It has been one of the longest weeks known to man. How perfect is it that there is a three-day weekend to be had? There is a God.

Spent the entire day hanging out with my pop…good times were had, and we were all over the place, geographically speaking. We got sold some aromatherapy hot/cold pads by this highly attractive woman with pants that were too tight and cleavage that was too…well, you know. And not that I’m complaining by any means, but the massage part of the demonstration was a highlight. This just goes to show that a friendly, attractive woman can sell just about anything. Sales and Marketing 101.

So there’s this fad going on with my LJ friends; this “Interview Me” thing, where one person says “Interview me” and then they are asked 5 questions. It’s fun, and definitely intriguing. But for some reason, I haven’t been able to bring myself to say those two little words. Not that the questions are that intrusive, or even that difficult to answer, but there’s definitely a mental block. I guess the point of this story is this: perhaps I’m not the open book that I thought I was. Or maybe I’ve just become closed off in the last few years. Hmm.

So, I’m watching one of the greatest flicks of all time, the Big Lebowski, and a little irritated at the party going on across the street; mostly because they parked in front of my house and I had to park a little ways away. Not far at all, just annoying that strangers have parked where I usually park. Sort of like when someone takes your usual seat or when someone has checked out a library book you want. What can you do?

Okay, so to continue my pursuit of nerdery, I have changed cell phone providers and purchased a brand spanking new Motorola V3 (aka the RAZR). It’s slim, sleek, has a built-in camera and Bluetooth. All the goodies a growing boy needs. Well, to make a long story short, I’ve decided to start a gallery in which to share all the photographs I snap in the heat of the moment with my newly-acquired gadgetry. So I present my Cam Photo gallery, where I will be posting photos from my phone from time to time. In other words, they will mostly be embarassing pictures of my family, friends, and co-workers. Visit regularly so you can see how dumb you look. =) Don’t worry, I take enough pictures of myself to share in the humiliation.

Good night, sleep tight, don’t let the bedbugs bite.

I bought my first coffee maker last night. I usually depended on Starbucks for my occasional coffee craving, but no longer. I am finally an adult. I brew on my own, now. I don’t drink coffee a whole heck of a lot; but I thought it would be nice to make a few cups once in a while, especially on those mornings that I need a little caffeine. However, coffee really doesn’t effect me that much. I used to drink the stuff for long nights at Public Safety; and they didn’t do a darn thing. Hmmm…well, actually, there was this one time I drank coffee at UBOC for the first time and I could feel my heart beating out of my chest…and my hands kept shaking. So, perhaps it affects me more than I realize. Anyway, that’s beside the point…so, I made some Peets Sumatra (on Sir Brian’s recommendation) and am enjoying my first cups this morning. Waiter, waiter, percolator…

Have I mentioned how cool it would be if I was Scottish?. Dudes can still wear a skirt and feel like a man.

I had an interview today. I think it went well. I applied for the Management Training Program with Union Bank; if I get the position, I will spend the next year learning about banking and all that good stuff. It would be good for me, I think. But if I don’t get it, I’m not worried. I work with a great group of people…and there will be other opportunites…

Which made me wonder: why aren’t there more opportunities to wear a suit? I really wish there were. I think maybe I’ll start a suit wearing club or society, if you will, because there should be more opportunities to wear a suit. I look smashing in one. If I wasn’t articulate in my interview, or witty, or even intelligent, at the VERY least, I looked damn good if I do say so myself. ;)

More opportunites, of sorts…me and the boys of NGS East headed out to El Cajon last night and feasted at On The Border where we met Julia, a really super-cute, interesting bartender. Her stories were intriguing, which besides being cute made her all the more…woah. I have to give Danielsan kudos for keeping her talking; his eloquent conversational skills were definitely exemplified.

Well, I have to get to bed or I will be worthless tomorrow.

…sorta sounds like a magician, doesn’t it? :) Well, there was a little bit of magic during Renee’s recital last night. In preperation for her studies abroad, my friend, Renee, gave a benefit recital at College Avenue Baptist last night…and it was amazing. Of course, Renee is an exceptionally talented accompanist (I know, because she played for my junior recital in college); but Renee is also a totally amazing vocalist as well. The whole recital was amazing…but my favorite had to be her jazz set. There was some scatting involved. :) But a good time was had.

Also, a congratulations for all the PLNU graduates yesterday. It’s sort of sad I didn’t get to go, but this class of 2005 has a significant meaning to me…not that the other classes weren’t more significant (I probably knew more people from other classes)…but the class of 2005 were all freshman during my last year at Point Loma. I knew very few freshman that year…but the ones I knew were classy and cool. Mature. Interesting. So congratulations to y’all.

Well, I’m out. More later!

Well, I decided to spend an evening of much needed a “Must See TV.” It was great. For those of you who didn’t get to tune in to NBC this evening, you missed out. For those of you who TiVo, I would skip the next few paragraphs …

First of all, on Joey, I was not surprised, but a little taken aback when Joey and his hot, recently-divorced neighbor, Alex, the a little smooching at the end of the episode. That lucky dog! Will be excited to see what happens with the two of them. I was sad to see Madchen Amick go (who played Joey’s girlfriend, Sara) but I’m sure she has no trouble finding work, considering the fact that she just broke up with John Carter on ER a few weeks ago … and that she was seen dating John Stamos’ ‘Jake’ from ABC’s Jake In Progress. I’m sure you will see more of her … and I wouldn’t necessarily mind that. ;)

And on the Apprentice, it appears that my girl (and my pick for Trump’s new right hand, er, gal), Kendra, will be hearing those “two words” next week. But, of course we all know what they can do with editing and the magic of television. Perhaps they made it look that way. Both did a great job, but I think Kendra has more of what it takes. Tana mentioned in the boardroom that she had her family and her kids to go home to, and that Kendra had “no one.” That’s not necessarily true … there’s plenty of room here at NGS East, if you know what I mean. (Uh, in case you’re wondering, that was a little innuendo. Sorry if that was unclear, but I’m tired and my overwhelming machismo is not-so-overwhelming right now). We shall see what happens next week (go, Kendra, go!)

And of course, who could forget ER? Dr. Carter travels to Paris to meet up with Kem, and of course at the very end of the episode he promises to stick with her. We’ve been waiting for this for couple weeks now, but his departure from County will be next week. And even for a newbie ER-watcher like myself, there will be tears.

And now that I have recapped the entire evening of Must See TV, I am off to bed. I know what you are thinking …

“Get a life, Aaron. ” Well, I am working on it. The stores are closed right now.

Well, I got home about a half hour ago and I watched the video from our trip; we are some darn funny guys, so you now have something to look forward to. :) I’m just waiting for ER to start, but I wanted to say I’m back (as if you cared) and post some pictures.

Check em out.

It is Sunday, day three of Fact Finding Mission: Caruthers. I’m glad things are slower here in the country…because that means a later church service. Always a good thing after a late Saturday night. But church was good here at Caruthers Church of the Nazarene. After church, we went to Clovis for lunch at this teppan Japanese restaurant where they cook the food in front of you. It was really cool. There was even this really, really cute girl who was our waitress who looked EXACTLY like Little Megs; well, the Asian version of Megs. She was nice too.

After lunch, we took our time cruising back to Caruthers and drove into Fresno to check out the Union Bank office there (yes, we are dorks…but we had a reason). Apparently, there is a real estate agriculture office in Fresno and Brian is looking into possibly working there…so we checked out the building and frolicked around the business park.

Now, we are just sitting around…A.J. has left for Sac-town…and we are getting ready to make the trek to San Diego. So…that’s about all he wrote. Stay tuned for photos and videos of our Fact Finding Mission. See yous later.

Getting ready to check out for the night. I am exausted! But it has definitely been a fulfilling day. We had an interesting morning; Brian and his mom took A.J. and I on a “sightseeing” tour of Caruthers. Not that there’s anything to see…although, Danny’s Mexican Food and Donuts does top the list. We cruised the strip, or “Downtown Caruthers” as the locals call it…and that took all of 3 minutes to accomplish. We were driving slow. We also met one of the locals, Bevo the bull. Nice guy, although he was sleeping when we drove by. Big horns. He was named after the Texas Longhorns mascot.

After sightseeing a bit, we drove to Visalia for Brian’s PBA games. 8 games. That’s a lot of bowling. We were there for what seemed like forever, but was interesting to watch a PBA contest. Lots of good bowlers. Brian did fairly well and finished better than Hawaii. No cash this time, which means we can go to church in the morning…but it was still a good time. I ate WAY too much food at the bowling alley. That probably explains why people that hang out at bowling centers (the slobs, not the pros) are so darn fat. Lay off the chili-cheese fries!

We came back home, exausted, but decided on driving to downtown Fresno to catch a flick. Fresno sort of reminds me of a cross between El Cajon and Mission Valley…and of course, there were a ton of hot girls out…and a bunch of obnoxious guys. Typical. We saw Kingdom of Heaven, which was insanely long. Good movie, but not so good if you need to take a bathroom break during one of the best scenes. Great acting, cinematography, and story. But like the typical person, it takes a lot to hold my attention for that long. But it was still good.

Now, I have to get up early, so I am going to call it a night…should be heading back to San Diego tomorrow…catch you then!

Well, it’s two o’clock in the morning, and I am sitting in the middle of the Mounts family living room.

I am in Caruthers this weekend, hanging with Brian and his clan and our friend AJ. We made the trip okay…it was entertaining to say the least. I should have some video and photos when I return.

It smells like cow. And there are a lot of grapes all over the place.

That’s all for now…gotta get some sleep. More later…I’ll try and check in. =)

I love Joy Williams. And those of you who already knew that would be surprised to hear that I was hesitant in buying her latest album, Genesis. It’s been 2 years of waiting…and althought I was excited for it, I was disappointed after listening to some of the teaser clips a while back. I wasn’t sure if it was going to be as good. perhaps that’s what anticipation does. But after owning the album for a day (thanks to a Berean shopping excursion yesterday), I can tell you that it isn’t as good as I thought it would be.

It is better.

Joy brings a certain heart, maturity, and thoughtfulness to Genesis, her latest creative project. It’s been two years since By Surprise…and you can tell that some time went in to making it great. Everything I love about Joy is in this album…and more. You can tell she’s grown up a bit (although she’s was mature to begin with). Everything from her lyrics to her velvety voice is something new, yet something totally familiar.

Joy shows versatility that wasn’t as present in her other albums. We all know she can sing “poppy,” upbeat tunes…we all know she can sing ballads. But there’s oh-so-much more…and one track that has quickly become one of my favorites is Say Goodbye. Great lyrics and an edgier sound reminds me of…well, I could compare her with Kelly Clarkson’s newest or other female artists currently pulling off the same kind of sound, but to do so would be unfair; Joy Williams is in a totally different league. But again, the maturity definitely shows, in her technique and in her lyrics.

One of my favorite things about Joy Williams’ past albums was her ballads. She’s got a lot of soul and expressiveness in her voice, so much that she really doesn’t need accompaniment. Sometimes she gets buried under rhythm tracks or guitar…and her voice has enough depth and color to go it alone. The Love of the Lord Endures is a perfect example of this; and one of my favorites from By Surprise because of it’s thoughtful lyrics and its simplicity; it’s just Joy and a piano. Joy has put one “ballad” on each of her albums, which is unfortunate since these songs really highlight the best parts of her vocal talent. The track, I’m In Love With You, which obviously is inspired by her recent marriage to music exec. Nate Yetton last summer, is one such simple and reflective track from Genesis. I’ve said it once, and I’ll say it again…Nate is a lucky guy…it’s just a really neat song; it shows, lyrically and musically, that she’s grown up. Simply.

After listening, all I can say is that you can just hear something different. I’m not sure what it is, either. But despite an initial uncertainty, Genesis has quickly become one of my favorite albums. It’s been a great journey to see Joy grow up musically and this latest is an example a lot of work, thought, and time. It was worth the wait.

And for the record, I still love Joy. Looking forward to the next one.

Listen to some tracks and check out some fun stuff on Joy’s web site at JoyWilliams.com. Or click here to check out the music page.

I just finished watching I, Robot (again, let me remind you that I tend to be a little slow at things, i.e. keeping up with the latest movies, etc…) and I have to admit, that it’s a pretty good movie. What delayed me was the cheesy appearance. But looks can be deceiving. Cool graphics, gadgets, and of course…Bridget Moynahan (mmmm mmmm, good). Anyway, I think I’m going to sleep now that it’s late and the movie’s over.

But I thought I would share some photographs…went on a ride along with Dan, the man and got some good photographs of the man in action. Didn’t see a lot of action, but stopped a lot of stupid people…made a girl cry, almost made a Marine cry, and checked out a lot of underdressed, over-hoochied college girls. Oh, and don’t forget the McFlurries. All in all, a good Friday night, wouldn’t you say?

Photos here. Enjoy.