Should I Recycle This?

As most of you know (all 2 that might read our blog) we have recently relocated to San Francisco, CA. I really hoped blogging wouldn't just be a phase I went through and seeing how my last post was in April, my fears were realized. And this post was only birthed because I'm putting off some reports I need to fill out for work and after 45 minutes wasted on Facebook, blogging somehow makes me feel less guilty for procrastinating.

Well six days since our move out west, our stuff is still "in transit". The truck driver won't call us, and we don't have his information so what I keep picturing is him going through our drawers, relaxing on our pink sofa and eating our non-perishables doused in our Asian cooking sauces. All with an evil laugh. And all of which is probably not true. It just doesn't feel like we're settled in without our stuff. It's actually like we're squatting in our apartment, because we have random IKEA furniture boxes, every electronic we own plugged in to the walls right now surrounding our friend Tim's futon mattress he's generously let us borrow. And it's actually been good cause James and I get to read what we originally thought was a sorta cheesy book (and I'm so sorry if whoever gave that book to us ever reads our blog..) and almost gave away, but actually is a pretty good one called "Moments Together". Like a daily devotional for couples, which has been fun and nice.

Here's some things that have been running through my mind and some new things we've learned about the great state of California:

• There's a hands-free law, and you can't talk/text while driving. I usually do both responsibly and you can judge all you want.
• You can't have the two front windows tinted, but the back two can because it obstructs your view of pedestrians at night.
• You can't mount GPS' on the windshield.
• Will my neighbors judge me if I don't recycle everything that's recyclable?
• Does every girl really need yoga pants to exercise outside?
• I hope my sister's friend doesn't find out I read her blog cause Mel said it's hilarious...but I really don't know her. And she is quite funny.
• I need to pound out my speech for Brookey's wedding so I can memorize it and practice to the point that I won't cry when I give it. Cause everything I've been thinking about has made me cry.
• I will try my best to be at a beach every weekend I possibly can.
• I laughed really hard the other day when this guy who was riding his bike along the Marina while talking on the phone tried to weave through some parking bumps and ate it. HARD. He was okay, so I didn't feel too bad. It still kinda makes me chuckle..

Hopefully it won't take me 4 more months to make another post...

My Friend MK

This morning I logged into facebook and in the sidebar there was an ad that had "JOHN" in barbwire tattoo writing and underneath it said this:

"Love your husband? If so tattoo his name under your profile picture to prove it"

or something like that. I immediately thought, "Yes, I love my husband" and then realized a tattoo was too permanent. I wonder who made up that app and how much they're getting paid for it. I probably could have thought it up as well and be sipping coladas watching sunsets of the coast of Brazil right about now...

Anyways I deter. This post is all about my friend Mary Kate T. (abbreviated to protect her identity of course), whom I so affectionately call MK. Yesterday we got to catch up for a bit about what's going on in her life as she currently resides in Dayton, OH. So she told me that she just got back from interviewing for a job in San Diego and she proceeded to go on about how awesome the city and its weather were. So this whole time I'm assuming that she interviewed for a copyrighting or some type of web design or design/computer art whatever type job - cause that's sort of what she had been doing for the past couple of years in New York. Well come to find out she applied for a job as an animal trainer at Sea World. She heavily trained in a pool for two weeks prior to her interview, flew to San Diego and had to swim in 50 degree water up and down in the pool as if rescuing someone or something for her interview. She also had to perform a script and an improv act for her interviewers to become an elite member of the Sea World team. I think she might have had to sing as well...She did not get the job, but we got a good laugh.

So MK's always been one of my most interesting friends. She always has a good story, and yesterday the stories did not stop there. Come to find out she's been applying for all sorts of jobs including a posting for an ornithologist (one who studies birds?). Her game plan is to first land an interview and then spend the next week or so becoming an expert in that field. In the mean time she is also posting job listings of her own so she can see what legit people submit for their cover letters and resumes. (I mean, do people actually do this?? It's a great idea...) This might seem unethical and slightly shady of her, but if you knew her like I did you would most likely be laughing really hard. And that's why I've chosen to post her story today. Because it gave me a good laugh, and I hope it does for you as well.

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.

Mix Tapes

Maybe it's because we've been traveling a lot lately and listening to "Hip Hop Car", an affectionately named playlist on Lupe (James' iPod) or because I considered making my friend Kelly a "mixtape" for her birthday last week and then realized that was so 1999 (or later, I don't remember...). But I've been reminiscing about how I used to burn cds for people all the time. Or when I was in junior high and would record songs from the radio on my tape. TLC and Alanis Morissette...awww yeaaaa. But people don't do that anymore, right?*

Well I have been thinking about what I'd put on my ultimate mixtape, and now that we can burn even more songs on one single cd, this has made my life much easier and my decision making process a lot faster. Here's a preview of what I'd think about adding (I LOOOOOVE lists on my blog..):

1. TLC - Creep
2. Mariah Carey - something from Daydream, Emancipation
3. Fuel - Shimmer
4. Sublime - What I Got, Pawn Shop, 40 oz to Freedom, Santeria, April 29, 1992 (Miami)
5. one or two Tom Petty's
6. three or four Beyonce's
7. Jay-Z - a couple from his Unplugged album
8. Alanis Morissette - some Jagged Little Pill songs
9. Amos Lee
10. John Legend
11. Sandra McCracken
12. Notorious B.I.G.
13. The Format

That's all I can think of for now. I'm sure I'm leaving some off. What would you put?

RANDOM - I totally redid this blog so that I could include James on here. I even spent like..a lot of time..making the picture at the top of this page - and most know that I am NOT technologically saavy (so you can guess how long it took me) - and he hasn't blogged since.


*actually the last time I did it was for my wedding gift to the guests..

random thoughts as of late...

It's really annoying when older, bigger ladies crowd right behind you at the baggage carousel in baggage claim and then say, "Oh! That's mine!" while looking at you dead in the eye as you turn around to see who said that. Why can't they just nicely ask you to get their bag for them? Passive aggressiveness wins. (shared by the husband)

I really miss corporate worship at City of Refuge since we've been out of town for the past month or so. I remember when I just wanted to hear the right songs that would put me in the right mood, but you never know what song is going to be sung at our services, and a lot of the times I don't know them. But I love watching the Barnes family, Wendy on stage and Sandra with her tambourine. Even if I don't know the song they just look so happy worshipping that I know God's presence is there.

My junior high girls from youth group have been coming to church on Sundays almost regularly, last time I checked before my month hiatus. This past Wednesday at youth group I deliberately told them I wanted to take them out to lunch after service on Sunday. None of them showed up yesterday.

Number 3 leads me to www.fmylife.com which is a blog that has been repeatedly referenced and suggested to me. I read it regularly at work knowing that some of it is probably not real and most are rather vulgar, but I still laugh at the stories.

When I watch ABDC sometimes I think to myself, "Oh yea, I can probably do that if I really tried and exaggerated my movements". But then I try and fail miserably and just look really weird. I need to YouTube some more videos before I try learning again.

Our neighbor snores really loudly, and after I snooze my alarm in the mornings he's all I can hear through the walls.

James claims that I regularly lose to him in Rock, Paper, Scissors. This was brought to my attention after we were trying to decide where we should eat (or something like that), and I said if I win, then...etc. And then he told me, no that's unfair because I have an advantage over you. I always beat you. Of course I disagreed, we played and then I lost. But I demanded a best out of 3 of the best out of 3, and he declined. So is he really right?

That made me remember that yesterday when we were playing ultimate frisbee with some random friends I paired up with a girl to decide which team we'd be playing on. I threw a paper and she a rock, and then I said YES! And this is how our conversation went:
Her: Wait, did you win?
Me: Yea, I was the paper.
Her: Oh really? Oh ok. Well some people play that the rock smashes the paper.
Me: What? No way, I've never heard of that. I'm pretty sure the paper beats the rock.
You be the judge.

I've been trying to think of something more meaningful to post. Something that might require more thought, but nothing's come up.