Agonotheta

January 03, 2007

My Year In Cities, 2006

Salt Lake City, UT (home)
Sacramento, CA*
San Francisco, CA*
Vancouver, BC, Canada
Philadelphia, PA
Pittsburgh, PA
Atlanta, GA
Youngstown, OH
Kihei, Maui, HI

Those cities marked with an * were visited multiple times on non-consecutive days.

March 08, 2006

Closing Time

Looks like I'm closing on my place tomorrow morning. Excited, nervous, relieved, scared shitless: all would be adequate descriptions for me right now. It should happen, but I won't believe it's actually mine until the keys are in my hand.

March 06, 2006

Rapid Hope Loss

As of right now I am still unsure if I'll be closing on my condo tomorrow. It looks like the previous owner has a lawsuit against them for something and although it shouldn't be a huge problem it may set it back up to a couple of weeks. We only knew about this lawsuit a week ago. Apparently the lawsuit is pretty simple, cut and dried. Both sides have agreed upon a settlement price and me buying this condo may be delayed simply because the lawyers haven't gotten anything in writing. Once all the parties sign then we can close. I've been told this can happen today or if the people take their sweet time it could take up to a couple of weeks.

What a joke, huh!?

I'm hopeful today may be the day as I'm sure everybody just wants to get this going, but then again I've been about this close before on two other properties and they didn't happen. My real estate agent, broker and even my mom told me that these kind of things happen fairly often when buying a house and that I shouldn't feel as though I'm any exception. But that doesn't make it any easier. I've been living in a state of limbo, the state of "half-moved" for the better part of a year. I'm sick of it. It's time for this chapter to be closed and another to begin. Hopefully it happens today.

March 01, 2006

One Step Closer

Jill's not the only one who's having work done on her home. Oh wait. Technically, she probably is since the work that's being done on my home is not officially mine yet. But it is looking as if I am getting awfully close to closing on my condo in my filing cabinet. The closing date should be Monday or Tuesday next week. But we'll see. I can't help but be skeptical. I've been in this situation before. I've gotten this close to closing before and its fallen through.

The work that is being done is fixing a water leak from the shower in the filing cabinet above mine. It's made its way down between our floors and started coming through the ceiling in my master bath. Small issue, really. The builder has come in and torn out the ceiling already and a plumber is coming today to fix the leak. Tomorrow they'll patch and paint the ceiling. By Friday it'll be good as new.

It's kind of nice in these situations to have a home owners' association because they are responsible for fixing anything wrong that occurs on the other side of my paint. I insisted on having this done before we closed because I didn't want to deal with these people coming in and out while I lived there. I feel lucky I have that liberty.

February 22, 2006

Beantown

I'm leaving for Boston tonight to attend the wedding of a friend. It's always hard to wait when you have an evening flight and you have to work all day. Lucky for me I'm so damn busy at work the day is flying by.

See you in a week!

February 16, 2006

Home Was a Condo on the 15th Floor of a Filing Cabinet for Widows and Young Professionals

It may surpise you, but for the last two months I've been living with my mom. Unfortunately, I had to do this because I was buying a condo and I had to give notice that I was moving out of the house I was renting. That condo deal fell through and since I didn't have anywhere to go, I had to turn to my mom.

It looks, however, like that may be changing soon. My offer was accepted on another condo on Monday and because the loan process has been started and stopped so many times we are already ready to go. Closing should be on March 1st. (I asked for the longest possible time between closing and my first mortgage payment, which will be May 1.) I'll post a picture or two next week after I do my walkthrough on the weekend.

On a side note, I vacillated between this title and another one, "Hood Rich." Hood Rich was actually supposed to be the title of the post about my new car, but I forgot about it. If you don't know what it is, look it up. Bonus points if you know where the title of this post comes from.

February 09, 2006

Yes, It's a BMW

Yes, it's a BMW. No, I'm not rich, I just manage my money well. No, it's not new, it's only a '99. Yes, I got a good deal on it and it's in excellent shape. Yes, it's definitely an upgrade on my 2004 Subaru WRX.

I love you too dad. Talk to you later.

January 31, 2006

She's Out of My Life

It's a hard life, but a good one. I haven't been writing recently for several reasons. First, I lost the condo I was buying. Reader's Digest Version: It wouldn't appraise for the value and it seemed for some reason (pride) the seller's agent was stubborn and wouldn't negotiate. I really wanted that place, but such is life and I'm sure it will work out for the best.

Actually, that's a canned response. To be perfectly honest, I have been very depressed about it. I don't believe in fate, but it sure feels like I'm not supposed to own a home. I've been looking for a year and have been under contract on three homes and all of them have fallen through. It may not seem like it should be that big a deal, but buying one home is stressful enough, and buying three homes unsuccessfully is even worse.

The other thing that has been keeping me busy is some freelance projects I'm working on. To give you an idea, I've been doing php coding for an insurance company, home flyer designs for a real estate agent, and a couple of newspaper ads for a book store.

In addition, I was contacted recently by another school district, a smaller one, that wants me to create a design for them. That should be a big job, but I'm really excited about it.

Another thing that has taken a toll on my emotional health is that I sold my WRX. I really loved that car, but with buying a condo (yeah, right!) I decided to get a more sensible one with a monthly payment that isn't the size of an apartment. It's been a good two years that I've owned it and it was hard to say goodbye, but I don't regret my decision.

January 18, 2006

Sitting, Waiting, Wishing

I'm doing my best to wait patiently. But it's hard.

I'm waiting to hear whether or not the seller of the home is going to lower his price or not. I got word yesterday that apparently the appraiser was only able to find one "comparable" property. Since these condos are so new, only one of them has been sold. It also turns out that the seller's agent missed this one "comp" when pricing the house and subsequently overpriced it by about $13k.

Obviously, no bank would give me a loan for a house that costs $13k more than it's worth. So, we (actually, my agent) proposed to the seller (actually, his agent) that he drops the price about $10,000. We'll see if he goes for it. Honestly, he'd be silly not to. He's going to run into the same problem if he tries to sell it to somebody else.

January 17, 2006

Inspection Inschmection

Friday afternoon I took some personal time off from work and met the inspector at the condo I'm buying. It took about and hour and a half at a cost of $250 that I paid out of pocket. A couple of people I know suggested I don't bother with it considering it is still under warranty and less than two years old, but I decided prudence was a good idea in the purchase of my first home.

Now, in retrospect, I wish I would have listened to them. There was one warning made by the inspector on a plastic pipe that is too close to the water heater, but shows absolutely no sign of wear. Other than that, the place is perfect. Yeah, it's nice to know that it is in good condition, but at the cost of $250 it stings. I guess thats what it's like owning a home though. I had better get used to handing out large sums of money for seemingly pointless things.

January 09, 2006

Under Contract

Well, I'm under contract. Well, not me, but I have a condo under contract. It's about time, right? I finally found a place that I like and that I feel comfortable living in. I would have preferred to find something closer to downtown, but everything I saw that was in my price range was either really, really small or needed a good amount of work done to it. In addition, everything I looked at that I really liked was 50K more than I wanted to spend. The last few months have been a very frustrating time for me.

But anyway, this condo is less than two years old, has a good location in the central part of the Salt Lake Valley and will be perfect room for me. We will close at the end of the month, and since it'll be on my mind you may read about it a couple of times on here.

I'll get pictures as soon as possible.

October 04, 2005

The Only Living Boy In New York

Upon returning from New York everybody I know has asked me what I did. I mean, I was there for nine days, right? I must have done so much. I did. And I didn't.

List of what I did:

• » American Museum of Natural History
• » Metropolitan Museum of Art (Met)
• » Last New York Yankees home game of 2005 season
• » Central Park
• » Times Square
• » 5th Avenue shopping
• » Empire State Building
• » China Town/Little Italy

List of what I didn't do that I wanted to:

• » Statue of Liberty
• » Guggenheim
• » Explore Brooklyn more

It may be silly, but New York City is such a symbolic place (to me, at least) that just being there and visiting some of the amazing buildings, landmarks, neighborhoods, and simply walking around were things that needed to be done.

I have a few stories that I need to tell you and I'm going to try to spread out over the next couple days. So stay tuned.

September 21, 2005

Old Flames

I've been so busy getting things ready for New York that I haven't had much time to write. Well, actually, I have had time to write. But I haven't been using it to write here. I recently ran into a former college flame and have begun conversing with her by email.

She and I lived in the dorms at the same time when we were freshmen. Like I said, she was a former romantic interest of mine. But the interesting thing, at least to me, is that she is one of only two women ever to ask me out. (The other, I believe, did so by accident. But that's a completely different story.)

But I'm getting ahead of myself. Let's call her K. I ran into K at my work. It turns out that she's new in the district, having just left the private school she's taught at since graduation. She teaches Pre-K at one of the Westside schools now. So after a few minutes of catching up, and finding out that we are both still single, we exchanged phone numbers and email addresses with a promise to "hang out" sometime.

After some brief introductory, ice-breaking emails, we've gotten into some pretty extensive "conversations" about a huge range of subjects. The more we talk, the more I realize that we have a lot in common, not to mention she has many qualities prized by the superficial man, such as myself. But I am also reminded why we stopped dating when we were so young: religion. You see, she's Mormon and I'm not. Quite the opposite, in fact. I was raised as Jehovah's Witness. I'm not sure, though, if she remembers that or not.

I'm not really expecting much out of this expect the rekindling of a friendship. But I guess the coolest thing about it all is that two people who haven't seen or talked in about seven years would run into each other in a completely different environment.

September 07, 2005

New York State of Mind

I've finally hit a bit of a lull in work today, so I figured I'd try to get something written here. The main thing I'm writing about is my big vacation this year.

I mentioned it briefly earlier this year, but if you don't recall, I'm going to New York City in a couple weeks. This is my first trip to the Big Apple, by the way, and I love the East Coast and big cities so I'm really excited. It's going to be great.

I know how overwhelming the city can be, especially to first-timers like me, so I'm making a list of everything I'm going to do while I'm there. I certainly plan on doing all of the typical tourist stuff like the Empire State Building, the Statue of Liberty, the Guggenheim, the Met, the MoMA, Central Park, etc., but is there anything else that you know that I need to hit? Try to steer away from the usual stuff because I already know about it and it's already on the list.

The kind of things I'm interested in are the off-the-beaten-path types as well as any tips . For instance, I have a friend who told me to go the Seaport Station Tkts booth (for Broadway tickets) instead of the one in Times Square. Apparently you can walk right up to the one at Seaport, as opposed to waiting hours at the one in Times Square.

August 25, 2005

Am I A Schizo?

Recently, I've noticed some odd behavior. This time it's not somebody else's, but unfortunately, it's mine. This odd behavior I'm speaking of is talking to myself. I don't know why, but apparently my inner-dialogue has escaped the prison of my mind and is on the lam. I'm just wondering if this is something to be concerned with? Should I loose my dogs and capture this missing prisoner?

I've asked myself (audibly, of course) why I've begun talking to myself and I guess it's because I spend so much time alone. This is not some call for attention or anything, it's just a fact. I drive to work alone, sit at my desk alone, drive home alone, excercise alone, ride my bike alone. I would say that 95% of my life I'm by myself. Is that normal? How much time do you spend by yourself?

I found this page on Schizophrenia and it says that signs are "talking to oneself or no one in particular." Another bad sign is that apparently it usually "develops in people between fifteen and thirty."

One piece of irony: growing up, my sisters and I would make fun of my mom for talking to herself. Maybe it's genetic.

August 10, 2005

The Narrows

Thursday morning after eating one half a bagel and a chai latte, Brian, Joel and I caught the 6:30 shuttle to the top of The Narrows, a privately owned area called Chamberlain's Ranch. Our companions on the hour and a half ride were three college students from North Carolina on a roadtrip before returning to school.

» My Narrows pictures on Flickr
» Here's a good description if you are interested in doing the Narrows

August 08, 2005

Candid Photo of Me Telling an Embarrassing Story

August 02, 2005

Backpacking

In roughly 24 hours, I'll be heading down to hike The Narrows in Zion with my friend Brian. I'm really excited to get out of town. I've been so consumed with the usual summer goings-on that I haven't been able to do much outdoor, besides the usual two-five hour adventures in and around the canyons by Salt Lake. But that all changes this week as Brian and I will backpack about 16 miles in 24 hours time. Expect some average photos of some above-average scenery upon my return ...

July 28, 2005

Enjoy It While It's Here

My days in the office are depressingly filled with an ever-steady flow of projects filling my inbox and startlingly few exiting through the outbox. It's bound to happen every summer, as those of us working in the public sector use our "slow times" to catch up on the piles of duties we've shirked during our busy times. That being said, the term "slow times" is now one I'm striking from my personal dictionary. It has now become the time of year where all the clients/departments contact me for their annual maintenance request.

So, as is the case with many of you, I burn the daylight hours digging myself out of the hole I've come to know as work. In the brief respite I get every night, I am spending as much time in the saddle as I can, having made a significant investment into my overall health (physical & mental) by purchasing a road bike. It seems that this time every year the days start slipping by at such an incredible rate that before you know it, we'll all be saying, "Grab your jacket, it's cold outside."

June 22, 2005

Pressure Drop

Living with Erik the last couple of months have been pretty rough. So rough, in fact, that I have almost asked him to move out a couple of times. Between putting up with the incessant drama caused by his girlfriend (that he's broken up with three times in the last six months), and his less than consistent cleaning practices, it has been almost too much for me.

But a funny thing happened on the couch yesterday. Nervously, he said he had something serious to talk about. I thought, "oh great, here we go. If this is just annoying enough, I'll be kicking him out today." But, it was he, in fact, that said he needed to move out, not I.

His reasoning is that he's about to quit his job and go into the real estate business full-time and wanted to move back in with his parents and live much cheaper, if not free. I was not upset, I told him, I had even been thinking about asking him to move out recently.

Isn't it funny how things work out? I have been fretting about how I could possibly talk to him about this. What happens? He brings it up to me, and I don't look like the bad guy. Beautiful.

June 07, 2005

Bend And Not Break

June 06, 2005

Resilient

Has somebody ever said something that so invalidates your existence and your purpose that it hurts to even wake up the next morning? I know it's silly to let anybody affect you like that, but it's bound to from time to time. That happened to me this weekend. It's not really important what was said or by whom, but when you put a lot of energy and time and heart into something and have somebody you look up to disregard it or shoo it away like an annoying fly on a hot day, it can really take the wind out of your sails. That's how I feel today. Let down. Void of energy, motivation, and any sense of meaning.

June 03, 2005

My So-Called Life

This weekend I'll be attending my good friend Tyanna's wedding reception. It's at the Lion House and since I've never been there and her and her beau are LDS, it should be interesting (read boring).

Saturday night I'm going with a few friends to The Bayou, a great local watering-hole that boasts over 200 different kinds of beer. You know what this means ... Black Velvets (with cider)!

Also, Sunday afternoon there will be a local Subaru Meet. Should be fun as long as the po-po's stay out of our hair.

And finally, in between the merriment I will spend all my freetime finishing a Powerpoint presentation a real estate agent has hired me to do for him.

June 01, 2005

Scruffy

Wow, I really hate this time of year. I'm so busy being creative at work I hardly have time to be creative for fun. But one exciting thing I have to say is that Tuesday I finalized my plans to visit New York City (my first time!) in September. I'm so excited, you couldn't possibly understand.

I got a screaming deal on airfare and my friend's mom got us a great deal at a Brooklyn bed and breakfast because apparently she knows the owner. So, for travel and lodging for eight nights I'm only spending $350. I'm also budgeting $100 a day for spending money and food. I'm not sure if that'll be enough, but I have no doubt that my three friends and I will just eat bagels for breakfast and pizza for lunch and then go somewhere nice for dinner. Also, I'm sure that at least half of that budgeted alotment will go towards alcohol (if not more).

Oh yeah, one more thing. I haven't shaved since Sunday. Looking good.

May 25, 2005

Selfish ...

All I want is a maid to clean my modern, well-decorated loft.
I want somebody besides myself to do my laundry and my shopping.
I want to have toast 40% faster.
I want vacuums that vacuum while I'm away at work.
I want Tivo ... on an HDTV ... that's plasma.
I want a Nikon D70 and the free time to take thousands of pictures with it.
I want to write a book one day on one of the dozen plots I've thought of.
I want to attempt amatuer comedy on open mic night.
I want to see the world with a beautiful, intelligent woman.
I want a high performance, sportscar to drive during the weekend and a luxury sedan during the week.
I want to start a business someday for fun ... not one that I rely on as my main source of income.
I want to have a great golf swing.
I want to have all the new gadgets.
I want to write a screenplay and maybe even have it made.
I want to run a marathon.
I want to play in a community softball league.
I want to pay for my children's college education.
I want my knees to not hurt after I run.
I want people to come to my house and say, "Wow, Neil has some pretty cool stuff. Neil has the bachelor pad."
I want to be that guy ...

I want to live my life in honesty.
I want my family to know how much I love them.
I want my kids to know more than anything how much I love and would do anything and everything for them ...

... and finally, I want to wake up tomorrow without a hangover.

May 17, 2005

Me and My Bass Guitar

I wish I could sit at home and play my bass all day long. I have been having so much fun playing it recently. I learned how to play in high school, played a couple of times in college, and a few times since then for friends with bands that had lost their bass player, but I haven't really dedicated much time to it since I bought a guitar a couple of years ago.

Erik (my current roommate) and I have somewhat started a band in the last month or so. We've only practiced twice, but we performed in a talent show at Erik's church.

I just write this to tell everyone who much I'm loving it.

Five extra points if you can name the artist who's song is the title of this post (without using Google.)

May 10, 2005

Hiroshige Tattoo

Tattoos are addictive. At least, that's what I've heard.

But for me, I think it's true. I got my first tattoo on my left bicep about three and a half years ago. Ever since then, I've really wanted to get something else. But I never knew exactly what.

One thing that I know is that I would really love to get a big tattoo on my other arm. I can't really describe it, but I think a tattoo that covers the entire arm just looks amazing. Actually, I wouldn't want one that covers my entire arm, but at least my upper arm. This is what is typically called a "half-sleeve."

The other day though, I met a girl who had a half-sleeve done in the style of Ando Hiroshige or Katsushika Hokusai. I told her I really liked it, asked her who it was and why she chose it. She said she had never heard of either artist and confessed that she let the tattoo artist, her friend, just do what they wanted. I complimented her on the outcome and went on my way.

As we walked away, I smugly said to my friend, "That's lame. I would never get my body tattooed without carefully planning what it was." My friend snobbishly agreed. Her's looked somewhat like the one below.

After a few days to think about it, I'm seriously considering a tattoo in this style. The reason I would choose something like Hiroshige's "Sea Off Satta Suruga" at the top because I think it would look a lot better if it was one large image, rather than a collage of images like many other people choose. I really love the style and the framing of the "shot" with the waves on the right and the mountainside on the left.

At this point, it's just talk, but I really think it would look good. Now, all I need to do is get up the courage. My first tattoo is fairly small, but it hurt like a son of a bitch. Shortly after completing it, I decided I would have rather been punched in the face several times than have to get poked 60 times a second with five needles for an hour. No doubt I will be saying that tenfold when I eventually get around to getting this tattoo in the style of Hiroshige.

May 06, 2005

Photos, Joes, and Cars

My Album

In case you can't already tell, I've figured out a way to post pictures from my cell phone without spending the mandatory 25¢ charge. T-Mobile, it seems, has a feature that I was never made aware of called My Album that I can upload my pictures to for free. From there, I can link, save, and even edit them. I'm pretty excited about this, because I thought it was nonsense that I pay 25¢ in addition to the $60 and change that I already pay.

I love me some crab!

Another thing that I'm pretty excited about is that Saturday night I'll be going to Joe's Crab Shack. I know it's not necessarily known for its great seafood, but I really love the Alaskan King Crab there. I get it barbecued and I LOVE IT.

Tighter Curves

Also this weekend, I'll be installing a 20mm rear sway bar. For those of you who aren't of the mechanically inclined, sway bars can be installed on your car to make your turns tighter. My WRX came stock with a 17mm rear sway, but I picked up a 20mm rear sway off an STi pretty inexpensively. I know what you're saying, 3mm is pretty minimal, will that even make a difference? The answer is yes, yes it will. Huge. I plan on auto-crossing my car a few times this summer, and it will help a great deal in the curves. Subarus are notorious for understeer and a larger rear sway will help counteract that.

Category: My Life | Permalink | 2 Comments

May 03, 2005

The Killers

Last night I saw The Killers. They were very good and put on an excellent show. I was very impressed with how well they performed for the crowd. Definitely go see them if you have the chance.

Now that that's out of the way, the best part of last night's show would have to be Tegan and Sara. The last few shows I've gone to I've actually enjoyed the opening band who I'd never heard of prior to seeing them. Last night was no exception. I bought their cd, So Jealous, and took a chance leaving the show during The Killers to see if they were walking around in the lobby, which they were. So, I ended up chatting with Sara for a few minutes and got both of their autographs on my cd. Very cool girl (and very cute). So this morning, I jump on iTunes and what do I see on the banner? None other than Tegan and Sara. They've got an exclusive EP of a live show. I highly recommend checking out the downloads section of their site and if they sound anything like something you'd like, go to iTunes and download their full album.

Category: Music, My Life | Permalink | 2 Comments

April 26, 2005

It's In The Details ...

Once, briefly, I met a girl through a friend. Nobody of consequence, really. But since meeting her a few months ago, I have run into her several times. I've seen her at coffee shops, movies, and concerts. The first time I ran into her, I was surprised not only that she remembered me, but that I remembered her, even given how attractive she was. Let me say that a different way. What I mean by that, is that even though she is extremely pretty and attractive, I didn't think I would remember her after our less than significant meeting.

The second or third time seeing her we struck up a conversation and this is where it gets really odd. It turns out she works at one of the schools in the district I work for. So, technically, we're coworkers.

We've shared a couple of emails and we seem to have a lot in common. I write this not because I'm going on a date with her or anything, in fact quite the opposite, but simply to state how something like this reminds me of just how small this world is. And how sometimes, the most inconsequential of meetings may have profound effects on our lives.

Category: My Life | Permalink | 0 Comments

April 18, 2005

New Kenneth Cole's

Last week on eBay, I bought these Kenneth Cole Row Boat's and received them on Saturday. I'm trying to decide if I want to keep them. What do you guys think? Should I keep them?

I'm not 100% sure about them because of the white stitching. Other than that, I love the fit and comfort. Kenneth Cole's are expensive, but man, oh man, are they worth it for the fashion and comfort factors.

Here's another couple of views:
» Front
» Side

Category: My Life | Permalink | 4 Comments

April 15, 2005

Sharing Parental Cancer Survivor Stories

My friend's mother recently attended a gathering for breast cancer survivors so I thought I'd share my dad's story. Back in January of '98 my father was diagnosed with Non-Hodgkins Lymphoma and subsequently given a 20% chance of living five years. Several treatments and many nights spent at the hospital later and my family recenly celebrated my father's seventh year of survivoring cancer.

LiveSTRONG.

Category: My Life | Permalink | 2 Comments

April 09, 2005

The End

I love it when things come to an end. It sounds weird, I know, I just do. I love that sense of closure. I'm talking small things as well as large. I love finishing books, completing projects, and graduting from school. But I also love things as small as finishing a meal, going home at the end of a day of work, even using the last two eggs in a carton.

The best part about ending things is that eventually I get to start something else. I like cracking the seal on something. I love things being fresh and untouched.

The problem with this is that I tend to hurry through things just to get to the end. I hate being in the middle of something.

The worst part about having traits like this is that it is bad for relationships. I love starting them, but hate the middle, so I tend to look forward to the end.

Category: My Life | Permalink | 0 Comments

March 31, 2005

Sunny Days Lie Ahead

Well, I'm completely burned out from work the last couple of days. Since returning to work after my mini-vacation I've been deluged with work, had a multitude of appointments to look at homes to buy, and generally have so many spring errands to run it's getting pretty draining. I am not the type to get emotional, but I received some bad news leading up to my vacation and last night after having a particularly drab meeting with a real estate developer I completely broke down and lost it, crying uncontrollably. I am not ashamed or too caught up in my "manhood" to admit it. I just couldn't help it. Everything seemed to be caving in around me and I had nobody to talk to about it.

After feeling bad for myself for a few minutes and finally drying my eyes, I ended up going to the gym and riding a stationary bike for an hour. I came home feeling a lot better, not perfect, but definitely better.

Today I've listened to Bob Marley all day which usually helps cheer me up. Here's one of my favorites.

Three Little Birds

Don’t worry about a thing,
’cause every little thing gonna be all right.
Singin’: don’t worry about a thing,
’cause every little thing gonna be all right!

Rise up this mornin’,
Smiled with the risin’ sun,
Three little birds
Pitch by my doorstep
Singin’ sweet songs
Of melodies pure and true,
Sayin’, this is my message to you-ou-ou:

Singin’: don’t worry ’bout a thing,
’cause every little thing gonna be all right.
Singin’: don’t worry ’bout a thing,
’cause every little thing gonna be all right!

Category: My Life | Permalink | 0 Comments

March 30, 2005

Buried

I'm trying to dig my way from under the literal and figurative snowstorm that I've found myself in today. Of course, being buried alive should be expected since this is my first day back in Salt Lake and work.

Category: My Life | Permalink | 0 Comments

March 24, 2005

HOLIDAY!

The three best things about working for the public school system are:

1. Getting all the school days off.
2. Getting about 10 days off every year over Christmas and New Years'.
3. Getting several Fridays off every summer to save on building cooling expenses.

So, yes, the best thing about my work are the days off.

This week and next I only have to work four days, so I decided to use the long weekend to make it an extended weekend by taking off Tuesday as well. What am I going to do with all this time off?

Well, tomorrow morning I leave to visit my old roommate Noah in Michigan. Apparently, he and his wife Regan are even planning a big party for me on Saturday night.

Sure, it'll be cold, but I'll be with good friends. So it'll be a good next few days for me.

Category: My Life | Permalink | 2 Comments

March 23, 2005

Call Me Snake

Yesterday I had to drop something off to my sister at her work during my lunch. She's a stylist in a hair salon, so while I waited I introduced myself to the pretty blonde receptionist staring at me behind the counter.

She was very cute and had an even cuter British accent when she said that I look just like a friend of hers in England.

She even laughed when I made the obligatory "he must be good looking" joke.

"Yeah, I haven't seen Snake in years now. We dated for several years," she said.

"Snake! That's his name?" I replied.

"Yeah, I don't even think I know his real name, but seriously, you look exactly like him," she said staring at me, or rather, through me as if remembering the good times.

This got me thinking, I may have better luck with women if my name is Snake. So from now on, call me Snake.

Category: My Life | Permalink | 2 Comments

March 22, 2005

Wrong Place, Right Time

One night last weeknight (St. Patty's) after several hours of hanging out in bars, I attempted my 10-minute drive home. Oh wait, that sounds really bad. Sure, I had been in one bar or another for about 6 hours, but I hadn't had a drink in the last three or so. The second bar I went to was actually Brewvies, so I was watching a movie, not drinking.

As I got a couple of blocks away, I realized I couldn't make a left turn on the street I was on. So I made a right and continued down the street and made a U-turn. Within seconds of making the U-turn, I saw red and blue lights in my rear-view mirror.

It was obvious he was simply pulling me over because I grabbed his attention. As he approached my window I presented my license and registration. He simply took them and asked if I'd been drinking. I replied honestly with a yes, but that it had been a few hours since I'd had a drink. It was almost as if he didn't hear me.

"Can you step out of your vehicle?" he barked.

I complied with this request and every other for the next half hour. Luckily while I stood in the cold rain I had many activities with which to keep warm. I walked a straight line, one foot in front of another, I balanced on one foot and said the alphabet, and wriggled and writhed attempting to coerce him into letting me go.

After the above roadside olympics, he concluded that he was 93% sure I was intoxicated. For final proof, although he admitted it wasn't admissible in court, I blew into a "breathalyzer," where I blew a .059. The legal limit in Utah, and most states as far as I know is .08. At that, he gave me a quick lecture on driving after drinking and sent me on my way.

I was pretty much frazzled and agitated for the rest of the evening. I didn't sleep well that night thinking how closely I had come to getting a DUI. The following day, I was a wreck. Completely tired and in a bad mood.

Sure, I was upset because I felt he pulled me over for no reason at all, but I was also pretty pissed because I felt completely and totally fine at the time. I'm going to be completely honest and tell you that I've driven a couple of times where I knew I probably shouldn't have. At these times I was never out of control, I was never swerving wildly all over the road the way the drunks on Cops do. But I'm positive my reaction time was pretty slow. But this time, I honestly couldn't even "feel" the alcohol.

This whole experience has made me realize that what I think is "ok" is probably not legally "ok." I honestly doubt I'll ever drive after having more than one drink. I knew a DUI was really bad, but I was not aware until after just how bad it is. First, the ticket is $1500 along with a night's stay in jail. Second, you have to pay to have your car towed and then to get it out of tow. Third, there is therapy and counseling that has to be done. Finally, your car insurance sky rockets. On my car it would probably be something like $1000 a month or so. I'd have to get rid of it because I couldn't afford to have it insured. By the time everything is said and done, I've heard it is as bad as $10,000-15,000.

Wow.

How stupid do I feel? Pretty stupid.

So needless to say, I'm going to end up paying for a lot of taxi rides from this point on. It's a hell of a lot cheaper than a DUI.

Category: My Life | Permalink | 4 Comments

March 07, 2005

Homeless

I don't think it's too early to tell you that I will (most likely) not be buying the loft I was looking at. I was, and I guess still am, in a waiting game. But recently I've gotten an email from the developer and it is just looking like they are going to cost too much. Sure I could afford them, but I don't think I want to dedicate that much of my paycheck to a house when I know I can be paying much, much less, possibly even half.

I like my lifestyle too much to change it. I like being able to go to concerts, buy cd's, go to movies and go to dinner. If I were to get one of those lofts, I doubt I'd be able to do any of that even 5% as much as I do now. My life would completely change. Sure, maybe I'd live in the heart of the nightlife, but I wouldn't have any money to go do anything in it. What would be the point?

So, I'm still on the list to see the available units when they come up, but I really doubt I'll end up getting one.

I've also contacted a couple of friends who are real estate agents and given them an idea of what I'm looking for in a house so they can begin looking for something. I've told them stuff like area, 2-3 bedrooms, 1200-1500 square feet, small yard, garage, hopefully updated and remodeled, etc.

We'll see what happens. I'll keep you posted. In fact, this will probably become a pretty heavy topic on here as I get into the process.

Category: My Life | Permalink | 1 Comments

March 04, 2005

You Know I Love You, Baby!

I've slacked on my writing this week, I know. I've been swamped at work finishing some big projects and I had to take part in a focus group that took a lot of time. But to top it all off, it seems the cold i had a couple weeks ago has resurfaced. So while I'm at work I have to focus 100% on my work because I'm not completely with it.

But anyway, today I'm doing a lot better and I have some fun plans for the weekend. I'm seeing Modest Mouse in concert tomorrow night, then meeting a couple friends that are in town for a drink, then Sunday I'm going tubing. I'll talk to you Monday (hopefully not feeling more sick)!

Category: My Life | Permalink | 2 Comments

February 27, 2005

Torn

Last night was a very interesting night. I went to dinner with my sister and ended up seeing my roommate's girlfriend out with another guy. I texted him and asked if they were seeing other people and he said "not that I know of." He seems to really like this girl, so I told him that she was there with someone. He didn't know about it. In fact, he thought she was somewhere completely different. Today, apparently, they've worked it out. She was supposed to go out with several people and they all stood her up except one guy. So it just looked bad. Then of course, it turned out even worse because I ended up at the same restaurant.

It was a very, very weird meal.

I was deluged with a flood of strange emotions. Of course, my loyalty was and will always be with my friend Erik, so obviously I felt the strong need to tell him, which I did without hesitation. But soon after, I felt a strange feeling that I was getting involved in something I shouldn't have. With all respect to his girlfriend, I don't need to feel any loyalty to her. But still I felt I was overstepping my bounds. Don't get me wrong, I'm glad I made the decision I did. I just had so many emotions fighting within me that I became overwhelmed and confused by all of them. I don't know exactly how to describe it, but it was a very weird moment.

Category: My Life | Permalink | 0 Comments

February 15, 2005

Mountain Man

I haven't shaved in about five days and boy, oh boy, is my face itching today. I shaved on Friday before work and then not at all, as is my custom, on the weekend. Then usually Monday morning I get a good shave in for the beginning of the workweek. But since, I was feeling sick over the weekend and it bled into Monday, and even today for that matter, I couldn't bring myself to putting a blade to my face.

If my mom could see me, she'd most definitely call me "disgusting." My mom has a way with words. This time, I think I'd have to agree with her. I don't think I look very good with facial hair. Some people look great, my roommate for one, looks very good with a five o'clock shadow. So, I think I'm going to have to get off my butt tonight and shave my disgusting face.

You can tell that I'm sick in that picture. Maybe I should take that down.

Category: My Life | Permalink | 1 Comments

February 13, 2005

Mortgage Woes

In recent news, I've been going through the motions of getting approved for a mortgage. My credit score is pretty good and my debt-to-income ratio is good. Sounds like it would be easy to get approved to buy a home, right? And since you see billboards and radio ads and television commercials all the time pimping out the idea of "owning your own home" and "rent is for suckers," etc. I figured it would be a fairly simple process. Well, my friend, and you're a probably saying to yourself "Haha, first time home-buyers are so cute," it's not that easy. They are throwing all of this Adjustable Rate Mortgage (ARM), Fixed Rate, Interest Only, etc., etc. at me and to be perfectly honest, it all seems pretty overwhelming.

I was extremely nervous last year at this time when I bought my car, but considering that in six months time I could be almost a quarter of a million dollars in debt, sheesh, that just sounds bad. Last year I kept thinking, "do I really want to be $30,000 in debt?" Now that just sounds so small in comparison.

Category: My Life | Permalink | 4 Comments

February 11, 2005

Did You Get Your 8 hours Last Night?

Today, I feel about 95%. Last night, I went home from work, took some Tylenol Cold and Flu with Cool Burst™ played a few games of Socom II and went to bed early. Today, I feel great.

It's amazing how much a good night of sleep can do for you.

Category: My Life | Permalink | 3 Comments

February 10, 2005

Under The Weather

I'm sick today. My body aches. I have a tremendous headache. And I can't stop coughing. The worst part is, I think this is only the beginning.

Believe it or not, I actually came to work today. I've put in a pretty good day too.

Category: My Life | Permalink | 0 Comments

January 29, 2005

Lofty Goals

Today, I put a deposit down to hold a reservation on a downtown loft when it is finished being built.The lofts are being converted from a warehouse that was built in 1905. I still don't know which one I will be getting, because all I've done is declare that I want to be on the list for one and when my number comes up I will either have the choice of what's left or I can get my deposit back.

These lofts are the kind that you see in movies. They will have exposed brick exterior walls, exposed ceilings, and exposed pillars. All of this will be restored, sandblasted, and brought up to seismic standards. From there, the buyer of each loft gets to choose the design of the kitchen including fixtures and cabinets you'd like to go with your stainless steel appliances. Each loft has a balcony with large sliding glass doors, a finished bathroom, and a finished kitchen. But that's all.

I took a few pictures while I was going through the building today. Take a look.
Click on them for larger ones.

This is the developer showing Erik and I the progress that has been made the last two months.

This is the beginning of a balcony. I would love this view, but I doubt I will get it. These corner, high units will be quite a bit more expensive than the other ones.

This is the roof where there will be a 6,000 square foot garden and terrace for owners of the units to sun themselves, etc.

An inside shot the length of the building.

Another inside shot.

Category: My Life | Permalink | 4 Comments

January 24, 2005

Circle Lounge

Alright, well, on Saturday night I went with some friends to a little sushi/martini bar/jazz club called Circle Lounge. It was pretty cool. I think I'm going to need to buy a membership there because it was so much fun. Basicly there's this circular stage with sheer (for the women)/see-through (for the men) sheet-like things hanging from the ceiling. Within this veiled region sat a four-piece jazz band and singer. Around the outside of the circle were red couches, and small tables for your drinks and rolls.

I went with several friends that I know fairly well and one of their friends whom I met for the first time there. I decided not to take my camera because I was going to use my cameraphone for the first time. Well, it turned out that this would be a bad decision because the Circle Lounge was darker than I assumed it would be and my phone wouldn't take anything decent. I think I'll be going back in a month and I'll take my regular camera for sure.

Category: My Life | Permalink | 0 Comments

January 21, 2005

Procrastination

I'm so angry. I've procrastinated for the last four days and kept putting off buying tickets to the G. Love and Special Sauce concert tomorrow night and now they're sold out.

I'm usually right on top of these things, but ... damn!

Category: My Life | Permalink | 0 Comments

January 18, 2005

My Phone Is Dead

I had a great three-day weekend. A blessing in disguise came when my internet access was inaccessible for most of the day Sunday, all day yesterday, and as yet unverified today as well. I ended up happily watching football unfettered and undistracted by up-to-the-minute stats provided by espn.com. I don't remember the last time I sat in the friendly confines of my own home and watched a full game without checking some statistic or trivial fact on the internet.

It did become a nuisance though, as Monday came and it was still out. I needed to check out phones on t-mobile.com and decide which one I wanted to get. My old phone, for the most part an excellent one, has been slowly dying for the last three or four months. So I used T-Mobile's phone upgrade plan, which discounts long time subscribers, to pick up a new phone. While I don't need a cameraphone because I take my digital camera with me everywhere I go, it will be nice. I figure this may inspire me to upgrading to the new version of MT which has native moblogging features enabled.

Also, I bought three ties and shirt yesterday. One tie was green, one pink, and one gray and blue. Fun, fun, fun.

Category: My Life | Permalink | 0 Comments

January 11, 2005

Best Game Ever

I was looking back at my post a little over a year ago and noticed that I have been spending my time, as of late, doing just about the same thing: playing Grand Theft Auto, but this time it was more of the gangsta rap/low riders/sagging pants type in San Andreas whereas last time it was more Gary Numan/pastel t-shirt/rolled-up sport coat style in Vice City.

I finished 98% of the game in Vice City (yes, it actually tells you how far you are) and my roommate and I have attained 86% so far in San Andreas.

I know it's violent, "mature", and probably quite inappropriate, but all I can say is, "wow."

Best game ever. Ever.

Category: My Life | Permalink | 2 Comments

January 10, 2005

Embarrassing Moment

One Saturday morning last summer I ran a 10k (6.2 miles). After it was all said and done, I quickly changed at a friend's house. I took off my running shorts and put on jeans. Now, for those of you who aren't runners or haven't ever seen male running shorts, they are very similar to male swim trunks in that they have "underwear" sewn into them. Trust me, these special shorts are needed after about three or four miles. So as I was changing clothes I realized I had forgotten to pack a pair a "draws."

"Hm, commando," I thought. "No big deal for an hour or so while I get my car's oil changed."

Cut scene: Interior car dealership.

I sit lazily and freely spread-legged, tired from the run, in a chair facing a long hallway for about an hour.

Cut scene: Interior of my house about one-half hour after arriving home.

I reach down, as I am accustomed to do, to check my zipper. And lo, and behold ... it's down. I laugh quietly to myself.

"Ha ha, good thing I'm not in public, since I'm not wearing ... any ... underwear ..."

The magnitude of this blunder hits me as I realize I was sitting, more like sprawled, facing a long hallway for an hour in the car dealership.

Not one who embarrasses easily, I told this embarrassing story that night to several friends at a wedding.

Later this week, I'm going to post a candid picture another friend took of me telling this story at the wedding. Photo here.

Category: Funny Ha Ha, My Life, Running | Permalink | 1 Comments

January 06, 2005

Explainably Inexplicable

Every winter, I inexplicably get stricken with a tremendous lack of motivation. Ok, maybe not "inexplicably," but it's definitely hard to explain.

From the moment I open my eyes in the morning, my mind and body are warring about getting out of my warm bed. Five or six days a week the responsible side wins. But at least one day a week the five-year-old in my heart wins and I get to sleep in for a couple of hours.

Today was no exception to this rule. I ended up being late for work because I couldn't get out of bed. I was only 10 minutes late. But let me just say, I didn't complete my normal morning hygienic tasks until I got to work. By this, I mean to say, I brushed my teeth in the bathroom at my work.

I guess it could be chocked up to the whole Greek mythology thing. You know, the Greek goddess of the harvest, Demeter, who mourned during winter because her daughter had to spend those months with her husband Hades. If that doesn't make sense, google it.

But I think it may be a mixture of that and also that it gets so cold outside the covers in the morning.

Category: My Life | Permalink | 1 Comments

January 03, 2005

Winter Break 2004-05

Well, I'm back. My winter vacation this year was exactly what I wanted it to be. Long and uneventful.

I saw several movies, including: Meet the Fockers, The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou, and The Aviator. Also, I rented The Godfather series and watched them in their entirety for the first time. I've seen parts of the first and second one, but never all in one sitting. So that was cool. I really love the first one, it's definitely my favorite. Al Pacino is simply amazing in it. When I grow up to be a Don, I want to be just like him. He has this intense calmness to him with these cold, yet harsh eyes.

Also, I bought Garden State and Napoleon Dynamite on DVD. Great movies, both of them. I especially enjoyed watching Napoleon with the Director, Producer, and Jon Heder (Napoleon) commenting.

On New Years', I went with some friends to a club. It was fun, I met four girls from St. Louis who were very nice and fun to hang out with. I danced with one named Molly as the calendar turned 2005. Good memory. Too bad she's from the Lou.

Also, I had the uppipe done on my car. I'm sitting somewhere between 260-270 horsepower, with faster turbo spool.

How was your holidays/winter break/whatever?

Category: My Life | Permalink | 2 Comments

December 13, 2004

Refueling

Despite Cedar City unfortunately still being Cedar City, I had a pretty good time there last weekend. It was good for me to get out of the city and not think about anything that is going on here. Not that things are going bad here, but it's always good to get away from things and go somewhere where things are not on your mind.

I spent some time with my fraternity brothers that are in their last semester of college. Chandler, one of my good friends, and I had a good talk and I encouraged him to move to Salt Lake after graduation. I really hope he does. All day Saturday I hung out with Jill, my old boss and my more recent colleague.

The highlight of our 10-hour conversation has to be when we wholeheartedly and outloudly laughed about many people not knowing there is more than one browser. Immediately I both lamented and rejoiced at how geeky we are.

We went to lunch with Tanya and Monty and Jill's husband Kevin. Tanya is, of course, my ex-coworker when I was a student web developer in college. I had never met Monty, but it was good to. He was quiet, but from what I could gather, he probably just speaks when he has something to say. Unlike me, who speaks all the time, probably just to hear my own voice. I miss being around them. We used to have a good time.

I also saw an old roommate, Tony. He and I shared a couple of beers and laughed about the old times and all the stupid stuff we used to do after getting liquored up.

I hung out for a couple hours with an old friend Jessi. She's been having some health problems lately and subsequently been having a hard time. It was good to see her and hopefully things will be looking up.

I feel refueled after the weekend. I was very busy, driving all over Cedar, not counting getting down there and back. But I can definitely tell that I am doing a hell of a lot better emotionally than I was when I went down. Last weekend was like one long therapy session. I felt good to go down there. But then again, it's great to be back home.

Category: My Life | Permalink | 0 Comments

December 10, 2004

Back To Cedar

I'm going to Cedar City for the weekend to visit friends that I haven't seen in quite awhile. In fact, I haven't been to Cedar since I graduated in May of 2003, and that was for less than 48 hours.

It's going to be great seeing some of my old friends, and meeting some new ones, but I have a feeling that I'm going to be ready to leave by Saturday night. I don't have a bad attitude going in, but I just know how much of a drain Cedar is, especially the first 24 hours or so.

Category: My Life | Permalink | 0 Comments

November 22, 2004

Firsts

Over the weekend, I did a couple of cool things. One for the first time. One for the first time in awhile.

Friday night, I met up with a bunch of fellow Subaru WRX/STi enthusiasts and checked out each others' rides. I've never done this before and, man, was it fun! There was no competition, it wasn't about who had the better/faster car. It was a gathering of people who have similar interest and enthusiasm for their car. It was a meeting of the minds. Members of this club talked about modifications that they had already done to their car and what the results were. I found out about this meet, as they're called, through one of the forum websites that I frequent. I was very nervous to show up, but once I was there, I had a blast. It took place at Fashion Place Mall, at the food court parking lot. There were probably 50 WRX's and STi's there, but during the course of the evening probably a hundred or so other cars came by and taunted us to race them. Picture a really lame looking Mitsubishi Eclipse with a primered ground effects kit sitting in front of a row of highly moddified, performance-tuned non-aggressive Soobies.

One funny thing that happened was that a police officer in his squad car came by and just sat there shining his spotlight at our cars. He sat there for probably 15 minutes before driving away. Several of the people thought he was checking out the cars, but I think he was trying to either intimidate us into dispersing or seeing if there was going to be a race or something.

I met some very knowledgeable people and made a couple of contacts that can help me do some installations that I don't have the knowledge or equipment to perform. I can't wait for the next one!

The second thing, you know, the one I haven't done in awhile, was go to a theatre party. What I mean by this, is that it's a party where the majority of the attendees were involved in professional theatre in some way. My roommate, Erik, does community theatre and is pretty well connected into that circle.

We went to a party with the cast of the Beauty and The Beast at Pioneer Theatre Company. Nice people, most of them, but it reminded me of why I quit theatre. First, theatre people, by nature love the attention on them. So, they don't really listen to you much in conversation. They always tend to turn the focus to them (moreso even than regular people).

Second, out of about 25 people there, only four of them were female. I wasn't planning on hitting on any girls or anything, so this isn't a huge deal. But come on, the last thing I want to do is hang out with a bunch of effeminate heterosexuals and openly gay men. I just don't. I'm sorry. I got nothing against them. But I have no common interests with them. No common denominator. I mean, let's look at what we were both doing before getting to the party. I was riding a high after watching the Utah Utes destroy the BYU Cougars in football. They came from dance rehearsal where they were dressed as plates, forks, spoons, knives and various other cutlery.

Category: My Life | Permalink | 0 Comments

November 16, 2004

I Need a Sugarmomma

I need a sugarmomma.

I came to this undeniable conclusion on Saturday night somewhere in between the first of four glasses of wine and a second glass of champagne. I was in Park City attending a swanky party at a theatre for contributors and season ticket holders.

I was looking around the room and decided this because there were several very eligible widows and divorcées who are still very attractive, albeit 20 years my senior. The way I see it, I give them what they want, they give me what I want.

Let me know if your auntie is on the prowl.

Yeah, I know. I'm a freak.

Category: My Life | Permalink | 1 Comments

November 15, 2004

A New Level of Bachelorhood

I made a breakthrough Friday.

I am, from this point further not doing my laundry myself, until I either a) buy a house or b) get married (in which case, my wife will do the laundry HA HA Just Kidding!).

There are two duties in life I hate more than any other: grocery shopping and doing my laundry at a laundromat. But after 8 years of setting aside three hours a week to sit awkwardly in the depravity that is a laundromat, I am done.

In a laundromat, and to quote Obi-Wan, "You will never find a more wretched hive of scum and villainy."

Once again, I am done.

I decided this after one of the best single experiences in all my life. You see, Friday, after being sick for a day and a half and not being able to do my laundry, I got out of the shower to only one pair of clean underwear. Having a full day of activities planned for Saturday, I knew I'd either have to do my laundry that Friday night or wear the underwear I had on for two days and make time to go to a laundromat on Sunday. But as I was dressing for work I realized I had a third, albeit a more scary option: I could drop off my clothes to be laundered by my dry cleaner. This made me a little nervous, because after all, I was handing over my dirty skivvies and all to a total stranger.

I decided to give this third option a try.

So before work, I stopped at my dry cleaners' and dropped off my laundry basket. The lady told me they'd be done by 2 PM.

"Cool," I said. "I'll pick them up at 5 when I get off work."

After work, I pulled up to the drive-thru window and before I had a chance to step out of my car, a different lady was right there asking me for my slip and my form of payment. I handed it to her along with my credit card. She returned seconds later with my clothes, which she loaded in the back seat of my car and a small clipboard for me to sign the receipt. I was in and out in less than 90 seconds. It was awesome.

When I got home, I ripped open the three plastic bags they used to package everything and found my extremely clean, nicely folded clothes. In addition to doing my laundry which consisted mostly of socks, underwear, and t-shirts, they pressed and hung six dress shirts ... all for the low, low price of $14!

It was an incredible experience. I now feel as though I've reached a higher level of bachelorhood. Sure, it's about twice the amount I spend doing it myself, but I will now save three hours a week. But also, I've saved about $300 that I was going to use sometime this month to pick up a used washer and dryer. I can now put that toward one of my student loans or something (i.e. my car).

Next on the agenda of freeing myself from all household duties, order my groceries through the internet and have them delivered.

Category: My Life | Permalink | 5 Comments

November 12, 2004

Quasimodo

I've had an interesting couple of days. As I worked feverishly on Wednesday morning, I realized I had been itching my right eye. This is not tremendously out of the ordinary as I get pretty bad hayfever every once in awhile. So I took an allergy pill out of my desk and walked down the hall to get a drink of water to wash it down. I get no further than out my office door, when my secretary says to me, "What happened to you?"

Confused, I stared blankly at her. My face obviously stating, "What are you talking about?"

"It looks like you've been punched in the face."

I tell her I have allergies and have been itching my eye. So I walk down the hall to the bathroom and walking in the bathroom, I see a sight I pray I never see again. My eye was bulging so large that I looked just like Quasimodo.

I was hideous. Even the white part of my eye was swelling. By shutting my eye, I could feel the "ridge" that was now existing between my iris and the "white part." I worked for a couple more hours and then took the rest of the day off because it hurt so bad to keep my eye open.

Thursday, I stayed home as well. The swelling had only slightly gone down since the day before, despite keeping ice on it for the better part of the day. After getting some stronger allergy medicine (apparently stuff more geared for allergic reactions, as opposed to generic allergy medicine) and some eye drops from the doctor, I am now at work today.

To make a long story short, it seems that I had an allergic reaction to something that I had on my hands. I then transmitted it to my eye when I itched it. The moral of the story? Wash your hands often people.

Category: My Life | Permalink | 1 Comments

November 08, 2004

YeehHaw! Weekend Roundup

I saw Ray over the weekend. I don't have a whole lot to say about it, besides Jamie Foxx needs to at least be nominated, if not win, an Oscar for his dead-on performance. Great movie. I highly recommend it.

On Saturday, I saw our unbeaten Utah Utes football team tear up the Colorado State Rams 63-31. The Utes are now 9-0 and 7th in the country. This is just outside the 6-team BCS bubble that they long to be in. Now, they need one of the top 6 teams to lose in the next two or three weeks to make it to one of the top 3 bowl games. It was a blast going to the game. I've been watching them all season and lucked out by having a friend with an extra ticket.

Category: My Life | Permalink | 1 Comments

November 03, 2004

One Thing I Know

The events of the last 24 hours have reaffirmed what I already know . . . the majority of Americans are stupid.

Category: My Life | Permalink | 0 Comments

November 01, 2004

Are you going to AA too?

I was trying to think of something funny that happened to me recently, because, well, I know I don't live that boring of a life, and I remembered something that happened to me a couple weeks ago.

I was driving very fast down a very busy one-way street in downtown Salt Lake trying to be on time to a basketball game I was playing in. I must have been feeling pretty wild because I darted in and out of a couple lanes trying to get ahead of the traffic. At the next light I stopped at, I noticed a car that had kept up with me. I looked over and saw a fairly attractive, older-looking (mid-30-ish) lady smiling at me. Not one to turn away from a smiling, friendly face, I returned the smile. Immediately after smiling, a deep feeling of disgust with myself welled up in my gut. I realized that I was now reduced to "one of those guys" who hits on girls from within my car. (Even if that's not exactly true, that's how I felt.) I then quickly and nervously turned my head forward.

At the next light, I looked straight ahead. You know that feeling when you know somebody is looking at you? Yeah, that was happening to me. I could feel her eyes boring into me.

The light turns green and I speed off, still trying to be on time. But alas, as is Murphy's Law, "If you are running late, every street light will turn red," I got stopped at the next light. Not being able to withstand temptation any further, I looked to my left, only to see Miss Smiley McLookatmealot doing none other than flash her pearly whites at me. This time, though, her window is down and she's motioning for me to roll down my window. Reluctantly, curiously, and nervously I roll down my window just in time for her to say, "I like how you drive!"

"Thanks," I say, somewhat confused. That's an interesting way to start a conversation, I think.

"Are you going to AA too?" she says.

"Uh, no. I'm going to play basketball."

"Oh, damn. Ok, well have a good night," she says.

"Thanks. You too," I reply.

She turned at the next light, and I realized the irony of this exchange. She assumed that because I drove, admittedly, a little wild, that I was on my way to an AA meeting. Second, it seemed as though she was a little disappointed that I wasn't. I have to assume that this is because she was, shall we say, interested in me. So I pose this question, is it "appropriate" for one to use self-help/rehab groups as a source for dating? I'd have to say, I don't think it should be. But thats just me.

Category: My Life | Permalink | 1 Comments

October 04, 2004

YeeHaw! Weekend Roundup Pardner

I went home early from work on Friday. I had a headache. Actually, I had a headache for most of last week. It was a really rough week for me. But I slept in on Saturday and took naps both days, so I feel pretty good today.

Today, I got the first two seasons of Curb Your Enthusiasm on DVD that I ordered last week. I can't wait to watch these again. I haven't seen them since they were on TV for the first time.

On Saturday I went with my roommate Erik to a store called Dancing Cranes that I've been wanting to go to. It's sort of an Asian place that sells things from rugs and lamps to stationery and pens. I went because I wanted to buy one of those asian rice paper balls to make into a lamp. I got one and it looks pretty cool hanging in my living room.

Last night, after meeting a couple of friends at Noodles and Co. I decided to head home early and stopped at Blockbuster and picked up Mean Girls on DVD. Its pretty hilarious. Tina Fey wrote it, so I knew it would be funny.

Category: My Life | Permalink | 2 Comments

September 24, 2004

Roommates

As a result of said changes, my roommate is moving out and I'm getting a new one.

In fact, I'm getting one that I will probably definitely get along with better than my current one. My new one is going to be my old friend Erik.

He's never moved out of his parent's home (besides a quick 2 month stint in the MTC) so I think this will be really good for him.

Not that I don't like my current roommate, but he's just not very clean and sort of a scatterbrain. He has his foot in so many different wading pools that he never seems to be completely present, no matter how serious the situation he's currently in.

Erik on the other hand, can get on my nerves, but only in the way a brother could.

Category: My Life | Permalink | 2 Comments

September 22, 2004

Changes

Things are changing in my life. I wish I could explain it to all of you, but it wouldn't do it justice and you certainly would leave more confused than just stating the above.

These won't be permanent changes, for they will just be necessary for a short time. When I say short, I mean, relatively short, as in only 6-12 months. Within one year, everything will be back to normal.

Don't worry, I'm not dying. I'm not going in for chemo-therapy or something. I am having to change my social circle for awhile. It may sound weird, but it will be for my own good and will help me in many ways.

Wow, could I be anymore vague?

Category: My Life | Permalink | 2 Comments

September 13, 2004

Back From Philly

I'm back from my Philly trip! I had a blast too. (Did you have any doubt?!) I'll fill everybody in on it when I get a chance, but for now, I need to catch up on all the work that has been piling up for the last week. But just to whet your appetite, let me just say that a New Jersey accent can be pretty hot when its coming out of the right girl's mouth.

Category: My Life | Permalink | 0 Comments

September 07, 2004

First Vacation

Today, I start my first actual vacation since graduating from college one year ago. Sure, I've taken a day off here and there, but until now I've never pieced together more than one day off of work. I'm really looking forward to it.

My friend Mikey and I are flying into Baltimore, Maryland where we'll be picked up by our friend Tim. We'll then drive to Philadelphia, where Tim is from, and spend a day or two there. Then, we'll go bum around the beach in New Jersey. On Friday, Tim gets married to his fionce Amanda. Then on Saturday we're taking a train to New York City where we'll hang out with a good friend of mine, Justin. Sunday evening we fly back to Salt Lake.

Its going to be a whirlwind vacation, but it'll be worth it. Plus, it'll be great to give Tim some support from his friends in Utah, where he currently resides. I'll try to post photos happenings a couple of times throughout the week.

Category: My Life | Permalink | 1 Comments

August 11, 2004

I'm a Grand Prize Winner

So last night, I attended the New Owner Orientation Night at my Subaru Dealership. This is a night where they go over some features of your car, explain certain things a little further, like the All Wheel Drive, drivetrain, maintenance, etc.

A light meal is served and at the end of the night there is a drawing for several Subaru items. Most of the items are things like t-shirts, hats, key chains, and steering wheel covers. But the grand prize is a Samsung DVD-VCR Combo.

Let's just say that I was the cat's meow, the cock of the walk, or if you're not familiar with all of the animal/human stupid sayings, I was the envy of every Subaru owner there. Oh yeah! It feels pretty damn good to win the grand prize.

To be honest, I really don't need it. But I can't help being excited about it. I never win anything. In fact, I don't even think I'll keep it. I'll either sell it on Ebay or I may give it to a friend for a wedding present. Either way, I'm still excited to be the grand prize winnah!

Category: My Life | Permalink | 0 Comments

August 04, 2004

Four Eyes

I'm now wearing the aboves glasses. In fact, I have been for about a month and a half now. I got them for a couple of reasons.

First, I am getting increasingly lazy in my old age. I hate putting in and taking out contact lenses, which I've been wearing for years now. Second, my allergies have been horrendous as of late and were wreaking havoc on my eyes with contacts in them. Third and finally, I wanted them for aesthetic purposes. I feel it makes me look like a completely different person. Now don't be reading anything Freudian into this, like I want to be somebody else or something. I simply, wanted to have a new look. I'll try to get a picture of myself in them soon so you can give me your opinion.

Category: My Life | Permalink | 1 Comments

August 03, 2004

Paradise

Last weekend, I went camping with my family and some friends. Actually, they went camping, I just met up with them for one night of their excursion.

At night, as everyone was drinking and having a good time I became pretty thoughtful, which is odd for me during libations. I usually become more talkative and outspoken. I was brooding about several things, which I don't want to talk about at this time. I think I probably drank too much too fast and thus got tired quickly. I stumbled back to my tent and threw myself into my sleeping bag. Sensing my mood, my sister, whom I'm very close with, came to talk with me before I fell asleep in my tent. I don't remember everything we spoke of, but I know it was comforting and even concluded with some crying from both of us.

I fell asleep with a light and carefree heart.

My slumber was disturbed the next morning very early by a playful chipmunk running around on top of my chest. (My tent-mate had forgotten to zip up the door.) I lay there in the peaceful quietude of the deciduous and decided to get up and go for a slow run.

I set out up the road taken to arrive at the campsite and saw a spectacular view of mountains, valleys, streams, and rivers. Aspens and pine. Livestock and serpent.

As I run, I realized that I was running through the closest thing to paradise that I could imagine. Miles and miles, relatively untouched by man. Breathing in the cool fresh air rejuvenated not only my body but my being. It felt cleansing and inspiring. It was amazing.

I ran for about 45 minutes and arrived back to camp with more energy than when I left. Cleansed emotionally and energized physically.

If only every run could be this same way!

Category: My Life, Running | Permalink | 0 Comments

July 30, 2004

Broken Elbow

So the show last night was awesome. If you have a chance to pick up a Hives show, do it. They put on such a high energy, explosive show. My favorite person to watch was the lead guitarist. He's the skinny one on the right of their latest video if you've seen that.

Anyway, I had a blast, but I really injured my elbow on some dude's head in the mosh pit. I guess it could be worse, it could have been my head that got jacked!

Category: My Life | Permalink | 0 Comments

July 29, 2004

Free Hives

Tonight I'm seeing The Hives in concert. The cool thing about this is that I'm seeing them for free! I was going to go yesterday after work and pick up a couple of tickets for myself and a girl I'm seeing. But on my way to work, the local radio station sponsoring the show announced that for one hour they'd be giving away tickets to anyone who could come to their offices.

Well, it just so happened that I would be driving by the station on my way to work! So I stopped and picked up a couple. Sure they would have only been $20 a piece, which is by no means an expensive show, but still, free is always better.

Its funny how something like that can shed a bright light on the rest of your day! I'll give you a full report on the show tomorrow.

Category: My Life | Permalink | 0 Comments

July 20, 2004

Wear Yellow

I love Lance Armstrong! I believe in everything he stands for as a human being and a cyclist.

From the Lance Armstrong Foundation Manifesto:

We believe in life.
Your life.
And that you must not let cancer take control of it.
We believe in your right to live without pain and, if it comes to it, your right to die with dignity.
We believe in energy: channeled and fierce.
We believe in focus: getting smart and living strong.
Because we’re passionate about helping you live every minute of your life with every ounce of your being.

This is the Lance Armstrong Foundation.
Founded and inspired by one of the toughest survivors on the planet.

Live Strong.

My dad has survived non-Hodgkins Lymphoma for the last six and a half years. My dad Lives Strong.

I support Lance. I support my dad.

Get a LiveStrong wristband from any Nike store, cycling store, or from the Lance Armstrong Foundation website.

Category: Cycling, My Life