Sir, the line was back there.

I don’t mind the 50+ hour weeks. I don’t mind that I have customers that call me on the weekends or late at night. I don’t even mind the never ending load of work.

This however, is crossing the line.

I’ve been looking forward to going to a concert for a few months now. The concert is going to be next Tuesday. A concert that was surly going to kick ass and one that will allow me to kick other people’s ass in a fun friendly way.

Then I get the call yesterday. A customer wants me in NYC next week from Monday to Thursday. Oh.. I so don’t think so.

I argued and argued but they wouldn’t have any of it. It’s not that I’m not customer focused, but the meetings they want me for are for 2 hours each day. It’s not a good use of my time to go to NYC for 2 hour meetings each day that I can easily do over the phone. This all stems from the project manager leaving for vacation and is too anal to not have everyone onsite.

So, no kick ass concert for me. I’ve been waiting for years for one of the bands playing.

Talking to my boss yesterday, he mentioned that I may have to go up to NYC again (for another customer) the following week. I don't mind that, but of course, he picked a day when I was planning on going to another concert. What the hell? These are the first 2 concerts I’ve wanted to go to all year.

This does not make for a happy Pup.

So Tempting...

"Tickets are now available to next week’s tapings of So You Think You Can Dance!!

Due to your place on the waiting list, we are notifying you of ticket availability to the tapings ...."


I'm calling all my customers in LA to see if anyone needs a visit from their favorite Pup. How fun would that be to be at a live taping?!

Bleach

I just finished episode 135 of this anime series. It still amazes me that there’s nothing remotely like this anywhere in the world. Apparently, only one culture recognizes that cartoons are not just for children.

Over 135 episodes, a lot of character development can happen. Sure there are the big action and fighting episodes that you would expect from any good anime. With 135 episodes though, there is plenty of room to develop the characters to be more than these people who fights all the time. There are a lot of people who wouldn’t enjoy these episodes as they’re kinda boring in comparison, but I think these are the episodes that makes the show great.

These interlude/plot/silly episodes make the characters more than just ‘cartoon’ characters. These are the episodes that make the show more than just good guys vs. bad guys. Sure, fighting bad guys is one thing, but knowing why the good guys really fight for makes you cheer for them so much more.

The main character nearly goes insane because he blames himself for not being strong enough to protect his friends and family. Many times you see him just get beaten down badly and you feel for this guy cause you know why it’s so bad. It’s not just bad because he’s getting his ass kicked, but you feel bad because of his feelings of not being able to be strong for others. You also cheer that much more when he powers up and fights back (yes, I know most anime I watch has the exact same pattern).

How often do you see a cartoon that has that level of story? No, most of the ones out there are good guys beat bad guys the end. That’s the other thing, why do good guys always win? They really don’t you know. Just think, how much do you know about cobra commander reasons for taking over the world? OK, that’s a silly example, but you know what I mean.

I’m sure no one really knows what I’m talking about. I just wanted to make sure I remembered.

Going to the Chapel and we’re….. Gonna get marrrry….

This was the 2nd of my 4 wedding this year. For some reason, the weddings are picking up again. I went to quite a few for a few years there in a row, like 5-7 a year. Then it quieted down to 1 a year. Now, we’re back into wedding mode. I am running out of unmarried friends though.

I think unlike a lot of people, I enjoy weddings. It’s a very happy time for all involved. There’s the happy married couple, happy families, and happy people that hasn’t seen each other for a while. I am particularly happy with the dancing (even though most of the time the music is questionable, but it’s the one time I don’t mind. It’s wonderful to see the old people out there dancing). We’ve totally lost dancing as part of celebrations in our society, but that's another post.

Weddings are also great in that there's generally an open bar that keeps me happy.

I flew into Boston to meet up with my old roommate and his girlfriend, then picked up my friend and first go down to Foxwoods then the wedding. Once again, I was hit with a delay flying in. It’s been such bad luck for me on flying lately.

Instead of getting in earlier, I got in right in the middle of a Friday rush hour. What’s even worst is that I was driving to Harvard Square where to celebrate the new Potter book, they transformed the place to Diagon Alley. This was insanely cool and everyone was dressed up. I felt like such a muggle in my car. The only bad thing is that it meant traffic was pretty much at a standstill.

I eventually picked up my friend and we went on down to Foxwoods. In case you didn’t know, Foxwoods is a casino. It was strangely located though. You get off the highway and drive around in a forest in a while. Then all of a sudden, boom. Huge casino.

My old roommate and I pretty much grew up gambling together, so it wasn’t that big of a deal. The inside of casinos all look the same. However, my friend from Boston had never gambled before. This was pretty exciting for her. It was great for us too that she picked up the game (craps) amazingly fast and was enjoying it. New blood is always refreshing. She gets very excited about things too so that made it really fun.

Yada Yada.. a few hours later, I had a yellow chip. Go me!

The next day was painful as it was a morning wedding (10am). We had about a 1.5 hour drive from the casino and we stayed up till about 3 or 4am. This is so not a good idea. It was painful. What made it worst that it was a full on traditional Catholic wedding. Mass and everything.

The wedding itself was a bit long, but nice. The reception was good as it was at this old house over looking the river. I don’t know what they were using, but they served some of the best meatballs I’ve ever tasted. Seriously, the recipe must’ve called for ground beef, bread crumbs, and crack.

After the wedding, we checked into our hotel room. My old roommate and his gf left because they had a really strange schedule of flying out of Boston at 6am. Being that we’re about 4 hours away, this made the logistics very difficult. I think they were just going to go to the airport and sleeping there.

My friend and I went out after they left. We first went to this seafood place for an appetizer of oysters and crab meat. Then we walked around for a bit and found this great little place for Italian. The day and now night was just perfect. Around 80 degrees, no humidity, and a slight breeze. You really can’t beat that as we sat outside and ate under a strangely bright star lit night.

I order this shrimp pasta dish that had the biggest shrimps I’ve ever seen. The menu said it was soaked in egg, but sheese. Size of your fist. We ended up having to bag a good part of our meal which I tried to avoid, but there’s just too much good food to leave here.

We walked around a bit, then found a bar that had some darts. I’ve been fancying darts a lot lately. We drank and played darts for a while which was amazingly fun as we’re pretty competitive with each other. That’s the thing when you know you’re with a good one. It doesn’t have to be that exciting, just being with them is all that’s important.

Eventually, a couple started to play darts next to us. Being a bit drunk, my friend and I were very friendly and they were as well so we started playing together. They were such a fun couple. It was like we were old friends as we all had similar sense of humor and all. It was probably just the alcohol, but whatever.

This couple was telling us what they did, and they were chefs for movies and TV shows. They’re up there for a movie and next month they start on 30 Rock. Yup, they cook all the food for the crew and cast. So cool!

After playing for what turned out to be hours, we headed back to the hotel. By the time we got back, we were starving. We sat on the bed and just pigged out on our leftovers. We didn’t have utensils so we were just picking up the pasta and giant shrimps with our hands. Classy I know.

This was an amazingly good trip. We really didn’t do anything extraordinary the whole weekend (we drove about 500 miles, so we were in the car most of the time). Being there with good friends made all the difference. It really is all about who you’re with.

Of course, I wasn’t going to get off that easy. My flight back was delayed as well (seriously, it’s getting old) and I didn't get home till pass midnight. Oh well..

What If?

I met a really cute girl last Thursday night during our game. She came out of nowhere as I got to the field and was getting ready. The first thing that came to my mind was wow, she’s so out of my league. She was very friendly, nice, and painfully cute with a smile that could melt your heart.

We spoke for a while and then started playing some silly Frisbee related game while we waited for our game to start. We were clicking like old friends. What the hell is going on? My mind was racing with what’s she doing? I’m not even on her team or have ever met her before.

Then comes the ‘what’s wrong with her’ excuses. Too young? Nope, she mentioned having graduated college. Crazy? Maybe, but she seems to be really nice to this kids and the dogs likes her. I trust the dogs. What the hell? My mind kept racing with stupid thoughts, but none seems to be sticking.

After our game, there was a hang shake and a hug. She also offered some beers after hearing that I’ve forgotten to grab some. Serious points here. We talked a bit more while drinking the beer then departed from the fields.

I thought that’d be the end of that.

I saw her again on Sunday during the tournament. I had gotten a haircut since I’ve seen her. I was wearing contacts and had on some very different clothes. She recognized me immediately. Even before I saw her and we talked for a while about the games going on.

Not much of a story I know.

Hopefully, it’s a developing story.

Bravo, Bringers of War.

War is and should always be, the absolute last resort. Whatever the excuse, whatever the reason, war should not be on the table unless absolutely necessary.

This is obviously not a philosophy this administration subscribes to.

War does not just affect those on the battlefield. People on the battlefields chose to be there. They have been trained and are equiped to be there. The majority of the causalities of war are not the ones that are killed on the battlefield.

There are no winners in wars. Just people who’ve lost less.

This administration went into Iraq to take down one person. Under the lies and manipulation of facts, this administration coerced the American public that this was the only way to make us ‘safer’.

Do you feel safer?

That’s not what I want to argue here though. Personal opinions on safety is a very pointless topic living here in the US.

What this short sighted administration has grossly ignored are the people they have made unsafe as a result of their pointless war. These are the real causalities of war. Compare to many, the ones that perished were the lucky one.

From a recent report by Richard Engel of NBC.

“There are dozens of clubs just like this one the outskirts of Damascus -- a red light district built on the slender shoulders of little Iraqi girls in belly dancing costumes. The girls are nearly all Iraqi refugees forced into what U.N. relief agencies call “survival sex.” The reason why is cold math. There are 1.4 million Iraqi refugees in Syria. Syrian laws do not allow Iraqi refugees to work in Syria, which struggles to provide enough jobs for its own citizens. But Iraqi children can often slip under the law, especially if they work on the black market. They work to support their families. Many were traumatized even before they left Iraq, and had relatives murdered or kidnapped. Now they are forced into prostitution -- victims of war, victimized again every night.”

For the full article, please click here.

Iraqi children, having to work in sex trade to help their families survive. These families that have been displaced by the war. Families with parents that used to be engineers, scientists before the war and are unable to work now. Now, they have to see their daughters sell their bodies to provide food and rent money.

So it is worth it? Our minor, if any, increase sense of security? Is it worth these children working as prostitutes? The trauma that these children goes through on a nightly basis. Is that worth what we’ve gotten in following this administration to war?

Anyone with any decent sense knows the effects of war. Wars do not stop on the battlefield. This is not a damn video game where after you win the war, it’s over. No. When the battles are over, that’s just the beginning of the real war.

We used to be a country that helps the weak. A country that comes to the aid of those that can’t help themselves. We used to be a country that would willingly take a punch rather then allow an innocent person receive the punishment.

Under this administration, we’ve now become the ones that create and expose the weak to their predators. We’re now the country that bullies other countries that we don’t like.

This foolish administration has opened Pandora's box. They have no plan nor intention of closing it. For during chaos, those that are the loudest and spreads the most fear will rule. The wise and moderate will be silenced.

List List Lists…

Gone on a blind date X

Skipped school X

Seen someone die X

Been to Florida X

Been to Mexico X

Been on a plane X

Been lost X (ha)

Been on the opposite side of the country X (on the same day)

Gone to Chicago X

Swam in the ocean X

Felt like dying X

Cried yourself to sleep X

Played cops and robbers when I was little X (mainly robbers, and what do you mean by ‘played’?)

Recently colored with crayons X

Sang karaoke X

Paid for a meal with only coins X

Did something you told yourself you wouldn't X

Made prank phone calls (Does Drunk calls count?)

Laughed until some kind of beverage came out of your nose X

Caught a snowflake on your tongue X

Danced in the rain X

Written a letter to Santa Claus

Been kissed under the mistletoe X

Watched the sun rise with someone you care about X

Blown bubbles X

Been topless on the beach X

Crashed a party X

Gone roller-skating X

Gone Ice-skating

Gone skinny dipping

1. Nick-name? If I gave you my Alias, I’d have to kill you

2. Mother's nick name? Sue

3. What is your favorite drink? Sweet Tea

4. Tattoos? 0

5. Piercing? 0

6. How much do you love your job? Besides the fact it’s killing me, it’s fantastic!

7. Favorite vacation spot? Anywhere... with the right person

8. Ever been to Africa? No

9. Ever eaten cookies for dinner? No

10. Ever been on TV? Yes (briefly on ESPN once for ultimate)

11. Ever steal any traffic signs? I can neither deny or confirm that

12. Ever been in a car accident? 3

12. Was it your fault? 1 of them was

13. 2 Doors or 4 Doors? 4 doors

14. Salad dressing? Balsamic Vinaigrette

15. Favorite pie? Banana Cream

16. Favorite number? 3

17. Favorite movies? Too many…

18. Favorite holiday? Halloween!

19. Favorite dessert? Ice Cream

20. Favorite food? Pork Chops

21. Favorite day of the week? Friday

22. Favorite brand of Body soap? Lush

23. Favorite TV show! So you think you can dance, Meet the Press, Scrubs, Family Guy
24. Favorite smell? Fruity or floral smell on a girl

25. What do you do to relax? Staring contest with Pup

26. Do you have a message to your friends reading this? You owe me $5

27. Where do you see yourself in 10 years? Having a much different life than now hopefully

28. What do you do when you are bored? I don’t get bored. Boring people get bored.

Now what?

Any help or suggestions you can give me about a plan would be greatly appreciated.


Thanks,

When life give you lemons..

This was one hell of a one night trip.

I should’ve known this was going to be a bad trip when I drove up to my usual parking lot when I see a sign that said ‘Lot Full’. I proceeded to 3 more lots with the same sign. Finally, I get to a lot that was miles away with a few spots open.

Thing did get better as I was in first class of a very nice international plane. There was enough room for me to lay all the way down like a bed. Yea, that’s how nice the first class has it. Although I was feeling guilty and hating all the whiny first class passengers. Seriously, I’ve never seen people act so damn whiny in coach.

We got to about 12 feet from the terminal when the rain and lightning really started to come down. Because they didn’t want to endanger the ground crew, we waited for 2.5 hours on the plane before the opened the door! That’s right. 12 feet from the gate. Waited 2.5 hours.

It got a bit better as I checked into an insanely nice hotel. It was so nice the very accomodating attractive young lady that checked me in walked me to the door of my hotel. I wasn’t sure what’s going on. Was she coming in with me? Am I getting a nightcap? Is this why this room was so damn expensive? Hmm..

Sadly no, but it was still excellent service. The room too, was most excellent.

Check out this bed. Swanky.

Sadly, I was working till 3am and only got to enjoy that super nice bed for only 3 hours. The meeting in the morning went off just fine. When we got to the second meeting, the meeting that I was actually there for, they informed me that it was going to be cancelled because the team was running late.

I was actually quite excited about this. This meant that I would be able to catch an earlier flight and make it in time for my ultimate game. It was a bummer that I flew out here for nothing though but nonetheless, I’ll be back early. Yay!

I went to the airport and I was put on standby for the earlier flight. This is when all the bad started.

I was number 14 on the list. They put the first 12 on the plane. So I missed this flight. My flight wasn’t going to go for another 3 hours. I checked the schedule a few hours later, and it had been delayed an hour, then 2 hours. The final straw came when they cancelled my flight along with sever dozen other flights due to the weather in the Midwest and the South.

There was a mad scramble of people trying to rebook their flights. I talked to the travel agent that we use who wasn’t able to book me on anything on any other airline, nor was she able to find me anything the next day. The earliest flight she could get me on was Sat. afternoon. So instead of getting home early by 3 hours, I was going to get home 2 days late.

Due to the mass cancellation, all the hotels around the airport were booked as well. For some reason, almost all the hotels in the city were booked too. The cheapest hotel the travel agent could find was around $500. I was not about to stay at a place that expensive without some approvals.

I ended up calling my friend A & R. They lived closed to the airport so I thought that might be a good idea. Luckily for me, they said it was ok for me to stay with them. They’re cool like that.

The rest of Thursday night was a bit of a blur. As I mentioned before, I had 3 hours of sleep and I haven’t really had anything to eat. So while waiting for A & R to get home, I went to a nearby bar.

I think most of you who have drank with me will attest that I’m no light weight when it came to drinking. I had a couple of drinks before R got back from work. Then we had a couple together before heading home.

I had no recollection of getting home at all.

Luckily and unluckily for me, I can do my job anywhere there’s a high speed connection. So I work all day on Friday. Sad I know. So boring. I believe a certain Ko and I are switching roles.

Friday night got a bit more fun. A makes jewelry (awesomely pretty jewelry if I do say so myself) and she had a show at an event called ‘Girls night out’. Basically, it’s 2 floors of vendors so the girls can shop. The girls pay $20 to get in and it’s all you can drink. As she described it to me, it’s just wall to wall drunk women. Women to men ratio was about 400 to 1.

Now those are odds I can work with.

As she warned though, it’s insanely annoying. I threw her warning back in her face. Damn it, I need to explore it for all men out there. Is it the paradise we dream of or the nightmare A warned of?

I was all proud when I went into downtown from queens using the train. I know it’s not a big deal, but it was still a bit exciting to be doing it all by myself.

I met R at work and we went to grab some food and drinks before heading to the ‘Girl’s night out’. Walking into the place, it seems like some secret club that men have never seen. Girls everywhere, drinking and cutting up with each other. Not having a care in the world cause they’re not thinking of impressing some dude.

At first the whole thing was quite amusing. That lasted about 10 min. Just as A warned, the novelty of it wore off and it’s just a bunch of drunk women being loud. Being that I’m old and bitter, I was just generally unamused.

Since it’s a Girls thing, they catered the drinks to the population they were serving. The menu involved sweet drinks that were blue, red and orange. There was also coffee liquor (which was surprisingly good), and bud light. Wow, you’d think that selection would almost make me not drink.

It was still fun hanging out with A & R despite the women. Afterwards we went out for some real drinks. There was darts, pool, and meat on sticks (not a metaphor) involved. Good time for all.

I’m lucky those nights were there to salvage my crappy days. I left Saturday afternoon. There’s a funny story about how I amused a 7 yr old for 2.5 hours that involved paddy cakes, some other hand slapping game, drawing, writing a letter to her mom, and painting her finger nails with a highlighter (which she then returned the favor) during the flight.

Maybe another time. Just glad to be home.

The Game of the Year is Coming!

Just when you thought it couldn't or wouldn't happen. A new game is being developed for the Nintendo DS.

Are you ready for this?

Ultimate Frisbee. The game.

http://ds.ign.com/objects/898/898907.html

I forsee them selling exactly 3 copies of this. Pup and I accounting for 2 of those copies. It's awesome that they're thinking in the right direction though.

I'm Back!

I'm happy to say that I did pretty much Zero work (emails, calls, etc.) for the last 10 days while I've been off on vacation.

I just checked my email. There are 672 messages in my inbox.


It's gonna be a long night.

Go Buy this CD NOW. Comply.

Today, a CD by more than 50 artists are taking part in the Amnesty International campaign which combines the music of John Lennon with new technology and human rights activism.
Highlights include: U2 ("Instant Karma"), Green Day ("Working Class Hero"), R.E.M. ("#9 Dream"); Christina Aguilera ("Mother"), Avril Lavigne ("Imagine"), Corinne Bailey Rae ("I'm Losing You"); Snow Patrol ("Isolation"), The Flaming Lips ("(Just Like) Starting Over") Regina Spektor ("Real Love"); Lenny Kravitz ("Cold Turkey"); Los Lonely Boys ("Whatever Gets You Thru the Night"); Jakob Dylan with Dhani Harrison ("Gimme Some Truth") and Ben Harper ("Beautiful Boy").

Up to 400,000 people have died in Darfur, Sudan, while another 2.5 million have been displaced from their homes. Some 4.5 million people in the region and hundreds of thousands in neighboring countries Chad and Central African Republic are at risk of starvation, disease, and further attacks.

"Instant Karma: The Campaign to Save Darfur"

This is a real crisis the world is facing. A real problem that we have ignored for far too long. Iraq is not a problem before we created it. Iran is not a problem before we created it. Darfur is a real problem with real implications that are unspeakable and unimaginable that we push under the radar.

You sit there being bombarded with poor Paris having to go to jail and think that’s news worthy. Boo fucking hoo. Send her to Darfur and let the roaming gang raping militia have their way at her on a daily basis and see what you think is important to focus our attention on in the world.

I’ve read the reports. I’ve read the first accounts of what’s happened to the people there, and especially the women. There are thing going on over there that I can’t even repeat. It’s so horrifying that even I can’t dwell on them too long without wanting to drink till I puke these memories out. No one, absolutely no one, should have to endure the shit that they’ve gone through over there. Sadly, since they have no oil or other valuable resources, we obviously don’t give a damn about them.

All you righteous religious types out there. I don’t care if you’re Christian, Muslim, Jewish, Hindu, Buddhist, or whatever. Don’t EVER fucking talk to me about the importance or the value of a life. You like to talk big when it’s about stupid trivial things, but when there is a real situation where you could actually do good in this world, when you can prove that you actually do care and value life, where the fuck are all of you? If you actually are doing your God’s work, then fuck your God. They’ve obviously failed in their work since their disciples can’t/won’t help the people that need it most.

You wage your little childish religious wars for the glory of God. There is no glory in death, nor is there glory in killing. Glory is saved for those that saves lives and sacrifice their own life so that others can live. There is no honor in living in some idiotic ideology. It’s through actions that you do in the world that matter. Where are all of you when the world needs you?

Are you willing to help those in need that you have absolutely no relation to? Are you willing to help those in need for no other reason than it’s the right thing to do? Not for the glory or reward from some mystical ‘God’, not for some eternal brownie points, but just because that’s what we should do. We all live in this world. We should take care of each other. When there are horrible things like the situation in Darfur, we should expend every ounce of energy to stop what’s happening.

You all complain about your lives and create all these reasons of why it's bad. Any of the millions in Darfur would trade their lives for yours in a second. You have absolutely no excuse to complain. You may face annoyance on a daily basis, but they face death and things far worst on a daily basis.

Buy a CD. It’s the very least you could do.

For more on this, please visit here.

I could have a problem

My work computer sits to the left of my home computer. I like this set up. During the day I can use one for work and the other as a distraction. This was a wonderful set up when I first started working from home. I would be able to surf the net while on a web meeting on the work computer when it got too boring.

I sit in this room a lot. Mainly because of work. I would say I’m in this chair over 14 hours a day. There always just seems to be more and more work. It piles and piles. Good for the company I suppose. Even when I’m playing on the home computer that work computer stares at me. Pay attention to me it would say.

It’s staring at me and the home computer with jealous even now as I type this.

I walk around the house to escape this room and that computer, but there’s really no avoiding it. It’s here. With both computers going, there’s a strange heat wave when you enter the room. No fans or open windows can subdue the heat glowing from the room. You know when you’ve entered the room.

At first, the heat was distracting and uncomfortable. I found myself leaving the room pretty often to escape the uncomfortable sensation. I felt like I had to refresh myself from this constant bombardment of electrons that shot out from these screens.

As the months went by and the hours I spent in front of these computers grew. Something changed. The heat in this room was no longer uncomfortable. It’s warm here. Not a temperature warm, but more like warmth. No matter how hot it is elsewhere, it always seems cold compared to this room. Even when it’s unbearably hot in this room, it’s where I want to be. It’s comfortable now. It’s no longer warm. It’s warmth that’s in this room now.

I found it harder and harder to tear myself away from the room.

Of course I know this is all in my head. It's so hot in this room that it's not physically comfortable for anyone.

When I type on the home computer, I find myself constantly sneaking a peek at the work computer. Seeing if there is an email I need to tend to. As if I don’t work on that computer enough. It still stares at me even during my time off. Even during time that I know I should be away from the work. It’s always there. Always tempting me to get something else done. Always just sitting to the left of me.

In less than a week, I’m going to take my real first vacation since I’ve started working. I have already promised that I would not take the work computer. I have been telling my clients that I can’t be reached during this week for over a month now. I don’t care if the sky is falling. Don’t contact me.

When I think about this, I start feeling anxious. I don’t think I’ve been away from the work computer for over 24 hours in the last 2 years. This is how you realize it’s a problem.

You know how I really know it’s a problem? After a night of drinking, if I haven’t passed out yet, I’ll still come to this room. Most of the time I can even get a little bit of work done.

Is it because I’m such a good employee?
Is it because these things are so urgent I had to get to them right then?

No. I sit there because I can’t resist the warmth and the computers must be attended to.

That is a problem.

Let’s see how the week without the work computer pans out for me. Maybe I'll be able to escape or maybe I'll just find a quick fix where I can and sneak some emails in.

Pup-lic Enemy #1

“OMG, I’m getting detained at the airport for having a butcher knife”
That was the text message I sent some of my friends last Wednesday.

It started with a 6am flight which I had to wake up at 4am for. I’m ok with coming home at 4am, but wake up at 4am I do not do. So even with the alarm blaring, I overslept a bit and didn’t get up till 5am.

It was a big ‘Holy S#@!’ moment as I put on a suit and ran out of the house. It usually takes about 40 min to get to the airport. I got there in under 20min. The footage of the drive would work great at a driver’s ed course for how to break every traffic law there is.

When I got to the airport, the check in machine notified me that I was too late to check in. It made me book on the next flight. I CANNOT miss this flight. This is a meeting that can’t be missed or be late for. I ran to the security line which for some insane reason was really busy (seriously, who the hell is flying at 5am?). Add to the fact that I always pick the longest/slowest line does not help me in getting to the gate quickly.

I ran to the gate counter and luckily they just called all seats and all rows. I ran to the guy working the ticket and just pleaded and begged. As fortune smiled on me, there was a seat for me still and he got me right on.

By the time I got on the plane, I was sweaty from the running (ATL airport is way too big and naturally my gate was almost the last one), and a suit is not good running attire. I felt bad for the guy sitting next to my sweaty ass, and he thought he was going to get seats all to himself. Ha.

This is probably the highlight of the trip. When I landed in NYC, there was a guy with a sign that read ‘Pup’. My customer had sent a car for me. OMG, I’ve always wanted a driver with my name on a sign. SO cool.

The meeting went well overall. My customers looked good in front of their bosses, so that looks good on me.

Before I left, they gave me a gift bag with lots of t-shirts, hats, and other little things. The guy I had been working with mentioned that he checked and there wasn’t any liquids in there. I said thanks and took off for the airport.

When I got to security the strangest thing happen. They asked me if I wanted to take my bag outside and come back later. I’m like ‘uh no?’. Then they ask again, ‘are you SURE you want to run this bag through security?’. Once again, I’m like ‘yea’. Finally they asked, ‘are you sure you want us to check your bag?’. I’m like ‘sure, go ahead’.

They all just shook their head. You see, I’m not very good with hints.

The lady checking bags pulled out a big butcher knife out of the bag that my customer gave me. I said ‘what the hell is that?!’ We tried to warn you, the security guys said.

Following procedure, they had to call their supervisor who in turn called the security with the M-16s. They took me away and asked me questions. Mainly, ‘Why’re you flying with a big knife?’

My answer was ‘I didn’t know it was there?’
They would ask ‘How did you not know what was in your bag?’.
My reply was ‘Cause I’m a dumbass.’

After what seemed to be forever of this, they took my driver’s license and went away for a while. The only thing I could think of was me listening to airport announcements that said ‘Make sure you know the contents of your bags’. I’ve always wondered what kind of dumbass doesn’t know what’s in their bag.

Obviously, I’m the dumbass they make those announcements for.

They came back with a good cop/bad cop thing. I thought that was just a movie/TV thing. They gave me the 3rd degree and eventually decided that I’m not a terrorist but just a dumbass. No laws against dumbasses yet.

It was strange, but I really didn't get that nervous during this whole thing. Even though I'm sure they couldn've sent me away to Gitmo forever. Although after such a long day, maybe that'd be a nice break.

Lucky for me, my flight was delayed. So I did catch my flight. I got home around 1am.

Now that’s a long and eventful day.

Pup Rules the Spring Tournament

Last year at this time, I wrote about my first ever tournament win playing ultimate. It took over 15 years to taste that victory. I’m very happy to report, it only took 1 year to repeat that sweet taste.

My Ultimate team, Foxy Brown, won the Spring League Tournament this weekend!!!!!

Unlike last year where we had to climb from the bottom of the league, we were ranked 3rd coming into the tournament. I must say, our team was pretty stacked.

We won our first 3 games relatively easy. Going into the semi-finals, we had our first tough game. For the first time that day, we were down during the beginning of the game. We picked up the pace and the other team just couldn’t handle the speed or the defense that we were throwing at them.

After 4 games, I was pretty exhausted, but the championship game was left. There’s no slowing down for that. I did a quick pick me up that consisted of red bull and some shots of vodka and beer and I was fired up and ready to go.

Once again, ‘Cowbells’ was in the finals just like last year. We had defeated the #2 team in the semifinals and now we face the #1 team in the league. These guys were tall, fast, and had no weak links on their roster. We have 5 very good guys on our team and they played most of the game. I was very proud that when they did substitute they called me in to play. I was the 6th man! Very exciting if you knew who the other 5 guys are and that there were others on the team that I thought were better that didn't play at all in this game.

I wish I can play at this level and intensity all the time. I generally know where I should go, but my body doesn’t always listen. This time though, I was running around like a mad man. My throws were good and solid. I was gettin into the open areas. No mistakes would be made from me to let the team down.

It was a very exciting game for the fans. There were a lot of good scores. In the end after a very long point, we scored the final point. The championship was ours!!!

On to Summer League. I’m sure as Karma would have it, I’ll be on a sucky team.

I may not know where I’m going, but at least I still know where home is

Let’s just for a second, pretend that I’m not too old for this.

Friday night, there was a show at one of my favorite venues with one of my favorite DJ spinning. The venue was great because unlike a club, it’s a concert venue so it’s quite large. I hate going to clubs because it’s always so awfully crowded. No room to dance makes Pup an angry Pup.

I gathered a crew together. T, many of you know from this blog, and a new person B. During my hay days, it was always a crew of 3. It works well that way. 3 can take care of each other easily. Small enough to be mobile, and big enough to form a semi-circle.

T and B are both pretty experienced in these things so it wasn’t difficult talking about some basic guidelines about what to do (no, I’m not being anal, it’s just a pain to find each other without some type of plans for just in case).

None of us has gone to a show in a while, but you don’t forget.

When we first got to the show, it was a bit early. Being old, you tend to get to shows earlier I’ve noticed. Sad but true cause you never know when you’ll have to leave.

When we walked across the parking lot, there were very few cars and that’s never a good sign. Also not a good sign was the lack of a big bass beat. Anyone knows that any good show you can hear the bass from pretty damn far away.

We got in there, and there weren’t too many people as expected. We hung out for a while buying our time and getting our drinks on. Slowly but surly, the people and the music started getting better and better.

Yada Yada… the place is now packed and I was feeling very good.

I was getting my dance on, but being old and out of shape really does suck for dancing. I think I was doing ok though. Some of the moves were a bit rusty, but it had it going on. There weren’t any others out there dancing the same way as I was, so nothing to pick up, but I think I brought something to the table.

Towards the end of the show, The DJ turned things up. The beat was strong, the music was loud. I closed my eyes as some kid was giving me a light show. For the first time in a while, I didn’t have any stress or worries going on in my head. Not thinking about work, not thinking about other personal stuff going on.

Only one thought in my head.

I’m home.

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.

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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