Some Boat Pics...

Four Bored in Dena

What happens when you get us together on a Monday night in Pasadena? Pure fun. We started with schooners of tecate at El Torito then went to the vault to stare at the hot waitresses (where do they live?). Anyhow, I blame pete’s the constant text messaging that he was in Vegas for what happened next…

The old Shakey’s (I miss those mojo potatoes, we used to hang there quite a bit back in high school) has been transformed into an all-nude strip club. Pasadena, the “conservative”, serene, and classy city it is, is up in arms and is rapidly passing city ordinances to shut this place down. Anyhow, we had to check it out. The place was thrown together overnight in an attempt to open before the ordinances were in effect and it looks like it. We walk in and the place is empty. Black sheets covered the walls. A small stage was on one side. Cheap chairs were set up randomly. Shitty music blared, a light system from target bounced colored lights of the ceiling, and a single girl wiggled on stage. It was like we discovered some underground mob club deep in Tijuana. It was depressing, but I couldn’t stop laughing. We stayed for three girls, the last one was stunning (I mean, I couldn’t believe it, she must have been kidnapped from some legitimate Hollywood night club). Anyhow, we were rapidly sobering up, but still wanted to stare at strippers, so we head to the standard “bikini” bar in town that is Pleasures. What happened there is top secret. Obviously our load asses got hammered and spent way too much money.

But, the next day, we all admitted it was the most fun we’ve had in a while. In fact, what are yall doing next Monday? I’m on winter break.

Mistake of Fact

This was the intro to a chapter in my contracts book... from a Roman Text...

"If vinegar is sold as wine, bronze as gold, lead as silver, is there a sale?... If I think I am buying a virgin slave when she is not, the sale is valid. But if I sell a woman and you think you are buying a boy, since there is a mistake in sex, there is no sale."

Those guys were thinkers.

Turkey Tussel

The Tussel is tonight, and this video is so tight, I almost skipped school to go to the game. Go Bulldogs!!

Then and Now

So I was studying in the Hastings Branch Library today and I was struck with a memory flashback type thing. I think I’ve repressed this, but every school day in middle school I walked a little over a mile to this same library and hung out there until my mom got off work and picked me up. I remember how much it sucked at the time. Everyone else would take the bus, or get picked up, or walk home. I had to walk my ass uphill to the library of all places and wait till 6 or later for my mom. Anyhow, who would have thought that 15 years or so later I’d be back there again, reading and doing homework? It’s amazing how little the place has changed; it’s exactly the same, except that it seems way smaller. Maybe I’m over analyzing, but maybe all that time in the library shaped me somewhat into someone who enjoys quiet reading and alone time, and taught me to entertain myself. On the other hand, maybe it just made me a dork. I could go into more psychobabble, but I’m over it. Just be happy I made a new entry.

Oh but, don’t fear, I’m still finding time to party. tom and I bar hopped from chang’s, to the yardhouse, to vive, to red white and blues, to the crown, to red buddah. Good times.

Let's Learn Property Law

Why go to law school, when you can just listen to the lectures on-line? I’d give you the link, but I’m paranoid about them seeing strange traffic coming from one “load ass blog”. Just follow these directions to my featured lecture (the Prof calls me out the whole time, although I don’t think you can hear me).

Go to www.lls.edu, current students, class web pages (Fa 2006), first year evening property schechter, audio, 9/28/06

I don’t have windows media player, but I think it starts like, “we left off last class with Mr. K***** and I asked him…..

Anyhow, check it out for an inside view (literally) of my life.

Quick Post at School

I love my new computer and I highly recommend it. It’s the new MacBook Pro and it’s sweet. I’m actually at Loyola Law right now surfing wirelessly in the library after finishing a draft of a memo on promissory etoppel. After a slow start, I got on a roll and I just e-mailed it to the prof. Easy as that. Now I’m off to be a load ass at Bima’s to watch the Trojans. Go SC!

I Love L.A.

Dodgers
Originally uploaded by NCLee1955.

Go Dodgers! The game last night vs. the Padres was insane. The Dodgers were down four runs and then hit four straight solo homeruns (two off Hoffman). Then the Pads scored in the top of the tenth only to have Nomar hit a two run walk off homer in the bottom half. Dodgers win! Probably the craziest game I've ever seen. Read the play by play on the Dodgers Blog.

Must Keep Blog Alive...

My blog sucks right now, i know. I now realize that a blog is great when you have a boring job and are trying to pass away the hours, but it's a real chore when most of the hours of the day are filled with more important and interesting things. I’m still getting adjusted to my “new life”. I know they say the night law program is “part time”, but I’m still taking four classes (12 units): property, contracts, torts, and legal writing. I also started working at the Crown City Brewery. I'll be bartending Wednesday day and Friday day and serving tables Sunday night (please stop by, it gets rather boring). The work load in the classes, especially the writing one is already going up, and with the addition of work, I see my free time disappearing rapidly. But don't worry, I'm going to leave Saturdays as my one load ass day of the week (Go SC!).

Finally, this being 9.11 I guess I should make a few comments: I watched the video of the planes hitting the towers on youtube today and every time I see it I still can’t believe it. I also can’t believe how inept our President has been in handling the whole thing. I could go on and on, but I won’t. It’s all been said. I just feel for the innocent people on the planes and in the buildings just minding their own business and being killed so senselessly. I also imagine myself in the shoes of the police and firemen who tried to help, not ever expecting the buildings to fall. I also feel for all the young troops who have lost their lives fighting a mismanaged war. 2973 people died on 9.11 and 2991 have died since, fighting the “war an terror”.

Change is Good

Finally, a new post to this boring old blog. I want to give a thank you to all who still visit, hoping that there will be something new, only to those hopes crushed when seeing the same old posts.

A lot has changed. The Rat Racers inspired this pic below and it’s the seat I occupied day in and day out for more than 5 years.



As most of you know, I quit the lab job, moved home with my mamma, and started law school at Loyola. The question I hear most is; do I miss SD, the partying in PB, and my job? The answer is not really. What I do miss is the people and the close friends I made down there. Good times can be had anywhere with the right people. Sure, I miss the perfect weather and the fact I could walk a few blocks and get anything I wanted, but I really needed a change. I know for one thing, I don’t miss my job (sorry to all you who still work there). That place was driving me mad. Nobody likes to work, but I think when you reach the point that you dread coming in, you need to leave. It’s such a relief when you get out and it’s exciting to tackle new situations. We all get into routines and we like being comfortable, but when you start not to care about what you’re doing, you gotta make a switch.

Scientific Research Funding

Just for your information, the National Institutes of Health (The NIH) is the primary source of funding for medical research in the U.S. Over the past several years (under G.W. Bush) the budget has grown at less than the rate of inflation and for the first time the budget is actually less this year than in 2005. Furthermore, with the rising costs of everything (supplies, energy, etc) it costs more money to do current research than in the past thus making the budget cuts even more severe. The NIH budget is about $28 billion total for 2006. Now I know that sounds like a lot, but in 2004 the U.S. spent $437 billion on the military alone. This lack of funding is now having a direct affect on the pace of research. People I know in my lab our being let go, post docs are looking for new careers, and PIs (principal investigators) are scrambling for funding. The lack of funding from the government often causes talented people to work for private companies instead of research institutes. Most of these companies are simply looking for the next Viagra (a lucrative product in other words) rather than doing actual research for the sake of science alone. Bush has recently reinforced his ignorance of the importance of medical research by vetoing (for their first time in his presidency) the stem cell bill. Great discoveries have been made in recent science and the rate of cancer deaths has declined, but many diseases could be cured in our lifetimes if there was a greater priority on scientific funding.

Save the Seas

There’s a good five part series of articles on the state of today’s oceans in the LA Times this week. It’s actually pretty depressing, but check it out – "Altered Oceans".

George Bush on Global Warming

Nice Long Post (About Soccer? Wierd I Know)

This page has been hurting: all pics and short texts, hardly a blog. So let’s try and change that.

First off I must say I watched a lot of the world cup soccer and really enjoyed most of it. I used to play soccer and I’ve tried to catch as many of the world cup games as I can ever since it was in Pasadena in 94. What those guys can do with the ball is really cool to watch. But, like others (often generalized as “Each and Every American”) I do have a few problems with it and I think they should change some rules (soccer “purists” hate this idea). I mean they change rules in the NBA and NFL all the time, why not soccer?

1) Get rid of penalty kicks, especially in the final. This is not a new idea. But it’s like ending a game seven of the NBA finals with a free throw contest (and only AJ would like that). What a French player hits the cross bar, making Italy the better team? Just play overtime until someone scores a game winner.
2) Stop the clock when the ball goes over the end line and give teams a time out or two per half. If a guy falls and can’t walk, a team must call a time out. They could also call time outs to draw up plays, rest and get water legitimately, T.V. could go to commercials, and I could get a fresh beer. The end line stoppage would keep goalies from wasting time getting the ball perfectly teed up. It would also end the practice of that arbitrary stoppage time that everyone loves.
3) Have more refs on the field and keep track of fouls. Say 4 fouls and you foul out. The NBA wanted the guards to score more, so they started calling the fouls closer. You could also call technical fouls for flopping or complaining. Finally, having more refs on the field would allow them to track the game better and actually be in position to call fouls. I don’t know how many times I saw the ref come running in from off the screen to call a foul.

Anyhow, this was inspired by Pete’s post about Zidane so I should probably talk about that crazy head but. I mean that was absolutely bizarre. For some reason I saw almost every game France played and I really started to root for them. France takes a lot of shit as a country, but I’ve been there and I think it gets a bad rap. Racism in soccer is so bad and I liked the fact that their team was diversified (unlike Italy and many others). If the Italian guy really called him “son of a terrorist whore” then he deserved even worse than a head but to the chest. But yeah, that’s the last time I’ll talk soccer, I promise (soccer is for Jeff’s page anyway).

Mash it Up

“Mash Ups” are the thing these days as far as music goes. For those who didn't know, a Mash Up is basically two songs, usually of different genres, played at the same time. I know several people that hate them, but I think they're pretty creative. I mean, I like classic hip-hop, and I like classic rock, so why not just hear both at the same time? One of my favorites I've heard is 50 ways to kill you lover by DJ TopCat (there are some other good ones on his site too). It's Slick Rick's Women Lose Weight mashed with Paul Simon's 50 Ways to Leave Your Lover. It fits together so good that it might actually be better than either original (bold statement, I know). It's fun to do on your own too. I mashed the Temptation's Ain't No Sunshine with Nas If I Ruled the World on my buddies turntables and it sounded pretty sick too (although I was intoxicated at the time so who knows). So yeah, check em out.

4th of July Weekend

The weekend down here was almost indescribable. I parked my car on Friday and didn’t move it till Wednesday morning. It all really got started Sunday afternoon, when my neighbor Boomer I went bar hopping, and I was done till late night on the forth at the Silver Fox. I still don’t feel quite right. I’m too tired (i.e. lazy) to type up all the adventures, but here’s a couple scenes I saw all too often.

Too Hot To Do Anything

IMG_4207.JPG
Originally uploaded by joe dane.

I should probably be the last one to complain about the weather, living in SD and all, but damn it’s been hot and humid. Anyhow, here’s a cool shot of the bros in the boat in Hawaii (I love flickr). I'm gunna end this post short now because I'm breaking into a sweat just typing it.

Aloha Friday

How's it bra?? That's how people talk out in the islands ya. I went to the beach today and this pic makes it look like I was alone on some deserted island. But there were lots of people around, including a large school group with a large woman who blew a whistle very loudly... "whreeeeew!! (that's my whistle sound) children!!! don't swim out too far!!". Nothing's quite perfect I guess. It's midnight on the mainland now, but only 9:00 out here and the bars stay open till 4:00 AM. I guess I'll venture out. When work sucks, take a vacation.

Load Ass Woodstock

Summer in P.B., you gotta love it. But at the same time, it’s kinda out of control. The traffic is insane, the parking sucks, and there’s people everywhere. I must be getting old. P.B. on a sunny summer day is a sight to see. Now, there’s talk of banning alcohol from the beach and I never thought it would happen, but now I can see it in the future. There are just so many people getting hammered. I love to have a few beers on the beach, but now there’s people stumbling around and just getting shit faced. I witnessed a guy making jungle juice, ingredients: a heavy pour of cheap vodka, one frozen juice concentrate, and three miller lights. Now that’s a recipe for disaster. It used to be a bunch of students having a good time, now it’s like a Woodstock for load asses. We met some people from Tennessee and from Ohio who had already gone to college and then just moved out to S.D. just for the good times. Plus, when everyone leaves, the beach is covered in trash. I spent 15 minutes or so walking around our general area trying to pick up. It’s just an example of how a good thing (drinking on the beach) can be exploited by a few people (people taking it too far, and coming solely to party) ruining it for everyone (especially me).

Going Back to Cali

The Cali
Originally uploaded by dave_kujo.

The Califonian guys night out at the California.

Quick Vegas Recap

I was going to talk all about what happened in Vegas, but I then remembered, “what happens in Vegas stays in Vegas”. But I will say that I was hung over until 4:00 Thursday and that I had a spectacularly fun time. Highlights included, but were not limited too…

Flying in with DKJ while listening to my ipod and sharing headphones. Selections were held to mainly 2-Pac in honor of his place of death. As well as this one song by big L in which he says “Cartier specs, GS Lex, Nautica sweats…”

Watching TD show up with 60 Coors lights on ice in a rolling cooler.

Joe taking pics from the 17th floor of the “foursome”

Waiting in the wrong line at “Light”, only to find out our name was on the “List” so that was another line.

Having DKJ call me at 9:00 AM and demanding my presence at the suite for room service champagne.

Calling GBZ from the IP pool (sorry bro, had to do it).

Hitting on midtown with all the guys after dinner at the Cal. Best ten bucks I won all weekend.

Sitting with TD, Joe, and Tom for hours at the stages.

Having TD almost walk out on me at the teahouse (I’m just glad he didn’t hurl).

Anyhow, that’s all for now, there were many more highlights, and I could go on and on (I’m sorry if my highlights didn’t match yours. I think I remember these the most because I was the most sober when they happened) but I’ll end by saying it was an awesome time and I was so happy to spend time with each and every person who came. We gots to get back there soon.

I think my blog is on life support

I never (except right now) do list type things because I generally think that no one gives a damn what my top three things are… But two of my favorite bloggers (ajax, and mik wu) did it and it’s a list created by a fellow Field mouse alumni, so here goes it. Plus it looks like a good long entry to keep this things pulse.

3 Things I'm Obsessed with Right Now
1) Vegas
2) Bike Riding
3) Beer

3 Things I'm Obsessed with Permanently
1) Beer
2) USC Football
3) Fantasy Basketball

3 Things I Believe are True, But Aren't
1) People are all generally good hearted
2) I could’ve been a pro athlete
3) The world is flat

3 Things I Want People to Say About Me When I Die
1) He was a good man
2) He lived a good life
3) I miss him

3 Things I'm Good At (the conceited category)
1) Remembering facts
2) Looking at the big picture
3) Archery (yeah right, I meant drinking)

3 Things I'm Bad At (the low self-esteem category)
1) Being patient
2) Talking on the phone
3) Modern Video games (too many damn buttons)

3 Things That Baffle Me
1) Putt Putt golf
2) Languages other than English
3) Quantum electrodynamics

3 TV Shows That Many Other People Watch, But I Don't
1) American Idol
2) Survivor
3) West Wing (As far as T.V. shows go, I really only watch Lost and the HBO shows)

3 Inventions for Which "I don't know how we lived without it" is Not Just a Saying
1) The mobile phone (I don’t know why I was such a hold out)
2) The inter web
3) Satellite radio

I hope this entry doesn't cause my blog to "jump the shark". I promise more drunk'n tales soon.

Vegas on My Mind

I know this blog has been dead, but I’ve actually been busy. It’s been kinda hectic at work. I’ve gottta get stuff done before my vacations I’ve got lined up. All I can think about while I’m here though is Vegas. I haven’t been in a while and I can’t wait to see the I.P. in its full glory.


If you were ever curious about life in a lab (and I’m not sure why you would be) but I’m reading a book called Intuition that describes it perfectly. It’s a good book in general too, so check it out.

My loadassness (I like that word) has been lagging ever since my B-day. But I guarantee it shall return when I hit the ground in Sin City.

What a Happy (Drunken) Birthday

Keg Stand
Originally uploaded by dave_kujo.

Here I am looking a lot younger than my age. After this, I don’t really remember much, but thanks to everyone who came. I was flattered that so many people came down from the Dena just for my birthday. You are all a bunch of load asses.

Blood Money

No, that’s not my arm, but I did give blood today. And, I didn’t give it away for free, but rather for $100.00 cash money. See, researchers will pay to get blood for their experiments, and it’s the easiest money to make. Fifteen minutes of work, once every six weeks, free juice, and sometimes a slight light headed feeling afterwards. No problem.

Stop the Toll Road

Although our camping trip to San Mateo Campground at San Onofre State Beach was postponed, I look forward to returning there soon. For those who don’t know, there is a proposed toll road extension of the Foothill South Toll Road that would cut through this state park. The campground would be destroyed, the natural flow of San Mateo Creek would be disturbed, animals would lose natural habitat, and the beach and surfing resources would be degraded. There is a new website up that has lots of good information to help fight this planned project. Please check it out: www.savetrestles.org

I be Illing

I hate when things don’t work out the way you want. I know that sounds obvious, but it really applies in my line of work. I spent all week on some crazy experiment and I was supposed to get results like those below.


Well it didn’t happen. To make things worse I didn’t even get one little dot to show up and I have know idea why. Even worse, I rode up to lab in the elevator this morning with the head guy in charge and he was like “how’s that p53 gene expression going Dave?” I didn’t even have a good answer. I said something like “well… (long pause), uh….. I’m having some technical difficulties so to speak…..” Then he said, “well, stop by my office and we’ll talk”. Sounds easy enough right. Well that’s the last thing I wanted to do (I’ve yet to do it). The guy is nice, and never bugs me, but you have to go in all prepared and know what you’re talking about, and then my kick back job becomes a real headache. I know what your thinking, “stop bitching man”, so I will.

I really just want to go home and watch the Lakes while slamming a 12 pack, but I feel under the weather. I got a cold coming on (“stop bitching”, I know). Go Lakers!

How Much is Your Time Worth?

Sorry about the sports takes recently, but it’s playoff basketball. It’s the Lakers. It’s something I’ve loved since the good old days. I can still hear Chick, "Magic fakes left, shoots right, GOOD!" Go Lakers! And hey, they played good team ball back to back games and got a win. It's gunna be a good series.








Thanks to sitemeter, I found out that if you google "quickness originality delivery sting", the second result down is my blog. I thought that was pretty cool.

Now, let me adress the title of this entry. I was at Vons the other night to buy food and beer before the game, and the checkout lines were insane. I hate shopping at those huge grocery stores now. I wish I could buy everything online. It’s bad enough that you can’t ever find anything (I think they purposely make the aisles so tall that you can’t see where stuff is, and strategically place the shit that you need on opposite ends of the store) but then you have to stand in line behind a bunch of morons in order to pay. I always pick the wrong line too. After picking the shortest of three lines, and waiting for what seemed like forever, the girl in front of owed a total of $11.18, which she attempted to pay for with her debit card. It was denied. Then she gave the checker $10.00 cash and tried to charge $1.18. Guess what? Denied. Then she started to look through her bags to return something. She said, “this is so embarrassing”. To which I responded, “look, I got your $1.18, just let me get out of here.” I wasn’t trying to be nice or a good Samaritan. I was just paying for my sanity. Time really is worth money.

War Wounds

cut
Originally uploaded by dave_kujo.

Please cut your nails if you're going to play basketball. I almost got my eye gouged out yesterday. It looks like I got attacked by a cat. At least our team won.

Go Lakers

The Lakers need a win tonight to have a legitimate shot at getting past the first round of the NBA playoffs. I think they have a good chance too. They played good D in the first game and every starter scored in double digits. But, in the paper and on sports talk radio (yes, I listen to sports talk radio, it’s truly a vice) they bashed the Lakers and especially Kobe Bryant. I hate how much bad press Kobe gets (okay, I know he had off the court issues, he’s arrogant, aloof, etc…). But as far as the media is concerned he can’t do anything right on the court either. If he scores 50, they say he shoots too much. If he scores 23 (like he did in the first game) they say he’s too passive. The headline in the L.A.Times sports section was “Passive Regressive”, with the byline reading, “Lakers pick a strange time to play team ball”. Strange time?? I’d say the perfect time. Basketball is a team game. The Pistons are a great team because they play as a team. Now, I know the Lakes lost the first game, but they had a great shot at winning and they played entertaining basketball. They exposed the Suns inside, and Kobe wasn’t jacking up crazy shots. When I play pickup basketball, there’s nothing worse than having a guy on your team who’s just jacking up shots, even if he hits them and your team wins. Rather, it’s much more enjoyable to play with a bunch of guys that will pass and cut and shoot the open look.

In addition, I just read that Kobe is going to change his number from 8 to 24. That is whack. That’s gotta be a conspiracy with Nike to force people to buy new Kobe jerseys. Anyhow, I just hope the Lakers play good team ball again tonight and come out with a win on top of that.

Trivial Ramblings on a Friday

I wanted to go swimming yesterday to start training for another triathlon but I couldn’t remember the combination for my master lock (it’s been a while since I swam). I was pretty pissed. But, after a quick online search, I found an article that explained how to crack a combo lock. I tried it, and sure enough it worked. It only took a half hour or so of my time. I let my buddy at work try it and he cracked it too. It was actually pretty fun, and showed me just how easy it can be to open one (better get lock with a key if you have valuable stuff in your locker). The swimming however didn't go so good. I though I was going to pass out towards the end, and I'm sore as shit today. I wanted to do 1000 meters, but I think I only did about 800.

We went to half of hot wings night Wednesday at the Aussie pub. That reminded me of high school when a bunch of us would go to Ribs USA for hot wings. I don’t know why it is, but eating wings is always a good time. Some Bud Light girls snapped this pic and I thought it was funny.



The weather has been awesome in S.D. and I’ve been hitting the beach on the daily. My mom was down for Easter and I was pontificating about my love of the beach when she said, “It’s probably because I used to take you kids to the beach every Friday while you were growing up.” I replied, “not every Friday,” and she said, “no literally every Friday. I had Fridays off for years and I’d take you boys to the beach, we’d leave by 2:00 to beat traffic, and then I’d make tacos.” I remembered going to the beach a lot, but I didn’t realize it was such a weekly routine. I guess it also explains why I love tacos.

Student Loans Be Gone

Loan Payment
Originally uploaded by dave_kujo.

Wow, no more student debt. I have auto payment so I had no idea I was even close to paying off my loans. I guess it's time to go back to shool.

Yo Mamma’s a Pessimist

My bro and I were flipping channels this weekend and came across “Yo Mamma” on MTV. Maybe I’m out of it, but I had never even heard of this show. It’s quite possibly the worst thing I’ve ever seen, but we couldn’t stop watching and goofing on it. I seriously couldn’t stop laughing. In case you haven’t seen it, it’s hosted by the nerd kid on that 70’s show and involves “contestants” telling “yo mamma” jokes to each other in an epic drama filled battle. The judges make their decisions based on “originality, quickness, delivery, and that sting” for “one thousand dollars cash money” (you have to say it with a bad accent and it’s even more funny). To me, there’s nothing more entertaining than watching a bad show and cracking on it relentlessly. My bro and I can’t stop saying “don’t get it twisted, this is……. yo mamma”. Who tells yo mamma jokes anyway? If anything, the show is a prime example of the dumbing down of America. The “street talk” is so over done that the show looks like a bad SNL skit.

While on the subject of street talk, here are a few slangs we’ve been saying a lot lately (in addition to load ass of course). Douche Bag, Cheese Dick, and Fuck Stick. These phrases generally apply to guys with tight bright shirts with the collar popped. They are almost interchangeable. Yet, each slang has a specific usage, especially when out at the bars. A douche bag is generally a guy who thinks he’s the shit but is really a moron. A cheese dick is a dude that rolls up on girls with those cheesy lines but somehow gets away with it. And a fuck stick would be a complete asshole but gets chicks cause he does roids or something. Maybe we’re just haters, but it’s funny. We even crack on our boys like, “what the fuck was that cheese dick line all about?”

In other news, someone told me the other day that I was a pessimist. I tend to think I’m a realist, but maybe that’s just same thing as a pessimist. This came up when my buddy told me he had trouble starting his car one day but wasn’t gunna have it looked at because it only happened once. I then told him, “just watch. It’ll happen again on the morning of a test or something and then you’ll be screwed.” Is that pessimistic? I tend to think if you’re always optimistic, you set yourself up for disappointment when things don’t go your way. Damn it, I really have to get back to work, and I feel like I’m on a roll… till next time.

Gooler Wedding

Here's pics from the Gooler wedding. They're having a boy.





Two post in one day just means i'm bored at work and the boss is on vacation.

Monday Thursday?

Actually I think it’s Maundy Thursday, or last supper day right? I went to Sunday school way back when. Today is also exactly one month from my birthday and we’re going camping to celebrate. I can’t wait.

I was listening to Gangstarr on my ipod today for the first time in a while. Allow me to quote…

“Sometimes you gotta dig deep, when problems come near
Don’t fear things get severe for everybody everywhere
Why do bad things happen, to good people?
Seems that life is just a constant war between good and evil”

I love that part. It goes on…

“Don’t even feel like drinking, or even gettin high
Cause all that’s gonna do really, is accelerate
The anxieties that I wish I could alleviate
But wait, I’ve been through a whole lot of other shit, before
So I oughta be able, to withstand some more
But I’m sweatin though, my eyes are turnin red and yo
I’m ready to lose my mind but instead I use my mind
I put down the knife, and take the bullets out my nine
My only crime, was that I’m too damn kind
And now some skanless motherfuckers wanna take what’s mine
But they can’t take the respect, that I’ve earned in my lifetime
And you know they’ll never stop the furious force of my rhymes
So like they say, every dog has it’s day
And like they say, God works in a mysterious way
So I pray, remembering the days of my youth
As I prepare to meet my moment of truth”

I think I like the theme of perseverance. The whole, what doesn’t kill me makes me stronger cliché seems to resonate with me. You have to think through problems, but be yourself, take responsibility, and respect will come.

Back to what I was going to say… I keep hearing on the news that gas will be $3.00 a gallon this summer. I hate to tell you, but at the Chevron by my house in San Diego it was $3.10 for regular today. I decided not to fill up just out of spite. It makes me wonder though how high the price will get, and when people will stop buying it. In Cali gas is like the air you breath, you need it to survive. But, if the price keeps going up, it’s really going to start to squeeze people. It affects people without much money even more because they usually have older cars, longer drives, and obviously less extra cash. It’s been over 100 years since the first gas engine was used and you think we’d move on by now.

Four Five Six

At 1:02:03 in the morning today, it was 1 2 3 4 5 6. Weird… So, my goal was to blog twice a week, but it’s been more like once a week. Sorry, but it’s hard to post lucid and entertaining stuff. I’ve been busy too, even though I quit one job, I am going crazy at the other. As much as my lab job sucks, at least I can drive two minutes to the beach at lunch, eat a sandwich, and stroll on the sand. It’s very therapeutic. You’ve got to take advantage of these things.



Speaking of my job, there’s this lady who works here who’s deaf, but can read lips perfectly. It’s pretty cool. She obviously can’t use a phone. But, she can use a web cam to sign to an operator, who can then talk on the phone for her. I’m watching her right now, and it’s pretty wild. Sign language is crazy. I think this is the only good purpose a web cam could possibly have (besides live porno of course). While I’m on this subject, there’s this other lady at work that seems to think if she talks really LOUD to her, maybe she’ll hear or something. It cracks me up every time.

Again, this being the load ass blog, I got an e-mail today that said it’s “National Alcohol Screening Day”. Here’s the link where you can answer a few simple questions and it tells you if you’re an alcoholic or not. I didn’t do it cause I think I know what it would say.

“Ain’t nothing wrong, ain’t nothing right and still I sit and lie awake all night”

I just listened to 40 oz. to Freedom for like the millionth time and I remembered Pete saying one time “I wonder if we’ll still listen to this album in 30 years?” The answer is yes, absolutely.

So I overheard two people at work today discussing this immigration debate that seems to be all the rage. First of all, I can never understand why America has had such a history of blaming problems on immigrants and why we’ve never learned from it. From the persecution of the Irish, to the Chinese, to the Japanese, to the Mexicans, etc… not even getting into this country’s history of slavery and mistreatment of Black Americans. It’s really disgraceful. The bill that passed The House called for a bigger fence along the Mexican border and making it a felony to be an “illegal” immigrant. Even our genius of a president thinks that’s ridiculous. As far as I’m concerned everyone living and working in America is an American and we should all have the same treatment and access to opportunity. Even though in reality we don’t. I could and should go on and on, but I actually have to get some work done.

What I was impressed with though, was the reaction by people. The mass protests and walkouts that occurred. I think in this day we don’t protest or mobilize enough. I mean there’s this bullshit war going on and no one seems to want to do anything about it. What ever happened to the Vietnam days? The environment is going to hell too, and no one seems to be passionate about that either. Why is it almost cool to stand up and protest anti-immigration bills that most likely won’t become laws, but un-cool and hippie like to protest young soldiers dying without cause and the earth being polluted daily? I think politicians just bring up these socially volatile issues to distract people from the real problems in our world.

Anyways, for some first hand insight on the walkout experience read this.

Strange Consequences of Global Warming

I read this article in the New York Times today. To sum it up, hikers found a frozen body in a glacier and it turned out to be a WWII pilot. I mean the guy must have fallen from the plane and then literally got frozen in time. Now with global warming, the glacier melted and they found him. Sorry but that’s just crazy. The military ID'd the guy and is going to give him a "proper burial". I don't get why the military is so bent on burying people. I think if it were me, I’d rather be frozen in a glacier than be cremated or stuck in the ground. And speaking of glaciers, every one needs to check out Glacier National Park in Montana. Especially before all the glaciers melt. I think I need a picture to prove my point. Isn’t it pretty?


But back to drunken tales…. St. Patty’s day was a mess, so we went to a house party and I passed out on a shitty sofa. The next morning we continued with mimosas, Jamison shots, Irish car bombs, tequila shots, tall beers at a baseball game, pitchers of margaritas, and ending with grand marnier and me passed out on my own couch this time right around sundown. Not so pretty.

Is the weekend here yet?

Why didn’t I take today off? I should have just stayed home. I mean, I’m tired and hung over, it’s St. Patrick’s Day, it’s a Friday, and there’s basketball on. I think at least half of America is hammered by now. On the way in to work today there was no traffic, because everyone else was smarter then me and took the damn day off. I was going 80 in the fast lane, and then this weird thought crossed my mind: “what would happen if I just smashed my car into the middle divider?”. Not that I’m suicidal or anything. It was just an odd thought. I thought about how many flips my car would take, what it would look like afterward, you know just imagining. I remember as a kid I had a great imagination and used it to entertain myself all day with thoughts of being a super hero, or a soldier, or who knows what. Now I’m using it to imagine a horrific crash, I wonder why. I guess I really should have stayed home. This wasn’t meant to bum anyone out, but…

… stay away from green beer. It goes in green and comes out green. That just can’t be good for you. Stick to Guiness and Irish whiskey, trust me.

RE: Comments

Please allow me to "blog" on a few of your comments. Ms. Hoffman did have a mean mullet, and Amgen is a great company. That lab we did way back when was really cool and highly educational. Most people would never get to do hands on Molecular Bio until the middle of college, not the middle of high school. If we were smart, we would have bought Amgen stock in 1995 and then sold it in 2005 (Check the Chart) and all been rich. Damn it.

As far as Matisyahu goes, I think he's a highly talented reggae vocalist with a band that can blend all types of reggae beats well. But, I think he's a bit over hyped. I mean the only reason he's so popular is cause he's a white Jewish guy. There's a lot of good new reggae in San Diego, such as: Kush, Elijah Emanuel, and The Devastators, but they're not going to blow up like Matisyahu. It's like the Eminem phenomenon. I mean granted he's talented, but he blew up cause he was "different", largely because he was white. Music in general is a weird scene. I have no idea how people can listen to that garbage by groups that I'm ashamed to even know exist, like the Ying Yang Twinz, Dem Franchize Boyz, and that unbelievable song, "I'm in love with a Stripper". You have got to be shitting me.

On another note, the Big Bear trip was fun (click on my flickr badge to see some pics, or check out the load asses in the hot tub). The cabin was cramped and they had these weird, internment camp style, pull out beds; but the company was good and the snow was even better.

Science Baby

Sorry, no drunk stories today. But people always ask, “What do you do at your job?” so I’ll give you a glimpse (just because I can post a pretty picture). I did a simple PCR to genotype some mice. Then I ran the samples on a gel and took a picture. Whoopee.

Sorry, the results are top secret. But if you want to get crazy and read my “published works”, have fun.

Antibody Interference with N-Acyl Homoserine Lactone-Mediated Bacterial Quorum Sensing

Enzymatic incorporation of an antibody-activated blue fluorophore into DNA

Sorry to bore you, I'll be more entertaining next time. Maybe I'll even bash my favorite state, South Dakota.

Karma, The Ponies, and of course Beer

I'm sick of people talking about Karma (okay, so I said I wasn't going to rant on this thing but eh?). Every bad break I get, especially when it comes to women, people I talk to often attribute it to bad karma. First of all karma is not real, it's a belief (see karma). It's made up. It's like the Easter bunny. Or not eating meat on Friday's for lent (that affects me because I work in a fish restaurant and it goes off on those nights now). Second of all, it’s almost like people insinuate that I deserve bad karma for all the girls I’ve screwed over or something. I know this is hard to believe, but I don’t think I’ve ever screwed someone over, at least not intentionally or malignantly. Furthermore, it's as if people think some guy in the sky is keeping track of every good and bad deed, and then doling out good karma for those who do "good". It would be nice if it worked that way, but it doesn't. I think I’m a pretty good person, and I try to be honest and helpful to others just because it's a better way to live one’s life; you shouldn't do good for some mysterious incentive like karma or heaven. Bottom line: you should never be accused of having something as asinine as “bad karma”.

And on a drunker note, we drank all day Saturday. We started at the broken yolk (mimosas), then bet on the horses at the OTB (numerous coors lights), and went out to the bar (jack and cokes, shots). Horse racing is so much like life. It’s all should’ve, would’ve, could’ve. The one race I don’t bet Kent, he wins, beating my horse in a photo. Anyhow, I ended up in this girls crazy pad and some how hailed a cab at three in the morning. It was a good time.

Oh, and check this out, I got some random e-mail on myspace today from some chick in SD trying to "meet good looking guys". Check out her page, WTF?

It Continues

blogging is tough work, it takes commitment, it takes passion, it takes time. so, i'll try to keep it entertaining with these takes, but it's hard because you want to tell good compelling stories but at the same time, you don't want to get yourself or others in trouble. according to linoln "Tis better to be silent and be thought a fool, than to speak and remove all doubt".

but this is the load ass blog, and i was out two nights ago with my roommate for happy hour, and next thing i know i'm doing shots at the Fox. my buddies sister gives me her keys at some point and says "don't let me drive home". sure enough though, two in the morning, i'm passed out and someone's knocking on my door. it's her, and guess what (no she does not want to get down), she wants her keys to drive home. i mean come on. i'm hereby over holding people's keys, they always just take off anyway.

i'm a load ass...

... that comes from my buddy brad. he used to be like "i'm a load ass okay? i like to drink, i like to get hammered....". it always made me laugh. i do like to drink... although not as much as i used to. like the other night i was out with this chick getting drinks at the bar, and after a few rounds and shots, i was like damn, "this girl is drunk and annoying, and i'm barely buzzed". i think i've been too up tight lately, and i've had a lot on my mind. but anyhow, i wanted to catch up to be on her level, but i had to drive, and there's nothing worse than finding yourself sober and trying to listen to the drunken ramblings of a girl. then she busts out with.... "i burnt my pussy yesterday". she must have known i'd stopped listening to her. she went on to say that she had simply spilled hot soup in her lap. i was hoping for a better story. then she said she'd show me the marks the soup caused (oh by the way this chick has a "boyfriend" who is also her nieghbor) and i said "no thanks". i end up going back to her house, and we walk by this dude's house (the "boyfriend") and he's passed out with a beer in hand. we walk in to her place and there's a bunch of well, load asses, eating pot brownies (it's 1:00 AM !). and i thought i was a load ass.

the load ass blog begins

So after trying to fight the whole blogging/myspace/ me me me stuff you always see on the internet, I’ve given up. I mean all people do on these things is rant and vent, or show how clever or unique they are, or how they know obscure information, or how they are cool by being different. Am I wrong here? But now that I’ve got my own computer to use at work, and endless amounts of down time here, I need a way to fill my day. I will not bore you with my day to day goings on, or my job, but rather just write. We’ll see if this holds my interest.

oh and, i'm gunna fight this highway

welcome world...

... to Dks blog. if you can't beat em, join em, Lates