Madriver last weekend

Madriver was great last weekend. A few friends and a few tubes.. fun stuff. The dense/intense fog also added to it! As it also did to the drive, but was a great time. Wish my friends would be up for more stuff like this, especially in the summer (state parks, camping, rafting, etc..) Maybe this summer, we'll see!

Eight days in

New Years couldn't have been better! Got to spend it with so many friends that I love. It was like an all-star line up of friends.. that made it a New Years Eve second only to me being in Times Square in 2005.

Tons of snow out there right now.. looking forward to some snowboarding this Saturday? Maybe?

I was going to the Bengals playoff game, but.. I'd rather do something where I control how fun it is!

Possibly a major break coming up for me, a major break that would include full benefits! Keeping my fingers crossed, although I really like the jobs I have going on now. I'm learning so much at one, and there's so many great people there.. I could see myself staying there for awhile. But at some point I need to step outside my comfort zone, no pun intended, and get out there. We'll see, we'll see.

NYE - Lodge Bar, Downtown !

MMM. I'm ready to get me some New Years Eve.

Goodbye 2009!

Live from Chicago... Day Two

Day Two - Just chilling here in Cody's hotel room. He's at work, watching the Chris Henry news on ESPN. What a sad way to go?

Update: Just got back to the hotel here close to O'Hare. I headed downtown just myself today, was walking around for probably 5.5 hrs? Made it to Navy Pier just in time for the sunset, although I didn't plan it that way.. so was nice. The sight of the city w/ the red sky behind it, all in front of the lake, was realllll pretty lookin and all :) Lots, LOTS of thinking done while down here. After staying at the lake until nightfall, I made my way back downtown and walked up and down Michigan Ave once or twice, or three times.. Got back on the train around 7:30 and back to the hotel around 9p.

Update: Hooter's for dinner and Colts vs Jags, then out to the bars before getting a little sleep and leaving at 6am

Live from Chicago...

Day One - After our first stop on the L: we got off, I realized I left a glove on the train so I run back on, then the doors shut. LOL. So I wave goodbye to Cody as I continue on down the line, leaving him with two locals who were trying to show him magic tricks to get some money. I was rather nervous, but we were reunited shortly.

After stops at the Corner Tap and at the completely unpopulated, yet trendy, Excalibur club, we then pass by an alley where a man is standing next to a door with a couple steel barricades set up around it. Eh.. what the hell? Let's try! So minutes later, we are in the basement of this building that had been turned into one crazy underground night club. Spy Bar? This place was one, incredible, time. And on a Wednesday at that.

Eddie Aikau Invitational - 12.8.09

Yesterday at Waimea Bay the finals were finished up.

Check out this short vid the final round and some of the most massive waves of the comp (3:47).
Or, an even shorter one sporting some wipe outs and rackdiculous waves, here (1:47).

Blazin. Hellish 17 hrs of work

The "Blaze" weekend was a fun one. Had a good day of work on Friday, got in a run Saturday afternoon, then drove for my mom in the parade.. which was much better once I figured out how to turn the mustang's lights on. Walking around seeing everyone, bowling w/ friends, then more walking x100.

Onto Sunday- Working 5-CL at that roast beef restaurant, 11:59:32am (we close at midnight) we get an order for two sandwiches.. ok, I can deal. Wait, another car enters. $27 worth of food including four sandwiches and a ton of fried junk. It's now probably 12:10. Another car. Chicken. 12:15 I finally get a chance to clean.. so I get home at like 1:15am, and have to be at the hotel to work at 7am. That went rather nice, besides a rather angry guest at 7:20am that couldn't sleep. But- crisis was avoided! Now, getting ready for some House and MNF. Oh, and there's much more on my mind tonight than I lead on, any guesses ?

Music: Colbie Caillat - Falling for You

Moments where you meet "one of your own"

We all have those objects, ideals, those ways of life that speak volumes about us. At a certain age we know who we are, we know what we are all about, and we know what we are not. Some of us share a very intense love for the same things; whether it's music, sports, politics, etc. I, myself, have a deep love connection to the ocean which I discovered around 10-11 years ago. March of 2007 I visited St. John of the USVI, and others who have visited here might also know of the island-hook bracelet. Almost four years later, out of all the places I have walked and people I've met, I have only met three people who also wear a form of this bracelet that embraces love for the sea. Appropriately, one from Florida. One from Missouri. Today at work I met one from here in Ohio. She spotted mine first, then pulled her sleeve back to reveal her own. (If the open end of the hook is facing away from your heart, towards your hand, it means you are not yet fully content w/ what surrounds you in life.) "Still waiting too, huh?" she said asks with a laugh. Laughing in return, I reply "Oh yeah, will be for awhile. When was your last trip to the islands?"

"Um, when I went down to help with the hurricane."

"Ivan?"

"Yeah! So a few years."

This made my day, probably my week. The rare encounter with another who is drawn to the ocean the same as I. When you meet someone who shares that passion for something that no one else can understand on the same level as you and them, it makes you feel credible, makes me feel real.

Music: Lady GaGa - Bad Romance (She's a free bitch, baby)

Dream on, dream on

So had the most wonderful dream I could've had last night, and it is at a very peculiar time. Was a dream about a certain person. Someone who is just barely still in my life, but someone that I have always felt is meant to be a huge part of my entire life. Who knows if I will ever even see this person anytime soon, or possibly ever again.. but the fact that I haven't seen them in almost 2 years and then have such a complex dream involving them coming back into my life, gives me hope and reassurance that I am not crazy. Whether it's this weekend, a year from now, five years, or 20 years... I seriously believe that we will meet again, and we may not be each other's whole lives or back to where we were, but we'll be relevant again. I just know it.

Music: KChes - Don't Happen Twice

2 becomes 9 + 3.

I'm here at work and two guys, 1 OSU/1 Mich, come in and reserve a room for tonight. I'm thinking they don't look too wild or dangerous, and put them in a room next to a couple because we had a lot of dirty rooms left over today. 2.5 hours later they return with 7 more guys and 3 cases of beer. I am now not so sure about the wild/danger factor. ND just lost to UConn, suppose the night can't get worse.

halloween. thirstys delivers as usual

friday evening- fun, short night in Columbus. picked up a sweet new hat.

saturday evening- great fun at thirstys in Bdam. I love to see everyone around me having a great time =)

But what don't I love? Taking a fist to the face as I'm trying to stop a fight from starting. Sigh.