You Look Like I Need A Drink.

*Sigh* I took my children to their first baseball game today. The oldest (Joey) and the youngest (Hannah) were stoked, the middle one (Emma)....not so much. She was slightly stoked about getting one of those giant foam hands but, alas, I saw none. Either way, it turned out to be awesome! The seats were great, right behind home plate. We saw everything, every play, every pitch, foul, strike, hit, everything! Definitely the way I would have liked to experience my first ball game. The peanuts and the two GIANT Hawaiian shaved ice things we got were a high point. Home team killed the visiting team which, to be perfectly honest, I really didn't care about. I would have preferred my kids' first game was a Los Angeles Dodgers game but this was free and a great opportunity to experience something new with my family. Create memories and such. My daughter, Emma, was asked to go out on the field right after the national anthem and start the game by yelling into a microphone, "PLAY BALL!" It was really cool. After the game was over and the field cleared they let the kids run the bases. Everyone had a blast. All the kids said it was one of the best times they've ever had, which they always say after we do something different from what we normally do. I could tell they had a good time though which, obviously, makes happy. It was a hot day. About 101 degrees, not much shade at the stadium until the sun went down. As with any other scorcher, I left the windows cracked. I HATE coming back to a car that is insanely hot. Apparently, I left the passenger window a bit too cracked. We came back after the game and my wife's cell phone, cell phone charger, my ipod, my ipod charger, the face plate to my stereo (yup, just the face plate), a UN-opened pack of cigarettes, and an UN-opened pack of gum were gone. Yeah, that's what I said. "The fucking gum? Are you serious?!" Yeah, it was gone. Now, like I said, I ALWAYS leave the windows cracked. Hell, I even leave 'em cracked when it's cold. It's just something I do, and even though I left the passenger side cracked a little bit more than usual I couldn't have gotten my arm in there to unlock the door. Granted, I'm a big guy, but I couldn't have got my arm in there. But the skinny, tweeker looking dude we parked next to.....he definitely could.

*Sigh* Anyone who knows me knows that that ipod is ALWAYS with me. Even when I'm in other people's cars I have it. Just in case they get bored of listening to that awesome hall & Oates "best of..." CD. Maybe they've been wondering if that new Paint it Black ep is as good as everyone says (you never know). 74.26 GB worth of music. 51.8 days worth of music. 22, 263 songs. That is was this inconsiderate jerk got. That and a totally sweet pink razr phone, which we've been meaning to cancel anyways. OH! and the let's not forget the smokes and the gum. That guy was totally planning ahead. "Well, if I'm gonna smoke these I'd better take the gum too."

A million things were/are running through my head when it comes to this whole situation. Here are some.....1. IT COULD BE WORSE! They could've taken a child. That'd suck, right? I mean, it's one less mouth to feed and all but I'm kind of attached to 'em. 2. MATERIAL POSSESSIONS, CAN'T TAKE THEM WITH YOU. CAN YOU? When I die, I'm pretty sure I'm not gonna be asking for my ipod. I mean it's possible, but I doubt it. But seriously!! I loved that thing. All of my music in a small little device. AHHHH! I know it's all material but, man o' man, it hurts! We have a trip to Los Angeles planned in a few weeks. Talk about a quiet. Long. Drive. Such is life, right? I'd like to think about it this way. Because of me, there is a small time crook out there another step closer to cancer, has got some incredibly fresh breath, a super cute phone, and some of the best music he's never heard.

*Sigh*

Knocking Off The Proverbial Dust.

So, the Lakers won! 2009 NBA Champions. I breathed a HUGE sigh of relief as the third quarter started and I soon realized there was no way we could lose.

This probably sounds totally weird to most but I get incredibly stressed out whenever the lakers play. It's a game, right? In all actuallity, it is. It's just a game. If they lose, the world will not end. I won't die. But for some reason, I get so into it. Like everything is riding on this.

When I was a kid, I can remember being at my Grandmother's house during a Laker game and everyone in the house watching and screaming. Screaming at the television, certain players making bonehead plays, making good plays, the refs making bad call, etc. I remember sitting there and hating every minuite of it. I use to think how stupid this all was. They're getting mad about a game? A game that is boring and just plain stupid. I pretty much grew up disliking sports and the people who played them. Getting hassled by jocks in school had a lot to do with it, I'm sure, but I just didn't get it. Why get all excited about a game?

Fast forward. Years later, here I am in front of the television. Yelling, clapping, screaming. Good or bad. My kids are probably in the other room thinking exactly what I did when I was thier age. "What an idiot". I don't understand it anymore than you do. As my Dad would tell me, "sometimes the apple grows up exactly like the tree". Stoked.

It's OK. Everyone Is Equal In My Eye.

Greetings. Apparently, something (most likely a small child) has figured out the magic button on the computer to make all of my music library disappear because for the second time in as many weeks I'm watching my itunes re-add a little over 19,000 songs. But! This reminds me of a, somewhat, funny story. Two actually, but for now you get one because my possessed dog can't hold it in forever.

I use to work at a pizza place in Fresno. It was located in a very nice neighborhood. Upper-middle class, mostly white, older people. Good tips. Crappy hourly wages, but it was probably the most fun I've ever had working. I mean, c'mon, I wasn't building rockets or anything important. At the time, I was delivering pizzas and raking in the tips. I got to drive around all day, listening to music, and pretty much getting paid to drive to a certain destination give someone something that they eagerly wanted, and get some extra money for my "trouble". Great job for someone with little responsibility but not very cool for a father of three with a mortgage.

Either way. We use to have to buy beef from a grocery store located right next to us. We'd run out, someone one would have to go next store and buy more. One particular day, it was my turn. Take some money out of the register, walk next door, grab about 10 packages of beef, and go to the checkout line. I put my beef up there and watch while the young woman scans all of it. At some point a woman who looked to be in her mid to late 40's got into the line behind me. After a while of beef, and nothing but beef, being scanned I heard a voice from behind me say something. The following is the "conversation" that ensued.

Old white lady: Wow! That is a lot of beef! You must be making a lot of tacos.
Caught off guard (half) Mexican: ?
Checkout cashier: He works at the pizza place next door.
Old white lady: ?

Yeah. I had nothing. Total shock. But I wasn't mad. Stereotypes are funny to me. Mostly they're funny when they are said as a joke. For example, driving to a show in Long Beach, somehow end up in Compton while looking for something to eat.

Me: Shit! Of course I end up in Compton when I am not even in the mood for chicken! Did they tear down every burger joint and replace it with a Popeye's or a KFC?
Friend in passenger seat: HAHAHAHA!

Not quite what I was going for but you get the point. There's a difference between me joking and an ignorant old lady assuming every Mexican buying beef is making tacos. The magnitude of ignorance in the world always floors me. So, yeah, that's my story. Maybe you'll get the other one in the next post. It is equally satisfying to your racist appetite. Good stuff. Alright, my novela is on, time to go. Bye.

All Rise for the Rational Anthem!

So, this is my blog I suppose. I'm not exactly sure why I started this and if it'll be interesting in the least, but it's worth a shot right? I'm going to try and keep this updated daily or every other day with just random things that go down. I make no promises when it comes to that though as I am notoriously lazy and inconsistent. I do promise grammar errors, as well as punctuation errors. If that drives you crazy, I apologize in advance. I'm hoping that this will be the first in a long line of entries. I'm not sure that my life and/or story telling abilities are interesting enough to lure someone back, continuously, to check back but I will definitely try. Wow, I'm already stoked! Excited to tell stories and let you hear about all the fascinating people I work with. Hopefully, I can update from my phone, much easier when some crazy dude with chew hanging out of his lip asks me why I listen to "faggot music". OK, sleep is in order.
Bye.