On closer inspection... (these are loafers)

So I've been receiving pressure and mixed innuendos from the wifey that I should begin blogging more regularly. However, I usually like to blog when I have stuff to blog about. As I think about it more in some ways my life has been more eventful, in which case I have no excuse, but paradoxically in other ways it has been less eventful, in which case I am free from my wife's tyranny. I will present the cases before you in what I like to call:

Is my life eventful?

Affirmative
Exhibit A: I have traveled more in these past year than I ever have in my life. (on a side note, when you write do you ever get so paranoid about your use of vocabulary and spelling to the point where it's unhealthy and you have to dictionary.com everything and then you get ambitious and want to use bigger words so you start to thesaurus things as well; yeah me neither.... on a conterminous note: I already knew that the word traveled has one "l" and not two, unless you're a BRIT!) (By the way, don't you hate it when people's parenthesis become paragraphs and you have to go back and reread the original sentence and then skip the paragraph just to know what the heck the person was talking about in the first place! I mean after a certain point if the parentheses (plural? or parentheseses - you choose) become longer than the paragraph itself, wouldn't it suffice to say that the parentheses then become the body? And actually upon writing that, I can draw parallels with my life. I feel like I'm currently living a parenthesis. I was writing something mid-sentence and then boom! I ain't got no job and I ain't got s41t to do! So now I'm in that real life limbo waiting for "the man" whether it be school or work to call my number, so I can resume with the sentence. But therein lies the rub, sentences are not meant to be defined by work, nor parentheses by the lack thereof, hence my predicament and my frustration.) Maui, New York, European Tour including: Paris, Barcelona, French Riviera, Switzerland, Italy, Germany; Las Vegas, Vail, San Francisco, Las Vegas, and Big Bend. Especially with my current employment hiatus, we've been able to travel as religiously as we darn well please, so we have.

Exhibit B: In this past year I have eaten well. If there is any vice that Jen and I indulge, it is eating (or gambling) oftentimes without conscience towards the price tag. (Of course if we narrow it down to individual vices, I'd definitely have to go with designer jeans for Jen and buttressing my HD quality movie and sportswatching experiences for me. But we're speaking collectively here.) The other day while in Vegas (haughty laugh) we ate at Picasso to celebrate our 11-month wedding anniversary because the 11th month really doesn't get enough love with the greedy, narcissistic 12 looking down on it (coming up this weekend by the way woohoo!!!). So here's what we had: both: Roasted Puree of Serrano Pepper Amuse Bouche; me: Maine Lobster Salad, Pan-Seared Scallops with Potato Mousseline and Jus de Veau, Sautéed "A" Steak of Foie Gras with Roasted Peaches, Vanilla, Muscat and Crushed Almonds, Roasted Aged Lamb Chop with Ragout of Flageolets and Mushrooms; Jen: Poached Oysters Garnished with Osetra Caviar, Sauce Vermouth, Sautéed Filet of Black Bass with Saffron Sauce and Cauliflower Mousseline, Sautéed Medallions of Fallow Deer with Caramelized Green Apples and Zinfandel Sauce. One of the best meals I've ever had and with the Bellagio fountains spraying right out the door and the ambience of actual Picasso paintings lining the walls, it was a really nice experience. I often ask people if they were to give up one sense what would it be ( and you can't pick smell cause that's cheating), and I think I'd choose sight for spiritual reasons as well as the fact that if I were to choose touch I'd be a leper and die an early age, I would hate to give up conversation and music, and I just love food that much.

Exhibit C: I should have more time to blog and be interesting and do interesting things because I have so much time on my hands... in theory. I started off really well because I idolize Demetri Martin and was inspired by his "If I" (palindrome) comedy routine. In it he lays out numerous tasks he gave himself each week to complete and would give himself prizes every week he completed those tasks. Tasks such as: 30 minutes of solving puzzles, 3 hours of lateral thinking, 1 point for filing out the task sheet, try to see someone else's point of view/week, read 2 books a week, demonstrated unassailable confidence etc. (look up "If I" on Youtube by Demetri Martin... awesome) So I thought, well that's a great way for me to spend my time, so in the spirit of Demetri, I endeavored to make my own list and keep score. I had things like read 2 books a week (which quickly changed to 1, which quickly changed to 1 per 2 wks), hours of personal reflection, learn new language (el chico debajo un avioneta), write a screenplay (which quickly turned into write a short story to be adapted to a screenplay), 1 hour of poetry writing, learn to cook two new dishes/wk, 1 hour of personal dancing study/wk, 5 hours of exercise/wk, approach random person and have conversation/wk, perform a random act of kindness/wk, fast one meal/wk, solve a rubik's cube without cheating/yr, improve stock investing ability/yr (fail), think of something original/yr, run 15 miles/wk, etc. So I started off really well, but since I've returned from Europe these have become almost non-existent. In any case, I suppose I should have more stuff to talk about, but in most cases I talk about how I have fallen short of most of these tasks.

Negative/Rebuttal
Exhibit A: I'm an unemployed man who plays way too many video games for a 26 year old. I got really excited the other day when in my NBA 2k9 association league I pulled off a masterful trade by getting Danny Granger for Shane Battier and Stephen Hawes. Danny Granger has subsequently gone on to win most improved player of the year making the All-Star team for the first time. I have killed thousands of innocent pedestrians in Grand Theft Auto 4 and received my first trophy for completing all of Brucie's missions. Also, I get really excited when I beat the computer on level 5 on Tetris. And although it's not a video game, at one point I spent late nights playing in play money no limit hold'em and no limit omaha eight or better tourneys to build my play money account on PokerStars.

Exhibit B: My reading used to be interesting books like Satanic Verses and The Fate of Africa, but now I read the Watchmen, which is actually really good, but I feel like a loser when I must join the community that defends the use of words like "graphic novels" instead of "comic books for adult losers."

Exhibit C: I have recently started studying for my CFA2 exam, so if you find the difference between neoclassical economic growth theory vs. classical economic growth theory or how to take advantage of arbitrage opportunities in put-call parity interesting give me a call and we can discuss. I don't expect many phone calls.

Exhibit D: I watch more tv than I should, including LOST, 24, Flight of the Conchords, Eastbown and Down, old Arrested Development episodes, anything poker, anything sports, 30 rock, office, fringe, wire, weeds, topchef, anthony bourdains no reservations, real sports with bryant gumble, family guy, etc. I could talk about this for hours, but I feel like so much of my life is wasted on watching tv I should really not proselytize others into my web and vaccuum of space and time.

Exhibit E: I've spent hours writing this blog post and have only given up study time to do it.

So the evidence has been laid out; what is the verdict?
You decide.