Holy heck…the last 10 minutes of Gilmore Girls were probably the most interesting 10 minutes I have ever seen.

Wow.

So my dad says that EXACTLY twenty seven years ago, to the hour, he was sitting there watching me sleep. You see, it was about 27 years, one hour, and 17 minutes ago that I graced everyone with my presence. So this leads me to an important observation: why are babies so freakin’ lazy? It’s not like I did any work…so why in the world was I napping nearly an hour after being born??

Geez, Louise.

So far, today has been good. I mean, I did have to go to work. That’s the sucky part about being an adult. And getting old. My colleagues bought me a cake and sang to me in a way only Simon Cowell could appreciate. I applaud their efforts. The day, unlike me, is still young…so I’m still waiting for something exciting to happen. Perhaps a round of Red Rover for the Macedonian police?

One would think that with old age would come some profound wisdom or something. But they would be wrong. I have none. I know, I know…I would be disappointed too. Maybe something will come to me in the next few hours. :)

So, there’s this kid that sits on the side of the road every morning. I saw him today walking out of the gas station on ECB and 70th carrying a flattened cardboard box. He sort of reminds me of Chunk; he’s this short, round kid who sort of looks like an egg. Anyway, his rotund-ness is not the point…the point is that he was carrying this flattened piece of cardboard.

Usually as I drive down the hill towards the 8, he’s just sitting flat on the ground on the side of the road like he’s waiting for something. Or someone. Perhaps Godot? Even in the freezing cold, he sits there on the pavement. And from someone who spent many an hour waiting for a ride after school sitting in front of Mr. Holt’s classroom on the concrete bench, I can say that cold concrete does not a warm tushie make.

But dude, what the H was box for? Was he doing a school presentation? Was he going to slide down a grassy hill with it? Was he going to fill it up with stuff? Seriously.

On another random note, I realized that I make funny faces. Those of you who have seen me in person know that I’m already a funny looking guy. But I never knew that I made funny faces…especially when I’m writing or deep in thought. I stopped by the copier to write something down so I wouldn’t forget it before I got back to my desk and I had to stop because I felt that I was making a goofy puckering face; it was hard to stop making the face and write at the same time. But it looked like I was ready to kiss someone. Ladies, make a note of that…it’s always a good time to be around me when I have a pen and paper in my hand. ;)

And on a final random note, ciabatta this. I’m going to get my lunch. C-I-A-B-A-T-T-A. Ciabatta. Peace out.

Dude, I’m so tired. As a matter of fact, I am still just lying here in bed with absolutely no motivation to get up. There are like five pairs of shoes in the middle of the floor … which is unusual in itself because I didn’t think I owned five pairs of shoes. Needless to say, I think have some tidying up to do.

I’ve slept for the last 10 hours and I’m still exhausted. It’s not like I had an unusually rough day yesterday … but it was a busy one. I rolled out of bed at about 10 minutes to seven and got all my gear ready for our morning shoot with Karissa. It’s an absolute blast to work with her; she’s awesome! We headed out to Point Loma and took some pictures out at the university.

I think those are some of my favorite; the campus is a really pretty backdrop for photography. After meandering around campus for an hour, we went out to O.B. and shot some more out there. However, unbeknownst to me, Karissa’s dude who was chaperoning the event, snapped some behind-the-scenes shots. They’re very cool; except for the fact that I look like a buffoon.

This is why photographers are behind the camera. :)

After the morning shoot, Sir Mounts and myself grabbed some breakfast at Perry’s Cafe near Old Town. I indulged in an absolutely fantastic “Mexican” breakfast consisting of chorizo and egg, refried beans, and tortillas. I also had a couple of buttermilk pancakes which were phenomenal.

After breakfast, and feeling very productive already, we headed back home to take care some various business and then out again to the County Recorder’s Office for more business. And then it was time for another shoot … this time at Balboa Park. We got in some really good ones.

Now at this point, the events of the day were already starting to take their toll on us. When I got home, I started going through the photos and doing other miscellaneous tasks. But then I got distracted with an opportunity to go to a basketball game with Brian and Melinda and her roommate. Now, I don’t really care for basketball … and even in my college years, I had never really gone to a Point Loma game other than for work … so I wasn’t terribly excited about seeing the SeaLions play. However, motivating factors were at work here; seeing Melinda, and getting Adal’s. We caught the last half of the game, which was pretty exciting. We ended up winning, which is always a good thing … not to mention that the game itself was fun too. We hung out for a bit up at the PBC and then at their place for a few before heading out to Adal’s to meet Heather. Whilst there, I indulged in a good California burrito and rolled tacos while Brian engaged in a staring contest with some random transient.

So that was my very long, exciting day. It was definitely good. But now, I have a bunch of errands to do. I hope you all have a fabulous weekend!

A while back, I posted that Jars of Clay was going to be playing at the House of Blues. It’s gonna be a great show.

But I just found out via MySpace, the addicting void of the internet, that Derek Webb will be opening the show.

Two great artists for the price of one.

Anyone wanna go? I think I’m definitely going now.

I don’t know what it is, but I’ve seriously had a headache for the past 4 days. It’s getting really annoying. It started with a migraine and then sort of evolved into this dull pain in the back of my head.

And no, Arnold, it isn’t a tumor.

I’m just really glad that I found a decent parking space today. Usually I park on the street next to my building…but yesterday, there was some sort of geek convention somewhere in the nearby area because all the street parking was gone. Zippo. Nada. I ended up parking in a residential area a couple blocks down and having to hoof it 10 minutes to the office. At least I got my exercise.

And finally, the moment I’ve been anticipating for the last 9 years (like anticipating a heart attack)…it’s the cow pie high round up. Yes, I got my first message from my high school graduating class trying to find out where I am so they can send me the invitation to the 10-year reunion. Ten years. Wow. It’s hard to believe it’s been that long. For the past several years, I’ve really put some thought into whether I should go or not. I mean, there are people who haven’t bothered to drop me a line in the last 9 years…and there are people I couldn’t stand even back in high school. Of course, there are some good friends and hot girls I wouldn’t mind seeing again; but really, they are few. The jury’s still out on this one…I’m glad I have another year to decide. What would you do?

I just made myself a nice cup of hot chocolate and brought it back to my desk. I was about to endulge in a sip of the steaming hot beverage when all of a sudden a kamakaze fly on a suicide mission dive bombs right in my cup. Needless to say he was killed on contact…and I had to make myself another cup of chocolate.

I honestly don’t know what I did. Somehow one of my molars got jacked and is now causing me a great deal of pain. In other words I’m going to have to pay a visit to our dear friend Mr. Dentist. I hate him.

Today was a nice, lazy Monday. I did, however, wake up early and spent a great deal of time editing photos. I also did a little work on our wedding promo. But most of my time was spent organizing. August, who was sharing a room with me, found another place down the road … so I have the room all to myself again. It will be nice. I had to move my monstrosity of workstation to the room and set up my computer, which is not an easy task. But it is done, and I’m ready to get to work this week.

Anyway, it is late and I have to work tomorrow, unfortunately … have a great night!

Well, it’s been another wonderfully random day. I have just spent the last couple of hours trying to get my blog to work; I think I finally figured it out. I finally had to take a Slurpee break a little while ago. It’s this newfangled Wordpress … in my previous post, I had inserted a bunch of photos. I must’ve angered Wordpress because it decided to add a bunch of useless code and basically prevented my blog from loading. Technology … what can you do?

Today was sort of a lazy day, doing stuff around the house and working on projects. One of the biggest projects was putting together a couple of stabilization units for our cameras.

If you remember, we had a lengthy conversation yesterday with our good friend, Matt Sconce. Well, Matt had developed a device similar to a Steadicam which produces amazingly smooth camera motion. He has called it the Matt Cam. Brian and myself actually built two Matt Cams today. It was almost like following a recipe; we walked around Home Depot with Matt’s schematic in hand, trying to find every piece of hardware necessary for the project. But because we were building two, we had to double the recipe. Having walked around the store for about an hour, we were feeling like a real men. We headed over to my grandparents’ house and successfully completed the project. After some spaghetti (I just can’t say no when I’m offered spaghetti), we came back to the homestead to try out our new creations. We actually looked like a bunch of morons; we both mounted our cameras to the Matt Cams and proceeded to run around the living room filming each other. Even though our new living room is extremely huge, we needed more room to run around. We decided to take our test outdoors. So I followed Brian around the apartment complex, occasionally running around him in circles and darting here and there…

It was the most amazing thing I’ve ever seen.

Not us running around. We actually looked like a bunch of fools. But the video we shot looked amazing. I could hear me running, the clip clop of my footsteps … and the video looked as if it were shot by a camera on a dolly. It was well worth the 20 bucks it took to put it together.

Mr. Sconce: you are pretty much the man. If your interested in reading more, check this out.

Now, I think I’m going to go to bed. Peace out, homies.

I am thoroughly and utterly exhausted … but I had such a great day.Actually, last night wasn’t bad either … a bunch of us went out to O.B. and hung out for a bit. Definitely good times. After a few drinks and some friendly conversation, I headed home early after the long day. *edit…I can’t believe I almost forgot to mention this…we were out with Abby, Rob and Michele, Schmidt’s Gay, and Russ. Abby wanted me to mention how many trips she took to the restroom. Unfortunately, I cannot provide an accurate number since I stopped counting after 2. There, I said it.*

My Saturday started bright and early with a photo shoot in Ocean Beach. I was a little worried about the weather … but when we got there, the sun was shining through the clouds just enough to give us perfect light. Our model was a beautiful and lovely girl who needed some head shots for her portfolio. I was very pleased with the end result. The pictures turned out absolutely gorgeous! By 10:30 a.m., we were done … but I felt like I had accomplished so much. I really love photography and photo sessions with fun people. It definitely makes the experience worth while. I’ll have to post some samples a little bit later … but for now, enjoy these funky pictures of me. What can I say; I do everything to get the shot.

Here are a couple photos from the shoot:

The photo shoot with Karissa was probably the highlight of the day … but there were lots of other random events that took place. Brian and myself had a lengthy conference call with good friend Matt Sconce. Matt is a videographer based in Fresno and a good friend from the Point Loma days. He and his wife, Heather, do wedding videography up in Fresno and we’re going to be working with them a little bit on some projects. Should be lots of fun, since Matt is a fellow video nerd and an exceptional videographer. Check at his website at www.theperfectvideo.net; and if you are in the Fresno area and need your wedding filmed, Matt is your guy.

But if you’re in the San Diego area, call NGS Media. :)

Well, I think I’m going to get myself to sleep now. But it has been fun. Talk to y’all later.

Sometimes you wonder how accidents happen.  For instance, I was driving to work today and a large vehicle of some sort was stuck on the embankment.  First of all, how in the world did it get up there?  And second, how in the world did it get up there?  Only God knows, I suppose. 

God knows a lot of stuff, actually.  Like the lady at Walmart.  Brian and I went the other night to go pick up some essentials.  We spent a good hour or so perusing their wares.  On our way out, one of the greeters in a blue vest stopped us and asked how I liked Point Loma.  I didn’t realize it, but I was wearing my PLNC Concert Choir shirt from freshman year.  I told her that I loved PLNC (PLNU, these days) and she asked me about music, so I told her I loved that too.  She proceeded to tell me that she loved music and singing too, and then a little about her boys and that she was having some rough times.  The whole conversation was under 5 minutes, but she asked me to pray for her.  I told her I would.  I made it a point to look at her name tag, but I’ve since forgotten her name  So I prayed for the nice Walmart lady.  God knows who she is.  And what’s troubling her too. 

Sometimes people just need to talk.  I’m glad I can listen. 

In other news, today is Friday…and I’m gearing up for a nice three-day weekend.  And I want a chocolate Hostess donut. 

I have a photo shoot in the morning and then the rest of the weekend is open.  Although, I have been spending much time this week on projects and such.  I have Katie and Eric’s (still working on it…I know, I’m pathetic) wedding to finish.  I’ve had many excuses, like a new job and moving that sort of put a damper on things.  But it should be finished soon.  I also have to throw together some sort of promotional video for our wedding services since Brian and I will be stepping up our marketing and will need some sort of samples for potential clients to view.  Our work thus far is nice, but we can’t bring a full DVD for each client we meet.  It works with friends, but not when people want to see what we do really quickly.  So I’ll be working on that, plus getting a bunch of stuff in the mail that has been sitting around waiting to be mailed. 

And why am I going through my laundry-list of to-do’s with you?  Like you care?

In more interesting subjects, I cooked again last night…this time, without the aid of a recipe.  I did get some advice from my pop, who helped me choose chicken.  I threw some of this tender, white meat together with some green bell pepper, onion, and garlic…and it was very tasty.  Along with a bit o’ the San Francisco treat (I cheated a little), the cheesy rice added a little something special to the plate.  I also finished with some tossed greens.  You know, to balance things out.

Speaking of which, I had a very strange thing happen to me yesterday.  While I was cooking dinner, the phone rang.  It was my roommate’s girlfriend.  Now, my roommate works nights, so he was deep in Sleepyland when she called.  But she wanted to come over to surprise him for a special occasion, which was quite lovely …but even more lovely was the fact that she asked if it was okay to come over. 

I mean, of course it’s okay.  She’s dating my roommate.  But I was blown away… I have never had the girlfriend of a roommate do that before…they’ve always just sort of been there. It’s nice to know there are still thoughtful people in this world. 

Anyway, I actually have stuff on my desk now to work on, so more later.  I just haven’t been in the writing mood; every time I sit down to write something, I get distracted or stupid.   Hopefully it’s a phase.  Have a great Friday, y’all.  Friday the 13th, that is. 

Muah-ha-ha-ha…

Fortune’s 100 Best Companies to work for: Washington Mutual

See the full list here. 

Well, I embarked on another culinary adventure; this time, with a little Russian cuisine. Yes, folks, I tackled Beef Stroganoff.

Now, Beef Stroganoff is a relatively easy dish. If memory serves me right, I remember cooking it up as a mere lad, although cheating ever-so-slightly. Back in the day, I had used the typical ingredients (meat, sour cream, egg noodles, etc.) but used a sauce packet mix. It still tasted good and it was easy…but this time around, I wanted something a little more challenging. By challenging, I don’t mean “more time consuming,â€? just a little tougher than the Sandra Lee way.

So I looked to my friends at the Food Network and, of course, immediately to Rachael Ray’s take on this Russian classic. Rachael is my kind of woman because she knows what tastes good, yet doesn’t spend a heck of a lot of time making it. That’s perfect for me and my short attention span.

Again, my efforts turned out to be a hit and I will definitely be revisiting this recipe soon.

In other news, my dad and I went to GI Joe’s downtown. I’ve been looking to find myself a large duffle bag for when I tote my clothes, laundry, or a small child around. I think I accidentally chose a bag that is slightly larger than I need. I could fit myself in this bag. Well, not really…but it is huge. If anyone needs to sneak a midget, a really cute petite girl, or a smurf onto a commercial airliner, feel free to borrow my bag.

More adventures tomorrow. See you then.

Have you seen the commercial for the Glade Wisp? I’ve never been impressed with this commercial and honestly have thought it was stupid. First of all, the whole concept of the campaign is this Wisp thing; this magical puff of smelly goodness that creates a pleasing aroma throughout your home. It’s so pleasing and captivating that it shows an entire family (mom, dad, and kid) sitting around the living room watching this little device puff out little clouds of Mmmm.

Okay, stop right there. Who ever heard of a kid sitting still for that long? And really, folks, is there a little white puff of smoke that really poofs out? And is it enough to captivate an audience of puff-loving people?

The answer to most of those questions is yes. I purchased one and set it up in the most important place in the house; the bathroom. And whilst I was in there organizing, I watched as a little small puff poofed out of the blowhole, if you will. Apple cinnamony goodness. And I actually saw the white puff. It was quite magical.

Never will I be so skeptical.

And in other news, the first day of January is officially come and gone. As a matter of fact, it’s about 5:30 in the morning on the 2nd, and I’m watching the news. There’s a dude that’s reporting LIVE from Pacific Beach. The difference between he and I is he has a good reason for being up this early. So I think I’m going to sleep now. But there are 30 more shopping days left until this old man gets even older. Just thought I would throw that in there. :)

Good night. Er, morning.

so this is the new year.
and i don’t feel any different.
the clanking of crystal
explosions off in the distance (in the distance).

so this is the new year
and I have no resolutions
for self assigned penance
for problems with easy solutions

so everybody put your best suit or dress on
let’s make believe that we are wealthy for just this once
lighting firecrackers off on the front lawn
as thirty dialogues bleed into one

i wish the world was flat like the old days
then i could travel just by folding a map
no more airplanes, or speedtrains, or freeways
there’d be no distance that can hold us back.
-the new year, death cab for cutie

Welcome to 2006, people. It’s definitely been an interesting ride…but we are finally here. :) The ball has dropped, the cork has popped, Auld Lang Syne has been sung, and now I look forward to several excruciating weeks of getting used to writing “2006″ instead of “2005″ on everything.

Looking back, 2005 had a lot of interesting stuff. This is what I could remember…

Changes
There were lots of these. People. People in my life changed. Although that’s what happens when you grow up. People change. Sometimes it’s for the better…and sometimes it’s for the worst. I’ve seen it go both ways these last 365 days, some more recent than others.

The place where my paycheck comes from also changed. That was hard, since I left a bunch of people I cared about for a strange, different place. But it’s worked out for the best and there are several great people at the “W” that have become good friends.

Changes are always hard; but they are part of growing up. They make us better people, and that is something I’m learning every single day. It actually is one of the mottos over at the “W,‿ since things are ever-changing around there.

I’ve also changed the roof over my head. A year ago, I moved out from my Point Loma paradise to live in La Mesa. I left the convenience of being so close to the beach to being so close to…well…nothing. I gave up sharing a room to having a room of my own, which actually ended up being as small as an Altoid tin. And now, officially as of last night, I am out of that house and into my brand new apartment. I’m loving the situation, the roommates, the location. I, of course, didn’t like the circumstances surrounding the move, but you get over things. Maybe. We all know how I deal with that. Do I feel a resolution coming on?

New Friends, Old Friends
How ironic, two years before the big 10-year reunion, that I would reconnect with people I haven’t seen or talked to in the last seven years? With the MySpace explosion, I found people that I never would have even thought would be on MySpace. And of course, leave it to those Ramona grads to find success…a high-paying government job, grad school in France, love in Italy…the list goes on. Who ever said nothing good comes from Ramona? Cow-Pie High my butt! Can I get a yee-haw?

And along with old friends, I also have met some new special people…a cute California girl from Kansas, a really cool model from Alpine, three really cute girls and a Chihuahua from Sacramento just to name a few. Who knows who I will meet next?

Relationships
2005 was a lonely year. It was a year where I realized I could feel absolutely and totally alone and at the same time be totally surrounded by people, if that makes any sense. It was a year in which I realized that more times than not I had nothing to say. It was a year I saw true colors. It was a year I realized the things that I want may not be the things that I need. It was a year of making a fool of myself at times and learning from those mistakes.

There’s a lot more I could reflect on and a lot more details I could fill in, but then they wouldn’t be the mysteries of life that we know and love. Besides, most of you reading were here for the journey anyway; the ups and downs, the good and the bad. I appreciate the comments and the emails from people who actually read what I ramble about. I’d probably still write anyway even if no one read…but it’s nice to know you people actually care about me.

2006 is going to bring some good things…I can just feel it. It’s another 365 days to meet challenges head on and to fall flat on my face. And as long as I keep getting up, I know I’ll be okay.

Happy New Year!