Awesome...

Just watched the beginning of game 3 of the Stanley Cup Finals between Carolina and Edmonton. The game is in Edmonton and during the national anthems, the crowd was actually singing the United States national anthem. What was even really cool was halfway through the Canadian national anthem, the guy who sang the anthem stopped and just let the crowd sing the rest of it. Pretty awesome, and much respect to the Edmonton fans. I'm always ehhh when it comes to hockey and Canada, but that was really cool of them to even sing the American national anthem and then go all out with their own. I remembered one time it was either in Toronto or Vancouver where they booed the American national anthem once. That kinda ticked me off cuz that was disrespectful.

Up to now, I'm not sure who to cheer for. I sorta want Edmonton to win just because they're the first 8th seed to ever make the Finals. But they were sorta the rivals of the Kings during the whole Gretzky era. And I also wouldn't mind seeing Carolina win just because its one of them cities in the US that doesn't really favor hockey as much as Northern cities and Canadian cities do. If they win, hopefully it'll just spread a lil more awareness of the sport in the States.

Dodgers are finally in 1st place by themselves (but for how long??)! US lost to the Czechs in World Cup play (boo!)

Didn't do much this weekend except go to the Fundue party at Cicely and Belle's, witnessed a freakin suv smash itself into the wall on the 5 freeway on the way home, and clean our room and apartment. Oh yeah, and finished season 2 of Entourage...again.

The scene: A Tavola Ferranelli Restaurant, Dana Point, CA

6:45pm: Enjoying my first Jack and Coke
7:00pm: Enjoying my second Jack and Coke
7:30pm: Eating Caesar Salad
8:00pm: Devouring my medium rare Filet Mignon
9:30pm: Eating a 3 sampler dessert plate of Tiramisu, Cheesecake, and something else.
11:00pm: leave for Irvine

12:30am: In bed trying to sleep...starting to feel really nauseous
3:00am: Ran to the bathroom and threw up everything I ate for dinner.
3:05am: More yacking.
5:30am: More yacking.
8:00am: Emailed I wasn't coming in to work because of Food Poisoning.

THIS FREAKIN BLOWS!! Of all days, I get a free Filet Mignon, the best ever and I yack it all up! I think it was my leftovers from lunch. Oh man, I hope this doesn't develop to more sickness! Time to lay down again. Entourage Season 2 would've really helped right now.

This was the first weekend in awhile that I had nothing really planned, which was actually good. Getting short on fundage and also been tired from all the traveling...San Diego, Mammoth, Vegas, etc. So it was good to just relax a lil.

Saturday, Karen got her new ride and it looks oh so beautiful. Just a lil worried cuz its her first big investment so I hope she'll be okay with money. I wont spoil the story so just check her blog out once she posts. Dude...it was scorching that day! We were mostly indoors at the Rancho Santa Margarita dealership so it was nice to take advantage of the AC, but outside was ehhh! But congrats on your new purchase Karen!

Sunday, Karen and I took a spontaneous trip to the Pantages to see Hairspray. Honestly, I think its become one of my favorite musicals...the music is cool, dancing is pretty nice, and the story is non-stop entertaining. It sucks, it doesn't have the credentials like Phantom or Les Miz, but I highly recommend it. This was my second time watching it and I think it was the most fun. It had a lot of energy and I guess being surrounded by an L.A. crowd, just made it so much fun. Watching it in Orange County, you don't get the loud cheers, the loud laughs, etc, during the show or after a song. This time around, they were into it, so it made the show that much better. And plus, they were making a lot of L.A. references, like this one dude got chicken and waffles from Roscoe's, even though the setting is in the 60's in Baltimore. It's playing at the Luxor in Vegas, so maybe I'll check it out sometime. Highly recommend.

Anyhow, I'm stuffed and have food coma. Just got back from God-brother's engagment dinner in Dana Point (who is also my sister's husbands younger brother). It's crazy cuz the bride is the 5th child or 11 children! Freakin crazy, and they were all so outgoing and friendly. The menu...oh man...a choice of filet mignon with ravioli and lobster sauce, sea bass, or filet mignon. I chose the filet...I mean heck it was free anyway (along with the cocktails before dinner)! But I had a lot of fun, got to meet my new people, and possibly some future relatives. Dude! I'm gonna have white relatives!! Not that its bad or anything, but dude, I'd never imagine!! At least we wont be that blood related....imagine shopping for 11 kids for Christmas?? oh man, that's too much for me. My sister has 4, working on 5, and that's already too much!! Sheesh, props to white people with big families!

Big day tomorrow...Entourage Season 2 on DVD!

So yesterday at work, I took these pictures of the new Renee & Henry Segerstrom Concert Hall during our tour, and now our Public Relations Director wants to use them for our Revue magazine, which is our quarterly calendar magazine we mail out to our patrons. Yeah, I know they're not the greatest, and I don't know how much truth is behind this, but man, that would be totally cool! He told me I'd get recognition/credit for the photo(s). How freakin awesome that would be! I just hope he's referring to the exterior photos, cuz a lot of the indoor photo's are blurry.

Thanks Jon for letting me borrow the lens! I'm for sure gonna buy one soon!

Wow!! What a weekend!!

It couldn't have started off better after receiving a phone call Saturday morning on the way to Vegas. At first, I looked at my caller ID and split second thoughts ran through my head, which included...

"Why are you calling me this early in the morning?"
"Aren't you suppose to be sleeping somewhere in San Diego next to your girlfriend. You must be gay, dude."
"Are you lost? Because you have 784640340769 navigation systems in your car."
"Are you calling me for the Dodger score or any sports score?"

Anyhow, after hearing the news, I couldn't be more happier!!! Congrats to both of you. You guys are the perfect match for each other. And I totally lost my bet with Karen cuz I thought this other couple was going to get engaged first, no offense or anything. Boy, I was wrong, and Karen was right. Luckily money wasn't involved.

But seriously...the news had already made the weekend awesome! And we weren't even in Vegas yet! Congrats again. I love both of you.

Anyhow, Vegas was nice and chill. Started drinking early once we got to Stateline. Drinks were so cheap there too! A lot of people were at Vegas, which meant tables were full, so I didn't gamble. Plus I only brought $40 on me cuz my old ass forgot to go to the bank the night before. Oh well, kept me from gambling and possibly losing more money. But I figured I'm going back in a month, I can gamble then. Checked out Avenue Q and man was it hilarious!! I was laughing so hard at times it hurt!!

We also, grubbed at the Aladdin for dinner and at Gold Coast for Sunday brunch (dude, its so good at Gold Coast!! Not bad for a $13 brunch!). Checked out the Shark Reef again for Mr. XT, but freakin pictures came out too blurry. Also did some shopping at the outlets, which I didn't buy anything. Only stayed for a night, but had a lot of fun and we were able to avoid the Monday traffic. It was possibly the least expensive trip ever to Vegas, yet we had a blast. Can't wait for next month again!

Monday, slept in, went to a couple of car dealerships with Karen and had a bbq here. Thanks Joe and Cat for bbqing!

Okay, time to start shopping for a new lens. Oh yeah!!

I KNOW HER!! I KNOW HER!!!

Sorry Belle, gotta spread the love!!

BELLE IS FAMOUS ARTICLE

Pictures from Sea World & San Diego

Ahhh....what a dope week! Checked out Stomp at the Pantages this past Wednesday with some good friends. As before, such an awesome show. Different cast, but just as talented, and maybe even better. Too bad it wasn't as packed as expected. That show is freakin awesome.

This past weekend was spent at Mammoth for one last snowboarding trip of the season (or is it??....dun dun dun!!) Snow was nice, a lil icy at first but pretty smooth during the afternoon. This was probably one of the chillest and maybe the best trip ever at Mammoth. I dunno why, maybe it was a combination going with a smaller crowd, not a lot of people at the slopes (literally just walk on the lifts), the weather, the food, our location, etc. Ankle was hurting a bit at first, but that was just cuz of my brace I wore. I switched braces during lunch. But after that, we went on a tear on runs, probably did at least 10 runs easily. Later that night, had a nice meal of spaghetti (thanks to Jay and the others that helped out), and watched Remember the Titans on T.V. ("What is pain??? French Bread!!!")

Had an opportunity to board again on Sunday, but stupid rain/snow/wind had to roll in overnight. Oh well, had a blast regardless. No pictures, but hopefully Keno and Cicely will post some soon.

Other highlights of the week...Dodgers swept the Angels (destroying them 31-7 total runs scored), the Oilers are beating the Ducks 2-0, eating a pastrami sandwich and wet fries from The Hat, discovering Super Bomberman and laughing until it hurts after Mammoth for two hours, and the Kings hiring Marc Crawford as their coach.

Lowlights of the week: work, getting sick, watching Barbaro break three bones in his legs (I don't watch horseracing, but love animals. Seeing that horse in pain during the Preakness really made me sad), and finding out a personal unwanted guest coming to my apartment while I was at Mammoth. Oh well what can you do.

Another weekend of fun this week...hitting up Vego and watching Avenue Q. Time to grub at the Aladdin buffet, laugh ourselves till we hurt, then consuming mass amounts of alcohol. Oh yeah!

I didn't realize until this weekend how much fun San Diego can be. Usually, I'm there just to visit family, but sight seeing-wise its freakin awesome. Friday, Karen and I celebrated her birthday first at Sea World. Although the weather wasn't great, mostly gloomy all day, it was really cool. We didn't hit up any of the rides cuz we were there mostly to see the animals. Damn, sea lions are fuckin mean ass animals. You think they're all cute, especially watching the sea lion show, but then you walk across the way where you can feed those bastards, and they can be the meanest sons a bitches ever. There was one that got all jealous and started yelling at one cuz he was being fed. Like little kids or something fighting over candy. Everything else was cool...Shamu, Dolphis, Manatees, Sharks. It was funny cuz we went to the dolphin exhibit, where Karen, me, and this family of 3 got fuckin drenched by a dolphin that swam by. Karen and I didn't get it that bad, but dude, the little kid, probably like 7 years old, got it real bad! He started crying real loud and said, "I got some in my mouth!!" Haha!! It was hilarious!!

Afterwards, we checked in at our hotel at the Westin which is such a dope place because its within walking distance to everything. Later that night, we went to eat at Ra Sushi, drank, then headed back to the hotel. Saturday was a beautiful sunny day, so we visited Balboa Park and went into a couple of museums, drove down to Coronado Island where we walked along the beach, went window shopping, and also had a nice romantic dinner outside along the beach and watched the sun set and the downtown lights turn on. It was awesome! Later that night, I remembered I forgot my dress shoes in irvine, so we just walked around, then ended up at Ra again and drank and ate more food. Yummy! Sunday, walked around next door at Horton Plaza, left for San Clemente to visit her family, then had dinner with Karen's family for Mother's day.

Pretty busy weekend, but I had a blast celebrating Karen's birthday. Happy Birthday again!

Oh yeah, I got to play around with my new dSLR. I'll post some pictures later. I took almost 500 shots so I have to edit some of them out before I post em up.

I had my final physical therapy session today and it went well. There's not much the therapist can do anymore so its all on me. Overall, the ankle feels good, I've been doing some light runs. It doesn't feel the same still, and I dunno if it will ever be. But I'm just glad I can do simple things like walking.

Hmmmm....another free concert that might be on the horizon....check it out.

I might have to dig out my Cross Colors shirt and my Air Jordan IV's for this one!

pics of San Diego to be posted later....

Happy Birthday Karen!!!!

Just got back from the Boyz II Men concert last night, and it was pretty tight! Took me back to my high school/early college years. It kinda sucked that we had to stand the entire time, but hey, it was free! They actually still sound really well as a trio now. As stated earlier, Mike McCary left the group in 2003 because of scoliosis. I remember back in 1998 when I saw them at the Forum, Mike had to just sit on a stool on stage. Pretty sad. But they still can harmonize really well without Mike. They played most of the old school stuff along with some new stuff from their upcoming album that will be out this fall. One of my favorite songs they sang was "Please Don't Go" which is probably my favorite song from the Cooleyhighharmoney album. For some reason, it just sounds dope live. Some of the songs they sang were cut down in length, so in a way that kind of sucked. But I'm glad I got to see them again and knowing that they can put on a good show in front of a sold out House of Blues.

It kinda sucks that they tailed off a bit. I kinda blame the whole pop movement during the late 90's. Yunno, like Brittany, Christina, and those gay-ass boy bands like 'Nsync and Backstreet. (Sorry fans....ahem....Ryan....ahem). j/k!! They took over the airwaves and fans and I guess r&b itself has tanked the past few years. Well, in my opinion. I'm sure they're still good r&b out there, like John Legend and Alicia Keyes, but not much.

Come to think of it, I don't listen to the radio that much anymore in general. Well, for the exception of Kevin & Bean. Probably cuz they play the same shit over and and over again. Today's r&b isn't the same, so I still stick too my high school roots on my Ipod...Shai, Troop, BBD, ABC, Mint Condition, Tony Toni Tone, New Edition, Jodeci, Boyz II Men; and female bands like En Vogue, SWV, TLC, etc. Those were the good old days. Today's r&b isn't just the same anymore (yah, shuddup I'm old!) It's weird, cuz you can listen to these groups and say, 'damn i remember when this song came out.' But some of the stuff they have on now, you probably wont remember it 10 years from now. Again, that's just my opinion.

Here are some pics from the concert. I have some video clips, but I'm feeling lazy right now so I'll post em later. Pretty lucky I got my camera in since I was suppose to check it in after getting searched. But there was a line and Karen was ready to go in already. So we just said f' it, and went in.

As you can see, most of them are blurry, which sucks. With that in mind, I've joined the dSLR club. Hopefully I can take better shots (maybe not at a concert) and wont have to deal with anymore blurriness. But crap, I gotta learn how to use this bad boy.

Oh crap...I just found that my sister is pregnant....AGAIN!! What the eff woman!!?? Slow down!! This is her 5th kid and she's only 33. Good gawd! I swear!! Ever since 1997 with her first child, every two years she gets pregnant. But don't get me wront, I love my neices and nephews, they are the best! They are sooooo cute!!! But man, when they heck are you guys gonna stop!??

Okay, off to San Diego for the weekend. Happy Mother's Day to my mom, sister, grandma, aunts, and all the mothers out there!

Happy Birthday John Halog!


The weekend was pretty chill. I went home to visit the folks since they just got back from the Philippines. I also visited my old roommate and good friend's grave since it was his birthday on Saturday. Kinda crazy that its already been 6 years since his passing. Probably one of the most difficult times to deal with, but I'm at peace with it. It was pretty cool, I haven't visited him in awhile and his parents pulled up just after Karen and I did. So it was nice to see them again. I was hoping that he'd make some magic in hopes the Lakers would win game 7, especially since it was his birthday. But.....yeah it didn't turn out that way! =( Here are some more pics.

After that, I had to visit my grandma who was in the hospital. She got sick in the Philippines and had to be admitted because of low sodium and low potassium (I think). Hopefully, she'll get discharged in the next couple of days.

After dinner, I met up with some friends at Jay and Jovan's and unfortunately most people were already sleeping or just chilling by the time we got there. I think I said hi to Belle and didn't talk to her for the rest of the night since she crashed. One minute, we were playing Dirty Minds, the next minute, I see Cicely crashed faced down on the floor. It was still fun, just watching Entourage and chillin. Today, I tried to take advantage of the Macy's discount I had, but couldn't find the Kenneth Cole Reaction pants I've been searching for. The hunt continues...

As stated in a previous blog, a lot going on in the next month; stuff that's been officially booked and a lot of money that will be spent.

First, I was able to score some free tickets to Boyz II Men this coming Wednesday at the House of Blues in Anaheim. I saw them live twice when I was in high school, and once in college. And since I met Nathan Morris in Reno, I thought it'd be a good idea to check em out and see how they are live nowadays. I'm kinda looking forward to it, I haven't been to a concert since I saw Incubus in Vegas and at the Pond in a matter of days 2 years ago. So it'll be a good experience. Thanks to my co-worker for hooking it up with the free tix!

This week is also Karen's birthday so we're going to San Diego for the weekend. Got hooked up with a free room at the Westin Horton Plaza (thanks Kelly!), just gotta pay $20 or so for taxes. I haven't really been sight-seeing in San Diego before, so it will be an adventure. Our hotel is located in Downtown, next to Horton Plaza, a few blocks from the Gaslamp Quarter, and about a mile or so from Balboa Park. So we'll be close to the places we want to check out. Oh yeah, and we're going to Sea World too, which I haven't been since I was in high school also. Can't wait!

The week after that, we're watching Stomp at the Pantages Theater. I honestly think I've seen the show either 5 or 6 times. I have to count my Ticketmaster stubs to check. The last I've seen it was probably back in 1998 or so. I'm kinda curious if its the same show that I've seen, or if they added some new performances to it. We shall see.

That same weekend, I'll be hitting up Mammoth one last time for the season. I think I owe it to myself and to my ankle for one last run. Plus, I love my new boots so I wanna make use of them one last time for the season. Suprisingly, the conditions are still good...14-16 foot base, although they've closed most of the mountain already, and the temps are warming up. Still, it beats the crap ass snow we have here in our local mountains. I'm glad I didn't waste my time and money at Big Bear or Mountain High.

As stated before, I'm going to Vegas at the end of the month to watch Avenue Q at the Wynn Hotel. Not to mention, we booked our tickets for another stop at the Pantages to watch the final Los Angeles showing of Les Miserables.

How the hell am I going to afford all of this, I have no idea. But hopefully I'll have so much fun that I wont worry about being broke too much.

Mmmmm....Korean BBQ. Haven't had it in awhile until Friday night, when I went out with some co-workers for dinner and drank a grip of soju. Took a grip of shots, but it never really got to me. But we all had fun. Good Times.

Saturday, went out to Mai Tai to kick it with Belle, the roommies, and friends. It wasn't as crowded as usual which was good since we had an area for ourselves and our own waitress. Congrats, Belle for finishing up on your test. I don't think I could ever study as hard as you did. You should've seen this girl at Mammoth...just focusing while all of us were freakin playing games and laughing while we watched Dave Chapelle and the Family Guy.

See, this is Belle studying....


and...




So while we were...



and



and

'

and

'

and

'

and still thinking about,



Belle was



And now Belle is...


finally done, relieved, with a new haircut!! Congrats Belle!

After Mai Tai, went broomballing with some co-workers and some other people. Our team won, although some people on both teams actually had hockey sticks. I was playing with one for awhile, but it wasn't as challenging as the regular 'broom,' so I gave mine to Karen to use for a bit. Sorry for scoring on you babe! Blame Son for putting us on opposite teams AGAIN.

Sunday, went to Cerritos for lunch, shop, and just relax with Karen.

Okay, got a lot planned in the next month or so. Might go take a trip to San Diego, maybe one last snowboarding trip to Mammoth, and going to Vego (all you Kevin & Bean listeners out there know what I'm talking about) to watch Avenue Q at the Wynn. Our hotel and tickets are booked already...whoo hoo! Can't wait! Not to mention, Stomp, Hairspray, and Les Miz are on the horizon. Its going to be a month of traveling and a lot of shows to watch. Too bad my wallet is going to be empty soon.

Cheers!

Alrighty...just got back from Tahoe a couple of hours ago, and it was freakin fun!!

Flew out Thursday night and got in at Harvey's Casino around midnight. We went snowboarding at Sierra-at-Tahoe on Friday and that place is actually really cool. I didn't wanna do Heavenly, cuz even tho the view is awesome, the place just blows for snowboarding. So we took the time to drive south for 20 miles and to try out Sierra. It kinda sucked cuz when we got there, it was raining. But I just wanted to board really bad. My ankle felt fine, and my new boots were really comfy. They had this dope beer called Sierra-at-Tahoe pale ale, which at first I thought was the normal Sierra Nevada. But this dude at the bar said it was really good, and after trying it, I couldn't agree more. I felt a lil tipsy cuz I didn't really eat anything that morning. So boarding with a lil fade actually felt pretty dope!

But yeah Sierra was really worth it. They had a special college student rate for the week for only $41. The runs were nice and long. Even the bunny slope for the beginners was pretty wide, so no one was crashing into each other. We didn't go to the top cuz it seemed really foggy up there, but we stayed on the west side of the mountain where no one was at, and those runs were longer than the ones up top.

But my final run was probably the best I've ever done. It was close to closing time, and once I got off the lift, I noticed every one was heading the opposite direction, towards the main entrance. But for me, I wanted to conquer the mountain one last time. And boarding down by myself, with absolutely no one around me, felt so great. It was almost relaxing and soothing, just hearing the snow carving around my board and running my fingerse through the snow. (yeah it sounds perverted) . I can't really explain it. I guess its sorta how Lou felt when we did our final run at Squaw earlier this year.

Well, we wanted to go boarding on Saturday again at Sierra, but the weather forecast predicted winds and a lot of rain. But that didn't even happen on Saturday! All it was were partly cloudy skies, and some wind. And what sucked was that Sierra's location blocks a lot of wind, which of course I found out Saturday night reading this brochure I brought. Damn it!! Oh well! All we did was walk around the Heavenly Gondola Village and ate a cheap $9 prime rib deal at the Lakeside Inn. Not too bad for $9.

Anyhow, this crazy thing happened to me also. After we landed at Reno Thursday night, I saw a poster at the airport in which Boyz II Men was having a concert Friday and Saturday night. I was all, 'hey pretty cool! Too bad we can't watch em though, but that would've been nice.'

So today, as we were checking in our luggage at the airport. Guess who I spotted....



Yup, das right...that's NATHAN MORRIS of BOYZ II MEN!! And he flew with us on the same flight!!!

Dude, it was freakin weird. I saw him walking up to check in at the first class. And I'm all pulling on Karen's shoulder, 'Dude...that's Nathan Morris of Boyz II Men.' And she was all, 'Go talk to him!' So after debating what to do, I finally went up to him. And our conversation sorta went like this...

Me: Mr. Morris?
Nate: Yeah?
Me: Hey, I heard you had a concert last night here, how did it go?
Nate: It went pretty well, we had a good turnout.

So me keeping it short cuz I didn't wanna cause a scene...

Me: That's good. Well just wanted to say I'm a fan of your guy's music and its nice to see you back again.
Nate: Thanks man. I appreciate that.

Okay, so why didn't I take a picture of him (yet)? Well, I remembered watching this documentary of the Boyz. And he mentioned something like, 'yeah it's nice that people come up, ask for autographs, take pictures, or whatever, but sometimes we might be busy like having an important conversation or having dinner for example, and sometimes the timing isn't right. There are times when people get really aggressive and want it done right there, so I'd have to tell them, hey let me finish my dinner and I'll get to it then.'

So remembering that, I had to pick my timing. Once I got to our gate, I noticed him sitting down against the wall cuz all the seats were filled. I sat next to him wanting to ask for a photo, but he was on the phone. Then the crew at the gate told us to move, so we got up, moved to this empty corner, and he finally got off the phone. So then, our second conversation went...

Me: Hey, Nate do you mind if I take a picture with you?
Nate: Naw man, not at all

(Karen takes the picture above)

Me: Thank you Nate.
Nate: No problem
Me: So you got more concerts coming up?
Nate: Yeah, we got four performances in Las Vegas at the Orleans, so that's why I'm flying out.
Me: Oh nice, are you coming to Southern California anytime soon?
Nate: Yeah, we got some shows in May at the Anaheim House of Blues, and I know we'll be in L.A. and San Diego.
Me: Cool, I'll try to check you guys out then.
Nate: Cool man.
Me: So how are the other two doing? (FYI, Mike is no longer with the group)
Nate: They're doing good.
Me: Are they still in town or did they fly out already?
Nate: Oh, they both has some stuff to attend to first so I'm flying out now and just gonna meet them up there.
Me: Oh, cool. Aight man, you take care. It was good seeing you.
Nate: Yeah, man thanks!

And that was it! I just basically stood next to him until he boarded. I didn't really wanna bug him too much or anything. Hejust seemed really mellow, almost exhausted if anything. So, the picture is slightly blurry cuz I didn't wanna cause a scene and have him more embarrassed or anything. Hence, I told Karen not to use the flash cuz I didn't want anyone else to see. But it was pretty crazy. No one really recognized him cuz I guess no one's really into Boyz II Men anymore, which kinda sucks. Hehe, I guess no one really paid attention to his Boyz II Men knecklace either. But dude, pretty freakin crazy!

And yeah, maybe I'm overreacting a lil. But man, out of all places (Reno) to run into someone famous. In a way it was a good thing no one recognized him cuz it gave me my opportunity to talk to him. But yeah, it was just weird seeing their poster for their concert, then running into Nate.

Okay, I'm tired now. Sorry for the long post. Happy Easter again!

Off to Lake Tahoe!!!

Happy Easter Everyone!!!

I'm in some kind of weird funk today. I don't know exactly why. Work wasn't strenuous or anything. It actually went by pretty fast. I guess, for some reason, yesterday's physical therapy session was a lil more difficult and painful than anticipated. And I guess, just dwelling on it today, kinda made me feel like a failure. I know its just one session, and I did some excercises that were impossible for my ankle to do, but I dunno, I guess I just expected my ankle to do what was expected.

And then comes the dwelling part that kicked in....yunno, the stuff I had to go through, and all the stuff I missed out on. Yeah I know, its bad to dwell on stuff, particularly in this case, but I guess this whole thing gets a little frustrating now and then, even though I am improving. I think not even being able to tip toe on left foot because of my ankle, just got me feeling down. Something, simple as that, I couldn't do. Like my entire foot was being magnetically stuck to the ground.

Yeah, I know, I'm overreacting a bit. I kinda have that feeling of being a replacement. Yunno, like since I couldn't walk and wasn't really mobile, others had to replace me with their plans. I wont get specific. But just sorta sucks to have that type of feeling, and then later on you hear about it and sucks because you could've been part of it, but didn't. And then, you get that feeling where they just forget about you completely.

I'm honestly not looking towards to Tahoe just yet. I thought I would be at this point...I get to break in my new boots and attempt to snowboard again. I know I'll probably do better than at Mammoth. But it just hasn't hit me just yet. Of course that'll change come Thursday. But I just wish I was a little more excited.

Ehhh....I'm not expecting readers to feel sorry for me. That's the least I want. I aint no attention whore like other people who thrive on it. It just gets frustrating at times and I need to vent. Yeah I know, some people have it worse...a lot worse. Just sux, yunno? Oh well, that's life.

I need a beer. A nice Newcastle or Hef will do. Hmmm...Happy Hour starts again in 3 1/2 hours.

Had a pretty chill weekend. Went over to Brewbakers in HB for Jon's birthday. It was pretty cool. Although I didn't really help out making the beer (I don't know the process of making beer, I just drink it), it was pretty cool witnessing how the whole deal works. And the bread...mmm mmm good! Check out the pics. In a few weeks, we'll be heading back to bottle up the beer we made and put our own labels on em. Our apartment is gonna be a freakin' brewery since Joe, Tommy, and I split an order. We already have the root beer Karen, Flori, and Cici made. We actually tried a bottle and its pretty good. Karen's getting their labels on Wednesday. Nice call Jon! Happy Birthday again.

Had another physical therapy session today and man, did she work me. It was probably the toughest one I've been through. Still have some pain, especially in my inner ankle. She made me stand on my bad ankle on a small circular platform with a ball at the bottom of it. And she wanted me to have all edges of the platform touch the ground using my ankle muscles. It was so difficult I thought I was going to collapse. So I really gotta get going on my ankle. I can walk okay, just have a lil pimp walk action to it. Hopefully next week I'll have a lil more muscle, especially in my inner part of my ankle. Each week, its get better and better.

But I swear, this thing is taking forever to heal!! Freakin' Chris Mihm of the Lakers is going to be 100% healed before I will. And dude, he got injured like 2 weeks after I did. This week is would be my 8th week. Yup two full months with a bad ankle! Granted, they have their own team trainers and shit, but damn it! This sucks!

Ahhh...Dodger season has started, and they're playing pretty decent. It's something to cheer about, especially since the Kings are gonna be ousted from making the playoffs. They fired their coach, and possibly their General Manager will be out soon. What's sad is Luc Robitaille will be announcing his retirement tomorrow. He is the King of Kings in Los Angeles, and is the most popular player in Kings history, even more than Wayne Gretzky. (sidenote: after Hurricane Katrina hit, he helped out 2 familes move in to his Utah home, and they live there now for free. How fuckin awesome is that??) It's been a frustrating year for the Kings, from division leaders, to tanking to 10th in the conference. Pretty sad that Luc has to go out on a such a bad note. I hope the Kings get new management that will step up and make a difference. Spend more money for better players damn it!

Man, what a fuckin bad year for hockey for me. The Kings tank, Robitaille is retiring, both the men and womens' Olympic team fail, and I fuck up my ankle. Oh yeah, and the Ducks are in the playoffs, too! Bad, bad year!

This year's Mammoth trip was sooooo fun. Although, it sucked waking up Sunday to daylight savings time. Booo to losing one hour of sleep. However it was very fun.

During the week, I was deciding whether to try snowboarding or not. My ankle was feeling a lil better, and it was the first time I was able to walk without any crutches. I tried on my boots and strapped on to my snowboard and tested it how it felt and it felt fine. So just in case, I bought two new Oakley lenses for my goggles and a new Under Armour hood. So I brought my board and gear with me, just in case.

Turns out, I was actually able to snowboard, however I was only able to do one run. It felt uncomfortable wearing a brace and having it dig into the top of my foot. And plus, I couldn't carve heel side since it was difficult with the brace on. I did okay overall, but towards the bottom it got really bumpy and made my ankle feel uncomfortable. So to be safe, I just decided to call it a day and just kick it in the patio and kick it with whoever came down from the mountain for a breather. Sucked that I wasted $70 and could've probably gotten the begginer lift access for $30 instead. Oh well. Thanks Joe and Cesar for the beers!!

As always, the trip was full of non stop laughs, from Glenn spilling the entire toothpick dispenser to Friday night's Catch Phrase battle, it was a weekend of good old laughs. Too bad it was too short. Maybe we can do it again but with more people.

Well, I got another trip set next week for Tahoe during Easter weekend. I should be able to board with more comfort then. Hehe, got new Burton Hail boots, thanks to Flori and Jon in telling me that Active was having a 50% off all snowboarding gear sale. Now I'm broke till Tahoe.

A couple of sports news....Kings suck and are tanking. Lost to Anaheim again. Its sucked cuz I could've gone to the game with my co-worker cuz they had a OC Register pre-dinner at the Pond for their clients. But I wasn't sure if I'd be able to walk, so I decided not to go. Its cool though, I got two autographed pucks from J.S. Giguere and Scott Niedermeyer. Although I'm not a Ducks fan, its cool that my manager got em for me.

Oh and too bad for UCLA. They had a great run in the NCAA Tourney, but came up short. Florida was too good for them, though they seemed like cocky lil sons a bitches. Sorry, I'm not a huge Gator fan. Though, lately I've been hooked on to the drink your school created (Gatorade).

Here's the pics from Mammoth. Enjoy! And thanks to Jay for organizing the trip and to everyone for coming out.

If there's one good thing about having a messed up ankle, is going to physical therapy. Yeah, it sounds a lil dumb, but for some reason, its such a morale booster for me. I'll be honest, I get really moody about being a gimp: Not being able simple things like walking, standing in the shower, being able to get up and get seconds for dinner, doing the laundry yourself, stuff like that. And then I think about the stuff that I've missed out or going to miss out on (snowboarding at Mammoth, Ducks/Redwings game in a suite, meeting up with old friends at a restaurant or club, etc.) So it bums me out, but then again I try to make some good out of it. But just attending P.T. just makes me feel better, I guess because the therapist knows what I'm going through and is actually trying to make to fix me up. And plus, the ankle massage she gives me feels sooo freakin good. Then end the session laying down, icing the ankle and you just chill there listeing to music from KBIG (hehe they actually played B.B.D's "Poison" on the air, which was a lil odd, but I liked it.)

But yeah, its been bumming me out this week. The sports doc said it'd take 4-6 weeks to heal. And this week, is now my 6th week and I'm still on stupid crutches. I've already booked my flight to Tahoe this Easter and it looked like I wasn't gonna be able to snowboard then either. First Mammoth, now Tahoe. And it just blows how it keeps snowing on the mountains, with more to come.

Well, the therapist wants me to be walking by Monday, which I found out I can sorta do. It's still difficult putting weight on my ankle, but I'll work on it throughout this week. So while everyone is snowboarding, I'll be doing my excercises and trying to walk around the cabin. So things are starting to look promising. Even though it sucks that I can't snowboard, I think it will just be worth it being around good company, and that's one thing not to be bummed about.

Anyhow, here's to remember one of the greatest NCAA Basketball games ever...


GO BRUINS!!!

I started my first session of physical therapy today, which I admit was a lil scary but yet a little exciting. I guess just knowing the fact that the worse of my ankle is behind, I can move on and build strength on it so I can walk again. It was cool, the therapist actually was massaging my ankle just to get it relaxed and to get the fluids going. It felt pretty good, especially at the top where it almost felt like she was massaging out a knot. She showed me some excercises and some methods of putting weight on it. I guess a lot of it is mental, because I'm so guarded and cautious with my ankle. So she just told me to relax more so I can gain more confidence with it. She told me I should be walking in two weeks, which is perfect timing for Mammoth.

However, that means I wont be boarding at Mammoth which freakin blows. But at least I'll be able to walk around and not be hobbling in crutches like in San Francisco. So Tommy, you can officially use my snowboard for the weekend. I'll just chill at the cabin and probably hide Sherwin's luggage so he can freak out a little bit. (I doubt Sherwin knows my blog so keep it on the DL, please! hehe j/k!)

But Karen and I booked our flight to Reno/Tahoe for Easter weekend, so I'll probably be able to snowboard then. I don't see why not. The therapist said that it would take at least 2 months to get it healed, but I should be well enough to board then. I would be totally bummed if I didn't.

So for now, I'll do all I can to get this ankle well. Next physical therapy session is next Monday and I hope to have a lot of progress by then.

Congrats to Cicely, Jay, and Jovan for completing the L.A. Marathon this past weekend. I don't even remember the last time I've even ran a mile. It kinda makes me a lil intimidated to run the Disney Marathon in September, even though its half the distance at 13 miles. Hmmm...maybe I should run it and also schedule an appointment at a spa and just get a freakin massage the day after. Yeah, that sounds good. And then if I get all sore and ache too much, I can punch Sherwin in the face cuz he told me to sign up. Yeah...even better!! hehe, just kiddin Sherwin! (or "Sher-winnie" like Belle says!) Again, congrats!

Happy Birthday to my dad and grandfather!!

A couple of quick posts about the weekend before I forget...(which I originally did, but whatever...)

Thanks to Lou, Belle, Ryan, Sherwin, Jeff, and Karen for this past weekend, and helping me hobble around with my crutches, pushing me in a wheelchair, helping me get up and walk, etc. It got really depressing at times just sitting there and not being able to do what you guys were doing, but I'm just really happy and grateful that you guys helped me out this weekend.

When you're in a wheelchair and see a little bump coming up, don't let your girlfriend or boyfriend try to gain speed and momentum hoping it would carry over. Nope...that doesn't work, since I almost flew off the wheelchair right after we got off the plane in that tunnel thingamajig that leads to the terminal. Sheesh!! hehe, love you Karen!

When you're shopping at H&M, you MUST shop and buy what you can. Since its a store you rarely see visit, you must buy all you can. NO REGRETS. Unfortunately, I wish I bought more stuff, no matter how broke I'd be. Instead of only spending $50, I wish I spent at least $100. So that is the rule!!

Had a pretty great weekend up in the bay. It was the first time I've been in the San Francisco area in about 10 years. Everytime I go, its always to see family, not a trip to sight see or anything like that. So it was a fun time with friends again. My ankle's been bumming me out, but on a good note, I was one of the first one's to board since I was in a wheelchair at the airport, hehe!

Man, I knew it was cold, but geez it was really cold!! Below 40 degrees Friday night!! Man, it was crazy cuz during our descent, our plane got struck by lighting, and it happened in front of me. I was looking at the clouds out the window then saw a flash and a loud pop! It scared the living shit out of me...I thought I was going to experience something on Lost! But the flight crew just played it off, as if nothing major happened. WTF?? Well, supposedly the plane is designed somehow to protect it from lighting, even if it strkes. Good god it was crazy!!

Got to San Jose and met up for lunch with Jenn, Sherwin, and Jeff at the local mall. Then we went to Romeo's graduation which was pretty cool. Although, some of the speeches were boring in which only the faculty and students could only relate. That's when I started to doze off. Later that night, we met up with Romeo at his house for dinner then went to downtown San Jose to party it up. Unfortunately, the place double booked themselves the same night the Girls Gone Wild crew were filming. So we never got into the club. I was pretty uncomfortable with my crutches and standing in the cold rain, so Karen and I decided to head by while the others went off with Romeo and his classmates at a bar. Apparently, Romeo got really faded, but I didn't see him unfortunately. It kinda bummed me out that night back at the hotel cuz I couldn't party it up with my bro. I was proud of him graduating from school and I just felt sad I couldn't be there.

Well Saturday turned out a lil better. Fed our stomach's with some prime rib at Outback. Then we all headed up to San Francisco at night. Did some shopping at H&M which was cool. I wish I bought more stuff, but its hard shopping with crutches having to hold your shirts. Oh well. After that, we ate some Thai food and partied it up at some club Jen got us in for free. Lots a fun...everyone was pretty much faded and having a blast. Yes, everyone, including you Belle!! I couldn't dance or anything, so I just enjoyed my drinks at the booth and played photographer.

Sunday, met up with Janice and Romeo again for lunch and headed to his house for him to examine my knee and back. My knee has been stiff and I wasn't sure if I tore ligaments when I got injured. He did some tests and said that my knee is fine but saw how tense my back was. He sorta got my back a lil loose and just told me treat it with a hot pack. But I just felt relieved that my knee is okay and my back will get better soon. And plus, my knowing one of my best friends is now a doctor and getting answers from him just made me felt better.

Welp, that's that...headed to the airport and flew back home. No lighting this time, though.

I had a great time. We didn't spend a lot of time in the city, soI'd like to come back again and do more sight-seeing and exploring....hmmm maybe in the summer. Even though I was hobbling around in my crutches, there was no way I'd miss Romeo's graduation. We've come along way from him cutting my hair in high school, being roommates at UCI, then going through John's death, his mom's death, relationships, and now to his graduation.

Congratulations Dr. Romeo Dimaano!

Enjoy the pictures!

Okay quick post on a few things...

Saw the Sports Doctor today and he examined my foot. Pretty good news, as the swelling is slowly going down and i'll start on physical therapy soon. He said that it usually takes about 4-6 weeks to heal but I should be able to walk at least with one crutch soon. So that's gonna help. Gotta go back in a month for a check up to see if its fully healed. I'm hoping that with the help of physical therapy that it'll get better fast and maybe I might be able to snowboard at Mammoth. But we'll see.

Got the wheelchair for San Jose. That'll help out a lot. And its not one of them wheelchair's you'll see at a hospital...yunno the typical green looking ones with the wired spokes. This one's more black and actual modern looking. Thank you Auntie Nita for the help!

Oh...totally forgot to blog about this....but believe it or not...I actually watched Rent on DVD a couple of weekends ago, and actually sorta liked it. I guess I got a better understanding on what the hell was going on. There's still some stupid parts, but its a musical, of course its going to be stupid.

But what made me appreciate it more was actually the special features, and the whole making of Rent. I didn't know that Jonathan Larson (the creator, writer, etc.) past away of some heart condition the night before the show opened in New York. And he was just a typical person...he was a waiter at a New York diner and quit because he wanted to concentrate in producing Rent. So he never saw an actual run of the show he created. And basically, the story of Rent is his life and what he was living before he passed away. And to know, that the show opened up in such a small theater, maybe a 100 seat theater if anything, and to become so successful that it had to move to Broadway, I thought was a big accomplishment, especially to an artist like him. To start from scratch, yunno, no money, struggling, and making it big with something you've created is just fuckin awesome.

So in the end, I did like the movie, and now have a huge appreciation for it. Although I don't swear by it, how those fuckin' Rent-heads think its the best musical ever, it's an okay musical. I have some friends that are close to being Rent-heads (some that try to deny it), which kinda bugs, but whatever. Would I pay to watch it?...I've never had and probably never will.

Okay gotta take a shower...prolly wont blog till we get back from San Jose where we will see Mr. Romeo Dimaano turn into Dr. Romeo Dimaano before our very own eyes. Very exciting!

Lay-ers! (in that cute Keira Knightly/Parminder Nagra/Bend It Like Beckham British kind of way.

Haven't updated in almost two weeks. Most of the reason is because my ankle has been bumming me, especially this week. For the first time, I felt like I was really on a low.

Went to the doc's on Monday hoping to find some answers, but didn't get much. He flexed my ankle to which I felt no pain, but when asked to walk, I couldn't. He feared I might've suffered a hairline fracture, esp since my toes couldn't touch the ground while standing up. So he told me to get x-rays (finally!) the following day, and sorta got good news. X-rays didn't reveal any fracture, dislocation, just high tissues swelling. So that was good. Then another set back...

Wednesday, while watching Lost, I had trouble breathing. Everytime I'd inhale, my chest and back started to hurt. It got really painful after I took a shower, so bad that it got me to tears. Karen wanted me to take me to the ER, but I wanted to see if I could sleep it off instead. The next morning, I still had trouble breathing, so I went to Irvine Med and they diagnosed me with back spasms. Good god, taking x-rays of my back couldn't have been more painful. The entire time, I was screaming, because my back was so tense that when he'd lay me down I'd be in pain. The nurse gave me this shot of something which pretty much made me drowsy and I knocked out the entire day. The doc also gave me some Vicodin and a drug to relax my muscles. Friday, I had another spasm attack, to which Joe walked in when he came home from lunch. Dude, it was freakin painful I was literally crying. Image a bad leg cramp, probably 10 times worse in your back. And whenever you inhale to breathe, it gets worse. That's what it felt like. But right now, my back is still tense, however I haven't gotten any spasm attacks. The doc at the ER said its probably from using the crutches and using other muscles to compensate for my ankle.

So hopefully, I'll be getting a wheelchair this week so I wont have to risk any more back spasms. My ankle is feeling better, I can put a lil more weight on it when I stand up. But I'll find out more answers on Wednesday when I see a different doc again. I'm just frustrated that I didn't get an x-ray in the first place. Because of all this mess, Karen and I are gonna be changing doctors. Cuz this is freakin ridiculous.

And I know it sounds selfish, but I just hate hearing what other people have been doing lately (snowboarding, going out, etc.) I guess like what Belle said, to a certain extent, why must people showcase every single thing they do? I guess I'm just jealous that I can't do simple things that other people can do. I apologize if I'm sounding like a selfish prick, but it just sucks in my case. And its just frustrating that the doctor says, "you should be fine in a week or two," when its almost been a month, and I still can't walk. But seriously, for you all reading this, I still love you and I'm not directly mad at you! =) Just sucks being a gimp. I'm praying in two weeks, I'll be completely healed! And I know a lot of people have it worse, but its just been frustrating on my part.

Well, I'm looking forward to next weekend going up to San Jose. It'll give me a chance just to get away for once and clear my mind a lil, hanging out with some friends.

Having a sprained ankle blows!!

Here's how my crippled life is going....

Going up and down the stairs, I either have to climb up on my fours, or slide on my ass going down.

Getting in and out of the shower, Karen has to carry me in where for the next 10 minutes, I have to stand on my right foot and clense myself.

I have to stay in bed all day since I have limited mobility.

Ice on my ankle 2-3 times a day for 20 minutes.

I have to pee like a girl cuz I can't stand straight and pee normal.

I have a hard time wiping my ass when I shit because I can only put pressure on one foot.

It tires me out easily walking from the parking structure to my desk on crutches.

I have to keep my foot up which can be really uncomfortable.

While getting a drink of water today, I had to keep the styrofoam cup in my mouth, walk on crutches to the drinking fountain, then drink as much water as I can till I have to make the trek back to my desk.

Laying in bed all weekend while it rained/snowed up in the mountains knowing I'd probably call in sick and snowboard this week.

Thank you to Karen for being my 'slave' the past week. I'm very grateful for all the help you've given me!

Gross, I can actually see the bruise around my wrapped ankle. Ankle, please get better soon!

So what's worse than losing at a competitive sport?

Getting injured.

Yes, I injured myself during my game on Wednesday. I thought at first I sprained my knee, but no, I srained my ankle pretty bad. I was skating in on a breakaway until some defender caught up to me and at the last minute, sorta knocked me off balance. As that happened, the puck rolled off my stick in which the goalie tried to cover the puck as it was rolling towards him. Instead, he sorta caught my skate which forced me leg in a weird position which sent some weird feeling up to my knee. I was down for a few minutes and helped off the rink to the bench. And we lost the game 6-3.

Got home, and iced the knee, but I woke up in the morning with my ankle hurting like a bitch. I went to the doctor, fearing that I tore ligaments, but she said it was just a bad sprain. My ankle is really swollen and I can barely walk. I've had my roommates and Karen help me around the house and finally got some crutches from my coworker. Thanks everyone for all the help. Hopefully this weekend, the swelling will go down and I'll be able to somewhat walk better.

Well the doctor said it'd take a week for the swelling to go down. If its still hurting after 2 weeks, I'd have to get x-rays. That's what's making me scared. I just hope I don't need surgery or anything. Doctor's nowadays, sometimes you can't trust them.

I think this is the most damage I've done to myself since elementary when I was in the 5th grade. I got in a skateboard accident where I cracked a rib, sprained my wrist, and lost a tooth. Plus, I've had the normal jammed fingers, slightly sprained ankles in basketball. But surgery, no way. So I hope my ankle heals fast enough to go snowboarding again! Its gonna be snowing here soon and plus I got a Mammoth trip and another trip to Tahoe in the next couple of months.

Karen brought up a good point about how stupid the sport curling was. And funny enough, I woke up today and drove to work listening to Kevin & Bean just making fun of the sport. It was freakin hilarious!! Its true though, they have the event in a 3,000 seat arena, and only like 50 show up, which most are probably family and relatives.

"Here we go USA, HERE WE GO!" (you can hear like 3 people cheering)

But the best part was...

"HARD!! HARD!! HAAAAARRRDDD!!"

Which led to a, "SSSSHHHHHUUUUT UUUUUUPPPPP!!!"

Sorry, you had to listen to understand! I was cracking up!!

A thought I brought up to Ryan...

In pairs figure skating, what would happen if the woman was the one to throw the man up in the air while he would do the triple axles, triple lutzes, etc. Like what if the roles were reversed?? Wouldn't that lead to an automatic gold medal?? It does have creativity and no one has done it yet. Hmmmm....Winter Olympics 2010 in Vancouver perhaps?

Didn't do much for Valentine's Day. Just had a nice lunch with my bubba at Bluewater Grill. Yummy!! Thanks for the PSP movies, Karen! Lob Yu!

Whoo hoo! Watching Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater next Thursday in L.A. with Jay and Cicely. Thank God for Goldstar!!

I'm Jean Valjean!
(No, really.) Some people may see me as a little sanctimonious, but though I care deeply about doing right, I'm not above a little skulduggery in a good cause. Being in touch with my spiritual side doesn't make me an easy target... on the contrary, in fact. Which Les Miserables Character Are You?

Had another chill weekend. Friday, watched a little bit of the opening ceremonies (which turned out to be a big disappointment...more later). Later, went ice skating in Anaheim with Karen, Cicely, and Jay. It was actually pretty fun and a lot less crowded than at Artesia. Not a lot of ice chocolates (huh, ryan?) this time. But it was pretty empty, which gave me an opportunity to practice my hockey stops. I sorta have it down, but still have a lot to practice. But then again, I'm not sure if my skates were dull that it made it easier this time. I didn't wanna overdue it because my wrist has been hurting every since broomballing/ice skating for Jay's birthday. I ate it a couple of times and I think I sprained it. Oh well. It was also empty enough for me to try to teach Cicely how to do crossovers while skating backwards. She almost has it down, just trying to break some habits with her legs and feet (that sounds a lil gross huh?) I'm actually considering getting some ice skates just to learn how to skate better with. What you all think of these bad boys?

These are the Nike V-10's which are closeout models I can get for $140 (originally $350) Yeah, I'm a label whore when it comes to Nike products, but the Nike Roller Hockey skates I own are soooooo comfortable. So why go to another brand? But we'll see if I actually do fork out the cash for them. I'll get my money's worth once I go ice skating say...50 times or so since it costs like $3 to normally rent. But Karen is right, it can get pretty gross renting skates and putting your foot into skates where countless amount of people have done the same thing also.

Anyhow, the rest of the weekend, just chilled and watched the Olympics. I watched the Opening Ceremonies on Tivo and I was disappointed especially during the lighting of the torch. It wasn't dramatic like past lighting ceremonies like the archer during the Barcelona games, Muhammed Ali during the Atlanta games, or the 1980 US hockey team during the Salt Lake City games. Instead, it was some chick that lit something on the ground, then this pyro show around the stadium, which led to the cauldron being lit from up above. I dunno, I guess I was expecting something that seemed more 'natural' than something electronic or computerized lighting the cauldron. But that's just being me.

So far, I'm not too impressed with the results. I guess it was all the hype that the American media is giving...'the best American team assembled.' Maybe I expected major dominance, but so far not a lot going on. It's still early, so hopefully it'll pick up. I just want USA hockey to do win the gold, which they probably wont. boo hoo. Oh well, just think Lake Placid 1980.

Hmmm...maybe I should watch Miracle on DVD for good luck.

I finally got my new Canon SD450, after my SD300 broke broomballing during Belle and Cicely's birthday. Yeah, the LCD screen cracked after I fell to the ice. I can still take pictures thru the viewfinder (is that what you call it), but I can't change any of the settings. Oh well, bigger screen this time and a spare battery from my SD300. Just in time for Valentine's Day and my trip to the bay!

Last night's hockey game was horrible!! We were winning 3-0 and ended up losing 5-4. I think our defense fell apart and we just got tired at the end. I also blame myself, I got stopped on two breakaways and hit the post when I had an open net with about 3 minutes left in the game. That would at least tied the game. But it's just frustrating that after going up 3-0 you'd expect to win the rest of the way. And plus, our team was a lot better than the other team. Well hopefully next time we play them, we know what to expect. They did have two defensemen that were playing a little rough, but that's something you can't fall for and get upset about.

But damn it! It really frustrates me because usually on breakways I'd bury those goals. I'm not saying I'm a dope ass hockey player cuz I'm not. But I have enough skill to score those type of goals. I know on the second breakaway, I shot high to the right side, but the freakin handle of the goalie's stick got in the way. THE FREAKIN HANDLE...which is like an inch thick if anything. Yeah, it must've been luck, but on my part it was just too frustrating.

The highlight of the evening was our new jerseys...



Pretty freakin' sweet huh? Yeah our team is called the Fatties. I guess cuz all of us are a lot older, fatter, and more out of shape than we were when we first started playing back at UCI. We've gotten some pretty dope comments. But still...we lost the damn game.

Well, the Olympics are starting in just one more day. I'm really excited for Team USA. I expect Gold in most of the Alpine events. I'm not too sure about the rink...speaking on the ice. A lot of debate is going whether Michelle Kwan should be going to the Olympics. Is she gonna finally win her elusive Olympic Gold medal? I really doubt it, but I hope I'm proven wrong. As for hockey, well I don't even expect for the men's team to medal. Even though they are sending the dream team from the NHL, their defense and goaltending wont be good enough against Russia and Canada. Canada is so deep, they can probably put four different Canadian teams, and still win the Gold. But we'll see what happens. I think the women's hockey team has a chance to beat Canada, even though Canada is favored. Its pretty cool they have an Asian on their team, named Julie Chu. She's been on the team in 2002. And also, their goalie Chanda Gunn is from Huntington Beach of all places.

I dunno what it is about the Olympics I get so hyped up about. Most people don't really care, but its pretty cool to watch countries compete against each other. And I guess I sorta remember how the summer games were here in Los Angeles in 1984. I think that's when I started getting into sports and the Lakers. I even get hyped up listening to the theme by John Williams. Yeah, I'm a dork. Even when we were at Squaw and just being in a place where the Olympics took place gave me some chills.

Which reminds me, gotta Tivo the Opening Ceremonies.

Last night's Scrubs episode was hilarious!! I'm starting to watch that show more often than usual. Mandy Moore was really cute, altho she played this clutz on the show. Turk's Bell Biv DeVoe impression was freakin funny. I think I'll watch it again later on Tivo.

Last night's Law & Order: SVU was pretty good too. Tommy and I totally predicted the end, even though we were joking around. Not to spoil the episode too much, there was this woman in a wheelchair and her husband was having an affair with this stripper. Since the lady was crippled, they both couldn't have sex, hence the husband doing it with a stripper. So, the sick bastard that Tommy is, he says, "well, she still has a mouth." Hehe! Anyhow, during the show I said out loud, "Watch her get up and just start walking." So as the episode runs down, it turns out the wife in the wheelchair actually hired this guy she was blowing to kill her husband's stripper/mistress. So the hitman actually rapes the girl, gives her oral sex, and kills the stripper. Since they find the crippled woman's saliva mixed with the dude's semen in the raped victim, they traced it back to her and she was convicted. Then at the end of the episode, Stabler and Benson were trying to convince the husband that his wife is trying to set him up (I forgot why), gets pissed, shoves her wife in the pool, and bam!! She starts to swim and she walks out of the pool!!

So turns out...Tommy and I were right! The crippled woman did use her mouth for oral sex and I was right that she knew how to walk this whole time.

Funny how joking around can solve a mystery.

I had another eventful but fast weekend.

Friday, I woke up to pain on my thigh. I forgot I got hit by a slapshot during my game on Wednesday. I have padding there and it didn't hurt that much at the time, but waking up on Friday with pain was a bitch. The bruise has calm down a bit tho. Left early from work on Friday, and had the whole pad to myself at night. Wasn't really in the mood to go out, but just relax and enjoy the quiet time. So what a better way to watch Dateline on T.V. about sexual predators. It was pretty disturbing. There was this company that would pretend to be young lil boys or girls (like 12-13 year olds) and they'd have conversations online with these old sick bastards. They'd both agree to meet up at the boy's or girl's house, but instead would find themselves being interviewed by some dude from Dateline on NBC. They'd have hidden cameras set up, and once they'd try to bail, the cops were next door in a Winnabago to rush em. It was pretty sickening, cuz they'd bring 'stuff' with them: alcohol, lube, condoms, viagra, you name it. And it most cases, these dudes were gonna do it with little boys. One dude was a rabbi, another a high school teacher, another a law enforcement officer. Yup, pretty sick!

Saturday, went to celebrate Ro's birthday at HB. It was pretty fun just hanging out with people I haven't seen in a long time. I actually saw my old roommate Jean, which I admit was a lil awkward since I haven't seen her since we moved out. I'm a lil more civil with her unlike the other one. That's a whole different story. Pretty amazed to hear Ro wanting to go home early while the rest of us just chilled and drank. All in all, I probably only saw Ro for like 15 minutes, hehe. Happy Birthday, Ro! Got to see semi-drunk Joe that evening which was hilarious! Problem was it was at our pad! Hehe, good times regardless!

Sunday, went to two Superbowl parties and watched Pittsburgh win 21-10 over Seattle. The game overall was okay, nothing too exciting. The officiating blew, the commercials were average, the game itself wasn't too exciting. Congrats to Joe for winning money. It looked like Seattle was going to ruin his bet, but Seattle failed to score at the end. I saw him praying at the end, and even took a picture (it came out dark). This year was probably the first time I didn't cheer for a team. I'd be happy if any of two would've won. I think I was more hopeing Joe would win his money so I wouldn't have to hear him gripe at home. But regardless, it was just fun hanging out with coworkers and friends for the day.

During the weekend, a lot of true colors were shown and I was a lil surprised to see that happen. Its not that alcohol was involved or anything, but not having to talk to some friends in awhile, it was great to catch up on stuff I was missing out on. Man, it feels great to hang out with some friends you thought might not see for awhile. But it was all worth it this weekend.

Happy Birthday to Kristine! I'm sorry, I don't have a gift for you yet. But I hope to have it sometime soon! I hope you have a great day!!

AAhhhh...feels good to be home from work finally. Just took a big ass dump and here I am now. Not that work was too strenuous. I think the last time it was really crazy was when Lion King was at our venue last year. Work was okay, a lil slow, but not too shabby.

I guess I'm just glad to be home cuz we had a hockey game last night at freakin 11 pm. I thought it was at 10, but apparently I was emailed the wrong time. So I didn't get home till past 12:30. Took a shower then knocked out. Hockey was pretty frustrating last night, as we lost 6-1. It seems like that's the standard score when we loose. I had a lot of jump in my game, p0uncing on loose pucks and dekeing out defenders. Didn't score a goal, but I got five shots on goal, and a penalty for high sticking. It was a lil frustrating to the fact that the opponents roughed me up a lil. Nothing too bad, but I'm the smallest one playing, so of course they gonna try to rough it up a bit. This one dude sorta threw me to the ground after we both were going for puck, and I ended up falling backwards and slamming my head on the ground. Wasn't too bad, but enough to make me a lil woozy. Oh well, we lost, but hopefully next week we'll have a better outing.

This week overall is pretty boring. No new episodes to watch on T.V. SUV, Lost, and I believe the Office and E.R. are repeats tonight. The Kings game isn't televised tonight so I guess I'll be playing more of Burnout Legends on PSP tonight.

Okay, I think I'm gonna lay down for a bit.

Right now I'm feeling very relieved. There's some stuff that I needed to get off my back it just felt good right now to just let it all out. Its a little surprising to let out your feelings and anger to someone you don't talk to as much. But for that person to understand and to know where I'm coming from, means a lot to me. I just had some stuff that I've had in the back of my head for so long and that I kept in. It was something that I always wanted to let out, but I couldn't find the right person or people that would understand. Now that I finally have and its finally out, I feel so relieved!

And no, I'm not gay you freakin homos.

So to that someone, I thank you with all my heart.

Fuck you Brian Hayward.

This guy is the fuckin color commentator for the Ducks. This guy just said on the air to keep one of the Kings players (Geroge Parros) on the ice because, "he's not going to score the rest of the 10 minutes of the game." So the Parros gets a 2 minute minor and a 10 minute misconduct, a total of 12 minutes left. The fucker Hayward says, "I don't know why they keep him in the penalty box because the Kings are going to loose the game."

Bitch, how do you know?? There's fuckin 10 minutes left in the 3rd period, and the Ducks are only winning by one!!??

I hate that fucker. Such a fuckin homer. I don't care if the Ducks win, don't say that shit in the air.

And don't fuckin call out a Parros's skill. You're not on the ice you bitch, and if you were Parros would fuckin pound you.

Had another great weekend with friends, but man it went by too fast!

Got to see the friends again, which was the first since Tahoe. Friday night, some of us went ice skating in Artesia. It was pretty fun, but freakin ghetto in a way. A lot of people on the ice which made it hard to manuever. I'm still trying to work on my hockey stop, but I just wish there was no one around so if I ate it, they wouldn't see. But apparently, I freakin ate it trying to show Cicely how to do crossovers while ice skating backwards. I landed on my elbow which kinda hurt, but its all good. It gave me fond memories skating a top of Squaw Valley.

Afterwards, we took a break then played broomball. It was really tiring, but really fun! Our team won by two, not sure what the score was. I scored a hat trick (3 goals) which was cool. Too bad I can't do that in my league. Oh well.

Saturday, woke up to sore muscles but drove up to the Staples Center to watch the Kings get bitch-slapped by the Ducks. Thanks to my hockey teammate Scotty, we sat about 10 rows from the glass, which was really cool cuz you could see the players faces get smashed against the glass. But its too bad the Kings got humiliated. They allowed 4 power play goals. It was so bad, that Karen got up to use the restroom, and when she came back, Anaheim scored two goals during that time span. What the heck?? Even tho they lost, it was a lot of fun. Hopefully they can rebound tonight, they play Anaheim again at the Pond.

Afterwards, went home, took a nap, had a nice dinner at Chili's with Karen (their Chicken Fried Steak is the best!), and went clubbing at V20 at Long Beach to celebrate Jay's birthday. Good times, everyone was pretty much faded...except for me. I guess since I was driving I didn't wanna drink too much. Plus Karen was faded, which was a first, so there was no way I was going to let her drive. Good times tho. Jay was really messed up. "Where's my beanie!?"

Sunday, just relaxed after a long weekend. Karen and I didn't get to bed till 5 am cuz we kicked it at Jay's pad and watched the Lost Pilot's. And now its back for another week. The highlight of Sunday, Joe's new shirt. Freakin awesome!

Okay, I guess I'm not going to get my new hockey stick anytime soon. I got to check it out at the ice rink on Friday and its freakin awesome. I was hoping I'd get it this week so I can use it on Wednesday, but I can't. Its about $150, so I'm gonna have to wait. I've put it at the bottom of my priority list right now. I still have rent, bills, Kristine's birthday gift, Jay's birthday (I still owe Karen money for his gift), Tahoe bills, and Valentine's Day. Although I want that freakin stick so bad, I'll hold off for now.

Stupid bills.

Oh yeah, I'm a lil excited cuz I bought a plane ticket to fly up north to the bay. I haven't been up to the bay in a long time, so it'll be a nice quick change of scenary for the weekend. Plus, I get to see Romeo graduate from Chiropractic school. I've been itching to fly ever since coming back from Chicago.

Okay time for the Kings/Ducks round 6 (Kings winning the season series 3-2)...

We won our hockey game tonight 7-4. Pretty good game, we had the lead throughout the game. I felt really energized and in shape, after only playing in my second game this season. I made a couple of nice moves away from defenders. There was one play where I was on the right wing boards and I sorta twisted the defender around. He sorta got lost, so another defender got on me quick. From that point, I knew someone was open so made a perfect flip pass in the slot to a wide open teammate. But he blew it and shot wide. Its okay, from my standpoint my vision on the rink is getting a little better every game. I also scored two goals tonight, one that was suppose to be a cross-rink pass on a break, but it hit a defender and went straight it. Another was on a two-on-one break and I buried it. I guess the new elbow pads I bought helped =). So I dedicate my two goals to two friends that just recently had their birthdays: Jay and Dana. Happy Birthday to both of you again.

Well despite my two goal performance, I think I need a new stick. I'm thinking of picking up one of the intermediate sized Easton Synergy sticks. I need a lil more flex on my shot for more power. Problem is, it costs about $150. I still have to pay my Best Buy bill for my Ipod, and plus I have other things coming up (Jay's birthday, Kristine's birthday, Valentine's Day, and my plane ticket to the bay for Romeo's graduation). So we'll see if I can afford it.

I'm exhausted, yet this week is going by pretty fast. This is my first full week of work of the year. Been having 3 and 4 day weeks cuz of the holiday breaks and Tahoe.

Can't wait for the weekend already. Got broomballing part two for Jay's birthday, possible free tickets to the Kings/Ducks game at the Superstore Saturday afternoon, and partying it up with Jay and friends in Long Beach that night.

Okay, time to sleep. ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ......

This past weekend was a much needed rest from Tahoe. Doesn't help to arrive 4 am in the morning, then the following day, skate my butt off in my first hockey game of the season. Didn't do much on Friday, except for watching 40 Year Old Virgin again. That movie just cracks me up.

Saturday, Karen and I met up with Chelsea and had lunch at the Blue Bayou in Disneyland. Man oh man is that place good. I was gonna get this Monte Christo Sandwich (ham, turkey, cheese sandwhich deep fried in a batter, and sprinkled with powdered sugar), but I saw a nice Prime Rib priced at only $18. I've eaten there before for one of my anniversaries with Karen, and I think it was well over $30 for the dinner entree. But man oh man, I wasn't disappointed for lunch. Medium-rare please...yummy!

After that, we walked over to California Adventure but didn't ride anything. We were about to ride the Tower of Terror, but I was way too full to ride anything. We passed by the theater that was showing Aladdin, the Musical, and it reminded me how awful of a production that is. Not that I'm a talented performer, but man people on that show just can't act for crap. There are some cute looking girls, but that production sucks balls as a whole. I don't see how people can watch that crap over and over again. Its horrible. If you wanna sleep in a nice dark, air conditioned place, its a nice pit stop if you're there during the summer. We were all getting tired from all the food, so we just shopped a lil then headed home. I saw the Kings/Sharks game on Tivo, and the Kings lost in OT. Freakin pissed!!

Sunday, Joe and I just watched the two football games on T.V. The two teams I predicted winning their respective games won, and now a really good show down for the upcoming Superbowl will take place in a couple of weeks. I don't really know who to cheer for. I like Seattle because they've never been to the Superbowl. And I also like Pittsburgh cuz Troy Polamalu is one dope mother f-er. I'll make my decision soon.

Congrats to Kobe scoring 81 points. Too bad I was busy cutting my hair and didn't know they were playing. Oh well. Oh yeah, speaking of grooming, I finally shaved my moustache for the first time ever. Not just a trim, but I actually shaved almost all of it off. Dunno if I'll keep it this way. We'll see. People say I look younger, so maybe that's a good thing.

I just took a mean ass shit and Tommy said the smell hit the hallway. Damn, didn't know it was that bad. Sorry, bro. But I did rock that mother f-er!

Kings vs Ducks in two hours. GO KINGS!! On that note here's a nice picture...

Congratulations Luc Robitaille!! The GREATEST goal scorer in Los Angeles Kings history!!

1,108

That's how many miles we traveled this weekend going to and from Lake Tahoe. What a trip it was!!

Things began horrible once we picked up the car rental. Karen booked the car after she was given the info we'd be getting a deal on an SUV with four wheel drive. I figured cool, we'd be getting a GMC Envoy, a Ford Explorer, something along those lines right? And what did we get?? A freakin Jeep Laredo...without four wheel drive! Dude, that car is freakin small and ghetto. Though it did come with half a rear wind shield wiper. Oh and better yet, it came with a power adjustable driver seat, but a manual adujstable passenger seat. The hell is that about?

Okay, so once I got the rental, I looked up what kind of stuff I needed for the rack we were gonna use from Ryan. I bought the universal Yakima mounts for $45. So later that night, we got to Ryan's to meet up and load stuff...turns out that I needed another bar that runs across the bracket to mount the rack. So that didn't work. Well, it turns out that we would just shove all of our luggage in the Laredo, and everyone else inside Ryan's Yukon.

After a late dinner at Mocasalsa (I sat this one out cuz I didn't wanna rock it), we started our journey at 1 am. Once we got on the 99, it was nothing bug thick fog! So thick, we ended up at a Denny's parking lot 4 hours later at Fresno to sleep and wait the for the fog to clear. We continued on a lil past 8, and met up with Sherwin at Elk Grove for some breakfast at Denny's.

After dropping off Sherwin's car at my uncle's pad, and buying chains for the Laredo at the local Sport Chalet, we left for Tahoe around 2 and got to the place around 4:30. The location was perfect: In Tahoe City, near the lake, near groceries, only 15 miles from the freeway, and 6 miles from Alpine Meadows and Squaw. The first night we just ended up chillin, having a nice bbq, played some games, drank a lil, and just kept warm and hung out.

The next day we got to Squaw around 11 or so. Once we strapped in, I found out that my left binding was loose. I tried tightening it but I couldn't find the hole to screw in cuz snow kept going in. It's a lil complicated to explain. Anyhow, two laters later, they shut down the mountain because of an Avalanche warning. It was pretty scary. Soon enough, we were at the bottom of the mountain and were heading home at 3:00. It sucked, but at least all of us were safe. So we just decided to chill the rest of the day at our condo as the snow kept coming down.

Sunday, we woke up to a clear perfect day...a new foot of fresh snow, calm breeze, and sunshine. Jay had to leave early in the morning for a baptism and took a flight back. Ry and Cicely took him to the airport in Reno early in the morning, so we didn't see Jay leave. Sherwin and Keno decided to take a bus trip to the mountain (Turns out that it took them 3 or 4 hours to get back to Squaw) The rest of us didn't start right away cuz we watched the Colts lose to the Steelers. Sorry Lou and Belle. I wanted them to win also. Anyhow, Cicely and Ry knocked out while the rest of us drove back to Squaw after the game. We decided to save $29 and wait another 45 minutes for night boarding which was only $20. Got a couple of dope runs in. Then later that night, we met up with Cicely and Ryan and went ice skating. Man, was it fun! Took some dope pictures, then Sherwin, Keno, Lou, and me did one final mountain run. At first it was pretty awesome cuz it was just us and maybe a handful of people on the mountain. The temperature was in single digits, and it was just a rush coming down the mountain...until I freakin ate it and landed on my face. I busted my lip and it swelled pretty quick. I guess I missed an edge while trying to carve and I just ate it. Though I had to snowboard a lil slower down the rest of the way, it was still a lot of fun.

Monday, we packed up, checked out and took some crazy pictures before leaving. We finally left Tahoe around 2:30. And after a dinner stop in Elk Grove before Sherwin left, we finally left for home around 8 and got home in Irvine around 4 am. Having an Ipod Video helps. We watched some episodes of The Office and Love Actually.

Till this day, I'm still tired but the whole trip was worth it.

Click here for the pictures.

Thanks everyone for a wonderful weekend! Let's do it again!

MMMMMMM.....Danger Dogs!!!




Delish!!!!

Wow, already a week into the new year, and so far...what a year!!

First, a major change at work as previously discussed. Although it has lead to drama amongst people who were upset about the change, it was neccesary and had to be done.

Second, USC lost!!! Whoo hoo!! I watched the game with some friends at Jon and Flori's. Jon and I were the only ones rooting for Texas! And what a game it was! There were some controversial calls, but unfortunately that's how sports sometimes goes. People will always blame Vince Young's knee being down. However, USC was up by 12 with about 4 minutes left. Their defense should've held Vince Young in check, but they didn't. What made me a lil upset was that all month long, it was USC this, USC that, USC will win easy, blah blah blah. So when the game finally ends, with Texas celebrating, and after the two coaches meet to congratulate one another, who gets interviewed first?? Pete Carroll, head coach of USC. The 2nd interview?? Matt Leinart!!

WTF?? The team that was 'suppose' to win 3 straight national championships, just blew a 12 point lead and lost the biggest game of the year! And they get the first national broadcasted interviews?? what the heck!? Vince Young and Texas manhandled USC defense! At least one of their athletes should've gotten interviewed first, get some national recognition. And Matt Leinart said during his interview, 'We were the better team.' Man, that's bullshit. No respect or credit given to Texas. I know its not a big deal, but I'm tired of the 'USC this USC that' talk.

But anynow, I guess this was the first time I've ever really cheered for a team from the state I was born in. But I guess being a Trojan-hater, it makes it so much better that Texas won! So congrats to the Longhorns!

Third, I went to the Kings/Coyotes game with Karen, Cicely, Jay, Belle, and Lou. It was a lot of fun. Check out the pictures. I didn't take a lot of action photos, but more photos with my buddies. Kings went up early 3-0 in the first, then scored an empty netter in the 3rd, and the Kings won 4-0. It was cool, Karen finally saw Luc Robitaille play and he scored two goals. The game was fun, but it was a little dead. Not a lot of hitting and no fights. Kigns were awesome offensively, and Phoenix couldn't get anything going. Mathieu Garon made saves look easy. And ooooh man! Them danger dogs were sooooo good! It was well worth walking back towards the other entrance. Yummy! Although my farts were burning (No, Cicely. I didn't fart in your car while driving!). Anyhow, the Kings are still in first place in the Pacific Division. I hope it stays that way and we can finally bring the Stanley Cup to Los Angeles!

And I noticed after attending four games this season, this was the one I actually had to pay for! Haha, yeah I'm a spoiled fan at work. Imagine going all season long without paying a dime for tickets! Wouldn't that be sweet!

Gotta lot of preparing to do. Need to get ready for Joe and Kelly's wedding tomorrow. And gotta get ready for TAHOE next week!! Still need to rent that damn SUV/Truck! Whoo hoo!!

Happy New Year everyone!

Wow, 2006 already. Time seems to never slow down, especially in this day and age. I think I'll have to keep double checking myself writing checks with the correct date.

Anyhow, had a awesome 3 1/2 days off from work. Had some people over our pad for New Years Eve. Wasn't much, but a perfect crowd to enjoy Scene It, Mafia, hooka, and alcohol with. In fact, we all were up till 5 am enjoying ourselves. Thanks to those that came over. Had lots of fun. Although it caused me to have a slight hangover the next day, it was all worth it. In fact, I think my cough is just about gone. Amazing what Jack and Cokes, hooka, and champagne can do.

Got to enjoy dinner for a couple of nights with some friends. Ate at BJ's with a group on Friday and ate at Hooters on Sunday. Also watched two movies during the weekend: The Producers, which was pretty hilarious if you've seen the live show, and Munich, which was pretty freakin long but a pretty good movie.

I'm a little excited for the next few weeks, as I wont be working a full week of work until the end of the month. I'm only working four days this week, four days next week, and three the following week. It's been raining lately, and I'm getting amped up for Tahoe since its been snowing up north.

As for any new years resolution, I don't have any. Everytime I try to do something, I never really follow through with it. It might be a bad thing, but I don't wanna set myself up with something, then in reality I don't follow through with it. I'm not gonna say something like, "I'll quit smoking" cuz I've heard that shit so many times from others and it never happens. I'm probably gonna be just the same person as always and not change anything. Maybe I'll try to be a better person than I was, like spending more time with my family or being more active in sports and athletics. But I'll only change to a certain extent.

A lot of events and issues have occured in my life the past year, some good, some bad. This years Tahoe and Chicago trips were awesome. The good, I'll always cherish; the bad, some will never be fixed and I'll always hold a grudge. Should I get over these issues? Yeah I probably should. I know some people probably think that I need to just move on from it. The problem is that people don't know the full extent of the damage that this has caused: all the sacrafices I did, and the bullshit in the end. People have heard me vent, yet they still don't understand. But I'll be honest, it will take time. And by no means am I going to let the New Year change myself. Sorry call me stubborn, that's just the way that I am. Why should I fix something which I didn't break anyway? Fuck that shit.

So it'll take time for these issues to calm down and forget. But my thoughts and opinions about certain people will never change.

Wedding Crashers is out tomorrow on DVD and PSP. So far, a good start to the new year! =)