Note Time

Fuck Me!

Only a matter of time- NHL predictions

I got a wicked virus this afternoon from downloading a torrent of the season premiere of Californication. This was one virus I could not fight. With out hesitating I reformatted the hard drive. I'll probably look back in anger on my poor attempt to fight this massive trojan fighting illness but I'll just try to suppress the memory. I haven't had any issues with a computer in a long time so I was quite timid when my desktop became littered with all sorts of porno applications. On the brighter side, my hard drive was pretty close to full and now I don't have to worry about getting a new one. On the not so bright side, I lost all my music and I dread the process of re-ripping all of my albums for the millionth time. I'll probably just avoid it all together and give up on music.

So to look past this unfortunate event I shall move my mind forward and focus on the future with what I think will transgress during the 08-09 NHL season. These choices are not biased what so ever. I have spent the past three weeks dissecting every little bit of information out of every single training camp. If you were smart, you would travel to Las Vegas with a sack full of money with the knowledge you're about to learn.

Northwest Division
1. Minnesota Wild
2. Calgary Flames
3. Edmonton Oilers
4. Vancouver Canucks
5. Colorado Avalanche

Pacific Division
1. LA Kings
2. Phoenix Coyotes
3. Dallas Stars
4. San Jose Sharks
5. Anaheim Ducks

Central Division
1. Chicago Blackhawks
2. Columbus Blue Jackets
3. St. Louis Blues
4. Nashville Predators
5. Detroit Red Wings

Western Conference Final Standings
1. The Wild
2. Chicago Blackhawks
3. LA Kings
4. Calgary Flames
5. Columbus Blue Jackets
6. Edmonton Oilers
7. St. Louis Blues
8. Nashville Predators

Eastern Conference

Southeast Division
1. Tampa Bay Lightning
2. Washington Capitals
3. Florida Panthers
4. Atlanta Thrashers
5. Carolina Hurricanes

Northeast Division
1. Boston Bruins
2. Montreal Canadians
3. Buffalo Sabres
4. Toronto Maple Leafs
5. Ottawa Senators

Atlantic Division
1. New Jersey Devils
2. New York Islanders
3. New York Rangers
4. Philadelphia Flyer's
5. Pittsburgh Penguins

Eastern Conference Final Standings
1. Lightning
2. Bruins
3. Devils
4. Caps
5. Canadians
6. Isles
7. Rangers
8. Sabres

Playoffs
Wild beat Preds
Hawks beat Blues
Oilers beat Kings
Flames beat Jackets

Wild beat Oilers
Hawks beat Flames

Wild beat Hawks
--
Lightning beat Sabres
Rangers beat Bruins
Devils beat Isles
Caps beat Canadians

Lightning beat Rangers
Caps beat Devils

Lightning beat Caps
--
The Wild beat The Lightning in 7.

Awards
Hart: Martin St. Louis
Vezina: Karri Ramo
Norris: Brent Burns
Calder: Kyle Okposo
Con Smythe: Martin St. Louis
Lady Byng: Martin St. Louis
Selke: The entire Minnesota offensive roster
Jack Adams: Barry Melrose
Presidents: Tampa Bay Lightning
Art Ross: Martin St. Louis
Maurice Richards: Martin St. Louis

Biggest News Story of the Year: RW Gaborik traded to the Tampa Bay Lightning for RW Martin St. Louis. Gaborik pulls groin in first game of the Stanley cup finals versus The Wild. The Wild go on to win in 7 as Martin St. Louis sets records for year end awards.

You heard it here first folks. I just booked my ticket to Vegas. See you there.

O'Rourke's, 1:20am

So I have to apologize for the most recent "return to journaling" entry. It was pretty scattered but give me a break, I spent the prior three months trying to ruin my life. But a return post should be taking on with skepticism.

Right, so in the previous post I started to mention all the things great about fall around here but than went on to only talk about football and than somehow transitioned to a rant about politics (something I'm never proud of). So if you would obliged me, I would like to contribute a couple more great fixtures of the season known as autumn:

-The weather is gorgeous. Thats a fact. Everyone knows it. It doesn't need to be said. Sleeping with the window open waking up cold but not caring even a little bit. I'm back to drinking coffee every morning too. I couldn't stand drinking something so hot and so early during the summer so I started to drink a coke or mountain dew instead. Once again, for about the tenth time this year, I'm trying to lose one of my biggest vices, soda pop. The changing colors are what I love most about this time of year. It is the only time that I actually don't dread the drive out to Young America. The countryside is beautiful and my mood is, no matter what, content. I'm super excited for Halloween. My dad has become quite the gardener out in the boonies and this year we pressured him into trying out pumpkins. He didn't know what to expect getting into it but the patch ended up going well and he's got a good 15-20 pumpkins to choose from. Some are massive too. I hope to get a hold of one of the big ones and carve the shit out of it and cry when some kids smash it while I'm out getting shit faced on the 31st.

-The return of quality television. Who didn't see that coming? My Tivo is happy again. It gets bored and sad in the summer. This is where I pimp a show for those to watch... Californication. It's awesome. Watched the first season in about two, cocktail filled, days when work was slow. I have adopted this tag line for the series, "It's like Entourage, but funny. Plus more boobs." So check it out so I can laugh about it with someone else. I don't feel like getting into all the shows I watch because thats a tired old tale I have done every year in the past. I just wanted to say that the Emmy's are a mess. The only credit they get is for giving Bryan Cranston an award for "Breaking Bad". I mean 30 Rock? Really? I love the show but it's really over hyped. It's just a random show that's funniest jokes are stupid slapstick shit. It's a shame when a show like Arrested Development gets shit on by a network but the same struggling 30 rock gets a new season each year because Alec Baldwin is plastered all over it.

So I have been pretty busy the past couple weeks and that resulted in a lack of posts here. By busy I mean completely bored. I wanted to post but just couldn't bring myself to do so. I started reading instead. I figured I needed to know more about economics and finance in this trying time we live in. To learn more I read "Marley & Me." A tale about a family and a pooch. I feel so much more educated on all the shit that went down last week now. No, but seriously, I had put off reading this book for awhile and now I'm kind of happy I did. We had to put down Lucy this summer. July 5th to be exact. I'll never forget that day because it was one of two experiences during the summer I look back on in agony and it quite possibly might have been the worst day of my twenty two years of existence-> see drinking until 6am getting retarded drunk the prior night-getting a call at 10am to come say goodbye to my dog-getting stuck in an unfinished highway 6 I should of detoured on the way out-getting chased down by a gas station employee because my credit card "didn't register"-having my mother, god bless her heart, tell me while balling her eyes out that I smelt like shit. And I did. I reeked of booze and cigarettes still from the holiday-seeing my dog in extreme pain-bringing her to some old fashioned, country town, veterinarian clinic-having some old fart treat this like every other animal he has put down. No emotion, only difference being it was the day after the 4th and we had to pay extra for getting him to show up- Having the douche not give me or my dad a chance to say one last final goodbye. In case you're wondering that was me venting blog style. But really, reading "Marley & Me" was a great way for me to exude certain feelings I had after Lucy's passing. And for her remembrance heres your prototypical "ahh cute! little kid plus a dog!" picture:

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Work has been a little slow but thats nothing new. I actually have had some fun weekends since last time I checked in though. And because of laziness I shall go to bullet points for the rest of this blog.

• Family events, specifically large events, are a hell of a lot more tolerable now that I don't hesitate to drink at them. I have a rather large extended family and conversations used to be awkward but now they seem to come naturally as long as I have a beer in my hand.

• If you like to drink, learn a little game called boxing. It will get you feeling pretty good.

• Don't play boxing when you know you're getting up at 8 the next morning to go get drunk while tailgating for the Vikings game.

• Also, dearest brother and friends, don't drink a bottle of vodka split only three ways on top of the beer you're drinking. Nothing good can come when you're out in public (see next bulletin point)

• Accidentally spilling beer on the little kid in front of you in the stands is not the best way to break the ice with your newfound neighbors for four quarters.

• Despite engaging in an incredibly random conversation with three extremely nice and hilarious Canadians at halftime, I should of known better leaving the previously mentioned young adults alone. (Consult me for full hilarity of the rest of this adventure which include the story of being kicked out of the game, a neighboring Metrodome bar, and the shadiest strip club this side of the Mississippi River.

• Dry weddings aren't too entertaining. However, I'm happy it was a dry wedding in which my second parents were present. Also, being the sober cab for the people you were with who apparently had been drinking before hand (I didn't help the cause by insisting stopping at a bar before, during, and after the wedding) isn't the funnest way to spend a Friday. I feel your pain Chris.

• Concluding with the theme I started this post with, fall happens to be my favorite time to go to my cabin. In recent years it has become the only time I actually go up there. Spirits are raised when you catch an 18 inch walleye off the dock with your first cast just by using a simple jig stick.

Righty o. I'm going to the Wild's preseason game tomorrow night. I'll report with a summary and my season predictions.

Pause for edits and spell check.

Same Shit, Different Year

Hello, hello, hello. As predicted, this blog took a back seat once summer took off. As also predicted, I return during the time of the fall. I'll stay away from a summer recap because, well, as Tom would put it, you were all there so you know what happened. Well almost all of you were there, at least the people that read this blog were. Mark missed out on the second half of summer and Sean missed out on the first half so those two can just converse and share notes. Noodles? Well I thought you would be here by my side now but your not. Froda? Well you disappointed me this summer so you'd probably rather not see a post about fun things that occurred while you weren't here. I'll just say that it was damn fun as usual and it's a bummer that people are gone. However, once people leave a new kind of fun begins, good ol' fall fun. It's a great time of year for the sports and sweatshirt lovers of America.

My plan? I thought I would be rolling in dough after a summer of work but work turned out to be patchy at best. I'm surviving, but barely. I had hoped to make enough money this summer so I could return to school with a more than full class load and not have to work at the same time. That obviously didn't happen. So I continue with my father and honestly, I'm more than ok with that. I really do enjoy learning something new every day about carpentry. It is a skill that is under appreciated and I'm more impressed with how much my dad knows each new day. I see myself in this career more and more as time goes on. My brother works with us every now and than and I can tell that he would much rather be working with us than in a career involving retail. It just sucks that construction is so down. People are watching every dollar they spend so it leaves us hanging. My dad has dropped his price as everything else in life's price seems to go up. It fucking sucks. But it's times like this that will make the 50+ hours of week, that are hopefully in the near future, bearable and allow me to be more appreciative.

Onto the things in life that make being poor worth living. First off, football. Yesterday was the first full day of NFL games and it was glorious. I brought the computer out into the living room and monitored my fantasy teams as the games went on. It's because of the NFL that if you have a boring Friday or Saturday, you don't care. That doesn't happen during the summer. I'm very pleased with my fantasy teams. Two out of three are stacked, and the other is a big question mark that will make me be a better manager. Having games back makes AM radio that much better too. Hour long segments of what people think will happen are now over. PA's retarded predictions are brought into reality. Common's retarded predictions actually come true. And Hartman is still a loser.

It is an election year. No one around here really seems to care, but thats no surprise. Sean cares though, so its nice to have at least one person to talk about it with- At least while drunk. I'm still 50-50 on who I'm going to vote for. I didn't learn anything from the conventions besides Obama is a good speaker and the Republicans know how to bring fire. So the debates will be worthy of watching. It's hard not to watch all of the shit and be completely cynical about politics. It's also hard not to be completely apathetic about the election because really whoever is elected wont matter to me, personally. That probably sounds pretty contradicting after the first couple of sentences of this paragraph, oh well. My dad told me once that a 20 year old who votes republican has no heart but a 30 year old who votes democrat has no brain. I laughed that off when he told me that but I guess its making more sense as I learn more about politics. All I know is that I don't agree with Obama's oil crisis resolution and that I am for drilling on US soil. I'll end it there because I really didn't want to get into it that much on here.

Monday Night Football tonight. I'm excited. People will probably come over to watch which will be cool because Andy just bought a 42 inch plasmaaaa... oh wait he mounted that in his room. Makes sense. I have one close match up in fantasy vs. Paul. He has Jennings going and I have Mcfadden. Should be a barn burner. I'm having issues trying to buy Stat Tracker. I think God is trying to tell me something though because it was this time last year that I made fun of people for being so cheap and not buying it. It was than that I actually over drafted. Whoops. So maybe I'll hold off and wait until my next paycheck to purchase it. Speaking of this time last year, I was in Young America driving an hour and a half during the week for school and being completely broke. Well while I'm not exactly mr. money bags right now (Come on Powerball!) at least I'm back around peers and not losing my mind out in the Y.A. It's good to have fall back.

What am I spinning these days? I kind of fell off the wagon as far as music goes. I lost some outlets to new music. I pretty much listened to the new album from The Hold Steady all summer. It was a nice soundtrack. Albert Hammond Jr. and the Islands new ones also found there way in the cd player at times. Right now I'm listening to the new one by TV on the Radio and it is pretty great. Definite thoy approval. If you have any new stuff, swing it my way because I'm in need.

The future of this blog is bright. I shall return with posts on a frequent basis. I need something to keep me occupied as the nights get longer. Hope people find this sacred place once again.

Jesus, etc.

Greetings from basement room east of the Botham household. I got off work early today so I thought I would update since I haven't in a couple weeks.

People are back. It is great. Before, the weeks went slow. Now they go super fast. Tomorrow is Friday, which is crazy to me because it seems like yesterday was my birthday and that was seven days ago. Speaking of the birthday, it went well. Didn't have to work so that was great because I got more drunk than I intended to the previous night at bowling and chilling here afterwards. I went out to the legend with my family and Bob and Andres for an all you can eat spaghetti dinner. Sounded perfect to me so I was excited. It ended up not being that great but I wasn't pissed or anything. After that Bob, Andres, and I went to Inn Kahoots for a shot. It was brief. Whats his face Brady, from Wayzata, was there playing in a cover band and none of us were too excited so we just got a shot and went out to Bob's. The fire was great. I had a lot of fun. My new favorite game that is sweeping the nation is, "Who can hold the most chickens (cocks)". Andres is pretty unbeatable and I couldn't stop laughing as he kept going after more chickens. Pictures are on facebook if you haven't seen them yet. The next day Tom and I were suppose to go fishing. I was up early because thats what I do but Tom slept forever and we planned on going Sunday instead but he slept forever again. If I don't go fishing soon I might lose the bug and I can't let that happen so I better go somewhere this weekend at least once. We ended up grilling at my house for Bob's birthday. The night was pretty chill, pun intended, and we kind of just hung out. I think all of us were pretty tired from the previous nights events. We played some whiffle ball, went out to Bayside for a little bit, and hung out down at Shiloh park. Sunday nothing really happened besides SHL, but that was fun and tiring and overall the weekend was a success.

Monday I was back in work mode. Ended up going to a movie, What Happens in Vegas. I wanted to see it because Zach G is in it and even made the previews, probably a first in his career. I went in expecting it to suck royally but ended up chuckling at multiple parts. Zach's role was incredibly small but he still had the funniest moments and lines. It was the type of movie that is right up Marks ally (and if you're reading this and haven't seen it, go. It might be up there with A Guy Thing). Tuesday we played some whiffle. It's nice to be playing again. Much to Justin's dismay, we're already tearing up the grass. The field itself is tricky. It doesn't really have an identity yet either as a home run Coor's field type park (like Seans) or as a pitcher friendly Petco Park field because we have played games where both happen. The neighbors already hate us for playing, thats refreshing. It's only going to get worse people, it's only May so you better get used to it. I really do hate old q-tips. Last night Bob, Tripp, and I went to the twinkies game. They got smoked but it was student and dollar dog night so there was people watching and fun to be had. In one section of the upper deck a group of kids smuggled in a shit load of blow up beach balls. Like really, I mean a shit load, and they let them go all at the same time. Security was going nuts. Than later in the game, when it was well out of reach for the twins, a kid fled from a security guard in our section and raced all the way to the way upper deck, where no one sits, and started running around the stadium to the applause of the entire section. It went on for a good 20 minutes and an inning and a half at least. The best part was that he was all the way at the top and three security guards had him cornered and we thought that he was finally done for. He made one last juke and just started dashing down the seats leaping over them. He could have easily lost control and just ate it but he didn't. That was his last hoo-ra though and he finally conceded. It was funny to think that he probably didn't even do anything that bad but now he was in a ton of shit and ended up being cuffed and everything. Yea, so that was the highlight of the game really.

Only thing on the agenda for me tonight is street hockey. That should be fun. I'll probably call it a night after that though. Some lames are going to Spin, which I will probably never go to unless I'm already trashed and you ask me on a good day. I haven't got much sleep this week so I might take a nap in a little bit but probably not because I'm not a big fan of naps. My new temporary sister, Tory, is my best friend right now. I stopped at Village Meats and got some jerky and we have been sharing it. She is passed out in my closet on my dirty laundry right now and I really wish I had a camera. I decided on getting a new bike, probably next paycheck, because I got too frustrated trying to fix my old one and I really want to get out there and start biking. My next purchase will probably be a cheap camera, maybe even a film one. Do they make ones that do both digital and film? That would be perfect as long as it wasn't super expensive. This journal needs pictures because I feel it's losing entertainment value. Update: Tory has moved from the closet to my bed where she is sprawled out, head on pillow, and acting like a human being. Really, a camera is necessary.

K, I'm going to take care of some chores and start a book. I just got "Blindness" by Jose Saramago from the library. It's suppose to be really good and I hadn't heard of it even though its from 1995 and the author is a nobel prize winner for literature. I just found out with my internetting skills that it was made into a movie that is coming out pretty soon. I'm always late to these awesome book parties. It takes them being made into movies before I actually read them. The movie looks pretty sick though and has an awesome cast, including one of my top 5 girls- Julianne Moore. Peep the trailer:



Alright, I'm out kids. Congratulations to those who graduated and I hope everyones summer has started off well.

Fucking Old School

The Legacy of the Legacy

First off, this title will probably end up being misleading. I have a feeling this entry might be all over the place.

This past weekend I made a trip up to Duluth to hang out with Kelly and Tom on Friday. From there the plan was to head down to Eau Claire to go to a party at Allies on Saturday. The trip was kind of thrown together all of a sudden but I was definitely excited. The previous weekend was my first free time where I wasn't sick and devoted to a bed and I had kind of a downer of a time. Chris was absent, Dave was out of town, Botham's were being Bothams, and Andy was occupied with his new dog. I sat around the house and got drunk by myself and eventually ended up watching montages of Tommy Gavin and Rescue Me on youtube for well over an hour and got really emotional while watching them. It was awkward. So yea, talked to Kel, found out Alex was already making the trip up, cool. Talked to Tom, found out he was going to Allies, cool. Sounded like a fun weekend to me.

My dad got sick, he blamed me for that- I called bullshit, so we didn't work on Friday and that allowed me to head up earlier than I had planned. This was my first "road trip" in the Legacy. I put it in quotes 'cause really its not a road trip but it was the first time I was going to drive further than Young America and back. I was nervous too because my car had been acting up during the last few storms of the winter, which only occurred a few weeks prior- shows how fucking long this winter has been. I knew I would be driving through hard rain and possibly thunder storms and snow so that didn't help my mental state either. Turns out I was just being anal because the drive went perfect, minus some traffic heading out of the cities. The weather the next couple days was beautiful too so any negative thoughts were out of my head. I can't wait to really test the boundaries of this car. She's (yes, I just called her a she, and in my head she also has a butch ass haircut) not the type of car you just give up on and say "hey, I'll just try to get a grand or something for it while I can." She's the type of car that you drive until you know she's about to break, in which case you drive north, south, west, or east on the back roads until it can't go any further. From there you lose the plates and push it into a nearby pond, swamp, or ditch and hitch hike your way back/onward. This will be a glorious moment. I don't see that happening any time soon though, I'm close to rolling 200 on it and my goal is to get to 300. Too many people my age have nice shiny cars. It's cool I get that its fun to have nice things, but really I don't see myself in anything new/nice until I'm at least 30 (perfect because I don't plan on living past 30) and I'm completely cool with that, I'm only 21. Ok, I'll get off my high horse now and, if you couldn’t tell, I should probably stop reading and obsessing about "Into the Wild"

Alright, the weekend. I’m going to be brief about this because most of it was a drunken stumble and there were plenty others present to rehash these stories later. I got to Duluth around 6ish and met Tom and the girls for dinner. After that we went to a house party that one of Kelly’s friends was having. Her friends were all nice and enjoyed video games like the shl. After that we ended up back at Kelly’s place. I dived into Jameson and than proceeded to puke in a cup a couple times (I have performed this move before--most noticeably at an Andres party, nonetheless not a proud moment) while we were hanging out in a big group. Had enough skill (got lucky enough) that only a few people noticed though. Passed out on a really uncomfortable couch and woke up early in the morning because that’s what I do now. I read Men’s Health for awhile and starred at the ceiling until others woke up. After that we went to Tom’s place in Superior. Superior. It frighteningly reminded me of Sterling, Colorado. Side story, Sterling was a little town in the middle of nowhere-Colorado that Bob, Andy, and myself stopped at on the way out to California. It was probably the most depressing little town in America. It made all of us want to kill ourselves- end side story. I loved Tom’s digs (when did I start saying things like digs?), it reminded me of my living space when I lived with my sister, small and perfect for going solo. We chilled there for a while and than headed out to Eau Claire. The girls decided to come with, which was cool. It especially made the drive easier/better. Allie had a ton of food at her place and three kegs, plus a ton of girls. It was the complete opposite ratio that I was used to so what is a guy to do? Make it easier on myself, power hour. Power hour started out with a ton of people but ended with just Tom, Jake, and I. Ok, I haven’t been brief, here is where that happens. Me and Jake killed Alex while she was doing a keg stand, she “passed out” early but we found out later, when she was in a coma, that she had a concussion. Got in a cake fight with Tom and Allie. Texted Sean all night. Went to the bar where I saw RJ. Got in a fight with one of RJ’s friends in the bathroom. Walked home with the same guy. Passed out with a loss of dignity.

So, really, a fun weekend. Came home on Sunday expecting to go the Murder By Death concert that night but I had left my credit card at the bar and had no cash and just barely got home with the gas in my tank. I was pretty bummed because I was looking forward to the show all week. Oh well. We played street hockey that afternoon but I mostly walked around with a stick in my hand and was moaning inside my head.

Update within the update à I wrote the above a few days ago meaning to add more but never did. It’s now Thursday. It has been quite the sluggish week. Monday I turned what should have been a 4 hour job at work and stretched it into 8 hours, not even realizing it until 4 o’clock rolled around and I heard Dan Barreiro’s voice on the radio. My dad’s still sick and hasn’t worked since last Thursday. He doesn’t really trust me enough to send me to sites on my own, and I don’t blame him after being a slacker on Monday, so I had been doing odd jobs out in his workshop in Young America. The drive sucked but was made up for by two home cooked meals in a row. Plus my dad keeps a TV in the shop so that makes work not work. I was hoping to head to the cabin for the fishing opener this week but it looks like tomorrow and Saturday we’ll be working long days. I told my dad that it was bullshit because I was sick right when I started working with him but I was putting in 9 hour days. Stupid old people. It’s fun when your boss is your dad though, you get to talk shit. For instance he just got this haircut that makes me laugh every time I see him. He gets its cut at the barber (also the school bus driver, fucking small towns) shop in Young America. The guy is a Vietnam vet and also cut hair in the military. I swear the guy has flashbacks every time he gives someone a haircut because my dad’s hair is like shaved on all the sides and back but long on the top and front too. It’s really goofy looking.
Oh, before I forget to mention this, I was listening to KFAN at work and none other than Matt Kowalska showed up in studio. Apparently he just started working there. Kowalska was part of probably one of my top five moments in sports. He was the one to score the game tying goal with under a minute left in the 2001 title game vs. Maine. Instantly when he scored he raced to the bench and all the adrenaline racing through his body allowed him to leap into the bench. Here, watch if you don’t remember. It’s at the 1:40 mark



Anyway, his hockey career never really took off. He played a few games for the Islanders but remained mostly in the Juniors and in European league. The reason he was at KFAN though was because he was forced to stop playing hockey. Why? He has a heart murmur that never went away. He had it in high school, same as me, and they told him that in almost all cases they just go away, same thing they told me. Ah, man, I can’t wait until I collapse at an shl game and people think it’s a joke. It will be a real tragedy.

Like I already said, it’s been a sluggish week. The highlight so far was yesterday. I got a text from Justin when I was at my parents house asking me what type of beer I wanted because we were going to grill out and watch the sun set together. So I raced home and we ate steak (probably the best tasting steak I have had in a while, honestly), corn on the cob, rice, and drank good beer like kings. It wasn’t over after that though. The night was too perfect so we had the houses first unofficial bonfire. It was wonderful. Today I started to work on my bike. I used to be able to fix anything on my bike when I was 13 years-old but for whatever reason the knowledge escaped me because I fucked up trying to put new wheels on it. Ah, what is a project without road bumps though, right? I need to get that baby up and running though so I can start biking places and save some money on gas.

Its that time of the year again when people start to filter home. It’s hard to believe it’s already that time because the weather has only been nice for a good week or two (another testament to how shitty the winter was). It might also be hard to believe because it’s a little different this year. Some people aren’t going to be home, some will be home only for a short stay, others are starting their careers, so yeah, it might be a little different but I’m still really excited and looking forward to having fun with the people that are coming back. Andy’s going to be working pretty much the entire summer so he spends his time trying to bring me down about summer in general but my optimism can’t be tarnished. Next Friday is my birthday and than Saturday is Bob’s. This should be a lot of fun. We didn’t get to celebrate our birthdays together last year because he was abroad so hopefully we make up for it this year. Like every year though, I don’t have anything planned out so people can help me out with that. Go out, have fun, hopefully a bobfire is incorporated one of the nights. Yea, I’ll wrap this up. It got a little long. Hopefully somebody reads it.

When I started this new blog I thought I was going to just comment on different things going on and shit like that but it has basically turned into another electronic journal. I’m ok with that though. I’ll end with the latest “Between Two Ferns with Zach Galifnakis” that I don’t think many have seen yet.

Some Jottings on a Sunday Afternoon

Here are a few observation/notes that I made toward the end of the week and weekend.

On the way to work on Friday it was absolutely pouring out. I passed this black guy walking on 101 and he was laughing hysterically to himself. This image stuck with me for the rest of the day at work and every now and than I would burst out in laughter. I think my dad thought I was high.

Kix and Reese's Puffs are an awesome cereal combo.

Pseudoephedrine does absolutely nothing for me. Is anybody cooking up a batch of meth? Because I have 96 pills to contribute.

Survivor has become a carpet party, the most unappealing thing to watch and everything I fear in starting a season. I don't get why girls always do this on the show..."Lets us girls stick together and vote out all of the guys." "Yea, high five for dyke's!" Never before have guys sat around and said. "hey, lets just vote out all the girls. Go bros!" Give it a rest ladies, the womans liberation movement happened a long time ago. So why don't I just stop watching the show? I can't, I could try, but It wouldn't happen. I haven't done drugs for the majority of my lifetime but survivor is my heroine and I have been using since the summer of 2000. I can't kick it.

Thursday's episode of The Office was one of my favorites yet. Toby jumping the gate and Dwight at the club, too funny.

Grain Belt Premium cold and out of a bottle might be my favorite beer.

Nicole Kidman is at the top of sexy in Eyes Wide Shut. Like seriously.

Drunk and bored, there is no better filler than watching videos of Tommy Gavin on youtube.

The Life Of a Bed Rest Victim

I thought I would try to throw together an entry real quick.

I'm still sick. The weather is gorgeous. My sanity level is confused. I thought a weekend of doing absolutely nothing but sitting around watching the tele would cure this bug, but it did not. It didn't help that on Saturday Justin was outside cutting trees and burning them. It looked liked so much fun and I couldn't resist so I went outside, barefoot (genius), and burned shit with him for a while. He convinced me to drink a beer with him. I declined numerous times because of my illness but Justin is probably one of the best peer pressurer's that I know and he got me to throw one down. I felt even more like shit right away and just sat around the house for the rest of the day. It was even more beautiful on Sunday and I sat in my room staring out into the yard at Justin and Megan doing yard work. I felt like Jimmy Stewart in Rear Window or, even more, like Bart in that episode of The Simpsons that plays on Rear Window. I almost started writing a play. I don't know what it is that I have. The plague maybe? All I know is that I have a nasty cough and my left ear is plugged up and I can't hear out of it. I'm just kind of hoping it fixes itself but I pretty much know it won't without some real antibiotics. Sux. I know after this ordeal I'll be back on some form of health care and won't have any issues for the next five years. Its stuff like this that makes me hate life. Maybe I should of voted for Hillary after all.

So yea, so far this post is me being a little bitch. But wait...it continues.

It's not helping that I'm working 8 + hours of real, physical, work. My dad doesn't care that I'm sick. I get back at him though. Every day at lunch I unleash the most unholiest of unholy of fumes and it completely ruins his lunch. Other than being sick, work has been going great. It's a awesome feeling coming home around 4 knowing I worked at least 8 hours. It will be even better when I'm not a lump and I actually start to do things. The only thing that kept me up late last week were The Wild games. I can't wait to come home, grill, play street hockey, go bowling, go to the bar, go out on the lake. You know, do stuff that actually makes the day feel full.

My best friend has been the TV. I have watched a ton of shit. The new Real World seems promising. They really could of avoided the whole "I'm going to Hollywood to become famous" type of shit. These people knew as soon as they signed up for the show that the only thing they would be known by for the rest of their lives would be a three month spot on reality television. Sarah is damn cute and I'm really excited to see her cheat on her lame looking boyfriend. I can not believe that they casted a stripper from Philly. I mean I know why they did, obvious drama. But it's not the typical type of drama Real World casts. You know, white frat guys who get drunk and do stupid things and slutty girls drama. This Briana character belongs on the Bad Girls Club, not Real World. We find out in the first episode that there is a warrant for her arrest in Philly that she did not know about. HA. Hilarious. Plus in the next episode preview the silly stupid girl from the south tells her not to get all ghetto. What does Briana do in response? She gets all ghetto. I'll place money on her not lasting a month in the house. Ah that poor blond girl. I do love the southern folk on the Real World. They seem to be the only truly innocent people on the show. Kalcutta from Sydney's cast seemed like the nicest person in the world.

There is this new show on MTV that I'm kind of obsessed with. It's called The Paper. It follows the lives of high school students who are journalism nuts. I'm pretty sure the school is exclusively for Jews because they all either look or act like em. One of the girls had such a Jewish shnozz that she got a nose job, no joke. The most intriguing fact about the show is the main storyline. This over achieving girl Amanda won editor in chief and none of the other students were happy about it so they act like typical high school students and are pricks to her. The worst part is that these kids are just as bad, if not worse, than Amanda. Its like watching a bunch of autistic kids gang up on the one kid with downs, or vice versa. I hope by the end of the season Amanda gets some guts and tells all of these d-bags off.

The majority of my TV watching has been devoted to playoffs. I started to write this entry when I got home from work but kind of put it on hold. At that time I was going to write that wins from The Caps and Flames tonight would help remove that bitter taste in my mouth left by The Minnesota Wild. Unfortunately The Caps lost. They got fucked though. Philly should have never had that second goal. How the refs could ignore a forward completely driving a defenseman into Huet and knocking him over...it just boggles my mind. Sucks when shitty stuff happens like that in a game 7. The Caps will be fine though. I just read a stat that 18 of the 20 goals scored were by players under the age of 24. Thats nuts. So it's up to The Flames to at least make a split for emotions on the night. They're down 2-4 in the second right now. Oh how I would love to see San Jose disappoint yet again. It would also be nice to know that there are no southern teams left (Yes this coming from a Tampa fan, and Yes Dallas is still in it but their franchise has been around forever). Plus The Flames are a ton of fun to watch in the playoffs. Iginla is in the top 3 players in the league. 1. Ovie 2. Crosby 3. Iginla. Shit now its 5-2. Come on Flames. What are you doing!

Ahh I was going to write more but now I'm distraught.

I'm not sure who actually reads this blog. Sean, Tom, that could be it. In case there are others I opened up commenting for anyone. So, you know, leave an anonymous message like "fag" or something.

Coma, coma, coma coma

So here is an attempt at a somewhat real update.

Me, I, him, that guy, this guy? What I do now- I'm currently working with my dad as a carpenter in training but basically as his bitch. I'm making decent money with the possibility to make great money in the future, if I stick with it. I actually am enjoying it. I haven't worked with my dad in a few years and my maturity has kind of grown in the fact that I'm not a little smart ass about everything he asks me to do. We work sporadic hours. Usually from 7am to 3:30 or 4. It's quite a drastic change from my hockey rinks/paper route work schedule and I am still getting used to it. My biological clock has already started to kick in though. One great thing about being up so early are the morning shows. I get to listen to KQ again. That makes the early part of the morning fly by. The half ass guys are still hilarious too. I try to listen to Common Man but my dad hates him and always wants to listen to Rush Limbaugh. I fucking hate that guy. Seriously, so worthless. That is the worst part of the day, when I have to listen to that swine in the afternoon. My dads convinced I'll convert and start to love him but thats just not happening. Another great thing about working normal hours is that weekends are actually weekends now. Before they were just days that I couldn't embellish because I had to do the route. Oh god, fuck the route, so happy to be done with that. The Legacy is also happy we're done. When I was doing the route I would have to fill up at least once, usually twice, a week. The last time I filled up was the Monday after my last weekend and I have been driving to Loretto every day for work. So do I still want to be a screenwriter? Of course I do. But this is what I'm doing now and I'm enjoying and embracing it. I need someone to go at screen writing along side with me. We will be the next Matt Damon and Ben Affleck.

This past Saturday I went to Courtney Berglund's wedding. Pretty crazy that she got married. What is crazier to think about is how many people we know that are married/have babies. The baby tally is pretty ridiculous. These people make me feel old. The wedding ended up being a ton of fun and I got shitfaced. Some events happened later in the night that kind of tainted the evening as a whole, but the wedding was a blast and I'm happy that I went.

Today is the first knock out day of spring. It is gorgeous. So what am I doing? Sitting inside nursing an illness. I should be outside playing street hockey in the coldesac with all the neighborhood kids (think You, Me, and Dupree) but instead I'm quarantined to my room where for the past few nights I have been inhaling vitamin c tablets and sucking down cough drops while watching the NHL playoffs. It was a long winter and I thought I had made it the entire length without even a cold. I even said that out loud. But than it got cold and snowy/rainy one last time and that fucked me up. Plus there seems to be a bug going around. This is the most sick I have been in a long time. I really should go see a doctor but I have no health insurance at the time being. I'll check web md later. Who knows, maybe I'm dying. That would be a nice break from god that I would appreciate.

Despite being sick, this weather is reminding me of stuff and getting me excited. I'll just make a list:

• Grilling.
  
• Street Hockey.
  
• Drive-In.
• The State of the Tom Address
• New outdoor ballpark for the Twins
• Shorts
• The fishing opener (I have the bug this year, I'm fishing a ton)
• Bonfires
• Lake Minnetonka
• All of the above + drinking
  

Just a few things to look forward to I guess.

So with my new found income I think I'm going to join a health club to try and get back in shape and shed a few pounds. I'm hesitant to join Lifetime because I'd rather go to a place where I'm less likely to see someone I know, but I'll more than likely end up joining. I'm actually going to fix my old BMX bike soon. I know I have said that in the past, but I mean it this time. Justin has a rad set of tools here I can exploit so it's going to happen.

Ok, ending this abruptly.

Music I Like

Here are some videos of bands I like these days. What a shitty journal, all he does is post videos. I knew this already. So sorry.



I got one of those farts coming that I know if I unleash, I'll poop my pants. sucks.







I basically listen to shit that I listened to when I was a sophomore in hike school.

I might contribute a real entry soon, perhaps.

The Psycho Gene

You can't be a hockey goalie and be normal. The two just don't fit. Through out my life I have never known one who isn't, at least, just a little bit off. They're either really quiet and keep to themselves or they are outspoken and everything that comes out of their mouth is a.) funny, b.) gibberish that doesn't make sense, or c.) both a and b. I don't blame them either. I played one season in net when I was younger and I wanted to kill myself after every single goal I let in. Thank god I didn't stick with it. My groin, knees, and mental state are all happy about that as well. Anyway, here are some videos to support my point (as if I needed them)

Visual evidence
Ron Hextall, probably my favorite goalie growing up because he loved to score goals and I thought that was cool. I didn't realize how much of a nut he was until I got older

Awesome music choice by the creator of this video... but I could seriously watch that video over and over again.

Patrick Roy, I always hated him and I still do. The best evidence of his psycho qualities are through his son.

Apparently Patrick was yelling at his son to go take on the other goalie, who wanted nothing to do with the whole ordeal. Good job Roy's!

Than there is Manny Legace, who is just a funny guy. Here are a couple quotes from him

“Our team played great, it was our goalie that stunk.”

"I'd like to thank my parents for messing around 29 years ago"

Than there is that one, I can't find, from when the Wings lost in the first round and someone asked him how he felt and he said he felt like going home and hanging himself.

I don't know if this behavior transfers to other goalies in different sports. I can't imagine being a lacrosse goalie can be very fun. I played in net at the soccer blast tournament this past winter and that wasn't necessarily exciting, so I imagine soccer goalies are a little mixed up as well. I don't know. Someone should do a study. All I know is that this can't be fun...

Into The Wild

I watched this film last night and absolutely loved it. I had a feeling going in that I would like it but I didn't imagine I would love it. Truly inspiring. It's films like this that make me feel worthless as an inspiring screenwriter and as a human being. Now to read the book because that can only be better.

P.S. Jena Malone has crept up into my top 5 fairly fast...Kirsten is in jeopardy.

50 Eggs, Challengers?

I can do it.

I know I can at least do better than the jackass crew:

Growing Old

Today I had to help move one of my great Aunt's from one assisted living home to another. My Grandma is the youngest of 13 children so I have dealt with this type of stuff my entire life. However, it is never easy to walk into an old folks home. Its just the creepiness of expecting to here the Price Is Right theme song as soon as you walk in and than to totally have it happen- I don't know, it just gets to me. I totally felt like Dee from "It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia" at points during the day. It was tough. This was one of my favorite Aunts though. She was so crazy. She has kind of lost it, but still, she saw my dad and asked, "Hey Al, lets go get a beer." That made me smile for the rest of the day.

I don't want to live past thirty, and I am entirely serious about that.