As I walked up to my apartment door tonight, I remember what it felt like two years ago when I opened up the door for the first time. There was a sense of uncertainty. All the “what-ifs” of being out on my own and in the real world. Would I be able to pay all my bills? Would mom and dad be able to bail me out if I was in a jam? Would my roommates annoy me? Will this ever feel like home? I walked through the door tonight and it did indeed feel like home. Two years is a long time to get used to stuff.

When I went to college, I lived with my grandparents. It took me a while to feel comfortable, even though it was a house I grew up in. But for some reason, I didn’t want to call it home…But ever since then, the home that I thought was home wasn’t really my home. Now, it doesn’t even really exist anymore, which is a sad thing. But we grow up and move on. When I first moved into my apartment with my two best friends, it felt like it was gonna take some getting used to. I remember the first night was the worst. It always is, isn’t it? But these days, when I’m tired, I look forward to coming home and sleeping in my bed. It’s funny how you get used to things.

I’m excited for the move. I’ll be moving in three days to another strange place…another stop along the way. And although it’s exciting, it’s another unknown. A whole new chapter of things. A change. And if you know me, I don’t take to change very well. I think it will be good, but sometimes it’s hard for me to leave things behind because along the way I learn to hold on to them too tightly…and when the time comes to let go, I have trouble loosening my grip. Hopefully it will be easier this time. :)

With growing up and change comes some good things. I’m going to be 26 in less than 24 hours. That’s a scary thing. I mean, I’m nowhere close to having a girlfriend. I’m nowhere near working in a job I see myself ten years from now. You would think I would be on the road to marriage, one step closer to having my house with my dog, Fluffy the wonderdog (if you have anRHS ’97 yearbook, you’ll know what I mean). But alas, this is not the case. But I did buy a big TV today. That should more than make up for my inadequacies, right? At least you can come over and watch the Super Bowl at my house.

I realized why people with lots of money buy stuff. Because they have money. Duh. Some (not all, but some) people with lots of money work hard for their money. They work insane, long hours…and it’s enough to drive someone crazy. But I learned that the saying is true…money can’t buy happiness. But it can buy lots and lots of stuff, which in theory, could take your mind off how pathetic your life is. Whilst you are playing with your toys, you can forget about the worries and stress and stupid little things that work tends to bring. I mean, you could just work hard and let the money sit there…but seriously, what fun is that? I can honestly say that I work hard. I work hard at a job that really isn’t that exciting. It isn’t that interesting. I enjoy what I do, but that’s only because I can find the fun in almost any type of job. I’m good at that. But my job is just that…a job. In the words of my sister (and Jack Arnold from the TV show The Wonder Years), “Work’s work.” And that about sums it up. It gives me money. Money to play and buy toys with. Someday it will give me money to support my family. But for now, it’s fun to play and forget about the stupid things at work.

So I’m just gonna play. Like the big 26-year old kid that I am.

Brian shared this article with me, thought it would applicable since it’s Danny’s birthday.

MSNBC – Jan. 24 called worst day of the year

Oh yeah, happy birthday, man.

I went to Jack in the Box today for lunch. I bought a salad. A chicken club salad. And I read my Time magazine. It was good.

As I left the restaurant and pulled out of my parking space, I noticed a fairly attractive woman — noticing such things is a gift and talent which I have been blessed with. She was about 5’6", slender, perhaps a business woman of some sort. Her attire was consistant with that assessment; simple top, a nicely form-fitting knee-length skirt, and dark heels of a modest height. I watched her walking to her car, careful not to hit anyone or anything whilst I was manuvering through the parking lot. But to my surprise, she did not walk to a car, per se…she opened the door to her white Tacoma and got in. A pickup truck.

I had just had a conversation yesterday with Megs about this very subject. Girls and trucks. I think most guys will agree with me…girls that drive trucks are totally hot. There’s just something about a girl that drives a truck…but I have no idea what it is. And today’s observation at Jack in the Crack merely proves it. The more unexpected it is, the more attraction there is. For instance, if the girl is cute, little, petite…definitely a good thing. Or if she is a professional, skirt and all…again, a good thing. As good as it is, it will remain a mystery.

I didn’t think it was possible, but I just might have set a record this weekend…with the number of Gilmore Girls’ episodes I watched. I think I watched something like 10, excluding special features and A Film By Kirk, which has left me extremely disturbed. But now I’m done with Season 2…all the holes are now filled in (you see, I started watching into Season 3, so the first half of the show was a mystery to me). But now everything makes sense. Everything is right with the world.

Two more weeks until the birthday and the move. In case you forgot. :)

You know what’s funny…not funny “ha ha,” but funny interesting? I got this really teeny, tiny Crate and Barrel picture frame from one of our sales reps here at work and for the last 3 weeks, it has been sitting on my desk empty, like an empty picture frame. I hadn’t really had the motivation to put a picture in it. Sure, I had thought about it…but really, nothing inspired me. I also had trouble thinking about who to put in it, since I can never think of just ONE friend. So I grabbed the closest picture, which was a small one here on my desk. Fits perfectly…I didn’t have to trim it at all. But the funny part is it’s a person who I never see and who I am questioning the actual existence of a friendship. I have started to wonder if she actually cares about me at all. It’s just that in the last several months, my many attempts at communication have been ignored. I must be a little slow, but I finally got the hint. I still think it’s funny that her picture is in my frame. I think it’s even funnier that my reasons for framing the picture was that it was the “closest one.”

Well folks, I told myself I was going to get to bed decent hour today … but I have failed. You do realize that I blame you for it. It’s all your fault.

Not really.

I’m really excited for the three-day weekend this weekend. It will give me some time for much-needed rest. I have been so tired lately, mostly due to all the projects keeping me busy. I haven’t had a moment to watch ER, read my new Maxim (Brooke Burns is on the cover, looking mighty fine), or pick my nose.

I have been finishing up Sonja’s DVD (almost there!) and working on another project of sorts. Brian has decided to apply for the television show Survivor, so for the past couple of weeks we have been planning and shooting segments for his 3-minute entry video. We engaged in a little bit of espionage, little bit of unauthorized entry … we shot in random places, in the pouring rain … but all in all, I am pleased with the product: a goofy, but informative, 3 minute representation of the Magnificent, Noble, Dignitary Sir Brian Christopher Mounts, Duke of Worcestershire, Samaritan to the Poor and Defenseless, Emissary to the Humble States of Unity, Adopted Son to the Sultan of Agribah, Protector of Italian Virginity. Click here to view the video. I’ll be posting some visuals for all of you to see as well. I am sure you are sitting on the edge of your seat.

On Tuesday, I was able to participate in an enjoyable lunch with my fellow UBOC colleagues at the 94th Aero Squadron. Ken, from the L.A. sales office, was down in San Diego for training, so we took him to lunch. Cool guy.

Well, now that my bed time has come and gone, I will leave you with these two words. Good night.

Hello folks, I’m just sittng here watching the Chargers lose (maybe, we’ll see if they can pull out of it…actually, they just scored again, so it’s very possible.), but I thought I would write a little since I haven’t been able to lately. Life is good. It’s been rainy, lately, hasn’t it folks? Wow, I haven’t seen this much water in…well…a long time. It’s been sort of nice. I’m a so-cal boy at heart…but the rain is a nice change of scenery. =)

On Monday, we checked out the new NGS compound. NGS East, if you will. Yes, I am moving. Danny and I are packing up the end of this month and moving into a house in La Mesa, which should be a nice change of scenery. It over looks the city, is very quiet (even though I like planes flying over every 5 minutes during ER), and has a huge deck. The kitchen is small, but the deck is big…and we will have a grill. Everyone knows that real men eat meat…so most of our grillin’ and chillin’ will take place out there. Oh yeah. I’m pretty excited to have my own room too. Should be a good move.

This last week has also been like Christmas, part two. I got my ER DVD’s today, seasons 1 and 2 baby! It really is such an awesome show. I’ve become such a die hard fan. I also got my new lenses that I ordered for my new camera. I probably haven’t mentioned my new baby…I got a Canon EOS 300-D for Christmas and of course you have to have some good lenses to shoot with…so I got two Sigma lenses; a 28-80mm f3.5-5.6 II Aspherical Mini Zoom Macro lens and a 70-300mm f/4-5.6 DL Macro Super II extended-range zoom lens. The 70-300mm lens is pretty sweet. I look like a hard core photographer now…

In other news, NGSMedia has been working on few projects. Sonja Benson’s recital, for one. Yes, it’s still on the books. It always works out that UBOC demands more of my time right when I have several media projects to work on. By the time I get home, I have no motivation to do anything. I will be nice when I don’t have to worry about driving to work…I’ll just walk to my desk in my p.j.’s. *grin* But I have Sonja’s recital, the Bell Jr. High winter concert, and a promotional/entry video. Brian is applying for Survivor 11, so we are working on his entry video. We broke in…er, questionably entered…a facility with a nice shooting area and spent about an hour filming an interview/monologue for his video. We plan on shooting miscellaneous clips this weekend since the video is due pretty soon.

Check out some more photos here.

Brian and I stumbled on a new way to fold shirts on Stupid Videos.com. Turns out, that’s right up my alley because I fold shirts a certain way. Needless to say, we had a little competition. Check out the video.

Wow…Giada De Laurentiis is hot, so I’m going to watch her show now on the Food Network since the Chargers just lost. I’ll write later.

I enjoy words of the day. They enable me to expand my ever-so-limited vocabulary and sound like a smart guy. Girls dig smart guys, right? Well maybe not…but I like words. Words are cool. Lord Byron wrote:

But words are things, and a small drop of ink,
Falling, like dew, upon a thought, produces
That which makes thousands, perhaps millions, think.

I subscribe to a word of the day email, which is cool. And for Christmas, someone gave me a word of the day calendar. But I am finding a plethora of nouns…too many for my liking. A noun is cool, but how often can you throw in an obscure noun in a conversation? Often, but not often enough. I also find that when it comes to describing things, I’m always at a loss. “Wow, that elephant was….uh…big.” Or “gee-whiz, (insert girl’s name here), you’re…purdy. You have really nice eyes. You’re really…uh…cool.”

Yeah, not so much.

Wouldn’t it be great to throw in some multi-syllable descriptor to fully convey your thoughts and observations? I’d like to think so. But this calendar…it just has too many nouns. It looks like I will have to go on a adjective-finding mission of my own. Wish me luck.