May 17 2002

The Feeling of a Split Series

In baseball, when visiting teams come to town, they typically play a 2-4 game series with the home team at the home stadium. I think, back in ’89, I recall a 5-game series. Anyway, typically, what ends up happening is one of three outcomes: A sweep, which is either team winning all of the game of the series. A majority, where one team wins most of the games in the series, but not all. Or a split, which happens in those even numbered series, where neither team has a majority of victories over the other. Interestingly enough, the Giants and the Braves had a four-game series this week. Both teams walked away with winning two a piece.

And right now, that’s how I feel. I feel like a split series. Yeah sure, I win some and I lose some, but for some reason it feels like an appropriate metaphor for this week entirely. In the win column, my father’s in town. I’ve spent a lot of time with him this week, while he’s here. We caught a ball game on Monday night, I’ve introduced him to the wonders of my PlayStation 2. Now it’s gotten to the point where he’s waking me up just to play. I think he really just likes to play Grand Theft Auto 3 and run around in the cheater tank I get for him, so he can just blow away everything. It’s still a lot of fun, though. In the loss column, there’s a couple of things. My car registration is already a month late, though the DMV never mailed me the renewal forms. I called today to get it settled, and it looks like I’m going to have to fork over a little over 600 dollars tomorrow morning. I had planned on using that money for my trip, but to be honest, I’m not going to drive 520 miles to Long Beach this summer with no tags on my license plate. That’s just begging for worse pain, such as my car impounded or something similar. I can just imagine that on I-5, too.

Also, I would have to say that I’ve been feeling this overwhelming sense of loneliness that I’m unable to pinpoint so I can just get on with my life. There’s been no real anniversary of something important, or conscious reason. I just stayed up on Tuesday night and just felt it so strongly, that I remember just wanting to curl up with a pillow and pretend it was actually someone. I wasn’t feeling horny or restless, I just had this overwhelming need to cuddle. Like this huge emptiness inside and there was no way to cure it or make it go away. Eventually, it did go away, though. I buried myself in WNOHGB, building a gigantic ship and merely taking my mind off of it. I expressed this problem to a couple of friends online, but really, that was just venting. One thing I hate most about venting, it solves nothing. But in this case, it was the most I could do short of going out and buying a cat just to hold it for a night and then take it back. I’m horrible with pets, I really shouldn’t own one… maybe just rent one for a little while until I don’t need it anymore. Cats I like most, because they’re independent and aren’t all that needy like dogs tend to be. I grew up with a champion trainer for a father, so I grew up with dogs. I turned out to be a cat person, go figure.

I’m not looking for love. Honest. Last night, I sat down and thought a great deal about what I wanted. On a side note, this is kind of pointless, because we really can’t just pick and choose who we end up with. I’m a firm believer in the whole things-happening-for-a-reason school of thought. I have a certain amount of faith in my choices, and the destiny I create based on those choices. But I digress… In thinking about this whole loneliness thing, I was trying to ascertain whether or not I was pining over a particular someone. My immediate answer was no, because it wasn’t a yearning for her, really. I just wanted a warm body right then, and it could’ve been a woman or a pet. I just felt very alone and very aware of that emotion. Of course, I’ll stress that I would not have wanted a male friend to curl up with… so that much I could say. What I want right now is to just have my friendships, maybe a little emotional intimacy from time to time, but I don’t believe I’m ready for anything more than that right now. With my current frame of mind and the stresses I’m going through, having to maintain a good relationship would add more to my plate than relieve me any. Well, maybe at first, but relationships are something to be maintained, not created, accepted, and then left alone. There’s a lot of upkeep involved, and you have to want to do it.

With that said, I’m curious to see how long this particular conviction holds up. So far, I think it’s been going pretty strong since I broke up with Marla. The manner of that particular breakup is so fresh in my mind, it’s helping me to maintain my mindset about just being me for a good long while. Ever since my divorce, I’ve been having to relocate me. I know that sounds strange, but when you’re married or in a relationship of an exceptionally long duration, you tend to no longer be yourself. You kind of merge personalities. Your likes, your dislikes, your attitude; they all undergo a redefinition to suit that relationship. Your priorities change significantly, as well. Some of us guys don’t like to admit that, I have no idea why, but giving up certain things we’ve grown accustomed to over the years of being single, we find it so difficult to give up. But sometimes, we’re convinced to do so and we realize that it’s not so bad. I have my hobbies, though. My hobbies define me at times, so I’d be hard-pressed to give them up, but during my marriage, I recall making some sacrifices. Some. Not a lot. Some. Today? I wouldn’t give up my hobbies unless they were in direct conflict with my wedding vows. How is my anime fandom in direct conflict? Well, money-wise I guess it is. I tend to go berserk over new anime. Though, I’m mellowing with that. Shit, I think the last anime DVD I bought was Otaku no Video, except I preordered and paid for that back in fucking January, so eh… Oh, no wait, I did buy Princess Nine volume three about 40 days ago or so, so I guess that’s still not too bad. With my AX trip coming up, I’m trying to tighten up the small frivolous costs for the BIG frivolous cost of driving down, staying in Long Beach for four days and four nights… eating, drinking, having fun… and of course, buying anime.

If I did get married again, my wife would have to have the patience of fucking Buddha. Well, er… let’s not start talking about future marriages just yet.


1. What’s one thing you wish you could do but can’t?

Be omniscient.

2. What do you want to be remembered as?

I would simply like to be remembered.

3. What is your ideal marriage location?

Anywhere but Reno, Nevada.

4. Which musical instrument do you wish you could play?

Brass instruments.

5. What’s your favorite sexual position?

It’s a toss-up between woman-on-top or sixty-nine.

6. Favorite fabric?

Flannel.

7. Something you love and hate?

My car. I love driving it, but I hate all the crap that comes with being a car owner.

8. What kind of bedding do you use?

Maroon cotton sheets that Abbie bought me a year and a half ago.

9. What kind of soap do you use?

Zest.

10. Do you tell your friends about your sex life?

Depends on the friend.

11. What’s the one language you want to learn?

I want to learn all Asian languages, eventually.

12. How do you eat an apple?

Like one should. hold it by the core and sink your teeth into it.

13. What do you order at a bar?

Roy Rogers, which is the fancy name for Cherry Coke.

14. Have you ever pierced your body parts?

Fuck, no.

15. Do you have tattoos?

See #14.

16. Would you ever admit to having done plastic surgery of any kind if confronted?

Sure.

17. What’s one of the “funnest” things you’ve ever done?

Anime Expo. And I keep going back for more every year.

18. What do you dislike about your life?

Nothing about my life sticks out as being particularly dislikable.

19. What’s one trait you hate in a person?

A lack of straightforwardness.

20. What’s the best thing about the opposite sex?

The hidden/unseen strength.

21. What kind of watch do you wear?

I don’t. I usually use my cell to keep track of the time.

22. Most frivolous purchase?

I buy CDs to listen to one track.

23. Do you consider yourself materialistic?

Only in the sense that I like to have things.

24. What do you cook the best?

According to Abbie, I don’t ‘cook’. However, my grandmother loves it when I cook Hamburger Helper.

25. Favorite writing instrument?

Black ball-point pens.

26. Do you prefer to stand out or blend in?

Stand out.

27. Do you have anything monogrammed?

My personal checks.

28. Would you ever go out dressed like the opposite sex?

See #14.

29. What`s one car you will never buy?

Any American automobile.

30. Have you ever done drugs?

I was once in the vicinity of people smoking pot. But no, I don’t even like to do alcohol.

31. What kind of books do you like to read?

Science-Fiction. Historical Fiction. Naval History.

32. If you won the lottery, what would you do first?

Pay off all my debts.

33. Burial or cremation?

Cremation.

34. How many online journals do you read regularly?

I’d say about 15-20.

35. What’s one thing you’re a sore loser at?

Any contest where my musical ability is tested.

36. If you don`t like a person, how do you show it?

By being distant and/or brushing them off.

37. How many drinks before you’re tipsy?

Never found out, nor do I care to.

What the hell happened to #38?

39. Do you have problems changing clothes in front of friends?

Yep.

40. Do you cry in front of friends?

Yep.

41. What kind of first impression do you think you give to people?

I have no idea.

42. What’s one thing you like to do alone?

Read.

43. What’s the worst thing you ever said to someone?

I’ve lost track of all the times I’ve been a complete asshole and said something horrible to them without thinking.

44. Are you a giver or a taker?

Both.

45. What have you stolen before?

I once stole a little die-cast toy from a grocery store when I was 8. I ended up burying it in the backyard because I felt too guilty about playing with it.

46. When is the right time to go to the bathroom in front of your significant other?

Once you cross into the realm of physical intimacy, I think you’re pretty much safe unless informed otherwise.

47. Favorite communication method? phone, or in person.

Phone, online messaging, email, in person.. it’s all good.

48. What is one thing you don’t leave home without?

My car keys, my ID, my cell phone.

49. What is one book that you could read over and over?

I have two. The Caine Mutiny, by Herman Wouk. The French Admiral, by Dewey Lambdin.

50. What’s the most painful experience you’ve ever had?

When I was in the eighth grade, I had some sort of intestinal disorder that provided me with about three months of intensely painful cramps. Felt kind of like trying to pass razor blades.

May 14 2002

A Giants Win, an Earthquake, and the Long Train Ride Home

My father arrived in town Sunday night, though I didn’t get home until almost dawn Monday morning, so I actually didn’t get to see or talk to him until Monday afternoon, just before I did my daily DDR workout. OF course, now that I have my personal dance pad, I just do downstairs to play rather than having to go all the way to the arcade and fish over an admission fee and spend some nickels. However, I do miss some of my favorite songs, so I’m thinking tomorrow I might go over there anyway.

Though his birthday was April 1st, I promised him before his birthday that I would take him to Pacific Bell Park and we’d have an awesome time at the ballpark. Now, a small bit of history about my father and America’s pastime. When I was ten, he took me to my first ballgame at Candlestick Park (I still call it Candlestick, regardless of 3Com’s ownership), and immediately after I was a die-hard fan. I had baseball statistics up the yin-yang, and my dad and I were frequent visitors to both Candlestick and San Jose Muni Stadium, where the Giants’ Class A minor league team plays (San Jose Giants). The cool thing about going to most of the San Jose games were that given a few years, we would see some of these players end up playing for San Francisco. I saw Shawn Estes, Royce Clayton, Juan Guerrero, and even some of the bigger names (back then) like Will Clark and Kevin Mitchell, when they got sent down for rehabilitation training. Even though I’m now twenty-five years old, my dad and I can always relate through a silly little game. In particular, sharing those experiences together enriches our relationship. I love my dad, and I love spending time with him. He lives near the Nevada state border these days, so my time with him lately has been pretty sparse, with me going to school and working. I had planned with him, weeks in advance, that we would go see the Giants play this year. The last time I went to a ballgame with him was April 8, 1999, the home opener of the last year they were at Candlestick Park. I still have the ticket somewhere in one of my unpacked boxes.

So Monday afternoon, I told him we had a couple of options. We could drive up, as we traditionally did, or we could take the train up to the park, and not have to worry about designated drivers or drinking too much. Now, let me explain: I don’t drink all that much. But when I go to a game, I will occasionally partake. Anyway, we decided to go by train this time, because my dad hates traffic. Now that he’s living in a small town near Reno, he tends to hate crowds or traffic or any of the big city stuff. But he’ll brave it for major league baseball, and especially to hang out with me. The train schedule showed that they had about six trains, starting at 4pm, leaving San Jose for San Francisco, so I chose the earliest train. The earliest train got us to Pac Bell Park at 20 minutes to 6pm, which was much faster than the estimate, and it gave us a lot of time to walk around the new park and acquaint ourselves. I brought my grandfather’s blanket with me on this trip. My grandfather (my mother’s father) died back in 1986 to a heart attack brought on by diabetes. He was an avid football fan, and used to take this blanket with him to the ball games at Candlestick Park to watch the San Francisco 49ers, and to the Oakland Coliseum to watch the Oakland Raiders. So, by taking this blanket with me, I was sort of continuing the tradition. Now it has been to all three bay area parks. I’d like to say I think he was there with us, in spirit.

The train ride up was fun. We didn’t have to worry about driving, other cars, traffic… we just kicked back and talked. As we sped through the Peninsula, my dad would occasionally point out places that he had worked. My father is a carpenter, so throughout the years, he’s spent times at various jobs in cities from here to San Francisco. As he would point them out, I would remember some and others I wouldn’t. When I was younger, my dad would pull me out of bed on Saturday mornings to go work with him on jobs. I used to hate that, so I would intentionally join school activities to get out of going with him. I told him this, and he laughed. He said, as long as I was doing something and not being a lazy bum, he didn’t care. By the time we had ended up at 4th and King in SF, we’d already caught up and were ready to enjoy a night of baseball.

As always, it’s important to remember a few things about baseball in San Francisco. Candlestick Park was famous for its chilly nights and sometimes foggy games. In fact, there used to be this fan program that the Giants ran when I was kid called the Croix de Candlestick. It was this little orange hat pin, with the SF logo on it, and the logo had snow cover on it. The motto, Vini Vidi Vici was at the top. They handed these out at the Giants Dugout stores all over the bay area for people who had stayed for extra inning night games. They were badges of honor. I had four of them, all from the same year, 1989. Tonight was a qualifying night for that pin, though they no longer run that program. Eleven innings of play, and the outcome was rather anti-climatic, although they did win. It was a rather dramatic game, between the Giants and the Braves, almost every other inning, one team would advance a little, and the opposing team would catch up to tie it up. The Braves were up two runs by the bottom of the second, but the Giants, led by a Bonds homer in the bottom of the third put San Francisco up by two runs with the score of 4-2. Then the Braves scored one run in the top of the fourth, and another run in the top of the fifth. So once again, it tied up. Then, in the bottom of the eighth, the Giants sprang back to life and scored two runs. Now, if you’re a Giants fan like I am, you know that when the manager Dusty Baker pulls Robb Nen, his star closer, from the bullpen to save the game, you’re in for some superior pitching. Not so, tonight, unfortunately. Nen sucked ass. He was throwing crap over the plate and the Braves tied it up in the top of the ninth making it a 6 run game. After that, it was simply down to a big nail biter. The tenth inning was pretty uneventful, and then in the bottom of the eleventh, the most embarrassing thing happened: Ramon Martinez singled, then Rich Aurillia got on with a ground rule double. As usual, they intentionally walked Bonds. This loads the bases, okay? Kent comes up and what do they do? THEY WALK HIM. Martinez scores, game over, Giants win. But what an anti-climatic win for such a good game! The Braves should hang their head in shame for putting up such a good fight and then blowing it apart like that. Ah, well… I’m sure they’ll pull something out of their asses for the rest of the series here at home.

During the top the ninth inning, we had something of a little earthquake. Apparently, it was centered around the Gilroy area (which is about 5 miles south of San Jose), but up at Pac Bell, I felt it. Felt like the whole upper level was just swaying back and forth. At first, I just though I was sort of shivering, but then everyone else started asking, “Did you just feel an earthquake?” I just sort of said, “Is that what that was? Okay, yeah, I guess I did.” Granted, we were some sixty miles north of the epicenter and it was only a 5.2 on the Richter scale, but us Californians were pretty surprised to read some of the news reports. We weren’t scared and people didn’t overreact. This is fucking California. We live with earthquakes, so stop making it sound like we all dropped a load of shit in our shorts. We usually don’t get out of bed for anything less than a 6.0 these days, especially after the 7.2 that rocked us all back in ’89. For the transplants, they probably get all jittery after feeling a 5.2, but I couldn’t give much of a rat’s ass about it. I got home, I checked my room. It’s relatively undisturbed, so all’s good.

Now the huge inconvenience of the night goes to our wonderful friends over at Caltrain. Due to the earthquake, they restricted the speed of the return trip home once we passed the Redwood City stop. The train was at an amazing… TWENTY MILES AN HOUR. Oh my God. I could’ve ridden a bike faster than this train. They wanted to make sure there was no rail damage, and I guess going slower than fucking dirt will give them enough notice to bring the train to a safe enough stop. I was praying that they would find damage, because then they would arrange for buses, and at least the buses would use the freeway and go 65mph. The 1.5 hour train ride turned into 3 hours. My dad fell asleep and I was wide awake the entire time, with nothing to do but look out of the tinted windows at my own damn reflection. I really need a haircut, by the way.

May 11 2002

Muse, Where For Art Thou?

I was looking at a short story I had begun two months ago, featuring a sort of Trek-like Western story. It was to be about this junior grade Security Lieutenant who was caught in bed with the daughter of his captain, and as retribution, had him assigned to a backwater planet with no law whatsoever. It was writing pretty well until I started school, and of course, my interest in the story sort of took a major shit. In re-reading it lately, I just decided it wasn’t worth it to me to keep on going. It’s almost as if my muse was about as distracted as I feel sometimes.

Every now and again, I’ll finish a short story, or not even get that far. Maybe a minor exploration that lasts all of 500 words or so. A friend of mine once told me that one of my strengths is character development. I can create characters of complete believability, but that in getting these awesome characters to the goal of the story was where I began to falter. And that is probably true. In my brain, I can see these characters doing what I want them to do, but trying to explain it all gets laborious after awhile. I wish I could just mental upload the story in my head, and it would be a well-crafted story.

What do I want to work on right now? I really would love to finish one of my Hope Station stories. More so than others, the life of a female officer maturing within the naval forces of main body. I have the character sketches done for the main character, her best friend, her captain and executive officer, her immediate superior, the “bitchy” officer… It’s a little frustrating to plot out the story’s outline on paper and then connect the dots with dialogue that’s not boring and humor that isn’t stupid sometimes. My sense of humor is rather odd, but I love to make people laugh. My humor is not always appreciated by all. Anyway, the story was entirely about how this young woman takes on responsibilities and proves herself to be a capable officer and a leader of others. Though I was inspired by Horatio Hornblower, and I had read David Weber’s incredibly verbose and pedantic tales of Honor Harrington, I really wanted to focus more on the character than all the technobabble. Now, after reading Lambdin’s Alan Lewrie, I think now more than ever I’d like to pick up my version of the tale and write my piece. If only to prove that a woman can command just as effectively as a man can, or perhaps better. It’s true that I love romantic tales, but too many times I’ve had to sacrifice a little bit of my feministic streak to enjoy the book while also accepting the fact that Lewrie pretty much screws anything in a skirt. I’m on the fourth book, and he’s fathered like three kids already and just left them behind.

I wanted to portray this character from beginning to end, although I’ve been thinking that perhaps I should start out by portraying her immediately before she attains her first command, instead. Just like the first Hornblower book, which was Beat to Quarters, and had him in command of the Lydia. I actually read the Hornblower books in chronological order. Beginning with Mister Midshipman Hornblower, where I think the title speaks for itself, really. The intention in the first story, which has since been named Untitled #14, was to introduce the character immediately after graduation and on her first posting to a destroyer. In my head, I had actually seen her as an Admiral during the Civil War that was to happen later on in the future history of this universe I was creating. In fact, this universe was so intricate that we had built an online game surrounding it. I met my ex-wife on a variation of it back in 1997. So Hope Station has a nice and long history with me, having been one of three people who sat down to create a more realistic version of Babylon 5. A lot more dirty and gritty than B5, with a far more simpler tale: Humanity, if it does not alter course, will doom itself. I’m not a pessimist, but I do believe in the adage that those who do not learn from history are doomed to repeat it. My variation is, those who don’t learn are doomed to much larger and more catastrophic consequences. The end of the story is about the handful of survivors of the last war who finally get it. And I hadn’t decided whether or not they were able to change the course of the future from outright extinction or a resurgence of human presence in the universe. All I had in my head was their departure from the cradle.

Eventually, I will return to that story. And I hope someday I’ll actually be able to finish it. Once I do finish that first story, maybe the second one won’t be so damn difficult to write.

May 09 2002

An Early Birthday Present

When I got back from school this morning, I took my grandmother to the bank so she could deposit some checks she had been collecting for the week. Various stuff she’d been hanging on to. Following the trip to the bank, she decided to give me my birthday present early. Now, my birthday is June 19th, so this is over a month in advance, but the gift itself was most welcome. Since I’ve been doing DDR everyday for the past two weeks, she knows I’ve been spending a lot of time (and money) over at the arcades. I come back refreshed and actually feeling kind of energized. Though lately, I’ve been spending a lot of nights up late, thanks in part to a person who shall go nameless, but she knows who she is. Actually they both know who they are, since it’s not really just one person, but two.

My grandmother took me over to Fry’s Electronics and got me a dance pad and the Dance Dance Revolution Konamix. Konamix is like a cross-section of most of the DDR songs from 1st through 4th mixes, it looks like. Which is fine and all, but to be honest, some of my favorites are missing. This means I’ll need to go find my DDR USA mix, because I would love to play some of the older stuff and workout to that, too. I miss those cool songs, like La Senorita, and El Ritmo.

On another note: As I mentioned in an earlier post, the rest of my Alan Lewrie books arrived this week, allowing me to continue to wonderful series all the way until the main character reaches the rank of Commander. It turns out that I am actually missing two more books, Jester’s Fortune and The King’s Captain, the latter of which came out just this last December in hardcover, and has not yet been published to mass market paperback. I went and bought an extra copy of The French Admiral for one of my pal’s, who was missing his hardcover edition somewhere amongst his many storage boxes, and didn’t feel like unearthing it. Hey, any chance I can get to return the favor is okay by me. This friend was the one who introduced me to the series, so I owe him twenty times over. And I think that’s enough Lewrie gushing for one log entry. I have to limit myself, you see. I will add one more thing, though. I’m more than halfway finished with The King’s Privateer and all I can say is that if it gets better than The French Admiral, I might be knocking Hornblower out of my top three all-time favorite books. Oh no! Hornblower being kicked to the curb? You’d better believe it. That’s how good this series is. Screw Aubrey and Maturin, this is what they should be doing a movie series about.

My History midterm is tomorrow, so most of tonight should be spent studying up, so I don’t fail it too miserably. In all honesty, I love history, so this should be a cakewalk for me. But never say cakewalk right before a midterm. Once you exhibit too much confidence, that midterm will happily slap you down for good measure. And since this is 35% of my overall grade, I’m not going to be fucking around. I need to pass this class so I can progress to the next phase in American History, and then start taking World History so I can get to one of my favorite eras. Napoleonic Naval History. Iron men and wooden ships. It’s a very romantic era in human history, and I just adore it. Yet another one of those obsessive hobbies I seem to get myself into. But that’s life…

May 07 2002

Alan Lewrie Returns!

I just wanted to mention that my Alan Lewrie books arrived today. I’m REALLY happy, now! Woo!

May 07 2002

The Realization that Caffeine is Your Friend

I woke up this afternoon. At oh-noon-thirty, with the realization that I slept through all of my classes. I hope my professors aren’t too displeased with my absence. As the son of a teacher, I have always felt guilty about missing classes unannounced. As though my absence were a message to them that their instruction is not valued. It is! But so is sleep! And apparently, my body decided to send me a message: Feed us caffeine now, or we’ll hold your grades hostage. Yikes.

If you go over to ‘s livejournal and read her last entry, I’ve also been indulging in some late-night conversation myself. Not to mention the live broadcasts are too much fun to stop sometimes. They are! Though, I wish people would upload songs when I’m not in the middle of a broadcast, because it tends to take away the bandwidth a little bit and causes dropouts. Though last night specifically has been centered around talking with people, and using netmeeting to screw around with ‘s desktop and send weird pages to other players on the game. I had no idea one could manipulate NetMeeting to such an extent, so I was having way too much fun with it. Thanks!

I’ve also been neglecting the ol’ livejournal a little much in the past week. I’ll need to keep on this a little more or else I’ll lose interest and just leave it be. There will be more later, once I shower, shave, and make myself generally presentable for some serious DDR later today.

May 05 2002

Let’s Play Catch-Up!

Before I begin today’s rant, I’d like to extend a warm thank you to my friend, , with whom I was able to chat with last night. A friend in need, and all that. I was really very happy to lend a shoulder and an ear. I’m also glad that she’s feeling a lot better.

I had an extra-long live broadcast last night (Radio Free WNOHGB), with a lot of my loyal listeners having the opportunity to call-in, and make themselves heard over Internet radio. I’d like to thank and apologize to her for making her feel out of sorts last night with the topic of discussion. I’d like to thank ‘s brother, , and WNOHGB players Shra’Hawk and Malendez for calling in. We had a lot of fun. Of course, not everyone sang, but it was a pretty cool show nonetheless. I intend to have as much fun with it as possible, since come May 8th, it’s possible that I might no longer be able to do Internet Radio if the CARP gets passed by the Copyright Office. Until then, we’re going to be blasting and blasting until I get the hundred dollar tab for an hour’s play.

My father’s coming down to stay this coming weekend! I’m really excited because I haven’t seen him since Christmas, and I missed his birthday due to work. As a surprise, I’m taking him to go see a Giants game at Pacific Bell Park next Monday night. Neither of us have been to the new Giants park, so this’ll be a good way to spend an evening with him and enjoy a shared interest. It’s been a long while since we’ve done anything together, so I’m really looking forward to it, and I know he’ll love it. It’ll be free beer until the 7th inning for him (I’m covering all of that), and a chance to see the Giants kill the Braves.

This week spells M-I-D-T-E-R-M for me, this one is in American History, covering the first five chapters. The next one is in a month, covering the next five chapters, and then the final is in June. History is one of my favorite classes, and my mother said she’d lend a hand in studying for it, so I’m looking forward to the midterm and getting it out of the way.

May 03 2002

An alternative to DDR…

I’ve given a link to one of the best Dance Dance Revolution sites on the net, DDRFreak.com before, but the really cool part about that site is the fact that they provide the dance steps for each version of DDR they’ve put out. So, what do I do? Hee. I download the songs from the net, and then as they play, I do the steps as they’re laid out. I can play DDR as long as I have a computer. I could care less about the score, so long as I sweat and exercise. Anyway, just wanted to share. I thought this was a cool alternative.

May 03 2002

The Diet, The Plan, The Willpower…

Monday, I began what I call the DDR Diet. This is sort of an exercise regimen I’ve embarked upon. Here’s the plan, basically:

1. DDR for at least one hour every day. This is a pretty good workout.
2. Restricted to one large meal or two small meals per day.
3. Snacking is restricted to baby carrot, fruits, or water.
4. Water is now my drink of choice. No soda. OJ is okay.
5. I’m allowed 2,000 calories a week, I’m actually thinking about raising this considering the exercise involved.

Extra DDR is good, but when the dogs bark, it’s time to take them home. While an hour was sufficient, I’ve been pushing myself a little harder. For example, Wednesday I did 4.5 hours total.

As for food, it’s been pretty much that Subway sandwich thing for the time being. I actually did the research and figured out that the sandwiches are okay, like twice or three times a week at the outside. But the calories put together is too much over 2,000, if I were to eat them every day. With all due respect to Jared, I’d like to stick to my guns on this one. And I don’t even like Subway to begin with. I just get roast beef with mustard and lettuce, or turkey breast with just lettuce. Mustard and turkey don’t go together, as far as I’m concerned. I figured so long as I stay away from mayo, I’ll be fine. Otherwise, I can also eat salads, with chicken. Or make myself a hot dog (beleive it or not, a hot dog isn’t high in calories at all).

I’ve been drinking nothing but water all week. I have Pepsi’s in my mini-fridge, but I haven’t touched them. There’s also this Twisted Tea that Todd bought and left… but I’m not a big drinker, so, that’s easy to avoid.

Salt is also a big deal with me. Lower my salt intake helps me lose all the water weight I’m carrying around. But once that’s gone, then the real work begins.

I’ll start reporting weight and stuff here, soon enough. I have to buy a damn scale, first.

May 03 2002

The Return of DiGi Karen!

So last year, I got to know this really awesome young lady, who’s first name is Karen. We hung out a great deal at Fanime. She was the Vice-Chair, and I was some guy who handled press and public relations and crap like that. But in the time after, we’ve been really good friends, and she went on a multi-month trip to Japan, China, and Taiwan back in January. She’s back! Jody and Todd told me she went to Fanime this year, and they talked briefly, I guess. I was so thrilled to learn she was back! This means that more nights will be filled with joy and fun and Anime watching! YES!

*AHEM* Anyway, I didn’t quite make it over to play DDR today, unfortunately. I had to work on a couple of personal projects. However, I intended to go, because I started my stretching exercises per usual, and then the memory of the projects hit me and I just made the decision to not go today. Besides, with the amount of punishment I’ve been dolling out to my knees and legs, I think letting them have a day off to relax is a good thing. I’ll be back on track on Monday morning, anyway. Not to mention that since I’ll have this weekend pretty much to myself at work (unlike last week), this means I’ll be able to get some unfinished homework assignments done. That’s also a very good thing.

I’ll have more to say later, I’m sure, but that’s all for now.