The Buried Life

Good Afternoon Ladies & Gentlemen,

Such a fantastic weekend! Let’s start from the beginning, shall we? Friday, the work day was a busy one, like VERY busy, especially given the holiday weekend, and throw in that it was a short day… I was ready for a drink. So as advertised last time, I went to Harrington’s with some coworkers (all female, cuz that’s how I roll apparently) for a 3 PM happy hour… that lasted for a few bars on Polk Street as well… and I was pretty buzzed after about 7 hours… and it was barely dark outside. It was a great time getting to know my coworkers a bit… and it was kind of a birthday celebration for one of them. Around 11 though, I went home, drank some water, & was in bed by midnight. I rock hard!!!

Saturday morning, I woke up & decided to do some much needed music shopping at Best Buy. The mission was to get the new Jay-Z & Kanye West collaboration CD “Watch the Throne” (surprisingly mediocre, basically a lot of James Brown songs with a thicker bassline & a few lyrics but nothing groundbreaking) but I also stumbled upon some good $5 bin deals for greatest hits of both Journey AND Heart which I did not have in my collection (shocking, I know). Might I just say though… there’s an acoustic version of “Alone” on the Heart album, that basically brought a tear to my eye. Oh yes, I highly recommend that you add them to your fold. Oh… and I also got the new Richard Cheese CDs through the email too (“Live at the Royal Wedding” & “A Lounge Supreme”) and of course, they’re amazing.

After some grocery shopping, I got home & saw that my view from the backyard, which was overlooking a stank mudhole is no fast becoming an actual park. Allegedly with a baseball diamond & BMX track or something. That’s when I decided that I wanted to start fixingmy backyard up so that I could entertain back there… or at least not cringe at the thought of going through the sliding doors. I even went to far as to map it out & jot down a few ideas for when I asked the roommates if they wanted to chip in, since I’ll be DAMNED if I’m paying for everything. Little did I know how prophetic this would be later in the day… Anyway, my brother sent me a text wanting to play video games online, and I had nothing better to do so I played some “Golden Axe” (yes, old school Sega Genesis) with him, then went outside to chat with him where I could get a signal.

While out there, I got a call from my buddy Boz down the street & they were having an epic LAN Party BBQ, so I had found my entertainment for the night. It was amazing. I’m not much of a gamer like these guys… but this time, they had 4 screens & a full 16 players, a full barbecue with kegs, and they had actually fixed up their backyard similar to what I was plotting for earlier in the day. They had made a little garden area (we already have some calla lilies that nobody waters), placed woodchips on the ground and had a nice grill & patio furniture setup, complete with tiki torches to help light the area & a little grill / firepit in the middle for making s’mores. Totally awesome! Aside from all of that, the company was great, we got to beta test some new kick ass games that I believe will eventually be the ULTIMATE party game (but patent pending so… sorry) and it was just a great time all around… even if it was a bit of a sausage fest.

Sunday morning, I spent hanging out with Pixie & her friends, which is always a treat. We even briefly chatted about fixing the backyard… and she was totally down for it… but we’ll see when the budget numbers comes in. One of her friends is moving to Berlin (with her boyfriend) in a few days so she’s crashing at our place while moving things around. That’d be awesome to move to Germany I would think… but yeah, I’d hate to go solo. If I’m going to be a dumb American, I need someone to be dumb with. The best news of the day though… was that my dad is coming out to join me for the Utah – Cal football game at AT&T Park on October 22nd. It’s going to be amazing. Did I mention the 2nd row tickets? Because that’s kind of a big deal. It’ll be his first time out here since I moved in January but it’s really just for the weekend… so fly in Friday night, game Saturday, do something Saturday night, Sunday maybe watch football somewhere (possibly at my place with a newly fixed backyard setup), then I’ll more than likely have to work Monday because it’s just how it is, so he’ll have the day to himself to explore & then he’s flying out Monday night. Still, it’ll be great to see him… and the game will be amazing… even in rain. Knock on wood…

Sunday night was dinner at Carmen’s where we made our own pizzas… and that was a lot of fun… and again, I was the only guy rolling deep in women. We just had a great time catching up, planning the Vegas trip (they’re still tentative so I told them about the EPIC things that were going to happen… and the Grand Canyon is what sold ‘em the most), and just having a good relaxing time with good food & good peeps.

Monday was the day that I REALLY started looking into the backyard adjustments, like taking measurements and checking websites for some pricing & locations to get… well, everything. If I were in Utah, I’d be set because I have all the tools back there… but out here, I’ve got a pair of gloves & a few roadside tools. I also looked into getting TV again… because they have a lot of the promotions with the Sunday NFL Ticket with Direct TV… and rather than pay an incredible amount of money to get it on my PS3 (and still have to deal with slow internet) then I could get that (same price as first 8 months of TV) and the roommates would have it… and I could cancel Netflix… and we could share the financial load so it works out to $12-18 a person. We shall see. The first roommate I asked about it was more stuck on the cost of backyard fixing than TV that she wasn’t going to watch. Damn Hulu has made everything affordable anyway.

That night, I watched “I Love You Philip Morris” starring Jim Carrey & Ewan McGregor. Now, my brother had told me that this was a stupid movie… but he’s an incredible homophobe (imagine when he was visiting San Francisco a few weeks back). This true story is about a con man (Carrey) who goes to prison for fraud… but then finds the love of his life (McGregor). Basically it’s a twisted love story about two men in prison and how he’s willing to do anything to be with him including using his skills of manipulation & an ability to learn to do just about anything. It’s good old fashion Jim Carrey comedic timing too… so I highly recommend it if you can get the chance. Just for an example though, one of my favorite scenes… is when they’re dancing together & having a moment to their song… but in the background, the cops are yelling to turn the music off… and the other prisoners yell back… and so a whooping ensues… but they’re completely unphased. I liked it.

Tuesday was softball… and long story short, we dominated yet again (17-5) in a foggy game. I showed up a little late because of my schedule but went 1-1 with a single and a walk while playing right field. Good times. Not really much else to say about it other than next week is our big barbecue softball game, so that’s awesome!

Wednesday, I found a show that I thought was surprisingly good for being from MTV – “The Buried Life” which is basically about these four Canadian guys in their twenties, who drive around in a purple bus completing their bucket list of things that they want to do before they die. Also, as they cross one off for themselves, they ask strangers what they’d do… and help them along the way. It’s a great circle of Karma. I was sold when one of the episodes was “Ask out your dream girl” and of course… it was Megan Fox. I could be down for that. So at that point, they figure out how they’re going to get into a movie premiere to do the deed… and that’s half the fun. Anyway, after a few episodes, I was basically trying to figure out how I could feasibly do this… and the answers are pretty reassuring. It could be done. Not unlike my “Into the Wild” sensation that I get every once in a while where I sell all my earthly possessions and wander the Earth, there are sacrifices & risks… but there are also great rewards. I asked Jackie D about it… and she’s totally down (at least via text) so we’ll see if I can get a bus to roam the world in & a crew to help out with the list.

The epiphany that I had while watching this show… was I’m not entirely sure what my bucket list would look like. I mean… yes, there are things that I’d like to do before I die… but I don’t have an actual list. I should probably start making one… and checking them off periodically. Sigh… but where am I going to find the time & creativity to do such a thing? Well, I can always start. The journey starts with a single step… so here are a few things that I want to add to the list, in no particular order… and yes, I stole a few from various sources… but I still want to do them.

• Play Basketball in Front of a REAL Crowd


• Go “Office Space” on a computer


• Fly a Plane


• Sail a Boat


• Visit the Seven Continents (3 down, 4 to go)


• Fall in Love (sappy, I know)


• Have a Three-some… with two girls


• Get Married in Vegas


• Sky Dive


• Party at the Playboy Mansion


• Make a Toast at a Stranger’s Wedding


• Help Delivery a Baby (maybe my own)


• Design & Build a House


• Write a Children’s Book with my Brother Illustrating


• Get Someone Named After Me


• Kiss the Stanley Cup (I’m not even a hockey fan)


• Get a Noble Title (Sir, His Majesty, etc)


• Sleep in a Haunted House


• Make a Million Dollars


• BURNING MAAAAAN!!!


• Go to Space


• Buy something with a suitcase full of money


• Gold Bouillon also works
  
  

I don’t know, that’s a good start I guess. By the way, I checked out their list of 100 from the show… and I’ve already done 24 of them. Not a bad start there… but this is my list. Also, if ANY of you would like to share something that you’d like to do before you die, please leave a comment… and maybe we can figure it out. I’m already seeing a few of these that can be done in November in Vegas.

Anyway, that’s all I’ve got going on right now. Just been about a week so I thought I’d catch up. Have basketball in a bit so… I’d better get ready for that. Have a great night everybody!!! What do you want to do before you die?