Quietly into that good night

Official weight this morning---------191.4 lbs.

I now owe the Nevada State Athletic Commission and my opponent apart of my purse for the fight this Saturday. I underestimated the timing and how much I could actually lose over a few days. I now know that I need to be in a closer range of the 185 mark to be able to shed those last few pounds the day of the weigh-in. I tried this morning, but could only shed about 5 pounds to get to the mark I ended up hitting. Guess I am a tweener in the middleweight-light heavyweight divisions. This is all part of my UFC obsession. I gave myself 90 days to get it all done. That was the deal. 90 days to start a countdown and see what it's like to try and live like a fighter and make sacrifices. In the end I did not learn a thing about fighting. That's my big reveal. My countdown ended up not meaning much really. I stopped it near the end cause of what I deem to be my problems with my writing. I guess I fall into this kinda cliche of if a tree falls in the forest and no one is around to hear it does it make a sound? Well if a guy writes blog postings and no one is around to see them do they even exist? Good or bad I needed more than I got. That's what became my problem. Not the people, but the lack of response to anything I wrote. making me think I'm not really writing anything anymore of any substance. Ya dig. In the end I did not learn a thing about fighting. I learned way too much about my life.

I can keep my attention on something for 30 days. That's it. I can live my life a month at a time. That's all I got and then I am on to something else. I have no such thing as a long term goal in my life. How else do I explain my behavior? I was yelled at by a grown ass woman this past Monday and the gist of it was for me to grow up and what a loser I am. Funny thing is I pushed her button to get her to say it and I smiled right after I heard her yelling at me. Not the way to begin the summer of ALONE. That's my new title for this vacation. Which is starting to crumble all around me. I am still waiting for the other shoe to drop.

I fix one thing and cause two new problems. An 8-year-old is walking around looking cool cause his parents couldn't take care of what I ended up doing. My fault I had the option on that one. My new best friend is now officially my DOG. And he pissed on my bed. How ironically appropriate to get pissed on by my buddy. I think my car is going to die on me this weekend. Between the mysterious check engine light and my AC helping my vehicle struggle I should be somewhere between Sacramento and Cambria looking at my vehicle go up in flames sometime tomorrow. Oh the trip I have known about for months, but am now having to turn to alternative sources to get my broke ass back and forth. That's another way for saying I went crawling to Mom and Dad for help. I'd explain further, but in the end it's really just all my fault. But at least my outfit is nice. FUCKING idiot.

I'm tirreeeed of hating on people. Ya know what folks? Do what ya do and I will stay out of it. I won't say shit to others about it. I don't care. Your act or actions or personality do not matter to me anymore. I slipped out of being what I was around the same time I agreed to go see Kangaroo Jack in the theatres around 2003.

The creative process is very easy. All you have to do is step away from fear. if you know anything about me you know that half of my life has been based on either running from fear or hiding behind it to help me make my important decisions. The more I write this the more I no longer care what you see when you look at me. trying to be nice is different than actually being a nice dude and I tend to think most people can see deep down inside I am just an ass. If you need proof please ask Sarah, Tammy, Sarah, Julie, Marsala, Lucinda, Jillian and Maria. I am sure they would all tend to agree with me on this one.

I told someone that I was thinking about skipping a family vacation cause I didn't feel comfortable leaving my dog in the house all week with someone who wouldn't take care of him how I do. Mostly cause I got nothing to do, but chill with him a lot but is that sad? I rather help him out than myself.

My old elementary school got turned into Heritage Park Charter School. More good news this week.

I got to do a physical for work this week. I know it's all professional and all, but I was just laughing that in a matter of 10 minutes a female was examining my piss closely and a man was grabbing my ball sac. I usually have to pay a couple hundred dollars for that kind of service.

This is it. My randomness is done. I have no insightful points to make. I think it has been a good run for the past couple of years. I believe I no longer get anything from this and I know that everyone is tired of my act. As other stories begin and new chapters abound I wish you all luck in the future. You won't see me around here anymore. If you ever see anything written by Wes Slater then you know where I went.

Cassie, I got Mike's T-shirt. It was a more difficult task than I thought it would be and I will be in my lovely apparel showing Rampage Jackson love, so hope I catch up with yall on Friday. Oh and I got you something too. I think i will just present it to ya both before the wedding so you have something to open prior to all the madness if I catch ya in some down time Friday. Congrats to you both by the way.

Mom, give me a hug next time ya see me. I think I need it.

Manuel and Jess please don't ask me to play guitar hero cause I will just embarrass myself.

Time to go beg for money and eat free food cause I am a free-loader.

I leave you with this. A friend of mine quoted something to me that I told him back in 2003 when he was drunk at a wedding and having doubts about his situation in his family. It might be the smartest thing I have ever said. Not original granted. He liked it though and if 4 years later he can recite it back to me maybe I made a change in him for the better.

"You can't choose you're family, but you can choose you're friends. He has to be you're family, but he doesn't have to be you're friend."

Rabble Rock!

one last time just for me

Somewhat Wordless Wednesday

Some pictures I took...













We'll be gone until Monday for the wedding. Talk to you then.

Top Five Tuesday #15

I am stealing this idea from some DJs in the area who did this a few weeks ago. I heard it and thought it would be perfect for a Top Five Tuesday. I am always full of ideas when it come to food. So, here we go...

What are the top 5 foods that you can find in the freezer at your grocery store?


#5 - Frozen lasagna - Yeah, you can't really microwave it. You have to put it in the oven and wait a little less than an hour (a lot less than the prep time for a homemade one). But, this frozen treat is the king of quick family get togethers. Pop a few of these into the oven and you have a quick meal to feed many.





#4 - Hot Pockets - The Ham and Cheese are my favorites. The yummy insides mixed with the flaky crust on the outside make for an outstanding snack.








#3 - Ben 'n Jerry's Ice Cream - Is there anything better than sitting down with a pint of your favorite flavor? If you can think of something better, let me know.








#2 - Frozen Burritos - Oh lovely frozen burrito, how I love you so. Pop a couple of these into the microwave and Manuel is one happy guy.






#1 - Frozen Taquitos - I NEVER get tired of these. I used to eat these by the handful as a teenager growing up. I have recently discovered the flour tortilla taquitos at the market which are to die for. And with the amount of calories they have, they probably will kill you, but try to ignore that part...

So what are you favorite frozen foods?

30 is coming...

Well, I still have about 9 months until I turn 30, but this past weekend, I celebrated the first 30th birthday for a friend from my graduating class. I gave him the requisite "old man" jokes, but really, now that he is 30, nothing is different. I know it is still a while for me, but I don't see turning 30 as a bad thing. I don' fear it. It's just a number. Yeah, my body is feeling older, but that is to be expected. I don't think I will be acting any mature. Hell, I stil play video games and collect comics. That isn't going to change. I actually look forward to the next year of doing nothing but having celebration after celebration for each friend as they hit the 30 mark. I think it is going to be fun.

The party I went to was awesome. He had it at this new bowling alley in town. I had never been there and boy, were we amazed. He rented out the party room which had 4 privae lanes with big screen tvs at the end of the lanes to watch sports or whatever, a pool table, and leather couches to sit on while you bowled. You could also shut off the lights so you could do glow bowling. The place was friggin' amazing. Expensive, but definitely worth the price.

The big day for my sister is in less than a week now. Getting closer...

Trivia Thursday #12

Been a hwile since you got some trivia questions...just take a guess. It's JUST FOR FUN!

1. 2/3 of the world's eggplant is grown in what US State?


2. The electric chair was actually invented by what type of health care professional?

3. What sentence used to test typing ability contains every letter of the English alphabet?

4. American Airlines saved $40,000 in 1987 by eliminating what item served in first-class?

5. Why was Donald Duck banned in Finland at one time?

6. The longest town name in the world has how many letters?

7. How many calories per hour do you burn chewing gum?

8. What famous writer invented the words assasination and bump?

9. What US State has the highest % of people who walk to work?

10. What was the 1st novel ever written on a typewriter?

Good luck! No, you won't look dumb for making random guesses!

Blowin' shit up

Here are some videos my buddy took a couple of weeks ago when we went fishing and shooting. Well, these are all shooting videos because how much fun would a video be of me fishing? This was the fisrt time I had shot anything other than a BB Gun. It was great fun!

Brandon describing what we did for the day...




Me shooting the .44....Dirty Harry style



Shooting the shotgun. Keep that front foot down Man!


Shooting the .45 auto. One shell hit me in the eye near the end...



Great day. I am sure we will be doing it again.

Going to see Manson and Slayer tonight! Rock on!

Frightful Dilemma Friday #8 and a Guitar Hero update

Would you rather have to ALWAYS wear wet socks....

or...

wet underwear?



And in other news....

Guitar Hero 3, coming out in October, is coming along nicely. With the latest announced song, "One" by Metallica(Oh hell yeah!), the list is looking great. Here are the list of songs announced for the game so far...

"3's and 7's" – Queens of the Stone Age
"Barracuda" – Heart
"Cherub Rock" – Smashing Pumpkins
"Cities on Flame with Rock and Roll" – Blue Öyster Cult
"Cult of Personality" – Living Colour
"Even Flow" – Pearl Jam
"Go That Far" – Bret Michaels Band
"Knights of Cydonia" – Muse
"La Grange" – ZZ Top
"Lay Down" – Priestess
"The Metal" – Tenacious D
"Miss Murder" – AFI
"Mississippi Queen" – Mountain
"My Name Is Jonas" – Weezer
"The Number of the Beast" – Iron Maiden
"One" – Metallica
"Paint It, Black" – The Rolling Stones
"Paranoid" – Black Sabbath
"Raining Blood" – Slayer
"Reptilia" – The Strokes
"Rock and Roll All Nite" – Kiss
"Rock You Like a Hurricane" – Scorpions
"Sabotage" – Beastie Boys
"School's Out" – Alice Cooper
"She Bangs the Drums" – The Stone Roses
"She Builds Quick Machines" – Velvet Revolver
"Slow Ride" – Foghat
"Suck My Kiss" – Red Hot Chili Peppers
"Talk Dirty to Me" - Poison
"Through the Fire and Flames" – DragonForce
"Welcome to the Jungle" – Guns N' Roses

A new mode that sounds awesome is in the versus mode. When you and an opponent are playing each other to see who can do the song better. Here is the scoop from Wikipedia...

IGN announced the game would feature a new multiplayer game mode called Battle Mode. The mode puts a twist on the Pro Face-off mode introduced in Guitar Hero II. Two players will face each other, trying to complete a song while successfully playing Star Power sequences to earn attacks that can be used against their opponents. Players will be able to store three attacks at a time and can activate them by tilting their guitars upward. If neither player fails the song, they will face each other in a sudden death segment. The attacks will include:

Broken string: One fret button on the opponent's guitar will not work until it is fixed (by rapidly tapping the button).
Difficulty up: The opponent will play the song on an increased difficulty for a short duration of time (except for expert difficulty).
Amp overload: The fret board will shake and appear blurry, making the scrolling notes difficult to read.
Whammy bar: The opponent will have to use the whammy bar before he/she can play notes again.
Steal power: This will steal your opponent's power-up (this will be lost if used when the opponent has no power-up).
Double notes: The opponent will have to play any single note as a two-button chord, and any two-button chord as a three-button chord for a short amount of time.
Lefty flip: The fret board will be mirrored, requiring the player to switch their handedness on the guitar.

Rock Band, a similar game, but with drums, and a mic, and the whole sha-bang, is coming along great too, but I will save that for next time.

Camping Trip

Well, we're back from our camping trip and we had a great time. Here is a slideshow Jess made of the pictures I took. Enjoy and hope to be back at your blogs tomorrow!

Oh no!!!

Something that I thought would never happen to me has happened. In fact, it never even crossed my mind that I would go in this direction. I am addicted to shoes! Now, despite my addiction, I haven't gone on a shopping spree and bought any yet, but the collector's urge is there. This is odd for me as I generally buy a new pair of shoes every 5 or so years. Yes, I have one pair of tennis shoes and they are at least 5 years(but still in good condition as I wear sandals a lot). So what started this craze?

Well, the other day I saw on a website that Nike was going to be releasing some limited edition Freddy Krueger shoes. I saw these pictures and I wanted to investigate further...





So, I started looking into the shoes further and I found out that there is a whole subculture of these limited edition shoes. Websites after websites and even conventions. So I looked into what else was recent and coming soon and I found tons I would want...


Transformers shoes - colors based on Optimus Prime, and what looks to be Starscream and Galvatron.


The Pee Wee Herman shoes...


Oscar the Grouch




A new set of Charles Barkley shoes. They will be releasing a couple of different shoes for each team he ever played for from High School til he retired. Here are two of the Phoenix Suns and Auburn University shoes.





Motley Crue - Doctor Feelgood edition



Guns n Roses


Metallica - These may be my favorite simply because I am most likely to wear these...



Yeah, many of them are pretty ugly. I get that. I don't think you buy these shoes simply because they look good. Ugly or not, I would wear them with pride. Let the games begin?

Going camping for a few days tomorrow... see you all midweek.

Reviewing a fellow blogger

Rhys started a new blogging directory and all I have to do is submit a review of a blog already listed. I perused the blogs and found one that really interested me.

The Megaphone
This blog started just this year and has a great format. Basically, this blog is great because it is interactive. Each post, the writer poses a question to his audience. I am fan of this because you are never without something to write if you visit the blog. Often times, I visit a blog and the writer writes a great post, but I have no idea how to respond. Well, by asking a question each and every post, I know I won't have to worry about this with thi blog. And they don't have to be thought provoking questions either. His post on August 7th simply asks, Besides the monitor, what do you see in front of you?" I am sure everyone can answer that. I will definitely be adding this to my blogroll soon.

The Final Chapters

The countdown ends soon and with it comes a step towards something new. I feel I only got two real legitimate things to say to all of the loyal readers of Manuel's Blog. Here is the first one......

I thought of this post many months ago. It is somewhere between dumb and insightful. Slightly entertaining and a personal ad of sorts. I, if you have followed any of my writings, have had many hours logged watching TV shows and movies. It is from these shows that I have come to build my perfect women. This is not to say that I am still actually looking for a girl of any sorts, but if she were to come along I would want her to be a combination of these three fictional characters. Not the actress who portrayed the character. The actual character. Cause I know these people are probably nothing like the character they played on TV or in that movie. This one isn't soo much about looks or a list. It's just something I've thought of from time to time and figured I'd share cause that's what I do. I share too much and hope someone connects and has something to add. Hopefully this hits someone, anyone out there.

In no particular order and in my opinion only of course

Joey Potter.

I watched every single episode of Dawson's Creek. Except one. I will have to go back some day and watch the whole series again. As much as I enjoyed the show and found similarities between myself and the "Pacey Witter" male character I was drawn in by her. Not hard to imagine being drawn to the late teens version of Katie Holmes as is exemplified by the image to the left. What made me keep watching was her attitude and her ability to inspire. It's what eventually made the two lead male characters fall in love with her. She was soft spoken and hard assed. She had a tendency to keep things to herself only to unleash them in a wave at the most inopportune times. And her sarcasm! Being the rude guy I am I am so completely into any woman who will listen to something I have said and make me feel dumb for having said something stupid. Don't be polite and pretend like I just made a clever statement or joke. Tell me what I said was wrong and do it with a little flair please. And her tiny half smirk shoulder shrug while looking down. You had to watch the show to get that body movement tried to explain. It's ADORABLE!

Alabama Worley

From the film True Romance. I want a girl who can and will do anything if they believe in the cause. I want a girl who will confess to being a hired call girl to me after spending a night with me out of her duty to her job. I want a girl to came at me full bore with true, raw emotion from the get go and to never lie to me from hence forth after the whole hooker on my birthday hired by my boss thing. I want a girl who will fight for her life with a bad-ass lackey hit man in order to keep any details of my whereabouts from the bad guys. I want a girl who after I get back from killing her pimp and other associates to cry on the spot and grab me by the face and tell me that's the most romantic thing anyone has ever done for her. Last, but certainly not least, I want a girl to taste like a peach. Once again see the movie and you will understand my last statement.

Mona Lisa Vito

Of My Cousin Vinny fame. It's the accent first of all. I have cousins who are originally from Long Island. If you have ever heard a cute New York girl say the word "Water" to you then you understand. Let alone having her curse you out? Once again her attitude is just a turn on. Interesting fashion choices and a lovely lil streak in her hair. I dig highlights and something that completely contrasts whatever is going on. If I recall it's jet black hair with a small blonde streak running up one side. I'm into it. I want a girl who will bail me out of jail night after night no matter how many times I screw up. There is no subtle moments with this girl. It's just what is on her mind at the time no apologies. And she can fix my car. She is more useful as a girlfriend then I would be as a boyfriend.

That's about it. Some kind of mash up of all these girls. Guess that's why I dug the only girl I was ever with. She is kinda like all these things at different times. Plus she took a hell of a picture. If I were to throw in a visual I will do one long distance call back for my man behind this blog. This is sooooo throwing myself under a bus, but whatever. Manuel, you remember when I use to come over to your house back in HS to mess with your computer cause you were one of the few people I knew who had access to the Internet and a printer at the time? You remember the girl I had you look up for me and then I had you print up a picture for me that I carried around with me for at least a few weeks cause I'm an ass? Something about the dark hair and the bright eyes. The curves didn't hurt and she certainly had a cheeky smile. I still dig this girl and will throw this last image in to complete the thought of my fictional gal. Couldn't find the original white dress on the beach pic, but these will do. Why do I remember this stuff? rabble Rock!

Wordless Wednesday #17

Movie Reviews and an update

Yeah, I haven't posted in almost a week. I just seem to be so busy lately with my job and such, I can't find time to blog. I know I could make time, but after I work on the computer all day, I just want to get off the computer. I have plenty I could talk about too. I am going to make a strong effort this week. I have some fun pictures to post later and a few stories. We'll go with some movie reviews for the moment because I have 4 more and I don't want to fall behind there...

The Simpsons - I saw this a couple of weeks ago. As a lifelong Simpsons fan, I was excited for the film, but not ecstatic as the Simpsons has dropped off in the past few years. Thankfully, the movie ended up not disappointing and actually exceeded my expectations. It was basically just a long Simpsons episode, with a few racy parts thrown in(it WAS PG-13). If you like Simpsons, you'll be satisfied. 7.5 out of 10.











Alpha Dog - Wow, this movie totally caught me off guard with how good it was. This is a film based on a true story about the youngest man to ever be on the FBI 10 most Wanted List. This story about young drug dealers who think they are a lot bigger than they actually are turned out to be a great story. Now here is the even more unbelievable part - Justin Timberlake is in it and he does a really good job. Hell, I believed that he was the character and by the second half of the movie, I had completely erased my prejudice that he was just some pop singer who got the part because of his popularity. This movie comes highly recommended. 8.5 out of 10.










Ghost Rider - This was just about what I expected it would be. When this came out at the theaters, I didn't feel like seeing it despite me being a comic geek. It just didn't look that great. Then I heard from a few people that it actually wasn't that bad. I went in just looking to be entertained and I was. The story is decent, but I was more amazed with the special effects. It looked even better since we saw it on Blue Ray. The colors were amazing. Nic Cage was typical Nic Cage. If you like him, that should be good enough to make you enjoy the film. 7.0 out of 10.









Deja Vu - This movie was friggin' awesome! Great film with elements of sci-fi, action, mystery, and everything in between. This movie will keep you glued to the tv the whole time. There is not one dull moment and I will definitely be buying this movie eventually. Denzel was great as always. You really can't go wrong with a film produced by Jerry Bruckheimer and directed by Tony Scott. It worked when these two collaborated before - see Crimson Tide and Enemy of the State. Rent this movie! It's a trip! 9.5 out of 10.

Day 30

It all fell apart. Not the initial goal. That still stands. everything else has turned on me in a manner that I did not anticipate.

I am selfish and self-destructive. I am a addict without the addiction part. I had one beer today and had to stop cause I am such a freaking lightweight. I had to go to my email to see the pictures my phone would not show me yesterday. The pictures made me sad cause I couldn't help but smile while looking at em. Figure that line out folks. I am becoming jealous of a website for the wrong reasons. I know I don't have a inner fire in me about this writing thang. I have a need to get feedback. And my feedback is not good enough for me to feel inspired. I should be better than that, but I am not. This sorta emotional expression that releases my soul of it's inner turmoil does nothing for me anymore. I have no poem and no witty monologue. I know that somehow I will get some sympathy for all this, but if everyone is honest they shouldn't show me any of that. Cause I am questioning myself as well as my readers. I am writing the same post that I wrote 15 times before. I didn't get to go to Root Beer Float day. The more I see him the more I don't care. I more I see Larry the more I do care. My sportsfan heart should be smiling and overriding all this. The dynasty has life once again. The same thing can't happen next year. I got plenty of happy wishes on my 29th year, but I just keep looking at the same damn picture.

"Just a pic wishing you a HB."

Damn the invention of picture messaging on the cell phone. Good thing I tried to save money this month by cancelling my messages package for my cell phone. GENIUS!

I have only a few more left in me. A few posts that I have thought about for awhile and should serve to quench my thirst for it. Whatever "IT" is anyways.

What shall we celebrate?

It's August 1st and besides it being one month until my sister's wedding, it is a new month of Tara Holidays. What is that you ask? Over at Tara's blog, she starts each month with giving us all something to celebrate each and every day of the month. Some of you may know this already, but for some of you, this may be new to you. I am going to try to participate more this month and I will start by posting this month's calendar. Here ya go...

If some of these don't make sense, they may have to do with fellow bloggers. Yeah...you're out of the loop.

1. What I'd Do If I Had a Pet Monkey Day
2. Make a Piece of Jewelry out of Office Supplies Day
3. Eat Nothing But Your Favorite Food All Day Day
4. Blog About Your Most Cherished Childhood Possession Day
5. Brag About Your City Day
6. Civic Holiday (Canada) - Observed the First Monday in August
7. Wayne Knight's (aka Newman) Birthday (1955)
8. Cat Appreciation Day
9. Dress Up In Drag Appreciation Day
10. The Big Hairy Man's 50th Birthday!!
11. Birthday Boozefest 2007 Appreciation Day
12. Tell Someone a Secret Day
13. He-Man day
14. She-Ra Day
15. Writer's Block Awareness Day
16. Ksra’s Birthday!!
17. Pencil Day
18. National Homeless Animal Day/Ed Norton's Birthday (1969)
19. Aviation Day, National US (in Observance of Orville Wright's birthday)
20. Buy Yourself A Cheap Toy for Work Day
21. Dance Like Mick Jagger Day (Tim Goes to See "The Rolling Stones")
22. Find a Random Object in Your Home and Blog About It
23. "I Dream of Genie" Day/Barbara Eden's Birthday (1934)
24. Superglue Appreciation Day/Steve Guttenberg's Birthday (1958)
25. Dinah's Birthday!!
26. Women's Equality Day (a.k.a. Susan B. Anthony Day)
27. Conserve Energy Day
28. Speak Jibberish Day
29. Play Your Favorite Song Again Day/Ingrid Bergman's Birthday (1915)
30. National Toasted Marshmallow Day
31. Van Morrison's Birthday (1945)

There are some good ones on there for sure. As you can see, today is "What I'd do if I had a pet monkey day." This is right up my alley. I have always loved monkeys and wished I had one as a pet. So what would I do personally with one? Probably just try to teach him to do as many things as I could. I mean, these guys are friggin' brilliant. We'd start with, "Don't fling poo."

Wordless Wednesday #16

Wordless? No. Speechless? Hell yes!