Image of the Day + extra

I disagree with the caption.

Not a House fan and I'm still (and will always be) a HUGE Jen fan.


Brad is a freaking fool.










Cole-train tagged me (plus 300 or so people) on her blog and hit us off with the following questions:

1. Name 5 songs on your mixed cd from high school.

Ha ha. I was totally into the R&B scene back then. And a little harder rock.

R. Kelly - Half on a Baby
Shai - Together Forever
Deftones - Be Quiet and Drive
DMX - The Convo
Jesse Powell - You

Freaking embarrassing. Except for Deftones, they are still legit. (and that Shai song is still good... shhhhhh) Great question!!

2. What is your favorite board game of all time?

Umm... does chess count? If not I think Scattagories has shot up the charts. I could never get my parents to buy me MouseTrap, I think I would have really enjoyed that. I got it for my niece and guess who is going to play that with her when she finally opens it?? Guilty!

3. What is the strangest thing you have ever done with your hair?

The music thing isn't embarrassing enough, eh? Alright, for a very brief period in high school I had short hair but really long bangs. And I'd either let them hang or slick it back. ... You don't have to know me to know that it wasn't good. I remember talking to my ex-girlfriend during the summer while she was away on vacation and telling her that I cut my hair and made it all even. She asked if we could get back together. ...

Thank God high school is over. Freak...

Thanks Cole for having me dredge up those memories. For that I made a gift for you:






Hope you enjoy Eclipse tonight!!

Unrequited love

You'll have to excuse me for such a personal post. There's hardly anything more agonizing and poetic than unredeemed love. When you desires go unfulfilled and your hopes and expectations lay listless on the ground like wilted petals.


When you think of them and you can swear you can catch a familiar scent in the air.

When you let your eyes fall shut you swear that you can nearly taste a lingering of them in your mouth.






Oh, twenty piece Chicken Nuggets, you dirty little tease, how I've longed for you...


I've been craving these delicious little morsels for about three weeks and I've done pretty well to avoid temptation... that was until this past weekend.








I was hanging out with my niece and Ice Age was on TV for the 2392834th time and we of course HAD to watch it. She'd keep falling asleep against me and when I'd move my arm to change the channel she'll sit up for a second and shake her head no and then slowly slouch back against my arm.

Hard for a person to be less than ten years old and have a vintage move, but she manages this and that's hers.

At some point I fall asleep and when I open my eyes next my gaze falls upon two plates that had been set near us. What must have been my plate was marked with some Taco Bell, which I could tell because her plate sported some TBell and... (drool) Chicken Nuggets. I rub my eyes to make sure I'm not hallucinating. My family never gets fast food and if we did we surely wouldn't go to two places for one meal, right?? I find myself trying to convince myself that her plate is the Fresco menu one and mine is the Heaven with Tacos on the side. She snuggles against me, still sleeping. Peaceful. Beautiful. Oblivious.

My body started working on its own. I opened the Sweet and Sour sauce with one hand (left at that!) as it made that sweet vsshh sound. Did she wake up?!? I looked under my right arm in horror to check... Nothing. I breathe easy and pick up a nugget. I still try to reconcile the guilt... there are TEN nuggets. There is absolutely NO CHANCE she eats more than six. With tacos as well? Probably won't even get through 3. I'd be doing her a favor...

I dip and I have a huge smile on my face. If I'm going to hate myself later, I'm going to love life and all its small blessings right now.

Are you feeding me?
[look down with wild eyes] What?
Nuggets!?! (quiet, but sleepily excited. She shuts her eyes again.)
[if I don't move she'll fall back asleep]
....
They smell goooood.
Open.

3 Nuggets consumed right in front of me. By my hands!! She nods off again.

(very quietly) Here you go, Ishu!
[sleep kiddo]
Wake up! Here's one more!
[SLEEP!!]
If you don't eat this one, I will.
[You have NO idea]
She opens her mouth.
...
[It's a yawn!!]

I look to the side and stuff the nugget in my mouth thinking Don't look at me! I sit back and watch the squirrel wrestle for the acorn on the TV and I feel sedated. The guilt was worth it. I wake her up and feed her the rest of her food. She stops after nugget 7.

[her 7 + my 1 = 8... TWO LEFT!?!]
Hey kiddo, can you finish?
No, I don't want any more. Do you want it?
[already chewing] Um, sure.

I hold the last one in my hand. This is the one I've been waiting for. No Guilt. No Rush. All the time in the world and I'm going to savor every last moment. I give it my bedroom eyes as I dunk it in the sauce. My mom walks in, "oh, can I have one?" I look at her. And then the nugget. Then her. I nod and look down as I hold it out for her and she takes it with happy teeth.

Archive Song List 14

Neon Trees
Animal

Bush
Glyscerine

Pixies
Here Comes Your Man


My current wallpaper:
I hate that I love this photo of the oil spill.




And this week's songs were specifically selected to get my bud excited for tomorrow night. =)

Image of the day + Weekend Recap

Well, that right there is the image of the day.



So looks like we're onto the weekend recap. When you get a weekend recap on Tuesday it was either a really good weekend or really bad weekend. Or a weekend with really good parts and really bad parts.


The last one applies here.


Some of you may have noticed that I was pretty amped for the weekend. Soccer + Friends + Drinks + Game night + Golf.

Well, let's simplify: number 3 on that list eliminated 5 from that list. =)





Friday
Game night. Legit. Such a good time and it's amazing what being around solid individuals can do for your spirit. You don't need to be doing something amazing to enjoy yourself fully... but it does help when you're drinking and playing Scattagories. Such a fun night and even capped it off with some hilarious Friends episodes.






Saturday
Woke up early and headed over to my buddy's place. We had a plan in-place to work out and then enjoy the day of drinking, soccer, and bar games. When I got there it turned into skipping the workout and having breakfast at a dive bar (this bar is amazing -- basically Planet Hollywood on heroin-- almost pitch-black all day long, terrible 80s movies posters everywhere, foul-mouthed staff... just perfect. Ordered the 'Indigo Montoya' omelet with a bloody mary and screwdriver as we watched Young Guns 2 on the projector. Stellar. Then we made our way to the sports bar.

So now the bad parts of the weekend. US lost, as most of us should know. Suck. After that some guy across the bar started spouting off about "my" country receiving aid and how I should just be grateful to be visiting "his" country. It didn't even escalate verbally from there.



(I'd like to believe that most people know I'm a nice guy. I'm also pretty laid back. The thing about that is that we all have aspects of our self. We all have personas that we wear as masks depending on the situation and audience. Sometimes it's just a dash of cayenne, some added flavor, like when you're disciplining a child and you need to be a little stern, but you're still you. ... And then there's the other kind, the kind where people who know you wouldn't recognize you at all.)

I essentially snapped.







Thankfully there were enough friends, patrons, and bouncer (only one, I'm not that strong, haha) to restrain and prevent me from getting involved in something about as idiotic as his comments. Displeased with myself. It's freaking Arizona. I run into these tools on a semi-regular basis... no excuse not to handle this better.



Sunday
Lost.

I mean a lot of Lost.

Over ten episodes. I was upset with myself for losing my temper so I placed myself in the penalty box and didn't let myself leave my room. It was actually pretty awesome.

(I'm) Lost - Entry 5

Was pretty hungover yesterday which presented an awesome opportunity to catch up on some Lost. I think I stopped enjoying myself about halfway through and just demanded to have answers revealed, which, unsurprisingly, didn't happen.

Season 2 Progress:
1---------------------------------------24--26 (yes, that's ten episodes slain yesterday)

My current enjoyment level with the show:

Lame----------------------------X-------Stellar


Spoilers/Update:
Good thing I tossed Anna-Lucia into that blender when I had the chance... "Henry" was probably the biggest part of the episodes I just wrapped up. He's a weird dude. Micheal has been compromised and he offed Anna and ... lynn?... Hurley's would be girl. I don't know if I'll ever warm up to wide-load. I liked his imaginary friend more than him.

Mr. Eko is really growing on me. I like the story between Jack and his father.

There are two episodes left in the season. I'm excited to finish up this season:

Micheal is leading the group into a trap, Sayed is on the boat and they are approaching The Other's camp. So I'm excited to see what happens (I'm ready for Micheal to die) and...







they FINALLY brought back Desmond. They even did a little bit of a backstory episode on him, which was awesome.








Still don't like Claire. I'm actually more okay with Jack now. Sayed has been out of the loop. Ohh... I don't give a f about Rose or Bernard.

Looking forward to...

In no particular order, but I'll number it anyways because I'm baffling like that...


1. Let's just get this one out of the way, A FREAKING HOUSE WOULD BE TREMENDOUS! 6+ month hunt is oooooooold.














This little mama is my current objective. (doesn't look like a Phoenix home, huh?? That's a-why I like the juice)










2. VEGAS!
Vegas is incredible. Yes, for the reasons that you're thinking but also for the reason that it's the modern day version of a carriage turning into a pumpkin:

Today --> Tomorrow
DRINKING!! --> ugh... drinking
GAMBLING!! --> aww... gambling
So many people! --> SO MANY PEOPLE!?!
Bright lights!! --> Turn that ish off... I'm hungover


3. Inception
LOVE movies but it's rare that I'll anxiously await a release. Dark Knight and Matrix Reloaded come to mind.

I already love this movie, I just can't believe I won't see it when it comes out because of #2.




4. This weekend

Game night + Drinks?
Yes, please.

Morning soccer + beer?
Thank you.

Evening movie + Bacardi + carne asada?
Don't mind if I do.

Play Golf + watch soccer?
Why not?


5. 4th of July

Confession: Never had a great 4th of July.

I've been stuck in a huge crowd trying to meet up with girlfriends (3x)

Stuck in traffic (2x)

Dealing with family drama (6348x)



But this year will be different.


Spending it with close friends and celebrating a youngin's birthday helps put things in perspective. And BBQs. How have I screwed up prior 4ths when BBQs are abound is beyond me.



6. Five o'clock

Yes, this would technically be the same thing as number 4, but I'd like to think of it this way...

It's like Airwolf ending and Knight Rider beginning. You COULD just celebrate Knight Rider (i.e. AWESOMENESS) starting, but it's also important to document the weaksauce (Airwolf) ending.



And with that we wish you a fantastic weekend.

Why More People Need to Talk to Themselves

I can't remember where I heard it, but there's this factoid that I'll never forget:

On average men speak 5,000 words a day
On average women speak 20,000 words a day


When men exceed 5k words a day they were noted as being lethargic and drained. (useless)
When women didn't hit their 20k allocation they were found to be restless and uneasy. (batty)


I don't know if the study talks about the converse of these things, like what happens if women went over their average or if men didn't hit their average. And the latter part is something that I'd be DEFINITELY interested in.

A lot of dudes have no idea when to shut the **** up.

Am I completely immune to this chastising? Of course not, I have a freaking blog, but I'd like to think that I have a sense for when someone is trying to bow out of a conversation. For the uninitiated (everyone I work with... one awesome exclusion) here are some tips:


If the person you are talking to resorts to monosyllabic and passive responses like "yeah", "sure", "hmm", "oh", "eh", "mmm", "f*************CK", they either don't care or they don't care to waste their precious word limits on what you're talking about.

Probably both.






If you are laughing at your own jokes and you can't even get a curtosy laugh from your audience, you are more than likely currently pillaging someone's soul.















If you are talking to someone and they WALK AWAY from you mid-sentence, do not follow them and continue... what is wrong with you?!?!?


















If the person you are talking to throws their head back and their mouth is agape, as if welcoming the insertion of flaming coals to end the misery, either stop babbling or get your tongs out and grant them sweet release.











So maybe that's what happens when guys don't hit their 5k average, they become unemphatic lunatics that find the sound of their own voice delicious? I get paid to do a JOB, not to get beaten into submission by terribly unfunny jokes or stories. So maybe if more people talked to themselves in their car on the drive into work (guilty) perhaps they wouldn't buckshot their insanity on anyone who happens to make the mistake of filling up their water cup.