Once again - A day in the life…

GLENN’S TOMATO BASIL SPINACH SHRIMP ASPARAGUS EXPERIMENT

I rushed home yesterday in order to pick up the kids and cook dinner by a decent hour. I stopped by Whole Foods to pick up some asparagus, a bag of spinach and some shrimp. Unfortunately they didn’t have any fresh shrimp so I got a pack of frozen shrimp. Which is a lot cheaper but I like fresh shrimp.

I picked up the kids, got them to watch the Charlie Brown Christmas DVD and got to work in the kitchen.

I got the water boiling for the penne before anything else. Then I diced a nearly a whole bulb of garlic, sliced up cherry tomatoes into half, chopped up the asparagus and defrosted the shrimp in warm water. I like doing all the prep before throwing things on the fire so-to-speak.

I sliced up a stick of butter and melted it in my 12 inch skillet then tossed the garlic in. I love that smell! I got the asparagus cooking in another frying pan and added the tomatoes into the garlic/butter mix after a couple of minutes.

When the tomatoes softened I dumped the whole bag of spinach leaves into the mix.

Just about when the pasta was almost cooked, I added the shrimp to the garlic/buttter mix and squeezed some lime onto it. It takes about three or four minutes for shrimp to cook and as I pulled the pasta off the stove, I added the asparagus, some salt and a little pepper. I drained the penne then tossed it into my garlic/butter/spinach/tomato/asparagus/shrimp concoction and added a pinch or two of basil.

Then I served it up. Total prep/cook time is about 40 minutes. Which was perfect timing. The kids watched two Charlie Brown Christmas episodes then sat down for dinner at 6:15PM.

I wasn’t too thrilled with the dinner. Jake liked it. Donna said it was yum when she got home and Bella kinda liked it. She wasn’t too hungry.

After a chocolate chip cookie and warm milk, the kids were in bed by 7:15. WHEW!

But at least I have lunch for today and I don’t have to spend any money!

Donna got home around 8:00 and I went off to the gym.

TRIATHLON TRAINING
At 8:30 I headed to the gym and tried out the swim thing for the first time. It was rather frustrating. First, I have NO technique and my arms fatigued right away. My breathing was incredibly labored and I struggled through the last lap. And I only did THREE! That’s only 150 meters. I need to get to 400. I need to sustain 20 minutes of swimming. Straight! It took about five minutes overall to do the 150 meters. And as I look at it, I think I pushed my pace too fast too soon. At five minutes for 150 meters that’s a 13 minute 400. That's crazy! If I went easy, I may have been able to do maybe one more lap. But after that I was exhausted and still had to get my weight training done.

Overall, the workout was a bit blah. I had a horrible night’s sleep and I woke up sore.

I’ll be doing the stationary bike tonight for about twenty minutes.

I’m training for a Triathlon

Yes. I said it. My goal is to swim, bike, run a Triathlon by May of 2006. No-no-no… not one of those Iron Man 20 hour competitions on TV. Something, well, more ‘doable’ as they say. A “Sprint Triathlon”. It amounts to about a quarter mile swim, a six mile bike ride and a three mile run. Sounds easy enough doesn’t it? The only thing that scares me is the swim. I can’t swim very well but that is going to change. I don’t have a bike unless I want to go six miles on my old BMX bike. Doable, but really… I’d rather get on a road bike.

I’ve looked through several training programs and believe I can start a Triathlon training program by January once I build up a base training. Which I’ve started with my trainer. This all started because I wanted to have more athleticism while playing paintball and to eventually train to run the LA Marathon. Which I’ll eventually do. But I hate running long distances. Not because it’s hard or a challenge, but because my iPod would probably run out of batteries before the end of the race. Basically, marathon races are boring. The challenge of swimming in the ocean – which I absolutely hate because I don’t want to drown or get ripped apart by a shark, getting on a bike and speeding on a road coarse on a sprint, and running a sprint three ‘miler’ is VERY appealing to me. I’ve always wanted to do it. But I never took initiative. Mainly due to the lack of motivation.

I doubt I’ll ever do more than a Sprint Triathlon, but that’s what everyone else says – is what I hear. Once you do it, you’re hooked and you want a bigger challenge. I’ve met some Triathletes online that share the same story as me. 30ish, not doing anything, eating poor, health issues are of concern, rarely doing anything but work, kids, and an occasional game of hoop… then going from couch to a Sprint Triathlon training program. And now they’re hooked.

I mean, I’m hooked! I want to go to the gym every day. I just can’t. Tonight I’m testing the waters. Literally. My trainer wants me to do laps at the pool for as long as I can. Eight laps equals a quarter mile. That’s swimming to the end then back as one lap and so on and so forth. I believe I can do one lap at least. But I’ll find out tonight.

I’ve been feeling really energized. If I were to get back into fighting, it’d take me a week to get my wind and go full contact right now. But I’m resisting the temptation due to the fear of head injury and brain damage! ;) But you never know. I good pounding on someone is a serious soul cleanser sometimes!

Here’s some good resources if you are interested:


and where you can find me from time to time:

BeginnerTriathlete.com

Wish me luck! :)

Phone Pic Pixtoiral

Not much of a pixtorial but a set of random pictures taken by my awesome new phone, the Palm Treo650!


Donna playing with her phone.


Bella eating rice at Octopus Sushi restaurant.


Jacob taking a break from his California Roll.


My single 21 year old cousin just out of nursing school!


My 21 year old cousin in college with an 'undecided' major - (dating status unknown)


Makena talking on the cell.


View from my office window.

Stay up-to-date with my photos! Check them periodically here:

Glenn’s Photo Gallery

The Last Samurai quick review and some extra stuff.

The Last Samurai
Rating: 8/10

I watched ‘The Last Samurai’ once again on HBO. I wasn’t going to watch it but I got hooked right after the first big battle in the dark forest. After that I wanted to see the Ninja attack on the village. That was the best part of the movie. And so I decided to finish it up. And despite the long drawn out Hollywood ending, the movie was pretty darn good. I felt the same way, way back in January of 2004 when it was out. Here was my review: ”The Last Samurai” review. I gave it an 8/10 rating back then. I think it still holds up as a strong 8/10 still.

Good rental. But don’t D&W – drink and watch. You might fall asleep if you do.

I give Mr. Cruise a big whopping rating of 3/10. Just think… January 2004 I would have given him a 10/10 rating because I’ve always thought Tom totally cool! Then the next thing you know he’s hopping on couches, telling people they don’t know this that or the other thing, bashing one of his first coworkers, Brooke Shields, from his first movie ‘Endless Love’, and getting married to some poor helpless girl captured by his spell who, by the way, broke all her religious and moral beliefs to be with a nut job - got pregnant before marriage, obviously had sex before marriage when she was ‘saving herself’, and is now quitting the glamour of glitz and success of Hollywood just when she was getting hot and to cap things off… she can’t take drugs or make any noise while giving birth. BRILLIANT!

That being said… I’m still going to watch his films and I’ll probably like ‘em all! Tom Cruise rating: 3/10.

Gordon has a new home.

He did it. A month and 10 days. I always said, if this dumb goldfish makes it a month, I’ll get him a tank. Well, he got a tank and he’s quite happy – I think.

Inspired by what my cousin did with her beautifully decorated wedding goldfish bowl and surviving fish, I felt it necessary to put in the extra effort now that Gordon has a name and has willed his way into FIVE weeks.

I just hope a filtered tank, some plant decor and a castle is all he needs to be safe, healthy and alive for who knows how long.

He has more room to play, cleaner water and a light to go with it. The guy is a fighter. Out of five, he’s the lone survivor. And I didn’t give him much credit until now. Five weeks and a couple of days in a muggy watered fish bowl and he’s a survivor. The goldfish paid his dues. He now is the King of his own domain so-to-speak, with a castle to boot. Or something that resembles a castle.

And to celebrate this occasion, here are a few pics of the never before seen on the Internet… “GORDON THE GOLDFISH”!


Gordon being tentative around his new surroundings, “A corner. And another corner. And another! And one more? I can swim around this green thing and in through this castle thing and around this redish cabbage looking thing. THIS IS THE BEST!”


Gordon slowly adjusting to his new home. “It’s not so bad. What am I thinking. It’s better than that sewage water hell hole called a fish bowl!”


“Ah… the comforts of a new home.”


Gordon claiming his new domain. “I’m Goldfish of the world!”


Gordon inspecting the filtration system. “Note to Gordon’s self. Don’t try to swim up filtration. Nemo got stuck up there and there’s no other goldfish to help BECAUSE THEY ALL DIED!!!”


Gordon clicking his heels and thinking, “There’s no place like a filtered fish tank with plants, a light and a castle!” He repeated that three times in the muggy waters of wedding fish bowl and look where it got him! :) Happy days!

From Happy Days to the Karate Kid...

One of my all time heroes, Mr. Miyagi - Pat Morita - has passed away. I grew up watching him as Arnold on Happy Days. And then he taught Daniel-san the Crane move. "When done right, no can defense."

I was inspired to be a Martial Artist because of Mr. Miyagi. He taught me a lesson in The Karate Kid:

"That the secret to Karate lies in the mind and heart. Not in the hands."



And although Jacob is very young he also has learned something from Mr. Miyagi.



He learned how to catch flies with chopsticks!

Pat Morita, Arnold, Mr. Miyagi... You will be missed.

Thanks for the memories!

Happy Thanksgiving

This is the one time of the year where friends, family and others gather together around the table and give thanks to lifes treasures. Big or small.

And then...

YOU STUFF YOURSELF TILL YOU CAN'T STUFF YOURSELF ANYMORE EATING ALL THE TURKEY AND THINKING THAT YOU'LL SAVE ROOM FOR DESERT BUT YOU END UP STUFFING YOURSELF SO MUCH THERE'S NO MORE ROOM FOR DESERT. AND EVEN SO, YOU EAT DESERT!

SO GO STUFF YOURSELF YOU TURKEY!

AND THEN WE ALL REGRET IT LATER.

Have a great thanksgiving!

Glenn

It's an early Christmas!

Cool wife. Hot wife. Awesome wife. I LOVE MY WIFE!

Look what I came home and got as an early present. A Palm Treo 650!



Awesome!

And that’s me taken with the camera phone.


Now I have something to play with on my FIVE DAY WEEKEND!

Other than that, I don’t have much to say today. I’m feeling a little blah. The phone is perkin’ me up though.

I want to spend the WHOLE day watching movies. Older ones. But not so old. Rewatching them. Nothing new. I’m in a Cameron Crowe, John Hughes kinda mood. I’d like to sit back and watch Almost Famous, Say Anything, Sixteen Candles, Ferris Bueller, Home Alone, Planes Trains and Automobiles. Stuff like that there.



That would be a great day!

It takes place in New York but it definitely is not ‘Manhattan’!

Donna and I were able to go out and see a movie. We should have gone out for some drinks and dinner instead.


Prime

Want to read how I felt, someone already wrote a review about how I felt. Read it here: 'Prime' makes audiences work too hard for the humor by Eleanor Ringerl Gillespie This review nails it on the head completely. If I were to review Prime it would be to reiterate the exact same things mentioned in the review.

Go see it if you want a nap. I’m looking forward to ‘Having Fun With Dick And Jane’.

The highlight of the night was spending time with my wife. ALONE! :)

Feeling saucy...

And I love it. Just five more days till Thanksgiving! I can't wait. I love Thanksgiving.

I just got back from working out and want to eat something juicy. You know, a nice juicy steak! But that's not good. Everytime I work out I want to eat a steak. What's up with that?

I think those bloody commercials, no pun intended, that play overhead while I run on the treadmill should be banned from the gym. They got those nice juicy steaks grilling in your face it looks so delicious you can smell it from the tv!

UGH!

I got home and thought Gordeon the Goldfish was dead. He was just sitting there, staring at nothing. I moved, it didn't flinch. I waved my hand over the bowl, he didn't flinch. Do goldfish sleep with their eyes open? I was all freakin' out. All that dedication and work just to die out of the blue.

But then he moved.

And all is well.

And now he's darting around like a goldfish is supposed to do.

I was worried because I accidentally gave him too much food this morning. He didn't even finish it.

Well... you wouldn't believe what time I went to bed last night. 9:00! WOW! I managed to force my open to notice the Lakers got beat by the Clippers. I predicted a 5 point victory. The Clips won by 6.

Now I predict an upset at the USC game today. I bet Fresno will cover the points for sure but I do think maybe there's a big chance Fresno will get the win outright. Sue me for being optimistic!

Did you notice I added a reading list on the right hand column of my blog? If you want to, pick up some of those books and be on track with what I'm reading. Maybe we could discuss sometime.

And that's that. It is what it are. What it be like and all that shtuff right there.

According to my doctor…

I have a clean bill of health and feels my headache was just a severe migraine. He looked at the CAT scan and went over the possibilities with me and told me it was a very slight chance of a possible brain aneurysm. I figure, hey, I’m not dead so he’s probably right.

When going over my history he asked if I had asthma as a kid. Yes. He asked if it was cured. And being just educated on the whole asthma thing I had to say it with attitude… IT'S NEVER CURED!. Come on doc! You can’t be that ignorant when talking to an asthmatic! You should know that stuff.

Other than small talk about this that and some other thing, I realized he was a cool doctor and wouldn’t mind seeing him instead of the other doc at that office. Unfortunately I didn’t score any Viagra, but wait till next month!

Thanks for everyone’s calls and emails and replies to my health issues. You may now be officially unconcerned of the brain health of Glenn! Until the next migraine that is.

What else is going on?

This will be quick.

Gordon the Goldfish is still alive and well and growing big.

Bella’s rash is gone. Still a little visible ‘polka dots’ as she calls em.

I pulled a spitball sized glob of Kleenex out of Jake’s ear with a tweezer the other night. It was gooey, had a little bright red blod and ear wax on it. YUCK! He was sticking Kleenex in his ear to get rid of fluid that was dripping out. Eventually it got torn off and kept getting deeper. This was soaking up the drops we put in therefore the drops did not work. He got a lecture from me about putting things in his ear. He is now on antibiotics for a bad ear infection.

Thanksgiving is 6 days away. I can’t wait.

The Lakers can’t win unless Kobe scores 30+ points per game. They did beat one of the worst teams in the NBA the other night and everyone is talking about how great they are. Go CLIPPERS!

Donna lost her first NICU baby the other day. Sad to lose a baby.

Jacob scored TWO LINES for his “Holiday” concert!!! I’m nervous.

Jessica is coming on the 17th. I’m so excited!

Dale is in Tennessee doing some video work.

My cousin James needs to have more of what we talked about.

And that’s it in the world of me.

The weekend is just moments away.

Down where this ugly man seeks his sustenance...

In the mid 80s I came across a group called “Siouxsie and the Banshees”. And a song they sang really got to me for some reason. The images, the emotion, and for some reason the inspiration I got from blasting this song in my ears was fantastical. It took me to far off places. I just closed my eyes and to be honest, I didn’t like coming back to reality. Therefore the repeat of this song over and over and over on my Walkman. This overload of loud music could contribute to my bad hearing problems. It’s not the greatest song in the world. But then again… maybe it is. I can’t explain it.


“The Killing Jar” by Siouxsie and the Banshees
Down where this ugly man
Seeks his sustenance
Down in the blue, midnight flare
A glass hand cuts through the water
Scything into his twisted roots
Then from his eyes
Spring fireflies
Breathing life
Into a roaring disguise
Needles and sins, sins and needles
He's gasping for air
In the wishing well
Dust to rust, ashes to gashes
Hand around the killing jar
A soft hoodwink of shadow
The size of make-believe
Punches through his spike of rage
A glass hand cuts through the water
Snuffing out the magic fury
Then from inside
Bolt lightning cries
Swiftly crushed
The final, muffled sighs
Needles and sins, sins and needles
He's gasping for air
In the wishing well
Dust to rust, ashes to gashes
Hand around the killing jar

And on to another new song that I totally like. I might just love it. Which means I’ll have to go to Target to purchase their new CD. This is Nickelback’s “Photograph.” It’s the perfect intro song for my ‘look back at a moment in my personal wonder year’s script. I should post that script. If ya wanna spend ten minutes reading it, let me know.


“Photograph” by Nickelback
Look at this photograph
Everytime I do it makes me laugh
How did our eyes get so red
And what the hell is on Joey's head

And this is where I grew up
I think the present owner fixed it up
I never knew we'd ever went without
The second floor is hard for sneaking out

And this is where I went to school
Most of the time had better things to do
Criminal record says I broke in twice
I must have done it half a dozen times

I wonder if It's too late
Should i go back and try to graduate
Life's better now then it was back then
If I was them I wouldn't let me in

Oh oh oh
Oh god I

Every memory of looking out the back door
I had the photo album spread out on my bedroom floor
It's hard to say it, time to say it
Goodbye, goodbye

Every memory of walking out the front door
I found the photo of the friend that I was looking for
It's hard to say it, time to say it
Goodbye, goodbye

Remember the old arcade
Blew every dollar that we ever made
The cops hated us hangin' out
They say somebody went and burned it down

We used to listen to the radio
And sing along with every song we know
We said someday we'd find out how it feels
To sing to more than just the steering wheel

Kim's the first girl I kissed
I was so nervous that I nearly missed
She's had a couple of kids since then
I haven't seen her since god knows when

Oh oh oh
Oh god I

Every memory of looking out the back door
I had the photo album spread out on my bedroom floor
It's hard to say it, time to say it
Goodbye, goodbye

Every memory of walking out the front door
I found the photo of the friend that I was looking for
It's hard to say it, time to say it
Goodbye, goodbye

I miss that town
I miss the faces
You can't erase
You can't replace it
I miss it now
I can't believe it

So hard to stay
Too hard to leave it

If I could I relive those days
I know the one thing that would never change

Every memory of looking out the back door
I had the photo album spread out on my bedroom floor
It's hard to say it, time to say it
Goodbye, goodbye

Every memory of walking out the front door
I found the photo of the friend that I was looking for
It's hard to say it, time to say it
Goodbye, goodbye

Look at this photograph
Everytime I do it makes me laugh
Everytime I do it makes me

Sitting on my ass watching the world go round and round.

Yeah… I’m in that mood again. So watch yourself. Don’t get on my case, don’t cross my path, don’t honk, don’t… don’t… don’t even talk to me.

I’m lacking motivation. Morale. Inspiration. I don’t want to work out for fear of dying. I don’t want to play paintball because I don’t want to run around and get tired. I don’t want to wake up because I’ll have to go to work.

I was thinking about writing a will. You know… just in case. This whole head trauma thing has put me on edge. Well, not so much on edge, but on something weird. Worried. Is being worried on edge? But what’s to worry? The only thing is Jake and Bella. I just don’t want them to forget about me.

WHAT THE HELL AM I TALKING ABOUT? NOTHING’S GOING TO HAPPEN.

I’ll wait a week before I work out again. My neck hurts. My head still has that lingering headache. Maybe it’s psychological? Maybe its not. Maybe there’s a slow leak in my brain. Can Donna sue the ER for not taking the extra step of an MRI given the fact that I had a contusion of some sort if I plop down dead?

WHAT THE HELL AM I TALKING ABOUT?!? I NEED TO CHANGE THE SUBJECT.

ROUGH SEX.

My buddy told me he had sex with this girl who wanted to be spanked. He tried it. She liked it. He didn’t. WHAT’S WRONG WITH HIM?

WHAT THE HELL AM I TALKING ABOUT?!?? CHANGE THE SUBJECT.

I’m eating two apples a day. Supposedly if you eat more healthy snacks during the day you can lose weight better. I need to eat a lighter dinner though. And work out more. I was going to start working out at 5AM. But man, I can’t get up at 4:30. It’s too damn hard.

Last night I worked till 6:30. I was at the office for 11 ½ hours. Then drove an hour home in bumper to bumper traffic. By 7:30 I was wiped out. I waited for Donna to get home, we ate some dinner provided by my awesome sister, and then we watched My Name Is Earl. Funny ass show in my opinion. But my favorite show now is Two and a half Men. This week’s episode was hilarious.

Jake is sick. Fever. Earache. I asked him if he felt sick at school. He said ‘yes’. I asked him if he played. He said ‘yes’. I asked him why he played if he felt sick. He said ‘because it was only soccer. You just stand there and kick the ball’. I was like… ‘oh’. Made sense to me.

Bella didn’t want to hug me this morning. I said, ‘okay I’ll go to Kena’s house and hug her’. She said, ‘okay bye’.

Earlier she wanted her bottle. It was like 5:00 AM. I struggled out of bed and as I walked out through the door she said, “I luv you papa.” I made sure her milk was nice and warm.

I am looking forward to my favorite time of the year. THANKSGIVING. Where I get to eat turkey. But its never ever enough. I have to make my own turkey. My very own twenty pounder. And just eat, eat, eat. I like to eat. I’ll work out after November and gear up for Chirstmas.

I’ve been sitting on some movies from Netflix… But I’ll get to them. Here they are.





I just haven’t been in any kind of mood to sit through a movie lately. I want something fast, quick and over with. Like a sitcom or hour show. I guess it’s because I can get through a sitcom without having to pause and continue on some other night. When I watch a movie usually its late, I’m tired, I get thirty minutes in because that’s my attention span lately, and then I have to turn it off. Then I have to get back into it some other time. Sometimes I don’t get the full effect of the movie and I lose a lot of that momentum the first thirty minutes is supposed to give you. So although movies could be great, I think they’re a little blah. The loss of information due to the wait time in between my daily intermission is just that. Loss of information pertinent to the telling of a good story.

But I’ll get to the above.

I believe I’m supposed to take next Wednesday, Thursday and Friday off for the Holidays. I’m totally on board with that scenario. So it’s possible I can fit in a movie here and there.

What’s next on my Netflix queue you may ask? Well, here’s the next 20.

1 - Moonlight Mile
2 - Confessions of a Dangerous Mind
3 - Anger Management
4 - Y Tu Mama Tambien
5 - The Twilight Samurai
6 - Monster
7 - Ringu
8 - The Manchurian Candidate
9 - Chinatown
10 - The Longest Yard
11 - Meet the Fockers
12 - Good Boy!
13 - Being Julia
14 - Saw
15 - Ikiru
16 - Ray
17 - Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas
18 - Spider-Man: Season 1: Disc 1
19 - Spider-Man: Season 1: Disc 2
20 - X-Men: Evolution: Season 1: Vol. 1

Yuck. I need some recommendations. That list sucks big time.

To end this unmotivated rambling of an entry, here’s some pictures from a while back that I found and that I love.


Jake ready to go tobogganing.


Bella in the snow for the first time. She didn’t like it.


Bella was shaking her head in this picture because she saw me do it earlier to get a motion effect. So when Jessica took her picture, she’d always shake her head and she had blurry shots.

And that’s it…

And you know my saying… IT IS WHAT IT ARE.

Goodbye now.

Rough Sex

I knew I’d catch your attention!!!

Here’s a health update…

Jake has an ear infection. Two antibiotic drops in his ears twice a day. His asthma flared up as well yesterday.
But that’s all good and controlled and nothing really to worry about. We hope.

Then there’s me.



I went to the Urgent Care clinic yesterday. The doctor immediately sent me to the Emergency Room as he was concerned for my health and questioned my reasoning for not going to the ER right away. So I went.

I was in ER for most of the afternoon and into the night. I had a CAT Scan done and laid in bed to wait for the results. The place was packed. The Tech said that it was good I brought a book, “SIDEWAYS”, because I’d be waiting a long time. I wanted to be home for Monday Night Football and he said there was a TV in my ‘room’. He propped it up for me and life was good.

I say ‘room’ because its not much of one. Its just a space with a bed with three curtains to separate other ‘rooms’ and the busy hallway. But it was my ‘room’ and it was nice and dark and I had a TV and a book. What more could I ask for.



Being alone made me think about things. Some serious, some trivial. Like, what if I died. What would Jake think. Would Bella remember me? At least Donna knew how to pay bills, was working and could survive because she’s a survivor. I was more worried about what life would be like for Jake. Then I thought about silly things like calling Dale and tell him to give my paintball marker to Jake and to take him to play once he gets old enough. And then I figured thinking about such things would do no good. So I forced myself to stop.

Then there were the trivial thoughts that made me smile. Like how it was so great that I had time to read a book without interruption. I thought about how much better it was to be in the ER awaiting my fate versus sitting at work awaiting my fate. Reading “Sideways” made me want to go out and have a bottle of Pinot paired with a chicken dinner of some sort.

And then I realized I was thinking, reading and watching the news all at the same time. I had read a page about three times before comprehending what I was reading. And it all made sense - the multi-tasking without comprehension - because I was on this wonderful trip induced by a wonderful pill called “Vicodin”.

Please note:

“Vicodin can be habit-forming. If you take this drug over a long period of time, you can become mentally and physically dependent on it, and you may find the drug no longer works for you at the prescribed dosage.”

They also gave me a pill so I wouldn’t throw up and some Benadryl. Which was good because I think the Vicodin made me Dizzy, light-headed and nauseous.

I was LOOPY.

So I put down my book and tried to concentrate on the TV as Monday Night Football was about to start.

The next thing I know, Donna is there and the nurse is telling us we could go. I wobbled to the car and told Donna I was craving Chicken and Wine. She said Chicken was okay so we went to Zankou Chicken and brought home some food.

I remember someone on the Cowboys intercepting a pass.

I remember seeing someone attempt to kick a field goal and was short.

I remember the Cowboys won a very dramatic game.

I picked the Cowboys.

And then I was in bed.

Oh… the diagnosis…

I have a head contusion. Which bugs me. How did I get it? All I could think about was the rough sex I had on Saturday night. JUST KIDDING. But seriously, I think It could have come from carrying these tables over my head (and on my head) during the yardsale on Saturday. They were quite heavy. But other than that, I have no clue of how I could get a cerebral contusion.

I need an MRI but the ER won’t do it. So now I have to go to my PCP and ask him to get it approved or something.

That’ll take forever. Which is why we decided to go with a PPO plan with Donna’s health insurance. After this incident we figured its safer to go with PPO. The only problem is that we now are paying for two plans from our employer. Mine (an HMO) and hers (a PPO). Which is fine I guess. At least for one year. Better to be safe.

Now its my quest to get the MRI.

This is me on Vicodin.

The Foot Fetish Movie of 1950...

Cinderella
Rating: 7/10

Should I let my daughter watch all these Disney movies? Bella is quote ‘princessy’ already. Should I let her have these fantasies of being rescued by a prince someday? I’m a little concerned. Maybe I should get her in front of Aliens or Thelma & Louise or something.

There’s not much to say about Cinderella except its cute. And fun. And a wonderful fantasy for girls who love shoes and want to be rescued by a prince. And Bella loves shoes. I’m convinced the writer(s) had a foot fetish. The last couple of scenes were soooo foot fetishy it was kinda gross.


Star Wars III Revenge of the Sith
Rating: 7/10

I think I reviewed this movie before. By far the best of the first three new Star Wars films. Entertaining enough for me to ignore all the stupid things that stand out in Episodes I & II. Yet there are those moments when I’m watching this movie thinking about how stupid some situations, events and scenes were. I can make a list. But again, the action, the story line (finally) was worthy of attention and actual enjoyment. Really… the first two movies didn’t need to be made. Give me Episode III and I’ll be fine going into IV, V & VI!

Home from work...

I left work to come home.

There's fluid coming out of Jacob's ear. I need to take him to the doctor.

And... there's still a slight pain in my head so I have to see a doctor today too. Hopefully I can get an appointment.

I figure if it were a tumor I'd be dead already. If I go into brain surgery, that's where I'll be for a while. LOL. Donna is worried. I'm not really. I feel okay. It's just my head that hurts a little.

I'm not trying to worry anyone. I'm just making light of the situation. Can't be serious you know. Or else I'd be mispeling everuthing i wroting.

You know my saying... It is what it are...

Brain Explosion

It felt like something had burst in my brain. And I don’t mean this as a metaphor to a great idea. I mean this in the literal sense. The physical sense. The holy shit, what the hell just blew up in my head sense! I won’t tell you what I was doing at the time but I tensed up, I grabbed my head and I went down in pain. I couldn’t find any pressure points to release the excruciating pain as I grabbed, pressed and dug my knuckles into my temples, back of my neck and eye sockets. Light from the TV actually made things worse, I need complete blackness and silence. I don’t know how long it took but the pain finally became tolerable and I told Donna the ER was not necessary.

All night I kept testing my vision, testing to see if I could move my legs and arms and hear from both ears. All night the tiny hint of a night light would be too much light. Every little sound was deafening. Every bit of thought was of my brain exploding as I slept.

The next morning it was like the lingering effect of a migraine. Maybe that’s all it was. The worst migraine of my life. Hopefully nothing blew up. Hopefully my brain is ok. Hopefully I’ll live.

My eyes are off though. I can’t focus as well as normal. I definitely need to see a doctor.

And still, today, Monday morning, my head still has that lingering pain. It didn’t help that I got up at 4:00 AM because Jake kept waking me up complaining about something or another. That’s the last time he’s having chocolate before going to bed.

Through the night I was testing my brain, seeing if I could remember things from the past and how far I could remember. So I went through my early years. My Wonder Years starting at five years old. I pulled at least one memory from each grade beginning with Kindergarten.

Here’s what I got.

Kindergarten – I remember walking up the school with my mom and crying. I was embarrassed to have my pillow with me and told my mom to hide it before we got to class. I remember Marcel, Tina and Otto in my class.

1st Grade – Miss McDonald’s class. She was really old and really nice. And I remember seeing Roger in class. He looked so confident. As if he was a seasoned veteran of 1st grade. We met the summer right before school started at the swimming pool. It was really cool to see him there.

2nd Grade – Miss Bruce’s class. The difference between being a 1st grader and 2nd grader was huge. I felt like Roger looked in 1st grade. Like a season vet of grade school. I loved 2nd grade. We went to San Clemente Beach on the train. President Nixon was supposed to meet with us at his home but he was sick. We gave his security our letters we wrote to him. That was my first field trip.

3rd Grade – I hate 3rd Grade and Mrs. Hawks. She was the meanest teacher ever. Willie Manipol and I made up a way to communicate during class by tapping our pencils on our desks. For every 1 tap, an A. 2 taps, a B. We’d tap and tap and tap when we could and communicated from across the room.

4th Grade – Mrs. Carl’s class. She was awesome. I was so glad I was in her class versus the other 4th Grade class because from what I heard, the other teacher was MEAN! Yes, with capital letters! I was the fastest times table kid in class!

5th Grade – Miss Bishoff. This is the first teacher I fell in love with. I could have married her and was this close to asking her. It was also the year of romantic letters and the hamster eating incident I’ve referred to in previous posts. That was a wonderful year.

6th Grade – Mr. Conner’s Class. The coolest teacher to have in grade school. A radio DJ at night and a 6th grade teacher by day. This was also the year of my very first kiss. Brenda Eaton, Outdoor school, in the snow. We snuck out of dinner mess hall and sat outside. It just started to snow and we scooted closer together. We kissed. It was awesome. I wrote about it several years ago in a short story.

7th Grade – My first year in Junior High and my first French Kiss! AND… my first broken heart. I wrote about it in a short called, “Chocolate Shake and Fries”.

8th Grade – My last year in Junior High. I think I started hating school at 8th grade. I think about it now and it was the math and the English that I hated so much. It’s weird since all I do now is math and all I want to do is write… in English. LOL. Maybe I felt all that stuff held me back. Math was logical, of course, but maybe I was ready for something harder. Something where I needed to discover and present versus learn and be tested on. I wanted to put things to the test versus get tested on things. In English, I didn’t want to write by rules, I just wanted to write. Thank goodness for spell check nowadays.

And that’s my years prior to high school.

I think my memory is fine.

It’s my eyes that are going.

Hope today is a better day.

I hate being resourceful!

We have no water in the house. We had to shut it off last night due to a broken pipe coming from the water heater. It sucks. We boiled some water and have enough to get us through brushing teeth and some hand washing, other than that, we’re off to my sister’s house for showers and things.

I took today off because Jake is off of school due to Veteran’s Day. I didn’t know it would be a plumber filled day. So much for a day off.

Isabella has a serious rash. But it’s only on her stomach and chest. We thought it was chicken pox but I was suspect so I took her to the doctor. The doctor didn’t even know what it was. She had to have the other doctor look at it as well. They came to some conclusion that it’s a bacterial skin rash. She’s on antibiotics – again!

Here’s some pictures of it.



And close up:



Anybody know what this is? The doctors sure aren’t sure.

And here’s some pictures of Jake and Colby during “Flag Day”.


Jake always looking worried.


Colby got to hold the flag!


Elementary school gathering. See Jake in the background?

“It is what it are.” - that’s my motto!

My motto has nothing to do with this entry today. It’s just one of those rainy days where you should be home, in bed, and watching a movie or reading a book.

It’s raining. It’s dark. It’s moody. It’s Thursday. And this song comes on the radio and you feel the groove, you feel the mood.

Get it in your iPod and feel the groove, get in the mood and disappear to another place as this song makes you do.

SUPERTRAMP’S “GOODBYE STRANGER”


It was an early morning yesterday
I was up before the dawn
And I really have enjoyed my stay
But I must be moving on

Like a king without a castle
Like a queen without a throne
I'm an early morning lover
And I must be moving on

Now I believe in what you say
Is the undisputed truth
But I have to have things my own way
To keep me in my youth

Like a ship without an achor
Like a slave without a chain
Just the thought of those sweet ladies
Sends a shiver through my veins

And I will go on shining
Shining like brand new
I'll never look behind me
My troubles will be few

Goodbye strange it's been nice
Hope you find your paradise
Tried to see your point of view
Hope your dreams will all come true
Goodbye Mary, Goodbye Jane
Will we ever meet again
Feel no sorrow, feel no shame
Come tomorrow, feel no pain

Now some they do and some they don't
And some you just can't tell
And some they will and some they won't
With some it's just as well

You can laugh at my behavior
That'll never bother me
Say the devil is my savior
But I don't pay no heed

And I will go on shining
Shining like brand new
I'll never look behind me
My troubles will be few
Goodbye stranger it's been nice [etc..]

Coffee and alcohol - the ingredients of a ^@@^ writer.

Notice I didn’t describe writer as “GOOD” or “GREAT” or “POOR” or “HORRIBLE”? Just… ‘writer’. Yeah well… its true. How can you be a writer if you don’t drink coffee or alcohol? Okay you can write. But the inspiration will be something other than ‘chemically induced ramblings’. And that’s the, er, best kind. Isn't it?

Nevermind.

The combination of coffee and alcohol is like pen and paper. Or a dictionary and a thesaurus. Or Ren & Stimpy. Or The Captain and Tennille. Or Prince and the Revolution. Shaq and Kobe. Birds and the bees. Here nor there. 123 and ABC!!! Without it there’s nothing.

And when there’s no coffee maker there’s no coffee. And our coffee maker broke. We were on loaner coffee maker mode. We were on wait in line at 6:30 AM to get coffee before work mode. We were at our wits end mode.

So we purchased another one from Starbucks.

Starbucks Barista® Thermal Coffee Press

Starbucks recommended method of brewing highlights coffee’s full, rich taste. Fine mesh filter lets coffee retain the precious oils that paper filters absorb. Stainless steel, double walled insulation keeps coffee fresh and hot for up to two hours. Makes 32 fl oz (946mL) of delicious coffee.

Now all I have to do is fix my alcohol still and I’ll be back on track.

Yes, life will be back on track but unfortunately, Shaq’s still gone and the "The Captain and Tennille" reference really dated me.

NOTE: GORDON THE GOLDFISH IS STILL ALIVE!!!

Some movies I got stuck watching this week...

They were all on HBO. You know, you're channel surfing, nothing great is on, and even if you don't want to, you are caught up and end up watching a movie...

So here's three quick reviews.


LA Confidential
Rating: 9/10

I think this was considered one of my top ten favorite movies of all time at one time or another. That list always changes and if its going to change again, add this to the list. This movie could have come across as ‘campy’. The dialogue was fit for the times. Guy Pearce seemed very comic bookish to me. And the voice over editorial commentary by Danny Devito was a little corny. But it all worked. Stylistically it worked, tone, everything. Kevin Spacey’s character was my favorite of the three main cops. I wanted more of Kevin Spacey and they totally pulled a surprise on us by killing him off - one of the main and more dynamic characters of the movie. Each character had depth and goals and interior conflicts that they were desperate to resolve or redeem. Kim Basinger was beautiful but I felt she looked a little aged in this movie. But an aged Kim Basinger is still beautiful don’t get me wrong.

Great rental if you’re in need of one!


Eternal Sunshine of a Spotloss Mind
Rating: 10/10

INT. JOEL'S APARTMENT - DAY

It's raining out. Joel is reading, slouched in a chair. He
looks over at Clementine, stretched out on her belly in her
underwear. She's reading, too.

                VOICE-OVER
        She's so sexy.

                JOEL
        I loved you on this day. I love this
        memory. The rain. Us just hanging.

Clementine looks over at him, smiles. Her brow furrows in
thought.

                CLEMENTINE
        What if you hide me?

                JOEL
        What do you mean?

                CLEMENTINE
        (formulating)
        Well... if they're looking for me in
        memories I'm in, what if you take me to a
        memory I'm not in?
        (proud)
        And we can hide there till morning.

Joel ponders this. The scene and Clementine are beginning to
dissolve. Joel grabs Clementine's hand. She giggles with
glee. He pulls her out of the scene as it degrades.

                JOEL
        Where? Where? Where?

He drags her through the landscape of already decayed
memories and turns off into: READ IT HERE

Could there be a more perfect movie? This is definitely one of my top ten favorites of all time. Or at least it should be. I felt it was a flawless movie in a movie that could well be filled with a ton of flaws. The desperation of Jim Carrey’s character was nightmarish. It was so real. His struggles seemed so searing I felt the pain the longing. When he pleaded ‘please let me just have this one memory!’ it was as if I had the same feelings as I was forced to escape a dream.


Titanic

I hated this movie because of Billy Zane’s character was so plastic so irritatingly emotionless. I mean, every scene his face was the same. If he was angry, he was smiling. If he was being sinister he still had that stupid smile on his face. If he was scared he still had that smile. If he was trying to act like a good Samaritan he still had that stupid smile on his stupid face. It just pisses me off.

I hated this movie because the dialogue was so bad it made me want to throw up. Especially the incredible amount of times Leonardo said “Rose” as they tried to escape stupid Billy Zane and the water that flooded the ship. Run Rose. Come on Rose. Let’s go Rose. Rose. Rose. Rose! Ugh.

I hated this movie because it was such a blatant attempt to make EVERYONE cry at the end when they really didn’t need to try that hard to do it.

I hated this movie because I could not, for the life of me, buy the fact that Leonardo DiCaprio and Kate Winslet fell in love.

I hated this movie because it was the sappest love story ever told.

That being said…

I loved this movie because its got to be ONE of the most perfect love stories ever told.

Blech. Rating: 8/10. Yes, I give it an 8.