Where am I going?

Since the 9th or maybe 10th grade, I’ve had everything planned out. I knew what I wanted and I had planned out exactly how I’d get there every step of the way. Not that everything went as planned, but for the most part I got there and I achieved all my goals except for one.

The thing is, the plans I laid out only went as far as my last birthday. I didn’t think I would need to plan after that for a number of reasons. Most of which, is that one goal that I didn’t meet. Meet that goal would set the catalyst for planning the next portion of the plans.

Now here I sit. After spending the weekend either working or getting blindingly drunk. Neither of which is what I want to do with my weekend, but nevertheless, is what I do nowadays. Well, that and clean. For those of you that know me, you know is this very unlike me. Strangely, cleaning has become my biggest source of relaxation nowadays. Sad I know.

Sidebar -

I was walking from a gas station on Friday. After a very rough week and spending all day with my worst client, I was not in a good place. Walking from the gas station, a seemingly homeless dude came up and asked me ‘dude, you doing al’right?’.

How bad must I’ve looked in my suit for a homeless dude to ask if I was ok? It was funny but at the same time a bit concerning. I must've been looking as bad as I've been feeling lately.

I’m in a place now where for the first time, I don’t know what I’m aiming for. I don’t have a goal anymore. This is a strange and scary place for me. The one goal that I’ve wanted to complete, the one goal that’s always been so important to me and that which all my other goals are driven by, I don’t have much faith that I can achieve it anymore.

For the first time in my life, I don’t have a desire to even try to achieve this first and seemingly such important of a goal. I simply just don’t care about it anymore and have lost the will to fight for it.

Now with that goal being on hold, and having achieving most of the bigger goals, I’m a bit at a loss.

What am I to do now? Where am I going now?

I hope I figure it out soon.

I'm not liking the person i'm becoming.

Long hard road…


I’ve been on the road for the last 12 days. This will be the first night I've spent in my own bed in quite a while.

Although it wasn’t all for work, it was mostly work. Work that I'm beginning to seriously resent.



I’ve never been so glad to be at home.

From all of us.

Our deepest condolences to everyone affected by today’s tragedy.

Headline Pup

Here are my comments on current headlines.

• U.S. to extend troops' Iraq tours to 15 months

Yes, this is going to go well. There’s also an article stating that the military is spending 1 billion dollars in bonuses to keep the military personnel there. It’s taken that extreme of a measure to keep our forces there. Suprised that so many are not re-enlisting?

What in the hell are you doing to our military Mr. President?

I cringe every time W blames anyone for not supporting the military. You, Mr. President are the worst culprit and abuser this military has ever endured. Every military analyst and former military commander have all stated that what is being done to our military will require decades to fix. We are incapable of quickly responding to any major event that happens within our country or in any country outside the Middle East because the military has been stretch so thin.

Funny, for someone who ditched their military duties seems to think they know a lot about how to command the military. This is not a game Mr. President. These are real people that you’re fucking around with, and for all your talk about wanting to protect this country, you sure are doing a good job of weakening our defenses.

Take some responsibility for once. You got us into this. Stop claiming it’s someone else’s fault for the situation the military is in. Man up for once.

Coward is the new adjective that I have for you now.

• Al-Qaida claims two Algeria bombings

Any of you still think Saddam was the biggest threat to the US and the world? We had these guys (Al-Qaida) on the run. We had the world with us hunting these bastards down. What did we do? We turned out attention to something that was not only NOT a threat, but if you actually read any intelligence on the matter, would know that Saddam hated Al-Qaida too.

Meanwhile, while we half assed Afghanistan, the Taliban is back and just as strong as before. We now have to fight them all over again. This time, we're in the defensive positions.

Great leadership W.

• Cheney: Democrats will drop timetables

Yes. Give this administration another blank check for billions of dollars without any form of checks or accountabilities. That seemed to have worked well for the 1st trillion dollars that we spent.

I love how you spin the situation as the democrates holding up the process. Sir, in case you didn't know? You're the one doing the vetos.

Anyone remember what W said about, Iraq’s oil will pay for everything and we won’t have to spend any money on reconstruction? How’s that working out?

• Report blames Pentagon neglect for Walter Reed conditions.

No shit Sherlock. Who else’s fault would it be? The wounded soldiers who was given false hope that the military would take good care of them?

• Catholic sex abuse claims drop for second year, report finds

What do you want? A fucking cookie? You’re not suppose to have sex abuse claims you self righteous bastards.

• Study: Abstinence Classes Failing

Wow, that's a big suprise. I would've NEVER had guessed that telling kids not to have sex would not be enough to stop them from having sex. We spend $176 million dollars a year on this crap.

Students who took part in sexual abstinence programs were just as likely to have sex as those who did not, according to a study ordered by Congress.

You and your Neo-cons are a joke. Nothing you believe in or do is realistic. You live in some fantasy land where you actually think your ideas could work. The only way for your ideas to work is to live in a theocracy. You know, like the people in the Middle East that we’re fighting. Yes, I see no difference between you and them. There’s nothing Al-Quida or any of those radical Islamic groups over there that could’ve harmed our country more in the last 5 years than you.

It’s time you woke up. When you signed to approve this abstinence you knew this was just another way for you to indirectly fund churches using government money (yea, check it, most of this money goes to church sponsored programs). Everything you've done is someway for your little friends and special interest groups. I have not seen any action yet in 7 years that I thought you did for the good of ALL Americans.

These are seriously times, and we need seriously people who will try to solve them. We don't need some born again frat boy trying to hook up his friends with sweet jobs and incentives and play war games with real lives.

You have a bit over a year left. Please be a leader for all of America for once. I beg of you.

Be a leader that Amercians can be proud to call their president.

Stressful De-stress Day

Having had a pretty long week, I planned to have a de-stress Saturday. I would do things that I’ve been meaning to do for a while around town. Not thinking about work or anything related to work.

The day started out well. I went to the museum where they had an exhibit from the Louve. Some of the art was amazing. What’s even more amazing is that they have this head set that they give you. Next to all the paintings or pieces of art there was a number. You just have to push the number into the headset and a description/story of the art would come on. Simply brilliant.

I was pretty interested in the stories about how elaborate life on the court was. They had all this great art and excess of fancy stuff everywhere. All the while, the common people in France were all starving. Yea, the court deserved to have their heads chopped off.

Afterwards, we went to a couple of bars to have a few drinks. Later in the evening, I decided to go to a club with a friend. I hate clubs. I don’t do them because of the people that go. Pretentious dumb ass posers that’s just there to hook up. Nothing wrong with that, I have different expectations when going to a club. Like actual dancing. This is my problem. I know that.

Anyway, we went to a place to meet up with another friend before going. We had a couple of drinks and when we came out, Lucy was gone. Oh my fucking lord. Lucy’s gone.

There was a cop nearby so I waved him down and started screaming about where the hell is my car. He said to call 911 to see if it had been impounded. Seriously? Is this the best use for 911?

I called and sure enough, Lucy had been towed. The police offered no reason as to why it was towed. I parked next to a meter. It was a real spot. I later found out that after 8pm, that spot becomes a taxi only spot. Nice of them to let people know with signs. Oh wait, yea, there wasn’t any.

Since there was nothing we could do that night about Lucy, I agreed to go to the club. I’m already seriously pissed. When we got to the club, they wouldn’t let me in. What the fuck? The guy was like you need to wear a collar shirt and you can’t wear sneakers.

Listen jackass. People who actually dance need to have dancing gear, and that’s what I’m wearing. Yea, I know you’re just looking for dumb ass preppy boys just there to drink and move around like they’ve got a rat crawling but their ass, but don’t be cramping me. Y’all can go fuck yourselves.

I’m sure if I said that my night would’ve gotten worst.

My friends had already gone through, and I went up to tell them the bad news. The manager came by and told me I can come in if I paid a bit more. Grudgingly, I agreed.

When we got in, it was just like I thought. A bunch of pretentious fucks that wouldn’t be able to dance if their lives depended on it. Just there chatting up the ladies. Oh, and you ladies might’ve looked good swaying back and forth, but please don’t say you were dancing. There were girls there that were paid to dance on the little stages. Now they can dance. Guess what, they wear sneakers.

I know that’s the purpose of these places. I know I get on my soapboxes about this, but I was in no mood. This might have been a club, and there might have been club music, but there certainly weren’t any club kids. I know I’m from a different mindset and era of clubs, but it’s just so hard to tolerate this crap. Especially being seriously pissed about Lucy.

The night went on. I got my groove on. I danced by the stage girls. They must’ve been ok with my moves. Talked to a couple of them and got some free water! Yay free water. They agreed about my view on most of the people in there.

I apologize to all of you that I texted. Especially the ones bragging about my dancing abilities. Totally uncalled for even if it’s true.

Today, I called the police to get Lucy back. Their computer system was down so they’re not able to release any car. That’s just fantastic. They’re only open from 8-4pm. This makes it very difficult for anyone to drive me by the station then pick up Lucy during the week.

Now Lucy’s gonna be scared and alone for another night. I’m glad gloomy’s with her. I’m going to take off the protection on gloomy’s claws when I get them back. He’ll have the order to claw out the next person that touches Lucy.

I blame all this on my stupidity. Not about the parking cause that just wasn’t marked. I was stupid in not making a trip this weekend. Stupid for not playing in an ultimate tournament cause I didn’t feel like getting cold. Stupid for trying to save $4 to park in a parking lot. Then stupid for going to clubs that I know would annoy the living shit out of me.

As a result of this, I’ve decided that I’m going to be grounded. No week night activity till May. Saturday nights I can visit someone’s home, but that’s it. No going out. I’m grounded. Hopefully that’ll teach me a lesson about being that stupid.

So you think?

I’ve just had the most non scary vivid and realistic dream I’ve ever had in a while. As some of you know, for whatever reason, I don’t dream much, or at least don’t remember them much anymore.

Today was different. I remembered everything.

I was walking by this building around downtown with some friends. We see a long line wrapped around one of the buildings and we ask what was going on. One of the people in line said that it’s the auditions for ‘So you think you can dance?’

As you would guess, that’s totally my show.

Somehow I decided to audition with my friends. I don’t know who these friends are as I don’t think I have any friends that dances without large amounts of alcohol. Maybe this is a hint from my sub-conscientious. Magically, even though there was a long line, we were in the audition room in no time. Good ol’ fast forwarding to the good part dreams.

We went in and they spilt us up in a small group. Unlike what you’ve seen on the actual show where they audition one by one, it was set up in a dance off format. There were probably around 6 of us hoping around in a circle. People took turns in the middle to showcase their stuff.

Everyone was doing some sick moves, including me (hey, it’s my dream).

The judges later lined us up to give us our evaluations. Then they chose 3 guys and a girl to move on. They said they had room for one more. They called me and a couple of other guys up. The judges couldn’t decide so they asked us to do a quick number to help them with their final decision.

The first guy did some handstands and flips, the second guy did head spins. When it got to me, I just let it out. I can’t remember what I did exactly, but I just remember it kicked ass. Remember, we’re still in my dream, so yes, I can do some kicked ass dance moves.

The head judge lined the 3 of us up again and spoke very nicely about all of us. Then he said. We’ve decided…..

Pup….. it’s time for you to get your dance on. (yes, I know that’s not what they say on the show, but they should).

I was thrilled!!

I literally jumped out of bed after that announcement.

Amazing that after only 5 hours of sleep, this dream got me all fired up for the day.



Coincidentally, I looked at the show on the web, and they’re having auditions here in Atlanta soon. HA.


UPDATE - OMG, the auditions are today. Hmmm..

The Things I Do for My Friends

I was in Nashville this last weekend for an old college friend’s bachelor party. I haven’t seen this guy in quite awhile. Him, me, and another friend were trouble when we got together in college. For some reason when we were together, all reason goes out the door, heavy drinking and stupidity always ensued.

Me and the friend went up on Saturday. We checked in at the hotel and proceeded to meet the bachelor at his uncle’s house. It was amazing as we turned in the subdivision. This is the Bel Air of Nashville. The houses were all large and manor-ly. They were very nice and not tacky as some big houses/neighborhoods can be. A real sense of old money.

I later found out this is where Al Gore lives too. I drove by Al’s house today!! Hi Al!!

When we got there, we chatted a bit and did some catching up. As it always happens, we talked about some old drinking stories. Man, were we stupid then. I may have to write some of those down sometime, they're stupidity in rare form.

Now that we’re together again, I’m sure stupidity would again come out and party with us. At least that’s what I’m expecting.

We first went to a professional hockey game. Having always lived in the south of wherever I’m at, hockey was not a game that I grew up with or even know much about. I know there's a puck, a net and every now and then, a fight. This was my first introduction to hockey other then the 2 seconds I’d watch flipping through the channels.

In case you didn’t know, I’m one for screaming and cheering loudly. It doesn’t matter much about what I’m screaming for, it’s just fun for me to scream either cheers and boos. I don’t get to boo openly at people that often. I totally think we need to boo more in regular conversation. Sports events are where I let out all my boos.

This hockey game had all that I was looking for. The crowd was loud and fired up. The action was fast. Of course, the gigantic beers didn’t hurt either. I was screaming all over the place. People around me thought I was a good fan.

Good times. I may have to go back for another.

After the game, we met up with a few more guys (there was now 18 people in all). We were in the middle of the clubs and bars of Nashville. I know from experience that this is an extremely fun place. So many fun bars and stuff. When asked what was next, I fully expected a night of fun bar hopping. You know what the majority of the people said? Nudie bar.

Damn it.

Another in case you didn’t know. I HATE nudie bars. I don’t understand the concept or any good reasoning why anyone would go to a place to look and not be able to do anything about. There are also crazy rules about these places in Tennessee as well. You can either be full nude but BYOB, or serve, but the girls have to have pasties and a G-string. If you go to the full nude place, there’s no contact at all, and the places that serve, a bud light will cost you about $8.

Yes, it’s insanely stupid.

With the amount of cash that you would drop at one of these places, wouldn’t it be better to go to a bar and spend it on real girls? You’d probably see the same amount of skin plus you’ll probably be able to touch, and there maybe a chance you can take one home.

All that’ll happen at a nudie bar is you’ll be poor and unsatisfied.

I kept my mouth shut and just went with the crowd. After all, it’s not my bachelor party. We elected to go to a full nude place so we had to first drive around to find some beer and liquor. Tennessee doesn’t allow beer to be sold with liquor and vice versa so 2 stops had to be made.

We finally get in and we sit down. Not much to report here. Just the same boring stuff. Sadly, I was more interested in the girl’s pole skills and wondering how they move around in those stripper heels then I was looking at them. The thing that I noticed was that even though Nashville has some of the most attractive women I’ve seen, they certainly weren’t working at these places.

They traded hot drunk chicks which we would’ve seen at the bars for these girls. No my bachelor party I know.

I got smacked by a couple of friends throughout the night cause I was texting some people. They were all like, there’s a naked chick on stage, why’re you texting? You know what, I’ve seen it and my texting was more interesting.

I didn’t say that, but still.

I was thinking later as to who was more for going to the bars and who was more for going to the nudie bars. There was an almost equal amount of single and married guys. Can you guess who was more for which place?

If you said, married guys more for nudie bars, then you’re right.

At first I thought this was odd, but then it really does make sense for all the reason that I didn’t like nudie bars.

At a nudie bar, there’s no chance of going very far with the strippers. Frankly, you just don’t have that much money. With the alcohol being so expensive, you probably won’t drink that much. Whereas I guess at a bar, they could be tempted with a hot drunk chick. Guess it’s about playing it safe.

At least that’s what I think.

Well, the important thing is that I think the bachelor had a good time.

Making me see naked chicks. Oh, the sacrifices I make for my friends.

MC Rove

I don't know if this is funny or scary.

http://www.cbsnews.com/sections/i_video/main500251.shtml?id=2622366n

1am at the Post Office

It’s about 1am here. I just went to the post office (yes, I go in the middle of the night).

When I was there mailing some stuff, I saw a big burly guy reading a letter at the other side of the post office. He was crying his eyes out.

I wonder what’s on that letter.

10 Things in My Head

- The ides of March. We’re told that we have to beware of them.

Ides sounds like a delicious fruit. You have to look out for them because a big nasty cockroach-like bug lives inside it. When you take bite from this super delicious fruit, the bug springs to life and jumps down your throat and lay eggs. After a short period, thousands of these bugs will craw out of your mouth and anus.

OK, maybe we should beware of them.

- What is the male equivalent of a princess (spoiled girl)? Like, what do you call a spoiled guy?

- It’s cool that I can say I woke up and went to bed in my own house yesterday, but I had lunch in New York City.

- If you think having record heat in one part of the country and a snowstorm in another part is normal, you’ve got some fun surprises coming.

- I seriously need to just plan a vacation and go. It’s almost April and I’ve got no plans. I’m gonna miss out on vacationing again this year and it’s gonna seriously piss me off.

- I need to find a way to take advantage of all the stupid greedy people who are losing their homes now because they can’t pay the mortgage. Stop blaming the mortgage companies. Yes, many of them probably lied, but you still should’ve known better or not be so damn greedy.

- I found a place that would be perfect to throw a party. Seriously awesome place. It’s part of an antique store and they’ve decorated it in an old French Moulin Rouge style. Seriously awesome. Now I just need to make 125 or so friends to fill the room and it’s on.

- Something’s digging up my flowers. Something’s gonna have to die. Extreme prejudice will be applied. Then I will feed it an Ide of March.

- I think it’s time for another serious clean the house session. I can’t believe I even wrote that. A few years ago, I would’ve slapped me silly for even thinking that. Now I just want to smell Mr. Clean.

- What’s a better utensil? The spoon or the fork? I say the spoon. Nothing the fork can do that my hands can’t. My hands can’t help me drink soup. Discuss.

What the Fuck is wrong with you people?

It has recently come to light that this administration may have had a hand in the dismissing of several US attorneys who were being a thorn in the sides of the Republicans and Neo-Cons. One of the dismissed was the attorney who prosecuted a key Republican last year for corruption. These attorneys are getting fired for doing their job. Republicans complains that they’re being unfairly targeted in corruption investigations. You know what jackass, if you were so corrupt there wouldn’t be investigations on you.

More information keeps getting revealed that the shadow government that’s run by Karl Rove was the mastermind behind this. This is fantastic. Everything that this country stands against. A government not controlled by the people, but by a few. Sadly, our society has become accepting of this and they don’t even try to hide it that much anymore. It’s open knowledge and everyday they spit and taunt the public with their power.

You can read about all this in any newspaper or the internet.

Oh, but I’m not here to say anymore on how insanely corrupt this government is. No, I’m also not here to tell you that I’m pretty sure this isn’t the kind of behavior Jesus would support as they’ve lead you to believe and how they got themselves in power.

No, what the fuck is wrong with YOU. Yes, you the general public. This is not an issue to be taken lightly. Do you know how insanely fucked up it is for the executive branch to get rid of people in the judiciary just for investigating them? They are slowly getting rid of any sort of checks they have on themselves and the rest of the government.

The judiciary goes after corruption and wrong doings. That’s all about the neo-cons. Can you not see how insanely bold and corrupt these neo-cons are that they would try to get rid of the people that are coming after them?

Who the fuck is you (neo-cons) that you can get on TV and tell America that we have to go fight a corrupt regime when you are no better then the people that you’re making the soldiers fight? These types of behaviors are exactly what we’re fighting to stop. This administration is doing the same thing.

You, the public. When the fuck are you going to wake up? These people do NOT have your best interest in mind. They do NOT have the country’s best interest in mind. They definitely do NOT have the military’s best interest in mind. They only care about one thing, and frankly, the rest of us are SOL.

In this country, we keep hearing the word democracy and how great it is. How we must spread democracy around the world. We keep hearing this, but most of the people yelling the loudest doesn’t even understand the concept.

Democracy is hard work. It’s not something that just happens. Democracy doesn’t just happen simply because you get to vote for something. Getting to vote is not what it means to be a democratic society. Democracy is advanced civilization. Democracy demands that its residents be aware of what the hell is going on. Democracy only works when the population is educated and knowledgeable. When an uneducated population votes, it’s called mob mentality, not democracy.

Even though the majority of TV networks have this topic plastered all over, I’m almost positive the majority of American doesn’t really have any idea of what’s going on. Somehow, you are so pre-occupied that you don’t care how insanely corrupt this government that you live under is and doesn’t understand the importance of this.

How do you not care? How do you not take an interest in what’s going on in society and especially the government? Have all of you been so numbed and so far removed that you don’t see the need to care any more? If that’s the case, you don’t need to live in a democracy. You don’t deserve it.

Go live in a dictatorship where they will tell you what to do and when to do it. That’s what the neo-cons are trying to do. Think Patriot act.

Those of us that understand democracy and wants to fight for our right to live in a democracy will pay attention to what’s going on.

If you’ve become so self absorbed that you don’t know what’s going on around you, or just doesn’t seem to care. I suggest you don’t vote anymore. You don’t deserve to have the rights of living in a democracy.

Best Burger in America!

Check it out. The Wall Street Journal just named Ann's ghetto burger the best burger in America!

http://www.ajc.com/living/content/living/food/stories/2007/03/09/0310lvburger.html?imw=Y

Congrats Ann!

Weekend of Awesomeness

Oh where do I start? After another long week at work, I was so ready to just relax.

It started out great as on Thursday, I went to probably the best Chinese restaurant I’ve ever been to. The chef had won the national cooking championship in China 2 years in a row (why we don’t have that here is beyond me. We’re so lame when it comes to food). I was a little hesitant first at the name, Tasty China. Seriously, that sounds like the name a stripper or a porn star.

The menu had some interesting things on it that I’ve never seen. Not ingredient wise, just the way it was prepared. Most I’ve never heard of. I was a little hesitant on that too so I ordered what I usually order. Our waiter, who also happens to be the owner, said that I didn’t want that. I said no? He said no. He told me what to order instead. He did the same with what my friend ordered.

All I have to say is that the food was amazing. It was like nothing I’ve ever tasted before. I’ve used the phrase ‘a party in my mouth’ without truly knowing what that means. I think I know what that means now.

On Friday, there was yummy Indian food followed by a few games of Battleship at the bar. Board games in the bar is just plain awesome. We also went to a possible venue/bar for St. Paddy’s day. What? You don’t test drive bars before deciding to stay there for most of the day?

It was a nice old Irish bar. They had a good Scotch/whisky menu with great prices. I order a Guinness to try it out. After all, any Irish pub worth anything should know how to pour a Guinness. My Guinness was a bit flat and tasteless. My 2nd beer and both of my friend’s beers both tasted funny as well. Oh well, so much for that bar.

Some friends stayed over from the night before. Too much drinking and Karaoke Revolution-ing. For lunch, we went to a place called Ann’s snack shop. It was a little trailer with 6 seats in a not so good neighborhood.

The lady working there, Ann, was this small thin 70-ish looking lady. She might seem nice, but she’s the burger Nazi. No burger for you! First of all, you have to be in one of the 6 seats to get served. When someone would walk in after the seats are taken, she would yell something to the effect of ‘Can’t you see it’s full? Get out and wait with the rest of the people.” It was fantastic.

I ordered the Ghetto burger. Yes, that’s what it’s called. It’s a monstrous (I’m thinking probably 1.5-2 pounds of beef) thing of heart attack beauty. To create this monster, I first saw Ann put strips of bacon in the deep fryer. She probably thinks bacon is too good for you, so let’s deep fry it. She then uses the bacon grease to deep fry the fries. OMG, I could feel my arties clog up. It was so good I couldn’t stop eating though.

After my friends woke from a short grease induced coma, we went to the park. You could not ask for a better day. The temperature was perfect. The sun was out but not too shinny. The ladies were taking advantage of the first warm weekend to let the girls come out. I love warm weather.

I wasn’t sure if we were allowed to drink in the park, so I carried a cooler that looked like a backpack to conceal it if I needed to. Boy was I wrong. When we got there, everyone was just walking around with a beer in their hand or a case.

What probably was the best part of the park was who was also there. I saw an all male cheerleading squad practice their routine. It’s everything like you’d think it’d be. Simply fantastic.

I’m quickly reminded of why I moved into the city. This is so unlike suburbia. There were only a few kids running around. Everyone was drinking and having a good time. I mentioned the all male cheerleading squad right? This was just what I’m looking for.

Today, I got inspired to do some landscaping and I redid a lot of the front of the house. I trimmed all the bushes, put down new cedar mulch, put in a little curb fence thingy, and I planted some flowers. This is the first time I’ve ever planted flowers. I was quite impressed with myself. I’m becoming quite domestic. I got some Begonias and Inpatients and I also planted some sunflowers. That should be awesome if all comes together.

This week has some big events planned. Hope it’s as good as this last weekend.

Madness that is March

I’ve gotta say, this is my favorite time of the year in terms of sports. It’s time for the college basketball tournament.

All the work during the season leads to first the conference championships going on this week. This is where you prove your team’s dominance in your conference. For many teams, this is their last chance to show that they’ve got game and they belong in the big dance.

The conference championships will all culminate to the big selection show on Sunday where they’ll pick the 64 teams to play in the NCAA tournament for the national championship.

Unlike college football, there’s not as much controversy or drama here. I think the people who pick can do a pretty good job picking the top 64 teams (rather than picking the top 2 teams as they need to in football). There’s no room to bitch once you’re in. Win and keep moving. Lose and go home.

Besides the actual tournament, there’s the tournament bracket pick’em. This is the way for all of us to partcipate in this event. Most of you probably know about this as I’m sure I’ve emailed most of you to join my bracket. Basically, you pick who’s going to win.

What makes the tournament so much fun is all the upsets. Just because a team is seeded higher does not mean that they will do well in this one game against someone seeded lower. This is also what makes the pick’em so much fun and interesting. I can almost guarantee you that if you don’t pick upsets, you’re not going to win. I've had people get their cats to pick and do relatively well or pick by favorite color.

I think unlike professional basketball, which a lot of players are more concerned with doing well for their next big signing bonus rather than the team, I truly believe players play in the tournament for their school and the team. I think most of these guys understand that they’re not going to the NBA. This is their one shot at sports glory, and because of that, they give it their all.

Yes, I understand that this is a huge spotlight for the players, and many who do well during the tournament will go to the NBA. But I think that during the tournament, that’s in the back of their minds. They play in the tournament to represent and win for their school.

Pick out a nice bar stool. Invite some friends. It’s tournament time.

Comfort

There’s a balance in our well being that I think people in industrialized countries are seriously neglecting. Too often and for too much do we rely technology to cater to our every little comforts and compliants. At the slightest bit of discomfort, we run to something to make it better.

Mind you, these are not life threatening discomforts, just general little ones, and yet we react to them all equally.

If we feel a little warm, we instantly turn down the thermostat, if we’re a little bit cold, we instantly turn up the thermostat. If we have a little ache or pain, we run to the medicine cabinet. Nowadays, if we’re even a little bit crazy, there’s a pill to make it all better too. Of course, I’m exaggerating a little here, but not really.

I’m not against modern inventions and technology, but there is a point where we need to realize that just because we can be a little bit more comfortable, we don’t need to be and it’s ok to just suck it up a little. It's not bad to teach your body to adapt.

I think as a species we’re making ourselves weaker in a physical sense. Sure, there’re super athletes out there and very healthy people all over the place, but in general, I think we’re losing some of our physical well being. We’re becoming soft, fat, and complacent.

We’ve forgotten what it’s like to be in nature. In nature without all our advances to control it, and to live without our technology. I’m not saying we go back and live in the stone ages or anything. Everyone knows I’d go crazy without my indoor pluming. There is just a balance that we need to have and not to allow ourself to be completely dependent.

What would happen if we lost our technological advancements all of a sudden? How many people do you think will make it? At the slightest discomfort, how many of us do you think will just give up? Not ever having known any sort of discomfort.

Besides making ourselves weaker, by depending on technology so much, we also in turn become dependent to energy resources. As you know, this isn’t going to work out very well unless we create different ways to create energy.

Next time you feel like doing something just to make yourself a little more comfortable, think if you really need to waste resources to do that.

Maybe you can suck it up a little. Stop being such a wuss. It's really not too bad to tough things out.

Passed out

As some of you may know, I don’t enjoy sleeping. I don’t do all that much of it if I can help it. I’m usually up till I’m just falling asleep in my chair or sofa. When I get into bed, I always set my clock radio for 9 min for it to auto shut off. I’ve never heard it shut off.

All this non sleeping does eventually catch up to me. Once or twice a year, I’ll just sleep forever. Last night was one of these cases. I know some of you will be proud.

I went out for some early drinking goodness at my favorite pub. It had to be early cause my friend is only allowed out for a few hours in the afternoon before being called back by his girlfriend.

A lot of drinking ensued since we haven’t seen each other in a while. Our waitress informed us that we were her last table EVER. After 23 years, she’s quitting the food service industry. So yay for her.

I think I am becoming more of a regular there. I offered some of my beer that our waiter’s never had, so he was very appreciative. Another waiter from the other night I was there came by to say hi. Soon, I’ll have them yell “Pup” when I come in.

When we got back home, I was a bit drunk and it was still early, around 7pm or so. I thought I’d take a little nap and hope to make the room stop spinning. The next time I got up, it was 2am.

Crap.

This happened to me when I was in Dallas too. Tried the same let’s take a quick nap thing. That so doesn’t work out. So I decided to just keep sleeping through the night and just now got up. I slept for a full 12 hours.

I do feel quite rested. Hope my body enjoyed that cause it’s not going to get sleep for a while.

TUI

Texting under the influence.

It’s not good kids. Don’t do it. It’s not worth the next day ‘oh damn why did I text that’.

Here are some of what was texted last night.

- I’m the best Dig Dug player EVER. (it’s true)
- Respect my Pimping!
- Shuffleboard is the funniest! (Funnist? Really? It’s not even a word)
- I’m so drunk I just ran into a door (don’t remember texting that or the door. Hmm)
- It’s time to dance!
- Random old job stuff (very interesting, but not for you. Just me and Howdy. Hi Howdy!)
- Seriously, I’m so drunk I ran into the door again! (Yea, definitely don’t remember that one)

There were lots of other things I would’ve texted, but apparently all my friends were either asleep or ignoring me. This was early too. This is what happens when you get old. Your friends are old and go to sleep early. Lame.

The lesson learned from last night. Don’t TUI. Have a designated holder for your cell phone.
And if you see your friends TUI, stop them. Friends don’t let friends Text under the influence.

Changes

This is probably not what I had in mind when I said try I’d try new things, but here’s to trying some new stuff on this blog.

I just recently found all these cool stuff you can do. Yea, I’m pretty behind.

All you people that went to wordpress can suck it!! This does labels/categories now and is a whole lot easier to use.

This is still under construction, so don't get all used to anything.

Any suggestions on what else to do on here?

It’s so nice and stormy outside. I wish I didn’t have this work to do. It’d be a good time here.

Respect My Pimping!

I heard this at the pool table next to mine. I think if you have to tell someone to respect your pimping, you’re not doing that great of a job. I couldn't help but hear that phrase in Cartman voice. Also, one said for their tie breaker game, they’re doing this straight street. Yea, they're playing pool. I’m not lying. They actually said straight street. If you’ve seen ‘You got served’ you’d know this is hilarious.

Me mind you, was not playing pool. I was, get ready for it… Shuffle boarding. That’s right bitches, Shuffle board. It’s a good time. I’m not good at it, but it’s fun! And nooooo it’s not just for old people.

There was this couple that played next to us. I'm not being mean I swear, but they just looked so interesting. Nothing specific, but just that they're both super skinny and a little bit awkward. Ok, by a little bit, I mean just regular awkward. Like I said, I'm not sure what it is or what I even mean by that, but they were interesting to watch. At one point I think I tried imagining them having sex. Yea, awkward sex. I'm sure they do it wild and crazy though. Go awkward looking couple go!!

I think guys have cycles. Like womanly cycles, but without the mass blood loss. Just times when your mood is all different. Yea, don’t fight it, you know you have cycles. Luckily, I’m out of my hateful mean cycle and now I’ve entered into my best cycle. My need to dance cycle. Yes, these are all scientific terms, hateful mean cycle and dance cycle.

That’s right. It’s time to dance.

Maybe it’s not a cycle, but that I’m just actually semi caught up a bit at work. At least enough where people are not yelling at me anymore. So it was time for beats. I turned up the music with some hard trance blaring. In between calls and emails, it was go time. I needed both the practice and the exercise. It’s quite a funny scene really.

I was thinking of what to do in the coming weeks. Should I try new things or get back in the swing of doing old school things. I really haven’t been doing very much besides sitting here in this room working.

------------
You know what’s funny? I wrote that part above last night. I’m not going to say if alcohol had anything to do with it or just general tiredness. Now that I read it, it sounds really silly. Not that any of it is untrue, but still. Too bad I didn’t put down the other stuff I was writing. Ha, that’d be a good read for everyone.

Whatever I do, I need to get the crew together. Maybe get some new people, but need a crew nevertheless. Time to start recruiting.

Watch out

Lately, I’ve been uncommonly mean. Not just regular mean, but bottom of the barrel sludge vileness. The things that are spewing out of my mouth are just plain hateful. It was like in any instance, I would choose the worst possible thing to say. Right after I say it, I'd find myself saying, damn that was mean, what the hell is wrong with you? You being me. Yes, I dissociate like that.

Unfortunately, this was also our semi-family reunion. My siblings live either in another country or across the country. We only see each other about once a year. I found that I was just generally unpleasant to be with all weekend. This is odd too since everyone else seems to be all cheery or at least trying to be cheery. This is traditionally my role to make everyone cheery, but it seems so reversed this weekend. I was just all kinds of hateful.

I think the main reason is work. It’s almost unreasonable how much work we have right now. Along with a few bad clients, this is putting me in a really bad mood. I have to use up all my patiences dealing with people all during the day. By the time I’m done I’m just a big ball of hatefulness.

I’m glad I don’t commute. Man, there’d be some road rage going on.

I’ve been trying to do more fun things to balance out this work stress. Every time I go out though, I’m still thinking about all the work that I’m not doing. This is even affecting how much I drink. I’m finding myself drinking less so I can still work after going out. See, told ya this is a real problem.

I even committed a personal cardinal sin yesterday because of work. I missed our winter end of season tournament. I blamed it on the weather, but it was only raining for a little bit. It was a perfect day to play. I backed out though to do work. I don’t back out of Ultimate, and especially an end of season tournament. I feel so guilty.

This is not something I want in case you think I enjoy working this much.

I’m not sure if this is just temporary or the beginning of a trend. I sure hope it’s not the beginning of a trend. My boss said that instead of us slowing down by April, it wouldn’t be till May or June this year. I was going to take off for a trip in April to give myself a break and my first real vacation (yea, I’ve never had one over 4 days), but looks like we’re going to have to move that. Although I think I’ll be able to go further away with going later in the year so that’ll be good.

I’m so ready to go somewhere as far away as I can and as soon as I can.

Pieces

I’ve always been a person that thinks he can fix things. That’s my thing. With my friends, work, groups, give me the problem. I’ll fix it. This mentality has always been a part of me. I’ve always wanted to fix things.

I learned a good lesson recently. I’m sure I should’ve learned this a while ago when some good friends told me, but I didn’t learn. Oh how that’s come back to haunt me now.

There are things and situations in life that simply can’t be fixed. There are things that the harder you try to fix, the more broken it becomes. Not all problems are meant to be fixed. Some things are problems for a reason. In many instances, you’re only fixing a symptom. Fixing these symptoms won’t hide or allow you to get to the real problem for long.

I know this is over said, but there are things out there that only time can fix. If it was meant to be fixed, only time can heal the problem so that it eventually can be fixed. Time can allow you to go to your own corner and figure out what the real problem is.

Time is a torturous thing though. Especially for someone like me who thinks he can fix things right now. Someone who just wants to make things better as soon as he can. Sadly, as I’m learning, intentions and reality are often completely unrelated.

I don’t think I’ll give up this mentality to fix things. However, I will entertain the fact that time is a good and viable solution to some problems. There are situations where it’s best to let time run its course and let things settle.

I'll just learn to wait patiently as time does its thing.

I will neither confirm nor deny that I’ve had a fifth of whisky tonight

That was what I found on my screen the next morning after a long night of hitting the bottle. No occasion really. Just thought that bottle was a little too full.

I think I had something great to post and I was about to. Made myself a little drink and I’d get started. The drink got a bit bigger, and refills were involved. As you can see, writing didn’t really work out.

You know what I think would make the world just a little tiny bit better? I think when you cut in front of someone while driving, you should wave. It doesn’t matter if they let you in or you forced yourself in. A little wave won’t hurt.

It can be a sign of gratitude or maybe a sign of apology (sometimes you just gotta cut). I think that little wave can go a long way in calming the other driver. It doesn’t take that much effort so why not do it?

I know from my personal experience, a hand wave can change a situation from me wanting to follow you home then sending you pictures of your children at school to a simple smile and wave back.

There are a lot of crazies out there. You don’t want to be pissing off the wrong one.

So this weekend when you’re driving around, take the second to wave when you have to cut someone off or get in front of them in a hurry.

Stop being such an asshole. If you have to be one though, just remember to wave.

The Start of a New Season

Today (I started this post a few days ago, so it’s not actually today) was a special day. I went to my dad’s retirement party at work. I’ve been to his workplace several times, but I’ve never really been there you know? It’s not like I hang out there, or ever met any of his coworkers. I know what he does at his job about as much as he knows what I do (it's funny to hear him try to explain what I do cause it's not even close).

I was running late for the party. I figured it’d just a little thing, some food, and people would come in and out. As I drove up, my dad was supposed to meet me to walk to the place where they were holding the party. I didn’t see him there. Instead, there was a large man standing there to greet me.

He told me that my dad had gone along with the big boss and that he was there to escort me. The very large man said that this is the first time the big boss has ever come to one of these things so it’s not good to disappoint him. I couldn’t get over this guy. He was a very nice guy even though he could probably crush me like a grape with his arms. Arms that were larger than my head (this is saying a lot if you’ve ever seen my head).

We came through the back of the room in time to hear the big boss make a speech. Looking around, there were a lot of people than I had expected (I later found out that everyone was there. Who was actually running the plant I don’t know). Even people from other areas as well as people who weren’t even working that day came to this thing.

There were several speeches about my dad. Not just from the bosses, but from a lot of the guys that worked with my dad. These were big manly dudes, guy’s guys. It was strange to see their reactions as they were visibly trying to keep it together. One guy actually excused himself. He actually said he was going to lose it if he stayed any longer.

A lot of people came and talked to me during the party. Strangely (to me anyway), they knew a lot about me. They knew most of the places I’ve lived, what I’ve been doing. Apparently, my dad talks more about us (the kids) than we ever knew. Funny enough, everyone had a different idea of what I did.

After the main party, my dad’s direct team of coworkers went back to their break room for a more private meeting. A few of these guys have been working with him for over a decade. It was very special to hear what they had to say. There was nothing fake about this. There was a real sense of happiness and sadness going on there.

My dad has worked there forever. Through that, he put food on the table. Gave us a place to call home. Put us through college. He really wasn’t around that much because of work

Hearing these stories from these other people really gave me a new perspective on what my dad might actually be like. I've never actually gotten to know him. As I’ve gotten older, and since I’ve moved back, we’ve done a lot more things and spent more time together.

Guess later is better than never.

In case you didn't know


Final Harry Potter book to be released on July 21

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.

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!!

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 :)

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.

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.

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

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qwLNio9eE-E

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.

The Lush Puppy

The night was dark with a light fog that masked the streets in a horror movie haze. With no sign of the moon and the streets lights covered by the fog, these streets usually packed with pedestrians are empty except for the cool crisp night air.

Inside the Lush Puppy, it was a different story. The bar was loud and full of energy. Unlike the outside, the Lush Puppy was warm and inviting to share a good time with some good company.

The Lush Puppy is the local bar around the corner. There’s nothing fancy at the Lush Puppy, just plenty of booze, a couple of dart boards, pool tables, and a well stocked jukebox. This is the kind of place friends get together to celebrate, to drown their sorrows, or just as part of the routine. Basically, a pub in every sense of the word.

“Oh, so SORRY bitches…” said loudly in Sarah’s face as Sam took another sip of his beer and did the drunk man booty shake. “I’m the best SORRY player EVER”. Sam took another piece of Sarah’s piece back to the starting circle.

“First of all, no one needs to see that. And. Don’t make me beat your ass! Take one of Pete’s pieces or Brandon’s! Hell, Brandon’s winning!” Sarah said jokingly as she pushes Pete.

“I’m just sitting here amazed at your lack of coordination even with a celebration dance. Truly amazing really. Here, have another one. Maybe this will be the magic shot that will give you rhythm” Dan says in a witty monotone voice.

Tonight was board game night for the group. The Lush Puppy was the group’s regular hangout. Every other week, the group convenes for a night of board games. Being regulars at the LP, the group had stakes in the big wooden table towards the back of the room by the fireplace. Even though the table could seat 8, the bar didn’t mind the 6 person group being there as they generally would drink like 8 people.

This very close knit group consisted of Sam, Sarah, Seth, Brandon, Pete and Anna who all had been friends for years now.

“3…4…5…SUCK IT!!” Brandon yelled as his last piece cross the finish line. “Good move on choosing Sarah to move the pieces back Sam” Brandon gloated. “Time to pay up!”

As required by the rules, everyone took a shot as penalty for losing.

“Just like I remembered it when I played this as a kid” Sam said softly as the whiskey burns slowly down his throat. “Your parents made you do shots when you lost at board games? That explains things.” Dan snickered as he downed his shot.

“Anyone heard from Pete and Anna? It’s not like them to miss board game night” said Sarah. As she finished the 2nd gulp of her shot, she grimaces “What the hell are we drinking?” Waving the empty shot glass at the bartender, Sarah yells across the room “Hey Stonie, what the hell are you pouring us over here?”

Stonie just smiled “I just made it up. I’m thinking of calling it the Dizzy Puppy. First it’ll make you a little dizzy, then it’ll make you nice and warm like a puppy”.

“Excellent” cheered the group. As the aftertaste kicked in, there was indeed a warmth flowing through the group and general cheeriness. Even though Brandon won, he still took his shot to celebrate his win.

The group laughed and talked the night away. Everything from what’s on their guilty pleasure list to politics and reminiscing about good times in the past.

Sarah started getting up to go to the rest room. “While you’re up ms. no bladder, another pitcher?” said Brandon. “Oh, can you get more nuts and get some napkins too?” added Pete.

“Anything else?” Sarah said sarcastically.

“Yea, if you could get me the phone number of that girl by the bar, that would be great. Thanks!” Sam said excitedly. “Dude, that’s a guy!” laughed Sarah.

“Wha? Seriously?” Sam said nervously as he thought he might have been checking out a guy for the last 30 minutes.

The group just laughed as Sarah walked away.

When Sarah came back, she walked towards the bar to order another pitcher from Stonie. As Sarah waited for the pitcher, she noticed she was standing by the girl Sam had pointed out. Giving her a quick look, she didn’t seem all too bad. Just a bit odd that she was there by herself though.

Having had quite a few drinks, Sarah is quite the social butterfly. She quickly strikes up a conversation with the girl. Her name was Kim and the two seem to hit it off quite well. Sarah quickly looked back at the table to see that the guys were all watching them. She gave them a quick wink and returned to the conversation.

“Don’t look, but I’m with that group of guys over there. One of them has a thing for you.” Sarah whispered to Kim. Kim smiled and before she could answer, the music started pumping through the speakers.

“Once upon a time.... Not so long ago
Tommy used to work on the docks
Unions been on strike
Hes down on his luck...its tough,
so toughGina works the diner all day
Working for her man, she brings home her pay
For love - for love”

A big smile went across the face of both girls. The energy was felt by the entire bar as everyone started to sing along.

Sarah grabbed the pitcher and Kim and hurried back to the table. The guys were already up and singing loudly to the song. The girls got back just in time for the chorus.

“Whooah, were half way there
Livin on a prayer
Take my hand and well make it - I swear
Livin on a prayer”

The group cheered as the song came to an end. Sounds of glass clinging and toasts were everywhere.

The outside world was cold and dark, but here at the Lush Puppy, all was merry for now.


To be Continued…

Rest In Peace

You were the first to bring the sexy before it ever had to be brought back

You are and forever will be the pioneer and Godfather of Soul.

That’s So Punk Rock

I was visiting Orange County this past weekend. I was there for work, then stayed for a couple of extra days. I can’t get over the great feeling of being back there every time I go. It maybe the beach that my hotel overlooks that makes me fond of the place, or the childhood memories. For the longest time, that was where I strived to move back to. I still consider the few years I lived there the happiest time of my life.

I’ve been away from there for over 20 years now. The last time I was there I had a rental car and was driving aimlessly (i.e. lost). Eventually, I realized I was driving to our old home. It was uncanny that I remember exactly how to get there. The roads, stores, and places have changed, but I still remembered it like yesterday. As many of you can testify, I can't find my way through a box, but I knew exactly where to go some 20 years later.

I went by our old house, then went by the elementary school I went to. I was sad that they tore down the slide that I spent so much time in. It was a giant robot with 2 slides for arms. Granted, the thing was a death trap with its rusty metal construction and several screws loose or exposed.

That’s just how we roll back then. Kids today are just too soft. A little tetanus never hurt anyone.

On Saturday night my brother and I decided to go out to Hollywood. We first went to a hole in the wall Taqueria where I made friends with the bartender. A specialty of the house was a drink called the Mexican painkiller. I don’t remember what exactly is in it, but it was something like a margarita with 4 types of tequila. Soon enough, I was indeed out of my pain/sobriety.

Thank you Mexican painkiller.

We decided to go somewhere else so we cruised down Sunset Blvd. We drove by the Viper room and I had to stop. The viper room is an establishment I’ve always wanted to visit. Viper room, along with places like whisky a go go and the Roxy are institutions of rock. And you know me. I’m so punk rock.

I didn’t know who was in there but there was a cover. Since I accidentally left my wallet in the car, my bro paid for the cover which made the visit doubly sweet. We made ourselves upstairs into a small dark room. There was a band on stage.

I was trying to figure out who they were but soon knew based on a song I’ve heard before. The band was LA Guns. I’m not sure why I knew them and their music, but I did. It was strange as I don’t remember ever listening to them. Hearing them rock out though, I felt I knew this music for some reason. Kinda surreal really.

The whole situation was a little cheesy, but pretty punk rock I thought. The band was rocking, the crowd was drunk and excited, and all the groupie chicks were around and adoring the band. That’s some old school rock. I think a nice pit would’ve made it perfect, but it didn’t seem like the right crowd and the place was pretty tiny.

We rocked the night/early morning away. I felt totally punk rock afterwards.

1 punk rock institution down. Next time, more punk rock action.

Who’s goth-ing it up with me for next time? :)

Has Anyone Seen My Juice?

I was sitting around this evening procrastinating my eventual return to work. For a lack of something better to do, I looked through my files for old writings that I had done.

I came upon a screenplay that I had been working on for a while now. Every now and then when I get in the mood I would write out a scene. The screenplay always gives me chills when I read it. Not that it’s some literary or screenplay masterpiece or anything. I’m sure most of the things in there are derivatives of a lot of other movies I’ve seen before. But it was mine, I can almost remember every feeling of each of those scenes and where they came from.

A lot of the events are loosely based on my own experiences, or experiences that I had wished had gone a certain way. It’s nice to be able to do things over again. Even if it’s just on paper. I know we all have experiences where we’d love to be able to do another take, or do something different, say something different.

Another fun thing about writing the script is that you can put your friends in it. All of the characters, especially the comic relieves are just people I know. Those character are great cause they just write themselves.

After I reread the script tonight, I thought about writing another part. I sat here in front of the computer for about 30 min before I gave up. I used to have a million ideas. I used to be able to create so many scenes without thinking twice.

I can barely come up with a couple of lines that was neither funny nor helpful.

What’s happening to me? I blame it on the oldness, but I’m not sure if that’s the case. In the old days I would get a lot of ideas from my dreams. Most of my dreams are pretty horrific, and hence my nonsleeping, but they were still very imaginative. There were things in those dreams that were just wrong, but at least they were highly imaginative.

Not that I miss a lot of those dreams, but I haven’t had a dream (that I remember) in a really long time. And with it, I haven’t really felt that creative juice flowing. I don’t know if it’s the stress of work, being old, or everything else that’s on my mind. Whatever it is, I miss my dreams. I’m not sure what I need to do to get that back, but I would love to finish this script.

BTW, guess what kind of movie it is?

What’s the Price of No Jack?

Someone threw out a hypothetical situation last night during dinner. They asked if I would give up drinking if a girl I was dating or would possibly date asked me. Not entirely stop, but just major cutbacks on the drinking. Also, what if they asked me to stop drinking Jack (completely, or major cutback) because of some bad associations the girl has with guys that drank Jack?

Now many of you know I’m quite fond of Jack and drinking in general. Not to the degree that it’s a problem, but I do drink regularly enough.

So the question I pose is this. When is changing for someone acceptable and when is it problematic? Granted, in this situation, me drinking less is probably something I need to do anyway, but what if it was another behavior. Like something harmless that you like to do. Would you stop just because your mate asked you to? What if they had no reason other than they don’t like it?

When does it go from compromising to just the other person trying to mold you into someone else? Is that always a bad thing? Do you find that you do that in your relationships?

A lot of people say you should like the person for who they are, but we all know a little bit of tweeking maybe necessary. When does it go from Tweeking to reshaping. Are we to embrace our own individuality so much that we don't compromise?

Talk amongst yourselves..

Pup for Tots

I was on my way to volunteering at the Toys for Tots center on the other side of town.

I knew how it was going to be. Trying to be somewhere at 5pm and having to drive through the heart of the congestion in Atlanta during rush hour Traffic on a Friday. I got in the car and I knew it wasn’t going to be pretty.

I hate driving, especially in any type of traffic, but it’s for the kids. I guess I’ll tough it out. Yes, I know I say bad things about them, but they deserve toys during Christmas.

When we (a friend went with me) finally got to the center, we were greeted by a couple of marines hanging out by the door. We told them why we were there and they seemed pretty confused. I thought that was strange as people should be doing a lot of volunteering this season. They pointed me to the sergeant in charged and we went on inside.

We got inside the warehouse and something seemed different. I’ve done this several times before. The storeroom is generally a mess with toys everywhere. What I was seeing was only a couple of crates and all neatly packed.

The sergeant told us what was going on when we found him. Apparently, there haven’t been any toys coming in. No one has called for pick ups or anything. Even though it’s still a bit early, they usually have a good amount of toys by now. Now they’ve got bupkuss.

It seems that people are just not donating as much as usual this year. I noticed that all the food banks were all empty during Thanksgiving and they had to really struggle to get all the dinners out to the homeless. Now of course, they’re even emptier and are looking to have a hard time filling the pantry before Christmas.

So they had nothing for us to do. I thought about challenging one of the marines to a push-up contest, but I didn't think that'd be a good idea. My friend and I were now stuck in this town (traffic still bad). We did the sensible thing and found a bar and got drunk.

There really isn't much of a story here, but I would like to ask everyone a favor.

When you’re out shopping this holiday season, if you’re in a store with a toy section, pick up something. Tell your friends that instead of buying them a gift, you’re spending that money for this or other charities. They don’t really need that thing that you were going to get them. They probably secretly re-gift or return it anyway.

Perhaps if you’re a parent and you’ve bought your child a million toys, maybe you can spare one toy for a needy child. You child will have plenty and probably won’t even miss it. Having too many toys will spoil your kid anyway. I remember I got an empty can for Christmas once and had a grand old time just kicking it around with friends. Good times.

As a special offer, anyone who donates a toy will get a personalized Christmas card paw-signed by Pup himself! Act now!