In The Twilight

The evening was warm as the sun set to the west. Birds said their goodnights beside the flowing river in the eastern part of the city. The area was quiet and there were no immediate signs that this was a city, nay, a country at war. Mothers called their children home for the night to waiting supper set tables. The moon peeked above the horizon in the east.

As the last light of day passed, an unusual calm filled the air. From the north, a sudden flash of light gave an indication that a storm was brewing. But the lightning did not fade. Another, and yet another flash, four then five; each one closer than the last until all the sky was bright as day. Children and mothers screamed as one beneath the roar of wind as it ripped through their neighborhood, only to be silenced in a flash of light from overhead.

The river was dry, the moon hid from sight, and no life could be found.

"It is not the spoon that bends, it is only yourself."

- The Matrix

Building a Computer

All of the parts for my new computer system have finally been ordered. I figured that if I spend a little bit more for a high(er) end system, it'd last me for many years to come and ultimately be more cost effective. Having said that, the total cost was still under $1,500 (after all the rebates are obtained). Note that a comparable system from Alienware or Dell would run in the $2,000's and up.

So, I placed the final order from Newegg last night and it should arrive next week. When that happens, I get to fun task of seeing if all of my research paid off and the parts all play nice together. I am looking forward to the experience though since I have never built an entire system from scratch. Unfortunately I will probably drive a couple of my friends crazy inundating them with computer building questions if the build does not go smoothly.

Now on to the important stuff; the final system specs are:

Antec Nine Hundred Black Steel ATX Mid Tower Computer Case
ABS Tagan BZ Series 700W Patent Piperock Modular Power Supply
ASUS P5N32-E SLI LGA 775 NVIDIA nForce 680i SLI ATX Intel Motherboard
Intel Core 2 Quad Q6600 Kentsfield 2.4GHz LGA 775 Quad-Core Processor
OCZ Vista Upgrade 4GB(2 x 2GB) SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory Model
eVGA GeForce 8800GTX 768MB 384-bit GDDR3 PCI Express x16 Video Card
ASUS 20X DVD±R DVD Burner with LightScribe
(2x) Seagate Barracuda 320GB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive
Microsoft Vista Home Premium

Everything was ordered from Newegg.com except Vista and the hard drives. Shipping was free for most of it (only paid $11.32) and there was no tax. On top of that, I’ll be getting $145 back in rebates so overall, while it’s more than I’m used to spending in one shot, I think it’ll work out well. To put it into perspective, I do love to nickel and dime my money away; hell, Starbuck’s coffee will hit my budget harder than this computer system will over the same timeframe.

Finally, the cool thing is that I will still be working out so sitting in front of this new system will not have that big of a negative effect on my fat content.

"Boonowa tweepi, ha, ha."

Will the Fake Steve Jobs Please Stand Up?

I came across this site while researching a power supply for my computer of all things. The things people invent on the internet these days. Obviously it's all satirical but some have taken it seriously and actually think that Apple is threatening legal action.

While much on the site is obviously fake, there is a bit of truth there as well. I’ve news for y’all, Apple is just as sleazy as any other big company (DUH!). Case in point, the new iPhone and its price reduction within months of the original release.

However, I’ve found that Mac fanboys are much like Bush lovers, they refuse to see a monster for what it is, blindly following their chosen leader off the nearest cliff. At least most of us Microsoft users slam Microsoft as much as we can and rarely wear rose colored glasses. More than once have I made the statement, “It’s Microsoft Word, what did you expect.” or “Why do they feel the need to bloat their software with all this unnecessary crap, you’d think they were overcompensating for something.”

Anyway, take a look for yourself; here is the site: http://fakesteve.blogspot.com/

Canadian Holiday

Happy Boxing Day!!

Habitual Personality

This is very strange. I am actually in the “habit” of working out now. Every morning during the week I get up, head to the gym, work out, and then head to the office. Now keep in mind that my workout intensity varies depending upon what state of sleep I am in while at the gym. Nonetheless, every day I get up now.

The strange part is that this morning all I wanted to do was sleep in and catch a later bus. However, I soon found myself on my usual bus headed to the gym. Somewhere along the way my "other" personality had taken over and got my lazy ass prepared and out the door in time.

Cool yet scary at the same time.

Disposable Income?

Ah, I’ve come full circle. Once again, it’s that time of year when I get the urge to collect electronic gadgets that I cannot afford. Of course, the best way to do that is to buy a brand new computer.

I’m still sold on building my own PC from the ground up. A preliminary look at Newegg.com shows that I could build a mightily powerful system for around US $1,800.

The best case I could find so far is still the Antec Nine Hundred (pictured here). Other than the fact that it has the power of a wind tunnel (to keep the internals cool), it’s got nifty blue lights. Now mind you, I kinda like Dell’s new XPS case better but beggars can’t be choosers. Building one will result in a much more powerful system than buying a comparably priced Dell one; best bang for the buck as they say.

Quick specs of the (maybe) soon to be built system (items may change without notice):

• Intel Core 2 Quad 2.4 GHz
• ASUS 775 NVIDIA nForce 680i SLI ATX Intel Motherboard
• (4x) Corsair XMS2 1GB SDRAM DDR2 800
• EVGA GeForce 8800GTX 768MB Video Card

If you would like to contribute to the Zero Point: Four “Buy Rob a New Computer” greed... uh, I mean "charity" fund, I’ve set up a PayPal account for you to donate to. Ha ha, just kidding! Well, only about the PayPal account.

The Day

I awake to a time when the sun don’t shine.
Resting my eyes while sitting on a bus,
But the commute is too short for any sleep,
So I endure cardio in a daze,
And struggle to finish until I awake.
These are the things of my mornings.

Yesterday saw the same old time
Until the close of business came and went.
Six, seven, then eight o’clock at work.
On to nine and finally ten when I take my leave.

Bus goes the long way and is no express,
Only to dump me off blocks from home.
I stroll through the door at eleven o’clock,
And struggle to finish before I sleep.

Only to awake to a time when the sun don’t shine.
Resting my eyes while sitting on a bus,
Commute too short for any sleep,
Enduring cardio in a daze,
These were the things of this morning.

Caffeine has no effect today,
I only want to sleep the day away.
Sitting at this desk from not long ago,
I need a vacation and a beach or some snow.
These are the things of this morning.

Henna Tattoo Trials

Sunday we got together for the much anticipated henna tattoo trials. My friend did a great job with his design. He loves Basenjis so he incorporated them into his design; 100% his own creation.

Me, I cheated a little. I found a great dragon I liked and incorporated the head and part of the body into my design. So, mine is only about 50% my own creation. On top of that, I think I need to tweak it a little more.

Without further ado, here are the outcomes.

---

His design and my attempt at applying henna for the first time:

---

My design and his first time applying henna:

Angry Zen

I am very disappointed with myself today.

You see, I have quite the temper. Over the years, I have allowed my temper to consume me. The slightest thing would set me off be it while driving, at work, or just hanging with friends. One day earlier this year, I was driving along and someone slighted me. This, of course, threw me into a rage; that dreaded “road rage.” I did some things and said some things that I am not proud of (no, I was not taking steroids so I had no excuse). Anyway, immediately after that I felt extremely embarrassed and from that day forward, I endeavored to find my Zen in everything I do.

For the better part of the year, I have been extremely successful in keeping my temper in check. Unfortunately, that success ended today.

Last week, I had scheduled an important time-sensitive meeting with one of the engineers in my office for today. Five minutes before the meeting time, I ran into him in the hall and asked if he was ready for the meeting. He played dumb. I reminded him of the meeting and subject and he flippantly said he could not make it because he had a dentist appointment.

Immediately I started to get the tell-tale signs that my Zen was not working; I got tunnel vision. The best I could do was just walk away. Now, that by itself would have been ok but it so happened that my boss was walking past and witnessed the entire exchange. He and I continued in the same direction as I started to pull no punches using extremely colorful language (with him agreeing with me about this guy mind you). Nonetheless, what disappoints me is that I started to cuss and let my temper flare (my boss has seen worse).

Before y’all get concerned, my job is not in jeopardy; we have a very relaxed office so my little slippage from Zen has no effect on my continued employment.

It's All About the Pecs

It's interesting how the brain works.

There is this guy at the gym (isn't there always?). Anyway, I've noticed him on and off over the past several months. What impresses me about him is that he has perfect proportions on his upper body. His pectorals are huge and his lats taper down to a small waist. Obviously what drew my eye to him in the first place were his pecs.

So Friday I finished my workout and proceeded to the showers. It turns out that this guy was leaving the showers at the same time I was. Oi!

He always wears sweatpants so I never knew what his lower body was like; until now. He was standing outside his shower drying off (we get separate shower stalls at my gym). As I passed, I got a great close-up view of him in all his splendor; an amazingly developed upper body with a broad muscular back and lats that taper down to a small waist... continuing into a perfectly formed bubble butt all overlaid with silky black skin. Did I say "Oi!" already!

So, that was yesterday morning. This morning I had a pretty realistic dream with Mr. Bubble Butt playing the star role. In the dream he was giving me a hard time about my checking him out at the gym. Unfortunately for me (but fortunately for you all) I did not "get any" in the dream.

Have I mentioned that my libido is on fire these days? Must, find, boyfriend.

It's funny that my brain chose to chastise me for checking him out when he was in the buff (nude); you'd think I was some prudish Puritan or something.

A Boss Like This

I was chatting with a friend of mine last night and he talked about the fact that he is changing departments at his company. He then told me who his new boss was.

It all started a couple of months ago when he told me about an employee he saw in the halls that I “would like.” Well, it turns out that this employee is actually his new boss. Mr. Muscles is pictured here.

I don’t think I’d get much work done if he was my boss.

Five Days per Week

Believe it or not, this month has been impressive. I have officially gotten my lazy ass out of bed and worked out five days each week for the entire month (minus the first two days of course). I think this is the first time in my entire life that I’ve accomplished such a feat. I hope to continue this into December and then on into next year.

Unfortunately, I have not noticed any difference in my shape or fat content. That damn muffin top seems to have actually gotten bigger.

The running of Green Lake has not been as common as I’d had hoped; this due to the fact that it’s quite cold out there. As a result, I need to figure out the right clothing combination to comfortably run this winter.

Green Lake: Inner Loop

The other day I went out with the camera and grabbed some shots of Green Lake.

Here is a panorama of the lake from the eastern shore.

The cool thing about this place is that there's a lot of eye candy to keep the mind occupied. On those days when people are scarce, I can still enjoy the great views of nature as evident in these images.

For those interested, here's a map showing the route I now take when running around Green Lake.

One final point of interest was this short vid I took of some dude out on the lake (yes it was freezing out and he was in shorts).

Black Friday

Well would you look at that, I actually made it downtown for a workout. I totally forgot about the fact that they were having a Thanksgiving parade today but I managed to not get stuck in the traffic around the parade route.

The workout was pretty good actually; it didn't hurt that there was a very handsome asian man working his chest next to me. Oi!

A little later, I was doing a tricep press facing the lat pull down machine. Guess what... yup, you guessed it, he was on the machine; talk about a nice lat spread! Oi, oi!

All this fitness energy is spilling over into my libido. Must, find, boyfriend.

Thanksgiving Run

Woot! I got my ass out of bed and down to the lake for a run. Once again I made it all the way around without stopping. It looks like I'm running a ten minute mile right now since it took me about 28 minutes to finish the loop (hey, give me a break, it's only my second time running in over six years).

Oh, and by the way, Happy Thanksgiving! Don't eat too much or you'll just have to spend that much more time in the gym.

Dubya on Global Warming

This from a year ago on youTube.

Loosing a Competition; Wasn't Even Close

I’ve never been very successful at competition. I usually start out strong but putter out in the end; this is especially true with games.

Today I made it to the gym once again. Don’t get me wrong, I’m very happy about my success so far this month. However, today I had to fight a little to stay on track. This got me thinking (what else am I supposed to do while going nowhere fast on a cardio machine).

Over the weekend my friend (the one with me on the road to 40) and I were talking. Among the topics were muscles and weight lifting capability. He’s at 450 lbs on the inclined leg press and pressing a lot more than me on every other exercise. He’s got hard slabs of muscle everywhere with little to no body fat. If I didn’t know any better, I’d say he was on the “road to 39” instead of 40.

The competitive part in me wants to match him but the defeatist part acknowledges that I will not get there anytime soon. When those thoughts start up, my first inclination is to accept defeat and give up entirely by sitting at home eating cake. I found it interesting that I still have the “poor me” attitude that has so hampered me in the past.

Unfortunately, my habit of singling out the best looking guys with the best bodies in the room and comparing myself to them is still alive and well. What really sucks is when this guy is the only other person in the room.

The Last Song

How embarrassing is this?

So I'm sitting here in my office working away in a good mood. I got to the gym even though it was questionable that I would make it, it’s sunny out, and I’m just happy that I have a long weekend coming up.

Since I didn’t bring my iPod to work today (I didn’t think I’d be in the office), I pulled out a copy of a CD I have here and started listening to that. The album is Run Away by JTL (제이티엘), a hip hop group out of Korea. So I'm half listening to the album rocking away when the forth song starts to play. Now, I have not heard this album in almost a year so I didn’t really pay that much attention to the song… until the refrain.

Out of the blue, the refrain starts and without warning, I start to cry. I’m like, “What the fuck!” Then I recognized it. This was the song that I played in my car every time I took Reggie to the vet. The reason I used this song was that it has a soothing quality to it and I also can sing the words (I don’t speak Korean but I can sing some of it). Anyway, the combination of my voice (in a lower octave than the song) and the ballad of the song always calmed Reggie down since he despised riding in the car.

My god, this was the last song Reggie heard. The morning before he died, I took him to the vet with this on the car radio. OK, now I’m depressed.

Isn’t it interesting how we associate memories with music. I had forgotten all about this song and the meaning behind it but my subconscious remembered.

If interested, here is the song (in low flv quality).

One Down, Two To Go

Woohoo! I managed to schedule a workout today!

The cool thing is that I finished the business I had to do “on site” early, real early, so I went straight for the gym before coming to the office.

For Thursday, I am assuming that the gym will be closed seeing that it's Thanksgiving and all. However, if it’s open, I’ll be going that morning. If it’s closed, it’ll probably be a run around Green Lake again. Unfortunately, my shins are feeling a bit stressed at the moment; they better heal up quick.

The worst part of the week will be the day after Thanksgiving; biggest shopping day of the year (so they say). That means it’ll be way too busy for my tastes.

I Have A New Crush!

Saturday night I went to Martins Off Madison for dinner with a friend and our waiter was gorgeous! I'm not sure of his ethnicity but I'd guess there's a bit of Italian in him. He has jet black hair and piercing black eyes; nice forearms and great ass as well!

He was definitely working for a good tip. Every time he came to the table there’d be long eye contact; made my heart melt. Unfortunately, that dreaded deal breaker was on his ring finger. Even so, I gave him a great tip.

The pic is of the cyclone fireplace in the middle of the room.

Edit (December 15, 2007): Well, last night I was back there for dinner again with some friends. Mr. Gorgeous was our waiter! Oi! Anyway, one of the friends asked Mr. Gorgeous what his nationality was; it turns out that he is Samoan. Boy was I off; I'm getting rusty.

Talk Is No Longer Cheap

All that talk about adding running to my fitness regiment actually produced results; you got it, I ran the entire length of the Inner Loop at Green Lake on Sunday. I love it when a plan comes together. Unfortunately I'm still trying to figure out the rest of the week.

Also, note that I've added running and stairs to the workout calendar on the side bar. I'll be tracking those with separate symbols.

What A Difference An Hour Makes

You gotta love that extra hour in the morning!

Today marks the tenth day this month at the gym. I went from a mediocre turnout last month to every business day this month so far (excluding the first two days of course). Unfortunately, next week will be a bit of a challenge because I am away on business all day Tuesday and Thanksgiving is on Thursday. Hopefully I’ll at least get a jog in and some exercises at home both days.

I’d like to fill up the month but we’ll see.

Seattle Ink: Designing a Tattoo

The thought of getting a tattoo has always been in the back of my mind. However, now that my fitness level has increased dramatically, I think it’s time to turn that thought into reality.

Throughout my life, I’ve always followed the rules; followed what polite society expected of me. Ok, being gay is not exactly what polite society considers the norm… but still, everything else has mostly been “by the rules.” I’ve always been somewhat of a Mr. Goody Two-Shoes; I guess that goes hand in hand with being a nerd and a Christian (still a nerd but no longer a Christian).

This new-found lifestyle of fitness has gotten me to think that I’d like to celebrate it. The obvious way for me is to mark it with a tattoo; a symbol that I no longer care what society thinks of me (yeah, I didn’t believe that last part either but hey, it sounded good).

Anyway, I figured I’d design a tattoo and try it out using henna first; that way I can see what the concept looks like before I make the life-long investment. My idea is to ink up my right deltoid and upper bicep. Currently, I’ve got an Asian dragon intertwined with tribal marks.

I’m trying to finalize it enough to try with henna on December 1st. However, I don’t expect my final design to be exactly what I end up with. Hopefully, the tattoo artist will be able to improve upon what I bring in.

My goal is to go under the needle sometime between February and April of next year (unless the tattoo I want is cost prohibitive).

A New Goal

Yes, you read that right, there is a new goal. This is actually an ambitious one but achievable I think.

Remember The Road to 40? Well, I've upped the ante on that goal. Not only am I working to be in the best shape of my life by the time I reach 40, but now I'll be working for an actual 6-pack (and I'm not talking beer here).

To help me cut the fat, I'll be adding evening jogs around Green Lake for extra cardio. The biggest challenge will be to start the jogs; and as they say, "talk is cheap." So, my plan is to take the plunge this weekend during the day so I can feel it out in the daylight.

Since my birthday is in February, I have 14 months left.

Wanting It Both Ways

So I was at the gym again today (five for five, yea for me)… anyway, I was getting dressed for work in the locker room and noticed that one of the trainers came in and was changing his clothes. Of course, I had to steal a look (get your mind out of the gutter; I was checking his chest out, not his private parts). He is pretty cute but young looking and his body is definitely well developed. One might say that he is one of my many types.

Well, this whole situation got me thinking. I found that I actually got depressed looking at him. While I typically get depressed because I do not yet have that kind of physique, this time it was more for the fact that the guy didn’t even know I was there. In other words, he didn’t ask me out on a date. Yup, that was what I was thinking; go figure.

First off, why would I assume anyone would ask me out on a date in the gym locker room; it’s not like I talk to people in there. Second, why would he ask me out? I doubt he is gay, and even if he was, why would he risk his job hitting on one of the customers?

In public I don’t go around advertising my gayness and as such tend to overcompensate trying to look straight; not to mention that I get real shy around good looking guys. As a result, I come across either straight or as a stuck-up snob, or both. Now, in a gay bar that is a bit different; after I’ve had some alcohol to lighten up of course.

Another issue I got to thinking about was the whole looks/body versus personality concept. I am definitely attracted to athletic bodies but this labels me as a shallow prick since it’s what’s on the inside that counts. I am torn because looks and body only go so far in a relationship; without a personality nothing long-lasting will come of it.

When looking for a date, at what point does one know enough of someone’s personality to not require a physical attraction. I suppose that if you are around someone for awhile (say you work with them), that person who did not have “the look” might become attractive to you as you get to know their personality. However, if it’s a shorter period of time, say at a party or bar (or gym), one only has looks to go from when choosing who to strike up a conversation with.

This leads me to ask if brawns and personality are mutually exclusive. By not talking to the so-so looking guy (who might have a stellar personality) and talking to the brawny guy (who might have only a so-so personality), have I lost out? Does sexual attraction trump mental attraction? Where is the delineation point between the two?

Sugar and Spice and All Things…

…not so nice.

My fitness week is going well so far; three for three at the gym. It does help that everything is an hour later now. However, not all is going as planned.

Unfortunately, it appears that my sweet tooth has taken control. I’ve been perpetually craving sweets all week; even to the point that I caved to the temptation of a Starbucks pastry in this afternoon. Now obviously one pastry is not going to make or break my diet, but since I caved to the same temptation yesterday, I think there is a problem.

We’ll just have to wait and see if I can get rid of this addiction to sugar. It doesn’t help that the winter holidays are coming up, what with all the sweets that accompany them.

The Danger of Reopening Old Wounds

As this year nears its end and the sun shines less during the day, I find myself not able to be distracted like I was during the summer. As a result, I am starting to feel the loss of my cat again.

It seems like I am reminded almost weekly of Reggie now. I still miss him. Who would have thought that almost a year after his death the wounds of that loss would not have fully healed? Apparently, some still have a thin scab and are easily reopened.

With the cold of winter closing in, the nights are sometimes quite lonely without that fur ball curled up on the bed next to me.

No News is...

In this case, no news is bad news. I’ve been sick for the past week so no working out for me. For awhile there, I thought I had successfully fought it but now the bug is back. I could swear I picked something additional up from the doctor’s office since I was there yesterday morning for a physical (and feeling pretty healthy mind you).

On a brighter note, the doctor said I am in great health. She said my heart is strong and as such could tell that I work out. Also, my cholesterol is very good (both good and bad) so I guess I can go back to eating the fat-filled cakes and donuts! OK, maybe not.

It’s weird though… part of the physical was that she examined my scrotum. Those are the only times that any woman has touched my private parts (you know, being homosexual and all). It does not bother me one bit. However, if the doctor was male, I think it would bother me (probably similar in line to my “issue” with the massage I had awhile back.

How screwed up is that?

Anyway, I hope to be over this crud by Monday so I can get back to staving off the invasion of fat.

American Football? or is it Soccer.

Gotta love this one...


Wildest football finish you'll ever see

Telemarketing Crime Scene

Singapore Airlines Suites Airbus A380

Airbus officially delivered its first A380 today to Singapore Airlines. It will fly their Singapore/Sydney route.



Check out the new accomodations! It's more like a cabin on a train than a seat in an aircraft. We will just have to see how long they continue to offer this amount of luxury before costs dictate they cram more seats into the plane.

You too can fly in luxury... it only costs around US$10,800 for a single roundtrip ticket; pocket change.

Breaking News! Fox News Tabloid

Oh you have to be kidding me. This just in from Faux News… "Humans could marry robots within the century. And consummate those vows."

It must be a VERY slow news day. Poor Faux Noise! They just have no credibility left in anything they say. Not only is it even on their news site, it is a "front page" headline!

Boys and Their Toys!

I have a new toy! Well not so new since it's used, but new to me nonetheless.

I visited my friend in Portland over the weekend and we got to talking about my continued desire to find a PDA that has a nice keyboard (the ones with the small buttons don't fit my fingers). It turns out that he still was up to selling off his old JasJar (pictured here) from i-mate.

The last time we talked about his selling it, I had a bit of a budget constraint so I passed. But this time, I was not so hard up for cash. After a bit of initial frustration, I am finding that I actually like the upgrade; even though I still love my old Dell Axim X5.

The frustration stemmed from the fact that the JasJar kept locking up on me and I had to do hard resets every time. It turns out that some of the programs I was trying to install were not compatible. After upgrading those programs, it worked like a dream.

Of course, since I’m so anal about customization, I have yet to get the entire thing up and running to a point that I can leave my Axim home. Carrying around two PDAs is a bit… cumbersome.

Silent Night

I finally broke down and ordered a new bed frame. The old one was a standard futon frame that folded into a couch. I figured it was time to upgrade since this was the last remnant of college-type furniture I had (futon pad excluded). Also the old frame was definitely showing (or should I say "sounding") its age. The wood was cracking to the point that there was a definite sag in the middle and the creaking when a friend and I are in the middle of mad, passionate... uh... I mean when I get out of bed in the morning... was getting annoying.

Well, the new frame (pictured here) was finally delivered tonight. It's a pretty cool platform bed. I tend to like clean lines and try to keep things simple.

And Then There Were Three

What a difference a week makes. Well, not that much difference; I got my lazy arse to the gym one additional day. It’s definitely like starting over. Though, my muscles are a bit bigger and I’m not as fat as when I first started working out.

Today was kinda fun working my chest and arms. It turns out that the shirt I was wearing had tight sleeves so my biceps seemed to show themselves off. On top of that, I’m seeing much more vascularity in my forearms while I lift. If only my stomach could be so good.

Anyway, the crud I had last week is almost all gone so I hope to do even better next week on the gym schedule.

Two Steps Forward, One Step Back

Last week my body decided it'd rather repair itself after a cold than repair (read "build") muscles after a workout. Anything it can do to avoid the gym; bastard!

Wednesday of last week it started out with a sore throat and quickly moved into the sinuses. I stayed home sick on Thursday but tried work on Friday. The entire weekend was spent at home, though I fell asleep Saturday night around 8:30 and didn't wake up until 10:00 Sunday morning; guess I needed the sleep.

To make a long story short, today was the first time back to the gym. I figured I needed to get back sooner than later; actually did legs for the first time in a long time (since doing the stairs in the summer was such an awesome leg workout I didn’t work them in the gym much).

Also, I had originally set my body weight goal to be around 205 lbs. When I passed that, I reset the goal to 200 lbs. However, now that I’ve been hovering around 199 lbs for a couple of weeks I think my new goal is going to be 195 lbs. I am not sure I’ll maintain that since I want to build more muscle; I'll just have to make sure I loose more fat to offset the muscle weight gain.

Call me Nostradamus (or Wacko)

Choose your own adventure:

Option 1:
The next president, Hillary Clinton, will be blamed for the massive unrest in the Middle East that will erupt soon after our troops are drawn down. Iraq will be broken up into smaller countries and countless thousands will be slaughtered. Turkey and Iran will annex parts of old Iraq.

August 23, 2009: the US will be hit by another major terrorist attack; this time a liquefied natural gas ship in Boston Harbor will be the target. The attack and decimation of Boston will be blamed on the Democrats. As a result, come the 2012 elections, control of what is left of the government will be given to an Imperialistic Party (most likely the Christian Republicans will offshoot from the main party and take control).

April 12, 2014: a nuclear bomb will be used on a populated area and World War III will start. Western Nations vs. Middle Eastern Nations (plus N Korea).


Option 2:
The next president, Fred Thompson, will continue the war and expand it into Iran. Soon thereafter, Iran will hold elections and a government friendly to the US will be put into power. The Middle East will be at peace for the first time in history after the US liberates them.

August 23, 2009: global warming will be officially debunked. Science will also determine that Ozone is not required to protect the planet.

April 12, 2014: The lord will return.


Option 3:
Somewhere between the extremes of the first two options.

The Political Games We Play

So the disaster known as the Iraq war is to be continued past the current Idiot-In-Chief’s presidency. What a shrewd bunch of fellows these Republicans are. They’ve done a masterful bit of manipulation so that this failed war will be blamed on the Democrats who will most likely control the government after the presidential election. Never mind that the Republican controlled government got us to this point of failure.

It’s amazing that even when the Republicans controlled everything they were still able to successfully blame the Democrats on the failure. What is scary is that many of the American public fell for the smoke and mirrors.

Starting Over

Ah, Friday brings yet another twist. As can be seen by the workout calendar in the right sidebar, I only hit the gym twice this week. Where is that 5-day workout streak I was supposed to have? Bah!

It seems like starting over on getting into the habit of working out. The same problems of getting up in the morning from last year have crept into the mix. I am going to reserve judgment for another week to see if I can get back onto the proper path to fitness.

The good thing is that I scheduled an appointment at 10am Saturday so that should help train my body to get up earlier; usually I love to sleep in on the weekends.

Enrique Iglesias

This link was forwarded to me by a friend. How nice is this? Enrique is so comfortable in his own skin that he has no problem singing to a gay fan. If everyone was like this, we'd have no war.

Get me some cake!

I once had a discussion with a friend about how setting goals for myself does not work. I claimed that if I set a goal and reach it, what happens after that? Reaching said goal was usually anticlimactic and more often than not, a letdown since the excitement was in the road taken and not the final destination.

Well, it turns out that I had set a goal to be in decent enough shape for my trip to Vancouver, BC so that I could feel relatively confident to hit the clubs. Since that trip has come and gone, I have found that my devotion to fitness is now lacking. That fact is getting depressing.

Some people turn to comfort food when they get down, others turn into introverts; I have found that it is both for me. Recently, I find that I crave the comfort foods even more, don’t care to go out into the great sun and rain we have been having lately, and have avoided the gym like the plague.

Of course these things have a tendency to snowball into really big problems. I eat some cake because I’m depressed. I get fat because I eat cake. I get more depressed because I’m fat. I eat more cake because I’m depressed. See the trend?

For me, I eat cake and feel guilty about it (thankfully, my metabolism is still high enough so the cake does not turn directly into fat). I feel guilty about eating cake so I get depressed and become an introvert. I don’t go to the gym so I get even more depressed so I eat more cake. Welcome to hell.

The hard part about all of this is that there are definitely two personalities in my head (most likely more but the rest are quiet at the moment). The first one is depressed as all hell, the second one is angry that the first one is depressed and not keeping up with the fitness thing.

So, in an effort to kick start the first into feeling better about himself as well as calm the anger of the second one, I am trying my best to build up the energy to do five gym days next week. If that does not happen, the second will have to have even stronger words with the first.

Just call me Sybil.

Two Core or Not Two Core

This year I’ve been pretty good about staying on budget. No new electronics have been purchased so I’m quite happy about that (and so is my pocketbook). Unfortunately, the temptations are back.

At work, I tend to multitask so my computer performance suffers. As a result, I finally requested a newer machine so it wouldn’t take so long to do anything. Well, the IT department finally set me up and that is where the problem has started.

The new computer has a dual core processor and 2Gb of RAM. My home machine is a single core with only 1Gb of RAM. See the problem? I was fine having my home machine better than my work machine (good excuse to “take work home since I can do it faster on my own computer”). But I have real issues with my personal computer being slower than the one I use all day at work.

Oh, the temptation to build a new system. I keep telling myself to wait until prices of quad cores come down but it is so hard to wait.

In my best “Comic Book Guy” impersonation, “Worst. Wait. Ever.”

Hurricane Ridge 2007

So yesterday, my mom and I did our annual Hurricane Ridge trip. Each year, we take a day and head over to the Peninsula and hang out at the ridge for a picnic and some easy hiking. Ever since we started this annual trip, the weather has always been hot and sunny. This time, it was a bit different.

I tend to like all forms of weather (as long as I’m dressed for it) so having it rainy and cold up there was no problem. We ended up eating in the car and talked the entire time.

As with every year, our conversation covered religion, homosexuality (and its treatment by religion), and politics. Yup, that’s right, all the topics you’re sposta avoid. We tend to have differing approaches to said topics but usually agree to disagree if we come to an impasse. We both had a good time.

Anyway, here are some pictures I took.

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From ferry ride over to the Peninsula.

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At Hurricane Ridge.

Massaging My Comfort Zone

The past week I’ve been having some neck and shoulder issues. I think it’s a combination of sleeping wrong and then doing a shoulder and back workout the next day (that would be Tuesday). Enter Thursday… I figured I’d talk to my friend who is a massage therapist and ask him to do a little moonlighting and let me buy one from him since he has done it in the past.

The guy is very good at what he does to I was looking forward to yet another good massage. However, it turns out that his boyfriend has some weird issues with him giving massages to guys he’s dated in the past (we went on 3 dates years ago and just became friends after that). To complicate things even further, apparently his boyfriend found out that he had given me a massage several months ago and went all mental on him. Crazy people like that make me not want to get into a relationship; just a total lack of trust on their part. Anyway, to make a long story short, I was informed that my friend was “prohibited” from giving me anymore massage therapies. BAH!

Unfortunately, having my neck and back worked on was now in my head so I figured I’d check around to see if there was a place close to my home. How fortunate that there is one two blocks away. I called and scheduled an appointment that day (yesterday).

Now keep in mind that I do not live in the “gay” part of town so us gays are a little more underground here (this will play into the story soon enough).

I head out after work to the massage therapy place and fill out the paperwork before the appointment. I did not know who was going to give the therapy but assumed they’d be female since the place had an approximate 1 to 3 split between male and female therapists. I’d never had one from a female before and felt kinda weird about it; but hey, something new to expand my comfort zone I guess.

It turns out that my therapist was male. Great, no new expansions of the comfort zone this time. While expanding that zone is a good thing, I still like the comfort I get with my zone remaining exactly where it is.

So here I am, lying on the table totally naked with a sheet and blanket covering the private parts. A guy I just met (and have no clue about his sexuality) is touching my skin. I had no problems to speak of until he got to my hands and massaged them. Here is this guy holding my hand. Now that is where it got weird.

Yo dude! That’s my hand you are holding. I’m not gay! I'm straight and uncomfortable with a guy touching my hand. W H A T ! ! !

Yup, that is what went through my mind. It definitely turned into a comfort zone expanding experience after all. It took a lot of effort not to start laughing at myself right then and there. Of all the crazy things, why would those feeling surface? Last time I looked, I was gay.

Some days, I find myself quite entertaining with all the weird, crazy, and stupid stuff that goes through my head.

Vancouver BC Trip

All names in the following have been changed to protect the guilty.

So last week, a friend (Sam) and I took a little 3-day bit of rest and relaxation up in Vancouver, BC (that’s in Canada for those who are not familiar with geography). We left Friday and came back Sunday.

This trip had been planned as a fun reward for all the hard work of getting into shape. I’m still not where I want to be but at least there is progress. Sam, however, has no problem taking his shirt off to attract the attention of all those boys and girls out there. I guess you might say I’m Homer Simpson to his Ned Flanders (in body only ‘cause I can tell you right now, there ain’t no prayin' goin' on at his place... well maybe between him and the porcelain god after too many beers, but I digress).

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So Friday, we hit the border around 2 pm PST. For some reason, it was backed way up; it took another 2 hours just to get through. The customs lady who let us in was really chatty and nice though. But no sooner do we get up to speed on Hwy 99 than we run into rush hour traffic.

For those of you not familiar with the freeway up in British Columbia, there are two tunnels that go under the Fraser River, each with two lanes. For rush hour, they reverse one lane from going west into the city to going east. As a result, traffic on 99 backs up since it goes from 2 lanes down to one with an onramp from Tsawwassen right before the tunnel as well.

We cheated. I took a risk and actually used the off ramp from 99 to Tsawwassen as a bypass. The great thing was that the car pool lane off of the onramp only required two people in the car so we got right up to the tunnel before having to merge into the one lane. Very bad of me to do, I know. However, it’s VERY bad traffic management if you ask me. If we hadn’t just spend 2 hours at the border, I might have just waited in line.

Finally, we arrive in Vancouver and check into the hotel around 5:30 pm. I had made arrangements to connect up with my ex (Joe) for dinner that night so we headed out to his place. After eating out there, Joe decided he wanted to come back downtown with us (his partner was out of town). So Joe joined Sam and me for a couple of beers at some place on Davie St with a drag show going on.

Did I mention that it happened to be gay pride up there that weekend? Oh, silly me.

We next figured on taking Sam to The Odyssey; a good dance club that has male strippers (in Canada, they take it all off). After waiting in line to get in for over an hour, we figured we’d try Saturday night instead. After seeing Joe off, Sam and I headed back to the hotel for sleep; it was now past midnight.

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Saturday brought sun and fun. After eating breakfast at one of my favorite breakfast places in Vancouver, we thought we’d try our hand at rollerblading. Of course, Sam was great at it right out of the starting gate. I, on the other hand, never could figure out how to stop without the use of running into a solid object or blading onto grass.

Later in the day we hit the gym and pool at the hotel before heading down to English Bay to watch the finale of HSBC Celebration of Light. Basically, it’s a fireworks competition that happens each Wednesday and Saturday over two weeks. Each night, a different country puts on their show. The shows are synched to music and judged on five criteria: concept, colour, originality, quality, and correlation of music (check out the site for more detailed description).

Here are some of the pictures I took during the show (it might take a little time to load so be patient).

From past experience, definitely go to one of the first three shows and not the finale. The finale just has a short show from each of the competitors as well as a general short show. These were not very well synched and choice of music was not the best. Obviously, since most of the thought and energy is put into the full show each country puts on, this just seems like an afterthought. I still enjoyed the experience though.

After the fireworks are over, there is a mass exodus from the West End. This vid was taken facing English Bay down Davie St. Curb to curb people all the way.



First a stop at the hotel to change into jeans (was in shorts), then back to The Odyssey with a determination to get in. Needless to say, the line was longer than the night before. Time passed well enough since we struck up a conversation with the guys in front of us. Even so, it was about 2 more hours before we actually got through the door. Even standing in line can be entertaining though.

About 30 minutes before we got in, there was a bit of commotion from inside the club. Within minutes, several bouncers were forcibly removing a patron (we’ll call him George). At one point, they even had him on the ground. Apparently, George had some guy in a headlock inside the club (who knows what insult started it all). Needless to say, George was not happy about being removed and kept shouting that he was a lawyer and he was going to sue (you’d have thought he was from the U.S. with that attitude). He argued for a while longer before leaving; thanks for the entertainment George, helped me forget I had been standing in line so long.

But wait, there’s more!

Soon after George left, two guys came up to us in line (obviously drunk off their collective asses and wanting to cut in line). They started chatting about how beautiful the women were inside trying to make it look like they belonged there. Uh, wrong club dudes!

FINALLY, after 2 hours, we get in and go straight for the bar. Nothing says fun more than a drink in your hand. Uh, ok, let me restate that, nothing better helps me loosen up and HAVE fun than a drink in my hand.

Five minutes and two drinks later, out to the dance floor we all go (we ended up hanging with the boys who were in line). Of course, Mr. It’s-too-hot-for-a-shirt (Sam) had to take his shirt off. The second the shirt came off, all the attention I was getting from everyone on the floor went immediately to him; in fact, the bouncers came up and asked me to leave. HA HA, just kidding.

Somewhere around 30 minutes later, a stripper came out to perform (they put them on a Go-Go platform so everyone can continue to dance if they want). He had a very nice physique and, of course, a big..., uh, well, you know.

I left the floor about 10 minutes before “last call” and started on water. I found a stool and had a seat. Soon after, two guys (one Caucasian and one Asian) came up and started a conversation. They said I shouldn’t be alone; how’s that for a pick-up line. We chatted a bit, they wanted pictures (I got to flex my bicep for them), and that was about it. Though, the Asian guy had his shirt off and had a very nice chest (I got to touch it). Did I mention I love big pecks?

All in all, Sam and I stayed at the club until around 4:45 am Sunday morning. At the hotel, we chatted until 6 when we finally fell asleep. The alarm was set for 9 am.

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Sunday was also sunny. After checking out of the hotel, we grabbed breakfast and headed back down to English Bay to watch the Gay Pride Parade. You’ve seen one, you’ve seen them all. Last parade I attended was years ago in Seattle; nothing has changed however(even though it was a different city).

When the parade was almost over, we went over to check out the gay festival. A lot of people and overall, compared to Seattle’s, it was not that bad. We even ran into the guys from the night before though I really actually wanted to run into the Asian guy who talked to me (though I assume he and the Caucasian guy were partners).

After that, we headed back to Seattle. Fun was had by everyone. Maybe this will be an annual trip; we’ll see.

Eye Candy

Check it out, I actually posted to the “...in the eye of the beholder” blog. I know, wonders never cease.

The FDNY Foundation 2008 Calendar of Heroes

Support the FDNY Foundation and head over to their Yahoo store and purchase the just released 2008 Calandar. Ya get to see some sexy New York hotties as well.

NEW YORK, July 30 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The FDNY Foundation and the New York City Fire Department will unveil the highly anticipated Official New York City Fire Department 2008 Calendar of Heroes on Tuesday,July 31, 2007. The Calendar Guys will first make an appearance inRockefeller Center (45 Rockefeller Plaza) for a Press Conference andPhoto-Op and then will autograph copies of the calendar for the public.

Proceeds from the sale of the 2008 Calendar of Heroes will benefit the FDNY Foundation. The FDNY Foundation is a not for profit 510C3 establishedto promote fire safety in New York City and the professional development,training and education of the members of the FDNY.

Calendars also can bepurchased online at http://www.FDNYfoundation.org

When Pigs Fly

This in today's Seattle Times, Letters to the Editor; priceless.

Left is right
Right is revelation

Saturday I read The Times by the light of sunrise streaming in through my west-facing window. In the sports section, I learned that Satan is holding tryouts for a hockey team.

Turning to the business section, I found that Boeing announced design changes for the Dreamliner. It seems that the engine intakes will be equipped with pig-catchers.

And on the front page ["Out of right field, conservatives gush over Clinton," July 25], the 2-inch-tall headline proclaims, "Charles Krauthammer said something nice about Hillary."

-- Howard Hance, Snohomish

Reggie: Pet Food Recall (Update)

I finally heard back from Hills about Reggie’s untimely demise. They have determined that they are not responsible for his renal failure. Apparently, the food I bought was from a batch before the tainted ingredients were involved.

I realize that renal failure is common in cats but it’s still hard to deal with sometimes. With the guilt of thinking I didn’t do enough to keep him healthy coming back, you’d think I was Catholic after all; now where did I put those Rosary Beads.

Anyway, there you have it; the final word.

Galaxy Zoo

Have you ever wanted to be an astronomer but didn’t really have the time or money to feed that hobby? Well, now you can!

The good folks over at Galaxy Zoo have created a program that enlists the help of us human computers on the web (it’s along the lines of what SETI did but instead of using your computer, they use you). Basically, real computers can’t (as of yet) determine details as well as their human counterparts. As a result, they need us to help classify the multitudes of galaxies that have been imaged.

Yes, it gets kinda boring after awhile but you can see some pretty cool galaxies that no one else has seen yet. Isn’t the universe an awesome place!

So, if interested, head over there and give it a shot. You have to take a quick tutorial and test and then you are up and running.

Democracy, the great American joke!

I think I’ll chime in on current political affairs. You might have noticed that I have tried to stay away from that awful mess known as the Government of the United States of America. However, I am getting quite tired of our “elected” officials catering to money and self interest. Since I have no chance of getting elected (to any post) I’ll just rant away on the internet instead.

Previous presidents have done it and now our own King is doing it. King George has a forked tongue (for that matter, most in politics do). The willful arrogance of thinking they are above the law is just astounding.

Keep in mind, I don’t toe the party line but tend to be more Democratic in my thinking than Republican. The following are just some random questions/issues that have been floating around in my head:

1. What is with the idea that a lie is OK as long as it is not under oath? All lies should be penalized.

2. What is with signing statements? There are no line-item vetoes for the President. As such, signing statements should not be allowed. Let’s put it in terms that Bush can understand; you are either for the bill or against it.

3. What is up with the new four branches of government? Cheney thinks that his office is not part of the executive branch? WTF!

4. Congress! Don’t even get me started with Congress. Well, OK, just a little bit. It was my understanding that the reason for the three (now four) branches of government was to provide oversight of the other two (three). Congress has allowed the executive branch to take full control over the judicial branch as well as walk all over the Constitution. Congress has failed in their roll.

5. Most, if not all, politicians are in bed with large lobbying groups. This should be illegal (if it is not already). As such, politicians are incapable of protecting the Constitution and the average Joe. The only things they protect are the rights of big business to walk all over customers. Case in point; credit card companies’ have the ability to change the terms of agreement any time they feel like it. Rather unfair business practice if you ask me.

6. Our President, Vice President, much of their cabinets, the previous Congress’ Republican leaders, the current Congress’ Democratic leaders, many officials at the Pentagon, and many in the judicial branch of government are guilty of treason. As such, they should be tried, convicted, and executed for high crimes against the United States. Law and order must be returned to our government or America will go down in history as one of the worse experiments ever.

Strong words with little to back them up (I know) but that is my feeling. Under the strictest definition of the law (taking in account all of the loop holes), none will be tried and convicted. It is actually a shame.

Where America is concerned, there is honor among thieves.


Now, no rant would be worth anything (and many of mine aren’t) unless a solution was given (save executing everyone and starting over).

1. Make me dictator. That would solve all the problems. I’d even disappear some of the worse abusers of the system.

Well, maybe that will not happen, not like any of this will, but here are some better ideas.

2. Limit the money that is spent on any political race to that which is provided by a specific election fund. Everyone running has a certain amount that they are given and, in the words of Tim on Project Runway, have to “make it work.” Any political ads by “friends of” and “Swift boat” types would be illegal.

3. Term limits, term limits, term limits! Get rid of career politicians and you might have a fighting chance of getting something done around here.

4. Bring back debates. Not that made for TV crap they feed us these days. Give us a stage and podiums (debaters get no say in anything). Give us pointed questions that the debaters do not know ahead of time. And for the love of what ever god/goddess you believe in, make the debaters debate ONE ANOTHER! Duh! I’m talking about “a formal contest in which the affirmative and negative sides of a proposition are advocated by opposing speakers.” Let them talk to each other and rip the other’s arguments apart! How hard can that be?

5. Make people accountable for what they say. None of this “say something long enough and people will believe it” crap! Have a bipartisan (independent?) office whose sole purpose is to fact check (like Fact Check dot com maybe). Only this one will have more push in informing people of the errors in what a politician says.

6. Given that the above will never happen (hey, I’m an optimist right?), how about we just create American President TV show. Contestants, er, uh, I mean contenders will get up in front of a studio and TV audience and sing, dance, and do dog tricks. Then, just like American Idol, the public can phone in their choice.

With politicians, who needs terrorists? or in the words of... uh, what's his name in the movie Hunt for Red October, "and when I'm not kissing babies, I'm stealing their lollypops."

Well, there you have it, another useless rant.

Life Explained...

This was sent to me by a coworker.

On the first day, God created the dog and said:

"Sit all day by the door of your house and bark at anyone who comes in or walks past. For this, I will give you a life span of twenty years."

The dog said: "That's a long time to be barking. How about only ten years and I'll give you back the other ten?"

So God agreed.

On the second day, God created the monkey and said:

"Entertain people, do tricks, and make them laugh. For this, I'll give you a twenty-year life span."

The monkey said: "Monkey tricks for twenty years? That's a pretty long time to perform. How about I give you back ten like the dog did?"

And God agreed.

On the third day, God created the cow and said:

"You must go into the field with the farmer all day long and suffer under the sun, have calves and give milk to support the farmer's family For this, I will give you a life span of sixty years."

The cow said: "That's kind of a tough life you want me to live for sixty years. How about twenty and I'll give back the other forty?"

And God agreed again.

On the fourth day, God created man and said:

"Eat, sleep, play, marry and enjoy your life. For this, I'll give you twenty years."

But man said: "Only twenty years? Could you possibly give me my twenty, the forty the cow gave back, the ten the monkey gave back, and the ten the dog gave back; that makes eighty, okay?"

"Okay," said God, "You asked for it."

So that is why for our first twenty years we eat, sleep, play and enjoy ourselves. For the next forty years we slave in the sun to support our family. For the next ten years we do monkey tricks to entertain the grandchildren. And for the last ten years we sit on the front porch and
bark at everyone.

Life has now been explained to you...

Weekend Fun

This last weekend ended up being a bit of fun. Saturday, I made the trip down to Portland, Oregon to visit a friend (the one who came up to help me move).

Anyway, it turns out that it was gay pride down there. Now in the past, I've avoided those events like the plague. When I was younger, I went but as I got older, it lost its appeal... same with going out to the clubs.

Since my friend likes to hit the clubs every once in awhile, I figured I'd actually head out with him (usually, it's like pulling teeth to get me out). Besides, I thought it'd be a good warm-up for my trip to Vancouver, BC in August.

The evening turned out to be a lot of fun. There was a long line to get into the place so we struck up a conversation with the group behind us; two girls and a guy. This continued in the club as well; we all danced and drank together.

For once, the music was actually good enough (my opinion only) to dance to. Now THAT was a nice long bit of cardio. I'm no pro at dancing, but at least I didn't stumble into anyone.

So, as the night continued into morning, we moved over to the other dance floor; difference music that was mixed live. At first, it wasn't as good as the other music, but still enough to dance to. The DJ was not that good either. At one point, he couldn't find the song he wanted so he just left the current song repeating the same bit over and over and over and over and over again until he found what he was looking for. Now that was a bit annoying.

To add to the annoyance, some queen (yes, I'm using that term here as a derogatory) had some glow sticks on strings and was twirling them around smacking everyone in the head (and quite clueless to the fact as well). So, music stuck like a broken record and the fear of loosing an eye combined to suck the fun out of that situation. Thank goodness, the queen moved on and the DJ found that there are more songs than just the one he was repeating.

About this time, I leave the girls on the dance floor (they were dancing with each other and the other guys on the floor so I didn't leave them alone)... anyway, I headed back over to the other side of the club and ran into my friend again. We ended up getting in line for some more alcohol.

He gets the bright idea of getting shots of Tequila in addition to the mixed drinks. We shoot the Tequila and I pretty quickly down my mixed drink.

This side of the club is lighter and has better eye candy so we ended up staying there. Now the question is, is the eye candy here because it is brighter; more to be seen by, or is it lighter because the eye candy hangs out here? Hmmm... somehow, I think its the former. If only I can get that elusive six-pack, then I might consider taking my shirt off.

Last call came at 2 am and my friend and I figured we'd check the other dance floor to say good bye to the girls and guy we entered the club with. Couldn't find them.

I was ready to leave but my friend wanted to sober up a bit before leaving. I think he just wanted to watch people for a bit longer. The kicker here is that he was on the tipsy side but I was pretty sober... OK, on the happy side of sober. I don't know why I didn't get drunk; by all accounts, I should have been quite drunk since I had a lot of alcohol.

Total count was 2 shots of Vodka at my friend's place, a shot of Tequila, and 2 Screwdrivers. As most of my friends will attest to, I should have been drunk.

OK, back to the closing hours of the night. I went to stand by the wall and left my friend to people watch by himself. As it turned out, I ended up watching the new DJ who was quite nice to look at. Soon thereafter, this guy walks up and strikes up a conversation with me. He was a Japanese, German, and Polynesian mix... oh, and had his shirt off as well. Not bad.

We ended up talking (more like shouting) and danced a bit. He's got the Polynesian Hula down pat. Now that was actually pretty sexy dancing close behind him during the Hula hip movement part. Anyway, it went no further than hugging (my choice actually since one-night stands are more work that I cared to deal with that night).

We closed the club down (3 am), exchanged numbers (well, he has mine in his cell phone but I had nothing to write his down with), and parted ways. I met back up with my friend and we walked back to his place where we ended up talking for another hour. Finally, at 4 am, we headed to bed. God, I have not stayed up that late since college; was fun though.

Sunday was pretty low key and I headed back to Seattle in the afternoon.

Overall, it was a fun trip considering that I usually find the best looking guy with the best body in the room and compare myself to that. I did purposely stay away from the mirrors at the club though. It's best if I don't see myself next to the eye candies on display. Ha Ha!

ps: I took this picture with my cellphone on Sunday. The vine was on our walk to Starbucks in Portland; yup, have to have my coffee in the morning! Kinda cool flower though I'm not sure what kind it is.

Health & Fitness: The Road to 40

So here’s the deal. Obviously, I have been hitting the gym this year; I just have not been good about doing the weekly update on my progress. Since I’m lazier than Homer Simpson on a Sunday afternoon, I doubt I’ll be giving y’all weekly write-ups on my gym adventures (or lack thereof) anytime soon.

That does not mean that I’ve forsaken the gym; I’ve just forsaken the extra work of figuring out what to say about it on a weekly basis. As a result, I’ve discovered that the good people at Google have provided a nifty calendar for the masses. On this calendar, I will enter the days that I got a workout in. I have also entered all workouts for this year (previous years might be added later); yes, I keep a record of my workouts. I should have a much easier time keeping this up to date than posting every Friday on the week’s adventures.

Anyway, check out the sidebar. That is the new location of “The Road to 40” workout calendar.

Across the Universe (Pleasantville)

Now this is a trippy version... pretty cool actually.

Per YouTube, "Uncut music video for the song, "Across The Universe," by Fiona Apple (written by John Lennon), from the motion picture soundtrack, Pleasantville."

'Across the Universe

Going To A Town

A New Place to Live

As pointed out by a friend, I have been remiss in my bloging duties.

A lot has happened over the past couple of months. The biggest is that I have changed residences.

Two months ago, the managers of my old place informed me that my new lease would include a 20% rent increase! Twenty percent! That translated into an additional US$145 a month. Now I do not mind (and even expect) rent increases every year, but 20% is excessive.

In 2005, the place was sold to new investors. True to form (and the American Way), money trumps people. Starting last year, the new ownership proceeded to raise everyone’s rent in an effort to get it up to what they deemed to be market rate.

This year, the raises were even more dramatic. I was one of the lucky ones; some had their rents raised over US$245 per month. Needless to say, there is a mass exodus from my old apartment complex. The sad thing is; no one will be missed because the rental market in Seattle is so hot right now. Managers can pretty much charge what they want and gouge the consumer.

Fast forward to last week. I finally found a new place to move to. It’s a bit smaller than my old but still includes a balcony so I can keep my outdoor plants. In addition, there is an in-unit washer/dryer so that is a plus. My rent at the new place is pretty much what I was paying at the old (before the 20% increase)

Unfortunately, the new place is literally 60 feet from the freeway. To throw salt in that wound, the freeway is elevated at that point so every truck that rumbles by is amplified by the space underneath the bridge. I hope I’ll get used to it.

I started moving stuff over on the 16th and did the big furniture move with a U-Haul on Saturday the 19th. I had the help of two friends who made it go quickly. The first friend volunteered to come up from Portland, Oregon to help with the move. Yup, he is definitely crazy but I love him anyway! *evil grin* For the second friend, all I had to do was to promise that he’d get a great workout from moving all the heavy stuff and he was there (oh, and the promise of food and beer at one of his favorite pubs didn’t hurt either).

Now, with the move finished, I started the task of unpacking. That quickly came to a screeching halt when I discovered that the supposedly clean kitchen was actually pretty filthy. Great, I got to clean not only my old place, but my new place as well. I don’t mind cleaning up my own filth, but when it comes to cleaning up a total stranger’s filth, that is where I have major problems. Yuck!

I’ve finally got the new place cleaned and have gotten half way through the unpacking process. Smooth sailing after that right? Not so fast! Did I mention that I have one more friend? His name is Murphy... as in Murphy’s Law!

Monday I had taken the day off from work so I could go clean the old place and paint over the accent wall I had done when I moved there. I stopped at Starbucks for coffee before heading up to the apartment. I go to pick the cup of coffee up from the cup holder in my car and the lid pops off spilling coffee all over my car. Most of it was contained in the cup holder though. Unfortunately, the garage door opener to the new place was in the cup holder (there are two) as well.

I didn’t think much of it until I got back to the new place and discovered that the opener did not work anymore. Argh! Another two days of trying to get a new opener and I finally got one. But, that one did not work either. After another day of trying to get a hold of the managers, I finally was able to determine that the opener code was reversed. It now works.

Sometimes, you just have to stand back and laugh your ass off. I’ll have to wait until after I finish unpacking.

The Pacific Northwest According to Jeff Foxworthy

This is currently making the rounds at my office so I thought I'd add it here. It looks to be at lease a year old but still relevant; a little too true I think.


The Pacific Northwest According to Jeff Foxworthy

1. You know the state flower (Mildew)

2. You feel guilty throwing aluminum cans or paper in the trash.

3. Use the statement "sun break" and know what it means.

4. You know more than 10 ways to order coffee.

5 You know more people who own boats than air conditioners.

6. You feel overdressed wearing a suit to a nice restaurant.

7. You stand on a deserted corner in the rain waiting for the "Walk" Signal.

8. You consider that if it has no snow or has not recently erupted, it is not a real mountain.

9. You can taste the difference between Starbucks, Seattle's Best, and Veneto's.

10. You know the difference between Chinook, Coho and Sockeye salmon.

11. You know how to pronounce Sequim, Puyallup, Issaquah, Oregon, Yakima, and Willamette.

12. You consider swimming an indoor sport.

13. You can tell the difference between Japanese, Chinese and Thai food.

14. In winter, you go to work in the dark and come home in the dark - while only working eight-hour days.

15. You never go camping without waterproof matches and a poncho.

16. You are not fazed by "Today's forecast: showers followed by rain," and "Tomorrow's forecast: rain followed by showers."

17. You have no concept of humidity without precipitation.

18. You know that Boring is a town in Oregon and not just a state of mind.

19. You can point to at least two volcanoes, even if you cannot see through the cloud cover.

20. You notice, "The mountain is out" when it is a pretty day and you can actually see it.

21. You put on your shorts when the temperature gets above 50, but still wear your hiking boots and parka.

22. You switch to your sandals when it gets about 60, but keep the socks on.

23. You have actually used your mountain bike on a mountain.

24. You think people who use umbrellas are either wimps or tourists.

25. You buy new sunglasses every year, because you cannot find the old ones after such a long time.

26. You measure distance in hours.

27. You often switch from "heat" to "a/c" in the same day.

28. You design your kid's Halloween costume to fit under a raincoat.

29. You know all the important seasons: Almost Winter, Winter, Still Raining (Spring), Road Construction (Summer), Deer &Elk season (Fall).

30. You actually understood these jokes and will probably forward them!

Reggie: Pet Food Recall

Well, it looks like Reggie is a victim of the tainted pet food. He was on Prescription Diet™ m/d™ Feline dry food.

I have contacted Hills in an attempt to get my vet bills reimbursed. They took my information but I have not heard back from them yet. I really can’t put a price on the “pain and suffering” that I went through during the first part of this year but I can put a price on what the Vets charged me; I even have receipts proving it.

Anyway, it really sucks that he had to die prematurely. But this information takes away much of the self doubt that I had.

Mount St. Helens VolcanoCam

Mount St. Helens National Volcanic Monument

John McCain Supports Gay Marriage

Oh, you gotta love this one. Apparently, Mr. McCain cannot afford real web masters. As a result, his MySpace site broke the most basic of all internet laws; do not link directly to images hosted on a site not your own. He paid the price; though, of all possible punishments, this one actually could give him votes (just not from the far right).

This from MSNBC,

The site was hacked over a breach of netiquette by McCain's web people, who were using a free page template without giving credit (that's almost stealing!), and "hotlinking" images from the designer's site, using his bandwidth (that sorta is stealing!).

Obviously, I am storing the above image under my Blogger account.

Here's Looking At You.

Ever get that feeling you are being watched? This is actually a storm at Saturn's south pole.

Credit: NASA/JPL/Space Science Institute

A 5,000-mile-wide hurricane-like storm swirls at Saturn's south pole. Note the well defined eye.

Chicken Police?

How funnny is this? Found it on YouTube.

"...in the eye of the beholder" - Update

As you might have noticed, the “...in the eye of the beholder” blog was not updated for January (obviously, if my fitness suffered because of the pet ordeal, it’d follow that my blog would suffer even more since it’s a relatively low priority in my life).

Anyway, I think I might try a different format for the “beholder” blog. Instead of putting up four selections every month, I thought I might try putting something up when I see it. This way I’m not stuck with rushing to update it by the first of every month (amazing how fast the month would fly by).

Also, instead of sticking to photo “albums” of the subject, I will also branch out into single and groups of shots that might not be the same person or thing.

Health & Fitness: The Road to 40 (Week 18)

Week: 18
Workouts this week: 2
Workouts/Total days: 56/125

Well, a tiny bit of improvement from last week. My tendency to sleep late has definitely reasserted itself from all those late morning risings of early January. I find that my energy is still not up to par so it’s a bit of a climb out of this sedentary hole.

This week, I was able to go Tuesday and Friday. Tuesday, my legs saw a decent workout and proceeded to scream for the next two days (wimps!). Today I gave the old shoulders and back a little run for their money.

On to week 19; may 5 days be in my future soon!

Health & Fitness: The Road to 40 (Week 17)

Week: 17
Workouts this week: 1
Workouts/Total days: 54/118

Obviously I have not been involved in the whole fitness thing for the past three weeks. While the cat was at the emergency vet, I’d visit him in the evening. The late nights combined with the general stress of the whole thing pretty much sucked any energy I might have had. Needless to say, getting up in the morning to work out was not the first thing on my mind.

This week, I tried to start back but only made it one time. Tuesday I did cardio and worked the chest (with lowered weight). I am still pretty low on the energy level though.

Anyway, I hope to regain most of my energy in time to hit next week’s gym schedule with a vengeance; in other words, five days.

Reggie: In Memoriam (1993 - 2007)

On Tuesday, January 16 2007 at 3:50 am, my cat of 14 years passed away due to complications from Feline Chronic Renal Failure (kidney failure).

He was diagnosed on Saturday, January 6th and spent the next five days at an emergency animal hospital. I brought him home on Thursday, January 11 and was able to spend the following four days with him. Though weak from his ordeal at the hospital (he's always hated the vet) he was quite happy to be home and would purr even if you'd just glance at him. I am thankful that I got to spend that time with him.

In September of 1993, I adopted Reggie from the pound. He and his siblings had been picked up in a field as strays and were very young. What separated him from the rest of the kittens was that he was totally black (except for a small white patch on his chest) and quite rambunctious.

Except for one scare in 1999, he was a healthy cat, albeit an overweight cat (uh, I mean “big boned”).

As with all pets, he had quite the personality. The cutest thing he’d do was to crawl under the covers of the bed to sleep. I’d come home and find this ball curled up in my bed. Of course I’d wake him up by sliding my hand under the covers to pet him (which would make him purr like there was no tomorrow).

Tuesday, I was awakened to my worst fear; Reggie was in his final minutes. My god! That is the hardest thing to watch because there is nothing that can be done. Amid the fresh snow falling and my constant convulsions of emotion, I drove his body one last time to the emergency hospital for cremation. His ashes are being sent to Eastern Washington where they will be sprinkled in an orchard; such is the circle of life.

So it is with a heavy heart that I say a final goodbye to my friend and companion. Rest in peace Reggie, you are already missed.