Labor Day

So we are back from a labor day trip to Denver and Fort Collins. My observations?

1. Colorado has a much nicer climate than Phoenix.

2. North of Denver rocks, South sux.

3. If you plan on going to the ‘Taste of Colorado’ next year go late and not at lunch time.

4. New Belgium Brewery is the ‘Google’ of breweries.

5. They either need to make adult only airlines or charge kids full price.

Gifts

My wife surprised me with a brand new 20.1 inch wide screen flat panel monitor of uber goodness the other day. I love it. Really, i don’t think i could ever go back to a normal CRT. Dorky, yes but whatever. The love i have for it is strong.. Like ipod type love, or maybe.. Kelly Clarkson type love. In any event, it is has been fun to play around with the last few days.

This weekend we will be heading to Colorado for vacation. I certainly hope that our pilot takes off from the runway which isnt designed for a hang glider and actually has lights.. This type of shit on the news certainly doesn’t inspire confidence in flying.

Beer Tasting

I am trying desperately to acquire a taste for beer. It is time i grew up and learned to drink it like everyone else. Myself? I am a liquor drinker. I love rum and fruity strong drinks. I want my alcohol not to taste like alcohol. But being unable to stomach the taste of a beer can be expensive. It is also limiting at social gatherings, like going over to someone’s house or party and they only have beer, to say nothing about going on bike tours of breweries in Fort Collins.

Which reminds me – we are headed back to the Fort here in the next week or so. Really excited about going back. I get to see my sister in law and her boyfriend, and we are renting a car so we can drive ourselves around and check things out. Colorado is a pretty cool place from what little i have seen of it and it will be nice to get away for Labor day out of 1 bazillion degree heat.

The Black Stove

We got some new appliances yesterday. When we bought our house it came with all the old shit the previous owner left behind. She didn’t really even bother to clean them up. So it is exciting that we have finally got some new ones.  There is a black and stainless steel stove with the flat cook surface and we got a silver, stainless steel’esque fridge with an icemaker. No, we didn’t have an icemaker before!

Felt creative last night for the first time in a long time. Stayed up till about 1am photoshopping up some little game related signature pictures for friends. Then my pc crashed and i lost all my photoshop templates. Oh well, i can redo them all. Wish i could say the same about work, but it is hard to get creative doing that stuff lately. I hope it comes around and i can start to at least feel more productive.

Looking forward to our holiday coming up in Colorado. Maybe Colorado is our new San Diego, the place we like to go to vacation and has cheap faires!

Why am i listening to the cranberries?

Can anyone tell me? This shit is like 10 years old. Zombie!!!

Anyway, lots of changes going on in my life right now. Most i am not going to detail here other than to say it will be an interesting year. Some big things are on my horizons and it will be interesting to see how they turn out.

Speaking of interesting things and changes – my coworker Eric is now a dad. Want to congratulate him and his wife Jen on that. Now, i know my mom reads my site (probably one of the only readers ha!) and while i have not explicitly stated this in the past in such definitive terms i can say now that i have no plans of having a kid. I don’t think i’d be a great dad – little things just irritate me and i don’t even like kids. I can’t say that one day adoption wouldn’t be on the table, because i think there are lots of kids out there who were born “unwanted” and that really sucks. But, neither my wife or I want to go through this whole process. Just isn’t appealing to us at all. I think of us as being more courageous anyway – everyone has kids. Plus it is a pretty shitty world to bring a kid up in these days. I had it much better when i was growing up.

Plus x 2 i hate it when people act like you not wanting to have kids is somehow an indictment on you, or a shortcoming. That makes me laugh.

Maybe that is my warped thinking at work, oh well.

<We’re gonna have to move on, move on – Cranberries playing>

Did i mention i don’t want to be an accountant when i grow up? Or ever have to look at another excel spreadsheet? Thats all i do at work anymore. It is important work, but it just isn’t me.

Maybe i am a little weird saying this but, i miss hanging out with my sister in-law and her boyfriend back in Fort Collins. Maybe it is sappy ass Cranberries playing STILL in my headphones. I am also trying to like beer so next time i am there i can have more fun on the brewery bike tour.

<There is no other place i’d lay down my face – Cranberries singing>

Know what else i miss? Staying up all night. Sleeping till noon. The sound of a lawnmower outside my window and birds chirping on a sunday afternoon while i take a nap. BBQ Pizza from Pizza Hut or potato balls from Lucy Ho’s at lunch drenched in soy sauce and mingled with fried rice. Skateboarding in the driveway with childhood friends, or playing ghost in the graveyard in Ronnie’s backyard where i’d hide in the bushes near the pool.

I need a haircut but i am too lazy to call the stylist.

I also feel like going out to the store after work to buy a game for the Xbox 360 i never play anymore.

So, why am i listening to the Cranberries again? I guess it is good “write down random shit” music.

Wonkette jumps the shark, becomes editor at Time.com

Former political blogger Ana Marie Cox, better known as Wonkette, will rejoin the so-called mainstream media as the new Washington editor for Time magazine’s Time.com Web site later this month.

read more | digg story

Haven’t had shit to say

Really been a boring few weeks for me, and really no motivation to write. I have been hooked on the Israel vs. Lebanon stuff though. It is gripping television. It is disgusting to me really. For those who say the retaliation that Israel is doing on Lebanon and talking about how disproportional it is let me just say this.. you’re absolutely right. In the past week over 300 dead and 1000 injured just on the Lebanon side. Not to mention that at the same time the entire city of Beirut is being systematically destroyed. No airport, no ports, a naval blockade, thousands of American’s being evacuated. All of it, over 2 soldiers who were being abducted and ransomed for the release of some people that Israel was holding.

Kidnappings happen all of the time here, you don’t see the US Military going in and blowing up say, Scottsdale or Phoenix over it. Thats basically what i see happening.

That whole part of the world just sucks. There is no hope there, things will never get better there. It is sad. I can see why people who live there do crazy shit like they do, proclaiming how unafraid they are of death. Why would you want to live over there? There is absolutely no reason whatsoever.

And the winner is!

Yeah baby, i am entered into the Kelly Clarkson sweepstakes being run by Ford. Winner gets a new car and appears in her next video. Fuck ya! If anyone deserved this it is me! Mwhaha!

All you haters on Kelly are being put on notice! When i am on the set with her i am going to let her know all about you guys.

The dinner was…

Great! The menu was altered so there wasn’t eating any stingray covered in human blood or anything else bizzare like that. My dinner consisted of:

1. Appetizer of skewered chicken on a tabletop hibachi grill (that was actually filled with hot coals) and a peanut dipping sauce.

2. Ceasar salad

3. Stuffed veal with fontina cheese and proscuitto.

4. Baked alaska

With each course was wine, which actually was pretty good considering i don’t like wine. I don’t remember which white was served but the red was a pinot.  There was also some awesome different breads (a 4 pepper bread, sourdough, a fig bread and pretzel bread).

Most importantly it was a good time!

Wearing a tie

Today i wore a tie to work. Probably for the first time in 6 months. Are ties even required at my job? Yes, but i never wear them. So why then did I wear one today? That’s easy, Google is coming to visit! They are taking us out to a nice place after work which more or less requires ties so I knew i’d have to pull some out of my closet.

I must also admit i am a little bit distressed by the dinner coming up with them because the place we’re going to is one of those $75 a plate restaraunts which serve weird things, like.. Arizona Raised Beef with Bone Marrow sauce. I am not sure if i can do this! Also i expect there to be lots of sea food which i am not a big fan of.

I wonder if they will bring me any bean bags?