Some things for you to chew on, but not literally, unless you print this off...

Busy day. Brain all over the place. Coffee hasn't kicked in yet. No clear train of thought. Random nuggets to discuss amongst yourselves. Enjoy...

Free Agency in the NBA starts tomorrow. It's gonna be interesting. I'm scared. Don't want to see my Celtics revert back to their mid 90's selves again. Remember Eric Montross, Dino Radja and Eric Williams. NO!!!!!!!! Where is Lebron James going? Does anyone really think Wade is leaving Miami? Are the Knicks or Nets going to get anybody? I mean, really, who wants to play for either one of those teams?

A New Hampshire man has been arrested 154 times for a variety of reasons. Really?! How the holy hell does that even happen? His criminal record includes eight trespass notices, 75 citations, four Social Security aliases and convictions for thefts, receiving stolen property, arson and criminal mischief. I wonder how much that guy has cost the state of New Hampshire? Probably cheaper just to put the career criminal away, right? Sheesh!

The Gulf Coast is about to get hit hard again, this time by both a hurricane, and more oil. I'm trying to figure out a couple of things here. How in the bloody hell is there still oil gushing, first of all. Seems to me that BP should have had some sort of plan in place that might actually work?! Don't give me that bs line about how the government is to blame, screw that, I'm not buying it. BP needs to get their collective shit together and figure this out. Second thing is, when do New Orleans and the rest of the Gulf Coast just decide it's not worth it anymore and pack up and leave? They are constantly getting dumped on in one way or another.

Seriously, vampires? Ugh!

How awesome is all this sun! How awful is it that I spend 10-12 hours a day in either the office or in a car! Time to start thinking about a different line of work, one that allows me a little outdoor time. Or, I could always cash in on some of those vacation days they offer me. Hmmm...

A panel of people did a report regarding the arrest of Henry Louis Gates in his home in Cambridge, MA, and found that the whole situation could have been avoided. Well that is a big relief, for a minute there I thought that an arrest had to be made no matter what. You remember this story, right? Gates, a black Harvard scholar was arrested by a white Cambridge police officer after a confrontation last July. There was a reported burglary in the neighborhood, the police saw Gates, questioned him, and instead of simply answering the questions, Gates got all pissy and argumentative, cried racial profiling, and the officer arrested him. Had Gates just done what the officer asked him to do this whole situation could have been avoided. Thank god someone paid to have a study done, that makes me feel better. Idiots!

I just had lunch at Baja Hot Dog in Monument Square, and, um, AMAZING! Turkey dog, wrapped in bacon, with lettuce, tomato and mayo, the BLTD. So good and cheap, and the wild show (crazies at the Farmers Market) was free!

Still tired. So much work looking at me. Want to be in sun. Ugh. I'm just saying...

Can someone tell me what this vampire stuff is all about?!

Twilight. Just say that word and a certain portion of the population gets all warm and fuzzy inside. Others will know what you are talking about, and a smaller portion of people will have no idea what you are saying. I fall into the last category. Twilight, to me, is that time just before sunrise, or right after sunset, when the sun is just below the horizon. Apparently it means something completely different to fans of vampires.

The Twilight series has captured the minds and hearts of fans of all ages and the hysteria isn't about to stop. People have been camping outside of the Nokia Theatre in Los Angeles for days in anticipation of the opening of "Eclipse", the newest addition to the big screen adaptations. Apparently even here in Portland, people have been seen around town dressed up as vampires. This is all pretty crazy if you ask me, but it gets worse...

The LA Times has been doing a little homework surrounding these obsessed fans, and found women who have nearly lost their marriages by neglecting their husbands in favor of Twilight fan sites, blogs, and message boards. One woman even went on and on about how she's seen the movies "over 300 times." So called "Twi-Moms" are popping up everywhere with their "Team Edward" or "Team Jacob" shirts. Even some dudes are getting into the mix now.

Can you imagine ruining your relationship over a movie about made up stuff?! I mean, vampires?! I have obsessions, but at least it's something real, something I can do myself. I can teach my daughter the skills needed to play sports, have her watch current athletes to help teach her different things. Vampires, um, well, they bite people with their oddly shaped teeth. I don't want my kid doing that! I'm just saying...

Who is more stuck up, golfers or boat owners?

Had an absolutely fantastic weekend, recap below...

Took Friday off and hit the links in Wells thanks to some great friends and the passes they got me for my birthday. Nichole and I had a 12:50 tee time at Old Marsh Country Club, and guess what, we were on time! We head into the pro shop to get ourselves all set up, I tell the guy behind the counter who we are and let him know we are there for our 12:50 tee time and he looks at me like I have twenty five heads. Apparently he didn't believe that I had called and set up a tee time because there was a members only tournament going on at 1:00, and they just wouldn't have told me to come down. Well, my blood pressure instantly hits an all time high, since we both took the day off and drove to freaking Wells to play! The dude just basically called me a liar and told us we were not going to play. For fear of jail time, I decide not to dive over the counter and tear this guy a new poop shoot. He finally tells us to go grab a beverage and he would try to work something out. About 20 minutes later he comes and grabs us and tells us we are good to go. They send us out to the 8th hole, ahead of the tourney, and we are on our way. Was that so difficult? Weather was beautiful, course was very nice, and we played well enough to not throw our clubs into the nearest pond, though the thought crossed my mind a time or two. Thanks again everyone that chipped in for the passes!

After golf we drove back up Interstate 95 to go to Novare Res to meet for a surprise birthday get together for good friend Amelie. I set up the surprise by telling her we would be out of town that night, so we wouldn't be able to see her, which got her more than a little angry at us, but it was all worth it! We hung out at Novare for a bit before heading on down to Bull Feeney's for a quick beverage there and off to Bubba's for some fine dancing, 80's style. Now, I'm not much of a dancer, and my legs have been hurting me something awful lately, but we tore up the flashing dance floor until closing time, leaving me VERY sore and very tired!

Saturday was a bit of a wash for me, mostly lounged around the house, cleaning up a little and watching the US Soccer team lose a tough game in the World Cup.

Sunday was a great day. Got up slowly and heading south for a softball game, which we cruised to a 20-1 victory against the Destroyers (may want to rethink that name). Next on the agenda was kayaking around, but apparently, according to the Asian man on Mackworth Island, there is "no ka-yaking allowed". No biggie, we took Yawkey for a nice stroll around the island, giving him ample opportunities to jump in the water and cool off. Next we went to the town landing in Yarmouth, dropped the kayaks in the water and tooled around the mouth of the Royal River for a bit. Being out on the water like that is one of my favorite things to do, and we don't do it nearly often enough, so it was fun to get out there.

As usual, I need a day off to rest from the weekend! This week should go by quickly, it's another busy one, then it's another long weekend! Hope everyone else had a great weekend as well, not it's back to the grind. I'm just saying...

Shhh, don't tell anyone...

So I am about to do something I wouldn't normally do, but it's fitting, considering the events that took place this morning. I don't typically toss myself in front of the proverbial bus, or make fun of myself, but sometimes you just have to bite the bullet. To sort of tie in yesterday's blog, I spend a great deal of time in a car. It's hard to guess exactly how many hours I've spent behind the wheel in my life, but I'm guessing it's a large number. All that being said, there is one thing I cannot claim, and it came up this morning.

Our usual ride, the CRV, is in need of some brake work as well as needing a belt replaced. Good friend Nick Pawloski and his new business Tires To You - Mobile Tire Sales and Service (plug, plug), is taking the CRV apart in his driveway and fixing it up good for us. In return, he let us bring his car into work until he was able to finish up. Cool, right? Absolutely, except for one tiny catch, and this is where you will make fun of me...

... I haven't driven a standard in about 10 years, unless you include that one time I drove my sister's Xterra, very poorly I might add, about 5 years ago. I've never had one, and never really been taught. My buddy Matt briefly showed me once in college, but I haven't really driven a standard since then, so it has been lost on me at this point. It's not so much that I can't do it, because I can, it's a mental thing, I have a mini panic attack whenever I have to stop, especially if there is ANY kind of incline. Ridiculous, I know! I would be fine, but I let myself over think everything and then I screw it up.

So, anyways, long story short, I had to have Nichole drive us to my parking garage. To make matters worse, she had to call her boss to explain why she was going to be late and just HAD to tell him that it's because I can't drive the car. Sorry Brad! I guess if anyone wants to teach me, I'm all yours! I'm just saying...

Traffic backup on the highway, can someone explain?

As most of you know, we have about a 35 minute commute to and from work each day. Some of you think we are crazy, some of you commute longer. We don't mind it at all to be honest. However, there is one thing that I do hate about the commute. It only happens about once every two weeks, but it annoys the holy hell out of me. It's when you come around a corner and all you see is a sea of red lights in front of you. Traffic comes to nearly a halt, people are diving off the nearest exit, some are jerking the wheel to take the "Authorized Vehicles Only" bypass between the North and Southbound lanes, and others are beeping and swearing as they call their boss to let them know they will be late. Nine times out of ten there isn't a god damned reason in the world why we aren't moving. Some days there is might be an accident on the northbound lane when driving south. I've seen times when a cop has a car pulled over to the side of the road (please note, nobody is in the road) and cars come to a screeching halt as they drive by. Construction will obviously cause a cluster fuck, but that is rarely ever the case. Today, I'm still not sure what happened.

The good thing is when you at least get to see something entertaining during your slow trip down the highway. Today it was this gem...



Or how about this one...



As annoyed as I was by the slow movement of traffic, this smoking car made me feel much better! Quick question... If your car is smoking like this, do you pull over and call for help, or do you pull into the breakdown lane and fly past everyone? This crazy chick was passing everyone on the inside, until traffic finally opened up (which we still have no idea why it was moving slow, there was absolutely nothing) and she pulled into the "slow" lane and continued down the highway. Screw that noise, I'm pulling my ass over and calling AAA! I'm just saying...

Ever have one of those dreams, you know, one that makes zero sense?

I'm not one to remember what I dreamt about, in fact, I rarely ever can recall what happened in my dreams. Last night was different, but before your head goes into the gutter, it wasn't one of THOSE dreams. I woke up this morning, in my typical early morning haze, but this time I actually woke up scratching my head. This may have been one of the oddest dreams I've ever had, ever!

The way I remember the dream starting was with me meeting with a Broadway director discussing the opening scene of an upcoming musical. We are discussing who will be playing what part, and how many people are necessary to perform this correctly. There are dancers, singers and lots of extras running around the set. The director and I go back and forth for a bit, then I remember leaving, as did everyone else, for the day.

The next morning we are practicing on a farm in the middle of the woods, there are people everywhere and the opening scene has me, playing the lead role singing "Livin' It Up". Don't recognize that song right away? Well, it's by Ja Rule. I'm playing Ja Rule in a Broadway musical based on his life! I'm the only white person for miles around, and I'm playing Ja Rule in a musical based on his life?! Sure, that makes sense!

Well, we practice all day, and into the night. Some time around 9:00 PM, I notice a couple of really large fires burning in the distance around us. Then another fire ball lights up the sky, and then another. Next thing I know, there is some sort of plane above the farm we are on and it's shooting fire at us! The farm quickly goes up in flames as we all run for our cars and attempt to get the hell out there. As I jump into my Hummer H2 (what else would little man Ja Rule drive, right!) I hear machine guns firing at us. We speed off quickly, and as we are about to turn the corner on the one road away from the farm...

... the alarm clock goes off, it's 6:15 AM at Chateau Marcole, and I'm no longer Ja Rule, I'm back to being me and I'm safe and sound.

Can someone tell me what the bloody hell that dream means? I've had some odd ones before, but I think that one takes the cake, that's just odd! Well, needless to say, I've had Ja Rule songs in my head all morning, and I'm just glad I wasn't playing the lead role in the life story of Elton John or Barbara Streisand!! I'm just saying...

Back from the dead...

After taking about a month off, I'm back and ready to roll. I had gotten to a point where my brain was completely shot from staying up late watching my beloved Celtics work through the playoffs. Now that, sniffle, the season is over, I'm able to get a few minutes of sleep and recharge my battery. However, I'm not much use for anything today, I'll be honest. I have some sort of issue with my heel, so I'm limping around the office like a zombie. Figured that I would just ease myself back into this blog thing today by just tossing some random thoughts at you. I'll be getting back into the swing of things tomorrow...

I had an awesome Father's Day weekend. We hit up the Taste of Brunswick on Saturday with my parents, sister and a handful of good friends. Enjoyed some great food, danced to some good music and spent time with some great people. Sunday we went and played mini golf and lost an extra inning softball game before heading home to grill up some chicken and cook some s'mores over the fire before crashing (despite Kerrigan's best efforts to make the night last forever). Such a great weekend with my two favorite ladies and others.

Has anyone else noticed that Shawn Moody, an Independent hopeful for Governor, has a major unibrow? I mean, full on, real deal, bushy unibrow. It's like the spot in between his eyebrows decided to grow a beard, and a think one! Oh, that reminds me of something, could we use his excess unibrow hair to clean up the oil that those fools at BP have spilling all over the Gulf? The positive PR that Moody would get from that would be amazing!

I find it impossible to like Kobe Bryant. He is such a smug jackass. He is one hell of a basketball player, I'll give him that, but holy crap he is a major bag of douche. Can someone please let me know when it is safe to watch ESPN again, I really don't want to see his face until next basketball season. Oh, and to Curtis, my mailman, please don't deliver that issue of Sports Illustrated, I don't want it.

To everyone that is going to "chill poolside" or "hang at the beach" on days like today can bite me. Oh, alright, I'm just really jealous, that's all.

How is everyone feeling about the World Cup? Are you watching, following along or could you give a shit? I'm following at this point. I know how everyone is doing, but I haven't really watched any, with the exception of the US games so far. Speaking of, can anyone tell me what the hell was called against the US that caused that third goal not to count?! Let's just be thankful it was in the early part, not later on!

Day 47 of the Marcole mower situation. May be time to suck it up and buy a new one. Not sure how many more times I want to weed whack that amount of grass in the hot sun! Damn you mower, you may have won!

Anyways, I'll be back to regular ranting and raving tomorrow. Just had to ease myself back into this. Hope you have all been well in my absence, and I'm ever so sorry to leave you all hanging. I'm back! I'm just saying...