Didn't watch S.W.A.T, I'm holding off for a group viewing maybe tomorrow. I did watch Gilmore and One Tree Hill partly. Gilmore is so good, I'd forgotten how good. So many references to current events, pop culture and more. I enjoy the means so much I don't care that the end is just a standard soap opera. Top Shelf tonight, Schaumberg tomorrow, maybe some more movies, and archiving my email. It's the new year.

So I haven't been sleeping much. Too much TV or movies or cleaning to do. Popped in 40 Days, 40 Nights while putting a years worth of receipts away. Fun. Chocolate ice cream with Peanut Butter is a good desert. Stocks are funny things, I only have AAPL, KKD, and SNE now. Tempted to sell the donuts to buy more apples. Anyway, driving is easy during the holiday season, as there's noone on the roads comparatively.

So in my continuing quest for counter terror close quarter combat in movies, I'm in the middle of Executive Decision. I really can't wait for S.W.A.T tomorrow. Simple pleasures. I brought back some empanadas from Valerio's Bakery in LA for my parents; they're really really good. I'm gonna try and figure out how to make them that good. Lots of sugar is my guess. I'm gonna attack cleaning tonight, starting with boxes, and then moving into organization of the data center.

To you and all your kin, family, and friends and loved ones. It's been a very good and relaxing couple of days in LA, eating, watching TV, getting my brother's music. Pretty good. Headed back to Chicago tomorrow. Got lots to clean and organize. Looking forward to SWAT on Tuesday. That pretty much sums it up.

It was snowing last night as I did some last minute Christmas shopping. Like good show, maybe a tad bit too breezy, but good, sticking snow, filling the air. Very sweet. I did manage to do laundry last night, a couple small loads, the new TV channel showing the laundry room is great for seeing how many machines are available. Packed up and I'm ready to go to LA tonight. I checked in online for once, so I'll see what that's like. Definitely packing light for the long weekend. Managed to sneak in a viewing of League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, which isn't as bad as the reviews made it out to be. Rather entertaining, I thought. We'll see how updates go through the holiday.

Return of the King is really that good. All the hype, it lives up to it. Quality. Got stuck on the Holiday Train last night coming down from Evanston. Rather novel, but loud. I'm taking my camera with me everywhere, and snapping pictures whenever I get the urge. The next step is to actually start putting them up on that gallery of mine. Really got to clean tonight.

This whole Christmas break thing is weird, since I'm not on one. The purple line was quite empty today, but that might be because I was coming up on the 8:30 train, instead of the 7:30 one. Weekend Recap: Alias on Friday along with a quick and dirty chicken tender meal, which would have been stuffed if the chicken was breasts and not tenders. Won Ton soup for breakfast/lunch on saturday, and more Alias, eventually finishing the 2nd season up. Definitely things I wish we get to find out, more Rambaldi stuff, please. Leah and I went and got pedicures, one of my Christmas presents. Dinner with Alison, Leah, and Alison's friend Sarah up in Evanston at the Bombay Garden. Watched the Goonies, made pancakes for breakfast, brought them to the airport, watched Navy SEALS, ate some fried chicken, and watched the Two Towers in preparation for Return of the King tonight. I also got a new digital camera, a Sony U30, another freebie through my Sony Card. It goes everywhere, since it's so small. I also upgraded my home phones to use Caller ID now, which is so much better. I've got lots to clean before leaving Wednesday, along with some additional odds and ends that I should be taking care of.

It's getting to be that time of the year. The El this morning was relatively empty, on what is usually a pretty busy train. Oh, I've managed to get somewhat on a schedule for the Purple line. 7:28 or so at Armitage, 7:38 or so at Belmont, and somewhere between 7:50/8:00am arrival at Davis. Works out pretty well. But today, even the Armitage bus was pretty empty. Figure it'll be this way for at least the next week or so, at least the 3 days that I'm working. The week has gone by in a blur. Went to the Keg last night for the second time ever, had a drink with Market Advantage's soon to be ex sysadmin. Should be a pretty quiet weekend, sending Leah and Alison off to the airport on Sunday. Plans to see Return of the King on Monday.

So with the volume of email I've been receiving, I've started using spamassassin along with Vipul's Razor to handle spam recognition. Worked out of the box, debian build, for about 50%. It also did some false positives. So, I found a nifty mutt alias to spamassassin whitelist script. So, only user email from people in my whitelist are not marked as spam. I still glance over, and I'm not doing any auto delete or auto move to spam folders yet, just color indexing and stuff, but still, if anyone doesn't get a reply from me from a really long time, it might be that I've mistakenly put the message into my spam folder. Something I'll check every now and then. I got new phones for home, all with Caller ID, which is good. However I really need to watch the spending. Figured December is a good month, with 41 degree mornings and all that.

So it finally snowed, Friday I think, a bit on Saturday, and it's turned a bit colder, and so, to me, it finally feels like winter, and December in Chicago. I also got the t68i working well with my work PC. I was able to successfully note when Leah called, even though my phone was sitting on the charger underneath my desk, because a little window popped up telling me she called, and allowing me to answer, hang up, or use a handset. Finally. Thursday was sushi with the Girls (Christi, Elisa, Anne, Michelle, and Leah) at No-Hana, which is a decent cheap place, and Friday was the Market ADvantage Christmas shin dig at Nevin's Live. No karaoke, but still fun. Saturday was Alias, more alias, Bourne Identity that night, some egg drop noodle soup, a quick run to ABT, which isn't so crowded late at night. Sunday was cookie making, both peanut butter M&M's and the chewy made by Leah, dinner at Kate's and more Alias. Bringing the car in tomorrow for a check up, managed to fix a nagging problem where puck kept thinking a door was open, screwdrivers come in handy.

Okay, now documenting what I know is the issue when hooking up my phone to a winXP box by bluetooth, so I have this info somewhere. I need to a) reserve the bluetooth serial port. b) I can't let the computer look for bluetooth devices all the time (it resets the connection). I guess the first one is the only one that killed me repeatedly. Oh, and I think I'm supposed to let the phone initiate the pairing through the linked devices menu. But it's working, Outlook synching is working, and Mobile Agent is working as well. Now I've got to get back originally to the sync work and home between PC and Mac working. Not going to be easy. Fellowship is a long movie, and dinner at Fox & Obel was really good. I'd actually prefer watching it on DVD in the comfort of my house better, not just because I'd be home, but because I prefer the sharpness of DVD versus the soft film projection. Go figure.

While the northeast got pounded by snow, Chicagoland got nada. It was actually nice out, a little brisk, but a good weekend to get out, shop, hold a cup of coffee in hand and join the masses on Michigan Ave. But that was just Saturday. Friday I sorta got my t68 syncing again with my macs. I did a master reset for the first time, so I'm back to a semi virgin phone. Of course that meant trying to get synching back up and running at work, but hey, it didn't go too badly. Saturday night Leah and I went to the Volkman's Loft Party full of ultimate players. Interesting time. Needed some music, that's for sure. Sunday had a surprise party for my old nanny. Then I made Empress Chicken, while good, still wasn't as good as I'd hoped. And finished the night up with some Alias, and disappointed with nothing new until Jan 11. Moved on to Rainbow Six, watching an extended edition of Fellowship tomorrow night.

So I've started using a new program at work to hook into my cell phone, float's Mobile Agent. It's like the phone computer integration I get with my mac, but for Windows. Someone calls, I get a little window on my screen telling me who's calling, same thing for SMS, but it's not like I get any of those. But still, pretty cool. I've got to reset my phone too, maybe limit the number of numbers that get synched to it, since it's crashed a couple times and now has a whole slew of blank contacts again. Should be a good time. Dinner last night was good. Volkman Loft party tomorrow night, a surprise party on Sunday, and before I know it, the weekend will be over.

Put in an order for my first iPhoto book. Pretty easy, if slow editing on my 1Ghz powerbook with an iPhoto Library of a lot of pictures. Learned you can lock pages, and then move pages around, independently of how they're organized in the album listing. But still, quite easy. I hope the quality is good enough when I get it. Also used my coffee maker on the timer this morning. Nothing like fresh brewed coffee in the morning. Finally have clean clothes again, just need to drop off dress shirts at the dry cleaners. Leah and I are 3 episodes into the 2nd season of Alias. I wondered what the 47th episode of Alias was and if they did anything special, if it was anything special, or if they're waiting to do something different with the 4th season, episode 7. Hitting some sushi tonight with Karl and Leah. Oh, and Freddy and Cheddar love the interactive toy that looks like a parakeet. Go figure. I forgot to mention that I finished up Neuromancer for my reading, wanted to read Snow Crash but couldn't find a copy, and finally I own Ender's Game and I'm reading that.

Watched last Sunday's episode. Good to see Rambaldi back in the thick of things. Just a question, if anyone knows, what the computers are they use in the briefing room. They look like tablets, but pretty small. And Syd uses a 12" powerbook. Amusing. Got some cat toys for Freddy and Cheddar. Definitely running out of clothes and really need to do laundry. Going to try and tape the new Celeb Poker on Bravo tonight.

Thanksgiving was good, if short, at home in Woodstock. Got to fix my dad's TV-DVD player connection. I really have to set them up with something better, such a great TV needs some good signals. HD ready Direct TV system maybe, at least a progressive scan DVD player. Otherwise, the weekend was good, lots of movie watching, lots of sitting on my couch, computer in hand, food containers all around, DVD's playing. Haven't had a weekend like that in a long time. Picked up Leah on Sunday and headed over to Tony's Post Thanksgiving Thanksgiving for more turkey and pie, and then to Leah's place, to find her roommates got a real live Christmas tree. Planned for the week is laundry on Wednesday, but otherwise nothing else except trying to get back on a decent sleeping schedule.

Turkey Day tomorrow. Sweet. I finished up reading Spandau Diary by Greg Iles and I've moved on to Neuromancer again. Maybe I'll finally step up and get Snow Crash, it's been about 4 years since I've read that. Dinner with Karl last night at Thai Pastry, a pretty good place up on Broadway and Argyle. Headed out to Woodstock tonight, back tomorrow, then working on Friday. Got to try and miss the traffic somehow.

Friday Leah and I went to Monsoon for dinner, a hip and stylish Indian, Asian, French fusion type of place. Rather good, but the spices played havoc with my insides as the next day, spent watching Alias from the comfort of my couch, I fought a grand total of 8 hiccup sessions. But dinner at Sai was still good, as always, and a short night of dancing at BigWig capped off the evening. More Alias on Sunday, including the broadcast HD version, which doesn't have a pause or a fastforward like the DVD Season 1 does. Tuesday Leah leaves for New York, I head back to Woodstock for Thanksgiving most likely on Wednesday. I figure lots of movies in store for me in the next week or so.

Tuesday night Leah made us dinner, Lentil Soup, quite good. Wednesday night I made us another 30 minute meal, poached halibut, snow peas, and rice. I also butter sauted some scallops. Quite good as well. We started reading Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Store Monday night, and got in a couple more Alias episodes last night. Quentin's guest spot on the Box I and II was really good. I'd forgotten how good, and how funny, those episodes were. And it makes me look forward to whatever mid-season turn Alias will throw at us this January.

Weekend was way too busy for what it should have been. Woodstock was good, as was the crazy Filipino choir feeding that my mom caters on Fridays. My parents new Direcway 2-way Satellite Broadband Internet is pretty sweet, but still slower than a nice cable or DSL, but way faster than dial-up. Upgraded the old Cube to 10.3. Tried putting linux on Bjorn's old server, but SCSI boggles my mind, so I've got it in house to work on at my leisure. Sunday got to play some ultimate against the UofC boys. Tiring. Slow. And now, sore. Go figure, 2 weeks post Nationals. Got to eat some ice cream, found some green tea ice cream at Jewel that I've yet to try out. Bryan made Italian soup and homemade pizza for some friends, watched a bit of Football. Managed to sneak in a visit with Leah and her 1/2 college roommate reunion. Also got to watch 12 Monkeys. I'd forgotten how good that movie is, and how intelligently they deal with time travelers. Hopefully, life quiets down a bit. Hopefully.

Going to see Elf tonight, and dinner at the Golden Nugget. Dinner at Shiroi Hana last night was alright, but it's no Sai. Sony released a new laptop in Japan yesterday, the X505, for executives. It's pretty sweet. See Kemplar, Dynamism, iCube, Gizmodo, or direct from Sony.jp. It's cold in Chicago, finally. The weather, acting like it's November. Headed home to Woodstock tomorrow, work on Bjorn's apartment network on Saturday, and play some ultimate on Sunday.

So I've got Macs at home running 10.3 and I use a WinXP box at work. You know what's annoying? Keyboard shortcuts. Simple stuff is usually just a modifier key off, but still, the homogeneous computing experience isn't there for me. Watched some more Alias last night. There's all sorts of things I've missed, that make me wonder about the current season. I really hope they haven't just dropped the Rimbaldi stuff. That stuff was cool. But I'm 2 episodes behind in the current season. Going to start reading the Harry Potter books again.

I got to hook up my uncle's new AV setup. Pretty sweet, all Sony, so I love it of course, with one of those LCD projector TV units. Very nice, very slim. I'd love to see a quality HD feed going through it. I also managed to fix Leah's door last night as well. Dremel Tools kick ass.

With no ultimate, I still managed a fairly full weekend. Friday night was a night out with Leah. We met up with Carlo and Remy at the MCA for First Friday, after we had dinner with Leah's roommate Elisa and her friend Anne. Afterwards we went to Club 720, to meet up with Mandy and gang. Club 720, rest in peace, was a great place to go dancing. It was 4 floors, alternating salsa and house. A lot of fun, except that it's gone now. Saturday we went to dinner with my parents at Arun's. Really good Thai, but not quite the "experience" meal that I was expecting. I wasted Saturday away by watching TV and finally moving my desk around in the data center. Sunday Leah and I watched 7 episodes of the first season of Alias. It looks really good on DVD. We also managed to do laundry. I also managed to remove all the old cat 5 cabling. I'm headed out to Schaumberg tonight to help my Uncle Lito with his new TV. Not a whole lot planned out beyond that.

Went and saw Matrix:Revolutions last night. Bad seats, but what can you do one day post release. But I liked it, aside from the handful of really bad, really funny, laugh out loud parts that I've come to expect from any major motion picture. I did. I'll elaborate in the more (). Dinner with the BR's, Bryan and Remy at Big Bowl on Ohio. Good dinner, funny dinner. Them guys and gal are funny. Did I mention that it's cold out? Now that the season's over I've stopped hydrating. Odd, I think. First Friday at the MCA tonight, dinner with the 'rents tomorrow night, maybe some climbing tomorrow in the burbs as well. I feel like I have something planned for Sunday, but I'm forgetting all about it. So I like Matrix:Revolutions. Here's the story as I perceived it. You've got these people, who suddenly come to terms that they have no choice, they are just pawns, they think that what they do, who they are actually means something, but in reality they're just powering the energizer bunny. It doesn't matter what they do. Then they want to do something about it. They want to change the world, free the people, awaken the batteries, because the truth will set them free. But then Neo finds out that even that is scripted, is planned, the revolution itself was destined. How do you come to terms with that? And in the end, it didn't matter. After a couple fights, after some flash bangs, we're left with, what? Exactly what we started with, mostly. People outside the Matrix. People inside the matrix. The machines still in control mostly. A burned sky. And guess what, it was all scripted. Things start over. Again. There will be another war, another one, another revolution, it might be different, the means might change, but the end, well, it's just the same as the beginning. You get it? Feel the flow? It's all circular. It all doesn't matter. Except for those 6 hours, for those three movies, it did matter to us. The audience. We kept waiting for it to mean something. Hell, it's just 3 movies. It's just a story. And I walked away entertained. I've done it before, I'll do it again, way more than 6 times. So yeah, I liked it and saw it as a fitting end to the Matrix story. I hope they revisit it in 10 years, retell the same story, different details, but it's the same story. It'd be entertaining then too.

I had to get some random things from Tom Thumb, a craft store here in Evanston today. I had forgotten how cool craft and hobby stores are. They've got these little plastic things, like struts, like you can build your own building out of little plastic beams and such. And of course all the regular cool stuff like fake trees and shrubbery for model trains, and then all the paint, and pipe cleaners, and paper, face paint and latex makeup, it looks like so much fun. But I got my fruit preserving stuff (for the 13th chumpionship trophy) and had to leave. Finished up book IX of the WildCards, have a couple left to go, and then maybe Ludlum's new stuff, or his old stuff too. Maybe some throwback to some Dale Brown goodness, Day of the Cheetah, or Flight of the Old Dog, I'm not so sure. I don't know when I'll get around to seeing Matrix: Revolutions. I think I'm going to LA for Christmas though.

Back in Chi-Town, or more specifically, E-Town. Sarasota was a good time, with Kaze going 3-4 to hold seed, which is a little sad. Weather was sunny, hot, and windy. Condos were great, food was questionably, with the best meal being Papa John's on one night, I forget which one. A couple afternoons of Beer Beach Schtick. Beach time, Ocean Time, dancing, the Daiquiri Deck, flying knee of death. A very good time. Hard to believe the season's finally over. Crazy.

Okay, got my bags packed, I'm ready to go. Pretty soon I'll be on my way down south. Sun, Fun, and Ultimate. Keep track at the Score-o-matic. Watch Kaze tear it up. Good stuff in store. Staying at the Sarasota Surf and Racquet Club. Gonna be a good time. Recap: Friday Panther install. Pretty sweet. Saturday busy, practice, lunch with Leah and Alison at Chicago Diner, watching Lost in Translation, good flick, dinner with Elisa, Christie (Leah's roommates) and Kathryn (their sister) and Leah and Alison at Abu Nawa's. Sunday practice and laundry. Monday sushi at Shine. Tuesday sushi at Sai. Packing. And now the next 5 days, Florida.

Managed to miss another day. My attention span is dropping, either that or not enough exciting things are happening on a daily basis anymore. Track tuesday night. Dinner at Rise. Still hungry for Sai and traditional good sushi. Wednesday dinner at Chicago Pizza and Grinder Oven or something. Brownie sundae at Ben and Jerry's. Hats from Active Endeavors. Practice tonight.

Wandered around Michigan Ave before Kaze night at Fogo de Chao last night and got to play with some PDA's. The Tugsten T2 is really really small. Screen's really good though. The keyboard on the Tugsten C is way too small for me to use. Those were at the Apple Store, which didn't have the newest firmware on their display iPods. At the Sony store down the street they had the UX-50 on display. That is a sweet little machine. Tiny, usuable keyboard. It's really cool. And then Sony Ericsson announced the P900 and T630 cell phones. I think my next cell phone will eventually be the P900. I just miss having addresses handy, the only thing I'm missing from my t68i. In other news, weekend was good, dinner Saturday with parents and family friends, a walk in the park, and lots of sleep. Practice was boot on Saturday, playing on Sunday, Alias Sunday Night. The days definitely are flying by.

It just wasn't meant to be. No Red Sox - Cubs World Series. Pause. Moving on. My knee is bugging a little, so I haven't decided on running tonight or not. It didn't bother me enough to stop Stadiums or practice, but maybe I'll take it easy. Got a tourney in 2 weeks that I need to at least play at. I've got iTunes at work, on a Windows XP box, pretty sweet. No music store, so I actually haven't seen the new one yet, but I'm sure I will, eventually. Practice is all I got planned for this weekend. Going to see Kill Bill tonight. Vol 1. that is.

So instead of track last night, Leah and I made fried rice and watched Matrix: Reloaded. Didn't really get too into it, or try and figure it out the second time around, as I was also ripping CD's at the same time. Maybe more analysis on another viewing. Stadiums tonight, and track for an exciting Friday night.

Got Kaze a place to stay in 3 weeks, Sarasota Surf and Racquet Club. Nice place, expensive though. Not much else to say. Days go by pretty quickly. Going to try and get out to a track to run tonight, try and run a stadium tomorrow, practice Thursday, and that's as far as my plans go. I'd really like to fix my data center, it needs a good cleaning and redesign. Maybe sit down and watch a couple movies, something low key. I'm still trying to come to terms with going to Nationals. I see our team name on the UPA Championships Website and I get a shiver down my spine. Goosebumps. I can't wait.

Kaze did it. We actually did it. We took 2nd in the Central Region, going 5-1, behind the Carleton Alumni squad. We're going to Nationals. We're going to Sarasota on Halloween. We made it to Nationals. I'm still a little in shock, not quite fully comprehending this new fact in my life. It's good. Friday Leah and I did laundry, made some cookies, watched Bend It Like Beckham. Saturday Kaze won our pool, beating Flaming Moe by a mere 1 point. We then lost to Carleton by 1 in the semis. Dinner was Rock Bottom, listening and watching the Cubs win. Sunday was Sally's Birthday, and Kaze matching up against Chad Larson, to whom we've lost twice before, and this time we came out on top, by a couple. Then we got to face Hot Action, in our first and only meeting of the season, after they lost to Carleton in the 1st place game. We beat them by 3 to take the 2nd spot and our first trip to Nationals. Crazy. Absolutely crazy. For most of Kaze it's our first trip ever, with any team. And we celebrated with a Kaze party at Bryan, Tony, and Carlo's with Mantonios and football, and a pop culture showdown between CBR and KK. Entertaining and fun. And we're going to Nationals.

Not much going on this week. Working, waiting for Regionals. Dinner last night was leftovers, still, from last friday. Still reading the WildCard series of books, up to middle of Book VII. I'm starting to get bored so I don't know if I'll stick through till the twelfth. That's a strange word, twelfth. Leah and I took a walk last night over to Wrigley to see the spectacle that is Cubs in October. A little crazy, but not too crazy since the Cubbies were killing the Marlins, not that exciting. But with the Cubs and the Red Sox in play, eve I'm checking up on baseball. And that's pretty crazy.

I'm the proud new owner of a 12" Powerbook G4. It's pretty sweet. Calibrated the battery last night, not going to do too much with it until Panther comes in a couple of weeks, but will comes in handy. It's good to have a laptop again. What's also cool is connecting using my t68i over bluetooth and GPRS. That's really cool. Bluetooth rocks. Besides that excitement, I've got to rename the computers, so I'm looking for suggestions. I finally finished up the dishes from last Friday's dinner party. Looking forward to doing some laundry tonight. And what's up with the weather? 80 in October? Crazy, like the Cubs in the league championship series and Gov. Arnold. Crazy. What a wonderful world.

It happens from time to time. I start to slip. And so it goes, and so it goes. Weekend was good, Friday night dinner party went well, asian food cooks quick, except for chopping and prep work. Saturday practice, errands, then dinner at Dinotto's before Second City. Both were fabulous, the lobster ravioli and "No, Seriously, We're All Gonna Die" was hilarious. Both were in the company of Leah's Aunt, Uncle, and Cousin. Lazy Sunday post Xolo scrimmage, which takes us into the work week. And that continues. Taking the week off, saving strength for regionals this weekend in Naperville. Parents are getting Satellite internet, finally, and I've picked up an Apple wireless bluetooth mouse, which is very nice. Not as cool looking as the blue led modded pro mouse, but still, very nice.

I forgot to mention a blog I've started reading: MediaTinker It's an expat living in Japan.

Started prep work for the dinner party this Friday, chopping chopping chopping or watching Leah chopping. Made some wonton soup for dinner last night. Ran Stadium Tuesday night, dinner by Leah. Practice tonight, it's still cold out. Dinner and Second City on Saturday with Leah and her Aunt and Uncle. And hopefully a nice lazy Sunday with a scrimmage against Xolo. Sounds really busy. Crazy. Oh, happy October.

I skipped out on the sit down breakfast which meant a couple things, getting to work earlier, and not getting coffee. The second thing meant a couple things, no headache, and very sleepy. Not sure if I like the tradeoffs. I got to meet Cheddar, Leah and her college roommates' cat, fat cat anyway. He looks like fun. Managed to watch a little of the Core last night, instead of watching the Bears lose in High Def. Really don't feel like running outside tonight. It's really really cold out.

The sickness is mostly gone. The pressure in my head is pretty much gone. Just a nagging dry, sinus, something. Anyway, I definitely feel like I'm playing with fire, by practicing last weekend (it was the coldest yet), and by working out this week. Oh well, just wait and see. Leah's Birthday Dinner Party got postponed till Friday, so just a little dinner Sunday night, some vege stew and potato pancakes. Saturday, instead of the failed Korean BBQ which turned into Goose Island, Leah and I went to Platiyo on Clark. Not bad. Looked like they had good mojito's. We also wandered up Clark to Addison before dinner, and got to see all the revelers. Rather interesting, I'd say. Managed to watch I.Q. Sunday night, which is a great movie, and finally did laundry on Friday Night.

As I recover from my 24 hour flu bug, I'm trying to take it easy. I skipped out on practice last night, and I'm pondering this weekend, as rumor has it weather is going to be a bit nasty, cold and rainy. I've got a head full of mucus that doesn't seem to be going anywhere anytime soon, so I'm waiting for that to drop. Otherwise I'm feeling much better. In light of the low keyness, I'm hoping to do some laundry tonight, an exciting Friday night activity, and maybe on Sunday a dinner party for Leah and her friends on her birthday. Hopefully practice if I'm lucky enough. Tea is currently my best friend, and since we've got one of those nifty hot and cold water dispensers at the office (not a sink), I'm set.

So I've been a little out of commission, with what feels like the flu. Nasty flu though, I took half a sick day yesterday from work since I was absolutely worthless. Didn't get to workout at all this week, tried to take care of Leah who went down pretty hard with Strep the last couple days as well. I'm gonna take it easy for the next couple of days. Monday Night Football was fun, pretty low key, and watched the Raiders not even play a football game. Finally got Leah to watch Queer Eye for the Straight Guy.

Sickness might be returning, which isn't good. I guess I'm just not getting enough rest. Probably makes sense. Trip home to Woodstock was good. I finally got an iPass, so that was pretty sweet trying that out. I stopped by the Apple Store Woodfield, played with the new 15", I personally think it's too big for my tastes. Got some sushi saturday night, tough practice for me on sunday, and hanging out in Wicker Park and Russell's post practice. Since it's now fall, my work building has turned off the AC, which means instead of being frigid, it's now way too hot at work. I'm hosting Monday Night football, probably from here on out. I'm gonna try and sneak in some laundry tonight too. Track tomorrow, stadiums wednesday. Starting to sound like a broken record.

So three days in a row is a lot to ask of my body. Track, Stadium, slight conditioning at practice, all adds up to too much. Add to this being the first non-tourney weekend since August 22nd, and I'm going to enjoy tomorrow. My only hope? That this will be the best shape I'll be in since college. I might drop by the Woodfield Apple Store on the way home to check out the new and updated powerbooks. Powermate drivers now handle more than one, so my dream of Mac powered Etch-a-Sketch can now come true. Possible El Mariachi Marathon tomorrow night, practice Sunday, some football watching and maybe poker post practice sums up my weekend plans.

I'm seriously addicted to the Joy Yee's freezes. I had a pineapple coconut last night after stadium, and I'm finishing up a cantaloupe right now. I realized last night that they are much healthier Slurpees. And I've got a history with Slurpees. Made fried rice for dinner last night and lunch for the next couple of days. I think I haven't mentioned it before, but I'm eating a regular breakfast now, at the Golden Olympic. This morning I had apple pancakes with a side of sausage patties and the bottomless cup of coffee. Having a good breakfast makes the day so much better, and less tiring.

So I keep looking at the updated 12", and I keep thinking, and now my excuse is to wait until Panther is released, to kill 2 birds with one stone. That's what I'm thinking now. Track went alright last night, better, but still off. Leah and I had dinner at the same crepe place, but it was better last time. Joy Yee's across the street from work has some great freezes, I had a Taro freeze on Monday and a Lychee/Honeydew one today. So good. I'm headed home Friday night for sure now, got to see the 'rents and get them to check email again.

So Apple finally updated their powerbooks. 12" is looking mighty nice, but I'm definitely going to have to wait until the end of the season before looking into getting one. Unless Sony comes out with something better than the U101. Finished up some household stuff last night. I now have too many DVD's, and I think I might have a problem in terms of DVD addiction. I put Monday Night Football on HDTV, just to see if it was still available, and it still is.

Kaze won Central Plains Sectionals, 2 years in a row now, over Blah in the finals. I felt tired all weekend long, maybe it was the 3 tourneys in a row, or maybe the stadium earlier in the week, or the lack of sleep. But after 2 really good nights of sleep saturday and sunday, i'm feeling much much better. Kaze now has 3 weeks to fix things before Regionals. Hot tub at the hotel saturday afternoon was wonderful. Makes me definitely wish for more hot tub time. Food last night was Joy's delivery, and some enlightening conversation between Leah and Sarah, in town on her way to Berkeley. Quiet night with hopefully some household chores and tasks put away. Track tomorrow night, maybe a Sushi/Sashimi class at Whole Foods, stadium on wednesday, practice thursday, and hopefully a run home to Woodstock sometime this weekend.

Twofold, I actually use links as a web browser of choice, when I don't have access to Safari. And I've decided to be like these new flash in the pan web logs and give a list of links, the ones I read daily, or more than daily. But that's after the update. Wednesday night played some Cricket, did alright with the coworkers, went into bracket play as a 3rd seed, but had to leave early. I like darts. Thursdays practice was lowkey, and dressed all in graphite, and wandered by Twisted Spoke after to say goodbye to Shawn Walker, who's leaving town. Managed to sneak in a load of laundry this morning, getting jerseys clean and all that. So anyway, linkage:

Mac Stuff macnn macintouch powerpage macrumors think secret macosrumors spymac looprumors macslash as the apple turns macbytes macosxhints appleinsider Powerbook zone cubeowner crazyapplerumors PDA stuff pdabuzz palminfocenter infosync

Movie/DVD aint it cool dark horizons news DVD Journal DVDFile The Digital Bits News slashdot arstechnica google news chicago tribune news.com wired.com cnn ananova quirkies Misc (reading, tech, ...) gizmodo gearbits askmen akira yamaguchi digital camera resource espn page2

Dinner was late last night, Pan Seared Salmon with a Citrus Vinegar glaze, green beans, rice, and an orange/almond salad. Another 30 Minute Meal that took about an hour to make. But not too bad. Also finished up with a mango sorbet with amaretto and shaved crystallized ginger. That desert was great, and all the flavors went together really really well. I get to try my hand at darts tonight, I'm guessing Cricket or 301, and I've got to pick up my car sometime today, since I got an oil change. I'm feeling better, but I'm still really tired.

Leah, Remy and I did Ryan Field last night, since the track at Evanston Township High School was covered with fresh paint. It was good. Dinner followed at Mt. Everest, a decent Indian/Nepalese place in Evanston. I've got to find a way to squeeze in a track workout sometime this week, maybe before practice on Thursday since there's a work function at Nevin's tomorrow night. In computing news, I've heard the U101 is discontinued, and the replacement might get announced in a week or so. I started lusting after it again. But that timeframe puts it into 12" Powerbook update time, which makes things cloudier in forecasting my next computer purchase.

Friday night I managed to get laundry done, and Leah made dinner for me, her Asparagus and Leek soup, Chicken Tikki, and Diego's Dessert, all very good. Tune Up went fairly well. Kaze went 4-1 on Saturday losing to Bad Larry 13-10. Sunday we faced off against Blah out of South Bend and won, edging out our sectional rival for the first time since last year at sectionals. We then lost to Chad Larson Experience out of Iowa in a nail biter in the semis. Overall a pretty good tourney. Dinner saturday with Leah, her sister Alison, her friend Danielle from Vermont, at Sai. Sushi, so good. Dinner sunday was leftovers. A good steak and eggs breakfast this morning and a V8 seem to be my recuperation meal on Mondays after tourneys. Track workout tonight, another laundry session sometime this week, and maybe some more catch up on sleep. Oh, and I'm sorta half fighting off a cold or something. I just can't seem to tell.

I still can't SSH into my home box, and reading my email once a day is really annoying. I'm starting to wonder if RCN has shut off ssh access. And I had random news.log errors on my console when I finally got to check email last night. But oh well, I'll figure something out eventually. Maybe I just got a new IP address. That's something I forgot to check last night. Practice at Union Park last night went okay. I'm pretty tired today, I think because of it, but maybe also because of lack of sleep, still. Quiet night tonight pre Tune-Up, some laundry, and hopefully lots of good sleep.

So I'm having trouble getting to my home box today, which means I've been off email for a while now. Scary. Definitely means I should look into redundancies, and also into co-locating a server. Which would be sweet, and I might have space in the budget, except for the initial overlay. And then the question arises, Linux or OS X? But for later. Last night tried to do the track workout, but too tired still. I got through the 400's but couldn't finish up with the mile. Had a chat with Tony, dinner was leftover wontons, and tried to watch some more Daredevil. It's cold, or at least chilly, which means some cold weather gear comes out at practice tonight. I should do some laundry, maybe tomorrow night, pre Tune-Up.

So I'm still playing catchup with sleep. And the body is starting to pay. But that's besides the point. Made wonton soup, teriyaki chicken and beef for dinner last night with Leah while we watched Drumline. Kaze practice has moved to Thursdays, so I'm headed to the track tonight. Hard to believe Tune up is merely 3 days away. My hair is getting a little out of hand, by that I mean it's looking a little shaggy, and by that I mean it's maybe 1/4" long or so. I might be working on growing it out a bit. Maybe.

Labor Day in Santa Cruz was pretty fun, even with the limited roster Kaze brought. We picked up a couple players, John and Mandy, Chad from South Lake Tahoe, and Whitney. While our win loss record wasn't that good, at 2-4, I thought we did fairly well, holding our own with what we had. We could argue for being Chumpions, as the team we were supposed to play bailed. Aside from the tourney, the weekend was good, except for the weather. I didn't know it got cold, downright chilly in Santa Cruz in the mornings and at night. But blue skies and sunshine when the fog eventually lifted. Managed a dip in the pacific, a corn dog on the boardwalk, and some more sand sculpting. Practice sometime this week, a track workout somewhere in there, and Tune Up this weekend. 1 of 3 tournament weekends in a row done. update 2:04pm I had completely forgotten about hanging out with Whitney and Company last thursday night, out at Piece, which was fun. A good time.

Go figure, I actually missed a day. Well, got some stuff done Tuesday night, not as much as I wanted. I've started heading up to work earlier, which gives me time for a nice breakfast at the Golden Olympic. I've also returned to listening to NPR in the car. But last night had a short practice, then a few of us went to dinner at Dixie Kitchen down on the south side. Still need to catch up on sleep. And flying out tomorrow after my half day at work. Tonight I've still got lots of house stuff to do, but maybe try and fit a movie in there somewhere, I've currently got a craving to see Daredevil.

Cooked fried rice for dinner last night. And had another Mantonio. Those things are addictive. Finished off the meal with some tropical rainbow sherbet. That stuff is good too. I've got a nice night off tonight, which I need to do some housecleaning and paperwork. Things definitely pile up. I used Priceline for the first time today, which was pretty cool, except that it was unnecessary for logistical reasons, but that's besides the point.

Monday, it's still Monday, right? Good weekend. Friday night practice, movies and food at Bryan's, watched some SuperTroopers, lazy Saturday, quick and easy italian homemade dinner, Sunday breakfast and practice then Korean food and Leah's. Laundry tonight, practice Wednesday, and leaving for Santa Cruz on Sunday. Wow. Already. That means it's almost September. Crazy. And the start of a 3 tourney weekend in a row for Kaze.

Not having something ultimate related, or physically strenuous last night was great, very relaxed, and much needed. Refreshed. Went to dinner with Leah, her new roommates and extended family sorta to Cafe Ba-Ba-Reeba. Good place. It was noticed that there was a shortage of men which makes sense, because women like to share little bits of food, while men like large quantities of food they like. In general. No new plans. I'm wearing a white shirt today, which I just know means I'll spill something on it before the day is over. It's only a matter of time.

It's getting darker earlier, and makes weeknight practices without lights shorter and shorter. Not good. Thinking it might be time to get a City of Chicago Sticker for Puck finally. After practice a small group of us went to dinner in Chinatown. Good food, as usual. I canceled beach for tonight, as Kaze interest was pretty low, and I'm going to enjoy a day off of exercise. Upcoming plans are tomorrow night I've got practice, a lazy Saturday, and practice and maybe Korean food on Sunday. Hopefully some sort of goodbye something for Peggy, who leaves for China on Sunday for a month or so. Oh, I ordered an iPass finally today. Days are definitely starting to blend together again. Managed to talk to Al and Nicole last night. That was good.

Track workout was tough last night, especially upwind straightaways. I actually feel better, less sore, after pulling it off. Threw around with Leah for a bit afterwards, and then we went to Viva la Crepe up in Evanston for dinner. It was fabulous. The Chicken Marsala is great. Lunch with co-workers at Buffalo Joes, good to get back there. Practice, most likely pretty short, tonight, due to earlier setting sun. Going to try beach again tomorrow, and see if people actually come out for it.

Monsterloft is nothing but a dream. The plan didn't happen, the conditions weren't met, and 7 friends will not be living together for a year, stop being polite, and start living for real. Nope, didn't happen. I remain at my current residence for the forseeable future. Laundry did get done last night, finally, and I have a whole lot of Under Armour clothing. I need new socks though. I have to admit, I'm a little bummed that Monsterloft didn't happen. Oh well, moving on. My nose is peeling from the sun I got this past weekend. I got the new Dashboard Confessional album that came out last weekend. Good stuff. They're coming to town sometime in October, so I might try to get to that. In a somewhat random note, Chipotle rocks.

Cooler was good this past weekend. Kaze went 4-0 on Saturday, eaking out a win over Flaming Moe in pool play. Dinner was good at the Water Street Brewery both Friday and Saturday nights, eating plenty of meat. God Bless Tony and his creation of the Mantonio, root beer and vanilla vodka. I also really liked the Raspberry Weiss they had as a summer brew. The team also managed to get to Kopp's for some custard Saturday night. Got to see Kate Mazurek again after all these years, and hung out a little bit with Alison, Leah's sister. Sunday we won our first game and lost our second, to Blah, yet again, but in a very good, hard fought, pretty spirited game, 17-15. Dinner on the way home was the Brat Stop. Laundry tonight, track tomorrow, practice Wednesday. Hope the body holds together.

Moving last night went surprisingly well. No problems at all. We were pretty much done at around 10:30pm. So Leah doesn't quite live down the street anymore. I did get to have a Slurpee last night, a nice mix of Sobe Citrus Explosion, Sprite Tropical Remix, and Minute Maid Cherry. It was good. Definitely brought me back to old school senior year Slurpee addictions. I really need to do laundry. I had to dig for ultimate clothes, well, my favorite ultimate clothes for Cooler. Kaze is seeded 4th going into the weekend, I think, going up against Flaming Moe, Army of Darkness out of Madison, and Zen out of Stevens Point. Should be a good weekend.

It's good to have Leah back. I got to see her new apartment yesterday, down on Dickens off Clark. Nice place. I'm helping her move tonight. We also managed to look for cleats yesterday, I failed miserably, as my favorite cleats are no longer made, Kelme Duende TRX M's, and if someplace does still have some, they aren't in my size. We got out and ate at Angelina's on Wednesday Neighborhood Night, which was good, as always. A short walk in the park, a trip down memory lane in the playground, and sleep, glorious sleep. Aside from Cooler this weekend, nothing else on the plate right now.

Leah's back. She rolled in late, 11:30ish last night. It's good to have her back in the city. Previous to that, the Small Wonder sushi dinner at Sai was good, ordering for AJ and Tun. Anthony's Italian Ice was good again, although the Peach wasn't as good as the others I've tried; Mango, Cherry, or Watermelon. I didn't go for a track workout either. I've got the afternoon off to frolic with Leah, which might mean helping her get ready to move tomorrow. And that's my plan for tomorrow, and leaving for Cooler on Friday, yet another half day.

Leah comes back tonight. Sweet. Cards was good last night, full house, and full houses, overboating left and right. Movies in the background works out well, even better than music, I think. Went through The One, Office Space, and Josie and the Pussycats, and some of Mallrats over the course of the evening. Wow, long evening. Gave myself a long needed haircut as well last night. I wanted to do track today, but I somehow managed to forget my running shoes as I walked out the door this morning. Whoops. I do need a new pair, but the question is if I can find them and do track in time for sushi won on a Small Wonder bet.

Let's see if I can remember my weekend. Friday night practice, then small BBQ at Bryan's afterwards, losing badly at hearts, watching a bit of Zoolander and Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure. Saturday I spent napping since I can't sleep in anymore, and then SWAT (which is good) and dinner at Dublin's. Sunday was practice and then American Wedding and Rock Bottom then a drop by at Adam's BBQ which was good. I got to catch up on Machine and Summer League news. And now it's Monday. Just a couple days left. Card games tonight, track and sushi tomorrow, and then Leah from then on out.

Only 8 people showed up to beach, including myself, on a slightly windy but otherwise beautiful day. A little depressing, but that's okay. I'll keep trying. Afterwards Leo, Remy, and I went to Sai for dinner, yummy sushi, and Leo and I hit up Anthony's Italian Ice around the corner. So good. Light and refreshing. When I got home I had a surprise waiting for me, the Kaze temporary tattoos had arrived. They look sweet. I'm sporting all 3 right now, panda on the left shoulder, kanji on the right, and the pirate over my left pec. Tomorrow going to see SWAT and get some grub on a Saturday where I have no ultimate. It's gonna be nice. Hopefully something fun will happen tonight after practice, but wait and see.

Another track workout, and surprisingly, it's my upper abs that seem to be in the most pain today. I can't say I've ever actually had this kind of soreness before. Strange. Managed to finally make it to the grocery store last night, it's been a long long while since I've gone. Managed to start up She's All That, and also got in my fixed copies of Back to the Future Parts II and III. Gonna try beach tonight, and hopefully the beaches aren't closed. Practice, hopefully some post practice event tomorrow night, movie and a dinner Saturday night, and practice Sunday. It's almost the weekend. And only 6 more days or so.

Dinner at Panang in Chinatown for Kevin's Birthday after practice. Good time. Had an Avocado smoothie, yummm. I feel pretty good about ultimate right now, got a decent groove, moving well, I like my backhand. Going to a mini team workout at Montrose tonight, instead of a track workout, unless I try and sneak it in before hand. Going to try beach tomorrow. Still need to catch up on sleep.

So Monster Loft is amazing. A Huge space. Quirky, artsy, quaint and begging for parties, events, gatherings, everything. But we shall see. Dinner was pizza during Drumline, which is a great movie. Very amusing. Got another chance to talk with Leah this morning. 7 days. Just one short week, and you won't ever have to read about me missing her again, ideally. Practice tonight, Friday and Sunday. Happy Birthday to Tony and Kevin. Track tomorrow, maybe beach on thursday. Ultimate ultimate ultimate. Never ending.

Ultimate definitely feels in full force. Which is good. My body on the other hand is playing catchup. Which is bad. But we'll see. Kaze retreat in South Bend went well last weekend, with good practice, scrimmage, and fun at the Blanchet-Ruths'. Good to see Slider, Moby, Duke, and Nikita. Good story telling, good Egyptian Rat's Crew game, good food. Going to check out Monster Loft tonight, also have a showing of Drumline. Watched a little Queer Eye for the Straight Guy, which is just about the only reality TV show I'm willing to watch, well, alongside Monster Garage and House. I forgot to mention that my previous wired ethernet problems have been fixed. It wasn't the on board built in ethernet that went bad, just my switch needed a reboot, is all. And presto, back to really fast web surfing and email checking. It's amazing how slow wireless feels now.

Wow. These 45 or so add days have gone fast. Leah will be living down on Dickens and Clark this next year, which is pretty close to where I am now, so that's pretty cool. Helping her move on the 14th. Oh, happy August, if that's something to excited about. Means summer is almost over. Might have a Drumline showing tonight. Headed to South Bend this weekend. Wouldn't mind going to a drive in, but might have to push it off for another weekend. I wouldn't mind trying to get up to see Shakespeare on the Green up at Barat, but I don't know if that'll happen on Sunday or not. Only Tony, Remy, and Bryan showed up for beach last night, even though it was absolutely beautiful out. We threw around and then ate at some pub and then had some Cold Stone. Hopefully it'll be better next week.

It feels especially slow today, not sure why, although the 4 1/2 hours of sleep I got last night probably has something to do with it. I got caught up watching Terminal Velocity, or maybe Drop Zone, the one with the Baldwin and Dennis Rodman. Anyway, this was post track, which kicked my ass, dinner at Twisted Spoke, and during arm workout, the Mia Stephen push up routine is killer. Still gonna try and get out to beach tonight. Also managed to get yet another call in to Leah, 4 days in a row, 13 days left, and figured out that we can also SMS as well. I don't think I've mentioned lately that I miss her, and that I'm really excited that there's only 13 days until she's back. Headed to South Bend this weekend for Kaze practices and Blanchet-Ruth fun.

Doing a track workout today. It's gonna be hard. I'm not looking forward to it at all. Practice was good last night, worked on the endzone, double score scrimmage. Afterwards was some good Cold Stone and a sandwich from the place across the street. Managed to sneak in yet another phone call to Spain this morning. Only 2 weeks now. 2 weeks. Currently researching accommodations for Labor Day in Santa Cruz, trying to get a beach house. But last night after practice I noticed that the middle toe on my right foot hurt a little walking. Looks a little swollen. No idea when or how it happened, but I didn't feel it at all while playing. Hardly feel it while walking. I'm not worried.

I had a good bye dinner with Jess last night at Rise. She's headed out to Colorado for Art Therapy School. About time she got outta this town. But good to catch up one last time while she was still in the city. And Rise as usual was good. Ate too much, as I seem to be doing more often than not recently. I seem to have lost my cones, again, and I don't even think they were my cones this time. Weather, while beautiful, is continuing to freak me out. It's toooooo nice. The whole balance thing means we're gonna get hit with something nasty sooner or later. Hopefully get some Cold Stone after practice tonight, and then work it off at track tomorrow. I got caught up in Monster House last night. I remember way back when I wanted to put up a paper mache tree in my apartment senior year. That's something that'd end up on Monster House. Oh well.

Honky Kong, or Kaze's Sandblast Team B, or maybe it was A, but we went 3-1 on Saturday, losing to Bjorn's high school friends and Brady. Sunday we won our first game and lost our second to eventual second place finishers, my former team, Sandwhammies. Beach is fun. Good and fun. And Honky Kong beat Kazbe Sweaters, Kaze's Team A/B in the ever important game to 7 for Cold Stone Creamery. Dinner Saturday night at Woo Chen for some nice Korean BBQ, and then dinner at Dublin's the following night. Good food, good company all around. My feet hurt not from the beach, but from having to be in shoes today. Practice Tuesday, probably stadiums or track on Wednesday, more beach on Thursday, sushi on Friday, and South Bend this weekend.

Volunteering went well at the Inspiration Cafe. It was my first time waiting tables, sorta. We managed to get to the beach before they even started playing. Good group of people. Good running. Good to get used to the Montrose Beach sand as opposed to the North Ave. Beach sand. Very different. Afterwards, a group went for Heaven on Seven on Clark, eating outside in the absolutely beautiful weather we're having. Overall, a pretty good Thursday. Got a nice half day today, which I need, since I got a whopping 2 1/2 hours of sleep last night, which is fine, because I got to talk to Leah. Man, 19 days and change. I did manage to give myself a haircut last night. Going to watch some movies this afternoon-evening before Sandblast Kickoff Party at Piece. Come on out and watch this weekend, Montrose Beach, Sandblast Beach Tourney. I'm leading Kaze 2: Honky Kong, in a quest for some VC Ultimate gear.

I'm definitely not getting enough sleep. Today I'm running on 4 1/2 hours or so. Not good at all. I'm hoping to catchup some tonight, maybe this weekend, or maybe not. We'll see. But I need to, it's unhealthy otherwise. I gots to get time for my body to rest and replenish. I have to admit something, I actually watched Cupid last night. Not sure why, but the first 10 minutes or so and I was hooked for the hour. Am I ever going to watch it again? No. There's way too many reality romance shows. It's about time Kaze did one of our own. Inspiration Cafe tonight, and maybe beach, maybe Cold Stone, maybe movie, maybe Hip Hop show at the Hot House. Or sleep.

Impromptu showing of Bad Boys I tonight at my place. Starts round 8pm. Practice was a good time last night, probably because my team did all the winning. It didn't take me too long to get down to Washington Park from Evanston, about 40 minutes, which I think is impressive. A handful of us then went to Chinatown for dinner and frozen bubble tea drinks. Tomorrow night a bunch of Kaze players are cooking and serving up some grub at the Inspiration Cafe, followed by some other social activity. This team stuff is great. A Stadium followed by practice with sprints led by AJ is leaving me wiped but happy, especially since I'm not gonna try and do a track workout today. Maybe Friday, which is another half day for me.

Training started for the season. I did Dyche, err, Ryan Field last night. Good time. Not as hard as I thought it'd be, which is good. And go figure, I felt better after it than I did before, in terms of knees and ankles and stuff. Otherwise, a very uneventful day, at least compared to the rest of my days so far.

The weekend's already over? Crazy. Friday saw the successful launch of Kaze Club night, thanks to the impetus of KK and Sally. Festivities started at the Artful Dodger and concluded at Betty's Blue Star Lounge. Kaze practice the next day was a little rough because of it, but alright. Went an ate at the Goose Island brew pub in Wrigleyville and hung out at the block party there, at least walked through it, with my high school friend James. We were both pretty wiped by practice so ended up watching a couple movies and sleeping instead of any more bar action. Sunday was some downtown shopping, getting a USB cable for his digital camera, and I checked out Sony's fab TR1, a nice subnote, as well as their U30, a tiny tiny digital camera. James, down from Fairbanks on leave, decided he wanted Alaskan Halibut for dinner, so I took him up to e-town to Davis Street Fishmarket and some Marble Slab Creamery for dessert. Cold Stone is much much better. I'm supposed to do stadiums tonight, and Kaze practice tomorrow night. 23 days and change.

So I've been working for 6 weeks now, I think, 7 weeks maybe, depending on how you count. And this might be my first Friday I'm thankful for? Maybe it's because I don't have a tourney and I get to sleep in tomorrow. But no Beach last night due to inclement weather; the storm moving out over Lake Michigan though was quite beautiful. Instead I made it out to Piece to hang with Tun, AJ, Bailey, and Katie Kelly. Tonight I'm headed to Chicago Diner with the Siblings Kennedy, and maybe some other neighborhood bars or some such deal. Oh, my on board ethernet on my G4 tower crapped out on my yesterday, might have been a power surge, or just failure on a refurb old machine. Good thing I had a spare Airport card, but still, I might have to look into a new machine sooner than I'd hoped.

27 Days and change. Slept a bit more than usual, up to 7-7 1/2 hours or so. Started the Recruit as the current movie. I actually made some food, well, okay, I warmed some of my mom's food up, and had dinner and breakfast. I followed Alton Brown's omelet tips, and warming the eggs up to room temp really helps a lot. I also really need a new 10-12" non stick pan. I missed the injury filled MarketADvantage b-ball pickup game. I also missed the last purple line express and ended up taking the Red Line home last night. I also miss Leah, but everyone knows that by now. I tried doing some home pilates instead of my ab routine, I still need some help on those. Beach at Montrose tonight, and practice on Saturday, but besides that, nothing much, hopefully a lot of sleep.

In my growing weakness, I've decided to lay off the coworker pickup basketball until after the season is over. I'd hate to go out with a twisted ankle when I wasn't even playing Ultimate. I just gotta make sure I don't hurt myself doing anything else, like walking back from a party or something. Finished up watching Se7en last night. Freaky movie. It's been interesting how long it takes me to actually watch movies now, something like 3-4 days a piece. I contemplated going to a movie up here in Evanston, but I'd rather go home and try, most likely unsuccessfully, to go to bed early. I've been writing a lot of shell scripts lately, which is pretty cool. Beach tomorrow up on Montrose for a change, and my friend James is back in town for the week and is coming in to the city for the weekend.

So no Kaze practice tonight, since the All Star game is at Comisky Park tonight, and therefore makes traffic an absolute nightmare. Instead, probably gonna watch a couple movies. Dinner last night also included Sarah, and was good, a nice BBQ Chicken sandwich, and a quality mint chocolate chip ice cream bar. Managed to get some new music, some All Saints and random other stuff, but missed getting it onto my iPod somehow. I'm wearing one of those new Under Armour Performance Polos today, and it's pretty sweet. A little heavier than the loose gear, but still pretty nice. I'm still working out kinks with the Mac Calendar, t68 cal, and outlook at work synchronization.

This time I'm talking about missing a posting last Friday. But it was a half day at work, so I was busy. I did manage to talk with Leah, with the 7 hour difference, whilst she was on the beach and I was in the park. Very nice. Long distance transcontinental cell phone calls are cool, very clear. Anyway, Kaze went to St. Louis for Summer Soaker III. We went 3-1 on Saturday, losing badly to Blah, where they just ran harder than we did. Sunday we won our quarter and lost in the semi to the Chad Larson Experiment with some awfully fast women. Good weather, hard fields, and Kaze's first tourney of the year. Lots to work on. Came home to a nice clean house thanks to the 'rents. Tried to sleep at a decent hour, but still couldn't. Dinner at Twisted Spoke with Russell and Bryan, maybe finish up Se7en. And more sleep. Hopefully.

A voice mail message is like methodone to a heroin addict. Well, I'm just guessing that's what it feels like when I got one from Leah. T-Mobile is starting to upset me with multiple "Network Busy" problems and missed calls that aren't even missed calls. But I do like my phone, which is actually unlocked so I could switch providers if I wanted to. After initial success and subsequent failure, I got my phone resyncing with Outlook here at work. So now it does the duty of syncing my home and work calendars on both sides. It's so much easier on the Mac side. Basketball was good yesterday, and hopefully weather will stay decent enough for Beach tonight. I do have to get some sleep before this weekend though. That'd be nice. Finally did dishes, and now just have to at least organize the piles of clothes in the bedroom. Oh, I added some pictures to the Galleries, a few to Leah, a few to Kaze. At least that still works.

Huh, finally a movie that seems a little reserved? I kinda liked T3, but just kinda. The story was pretty good, but the action seemed to me a little blase, tired. Unoriginal. But the ending I really liked. Dinner at Big Bowl, which was good. I like Big Bowl. Again, not a whole lot of sleep as I went digging through files for the kanji for Kaze, for use on temporary tattoos. Basketball tonight, and beach tomorrow, all weather permitting. Half day Friday means an early start to St. Louis for Summer Soaker III. According to a shell script, 34 days, 8 hours, 50 minutes and 44 seconds till her return.

Did some laundry last night. Didn't quite let everything dry enough, and ended up with some slightly damp clothing, which is good for the dress shirts that need to be ironed, which is now somewhere over 20 or so. I've got to use my sundeck more while the weather is agreeable, which pretty much limits use to early morning or late evening, dusk or dawn. The sunset was pretty last night, as were some storm clouds this morning which looked like Mount Doom. Watched a little Monster Garage, about turning an El Camino into a bronco buster to be ridden by a rodeo rider. Going to see T3 tonight in DLP, dinner somewhere, and hopefully finally catching up on some sleep.

So this past weekend marks the 2nd birthday of Tea & Strumpets and also my retirement from the team I helped to found. We went 6-0 in scramble play on Friday and Saturday, beating Duck X-ing for the first time ever and MEAT (Yellow Subs plus others) as well. Very close and good games. We then lost our first game against SMERFS on Sunday, but managed to hopefully place in the top 8 (I haven't checked standings yet). Dinner as always at the Church House Brew Works, good food, good times. 5 games of beer schtick on Saturday night, along with some dodgeball courtesy Duck X-ing. Overall a great time, and I hate to have to give it up. Otherwise, traveling went well, with no problems or hitches anywhere along the way. I did manage to get some sun, but protected well under SPF 30. Good times. Very good times. (35 actually 36 and change days before I get to see the girl I miss so much. Way too much now, isn't it?)

Hmm, as the days go by I mention it less and less, but guess what, yup, you guessed right. Basketball was fun last night, but it uses totally different muscles, totally different game, well, different from my ultimate game. My calf cramped up about midway through. Crazy. I did not do any laundry, instead had Mac and Cheese and Keilbasa, did my workout set, and watched TV and more of Don Juan DeMarco. So tired though. Ended up packing this morning, and hopefully didn't forget anything. I switched my return leg to Monday morning, so it's gonna be a very long Monday. Things to look forward to this weekend, Church House Brew Works and walking beer schtick.

Did you notice? I didn't even say I missed her yesterday. But she leaves today. And guess what, I miss her. Apple Store was interesting yesterday. Still very busy at 7pm at night. They had some sort of presentation by some music producer and some guy from Cheap Trick. I did not walk out with either an iSight or a new iPod. Just no pull. None of it actually had any pull. They were all nice to look at, but just no desire to purchase. Dinner at Grand Luxe was good, sesame crusted Ahi Tuna. I've neglected to mention that I finished up Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance, and moved on to the Chronicles of Master Li and Number Ten Ox. I watched Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves a couple nights ago and in the middle of Don Juan DeMarco. I hadn't realized that Marlon Brando is in that. Had lunch with Noel today at Olive Mountain. Also good. Flying out to Pittsburgh later tomorrow night, and flying back in early Monday.

A quiet night at home last night. Got myself a Gyro, first one in a long time. It was good. Did my workout, which was good. My PAI seemed odd, but hopefully that's just soreness from playing again. Doesn't feel like something bad happened or will happen. Got my phone to sync up over bluetooth with Outlook at work. Took a whole lot more effort than it did with my Mac at home. And I still don't quite understand what everything is doing when I do sync it up. But hopefully this will mean no more late meetings. Ever. Hitting the Apple Store tonight, dinner at Grand Luxe, and maybe a movie too. Gonna play some ball with coworkers tomorrow night, maybe do some laundry. Flying out to Pittsburgh Thursday night for Mars, 3rd year in a row. I remember this tournament extremely well for some reason.

Guess what, in spite of the constant joking and teasing, I still miss Leah. But moving on. Didn't make it yet inside the Chicago N. Michigan Ave. Apple Store. Arriving at 8pm on Friday and seeing the line going around the block, well, we figured it wasn't worth the wait. However, plans are afoot to check it out Tuesday evening. Saturday in Woodstock was good, I managed to do a little more clothes shopping at the Prime Outlets in Huntley. I've done more clothes shopping in the last month than I have in my previous 26 years. Practice Sunday was good, as was Twisted Spoke following. Gonna try and get back to a workout schedule, MWF, and looking forward to a gyro for dinner tonight. Managed to have an IT outing to the lake for lunch and frisbee throwaround today. Very nice.

So after some windy beach, where the dark team got clobbered, most of the night except when we finally played a game, we were gonna go to Justin's but ended up at Rise, for the second night in a row for me. Ate outside, had a beer, food and company was good. We closed the place up. Then a long walk home. Definitely going to Dublin's at 6:30pm tonight, then Apple Store, then maybe Guest Bar for some dancing, maybe not. Headed out to Woodstock for tomorrow, then practice/pickup on Sunday, and poker. Really missing Leah.

About 6 weeks before I see Leah again, definitely missing her. But I gotta grin and bear it. So even with the 20 degree drop, I'm headed out to beach this evening. Last night we had dinner at Rise, a Japanese place on Southport, which is right up there, for me, next to Sai and Bistro Wasabi. And it's closer. Good stuff like a Mexican Maki with cilantro and avocado. Happy Birthday to my mother today. Tomorrow is dinner most likely at Dublin's with Russell and then the N. Michigan Ave. Apple Store opening. I'm most likely walking out with an iSight, and I'm being tempted by the 15GB 3G iPod. Gotta have the willpower. I'm planning on syncing up my phone with my work Outlook so I don't show up late for any more meetings. And this update is all over the place.

Dinner last night at the HandleBar in Wicker Park. Not bad sesame noodles with grilled tuna, for a vegan place. The TFA party was rather interesting. At one point, all the newbies, first year TFA's in Chicago for orientation showed up. A bunch of sorority looking girls, fresh out of college, made me feel really old. Well, slightly old. Met another ISP, former ISP, my second ISPer meeting in as many weeks. Crazy. Tonight is a concert at Cubby Bear with Leah, Tina, and Christi, and dinner somewhere in there, along with seeing my mom for her birthday tomorrow. Beach tomorrow, and Justin's to meet Margie's Henning.

No new Powerbooks at the WWDC yesterday. A bit of a disappointment, but good because I won't be spending that money. I haven't had a chance to sit down and watch Jobs' entire keynote, but I will, eventually. Expose looks like it'll be good to use. Fast User Switching I'm looking forward to, even more so if I can log myself in multiple times. The new G5's seems fast, and I hope Panther doesn't require that much power to still be sweet. Finally cleaned up a bit at home, and started working on the to-be-ironed pile. Last few days before Leah leaves for Spain. Maybe a TFA party tonight in Wicker Park. A couple concerts tomorrow night. And the Apple Store N. Michigan Ave. opening on Friday.

Yesterday was a lovely ultimate Sunday. After practice, a group of us went to the Northside Bar and Grill for some eats, followed by some dessert at the Cold Stone Creamery. Good times. Did some laundry last night, and now I've got this huge stack of clothes that need ironing. One of these days. I've also still got plenty of cleaning to do, the kitchen's a mess, and dirt from Poultry Days is hanging out a lot. Not good. I'm wondering what Apple's going to announce today at the WWDC? If the announcements include an updated 12" powerbook, I might have to get one.

In light of the upcoming WWDC and whatever Apple's planning on announcing, my Mac at home has decided to start giving me grief. My iPod wasn't being recognized by iTunes on my main machine, which is an upgraded Sawtooth to Dual Ghz with 2 GB RAM. Got that fixed, but now I'm having troubles with my Menu Bar and Bluetooth. Ugh. Out with Leah and the girls last night, margarita's at Tarascas, some dancing at aLiveOne. A good lazy Saturday at home, a little cleaning, a whole lot of nothing, chilling, napping. Ate dinner up on the sundeck of my building, which is pretty cool. Kaze pickup tomorrow, and maybe laundry.

So no beach last night, the wind was too much. Instead I went out to EMS on North Ave. and got some t-shirts. Then sushi at Sai with Leah, Akira, and Remy, after coming across Margie in the Starbucks across the street. Good food. Then I figured out my computer problems, just a new IP address, had to fix some things so hopefully I'll always have access to it, or at least know the IP address, and went to bed. Still not caught up on sleep yet.

My home machine is having some issues. What exactly, I have no idea, since the only way to connect to it and see what's going on is over ssh, and since I can't connect, I don't know what's wrong. Hopefully it's a network problem and my hardware is fine, but if not, uh oh, not good. Since my email is nonexistent due to this issue, I am pretty much incommunicado until it's back up. Ugh.

Took me 4 1/2 hours to make dinner last night. Gnocchi, with a little sweet potato, for Leah's friends Judith and Chris. Too long. Much too long. And too chunky. Next time I'll try boiling the potatoes instead of baking. It'll definitely save time, and hopefully cook the potatoes completely. Beach today, except it's supposed to be really windy all day, according to weather.com, ~20 mph winds throughout the afternoon. Sweet. Oh, and from the little sun I got last weekend I'm already peeling. Time to start investing in sunscreen.

In a surprise move, I made it to Comisky, whoops, I mean U.S. Cellular Field last night for a supposed half price game against the Red Sox. Supposedly, because you needed a Pepsi product in order to get the deal. But up in the nosebleed section, a little disorienting, but still, nice weather, good people, a good time. Last day of training at work, starting on some real business value projects tomorrow. Still not caught up on sleep, but managed to clean up, at least pack away all the stuff that I had to air out to dry at my place. Lots of dirty and smelly clothes from a weekend of camping and ultimate in the mud. Since Vitamin Water isn't on sale anymore, I think I'm going into withdrawal.

It's amazing what losing maybe a 1/4" of hair can do for a look. I gave myself a haircut yesterday. Piece was good last night, if a little short, and I'm gonna see Whit in a couple weeks anyway at Mars, so not too big of a deal. I've got DNS issues, new IP addresses not propagating down to me as a cable modem user. Still not caught up on sleep. Learned how to set up procmail to run listservs, which is pretty sweet. Currently reading Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance, again.

Yellow Fist, Flying Chicken, AKA Got Rice? appeared on the scene at Poultry Days for the first time. For a good time. First time shout outs to Brian, Jie, Leon, Bob, JT, and Helen. First time playing together we went 1-3 on the first day, losing 2 games by 4 points, losing 1 by 6, and winning our last by 1. We didn't quite get up for our first game on Sunday, and spent the rest of the sunny summer day packing up, eating more chicken and watching some pretty good ultimate. Nothing really on tap for this week. Gonna hit Piece tonight to hang with Whitney, back in town for the long weekend. Maybe a Ravinia trip, maybe a small dinner party. But definitely sleep. Oh and beach on Thursday. That is all. So far.

Hark, what news? Puck is in the dealer for a couple days, getting all geared up for the long road trip to Poultry Days this weekend in Versailles, OH. Playing with Yellow Fists, Flying Chicken. Oh, I made a glorious return back to the ultimate field at Kaze pickup last Sunday, with the PAI nowhere to be seen, knock on wood. Monday Night Dinner was accompanied by Monday Night Laundry and consisted of Lemon Chicken again. Watched Under Siege last night. Gonna try the local night at Angelina's Ristorante tonight. Beach tomorrow. And my first paycheck, if I understand correctly.

So I haven't been very diligent in my updates. That much is plainly true. But oh well. So starting from last Friday, I got a new fridge, held a poker tournament, I believe watched a movie or 2, Spellbound and the Transporter, both good, and picked Leah up from the airport. So that brings me to Sunday. Monday was my first day of work, my return to the real world, up at MarketADvantage. Good times. Good company. Training though. But working is cool. One of the best things about it, about going back to work, is the commute. I finally finished Return of the King, after starting the trilogy 3 years ago. And I've got plenty of books I'd like to read. Monday Leah and I went to Sai to celebrate my first day. Thursday was Beach Ultimate, trying to find dinner with the Moores, and a little gathering at Sally's. Friday was Lauren, Leah's roommate's birthday outing, and hanging with Sarah May, another of Leah's college roommates passing through town, and others. Saturday was some shopping, seeing The Story of Liz by the Sedaris siblings with Leah and Teach for America, and then the Wicker Park pub crawl which ended up with dinner at Piece and dancing at the Artful Dodger. Good times.

A big set of props to all the teachers out there. I went to school with Leah for a day, and well, it's crazy, I don't know how she or anyone else handles it, but they do and manage to teach america's youth. Crazy. Tacos at Bryan's last night along with some heckling of the National Geographic Bee hosted by Alex Trebek. Funnily enough, I'm going to see SpellBound, the documentary on the National Spelling Bee tonight. Gotta head out to Woodstock to finish installing the new TV and have to wait a bit before using my brand new fridge. Poker tourney style this weekend, probably skipping the Old Vs. Young Game at Northwestern, and watching more Kaze pickup on Sunday.

Busy Memorial Day weekend. But going way back to last week, went home to Woodstock on Wednesday, did some family appliance shopping at ABT on Thursday, managed to get to Omega's for a trip down memory lane. Beach ultimate, even though I should have been resting Thursday Night. Friday played outside with Leah for a bit, dinner with the Schizz at Gino's East and some Cider and games at Guthries. Saturday brought shopping, church, and Korean BBQ. Sunday was Kaze Sunday, with watched and taped pickup, BBQ at Bryan and Akira's, disc golf in Grant Park, and a viewing of Equilibrium. A lazy Monday hanging out with Christi and Leah on the beach, shopping downtown in Water Tower, and dinner at the Cheesecake Factory. A very good weekend. Headed home to hook up my dad's new TV, gonna try and make a dry run to Evanston on public transportation tomorrow, going to school with Leah on Thursday. And so goes my last week of unemployment.

Monday night dinner yesterday was Orange and Brandy Chicken with Fruited Rice and a nice Pear salad. Not too shabby. Yesterday I watched Sum of All Fears, and today snuck in Patriot Games as I try and finish out the Jack Ryan series of films this week. Getting them in chronological order is a little difficult, since they vary from the books so much. Gave myself a haircut before heading downtown to do some shopping with Leah before her class, which we failed at, yet again. Tonight I'm watching the Buffy Series finale at Bryan's with Adam and Sally. Tomorrow, well, my only plan would entail The Hunt for Red October.

Okay, recap time. Last thursday, played some Beach Schtick, got some sushi at Tun's belated surprise birthday party, got some cake. Friday spent the day with Leah wandering around Museum campus, had lunch with Christi at the Burrito Buggy, yummm, mini steak, and then went to see Kate Kingery in the King and I up north off Bryn Mawr, then dinner at the Blue Angel. Saturday Spring League was sorta 2 and out. Although that morning I woke up with what feels like the beginning of the Phantom Ass Injury. Some sushi at Sai later that night, and a viewing of Bleu beforehand, and an early bedtime. Sunday was watching Kaze pickup, and then Matrix Reloaded and dinner at Bandera. Oh, and dessert at the Cold Store Creamery. On tap for this week, a whole lotta nothing.

Midnight Dream up in Whitewater ended up being about a 16 hour tourney, with the second night moved up to the daytime because of expected inclement weather. But Got Rice, despite going savage on the guy side, and a first round bye/forfeit, came away with a 3rd place finish in their first tourney ever. Good times. Gotta remember to bring real food next year though. No Kaze pickup on Sunday, also due to inclement weather. Sunday Night I accompanied Leah to a Mother's Day Event out on the West Side. One of her student's family puts it on. Highlights: Leah winning the Grand Prize Door Raffle, a giant basket of goodies, and me getting picked up by a big black woman during a lip sync act. Seriously. Much funnier if you were there. Possibly some ultimate related stuff on Tuesday, Finale Episode of Dawson's on Wednesday, beach on Thursday, and the Spring League Tourney in Naperville on Saturday.

Monday night dinner was Seared Ahi Tuna Salad with Sesame Noodles. I needed better tuna, but otherwise, one of my top five. It was good. Played some pickup with the University of Chicago Boys and Girls on tuesday, which was fun, and played some reaction ball with Brady afterwards. Watched the penultimate episode of Dawon's at Katie Kelly's last night, and caught up. Beach pickup today at North Ave. Beach, and Kaze pickup on Sunday. This weekend I'm headed up north for a night tournament in Whitewater, WI. I'm playing with an all asian team, Got Rice? Should be fun.

Good weekend. Dinner Friday at Cornelia's, down the street from both me and Leah. A nice quiet Friday night. Saturday was Raz's last night in the city with friends, and now he's off to Germany. Saw X2, loved the opening scene with Nightcrawler. Spring League was good as well, winning both our games, the second by forfeit, followed with a BBQ at Pam's, which was fun. Sunday was another quiet day, Cubs game, but left right when it got interesting, in the 7th. Alias season finale was good in HD last night, but stupid stupid ending. Cliffhangers are stupid. I'm currently getting my piano tuned, and I'll try and play it more in the near future.

Purchased my first couple of albums from the iTunes Music Store, the new digital music download service from Apple. The Roots "Things Fall Apart" and 50 Cent "Get Rich or Die Tryin'". Very easy to use. Very easy. Watching lots of Dawson's Creek, getting back up to speed for the Countdown to Goodbye, the series finale. I forgot that Monday Night dinner was Polish night, with Pierogis, mushroom, swiss and potato, onion and potato, and ricotta filled, and kielbasas and a Brussels sprout salad with bacon.

Got one. Market ADvantage Systems Consultant. Sweet. It's up in E-town, so it's a little like coming home. But looking forward to it, it looks like a great place to work and should be a very interesting opportunity. Only took me a year to find it. Too much food last weekend, Twisted Spoke followed by Tru. Tru was fabulous. Amazing even. I'll try and copy the menu down, since they printed out and handed them to us on the way out. Return of Poker night was a blast on Sunday, as was HD Alias. Season Finale next weekend, should be good. Two weeks left at the Lab School. Too much Dawson's, and especially with the Countdown to Goodbye coming up. Lunch with Bryan and Raz today, and plans for Saturday coming up really busy: Spring league, team BBQ, X2, dinner with Mom, drinking on one of Raz's last nights in America.

So I think I might be coming down with the Flu, but it remains right on the edge of full blown infection. So maybe I won't get sick. Probably has something to do with the little sleep and lots of partying and plenty of wine and playing I did in Italy last weekend. Spring League on Saturday, down in Jackson Park for a change, dinner with Leah at Tru, finally, and maybe some ulty outside on Sunday.

Back from Italy. Scandal made it even further this year, 6th place. Even place finishes seem to be our strong suit. But definitely a good time as always. Good food, good play, good dancing. All around goodness. I can't really pick out highlights, it was more of a continuous good time. Quality. Maybe I'll work a complete write up one of these days. Not much on the horizon, but it's good to be back.

Off to Paganello I go for the 4th time in as many years. Should be fun, as always.

Cubs game tonight was fun. But I had to do a bit of scambling, as my hosting provider, prohosting.com did some upgrades, or changes, to their setup, which I had to figure out how to make my website work again. Which it does, since you're reading this, and I was able to post it. Gotta pack for the weekend away, should sleep some too.

I can't believe I haven't mentioned the fact that TBS got syndication rights to Dawson's Creek and has been showing them in chronological order from the first season on. I believe they're in the middle of the third season? And they show 4 episodes a day, from 7-11am CST. It's addictive. But besides that, last week went by pretty quickly, Thursday had dinner at Mandy's place, a first grade teacher at Leah's school, wonderful Jamaican food, and helped her with making some Capuccino Tarts. Friday went and saw Better Luck Tomorrow, a great movie about Asian American teenagers. Dinner at Heaven on Seven. Spring league on Saturday, won our first game. Woodstock was good, seeing the 'rents, eating good food, getting lots of sleep, trying to update the computer. Dial up, so slow. Sunday got back in time for some beach pickup, but no game, but got the feet on the sand and a disc in my hand. Dinner at Sai. Managed to miss Alias yet again. Cubs game tomorrow. Possible hip hop show at the Hot House on Tuesday. And leaving wednesday for Paganello. Wow, another long update.

A whole week goes by. So let's recap. Breakdancing last Wednesday, learned a new pose just putting your forearm on the ground instead of your hand. Not extremely interesting. Third interview went well I thought on thursday, and had lunch with Katie. Oh, and visited with Katie and Christi while AJ and entourage looked at 1132 Winchester. Always a good time. Dinner Friday at Duke of Perth's. Good fish and chips. Got more UnderArmour cold gear, and wandered up Halsted with Big Leo doing some clothes shopping. Saturday was my first game of Spring League with the Goofballs. I missed Leah's quality hammer, but she was playing on the other team at the time. Good to run around, bad to run around in the cold. Then Connections, the Lab School Fundraiser at the Field Museum with Leah, which was a lot of fun. Got to do some dancing. Headed out for some "dancing" at Betty's Blue Star Lounge, and then home pretty early. And lots of sleeping. Lazy Sunday and Monday, but did manage to get laundry done. Sara and Alex came over for Monday Night dinner, which was Meatloaf and Smashed Potatoes, and we watched the big game. Wow, big update.

So the appetite returns after playing in an ultimate tournament. I went grocery shopping, for Monday Night dinner, which ended up being Lemon Chicken, a repeat, but good, and bought 5 pringles cans, because they were on sale, along with 2 bags of the mini Oreo's, also because they were on sale. Quality food. I also managed to get some McD's, since I was craving that today. Working out makes me crave the junk food. Got a third interview with Market Advantage for Thursday. Paganello jerseys were delivered, and on their way to getting screened.

So with every intention of not stepping foot onto the ultimate fields to play this weekend, I ended up playing with Chicago at Midwesterns. We had 8 players or so. Lost in the Quarters to Oregon State. It's been a really long time since I played that much at a tourney, and I even missed 2 games. Madison was very fun, very very fun. Good to see Scott and Mina. Friday night movie, Morvern Callar, odd arty scottish film, was interesting. Breakfast was good the next morning after dropping Leah and Akira at the fields. Kodo Saturday night was good, even though I was really tired. And a little cider and chilling in the Student Union was cool. Heard a little asian rap duo perform for a bit. Sunday played, lost, and watched Deep Dish get 2nd. Dinner at Casbah, and a easy drive home. So tired. So sore.

Headed North to Madison this weekend with a short stop in Woodstock. Going to watch Kodo Saturday night with Scott and Mina, and watch Leah play some Ultimate at Midwesterns with Deep Dish. Oh, and see some movies, since the Wisconsin Film Fest is also this weekend. Busy Madison. Weather definitely looks like it'll take a turn for the worse, so should be interesting watching from the sideline this weekend.

Monday Leah and I managed to work out a bit outside, throw some, do some laundry, and make dinner (Chicken Marsala, Noodles, and a Leah Salad). Tuesday we managed to see 8 Mile and get some Chinese food. Breakdancing tonight, which should be interesting, since my quads are still sore from Plyos on Monday. Oh, the 2nd interview at Market Advantage went well, I thought. Hopefully hear from them next week.

This weekend was Leah and my coming out as a couple. Friday night we went to Bryan's and saw our ultimate friends together, and Saturday night we went to her friend Matt's Surprise party and saw her TFA (Teach for America) friends. 6 months after pretty much dating, we're finally seen out in public together. But fun times. A little too much drinky drink Saturday night. Oh, the Spring League Draft went fairly well, I thought. Java App did it's job, and the draft was done in about 2, 2 1/2 hours. Lazy sunday, but Leah and I accomplished 2 things: cleaned out my fridge a bit, and made fried rice.

Pulled something close to an all nighter. While nice to know I can still do it, can't say that I missed it all that much. It was for a Java App to aid the draft process for Spring League. I've still got a couple things to implement, but it works pretty well. Just have to make it look pretty. I did find out my cable goes out like at 2:30 in the morning for some reason. Anything else? 2nd Interview with Market Advantage next Tuesday. Spring League kickoff and draft tomorrow. Laundry on Sunday. Good plan for the weekend. Tonight is Dinner at Piece and hanging with the Kings.

Pickup on Saturday was fun, definitely a little tiring. Some Corona's and some brat's at Bryan's capped off a fine spring Saturday. Sunday I start feeling a bit under the weather. Maybe it's that killer Flu that's been on the news, or maybe I'm just a big wuss. Anyway, I didn't get out to breakdance. Spring league draft coming up saturday, and things need to get done. Gonna try and head home for a day sometime this week to see my mom before she heads back to the Philippines for my grandmother's birthday, oh and meeting up with Jason Wall to lend him a palm for some medical technology use.

So tired. Breakdancing class, working on 90's, and learning reverse 90's, which are pretty much one handed handstand spins, was very very tiring. Coming back from a tournament weekend, ugh, very tiring. And sore. But good sore. The wake sleep daze comes back, and hopefully will catch up a little bit this weekend. Movies tomorrow night, Pickup Ultimate outside on Saturday (it's supposed to be fabulous outside), and hopefully some more breakdancing on Sunday. Fairly full weekend.

Lovely mini Spring Break down in Fort Lauderdale and West Palm Beach, hanging out with friends and playing some Beach Ultimate. SBR '03 made it to the finals again, coming in 2nd place the 2nd year in a row. Good times, as always. Lots of good food, fish, and lots and lots of beer. Also managed to take no pictures of the beach. Figures. I did get some sun, but I used sunblock, voluntarily, but still my nose and forehead are peeling. And back to the real world, I've got an job possibility up in Evanston, and another shot maybe at ASIC, maybe. But otherwise, going to try and take it easy this week. Try anyway.

Weekend in Michigan was nice and quiet. Lazy Monday too, with laundry and a little cooking and watching Mumford. Last night was some good food at Fogo de Chao, a fabulous Brazilian eatery where it's a meat buffet and you don't have to get up. So good. Sooooooo Good. It snowed a good amount here in Chicago. Gotta love a good March snow. Sweet thing is, I'll be in FL, on a beach, leaving tomorrow and getting back monday night. It'll definitely beat the snow, and I get to play some beach ultimate at Battle on the Beach as well.

Only a couple days left, in a rather interesting February this year. Not that bad, not all smooth sailing; overall, very full. Monday Night Dinner ended up with some future Kaze players, and some older Kaze players, and a vegetarian meal, except for the chicken. Polenta, some grilled vegetables, stewed zucchini, and some birthday and anniversary cake. No linux router work, that got pushed back to the weekend. And definitive plans for a weekend in Saugatuck, MI with Leah. Old School and Dublin's on Friday night.

Full and Fun filled weekend. Some family hanging out Friday with some searching up on Lawrence for a Korean dining establishment, a quick dessert, and a party for Leo (congrats on the PhD!). More quality family time, some grocery shopping, and cooking for the family and the girlfriend on Saturday, followed by a lazy Sunday with an Old School viewing and Potbelly's and some TV watching. What next? Monday Night dinner with some Ladies of Kaze, some linux/router work for Bjorn on Tuesday, last Breakdancing class on Wednesday, and a possible weekend away from it all. I should slow down.

Blurs, as the days go by. Back in the city, cut my hair, need to replace a HD in a graphite iMac, which was my parent's until I replaced it with my Cube, which works again after I returned it to stock status. The iMac will become my music and light show server in the bedroom. Second to last breakdancing class last night was good, but my left arm's a little bruised and beaten. Rough but good. Trying to get into a bike pose from the 0 or 6 position in the six-step to the side. More sushi, which is always good. Weather's getting nicer, and sun's staying out longer. Spring must be coming. Ultimate Chicago Web Committee meeting tonight, and family comes to the city today. Busy bee.

The merry go 'round just doesn't stop. Tea & Strumpets did not play to seed this past weekend at WUFF Co-ed Nationals, and ended up 10th. Much fun was had by all though. Remember, no licking of rails. The Blizzard of 2003 had no real effect on travel back to Chicago, which went untouched. Oh yeah, birthday yesterday, spent travelling. Made dinner for Leah, using my birthday present knife to make Beef Burgundy with Herb Noodles and Spinach salad with Molten Chocolate Cakes for dessert. Yummm, almond flavored whip cream. Hair's back to black, birthday dinner with the family, including Al and Nicole back for a visit, out in the 'burbs tonight, Happy Birthday to my father. Woah, that sentence probably makes no sense at all.

Auto show starts tomorrow, and some other Hallmark holiday or something. Breakdancing class was okay, trying out tandem routines, but nothing new. Right elbow feels a little sore from handstands though. Sushi was good as always. Watched a little Shaolin Soccer while waiting for my hair to take again. I tried to do red tipped with orange under, but the bleaching was quite patchy. I do have one more night to fix it though. I'm using a sweet new Mac OS X program called Konfabulator. It's very cool. I'm currently watching weather here in Chicago and Wilmington and finally have a translucent desktop calendar.

Okay, a breather. It seems like a whirlwind of stuff to do, and a full week packed with activities. But Monday Night Dinner with Leah was my standard, a repeat, Cinnamon Mushroom stuffed Chicken Breasts, Real Risotto (with Arborio rice) with green peas, and butter sugar snap peas. I'm getting better with my timing, so it seems, on my cooking. Tuesday I brought Leah to the Airport, so take that as you will. If you haven't figured it out already, she's my girlfriend. Last night I also did some hair coloring with Raz, stars for him and the world for me. I haven't decided yet whether to keep it or not, but maybe. Breakdancing and sushi for tonight, maybe an outing for AJ's birthday.

Well, my grand ole plan to get out and dance Friday night failed miserably, due to the effects of alcohol. Dinner however went well and was quite enjoyable. I had 5 girls on my bed at one point in the night, fully clothed and enjoying the light show on my bedroom ceiling, but still. Saturday I spent recovering, and made it out to see The Recruit (good movie) and dinner at Twisted Spoke. Sunday was a good quality Sunday, with breakfast, newspaper reading, some shopping, and laundry with Leah. Take that as you will as well.

I actually picked up Leah at the Airport monday night. Take that as you will. I finally got around to watching Groundhog Day a couple days late, not on February 2nd. But I got that movie/holiday in. Next up, Boondock Saints and St. Paddy's Day. Breakdancing was interesting, since Anacron our usual teacher was absent so our substitute, CJ, just started us out with handstands, headstands, and the crab stance. And today, my arms hurt, and my right elbow in particular. Leah came down and had sushi at Sai with me after class. Sushi, so good. I've got to head out to Woodstock for various administrative details, and hopefully back in early enough tomorrow to start prepping for Girls Night Out which I'm hosting.

Got to do a little dancing at Bryan's party last night, which was really a welcome to chicago party for Bryan's sister Christy, which was really a birthday part for Christy. Anyway, actually brokedanced in front of people for the first time. I realized I actually don't have too much in my repertoire at all. Also managed to do a little latin dance, some salsa, I think. Might have been a meringue, or a mambo. Anyway, played ultimate outside for the first time on grass since last november. It was nice, if a little cold. Alias was okay. I'm losing interest in it. But I do enjoy watching it in HDTV. I feel the need to watch as much as I can in HDTV from now on though.

Chilling and dinner with Leah and Christy last night at Heaven on Seven on Clark. Always good food. Followed up with Must See TV. Funny stuff as always. Working on setting up my Cube as a music server, but I need some quality speakers now for my tower. I should probably change computer names now. About time maybe? I need to make a quick run up to Evanston to drop off a resume for a Northwestern Job. Oh, and my mom's in town this weekend. Dinner I think tonight. Tomorrow brings a gathering at Bryan's and Sunday is a Signs showing at my place.

So tonight was my fourth breakdancing class, of about 8 or so. And now it finally feels like we're learning some cool stuff. First week was the basic Battle Rock. The next week was the basic Up Rock, with the fake, and the basic Down Rock, the six step. Third class was the straight leg Down Rock and the turn over in the six step. And this week we learned the bike pose, from 3 in the six step with a slide variation, or as a turn over from the 6 position, and the slide pose, also from the 3 position, but with a cross slide variation. All pretty cool. Now I've got enough to practice with I think. Sweet. And I managed to eat some sushi, and start Return of the King, since I finally finished up Phantom Tollbooth.

Monday Night Dinner last night was simple, Beef and Broccoli, and some Tofu, since Leah had too much meat over the weekend. But my first time cooking tofu, and I managed to do a pretty decent job. And I used my mom's recipe for the Beef and Broccoli. It was good, just like mom used to make. Got a couple more job prospects, and we'll see where those lead. Snowfall in Chicago, nice because it looks pretty, sad because it'll be gone by the weekend. Or even before. Love Chicago winters. Oh, one other thing, I've got a certain craving for Dunkin' Donuts. #1. Cream and Sugar.

So a sports filled monster sunday. Brunch at Whit and Russell's, Bulls game in a box, Yao's a big man, and then Superbowl drubbing via a High Def signal. Oh, and a non sports related finish, Alias watched for the first time in High Def. It's gonna be hard going back to anything else. But good time. Piece last night for a smallish going away dinner for Whitney. Wing Nut's are strong beers. 2 and I'm gone. Not much planned for the rest of the week, I don't think anyway. Monday Night Dinner with Leah returns tomorrow, or today, depending on how you look at it. Oh, and a welcome to Courtney, a new reader, friend of Leah's.

Bringing Bryan this afternoon to pick up some pork for the Superbowl. Lots of meat. Last night had a first meeting on a Web Committee for UltimateChicago. Big plans and great ideas. Should be good. Cleaning up, picking up, trying to get things a little organized for this weekend. Oh, did some grocery shopping and picked up candy for the candy bowl, valentine's day stuff. It's pink, but still sweet and cavity inducing.

So I splurged, got a HDTV Tuner and am now able to watch High Definition On the Air programming. It's sweet, but granted, I've only really watched soap operas and some news with it so far. The real test happens this weekend with the Superbowl and the following episode of Alias. So I did manage to make it home on Monday on an earlier flight, the first time flying standby. It's scary how they call all the groups up for boarding and then call standby names. Breakdancing class went well, I actually learned some things to do for the 6 step. That's all.

I'm actually gonna try and fly standby tomorrow, and see if I can't get home to Chicago sometime before midnight. Might be nice. So how'd Chicago do at Lei-Out? Not well, going 0'fer on the weekend. A couple close games, but still. First time playing and running about for most of us since the close of last season, and it showed. I'm sore as well. Quite sore. I hopefully managed to get my fill of protein to replinish, with Sushi last night with the team and steak with Al and Nicole tonight. So much good food. Oh and the beach was great, and the weather was fabulous. I'd forgotten what the sun is like. And it's really really nice. It also felt pretty good to play again. Even if it hurts to move. At all.

Back again in Los Angeles, and this time it's warm, hot even, at least for a couple days. I was greeted by 79 degree weather and sun when I got off the plane. Not a bad thursday. Anyway, travel was quick and easy, no problems. Because of the weather I decided to upgrade a little and get a 'stang convertible for my rental. Sweet. Dinner with Al and Nicole at Cafe Pinot downtown LA right next to the building that got first destroyed in Independence Day. Good food. And now I'm trying to fix some issues with their Belkin wireless router hub and some file sharing issues under Win XP, which is so unlike Mac OS X. I guess I'm just not used to it. Tomorrow, or today, I'm gonna have lunch with my brother up in Pasadena, and also take a look at the 12" Powerbook at the Apple Store out there. Oh, and then cook Al and Nicole dinner tomorrow night. Either Gnocchi or Beef in Puff Pastry.

I'm thoroughly enjoying my new hip hop/rap albums. Even if they're old, out of date, it's still some good beats. I did not make my souffles last night, which sucks, but oh well. There's always next week. Breakdancing tonight, along with dinner at the Twisted Lizard. Leaving for LA tomorrow. Go figure. Oh, right, managed to do some laundry last night. Gotta love it when half the load comes out of the dryer halfway through because it's all performance fabrics, either Under Armour or Dri fit. I've started to use my digital camera more, hopefully, and not miss more events in my life. Not very exciting.

Monday Night Dinner returns with Orange Glazed Chicken and Asian Green Beans and Rice. I didn't get around to making dessert, as usual, but I plan on trying my hand at a Lemon and Raspberry Souffle tonight. I did make some chocolate chip cookies, the Chewy, but they didn't turn out that good this time. Currently listening to some Dr. Dre, 2001 and some Missy Elliott, ... So Addictive.

Weekend went by, pretty much in a blur. Let's see if I remember most of it. Saturday, up too early, for some strange reason, and watched Diary of Aston Kutcher and Julia Stiles. Spent most of the day on my couch, alternatively sleeping or watching TV. Did get out for a little bit to have lunch with Leah and a couple of her friends, Christi and Charlotte. Nice and very funny girls. I also acted as a tour guide on their drive around the city. Dinner that night at Twisted Spoke, ate too much very quickly. Made it out to some bar to act as chauffeur for Leah and her friends. Very amusing. Sunday was dinner at Adam's, which was good, I brought over tarts. And that was the weekend. Leaving thursday for LA. And I think Monday Night dinner returns.

Dinner at Sai last night. Sushi was fabulous as always. Then Karaoke at Piece. First time really going to karaoke post college anyway. Fun. Probably had to do with the people I went with, but still, fun. Got another fake Piece tattoo. Then growlers and fun at home, made some cookies, drank some beer, watched Can't Hardly Wait and Sex and the City, and stayed up 'til 7:30am. Slumber Party! Then later this afternoon went out and saw Chicago, good musical movie version, and dinner at Bandera. Also good. And now, for some much needed sleep.

Hanging out with friends Mina, Kelley, and Rachel, who are in town for the week. Dinner at Piece with Bryan, Akira, and Whitney, with a short stop over at Louie's down the street. Then some chilling at the Fortress of Solitude, where my carpet and video games make for a compelling argument for a slumber party. Got to watch some Sex in the City as well. Pretty good show. Like an adult Felicity or Dawson's, or something like that. Woke up with a sore throat. Won't this sickness ever go away? Breakdancing class went well. Should be a lot of fun. Sushi tonight, with either some caps or kareoke for entertainment.

Macworld Keynote comes and goes. I managed to watch the MPEG-4 stream, but only after I went around my router box. I think I might have to figure that out. Anyway, read more for my thoughts on the whole deal. The 12" Powerbook might be calling my name though. Got to hang out with Leah for the first time in three weeks last night. That was good. I'm still nursing my cold, not so good. I'm now running dual monitors, which is good. I think I need to rearrange the data center again. Oh, and I'm loving the handsfree set thing with my new cell phone, especially when I'm at my computer and got it bluetoothed with the phone. It's pretty sweet. Got my first Breakdancing class this evening. Oh, and like everyone else I know, I'm also using Safarai. It's sweet. Okay, so this is just going to be a copy paste from the emails I sent out to other Macheads. But here goes: Final Cut Express: same cost as Pro for Education. No biggie. iLife: great idea, good execution. $50 for iDVD in a retail box with the others is good. Looking forward to the iPhoto update. they didn't say anything about iDVD support for external burners though. the Microsoft office of digital life. Impressive. Keynote & Safari: Stepping on Microsoft's toes, big time. The one reason I see Keynote maybe doing better, is the XML file format. The auto updatability of presentations with current data could be a killer. Safari, I'm surprised they didn't use Gecko, unless KHTML is based on it, which it isn't, right? And why'd they hire the Chimera guy? To kill it? New Powerbooks: Love the 12". Love it. Glad my iBook died on me so recently, as I've found the replacement. Backlight keyboard, fucking cool. Slot load, also cool. the 17"? Desktop replacement, for sure. But damn, that's a big machine. It was as big as Verne in that ad, which was really really funny. Nice to see Yao picking good companies to get promotions with. Wonder what's gonna happen with the 15" now. The more I've had to think about it, and look at it, I wonder about the 12". It's pretty much a dressed up iBook. i'd really like it if it had the lightup keyboard and was 1" thick like the rest of the powerbooks. And maybe a 1GHz instead of the 867 it's packed with. But I still need to see and touch one in person. And the people there get Keynote for free. Damn. When i went I got nothing.

Macworld's right around the corner, 11 or so hours away, and well, it's crazy in terms of rumors that are flying around. I love it. Apple did their job well this time, with practically nothing getting out. I plan on watching. Should be good. In other news, go view the new Gallery. It doesn't have much, but there will be more, don't worry, there will be more. I forgot to mention that I cut my hair again, this time down to 1/8". It's short. And fuzzy. Fun to touch. And I finally managed to replace the window wipers on my car. Finally. I've had replacements for like 2 years now.

Day 5, or so, and while I think the head cold is on the tail end, I still wish it'd be gone. But soon enough. I managed to step out of the Condo for a little bit today, grocery shopping and carry out dinner, but otherwise spent the entire weekend on my couch, at the dinner table, or in front of the computer. So what did I accomplish? Went through my backlog of mail, and finally get around to some bills and stuff that need paying. Watched some movies, of course. I also might have managed to get some sort of photo viewing system up and running for this site, but I need to get some pictures up before releasing it to the public. Also did a little cleanup to some things, like being able to read through an entire year's entries at a single time. Anyway, Macworld keynote on Tuesday, should be exciting. Otherwise, just me trying to get healthy.

Full blown sick now. Trouble sleeping, too congested, ugh. Not fun. But managed to watch Save the Last Dance last night, errr, I mean early this morning. Yeah, I think I've caught some sort of dancing bug. It's a little crazy. Going to end up drinking my orange and carrot juice, eat my leftover Pizza Hut Supreme Pizza, and watch movies all weekend, and hopefully get healthy, at least for next tuesday. I had lunch with Katie Kelly today at Noodles, which was good except that my congested state meant I couldn't taste any of the food. Oh, I also got a surprise gift from the UPA this morning, a holiday frisbee. And so ends the first friday of the new year.

So the hair is now pinkish red with bluish purple tips. Rather interesting, and quite uneven. It's gonna last for another couple of days before I chop it all off. Expect a picture soon. Maybe I'll even get my gallery of photos up and running, wouldn't that be a hoot. In other news, I think I've come down with a head cold, not very pleasant, but much better than the one day flu I caught before Christmas. I figure lots of sleep and Orange Juice will do me good. I'm much happier that the Medici Bakery is open again, which means Cinnamon Rolls are in season again. Yummy.

Blah blah blah, 2003. Good party at 935 last night. Got my groove on. Haven't felt the rhythm like that in a good long while. Nothing like dancing with a bottle of champagne. The blue hair, oh, yeah, I bleached and dyed my hair blue yesterday for the New Year, but it went over well. Might have found myself a crew for when I start breakdancing, or b-boying next week. Haven't done much of anything on this first day of the year, being a wednesday, and being slightly hungover. Had to do some dishes from dinner last night, which was Lemon Chicken and the fixings.