SIDE OF HASHBROWNS

I think I’m voting Side of Hashbrowns for Governor this year. He’s part of a meal you can eat any time of the day. Who doesn’t like breakfast for dinner?

He’s liberal on potatoes but conservative when it comes to how they’re served.
He’s flexible but firm on the most critical issues and I think he’s just one part of a great start to any day.

So, before you go looking at Schwarzenegger (mashed) or Angelides (baked) why not consider a candidate who’s really looking after your best interests: Side of Hashbrowns. The only choice for Governor in 2006.

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Reflective Times

I’ve spent a little time on myspace this weekend. Our 10 year reunion was last weekend and I skipped it. Not really any decent excuses. Just a lot of little shallow ones that when add up made us feel like it would have been more worth it just to hang with our friends separately and yet we never organized anything. So that was a waste and I blame it all on me.
I’ve been something like a mess lately. Happy most of the time but I just haven’t been holding up to my responsibilities lately. I read the blog entry I posted on myspace October 25th of last year the evening that I got the call from Josh about Stephanie. I’ve read the blog entries here from a year ago. I’m looking back at a year of remembering and a promise I made that I have to admit I just haven’t kept. I spent so much of this year working towards it only to fall short in the last couple months.
I know I need therapy, counseling, something but I just don’t have $200 a week to spend on some stranger analyzing why I’m not a responsible human being. Why do I skip church once or twice a month but then continue going 2-3 times a month? Why do I pay tithing some months and not others? Why do I have this apartment looking spotless for a few weeks and then let things pile up again? I’m doing really good at work and Victoria and I have been close lately but I know she can sense that there’s something not right with me. Is it the pain returning as the 1 year anniversary of that week from hell comes up? Is it just that I’m trying to balance too many things at once while not being willing to let a few things go? Do I just need to start fresh?
I don’t know what it is but for as many happy moments as I’ve had in the last couple weeks there’s been at least 3 times as many bad thoughts. Reminders of where I’m falling short in so many parts of my life. STILL. I’m 28. You’d think I’d have my life sorted out. You’t think I’d at least have that temple recommend by now. You’d think I’d have honored my sister’s life in a better way than I have in the last year. Sorrow, regret and more sorrow. The story of my life. Or perhaps just my perceptions right now because of how I’m feeling.
Perhaps I need to make a list. Plan out each day and just live strictly by it for a while until some of the things become habit. More with the grains and fruits/veges and less with the oils and fats. That’s not just food I’m talking about, btw. I’ll figure this out. I just need to stick with something good for once instead of just 6-10 months at a time.

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I’ve seen it all

OK about 3-4 times a year we have a poker night. It’s a $10 buy in and overall I’ve done fairly well. Won a couple bucks my first time, lost out early the 2nd and came home with a handsome return.
Tonight. I think I can honestly say that I played poker with the devil himself because the luck this guy had was unreal. I believe all night he folded once and went all in on just about half his hands. It started with 8 people around 10pm. By midnight it was down to 3 and two people had already bought in a second time. About 30 minutes later he let Butch go for $15. He took the rest.
That’s right. He took the rest.
Not only did he play aggressively but on nearly every hand he actually had the best hand. The only thing he didn’t get was a royal flush and a four of a kind. Otherwise I saw it all more than once.
Meanwhile, yours truly had two good hands all night. I had a straight once and was beat by a King high flush, then I had two pair with Aces and Threes only to be beat by Aces and Eights.
Next time we play, it’ll be free for me. We’ll see what comes out of that.

I watched a man I’ve never met completely slaughter 7 other people at poker including the guy who’s birthday it was…twice (Happy Birthday Aaron, BTW). What also sucked was he talked the whole time. Never digging it in but just never shutting his trap either.

So yeah. It’s also downpouring over here. Just a deluge of rain the likes of which we haven’t seen in like…I don’t know…8 months or so. Fun to sleep to. Good night.

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This Week in Sports

Well, sports and teams I care about anyways…

DING DONG THE WITCH IS DEAD! I know it’s all about the “What Now” attitude that is spreading through Carrow Road but people are just very happy that “Worthless” has been ousted. Still, if we don’t turn things around and find our way to at least 6th, it won’t be any better than having him around.

PADRES STAY ALIVE! We went to the games Tuesday and Thursday and they promptly got outscored 7-1 to lose the first two games of the NLDS. They just didn’t seem to have any chance of avoiding yet another sweep to the Cardinals. Then…as if by magic…they left like 17 runners on base and still found a way to beat them. So, down two games to one, we’ll see if they can force a game 5 with a win tonight. If not, I might just find myself a new favorite team next year. Most likely I’ll just get my heart broken again next year. I dealt with 1987-1995 and 1999-2003 yet this seems to hurt so much more.

CHARGERS LOSE LATE AGAIN! Marty-Ball has lost the Chargers yet another game. With a 13-7 lead late in the 2nd half, the Chargers allowed a sack on purpose when Scifers got injured attempting to punt out of the end zone. Then, the defense allowed the Ravens to march down the field and score the winning TD. 16-13. Game Over. This brought me back to the Dallas game last year where they lost a late lead by playing too conservative offensively and trusting the defense too much.

BUCCANEERS MAY NOT WIN A GAME! They’ve lost Simms for a long time, Cadillac doesn’t resemble anything close to a decent RB at this point and the defense is old and slow. Add in a talentless O-Line and you get a team who very well might not win a single game this year. You know what? I’m really not surprised. The owners care more about Manchester United than the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. I say deport them and seduce some owners into buying the team who really care about winning on a yearly basis and not just once.

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Oh my! What a week!

PORTABLE MEDIA EXPO 2006

Friday, September 28, 2006:

Got up to the expo late and missed the live recording of TWiT. They had sound problems and started late and I still missed it. I did see Leo Laporte and watched him do some interviews with a Japanese reporter and a guy from Kaboom Energy Drink.
Headed out to the Podcast Awards Reception and met Dawn & Drew, Chris Marquardt, said hello to Randal Schwartz, and saw a bunch of others. Some of them I knew and others I did not until later.
I couldn’t get any decent pictures of the reception because I was too nervous and the camera shake was out of control. These podcasters have become a part of my life in the last couple years and so these people were celebrities to me. All of the podcasters I met were really cool. In fact, I’m sure that with hundreds of podcasters, there has to be a few that aren’t good people but I didn’t meet any jerks all weekend (podcasters OR listeners).
I headed out to see my aunt and uncle before the party. My aunt is a great cook and she gave me a bowl of vegetable soup that I loved and a couple slices of absolutely delicious butter bread. Andrea (cousin) came home from work and we talked for a while before I left. Had a great time seeing everyone and it was the perfect segway between the expo and the parties.
At 8:30 I arrived at the Sheraton Hotel in Ontario for the Dawn and Drew Show “Dippin’ Dots D’Shinding“. Dawn carded me up to the 6th floor. As soon as I got out of the elevator I could hear the party. Already there was a good number of people there. Met quite a few people from the forums and a few podcasters. Lots of big names there that night including Chris Marquardt, The Invincibles, Soccergirl and Ryan, Rumor Girls, CC Chapman, Michael Butler, Franklin McMahon, Randal Schwartz, and quite a few others.
There must have been at least 100 people there. It was a hotel suite and got shoulder to shoulder thick. So full it was, that people went outside because it just got too warm and close for some people to handle.
Food and drinks ran out quick. Mass quantities of pizza gone. Lots of soda and water gone. Lani and I headed out for more drinks at the local Stater Bros. but by the time I returned I realized I was really tired, it seemed like the party was winding down and Chris, The Rumor Girls and Franklin were leaving as we returned. So I said my thanks, shot a quick picture of their award with my cell phone and headed out for the night. I was only there for a couple hours but when I got home I was absolutely exhausted. It was such a blast. More pics by Drew…

Saturday, September 30th, 2006:

Woke up around 8:30 or so. It felt like 11am or something. I checked the schedule, realized there really wasn’t anything I’d be missing so I just stuck around until about 12:45 when I left to pick up Andrea and head out for lunch. Andrea and I hadn’t ever really talked. It’s always pretty much been Jen and I, Andrea and Stephanie, Rachel and Erienne. Now that we’re grown up, we thought it was time to really get to know each other better. Not something that can be completely done over lunch but we did our best.
We headed out to Kazama Sushi which is a favorite of the family I guess. It was my first time there. She got the dragon roll, baby octopus and ordered some Nigori Sake. I ordered the Kalamari Roll, Terryaki Beef with Chicken Katsu and a Diet Coke.
The food, like the conversation, was really good. Definitely worth doing again. I took most of the Kalamari Rolls home and had them for breakfast the next morning.
Headed back to my aunt and uncle’s house after lunch and spent some time there talking with my aunt and catching up on the Tips From the Top Floor forum to set up the meetup the following day.
Headed back to grandma’s for dinner of fried chicken, rolls and baked beans. Simple but yummy. Went to bed kinda late but then again, the only thing I had planned that following day was the meetup and that wasn’t until 3:30pm.

Sunday, October 1, 2006:

Headed out to pick up Chris Marquardt from the Doubletree Hotel by the Ontario Airport around 3:30 and we headed out to Victoria Gardens for the Tips From the Top Floor meet up at the Yard House. It took us a while to find it. I knew it was on North Mainstreet but oddly North Mainstreet is completely different than South Mainstreet. Usually it’d be the same street but just the north or south sides of it. Apparently the planners of the Victoria Gardens like to live dangerously.
Anyways, we met up with Steven Georges, David Nelson, Michelle and Brian Nambus, Ibarionex and Cynthia Perello, Randal Schwartz and Mari Len. I think we all felt like celebrities with all the flashes going off around our table. Lots of pictures being taken but the best were taken by Steven Georges. I saw people around the restaurant turning in their seats, mumbling and pointing. It was pretty cool. Oh and the food…wonderful. I had the Shrimp Garlic Noodles and it was great. Plus, Chris let us all sign his Podcast Award. AWESOME!
After dinner we headed outside, said goodbye to the Nambuses who had to drive back to Arizona and then Mari who headed back home. Ibarionex and Cynthia headed out and that left Randal, Chris, Steven and myself on our way to the Apple Store. Chris had never been to one so we attempted to document it. Problem was, once we got there they were just closing so the security guard wouldn’t let us in. So instead, Randal gave Chris a tour of a sprawling American outdoor shopping village. “Once you get within 3 blocks of a Baby GAP, you’ve reached marketing hell.” That and pointing out that the Johnny Rockets building was not once the Continental Hotel because a year ago it was dirt in the middle of a field. All tricks to give a “feel” to the place.
Anyways, I drove Chris back to the hotel and headed back to my Grandma’s place to pick up my stuff and head home. I was SO tired when I got home.

I have more on the playoff games I attended on Tuesday and Thursday but frankly after all these good memories, why bring up the bad ones?

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