Why can't I sleep?

I don't know what it is about being Sunday, but I just can't sleep. I think it's just the constant thought that I have to be up in a few hours to pack for my flight anyway. Do you want me to talk about my job? No? Well shoot, I guess I'll talk about something else then.

I had a great weekend. Friday I got to see my brother and have a few beers with him. It's always great hanging out with him, makes me feel a little younger. It does help me realize I'm not in college anymore though. I have a hard time keeping up with these pups.

Saturday I spent getting fitted for my tuxedo for the older brothers wedding. It's hard to believe that in a few months he'll be married. Even crazier to think that in 4 weeks it's his bachelor party. I put a lot of time planning it out, so I'm really hoping everything goes smoothly. Deep down I'm hoping we have to go to "Plan B" at some point. If you go out and don't go to "Plan B" odds are, you weren't having enough fun.

I can't bring myself to write much more. I'm a bit wound up for some reason. Until next time.

Way too literal

So per my usual Monday, I was up at 3:30 this morning to pack and make it to my 6:00am flight. Nothing too out of the ordinary. I think most people's flights must have been canceled or delayed, because the airport was pretty empty upon arrival.

I always sleep on planes so today was no different. I had trouble sleeping on this flight because the man to my left was reading the paper with the light on. I slept on and off for the 2 hour flight, and woke up at towards the end when the pilot made an announcement that we would be landing shortly. I don't know what it was about being told the flight would be over soon, but I passed out IMMEDIATELY after that. You know what I dreamed about? The plane landing.

My dream felt quite real as well. I actually thought the plane had landed. I knew something was up though when I overheard a conversation behind me where the person said they were, "Going to go to Jabba about a quick loan to get back to Mos Eisley. " Yes, this is straight out of the Star Wars universe.

Once I did wake up though and landed (in real life this time) we decided to taxi for 30 minutes, so that gave me another opportunity to nap. No dreams from the second cat nap though.

Anyway, I have a twitter account now: Chen_says. It's all of the work things that go my co-workers say. I'm not limiting it to what they say, so if I have any gems, I'll be sure to post them. Have fun everyone.

I can't Sleep

This is the first time I haven't had to get up at 3:30am in weeks on a Monday, and of course, I can't sleep. My mind is racing at the moment.

I read back on some of my older blogs, and got a few good laughs out of it. I'm glad I've been putting my thoughts down somewhere for me to trace back. It's good to know where I've come from sometimes.

Does anyone else have nights or even days when they think, "What am I doing?" I keep thinking I should be doing something, accomplishing something, or just being more productive than I have been. I'm sure I'll stroll into work in a few hours and realize what I'm forgetting, but I can't for the life of me at the moment.

I'm rocking out to some Vick's Vapor Rub right now. That stuff is my cure all. Just hope it gets me through tomorrow as I'm still fighting off a cold I picked up sometime Friday.

Hopefully I can string together a good post that is more than a few quick sentences sometime soon.

Almost a year? Really?!?!

So it's hard to believe, but this blog is almost 1 year old. About a year ago I found out I was going to India, and prepping for my trip. It's crazy to think that it's been a year already. I can't believe it. So much has happened in the last year, but I still feel like nothing much has changed.

I've recently been in the giving spirit, so I've been putting together clothes and books I don't read any more to give to charity. I've got a nice sized pile sitting in our basement, so I need to drive that to the Salvation Army sometime before I leave for Tennessee. It's a great feeling, and I'm looking forward to giving more. Plus on a more selfish note, it allows me to get rid of things I haven't used in ages, so maybe someone will find some use for it.

I finally took a step towards getting back into art. I finally restored a painting I've had for over a year now that was destroyed. It might need a few more final tweaks, I'll wait until my critics (my parents) see it until I decide if it's done. There's a wonderful sense of accomplishment on it though. I was actually really down when I looked at it for the first time in months tonight. Time and sunlight really damaged the original I'd completed, and I was starting to feel like I would never be able to fix it. I tried some new techniques tonight on it though, and I think it really helped out.

Once it's ready, I'll post some photos of the painting.

I'm heading home in 3 days, I honestly cannot wait. It's been way too long.

Goodnight for now.

What was I doing?

I'm supposed to be doing something, or something should be done for work, but I can't put my finger on it. I'm going to cut my finger nails and hope it eventually comes to me.

.....And nails are cut. Woo, I'm glad that's over.

So I have BIG news. Amazing Race applications are finally updated. Season 19 Application will be going in within the month. My brother and I are going to team up and hopefully be that 1 in 100,000 (maybe more) team that makes it through. We are going to need an angle though. Neither of us is gay, and we aren't really hicks. I guess we'll have to get by on our good looks and charm.

Broomball playoffs are in full swing right now. After a hard fought 3OT victory, we have the late game this Sunday vs. the Dragons.. Raaaawwrrrr. Ok that was lame. If all goes as planned, we'll have a full roster for the first time since.....actually I'm sure we've never had a full roster. It'll be great to have 3 subs, and a team ready to get rowdy for another game.

Overtime seems to be our gem. This is the second season in a row we've had to push games to 3OT in the playoffs. We always seem to manage a last minute goal. It's actually extremely exciting to be a part of. I've missed being competitive in sports for a while, so this has been a great outlet for me. The little exercise I get from it is good too.

I've been real bad about going to the gym lately. I need to start buckling down and going more again. I've used college football as an excuse for a while now, but I am losing that quickly. If I'm going to set a goal for myself I'll use my brothers wedding. I'll want to look good for that, and it'll take me that long (April) to get in shape, and trade in fat for muscle.

Well, this blog didn't have a purpose, just putting thoughts out there. Until the next one.

Ohh you know....

So since I travel so much I get my choice of several amenities when I check in. Most people choose 500 points to be banked into their account. This week, I threw a curve ball and chose the option saying, "2 Beers and Popcorn." Well turns out room service is pretty freaking fast when they want to be. After getting into my room I chose to use the restroom, and while in the process, room service walked right in asking where they could serve the beer.

Who should feel worse? The poor guy who walked in on me? or me? I'm surprisingly ok with the whole thing, but I can understand where the Room Service Fellow might have felt out of place. In the end I told him to give himself a tip, and sign for him. I kind of think that might be the best news he heard in a while.

Today was a long day.

My hair is starting to get pretty long. If it weren't for the fact I pull and twirl it non-stop, I think I'd grow it out. I know I'm going to make myself go bald though with all the playing I do to it. It's the worst habit in more ways than one. Mostly because it's a pretty girly habit. Maybe I'll have my stylist, yes, I have a stylist, do some trimming so I can get adjusted to the length a little at a time.

Thanksgiving is coming up. It's gotta be my favorite holiday. I'll save all my favorites of it for a little while so I have more to blog about. For now, I'm just trying to get back into the routine of keeping this blog updated.

Things to look forward to with future blogs (also called a teaser): thoughts on movies coming out soon, Thanksgiving, video games, The Lion King.

Good night and good luck everyone.

I've been just aweful with this whole "blogging" thing.

Geez I think the last couple blogs have all started with... "I should really keep this more updated."

So what's new? I'm still in Dallas. I see my last post was in September so I'm trying to think about what I've done since then.

I finished the Urbanathlon (see http://menshealthurbanathlon.com/). It was actually a lot of fun. I finished about 7-8 minutes off the average pace, which I don't think was too bad. I don't think I'd ever run more than 4 miles at a time before that, and it was a 9 mile race. So considering the running joke (no pun intended) was that I'd have to call my roommates for a ride home, I'm pretty happy with the end result.

I also went to Europe for a few days. I really just decided I needed a change of pace back in September and booked a trip with all of the points I've been earning from traveling non-stop. I was in London for 3 days and Madrid for two days. I had an amazing trip, but decided that I enjoy going on trips with other people. I really enjoyed the freedom of being alone, but it's nice to share the experience with others. That being said though, should the opportunity to travel be presented to myself again, I wouldn't hesitate to go solo again. Photos are on facebook.

My hair is starting to get long(er) again. Since it's Movemeber (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Movember) I think I might have to just shave my head and grow out my beard. I've reached the official 1/2 way point for my project so it could be a nice way to mark it. I'm starting to look for new projects to get scheduled for this coming May so I don't get extended. I'll not go too much into my job though.

So based on my experience with the Triathlon and the Urbanathlon, I need to keep setting goals for myself to keep motivated. When I signed up for those events, I knew I had to work out to perform well and not get hurt. I've been watching The Buried Life on MTV and decided that a good way to keep myself motivated to keep trying new things would be to write down everything I want to do. So far I've been able to cross 3 things out of 27. I'm still constantly adding to the list though. I wrote a piece about this earlier, but I've started expanding my list. I think the next most feasible items are holding a tarantula (I'm terrified of them) and finishing an eating challenge.

Overall the new challenges I've laid out for myself that I'm most excited for are: 7 Continents and 4 Oceans (although I guess now there are 5), and standing on top of a mountain. I've got the mountains narrowed down to Kilimanjaro and Aconcagua. Go big or go home right? I'm dead serious when I say I want to do this, and anyone that wants to join is more than welcome to.

I feel like this blog has turned into a bit of a carousel going around and around to the same topics. It's either revolving around work, what I want to do with my spare time, or me griping about airports. I'll try to work some new topics into the fabric.

The new Harry Potter movie comes out in 2 weeks. I'm very excited for this. I'm glad that I'm vindicated in the fact that back in High School I stated with confidence that Emma Watson (Hermione) would get hot, and she did. I can say this now because she's 20 (thank you Wikipedia). That's not the reason I'm excited for the movie though. I was, and still am a huge fan of the books. I believe I've seen the last three movies at the midnight showing. I've got to keep the tradition alive and watch this one (and the 2nd part when that comes out) at midnight. I'm sure I'll wind up watching it twice so I can see it in IMAX with my roommates. I think my favorite memory of the movies isn't even from the movies.

The fifth movie (Order of the Phoenix) came out after I'd just moved to Chicago. Boomer and myself had moved to the city, but still hadn't started our jobs so we decided what the hell and went to the midnight showing. When we got there I remember seeing a dad pull up in his car with his daughter who must have been 8 or 9. Now you need to realize most of the people at this showing were either kids in High School, college students, and a couple young 20-somethings like myself so this dad actually stood out a little.

Anyway, he got his daughter out of the car, and I vividly remember she was still in her pajamas and wearing a coat over everything. She looked exhausted and the dad actually seemed really excited. I never talked to this father and daughter, but I honestly believe he surprised his daughter in the middle of the night, told her to get her coat, and told her she was going to see Harry Potter before her friends. I also have a vision of the mom not knowing anything about this. Now for all I know, this dad actually just relented and finally got his daughter a ticket after she cried and moaned for hours. I like my version of him surprising her though. It just reminds me of the awesome things my parents used to do for me.

One of my favorite memories as a kid is a weekend I spent with my mom. Both my older brother and I had hockey tournaments at the same time when I first started playing goalie (4th grade, so I was 9). So my dad took my older brother to his away tournament for the weekend with my younger brother and I stayed home with my mom. It wound up seriously being one of the best weekends ever. My mom took me to a hockey game at Clarkson and out to a restaurant called Angleo's for dinner on Friday night. Saturday night we went to Pizza Hut for dinner and then saw Far From Home: The Adventures of Yellow Dog. It's crazy how I remember these details, but I really recall that being one of the closest weekends with my mom.

One of my favorite memories with my dad is this one time he took my older brother and me to a Burger King for no reason. I think he just wanted to treat us to something nice. We got french fries and milk shakes and sat down at one of those tables with the booth seats and the regular seats. We just talked and sat huddled together at this tiny table. It's crazy how you remember those little details about some of those seemingly insignificant moments, but I think those are the moments you cherish the most. Those are also the moments I swear I hope I remember to create when I have a family of my own.

It's really amazing how I can remember some of the most insignificant details about my life, but still not be able to recall the names of sites or locations. I've been fortunate enough to see a lot of this world with my family, but it's always been the stories after I remember the most. It's the ones that make me laugh that I like the most. I think from my vacations the two New Years Stories I have are the best.

Anyway, again, here's another promise to keep the blog more updated. Until next time everyone....

I'm sleepy.....

So I'll just start by saying I've got 'Airplanes' by B.o.B (ft. Haley Williams of Paramore) and 'Do you wanna know?' by Alkaline Trio on repeat. I'm not going to lie to you, I'm bouncing my head like I'm the one recording the song right now.

I honestly wish I had more funny stuff to blog about these days. It's not that funny stuff isn't happening. I'm just not comfortable blogging about a lot of my weekend activities (I drink, Oh my!!) and my weekday activities are pretty routine. I also promised myself to not blog too much about flying/hotels and related activities because it's not as glamorous as it sounds. I remember as a child my dad would go on business trips every month or two months. Usually just 1-2 days, but occasionally he'd be gone a few weeks. I remember he was gone for 2 weeks once to go to Japan, and I thought it was the longest time ever. I couldn't believe someone could be gone for long. Of course, in my mind, I'm thinking about family vacations and how we would see shows, museums, and sites, and thinking my dad was doing all that. As I got older he explained to me about how it's not as great as it sounds. I remember saying, "Well you get out of work at 5pm, there's gotta be things to do, sites to see in the area. "

Now that I'm doing this travel thing every week, it's not the glorious experience I thought it would be. Don't get me wrong, I got a very unique experience to see India for 6 weeks through work and that was amazing. But I'm in Texas every week, and unfortunately, just like Chicago, downtown shuts down at 5pm. Geez, I couldn't even go to the Aquarium this week because it closes at 5pm.

To set the record straight, having points for flights and hotels isn't that cool either. If you don't have points, I want you to close your eyes, picture yourself at the airport, and think of the business men who cut you off in line, give you dirty looks for having a bottle of water, and board the plane first while you wait patiently. Now I want you to think of a word to describe those people. Do you have your word? Was it "douchebag?" Well that's how I would describe most of those people. So everybody, when you hear that I'm traveling non-stop, or if you have another friend who's going to start traveling, don't say, "Ohhh man! You are gonna get so many points! That's going to be awesome!" no. don't do that. By doing that you are encouraging your friend (and myself) to become the douches we don't want to be. The worst part is, now that I'm there, I don't want to go back to what I was. I've tasted the forbidden fruit, and there's no going back. I'm forever unclean, and will remain so.

Anyway, since I have so much time on my hands, I've been watching a lot of MTV. Tonight was "Life of Jenks" and lots of previews for "The Buried Life" The second show makes me wonder about what else I want to do in life. I know I mentioned this a little in my last blog, but I really believe in experiencing as much as I can. So, with a little thought, here is my quick To-Do list.

-Get a tattoo
-Travel alone (doing this in 4 weeks, so it shouldn't really be on the list)
-Sing alone at karaoke (I think alcohol will have to be involved)
-Create something I'm truly proud of*
-Really see something through another person's eyes.
-Get back (or at least close) to my weight freshman year of college

*I actually used to be quite the artist. Back in High School i always took art classes as my electives, and while it might upset my parents, I made a conscious decision my senior year of high school that since I was so busy I had to choose between 2 of 3 AP/Honor classes. I chose AP Art and Pre-Calc over AP Chemistry. I still tried in Chemistry, but the majority of my efforts were devoted to the other classes. I had to work very hard at Pre-Calc because it did not come easy to me, and also create 40 pieces of art to choose from in one year (most people accomplish this in two year, and also choose from other pieces in their portfolio) and then break down my works to describe what was happening in each. I actually remember that in my theme project (multiple painting tied together) I made paintings that depicted my life w/ a joker mask representing me. After the third one, my mom asked, "When will you do something besides those masks?" I was actually sick of doing them too, but I had to create at least 4. I know some of you might think, "how hard is it to draw 40 pictures?" it's hard. I'm actually fortunate I got to see both sides of college work spectrum. Cramming hours for a test to get a good grade, and staying up until 4am drawing alone in a drafty room trying to get the shading right for a piece.

Art was a huge part of my life when I was younger. I used to just sketch for the fun of it, and put my thoughts visually on paper. I never was great at creating my own designs (like cartoons, or fictional pieces) but I could always draw what I could see. When I got to college, I was very seriously considering art as a major before getting discouraged from it (from a guidance counselor no less).

The point is, and I know I'm rambling, that I never really had to try to make much of my art. That sounds bad, but if you've ever met someone who is naturally good at playing sports, or just naturally has a beautiful voice, that's kind of how I was with art. I know it sounds like I'm bragging, but please let me preface that I started at drawing stick figures of my friends and making my parents drop off these drawings at my friends houses. How my parents tolerated me sometimes, I will never know. They say that at 10,000 hours you become a master of something. I wouldn't say I've completed 10,000 hours of art, but I easily have accumulated 5,000 at least. I did so much art in a 3-4 year time span, I think I just burnt myself out. Maybe I lose some secret muse, or maybe I just got tired. There could be any of a multitude of reasons I stopped, but I've not made a complete pieces in years.

Anyway though, I can only really think of one piece that I really put my heart into. That piece is currently in a state of shambles because a combination of sunlight and shotty materials faded the paint. I can think of pieces that I'm proud of. Pieces that make me smile. Pieces that I honestly believe are more talented, detailed, and accomplished than some I've seen created by students in my former classes. But besides one piece that now lays in ruins that I'm trying to repair (I've not looked at it for months to be honest), I can't think of a single work that I'd be willing to trade my hands for because they won't create anything that comes close to it. Or a piece that I'd be willing to go into a fire for to save because it's that important to me. That's what I want to create.

Wait......did you hear that? I'm switching gears. Fantasy football is upon us. I'm tired so I'll blog more about it later. It's safe to say though that I do the following....

-Talk about my team like I'm a real GM. Examples:
- Boy I wish Aaron Rogers has a great game, I can really use his help.
- Can you believe {insert opposing player}?!?! He put up 40pts against me! What an asshole! I can't believe what a dick that person is. Completely ruined my week.
- Can you please {insert my own player}?!?!?! He put up 40 pts to save me! Ohhh man I love him. I drafted him in the 7th round, did I tell you that?

-Incessantly watch games on Sundays. Actually not even the games, I watch the stat-tracker on Yahoo!

-Stress over my lineups to make sure I get the optimal performance from my team(s).

Until we meet again world, I leave you with this,

"Now it's up to me to wait, I need you to reciprocate..."

I wanted to destroy something beautiful....

Well here it goes again. It's time for me to see how long I can blog and retain a cohesive theme, thought, stream of words together until either you the reader, or myself the writer get bored and stop. But first, some updates.

I finished the Chicago Sprint Triathlon 2 weeks ago with a time of 1:47:30. Next year I do the full thing, and enter the 'Clydesdale' division. I know I'm capable of more, and it's high time I push myself to that (more on that later).

I'm still in Dallas.

High Fructose Corn Syrup won the food challenge and $75 is going to Sweet Tea's choice of Charity. No, this cannot sponsor your weekend drinking. Honorable mention goes to Taco Bell. I NEVER eat Taco Bell, but twice during the challenge I was tempted into her delicious arms, nuzzled up to a quesadilla and tacos.

I've joined the countless others on Match.com to see who else is out there (find me single ladies)

My car has been broken into for the second time. I'd blog more about this, but I'll leave it at the fact that I'm pissed (this is the 2nd time), and I'm ready for the war on drugs to go after users and not the suppliers, because without users, there would be no demand, and with no demand, there should be no supply. Simple economics, Congress, see if you can figure that out with your one-sided, my way or the highway simple minded, don't own a passport bullshit.

Seriously, did you know a good percentage of Congress doesn't own a passport? That means that members in charge of our government haven't even been to Canada. Why is this a big deal? Don't assume we are the greatest country (and in my experience, we are) until you've got some facts from other countries to back it up first hand.

WOOH! That got heated pretty quickly.

So the title of this blog....it's a quote from the book Fight Club. What? Fight Club was a book? Yes, Fight Club is a book, and a movie was based on it. The quote is meant to be a form of anarchy. Basically, destroying something (in the case of the novel, the Mona Lisa) for the sake of doing it, and to gain attention. There are further questions asked within the context of the quote, such as, "Which is worse? Hell, or nothing?" An interesting question if you were to really sit down and think about it. Would it better to have loved and lost? or never to have known love at all, would also go along with this.

So for the record, I am not going to start Project Mayhem, or my own Fight Club. I admit, I have a growing interest in boxing, but I think I have too much of a glass jaw to seriously consider getting into the sport. The work ethic behind it seems like something I could learn to aspire to. From the quote though, I have been trying to get myself more active, not only physically but also mentally in my free time. I'm trying to be more constructive with my time, reading (currently I have 2 books with a 3rd in reserve going), and painting. As far as destroying something 'beautiful', I am really thinking about painting over (destroying) some of my previous works. I have a few paintings I've held onto since college, and I'm getting to a point with them, that I just don't feel a connection to them. I'm very proud of several of my works, but a few I look at them now, and just see something I'm not proud of.

This whole thought process of destroying something and starting over, really does intrigue me. I think part of why I've been experimenting with new things, and trying to be more outgoing is me just trying to do something more than what I normally do and break out of myself. I'm a big person on saying, "lets do this!" and then never doing anything. Skydiving has been that for me for the longest time. Thankfully, I got out of my apartment and finally did it last month (geez it's been a month already). Tattoos are next (2 weeks hopefully) and then, I don't know what's after that.

I've just felt tired lately. Maybe I'm stir crazy, or maybe being in Dallas 4 days a week and interacting with my computer almost non-stop is starting to get to me, but I've just been wanting a change. I should consider myself lucky I guess, most people get to a mid-life crisis at 40, myself at 25, I'm blowing the lid off on it.

Switching gears, the Triathlon was awesome. I almost drowned during the swim portion, and the bike section went much slower for me than I expected, but I still loved it. Now that I have one out of the way, I know what to expect. I learned one thing from this whole training, competing experience: I need to push myself harder. There is so much more I can be capable of. There's greatness in me (and everyone for that matter), it's just a matter of tapping into it and refining it. I ran the 5k portion of the race with a 9:55 pace, after an exhausting swim, and hilly bike ride. I started off my training at that pace. Imagine what I could be capable of if I pushed myself harder in training? If I knew exactly how my body would react to each transition, and if I tested my limits each and every week. I think we just scratch the surface of what we all can do, so I'm determined that while training for the next race, I'm going to push myself as much as I can do bring out the best of me.

And.......next topic. I went to South Bend this past weekend and enjoyed the Opening Game between Notre Dame and Purdue. It was a great weekend I must say. Notre Dame won (I'm now 4-0 in games I attend) and I got to hang out with friends and my brother throughout the whole thing. Don't think I can ask for more.

I did learn from the weekend that I need to start to separate people I know, with people I've just met as far as vocal filters go. While getting a ride from someone, I commented (in my sarcastic manner, so this person has a right to be upset) that maybe they should pay attention to the road and not the person in the seat next to them. Yea, that comment got me ditched at the bar we went to along w/ my buddy. I think she was more salty in the fact that I was paying attention with conversations and answered her questions when she decided it was "Quiz Time" at the bar. Ladies who want to take advantage of me in the future, 2 beers won't get me drunk. That just gets the party started :)

All right folks, I'm going to book my vacation, then watch a little tv and go to bed. Please feel free to keep in touch.

I suck at this

I've been really bad about keeping this blog updated. I'll make this another quick on before I go to bed.

First things first, congratulations to Sweet Tea for picking: HIGH FRUCTOSE CORN SYRUP. He has won the bet. $75 to his charity. I lost 2 more lbs. Hats off to those who picked cheeseburgers and taco bell as well. I wound up eating those two times each. Usually I don't eat them that often.

The triathlon was completed this past weekend. 1 hour, 47 minutes and 35 seconds is what it took for me to complete it. That put me at around the 50th percentile. I have aspirations to improve this time greatly. The current debate is that I am riding the post race high, and really am thinking about doing the Dallas Triathlon. Basically I need to improve my swim and biking times. I'm hoping this can be my new thing, and I'm honestly looking forward to staying in shape so I can do more.

There's a lot I want to say, but I'm honestly too tired. I'm going to bed, until we meet again.

Some Updates

I'm making this blog instead of working, so don't be surprised if it's a little more brief than usual. I just want to give some updates on what's happened the last week and a half, and update everyone on the charity drive.

Last week I went to a shooting range in Dallas. You know what? Guns are cool. They are scary, but pretty cool. To quote Seth Rogan, it really is like having a second dick. I shot an HK 9mm. The only thing that really scares me is the fact that for someone having no experience with weaponry outside of my XBox, I was given a 10 minute lesson on guns, then told to go have fun. Seriously. Literally it was, clip, load, slide release, safety, shoot. That's it. I paid $40, then got my gun, bullets, goggles and glasses. Overall though, it was pretty awesome to shoot. I chose a target that looked like a zombie. It's pretty safe to say that if zombies do exist, I'll take out a few w/ a 9mm.

After that, the most exciting news is that Nigerian hackers broke into my Gmail account and spammed everyone I know. 2 things upset me about this. 1.) I lost all of my contacts. I have to basically start over with email addresses. 2.) the thought process of some people I know.

While I appreciate the love I got from people texting me and making sure I was alive, since it is pretty probable I would be in London, and even get mugged (the angle the hackers used). What gets me is that fact people didn't fully digest the email. People I unfortunately haven't talked to in months/years got the email and thought I could be in real trouble. No offense folks, but if we haven't talked in months, the chances of me hitting you up for money are pretty slim. On top of that, London, UK isn't exactly the middle of nowhere. If I have access to the internet, then there's a good chance I can get in touch with my bank, explain the situation, and get some kind of short term loan, or new credit card. If that's not an option, then I can contact my parents. If that's not an option, I'll reach out to my current roommates. After that, after I've exhausted all other logical possibilities for some quick cash, then MAYBE I'll reach out to some people I've been in less contact with. I'd have to be pretty desperate to do so though.

Anyway I could go more into how bad of a scam it was, but alas, "with tears in my eyes" I must continue.

Here's the update for the weight-loss charity drive. As it turns out, the weekends and lunch time are where I screw myself over the most. Either because I'm wasted, or because I want a quick lunch and unhealthy food meets the mark. So after a week and a 1/2 here it goes.....

Cheeseburgers $1
Milk/Cheese (I'm not including skim milk) $4 (1 quesadilla, and pizza)
Taco Bell $1
Fried Food $4 (mostly french fries)
High Fructose Corn Syrup. this is an interesting one since I figured Coke was the only thing. Unfortunately for me my roommates decided more research was required. Ketchup and Caesar Salad dressing also come up with this. I have to re-think the whole thing now. $6
Smirnoff Ice $0 (thank God)
Alcohol $8.50

That puts the total to $24.50. No weight loss as of today, so I need to work a little harder on this. Keep in touch everyone, and remember to change your passwords.

Account Was Hacked

My Gmail was hacked this morning. Don't respond or send money.

Trying something new

Ok everyone, this isn't really going to be a long post, but I had an idea. Those of you who followed this blog from the beginning may remember that during Lent, I said that I was going to donate money for every soda and beer I consumed during the 40 days. When it was all said and done, $150 will be going to 'Hockey Fights Cancer.' My dad had cancer several months ago (it's gone now) and after playing hockey all my life, I feel like this is a great organization to give to.

So, what now then? Well, with 5 weeks to go before my triathlon, I would still like to lose more weight. Currently I am fluctuating around 237 (which is about 5lbs for me). Here's my pledge: I want everyone who reads this blog to choose a food or a item that I cannot consume in the next 5 weeks. Every time I break down and eat one of those foods, it will be $1 to charity. All alcohol will be $0.25. For every pound I lose, it will be $10 to charity. Whoever chooses the food that I break down and eat the most, I will cut a check for whatever the total is to a charity of your choice.

Please, let's keep the food to junk food, things high in sugar, high in fat, etc. I will accept food places as well, for example "Sarpino's" or "Mr. Gyro's" however, be aware you'd be better off just saying pizza, or cheese steaks. I will maintain my current workout schedule (3-5 times a week) and nothing else will fluctuate. I will do a final weigh in the weekend of the triathlon. I'll be on the honor system, and keep track on the blog.

Thanks everyone!

So I'm actually making a post within a month of the last one. Who's excited? All 10 of you I'm sure :)

I'm taking advantage of the fact that I receive per diem on my trips down here to Dallas. Every once in a while I get to treat myself to a fine meal that is overpriced, but makes up for the salads I normally eat. Tonight I had my second experience at Tom Colicchio's 'CRAFT.'

On this excursion I had a Wagyu Skirt streak with sweet corn, and for desert a chocolate bread pudding with cherries jubilee and vanilla ice cream. Let's start with the steak. The meat was well cooked (medium), very tender, and was truly a great cut of meat. Unfortunately, the meat was served a little cold and the sauce that accompanied the dish wasn't my favorite. I should stress that neither of these factors was enough to make me not finish the whole dish, so obviously it wasn't that bad. Again, for the second meal in a row, I felt that the side dishes really shined. The sweet corn was magnificent. I want to say some thyme and other spices were added, but it was a great compliment to the meal.

With desert, I was expecting some kind of soaked bread in chocolate, but instead was met with a sponge of chocolate bread (almost cake) that melted in my mouth and with the touch of cherries that was added, really thought I was in eating cake. Overall the meal gets a 3.5/5, mostly brought down by my meal being served slightly cold. I can't say I blame the chef or staff though as they had to time a lamb dish and my steak, which I'm sure through them off a bit.

Enough about the meal though. This past weekend my older brother, his fiance', one of my cousins and his wife all came in from NYC to Chicago for the weekend. A few bumps met them along the way here, but once they arrived I had an amazing time with them. They caught the Cubs game Saturday (unfortunately the only loss in a 4 game home-stand against the Phillies) and then sampled the local Goose Island Brews. Our waitress wound up being one of the most knowledgeable people on beer and was quick to give us all a recommendation on what to try based on what we had already consumed. Unfortunately for me, when I said, "I would love a surprise." she greeted me with a Bomber of "Demolition" which, while tasty, set me up for a constant state of being buzzed for the remainder of the night. \

After Goose Island I met up with a friend for her a BBQ she was hosting. I played some corn-hold with some folks and was quickly eliminated in my first game. It can be such a frustrating game when you get matched shot for shot each game, then make an error that gets capitalized on. But, that's how the breaks of the game go.

It was actually funny, but I now have a large scar on my shin, caused by a mishap in my training for the triathlon. So while at this party, the scab opened up a little due to drinking, and I got to answer what happened to me about every 10 minutes. I really love it when someone who's had one too many asks you a question you've answered several times already. In those situations, I feel like you have three responses.

1.) Give your truthful answer, be patient and just deal with it. After all, I chose to wear shorts during a 90 degree day in Chicago.
2.) Provide a large outburst about how I'd already answered several times already
3.) Make up a story.

My personal favorite is number three. Every once in a while you get someone just gullible enough to believe whatever I say and it makes for a good laugh.

Anyway, back to center Hanging out at the BBQ made me remember how important it is for me to take advantage of being home when I am to see everyone. I feel like I've been losing touch with people, and it's actually very important for me to make sure I don't lose all of the connections I've made over the years. It also reaffirmed for me that summer is quickly fading, and that I need to take advantage of every single day I'm not in Texas.

To wrap up tonight's post, shout out to Hamster. His birthday is this Wednesday. There will be a party Saturday for all who want to partake. Come join and be merry.

Good night!

Sad Sad

Well I'm sorry to say that this is my first blog in over a month. I've just fallen out of the habit of writing on a nightly/weekly basis. It might be that I feel like I have nothing to talk about, or just a lack of motivation due to my new job (still at the same company I was).

I'll start with some random tid-bits and factoids, and then proceed to my regular posts. Currently, my favorite song is "From now on we are enemies" by Fall Out Boy; hopefully the link works. In addition to my daily work outs....I'll let that sit in again, yes, daily work outs I am not experimenting with eating totally healthy. My dinner is on the way, salad, grilled chicken, dressing on side, skim milk and side of fruit. Honestly I think it sounds horribly boring. You might be able to guess that this whole attempt to eat healthy (despite the fact I ate Mr. Gyro's this weekend) is because I am still training for my triathlon. It's a little over 7 weeks away now. I think my goal of 1 Hour 30 Minutes is looking attainable. What's funny is it looks like my 2 weaker events, the run and the swim, will be where I make up time. It's taking me about 32 minutes to bike 20k. That's with a small warm up, and my last meal hours beforehand. I'm hoping with proper warm up, adrenalin and a good meal I can be even faster. Anyway, enough about that stuff.

In case you all forgot, I'm currently staffed in Dallas, TX. Overall, it's really not too bad. The biggest hassle is getting into a routine of it. I have developed some wonderful travel habits because of it. Rather than have a string of posts that involve my travel experiences, I'll do one large post to chronicle my adventures, and hopefully leave it at that, but I'm sure new events will pop up.

-To the family of 20 traveling together on the same flight: I think it's a wonderful thing you are all getting together. Really. I just want to drop some knowledge on you. When it's Thursday at 5:30pm, and you see 100 people with roller-boards getting on the same flight as you are, that is going to mean you have 100 people desperate to get home after being gone for a week who want to get back to family and friends. Most of us are experienced travelers (i.e. we know to take off our shoes at the security check in) and will get annoyed quickly by your ignorance and lack of worship. That being said, do not take the boarding time as an opportunity to continue conversations you could have had in the terminal. Please take your seat, sit down, shut up and get ready for a 2 hour flight. The aisles are generally for one way traffic, so you walking 10 rows up to say hello to your mother-in-law is not acceptable. I blame the 20 of you for making a 30 minute process take 45 minutes and causing us to be delayed by weather.

-The airline industry has turned into a caste system: There are those with varying levels of status (usually varying by some sort of metal or words like, "Exclusive" or "Executive"). These people (myself included) look down on the rest of the travelers around us. We can conduct the security check in like an orchestra, each piece of our travel-wear seamlessly removed and replaced without a moments hesitation culminating in a magnificent crescendo when we execute a laptop-to-bag||shoes on feet||one-handed belt back on pants without missing a beat. It's truly a spectacle to behold.

We can recognize which "upper class" tier each other belong to by the quality of dress, the type a breakfast being consumed (the highest usually bring their own herbal blend of teas or fancy coffees because Starbucks is so 2 years ago) but mostly it's in the salty looks thrown about. Next time you fly, find the saltiest person you can find, glaring at weaker travelers like a hawk. Odds are they have the most status, and are bottling up their anger at how these minions will ruin the flight. The upper-echelon people will also arrive to the airport solo, but will run into other uber-elite and being small talk to secure loose allegiances should the lower folk up-rise. Much like a game of asshole, everything flows downward, however, there is always that hope of climbing up the ladder.

Then there are those who have traveled in the last 5 years and know how the system works, but have yet to achieve true status. These are the middle-class of the travel system. These people will sometimes arrive together in smaller groups, but can also be found alone. They know the routines ("You mean cell phones CAN'T go through the metal detector?!?!") but are casual enough about the whole process to take their time and just enjoy the fact they are leaving wherever they are coming from. These folks are prone to simple mistakes like forgetting the 3oz. rule, or wearing too much jewelry, but make up for these mistakes by keeping to themselves and not making a scene.

Below them are the inexperienced travelers. These people will set off the metal detector several times before realizing they have a belt on, or will look at the security guard with sheer disbelief that shoes must be removed. They are also the people who will take 20 minutes at the self-help kiosk, call over someone for help, and then realize they aren't even in the correct terminal. With a preference to just go to the desk and have someone physically print out a ticket for them, arrive in a Hawaiian shirt even though they aren't going on vacation, the upper classes can't help but feel pity for these people sometimes. Occasionally a middle-class or bottom of the upper class will offer a sympathetic hand to these travelers, getting them through the confounded new technology, or pointing the way to the tram to the next terminal.

Finally, we have the bottom of the traveler caste system. Families with children. These travelers are frowned upon by all who see them. Carrying no less then 5 carry-ons for a mother, father, and anywhere from 1-3 children, plus the kids backpacks makes even the most battle-hardened road warrior cringe. Strollers in tow, these peons delay security with a frantic attempt to fold a horribly designed mode of transportation, walk 3-5 wide blocking the isles, and take up no less than 1 row of seats at the gate to accommodate their damn kids. Sometimes, an upper-echelon father (or mother) can be seen desperately trying to ferry his family through this labrynth of delays, and high tempers. You can see the sweat on their face, worried one of their allies will catch them in the act of transporting these refuges to safety.

The contempt all travelers have for these people....I wish I could convey it in words. Teenagers should be subjected to hours of sitting on a plane to the sound of a crying baby to be used as a tool against teen-sex. 20 minutes of that god forsaken noise in an air-tight compartment with no hope for escape can crack better people.

That was longer than I thought, I wish I had more time to give true justice to each traveler, but alas there isn't enough time.

-Most of my other rants involve carry-on bags, the weather, and overweight people, but just go by the idea that if you don't want someone to do it to you, you shouldn't do it either.

While on this project, I've actually eaten a lot of Indian food. I'm still not quite used to the spice, but I really have a new affinity for the genre after my experiences that started this blog. I had Malai Kofta the other night, and it was truly delicious. That and Biryani are going to be my 2 new stand bys.

Several weeks ago my roommate Sweet-Tea got "Settlers of Catan" for a birthday present. We've played twice so far and I am hooked. It's a well balanced game that's easy to learn, yet difficult to master. I personally would like to play the expansion edition, as I feel the current format (which lasts about 30-45 minutes) is a little too fast, and doesn't allow for enough wheeling and dealing to see who is truly the best settler. Just my opinion though, although if the game is good enough to win "Game of the Year" then it's good enough for me.

Sweet Tea also got me turned onto a book I purchased today called "Soccernomics." I would say it's a cross of "Money Ball" and "Freakanomics." It truly is amazing what we can learn from data and information. This book makes me want to go back to school for the sole purpose of doing more with statistics.

All right everyone, that's been quite enough blogging for one night. I don't want to over due it. In the spirit of giving the customer what they want, feel free to leave comments and let me know what you like, and don't like about the blog. Let me know what you want me to blog about, or stop blogging about. I always like input on this subject.

Until next time....

Spandex

So I bought some of my tri gear this weekend. I got the shorts, the top, a racing belt (to save time in transitions) and some new goggles because I already lost my last pair. All I have to say is this, to the girls who rock out spandex on a regular basis, whether its leggings to the bar, or the tight pants and sports bra to the gym, be proud of yourselves. I look like a hot mess in my little spandex outfit. Seriously, unless my junk gets to Bryant girth and gets an extra 1-2 inches, there are going to be some very disapointed ladies at the finish line. And that's just my junk, I've got some small tight ass shorts that will be showing off my giant ass legs, and a near skin-tight top that is stretched trying to cover up my spare tire. If nothing else, it's a hoot to look at. The secondary goal of this whole experience is to look good (relatively speaking) in spandex by the end of it.

As far as training goes, I'm debating doing a little bit of a Pavlov's dog experiment on myself. It's usually pretty hard to motivate myself to workout. I figure I need some kind of treat at the end of each work out. I'm toying around the idea of......helping myself out; doing my "taxes"; talking with "Jill"....well you get the idea. Don't really know it's the best approach though. Thoughts?

Boomer is making his way across the pond in less than 1 week to watch the World Cup in South Africa. I would like to take this moment to wish him safe travels, and to have a kick ass time while there. Bring me back a Springbok's jersey.

That's all for now. We've got a big game Wednesday in hockey, GO HAWKS!

I've been waiting for this

So yea, not a lot of blog posts lately I know. Whatever, forget about it, it's over. Anyway!

I am now 25. Solid birthday weekend with the family, drank some brews, called Evgeni Malkin (rather someone I met did), and beat a girl in a chugging contest. All in all, not too shabby.

So as some of you know, I am in Dallas for a project for work. It's not that bad. Monday's are rough because I'm up at 3:30, and working kinda late, but other than that, it could be much worse. The team I'm on is really cool, and the work seems pretty interesting.

This weekend, at my hotel, ANIME CON is here. For those of you who don't know, Anime Con is a convention for.....you guessed it, Anime. It is such a crazy site. I've seen someone dressed as 'Dan' from Street Fighter - despite the awesome name, seriously one of the WORST characters in the game, 'Max' from Where the Wild Things Are, an array of elves and a dude dressed as some kind of chick. It is so crazy.

A little piece of me is hoping 3-4 girls, each with different color hair, huge boobs, and a tendency to be "yea" girls start making out at the bar and going down on each other. Touching each others bodies, sloppy make outs.... wait....is that the wrong kind of anime? or am I spot on?

I've been training for my triathlon pretty frequently now. Without going into details I've been pleasantly surprised as how much better shape I am in than I was 6 months ago when I joined a gym and actually started going. The long and the short of it is, that individually, it is feasible for me to meet my 30min goals for each section. The trick will be to string that effort together.

That's it for now, I'm going to get some expenses, and flights booked for the next few weeks. Take it easy everyone!

Finally, a real new post.

All right, so I've finally gotten some time to write in the blog again. I'm sitting in my hotel room right now, just relaxing after a good work out. I signed up for a Sprint Triathlon a few weeks back and have slowly been working out more and more to get ready for it. Today was the first "official" day of training. It's actually the first time I've felt great after a work out. I'm starting to get pretty excited about this whole event.

Last Sunday the Big M.A.C.C.s , the Miami Alumni broomball team I'm on won the "B" Championship. It was pretty damn exciting. We won 1-0 in Triple Overtime. We were pretty much dominated the whole game and just pulled through at the end. It was exciting to be a part of it.

I honestly would like to blog more, but it's 8pm, and I haven't eaten dinner yet, and need to get back to work unfortunately. Come back for more.

It's been a while

Yea it's been a while since I've posted. I'm going to make an effort to make a real post soon.