RECOVERING

I'm finally recovering from both the weekend and all the fake blog sex I had in the last post. Whheeww! Thanks to all of you who posted something!

As for the weekend??? My buddy and I had the brilliant idea of doing the "PB Pub Crawl" on Saturday. For those of you not familiar with this, there are several bars that stretch from the beach area all along Garnet ave in Pacific Beach. The object is to have at least one drink at each. The problem is that nobody actually comes up with this idea until after they're already pretty well lit up. We were no exception. We spent most of the day at a bar over-looking the beach and were there until well after sunset when we embarked on our journey. 3 hours and 10 stops (read: Bars) later, we were literally crawling into a cab. Ug.ly.

I don't think I'll be doing that again for a while.

That's all I got.

GROUP MANDATORY POST

Yes, that's right - everyone HAS to participate!!!

I got this from Anonymous Midwest Girl who got it from, well, who knows and who cares where it started - but the important thing is that it's hilarious. What is all this nonsense I'm talking?

Here:

Post a comment with a COMPLETELY MADE UP AND FICTIONAL memory of you and me. It can be anything you want - good or bad - BUT IT HAS TO BE FAKE. You've got free reign. Start your sentence "Remember when you and I...."

Even if you've never commented here before, here's your chance! Those who read here often and never comment, I know who you are so do it - or I'm gonna have to kick yer arse! Got it? Good.

AGE AND HEALTH EPIPHANY

I'm only 31, but I've been feeling old. I was sharing my new Music Revolution CD from Sam with various friends and realized I stopped caring about the names of bands some time ago. Sure, I recognize the sounds and the songs, but name? Who cares? Apparently everyone else but me. I used to be cool! Promise! For most of my life I was always on top of the great new bands - way before anyone else knew who they were. Now? I was asking my friends if they'd heard of this band or that band that Sam included on her mix and they were all like, "Um, Yeah!" Granted I'm not totally clueless - there were several I'd heard of but couldn't have told you what they sing -just that I recognized the names. I really need to pay more attention. Another indicator that I'm getting old is that I was trying to name an actress (Kate Hudson) from a movie I recently watched - I couldn't remember her name, so I referred to her as "Goldie Hawn's daughter". Scary!

I've always been pretty healthy. I rarely get sick and I've never been heavy. I've always been pretty active but to be honest never really payed attention to what I was eating. Mostly because I'm a relatively good eater. By that I mean that I eat a variety of foods, including tons of veggies and fruits. I'm not a huge fan of fast food, but I might grab some Micky D's once or twice a month (I LOVE fast food breakfasts, but rarely get them because Ronald and the King stop serving them too early).

I am in the midst of renewing my passport and looked at my current passport picture, which was taken 10 years ago. I looked great! My face was finely chiseled with my jaw picture perfectly square. My point to all of this is that it really hit me that I've gained weight. I'm certainly not overweight, but the weight I've put on is not hitting me in the parts I would like. This was illustrated a few months ago when I saw my mom for the first time in several months and her first words were "Wow! You look like you've lost some weight! You don't look as heavy as you did back in March." Which in my mom's language translates to "You've been looking a little heavy Brian, but I'm a sweet lady so instead of saying that I'm making up a false comparison to break it to you lightly."

Until this year, I've never taken exersize very seriously but I came to the conclusion that this is necessary to maintain my RETROsexual identity that my ego endulges. Recently I decided to take it a step further and get away from my "I really don't care what I eat - if its killing me, at least I'll die happy" attitude and start making more of an effort to eat healthier. Problem is, I haven't found too many dietitians and nutritionists that can explain things in layman's terms. One doesn't need to look far to see what I'm talking about -a great example is in THIS article from today. WTF is a refined grain?? How the hell do I know a saturated fat from any other type of fat? FOUR servings of whole grains? Lady, I don't eat four servings of ANYTHING in a day!!!! Fuck me running!!!

So I'm at an age where I need to start considering my health more. When did this happen? How? I saw a commercial with Christy Brinkley the other day and she doesn't look a day over 29 - she still gives me wood like she's been doing since I was 8 years old. What is she, like 75?? And trust me, when you are 8 you can get wood by touching a feather - at 31, it's often enough but much less suseptive to whimsical daydreams. At any rate, this has been my stress lately. At least until I warm up to the whole idea. Oh! That reminds me - the ex turns 30 today. I guess I should call or send her a text welcoming her to 'the club'. I'm confident she's freaking the fuck out about now.

Is that a random enough ramble for the day? Good.

OFFICIAL NEW MUSIC DAY

In cooperation with Melissa's (and Pink Kitty's) CD Revolution #2, I recieved Sam's compilation of kick ass tunes. Loving The Strokes, Hot Hot Heat and The Postal Service - to name a few. I'm now in the process of integrating some of them into my various playlists for things like running or photo shoots.

I sent her one on Friday, so given the holiday she should be recieving it any day. My mix was a little different genre focusing on the phenomenon of Texas music. I listen to such a broad range of music that it just kind of made sense to narrow it down to this little piece of me. I mixed in some CCR, Randy Rogers, Django Walker, Jason Boland and Stoney Larue to name a few. I wanted to include some Micky and the Motorcars, Mike McClure, Eli Young Band among a few more - but I couldn't fit it all. In fact, I started with over 40 of my favorite songs and it took me about 2 hours to keep shaving them down to 16 that would fit, changing my mind several times. I miss being able to see the live shows regularly, but I'm planning a trip sometime late spring to catch up a little.

Anyhow, I'm sure round #3 is coming soon, so stay tuned to Melissa's site for details - this little idea is one of the best since "going commando". Well, at least almost as good...

"DOMESTIC SPYING"

It's been a while since I alienated myself from many of my readers, so I guess I'm overdue...

This whole controversy about "Domestic Spying" really heats me up. I wasn't so bothered by the watchdog groups raising the issue because mostly they are like packs of little lap dogs - they bark a lot because they don't like somebody. It's just part of the game. But to have Al Gore stand up and make the ridiculous remarks he made makes me sick.

Many might disagree - which is fine, but I have no fundamental problem with "Domestic Spying". For one, the entire term is kind of a funny euphemism to begin with. "Domestic Spying". I liken it to "Hate Crimes". These terms are carefully constructed to incite an underlying paranoia as to motive, which I find irrelevant.

As for "Domestic Spying", are the people who oppose it going to be the first to bark at the government when another massive terroristic attack happens? Of course they would. Is it a little paranoid to think that the government is spying on you if you don't have something to hide? Um, yes. Personally, I say tap my phones - I've got nothin and it wouldn't take long to find that out. I think we need to allow our government -regardless of whom the president - the latitude to take care of some business. This not only includes "Domestic Spying", but it also should extend out to interrogatory techniques and other forms of gathering intel.

I'm not saying that there should be no limits - all I'm saying is that since there are many people who have a deep hatred for our president, they jump on everything possible to deface him without considering the facts. It's getting old. Hate him if you want, but try to peek underneath the coin to see the other side prior to making attacks. Al Gore should not have only looked to check out the other side of the coin, he should have reviewed the policies carried out by the administration on which he served as number two. Number two is right, Al Gore - that's exactly what you are - a big number two. Go back to inventing something - maybe you can claim the bicycle this time.

If you criticize "Domestic Spying", I won't be very sympathetic to your mourning when a loved one is a victim of "Domestic Terrorism".

As a sidenote: Just to clarify my position here, I'll state that "Hate Crimes" are crimes either way you look at it. How can a label imply that one crime is worse than another eventhough they are fundamentally the same crime? I.e. If a person is innocently beat to death by another person, is it really necessary to re-define the motive and intent making it more or less of a crime? The first person was still beat to death innocently - the outcome is the same either way. If someone robs your house, should it matter if they did it because they need money to buy crack, or because they just don't like you and want to take your things? They still robbed you. The punishment should be the same either way. (And I'll save the punishment rant for another day.)

CRASHERS

Yep! Had to buy the Wedding Crashers DVD last night. I saw it in the theater, but its the best movie since Old School, so owning the DVD was obvious. One of my favorite parts is at the beginning:

Jeremy's assistant: "...I have the perfect girl for you!"

Jeremy (Vince Vaughn): “Janice, I apologize to you if I don’t seem eager to jump into a forced, awkward, intimate situation that people like to call dating. I don’t like the feeling! You’re sitting there – wondering ‘Do I have food on my face? Am I eating? Am I talking too much? Are they talking too much? Am I interested? Are they interested? Should I be interested? I feel like I’m interested, but I think she might be interested, but do I want to be interested, but now she’s not interested… so now I’m, I’m starting to get interested…’ And when am I supposed to kiss her? Do I have to wait for the door? Because then it’s awkward! It’s like ‘Do I do the ass-out hug?’ Where you hug each other like this, and your ass sticks out – because you’re trying not to get too close… Or do you go right in and kiss ‘em on the lips? Or don’t kiss them at all…… It’s very difficult to read the situation. And all the while, you’re really wondering, ‘Are we gonna get hopped up enough to make some bad decisions?’ And… play a little game called ‘Just the Tip’ – just for a second….just to see how it feels. Or ‘Ouch, Ouch, You’re On My Hair’…….”

So true. So true.


Update: Had a lunch date. She got the ass-out hug.

BLOGAVERSARY IN REVIEW

As promised, I took a little time to reflect on the past year in blogland and this is what I've come up with...

Background: After Christmas last year, I was searching the net for something - most likely iPod info, being a new proud owner- and came across this new world of blogs. At first, I just lurked - finding a wide variety of blogs. Some were specific to food, some sex, some all about being a parent and others dedicated to any one of a number of random subjects like knitting, finger-painting, books - I even remember one specifically about just words. I couldn't get into the blogs that were focused on any one specific topic and gravitated toward the true web logs, where people wrote about their daily trials and tribulations. Within a few days I realized that to be in the game, I really needed my own site. At first, I really didn't know what to write - which wasn't really that big of a deal because nobody was reading it anyway. As time passed, I started to open up a little and write more about me - which in my head is my favorite topic- but I've never been comfortable with talking much about me to anyone else. Believe it or not, you all know much more about me than most people ever will.

Random Observations of my experience:

-I set out to write a book on men and women almost two years ago. I felt that the blog world would give me lots of research reference. I found that most of my observations on the battles between the sexes have been right on. I also found that although that might be true, I still don't know shit about women.

The book isn't progressing as I had expected.

- I'm a total smart-ass. I also tend to have a dry sense of humor.

- In the blog world, as in real life, the people who understand that I'm a smart-ass tend to like me. The people who don't get it, don't like me. I alienate myself often.

- I can be compassionate. Sometimes. This wasn't always the case.

- It's possible that I could feel for a woman again. This too, wasn't always the case. Not that i'm looking for anything - but for a long time, I was pretty dead to the concept. Is this because I suffered some kind of heart ache? Nope. I just seemed to attract women who were pains in the ass and high maintenance and I had better things to do. I do, by the way, take the majority of the blame for this.

- Learning more about women from the blog world has done me more harm than good. I used to be able to talk to women in blissful ignorance of how they were interpreting what I was saying. Now, I have this voice in the back of my head which is the collective conscience of all of my blog friends (vastly female) telling me what an idiot I sound like because of this, or that. I'm not crazy. Really, I'm not. Can this be used in a competency hearing??

- I've had the great pleasure of getting to know a few of my blog buddies in person. That's always been really fun and they're all cool people (even if they got mad at me for my drunken disappearing acts...).

- Its always funny when people ask us where we know each other from. There is always an awkward silence because saying you know someone from the internet can carry a negative connotation. On the other hand, saying "blogs" makes people say "what?".

-For those of you I know in person, if we again have to explain this to someone, we should come up with something far more creative. Like "We actually met at a wedding. Neither of us knew the bride or the groom - we just wanted free alcohol." or "We met in an OBGyn waiting room.... never mind why I was there."

-Many of my friends and family know about my blogging addiction. Only a couple know how to find mine. Mainly because nobody is really all that interested. Not that I want dear old mom spying on me, she did enough of that when I was a teenager. It was bad enough having her find copies of Penthouse under my mattress, she doesn’t need to hear anything else intimate about me.

-Everyone I know from blogging has considered giving it up at one time or another. A few of them have. Some from being shamed by something stupid they did or said. Others from life changes. Mostly though, my core of friends has been around since the beginning. Hard to believe I’ve “known” you all for almost a year.

-I cruise for new and interesting sites from time to time. I don’t find too many good ones. If I do, I like to comment.

-I think people get funny about making a new comment on a blog they’ve never commented – as if they don’t want to impose. I like all comments and they keep me motivated. Even if its someone saying “I hate you.” At least they have an opinion.

-Can someone explain why Dooce has such a popular site? It seems like thousands have a link to her site. I mean, she’s funny and all, but I have a feeling this was just a trend more than anything because I don’t see the value more than any of the sites I frequent. I’m not jealous – shut up.

-I would ask the same question about Osbasso (HNT), but then again – he promotes half-nekkid people. His site’s popularity is self-explanatory.

-Finally, I’m going to have a self-toast tonight – to the friends I’ve made here, and to the friends I have yet to make. CHEERS!!! (eww! I just threw-up in my mouth a little).

HOLY SHIT!!!

It was just pointed out to me that today is my blogaversary!!! I'll take a time out from my UT tribute to reminesce sometime at the beginning of next week. Since I've always been shy about posting my own mug here, and I have a new camera - here's a pic of me working hard today as my blogaversary gift to you all (Y'all).

USC'S DEFENSIVE LINE

Well, they might be a little on the small side, but they sure are pretty, don't you think?

....for hookers.

WAS THERE EVER ANY DOUBT??

That Vince would steal the show............... He should have won the Heisman and people are now realizing that.


And the crowd goes WILLLLLDDDDD!!!!!!!


My boy CPM sporting the colors..........



I had time between signing autographs for a photo op with Hooters girl from Houston...........

BEVO

USC- This is one thing you won't miss. This is BEVO!!!!!!!!!! He craps bigger than you.

JUST IN CASE

USC - Just in case you didn't get a good enough look at Vince Young on the first post, here's another look at your worst nightmare.

DOOMS DAY (FOR USC)

After way too long, the day has finally arrived. Yes folks, today is the day that Vince Young and the Texas Longhorns show the world who REALLY is #1 in college football. Beginning at 5:00pm Pacific time, the much anticipated "Game of the Century" will commence. The National Championship. The




If you played on the USC defense, this would be what you would see for a split second. And it would be your worst nightmare. His name: Vince Young.





HOOK 'EM HORNS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

NEW TOY

Christmas gift from the folks:

I'm excited to start using it - so far it's a little intimidating because of all the functions.

I may even think about posting some pics.........

We'll see.