Birthweek Update

Good Afternoon Ladies & Gentlemen,

I’m officially 31 years old now, which seems like a big number… but whatever. I’m just 21 with a decade of experience & better retirement savings (now that I’m not wasting money on college… stay in school kids!!!). I celebrated the big birthday by… well, going to work. My coworkers put streamers up in my office (closet) and some Golden State Warriors logo… because they knew that I was going to the basketball game at Oracle Arena that night… just might’ve missed that it was against my favorite team since I was 8 years old, the San Antonio Spurs. Still pretty cool & thoughtful of them… and they gave me some of my favorite treats too so, kudos!!!

After work, Dizzy & I met up at Oracle Arena (she drove, I took BART) and we wandered around the arena because it was the season finale & Fan Appreciation day… which meant that food, beverage & merchandise were 50% off!!! So basically it meant that AVAILABLE food, beverage & merchandise were reasonably priced instead of the usual ridiculousness. The lines were long… but I bought some Warriors relax pants (basically long underwear), t-shirts & a few little things, even though I was really looking for a jacket… but I’ll probably just get a SF Giants jacket, cuz the colors are a little better… and I have to represent for the REAL Giants, not those suckers in New Jersey.

We also grabbed some beef brisket sandwiches and a few beers to start the game. Again, this was the regular season finale… and the Spurs were #1 in the west & going to the playoffs… and the Warriors missed the playoffs yet again… so it was basically a matchup of their last 5 available bench players with all the stars resting for the playoffs or starting their summer vacations early. Regardless, I love basketball… so I enjoyed watching these less popular professionals… and it kept the game good & close down to the final minutes, which is really what you want, right? Good times.

Friday was more work… but then my karaoke birthday party at Pandora in the Blue Moon room (yes, based on the beer). Bubbles, Dizzy & I walked through the Tenderloin (corner of crack & cocaine) to get to Pandora, but we also made a stop at a nice little bar based on an old speakeasy called Bourbon & Branch. There’s really no signage or anything from the outside… but then you knock & give the password (make it up?) and they have a few different rooms behind bookshelves & mirrors and such… and it’s pretty cool. I enjoyed it. I tried a drink called the Citizen Shame… and it was delicious.

The party at Pandora’s was fantastic. I sang a few classics like “Superfreak” & Jay-Z’s “Girls Girls Girls” while about a dozen other people came by & donated their talents as well. By the way, I have a coworker named Red… who may be on American Idol one of these days, she can perform… and she did “The Last Dance” & “Lady Marmalade” like she knew what she was doing. Anyway, a few beverages were had (but not too many) and definitely some good times. Afterwards, Dizzy and I went with CC & her Russian friend to Bourbon & Branch again for a drink, then around for some late night burritos & then we called it a night fairly early (I had been up since 6 AM as most people so not too broken hearted by it).

Saturday, Dizzy & I went on a fantastic road trip (all arranged by her) to Santa Cruz. We started off by using coupons from the Warriors game towards some free sourdough jacks at Jack in the Box (delicious) then went to the Boardwalk of Santa Cruz. If you’ve never been there, it’s a mini amusement park / arcade / eatery / historical landmark all in one. The amusement park portion is basically on par with Lagoon in Utah (only frame of reference really & a lot of VERY similar rides… like infringing on trademarks one side of the other, I’m sure) then a full arcade with a LOT of video games, a very decent miniature golf course, the usual funnel cakes, Dippin’ Dots, chocolate covered bananas & all that kind of fair fare… with one added perk… it’s located on a GORGEOUS coastline & it was a beautiful spring day… and I’ll say it, there was a LOT of ladies putting their goods on display. I felt overdressed with a T-shirt & jeans. We also enjoyed some great fish & chips on the pier there & saw sea lions enjoying the warm weather. Here are some pictures…

After a few hours there, Dizzy drove me to her favorite beach in ALL the world in Aptos – Seacliff Beach. There were some stairs down a cliff to the coast, but at the bottom was a pier… and at the end of the pier… was a sunken cement ship. The S.S. Palo Alto to be exact… and the story goes that this cement ship was ooriginally launched in 1919 and was once connected by a pier and used as part of an area amusement park in the late 1920s. A winter storm broke the ship in half, so it was stripped for salvage and turned into a fishing pier in Seacliff State Beach. The pier juts out to the edge of the ship so that you can check out it’s crumbled remains… which is usually covered with sea birds .. but still pretty cool from a completely nerdy perspective, which you know I’m all for. Not only that… we were out on the pier admiring the view as it was approaching “the golden hour” and we saw something off the pier… DOLPHINS!!! LOTS OF THEM!!! Then… as if that wasn’t enough… A MUTHA LOVIN’ HUMPBACK WHALE!!! Like… 20-30 yards at most from us at times. I could’ve easily pegged it with a football… it was truly a romantic & magical moment. Here are some pictures…

 

 Can you see the humpback in this photo?

By the way, I just wanted to mention… since I know that I haven’t been keeping up with this thing… that yeah, I officially have a girlfriend named Dizzy. We started out very casual & it kinda grew from there… but yeah, it’s official, just in case you were speculating out there. As you may also know, it’s been a LONG time since I’ve had one… but apparently I’m doing a pretty good job at being a boyfriend in her eyes… so yeah, finally I was in one of those romantic moments & had somebody to share it with. Awesome!

After a while there on the pier, we decided to head over to Capitola for some more wandering through a little tourist trap town… and it was great as well. The sun started going down & chilling a bit, so we then headed back to my apartment for a fine meal of strawberries, salami, gorgonzola cheese, sourdough bread, dark chocolate & other antipasti as well as bottle of wine that she had prepared. She’s a good woman to have around, right? She must really like me. We enjoyed it while watching… “The Conqueror” starring the great John Wayne. Okay, for those who haven’t seen this film… it’s John Wayne… as Genghis Khan. Now… think about that for a few seconds… ready? Okay. Yes, THE John Wayne plays the role of Mongolian warlord Genghis Khan… which should be awkward enough, right? Well, throw in the fact that he’s playing this notorious murderer of millions as THE GOOD GUY… and he takes a (very white) woman (Susan Hayward) as his prisoner… and then he finds that he can avenge the death of his own father… by killing her father. PLOT TWIST!!! Yeah, so… there’s a lot of betrayal… and then non-betrayal… and romantic lines like “Mother, I take this woman for my pleasure!” in John Wayne’s voice… and yeah, it’s pretty ridiculous to watch for many reasons… but yeah, what do you expect? Good times were had by all.

Sunday was mostly a stay in bed (you know why, don’t deny) and relax kind of day. We watched TV & went for walks in the Presidio & ordered a pizza for sustenance but yeah, pretty lazy day… so that was pretty much the fantastic birthday week. So good that it’s up there with last year’s adventures in New Orleans & the Mexican Riviera for my 30^th, Vegas for my 26^th, even Chuck E. Cheese for my 27^th. Big shout out to Dizzy for making it happen. Seriously! Warriors-Spurs game… karaoke party with friends & coworkers… road trip to a beach wonderland… sea lions, dolphins, whales… perfect weather… great meals… lots of snuggling in between it all… what more could a man want for his 31^st birthday celebration? Have a great night everybody!!!

Birthmonth Update

Good Afternoon Ladies & Gentlemen,

Well… I’ve been slacking on this blog. There’s no other way around it. I’ve been busy with work & activities… and my last entry had a lot of pictures… and I have a girlfriend now… so yeah, time is in shorter supply than usual. Let’s see… I think the DMV & becoming an official Californian was the last update… so let’s go from there. Last week started with Monday’s celebration for our softball team (from six months ago) and our 2^nd place finish. We went to Jillian’s in SOMA… and basically had a few beers, snacks, played some pool & caught up with coworkers from the different departments that we don’t see regularly. It was a fantastic time… and Jillian’s is a nice place. I highly recommend it for a chill night out.

Wednesday night was the Gotye concert with Bubbles, her new beau & a few of their friends at the Bill Graham Civic Auditorium. Now, I hadn’t heard of Gotye until Bubbles told me about the concert… but the kid has some skills. His big hit right now is “Somebody That I Used to Know” which is incredibly catchy but most of his music (I think he played the whole album) was pretty good… and of course, the company was great, which is always good. Again, I highly recommend seeing him in concert while ticket prices are somewhat reasonable.

Thursday night was a going away party for one of my coworkers at the Bubble lounge near Jackson Square (the one here in SF, not New Orleans). The atmosphere was very chill & it was a bunch of my coworkers with a magnum of champagne, some bites & a few drinks afterwards… and it was a fun time. We all kind of bonded reminiscing about songs that came on there… and then sharing our prom songs, big songs when we were in high school… and even first skate date songs (yeah, some of my coworkers where big in the early 80’s). Afterwards, a few of us went to the Irish Bank for some more moderately priced snacks & beverages… and basically my dinner was about a pound of cheese & a liter or two of alcohol. Not too bad. I highly recommend the snacks at Bubble Lounge though. They had some great sliders & bruschetta.

Friday was kind of the catch up night with regards to laundry, cleaning the room, dishes and… I’ll admit it, catching up on a few shows. For example, holy sh*t if you haven’t been watching “Couples Therapy” and the magical transition & story that is DMX… then you need to get on that. The man is going through some REAL sh*t right now… and being a huge fan, I’m happy for him… but I’ll tell you right now… he cried like a man does when he finally reaches “that point” and… it’s heartbreaking. That’s all I’m going to say, you’ve gotta check out the rest… and Wednesday is the newer episode… and it looks like it’ll be EPIC!!! He meets up with his mama…

Saturday was hanging out with Dizzy. We started by going to the Ferry Building’s Farmers Market because we were promised a celebration of goats… which meant the possibility of petting a few & getting our pictures taken with some cute delicious goats… and hopefully some kabob & goat cheese as well. Well, we had the cheese & there were long lines for the meat… but we could not find any baby goat photo ops. Perhaps the market crowd spooked them or something & they had to leave early… I got some good cheese though so not a complete loss. After that, we went to the Cherry Blossom Festival in Japantown… and that was a lot of fun & gorgeous weather… and we found a plethora of nerdy things in the various shops & stores to make it worth while. Including what we spent the late evening hours watching…

First up was “Fantastic 4” but not the one that you’ve all seen & probably wretched about. No… this is the one before that… made in 1994… but looks like it was made in the early 80’s. This is the movie that was produced on a budget of about a million dollars… and produced by Roger Corman… but was also done so that the studio could retain the rights & was never released to the public because it was so god-awful. I’m not joking. Google it. Anyway, this bootleg gem was found at the Cherry Blossom festival so I thought that I would purchase it at a reasonable price & check it out. Fun fact: I consider myself a bit of a movie buff… and I didn’t recognize any of the Fantastic 4… but I did notice a few of the bit character actors in the first five minutes of the movie. One was George Gaynes, who is most popular for being the father figure of “Punky Brewster” and the commandant of the “Police Academy” franchise. He was a professor for about 43 seconds. Also, there was a pre-teen girl named Mercedes McNab playing a young Sue Storm-Richards… but you may recognize her more as the spoiled brat blonde girl from the “Addams Family” movies. I know I did. She was in there for about a minute. Yeah. THEY were the big stars of this comic book franchise movie. Anyway, the movie was pretty bad… in the most amazing ways. I recommend watching it with friends because otherwise you’ll hate yourself… but don’t expect anything to make sense.

Next up was a 1974 TV movie version of “Wonder Woman” starring a blonde bombshell as Princess Diana. Yup, not even a brunette… and even worse, IN FULL OUTFIT WITH LONG SLEEVES & PANTS!!! That’s pretty much unforgivable from the get-go. However, there was one slightly redeeming quality to it. For the first hour or so of this movie… the evil mastermind is shown in a way to hide his face & identity somewhat… but anybody who’s cool know who it is from the beginning. Blah blah blah plot blah blah… then the big reveal as the “nemesis” is…. KAAAAAAAHN!!! Okay, so more specifically, the Great Ricardo Montelban… and basically, he just such a smooth mother f**ker in the last 10-12 minutes of the movie… that you almost forget that Wonder Woman is there except for the occasional lifeless stare as he’s talking. Anyway, it was interesting for a TV movie made nearly 40 years ago… but yeah, watch the Linda Carter series if you want a REAL Wonder Woman.

The third selection from the festival was a title I bought simply because of the title… “Ilsa, She Wolf of the SS” which I’m sure was the inspiration for the Rob Zombie parody trailer “Werewolf Women of the SS” in Grindhouse. I was watching it with Dizzy & Batgirl… and spoiler alert, the movie STARTS with a warning saying it’s based on actual events over a speech from Hitler… and then about 14 seconds in, you see for first bare-chested sex scene… and then about a full minute later, it’s first torture-execution… so within two minutes the movie was turned off due to the company I was watching it with. Pure snuff film I guess… but I’ll let you know how it is… or maybe I won’t. I did pay for it… I might as well check it out.

Sunday, I spent most of my waking hours helping out Meals on Wheels at their annual fundraise at Pier 48 (was Fort Mason last year) and as usual, it was a LOT of fun… and they raised nearly $2 million to help out those in need… so win-win baby. After that, I met up with a friend from SLC who was in town for a drink downtown & we caught up. Good times.

Lastly this week was "The Sitter" which is the latest from Jonah Hill where he plays a man-child who babysits some interesting children so that his single mom can go get her swerve on (yup, that's the story) and shenanigans ensue when the gives he regularly gives mouth sex to is drunk enough that she actually wants to have intercourse. That's really all you need to know about the story. It's funny at times... questionable at others... but yeah, were you expecting Adventures in Babysitting? Check it out if you'd like.

 

Birthday is mere hours away & I'll be celebrating with work (of course) then the Golden State Warriors season finale against the great & powerful San Antonio Spurs... then Friday, more work followed by karaoke jam... so yeah, good start to my 32nd year. Have a great weekend everbody!!!!

Turning Paper into Wine

Good Afternoon Ladies & Gentlemen,

Sonoma & Napa Valley were pretty amazing… and the company was too. After work on Friday, I picked up C-Real & Dizzy and we drove to the Renaissance Lodge at Sonoma, and it’s a gorgeous luxury lodge set up with cottages & a full service spa that I would HIGHLY recommend to anyone. The weather was absolutely perfect all weekend as well. Not too hot, not too cold, just a little wind, lots of sunshine but a few clouds to keep from roasting. Very nice. That afternoon, we started with a tasting literally outside the parking lot of the hotel at Cellar Door. The gentleman there was very nice… and pretty lenient with the portions of the wine. He was rewarded with a purchase of a bottle of Gewurztraminer.

After the sips, we took the hotel shuttle to Sonoma Plaza, the heart of the city of about 12,000 lucky people where they have a number of bars, restaurants and tasting areas as well. Fun fact: There’s an Occupy Sonoma movement at City Hall… and it’s basically two guys who have their flags & signs… and a permit from 4 PM to 5 PM on Fridays to protest… and then go to the bars afterwards. Now that’s a movement that I can get behind. Anyway, we went to La Plaza Bistro for a few drinks, then Murphy’s Irish Pub & Grill for some great food (burger that was half beef, half
bacon) and horrible music… but still good times. After that, it was back to the hotel for a dip in the hot tub with some people that we instantly hit it off with & gave us some great tips for the weekend on where to go. We celebrated the great vacation so far with that earlier mentioned bottle of Gewurztraminer.

Saturday we drove out to Napa & visited five different wineries. We started with Silver Oak…

Then across the street to Groth Vineyards, which would end up being one of our favorites… we also made a purchase…

Next was Robert Mondavi with some wonderful art on display and just a beautiful setting…

Then we headed to Sterling Vineyards where they have a tram that takes you up to the winery, then a pretty intricate tour with stops along the way for tastings… and then a final sit-down tasting. This one was probably my favorite just because it was the full experience of touring a vineyard (without smashing grapes) but Groth was definitely my favorite wine…

Next, we decided to get some dinner at Buster’s Barbeque where I had some decent pork ribs & macaroni salad. The prices weren’t even that bad either. On the drive back, we picked up some snacks & breakfast at Raley’s and basically spent the rest of the night relaxing at the hotel again. This time at the hot tub were some of the most shallow people I have ever met… they were apparently “popular girls” back home in Pennsylvania… and were basically just talking sh*t on their friends, you know, typical girls weekend stuff… but I just didn’t care for it… even if they were cute & in bikinis. The hot tub was great though… so I did stay for a bit.

Easter Sunday, we went to a cluster of four wineries that were open on this most confusing of holy holidays and tested their reserves as well. First up was Gloria Ferrar Caves & Vineyards, which offered a beautiful view of Sonoma Valley…

Then Cline Cellars, where one server seemed kind of pissed, another was admittedly hung over & a third was an absolute sweetheart… and also plenty of wine was given…

Then Viansa where they offered some affordable antipasti with their selection which really helped to bring out the flavors as well…

Last was the Jacuzzi winery… and yes, they’re THAT Jacuzzi family. So which came first? The wine or the tubs? The wine did. Now you know… hot jetted tubs came were begat from cold grape juice vats…

Then we headed back to the apartment… and the ladies took naps.

Monday after work, we went to La Mission for some Spanish tapas and to have an evening of dancing & wanderlust. We ate at Picaro, which you may remember from when Jackie D & I hit up the Mission over a year ago. Great food & sangria… and this time, there was even a mariachi band. After dinner, the ladies got a little weary of the neighborhood & most things seemed to be closed… so we headed back to the apartment for a few drinks and some TV. Not exactly a big blowout by any means… but yeah, still a lot of fun.

Tuesday after work, we went to get C-Real a tattoo at Lefty’s (no joke) and then followed that up with a delightful Taco Tuesday at a pretty nice place called Azucar Lounge… where we enjoyed some fine beverages & $10 all you can eat tacos. The atmosphere was really nice too so I may definitely be going there again. Anyway, here’s a picture of C-Real’s tattoo… and it’s a Ghanaian symbol meaning… I’m not sure exactly… but enjoy…

Wednesday was basically the day that I caught up on some rest because I really needed to after the week before… but then Thursday was my trip to the DMV to become an official Californian (also with my 31st birthday coming up, my license was about to expire). So… here’s my suggestion about the DMV. There should be some kind of high paying government job that turns this department into an efficient machine. I know, I’m far too brilliant for what I do & it’s amazing that nobody has ever thought of this before… but it would just make things so much easier. Also, if you tell me that there already is a job similar to what I’ve described, then I think that person needs to have a boss give him a serious review… because he’s f**king it up pretty badly.

I had my appointment set for 10:35 AM because it was the earliest that I could get. I arrived around 9:45 because, you never know, maybe they’re a little slow & it never hurts to be early. Apparently the system was down earlier in the morning… and they were catching up. However, at the time they were only about 30 minutes behind… and seemed to be catching up. Well… long story short… I was there until shortly before 2 PM because the system was on again / off again… and there was just a lot of standing in line to wait for your appointment… then to get to the next line for an attendant… then to get the next line for your photo… then to get in the next line for your driving test… then to take a test that is completely retarded & tricked. Now, I’ve been driving for over 15 years… so I know my sh*t. However, when you ask me a multiple choice question such as this… and keep in mind, only one choice is correct:

Q: When in the slow lane (furthest to the right) on a multi-lane highway, you should:
A. Expect oncoming traffic from the merge lane on the right
B. Drive slower than the lanes to your left
C. Allow cars to merge into your lane from the right

All three of them are correct… yet only one of them is the right answer. Usually it’s just two of them that are correct… but yeah, f**k the DMV. So then after taking the test… you stand in line for one guy to review all of them. One guy… and he isn’t exactly the most efficient guy either… and he’s also giving out the test from the line before you… and believe me, you can’t turn him on answers. “So what you’re saying is… I should only yield to pedestrians if they’re in the accordance with crosswalk statutes? Can I have your business card? Because when I run over a jaywalker or
a blind man, I may need you for my criminal defense.” Oh… so then after standing for over four hours (because I’m a gentleman) and all of that… then I had a day at work to catch up on… so that was fun too.

Luckily I got out of there before 8 PM… and then basically went to sleep watching “Adventures of Tintin” which was pretty good. I definitely recommend it. Funny thing about this movie though… is the whole two-hour movie… is basically summed up in the two-minute credits. Anyway, it’s based on the comic by French illustrator Herge and is about a young reporter & his dog that stumble upon amazing adventures. This one involves a pirate captain curse, buried treasure, international espionage, evil masterminds & a journey all over the world. Think a CGI version of Indiana Jones… starring someone from an Archie comic with a quaff. Check it out… from the
legendary filmmakers Steven Spielberg & Peter Jackson.

Anyway, that’ll about do it for today. No real plans this weekend… maybe the Cherry Blossom Festival but that depends on the weather. Next week is pretty packed with a few work parties, a Gotye concert, and working with Meals on Wheels again. Then the week after that starts the birthday week… complete with a Spurs-Warriors game, karaoke jam with friends & coworkers, and who knows what else? Have a great weekend everybody!!!