Thursday, December 28, 2006
Namaste!
Well, I made it safely and India is insane. I don't have time for a long post but I just want to check in and tell everyone that I am safe. Yesterday we went to Agra to see the Taj Mahal and a few other sites. It was pretty fantastic and words can't really describe the experience. I'm a little frazzled because I got to our hotel around 12:30 AM, our train left for Agra at 6 AM and we didn't get back to Delhi until 11:15 PM. I slept well last night and I'm ready for some heavy Delhi sight-seeing today. We are taking a train to Varanasi tonight at 8:45 and we don't get to our destination until 8 AM. Overnight trains are awesome. Eventually, I'll be able to sit down and crank out a better post with some pictures. Until then, close your eyes and picture me rollin'.
Tuesday, December 26, 2006
The Worst
The worst part about travel is getting there. GET THERE ONE TIME!!! I'm in Taiwan with a 10-hour layover in-between a 13.5 hour flight and a 7 hour flight. The flight from Seattle to Taiwan was grueling to say the least but I slept for at least 6 hours so it could have been worse. I also watched Superman and My Super Ex-Girlfriend on the plane. Both were pretty bad but still managed to be entertaining.
I got into Taiwan at around 6:30 AM local time and wandered around for a while, wondering if I would have to sit here for 9 hours or if I could leave for a while and see the sights. My questions were answered by a bright green billboard that advertised a free half-day tour put on by the Taiwanese Board of Tourism. The tour left at 8:15 AM so I twiddled my thumbs for almost two hours before a man that looked a lot like Chau Giang picked us up in his bus. The tour was pretty short, to the towns of Sanshia and Yingge, aka pottery heaven, and it felt very commercialized. I don't know what I expected since the tour was put on by the tourism board but I was hoping to see a bit more of the real countryside. The pottery was really nice in Yingge but the atmosphere was too touristy. I'm such a travel snob. The tour was probably 50 times better than spending the time cooped up in the airport and it was free so I can't really complain too much. I'll give one guaranteed postcard to the first person who can correctly tell me what "Sanshia" means. If you look it up, you are a jerk. Hint: Pittsburgh.
Anyway, it's 1 PM here at the airport and I have 3 and a half hours to kill before my final flight. India is 13.5 hours ahead of Seattle(what's up with the 30-minute change?) and I'm not really looking forward to the first few days of jetlag. We're going to Agra tomorrow to see the Taj Mahal and I hope I don't become too much of a drag on Scott, Ivan and Brianna.
I've already realized that I forgot a few things but none of them are catastrophic. Hopefully I'll be able to get online in Delhi but if not, dream about me bombing on lots of Indian food.
I got into Taiwan at around 6:30 AM local time and wandered around for a while, wondering if I would have to sit here for 9 hours or if I could leave for a while and see the sights. My questions were answered by a bright green billboard that advertised a free half-day tour put on by the Taiwanese Board of Tourism. The tour left at 8:15 AM so I twiddled my thumbs for almost two hours before a man that looked a lot like Chau Giang picked us up in his bus. The tour was pretty short, to the towns of Sanshia and Yingge, aka pottery heaven, and it felt very commercialized. I don't know what I expected since the tour was put on by the tourism board but I was hoping to see a bit more of the real countryside. The pottery was really nice in Yingge but the atmosphere was too touristy. I'm such a travel snob. The tour was probably 50 times better than spending the time cooped up in the airport and it was free so I can't really complain too much. I'll give one guaranteed postcard to the first person who can correctly tell me what "Sanshia" means. If you look it up, you are a jerk. Hint: Pittsburgh.
Anyway, it's 1 PM here at the airport and I have 3 and a half hours to kill before my final flight. India is 13.5 hours ahead of Seattle(what's up with the 30-minute change?) and I'm not really looking forward to the first few days of jetlag. We're going to Agra tomorrow to see the Taj Mahal and I hope I don't become too much of a drag on Scott, Ivan and Brianna.
I've already realized that I forgot a few things but none of them are catastrophic. Hopefully I'll be able to get online in Delhi but if not, dream about me bombing on lots of Indian food.
Monday, December 25, 2006
Mele Kalikimaka
Merry Christmas, y'all.
You know what's crazy? My plane leaves for India(well, for Taiwan, on my way to India) in less than 23 hours!!! I've been getting more and more nervous as the date has drawn nearer and nearer and it's killing me. I'm not sleeping well, I dream about getting kidnapped in Cambodia and I wonder if I'll have any money left to my name once this trip is done. I think the major problem is that I'm not the best planner in the world so I always think that I'm forgetting something important. Usually I am forgetting something important and even if I remember what it is, I procrastinate until it's too late. My Neteller account was locked a while ago and I've been trying in vain to get it unlocked. I had to call a number of different times before I got through to the investigations department but they needed me to email some info and then call back. I'm not really good at the "call back" thing and I put it off until the last day, when I called them after operating hours. Now, if I run out of money, I won't be able to drain all my poker accounts for Thai Hookers and Cambodian Blow. I have a bit of a cushion but it's not really a ton of money and I still need to pay for most of my hotel/hostel rooms and food and WHAT IF I RUN OUT OF MONEY, OMGOMGOMG!!!!!
It's so weird because I'm usually the most unflappable guy that I know. Nothing ever gets to me and I've gone on long trips before. The weirdest part is that I'm better prepared for this trip than any trip I've done in the past. When I went to Germany for the World Cup, I booked my hostels the night before staying there, sometimes the day of, and didn't worry at all. In Australia, I have about half of my hotels/hostels already booked and planned out but I'm still nervous that I'm going to get stranded in the desert and eaten by wild kangaroos. Aaaaaanyway, I just thought I'd let you all know that I'm turning into a worrywart. It'll do me good in the long run to add a little more stress to my life.
The Seahawks managed, in losing, to provide me with a glimmer of hope today. The offensive line still get manhandled way too often and I'm pretty sure this isn't a SUPER team but if Hasselbeck can consistently play like he did in the 3rd quarter and the defense can build some confidence(and Boulware figures out how to keep receivers from getting behind him WITH 29 SECONDS LEFT UP BY 4 FROM THE 30WHATEVER YARD LINE GETBACKHE'SRUNNINGAFLYGETBACKOMGDON'TLETHIMGETBEHINDYOU
HOLYCRAPAREYOUKIDDINGMEWHYWHYWHYWHYWHWYWHWYWHWHYWHWYWYW
AEYFIOWF#Q)HE{GU$F)@#YT+{GUOQEBFVJDBGIPFYG&!r_2793[U) then I think the Seahawks can win fairly easily in the first round, setting up a rematch with the Bears. The first time we played wasn't very fun but if ol' Rexy-Pooh can lay a fat egg, maybe the Hawks can steal a win. Then, if the wildcard team that we don't beat in the first round can beat Dallas and the Saints, we can play the NFC Championship back at home and WE'RE GOING TO MIAMI!!!!
That's all I wanted to post for now. It's going to take a long time to get to India and once I'm there lord knows how often I'll get to use the net but I'll try to post as many updates and pictures as I can. Merry Christmas and I hope you have as awesome a New Years as I'm going to have. I'm going to be in Mumbai(Bombay), where are you going to be? Muahahahahahahaha.
You know what's crazy? My plane leaves for India(well, for Taiwan, on my way to India) in less than 23 hours!!! I've been getting more and more nervous as the date has drawn nearer and nearer and it's killing me. I'm not sleeping well, I dream about getting kidnapped in Cambodia and I wonder if I'll have any money left to my name once this trip is done. I think the major problem is that I'm not the best planner in the world so I always think that I'm forgetting something important. Usually I am forgetting something important and even if I remember what it is, I procrastinate until it's too late. My Neteller account was locked a while ago and I've been trying in vain to get it unlocked. I had to call a number of different times before I got through to the investigations department but they needed me to email some info and then call back. I'm not really good at the "call back" thing and I put it off until the last day, when I called them after operating hours. Now, if I run out of money, I won't be able to drain all my poker accounts for Thai Hookers and Cambodian Blow. I have a bit of a cushion but it's not really a ton of money and I still need to pay for most of my hotel/hostel rooms and food and WHAT IF I RUN OUT OF MONEY, OMGOMGOMG!!!!!
It's so weird because I'm usually the most unflappable guy that I know. Nothing ever gets to me and I've gone on long trips before. The weirdest part is that I'm better prepared for this trip than any trip I've done in the past. When I went to Germany for the World Cup, I booked my hostels the night before staying there, sometimes the day of, and didn't worry at all. In Australia, I have about half of my hotels/hostels already booked and planned out but I'm still nervous that I'm going to get stranded in the desert and eaten by wild kangaroos. Aaaaaanyway, I just thought I'd let you all know that I'm turning into a worrywart. It'll do me good in the long run to add a little more stress to my life.
The Seahawks managed, in losing, to provide me with a glimmer of hope today. The offensive line still get manhandled way too often and I'm pretty sure this isn't a SUPER team but if Hasselbeck can consistently play like he did in the 3rd quarter and the defense can build some confidence(and Boulware figures out how to keep receivers from getting behind him WITH 29 SECONDS LEFT UP BY 4 FROM THE 30WHATEVER YARD LINE GETBACKHE'SRUNNINGAFLYGETBACKOMGDON'TLETHIMGETBEHINDYOU
HOLYCRAPAREYOUKIDDINGMEWHYWHYWHYWHYWHWYWHWYWHWHYWHWYWYW
AEYFIOWF#Q)HE{GU$F)@#YT+{GUOQEBFVJDBGIPFYG&!r_2793[U) then I think the Seahawks can win fairly easily in the first round, setting up a rematch with the Bears. The first time we played wasn't very fun but if ol' Rexy-Pooh can lay a fat egg, maybe the Hawks can steal a win. Then, if the wildcard team that we don't beat in the first round can beat Dallas and the Saints, we can play the NFC Championship back at home and WE'RE GOING TO MIAMI!!!!
That's all I wanted to post for now. It's going to take a long time to get to India and once I'm there lord knows how often I'll get to use the net but I'll try to post as many updates and pictures as I can. Merry Christmas and I hope you have as awesome a New Years as I'm going to have. I'm going to be in Mumbai(Bombay), where are you going to be? Muahahahahahahaha.
Tuesday, December 19, 2006
Cliff Dad
I'm coming home from Pasco tonight and I have 3 free nights in Seattle before taking off forever. Saturday night I will be in Vancouver visiting my grandmother, Sunday night I will be at the Seahawks-Chargers game where I get to completely write the MFers off or just when I thought I was out, they reel me back in. I'll be in Federal Way for Christmas on Monday and then finally I fly to India at 12:15 AM on December 26th. I really can't believe that I'm leaving for this trip already and I'm starting to worry about my preparedness. I rarely worry but I've never been on the road for 10 weeks and the unknown is always a little scary. I'm a big boy and I think I can handle it.
Pasco was uneventful, although I did see two animals peeing in the woods:
If you want more pictures from Pasco, send me an email. These pics are among the very few that I don't post on the Internet.
Tomorrow I am going to the UW-LSU basketball game. Dookie bought me tickets for Christmas and I can't wait to see how the Huskies match up against Big Baby and the rest of the 12th-ranked Tigers. The Huskies got killed in their only tough game, at Gaonzaga, but this one's at home and I hope they play better. After the game, I'll probably be heading to Die Bier Stube with Cliff so if that sounds like fun to you, give me a call.
Since I'm in a basketball mood, here are some sweet videos:
Charles Barkley
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Shawn Kemp "The Reignman"
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Pasco was uneventful, although I did see two animals peeing in the woods:
If you want more pictures from Pasco, send me an email. These pics are among the very few that I don't post on the Internet.
Tomorrow I am going to the UW-LSU basketball game. Dookie bought me tickets for Christmas and I can't wait to see how the Huskies match up against Big Baby and the rest of the 12th-ranked Tigers. The Huskies got killed in their only tough game, at Gaonzaga, but this one's at home and I hope they play better. After the game, I'll probably be heading to Die Bier Stube with Cliff so if that sounds like fun to you, give me a call.
Since I'm in a basketball mood, here are some sweet videos:
Charles Barkley
Add to My Profile | More Videos
Shawn Kemp "The Reignman"
Add to My Profile | More Videos
Monday, December 18, 2006
Partay!!!
Cliff got in tonight and I ate dinner with him at the Gyrocery. Pops is also in town and I hung out with him for a few hours in the afternoon. We spent about an hour trying to prove that in poker, with random cards against two opponents you win 33% of the time. He started the argument off by stating that against two opponents your probability of winning was .5 against one player and .5 against the other player so your probability of having the best hand is .5*.5=.25. Now, obviously the correct answer is .33 but I couldn't figure out a mathematical way to prove that. If there are any math gurus in the audience, I'd really appreciate your help. Yeah, my dad's a nerd.
Christmas is about family but it's also about DRINKING! This weekend I had two birthday parties to attend and managed to get rip-roaring drunk at both. Friday night was my friend Ravi's birthday and he celebrated it downtown at the J&M Cafe. I hate all clubs and I probably hate the J&M more than most but the night was a lot of fun because of the people that were there. Ravi is a friend from baaaack in the day. From 13 to 16 I'd hang out at the park across the street every single day. We didn't have a huge group but those that hung out became pretty tight. For some reason most of us went our separate ways once college started but the days of hanging out at Dahl Field contain some of my fondest memories. Anyway, Ravi's birthday was kind of a Dahl Field reunion and I hung out with some friends that I hadn't seen in six or seven years. Holy crap I'm old.
Everyone was excited to be back together but the main draw was Anyiam, the guy farthest to the right wearing the leather jacket. He had really fallen off the map and some of us were wondering if he was still alive. Somehow, Kenny found his old number and tracked the guy down. I picked him up around 9:00 and we went to pick up Kenny and his friend Sidney. Obviously, I cranked cheesy music and serenaded Anyiam for the whole ride to the bar, that's just what I do. There's nothing better than serenading a friend to some old school Britney. Anyway, as we got closer to the bar I promised Anyiam that I would check him into the "Blackedout Hotel", a term I use when I plan on buying someone enough drinks for them to black out. Anyiam trying to resist but at one point started talking shit back to me and I knew his fate was sealed. We were in a Mexican mood and I kept buying rounds of Patron and Coronas. After the 3rd or 4th round of drinks I came over to Anyiam, handed him his beer and put my arm around his shoulders. He turned to me and said, very seriously, "I'm gonna kick your ass." I started laughing hysterically and when I calmed down he said again, "seriously, I'm gonna kick your ass." WTF? I asked him what his problem was and he said, "I don't do that gay shit. I think it's ok that you're gay but I'm not down with you hitting on me." I was a little shocked to say the least but I had already booked a room for him at the Blackedout Hotel so I continued to buy him drinks for the rest of the night. Obviously, each drink came with the obligatory, "we're both sleeping at Kenny's tonight, Anyiam. I can't wait to cuddle" comments. The funniest moment of the night was toward closing time when I was talking to one of Ravi's friends and Anyiam came up behind her, with glazed ass eyes, and started to grind the shit out of her. She stepped to the side and Anyiam almost fell flat on his face before stumbling into a chair on the edge of the dance floor. We left my car downtown and the whole taxi ride I egged Anyiam on, telling him that we'd be cuddling soon. He responded with a mixture of barely-decipherable curse words and I'm gonna kick your asses. We finally got to Kenny's place and I got on the couch while Kenny put Anyiam on the futon. I promised Anyiam that once the lights were out, I'd climb onto the futon with him, agitating him to the very end. As soon as Kenny turned out the lights, I heard Anyiam puke twice and I knew that the night had been a success. God bless America.
The next morning I had a wicked hangover but had to get back downtown before my car got a ticket. Anyiam was still passed out on the futon, with his face buried in his own stomach acid. It was a glorious sight. That night was Dave's sexy santa birthday/Christmas party. There were some hot girls at this party...
Tasha, with the pink gloves, is Dave's wife and she got all these girls to dress slutty. God bless Tasha. Obviously, none of us talked to the girls, we just played Wii and various drinking games. Dave was nice enough to buy three OE 40s so Davis, CL and I took full advantage and ended up getting pretty smashed. Dave and Tasha have a really nice house in Auburn and I was nice enough to knock a full glass of red wine off the 2nd floor and onto their white carpet. I felt like crap but they were really cool about it(drunkenness may have played a part in their calmness) and Tasha ran around in her bare feet trying to pick up shards of glass. I made her bring me the steam vacuum and I spent about 30 minutes trying to get the wine out of the carpet. Tasha kept yelling at me to stop cleaning and have fun but I couldn't have fun with all that red wine in the carpet. Finally, it got close to clean and Tasha pulled the plug on my vacuuming. I'm not sure if the pounding of Tuaca straight from the bottle came before or after the red wine incident but the whole night became kind of a blur. Needless to say, Tasha and Dave threw a great party and I hope the carpet is clean enough for them to make it an annual tradition. Tasha made a ham and some potatoes and bomb appetizers and Dave decorated the house in a way that Clark Grizwold would have been proud of. The best decoration is a paper-mache mountain in his front yard with santa in a train that goes in a circle through the mountain. It's hard to describe but I'll try to take a picture of it next time I head down there. Anyway, please have this party again next year, Dook, and happy birthday.
Today I just relaxed and tried to clear my head. This week will be nice and sober but I think the debauchery will kick up again next weekend. I can't wait.
Christmas is about family but it's also about DRINKING! This weekend I had two birthday parties to attend and managed to get rip-roaring drunk at both. Friday night was my friend Ravi's birthday and he celebrated it downtown at the J&M Cafe. I hate all clubs and I probably hate the J&M more than most but the night was a lot of fun because of the people that were there. Ravi is a friend from baaaack in the day. From 13 to 16 I'd hang out at the park across the street every single day. We didn't have a huge group but those that hung out became pretty tight. For some reason most of us went our separate ways once college started but the days of hanging out at Dahl Field contain some of my fondest memories. Anyway, Ravi's birthday was kind of a Dahl Field reunion and I hung out with some friends that I hadn't seen in six or seven years. Holy crap I'm old.
Everyone was excited to be back together but the main draw was Anyiam, the guy farthest to the right wearing the leather jacket. He had really fallen off the map and some of us were wondering if he was still alive. Somehow, Kenny found his old number and tracked the guy down. I picked him up around 9:00 and we went to pick up Kenny and his friend Sidney. Obviously, I cranked cheesy music and serenaded Anyiam for the whole ride to the bar, that's just what I do. There's nothing better than serenading a friend to some old school Britney. Anyway, as we got closer to the bar I promised Anyiam that I would check him into the "Blackedout Hotel", a term I use when I plan on buying someone enough drinks for them to black out. Anyiam trying to resist but at one point started talking shit back to me and I knew his fate was sealed. We were in a Mexican mood and I kept buying rounds of Patron and Coronas. After the 3rd or 4th round of drinks I came over to Anyiam, handed him his beer and put my arm around his shoulders. He turned to me and said, very seriously, "I'm gonna kick your ass." I started laughing hysterically and when I calmed down he said again, "seriously, I'm gonna kick your ass." WTF? I asked him what his problem was and he said, "I don't do that gay shit. I think it's ok that you're gay but I'm not down with you hitting on me." I was a little shocked to say the least but I had already booked a room for him at the Blackedout Hotel so I continued to buy him drinks for the rest of the night. Obviously, each drink came with the obligatory, "we're both sleeping at Kenny's tonight, Anyiam. I can't wait to cuddle" comments. The funniest moment of the night was toward closing time when I was talking to one of Ravi's friends and Anyiam came up behind her, with glazed ass eyes, and started to grind the shit out of her. She stepped to the side and Anyiam almost fell flat on his face before stumbling into a chair on the edge of the dance floor. We left my car downtown and the whole taxi ride I egged Anyiam on, telling him that we'd be cuddling soon. He responded with a mixture of barely-decipherable curse words and I'm gonna kick your asses. We finally got to Kenny's place and I got on the couch while Kenny put Anyiam on the futon. I promised Anyiam that once the lights were out, I'd climb onto the futon with him, agitating him to the very end. As soon as Kenny turned out the lights, I heard Anyiam puke twice and I knew that the night had been a success. God bless America.
The next morning I had a wicked hangover but had to get back downtown before my car got a ticket. Anyiam was still passed out on the futon, with his face buried in his own stomach acid. It was a glorious sight. That night was Dave's sexy santa birthday/Christmas party. There were some hot girls at this party...
Tasha, with the pink gloves, is Dave's wife and she got all these girls to dress slutty. God bless Tasha. Obviously, none of us talked to the girls, we just played Wii and various drinking games. Dave was nice enough to buy three OE 40s so Davis, CL and I took full advantage and ended up getting pretty smashed. Dave and Tasha have a really nice house in Auburn and I was nice enough to knock a full glass of red wine off the 2nd floor and onto their white carpet. I felt like crap but they were really cool about it(drunkenness may have played a part in their calmness) and Tasha ran around in her bare feet trying to pick up shards of glass. I made her bring me the steam vacuum and I spent about 30 minutes trying to get the wine out of the carpet. Tasha kept yelling at me to stop cleaning and have fun but I couldn't have fun with all that red wine in the carpet. Finally, it got close to clean and Tasha pulled the plug on my vacuuming. I'm not sure if the pounding of Tuaca straight from the bottle came before or after the red wine incident but the whole night became kind of a blur. Needless to say, Tasha and Dave threw a great party and I hope the carpet is clean enough for them to make it an annual tradition. Tasha made a ham and some potatoes and bomb appetizers and Dave decorated the house in a way that Clark Grizwold would have been proud of. The best decoration is a paper-mache mountain in his front yard with santa in a train that goes in a circle through the mountain. It's hard to describe but I'll try to take a picture of it next time I head down there. Anyway, please have this party again next year, Dook, and happy birthday.
Today I just relaxed and tried to clear my head. This week will be nice and sober but I think the debauchery will kick up again next weekend. I can't wait.
Friday, December 15, 2006
Bliggity Bloggity, Bloggity Bloogity
Alright.
I'm going to start blogging more regularly. I'm going to start blogging more regularly. I'm going to start blogging more regularly. I'm going to start blogging more regularly. I'm going to start blogging more regularly. I'm going to start blogging more regularly.
Seriously.
I'm really excited for the holidays this year. I haven't seen my brother in about 5 months and the last time I saw him was in Vegas, right before the main event. He was there for exactly ONE night and it was right before my Day 2 so I had to head home after eating dinner. I ended up finding him, Danny and Carl passed out in their swimsuits on the couch at 11 AM. That's the last time I've seen my brother and that's too damn long. He gets home on Sunday and I can't wait to see him.
I was supposed to fly to Oakland tonight to help my dad drive up the coast. We had plans to study a Schaum's outline on probability and I was actually into the idea. Tonight, Seattle was hit by a really bad storm so I decided to play it safe and canceled my flight. I now have $109 in credit on Southwest Airlines. Pops is going to make the drive on his own and should be here on Sunday night, the same day that Cliff gets to town. Joy of joys.
I'm really good at the "enjoying family time" part of the holidays but I'm pretty bad at the "gift buying" part. I've been shopping at Amazon.com and Costco.com but all I've managed to do is spend a lot of money on myself. I bought a ton of books on Amazon, mostly travel books for the upcoming trip, as well as all 5 seasons of Six Feet Under and the first 3 seasons of The Wire. I'm saving The Wire for my trip and I'll probably start watching Six Feet Under this weekend. I also bought a Canon Digital Rebel XT 8 megapixel SLR from Amazon for my trip. I'm going to look like a dumb ass tourist but if the shoe fits I'll wear it. I'm trying to learn how to take good photographs but it's hard with the horrible weather we've been having. Here's my favorite one so far. Yes, I'm aware it's a pretty wack picture. Screw you, photography snob.
I convinced my friend Jason to meet me in Australia and I'm really stoked to have him along. Jason is one of those guys that's down to party and while I've never been on vacation with him, I think we're going to have a great time. While planning for the trip, I found a ton of cool stuff that's going on down there. There's a huge concert series every year called The Big Day Out and the timing is perfect for my trip. The Aussie Millions tournament ends on January 20th and the first Australian leg is on the 21st. Artists include Tool, Jet, Muse, The Streets, The Killers, My Chemical Romance, The Vines and a buttload of bands that I've never heard of. Some of them are probably local Aussie bands and some might be known by people with more music savvy people. If there are any such people reading this blog, please take a few moments to look over the lineup and tell me if I should be excited about any of the smaller names on that list. I really like all the artists that I've heard of. I thought that My Chemical Romance was kinda wack ( We'll CAAAARRRRYYYY ON!!! We'll CAAAAAAAAARRRRRRYYYY OOOONNNN!!!!) but I saw them last week at Deck the Hall Ball and I thought they were really good live. Jet is kind of my white whale as far as bands go. After Jet's first popular CD came out I was really into them and I wanted to go to their concert. They were performing on the same day as The Strokes and for Valentines Day, Renee bought me 2 tickets to...THE STROKES CONCERT...even though she knew I was obsessed with Jet because she was more into the Strokes. That's kind of like me buying her Madden 2004 for Valentines Day and telling her, "let's draft a franchise together, it'll be awesome!" I guess it's not quite that bad because I liked the Strokes too and the concert was good but I missed out on Jet. THEN, last week at the Deck the Hall Ball, Jet was the third act so we pre-funked at Davis' house while the first two bands were on, then walked down to Key Arena. Our timing was a bit off because Davis and Duane had to scalp tickets and Renee and Torrie had to eat and we ended up walking into the Arena just as Jet was finishing up the last song of their set. Holy blueballs. I will not miss Jet at The Big Day Out and maybe the anticipation will make things that much sweeter. It'll be cool to see them in Australia, I just hope I stay sober enough to appreciate the experience.
Speaking of sobriety, or lack thereof, the blogging community just had their semi-annual Vegas get-together and I sadly had to miss the festivities. My liver is healthier without the 72 hours of alcohol but I missed out on one of the best trips of the year. Al has a short recap up and promises more later, Otis has something short and sweet, Pauly is pretty much the best writer in the history of the world, but I think Derek's recap was the most entertaining of all. I was already frustrated that I couldn't make it but reading about all the craziness that obviously went on makes me even more pissed off. Most of you reading my blog probably don't give a crap but I like these people so you have to deal with it.
In sports news, the Mariners are having an awful season. Read Cale's blog if you want more details. He does a great job breaking down why the team is so messed up and I'm not looking forward to next year...or the year after that...or the year after that...you get the point. We're getting worse AND getting older. GG Mariners. The Seahawks just lost at home to the Forty-freaking-Niners. After the loss at Arizona last weekend, I was frustrated with the team but I gave them the benefit of the doubt: Hasselbeck still wasn't at 100%, the Cardinals aren't terrible at home, etc, etc. I looked forward to the Chargers game next weekend and decided that the Christmas Eve game would be the ultimate measuring stick: if the Seahawks showed up I'd be optimistic for the playoffs. If the Chargers ran us over like they've been running over the other pretenders of the NFL then I'd admit that the Hawks just didn't have it this year. I never, in my wildest dreams, imagined that we might lose to the 49ers. Or the Forty-freaking-Niners. Unreal. The storm may have played a part in the sloppiness but I just don't think the Hawks have it this year. If they can bounce back and beat the Chargers I'll get all optimistic again but I think the problems run too deep in this team. The Hawks got stopped on a crucial 3rd-and-1 AND the subsequent 4th-and-one halfway through the 4th quarter. If you're a great team, that just can't happen. Ever. Anyway, Hawks win the division, probably win in the first round, then get beat in the Conference semis. Some teams would kill for that...not us. Obviously I hope I'm wrong but I just don't see it.
I bought tickets to Germany tonight, flying out of Seattle on March 17th and coming home on April 17th. Obviously I'll be staying with Cliff most of the time but I'm heading to Monte Carlo at the end of March for the tourney there and we're going to Paris on April 15th. Cliff will be running the Paris marathon and I will be getting tired thinking about it. He's going to try to run under 3:10 and qualify for the Boston marathon. Good luck, bro. Anyway, here's my updated schedule. I'm only posting this to piss you all off, obviously.
Now-December 26th: Seattle and vicinity for holidays.
December 27-January 7: India with Scott, Ivan and Bri.
January 7-9: Singapore
January 10-February 10: Australia for Aussie Millions, Big Day Out, Australia Day, etc.
February 11-17: Vietnam with Davis, Hao-Tam and CJ
February 18-19: Cambodia
February 20-March 5: Thailand. Full Moon Party on March 3rd.
March 5-March 17: Seattle
March 17-April 17: Germany, Monte Carlo, Paris.
I can't wait to get on the road. Seattle is the greatest place on earth but I'm trying to make sure.
P.S. I'm always bad at returning calls or emails but for some reason I've been even worse than usual lately. If you called me or emailed me and I never wrote back, please forgive me and call or write again and I promise to get back to you. I don't know why I just put things on the backburner until they boil over but I'm sorry. I still love you.
I'm going to start blogging more regularly. I'm going to start blogging more regularly. I'm going to start blogging more regularly. I'm going to start blogging more regularly. I'm going to start blogging more regularly. I'm going to start blogging more regularly.
Seriously.
I'm really excited for the holidays this year. I haven't seen my brother in about 5 months and the last time I saw him was in Vegas, right before the main event. He was there for exactly ONE night and it was right before my Day 2 so I had to head home after eating dinner. I ended up finding him, Danny and Carl passed out in their swimsuits on the couch at 11 AM. That's the last time I've seen my brother and that's too damn long. He gets home on Sunday and I can't wait to see him.
I was supposed to fly to Oakland tonight to help my dad drive up the coast. We had plans to study a Schaum's outline on probability and I was actually into the idea. Tonight, Seattle was hit by a really bad storm so I decided to play it safe and canceled my flight. I now have $109 in credit on Southwest Airlines. Pops is going to make the drive on his own and should be here on Sunday night, the same day that Cliff gets to town. Joy of joys.
I'm really good at the "enjoying family time" part of the holidays but I'm pretty bad at the "gift buying" part. I've been shopping at Amazon.com and Costco.com but all I've managed to do is spend a lot of money on myself. I bought a ton of books on Amazon, mostly travel books for the upcoming trip, as well as all 5 seasons of Six Feet Under and the first 3 seasons of The Wire. I'm saving The Wire for my trip and I'll probably start watching Six Feet Under this weekend. I also bought a Canon Digital Rebel XT 8 megapixel SLR from Amazon for my trip. I'm going to look like a dumb ass tourist but if the shoe fits I'll wear it. I'm trying to learn how to take good photographs but it's hard with the horrible weather we've been having. Here's my favorite one so far. Yes, I'm aware it's a pretty wack picture. Screw you, photography snob.
I convinced my friend Jason to meet me in Australia and I'm really stoked to have him along. Jason is one of those guys that's down to party and while I've never been on vacation with him, I think we're going to have a great time. While planning for the trip, I found a ton of cool stuff that's going on down there. There's a huge concert series every year called The Big Day Out and the timing is perfect for my trip. The Aussie Millions tournament ends on January 20th and the first Australian leg is on the 21st. Artists include Tool, Jet, Muse, The Streets, The Killers, My Chemical Romance, The Vines and a buttload of bands that I've never heard of. Some of them are probably local Aussie bands and some might be known by people with more music savvy people. If there are any such people reading this blog, please take a few moments to look over the lineup and tell me if I should be excited about any of the smaller names on that list. I really like all the artists that I've heard of. I thought that My Chemical Romance was kinda wack ( We'll CAAAARRRRYYYY ON!!! We'll CAAAAAAAAARRRRRRYYYY OOOONNNN!!!!) but I saw them last week at Deck the Hall Ball and I thought they were really good live. Jet is kind of my white whale as far as bands go. After Jet's first popular CD came out I was really into them and I wanted to go to their concert. They were performing on the same day as The Strokes and for Valentines Day, Renee bought me 2 tickets to...THE STROKES CONCERT...even though she knew I was obsessed with Jet because she was more into the Strokes. That's kind of like me buying her Madden 2004 for Valentines Day and telling her, "let's draft a franchise together, it'll be awesome!" I guess it's not quite that bad because I liked the Strokes too and the concert was good but I missed out on Jet. THEN, last week at the Deck the Hall Ball, Jet was the third act so we pre-funked at Davis' house while the first two bands were on, then walked down to Key Arena. Our timing was a bit off because Davis and Duane had to scalp tickets and Renee and Torrie had to eat and we ended up walking into the Arena just as Jet was finishing up the last song of their set. Holy blueballs. I will not miss Jet at The Big Day Out and maybe the anticipation will make things that much sweeter. It'll be cool to see them in Australia, I just hope I stay sober enough to appreciate the experience.
Speaking of sobriety, or lack thereof, the blogging community just had their semi-annual Vegas get-together and I sadly had to miss the festivities. My liver is healthier without the 72 hours of alcohol but I missed out on one of the best trips of the year. Al has a short recap up and promises more later, Otis has something short and sweet, Pauly is pretty much the best writer in the history of the world, but I think Derek's recap was the most entertaining of all. I was already frustrated that I couldn't make it but reading about all the craziness that obviously went on makes me even more pissed off. Most of you reading my blog probably don't give a crap but I like these people so you have to deal with it.
In sports news, the Mariners are having an awful season. Read Cale's blog if you want more details. He does a great job breaking down why the team is so messed up and I'm not looking forward to next year...or the year after that...or the year after that...you get the point. We're getting worse AND getting older. GG Mariners. The Seahawks just lost at home to the Forty-freaking-Niners. After the loss at Arizona last weekend, I was frustrated with the team but I gave them the benefit of the doubt: Hasselbeck still wasn't at 100%, the Cardinals aren't terrible at home, etc, etc. I looked forward to the Chargers game next weekend and decided that the Christmas Eve game would be the ultimate measuring stick: if the Seahawks showed up I'd be optimistic for the playoffs. If the Chargers ran us over like they've been running over the other pretenders of the NFL then I'd admit that the Hawks just didn't have it this year. I never, in my wildest dreams, imagined that we might lose to the 49ers. Or the Forty-freaking-Niners. Unreal. The storm may have played a part in the sloppiness but I just don't think the Hawks have it this year. If they can bounce back and beat the Chargers I'll get all optimistic again but I think the problems run too deep in this team. The Hawks got stopped on a crucial 3rd-and-1 AND the subsequent 4th-and-one halfway through the 4th quarter. If you're a great team, that just can't happen. Ever. Anyway, Hawks win the division, probably win in the first round, then get beat in the Conference semis. Some teams would kill for that...not us. Obviously I hope I'm wrong but I just don't see it.
I bought tickets to Germany tonight, flying out of Seattle on March 17th and coming home on April 17th. Obviously I'll be staying with Cliff most of the time but I'm heading to Monte Carlo at the end of March for the tourney there and we're going to Paris on April 15th. Cliff will be running the Paris marathon and I will be getting tired thinking about it. He's going to try to run under 3:10 and qualify for the Boston marathon. Good luck, bro. Anyway, here's my updated schedule. I'm only posting this to piss you all off, obviously.
Now-December 26th: Seattle and vicinity for holidays.
December 27-January 7: India with Scott, Ivan and Bri.
January 7-9: Singapore
January 10-February 10: Australia for Aussie Millions, Big Day Out, Australia Day, etc.
February 11-17: Vietnam with Davis, Hao-Tam and CJ
February 18-19: Cambodia
February 20-March 5: Thailand. Full Moon Party on March 3rd.
March 5-March 17: Seattle
March 17-April 17: Germany, Monte Carlo, Paris.
I can't wait to get on the road. Seattle is the greatest place on earth but I'm trying to make sure.
P.S. I'm always bad at returning calls or emails but for some reason I've been even worse than usual lately. If you called me or emailed me and I never wrote back, please forgive me and call or write again and I promise to get back to you. I don't know why I just put things on the backburner until they boil over but I'm sorry. I still love you.
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