Just One of THOSE Days

Good Afternoon Ladies & Gentlemen,

Well first... let's recap the weekend... Saturday, we went to a Kentucky Derby party similar to last year and had a grand ol' tyme watching the "Greatest Two Minutes in Sports" or as I like to call it... gnomes riding horses very fast. There were some great appetizers & beverages provided by the hostess & later Beer Pong (though they played with water so I stayed away & sipped Mangria). Good times!

The rest of the weekend was basically lying about with Dizzy & watching movies and TV shows. One of them we watched was one of my favorites as a younger man "Brotherhood of the Wolf" starring Vincent Cassel, Monica Bellucci & other French actors. Also... someone I had never noticed before. Okay, the movie has a "Native American" character who apparently is also a master of kung fu judging by his fighting style & weaponry choices. He doesn't say much... but carries a big stick (my kind of dude) but the actor who plays him... I noticed that I had seen him somewhere else... he's the Chairman on "Iron Chef" (Mark Dacascos). Yes... the Chairman... is playing a Mohawk in this movie. It's actually pretty great & beautifully shot... so give it a gander... but I found that hilarious.

Yesterday, I found out that my boss is moving to the LA office in a few weeks... then I met up with Bubbles for some dinner (and food for her dog) and caught up on goings-on... but yeah, pretty standard day...

Then today happened. It started with me getting on the bus... it was pretty full... and I noticed that a lady was standing & holding her bags (probably just her makeup, etc) but was also in high heels (possibly because she's an idiot to fashion) so I offered my seat... because God forbid I should relax for a half hour on the way to my stress-filled job while she roll an ankle thanks to her horrible decisions. So the bus ran late because of construction traffic... and again it was full... and hot... and so instead of my usual 15-20 minutes to chillax a bit at work before hopping right into it... I had to hop right into it.

Then the workday was just... ridiculous... and everything has to go through me apparently... but that's the usual. The main difference today: I'm from the school of belief that a lack of preparation on your part is NOT my f**king problem if you all of a sudden need some product immediately & I have none to give. Also, I don't care who you are... unless you're personally signing my paycheck, I'm not going to drop everything else I'm doing just so you can have something quickly to do your job unless it behooves me. Especially if you're literally standing in a line while others are requesting similar things. Grab a number & wait your turn... or maybe you'll get lucky & I think that it would be more timely to help you... the last thing that you want to do is cop an attitude with me... because that's how you get ignored. So after about nine hours of that... I was not in a good mood... but luckily I had to leave to make the bank before it closes (can finally get cash since banks wanna be useless).

As I left, I got a nice message from Dizzy... a picture of a yellow rose saying "I got a rose for you..." which really made my day to that point. However, I was still a little peeved at everything in general... so I did what I usually do when I get in that mood... and beat the sh*t out of a homeless man. No wait... I don't do that any more (or any less either). I basically went home, changed & ran up and down the hill by my apartment a few times, throwing jabs like Rocky Balboa to get all the aggression out. See, I've been trying to do a little bit of a boxer kind of training short of actually hitting people... because the last thing the world needs is me feeling more comfortable with beating the hell outta things (see previously mentioned homeless gentlemen & short trigger).

I guess the point of the story is... you need outlets to release your tension... and I thankfully have many. Sometimes it doesn't seem like enough... but hey, I haven't destroyed a whole bunch of stuff, right? (Police records say no so we're going to go with that) Here are a few outlets that I use from time to time that may help you release some stress:

• Talking - Sometimes just having somebody to talk to (even if it's one of your other personalities) can help immensely & keep things in perspective
• Working Out - It was mostly weights & basketball before the YMCA decided to double their original prices which were already too damn much (f**king city) so now I resort to the running & more boxing style workout. Not nearly enough as I probably should... but I'm working on that too
• Creative Outlets - Sometimes reading... and in my case, doodling & writing help me to take out frustration & keep things in perspective as well. I'm also pumped about the idea of it leading to financial gains... but hey, until that happens... it's keeping me from being slap-happy
• TV & Movies - I'm cutting this out a lot more because I find that sitting around doing nothing kind of irks me & makes me feel worse... but occasionally you just need to relax. I'm watching more stuff on the Smitsonian Channel specials & stuff like that rather than True Blood or sh*t like that
• Finding the Root Cause of your Frustration - You know what REALLY helps with frustration... finding out where it comes from & alleviating it. Is it something that you're doing & can change? Try to work on it. Is it something that somebody else is doing that can easily be changed? Try to work on it. Is it something that you have no control over? Realize it & try to find ways around it or minimize its effect on you. Whether it's a procedure, personal trait, methodology, weather, solar patterns, chemical reaction, whatever... once you've found out what it is... there's probably something you can do about it

That's a good start... but yeah, just want to share how you can have "one of those days" and still be okey dokey by the time you're ready for bed. Also, if you need somebody to talk to... holla back! I'm always glad to help. Until then... have a great day everybody!!!

I'll Have Another

Good Afternoon Ladies & Gentlemen,

Another busy couple of weeks in the books… but a lot of fun mixed in as well. During the week it was mostly work with a bit of TV in the late evenings. I also had a drink with Bubbles one night to catch up on the latest gossip & happenings in her life at the Tonga Room. Pretty nice little place with a tiki hut vibe where you can get a Scorpion Bowl or Mai Tai. Oh… and things are good in her life, since I knew you were wondering. As for me, things are pretty fantastic too.

Last Friday night, Dizzy came over for a Game Night that my roommate Nurse was holding for her friends… so we played Cranium (our team dominated), had a few drinks for Quattro de Mayo, and basically just had a good time. Only one glass of red wine was spilled… which isn’t a bad party at all. Good peeps & good fun.

Saturday morning, Dizzy treated me to bacon waffles (absolutely amazing!!!) and then we went to a Kentucky Derby party held by a neighbor we’ll call Quacklin (she’s a Ducks fan). We dressed up in our usual race track finest, played some bean bag toss, had a few drinks, barbecued some chicken & garlic bread, and enjoyed the “greatest two minutes in sports” in the middle. By the way, leading up to the race, I thought it was hilarious that there was a horse named “I’ll Have Another” on a race on Cinco de Mayo… and that’s the horse that ended up winning. It makes total sense, right?

That evening, Dizzy, Batgirl & a few of their friends & I met up in the Mission for some Cinco de Mayo celebrations. We started out at Fritz, which was a Belgian fries place very similar to my breakfast spot near my last apartment in Slick City. They have a few dozen varieties of dipping sauces ranging from bacon mayo to spice pomegranate ketchup to chipotle and everything in between. Great spot for some starches before you get into your drinking for the night. However, for a twist, the committee decided to walk over to the Castro and hit a few bars there instead of the Mission where we drove to. No matter, it was a beautiful night with a “super moon” and good peeps, so we enjoyed the walk, had a few drinks, went to a few bars in the Castro including the Mix & Last Call… and then we were off by just before 2 AM call. It was a pretty good night.

During most of the week, I had a bit of a cold… so that kinda sucked balls… and I don’t know, I kinda blame work. Why? Am I allergic to work? Maybe… but more realistically, there’s always somebody sick there & it just kind of goes around… especially if I’m in my poorly ventilated closet at the end of the hall… but whatever, I’m a man, I’ll deal with it thusly. What doesn’t kill me can only make my voice sexier (when not full of phlegm).

Thursday night, I had a date night with Dizzy & we went to see… THE AVENGERS!!! For those of you who don’t know about it, what the hell is wrong with you? Of course, you know about the Avengers! It’s the last 4-5 Marvel comic book movies (Iron Man 1&2, Incredible Hulk, Thor, Captain America, etc) all squeezed into one… and directed by nerd demi-god Joss Whedon (“Buffy the Vampire Slayer”, “Firefly” & “Dr Horrible’s Sing Along Blog”) and basically what you get… is actually one of the greatest, most fun & entertaining movies that I’ve been to in a loooong time. Really. Not just nerdy response either… like great character development, comedy mixed in with drama, intrigue, special effects, and given that some of the plot material is kinda stretching the bounds of the imagination a little thin… much respect to all the filmmakers involved for really pulling it off nicely. Enjoy the BILLIONS in revenues because of it. Seriously, go see it now. I plan on seeing it again. J-Mo has yet to see it & we were going to a few days ago but… yeah, sickness.

This week, I saw "The Muppets" starring Jason Segel & Amy Adams. It's a muppets movie... but it's still pretty hilarious & I highly recommend it. Plot is basically the gang need to raise $10 million in a week or so to save muppet studios from being turned into a oil drill sight by a rich Texan named Tex Richman (Chris Cooper, maniacal laugh) but it's good, check it out.

I also watched "Columbiana" starring Zoe Saldana in a Luc Besson-esque action movie about a child whose family is killed by an elusive cartel head... but she's able to escape (using some hard core parkour) and her uncle raises her to be a world-class assassin... and then she needs to avenge her family. It's okay for an action flick... and Zoe's easy on the eyes. Give it a shot.

So yeah... that's really it in a nutshell for the past few weeks. Other stuff with work going on but... yeah, just more busyness & mild irritation but whatever... it's not too bad, just takes up a lot of time & I can't use any of my well-earned vacation. Nice, right? Anyway, having good times with Dizzy, the Wingmans come in less than two weeks, I'm good. Oh... and we have a new dog. What? Did I not mention that before? Stay tuned until next time... when I have more time to elaborate... Have a great weekend!