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.