee asked if she could help me, I simply said I need to mail this.

I’m guessing they don’t get that many request to mail a piece of cake. She went off and conference with the other employees. Pretty soon, she came back to tell me that they can’t ship something like this and that if I go to their main mailing facility across town they maybe able to help. However, she seriously doubt if they would mail it either. Also, the place was closed until Monday.

So much for their ad of being able to ship whatever.

I ended up taking pictures of the cake and all the decorations with me. Unfortunately, the cake had to be left. It didn’t look like that complicated of a cake so I’m sure any bakery can recreate it. I have the Elvis topper along with the chips and dice that decorated the cake. I think that’ll do.

The Elvis wedding was definitely something to experience. It was a fun show for everyone involved. Personally, I’d prefer on the beach or on a hill/cliff overlooking the ocean, but Elvis is Elvis. You can’t go wrong with the King (unless it’s the burger king marrying you, then it’s kinda creepy).

Congrats S and A!! All the best in your marriage!!

Thursday, January 11, 2007

Don’t Say I Didn’t Tell Ya So

In the 8th or 9th grade, I remember thinking about something one night. I laid there on my bed and I saw bad bad things happening all over the world in my dreams that night.

The next day, I wrote down what I saw. I told people what I saw, and of course I just sounded like a crazy person. One person believed me though. The last time I saw him, he thought he was a vampire hunter. He walked around with a trench coat and a samurai sword. He was arrested when he attacked someone in a trailer park late one night claiming that the person was a vampire. The last I heard, he was in an asylum. Guess that’s not the most credible person to back me up.

I outlined 5 things that will bring humans to their knees. Take a read, see if you can guess where I started to lose credibility.

Global warming – I’ve been saying this for a while now. There’s better evidence to back it up today, but no one seems to care. Temperature is increasing and weather patterns are becoming more erratic. We’re creating misalignments in nature that is disruptive to everything around us. Nature will forcefully and violently realign itself. We will not fare well in the realignment.

Most people today are too self centered to care about a global problem. Also, we live in societies that don’t teach the philosophy of the collective. It’s all about the me everywhere you go. We’ve been taught that anything we do is too little to matter. We’ve been taught to just care about having more stuff.

A lot of this is due to the wealth gap issue as well. If you’re starving, you won’t care about global warming. If you’re rich, well, why would you need to care?

Wealth gap – This is by far the granddaddy root of most of the problems today. Don’t let people fool you with their rationalizations for their actions. It’s all about money at the end of the day. As long as there is such a large gap between the rich and the poor, there will always be problems. You will always be able to pay someone to do something stupid like blow themselves up.

Sure, it sounds great with all those virgins you’re getting, but why did you really do it. More than likely, because some rich guy will give your family money so they don’t have to starve. Don’t kid yourselves, that’s why they did it. Go ahead, find me one that didn’t get compensated somehow.

There will always be slavery. Don’t fool yourself into thinking that doesn’t exist anymore. As the wealth gap increases, it will only get worst. Things like the sex trade, a topic no one ever speaks of, will just get bigger and worst.

Soon it will be too late to turn back the clock. A mentality of rich vs poor will be bred into the young. The cycles will then just continue. Rich will expect to and become richer. The poor will expect to and continue to be poor. Changing that mentality will be near impossible.

Overpopulation – There are too many people in this world. Plain and simple. Can the world sustain more? Probably. But why? Why make it so difficult to sustain ourselves?

All, yes, I say all, wars today are over resources. Don’t let them give you other bullshit reasons. We’re fighting for resources to sustain our own way of life. Everyone is and that’s it.

I know it’s programmed into us and in our DNA to procreate in order to protect the species. I understand this and support the design. What was not designed was a cap. It’s great for the growth to happen if we can or willing to control it. Which of course there’s no way in hell that will happen on a global level. We just continue to multiple and the wars will intensify as so many fights for the same little bits of resources. Humans will spread like a cancer with its uncontrollable growth until it destroys the host which in turn will destroy the cancer.

China – Back when I first thought of this, I expected China to take power through force. This I concede I was wrong on. They are every bit as scary as I imagined, but they did it through economics and influence rather than just brute strength. Very impressive.

Today, China is one of the most powerful economic engines in the world. The majority of the debt the US created through this war is owed to China. The US pays millions to China each day just in interest. The US is funding its own and the world’s demise.

I’m not saying China will be the cause of the world’s demise, just that they will be a catalyst.

Maybe not through military power, but through pollution from its ever growing and industrialized citizens, will push global warming over the top. China, ironic that it’s communist, has one of the biggest wealth gaps in the world. The people will revolt soon, there will be blood.

Killer bees – I think I must’ve watched a documentary on this around the time I was thinking this. I’ve always though the killer bees will swarm and spread faster than humans can control. I always said that the bees are coming. Beeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeees!

As I read in an article today, through a decade’s time, the killer bees have indeed migrated from South America to North America. The article was on the spread of killer bees in the New Orleans area after Kathrina. These are hybrid bees that are generally more aggressive and kill other insect types in the area. Hope you enjoy your honey.

The bees may have been where I started to lose people and credibility, but I know the last one will destroy any credibility that I may have from the other points.

Godzilla – Not Godzilla in particular, but a giant lizard like beast that’s pissed and bent on destroying. I believe that there is a natural last resort mechanism that we’re bound to wake. It will be seriously pissed when it wakes up either through an accident, or perhaps the waters getting too warm for its sleep.

One scenario I thought was that Atlantis controlled a creature like this, and therefore they had to be destroyed. I believe humans will find Atlantis one day, and by accident, turn the beast loose.

The others seem to be right on mark. We’ll see how this last one plays out.

You thought there would be a zombie uprising didn't ya?

Well you're wrong. I didn't care for zombies back then.

Of course if you ask me now, yes. Zombie uprising would be included on this list.

Enjoy your day :)

Tuesday, January 09, 2007

Anticipation

On a similar note to the last post about experiences, the importance of the anticipation should also be considered. This has been said by a lot of others before, but it is true. Like a good wine, the anticipation is what ages a good experience to a great experience. A lot of the overall experience could be remembered not by the actual event, but the building up to it.

Anticipation is a wonderful thing. Anything could still possibly happen (unfortunately, good or bad). Even the bad give you a little excitement and most times a little giggle on some worst case scenarios. During this time, everything’s a blank slate. What can happen is only as limiting as your imagination.

Even more fun is when there are other participant(s) involved in this experience. There will be much discussion on the things to do and experience. The excitements you can build with the possibilities are essential to the overall experience.

With others I think it’s important to note the level of anticipation of the others going/experiencing it with you. Everyone involved should have pretty similar levels of excitement over an experience that you’re about to have. If there are/is someone that you’re dragging into it, it’s certainly not going to be as good. If you’re chatting back and forth about things to do, things to eat, things to experience, and some silly stuff to do, the trip can’t go badly.

With a few people involved, you can even plan for wacky experiences. Personally, I think it would be fun to dress up in a penguin suit and march down a busy city in the summer. No reason. It would be a good experience for you and all the others that saw you. You’d be in countless conversations for a long time. What? No good? OK, maybe that’s just me.

You can tell how well the experience of something will be by the anticipation leading up to it most of the times. There is definitely a lot to be said for spontaneity, but it’s difficult to anticipate or plan spontaneity. Don’t let plain laziness or lack of imagination/fun fool you as someone who's trying to be spontaneous.

You can have lots of spontaneity within the experience. That is where you win lots of points in my books, but those people are hard to find. In general though, you should have some general guidelines in order for a good experience. Yes, there are non-planned experiences, but generally, when you go or do something specifically for an experience, you’re doing something in particular. You can always deviate from the plans if something better comes up. That in itself is part of a great experience.

As the time for the experience draws closer, your heart beats ever harder every time you think about it. There are some general guidelines set, but for the most part it’s all a blank slate. All that anticipation just brews with excitement and a small a dash of fear just for taste. Soon, the experience is just lacking one last ingredient. You.

Enjoy.

Friday, January 05, 2007

Procrastinating in the New Year **

January is a very busy month at work. So busy that it’s a bit overwhelming and I don’t know where to start working. I choose to read some old posts of mine. Yea, that’s going to be a good strategy.

I read a few posts from last time this year. I was amazed with a couple of them. I don’t remember writing them at all, but some were really good like this one.

I’m not just patting myself on the back here. I’m more concerned with the fact that I can’t remember writing most of these posts and it’s only been a year. Generally, most of these posts have a reason. However random you may think, there was a reason. Even if it’s not obvious, there’s almost always a reason why I wrote on a topic. The rants are easy because they write themselves and are topical, but most of the other ones, there was a reason. A reason that I’m not going to remember anymore.

Perhaps it’s best to leave the reasons in the past and appreciate the posts for what they are. It may not always be a good idea to remember the why. Just learn and appreciate what has been written.

This brings me to a question. In any experience, is the WHAT you have done more important or is it the WHY? Don’t give me this they’re equal crap. No sitting on the fence. One must be more important than the other. Decide!

For example, let say you’re doing a ‘100 things to do before you die’ list. Is it more important that you check off everything or that there’s a good story behind each check mark? Perhaps by checking off each ‘to-do’, a story would naturally come out of it. Or should you not follow a list of things that you should do? Is the why you did a certain act more memorable or is what you have done?

In case you wonder, I don’t generally care for the whys (shut up, I know what I wrote above. That was more curiosity). I understand that people can experience the same thing on different levels and that certain things (however small) can mean a lot to someone because of the why.

I believe that experiences are the most important things we can achieve for ourselves and perhaps assist others in. Experiences are not like material things where it’s bad to have just for the sake of having. It doesn’t matter how silly or how it’s so been done, if you haven’t tried or experienced something, give it a shot. I don’t believe people can be too good or not good enough for any experience.

Experiences good. No need for a reason.

This is going to be a very busy month for me. Everything from an Elvis wedding in Vegas to a great 2 week stay on the West coast.

Let’s see what experiences we can rack up.

I probably need to stop procrasinating and get to work or there'll be the experience of unemployment.

** I should probably say that like most things, there are exceptions. I still believe that experiences are good and very important to have, but not all experiences should be had if the reason or way of getting the expereience would detract from the actual experience.

There are ways to experience a good things badly.

Wednesday, January 03, 2007

Sacrifice

Those that least understand the term will put others in harms way and call their mistakes a sacrifice. As if somehow that term will glorify their own incompetence.
Check out the special commentary from Keith O

Monday, January 01, 2007

2006 Year End Post

I know posts like this are silly now, but years later, they’re pretty good reminders of what happened. And being that I’m sure that I’ll lose my memory in the near future, this is quite important. So indulge me if you will.

2006 was a big year for Pup. There were some major ups and downs this year. The ups were highs that were hard to sustain, and lows that were difficult to climb out of. There was never a dull moment as I went from one big thing to another.

This was the year that I officially turned OLD. In the grand scheme of things, not really that old, but is an identification of old to me. This sounds silly, but I’ve never thought I’d hit this age.

I know I don’t have to act old and I’m not planning on acting old anytime soon. I can still out move some of you young’en as long as I don’t break a hip. I can’t escape the fact that I am old though.

I’m going to need some time to adjust as I don’t think I’m doing that well with it so far. I know it's all in my head, but it feels different.

Here are some of the things that I’ve noticed so far:

- Everything seems to smell a little worst. It’s kinda gross, but it does. I hope it doesn't get worst. I’ve never been a smelly person. Lately though, there’s some kinda old funk that’s sneaking through and that’s not cool. I don’t like where this is going.

- When you get older, naturally all your friends do too. Sadly, when you’re the only one that’s refusing to act older and do things old people do, it’s a bit of a bummer.

- The mind wanders more and more. I have all the thoughts of a young Pup, but now, there’s a whole new set of things to think about as older Pup. All this stuff in my head is causing general mental slow down.

- I want to keep doing all the fun things I’ve always done. I have more and more work and responsibilities now too. I’m going to be sleeping a lot less I’m afraid.

- In demograpic questions on age, I have to check a new box now.

Besides being old, this was a big year of transitions for Pup.

Big Red was retired after a faithful decade long service. We had some good times in Big Red. Everything from blowing out a tire from hitting a curb with 7 people in the car to numerous 7 hour drives for a weekend visit. Big Red was with me when we spun out in the middle of the street in Denver after a fresh coat of snow. After that, she took me home safely through a blinding blizzard in the middle of the night. She always got me where I needed to be.

In Big Red’s place came Lucy. A hybrid with a big ass/trunk. Hence her full name of Juicy Lucy. Lucy’s tried to get me killed once already, but I don’t blame her. I am happy that Lucy gets 48mpg. I can feel less guilty when I yell at people for car emissions and driving big SUVs.

This new job I took at the end of last year has been very educational. It’s a lot different than what I had been doing in my other jobs. I don’t think it will be what I will be doing forever, but right now, it works. I get to travel and experience a lot of different things. I’m just happy that I don’t have a commute, but I do miss working with people.

As a result of the new job, I moved back to the South. In my grand scheme of things, my plan was to move back to California (OC), but I dropped those dreams during high school. My fascination then became Seattle, and it still is. I’m not sure why I didn’t move up there, but in the back of my mind, I still think it’ll be my final destination.

Moving back to where I've spent the majority of my life has been a great choice though. A couple sets of my best friends also moved here at the same time. I’ve been moving around the country for a while and having to make new friends everywhere I’ve been. It’s nice to instantly have a close circle of friends. Having them so close has been great.

I bought a cute little house this year in a wonderful part of town. It’s by where I went to college. Kinda strange moving back to this area, but it’s a great part of town. The house isn’t much, but it’s mine. I’m slowly decorating, but it’s pretty difficult because I can’t make up my mind what I want the house to be like plus the fact that I’m too cheap to shell out for the nice stuff that I like.

I struggled with buying a house by myself. Not a monetary matter or anything like that. It’s that it’s not the way it was planned. It was suppose to be different. I had imagined how it would be looking at houses together, having endless discussions on comparing the houses, discussing how the rooms would be used and the house decorated, the shared excitement of buying the house. I know you’ll understand that I went ahead and got a house. When I find you, we can work on making this a home.

In the personal realm, there were moments of brilliance, and some very comical moments this year, but overall I think 2006 wasn’t the best of years. Maybe in the New Year things will work out better. I hope I'll seize the opportunity when it shows itself. Just a little nudge would be great though.

I’ve got a lot of things planned that I’d like to do. Hopefully there will be someone that’ll want to do them with me. Promise they’ll be fun.

Here’s to 2007. Cheers.