Samba your way out of here....

Never have I been so happy to be wrong. I got an amazing three out of four predictions wrong for the World Cup quarterfinals, but I am still smiling. Why? We'll get to that game last.

Recap:
Germany v Argentina - I predicted Argentina would win, but I said that I wouldn't be surprised if Germany won. Well, Germany did win in penalty kicks and I am still not shocked. It was the battle of two good teams. Unfortunately for Argentina, it went to penalty kicks where Germany does not lose. They are like friggin' cyborgs. Robots. Cold Hearted. They just step up and get it done. Once it went to PKs, I knew it was over for Argentina.

Italy v Ukraine - Italy won as I predicted, but I thought it would be closer. What a dominating 3-0 performance.

England v Portugal - Sad to see England gone. Sad to see Beckham limp off like that in his last game being captain of England. Sad to see Rooney be a bonehead. Sad to see England still can't shoot PKs. Depressing. Oh well, guess my prediction was wrong.

Brazil v France - I picked Brazil. How happy am I that I was wrong? Let's just say I have now seen the game three times. From Henry's beautiful volley, to Zidane's artistry of the ball, to watching Brazil's heads down after a disappointing loss, this really made my World Cup. I have my favorites, I want them to win, but ultimately, I went into the World Cup knowing I would be happy as long as Brazil didin't win. Now they won't, and I know I will watch the rest of the Cup in peace.





























My semifinal predictions -
Italy v Germany - End of the line for Germany, I think. Italy wins 1-0
France v Portugal - France keeps going strong. France 2-1.


On a REALLY sad note, tragedy has struck at my house. I have a shelf in my office that was bolted into the studs in my wall. Unfortunately, it still managed to fall yesterday. Remember those comic statues I got for my birthday? Broken. Mostly just fingers and arms, but it was a DISASTER. I HOPE, PRAY, that glue will stick these guys back together. I LOVE these figures. It crushed me. I just got them. They were expensive. Who would have predicted the shelf would break? What could I have done? What do I do now?!?!?!?


Movie quote time:
1. "It was great. She showed me all the wallpaper and where everything is going to go. And then she brought me in the back room where she took all her clothes off."

2. "No! Not good! Stop! Not good! What are you doing? You burned all the food, the shade... the rum!"

3. "El, you really must try this because it's puerco pibil. It's a slow-roasted pork, nothing fancy. It just happens to be my favorite, and I order it with a tequila and lime in every dive I go to in this country. And honestly, that is the best it's ever been anywhere. In fact, it's too good. It's so good that when I'm finished, I'll pay my check, walk straight into the kitchen and shoot the cook. Because that's what I do. I restore the balance to this country. And that is what I would like from you right now. Help keep the balance by pulling the trigger."

My New Boyfriend

With the World Cup constantly on at our house, I've watched more soccer than I care to. Oops, did I say that out loud?! Really though, I've quite enjoyed it. It has been exciting.

And as an added bonus, I've found a new boyfriend! Cristiano Ronaldo. He plays for Portugal. He's ADORABLE! In non-World Cup games he plays for Manchester United, which makes Manuel ok with the fact that we're dating. He's young. He's cute. What more could a girl ask for in a boyfriend?

I've included some pictures for your viewing pleasure. Enjoy! I do...

World Cup and Quote Quiz

Quarterfinals begin tomorrow so how did I do in the round of 16?
Germany v Sweden - Germany - correct
Argentina v Mexico - Argentina - correct
England v Ecuador - England - correct
Portugal v Holland - Portugal - oops, I picked Holland
Italy v Australia - Italy - correct
Ghana v Brazil - Brazil - correct
France v Spain - France - oops, I picked Spain(underachievers again)
Ukraine v Switzerland - Ukraine - oops, I picked Switzerland


So here is how the quarters shape up:
Argentina v Germany - I have no idea who to pick. Argentina has looked solid the whole time, while Germany keeps looking better and better. Can Germany ride this momentum even more? I don't know. They have a good chance. I am going to still go with Argentina but if I am wrong, I won't be surprised.

Italy v Ukraine - Ukraine's offense has only looked good in one game whil Italy has a strong defense. Sounds like a win for Italy to me. 1-0 maybe, but still a win.

England v Portugal - England still doesn't look that good and yet, they have made it to the quarters. Can this keep up against a good Portugal team. Honestly, I think England has one more surprise suckout win in them. England wins in penalty kicks.

France v Brazil - 2 games ago, we weren't even sure that France would get out of the group stage. Now they have a chance to upset Brazil. If France gets something behind their shots, they csn win as Brazil's defense is shaky. France will have to score as Brazil's offense is solid. Still Brazil wins. Unfortunately...

Quiz time, name the actor and movies he says these in:

1. "From now on I see a red sash, I kill the man wearing it. So run you cur. And tell the other curs the law is coming. You tell 'em I'm coming! And Hell's coming with me you hear! Hell's coming with me!"


2. "Okay, I get the picture White Tigers, Lords of Death, guys in funny suits throwing plastic explosives while poison arrows fall from the sky and the pillars of heaven shake, huh? Sure, okay, I see Charlie Chan, Fu Manchu and a hundred howlin' monkey temples, and that's just for starters, right? Fine! I'm back! I'm ready, goddammit let me at 'em!"

3. "When you pull on that jersey, the name on the front is a hell of alot more important than the one on the back."

Transformers Teaser

Well, I had it here so you could just click on it, but that link was taken down. Just go to the official site, and you can now watch it. Be warned, it is going REEEEEEEEEAAAAAALLLY slow right now probably because of everyone watching it.

http://www.transformersmovie.com/


Tired of waiting for it to load, watch the really cool teaser for Spiderman 3! Man this looks good!




Working again for now...

My Unlovely Lady Lumps

What the heck? Like I haven't has enough stress lately...

Saturday, as I was driving home from the Bay Area and the whole GG thing, every bump in the road that I hit sent pain through my left breast. Every time I moved my left arm and hit my boob, it hurt. I mentioned it to Manuel, but didn't make a big deal of it.

Then Sunday night, laying in bed, my boob started hurting again, so I checked it out. Yeah, I found a lump. When I squeezed it, it seemed to pop. I made Manuel feel and he felt it too. He got fairly alarmed and encouraged me to make an appointment to see the doctor.

Which I did first thing Monday. My appointment was for the next day, Tuesday at 10am. And of course, my breast hurt off and on all day Monday.

So today I went for my appointment today and naturally, no pain. It never fails - whatever ails you enough to go to the doctor goes away the second you sit on that exam table.

She felt around, the "good" boob first, to get a baseline. Then onto the "bad" boob. She said she felt some fibrous tissue that didn't really concern her. As she was feeling though, it hurt, so I mentioned it, and she dug a little deeper.

And as she dug, I saw her face change. She got quiet, and looked like she was concentrating. Sure enough, she said she felt a lump (not the one I had felt) and wants me to get an ultrasound. She said it's nothing to be seriously worried about - we'll wait to see what the ultrasound says - and better to be safe than sorry. She also had me make an appointment for 2 months so she can check and see if things are better, the same, or, god forbid, worse.

So yeah, I'm a little worried. My great grandmother (GG) had breast cancer and had to have a mastectomy. I don't know about my grandmother, but I know my mom has had breast issues and has had to have a few biopsies.

So I have lady lumps, but not the lovely kind. Good thoughts, please...

Confused...

Martin Luther King Jr. was a brilliant man who advocated for peace. Why then, I ask you, does every ghetto in this country have a Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard? Wouldn't you think, because he is so revered, his street would be in a nicer part of town?!

Let's check those predictions

Ok, the round of 16, the elimination round starts tomorrow, well, actually in 6 hours since it is 130 in the morning. Let's check my predictions on who would be in it against what actually happened.

Group A - I said Germany and Poland advance - actually Germany and Ecuador
Group B - I said England and Sweden advance - CORRECT
Group C - I said Argentina and Holland advance - CORRECT
Group D - I said Portugal and Mexico advance - CORRECT
Group E - I said Italy and USA - actually Italy and Ghana
Group F - I said Brazil and Croatia - actually Brazil and Australia
Group G - I said France and Switzerland - CORRECT, but in reverse rder
Group H - I said Spain and Ukraine - CORRECT

Not too bad. Let's see the matchups with predictions
Second Round
Germany v Sweden - Germany
Argentina v Mexico - Argentina
Italy v Australia - Italy
Switzerland v Ukraine - Switzerland
England v Ecuador - England
Portugal v Holland - Holland
Brazil v Ghana - Brazil
Spain v France - Spain

Quarters
Germany v Argentina - Argentina
Italy v Switzerland - Italy
Holland v England - England
Brazil v Spain - Spain

Semis
Argentina v Italy - Argentina
England v Spain - Spain

Finals - Argentina v Spain - Argentina

Got a few controversial picks, but just going on gut from what I have seen so far. We'll see. Bedtime...

An interesting concept

The United States is out of the World Cup(more on that tomorrow), so I thought it would be good to write something positive(the anger comes tomorrow). I stumbled across a great site today while reading the comments on Val's blog. This guy, the Complimenting Commenter, has a very cool site where aims to get people to leave positive comments on other people's blogs. As today is the first day of summer, he is challenging people to leave 100 comments to 100 different people by the end of the summer. Doesn't sound too hard. I actually think it is an awesome idea. I get to see what other blogs are out there while maybe(hoepfully) getting people to come pay me a visit. I added a link on the side here as well as a couple of other cool blogs I have discovered in the last couple of days. Check them out if you get a chance and wish me luck in my goal to leave 100 compliments. As angry and pissy a person as I am, it might be a good thing...

Civil War

I got back into comics recently because I heard that there was a storyline coming out called Civil War that sounded interesting. Through 2 issues, I have to say that I made an amazing decision to start reading again. The storyline has been amazing. Basically, this is what is going on. Some young superheroes have a tussle with some villains which leads to an explosion and the deaths of hundreds of kids at a school. The public turns on heroes and demands super hero regulation - training, organization, and the topper, the unmasking of secret identities. It passes and becomes law. Naturally, not everyone agrees with this. Some heroes see it as way to make the public happy and support it. Others are clearly against it, mainly because of the secret identities thing. It puts them AND their families in danger. A bunch of heroes have now gone into hiding as vigilantes led by Captain America while the heroes who support it vow to track them down. At the end of the second issue which came out last week, the ultimate unmasking occured at a news conference set up by Iron Man and Spider Man(You can click on the pics to make them bigger):

Peter Parker's boss, Jonah Jameson, watches the press conference on tv...









Peter Parker voluntarily unmasks in front of the cameras....












Jonah Jameson faints. A classic moment in comics. Loved it. Can't wait for the next issue...

Let's look at those World Cup predictions...

Each team has played 2 games now and the final group games for each team start tomorrow. Let's review and look at my predictions...

Group A
I said it would be Germany, Poland, Ecuador, Costa Rica. Well, I was wrong here. Especially about Poland. They have stunk it up. They play Costa Rica tomorrow in a game that is strictly for pride. Germany and Ecuador tomorrow should be fun. Ecuador is actually in first on goal differential and only needs a tie to win the group. How crazy would that be? But you know what, Ecuador has played pretty good. Germany has been ok, but will need to step it up in the knockout stages. I predict a 2-1 German win tomorrow with Germany and Ecuador finishing 1-2 in the group.

Group B
I think the biggest surprises have been the heart of Trinidad and Tobago and the difficulty that England has had in scoring. With England/Sweden and T&T/Paraguay tomorrow, there is still a little doubt in the air. England has already advanced. They move to second though if Sweden beats them. T&T can squeeze past Sweden for second if England beats Sweden, T&T beat Paraguay, and T&T make up the minus three goal differential. I would love to see T&T advance because of how hard they have played. It is a longshot though. I see Sweden and England drawing making the other game pointless. England and Sweden go one-two in the group as I predicted.

Group C
Ivory Coast has played well, but Argentina and Holland have been the class of the group. They have won both their games and now play each other for control of the group. Because of goal differential, Argentina wins the group with a draw. I still predict a 2-1 win by Argentina making Argentina and Holland go 1-2 in the group as I precited...

Group D
Well, it SHOULD end up Portugal and Mexico. Portugal has looked ok, while Mexico looks lost without Borgetti. Unless Mexico loses big to Portugal in the last game while Angola beats Iran by a bunch, it should be Portugal and Mexico going 1-2. Mexico can get first in thr group if they beat Portugal, but I don't see that happening. My predictions should remain correct.

Group E
Well, after that gutty tie by the US against Italy and the upset win by Ghana over the Czechs, I actually think the US will advance. As you may know, they have to beat Ghana and have Italy beat the Czechs. There are other scenarios possible, but they are LONGSHOTS. Yes, I see the US doing it. Italy and USA go 1-2 like I predicted...

Group F
Blah, blah, Brazil is going to win this group. What will be interesting is the fight for second place. Australia needs just a tie against Croatia while Croatia advances if they can beat Australia. Australia has been a pleasant surprise while Croatia has been so-so. I don't see Australia letting down now. The game will end in a tie making Australia the second place team to the Brazilians. I thought it would be Croatia, but I think I'll be wrong here. Aussie, Aussie, Aussie, OY OY OY!!

Group G
The biggest surprise has been how bad France has looked again. However, they play Togo last while the two teams ahead of them have to play each other. If France wins and Switzerland and South Korea doesn't end in a tie, France will go on. They can even go on if that game ends in a tie and France wins by two goals. There are a lot of options. Therefore, I see Switzerland and South Korea drawing, with France beating Togo by two goals. Switzerland gets first and France gets second. Just the reverse of what I predicted, but the right two teams...

Group H
Despite being rocked 4-0 by Spain, Ukraine is still the second best team in this group. Both will win their matches against Saudi Arabia and Tunisia respectively making Spain and Ukraine go 1-2 as predicted.

I will make my predictions for the second round on Friday. Thank you to those who got this far. I had pictures for all these groups, but they aren't loading for some reason...damnit...

Running out of time...

My job is killing me! No matter how hard I try, things just aren't clicking right now. I mean, I do what they ask me to, I try to stay busy, but the $ is just not coming in. I'm tired of things falling through for me and watching others who started at the same time as me start to get deals. I am not doing anything differently than them. They tell me that. Well, one lady just has a ton of friends who suddenly want to buy and sell, but I don't see that happening for me right now. I have my listing right now, but that still hasn't sold and it is frustrating. The overabundance of houses for sale and the way the market is right now is just killing me. I picked a career change at the absolute worst possible time. I talked to an experienced agent the other day and she said it has been the worst 6 months of her career. How is a new agent like me going to survive like that? If I could sell my listing it would be great because I will be getting 2 deals out of it. They tell me that they understand that I am doing all I can so at least I have that going for me. But they have given me until the end of July to sell it. Basically, I have 6 more weeks to sell it or I lose 2 deals. And if I lose them? Well, I could get lucky and pick up some more buyers in the meantime, but my luck hasn't gone that way yet. Jessica and I have basically given ourselves till the end of the Summer for this Real Estate thing. I love my job, she loves that I am happy, but we can't live with no paycheck from me. I only need about 8 deals in a year to make what I did as a teacher. Doesn't sound like a big deal, but it isn't going that way for me. And then what do I do? Well, I guess I have to find another job. I don't know what. I don't want to go back to teaching. I hated teaching. I guess I could get a state job. I just don't want to end up in some job that they will give to anyone with a high school diploma. I have a college degree from a good school. It would kill me to waste it. I don't know where to begin. I could always do Real Estate part time when deals happen, but that would require me switching companies as my office doesn't allow part timers. Who knows, maybe I will find the perfect job. I think I have the perfect job right now. Just not the perfect timing. Well, I guess we will see in a few more months.

I HATE YOU!!!

There is this doctor at work who, I think intentionally, gives me a bad time. Every time I speak with her on the telephone it is a battle. I can't remember every single instance, but for example, she has interrupted my report then accused me of not giving her all of the information. And last night, the following exchange occurred. For the sake of anonymity, we'll call the doctor Dr. A (and yes, Mom, she's taken care of you...)

Background: I had a patient with a bad rash and the skin had broken open and was causing the patient a great deal of discomfort. Being the good nurse I am, I called Dr. A.

*ring ring*
Dr. A: (speaker phone) Hello?
Me: Dr. A? (it didn't sound like her)
*silence*
Me: Hello?
Dr. A: Yeeeessss...
Me: It's Jessica from San Juan. I'm calling about (patient) who has a rash on her (location) that...

At this point she interrupts me and tells me what medicines to give her, which is cool, but I feel it is important to give her all the information and let her know that the skin is broken (which I was about to do before she interrupted me). So I tell her.

Dr. A: Ok... Give her the Diflucan and Neosporin like I told you.
Me: Ok, can you tell me how the Diflucan comes? Milligrams and all?
Dr. A: No.
*silence*
Me: Well, I don't know how it comes, Dr. A.
Dr. A. *sighs* 150 mg.
Me: Ok, how often? (There are always 4 things you need for a correct medication order: 1) the drug 2) the dose 3) how to give it 4) how often to give it)
*silence*
Dr. A: (very patronizing) Just once.

When I hung up I honestly was on the verge of tears from anger because speaking to a doctor and advocating for your patient's safety and comfort should not be that difficult. I should not be given a bad time, harassed or spoken to like I'm a 5 year old retard for doing my job. If it was only once that this happened, I could let it go, but every time I speak to her on the telephone, without fail, I hang up pissed off because she does something like this.

A wise woman at work said that I'm probably especially sensitive to it because I go into the call with her on the defensive. And that makes sense - if she's treated me like crap every phone conversation we've had before, why wouldn't I be prepared for more? But also, in so doing, it's like I'm looking for it, thus more sensitive when it does happen. It makes sense...

But it doesn't make it right. Whatever I did to piss her off or get on her bad side, I wish I could take back because it is a horrible feeling to be spoken down to/harassed/belittled for doing your job.

Hopefully, there is More Than Meets the Eye

Yup, just a little over a year away until my movie dream comes true. They sure are keeping a tight wrap on the filming right now. Most pictures that get leaked quickly disappear for fear of lawsuit.

Crap....

Well, the U.S, got watch the mighty Czechs celebrate three times today. Just depressing. Guess we have to go and beat Italy now. Yeah....

What many Americans wouldn't understand...

The first three days of the World cup are over and what a spectacular time it has been. There have been beautiful goals, hard play, and a few surprises. No surprise can top 0-0 tie that Trinidad and Tobago was able to get with Sweden. In fact, this may have been the best of the 8 games so far. Wait, a 0-0 tie is the best game you may ask? See, this is where American sports mentality comes in. One of the reasons that many in America hate soccer is that they feel it is too low scoring. They feel a game can't be exciting unless many goals/points are scored. But they are so wrong. Let's look at this game deeper. This was Trinidad's first game in their first ever World Cup. They were going up against a fairly strong team in Sweden. By all accounts, they were supposed to get blown out. Yet, with one half down, they were still at 0-0. Then 1 minute into the second half, a Trinidad player gets ejected and now Trinidad has to play the entire second half with one less player. So, they are inexperienced, playing a good team, and have one less player. Yet somehow, they were able to play their hearts out, giving it all on the field. The last 5 minutes, as they blocked shot after shot from a charging Sweden side were some of the most tense moments I have ever seen in a soccer game. When the ref finally blew the whistle, the players of Trinidad mobbed each other as if they had just won the World Cup. They had accomplished what nobody thought they could. It was straight out of a movie. Yet, American mentality will look at the final score and say that it had to be boring. Little do they know, the game had a storybook ending. Trinidad may lose their next two games, but they will probably return home as heroes for the shocker they were able to pull on a Saturday afternoon. Not bad for a "boring" 0-0 game.

World Cup Time!!!

It only happens every four years and it is the greatest sports event in the world. Nope, not the Olympics, but the World Cup. For one month, I am going to be on the edge of my seat as the greatest soccer players in the world will compete in the game I love. Being that it is only every 4 years only adds to how great it is. Mess up in the first round, you have 4 whole years to think about it. So, here are my predictions and don't worry, if you don't care about soccer, there will be some movie trivia at the bottom...

First Round features 8 groups of 4 with the top two in each group advance. This is how I see each group finishing...

Group A
Germany
Poland
Ecuador
Costa Rica

Group B
England
Sweden
Paraguay
Trinidad and Tobago

Group C
Argentina
Holland
Ivory Coast
Serbia and Montenegro

Group D
Portugal
Mexico
Angola
Iran

Group E
Italy
USA
Czech Republic
Ghana

Group F
Brazil
Croatia
Australia
Japan

Group G
France
Switzerland
South Korea
Togo

Group H
Spain
Ukraine
Tunisia
Saudi Arabia


Second Round
Germany over Sweden
Argentina over Mexico
England over Poland
Holland over Portugal
Italy over Croatia
France over Ukraine
Brazil over USA
Spain over Switzerland

Quarterfinals
Argentina over Germany
Italy over France
England over Holland
Brazil over Spain

Semifinals
Argentina over Italy
England over Brazil

Finals
England over Argentina...and I will rejoice in England's win!!! It's finally their time to reclaim the cup. A betting man would put the $$$ on Brazil, but I hate Brazil and refuse to proclaim the winner. We shall see....


Movie trivia time...We'll make them sports movies in the spirit of the Cup. Name the movie and the character who said it.

1. Bats, they are sick. I cannot hit curveball. Straightball I hit it very much. Curveball, bats are afraid.

2. If we play 'em 10 times, they might win nine. But NOT this game.

3. Yeah, starting defense! PLACE AT THE TABLE!!! YEAH!!!

Early Morning Telephone Call

I was up this morning at 615am, which is no big deal, since I work tonight and will nap at some point today anyway. So I got up, fed and pottied the dogs, ate breakfast and checked e-mail/played on the computer until 700am, when I woke Manuel with a kiss to the forehead and the morning paper. When he got up to get ready for his day at work, I went back to the computer.

At 725am the telephone rang. Normally when it rings at that time, it is either my mom or step-mom calling, thinking I worked the night before and trying to catch me before I go to bed. I was sitting in the living room and when the ringing started, I looked up to where the phone usually is, but alas, it wasn't there. I stood up and looked around for it but still couldn't find it. I ran to the bedroom to answer the phone, and by the time I got there, the answering machine had picked up, so as the recording was going, I kept saying, "Hang on, hang on" to whoever was on the other end so they knew I was there and wouldn't hang up.

It was a good thing I couldn't find the phone and the answering machine recorded the whole conversation because it was entirely bizarre and what follows is a direct transcript I took by listening to the recorded conversation over and over again. The person calling had an VERY thick Indian accent and the words in parentheses are what I think he said.

Me: Ok, go ahead.
Him: Yes, Miss. Can I speak to Manuel?
Me: He's in the shower.
*pause*
Him: Ok...
Me: Who's calling?
Him: My name is (Satchel?) and I'm calling, uh, from the credit team at (paytroll?), ok?
*pause*
Me: And what is that?
Him: Well, this is regarding an online purchase that he made (out of a trite?), ok? What I will do is I'll just give him a call after 5 or 10 minutes, Alright? That ok?
Me: Ok, but, I mean, where are you calling from?
Him: I'm calling from United States.
Me: Well, I know United States but, I mean, it's 730 in the morning here.
*silence*
Him: (VERY quietly) Ok. I'm really sorry Ma'am.
Me: Ok.
Him (Still VERY quietly) Bye bye.

Yeah... Whatever online purchase Manuel made isn't important enough to require a telephone call at 730 in the morning.

Oh, and by the way, it is 845am right now, and he still hasn't called back. So much for that 5 to 10 minutes... I think I scared the crap out of him.

Free Money

I got a call from my boss at work a few days ago. She said she was embarassed to tell me this, but Human Resources never got the paperwork notifying them that I took my boards. So all this time, HR had me as an RN-IP, working under an interim permit that is good for 6 months or until I pass (or do not pass) my boards. My IP started 6/04, when I started working, and was due to expire 6 months later, 12/04. Well, I took my boards in 9/04 and passed, thus nullifying my IP and becoming a REAL nurse, and I've been working like that ever since.

Only, like I said above, HR never got that info (which REALLY gives me faith in our HR department, working under a licence that expired over a year and a half ago and nobody caught on to it...) But the good news is, and I did not know this, there is a pay difference between IP and real RN status, which I have not been receiving since 9/04 - 21 months! So yours truly is apparently going to get a check for retro pay, paying me 21 months worth of IP and RN pay difference. I don't know exactly how much the difference is, but regardless, it's like getting free money!

Now we can get those hardwood floors! Score!

Birthday update

Had a wonderful time in Vegas, but never have I felt so old before. Even though most of the guys are older than me, they are also mostly single. They always were in party mode and it just drained the crap out of me. It was like a nonstop party. I need more sleep than 530am-1030am(?!?!?) on Sunday morning and 4-7 am on Monday morning. By the time I got home at 11am on Monday, I was dead. However, as little energy as I had, I still went straight to the movies from the airport with Jess to see X-Men3. LOVED IT!!! Loved seeing all these characters although they still left out Gambit. Bastards! Maybe in the next one....and you know there will be one. Got some $$$ and gift certificates so I was able to pick up some great resin figures today at the store. Here are some pics...






I also have on order this new DVD set for your computer that has every Uncanny X-Men comic ever made to read on your computer. Only $40 bucks so I also ordered an Avengers set today with some money I got in the mail today. Looking forward to those!

Movie trivia: Last weeks mystery Will Smith quote was from Enemy of the State.

In honor of all this comic news, something different today. Each quote is from a different movie based on a comic. Name the movie and the comic character who says the quote...

1. Does it ever wake you in the middle of the night? The feeling that one day they will pass that foolish law or one just like it and come for you? And your children?

2.Well, to each his own. I chose my path, you chose the way of the hero. And they found you amusing for a while, the people of this city. But the one thing they love more than a hero is to see a hero fail, fall, die trying. In spite of everything you've done for them, eventually they will hate you. Why bother?

3.You're making me angry. You wouldn't like me when I'm angry.

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All Alone

Manuel left for Vegas with the boys this morning. His ride came to pick him up at 930am. Since I worked last night, we hung out until about 915am, then he tucked me in bed and we said goodbye.

I slept the majority of the day, got up, got ready and went to work. It was slow, so I volunteered to go home - I have plans for tomorrow and sleeping all night will be better than not.

So I'm sitting here, looking at websites, and I hear my cell phone ringing to Manuel's ring tone - The Simpsons. He's calling me! I run to catch the phone and sure enough, my sweet love is on the other end. I play yell at him for calling - Vegas is roaming, thus $0.50 a minute, and you know what he says? "I just wanted to tell you that I love you." I could hear his friends in the background, and normally he keeps the love stuff on the down low in front of his friends, but here he was, out with the guys for a weekend in Vegas and he calls to tell me he loves me.

I didn't realize how much I missed him until I heard his voice. It really filled my heart and made me happy talking to him. I smiled the whole time I was on the phone, and even for a few minutes after we hung up.

I love that boy SOOOOOO much!

Season Finales

Two exciting finales this week. Let's start with 24. Pretty exciting. Pretty much happened how I would thought except for the end. This is the first season we have watched so I don't know the whole story behind the Chinese, but I knew enough to know that when they took off their masks at the end, I knew I was supposed to say, "Oh shit!" Should be an exciting season next year and I am anxious to see where it goes. My only complaint was that they did not kill Chloe. We HATE her and I hope she dies a violent death soon!












Lost finished last night and again it was a trip. Yeah, it answered so many questions, but it just replaced them with others. Still, a great show and again, it will be a long summer waiting for this show to come back. I have heard rumors that this show is only going to be three seasons long so if that is the case, the end really started it on that path.

Jess and I saw Da Vinci Code last Friday. Pretty good movie. We both read it a few years ago, and recently bpth reread it to refresh our memories. For a movie, it was pretty entertaining. It had differences from the book, but overall, I just wanted to be entertained and my goal was met. Lot of people seem to hate the movie adaptation, but it would have been very hard to totally get it right from the book. I'm ok with the final product. Now bring on Angels and Demons which is an even better book. We passed on Poseidon from my list of Summer movies. We'll just NetFlix it instead. This week is X-Men 3, but with Jess working and Vegas this weekend with the boys, I don't think I will get to see until my birthday on the 29th. Oh well.

Trivia - Not very many answers from the last one. It was Tom Hanks and the first quote was from Toy Story. The 2nd was from That Thing Uou Do and the third was from Saving Private Ryan.

Today's:
1.Now back up, put the gun down, and get me a pack of Tropical Fruit Bubblicious.

2.It just be raining black people in New York.

3.You're the only woman for me. You and Janet Jackson.

Meet the Nielsons

So this is exciting news - we've been asked to be a Nielson family. They contacted us a couple of weeks ago to get some demographic information for their consideration. Well, today they came by and said we have been chosen. So, in a couple of weeks, they are going to come by, install some box to our two TVs in the house, and we are officially a Nielson family. In case you don't know what that is, they keep track of every TV show we watch so that they can come up with the TV ratings. Pretty cool. If our TV should break any time between now and when we stop being a Nielson family, they will pay for half of it. Kind of fun...

House(Castle) sitting was a blast. Meant to take pictures and of course, we forgot. Hopefully they will ask us again so we can rectify that. Their puppies were adorable, the scenery was great, and the BBQ/poker game on Saturday was a BLAST! Didn't hurt that I won the poker game. $140 for first isn't too shabby. Here is the only pic of the house I have for now:

















Some trivia for ya:
1.That wasn't flying! That was... falling with style!

2.It is very important that you don't stink today.

3.Earn this.

The many faces of Manuel

In case you didn't know, I've been working out!

















And don't get me angry! You won't like when I get angry!!! Manuel Smash!
















I'm joining the BlueMan-uel group...

I was sucha freakin Talent

About the author:
Richard Bauer is the 12 year old son of Denise Bauer. He is studying in St. Lawrence School in Sacramento, where is received the King Author Certificate of Excellence and also the Christian Citizenship Award.
The award reads : This young man exemplifies what our school stands for Christianity. He is respectful, courteous and friendly. During mass, Richard shows reverence and a quiet deep faith. In class he is helpful, for instance, after Math class last Monday, a fellow student needed assistance and Richard quietly and courteously gave his time to help. As a sportsplayer, Richard exhibits true sportsmanship- the desire and ability to win, but with humility. Richard is friendly to all and doesnt spek unkindly of anyone. He always tries his best whether it is at Mass, in the classroom, or on the playing field. Thank you Richard for being you.

Following is the unedited essay of Richard:

Being a piece of paper is exciting. I never know what is going to be written on me until its done. Sometimes a person writes poetry and expresses their feelings. Other times a person writes an essay for me, but for this one day, I would be an A paper.

It started when a kid named Richard was assigned an English essay. He had to write about a day in the life of an inanimate object. The day before the paper was due, I was chosen as the paper to be turned in. What an honor! For the first time I had a chance to be an A paper. When Richard started, two of my friends were crumple up. I was praying that he wouldnt throw me away. Richard was watching T.V. and he was halfway through the paper. I could be an A paper, only a paragraph to go.

I had always dreamed of this moment and it had finally come. It was my first and last chance. It was up to Richards teacher to decide if I was worthy of this honor. The next day, Richard turned me in and only fate could tell.

The next Monday Richard got me back and boy was he happy. He got an A and I had the honor of being that paper that was Richards first essay to be an A.

Monday

This video is pretty funny.





Only a few more days until we get to house sit at the castle. We're so excited! Maybe if I hang out in front of the house enough, I can get their neighbor, Mr Artest to come over and play poker. Yeah, maybe....

Nobody got the second quote last time. It was Nic Cage's great line from The Rock.

Here ya go with some more quotes...

1. I know that I have put you through hell, and I know that I have been one rough pecker. But from here on, you are all in my cool book.

2. There's a ninety-five pound Chinese man with a hundred sixty million dollars behind this door.

3. You fascinate me.

Survivor Women Top 10

In honor of Survivor's Finale tonight, I thought I would do a top 10 of the hottest girls that have been on the show. I've seen every episode of this damn addicting show and it has not been lacking in girls I thought were cute. Here ya go from 10-1...


10. Brianna - Cute, but didn't last very long. Was pretty worthless if I remember correctly.











9. Eliza - Another cute one, but I seem to remember her being pretty worthless also.











8. Sally - From this season. Cutie. Read she was a soccer player!!!











7. Neleh - Even though she was pretty much just a retread of the upcoming Elizabeth, I still thought she was pretty cute.











6. Danni - The winner last season. Waaaaaaayyyyyy too skinny, but she was damn hot. The fact that her skinniness was probably due more to running rather than just being a non-eating skeleton somehow made it better.









5. Jenna - Actually, I couldn't stand her the first season she was on, despite how hot she was. Then once All-Stars rolled around, she really grew on me and now totally dig her. 











4. Amber - Just a cutie. She seems totally opposite of Boston Rob, but hope it works out for them. 











3. Elizabeth - Pretty hard not to have a crush on this girl. Seems like she has done pretty well for herself now. Although, she does have to deal with that alien, Star Jone,s every day.









2. Colleen - I had the BIGGEST crush on her during the first season. Then she got a movie role. Then? Where are you Colleen?!?!?











1. Danielle - Number one didn't come around until this season. Besides her extremely fake boobs which I HATE, she is just so hot. She even has a chance to win. She is one of three people who I wouldn't mind winning tonight. We'll have to see how it goes. And.....another soccer player!!! Can't get much better!

Happy Mother's Day

To all mothers out there, especially my wonderful Mom, have a happy and fun Mother's Day. You ALL deserve it for what you do!

The Evolution of Dance

Press play to watch this video. It is HILARIOUS!!! This guy dances to pretty much every imaginable dance through the years from Elvis to N'Sync. Let me know what you think! There is still a quote below that needs answering!

A celeb who gets it! FINALLY!!!

I agree the paparazzi can sometimes get out of hand. They can stalk celebs to the point of being dangerous, but I believe the large majority of them just want a picture so they can sell. Most are very harmless pics. But many celebs freak out and cover up their faces when leaving a restaurant, club, etc. Who is it hurting. Some even grab the cameras and destroy them. This seems to be happening a lot. Jonathan Rhys Meyers, who was in Bend it Like Beckham and is now in MI3, seems to get it though. Here is what he had to say:

"You're putting yourself out there in the public eye and selling what's essentially your personality. So if the public buys you for twelve bucks in a movie and pays for popcorn, well, you feel you own a little bit of that person. So when people then become famous and go, 'Oh God, I hate the press; God, I hate the paparazzi,' I'm like, 'Dude, it's not as if you didn't fucking beg for it.' Really! I've spent ten years working my arse off so I can't in my heart of hearts be one of those guys going, 'Hey man, no fucking photographs man, I'm an artist.' If I'm on set and a paparazzo comes up, I'm like, 'Hey, take your shot, if you get 300 bucks, good luck to you.' I couldn't imagine anyone paying 300 pence for a photo of me, but if they can have a job from doing that, great."

Bravo Johnathan, bravo!!!

I don't watch American Idol, but apparently, Chris getting kicked off was a big shock last night. He seems surprised too in this pic.







Here is my first For Sale sign which is now up. Now I just need to get the thing sold so I can concentrate on finding the clients a new home.






Movie Trivia:
1.You ate SAND?

2.You've been around a lot of corpses. Is that normal?

3.Put... the bunny... back... in the... box.

This and that....

A whole lot of stuff on my mind this morning while I sit at work hoping the phone will actually ring on my floor time.

Jess and I saw Mission Impossible III on Monday afternoon. Yeah, everybody including us is tired of Tom Cruise, but this was pretty much a must see movie. We were definitely not disappointed. In fact, I really dug the second one and this new one kicked the second one's ass. This one had wall to wall action that kept you on the edge of your seat from the very first frame. Sure, it won't win any Oscars, but if you want to be entertained for 2 great hours, you have to go see this movie. First movie of the summer season did not bring me any disappointment. I will give it a solid 4 out of 5 stars(I LOVE action movies, but it is rare I will give any pure action movie the full 5 stars).


So the Kings essentially fired Adelman on Tuesday. Nobody can really say this was a surprise. I am not one to put all the blame on a coach because he isn't the one out there on the court. However, the mentality of a team is the responsiblity of a coach and I don't think he brought the right one night in and night out. He was a good coach, but I am all for going in a new direction now and then. They did that when they traded Peja, Webber, etc. Let's see what some new blood on the pine can do. Yes, Adelman got more of a bad rap that he deserved, but I can't callt his a bad thing.

Monday evening, Sony unvelied the price and release date for Playstation 3. Well, it looks like on November 17, people are going to have to kick out $599 for it(There is a lesser model that will be available for $499, but it looks like it is pretty useless.) Now, that price is just absurd. I really want, one but can I justify that? The bad thing is, my Playstation 2 is on the way out and is very difficult to get to work. I pretty much need a new system soon. I am going to have to do more investigation on how good the PS3 really is. But if I do buy it, looks like it will have to be from Besy Buy on their wonderful no interest for 18 months plan. God bless Best Buy! Screw you Sony!!!

Nobody got the second quote by Val Kilmer in the last quote contest. It was from easily his best role - Tombstone!!!

Quote contest(although this doesn't mean you can't respond to any of the above either):

1.No it felt real good, thanks for bringing that up, man. Hey, my parents died when I was ten, would you like to talk about that?

2.If I saw myself dressed like that, I'd have to kick my own ass.

3.And I like Vicki, and she like me back! And she showed me her boobies and I like them too!

Conspiracy Theory?

I'm re-reading The Da Vinci Code before the movie comes out May 19th. I really enjoyed it the first time around, and thus far, it's proving equally enjoyable.

But I'm a little stumped... Have I stumbled upon something, or am I reading too much into it? You be the judge...

Like most other novels, on the top of every left page is the author's name (Dan Brown) and on the top of every right page is the title of the book (The Da Vinci Code).

Well, here is where I get stumped. On the top of page 60, a left page, are the words "Ankh Fendile." Hummm... That's not the author's name... When I first noticed it, I did a double take, furrowed my brow, then laughed - surely I caught the publishers in a mistake, printing the name of a different author in the wrong book. Silly publishers!

But I saw something else later that made me second guess my publisher's mistake theory...

On page 95, a right page, it reads "The De Lancs Code."
And on page 138, "Das Brilli."
And on page 141, "The La Sufrete Code."
And on page 192, "Reon Tigaldo."
And on page 217, "The De Ysosy Code."
And on page 262, "Mer Reve."

I know it's not just my book, or the batch shipped to Sam's Club, where we bought it, because I have a friend at work who bought her book at Costco and hers has the same things on the same pages.

And all those words can't mean "Dan Brown" and "The Da Vinci Code" in other languages because those are names and names translate literally.

Mistakes? I don't think so.

Codes? Maybe...

Paranoid? Probably.

Great Way To Start My Night...

Thursday night, on my way to work, traffic was heavier than it has EVER been, which made me a little late to work. I wasn't late to WORK, but I normally park my car in the parking structure at 1830, and Thursday night I PULLED INTO the parking structure at 1835. Not a HUGE difference, I know, but you know how you feel hurried when you're behind schedule...

So I find a parking spot and turn left to pull into it. As I'm pulling in, the kid in the passenger seat of the car next to me decides to open his door RIGHT AS I'M PULLING IN!! Yes, his door hits my car. Of course I stop, look over at him (mind you, I'm in a hurry and mildly stressed out already because of running late, so I'm sure the look on my face was less than pleasant) and he looks like a deer in headlights. His eyes are wide, his mouth is open, he's staring at me, not moving. I wait a few seconds for the kid to close the door so I can continue parking, but the little dude is frozen. I finally motion with my hand for him to close his door, which he does, and I park. I sit there, waiting for him to get out of his car, but he's still frozen, so again I motion with my hand for him to get out of the car, which he does.

Then his mother comes over, going in front of her car so she can look at my car where the door hit (driver's side wheel well.) I open my door and she says, "Didn't you see him opening the door?"

ARE YOU SERIOUS?! If your kid was opening his car door BEFORE I pulled into the spot, do you think I would have kept going?! Generally, when I see something obstructing the path of my vehicle, I stop!

But I didn't say that. I just kept quiet.

I gather my bags and get out of the car. She says, still looking at the wheel well, "Well, it looks like there's no damage." I go over to inspect it and immediately my eyes are drawn to a white scuff on the car. Her car was white. My car is dark gray. A white scuff on a dark gray car is no damage?!

Finally I speak up. I reach over and touch the scuff and say, "This wasn't here before."

She says, "No, I don't think he did that."

I just stare at her.

She says, "Ok then, what do you want to do about it?"

I start to walk away, saying, "I don't have time for this. I'm running late and it's not THAT bad."

Of course, they walk behind me to the hospital, and I hear her talking to him the whole time about how important it is to look before you open the car door.

BUT I THOUGHT IT WAS ALREADY OPEN BEFORE I PULLED IN!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I Am Legend Update!!!!!

Last week I was giddy that I Am Legend was going to start filming NEXT YEAR after years of waiting for me. Well, good news was just announced. Due to some schedule rearranging, the movie will start filming NEXT MONTH!!! This is great news. I am still not sure about Will Smith being the star(and only human in the movie), but I'm ok with it as long as they don't make it into a comedy and it keeps its serious tone. This is so exciting!!!


Movie trivia:
1. The plaque for the alternates is down in the ladies room.

2. Maybe poker's just not your game. I know! Let's have a spelling contest!

3. It's the car, right? Chicks love the car.

Easy today...

I've been tagged by Valkyrie to fill this out so here goes, some fill in the blank goodness...

I AM: an overflowing cup of human goodness

I WANT: to be sucessful in Real Estate

I WISH: for a baby

I HATE: Where do I begin? How about just stupid people...

I MISS: Not too much...having money???

I FEAR: Heights and the dark

I HEAR: Jessica giving me chores! Love you honey...

I WONDER: Will the Kings or US soccer team win a championship in my lifetime?

I REGRET: Not starting real estate right away after college. How was I to know though?

I AM NOT: Too serious...

I DANCE: Only in front of Jess

I SING: Wonderfully, just ask me!

I CRY: When I verbally have to fight.

I AM NOT ALWAYS: Very clean.

I MAKE: Dinner only when I have to.

I WRITE: On my blog so a whopping 3 or 4 people are nice enouh to comment on it.

I CONFUSE: Ummmmmmmm?????

I NEED: Money, time, clients

I SHOULD: Try to be neater.

I START: only what I plan to finish

I FINISH: what I promise.




Movie trivia time! NO CHEATERS!!!

1. If this is a crush, I don't think I could take it if the real thing ever happened.

2. If anybody's anybody, I'm Hans and you're Chewbacca.

3. You are responsible for raising an icon which draws worship from the Lord. You have broken the first commandment. Not only that, I'm afraid not a one of you passes for a decent human being. Your continued existence is a mockery of morality.

A Sense of Accomplishment

Manuel nor I have green thumbs. In fact, we don't even like to work in the yard. I would GLADLY pay a gardener to come mow my lawn and pull my weeds. Money well spent, in my opinion.

That being said, you can imagine what our back yard looked like after the winter. In fact, I posted a while back that the weeds were so tall birds were perching on them. It was BAD news.

Well, Manuel took the weekend off from open houses and we pulled weeds, mowed lawns, trimmed hedges - basically worked our asses off to clean up the back yard. And now it looks FANTASTIC! There are no weeds, the lawn is mowed (kinda brown because the weeds and tall grass kept the sun from the actual lawn, but that will fix itself in a short amount of time) and trimmed the ivy and bushes on the side of the house so now you can actually walk on the sidewalk. When I look outside, I hardly recognize the yard. It looks really good.

When we were done, Manuel said to me, "Can you believe how good the yard looks?! What's more unbelievable? How different the yard looks or that we actually did all that work?!"

And that pretty much sums up our opinion of yard work.

But I'll tell you what, looking outside and seeing the difference gives me a huge sense of accomplishment. I'm really proud of us! I'm just sad we didn't do before and after pictures so you can appreciate exactly what we did...

God Bless Kevin Martin and TIVO

Words cannot express my joy right now. A game winning shot at the buzzer by the kid I HATED until midseason when he started waking up and playing ball. A game that with 27 seconds to go, I felt we were going to lose. And because of the beauty of TIVO, I keep watching the shot over and over again. Watch. Cheer. Rewind. Watch. Cheer. Rewind. After years and years of game winning shots going against my favorite teams in the playoffs by Paxton, Elie, Stockton, Horry, Van Exel, and now Barry, I finally get to see one go MY way. TIVO, will allow me to watch it over and over again. Even if we lose this series, I will always have THAT shot. It doesn't make up for the toughest ones - Paxton in '93 and Horry in '02, but at least I can be at peace that they don't ALL go against me and my teams. Yes, I am teary eyed.....

What I plan to watch this summer....

Summer movie season is upon us and I am jazzed about countless movies coming out. In between watching World Cup games, these are the movies I plan to go see at the theater this Summer:

5/5 Mission Impossible III
5/12 Poseidon
5/19 Da Vinci Code
5/26 X Men III
6/6/06 (Very Clever) The Omen
6/9 Cars
6/23 Click
7/7 Pirates of the Carribean II
7/21 Lady in the Water
7/28 Miami Vice
8/18 CLERKS 2!!!
8/18 Mutha F'n Snakes on a Mutha F'n Plane!!!!

Will I get to see all of these? Probably not, but I can't think of which ones I would even cut out. So excited!!! How many of these are YOU going to be seeing? Did I leave any out you will be going to see? Let me know...

Quiz time....even easier today. Next one I will try to make harder.

1. Why, don't you two just shut the fuck up? If either of you assholes had a$1000, I'd kill you both
2. Billy, we're good, but this is getting ridiculous.
3. No, I like all you Navy boys. Every time we gotta go some place to fight, you fellas always give us a ride.

Almost listing time...

Well, the listing that I have known I was probably going to get for quite some time now is finally about to hit the market. I signed the papers a couple of weeks ago and on May 1st, the listing will be on the market. Pretty excited. I have never done this part of Real Estate so it should be interesting. I feel really prepared though and I think the house should sell. There has been some price reductions on other houses around it in the last few days that has me a little worried, but we'll try out this price and see what happens. I am keeping my eye on everything going on around the house on a daily basis so I feel pretty knowledgeable on what to do. Once the sign goes up with my name on it, I'll post pics...

More movie trivia for ya...

#1 - I think my eyes are getting better. Now instead of a big dark blur, I see a big bright blur.

#2 - I said no camels. That's five camels. Can't you count?

#3 - Never again will I allow our political self-interest to deter us from doing what we know to be morally right. Atrocity and terror are not political weapons. And to those who would use them, your day is over. We will never negotiate. We will no longer tolerate and we will no longer be afraid. It's your turn to be afraid.


Have fun...

Rich has another new post right below this. Make sure you check it out...

The fiction behind the truth

As promised about a month ago here is my short, biased take on the true story. I have come to the conclusion that there is no such thing as a true story. This is not an attempt at outing all of our history in society or to make an entire section of your local library null and void. There are facts to life and there is no disputing factual evidence and data. What I challenge is the retelling of any of these events and facts. Everything has it's own bias and subjectivity to it. A writer who gives us the behind the scenes look at the presidential election is still giving his swing to the way things went. No matter how many interviews that writer does or how much film is used to capture all the events there is always a slight tilt to it. The writer is only taking from those anecdotes and connecting them together to make one cohesive unit. But we are dealing with human beings and not robots. Memories are not as photographic as people like to believe.

No you may be asking what about a documentary or anything caught on film? It is still based on a POV. That of the camera. The camera is cold and analytical. The cameraman is still capturing what HE wants to see. You are not getting the 360 degree view. Holes will always remain.

Back to the point. No true stories. Ever listen to someone tell you how their day was? It is retold from the perspective of that person. All the facts that person tells you maybe true, but what if they don't have all the facts involved? I would not call this person out as a liar. I am simply saying that the story is not complete and true, cause once you are involved you have swung it with your own emotions and input to the situation.

Perhaps I am looking into it way too much. I definitely fancy myself a fiction storyteller. I pull from real life and make it my own story. Even my attempts at true story telling fall under fiction cause I have allowed emotion to twist my objectivity. My own influence in the stories of my true past has caused me to remember the stories in ways that make it less than Truthful. Alcohol, anger, a lack of proper eyewear has caused me to miss something or to skew it. I only captured MY truth and not THE truth. Thus it is not really an absolute non-fiction.

There is my quick take on why there is no such thing as a true story. My 10-15 minute take on it anyways. Back to watching music videos and Smallville. A grapple a day keeps the bogeyman away. Rabble Rock!

Movie news to make me giddy!!!!

A couple of very exciting movie news articles came across my desk in the last few days that I just had to share.

1. I loved Ocean's Eleven when it came out. It was just a fun movie that I have watched many times. I was jazzed to see Ocean's Twelve, and although it was an okay movie, it certainly did not live up to expectations by any means. In fact, I didn't even bother buying the DVD. Despite my disappointment, I was jazzed to hear a couple of months ago that they were going to bring back the whole cast again for Ocean's 13. Sure, the second was a semi-dude, but it is one of those movies that I will give a shot to anyway. I mean, it's worth a shot right? Well, they have just confirmed a new cast member and I can only see good things coming from this. Al Pacino as the villain that they are trying to rob? Sounds like movie goodness!!!






2. Many of you know that I am a BIG fan of the horror book I AM LEGEND. In fact, I have let many of you borrow it so you can read it as well(a fast read at about 180 pages). For YEARS, there have been rumors of them turning this book into a film. Well, actually, this would be the third time I believe it has been a film including the 70s film, The Omega Man. I have not seen the adaptations, but I heard they do not follow the book very well. Well according to joblo.com, Warner Bros. finally wants to get this done and they have hired a director and Will Smith to star as the last man on earth. Filming should begin early 2007 so we can probably expect it Summer/Fall 2007. I have been wanting this to be made for YEARS and it is good to see this is finally going to happen. I am so jazzed about this...




Alright, for those of you who made it this far, how about a contest. I am going to start with these questions on my posts simply because they are fun to do. Firts right answer gets the Manuel No-Prize. Very coveted. I'll start easy.

What actor has said these lines and in what movies? Same actor for all three flicks...

1. "Someone put me back in the fridge."
2. "Go ahead, I don't shop here."
3. "Yo, Tommy! I didn't hear no bell..."

1 pt - for the actor and for each movie. 4 pts total.

One for the masses

There was this rhyme and this flow, but it's purpose was yet to be known. I could go here and I could go there, and still it followed me everywhere. I feel this pain and this urging. I know from whence it came. I have been up and I have been down, but for now my spirits remain dormant. I've had money and been broke. I have traveled for self and for others. It is an ache and an itch. It is the unsewn stitch. My eyes, my ears, my heart are aware of the scene that plays in my dreams. I have underpaid and overspent. I have said too mcuh and spoken too little. It is past and it is prologue. My mind my mind oh where does it seek to take me? I find that routine creates serenity now. Impulse causes controlled chaos. Contained emotions can explode on certain days and implode on others. There are always options and there is too much time. I can make my own cake nowadays and I most certainly will eat it too. The cards in the deck are always in my favor. I just don't know it yet.

Ladies and Gentlemen this is why I prefer not to say whatever is on my mind cause my stream of consciousness tends to be a jumbled bag of marbles. And no jokes about how you already thought I lost said marbles. I don't even own any marbles. This is what happens when a self-proclaimed writer has too much to say and no real clear-cut way to say it. Take it for what it is. I will make more sense tomorrow. I have some late assignments due and I suppose I am the only one who will actually do them for me. Cassie, Forrest got robbed. Tito got beat. Gracie vs. Hughes baby. Gotta see the old man do his thing one more time. Always remember to do your taxes and make sure to not hate the player, hate my shoes. Rabble Rock!

Heartbreaking

I feel really bad for the Kings right now. They really did play their hearts out(well, most of them), and for them to lose was just really hard to watch. The way Shareef, Bonzi, and Kevin played was just inspiring and it saddens me to see them lose like that. I still don't understand why they wouldn't just foul and make them shoot free throws with 20 seconds left when SA has that many great three point shooters. They opted not to though, they left Barry open, and it was over from there. Rick Adelman is about to come to the podium for his press conference and you can just see the hurt on his face. He looks like I feel. Just tough...

Attitude

I was taking care of this relatively young (20 years old) patient last night who was having her first baby. She had quite a few visitors in her room. The technical rule of the hospital is 6 visitors in a room, but I'm pretty easy going and I'll let more in as long as I can move around and get to the things I need to get to. I think this patient had 7 or 8 visitors.

It was time for her to get her epidural. I explained to everyone before hand that only one person was allowed in the room during the procedure and that everyone else would have to go to the waiting room. Well, the time came to kick everyone out, so as they were leaving, I said, "I'll send J to come get you when it's ok the come back in." They said ok and left.

We do the epidural and I lay the patient on the bed when we were finished. I go to the cabinet to get something, and I see a few of the visitors standing by the door. I say, "I need you to go to the waiting room. Remember I said I'd send J to come get you when it was time?" They kinda roll their eyes and slowly walk away.

A few minutes later I go to the cabinet again and I see them waiting in the hallway. I make eye contact, point down the hall and say, "Waiting room please."

Finally I have the patient all settled in and I'm ready to leave the room. As I go to the door, I see them waiting in the hall again. I decide not to say anything - you have to pick your battles, and this one I was obviously losing. So as I exit the door they push past me and enter the room. One of the girls, as she passes me, says, "Kiss my ass."

WHAT?!?! I'm already fairly fired up by them, so I call her on it.

"Excuse me? Who exactly was that comment directed toward?"

"What comment?"

"Kiss my ass?"

"Oh, uh, my cousin."

I hold eye contact with her for a few seconds, slowly nod my head and leave.

It amazes me how people think the rules don't apply to them. It also amazes me that people cop an attitude and ruin the experience for the patient. I know my patient was bothered by it because she later apologized to me for the girl's behavior. I told her that was sweet, but not her job to apologize for someone else's behavior.

And normally, that's not me at all, to be confrontational and call people on things, but I had had enough and didn't care anymore. I almost hoped to really piss her off so that I could have security take her out and she couldn't come back in at all.

Hooked again...

I honestly never thought I would go down this path again, but I am hooked on comics again. I collected comics from around the age of 11-14 or so and then stopped because....well, I don't know why. I just stopped. However, in the past month or so, I have have started to collect again. Why? I just miss the stories. I miss the artwork. I just miss the fantasy that comes with reading about superheroes. I am 27, almost 28, but I really don't feel any shame for getting back into the comic world. Nerdy? Oh well. Childish? Whatever. It's been about a month and I do not regret it at all. I even got Jessica to read a few of them and she actually liked them(not that she would admit it). So what comics am I collecting now? Well, since you asked:
-X-Men
-Astonishing X-Men
-Uncanny X-men
-New Avengers

Wow, that is a lot of different X-Men titles, but then again, there are a lot of different characters. So I am back in the groove, reading on the internet what has happened in the comic world since I stopped oh so many years ago, and eagerly awaiting a cross title storyline called Civil War that begins next month. Is this just a fad for me? Probably not. But then again, you never know.

Jess has a new post below as well in case you missed it.

WHAT?!?!

This happened on my way to work tonight. It was the perfect thing to turn my good mood into a terrible one for a little while...

I'm driving along, approaching the intersection at Antelope and Roseville Road. I can tell the light is going to stay green long enough for me to get through the intersection, so I continue on at the speed I'm going. I can see a silver truck waiting to turn right onto Antelope from Roseville Road. He keeps inching forward as I'm approaching, so I'm on alert that he might go. And it was a good thing because he pulls in front of me and I have to slam on the brakes so I don't hit him. And I mean literally slam on the brakes, not slow down, not stop hard, slam on the brakes. In the process, I also lay on the horn for about 3 or 4 seconds.

Then what happens? He flips me off. HE FLIPS ME OFF. He flips ME off, like I was the one in the wrong.

If I knew how to spell the sound of the scream of frustration and injustice I wanted to let out, I would...

What kind of job do you have?

This may be a set-up, but hear me out. I think at this moment sitting in my home listening to my ipod and eating a bunch of mini easter egg candies that there are two kinds of jobs in the world. The job that let's you daydream and the kind that doesn't. I will use myself as the example of the former.

I have an extremely easy job. I have always had jobs like this to an extent. The kind of job that any half-way intelligent person can understand in less than an hour. Perhaps I find myself looking for jobs like my current one because they offer no mental or physical challenge thus giving me the easy road. This also leads me to conclude that I get and deserve exactly what I have and am at the moment cause you get what you put into something. Something else hit me though over the past couple of weeks. If you don't already know, I am a driver. I do actually get out of the vehicle every now and then, but in a 10 hour day I will probably be sitting in the vehicle for 7-8 hours of that day. Now I love music, but even I can get tired of listening to the same 5 songs on every radio station every 10 minutes. I still do pay attention to the road of course, but I finally know why I took this job. I get to daydream. A LOT! This may be my creative side that likes to just consider all the things around me and get lost in my own imagination. I can reflect on the past and make plans for the future. Most of all I can just simply let go of what is on me. Now we all have that family member or friend who just simply can't get over all the things wrong in their life. As if they are the only person in the world with problems and those problems are of such great significance that we must all share in them. These kind of people need to go outside and daydream for a minute. Granted, I have few real cares or responsibilities in my life. If I packed up a bag and took off for a week it really wouldn't hurt anyone in my life. Just as long as I left a note. I just think nowadays that my daydreams take all those lil problems away for a minute. Yeah I still gotta pay for a tux and get rid of my credit debt and yada yada yada. Don't you think it would be tremendously boring and selfish of me to sit here and tell you about my self-inflicted problems on a weekly basis on this here blog? I think so. Now for the other end of this discussion.

I have heard too many married men tell me how smart I am for not being married. The reasons vary. Get more women before I settle down. You get to keep more of your money. You still have more freedom and a life without having to check in. Blah blah blah. This relates to those same people who tell me about the job they hate that they stick with because they "HAVE TO". These are the non-daydreaming jobs. Once you check in and get on the clock the first thing on your mind is when you are clocking out. You hate the cubicle you are in and the co-worker who takes all the donuts before you can get one. You become so busy getting buried in the next work assignment and the drama of the workplace that it just tears you down. Mind, body and soul. I know people like this. The first thing they do when they see a person for the first time that day is tell them all about the crap that is going on at work. The lifers who don't see beyond the weekend and the release. By the way, You do not "HAVE TO" do anything in your life. Every thing is still a choice.

I am not advocating either side. I myself see the pros and cons of my life and my daydreaming job. I have heard plenty about the other side to know that I won't ever have a job like the non-daydreamers have. My proposal for myself and for the others. Combine the two somehow. I have daydreamed away a lot of my life without the actual action that most non-daydreamers are known for. That said, I will not find my way to a two martini lunch followed by the 6 pack at home to get me through the rest of my work week. For those in the middle of it already I say take a lunch and DO NOT spend it bitching about what your co-worker just did or the work you still have to get to. Think about the clouds in the freaking sky for a minute. Drive by a neighborhood you haven't seen in a long time and have a nice memory of what you did there once with a friend of yours. Take a yoga breathe and daydream. And go back to the jungle. I will find a better way to fill my day with something more productive than window shopping or a movie. And at the end of the week we can all meet somewhere in the middle people. Ya with me?

By the way 7 out of 11 in my wrestlemania picks.
Hey Manuel, My tivo recording messed up so there is no WM 22 to watch either. I will get ya the DVD.
Cassie, when are you getting married already? Everyone else I know is either married, engaged, or getting married so get on top of things. :) JK kiddo. And don't you love spike TV? They always got some UFC show on every freaking night? Royce Gracie is still my dude. Him and Vitor Belfort
As usual, never wash colors and whites together. Your mother is always right. ALWAYS! and spread the virus. Rabble Rock!

As promised

Wrestlemania 22 is in a few hours and this is my pre-post so as to be able to say I said it would happen first before anyone else did. Honestly, this post is just about me so if you care to turn away from the screen I can understand completely cause what follows is about 5-10 minutes of complete adolescent nonsense. In order of what I believe the lineup will be......

United States Championship
Chris Benoit vs. JBL
The Rabid Wolverine will defend his title against the Wrestling God. JBL is truly one of the worst wrestlers I have ever seen pushed through the roof in order to make us fans believe he is worth our time. I don't hate him cause he does things that make me hate him, as a good heel would. I just hate him cause he sucks. Benoit, on the other hand, is an elite wrestler and can be depended on to carry a lardass like JBL through any kind of match in order to kick off the show. Cause JBL will always need help to get over he will take this one and get booed out of the building by yours truly.

Winner and new U.S. Champ, JBL

Torrie Wilson vs. Candice Michelle in a Playboy Pillow Fight
Two women who have posed nude in playboy are being rolled out for 5-10 minutes of just plain nonsense.

Winner Candice Michelle

Boogeyman vs. Booker T & Sharmell
The 5-time WCW champ and his girlfriend are going up against the most disgusting WWE superstar in years in the Boogeyman. It's a nice lil gimmick and all, but does the Boogeyman really need to eat worms every freaking time he comes to the ring? This is a bathroom break match-up. WHO CARES?

Winner Booker T and Sharmell

Money in the Bank Ladder Match
Rather than go over each of the 6 men in this match I will simply make my prediction for what should happen. Everyone's favorite wrestler, Mr. PPV, Rob Van Dam needs this more than anyone else in this match. He is the most talented and gifted athlete the WWE has and his time has come to be given a shot at the top guys. His window is closing and if they do not give him the opportunity he needs he will be one of those almost guys that never was. The best play would be to have RVD win the match and cash in his newly won world title shot the next night on RAW. The world title has not changed hands on a Raw in years and this would be a very exciting way to get the fans going after the biggest show of the year.

Winner RVD

Big Show & Kane vs. Chris Masters & Carlito for the World Tag Team
Championship
4 people I could do without. Masters and Carlito need something to do since they are currently out fo the singles picture.

Winners Masters and Carlito

Edge vs. Mick Foley (Hardcore Match)
Please let it be Mick Foley's night. I dispise Edge so much. Pardon my language, but I soooo don't give a FUCK about you and your girlfriend and you two kissing everytime you are on screen. Edge is proof that if you yell loud enough and bitch about it long enough that it still won't make you worth the time it takes to listen to your rambling. It is so forced and worthless. I miss Christian. Foley is the Hardcore legend and I wish they would give him this one, but Edge is going to be there everyday and they can't cut him off at the legs by giving him this big of a defeat at the big show.

Winner Edge

Trish Stratus vs. Mickie James for the Women's Championship
Trish Stratus is the only reason to watch females wrestle. nevermind her gorgeous looks, she is a legit wrestler and in this case has a foe worthy of a match at WM22. We shall see if they can pull it all off, but I believe that between the good storyline and the in-ring capabilities that this will be worth taking a seat and giving a viewing.

Winner and new Women's Champion Mickie James

Mr. McMahon vs. Shawn Michaels in a No Holds Barred Match
HBK has been getting screwed over and over again by Vince. HBK is going to steal the show and do the damn thing.

winner HBK

Undertaker vs. Mark Henry (Casket Match)
The Undertaker is 13-0 in Wrestlemania matches. No one can lay claim to such a record and this is without a doubt going to rival his match with the Big Bossman as one of his worst WM matches of all-time. If Mark Henry beats the Undertaker and breaks his win streak at Wrestlemania I will do one favor for each and every person who responds to the posting. That is a promise.

Winner The Undertaker

World Heavyweight Champion Kurt Angle vs. Rey Mysterio vs. Randy Orton
I hate the WWE for this match. It would have gone off just fine if they left it alone and gave Rey Mysterio a one on one match up with Kurt Angle, but NOOOOO. They have to include Orton for some reason. He wasn't in the picture at all, he is coming off an injury, and I do not know why the WWE is in love with the self-procliamed Legend Killer. They just couldn't make Angle look weak and let him lose to Rey rey in a one-on-one situation. Orton is gonna lose this match to Mysterio. Angle won't lose any credibility since he didn't not actually take the pinfall or submit. Blah blah. Fing WWE. Let Rey have his moment legit.

Winner and new World Heavyweight Champion Rey Mysterio

John Cena vs. Triple H for the WWE Championship
The Main event of the evening. The 10-time world champ vs. The Dr. of Thuganomics. Now I am a big fan of Cena, but he has reached a breaking point with the fans that is similar to what the Rock use to go through. If you do something for too long, they begin to hate you for being too scripted and cuddly. We respected you cause of your badass attitude and your edgy behavior. Now you are a character who does the same things every time. HHH is the measuring stick for every big time wrestler in the industry. They must go through him to become a legit MAN in the business. HHH should make it number 11 tonight. It would be a different ending to a WM then we have had over the past few years. It has always ended on a good note. Not this time baby.

Winner and new WWE Champ HHH

The surpises tonight will be appearances by Bret Hart, Stone Cold Steve Austin, Hulk Hogan and Stephanie McMahon. Or so I think.

A new direction

I did not come by this decision lightly. I have given it a lot of thought for a very long time. I love my job. It is a dream job and when I am in it for a while and I get some breaks, I feel I can make some good money. But last week, after winning another big 19 player tournament and pocketing almost $300, I realized that I can be even more successful elsewhere. I think my true calling is to become a professional poker player. It is a dream of mine and one that I think I can accomplish. Now I know that I am not going to have the approval of any of you for a while, and that is fine, but I really think this is the right step for me. I have thought it over long and hard. I am going to try and build up my bankroll and then it is on to the tournament circuit. I really feel I have the skill to go somewhere with this. I have talked this over with Jessica, and althought she is not happy, she is supportive. I hope you all wish me luck and have a good April Fools. May you have a good day.

SHUT THE F UP!

I have a friend at work who's having a baby, and I was invited to her shower. Manuel and I went to Target today to buy a gift off her registry. The list was really long, and instead of going the single-expensive-gift route, I wanted to go the lots-of-inexpensive-gifts route. I was kinda overwhelmed and was standing in the aisle, looking at the list.

This lady in a red shirt walks by and says, "Don't you just love baby showers?! All this fun stuff to choose from!"

I smile, nod and agree with her.

She continues, "I have a friend who's registered at Babies R Us but I can't afford those prices, so I came here to see if I could find the same things at lower prices."

I don't say anything because I don't really care. I'm doing my shopping. Leave me alone.

So a little later Manuel and I are standing in one of the aisles and there were onsies, and I say to him, "Surely she registered for onsies. Let me find them on the list."

After we find the ones she registered for and put them in the cart, Red shirt says, "Those onsies are cute but I want the plain ones. I can't see them anywhere."

I show her where they are. She says, "Oh thanks! I'm so used to shopping at WalMart, I can't find anything at this store."

Once again, I DON'T CARE! (Especially if you shop at WalMart. Eewww! I haven't set foot in there since the vomit incident, which a story for a whole nother time and place...)

Manuel and I HATE when people make idle chit chat. Like at the grocery store a few weeks ago, we got lots of juice because when we went to Disneyland with my parents, we were in charge of bringing beverages for the morning. The lady in front of us in line said, "Someone's thirsty."

SHUT UP! You don't think I know I'm buying lots of drinks?! Are you trying to impress me by showing me your powers of observation? What will impress me even more is if you mind your own business and keep you stupid little coments to yourself.

Maybe we're not people people. Maybe we're grouchy. Maybe we're not friendly. Maybe we're antisocial. Whatever. Keep your meaningless conversations to yourself.

Indulge me people.

OK. Now I am just going to abuse the fact that I have an audience. Please just read em and tell me what you all think. Good or bad either way. These are old and probably written in the middle of some Junior College class that I wasn't paying attention in anyways. So, let me have it.


CoolOne

Many a men have come before
Many a men will come after
But only I have that knowledge Of the notion of power
For power is knowing I am The one and only
Yet I am also insignificant to So many others
And I know that really doesn't matter
Only matter matters and that's all that matters


CoolTwo

One
One time. I knew what I was about.
One time. I knew what I wanted to do.
One time. I knew what lay ahead.
One time. I knew never to regret.
What if that one time had passed and you always regretted and you never forgot and you never forgave.
What if all you knew was that nothing is right and all else will fail.
What if you wanted to start over, but you couldn't.
What if you had no one.
Just one time.
I would like to hear someone say it.


CoolThree

In my defense I only lead with my heart and not with my head
In my defense It wasn't the place we were at, it was my weakness that I gave into
In my defense It was still HARD
In my defense You are running scared
In my defense This is a first for everything WE are doing
In my defense I am running out of time and I know if I don't spend every waking moment with you then I am truly missing out on heaven on earth.

Poetry is not my strong suit, but since I have managed to turn this place into my writers guild I guess I will just go with it. As usual people please remember to pay your respects this Sunday. The most sacred of days is upon us and we all must give at the alter of the WWE. You will get it soon. Rabble Rock!

Yard Work

You know it's time to pull the weeds in the backyard when they're tall enough that birds perch on them...