So here's the deal:
In 2005, I posted 99 times (although I started in August, so that's a pretty big accomplishment, I think). So far, in 2006, I have posted 98 times. I find it funny that after an entire calendar year, I am only one post behind my total from the previous year. Either way, that leads me to do only one thing: Post for a 99th, and final time for 2006. I will begin fresh in 2007 and see if I can pull out 99 more posts before (gasp) 2008.
So do I really have 99 reasons to anticipate 2007? Well you're just gonna have to find out!
Enjoy!!!
99. New Year's Eve this year is going to be fun. I guess this still is in 2006, but it's going to be an unofficial 2007 date. The plan is to go to Manny and Jenn's friends' Jeff and Jules' house for a, get this, party! I have never rung in the New Year in a party setting (where I'm actually partying, that is) so I'm excited! I'm sure there will be drinking (only by the legal ones though) by others, but I'm still gonna enjoy it because I'll be there with Heather and some friends (Cy, Justin, Emily, Mallory, Manny) and you can't not have fun with that right? Right!?!?!?
98. I have some new sweatshirts (a SUNS one I got for Christmas and two NIKE fleeces I bought on sale at work) to wear during the cold first couple months.
97. The NFL season of 2006, an absolutely mediocre season for prognosticators everywhere, will be completed. I officially have no shot of getting in the top 3 in my pool and I resorted to have Heather, a person with no knowledge of the NFL's teams, do my Week 17 picks just to see how she could do. She did win Saturday night's game (NYG over Redskins) and I would have picked the Redskins. Huh. . .
96. This is the SUNS' year! It has to be!
95. I'm enjoying my job at the FL. Even the worst day is better than the best day at JC. The only thing that I'm worried about is the amount of money I want to spend with my 30% employee discount! Either way, I'm excited for the possibilities that this job is going to bring me. Get this: a barely-18-year-old girl who has worked there for a year has just finished her assistant manager training. I'm almost 20 (which is old for the employees there - - a lot of my coworkers are 16-18 years old) so I feel like if I can learn a whole bunch of crap really fast that I have some potential here. We'll see. . .
94. In January, Heather and I will be celebrating our 3rd Anniversary
93. In May, I'll be 20!
92. In December, Heather will be 21!
91. My numerous gift cards that I received at Christmas will be used (among the places I will be spending money: American Eagle, Best Buy, Cinemark, Jamba Juice, and Baja Fresh).
90. My Guitar Hero skills will improve! Aimee and I got both GH1 and GH2 for Christmas (a combo gift for the siblings) and played most of Christmas morning. Look out! The Gotts are coming for ya!
89. Heather is moving to Pomona tomorrow (that's not happy for me, but it is for her) to begin the schooling that she really wants. Among her classes are large animal handling and companion animal care. She's excited! She's also nervous, but who wouldn't be? I know she is going to do great and I can't wait to hear all about her new knowledge.
88. Basketball season (high school, that is) will be kicking into high gear here in a couple weeks and I'm excited to see how league turns out.
87 -37. Movies. I saw 49 movies that were released in 2006 during 2006. That's almost one a week! I might watch one more before the day ends (who knows!) so that would give me 50 for 2006. I'm hoping that 2007 will be another good year for movies (it should, since the Spring alone has me excited about quite a few films - by the way: the FIRST THIRD MOVIE PREVIEW will be posted sometime during the first week of the new year - sorry for the postponement)
36. I got some bowling shoes for Christmas (from Heather, Chels, and Barbara) and that will only further my interest in the sport. I got a new high last week when I went (219!!!) and my average that night was 167! I'm getting better and since I'll be taking Intermediate Bowling during my last semester at AVC, I'm only gonna get better! Look for updates throughout 2007.
35. A year without Saddam Hussein! (Well actually, did anyone really feel safer after he got hung the other day? I didn't. Nothing has changed for me. I'm not sure if that old fart was worth all of this. . .)
34. A year without Britney Spears' panties! (Probably. I'm just assuming, seeing that the now-grossest woman in the entertainment world - beating out Paris Hilton just barely - can't seem to find her undergarments anywhere.)
33. A year without Charlie German! (That was my JC General Manager)
32. I will be defending my 3-point championship at the Men's March Madness Breakfast. And I'll be defending it well.
31. The possibility of winning $250,000 at the World Series of Pop Culture!
30. I will be learning more about the production of a newspaper this coming semester and I'll assuredly be published many more times. It's very exciting stuff!
29-06. Another year with Heather!
And now, the top 5 (I guess - it just ended up that way!)
05. A family trip to Lake Powell over Spring Break. It will be for Mom-Mom and Pop's 50th Anniversary. My aunt and uncle from Maryland (my dad's sister) as well as their two boys (Travis and Josh, both in their 20's) will be there. It should be fun, but it will ultimately be a great source for stories for the future. Looking forward to it!
04. Aimee will be 15 and Caleb will be, get this, 6! Aaahhh!!!!!! My siblings are growing up so fast and it's really scary. Why can't they stay at an age?!?!?! (And yes, I realize that I'm getting older too and that my parents would say the same about me, but this is my perspective!)
03. Throughout 2006, I met (or saw up close) many famous people: Bill Simmons, Kevin Smith, Jack Nicholson, among others. What will 2007 bring????
02. 2007 ultimately leads to 2008, which is the year that I get to finally go to Viva Las Vegas and play some real live poker! I can't wait for our road trip in May of 2008!!!
01. The beginning of my future. This year is going to be the most changing year of all. If all goes according to plan (and you really never know), at this time next year, I will be blogging from either a house or an apartment in the Los Angeles area (probably Valencia, but maybe Northridge). I will have completed my first semester at Cal State Northridge. I will have been moved out of my parents' house for a half a year (the tentative moving out period is June). I will be living with some friends (among them will be Chels, the future sister-in-law) and enjoying every minute of it (even if there are feuds!). I will be closer to Heather (only 50 miles between CSUN and CPP). I will be closer to marrying Heather (every year that passes is another year closer to us getting married)! All in all, I will be beginning to move towards my life and what I will become.
I really can't wait to see how this year goes. And just know that I'll be letting you know what is going on every step of the way. Thanks to all my readers and I hope you all stick around (and maybe even let someone else know about this site - - they don't have to know me to read about what's going on to me!) until New Years Eve 2007.
Have a great, fun, and ultimately very safe night everyone!
Happy 2007!
Yours through blogging,
Justin (The Rambler)
Sunday, December 31, 2006
Wednesday, December 20, 2006
Pumpkins, Presents, and Proclaimed Ex-Prisoners
Hey everyone - - -
It's Wednesday afternoon and I work at 1600 tonight, so I'm not all that interested in doing anything productive before I head in. I have to work til close so it's going to be a long night. I might be somewhat bummed about that (read: Heather will be home tonight to begin her 11-day Christmas vacation), but I just began my Christmas shopping yesterday and I already have spent $200. I would say I'm about halfway done with my shopping. Yeah. I need to work. . .
Yesterday (Tuesday) was dedicated to Christmas shopping, my Suns, and R&B. Aimee accompanied me to Palmdale for my shopping. We went to Best Buy (where I got a lot of the presents) and then braved the Mall to get a few more things. We had a lot of fun, too. Aimee and I get along really well and I don't think there is another person who laughs more at the things I say. No one is going to take my moving out harder (yes, even my parents) and it does suck that I won't be around the familia as much as we are used to. But, back to the point. Aimee and I had fun shopping. We now have been blessed with several inside jokes ("It's coming," Hallmark and its stuffed animals, and those uncomfortable leather chairs our Mall has) and I also got some of my Christmas shopping done. . . Good times.
My Suns went for their franchise-record 15th straight win last night at home against Toronto. . . And got it! I said before the game that if we didn't win by at least 15, then we should be embarassed. We won by 17. I was happy, to say the least. I watched the entire game, and this team is fun to watch. Period. Not only that, we're starting to come together and it's awesome! Amare was fantastic last night (nearly with a double-double at halftime), Steve Nash had 13 assists (at halftime! - he finished with 15 in three quarters played), and I was happy to finally watch Boris Diaw play like he did last year. He shot his 17-footer last night and it looked nice and it went in! He made a couple passes that only him or Nash could have made. I am excited about my boys. We should easily get to 18 straight (we have Denver tonight - no AI yet and no Carmelo cuz of the suspension - followed by Washington and Portland) and then have a tough road game at Dallas. We then play at home against the Knicks (another win) and then another tough roadie at Detroit. After that, January looks like a late Christmas present! We have 16 games in January and all of them are very winnable. If we did anything less than 13-3, we should be embarassed. That would put us (giving us a 1-1 in those tough games at the end of December) at 36-10 going into February. After a 1-5 start, that's an incredible job by my favorite team and I can't wait for the postseason. This is our year!
I watched two movies last night: IDLEWILD, the Outkast film from August that sorta skipped in and directly out of theatres, and HUSTLE AND FLOW, one of the best films of 2005. IDLEWILD was pretty good. I did not expect much, seeing that it starred the two-man R&B group Outkast. Terrence Howard, the star of H&F, also plays a big part in IDLEWILD. That guy is going to be HUGE in Hollywood in the coming years! Anyway, the music was pretty good, although I thought there would be more songs from the accompanying album in the film. Either way, it was entertaining, and you can't ask much more than that. (Grade: B-)
Monday night was a lot of fun. Chels, Kimmy, and I met Heather and Chels' friends Joe and Melissa (a very cool couple who I have met several times) at the El Capitan Theatre in Hollywood to see TIM BURTON'S NIGHTMARE BEFORE CHRISTMAS in 3-D. I was kinda skeptical going in (my experiences with 3-D have been limited, but never incredible) but I was pleasantly surprised. The film was beautiful to watch on the big screen, and the 3-D worked surprisingly well. We went to Johnny Rocket's before the movie (I like that place!) but before that, Chels, Kimmy, and I had been waiting for the others to get there outside of the famed Kodak Theatre (it's where the Oscars take place!). While standing, we were approached by a scraggly, unkempt man. His opening line was a doozy: "I just got out of prison. Would you have a dollar for me so I could get on a bus." Yeah, I know, crazy! I said sorry and walked away. He then went into a nearby Virgin Records store and on to the next person. Who does that!?!? It was pretty weird, but ended up being funny, because when we went to Johnny Rocket's (then all six of us) he came in to ask our group the same question. When he saw me, he turned around, saying "Never mind" and walked out disgusted. I laughed :D O how odd people are!
O yeah, I have a couple of quick things for you:
- Late Christmas gift ideas for me: SEINFELD Season 7; gift cards (Finish Line - I know it's my work, but that is more reason, I think; American Eagle; Best Buy); anything SUNS.
- I'm picking Green Bay over Minnesota (Nailbiter) in the Thursday night game and Kansas City over Oakland (Walk in the Park) in the Saturday night game. The rest of my picks are still to come. . .
- I want to recommend the following CDs to rock fans everywheres: 30 Seconds to Mars (A Beautiful Lie); The Red Hot Chili Peppers (Stadium Arcadium); Audioslave (Revelations)
- And let me distribute a couple of videos for you courtesy of everyone's favorite video superstore, YOUTUBE:
- The cast of SCRUBS does an old holiday favorite
- Legends of the Hidden Temple Intro
- The Knicks/Nuggets Brawl and ESPN coverage
Alrighty then - -
Have a good Wednesday and I'll get back to ya maybe around the weekend. We'll see :D
Until later,
Justin
It's Wednesday afternoon and I work at 1600 tonight, so I'm not all that interested in doing anything productive before I head in. I have to work til close so it's going to be a long night. I might be somewhat bummed about that (read: Heather will be home tonight to begin her 11-day Christmas vacation), but I just began my Christmas shopping yesterday and I already have spent $200. I would say I'm about halfway done with my shopping. Yeah. I need to work. . .
Yesterday (Tuesday) was dedicated to Christmas shopping, my Suns, and R&B. Aimee accompanied me to Palmdale for my shopping. We went to Best Buy (where I got a lot of the presents) and then braved the Mall to get a few more things. We had a lot of fun, too. Aimee and I get along really well and I don't think there is another person who laughs more at the things I say. No one is going to take my moving out harder (yes, even my parents) and it does suck that I won't be around the familia as much as we are used to. But, back to the point. Aimee and I had fun shopping. We now have been blessed with several inside jokes ("It's coming," Hallmark and its stuffed animals, and those uncomfortable leather chairs our Mall has) and I also got some of my Christmas shopping done. . . Good times.
My Suns went for their franchise-record 15th straight win last night at home against Toronto. . . And got it! I said before the game that if we didn't win by at least 15, then we should be embarassed. We won by 17. I was happy, to say the least. I watched the entire game, and this team is fun to watch. Period. Not only that, we're starting to come together and it's awesome! Amare was fantastic last night (nearly with a double-double at halftime), Steve Nash had 13 assists (at halftime! - he finished with 15 in three quarters played), and I was happy to finally watch Boris Diaw play like he did last year. He shot his 17-footer last night and it looked nice and it went in! He made a couple passes that only him or Nash could have made. I am excited about my boys. We should easily get to 18 straight (we have Denver tonight - no AI yet and no Carmelo cuz of the suspension - followed by Washington and Portland) and then have a tough road game at Dallas. We then play at home against the Knicks (another win) and then another tough roadie at Detroit. After that, January looks like a late Christmas present! We have 16 games in January and all of them are very winnable. If we did anything less than 13-3, we should be embarassed. That would put us (giving us a 1-1 in those tough games at the end of December) at 36-10 going into February. After a 1-5 start, that's an incredible job by my favorite team and I can't wait for the postseason. This is our year!
I watched two movies last night: IDLEWILD, the Outkast film from August that sorta skipped in and directly out of theatres, and HUSTLE AND FLOW, one of the best films of 2005. IDLEWILD was pretty good. I did not expect much, seeing that it starred the two-man R&B group Outkast. Terrence Howard, the star of H&F, also plays a big part in IDLEWILD. That guy is going to be HUGE in Hollywood in the coming years! Anyway, the music was pretty good, although I thought there would be more songs from the accompanying album in the film. Either way, it was entertaining, and you can't ask much more than that. (Grade: B-)
Monday night was a lot of fun. Chels, Kimmy, and I met Heather and Chels' friends Joe and Melissa (a very cool couple who I have met several times) at the El Capitan Theatre in Hollywood to see TIM BURTON'S NIGHTMARE BEFORE CHRISTMAS in 3-D. I was kinda skeptical going in (my experiences with 3-D have been limited, but never incredible) but I was pleasantly surprised. The film was beautiful to watch on the big screen, and the 3-D worked surprisingly well. We went to Johnny Rocket's before the movie (I like that place!) but before that, Chels, Kimmy, and I had been waiting for the others to get there outside of the famed Kodak Theatre (it's where the Oscars take place!). While standing, we were approached by a scraggly, unkempt man. His opening line was a doozy: "I just got out of prison. Would you have a dollar for me so I could get on a bus." Yeah, I know, crazy! I said sorry and walked away. He then went into a nearby Virgin Records store and on to the next person. Who does that!?!? It was pretty weird, but ended up being funny, because when we went to Johnny Rocket's (then all six of us) he came in to ask our group the same question. When he saw me, he turned around, saying "Never mind" and walked out disgusted. I laughed :D O how odd people are!
O yeah, I have a couple of quick things for you:
- Late Christmas gift ideas for me: SEINFELD Season 7; gift cards (Finish Line - I know it's my work, but that is more reason, I think; American Eagle; Best Buy); anything SUNS.
- I'm picking Green Bay over Minnesota (Nailbiter) in the Thursday night game and Kansas City over Oakland (Walk in the Park) in the Saturday night game. The rest of my picks are still to come. . .
- I want to recommend the following CDs to rock fans everywheres: 30 Seconds to Mars (A Beautiful Lie); The Red Hot Chili Peppers (Stadium Arcadium); Audioslave (Revelations)
- And let me distribute a couple of videos for you courtesy of everyone's favorite video superstore, YOUTUBE:
- The cast of SCRUBS does an old holiday favorite
- Legends of the Hidden Temple Intro
- The Knicks/Nuggets Brawl and ESPN coverage
Alrighty then - -
Have a good Wednesday and I'll get back to ya maybe around the weekend. We'll see :D
Until later,
Justin
Monday, December 18, 2006
The Weekend Grab-Bag:
The Veg-Out Version
Happy Monday everybody! I have today (and, happily, tomorrow as well) off from work and practice (the two teams have off this week from all practice) so I'm heading directly into veg-out mode for these next two days. Why? Well I've had a pretty darn busy last four days and I'm physically and mentally spent. You wanna know all about it now, don't ya? Well alright then. . .
Enjoy this Grab-Bag, folks.
Enjoy it in all of its non-chronological goodness :D
- I worked at Finish Line (from now on referred to as the FL) each of the last four days. Thursday was my first day! I got there at 1200 and spent about three hours doing orientation things. I watched videos (among the titles was DIVERSITY, a look at how to not be a bigot at work), did some online reading of the employee handbook, aced some quizzes, and received my FL t-shirt and lanyard (we wear a lanyard with a placard attached to it - it's our nametag). I took a break (I ate at GREAT STEAK: Mmmm!) and came back ready to see what else I needed to study. Well, my manager (his name is Jose and he is a really laid back guy with a great attitude toward his employees) told me to go out on the floor! I was so scared! So I went out there and the dogs ate me up right away. I spent the next three hours getting shoes for people and trying to find them in a quick manner. Altogether, I enjoyed myself and met some cool new people (the other employees are all really cool). I worked a total of 20-some hours over the last four days and I am getting better every day. Yesterday was the craziest day yet. I worked from 1000 (when we opened) to 1800, with a half-hour break around 1400. I don't know how much I sold, but my guess is somewhere around $1500. I was doing really good and I enjoyed myself for the most part. I'm liking this new gig, and I'm forever grateful to Manny for giving me the opportunity to get the hell out of JC and into a new place of work. I work Wednesday-Saturday of this week and we'll see how it goes from there! Come see me :D I might just convince you that you need those shoes you try on!
- Final grades came out on Saturday for the semester that just ended and mine were exactly what I had guessed. I have 3 B's and 2 A's and that is just peachy with me. It makes my cumulative GPA a 3.67, which is pretty darn good if you ask me :D
- I went to Alumni Chapel on Friday. It's a tradition at DCHS that on the last Friday before Christmas vacation they have a chapel that invites all of the alumni back to see what has been going on and whatnot. I did not attend last year (for several reasons, one being that I just didn't want to) but I did go to this one. Aimee was singing with the choir and I had yet to see them perform this holiday season. I also wanted to be there since I have been coaching recently and wanted to see if people would go to the game on Saturday. Either way, chapel was kinda weird (it has been a really long time since I've been in Chapel!) but I was glad to have gone. The game on Saturday was good. Both teams won handily and it was all-in-all a fun time. There are only two more games left before league begins, so I'm excited to see how the season turns out!
- I have prepared my FIRST-THIRD MOVIE PREVIEW and it will appear here before the year ends. It has 25 films on it, but could really only be about 15. We'll see if I go through with all 25. I'm REALLY excited about 9 of these films and so FANTASTICALLY EXCITED about the TOP 5, that I might just say that these 5 films outweighs the Summer films (well, maybe not Spider-Man 3. . .) that are coming up as well. I hope you all enjoy this movie preview :D
- I forgot to get my football picks up before yesterday, but believe me when I say I went 10-5 with the big Cincinnati/Indianapolis game tonight (I picked my on-a-roll Bengals) to be played. I'm so close to the top 3 again, but I, being a very cynical person, believe that I'll finish just out of the money yet again. But we'll see. . .
- And now for the biggest news of the month (I suppose): THE WORLD SERIES OF POP CULTURE, a television gameshow event that had its first season about a year ago, is having auditions for its second season in January and February. The Los Angeles audition is January 26-28 and guess who has an audition? Yep. Justin, Cy, and I will be heading to Beverly Hills that weekend to hopefully earn a spot on the show, which would be taped (in freakin' New York City!) in March. Head to the link above to get more info (I won't bore you with all the details here) but I will tell you what the ultimate winner walks away with: $250,000!!! Yep, that would be split four ways (the three teammates and Uncle Sam) but it would be incredible to walk away with all of that! Wow!!!
- O and I still haven't gone Christmas shopping yet. . . Uh oh!
- I already used my employee discount at the FL! I bought a couple pairs of shoes for myself (I know, I know, but there was a sale going on) and they are pretty darn nice. Plus I spent about $70 total for shoes that would have run me almost $120. A pretty good steal if you ask me!
- What do you think???
Alright folks everywhere, that's the GRAB-BAG. I hope you enjoyed it and I hope that you come back to read my upcoming posts. There will be four more before the end of the year (that's a promise - I'll explain why later) so check back frequently for updates on everything going on in my world.
Happy Pre-Christmas everybody!!!
Justin
Enjoy this Grab-Bag, folks.
Enjoy it in all of its non-chronological goodness :D
- I worked at Finish Line (from now on referred to as the FL) each of the last four days. Thursday was my first day! I got there at 1200 and spent about three hours doing orientation things. I watched videos (among the titles was DIVERSITY, a look at how to not be a bigot at work), did some online reading of the employee handbook, aced some quizzes, and received my FL t-shirt and lanyard (we wear a lanyard with a placard attached to it - it's our nametag). I took a break (I ate at GREAT STEAK: Mmmm!) and came back ready to see what else I needed to study. Well, my manager (his name is Jose and he is a really laid back guy with a great attitude toward his employees) told me to go out on the floor! I was so scared! So I went out there and the dogs ate me up right away. I spent the next three hours getting shoes for people and trying to find them in a quick manner. Altogether, I enjoyed myself and met some cool new people (the other employees are all really cool). I worked a total of 20-some hours over the last four days and I am getting better every day. Yesterday was the craziest day yet. I worked from 1000 (when we opened) to 1800, with a half-hour break around 1400. I don't know how much I sold, but my guess is somewhere around $1500. I was doing really good and I enjoyed myself for the most part. I'm liking this new gig, and I'm forever grateful to Manny for giving me the opportunity to get the hell out of JC and into a new place of work. I work Wednesday-Saturday of this week and we'll see how it goes from there! Come see me :D I might just convince you that you need those shoes you try on!
- Final grades came out on Saturday for the semester that just ended and mine were exactly what I had guessed. I have 3 B's and 2 A's and that is just peachy with me. It makes my cumulative GPA a 3.67, which is pretty darn good if you ask me :D
- I went to Alumni Chapel on Friday. It's a tradition at DCHS that on the last Friday before Christmas vacation they have a chapel that invites all of the alumni back to see what has been going on and whatnot. I did not attend last year (for several reasons, one being that I just didn't want to) but I did go to this one. Aimee was singing with the choir and I had yet to see them perform this holiday season. I also wanted to be there since I have been coaching recently and wanted to see if people would go to the game on Saturday. Either way, chapel was kinda weird (it has been a really long time since I've been in Chapel!) but I was glad to have gone. The game on Saturday was good. Both teams won handily and it was all-in-all a fun time. There are only two more games left before league begins, so I'm excited to see how the season turns out!
- I have prepared my FIRST-THIRD MOVIE PREVIEW and it will appear here before the year ends. It has 25 films on it, but could really only be about 15. We'll see if I go through with all 25. I'm REALLY excited about 9 of these films and so FANTASTICALLY EXCITED about the TOP 5, that I might just say that these 5 films outweighs the Summer films (well, maybe not Spider-Man 3. . .) that are coming up as well. I hope you all enjoy this movie preview :D
- I forgot to get my football picks up before yesterday, but believe me when I say I went 10-5 with the big Cincinnati/Indianapolis game tonight (I picked my on-a-roll Bengals) to be played. I'm so close to the top 3 again, but I, being a very cynical person, believe that I'll finish just out of the money yet again. But we'll see. . .
- And now for the biggest news of the month (I suppose): THE WORLD SERIES OF POP CULTURE, a television gameshow event that had its first season about a year ago, is having auditions for its second season in January and February. The Los Angeles audition is January 26-28 and guess who has an audition? Yep. Justin, Cy, and I will be heading to Beverly Hills that weekend to hopefully earn a spot on the show, which would be taped (in freakin' New York City!) in March. Head to the link above to get more info (I won't bore you with all the details here) but I will tell you what the ultimate winner walks away with: $250,000!!! Yep, that would be split four ways (the three teammates and Uncle Sam) but it would be incredible to walk away with all of that! Wow!!!
- O and I still haven't gone Christmas shopping yet. . . Uh oh!
- I already used my employee discount at the FL! I bought a couple pairs of shoes for myself (I know, I know, but there was a sale going on) and they are pretty darn nice. Plus I spent about $70 total for shoes that would have run me almost $120. A pretty good steal if you ask me!
- What do you think???
Alright folks everywhere, that's the GRAB-BAG. I hope you enjoyed it and I hope that you come back to read my upcoming posts. There will be four more before the end of the year (that's a promise - I'll explain why later) so check back frequently for updates on everything going on in my world.
Happy Pre-Christmas everybody!!!
Justin
Wednesday, December 13, 2006
The Month Grab-Bag: The My Terms Version
Wow.
That's all I really have to say about how long it has been since I have done this. It will be a month tomorrow since I have blogged (although it will actually only be a day since I have last blogged tomorrow since I'm blogging today, but you know what I meant). The last month has been, in a word, exhausting. It has also been exciting. And lesson-bearing. And interesting. And helpful. And strenuous. But never monotonous (that is, if we are not talking about some of my classes. . .). So what I'm gonna try to do is give you a quick review of all (or some) of the things that have happened to yours truly, the deeply apologetic Rambler, since the 14th of November. And believe you me, there has been much to report on!
So, here we go!
- Let's start with school, shall we. I'm done! My Fall semester (the third of four at AVC) was officially over as of Thursday, December 7th. I don't get to find out my grades until Saturday, but I believe they are as follows: History (A); Journalism (A); Psychology (B); English (B); Biology (B). That would be good for a 3.4 GPA, which is about where I've been in all three semesters. The last three or four weeks of school were extremely hectic! I wrote so many papers (the page number total has got to be close to 30) that I started going a little nutty there towards the end. Either way, I finished it all out strong and I believe that I got the grades I deserved. I didn't work as hard as I could have, but as long as the GPA is good, then I'm happy with my performance. And hey, at least I'm consistent. I enjoyed a lot about the classes I took, but I also disliked some elements as well. I am so glad to have met some new people (especially Gary Carter, my Journalism teacher who I will be taking again next semester, and John Toth, my English teacher who challenged me very often to do better - I was lazy in English - talked with me a lot about sports, and even went so far as to compare me to Oliver Miller, which was a brilliant comparison at the time - non-sports fans, don't worry about it!) and I can't wait to see what next semester brings! I'm off to my final semester! Wow, time has sure flown by! It seems like just yesterday I was pleading with my fellow graduates to go and be the best they could on a Thursday night in June. Now it's December of 2006 and I'm already working on plans to move out in (gulp) June of 2007! That's only six months away!!! Don't tell Aimee, she's not all too happy about that :D
- What about work? Well now, that is an interesting thing to bring up! It is official: I no longer work at Johnny Carino's Italian Restaurant. After nearly 16 months (yep, it's been that long) I have finally had enough of a plethora of things, namely Charlie (my, I swear bipolar, General Manager) and his bullshit. I was sick of it. This is simply my opinion, but I have many people that agree with me on this theory, so go with it: Charlie wanted to fire me. I may have started out a little difficult to deal with and as kind of a thinks-he-knows-it-all, but I realized that I didn't. I turned it all around. I became a hard-working employee who simply disagreed with a lot that went on at that place. A lot of people did. Either way, I was a good employee. I was rarely late, called in sick only once, and was usually available to pick up shifts and was frequently flexible when it came to different scheduling things (I even gave some ideas about the schedule, one of which Charlie really liked). I believe that Charlie just didn't like me (call it personality conflicts) and was honestly partially intimidated by someone who did not back down to him, despite him being about 6'6'' and weighing in around 350 (a guess). Charlie would constantly poke at me, trying to get me to say something back at him, thus giving him a reason to fire me. Once I realized this, I simply returned his remarks with witty remarks that made him look silly, but at the same time were light-hearted enough to not be considered disrespectful. I'm good like that. Either way, a few weeks before I quit, he decided to throw about four of five more responsibilities on the TTs, which were absolutely ridiculous. They would result in us being there way too late and I didn't feel they were necessary. So, I made a decision one Sunday night: I was going to quit. I wanted it to be on good terms (and, more specifically, on my terms) so I would turn in my two weeks notice, work during that time, and then leave quietly, with only hugs goodbye to all those people I will truly miss working with.
So I left. No mas, as they say. I talked to Manny (who, as you remember, works at Finish Line) and he said they were hiring, or at least he thought so. I filled out an online application on Sunday, my last day at Johnny Carino's. Manny called me that night telling me that I had an interview the next day! I went in (dressed all sorts of snazzy and looking a little like Justin Timberlake from his new cd cover) and was told (by Manny) that I didn't need an interview because he had vouched for me as a good employee. That was cool of him! I actually begin work there tomorrow, and I'm pretty darn excited! A new thing for me to learn! I'm looking forward to gaining a new kind of experience in the working world and can't wait to see what pisses me off about this job. . .
- Let's see, another thing I can tell you about is my wonderful Heather. We are closing in on our three-year anniversary (end of January) and we couldn't be happier. Well, actually we could be way happier if we could either be a) Engaged or b) Married. We are suffering from what I refer to as "Futurenow," a disease that affects those young adults who just want to be adults already. You may have heard of it and thought it didn't exist. You were wrong if you thought that. It does exist. And it hurts. Anyways, we have been working on moving her stuff out of her apartment in the LB to prepare for her move to Cal Poly Pomona (referred to, by me, as PoMOOna because of the multitude of cows around) on January 1. She got her dorm room number, roommate's name and number, and all that sort of jazz, so I guess she is ready. I'm excited as can be for her, but I'm still dealing with the fact that she's leaving the LB. I love the LB! O well. Guess I gotta learn a new town!
- Basketball is going very well right now. As you might remember, I am an assistant coach at Desert Christian High School (my alma mater) for the girls Varsity team. We have o so much work to do, but I love the girls and only want them to get so much better. We are 4-2 right now and have a game tonight as well as Saturday night. All in all, the girls seem to respond to me really well and I am enjoying coaching alongside my coach, Mr. Thomas. I am really having a blast and don't mind at all the amount of time that it is taking out of my schedule. Come by and see us sometime! Tonight we play at 1800 and Saturday our game is at 1600 at home as well.
- I got some movie recommendations (and some to avoid) for you all:
Whether You Want To Or Not:
- - - CASINO ROYALE (I've seen it twice and all I can say is "Fantastic!" If you have not seen Daniel Craig do his thing as Bond James Bond, then you need to stop reading this right now and go watch it. You won't be disappointed!)
- - - STRANGER THAN FICTION (one of my top 5 films of the year - o yeah, a list of my top and bottom films of the year will be coming soon - beautiful, odd, and just a lot of fun)
- - - LUCKY NUMBER SLEVIN (rent this sucker if you are a fan of witty banter, Tarantino-like violence, and enjoyable movie experiences)
If You Want:
- - - HAPPY FEET (as I said in my review that appeared in the EXAMINER, "Happy Feet is not the greatest movie of all time, does not feature the world’s greatest performances, and will not win any screenplay awards, but I dare you to walk out of the theater without a smile on your face, a song in your heart, and a bad case of the “taps,” a refreshing disease that attacks the feet of its victims." This film is a lot of fun to watch and that is all I can really say)
- - - WORDPLAY (an interesting documentary about the New York Times crossword and those who excel at completing it - not at all boring, actually, and pretty entertaining)
- - - THE HOLIDAY (A true, by-the-book, chick flick with some entertaining moments for the males out there. I liked the teddy-bear-like Jack Black and the end was pretty sappy and good like that. Take your girl out to it and hug her while she cries! You'll get brownie points, trust me ha ha!)
Hide Your Eyes:
- - - MIAMI VICE (call me very disappointed in Michael Mann. I could not even finish this garbage imitating as cinema)
- - - STRANGERS WITH CANDY (I guess it's an acquired taste in humor. I didn't get it.)
Some other entertainment recommendations:
- - - SPORTS NIGHT (I am so unbelievably hooked on this show. I can't believe it only lasted for two seasons! I'm already done with four out of the six discs - thanks Netflix - and I'm looking forward to finishing it up next week. If you need a last-minute Christmas gift for me, go ahead and get the entire series at Best Buy - it's $50. I'll be happy. . .)
- - - THANK YOU FOR SMOKING (the novel and the film - I finished the book a few weeks ago and then re-watched the film. The book is incredible and the film is almost as good. They are different, though, so be prepared for a much different experience with the book)
- - - Amos Lee, The Exit, The All-American Rejects, Justin Timberlake, Audioslave, and Marty Stuart (all of these musical artists have been played thru my computer the last couple weeks).
- Ok, so now realize that the year is almost over and that means several things. But one thing it definitely means is that my FIRST-THIRD MOVIE PREVIEW will be coming shortly. It won't be as long as the others, but it is still coming. Look for it in the first couple weeks of 2007.
- O, my football picks! Well right now I sit in a tie for fourth, just a game out of third. I'm so close, even after a dreadful 8-8 week last week. I only have three weeks left, so we'll see how that ends up. . . And Fantasy Basketball? I'm in first in my league, have won every matchup thus far, and have no signs of being stopped. Which leads me to. . .
- My Phoenix Suns!!! Last time we talked they were struggling at 2-5. They now sit at 14-6 and are going to DESTROY the defending champs (without Dwayne Wade) tonight in Miami. This will be their 12th straight win and with it, the Suns will be in a tie for first in the Pacific Division (Finally!). And you heard it here first: We won't again be in second! The division is ours for the rest of the year - even if the Clippers trade for Allen Iverson, which I don't think they will do. Keep it up boys!
- Well I have some more news (including some AWESOME news about me and my boys, Cy and Justin) and my football picks, but I'll save that for tomorrow or Friday.
I'm back everyone! I missed blogging and I won't be gone that long again for awhile. So check back in every other day or so for the next installment!
Hope you enjoyed it all!
Talk to you again soon (I swear!) - -
THE RAMBLER
That's all I really have to say about how long it has been since I have done this. It will be a month tomorrow since I have blogged (although it will actually only be a day since I have last blogged tomorrow since I'm blogging today, but you know what I meant). The last month has been, in a word, exhausting. It has also been exciting. And lesson-bearing. And interesting. And helpful. And strenuous. But never monotonous (that is, if we are not talking about some of my classes. . .). So what I'm gonna try to do is give you a quick review of all (or some) of the things that have happened to yours truly, the deeply apologetic Rambler, since the 14th of November. And believe you me, there has been much to report on!
So, here we go!
- Let's start with school, shall we. I'm done! My Fall semester (the third of four at AVC) was officially over as of Thursday, December 7th. I don't get to find out my grades until Saturday, but I believe they are as follows: History (A); Journalism (A); Psychology (B); English (B); Biology (B). That would be good for a 3.4 GPA, which is about where I've been in all three semesters. The last three or four weeks of school were extremely hectic! I wrote so many papers (the page number total has got to be close to 30) that I started going a little nutty there towards the end. Either way, I finished it all out strong and I believe that I got the grades I deserved. I didn't work as hard as I could have, but as long as the GPA is good, then I'm happy with my performance. And hey, at least I'm consistent. I enjoyed a lot about the classes I took, but I also disliked some elements as well. I am so glad to have met some new people (especially Gary Carter, my Journalism teacher who I will be taking again next semester, and John Toth, my English teacher who challenged me very often to do better - I was lazy in English - talked with me a lot about sports, and even went so far as to compare me to Oliver Miller, which was a brilliant comparison at the time - non-sports fans, don't worry about it!) and I can't wait to see what next semester brings! I'm off to my final semester! Wow, time has sure flown by! It seems like just yesterday I was pleading with my fellow graduates to go and be the best they could on a Thursday night in June. Now it's December of 2006 and I'm already working on plans to move out in (gulp) June of 2007! That's only six months away!!! Don't tell Aimee, she's not all too happy about that :D
- What about work? Well now, that is an interesting thing to bring up! It is official: I no longer work at Johnny Carino's Italian Restaurant. After nearly 16 months (yep, it's been that long) I have finally had enough of a plethora of things, namely Charlie (my, I swear bipolar, General Manager) and his bullshit. I was sick of it. This is simply my opinion, but I have many people that agree with me on this theory, so go with it: Charlie wanted to fire me. I may have started out a little difficult to deal with and as kind of a thinks-he-knows-it-all, but I realized that I didn't. I turned it all around. I became a hard-working employee who simply disagreed with a lot that went on at that place. A lot of people did. Either way, I was a good employee. I was rarely late, called in sick only once, and was usually available to pick up shifts and was frequently flexible when it came to different scheduling things (I even gave some ideas about the schedule, one of which Charlie really liked). I believe that Charlie just didn't like me (call it personality conflicts) and was honestly partially intimidated by someone who did not back down to him, despite him being about 6'6'' and weighing in around 350 (a guess). Charlie would constantly poke at me, trying to get me to say something back at him, thus giving him a reason to fire me. Once I realized this, I simply returned his remarks with witty remarks that made him look silly, but at the same time were light-hearted enough to not be considered disrespectful. I'm good like that. Either way, a few weeks before I quit, he decided to throw about four of five more responsibilities on the TTs, which were absolutely ridiculous. They would result in us being there way too late and I didn't feel they were necessary. So, I made a decision one Sunday night: I was going to quit. I wanted it to be on good terms (and, more specifically, on my terms) so I would turn in my two weeks notice, work during that time, and then leave quietly, with only hugs goodbye to all those people I will truly miss working with.
So I left. No mas, as they say. I talked to Manny (who, as you remember, works at Finish Line) and he said they were hiring, or at least he thought so. I filled out an online application on Sunday, my last day at Johnny Carino's. Manny called me that night telling me that I had an interview the next day! I went in (dressed all sorts of snazzy and looking a little like Justin Timberlake from his new cd cover) and was told (by Manny) that I didn't need an interview because he had vouched for me as a good employee. That was cool of him! I actually begin work there tomorrow, and I'm pretty darn excited! A new thing for me to learn! I'm looking forward to gaining a new kind of experience in the working world and can't wait to see what pisses me off about this job. . .
- Let's see, another thing I can tell you about is my wonderful Heather. We are closing in on our three-year anniversary (end of January) and we couldn't be happier. Well, actually we could be way happier if we could either be a) Engaged or b) Married. We are suffering from what I refer to as "Futurenow," a disease that affects those young adults who just want to be adults already. You may have heard of it and thought it didn't exist. You were wrong if you thought that. It does exist. And it hurts. Anyways, we have been working on moving her stuff out of her apartment in the LB to prepare for her move to Cal Poly Pomona (referred to, by me, as PoMOOna because of the multitude of cows around) on January 1. She got her dorm room number, roommate's name and number, and all that sort of jazz, so I guess she is ready. I'm excited as can be for her, but I'm still dealing with the fact that she's leaving the LB. I love the LB! O well. Guess I gotta learn a new town!
- Basketball is going very well right now. As you might remember, I am an assistant coach at Desert Christian High School (my alma mater) for the girls Varsity team. We have o so much work to do, but I love the girls and only want them to get so much better. We are 4-2 right now and have a game tonight as well as Saturday night. All in all, the girls seem to respond to me really well and I am enjoying coaching alongside my coach, Mr. Thomas. I am really having a blast and don't mind at all the amount of time that it is taking out of my schedule. Come by and see us sometime! Tonight we play at 1800 and Saturday our game is at 1600 at home as well.
- I got some movie recommendations (and some to avoid) for you all:
Whether You Want To Or Not:
- - - CASINO ROYALE (I've seen it twice and all I can say is "Fantastic!" If you have not seen Daniel Craig do his thing as Bond James Bond, then you need to stop reading this right now and go watch it. You won't be disappointed!)
- - - STRANGER THAN FICTION (one of my top 5 films of the year - o yeah, a list of my top and bottom films of the year will be coming soon - beautiful, odd, and just a lot of fun)
- - - LUCKY NUMBER SLEVIN (rent this sucker if you are a fan of witty banter, Tarantino-like violence, and enjoyable movie experiences)
If You Want:
- - - HAPPY FEET (as I said in my review that appeared in the EXAMINER, "Happy Feet is not the greatest movie of all time, does not feature the world’s greatest performances, and will not win any screenplay awards, but I dare you to walk out of the theater without a smile on your face, a song in your heart, and a bad case of the “taps,” a refreshing disease that attacks the feet of its victims." This film is a lot of fun to watch and that is all I can really say)
- - - WORDPLAY (an interesting documentary about the New York Times crossword and those who excel at completing it - not at all boring, actually, and pretty entertaining)
- - - THE HOLIDAY (A true, by-the-book, chick flick with some entertaining moments for the males out there. I liked the teddy-bear-like Jack Black and the end was pretty sappy and good like that. Take your girl out to it and hug her while she cries! You'll get brownie points, trust me ha ha!)
Hide Your Eyes:
- - - MIAMI VICE (call me very disappointed in Michael Mann. I could not even finish this garbage imitating as cinema)
- - - STRANGERS WITH CANDY (I guess it's an acquired taste in humor. I didn't get it.)
Some other entertainment recommendations:
- - - SPORTS NIGHT (I am so unbelievably hooked on this show. I can't believe it only lasted for two seasons! I'm already done with four out of the six discs - thanks Netflix - and I'm looking forward to finishing it up next week. If you need a last-minute Christmas gift for me, go ahead and get the entire series at Best Buy - it's $50. I'll be happy. . .)
- - - THANK YOU FOR SMOKING (the novel and the film - I finished the book a few weeks ago and then re-watched the film. The book is incredible and the film is almost as good. They are different, though, so be prepared for a much different experience with the book)
- - - Amos Lee, The Exit, The All-American Rejects, Justin Timberlake, Audioslave, and Marty Stuart (all of these musical artists have been played thru my computer the last couple weeks).
- Ok, so now realize that the year is almost over and that means several things. But one thing it definitely means is that my FIRST-THIRD MOVIE PREVIEW will be coming shortly. It won't be as long as the others, but it is still coming. Look for it in the first couple weeks of 2007.
- O, my football picks! Well right now I sit in a tie for fourth, just a game out of third. I'm so close, even after a dreadful 8-8 week last week. I only have three weeks left, so we'll see how that ends up. . . And Fantasy Basketball? I'm in first in my league, have won every matchup thus far, and have no signs of being stopped. Which leads me to. . .
- My Phoenix Suns!!! Last time we talked they were struggling at 2-5. They now sit at 14-6 and are going to DESTROY the defending champs (without Dwayne Wade) tonight in Miami. This will be their 12th straight win and with it, the Suns will be in a tie for first in the Pacific Division (Finally!). And you heard it here first: We won't again be in second! The division is ours for the rest of the year - even if the Clippers trade for Allen Iverson, which I don't think they will do. Keep it up boys!
- Well I have some more news (including some AWESOME news about me and my boys, Cy and Justin) and my football picks, but I'll save that for tomorrow or Friday.
I'm back everyone! I missed blogging and I won't be gone that long again for awhile. So check back in every other day or so for the next installment!
Hope you enjoyed it all!
Talk to you again soon (I swear!) - -
THE RAMBLER
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