"I became disillusioned by the delusions"

"I became disillusioned by the delusions" is a great statement made by John Nash (of A Beautiful Mind (backup link) fame, played by Russell Crow) when talking about how he apparently aged out of his schizophrenia. It's a powerful statement that I'd thought I share. Yes, I know schizophrenia is not curable, but there is a small number of people that seem to be able to age out of it. I haven't seen the movie about him yet, but did see a documentary about him where he was interviewed. He has a few quick, power statements. He seems able to sum up quite a lot in a very some number of words. Another great statement is how he likened dealing with his disease to "Putting your mind on a diet". In other news, this weekend ended up being pretty good. Spend some time with a friend in Monterey Friday night and spent Saturday with family in the Modesto area. This statement doesn't quite do this weekend justice, but I can't give every detail about thangs here. :)

Work and Play

Recently, I've been busy with work and play. Not getting online too much. But here I am, with another blog entry. No new news or much to say just yet, but I will, don't worry. LOL

Blog time

Ok, now I finally got time to Blog. :) Don't really have much to say. Journalwise, I've been busy at work and been going out with my friends in the evenings. I'm goin start writing down opinions and stuff soon, but not today...too nice...I gots to get out and enjoy it. :)

More time

I'm taking more time to myself this weekend. Right now, I'm looking up accessories for my car to see if there's any aftermarket I wanna do to it right away. Oh, I saw Minority Report at the midnight showing Friday. Awesome movie...highly recommended! That's all for now, thank you. :)

"Soccer, the UnAmerican Sport", copyright 1997 Matthew Lorono :)

I'm glad the U.S. lost to Germany, and I hope it continues to lose regularly in the FIFA World Cup. The last thang America needs is for soccer to gain in popularity here. The biggest threat to keeping soccer unpopular is a successful U.S. team. Do we really need another sport popularized here? No. Many have tried. There's even attempts at variations on popular sports, like the XFL or Arena Football. Has anyone been to an Arena Football game? I did once...keyword ONCE. American (and by American, I mean the U.S. and Canada) sports have more action, more scoring, more defensive opportunities, more intelligence and more strength, and even bravery. Ever see two soccer players intentionally run into each other at a full sprint? It happens intentionally almost every play in Football. It happens in Baseball in the big plays. As far a intelligence goes, Baseball is played at multiple levels of strategy, requiring physical skill to implement. Football and Basketball too. Soccer? Well, there is some, but if you really know Baseball and Football, there is not comparisons at all. Hockey? The action in that game beats all! Of course, trying to keep up with the position of the puck isn't that easy at times.

Ok, who watches Golf? LOL

Napa Valley

I've been up in Napa Valley since Friday afternoon, and just got back a few hours ago. Friday evening, we took the Wine Train from downtown Napa. The ride lasts from 6 to 9:30 or so with dinner and plenty of wine choices. Dave, Miriam, Miriam and I had a great time on the Train. In the return trip, we where sitting near the live pianist and where able to make some lively requests other than the classic or jazz stuff, like Knocking on Heaven's Door. LOL A waiter and waitress had excellent voice and sang some too...and Miriam #2 got up and sang once too. We where all buzzing off all the wine, and just where laughing our heads off at times. That was a lot of fun. After that, we headed over to Sonoma to meet up with some other friends. It was cool...but remember this in case you head up...Sonoma has no night life to speak of, ok. We got up late on Sat and after lunch headed up hwy 29 to hit up a few wineries for a tour and some tasting. The tour at BV was interesting. The wine tasting was actually more fun that I thought it would. After going to downtown Napa at night, we headed back to the hotel before 12am to get our sleep. The trip was a lot of fun and I can't wait to go again, though, maybe more prepared next time, but it was great just being spontanious up there too.

Napa Valley Getaway

June 14, 2002 to June 16, 2002 

With David Erlichman, Miriam Erlichamn and Miriam Melo,

visited Napa Valley Wine Train, Napa Valley California and Robert Mondavi Vineyard.  Original post/backup link.

Not been on much lately

I've not been on much lately. Nights are getting full. I guess that means I have a life or sumfin....it's expensive though. lol Anyways, the trip up to Napa is tomorrow. I gots everyone riding with me coming over around 10am. Dave and his g/f look like they are breaking up, so it looks like it's just goin be Miriam, Dave and I tomorrow unless he surprizes everyone again by not ending thangs. Ronie will join later in the day cuz she can't get out of work at her new job. Man, she's shaking thangs up over there, as always when she starts somewhere new. Disorganization gives way to order and efficiency. Anyways, thats news for now. I'll be back Monday or maybe Sunday to details of the trip.

Link...

State of affairs in this country is always an important issue...and these words speak well of how thangs are.

Everybody Loves Raymond

You know, when this show first came out, I didn't like it. I think there was an element with the one or two episodes I watched that just didn't interest me. In fact, I didn't start watching the show until it was syndicated between the Simpsons syndicated shows in the afternoon after work around 6 to 7pm. I basically sat thru the two daily episodes waiting to watch the Simpsons. Guess what...some where, some how, I just started enjoying the show. I still recognize an episode now and then as something that is more annoying than funny, but for the most part, the show is great. It is funny. I'm rambling about it right now cuz I just saw "Headliners & Legends" on MSNBC about Ray which went into his life and how the show is partially modelled after his real life family and situations. The show is crisp, smart, funny etc etc. It grows on ya. The more you watch it, the more you like it, at least in my case. I still don't watch the new episodes in primetime often cuz it's not on a night I watch TV, but they will come out in syndication soon enough and I'll catch it relaxing after getting home from work one afternoon.

Long week of fun

I haven't been online since Tuesday. Man, what is wrong with me. oh...that's right, I'm having a life. lol Hung out with my friend Dave his g/f on Weds. Nufin much to talk about there sep went to play pool. I met up with my friend Michelle Thurs. We hung out and played videos games and stuff. Had a good time. Friday, I went out with Miriam and Dave and Ronie and the rest of the gang to Gordon B. in San Jose and then to Bamboo 7. I could fill this blog with all the stuff that went on, but eh, it's prolly not for public consumption. lol Let's just say, I've been having a good time all week!

Going to chill this weekend. Next weekend, a bunch of us are heading up to Napa Valley for a big getaway weekend. I'm looking forward to it!

http://neverthetwins.com/

http://neverthetwins.com/ (backup link) Here's the website to Never shall the Twins Meet. Enjoy!

Imelda...Drinking...and girls' hair

Ok...lots of topics today. ...first...Trouble...I'm having trouble with AOL today...ok...on to the stories.
As some of you new visitors know, I met up with Imelda on Sunday. She's really cool. Met up at the BookShop in downtown Santa Cruz and looked over some of her photography. We did head down for pizza, after the usual spur-of-the-moment "whadda you wanna eat" conversation for a few minutes. :) The weather was just about perfect...very sunny, not too hot, not cold at all, so we eat outside. Talked for awhile downtown. Met a friend of hers at one of the shops down there. Some of the wall ordainments looked, well, suggestive. So I made a suggestion on what they were for, and preceded to demonstrate. The girls seemed a bit taken back..but I promise I wasn't doing anything offensive! I swear. just was pretty funny.
Over at West Cliff, we hung out for awhile. You can read about some of that over here on her site. We had a good time.

In other news... I am definitely not an alcoholic. I'm feeling a bit down emotionally the past few days...not sure why or anything. So, I just went to fridge and the Goldschlager popped out at me. I normally don't drink alone or even at home, but I thought, hey, why not...so I pull it out, and it is all sticky from drips that dried on the side. I get a wet papertowel and clean it off, pick it up and put it back in the fridge. As I'm opening the fridge, I'm thinking, "Wasn't I planning on having some of this a second ago?" lol

Ok...there was a comment left about my hair reference in my likes. Here's the explanation. I like hair that is taken care of on a woman. As long as the style looks well managed and complements her well, I'll like it and find it attractive. For example, I like the bob-cut because it brings out the neck...a favorite body part of mine. :) I like long curly hair cuz it's really sexy on its own. I like long straight hair cuz it forms and fits and flows and nice to stroke. I could literally go on for a page like this. :)

::takes a breath:: any questions? :)

Movie premier

Well, the movie premier of Never The Twins Shall Meet went well at Camera 3 in San Jose. The movie itself was merely ok, but the event was fun. My friend Penelope worked on it and invited me. I met her friends Alex and Anne and we hung out at the reception at the Grill in the Fairmont afterwards, then headed down to Original Joes in San Jose. Had a lot of fun. As soon as I find the link for the movie, I'll post it here.

Naps

Well, I got home around 6:00, laid down for a minute at the end of my bed. Next thang I know, I'm flat on my back, rightways in my bed and it's dark. A minute later the phone rings, and it's Miriam telling me about this guy she's loosing interest in. I go to the living room and notice it's 10pm. It was quite disorientating for a couple of minutes. After I got off the phone with Miriam, I got online, but nufin interesting going on there in the chatrooms on a friday night of course, so around 1am I got in my car and drove a bit...but it was too late to do anything...so after a bit I went home, laid down on my bed and then woke up at 8am this morning. I came into work to pick up some personal stuff. If you hang out with me often enough, you notice that I always forget driving directions and events information at work Friday and hafta go back early Sat morning to pick it up. I even did it on the big Valentines vacation two years ago with an ex. How boneheaded is that? LOL

No longer Vegas...doin' some northern Cali touring

Well, my friend Miriam is organizing her b/d celebration...at first it was goin' be in Vegas, but now, we are goin head up to Bodega Bay for a day, then over to Napa for wine tasting and then over to Clear Lake to Dave's mom's place. man, that sounds complex for a vacation. lol

...well...

nufin terribly exciting going on right now. Planning on a Vegas Trip. woohoo!

Carnival in SF

Well, the parade was merely ok. The floats where kinda cheezy, the customs a bit on the cheap side. Not at all what I expected for an event touted so well. Ronie said it has been a lot better. One thang...there was a lot more people that normal...way too many for the festival at the end of the parade route. We got out just as the parade was ending, and thousands of people following it into an already over crowded area. If any of today's pictures turned out good, I'll post some of them here.

Memorial Day Weekend..."Yes, that's right"

Solidly into the weekend now. Yesterday, I took care of a ton of chores around the house. I finally don't have one laundry item waiting to be washed. Of course, as we all know, that won't last for long. Also spent over $160 on groceries. Yes, that's right, I went shopping. Amazing but true. lol Hopefully I got enough stuff where I won't need to do that again for another 6 weeks (other than thangs like milk and bread of course...but that's was online grocery shopping is for) Today, I'm heading over to Carnival with my friend Ronie. Should be fun! Tomorrow, I gots a bbq with a few friends at my place. Yes, that's right. I'm gonna be cooking. Watch out! lol

Out of Trouble

Well, I'm completely in the clear for that truck I totalled (because of a malifunction in the vehicle) back in Jan. I got AAA to reverse the orignal findings of fault. Because I've been involved in 4 accidents within one year period, I had to contact the DMV. Because most of the accidents aren't my fault, I was able to get an over the phone hearing instead of having to go take a driving test out right. So, the hearing went well, and I was cleared of needing testing. YEAH!!! So, all of this started out with a lame ass accident in Nov '01 if you remember, where that Yukon was trying to squeeze by and I bumped into him. jerk. anyways, that lead to me getting the rental truck while the car was in the shop. The car was in the shop longer than it shoulda been, giving me ample time for two accidents with the damn truck. There's actually previous entries in my blog about some of this. Out of all this, it's only going register as 1 or 2 points (I gots to check on the rear-ending if the person claimed injury, which would add one more point) on my driving record. I think I'm lucky it wasn't 5 points. That woulda sucked. Of course, I do have a ticket on my record from over a year ago, so it will push me up to 2 or 3 points total...not leaving me any breathing room for mistakes now...but then again, I've gone for 10 years without any...just gots to do it again. :) ::hoping::

nufin much happened today

sep my blog blow up on me, and I hope posting this will fix it.

Orange Blossom and Clearlake

Friday night, a bunch of us friends went out to this karioki bar place in Japantown in San Jose. Had a good time. Steph, that chick mentioned before, was there. She was teasing me, but wasn't cool cuz Dave, his g/f, and I had to take off around 11 to be on the road to head over to his father's place near the Manteca area I think. I didn't mind though. lol of course. Anyways, next day we where in some place called Knights Ferry and rafted down river with some friends or co-workers of Dave. It was a lot of fun. But it wasn't "White Water" all that much cuz the river was flowing to high and fast. There was some parts, not much though. After that, we headed over to Clear Lake to his mother's place. Awesome place and increditable view of the lake. Good eating the whole time there too. :) Rounded everything out with a brief stop over for dinner in Napa. Got to watch a lot of movies on the road cuz he's got a portable DVD hooked up in his car. Fun weekend, and restful.

Attack of the Droids II

Star Wars: Attack of the Clones. I'm impressed, and that's not easy. It's not the greatest film of all time, but then again, what film is. I liked it. The beginning is a bit slow with the forced acting style that belongs on a broadway play stage and not in a movie, but once the movie hits its stride, it is great. nuf said...go see it. :)

United Way homework

Man, I finally caught up and got all the work done for the volunteer community I'm on for the United Way. It took a bit longer for me to get the reports and scores done for the agencies we visited. Now, just have the one last meeting to go to to work out which agencies are recommended for more/same funding and which ones we recommend get a cut in funding. Doesn't sound fun, but I'm happy my personal obligations are taken care of finally.

Drive into the Hills; Wilderness Sports Car; Freemasons

I started out the day early enough...prolly around 8 or so...and just got in my car and drove, just to see if I could get myself lost. I like doing that once in awhile. I ended up in the hills over looking the Silicon Valley. I don't know exactly where I was at most of the time till I got back down the other side of the hills to the Almeden Reservoir. Didn't get back till like 11, when I went to get my car washed. I felt like that guy in the Acura TL commercial driving the windy backroads...of course, I got the car before that commercial came out, I think. :) Near the top of one of the hills, I ended up in a nature reserve, got out and looked around for awhile. I saw a large hawk or eagle flying at about my level, looking for prey in the tree filled canyon below when I looked one way. when I looked the other, between hill sides, I could make out downtown San Jose, and parts of the valley.

Just as I was leaving, two guys and this hot chick in a professional sports car (sponsorship decals all over) and a ford truck where parked on the side of the road just below me. What the hell was a sports car like that doing in the middle of the wilderness? LOL The chick looked like one of those girls from the hotrod mags. I smiled and waved at the them as I drove by. I caught the girl checking out my car (at the very least) as I drove off. :) Maybe they where up there to take pics of the car for a magazine. Then again, prolly not...no good spots to get any good shots where they were. I thought about asking, "Hey, what's a hot girl like that doing up here?" as a joke to see what kinda reaction I'd get out of the girl when the guys knew I'd be talking about the car. lol I didn't though.

So after all that, I got some Jack-in-the-Box (love those spicy chicken sandwiches), then sat in the sun and read this new book I got about Freemasons and their possible links to history. Nufin exciting? It is an interesting read cuz from the outset, it challenges perceptions of the monotheistic god we all claim to know and love. lol All that reading gave me a mild headache, and by this time it was around 5, so I tuned into the rerun comedies on TV until the Fox Sunday lineup came on. I'm bummed that they took Futurama of the air, damn it. and now, here I am, typing.

Oh, I did update my backpage to use blogroller.com so now I can add links anyone's blogs much faster.